Alan Woodard and Daria Belikov
Present Day ~ Lodge Hotel
Daria kept staring at her own reflection... Not knowing really what else to say as those around her decided that they wanted to go back to this fairy tale home where they were Princes and Princesses. Some part of her wanted to... But another part thought about her parents who had actually raised her. Parents that would be meeting up with her in a week... Sure, they had grown distant as she grew older but she knew they cared deeply for her. They wanted the best, that's why they sent her off to boarding schools and let her travel the world. To them, she already was a Princess and now, she was actually thinking about leaving them behind for world she doesn't even remember...
Jasmine at least had a loving father though... Or should, who knows what the witch did to him. She wondered if he really loved her as much as he seemed to in the disney movie. Looking down at the letter, the writing similar to that on her necklace, she shook her head. Maybe if she could actually read his words, she'd be able to make a decision. She huffed a little before looking around at the group and leaving the balcony, heading for her room. She need sometime to think, sometime alone... And most of all, she needed a drink.
Having quietly been watching up until this point, Alan couldn't help but to feel a small shred of pride once the 'children' began to accept who they were, one by one. His (very) impromptu plan worked! Of course there were the skeptical ones, as he had come to expect, but the majority finally seemed to grasp onto the fact that this was all very real. He had taken a few steps over towards Eliza's direction, as she was one of the ones having a hard time coming to terms with what was happening, but the grizzled uncle beat him to it, making him retreat those few steps. He wasn't about to intrude on that - there was no telling what sort of disaster that would begin to create if he tried to intervene. So he let them be, instead his eye catching a bit of movement as Daria began to leave the balcony, able to notice what looked like a confused, almost disbelieving expression on her face before she disappeared from sight.
Sighing and taking a moment to run his fingers through his long, brown hair, Alan went after her. He refused to lose another one to disbelief; not like Morgan. He actually kind of liked Daria- or, Jasmine. Whoever. Morgan he could have cared less about, really. That bitch arrested him for trying to hotwire a car and even had the nerve to call him Pinocchio.
"I can show you the world." Alan said from behind Daria in a deadpan tone, his feet picking up a bit into a sort of hop before rushing to close the fair amount of distance between them. "Shining, shimmering, spendid." Finally, he reached her and came up directly behind her, putting his hands over her eyes, both forcing her to stop walking and to keep her from seeing. "Tell me, Princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?" He was singing now, slowly easing into it from his blatent, speaking voice into something that wasn't all that half-bad.
Daria was wrapped up in her throughts as she exited the large room, that was filled with merriment and celebration, into the quiet lobby. She was nearly at the elevator when she heard a voice behind her. She rolled her eyes, despite not knowing him long at all, she knew exactly who it was and took this time to ignore him. After all, he was part of this insanity and she needed to escape it to see it all from the outside... That didn't last though as Alan seemed a little relentless, continuing with his reciting of showtunes. Her ability to ignore him though, ended when his hands covered her eyes and brought her to a halt. She sighed, standing there, blinded, "What on earth are you doing, Magic Man?"
Although she couldn't see, Alan smirked and released his hands from over her eyes to place them down on her shoulders, using them to turn her body to face him.
"I can open your eyes. Take you wonder by wonder. Over-" He dropped his hands from her shoulders, instead letting one of his hands trail down her arm to take her hand and then circled himself around her. "-sideways-" He brought himself back into her at her side. "-and under-" Alan then stooped himself down, maneuvering his body underneath the arm he had a hold of still before letting her hand go, now behind her and gave her a gentle push into the opened elevator. "-on a magic carpet ride!" Unable to hold his grin, Alan hopped into the elevator next to her and pushed the 'door close' button.
Well... she hadn't hit him yet. That was a start.
With his hands off of her eyes, Daria was able to see again but that didn't mean she could make anymore sense of what on earth was happening. She watched him as he took her hand and danced around her to the words of the song. She couldn't help but laugh at him as he decided to make her life even more like a disney movie than Eliza's uncle already had.
She watched him as he pushed the button, making the doors close with the two of them inside. She shook her head, "You need to choose a floor number," She informed him as they weren't moving and were merely trapped in the elevator.
She crossed her arms and looked at him, a little skeptical, "Now, care to tell me what you are doing?"
Alan's otherwise light-hearted expression fell a bit once he realized that she was right. He had no idea where they were heading, only that she was heading for the elevator to take her back to her room, assumedly, but for the life of him he couldn't remember where that was, exactly, despite having been there the day before for quite a few hours.
