happily ever-..., tagging jasper!

[Angelina Matthews]

At Nemare, homework wasn’t nearly as horrible as it was back home in England. Despite the fact that finishing extra work outside of class meant that she had to set aside time from her writing and playing around to actually be responsible, Angelina didn’t necessarily mind her homework. She would do it easily enough on her own without reminders, in fact, she was usually the one to remind the others that they had to finish their papers and fill-in the blank sheets before class started.
It wasn’t an easy task mind you. How many literary characters did you see sitting down to do homework? It wasn’t always in the character’s nature to actually sit down, calm themselves and apply knowledge on a piece of paper rather than just do it in the real world. Lina however was fortunate enough to have the talent of concentration and with her sewing project needing to be done, she was walking carefully back to the library with her quilt in hand.

She hadn’t left for long, and to be honest while she did need to finish her homework that hadn’t been what the aim of today was about. Jasper was the one who wasn’t finishing up his papers and for the thousandth time it seemed, she was going to attempt to sit him down and have him finish up whatever he needed doing.
Having left him there with the promise of her return, Angelina had dashed to her room to snatch up her materials and thread to keep her busy while he wrote or… sketched or did whatever he needed to do for his homework, she wasn’t entirely sure what he had yet.

Reaching up to tuck a piece of hair back behind her ear, Angelina’s deep brown eyes peered inside the library doors as she passed through and slowly wandered along the study tables before pausing with a frown where she had left Jazz.
”Oh… Jasper.. “ Sighing quietly, the sixteen year old shook her head in amusement, wandering to that spot where her bag still was and set down her sewing at the table with the clink of a thimble before peering around. He wasn’t here anymore… she should have guessed. You couldn’t keep Peter sitting still so of course, Jasper was just as difficult, but Lina had quite the amount of patience.

”Jasper..?” Calling as loudly as she dared in a library, the girl’s eyes moved upwards, peering around the tops of the bookshelves rather than the bottom. A peculiar way to look for someone you might think, but then you wouldn’t know Jasper Kensington. ”Where are you?”
Frowning lightly she turned on her heel in confusion letting a finger rest on her chin softly as she peered around innocently. Leave him alone for a minute and he would fly away, not that she minded. Angelina loved that about him, how he just let the carefree nature of childhood drift him away, quite literally. She wished she could act like that sometimes, it would make all this horrible growing up business so much less prominent in her mind.
Shuddering at the thought, the Wendy reincarnate wandered down another row of books. ”Jazz come on now…” Pausing, she smiled a little, eyes lighting with an idea. ”I’ll tell you a story if you come back!” She called, enough to get a look from the librarian but she did try her best to ignore it.

[Jasper Kensington!]

Contrary to popular assumption, Jasper liked the library. The librarian didn't like him, and the students using the library to study didn't like him, but they were all stick-in-the-muds anyway. How could they be anything else when they frowned on him for simply taking advantage of this wonderful playground and obstacle course? Yes, there were other places he could play, but did all of those other places have piles and piles and shelves and shelves of wonderful books all over the place? Jasper wasn't much of a reader, to be honest - too impatient - but he did adore a good story. Stories fuelled and were fuelled by his overactive imagination, taking him on adventures and flights of fancy not possible in the real world, even for a boy who could fly.

What Jasper didn't care for was... well, lots of things, but his biggest, pettiest, peeviest pet peeve was homework. Yuck! Why did teachers feel like they had to give everyone even more work for after classes were over? It didn't make any sense! Classes were for working (well. ostensibly. Jasper had difficulty keeping still at the best of times.) and free time was for being free. That was a nice, neat division of labour, and he didn't see why anyone had to spoil it by crossing the line with homework. It wasn't even like he was at home, although it could be said that he sometimes thought of Nemare Academy as his second home. Homework wasn't called 'dormwork' or 'extra schoolwork', so he didn't see why he should have to do any of it when he wasn't at home or going home any time soon. He did enough work in classes - why did homework have to spoil his wonderful free time? There was no logical reason for it - none that he agreed with, anyway!

