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In the Shadow of the Ocean (CasualVelociraptor x PhoenixRising82)

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Alice had a complicated relationship with Goliaths. The machines themselves had no fault; from their ability to kneel to their payload, their design was the height of human genius, the execution of their destiny precise. But even being aboard one now for something as benign as a police escort home brought back the darkness, the cold, the dull thudding sound of their transport’s metal feet hitting the ocean floor, the water rushing in once the bomb bay doors opened, the screams of hundreds who didn’t get clear of the metal when the water sucked them out...

Detective Guthrie shook her head to snap out of it as Octavia’s advice sank in. She sighed, “I suppose the most strictly logical thing to do would be to limit potential vulnerabilities in my fight to stop Elizabeth from turning all of us into her dolls. And my search for my sister. And my quest to find out what happened to my brother. And to keep the peace between Jareth and his family...why do I have to always...str-streeeehtch myself...my fault, always always alWAYS!” Now Alice was shaking and mumbling more.

“But while I’ll never judge another woman for her choice, my- my heart wants to keep these girls. I want to love them the way I never was, to be the mother I never had. And then, I think...”

Alice stumbled over to the wash basin that thousands of soldiers had had to share and hyperventilated, “What kind of mother would I be to give my children THIS?!”

Just as she shouted at herself in the mirror, an image of her body overtaken by The Darkness appeared instead of her normal reflection.

“How will he want me? How will he want a life with three hideous monsters? How can I be a good mother when I don’t know anything about this...?”

And then Alice fell on the ground as the panic attack overtook the detective’s constitution and started rolling over and clutching at her chest like she was trying to pull an animal off of it even though there was no assailant on her chest.

“Is everything alright in there? Because my copilot’s home sick with the mer flu and with those drugged up crazies running around, I really can’t be leaving my pilot’s seat for anything except emergencies, y’know? I only ask, Detective and Madam, because I really feel like I know you. My daughter is a big fan of the both of you, Miss Guthrie and Miss Richards! Would you sign these drawings? It’d mean the world to little Betty....if you’re not having an emergency, that is.”

The driver then slid the pieces of paper over to them across the thankfully recently cleaned and dried floor. Seeing Betty’s awkward, crooked, chicken feet having but happy representation of her was the only thing that finally calmed Alice down. That and hearing the tune to The Dance at the Ice Palace when she touched it for some reason...
 
”Mhmmm. We could figure out something to protect you and.....them.”

Octavia replied quietly, with a glance at Alice’s belly. Regardless of her offer to help her rid herself of the fetus’, truth was, she’d stand behind her friend no matter what choice the girl made.

With a soft tsk, she leaned slightly forward, her head tipping to peer directly into Alice’s eyes.

”Don’t you worry your pretty head over Jareth and his father. He can handle that as he has been for a long time.”

Her arm curled around Alice’s shoulders, her hand rubbing along the girls arm as she listened. When Alice stood, she let her, turning to follow her and watch her quietly a moment before she came to stand behind Alice. A hand settling comfortingly on her shoulder as she stared at Alice in the glass. Unflinching as she watched her. She was silent a moment before speaking softly in Alice’s ear.

”It was years before Jareth showed his true self to me. He was your age in fact. He was scared and worried too.....”

She paused, searching carefully for her words but listening to the girls questions as well. Her lips worked open, preparing to continue, to answer Alice’s questions but all she managed was a mildly surprised ”Oh!” of concern as the girl slipped from her light grip, to the floor. Dropping to her knees beside her, she pulled her into her lap as much as could be as she flailed around. Trying to sooth the girl and what was ailing her.

”Fine. We’re fine.”

She called up, biting her tongue at the rest of the Goliath pilots words. Muttering under her breath about there being no such thing as a god damned mer flu and biting a little harder so as not to snap at the guy that now, now was not the time. While she may not have wanted children of her own, other peoples and their adoration of her kept her in check there, because she never aimed to squash that fire that burned in the younger ones that were fans of what she did. She offered a tight smile as she drew the drawings closer, holding them up with a soft chuckle. Making sure that Alice could see them as well before handing hers to her.

Once hers was signed, she gave Alice a moment to finish before she slid hers back toward the pilot and turned to the girl. Looking her over quietly before she said anything again.

“When you’re with someone that cares, you figure it out. You’re a detective, you always figure it out, yeah? And you’re with someone that cares. John is right......”

She tapped the ring on Alice’s finger.

”As much distance as there is between him and I right now.....I can honestly say, Jareth is a good man. He will take care of you, all of you and he won’t judge.”
 
After finishing applying her signature to the drawing, Alice only just managed to realize how good it felt to sit on Octavia’s lap before the sweats, shakes and aches of withdrawal from her near total Darkness takeover episode. On the one hand, she was really regretting letting The Darkness back out after years of effort to suppress her negative emotions, as it felt like she’d broken a sobriety streak. But on the other hand...she had to protect him. He needed her to be strong; and any risk to be that for him was worth it.

After a few dry heaves into the sink and some rudimentary washing of her face and hair to cool herself down, Alice thanked the Goliath driver once he arrived and kneeled by the gate by giving him his daughter’s drawing back, and saying with all honesty that his little Betty had given her hope for the world again with a hug. All of which he appreciated.

Then, she parkoured her way up the building to her room and tossed down a rope for Octavia to climb up. But not for the reason the aviator might have hoped. Once Octavia arrived, Alice showed her three different drawings of various dandy outfits that she had had delivered here (and hoped to wear to project a rare sense of noble airs befitting hosting a Queen) and asked for her opinion on which would wear best. Especially since before dinner she planned to channel some of her complicated feelings into singing and playing the violin for two of the most recognizable Caledorian songs aside from the national anthem Dawn of a Nation, and for that she needed to look her best.

Normally, if she wanted to feel straightforwardly feminine she went with sundresses; if she wanted to be comfortable on a case, she went with her recognizable jacket, vest, floppy hat and tight but breathable khakis with equipment. But sometimes she wanted to be...not masculine, but able to pull off what would normally be considered a masculine outfit to show her confidence with feminine grace as well. She felt these would help her steady herself.
 
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Octavia has indeed been hopeful for more than just an outfit choosing. Her words spilling from her lips in a sugary sweet lilt, though playful as well because she knew.....she was in Jareth’s house and should she get caught going against him again, it likely would end in the complete break of their friendship.

”How about.....option four. You, naked?”

She grinned and playfully rubbed her shoulder against Alice’s as she let her gaze drop to the drawings produced. With gentle hands, she pulled the drawings away and stepped back, turning to face Alice full on. Her expression turning serious as she looked over each choice carefully and then over Alice as she imagined her in each outfit, including the choice she’d offered.

”Hmm, well. I like both the first and the last. However, I suspect your beau will be rather partial to the first.”

