[center][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Alan.gif[/img][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/ezgif-3227024064.gif[/img][/center]

[center][h1][color=BurlyWood]Alan Woodard[/color] - [color=OliveDrab]Dominic Greyjoy[/color]
Present Day - Lake Tahoe Ski Lodge Lobby Resturaunt[/h1][/center]

There were a great number of difficult choices Alan was forced to make over the course of the last thirteen years of his life, here on Earth. Breaking up with Eliza Brie, revealed Princess of Arendelle, was most notably the hardest one. He thought that the alcohol in his system would have helped to lessen the emotional blow he knew would be coming his way once he ended things, though it seemed that his light intoxication did nothing. His head hurt. His body hurt... His heart hurt. The way she called out to him, reaching for him when he turned away... The way her voice quivered when things finally settled into her mind of what was happening... The way she looked at him... it was too much. The small amount of alcohol did nothing to shield his heart, and a dull, throbbing pain was starting up in his leg again. He wanted to escape, to run and be free just as he was when he was a boy. What he wouldn't give for the small stash of cocaine left in his hotel room on the other side of town...

Actually, that wasn't too bad of an idea... 

His job was to help protect the children while on Earth and lead them back home when the time was right. Well, he managed to convince both Jasmine and Elsa to return... the way he saw it, his job was done. The only thing holding him back from leaving Tahoe altogether was the amulet still hanging from his neck; an amulet that would soon open a portal to send the (older) children back home, where they belonged. When that was going to happen, Alan wasn't too sure. He left the little impromptu meeting before it was truly over to chase after Princess Jasmine when she decided to duck out early, so leaving Tahoe to return to his hotel room for his drug fix wasn't quite in the cards just yet... He just needed something to tie him over...

Blinking away the hot tears pooling his lower lids, Alan stopped to take an account of his surroundings. After leaving Eliza in the hall, his feet carried him on auto-pilot as his mind tried to decypher the plethora of feelings and emotions roiling within him. However, as luck would have it, even in his intoxicated state, Alan was able to identify where his feet had taken him.

It seemed like so long ago, and yet just yesterday, when Alan first arrived at the Lodge - acting on impulse as the amulet began to refuse to let him sleep. He didn't know what he was doing there, only knowing that he was in the right place, and began to take up a small residency in the lobby by doing card and magic tricks to keep the customers entertained. And, of course, to pick a pocket or twelve in the process. He could still see it - groups of people surrounding him to get a good look at what it was that he was doing, and others within the lobby keeping a careful enough distance to not be 'noticed' watching. But it was still early morning, and as Alan became more in-tuned to reality, one by one those ghosts began to disappear, leaving the street magician alone within the dark room with nothing more than his memories.

A small shiver rolled down his back then that had nothing to do with the cold from outside. But just as he placed one foot in front of the other, ready to head in whatever direction his feet would take him next, memory served him correctly by recalling the small-time resturaunt attached to the hotel lobby he had followed Eliza into when she didn't seem so interested in his magic. Stomach growling, begging to be fed, Alan let out a small sigh and pushed himself to walk through the open doors to the nearly-abandoned eatery. Upon first glance, it didn't even appear that the place was open save that the front doors had been left open and a few overhead lights were on, but as Alan ventured in further, he found a few workers beginning to set up the place and caught the eye of an attractive red-head setting up the bar in the corner. She gave him a sly smile and with her head, gestured for him to come and take a seat. She couldn't have been too many years older than him, but for once, Alan didn't even stop to consider the posibilities of what that could mean, and instead stuffed his hands into his pockets with a low huff and went to take a seat.

"Mornin' handsome. What's got ya up so early?" the woman asked, polishing off a glass that had just come out of the dishwasher she was currently unloading.

"Insomnia." Alan replied in an uninterested, dead-panned tone, wincing a bit as he pulled his pained leg to rest on the metal bar underneath the counter. "You guys open yet?"

"Funny you should ask. Most people 'round here assume that we're open all the time like in Vegas or Reno, but this side of Lake Tahoe we're required to shut down at two a.m. Lucky for you though, we just opened for the day. So what can I getcha blue eyes?"

Alan frowned, keeping his eyes off of the woman and instead on the counter in front of him. What did he want? He came in here wanting, no, [i]needing[/i] food. Funny how quickly the mind detours need for want in favor of a temporary resolve...

"Black Russian. Grey Goose Vodka."

The red-headed bartender pursed her lips in an appreciative, yet slightly dangerous manner, though Alan paid her no heed, instead using his finger to trace nonsense patterns into the counter. To him, this woman who obviously held interest in him was nothing more than a bar tender. To him, a robot could of done the same job and hold his interest just as much. He wasn't there to talk, to hook up, to score, to flirt... he was there to get drunk.

"Bitter [i]and[/i] sweet, a perfect little morning 'pick me up.'" The redhead giggled, but it went unheared. Realizing then that she wasn't going to be getting much conversation out of him without a drink, the bartender set down the glass she was polishing and went about making up the vodka-coffee liquer drink.

