Quentin was trying not to look for her but it wasn’t easy. He knew Alice was here, Julia had already told him and even if she hadn’t, he would have still known. He was aware of her in a way he’d never been aware of anyone else, whether that was from their fox adventures or the fact that she had been a literal part of him for a while. Things between them were awkward at home, the sex aside, and he didn’t know how things would be here. She’d been here about a week or so according to Julia and it seemed as if she came from around the same time as Quentin. Which was good or maybe it wasn’t, he had no idea any more.
He’d gotten a drink and had managed to slip away from Julia. Quentin knew she was worried about him because he wasn’t always the best in social situations but he’d gotten better after being at Brakebill’s and being friends with Eliot and Margo. He was sitting in a chair, watching some people dancing when he saw her. She looked amazing but then he always thought she looked amazing. Should he get up and go talk to her or should he wait for her to notice him. Since he couldn’t make up his mind, he just took a sip of his drink and waited. Maybe something would happen with this drink and he’d end up with his decision made for him.
Ever since receiving the notification that Quentin had arrived in Atlantis Alice had felt less relaxed and quietly frankly, a little more tense than she probably should have been. She had told Kady she would at least try to loosen up in Atlantis, because apparently it was a world of second chances or some bullshit like that. Okay, so maybe it was because Alice and the other magicians did have their magic back so at least there was some evidence to back up that claim. Coming from a background like hers, with a magical family to boot, you’d think it would have been easier for her to accept that she was in the lost city of Atlantis and not hallucinating somewhere back home. No, it was definitely hard for her to accept this because she honestly believed she had been kidnapped considering she had been warned she was essentially being hunted for her crimes as a niffin. Now, after a week of being there, she was more convinced that this was all real and damn did it feel amazing for have her magic back.
So there she was, drinking Eliot’s magic drinks, dancing with Sirius Black, and playing wizards chess. Because she had told Kady she would try to loosen up. At least her outfit wasn’t as scandalous as the number Margo had essentially picked out for her for Halloween. She was doing that to appease Margo, because believe it or not she really did like her just as she liked the others. Alice just… had a horrible way of showing it much of the time. After a few of Eliot’s magic drinks she was at least feeling a little more festive and social. Meeting all of those witches and wizards left her internally fangirling and she could only imagine how excited Eliot and Margo must be. She imagined it was a lot like Quentin when he first got to Fillory. Quentin, who she just noticed sitting and drinking alone. She grabbed one of those Rainbow Brite drinks and casually walked over to Quentin, fully intent on being civil. She wasn’t heartless and it was really damn hard to just cut someone out when she legitimately cared about them. “Which one did you get?” she asked, nodding at this cup before taking a sip of her own.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t look,” he said and then suddenly he noticed that he was sparkling. “Well i guess that answers that question. What about you?” There were a million things he could have said to her, that he wanted to say to her but maybe it was best to just start with small talk. There was far too much history between them to just jump in with both feet especially at a party. “Magic’s back but I guess it never really left here from what I understand. Did you see Eliot in full Slytherins robes earlier? Why am I not surprised that he picked that house?” Not that Eliot was an asshole like most people assumed Slytherins were. Well, he could be but then again so could Quentin. He’d definitely had his moments.
“Wanna sit down?” he asked, indicating the chair beside him. “I can sparkle and you can do whatever that drink is going to make you do. Personally I think I’m going to try one of those that make you levitate next. That looks fun. I’ve never done that.” He wondered if he could, was that part of his magic? Who knew, he’d been too busy trying to save magic and Fillory and only ended up fucking things up. Maybe he should skip the experimentation.
“That's smart,” she said sarcastically, smirking. At least she had double checked her own drinks before taking them. She wasn't about to try the Whomping Willow because the last thing she needed was getting completely wasted, especially with Quentin there now. Mixing them together with alcohol that could knock them out instantly and whatever the hell unspoken tension between them was a bad idea. Nevertheless, she took another sip just as her hair turned red, “Rainbow Brite,” she said, shaking her cup slightly at him. “I mean, this is Atlantis. Of course magic is here. I'm just glad to have mine back,” she said honestly, glancing around at the crowd. “Eliot is a natural Slytherin. He's smooth and sly and will cut you in an instant,” she remarked at his question.
Alice glanced at the chair and then around the room again, hesitating before sitting down. “Only because I need to sit for a while.” It was easy to make something up. She didn't want to sit next to him and she did all at once and she might as well give the appearance of cordiality. If she was going to be honest with herself she knew she had shit reason to be pissed at him because she both alive and had her magic back. But Alice was a stubborn ass and needed to work through whatever lingering anger was still there. Quentin was like a drug. She couldn't shake him, she couldn't just kick him out of her life, because the truth was he was important to her whether she wanted to admit it or not. She was also mildly drunk which helped with her mood some. “I tried both at the same time earlier and I would definitely recommend it,” she said before taking another drink. “I'm going red for a few minutes.”
“I will have to try that then. Being sparkly and floating sounds like fun,” he smiled as she turned red. Eliot was creative, he’d give him that. In fact, he wished sometimes he was a little more like Eliot when it came to being social. While he was a lot better than he had been before he’d arrived at Brakebill’s, he was still not exactly a social butterfly. “He is a natural Slytherin but he also is a good friend to have when you need one.” He also cared about Fillory and that was important to Quentin. The two of them had found the key to saving it but then it had ended up in magic being turned off so there was that but the important thing was that Eliot had been willing to save his land as any good kind would. Even if Quentin would have never thought of him as the kingly type.