A smile beamed across her face as she handed the drawings back. A finger held up as she tutted softly and chuckled.

”As much as I’d like to stick around and watch you dress, I need to go get dressed myself. I have yet to actually meet The Queen, so I need to pull out my best dress.”

She cupped the girls cheeks in her hands and pulled her close, kissing her lightly against her forehead.

”Everything will work out as it should. I’ll see you at dinner.”

And with that, Octavia swept grandly from the room and made her way to her own to dress for dinner.

***************
Ianassa laughed gleefully as she watched the Xen’s milling about. Jareth leaned back in his chair, chuckling at his mothers giddy reaction to the machines. An old wooden cane propped up against the leg of the table, one that Octavia would recognize as one she’d given him back when they first met. The handle, a beautifully carved nymph in erotic pose, to him ironically resembled Alice, rather than Octavia. The flow of her hair, the way the back arched, the size of her breasts.....he’d smiled broadly when he’d pulled it from the closet. He knew better but it was almost as if Octavia had known all those years ago, where he would truly end up.

”These are all your doing, son? All of them?”

Ianassa leaned back, her gaze rolling up as the hat she wore disappeared from her head.

”I am sorry Madame. No hats are allowed at the table. I shall take care of it for you.”

Xen 2, while trying to be helpful, squished the hat in his metal hand as he zoomed off to hang the hat.

”All of them but that one.....”

He started chuckling even harder as he pointed to Xen 3, who was off to the left, rolling around in circles, looking quite confused for the most part.

”That one is Alice’s doing. I’m going to start calling him Gimp. She re-wired him on me, refused to fix him at first and then said she did fix him. Pretty sure she pulled one over on me.”

Ianassa practically squealed with delight, her hands clapping as she watched 3 run in circles.

”Oh! I am definitely going to enjoy that girls company. She’s going to keep you in line and on your toes and I love it!”

They continued bantering back and forth. Xen 2 returned to help Xen 1 set the table and bring the feast in.

Ianassa leaned over, getting a good look at the spread that stretched the length of the table, curiously etched across her features.

”Oh, what do we have here, Adamaris?”

Just as she asked, John and Octavia stepped through the door arm in arm. Octavia’s silver gauntlet sweeping the flowing pink train of her dress forward so that she could settle into the chair that John pulled out for her, once the introductions were out of the way of course. John shrugged the jacket from his shoulders, draping it over the back of his chair, leaving just his navy vest over his white button up shirt. A little more casual than Jareth, as usual.

Jareth was quiet as introductions were made between the Queen and Octavia. He did note the glance and smile O gave the old cane he had with him. His mother already knew John but still he sat silent and let them get re-acquinted. All the while, his eyes drawn toward the door, waiting for his Alli-cat to make her entrance.
 
Alice laughed when Octavia suggested option four, then said, “Well, I have a feeling that will go over well with Jareth and you if you glimpse it...but not necessarily Ianassa.”

Alice somehow managed to shower and wrestle on tight, form fitting new clothes in almost no time at all, then finally felt like the calm, in control and rational detective again as the pinstripes drew attention to her legs but in more of a fashionable manner, the jacket and tie helped her project strength like she hoped and the bowler hat was simple and practical yet stylish and sophisticated, unlike most ladies’ hats, whose brims were impossibly large and full of feathers and dragon scales. Alice also understood now why Jareth carried a cane, apart from practical necessity: it was quite an attention getter.

When she went down the stairs to the dining room, she slid down the bannister railing (something she had always wanted to do!) and then strode the world with each step forward. But there was one other secret weapon attached to her hip, even though it was the furthest thing from a gun.

“Good evening to our distinguished guest, Queen Ianassa of All Seas. I am very honored that you’ve decided to join us, and thank you for standing up for me, even when I wasn’t standing up for myself. If I may, before we all eat, I’d like to welcome our Queen with a rendition of our national anthem and two songs from Caledoria’s most famous opera, George Achterberg’s 1652 magnum opus Born of Fire and Ice, about the foundation and early history of Caledoria.”

First came Dawn of a Nation, full of proud brass that was still recreated well by Alice’s violin and traditionally played just after the climactic victory against the Elder Dragons that book ended Act 2 of 4 of the (relatively short for the medium) three hour opera. Gimp (she grinned when hearing Jareth joke about that name but she liked it) joined in by using his clockwork needle to read a wax cylinder that recorded the audio of the other instruments from a performance she went to a year prior.

Many Peoples, One Voice was next. Placed at the end of Act 3, according to Achterberg’s journal it was about the people of Caledoria rejoicing. According to some historians however, there was strong evidence that the song may have been plagiarized from a mixture of songs sung by northern polar tribes of “Lesser Caledoria.” Regardless, it was a happy and triumphant song that made audiences feel like they’d overcome adversity with the characters and the people of Caledoria as a whole.

And lastly, she played The Dance of the Ice Palace from the end of the play, based loosely on the coronation ceremony of Henry the Liberator and his wife Elizabeth in 0 AC as Emperor and Empress, which was held under a large palace warmed by magic and carved entirely out of a glacier.
 
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Octavia did stop in the doorway, nails tapping gently against the frame.

”From what Adamaris has told me, those in Olseka have no problem with being naked nor seeing it. I can’t say for sure as I haven’t been there but if it’s true, I doubt the Queen would bat an eye anymore than he and I would.”

Her head tilted and she grinned and then she was gone.

As soon as Alice stepped into the dining room, Jareth stood. His dark eyes sliding quietly over her, right down to the cane and her shoes. A slow smirk forming as his eyes devoured her, for just a moment everyone else in the room fading from his thoughts. Until he heard the soft tsk from his mother. He turned to see his mother covering her mouth with her hand to suppress a very undignified smile, but he could still see a little flush in her cheeks before she took it away and said.

“And it is my honor to visit with my newest daughter.”

Once everyone settled back into their seats, they sat, watched and listened in rapt attention as she played. There was a moment of quiet when she was finished. Octavia started the soft round of applause, the others following suit. Ianassa, smiling sweetly, mouthed a grateful Thank you.

After a moment, Jareth gently reached out, grabbing Alice’s hand and pulling her toward him until she tipped into his lap. Peppering kisses against her jaw until he reached her ear and whispered.

”That was wonderful and well received. But my lovely little Alli-cat....have you been raiding my closet?”

He gave her a playful, tickling squeeze against her thigh, just above her knee and whispered again.

”You look better than I do in pinstripes. It’s really pretty hot.”

He leaned back, his head resting against the chair back. Eyes dancing over Alice’s face and smiled broadly.
 
That wordless Thank you brought a lightness to Alice's heart that was far different from, but equally as enjoyable as, the kind of elation that Jareth brought to her heart. She finally had someone who could be a mother to her again, and once the babies arrived, whoever they might be, there was a distinct possibility that she could take a few years off from all this craziness and just enjoy her family.

