(this falls after the roleplay in the inn where Rekah said "I wish they could see your wings" and Jasper's wings came out.. and he still had his clothes on. Until then he had to take off his shirt and pants to get the whole of his wings out and now he could just weave them on and off his skin with the clothes intact.)

The fae were creatures of magic and energy and when they were away from their Faerie mounds, the ability to garner either of those at a steady enough pace to sustain them was very rare hence why exile was literally a death sentence for beings like Jasper.

He'd been fading already for the longest time, dying piece by piece and quietly. Rhydin had magic, magic enough that it slowed his descent into slower than a snail's crawl which at that pace would not deplete him for a couple years, but it was not enough to sustain him fully. It was this reason alone that he had always held out hope that his voluntary exile would be short.

When Gerthwyth had found him with his wing cut from the 'persuasion' attempt she had left immediately and the next time she had come back was to tell him they were no longer together, she'd gotten with child with another, oh and by the way, your voluntary exile is now permanent, the faerie mound no longer recognizes you since you are a traitor and cannot fly anymore anyway.

Gerthwyth had just used him as a social ladder, part of him had known all along that she was just trying to be Queen to his King but to see it play out like that had been a deeper cut than he could have foreseen. When she left that time with the promise to never return he had stayed where he had been trying to sleep and recover energy and just let go.

He'd tried to fade and was a decent way into it until Caedia and Kheldar found him. The fight of dealing with the lack of constant magic, the lack of constant and free energy, the fight of living without touch, it had been too
much to deal with when he -had- something and someone to go back to.

Take away everything a man has and then he has nothing to lose. Except himself.

But now. Now he was opening his eyes and staring at the closed eyes of another. His frighteningly cold skin had warmed enough to be just this side of cool and he let out a ragged breath. She had tasted of rock candy, watermelon flavor and he licked his lips to savor the last of it.

That had been the most personal kiss they had shared and he was feeling some what guilty now that he hadn't been able to be gentlemanly like enough to take them somewhere else before he dove into it. He would have done it differently as well if he could but he had given Yeardley his word that Rekah would make it back safe and the only way to do that was blink them there, but you can't blink without energy, and you can't get energy without willing earth and plants or.. well the kiss was another sort of magic. Desperate times call for desperate measures and being demi-fey meant that certain activities brought healing to them, the warmth was still lingering even as she moved finally chattering something he couldn't make out.

His blood was still rushing with the thrill and his mind was spinning ten ways from Sunday. The Goddess -had- blessed him, he blinked them both to his room. His wings had come out, a privilege that usually only the Kings and Queens had as the magic felt they were the only ones entitled to it.

His twin and mother were linked to him though and if any of them went down, the others would know. His father was safe, the moonfae could only come to the mounds on certain occassions and it wasn't yet time, so there was no danger there.

He was first in line which meant as soon as he could father a child then he would be rightful King but unless someone just gave birth to one of his children and had held that information back from him.. he was still the Reluctant Prince.

But The Reluctant Prince had something other than an heir on his side. Golden flecked eyes danced along Rekah's form in a more appraising and appreciative way as she stood there with her hands on her hips and pointed to the bed. She was saying something he knew it but he still couldn't hear anything through the rush of adrenaline and magic through his already depleted body.

The Goddess had accepted him, she had answered Rekah's wish.. if the Goddess was on their side and gave her blessing for their relationship, then that meant things would have to work out, right?

So long the elements and magic had been silent for him. He'd been with Gerthwyth for quite awhile and they had tried many many many times to get with child because his mother, Queen Illianna was due for a break and wanted to step down. They had tried fertility rituals and everything they could because Gerthwyth wanted to be Queen and having Jasper as a King would have given her so much freedom since he didn't see the need for the Courts and thought the whole process to be useless and silly.

All those days lost in her arms and with nothing to show for it, Jasper was sure he had lost favor with the Goddess and his elements and they were punishing him and abandoning him.. and now. He had access to abilities he shouldn't yet. The Goddess hadn't foresaken him.

"Jasper Cornelius Silverblades!!!!" The shrill shriek cut through the tears streaming down his face and cut through the raging noise in his head. Cornelius? What in Danu's name was she talking about? And why was the floor raising up like that, had magic gone out of control?

He woke a few minutes later still on the floor where he had passed out except his upper body was now in Rekah's criss crossed legs and she was humming and playing with the curls in his hair. He took a few moments to take stock on the damage to his body, it was sore and aching and he could feel which parts hit the floor first. He also felt the down comforter that Rekah had tucked over his body. The humming continued peacefully as she traced little doodles on his cheek.

"Cornelius?" His voice filtered weakly over the humming and she paused and bent over at a nearly impossible angle to kiss his forehead.

