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Of Diners and Pixies
Part of we’re all cowboys
The one where they meet Alice and Harry is NOT happy
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Harry hissed beside him, a feeling of uncertainty and skepticism surrounding jasper.
No , he wanted to say, not at all. “Of course”, Jasper said instead, convincing himself more than Harry.
“It reeks of vampire”, Harry pointed out distrustfully - at the vampire, not you, Jasper reminded himself.
He frowned slightly at Harry’s words though. He had noticed the rather pungent scent of another of their kind, something he would rather not come across. Still…
“Yes”
“And we’re still going in there?” His childe asked incredulously , though he seemed like he already knew the answer if his resignation was any indication.
“That was the plan”
“Couldn’t we just”, Harry’s eyes darted around quickly, “stay here or something?”
“Out in the middle of the street, while it’s pouring? The humans will think something is up”
“That’s because there is”, his apparent fifteen year old snarked in a very teenage manner, “what do the muggle’s opinions matter anyway?”. Louder he said, “what about the forest, we could stay there”. The again went unsaid.
“What about your new sweatshirt? Doubt you’d want to ruin it already, darlin’”, Jasper honestly wasn’t sure why he was trying so hard to convince Harry. He himself didn’t want to go all that much, and even if he did, Harry would follow him anywhere, it was pointless. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to spend another rainy night out in the forest, ignoring the sounds of burrowing animals, or Harry’s lighthearted complaints about being wet. Nonetheless, here he was, trying to persuade his vampire to follow him into a little diner in the state of Philadelphia. ‘Mental’ as Harry would say.
The comment about the sweatshirt did seem to have an effect on Harry however, as he turned a stubborn tilt to his jaw and said “fine. Fine we’ll go, but I still don’t like the idea of another vampire”.
“They won’t start a fight, it would be suicidal if they did. And not in front of the humans either way”.
Harry contemplated his words for a second, before nodding shortly. “suppose they could always dispose of the muggles”, he said thoughtfully , “but that might take too long if they want to fight”.
Jasper rolled his eyes as they neared the diner. He was glad he had Harry as company, despite some of his antics. He opened the door, gesturing for his childe to walk through.
“There’s nothing to even drink here” Harry grumbled, “would have been nice to have some alcohol-y something”.
Jasper ignored both the facts that no one would serve a fifteen year old alcohol, and how Harry seemed to want to get drunk, in favor of smirking. “I don’t know,” he joked, looking around. “Seems like a lot to drink here” sending a pointed look at the few gathered humans.
That drew an amused smile from Harry, causing Jasper to grin a bit. “I dunno, vamp #1 might get to order before us”, he said, nodding towards the small frame of what was obviously the vampire they had been smelling. They were sitting at the bar table, chatting animatedly with the human working the counters.
“Mmm, they might share. They are kind of small, couldn’t possibly eat all of ‘em…”
Harry shoved him slightly at that remark. He’s smaller than them , he reminded himself. But Harry doesn’t really eat much either…
“Eh, we still may have to fight them”. While they had mostly been teasing up until this point, it seemed like a part of Harry was completely serious, though his emotions still showed his amusement .
Jasper hummed noncommittally. If it came down to a fight, then he would fight. but it would be over in a matter of seconds, he reminded himself. Few vampires outside of the south knew how to fight, and even fewer could beat both him and Harry without struggle.
He mentally shook those thoughts away. No need to strategize to begin with anyway. Harry was peering closely at the figure still at the bar, no doubt confused by their nonsense conversation with the human.
His peering didn’t last long however, as Harry slinked to hover behind him only seconds before the chair turned. Jasper could practically feel Harry’s casual gaze turning into an intent stare.
The vampire he was suddenly faced with was small. Not small like Harry small, but like a pixie more than a vampire. Her spiky hair was equally in a pixie cut of its own. ( Coincidence? ) it was short and black in a way that outlined her gentle, petite face. A human eye would almost mistake Harry and her as relatives with their small frames and black hair, but Jasper could tell how different both were. The most surprising thing, however, were her twinkling, golden eyes.
Or, the second most, jasper mentally corrected as she strolled up to him. The most surprising thing was definitely her lack of fear of him, or lack of self preservation…? He knew he could be intimidating with the numerous scars littering his body (and for good reason), or even the height difference between them, yet this vampire wasn’t feeling a hint of fear - even as Harry’s suspicion and distrust clouded around him.
Jasper suddenly felt his own gratitude as he acknowledged Harry’s stance. Here they were, faced with an unknown vampire that Harry had an intense distrust for, and yet he didn’t crouch in front of him in a protective stance, which he knew Harry was yearning to do, what every one of his instincts were telling him to do. Instead, he let Jasper stand in front, a sign of Jasper's own power (something in which Harry clearly wasn’t lacking), because he was the sire and Harry trusted him..