"You'll never make me confess! i'm the Uncrackable Detective Guthrieeeheeheehee!" Alice proclaimed defiantly in the middle of uncontrollable laughter from his surgical tickle strike. She was referring in her last sentence before she squealed to the dime novel of the same name published by L. P. James (a pseudonym short for Laurel Patricia James, a reporter for The Imperial Clarion who she'd worked quite closely with and one of her few platonic friends in this run down city before she died of black fever.)

“Your grandchildren are going to be total goofballs at this rate," Jareth's intended then chuckled and mock rolled her eyes before sitting more forward on his lap to kiss him, whisper, "We'll talk about what I might look better in...or without...tonight." With a wink, Alice pulled herself off of her beau with some reluctance, before settling into the task at hand.

That being eating dinner, sure, but she also had another invitation to extend to her presumptive mother in law...

"Ianassa, I would also be honored if you'd accompany Jareth and myself to the Royal Artistic, Industrial & Scientific Exposition next week. At RAISE, you'll see your son's company, as represented by Paio with his surface name of John, explain the kinds of amazing new devices that they will be building for the future, while many other achievements will be shown off, food served, music played...it'll be an amazing to show you all the wonders the surface has to offer us all. And since this 'mer flu' business is fabricated out of whole cloth, I expect that as long as the quarantine on South Bend holds, we shouldn't face any attacks by those...creatures either. Even if something does happen, we'll be sure to keep you safe. What do you think?"
 
Jareth’s laugh, hearty and deep, danced with Alice’s. His face lighting up as he listened to hers. His tickling fingers stilled, hands settling against her waist as she leaned forward. A soft ”Mmhmm” murmured against her lips when he returned the kiss. A smile curling the corners of his lips as she drew back.

”I’ll hold you to that....and plenty of other things.”

He growled low and playful as she slid from his lap.

Ianassa looked on, her hands folded beneath her chin as a wide smile spread across her features. Her eyes shining with loving wonder before a soft chuckle escaped and she sat back in her chair.

”My grandchildren will be beautiful little goofballs.”

Her gaze dancing between both Alice and Jareth, her wide smile holding steady. It was lovely to see her son smiling and happy, laughing and in love. The word grandchildren slipped over her lips with a breathy sort of sound. She was excited and in love with the idea already. She had honestly expected Cae to have given her grandchildren first, despite Jareth’s proclivities but it mattered not to her and she was elated by the mere fact of babies running around in their family once again. And unlike her husband, she was exceedingly proud of her boy.

Turning her attention to the meal before them, she dug in. Proper and yet with an enthusiasm akin to her sons. Enjoying the food presented, trying each new thing in turn.

”Mmmm...”

She nodded softly as she swallowed the bite she currently chewed on, wiping her lips as she focused on her daughter-in-law to be and smiled.

”I think that’ll be lovely, a day out with my family and it’ll be nice to be kept up to date on what my darling son is doing these days.”

She smirked, chuckling as she continued with her food.
 
“I think you already have some idea of what your son has been up to, but you’re right- it will be very lovely,” Alice grinned while rubbing her belly, now that the more jokey atmosphere had been established as normal in the house. That pun was so bad, however, that Alice could see that even Octavia was rolling her eyes. (Yet still smiling, so not from derision- more of an “oh, you” look.)

“Speaking of which...” Alice sighed as she felt the babies flap their tiny tails against her bladder and it gave her all the excuse she needed to cut dinner short. “It appears the practical jokers your son made are growing fast and wreaking havoc on my constitution.”

She was exaggerating, but had to wonder if this was signaling rapid growth that would actually ravage her body posthaste. After that she continued, “Jareth, would you be a dear and help massage my feet, perhaps put a cold compress on my forehead?” and headed to the bedroom.

That part was an outright lie. Her feet and head were not killing her, but her pussy was certainly burning up, and she knew the only salve for what ached. At least she was reasonably sure she couldn’t get double pregnant. (Although, there was that one case she took on a few years back...was the father a shifter like Jareth? She’d have to look it up.)
 
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Ianassa smirked and straightened as she shifted in her chair. Taking a slow sip of her wine, the smirk shifted to a mischievous grin as she set the goblet back beside her plate.

”Oh indeed! I was meaning business wise. We’ve always known Adamaris is a bit of an octopus.”

Jareth blinked, his eyes widening as his attention whipped toward the Queen.

”Mom!”

Ianassa chuckled, her head tilting slightly as her shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. A robust laugh drifted from the other end of the table as John nearly fell out of his seat laughing. A hand clapped against the table.

”Never could fool your Mother, fool!”

Jareth stood, the corners of his lips twitching before a chuckle of his own escaped. Still, he chucked a couple pieces of food at John’s head before he bowed politely toward his mother and Octavia.

”Ladies, I have feet to massage.“

He pointed at Octavia and John sternly.

”You two behave and don’t let my Mother get you two into any trouble.”

He laughed as Ianassa tsked and smacked his arm as he took his leave.

He made love to his fiancée, with a slow and burning passion. They showered and afterward, he indeed massaged her feet and eventually her belly as they talked, until sleep claimed them both.

The next week was filled with plenty to keep them busy. His new cane arrived. A complete tour of the entire house was given to the Queen, from the basement lab to the turrets that over looked the property. A girls day out with Ianassa, Alice and Octavia. A day of course that both John and Jareth tried to get them to discuss but none of the women would break. John and Jareth spent the day before the fair, prepping for John’s presentation.

The next day, the Xen’s ushered the ladies out of Palaidia Hall toward a luxurious, gold and black automated carriage, fit for a Queen or three. Jareth and John stood waiting for the trio and opened the doors as the women drew closer. Jareth sandwiched between Alice and Ianassa. John and Octavia sat on the seat across from them, chatting idly on the ride to the fair.
 
Usually, Alice could expect Jareth's lovemaking to be hard, desperate, powerful, and craved that. But she didn't realize that someone could make love to her entire soul (she didn't know if that made any sense, but that's what she felt) until he held her and did it without any words, just caresses, kisses, nibbles, bites, groans. She had thought that realizing that she was pregnant had made him think she was more fragile, but he reassured her with just his eyes that even though his passion was slower right now, it wasn't any less strong, consistent or demanding. Perhaps knowing that she would be the mother of his children made him more appreciative of her every inch in a way that made her melt. Plus, it was so nice not to have to remember to drink any of that gross contraceptive potion beforehand, to feel him unleashing all his energy inside her, and (lastly and most importantly) taking care of her after the orgasm, the crash from the high his spunk gave her, all of it. And as she snuggled into his embrace, she felt her love growing and spreading throughout them both.