Luckily for Jasper, and his exasperated teachers, he had at least one friend patient and firm enough to make him do most of his given homework. It wasn't easy, but Lina Matthews was a tough cookie when she wanted to be. Jasper knew (somewhere deep down under his obliviousness) that he had a lot to thank her for - it was highly probable that he wouldn't have made it through the years without her help and cajoling. Besides, she told awesome stories! As previously mentioned, he was a total sucker for a good story. That was like half the reason why he was friends with Lina! She told his favourite kind of stories.... Peter Pan stories! And Jasper stories! Yes, Jasper did love to hear a story in which he was the hero. Narcissistic maybe, but that's just how he was.

Today, Lina had managed to coax Jasper down to the library with a promise not to cause a ruckus, not even "by accident". Then, unfortunately, she had made the error of leaving him alone. Jasper had stayed at the table alone for a grand total of five extremely fidgety minutes, and then his wandering attention had been caught, dragging him along behind it. He skipped through the shelves, ignoring the fact that skipping is generally only socially acceptable for those under 7 and wearing pink, following an unusual-looking insect. Then, he'd been distracted by another student, and had spent some time pretending they were an Indian and "tracking" them through the shelves. This diversion had been entertaining for quite a while, and in fact he was watching that same student from his perch on top of a shelf when Lina returned to the library.

Hearing her soft calls, Jasper straightened, disappointed that his game had to end. His disappointment didn't last long, though, because it didn't seem that Lina actually knew where he was. He giggled softly to himself and then rose into the air, slipping lightly from shelftop to shelftop, quiet as a mouse with its mouth duct-taped closed, until he could peer down at his friend. She had no idea where he was! Well, of course not. He was a master at sneaking around and hide-and-go-seek was one of his favourite games.

"Jazz come on now… I’ll tell you a story if you come back!"

Ooh! Jasper didn't even have to think about that one. A story! Hurrah! He popped to his feet, stepping off the shelf and plummeting until he was hovering just off the floor in front of Lina. "A story? What kind of story?" he asked, a small voice of reason warning him to have a tiny bit of caution before accepting her offer. After all, it might have been just to lure him back to his (bleh) homework, and then she would tell him some boring story about girlie things, like unicorns or something! And pink! Jasper didn't mind a horse with a horn but there was something about unicorns... He put his hands on his hips, giving her an expectant look.

[Angelina Matthews]

She really shouldn’t have left him on his own and she knew that, she’d been stupid to do it… or at least to assume that he would stay put while she ran off to get her sewing. It was Jasper, the reincarnate of the boy who could fly and never grow up and really… he never did grow up.
Walking through the halls of books, the girl peered around and frowned, lips turning downwards ever so slightly. Waiting for him to accept her story offer seemed to be taking a while but that might just be her own impatience too.
Clasping her hands lightly in front of her she listened hard, trying to ignore the sounds of pages turning, students mumbling amongst themselves and the computers checking out books with a soft beep. Then came the sound she wanted to hear.

”A story? What kind of story?”

Turning her eyes up at him she broke into a grin before decreasing it to a sweet, innocent smile. ”Well a wonderful kind of story of course.” She unclasped her hands, gently joining them behind her back instead as she spoke to him. He was smart, very intelligent, and strategic. She knew she was going to get away with ‘Once upon a time there was a boy who did his homework’. She was going to have to actually tell him a story. But maybe… just maybe she could get some work out of this.
”The best kind.” She assured him. ”The Jasper/Peter kind.” It was her favourite ones to tell. She called them Jasper/Peter simply because she’d been making up extra installments to Peter Pan since she was a little girl and Jasper… well he was pretty much the same thing. ”With kidnapping, pirates and fairies.” She smiled a little more, getting herself excited at the prospects. Her mind was already forming plots as she spoke.