Alice merely shrugged in response, “The floating was more fun.” She kept her eyes on the crowd at large, trying to appear as neutral as possible. The least she could do was just sit there with Quentin and have a chat. It was just talking after all. It did help that he was there for her to socialize with considering she was just as bad an these things as him. At least she had chatted up some of the wizards and she could mark off having a drink with Sirius Black off her bucket list. Alice nodded in agreement, “He’s competent and know what he’s doing even when he says he doesn’t.”
“That’s true. Sometimes I wish I was more like him,” Quentin didn’t need anyone to point out to him that he was possibly the most socially awkward person in existence. He already knew that and in case he didn’t, Penny would be happy to remind him. At least with Alice here, he could sit and talk to her and not feel that he had to work the room. “It’s kind of unbelievable to be in the same room as the people we’ve read about in books isn’t it? I mean, we know Fillory is real but this is kind of a whole different level. Harry Potter is standing right over there.” He didn’t look like the Harry that he’d read about but he also seemed to be a good bit older, maybe Quentin’s own age. He hadn’t spoken to hm yet but he was going to make himself before the night was over.
Alice smirked at him, “I don’t think anyone could live up to Eliot’s flamboyance.” Maybe Alice sometimes wished she could be more outgoing and lively, but she didn’t see the point trying to be someone she wasn’t. At his statement Alice couldn’t help the little grin. Her gaze trailed off until it fell on Sirius. He was definitely attractive like the books described. “Yeah, it’s unbelievable.” She glanced back to Quentin before finishing her drink and setting the glass down on the table next to her. “There are people from all of the movies and shows and books in our world. It’s exciting, to say the least,” she said, hiding her fangirling in Alice Quinn fashion.
Quentin noticed her gaze and saw it land on Sirius Black. He had to bite his lip to keep from saying anything but he definitely noticed. Had she done that to see if he’d notice? Who knew but if she had, it had worked. It was a brief spark of jealousy but it was there. “It really is exciting,” he agreed. “And this is only a small cross section of it. Julia told me some of the other people that were here. It’s pretty amazing.”
Whether it was intentional or not, Alice would likely never admit either. It was only a brief glance and nothing really meant by it. It had been nice chatting up the wizard and she could see why the girls liked him and why guys could be jealous. “My housemates are Superman and a Star Fleet Captain,” she said with a slightly smug look. “Who are you living with?” she asked curiously, looking over to him.
Ah the irony. He couldn’t help but smile. “Actually Sirius is my housemate along with an older man named Reinhardt. I haven’t had the chance to really talk to either of them yet.” A sudden though hit him. What if Alice hooked up with Sirius and they were in the house and oh god...no, he needed to push that thought away. “But Superman and a Starfleet captain. That’s pretty awesome. Which captain is it?” Any of them would be pretty cool to have as a roommate but he had no idea which ones were here.
“Oh, really? That should be an interesting bachelor pad,” she said with mild interest. If she had any idea what Quentin was thinking she’d probably just laugh because even if she did think Sirius was attractive she wasn’t going to jump into bed with him. Things were already weird and complicated enough that throwing one of the most popular faces of the Harry Potter series into it wouldn’t be a great idea. “Jonathan Archer,” she responded to his question. It was safe to say that between herself, Clark Kent, and Archer she felt pretty damn safe in her house.
“Does he have the dog with him?” Quentin couldn’t help but ask. Enterprise hadn’t been his favorite of the series but he’d liked Archer and the dog. “Built in pet, that’s pretty awesome. I guess we kind of have one too if Sirius turns into a dog but I’m not about to ask him to do that.” He had no idea if his new housemate would be offended or not but he didn’t want to find out the hard way by ending up getting turned into a rat or something.
“He does,” Alice answered with a nod. “He’s a very nice dog.” She side eyed Quentin at his comment. “Yeah, I don’t think that would be very appropriate to ask someone to turn into their animagus form when you don’t really know him. Seems a little rude to me.” Although at the same time Alice did suspect Sirius might actually enjoy showing off that skill.
“I suppose that’s the kind of thing that you’d have to wait until you know someone a little better before you asked them that,” he replied. “Sometimes I wish that was one of my skills, shapeshifting I mean, but that could be kind of weird. It would be good for eavesdropping but you might find out things you didn’t want to know. Sort of like being psychic.”
Alice side eyed Quentin at his mention of shapeshifting, “Good thing for you you can’t do that.” She would have threatened him with death if he could shapeshift and eavesdrop on her. Some things were better left private and she didn’t appreciate the idea of being watched without her knowledge. “I’m going to get another drink and mingle some more,” she said, standing up suddenly. “You should do the same.”
Quentin looked up at her in surprise. Surely she hadn’t thought that he meant that he wanted to…...but of course she did. He would probably have thought the same thing. “Alice, I didn’t mean that I wanted to spy on you. I wouldn’t do that.” As tempting as it might be, he would never actually invade the privacy of someone he knew and certainly not Alice. He cared too much about her to do that. “But you’re right. I probably should get up and mingle some more.” And drink some more. Maybe even a lot more. “See you later then,” he said.