Still, it was not enough to keep the nightmares at bay this time. About everyone she'd hurt. About how he might not really love her if he actually saw her body fill with Darkness. About how the only one who could ever really understand her was a serial killer. Alice appreciated the house tour for that reason, but seemed to stare off into the distance and nod more than she probably would have, letting Octavia give more of the tour- and coming to find in the process that even with how long she'd lived in Palaidia Hall, there were still so many things about it that she had never seen. She didn't know if that made her more excited to explore it or less at home...

Fortunately, she was reprieved from any uncomfortable looks by the tour of South Bend she gave later that week. Most of it was still surrounded by firewalls as part of the quarantine, so the survivors had created a new community around the few streets and blocks that had experienced cases but then been “sterilized.” It was officially dubbed the "Yellow Zone" (as opposed to the majority of the city, which was green and supposedly free of mer flu and the Red Zone that was still full of active and ravenous infected) and colloquially called "Bent South Bend." While the Bamba Lounge and many of the nearby buildings were obliterated, there were still plenty of people who greeted her and Octavia with familiarity and Ianassa with respect, and plenty of establishments open, albeit packed with people in a crowded area that was perhaps less hygienic than ideal.

She greeted them with enthusiasm in turn and took the time to comfort many who had lost as well as take shared comfort in survival. And she was especially relieved that Savor+Cakes, the food cart she frequented, was still intact. But to protect her, her mother in law, and (friend? old fling? Fiancee's ex?) from potential attack, Alice taught them some simple parkour maneuvers along walls and up rickety paths between buildings made of wood and sheet metal, as well as bought Ianassa a SkyHook and all of them enough credits to ride the SkyTram to the station nearest to their destination. This is what she would've shown Jareth- her element, where she strangely felt completely herself; running, jumping, nearly flying among the common folk, and yet praised as their homegrown hero in ragamuffin garb. A symbol of South Bend's resilience, of its blue collar grit, of bootstrapping at its finest despite the fact (soon to leak) that she was marrying a billionaire and most of them would be stuck here. Waiting. For her to greet them. For a chance at freedom. At a life that she somehow felt she didn't deserve.

She knew everybody at their first stop, Skrambar (an agglomeration of the Old Caledorian word for "ruddy" and the word bar) by name, and they greeted her with a round of dancing and drinks on the house. Like clockwork, since she was already somewhat plastered, Octavia pulled Alice (who could not be) into her embrace and began grinding up on her ass, hands all over her body. Alice didn't refuse this advance, but knew it couldn't lead to anything further for both their sakes. So she managed to pull away just after Octavia cupped her breasts over her clothes, shoved aside a brutish dockworker who had been crowding her mother in law, and began dancing with the taller woman in a fashion more appropriate for a mother and daughter; even leaning her head on Ianassa's shoulder, finally feeling safe with her.

And then, after the girls arrived at Cleinsia South Bend, part of a series of privately owned but publicly funded bath houses of the same name, Alice realized what it was like to be truly naked and vulnerable with another person when there wasn't any sex, her usual lubricant for candidness, involved. To begin with, although the liberal attitude towards nudity here appalled many in the Church of Solstice and they called it a glorified brothel since many people did indeed find prostitutes here, at the bath house no one was above anyone else, nor had they been since their foundation three hundred years ago on the surprisingly plentiful hot springs that boiled away impurities in the river. Since anyone could get in for free with only a suggestion for donations and upselling for food, souvenirs, and home health care products, sales of which the Cleinsia took about 15% from, truly anyone could leave their cares here. Human, elf, poor, rich, black, white, gay, straight, fixed gender or fluid...all became comfortable in the cold showers, then the warm pools, then the tepid pools before leaving and letting night air fill their lungs like never before.

As long as no sexual acts, consensual or otherwise, were attempted here, there was a relaxed and free atmosphere here that was rare in Radiant, or much of the rest of the Empire for that matter. On top of that, with other women she felt she could relax her guard in turn, and she ignored the men here rather easily as a result. Still, after a little dip among the assorted crowds, it was nice that Octavia had planned ahead and rented a private hot tub for the evening, where they could order steam-treated drinks (non-alcoholic versions of such for the expectant mother, of course) and Any. Type. Of food they wanted in sample size for delivery straight to a table they shared in the middle of the roiling water. Alice definitely approved as she was experiencing cravings for everything she saw. (Restaurants and bars were happy to provide, as despite Cleinsia's hefty cut of the sales, it was free advertising). It was no wonder that VIPs and tourists from all over the world flocked here- the service and water were more than worth a little embarassment. During it, Octavia did a toast to Alice to her health and beauty and threw her arm around both Alice and Ianassa as Ianassa closed her eyes, right at home here, and Alice finally didn't feel weird while they chatted the night away until their skin was pruny and it was time to turn in.

While the girls were getting much needed platonic bonding time, however, Jareth was asleep. And by the time he was awake and in the car, he seemed to Alice (the only woman who wasn't nursing a hangover) very haggard and slouched forward. She would have to approach him about that later and ask what was wrong, but for now, feeling powerful in her gender neutral clothing that still fit her curves, more in touch with her femininity thanks to seeing all of herself and all of her fellow women, and surrounded by masculine energy from within and from her fiance, she ruffled his hair, smiled, and kissed him on the cheek before whispering, "I'm looking forward to showing you off, handsome. And since RAISE only comes once every ten years, this will be my first one where I get to go anywhere I want." Hoping that would perk him up.
 
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He smiled over at Alice, his hand slipping beneath her chin, lifting her face toward his as he leaned toward her, his lips brushing tenderly against hers.

”Show me off, huh? I’ll happily be your arm candy. In turn, I’ll get to show everyone that’s always thought that I have everything I want.....that I finally do actually have everything I want.”

His fingers caressed her jaw before falling to find her hand, his thumb brushing over the ring he’d put on her finger and then settling both of their hands against her belly, his atop of hers.

Pressing a warm kiss against her temple, he settled back into his seat between his mother and the mother of his children, his wife to be. His attention then seemed to come and go, even as a smile had settled over him.

Catching bits and pieces of the chitter chatter around him but he really couldn’t focus on any one thing. Not with the nightmare plaguing his thoughts. This one had been different. Not like the ones his father had put into his head. This one had felt....more organic. It had chewed through the thick layer of figurative protective bubble he’d encased himself in but now, it continued to gnaw at him even after he’d woken. It threatened to ruin his day, even with Alice’s loving attempt to perk him up and out of whatever funk he was in.

So much was at stake. Four....no, six.....of the most important people in his life surrounded him. He should be ecstatic and elated but part of him felt panicked and helpless. His hand rubbed idly and absently against his injured leg as he stretched it forward a moment before setting it straight again. What if something happened? He swallowed thickly. He was trying desperately to dispel such thoughts but recent events, both here and in Olseka crept in as if to taunt him further. Compounding upon the nightmares remnants and the angst it had instilled in him.