”Now, come this way.” She beckoned, reaching for his wrist and gently toting him along behind her no matter what his answer. She could feel her feet bounce higher, the feeling of flight trying to flood its way through her but she wasn’t going to fly right now that could just serve as a different distraction and they wouldn’t get anything done.
Thankfully she had chosen a table for homework near the back of the room where there weren’t many people in the first place. She pointed to his chair, letting go of his wrist and feeling that amazing, wonderful feeling of flying weaken slightly.
She herself sat not in her own seat but across from him instead, putting her sewing to the side as to not get in the way and straightened her back. ”Alright, are you ready Jasper?” She smirked.

Angelina loved doing this sort of thing, just making it up as she went along was the best. But she had to be careful, if she got too into the story she wasn’t going to be able to get him doing much of anything other than crowing in victory when he won-… well if he won. Though she hadn’t made him lose before and she wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. He most likely wouldn’t be too happy about it. She didn’t want to make him upset.

”But you have to swear that you’re not going to leave the room, you have to sit and listen… because it is a library and we can’t get kicked out. I have to finish some things.” She chided lightly. ”Promise?”

[Jasper Kensington!]

"Well a wonderful kind of story of course."

Jasp floated a little closer to the ground, but didn't quite touch down. One man's (or girl's) wonderful might be another man's awful, after all. It wasn't the first time Lina had used her storytelling abilities to get the free-spirited youth to do something unpleasant but necessary (like homework) and so Jasp wasn't about to have the wool pulled over his eyes. It was hard for him to say no to a story, though. Any kind of story, even the kind that didn't contain himself or Peter Pan - and especially a story told by Lina. She had a knack for it that a lot of people didn't; there was something about her voice that really spoke to something in his imagination, helping every image she painted for him become vivid and real in his mind. And, of course, she told the very best Jasper/Peter Pan stories out of everyone he knew. Except maybe J. M. Barrie, but even then those books had been read to him, rather than him reading them, so maybe that didn't count. Jasper's mother's storytelling voice was in a special category of its own, even though (or perhaps especially since) she had deemed him "too old" to listen to flights of fancy.

"The best kind. The Jasper/Peter kind. With kidnapping, pirates and fairies."

"Kidnapping!" Jasper exclaimed excitedly, shooting up a foot or two out of excitement, and then lowering himself down just in case not being able to look into his handsome face became a reason for Lina not to tell him this wonderful story she was promising him. "And pirates!" he said happily, satisfied that this was going to be his kind of story after all. He wasn't as enthusiastic about fairies, since they were a bit girlie, but since one of his best friends was technically a fairy he wasn't going to complain. Hey, maybe Lina was going to put Tink into the story? He made, and promptly forgot, a mental note to ask Lina to make up a story that included all of his friends here at Nemare. That could keep for next time, though, because right now he wanted to hear this story with pirates and kidnapping (and fairies) with which she was tempting him.

"Now, come this way."

As her fingers closed around his wrist, Jasper obediently floated after her, like the world's most oddly-shaped balloon. He let his feet touch the ground as she indicated which seat was his - the one at the head of the table, of course! - and sat, cross-legged and expectant. Although he was known amongst the teaching staff for being an incredibly fidgety child, Jasper was actually capable of keeping still if he wanted to. There was nothing quite like the prospect of a good story to get him to sit tight and concentrate, which is probably what made it Lina's weapon of choice in the great war against Jasper's Short Attention Span.

"Alright, are you ready Jasper? But you have to swear that you’re not going to leave the room, you have to sit and listen... because it is a library and we can’t get kicked out. I have to finish some things. Promise?"

What a silly question! This was one kid (or teenager, technically) who was always ready for a story! Jasper brushed his messy fringe back and sat up as straight as he could, trying to look like the manly head of the table. This was nice, actually, he mused. He should get a table like this for his Lost Boys! And he could sit at the head like this, and they could all sit down the sides - well, he'd need a longer one than this particular table - and then maybe Lina could sit at the other end and tell them all a story? Jasper's eyes lit up at this internal vision of awesome, and he smiled happily to himself. Oh, the cleverness of me!

