chapter word count: 790 (woopsie)

noir heart: one hundred and two

Aurora is old school, judging by her room. The furniture is all mahogany, from her bed to her dressing table, her wardrobe to her chair. Posters of old romantic movies like Gone with the Wind, My Fair Lady, Romancing the Stone, The Adventures of Robin Hood and even The Princess Bride - which brought to Jack's mind the infamous Inigo Montoya quote - adorn her walls, and expertly-painted ceramic figures of princes and princesses rest in pride of place on her shelves.

Every single thing points to classic romance and the art of falling in love. Dancing in a forest, finding her Prince Charming. She was a rare breed. Jack feels his heart sink a little. As his eyes trace over the dressing table, where the frame is covered in pictures of her with her family, with her housemate Ariel, her best friend Belle and with Jane who, somewhat surprisingly, is smiling. Must be before she became Captain.

Aurora was innocent, an optimist, committed to her friends and dreaming of falling in love - and judging by how she double-circles THIRD DATE NIGHT on the calendar fixed to the wall, potentially found her soul mate. A precious rose in a field of cynicism, a believer in the power of love surrounded by those who think it's a weakness.

Behind him, Aster blurts out, "Witness!"

Jack starts, and shoots him an odd look. "What?"

Aster glances up at him, again wearing the same expression of the world slowly coming back to him. This is the second time he's been off with the fairies, and it's getting on Jack's nerves. He blinks, and nervously looks away. "Sorry. Erm...I mean I wish we had a witness."

"Huh." Jack narrows his eyes. "You okay there, Kangaroo?"

Scowling, Aster snaps, "I am not a kangaroo!" and proceeds to interest himself in the ceramic figurines. Rolling his eyes, Jack returns to perusing the pictures. She's a beautiful soul. Bright. Caring.

"Today's society would have a field day with Aurora," he says, and realises too late he let his thoughts slip out.

"What do you mean?"

Glancing at him, Jack shrugs. "She was a good kid. Loved her friends, spent most of her free time with them. According to Ariel, she was focused. Driven. Kept on top of her college work. Wanted to become a fashion designer - but because she's old fashioned and believes in falling in love, being swept off her feet by a handsome prince, she would be seen as less of a woman. It's kind of sad, actually."

"Yeah, well," Aster grunts as he picks up a red-bound journal, opens to the most recent entry and begins to read, "I reckon romance ain't as dead as they think."

"If you say so," Jack mutters. "You still have someone who loves you."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Jack sighs with exasperation. "But there's one thing that's bugging me. Everything in this room tells me Aurora's into classic romance, so there's no way she'd give away her virginity to someone on the third date, right?"

"So?"

Jack pulls his hand out from his trench coat pocket and gesticulates gently alongside every other word. "Well, here's a bit of pop trivia - I lost my virginity in the last year of high school. Music room. It was awkward, we didn't know what we were doing."

"Please stop."

"I mean, it was our first time, so I was fumbling down there like I lost my keys and she was pumping me like a trombone-"

Aster starts massaging his temple just as Jack glances over. "I don't need the mental image, mate. Zip it."

"-and when it came to the-" Jack pauses to make an O with his left thumb and forefinger, and slides his right forefinger inside it with a comical whistle, "I wasn't exactly accurate-"

"Mate, if you do not shut up I am gonna punch you in the mouth," Aster spectacularly deadpans, "I do not need to know that."

"Funny you should say that," Jack smirks, waggling a finger, "because neither did my parents. Only Hans knew. Who do young people talk to about things they don't want their parents to know?"

Aster glances up, the train of thought leaving the platform in his mind, too, in the form of a wry smile and an identical finger waggle. "They talk to their best mates."

Jack's smirk falls to a knowing half-smile curled at the left corner of his lips, and his eyes fall upon a photo-booth picture of Aurora with her right cheek squished up against Belle's left, both wearing wide, happy grins.

I'm an old romantic.

doomstone: next lot of updates should satisfy that.

special thanks to: doomstone, hornedgoddess, stefalove, oninoko, jpbake, last future of embryo, memu and isawaliciaarrow for the reviews!