”My boobs used to be as bright and perky as yours, Octavia.”

The snippet of his Mother’s words he’d caught, managed to cut through the gloom billowing in his brain and his head whipped and dipped in her direction.

”Mom! I don’t want to hear about how your boobs used to look like O’s. Considering I’ve been close and personal with hers, I don’t want to even think about that.”

Octavia wore a cheeky smirk, her eyes boring into Jareth from across the cab. A look that had him shift slightly in his seat before his attention darted to John.

”Do go on, your Highness. I’m quite intrigued and frankly, I think you’ve still got a killer rack.”

John quipped just before being smacked square in his shin with Jareth’s cane.

”Dude! That’s my Mom.”

Jareth scowled at his friend as John leaned forward, laughing as he rubbed his shin.

”Well, if I must say, Alice actually has a perfect set....perfectly fitting for.....”

Octavia’s hands cupped and hefted as if she were in fact holding breasts in them. Ianassa was giggling quietly beside him. Leaning back to look over at Alice, as Jareth leaned forward, settling his elbows on his knees. A hand sweeping over his face before fingers pulled at his lips. A dart of his eyes to the side toward his mother, then settling squarely and unsettlingly on Octavia, he glared wordlessly.

”Oh, they are. And they’ll become far more perfect as her pregnancy progresses. They’ll grow plump and sensitive. Take full advantage of that......”

Ianassa spoke as she nodded. Jareth jerked up to standing. A sniff escaped him as he reached for the door.

”Let me out. I’m gonna walk.”

He mumbled, his gaze darting between his mother, Octavia and John, all chuckling softly.
 
Alice laughed at Octavia's flirty remarks towards her and her mother-in-law and Ianassa's nonchalance in return at first, and was about to comment directly on the other women's bosoms as well...until she saw how embarrassed her fiancé was by all this. So instead, she gave a very diplomatic answer, reminiscent of the more emotionally restrained Alice that Jareth had met.

"You know, I think that after being in the Cleinsia with you two last night, they have the right idea on nudity...and a similar idea prevails in Olseka, as you all may recall, and in Surabamba, where toplessness is the norm, among other things. Women should feel proud of their unique and beautiful bodies, and present company especially."

Then, after giving chaste hugs and kisses on both sides of her fellow women's faces, she noticed that Jareth was going to go for a walk, and so decided to join him, but didn't have the chance to tell him before he was well out of the vehicle. Even for as far away as they were from RAISE (and yet she could see the strange wheel towering over the fair that had been the subject of much rumor as to its purpose, dwarfed only by the even more massive building next to it), and as fast as the driver was making the car go along the cobblestone streets towards Inventors Green (once called Alto or AltoLand and sometimes still called that by locals) where RAISE was located, Alice didn't think about any of that in the slightest.

Instead, she threw her arms around Jareth's neck as she jumped on his back and kissed the back of his head, being very silly as she cooed, "Rawr! I love you." Something about this man just made her want to be very goofy in a way that she hadn't allowed herself to be in a long while.

"And..." she was starting to say when she noticed a bulky oak box filled with gears and labeled "News Papers To Go" with the subtitle "(CR) Scripter 1893" and decided to drop the suggested tenster (or ten Imperial sterling, also noted as N10) note in the machine, then selected her preferred newspaper, The Imperial Clarion, with a mechanical dial. Her eyes widened when she saw the latest issue, which she would normally get delivered to her doorstep via a N5 weekly subscription, created before her eyes and put into a bold, stark typeface and then bound together over multiple pages.

And on the front cover of the most widely read newspaper in the largest nation in existence was "MATCH MADE ACROSS SPECIES. NATIONS EXUBERANT!"

"After weeks of investigation," said an excerpt of the lengthy report by Hubert Rothbart, accompanied by grainy black and white luminographs- a still very young medium taken with massive luminography boxes that nevertheless captured their likenesses in public on beaches, disembarking trains, and the like, "we at the Clarion can now corroborate the testimony of our very own Uncrackable Detective Alice Guthrie, made over the course of the sham imprisonment and illegal trial she was subjected to by the Oleskan Royal Court, as well as that of her future mother in law, and put an end to the wild speculations of less reputable rags. She is indeed blessed with twin children, a fact that spared her from brutal murder. The sire is none other than self-made billionaire, former playboy, and heretofore secret merman Jareth Williams, by birth named Prince Adamaris, who was thought deceased. That two gallivants of such notoriety should settle down with each other is one of those truly fortuitous occasions of life. And what's more, he intends to marry her and make the arrangement proper. Now the jubilant peoples of Caledoria and Olsea (aside from those adoring fans who hoped to win favor in their beds), who of late have had little cause to celebrate, wait with baited breath for the official announcement of the happy date."

"Oh...uh..." Alice gulped. "Look, Jareth, I...I was under oath in the court, even in my final statement. I had to tell the truth as I saw it. I didn't realize it would get out since, you know...I was trying not to be executed."

In truth, however, she was surprised it had taken this long for the newspapers to catch up. Even if the headline was rather, well, declarative, she was at least thankful for journalistic standards (and perhaps censorship by the Olsea government) slowing the spread of this information.
 
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Jareth drew in a deep breath once he was out of the coach. He loved everyone in the carriage, even Octavia despite his frustrations with her. The woman knew how to push his buttons and she usually took the opportunity to do so whenever she could. Just like his father. But today, after that nightmare, it just wasn’t the day.

He took another deep breath before he started moving. The cane clicking softly against the stone he walked on. He glanced up at the Wheel in the distance. While it wasn’t something he much cared for, really just preferring to keep his feet on the ground, He was unsteady enough as it was but it was something Alice might enjoy and if he could bite down on his anxiety for a ride in that forsaken flying beast for her, then he would damned well work up the courage to take her on that at some point during their visit to the fair.

As if the very thought of her name and beautiful face conjured her, he felt her leap onto his back. His gate stuttered forward but steadied as his cane stamped down and he planted his feet.

A chuckle rolled from his throat, his free hand leaving his slacks pocket to grab ahold of her leg as it came up around his waist. His head turned toward her voice, his lips catching the corner of her lips in a kiss.

”And I love you, my Ali-cat.”

He rumbled right back at her, his nose sweeping briefly against her cheek before she shimmied from his back. Turning to face her, a brow perked, head cocked curiously.

”And?”

He questioned, his chocolate gaze following her as she pulled the newspaper from the box. Watching and waiting for her to elaborate on what she’d been about to say initially, until he watched her facial features shifting as she read silently over whatever article had her attention.

His brow furrowed and he started closer to her, stopping once he stood beside her, listening to her stammered words.

His attention shot to the paper, taking it gently from her to read over for himself. Seeing the print and the information it held, he groaned inwardly. What she’s been saying made sense and he knew she hadn’t meant any harm and certainly didn’t think anymore than he had that it would get out as it had.