His self-congratulatory train of thought was interrupted by the realisation that Lina was talking again. It was important to listen to what she said, because if he didn't listen, she might get cross with him and withhold stories! That would be terrible! He might have to banish her from his table to make her see the error of her ways and apologise for depriving him of stories. He never quite knew how girls would react to beng banished though - they were such strange creatures, honestly! Maybe it was safer (and more conducive to getting his story) to listen to Lina, rather than having to go through all of that. He let out a gusty sigh when she forbade him from leaving, but only for dramatic effect. The junior had no intention of leaving the room while she was telling him a story! "Fine, I promise." Solemnly, Jasper made a little cross with one finger over his heart, showing that he was serious. He would never break a cross-my-heart promise! That was serious business! He didn't want to have to banish himself.

Setting his elbows on the table, Jasper leaned forward, dismissing this unpleasant thought from his mind. He gave Lina an expectant look, hoping that now the formalities were over she would begin her tale. Even thinking about it, the simple anticipation, made him tingle pleasantly with excitement. Pirates and kidnapping and fairies - oh my!

[Angelina Matthews]

The moment she mentioned what her story (of which she hadn’t even really put together in her mind yet) included pirates and kidnapping she knew she had his attention back. Eyes lighting up in victory, Angelina smiled sweetly at him, reaching and gently wrapping her fingers around his wrist, dragging him through the air back to their table. Oh the urge to fly was pushing her up and she wanted desperately to just have fun but no, they had to do their homework or they wouldn’t be getting good marks in school. She wanted Jasper and herself to make it to the next grade intact rather than falling apart near exams or tests.
In fact she wanted to turn and ask him if they could go flying after but stopped herself. If she did that, Jasper would most definitely lose interest in what they were doing. He was absolutely hopeless when it came to distractions. Then again, perhaps that was just her, Jasper did fly all the time of course. She wasn’t as lucky. She could hover, but actually lifting as far into the air as he did either required her holding his hand, or Jasper’s close proximity. She could still remember the excitement when she’d found out he was the key to her actually making full use of her talents.

Sitting down at the table with him and asking if he was ready, Lina got herself comfortable, already noticing he was eyeing the table as if distracted by a mere piece of furniture and it made her smile even further. ”Jasper…” She said gently. ”You really do need to pay attention.” Her voice was laced with a gentle giggle before she rested her hands on the table in front of them and cleared her throat. ”Good.” She nodded as he promised before digging through her mind, trying to piece it together.

”Now, the story begins in Neverland of course, a wonderful place filled with thick, beautiful forests and big, endless blue oceans. There were mermaids and fairies, pirates and Indians… “ She just started off with a bit of an introduction which rolled off her tongue easily enough while she decided exactly how to start, suddenly an idea came and suddenly she let her expression fall dark, turning to look at Jasper as she spoke. ”Or that was how Neverland used to be. Colourful, wonderful, fun… but not anymore. Now it’s a dark, quiet place where no birds sing and mermaids stay deep in the depths of their underwater kingdoms to keep away from the world above. There are more pirate ships now. Ever since the pirates took the fairy queen captive for their own, somewhere in the dark, dank brig of one of their vessels, they have ruled all of Neverland and have its inhabitants terrified. And who was at the head of the operation? Captain James Hook.

Shifting in her chair, she started to relax, the words coming easily now as the story began to take on a life of its own in her mind, of which she was just relaying to Peter with gentle but chilling words. ”Hook’s plan had been conducted wonderfully. He had planned it so Peter Pan would be out of Neverland for the time being and no one could stop him. In kidnapping the fairy queen he brought himself the ability to fly, and magic came easily. Hook was slowly growing himself into an unstoppable force that couldn’t possibly be beat.

“This wasn’t the worst of it though. No, of course the pirates were terrible enough as it was, but slowly he was claiming the island as his own. Everyone was terrified. Hook’s plan was marvelous, one he had come up with entirely by himself and he was quite proud of that mind you. What Hook would do, would be to pick a piece of Neverland and attack. The battles were horrible and bloody, pirates against merpeople, pirates against fairies… pirates against the Indians of the lands.”

