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[center][h1][color=BurlyWood]Jack Woodard - Present Day - Tahoe City[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=BurlyWood]He felt warm. Much warmer than what the usual temperature within his hotel room on a cold, snowy morning in Lake Tahoe, was. Finding difficulty in opening one eye, Jack squinted as the morning light streamed down onto his face, forcing his eye back shut immediately as a pressing headache formed it's way between his eyes. Peeling open his eye in a second attempt, Jack let out a tired groan wanting at least a few more minutes to sleep in, but he had his work cut out for him today.

Taking stock of his limbs, Jack opened his second eye to find his cheek pressed intimately to the bare backside of a woman and an arm wrapped around her waist, hand resting on her abdomen. The events of the night before slowly filtered through his sleep-induced mind and Jack couldn't help but to smirk at his good fortune.

Taking great care to untangle himself from the still sleeping woman, Jack placed a gentle kiss on the backside of her shoulder before he managed to sit upright on the bed and fish around for his clothes, finding his t-shirt first and slipped it on. Standing up, he pulled his worn blue jeans back on, working on the belt as he made his way over to the front door of [i]her[/i] apartment and wiggled his shoes on, not even stopping to bother with the laces.

Taking a minute to run his fingers through his long, shaggy brown hair, Jack slipped out the front door quietly, so as not to wake the waitress he had met at the bar just last night. The last thing he needed was for her to get the wrong idea that last night had meant something. She didn't seem like the type that would, but then again, anything was possible when you were drunk.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Jack began the walk to the main street where he could hail a cab and make it back to his hotel room for a quick shower and change of clothes before heading to the ski lodge. Taking a quick look at the clock on his old flip-phone, he found that if he hurried, he would have just enough time to arrive before the throng of tourists did. It took fifteen minutes; even at the crack of dawn the city was traffic-busy, pressing the thought that he might want to think about saving up for a motor bike to get around quicker... maybe they had bike rentals at the lodge? He hadn't even thought to check on that before.

He had arrived in Nevada a day short of a week ago, dreams of his past haunting his sleep. He was made of wood again, constantly calling out for his Papa, wandering among never ending hallways with no doors feeling more and more frightened with each step he took. A heavy weight was brought down on his chest, making him stop to look at the necklace The Blue Fairy had given him, her final words to him echoing around in his wooden head again and again.

[i]"Remember Pinocchio... if you help the children to remember who they are, you will have the chance to come back some day. And if your heart proves you to be selfless, brave and true, you will finally become a real boy. Stay with them Pinocchio, they need you."[/i]

Jack physically scoffed as he remembered the subject of his dreams lately. Selfless, brave and true? Boy had he fallen far from that mark! But he still had a promise to keep. He supposed it [i]would[/i] be easier if he hadn't been separated from the group upon their initial arrival to Earth, but that was neither here nor there. Fate had it out for him making everything he did one step forward and two steps back.

Pulling out the necklace from underneath his shirt and letting his thumb brush over the tiny pendant, he raised it to his lips for a kiss. He would not be returning home, not when there was no hope of not being turned back to wood, but there was still hope for the others. He just had to get them to believe.

With a quick shower and a change of clothes that was better suited for the snow-dusted morning, Jack headed back out to the busy streets, stopping at a corn-dog stand on his way to get something into his stomach, grateful for the break in softly falling snow underneath the kiosk's umbrella.

"Lookin' a bit tired this morning. Rough weekend?" The man behind the corndog stand asked.

Jack smirked, reaching to his back pocket to pull out a couple one's from his wallet.

"Eventful." He replied, slapping the money onto the kiosk, putting his wallet away before grabbing the two corn dogs handed over to him.

"Ah, well, could be worse I suppose. You take care ya?"

Jack gave a half-assed salute with one of the corn dogs, chuckling a bit to himself as he then bit off the end and headed on his way down the street. He was nearly finished with the first one when he felt a pair of eyes on him from behind. Stopping, Jack turned to find a young boy, no older than eight, staring hungrily at the second corn dog in his opposite hand.

Jack didn't have to guess where the boy came from, or what he wanted. It was clear in his ragged clothes and unwashed hair that he was living on the streets, and had been for a few months now. But it wasn't the clothes and the unwashed hair that let Jack know this, it was the look in his eyes, the same look he himself held for a number of years before landing a job as a street performer and managed to save up for a tiny studio apartment back in Manhattan. It could have been days since the boy had found something to eat, and his heart went out to the kid.

Adjusting his weight a bit, and popping what was left of the first corn dog into his mouth, Jack headed over to the boy, handing him the remainder of his breakfast. Wide eyed and full of awe, the boy graciously took the corn dog from Jack and turned to leave.

"Hey kid!" Jack called out, reaching back to his front pocket. The boy turned, fearful at first that it was all just a trick and Jack would take the corn dog back as some cruel joke he had been subjected to over his experiences of begging for food. Instead, Jack pulled out a crisp ten-dollar bill he had swiped from the man at the kiosk while he had been paying for his corn dogs and placed it into the boys hand. "Dinner on me yeah?"

Grinning madly, the boy bobbed his head up and down, the worn woolen cap on his head threatening to topple off his large brown curls. Jack just smiled and patted him on the back, sending the boy on his way. 

Feeling a bit lighter in his step, Jack turned back around and called for the cab that would then take him to the ski lodge, whistling a specific Disney tune to himself as he waited.[/color]