"Uh, right." Alan said, dropping the singing to default to his normal speaking voice before turning his head to look at her, a bit sheepishly. "What floor again?"
Daria laughed a little before uncrossing her arms and pushing the button for him, the elevator starting up and beginning to rise. Returning her arms their crossed position, she looked at him, her smile fading back to the skeptical look she had been giving him moments prior, "Will you tell me
now what it is you are doing following me back to my room singing Disney songs all the while?"
His smirk returned to his lips, his shoulders rolling in a slight shrug as he slipped his hands into his dress pants pockets.
"I just wanted to talk to you about..." He audibly cleared his throat, before changing his tone back to the singing pitch he held just a few second ago before getting caught up with where they were going. "A whole new world! A new fantastic point of view! No one to tell you no, or where to go, or say you're only dreaming."
Daria rolled her eyes when he started to sing again. Shaking her head as she walked off the elevator she looked over her shoulder, "You are dreaming if you think I'm going to start singing."
She walked down the hallway to her room and opened the door, leaving it open for him to follow her in. She walked straight to the bar and pulled out another bottle of wine and poured herself a large glass. She looked up at Alan, "I'm more interested in talking about you and Eliza brushing shoulders... Do you want a glass?" She asked, reaching for another.
Stepping into the room without even so much as a slight hesitation, Alan's eyes first glanced over to the couch where he and Daria had spent a good amount of time the day prior before bringing his eyes back over to her, his nose scrunching up at both the topic now at hand and the offer of wine. It was only a matter of time before people started to ask him about his relationship with Eliza. He had just hoped it could all wait until
he knew what his relationship with Eliza was. He thought he knew yesterday - a manipulative scheme in order to land her in bed. But now... now he wasn't so sure. He had been on a rollercoaster of emotions since finding out who she, and the rest of the 'kids' were. He just needed a break from it all. He just wanted to be done with this 'guardian' business.
"Got anything stronger?" he asked in regards to the wine as he made his way over to the couch, closing the door behind him, and plopped himself down onto the lush cushions, resting his elbows on the couch back and reclining as though he owned the place.
"You are asking a Russian if she has anything stronger?" Daria said with a small laugh before turning around and digging through cooler. Straightening, she held a large bottle of vodka. Grabbing a couple shot glasses, she walked over to him and joined him on the couch, "Balkan 176," She informed him as she poured them each a shot, "I suppose eighty eight percent is strong enough for you?"
She smirked and grabbed her shot, downing it with more ease that an underage girl should. She looked at him, "It's Batya and Mamka's favourite. Don't drink too much... Or they'll be carting you out of here on a stretcher."
"No, I'm asking an Agrabah-ian...? How the hell do you say that? Um... Agrabian, Agrabaite... whatever."
First taking the shot glass and holding it up to the light to examine the purity of the liquid, Alan then sat up and reached out with his opposite hand, taking the vodka bottle and looked over the label, only able to get bits and pieces of the words written there but was able to understand immediately that he should be impressed. And he was. Nodding in approval, he put the bottle back down, relaxing back into the couch while simultaneously slamming the shot down his throat and handed the empty shot back to Daria.
"Says the girl who helped me to down two bottles of flavored vodka just yesterday." Alan teased, grateful that he had managed to sway the conversation away from Eliza. He shifted himself a bit, pulling one leg underneath him as he sat himself sideways, keeping one arm on the back of the couch, so that he was able to look at Daria more directly. With his opposite hand, he reached out towards the top of her head, gingerly touching on the sapphire jewel encrested into the headpiece she had put on - a gift from her parents (or was it just 'father'?) back from Agrabah. "It really is beautiful..."
Daria watched him as he stumbled to find the proper name of her true ethnicity. She laughed a little at his attempt before informing him, "Arabian... Like
Arabian Niiiights."
She pulled both her legs onto the couch and looked at him before shrugging, "That vodka was probably thirty percent... The Tequila was probably less. You don't stand a chance," She joked.
Next thing she knew, he was touching her head. Well, not really her head but the jewel that rested in her hair. She looked down at her empty shot glass, "Ya... It's real too... Probably costs a fortune. It feels... weird having it on my head," She reached over and grabbed the bottle again, filling their glasses once more before draining her cup again. She sighed and rested her head on the couch, "I can't even read the stupid letter though... Just a bunch of scribbled nonsense. If I go back... If my father is even still alive, I'm not going to understand him... Or my people. I speak English and Russian... That's it."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, calming herself slightly, "I just... This can't all be real?...." Then something struck her, "Who are you even?"