The furrow of his brow grew deeper, his mouth cutting a stoic line across his features as he finally brought his gaze back up to Alice. Folding the paper in his hand, once, twice until it created a loose roll.

A roll that he pointed at her. His expression not cracking.

”I can’t spank my mother for opening her mouth but you....”

The stoic line of his lips curled devilishly and slow as he took a step closer, shaking the roll of newspaper playfully at her.

”You on the other hand....I can and will. I’m going to turn you over my knee and paddle your ass until you’re screaming my name.”
 
Returning like a chameleon to her calm, dispossessed self, Alice nevertheless shot a sideways grin at her fiancé as she puffed, “Why, Mr. Williams, you quite forget yourself! Even though we may be gallivants according to the national paper of record, we are in public and must have some modicum of decency.”

Then she stood on her tip toes and whispered in the taller man’s ear, “But I bought two of the cabs on either side of that giant pleasure wheel over there...which means we won’t be disturbed- Daddy.” With a wink, she grabbed Jareth’s hand and strode confidently, hoping that that would give him incentive enough to overcome his fear of heights.

Then she sighed as she saw the gate to the fair, “Wow, time really flew, huh? I had to have been fourteen going on fifteen the last time RAISE happened, since my birthday’s July 13th and I roughly remember the 1883 fair being in June as well...and I was with my family.”

That was one of the last happy memories she had with her family- before her dad’s drinking consumed him, before her mother’s death, before Rose was committed to Edinar, before her and Edward ran away...before all of it. And she now saw the ghosts of her smiling family redeeming their vouchers for the free version of the exposition (where they could only watch, not board any attractions, and were relegated to the public cafeteria for food), and stared at the shade of her teenage self trying to keep a brave face, but looking down at the ground as she struggled with so much.

“I remember being in the audience, enthralled by the sight of you and your newly unveiled colossal whaling trawlers that you said would bring light and power to every corner of Emada. I believed you because of that winning smile you still have, but if you had told me that in ten years time we’d be married...that, I wouldn’t have believed you.” Alice looked down at the ground again as they got in line, still very much the insecure young woman deep inside her bravado.
 
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Oh, he had not forgotten himself. Not even as he swatted the loosely rolled paper against her rear end and smirked while doing it.

”I’m sure a few that read this paper know how I am......”

He paused, frowning briefly before correcting himself.

”How I was....well technically still am, just with one person now. You, my Queen. And you’re pregnant, so I’m pretty sure decency flew out the window this was written near. No, no. I certainly meant when we get back home, where I can hear your beautiful voice ringing off the walls of our bedroom.”

He grinned amorously as his head tipped slightly to accommodate her standing on her toes. His eyes flickered to the large wheel and it’s gondola’s, spinning. Sinisterly carrying their passengers up and away from the solid ground beneath them. Her declaration admittedly made him swallow thickly but he’d already been working toward the courage he would need to take her on the thing.

As his fingers curled and tangled with hers, he glanced toward her, a soundless growl came with the sound of his teeth gnashing playfully together at her heated pet name.

His thumb caressed against hers, in slow and loving strokes, his head canting as he listened to her. After a moment of quiet, his fingers still locked with hers, he lifted their hands together, under her chin and gently lifted her head to look up at him. Offering her one of those award winning smiles.

”No whale trawlers this time. No more at all, ever in fact. But believe it because now here you are.....”

He lifted her hand a bit over her head and twirled her around before pulling her close, fingers untangling from hers and sliding his hand instead across the small of her back as she came to rest flush against him.

”With your family again.”

He was not discounting her memory at all, merely pointing out that indeed, she was here again. With him and their children, albeit unborn but they were here and they were a family and together.

Tucking the cane handle into his palm, that hand lifted, the tops of his fingers brushing adoringly against her jaw to her chin as his head dipped forward, his nose not quite touching her own as he murmured.

”And it is I now, enthralled by the sight of you.”

His gaze bounced between hers before he planted a tender kiss against her lips.
 
“I wouldn’t have believed you...but I do now,” Alice said as she kissed him and held her belly, where she could feel her girls excitedly swimming around in her womb, only constrained by their umbilical cords. What was even more bizarre was that she could hear their voices already, proclaiming love for their mother. “I still want to know where Rose is, and see if I can do anything to help Eddie...because they’re both still my blood. But you’re right. You, and our girls- I just have a feeling- are my family.”

She was about to say something more, but then throngs of reporters and fans mobbed her, saying things like-

“When are you getting married?”

“How far along are you?”

“When’s the due date?”

“Can you sign my cleavage?!”

“Can I be your nanny?”

Alice gave a short and clipped response:

“The babies will probably be due in December, but Jareth and I will be getting married when it makes sense for us. I will be taking no further questions!”

And then pushed her way through the roadblock of bodies to get inside the exposition grounds.
 
His smile broadened as he held her gaze a moment longer, then let it drop to her hands as they curled against her stomach. His hand sliding from her back, over her hip to brush up over her hand and finally rest against her belly, palm flush. If that smile could grow any larger it did, the laugh that escaped reaching his eyes as he felt the soft flicker beneath his hand. The tiny bodies within her own flicking against his palm.

His gaze darted back up to her face, caressing her with his eyes, he nodded.

”We...will do everything we can. I promise.”

He told her softly, concerning her sister and brother. He would do whatever he could to help her. Then his gaze dropped once more to her belly as another flicker pressed against his palm.

”Girls huh? Mmm, I have a feeling they’ll be just as lovely and bad ass as their Mo.....”

He was cut short as the mob descended on them. He let her answer and was quick to follow behind her protectively. Until he felt a sharp grab of his arm, which drew him to a stop and he turned to face the offender. His shoulders tensing defensively.

Over the reporters shoulder, Jareth watched as John sort of barreled toward them. He knew the look in his friends eyes, he was on a mission to protect. Just behind John, Octavia and Ianassa made their grand entrance. Skirts swishing primly as the majority of the mob turned their attention and flicked toward them instead.

”John! Octavia! I heard you have upcoming nuptials too. Is there a baby on the way as well?”

“Ianassa! Why did you decide to leave Oleska? And what do you have to say to your daughter Caerulia’s recent temporary ascension to the throne? What could have caused Meredydd’s psychotic break?”

The questions were thrown at the trio with as much fervor as they had been at Alice and Jareth. Jareth watched, ignoring the reporter that still stood before him, hoping he’d go away. What the hell was he waiting for anyways?

”Indeed John and I are marrying but no, we will be far too busy being Aunt and Uncle to need worry about children of our own.”

Octavia answered pleasantly, a bright smile on her lips as she winked through the crowd toward Jareth and Alice.

”It’s Olseka and my husband has not had a break of any sort. What are you babbling on about?”