"You are okay! I thought you were going to turn into a squash for real or something and then you were so eager to lay down that you picked the floor. It's not very comfortable down here, are you comfortable? Was it the kiss that made you pass out? It was a very nice kiss, I liked it and you liked it and then we were here and not there and since we are not there, we are here. Then I tried to call you several times as you fell forward but you were not listening, so I called you Jasper cornelius Silverblades because that's what people yell when they need to get others attention!"

He hadn't known she lived as a street urchin for so long, they hadn't discussed it as fae didn't ask blunt questions if they could help it. They lived on the whole, if someone wanted to tell them they would, aspect which made it a little frustrating when around people who lived differently and expected you to ask.

"They yell Jasper Cornelius Silverblades to get others attention?" He was confused now, why would they shout his name?

"No, they shout whomever the person's name is, only with their whole name!"

"Cornelius is not part of my name." He let the confusion color his tone.

"Oh, I know, but I had to get your attention and it was the first thing I thought of!" Brightly and she nodded, uh huh! Yes! It's truth! See how cute I am?

He blinked up at that look a moment then closed his eyes, he was still reeling and getting colder. "I would like.. the bed."

Really he could have slept anywhere at that point in time but the thought of her on the cold hard floor made him sick to his stomach, not when he could manage to find the energy to get them somewhere more comfortable. Instead of risking her insisting she was fine and wasting energy on -that- argument he implied it was -his- need, that always worked with her and it did now as she immediately nodded and let go, pushing where she could to help him up.

He managed to get onto the bed then and she undid his shoelaces so he could kick the converse off and then he flopped backwards onto the bed uncermoniously and struggled to maintain consciousness.

Rekah curled herself into his side after tugging the down comforter back to the bed. Normally he preferred wearing only soft sweatpants to bed but he didn't have any inclination to waste what little energy he had left on undressing, the jeans and t-shirt would have to do.

"My Rekah." The words were slurred as he expended the last of his energy to drape an arm over his girl.

The Goddess had blessed him with more magic, but the Earth was still unyielding and so he hadn't enough energy to use his newfound gifts and it had depleted him. It was akin to Jasper being a rechargeable battery who's charge had been slowly leaking out anyway and now he had an even more complicated and powerful 'machine' to run and the charge wasn't enough to keep up, not with the short bursts of power he'd been using at any rate.

Rekah was safe in his arms in the Outback in his room. He had kept his word to Yeardley, the Wild Hunt would not be after him tonight, no oath breaker here, his girl was cuddled into his side offering warmth and comfort and hadn't run off screaming or suddenly turned ambitious and tried to become Queen to his King.. everything was as right in his world as he could make it. He finally let go of everything and let sleep over take him.

----

Jasper smelled sweetpeas and lavender, he immediately dropped to a knee and dropped his head reverently. A beautiful hill spread before him with a field full of flowers that trembled in the soft and soothing cool wind. A sprawling tree topped the hill pregnant with blooms as well and was off to his side.

He saw the pooled up gray material of the cloak that was close enough to touch his side. He knew if he looked up that he would see an ever changing hand that was as old as a crones then as young and soft as could be, but he would not look up.

"Will you ever see yourself worthy enough for anything?" Her voice sounded old.. and young.. tired.. and renewed.

She was every woman that ever was and would be.

He winced, the words were not happy with him. He kept his silence, there was no answer he could give. 'No' would only make her more unhappy with him and 'yes' was too close to a lie since currently he could not see a time when he -would- consider himself worthy. The fae do not lie.

"The Elements bless you, I bless you, and still you doubt." She sighed.

"Our people have said you had left us." He answered mournfully and kept his statue still position studying the silky grass beneath him. He was not worthy enough in his mind to look up at the Goddess.

"I never stopped talking, they just stopped listening." She answered.

"And now they're trying to destroy what we have built."

"Do not fear for her, Jasper. Do not leave her simply out of fear."

Jasper looked up then but refused to raise his eyes past her waist. "Our people will destroy her."

"She is stronger than you think. And do you not think you both deserve happiness?"

Again he didn't answer and she sighed.

"Oh, my Jasper." Sometimes kids could be frustrating and Jasper was no exception.

He couldn't help it then, the image sprung unbidden into his mind of Rekah suddenly stomping up to the Goddess and giving her a piece of her mind. 'Excuse me, that's MY Jasper lady!' completely unrealizing as to the importance of the woman, it would make no nevermind to Rekah at that point. He didn't realize he had started laughing out loud until he heard the most beautiful sound of all, even better than the sun singing. The Goddess was laughing with him.

"She -is- quite the spitfire, go, and know happiness. Do not run, Jasper, do not run for fear and lose something for nothing. You have my blessing, do not lose it."

There was blackness then and Jasper's eyes sprung open adjusting to the darkness of the room in the Outback. The visit had left him revitalized in not only spirit and energy but of the heart. The tension left him completely and he shifted to curl further around the small woman at his side.