By now, Angelina reached for her sewing, peering up at Japer to see what sort of effect the events were having on him before she began stitching. Sometimes acting perfectly calm while telling something horrible was chilling enough, but she was just good at making the mood perfect. ”Screams filled the air and Hook stood off to the side, a horrible grin stretching across his lips while his cold blue eyes shone in terrible victory. He would order the prisoners to the boats- ‘Lock ‘em in the brig!’ his voice was smooth and confident, sickly with pride. He would leave the rest of whatever nation he had destroyed to rebuild until he would return again to multiply the damage. Then he would take his prisoners and offer them a choice.” She stitched, peering up at Peter solemnly. ”To join his crew, or walk the plank and drown.”

[Jasper Kensington!]

Jasper turned his full atttention to Lina as she began her story, a smile playing on his lips as the familiar words washed over him. There was nothing quite like a story - and especially not like a story about Neverland. He didn't really talk about it much, partly because he always had something more interesting to discuss, but the junior had dreamed of Neverland more than once. He always felt extremely refreshed after those dreams, as though just mentally visiting the home of his 'spirit' had relaxed him as much as a hot bath with plenty of bubbles might someone else. Jasper tended to dream very vividly anyway, perhaps because his imagination found it hard to stop even when he was asleep. He'd never really considered it, not even when sharing a particularly awesome or weird dream with his friends. It wasn't like it bothered him or stopped him from getting a good night's rest - it would take more than a few odd dreams to take bounce out of Jasper's step!

As his friend continued to speak, the smile on Jasper's lips started to fade. He didn't like hearing about his beloved Neverland (yes, his; since he technically is Peter Pan, anyone who wants to argue that hasn't a leg to stand on) in such terms. He preferred things to be colourful and bright and fun, not dark and scary... and quiet. Jasper was known for having difficulty staying quiet, especially if he had something he wanted to say or a question he wanted to ask. At base, though, he disliked silence itself - he'd even prefer listening to Hook talk to having to stay in perfect silence. Nothing could be lonelier than total silence. Jasper let out an audible growl at the sound of his arch-enemy's name - yes, he did take canon that seriously. That old codfish had no business running his island! He itched to spring to his feet, but he knew that there was nothing he could really do, besides beg Lina to let Peter Pan come back and set the island to rights again. It was a travesty to have Hook in charge, messing everything up for his own twisted villainy!

His face actually going a little pale - yes, that's how invested he and his imagination were in this story - Jasper listened intently, not even noticing when Lina began to sew. How could she be so calm while speaking of such horrible things? The urge to leap up and open a can of whupass on everyone he deemed to be guilty of ruining his lovely Neverland was getting stronger, and he knew that soon sitting still here, unable to do anything but listen, would be unbearable. He gave his head a little shake as he listened, unable to pull himself away from the story but not wanting to think about the horrible battles Lina was describing. When she paused to look at him, he shook his head again, visibly upset. "They'd never join those rotten pirates!" he exclaimed, probably a little louder than was really acceptable in a library. Folding his arms across his chest, he frowned. "Those bullies!"

[Angelina Matthews]

The small smile that crossed Lina’s face at his sudden outburst couldn’t have gone unnoticed. She peered down at her sewing and shrugged a shoulder carefully before tugging her needle from the cloth and started again. ”But so many did Jasper.” She murmured sadly. ”People were scared and joining up with Hook was all that could save them and their families. They needed a hero but no one was around to help them.” Shaking her head she gave a mournful sigh. Angelina had a small connection to Neverland and her own words saddened her. Of course the place was fictional… but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t care about it deeply.

”Hook’s was ranged over all of neverland, he captured and converted hundreds. Of course no one particularly wanted to join up but honestly what could they do?” She glanced over to him again. ”Then one night… his sights turned to that of his enemies closest followers. She set her sewing down now on the table, readjusting herself to watch her friend and reach out, taking his hand gently over the table. While the story was terribly exciting of a plot in her eyes she didn’t want to hurt Jasper with it, but she really did need to make it seem hopeless.
”The fairy queen locked deep in the depths of his brig was the only one besides Tinkerbell who knew the location of the Lost Boys. Tink of course was with Peter, she couldn’t be reached but he decided that she would be good enough.

