(the part where Jasper and Alisondre up until they disappear, is just outside of the Outback along the grounds somewhere between the RDI and there.. anyone could have witnessed the scene if they for some reason wish to, just probably won't be changing the outcome of their conversation for it but will happily play off of it at a later time. :) )


He had disengaged from Rekah carefully and tucked her back against the wall with the covers pulled up. "Just going to wash my face and I'll be back." He had promised.

The gentle cool water felt good across his face and he had left his wings out to finish stretching as they hadn't had a chance to fully open in his sitting position. It was when his body was stretching a few minutes later that he startled and looked harder into the mirror at the wing over his left shoulder. The look of shock was pale against his face and the golden eyes that were now just flecked with the moonlight silver.

The crease was still untouched for the most part and was still deep but the degree of the angle the wing tip was usually bent had eased and as he fluttered the still not quite dry wing the air currents felt different. He closed his mouth and wrapped his wings back into place to go snuggle Rekah up until she passed out, no need to mention something that might not be a permanent fix. He'd practice flying when his girl was asleep until it was time to meet his twin.

It was time and with a final kiss to the sleeping woman's temple he left the room to head towards the meeting place Alisondre had mentioned in the message.

"Through here." He turned to see his twin a few seconds before she launched herself in his arms. It was harder to snuggle her than it was Rekah since Alisondre was only an inch shorter than him, but he did manage to wrap her up warmly.

"I have missed you so much." She kissed his cheek and ran her fingers along his crooked grin.

"You would disappear for decades and never miss me." He half joked even with his arms so tight around her she couldn't have broken free if she wanted to.

"Yes, but I always knew you were there and safe." Her voice was sober then and it caused him to loosen his hold so he could cup her cheeks and kiss her forehead trying to drive away the furrowed brows and seriousness in her.

"I am fine, doing much better now, actually."

She had started moving as he spoke and trailed her fingers from his elbows up to his shoulder. "I heard about what happened." She could have been talking about the attack that had left the scar on his shoulder through his wing she was talking about or the permanent exile he had been potentially given that Gerthwyth had told him about. "Can you... "

She couldn't finish the sentence as the fear in her voice carried through to the finger that was tracing his scar. He looked at her over that shoulder and then nodded lifting his wings off of his skin. She stepped back aware of wing protocol and then she was walking around to get a better glimpse again from the front then back.

"Touching the damaged area." She warned from behind, the backs of the wings were less sensitive and with the warning he would be more prepared so there would be less chance of an awkward moment. He got ever so still and stopped breathing as he prepared and she was tracing the crease as a doctor might while looking at a problem. She finally nodded and stepped back looking at the ground to try and gauge how to form her next question without being insulting, he saved her the trouble.

"Updrafts are easy, microbursts cause a problem as they can hit the top part of the bend and cause my left side to go down and wind shear is the hardest to maneuver about in, but yes, I can still fly. It takes a lot out of me faster, but I can." He watched her expressions over his shoulder still but she had settled into her court mask and he was given nothing but polite neutral and a bit of relief in her shoulders as they eased when he finished.

"Well.. you at least look nice still, I like the new accessories." She had been admiring his bracelets and then lifted her golden eyes up to his compass. A squint and suddenly the gold was smattered with black and she drew back hissing as realization hit.

Jasper recoiled a bit at the power of the anger that she had slammed at him but it hadn't be unexpected and so he waited for the flare to ease so she would listen to reason.

"Are you that calloused? Have you truly embraced exile and turned your back on your people?? What about Tanak and Lesliah?"

He flinched again as she envoked the names and held his hand out to her. "Take my hand."

Her voice was cold then causing his hand to drop slowly, this he hadn't been prepared for. "They killed our sister and friend and yet you wear the bee as if a tribute to those murderers!" The cold anger cut him deep and he stepped back a moment.

"Alisondre, it was a gift, what was I supposed to do?" He let his tone drop to a neutral either to stop her from hearing his own tension or to force her to listen harder to try and hear it.

"I understand you couldn't be rude about it, but you accept it and then never wear it!" Neutral hadn't work and her tone had flared with more heat as her hands flew up angrily in a gesture of tossing as she spoke with her hands.