Ianassa answered in turn and for the first time looked a little rattled and confused. She knew Meredydd had told Cae that she would be taking the thrown but that was not something that was supposed to happen until well down the line.

Jareth started to push the reporter away, his anxious silence beginning to irritate him but it was at that most inopportune moment that the reporter decided to ask his question, when the rest of the mob was quiet, and writing down the answers they’d received from the other part of the party.

”Jareth. Or do you prefer Prince Adamaris? Can you tell us, why has the World Rim Railway suspended passenger and cargo train service to Olseka indefinitely?”

His eyes narrowed and dropped to glare at the shorter man. His lips dropping open to reply and none too kindly.

John knew it would end badly, as soon as the reporters question left his lips. He was shocked to hear the news himself, as clearly Ianassa was as well but it didn’t slow him down as he started toward Jareth.

”Don’t.”

Came the quietly growled word as John’s hand settled against Jareth’s chest and pushed him back slightly. John’s gaze fell on Alice sternly and without so much as a word, told her to take Jareth and go. Jareth pushed back against his friends hand when he felt Alice slither between the two men, her hands cupping against his jaws as she planted a kiss against his lips, long enough to shut him up before she murmured a quiet, Let’s go. and began dragging him through the crowd as John’s voice barked behind them.

”All questions about the WRR will be answered later during our presentation. You’re all welcome to come get the scoop then.”

John’s words were final as he broke back toward Octavia and Ianassa. The elder woman looking a little flushed as he slid his arm through hers, as well as Octavia’s and led the women through the gates. Wondering, surely as the ladies were, what the hell that was all about.
 
Alice acted on instinct, saying “Let’s go” after kissing her fiancé to give the people what they wanted. Then she took the man she loved by the hands, looked at him, looked at the floor, and decided to call upon The Darkness, a risky move, to protect them both.

With her long and hard won knowledge of the shadows and her slowly returning sense of Darkness, Alice took a deep breath and brought him into the floor made of shadow cast by the crowd, hugged him to herself for protection from The Void, and slipped under and around them all until they appeared inside the gate and Alice gave her and Jareth’s tickets to the frightened guard.

Inside the floor, if Jareth wasn’t overwhelmed by the many bizarre and surreal sights and sounds of the Void that a person not imbued with Darkness might see, he could also see his wife to be coated in the stuff as she rode through the current of- a substance with an unpronounceable name- a sludge many might call evil, and to others simply a necessary dredge of serenity. He could hear all her songs and all the cries of his people as they were slaughtered at Sanctuary Trench. He could see her as a young girl and a teenager and an old woman he would happily die next to. But what did it all mean...?

And then, everything was back to normal. Except not entirely because a voice like thunder clapped across the sky, coming from a man being held aloft on a throne above two Goliaths. The Crown Prince Henry Caldwell. Some say he and those of his line could speak an...unnatural fear into the hearts of his enemies. But all listened, citizen or (so called) infiltrator.

“Citizens,” Henry bayed with a metallic ringing, “it is with great sorrow that I must tell you that my mother, Empress Emily Caldwell, has passed on. But rejoice! For I was well raised by her to one day take this great burden! And I know she would want to mark this occasion with joy, with shared pride in our science and progress, not sorrow. Proper mourning will be had, as it always has on these sad occasions. But we will push forward, as we have always done. And so commences the Grand Opening of RAISE 1893!!!”

Upon which, all eyes seemed dried and a flood of happy citizens rushed in instead.
 
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The battle of demons in his head and heart seemed to only ramp up further. More so at John, stopping him from speaking his mind where his father was concerned. Logically the tycoon knew damned good and well he should just keep his mouth shut, especially considering the media was out in droves and they’d already gotten their greedy little hands on information he’d had a tight grip on and control over for some time now. But that peace of mind, like everything else it seemed these days had slipped through his fingers. He didn’t blame Alice, no more than he could blame his mother that the bit about his upcoming marriage and children had slipped out. No. There was only one real place that could be blamed on. His father. As usual. If the old man hadn’t gotten his tail in such a twist and tried to take Alice from him......and then the crotchety old ass got himself in even more of a twist when he most assuredly blew a gasket over being stripped of the train services and apparently lost his damned mind.

Jareth couldn’t help the dark, faint smirk that danced over his lips at hearing that little tidbit. The reporter would see it just before Alice’s lips consumed his. A disgruntled sound escaped him though as she grabbed his hands. Thinking she was going to pull him toward the gates, the unexpected drop startled him.

To say he was stunned and a little rattled might be an understatement. The things he saw were not overly disconcerting persay. He had gone head to head with a few of the biggest and frightening creatures of the sea. He’d told toe to toe with the monstrosity that had tried to prevent him from getting to Alice days ago. His mind however seemed to be going about a million miles a minute, trying to process what had just happened, what he was seeing and what it meant, on top of all the other demons rattling around inside of his brain.

While he realized it hadn’t taken all that long before reality snapped back into focus, it felt much longer and when he clapped the cane down on the pavement and steadied himself as Alice handed over their tickets, he stood there panting softly. Trying to catch his breath.

The shadow cast by the Goliaths drew his attention up, curious eyes finding the throned figure. His head canting, brow furrowing softly. Though he didn’t have much time to dwell on why the young man looked.....familiar. Emily....dead? Something deep in him stirred and a sadness rose to the surface. It had been so long ago but he had adored her. They had both been young and she, while Jareth loved Octavia, The Empress had been a different breed all together. Or maybe it was just that she let him have what he so desperately craved. Regardless, the news of her passing clearly had rattled him.

Casting a final glance up to the poor schmuck of a boy that now had to take over the throne. Maybe it was the uniform. It reminded Jareth of the days he spent in one of his own. When Alice touched his arm, he jolted and dropped his attention to her pretty, albeit concerned face and before she could say much of anything at all, he faltered in his stance.

”I need a minute.”

He murmured, a stressed look on his face.
 
Only feet away from Alice were amazing foods, fantastical inventions that could finally be bought, symposiums from the greatest scientific minds in the Empire and around the world...and there was also an imposing poster of Emily as a young woman- when she was eighteen, to be exact, and finally free to run the country without her uncle, Fitzpatrick Caldwell, at the helm as her regent, a role he'd held since her father James unexpectedly died when she was seven. The Mechanic Princess, they called her at the time as she'd expanded opportunities for girls' schooling and women in science; she'd also negotiated an end to the Great Whalers Strike of 1885 and was even personally loved in lands where her Empire was loathed, such as Surabamba.

And as soon as Jareth looked glum, Alice couldn't care one whit about any of it. She wanted to immediately know what was wrong, and by sheer force of habit began studying his face, his shoulders, his fingers as they propped up his head...all in an attempt to solve the mystery of what had clearly been eating him since last night.