"I must say, you look rather worse for wear." Dominic's unmistakable burr sounded behind Alan, the older man casually making his way beside Pinocchio to sit in the stool next to him. The grizzled man did not appear tired, on the contrary one would even say he looked lively. 

"I had assumed you'd be off with Eliza somewhere, celebrating the revelation." Dominic added in a calm tone, lacking the usual venom and spitefulness it usually had when directed at Alan. Hot-headed as he may be, Dominic was not unobservant...and for one so charismatic as Alan, well. He might as well have been sobbing. 

Alan's shoulders hunkered, his back bared to the man at his side that he knew to be the head guardian in charge of this whole... thing. He said nothing at first, biding his time until the bartender returned with his drink and set it in front of him. Taking up the tumbler in one hand, he swirled the cubes of ice around until he quietly brought the dark liquid to his lips in a simple sip.

"Neither one of us are much in a mood to celebrate, Feathers." Alan replied in a low voice, silently setting the glass back down onto the bar though kept both his hand and eyes on his beverage.

Dominic narrowed his eyes slightly. This was...unusual. Something was going on - something deeper. 

"Alan...did something happen?" Dominic asked seriously, though he was nearly [i]positive[/i] that he wouldn't get a truthful, or cohesive answer from the magician. Such was the case with the boy. But even then....there was no harm in trying. 

"Things always happen." Alan replied nonchalantly, raising the tumbler once more for a smaller sip and keeping his eyes forward. Only until he was content with a few more drinks firing up his throat did Alan finally meet his eyes with the sorcerer next to him. "So what's the deal now? If all the kids are wanting to go back you only need one amulet to get back, right? Kind of a groupy, hand-holding, singalong effort?"

Dominic's mouth twitched slightly. Though it was obvious that Alan was attempting to switch subjects to avoid the matter at hand, Dominic nonetheless was inclined, if not obligated to answer. 

"Aye, only one amulet is required. The kids will come together, we'll open the portal, then journey back. I suppose as "hand-holding, singalong" as you'd be inclined to think." Dominic finished, letting his calloused hands rest atop the surface of the bar. 

"Why do you ask...?" 

With a bit of a berated sigh and Dominic's answer, Alan set his glass down and in turn, pulled the necklace up and over his head, his fingers pressing the amulet close to his heart for a few moments before handing it over to Dominic. The only other time in the last thirteen years he had ever parted with the necklace was out of anger, just the night before, when he threw it at the wall. Sure he had thoughts of getting rid of the damn thing years ago, but it was his only physical proof of the land that he came from; a sort of silent reminder of his promise to The Blue Fairy that he almost went out of his way to disobey.

But this, this was different. This time, he was letting go of it for good, because his mind had already been made up long ago. There would be no forgiveness, no redemption for the things he had done if he ever went back. The disappointment on his father's face would be far more than he could handle, but him [i]and[/i] The Blue Fairy constantly reminding him of his downfalls? He couldn't do it. He was staying. His job was done.

"Then I won't need this."

Dominic couldn't or wouldn't suppress the look of shock that spread across his careworn features as he delicately took the amulet in hand. Though it was forged to be all but completely unbreakable, Dominic held it with a certain amount of respect and reverence.  

"Alan..." Dominic began, stopping for a few moments as if attempting to gather the correct words to say. "You're not returning." He added, more as a way to convince [i]himself[/i] of the apparent fact. 

"The choice, in the end, is yours - you're extended the same offer the Children were. But I implore you to reconsider your decision." 

"I know how you're feeling, these...fears. Even now, I have to live with the fact that when I return, I'll be a bird again. Trapped. And that terrifies me...every day. But you know what? I had to come to terms with that decision, and understand that for the greater good, I needed to accept that change." Letting out a soft sigh that could only be described as weary in manner, Dominic kept his gaze fixed on Alan. 

"If you don't wish to return, then I won't try to change your mind. You're old enough now to make your own decisions...after today, my position as Head Guardian will be nil. But I beg you...at least think on it." Dominic finished calmly, keeping his palm open with the amulet in plain sight. Just in case Alan were to take it again. 

A muscle in Alan's jaw twitched as his teeth clenched a bit tighter. Although he was giving the fairy tale bird his profile, keeping his eyes forward on his drink as he raised it up to his level, the distinct, almost magical glint that came off of it still managed to catch the corner of his eye. Dominic was giving him another chance to reconsider, but Alan didn't want it. He couldn't trust his emotions enough to know that he wouldn't change his mind. But he had severed everything that would of made him want to come back. His father, the Blue Fairy... Elsa... No. No there was nothing for him there. Not anymore. So he said nothing and resumed to nursing his drink.

Dominic heaved a sigh, his cragged features almost unreadable, but the wearied man was disappointed...that much was certain. 

Closing his palm gently, Dominic chose to lay the Amulet down on the bar beside Alan, clasping the young man once on the shoulder before turning to leave, saying nothing else. There was nothing left [I]to[/I] be said. He had made his case, Alan had made his. Whether he would reconsider or not was up to him - it was out of the Head Guardian's hands.