[center][img]http://media.tumblr.com/3df1a9fc0d9918b8175ff5d3f84021cd/tumblr_mw6gftCJqF1rru28vo1_500.gif[/img][/center]
[center][h1][color=BurlyWood]Alan Woodard - Present Day - Lake Tahoe Ski Lodge[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=BurlyWood]He couldn't stay there... 

Even though he had thrown out his conscious with the wind the moment he was 'adopted' by a band of orphaned, homeless boys once he came to Earth, there was still something eating away inside of him. Guilt. It had been absolutely wonderful to just be Alan again; to not hold a care in the world, give the finger to responsibility and to just look out for his own interests. With everything that had come down on him in the last few days - the amulet acting up in his sleep, being dragged into his promise made to The Blue Fairy in helping the 'children' back home, finding out who the children were, Dominic, The Sorcerer - it was all incredibly overwhelming and those hours... those [i]glorious[/i] few hours spent in a bodily entanglement with a drunk, hot-as-hell, barely legal woman, were a very welcomed reprieve from it all.

But the moment Alan awoke in the bed, fully aware and alert as to what had just happened with Daria nestled snugly in his arms, still sleeping, he pulled away, gathered what clothes he could find and left the hotel room after leaving the snoozing Princess a quick note on the pillow where she would have expected him to be when she finally did wake.

The sun was far from rising, and though checking the time was as simple as looking at the display on his old flip phone, Alan simply didn't care what hour it was. He needed to be alone. He needed to think.

What was it that had his insides twisting so hard? It wasn't anything physical, he knew that for a fact. This was something tied into his subconscious and he was determined to dig it out - a puzzle within his own mind that he didn't know how to solve - and that bugged him more than anything.

Alan hadn't even realized he had been wandering until he found himself stopping in the dead center of the very room that held the Snowfest Celebration the night prior. It all looked remotely the same since he had been in it last, save that this time he was the only one there; it seemed that with everything going on, no one really had it in their heart to take down the decorations and clean up. That was just as well. At least now that he knew where he was, he knew [i]where[/i] he was. And upon entering the room last night, he distinctly remembered seeing a bar (though not up and running). Figuring he'd give it a shot, Alan turned and headed to the bar in question, making himself at home behind the counter as though he owned the place.

The main counter was a whole refrigeration unit in itself; the 'cupboards' below all singular storage spaces where the alcohol was kept. Bottled beers in one, rows of clean glasses for an even colder beer in another, one that shared space between an assortment of fruits to spice up the drinks and finally, the vodka and other hard beverages.

"And Bingo was his name-o."

Alan pulled out one of the bottles of vodka, pleased to find that it was one of the more expensive brands, which meant it would go down a lot smoother. Not to mention, there was no fruity flavor added - it was simply straight. However, realizing that there was only enough left in the bottle for a few shots and finding that his hand felt rather sticky after grabbing it, did tend to put a slight damper on things. Figuring that it would at least do for the time being, and that he could always come back later, Alan closed the door to the refrigerator/cabinet unit and began walking again, this time headed out to the balcony where he last saw Eliza before chasing Daria down like a piece of meat.

Eliza. No... [i]Elsa[/i]...

Resting his forearms onto the railing of the balcony, Alan lowered his head, bending at the waist, to push his fingers through his long, brown hair, tugging at the roots a bit in hopes that the action would release some of the built up pressure there from his swarming thoughts. They were the same thoughts he had found himself attacked by when left alone in the 'borrowed' hotel room Eliz- Elsa had gotten them for the night. After she had come to pick him up from jail and let him sleep the day away. Before he knew who she was. He didn't allow his mind to linger on those thoughts, however. At the time, they scared him. He didn't understand them. But this time, after a whole new, fresh perspective on everything, Alan believed that he was starting to.

It all came down to the guilt that he felt when he woke up, realizing that the woman in his arms wasn't the woman he had fallen asleep thinking about. She was everywhere in his thoughts, plaguing him. And now... now that he knew who she was...

Sighing, Alan brought the bottle of vodka to his lips, taking in two large gulps that would have otherwise been good for three different shots before lowering it down. Maybe he wasn't ready for this. But when would he be? Alan knew that answer. Later. Always later. It was how he had always been ever since coming to Earth. Putting things off that should have been addressed right then and there. And where did that get him? Living in a shitty-ass studio apartment in a shitty-ass town working one of the most dishonest jobs a young-adult could manage while having no true friends and the possibility of a few bastard children out somewhere in the world.

[i]Yeah. Papa would be proud.[/i]

Alan rolled his eyes and finished off the bottle, casually setting it aside on the railing to deal with later while he tried to focus on the thoughts he kept running from.

Elsa. She was his girlfriend. The fucking future Queen of Arendelle was his fucking girlfriend! Sure he didn't know that at the time; she was just some hot blonde he was determined to infiltrate, but even from the beginning she had always been a bit... different than any other girl he had seduced in the same manner. She made him think. And dammit, he hated it! But more than the questionable ways she made him feel, even more than the knowledge that he had slept with not only her best friend (twice) but also her sister with absolutely no remorse save for that morning when these feelings first started, she was a Princess - destined to rule over an entire country.

He didn't deserve her.

How could he? He was nothing more than a hunk of wood, carved from some tree and brought to life by magic because some old man was lonely. He could never amount to anything that she was to become, or even who she was already. He lied, cheated, deceived and outright disrespected everything that she was. Getting her into bed with him was no longer a priority. He meant what he said to Dar- Princess Jasmine last night, even if he didn't particularly know it at the time. He had to end things with her, and the reason why had his heart clenched tightly within his chest, gasping for release...

Because he cared for her. Deeply.

"...If you love somebody set them free..."

Wait... love? [i]Love[/i]? Did that word just come out of his mouth? Alan ran his hand over his mouth, feeling the gristled stubble on his cheek from not having shaved for a few days, tugging on his lips with his fingers, as though they had betrayed him.

Before Alan had even a moment more to think on it, however, a shooting pain coursed it's way through his leg, starting just above his knee and shooting down into his ankle, making Alan hiss out in pain and lose his balance for a moment. He stumbled, but his hands took hold of the balcony railing out in front of him and he managed to stabilize himself once more, though not without slamming his eyes shut and gritting his teeth together as he willed for the pain to pass.

"Fucking really?"

[i]Now[/i] it was becoming physical. Or at least, he thought it was. There was always the strange chance that this, too, was in his subconscious. It started once he got to Earth and began dabbling in things that he knew weren't right; weren't honest. Sometimes it was just a finger, or just a part of his wrist. Sometimes it was his entire body - seizing up rendering him completely stiff, in pain, and incapable of moving... as though he were made of wood. Just like the amulet he wore always, it was a constant reminder of where he came from - who he was... except... more painful. And it always seemed to come at a time when he did something he knew was wrong, and tried to pass it off as right. No doubt a parting gift from The Blue Bitch herself.

Finally, the pain subsided and Alan was able to put weight back down onto his leg.

He needed to do this now, before things got worse - for him, for Elsa. He just needed to find her, and he knew exactly where she would be. Unless she had left with Dominic the night prior, she would be utilizing the room she 'borrowed' for the two of them and for two nights now Alan wasn't there to share it with her like she wanted. The first night was out of his hands entirely, in a sense, but last night...

Gods this was not going to be easy.[/color]