"Princess Alisondre Whispertouch." He let his glamour of command seep in and the wording and tone finally made her go statue still. He slowly raised his hand again. "Again, I ask. Take my hand and see for yourself why I could not do such." He had used her full name to force her into submission as well as remind her of her talent and luckily even through the anger she had gotten his hint.

Alisondre had earned her last name of Whispertouch as she was allowed to see memories from people if she had skin on skin contact with them and then could create and inception of sorts by 'whispering' a thought into their heads and then they would act upon it thinking it was their idea.

Slowly her hand reached out to press a finger to his palm, she was still too angry to give him her full hand but Jasper was patient and satisfied with that. He had recalled to the forefront of his memories the day that Rekah had taken him on a treasure hunt in the Outback. He let the vision of the drawn door fill his mind and the treasure chests with the four pieces in it and then focused on the memory of Rekah putting the bee in the compass and explaining that it was a way to find her. He let the sights and smells and even the sound filter through for his sister to pick up.

The scent of the ocean, the wave of Rekah's wild hair in the ever present breeze, the solemness in her voice and the importance of that compass. By the time Alisondre got through with the memory her hand was fully in his again and the anger was dropped to a mild annoyance.

"Now do you see why I could not?" He asked lifting her hand up to press a kiss to the backs of her fingers.

"She's really important to you, isn't she?" She still eyed the bee on the compass warily and he couldn't blame her, the thing creeped him out as well but magic was magic and you didn't question it.

Jasper shifted and ran his thumb along her fingers in his palm, an act of nervousness. It wasn't his feelings for her that he was worried about, it wasn't fear of being judged for whom he wanted, it was fear of judgement on his decisions and the rammifications of them.

"She has a bid in to be Queen." He said quietly over the night air and watched as the happiness flooded through her.. and then the realization of those implications. The realization that in order to have Rekah as his Queen he would be torn between two worlds.

"You joined with her." When he nodded she tilted her head at him sending her long blonde curls scattering down her shoulders and across her cheek. "Does she know you might be sterile?" The words were matter of fact, no judgement, no demeaning notes in her tone as it was an honest question.

"She's not actively bidding. She barely acknowledges my status." He couldn't help the pride in his words or the set of his shoulders. "She loved me before she knew who I could be or what I was." He could say it with certainty, Rekah had told him and memory served correct, she was not the social ladder climber that Gerthwyth had been.

"Truly? She's not seeking status?"

He nodded at her incredulous tone and watched her do the calculations and since her hand was still in his he pushed through the memory of his wings unfurled and a glimpse of Rekah's hand brushing along his colors. Even if somehow she could doubt his belief in the words, he never would have let Rekah touch his wings like that.

"You let her touch your wings!" The wonder and delight were evident on her face and she had just started to bounce with the excitement when she went statue still again and horror etched across her features. He had very carefully trying to leave any other memories out but had let his guard down for too long.

"You tried to fade?!"

He jerked his hand back then as if she had physically struck him instead of just rifled through his memories. His wings absorbed back into his body then to become the 'tattoos' they normally were and he was looking off to the side now at the gathered snow covered bushes. Being in the snow didn't bother his bare chest or feet because he had called up his magic and remembered warmth which kept him toasty but the set of his jaw was just as icy as the bitter wind must have been in the darkness of the night.

His twin had stood there a bit as she digested that stolen memory of him laying on the bed so ice cold and faded already so far that he had been pale, almost black and white, another day or two and he would have just been a memory himself. She had mostly kept her emotions together as she explored the moment with Caedia and Kheldar coming in and shaking him out of it holding him to staying because he had be-friended their one daughter that didn't talk to people.

~"You made her laugh more than anyone ever has, you can't just give up and leave her to face this world alone, not when she has finally found a friend. If you do, you have no honor at all and never did."~

Caedia had spun the perfect words to bring her brother back and she looked up at him and the anger exploded again as she moved forward to shove him back harshly. It wouldn't have worked normally as they were Earth fae and could harness the strength of their element to become as unmovable as a mountain.. if they were prepared. Jasper was not.

His wings slammed out to help counter balance him as he stumbled back and she had pulled out her own wings in answer and they glared at each other.

"How could you fade? How could you leave me behind? How could you leave Rekah behind? How would you leave your mother behind?? How could you just leave your responsibilities behind??"