But then Alice remembered that, in these strange times, she had endured a lot of stress, and given a lot of stress back at Jareth, and while they'd had their arguments he'd always been there for her. He'd helped her bear her burden, and she knew that, if she was to have any chance of being the wife he needed, she couldn't treat him as a client she happened to be in love with, a puzzle box to be broken open like everyone else in her life.

But that was precisely the problem as well, since she did have to keep some theories about why he was like this in the back of her mind, if only to protect herself with as she ventured into the minefield of an emotional discussion so soon after their near death experience. If it was something she'd done or that he'd seen in the Void, or worse that she'd done back on the whaling ship, then Alice wondered if she was capable of hurting Jareth without even trying. What if she could never overcome her Darkness to truly be there for him? What if he didn't want her any more? Could she blame him, even though she would hate him for sticking her with children and then leaving if he chose to do that?

However, in this moment, all Alice Guthrie could do was what she realized was the only thing she should do.

"You can have a minute- as many as you want." Then she kissed his cheek and tried to hide her furrowing brow as she said-

"I'm here."
 
His eyes found the poster of the Emily he knew. Young, sweet, Emily. His Emily. She was easy, not in the sexual sense, never there. She wasn’t demanding. Despite her position of power, she wasn’t controlling. In fact, how many times behind closed doors and even in the most innocent of days, had she allowed him to take the reigns and guide them through their relations? Something that neither his Father, nor Octavia allowed him. He was two years older than she and somewhere deep in the very pit of him, he loved her and she him.

But he was scared. Terrified really. He feared that as her Empress status grew, her position of power would eventually go to her head. He’d seen it, far too many times not to believe it would come to be. And he feared that if he fell much more in love with her, he would be right where he didn’t want to be. Right where he’d left when he’d run from home. In the thick of politics and power.

He wanted none of that and in his fear, he ran, again. Taking with him two of the most precious things Emily possessed. Her heart and her virginity. He’d watched a few months time, from a distance. Through papers and stories, when he could take her heartache no more, he turned a blind eye all together. Built a dam around his heart and kept all the feelings at bay.

He’d never made amends, he’d told himself he wanted to. That he was going to but he never did. He’d stuffed it all away so thoroughly, that eventually he’d nearly forgotten.

Now, he couldn’t make amends, she was gone. Drawing in a deep breath, he glanced at Alice, his features blank. As if he were off in another world. Thoughts raging through his head. Finally he seemed to come out of it, a little anyways.

Though the hand under her arm was gentle, his words were a bit gruff as he led Alice toward the Pleasure Wheel.

”Let’s go. Get this done with so I can get my feet back on the ground.”

He waited while she produced the tickets, handing them to the operator, he was gentlemanly enough to let her climb in first and then he behind her.

The second the doors closed and he heard the latches being put into place, his stomach dropped and he instantly fell into a seat with a sharp grunt.

He didn’t want to disappoint his bride to be but this was also the very last place he wanted to be. Trapped inside a rotating death can that was anything but a pleasure to him.
 
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Alice chafed at his brusque demeanor, his dismissiveness of her sharing a much less high speed aerial event with him, and yet another grab on her arm. Now she really felt the need to tell him why that was something that bothered her so much when it wasn’t invited. But she didn’t say anything because they were in public and because he clearly seemed in distress about something, AND she didn’t want to...what was the word...

...suggest something else they might do because he was acting like such a dragon’s snout about it. The young detective had had a few theories about what might be setting him off; when he hung his head after viewing the poster of Emily, Alice figured out that he wasn’t just mourning a publicly beloved figure, and it was worse than all of these things combined for her.

Emily had been everything Alice was not, at least on the surface and to her adoring public. She’d held some suspicions rising from her sources about the Empress’s private life unrelated to Jareth but those were best not pursued. Even a figure as popular as Alice Guthrie was not immune to being quietly dealt with by the secret police known as The Imperial Eye or just the Eye. In any event, Emily put on a demeanor that was sweet, delicate, extroverted, free of baggage; at least the kind that made one hard to love, as she had lost her father young and had a hated uncle, details that made her all the more perfect.

Not that Alice didn’t have a story that she wanted people to know and details she would prefer to keep private, and she was used to being adored for different reasons than the Empress. She also had never had any qualms with Her Majesty in person either. Until now, posthumously. It wasn’t jealousy- she knew that Jareth could never possibly have two timed her with the Empress in recent times, and therefore she was an old flame. Which she feared might be even more dangerous, as she didn’t have a lot of nostalgia but recognized it was delicious even in small doses.

She tried not to dwell on the extent that his grief might be longing for something better with less drama...but his grunt forced her hand. Alice’s hands gently cupped his shoulders and asked, in a way she realized after it left her mouth was a little more direct than necessary-

“Tell me the truth. Did you love her? Is that why you’ve been acting so strangely today?”

Unbeknownst to her, The Darkness, collectively fearful of losing her, tried to drive a wedge between Jareth and his fiancée by conjuring the image of her visage, cracked and covered with dark veins as she had been controlled by Octavia, as well as the memory of her rampage on the whaling ship from his nightmare...
 
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Jareth jumped a little when she grabbed his shoulders. His hands lifting to grab ahold of her wrists lightly. His gaze turned quietly up to her. The drill of her tone reaching somewhere it seemed.

”Yes, I loved her but it ha....”

He was about to deny that it had nothing to do with how he was feeling today. Since he’d just learned of her death and hadn’t really thought about her until that announcement. He’d perhaps been about to confess what was really bothering him.

Instead, there was a mild twitch. His eyes blinked, staring at her......more like staring through her in that instance. And then he pushed her, his grip tightening just slightly in her wrists, not enough to really hurt her but enough to extract her grip from him and plant her ass in the seat across from him.

His chest rose and fell sharply with the anxiety that was already creeping from deep inside, exasperated by the sudden visions in his head.

His elbows dropped to his knees with the forward motion, his head into his hands as his lips drew back over his teeth. Fingers almost seemed to try to dig into the flesh at his temples as he growled.
 
“Please, Jareth...I’m scared for you. Tell me, love, what’s bothering you now?” Alice asked while her fiancé seemed to freeze in stone with his hands over his head. Then her wrists were seized, she was thrown backward, and she trembled more at the sight of him in wordless distress.

Ever the brave soldier, Sgt. Gunthrie gritted her teeth, quietly shuffled on her knees towards her beloved in the pleasure wheel car, and pleaded-

“What, at long last, do you need from me? From the mother of your children? From the woman who wants to be YOUR wife, always! What is the last trial I need to win? What is the last mystery you need to solve about me?”

Alice looked at him intensely, but then smiled, “I have no secrets. No more skeletons. Just, please...let me help you. Tell me what you need.”

“I love you, Jareth Williams. But I can only hold you close to my heart if you let me in.”
 
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