He sent a small bit of appreciation towards Harry, who, though behind him, Jasper noticed made a quick, curt nod in acknowledgment accompanied by a small bit of understanding from Harry.
“You’ve kept me waiting a long time”
Harry’s irritation rose along with his dubiety . Jasper admired his childe’s self control. No doubt other vampires of his background would have started a fight by now.
Bemused, Jasper responded, “my apologies, ma’am” which drew a quiet snort from his little vampire behind him.
Harry’s snort caused the vampire in front of him to turn slightly, noticing Harry for the first time.
Her confidence and excitement flickered into confusion and uncertainty for a moment, before returning at full force.
“Perhaps we should take this outside”, his childe hissed quietly at the excitable pixie.
“Of course”, she responded in a way without any cold tone, which he knew Harry wouldn’t have been able to pull off. She turned to the man behind the counter whom she had previously been chatting with. “Thank you for your hospitality. Unfortunately, I will be going now”, though her tone did not convey any of the mentioned unfortunates.
They watched her skip out the door, Harry slightly bewildered , but as Jasper turned to leave, a throat behind him cleared pointedly.
“It’s rude to leave a woman waiting, mister. I expect you to treat a lady better in the future”.
“Yessir”, he responded to the human, his bemusement becoming more prominent.
Harry rolled his eyes slightly (a habit which, jasper idly noted, was very teenage for his now sixty-seven year old vampire) and gestured for jasper to follow. “Might as well get this over with”. He quickly followed Harry before he did something stupid with the new vampire.
For some reason though, Jasper highly doubted that this would be ‘over with’ any time soon.
The next conversation proved him right in a matter of minutes.
“I don’t trust this”, Harry said as they curved around the building, following the subtle fruity floral scent of the vampire. “I don’t trust this at all”.
Jasper didn’t either, but there was something about this vampire that made her… no trustworthy, per say, but more not untrustworthy.
When they got around the bend, she was standing there in the rain, perfectly at ease. There goes keeping Harry’s sweatshirt dry , he thought. Something Harry must have also realized if his remorse was anything to go on.
“What do you want?”, Harry practically growled at her before Jasper had the chance. Harry, for someone so quiet and stay-out-of-the-way, could be very territorial and opinionated if he wanted to. His attitude, however, did not dampen her mood.
“What he meant to say”, jasper cut in, “was: would you mind explaining what’s going on here? It seems you already knew about us, yet we are in the dark as to who you are”. Harry elbowed him slightly in a way that said ‘ don’t let them know your weaknesses’ . The vampire, however, plowed on without taking notice.
“Oh, right! I’m Alice! Nice to finally meet you”
She stuck out her hand, and without stopping to make sense of what he was doing, Jasper clasped his own around hers. For the first time in nearly a century, he felt hope.
Not the hope he felt when he turned Harry. That was desperation. Not the hope of leaving with Peter, that had been unease and relief clouding his systems. But this, this was hope. A feeling he had never felt on his own before, never to this extreme. This was the hope of leaving his past where it was, and leading a new, peaceful life with this pixie- Alice - and his Harry. She was his ticket out: no more violence, or killing, or depression that was only slightly eased by his childe (though, come to think of it, Harry had depression worse than Jasper so maybe he was actually making it worse- not that he would ever point that out).
And as she described a family of ‘vegetarian’ vampires’ existence, Jasper could hardly believe what she was saying. It was like she had known exactly the life he wanted- away from violence and killing. But all he could feel from her was sincerity , and it made him optimistic.
“Will you come with me?” She asked gently. In that moment Jasper knew that yes, he would follow her anywhere . But…
He turned to a doubt filled Harry. “Would you come darlin’?”. No matter how much he wanted to go, he wouldn’t leave his sweet Harry, no matter what.
Harry stared at him for a good minute, before nodding slowly, and speaking in that soft voice of his. “If you think this is a good idea, I’ll come. Until it’s more obvious that it’s not”. He ignored Harry’s pessimism and replied just as quietly, enough so that Alice couldn’t hear.
“If it doesn’t turn out, we’ll leave. But just give her a chance, that's all I’m askin’”. Harry nodded minutely, but didn’t comment any more.
“We’ll come, but we have the right to leave”.
“Of course! Come on, I’ve got a place we can go until it stops raining”. Once again bemused at her cheery attitude, Jasper followed, Harry hovering besides him as they ran.
As they left, Jasper hoped he had made the right decision. Despite Harry’s reserves, he would follow Jasper anywhere- and that’s what worried him.
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