Walking one step at a time down the old, rotting wood steps… Hook’s boots echoed around the place and her majesty’s wings shivered, knowing he wanted something. ” Whispering she squeezed his hand lightly. ”He grabbed the jar from which she was imprisoned and gave her a thick, greasy smile.” She wrinkled her nose disgusted with her own mental imagery. ” ‘My dear… ‘ He started, quiet enough that she had to listen hard through the glass. ‘I’m here not to harm you but offer you a deal… show me the Lost Boys and I’ll set you and your people free.”
Honestly the thought sent shivers through her spine. Despite never having met a lost boy incarnate… she felt strangely protective over them. Them and Jasper. Whenever she spoke of them in her stories she wanted to pull them close and keep them safe.

”The queen was desperate and nodded in defeat and acceptance. She needed to free her fairies, with them he had too much power. Hook was elated, he grinned, shoving the jar in his pocket and starting up and off the ship in search of the lost boys…”

She stopped. .Looking at Jasper and smiled a little. ”But… you know Jasper, we really should get our work done. How about we start that before I finish off hm?” She sat up and pulled her hand back tucking some hair behind her ear. ”I really have to finish this or I won’t pass the assignment, and you… when was the last time you did homework hm?”

[Jasper Kensington!]

As Angelina continued her tale of woe, Jasper's head started shaking, and a steady stream of muttered "No, no, no"-ing. He shook his head, becoming progressively more fidgety as the urge to leap up and combat this horrific evil grew harder and harder to resist. Jasper wasn't so good with the whole holding himself back thing. He was more the person who was really easy to understand at any given time, because he showed exactly what he was feeling. Subtlety was all well and good in its place, but Jasp wasn't really the type to keep his feelings under wraps. If he was angry - as he was becoming now, so wrapped up in the story that he could hardly tell that it wasn't real any more, just a figment of Lina's imagination - then he wanted to be able to shout and hit things and deal out justice on whoever had made him angry! The last thing he needed was to be bound to this chair by his previous promise. His friend was fortunate that Jasp took promises as seriously as he took stories, otherwise he would have caused some chaos already.

"But… you know Jasper, we really should get our work done. How about we start that before I finish off hm?"

"WHAT?" Jasper bellowed, and then, with effort, pulled his voice down to a more library-acceptable whisper, repeating, "What?!" People were turning to stare, but the absence of further shouting meant that no one came to investigate what had happened. Even the librarian stayed away, possibly because she had seen Lina heading in that direction and trusted her to handle the Jasper situation also seen heading in that direction. For reasons Jasp didn't (or wouldn't, for such an intelligent boy he could also be very willful) understand, most of the staff at Nemare immediately blamed disturbances on him when he was in the vicinity, and sometimes even when he wasn't. This last he found particularly unjust, especially considering the school's large villain-in-training population. Honestly, if they were going to accept those no-good types, how could they shackle the heroes trying to stop their evil plans with such petty things as detentions for allegedly bedazzling someone's pet cat?

"I really have to finish this or I won’t pass the assignment, and you… when was the last time you did homework hm?"

Waving aside her question as something of no importance (which, to him, it was indeed), Jasper frowned. Homework? She was asking him about homework? Now?! "You can't leave the story there!" he told her insistantly, keeping his voice low but very clearly showing his protest at her abrupt and ill-timed change of subject. How could she leave him on a cliff-hanger like that? Jasper was deeply attached to all of his Lost Boys, and Lina's gift for storytelling made him feel as though danger were creeping up on every one of them at this moment, whether they were the ones in Never Land, the ones that only existed in stories, or the ones here at Nemare Academy, with whom he had personally bonded over his three years of schooling here. Any threat to any Lost Boy (or any friend of his, frankly) was taken as a threat to Jasper's own person and treated with appropriate urgency. "Who cares about silly homework? You have to finish the story!"