Retreating his hand, Alan winced a bit at her question. Another topic he didn't necissarily want brought up. He was surrounded by incredible people. Princess Jasmine, Princess' Anna and Elsa, Peter Pan for Gods sake! Who was he? He was a nobody. A hunk of wood that could talk, at most. Not exactly very exciting.
"This is all
very real, I'm afraid. But what Grizzly Man Adams and his two silent henchmen out there didn't even begin to explain is that you have a choice. Even if you do believe, you don't have to go back. You made a life for yourself here. Hell, you might even be happy here. I don't know. But it's entirely up to you. As for that letter... well I dunno, Owl-man could probably decypher that for you if you really wanted to know and if you did go back, well I've never been to Agrabah myself, but I know that you wouldn't just be dropped off there to fend for yourself, especially since Jafar took the place over. Somone would be there to help you adjust - even learn the language." He was avoiding her question on purpose, he just hoped his somewhat enlightening speech was enough to keep her distracted from revisiting the topic.
"Oh perfect, nothing screams ruler like needing a translator for the first... three years, if I pick it all up quick, of my reign," Daria leaned back further into the couch, "The people will be begging for Jafar to come back," She rose her voice into a high pitch mocking tone, "Bring back Jafar, at least he can understand us," She shook her head, her voice dropping back to normal, "Of course... I won't know they are saying that... Because I'm sure that is something a translator doesn't want to tell a Princess."
She looked at him seriously, "I've been that translator before... I know that we only
really say what the other wants to hear. I'd send them into a democracy... They'd go all French Revolution and ask for my head!"
She sat up and poured another shot, drinking it down again. The alcohol was helping calm her nerves slightly, unfortunately, she wound up so tight that it didn't appear to be doing much at all.
For some reason, Alan found this all very amusing and couldn't help the light chuckle that came up from his throat. He closed his eyes softly and shook his head, keeping his smile before looking back to her.
"Yeah, well it might take that three years even to get Jafar's brown ass of the throne anyway. I don't know the specifics, but from what I understand he's kind of a hard-ass. But I dunno, you might just have to go there and find out for yourself. Could be a total push-over." Alan shrugged.
"If he's anything like the movie verison... He's a creep," She shook her head before dropping back once more into the couch. She looked over at him before gently kicking him, "Stop smiling while I'm in the middle of a crisis," She said sternly despite a small smile playing on her own lips.
She crossed her arms and sighed, "I can't not go... I mean... It's my birthright even if I didn't know before. I need to protect my people and if Jafar isn't treating them right... then I have to fix that..."
"There, you see?" Alan said, bending his body over to the side a bit to pick up the bottle of vodka and poured himself another drink. "Already talking like a snobby, pointed-nosed royal. Almost like you are one, or something." With a teasing smirk, Alan sat back upright and tilted his head back, draining his second shot quickly and shook his head a bit as he felt the fire burning down his throat - a welcoming sensation he was overly familiar with.
"And you are terribly annoying," Daria informed him, mimicking his smirk as she did. She sighed as she sat there and came to the realization that she was right. She couldn't stay on Earth. She had to go back to Agrabah because whether or not her life was fantastic here... There were other people she needed to worry about. People's lives were worse off since she had been on Earth. Not because of her absence but because of who took her place in her absence. She shook her head, "So... You've talked to me about this whole new world... Now what?"
"Now?" Alan blinked, twice. He hadn't exactly thought that far ahead. It was clear that particular conversation was over. He had somehow (or even indirectly) convinced Daria to return to their world, though he was sure that Eliza would be a tougher case to crack and might be a bit longer, maybe even a few days. Bringing his arm he had resting on the back of the couch down so that his hand could scratch at the small amount of stubble on his chin, his eyes then glanced back over to the vodka bottle and shrugged, once more bending to the side to refill his shot glass. "Now we forget about the problems of tomorrow and get drunk." It may not have been 'good' advice, but it was all he had left in him.
Daria laughed and nodded her head, "I'm down with that."
She leaned over and filled her glass once more. Finishing it off, she looked at him, "I mean... That was my original intention... Although, with a significantly lower percentage."
Four shots in and she was already well on her way to being considerably drunk, "I mean... If I'm leaving and never coming back... We could drink my parents entire fridge and they'd have no one to get made at because I'm off being a Princess."