"I didn't know Rekah at the time, I was all alone, barely any touch," Alisondre had the grace to flinch at that, the fae thrived on touch and without it didn't do very well, "the Earth here doesn't accept me and barely gives me any energy. Add to that being left by Gerthwyth in the way I was then told I was permanently exiled, can you blame me?"

She had also had the grace to flinch at the Gerthwyth line, news traveled fast and what Gerthwyth had done wasn't out of line in any way per se except for how she had hurt Jasper intentionally, it was her only frowned upon move and even those who weren't that wild about Jasper had felt bad for him.

"The exile will be lifted when they realize we aren't actually traitors, but when no one but the trackers know about our powers, how can you blame them? How can you just leave your responsibilities?"

It was the first time in everything that had happened that Jasper allowed his anger and bitterness drop into his voice.

"Yes, how could I -possibly- leave giving up everything I've ever wanted so that those around me can keep their freedoms? How could I give up being something I don't want to be so that others can be happy? I see the errors of my ways and realize I was selfish, it won't happen again." It was the most cruel Jasper had ever been. It was the first time that he had ever purposefully said anything to cut someone and it was the first time he had truly outwardly spoke his feelings about having to take his title.

He had never wanted to be King but his mother was beyond tired and wanted to step down and actually -live- her life now. His twin was too much of a wanderlust and too devoted to her studies of science and figuring out how things work, what different cultures were like, what new worlds looked like. All of that left her giving up more freedom than Jasper was and so since there were no other clear cut rulers that could lead their section in the way he could trust, that had left him. He had always just outwardly accepted it so as not to make his mother feel bad and even with his sister he knew she could never give up her freedom and so he had kept his complaints almost nil. Everyone here always told him to 'man up' but the truth was he had been but they wouldn't know if he could help it. He tried very hard not to say anything about his world in the aspect of his lineage or things he was doing, none of it meant anything here. He was nothing more than just another fae here, another nobody in the throng of people and since he wasn't the type to brag or boast he would continue to be a nobody.

They stayed in the stand off stance breathing hard at one another each locked in their own anger and frustration and Jasper watched Alisondre fluidly flow into court mode. She shut everything off as his words were absorbed and even though he couldn't see the emotions he knew she was working through them even as she stared at him with neutral eyes. Her hands finally lowered and she pulled her wings back in first as she slowly stepped towards him and allowed the sadness to soften her features.

He kept his stance watching her approach and it wasn't until she carefully tucked herself against his chest with her arms around his waist that he relaxed his own arms to curl around her as his wings flowed back onto his skin. He wasn't sure which part of it had made her cry but all of it made him feel horrible. It wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last time he would wish he could take things back, nothing was worth purposefully hurting someone.

"I'm sorry, that was selfish of me." He held her as tightly as he could and stroked her back trying to calm her as he spoke low with all the trace of the previous venom gone and now his voice was just hollow and sorrow filled. His words could have been for trying to fade or for finally letting the bottled up feelings explode or both, either way it was an apology that had been needed and fae weren't too prideful to give what was needed.

Alisondre had regained control of her emotions and squeezed him tightly one last time. "I just don't want to lose you, you're my best friend and the best big brother I have."

The words were rewarded with his crooked dimple grin. "I'm the only big brother you have." Jasper was excellent at taking things literally and for pointing out the obvious.

She laughed at that, the sort of tension relieving laugh one gave when trying to regain control of themselves and then wiped her eyes. "You're right, the Earth here -is- very stingy." She frowned then looking around. "How -have- you survived with so little resources? I'm barely getting anything.."

He reached up to wipe a tear she had missed and shook his head. "Lots of sleep and slow recharging.. barely any use of my magic.. Then Rekah and Yeardley gave me some flowers from the heart.. I finally heard talking again."

He watched her startle as she finally realized how quiet it was here and she looked around to all the plant life. Even though most of it was frozen there were still evergreens that should have been offering some sort of background noise but the only sound was the soft pitter patter of the snowflakes as they landed on the benches and lamp posts. She shuddered hard and clung to his arm then as if this were more scary than any violence they could have been presented with.

"We should go and see if we can find mother." She said very quietly now and he nodded anxious and eager at the same time to get back to his land if only for a bit. He needed to know if the faerie mound still accepted him or if the magic of Rhydin was the only reason he was still standing.