She stood and walked over to her glass of wine that she had poured earlier before carrying it back to the couch, sipping on it now. She smiled, "Now.... Did my mention of Eliza drive you to the bottle. You two seemed quite friendly and she doesn't get that friendly with anyone... Are you two dating?" She snickered at the thought, "Oh my god! You are the guy she snuck out to see last night!" Her snickering turned into a laugh, "Alright, I see your little game..." She suddenly got very serious, "Just know... That if you hurt her... I am very capable of kicking your ass, Magic Man."
Alan couldn't help but to roll his eyes, setting his empty shot glass back down on the table, no longer in the mood to make his second drink a third. The mention of Eliza had his stomach twisting in uncomfortable knots, and it seemed that the alcohol was only making it worse, in a strange turn of events.
"Relax, okay? It's nothing serious." Alan said, matching Daria's tone of seriousness. "Hell, I didn't even know she was... well, I didn't know
who she was until a few hours ago." With a slightly irritated sigh, Alan relaxed back into the couch in a comfortable slump and shrugged his shoulders. "So now that there's no chance for my game, as you called it, I'll probably break it off with her tomorrow. No sense dragging on the impossible." He was getting agitated, and he didn't know why, which made him even angrier. It was true though, he had been thinking of breaking things off with Eliza the moment he found out that she was a Princess. Saying it out loud, however... well that just made it that much more real. But why the hell was it bothering him now?
Daria watched him as he explained that he was going to end it with her tomorrow due to the information that had come to light for all of them... Maybe that was for the best, they all had a lot of thinking to do and maybe having her first boyfriend when she is trying to rediscover herself would just be bad timing... Not to mention, it wasn't like Alan really intended to remain her boyfriend. She knew guys like him, he was stringing her along until he got what he wanted then he'd drop her. Now, she and Alan both played the same game but Daria had never stooped to that level. It really was the best outcome, this way Eliza didn't give everything to a guy that wanted one thing before leaving her. She took another sip of her wine, "Good... Because Eliza won't see it as nothing serious and if you aren't going to treat it the same..."
She shook her head a little before taking a long sip of her wine before setting it aside, "Problems of tomorrow," She said, pointing at his empty shot glass, "Drinking them away for the night, remember?"
Smirking a bit, once more grateful for the topic change, Alan raised a single eyebrow at Daria, unable to hold back the small chuckle he held in his throat.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk,
your Majesty..." he said, sounding quite amused. "Stealing a man's tactics and not even giving him credit. A dictator if I ever saw one." He chuckled once more, giving Daria an approving nod. "You'd do well in Agrabah."
Daria laughed at his comment, "No... I believe it was your idea to get drunk. I think your exact words were," She cleared her throat a little before mimicking his voice to the best of her ability, "Now we forget about the problems of tomorrow and get drunk."
She grinned at him before speaking normally, "You are kind of losing in the whole get drunk category," She took another long sip of her wine as an example of just how he was losing.
She adjusted herself on the couch slightly and found that she could not get comfortable. At first it was fine, with drinking the shots she wasn't really sitting back much. Now with the wine, she wanted to relax. However, her clothing choice wasn't really letting her. She sat up and placed her wine glass on the table and brought her hands to the bottom on her fine shirt, "Do you mind?" She asked, looking at him.
After a moment, she stood the shirt coming off as she did. Walking to her bedroom, she removed her shoes as well and her skirt came off just before the door. She disappeared for a moment before she returned in a short white silk dressing gown that was tied at her waist. Returning to the couch, she grabbed her wine glass and took a sip, "Much better."
Before Alan even had a chance to respond, let alone react, Daria had removed herself from the couch to go into where he knew to be her bedroom, stripping herself free from her evening wear along the way. Now... it wasn't as though Alan hadn't ever seen Daria without a shirt before... amongst other things. But something in his head switched the moment he saw her dress shirt hitting the floor. His mind, for once since learning about who the children were, was finally free of thoughts about Eliza and the problems he had caused over the last few years. He was simply Alan again, just the way he liked it. And Alan liked young, drunk, half-naked women.
The idea of ridding himself free of the confining dress suit became more and more appealing as he waited for Daria to return, so he stood up from the couch and shrugged himself out of the dress jacket, tossing it to the side where it caught the arm of the couch by chance. He was just beginning to loosen the tie when Daria came back out, wearing something he could have sworn he saw her in once before, but couldn't for the life of him remember wh- Oh. Yeah. Yesterday, for like, half a minute...
"I suppose you don't have one of those for me, huh?" Alan asked, joking of course as he gestured towards the silk dressing gown she was wearing. Smirking at his own comment, he finished loosening his tie and tossed it over to where the suit jacket lay, now working on rolling down the sleeves on his dress shirt. "Fucking hate these things..." he mumbled more to himself than to her.
Daria laughed and shook her head, "I'm not sure I have one big enough," She smirked and took another long sip of her wine.
She walked over to the large window that led out onto the balcony and looked out to the snowy mountain. No one seemed to be coming down at all... She wondered if they were all at Eliza party. Turning around, she looked at him as he rolled down his sleeves and smirked, "I don't know why. You look quite dapper. We all wear things we hate to look good sometimes... Like heels, they kill my feet but they make my legs look great," She joked.
"Dapper, huh?" Alan asked, finally managing to fix the sleeves before starting to work on the buttons, eager to get out of the confining clothing. "That's quite the compliment, coming from someone as stuck-up and picky as you." he teased. With the dress shirt buttons undone, Alan quickly removed that as well, adding it to the slowly growing pile on the arm of the couch, leaving his top half now completely bare save for a white wife-beater that, for some reason, came with the suit Eliza had picked out for him. He supposed it had something to do with keeping the shirt clean, but he didn't particularly care enough to think about that.
"Picky? I liked you enough in what you were wearing yesterday to bring you up here. That's hardly picking considering," Daria teased, turning back to the window.
Coming up behind Daria at the window of the balcony, aiming to steal her wine glass simply for the reaction, his eye instead caught on something towards the juncture of her neck, otherwise hidden by the dress shirt she had been wearing earlier - a spot darker than the rest of her skin. At first he was confused, but as he got closer, he couldn't help the airy laugh as he raised his fingers to brush against the hicky he was more than sure he had left on her the day prior.
"And sometimes we let complete strangers leave reminders of moments we love that we have no choice but to wear for a few days." he said softly, tracing the mark with his fingertips before lowering his neck to brush his lips against her skin there in a sort of apologetic kiss. "Doesn't look as good as that sapphire gem in your hair, but it's all I could afford at the time." he mused.
Daria looked over her shoulder as she felt Alan running his fingers over the mark that he had left. As she saw him lowering his head, she moved her own head out of the way and allowed him to brush his lips against her skin. She laughed slightly and took another sip of her wine, "I may have been raised on money that can buy gems and jewels but I don't always need expensive things," She teased, "Like your cheap vodka and tequila."
She rose her glass to her lips and allowed it to rest gently against her lower one before she spoke, "You know... You have a girlfriend... who happens to be one of my best friends... Maybe it would be wise that you don't kiss my shoulder, Magic Man."
Alan chuckled against her skin, keeping his lips barely touching her but made no move to pull away.
"I told you. I'm ending it tomorrow morning, soon as she's done talking to the pedo." he reminded her, planting another kiss on her shoulder, closer to her neck, moving one of his hands to rest against her hip. "We both know I'm not the kind of guy that gets tied down to those sorts of things anyway." Another kiss, this time at the base of her neck. "And..." Another kiss, higher up on her neck, his fingers that had been tracing his mark sliding down the length of her arm until it too was resting on her opposite hip. "We both know I'm not the type to make 'wise' choices." He nipped at her this time, using the tips of his teeth to playfully toy with the small patch of skin on her neck that covered her pulse. "Besides... don't we have a score to settle? You are losing hilariously."
Daria's head moved to rest against her shoulder, leaving the side of her neck entirely open to him. She bit her lip, "Tomorrow and today... aren't the same thing. And... Who am I going to beat up if I'm the girl you hurt her with?"
Her words weren't matching her actions. She leaned back into him, the alcohol taking more control than her brain. She laughed a little at the mention of their score and shook her head lazily, "What you call losing, I definitely call winning."
"You won't have to beat up anyone so long as Eliza never finds out..." Alan pointed out, now pressing his lips to her neck more firmly and dragged them back down the length of her neck, back to where he started at the small bruise on her shoulder. "And I certainly won't be saying anything anytime soon." He smirked against her skin, using his hands on her hips to pull her back into him completely, making their bodies completely flush with one another as he moved his lips back up her neck and to her ear, just behind the shell of her ear. "Now, watcha say, baby girl? Care to 'win' some more?"
Daria seemed to be having an internal battle with herself as the sober part of her brain was telling her to stop. Unfortunately, it was majorly outnumbered. Daria tilted her head back and downed the rest of her wine before bending at the waist and placing it on the ground. Straightening once more, she turned in Alan's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm going to kick you ass," She teased before pressing her lips against his own.
Bugman
Queen Arya
yobo
CleverFox
ThatLostDude
Vampiretwilight
