Foreword : Alright, here we go for a truly lighter chapter (yes, yes, I can do it) and purely transitional, which gathers in a jumble some key elements of the fandom to calmly "settle" things regarding Alice and Jasper's installation with the Cullens. Here, I recall some clichés of the saga, namely: Carlisle works at the hospital and thus misses part of his little family's adventures, Alice loves buying clothes and loosening the purse strings thanks to her gift, Emmett is always looking for distractions and loves sports competitions, Edward tends to be moody and has the gift of passing value judgments on his surroundings (those who don't believe it should read Midnight Sun where his charming moralizing side is even more noticeable than in the main saga), and Jasper spends most of his free time reading academic works (especially in history, philosophy and psychology). For your information, if it shocks some, it's normal for Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett not to play high school/college students here: Jasper and Alice's arrival happens during the school holidays (Alice calculated her move, shall we say), which means that the question of who does what in the human masquerade of the Cullens doesn't immediately arise. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter a bit less "intense" than the last ones. Happy reading ;)
Alice might have been a far more significant threat than her companion.
« Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present. » The Rebel - Albert Camus.
It had been three weeks since Alice and Jasper had arrived at the Cullens', and – to everyone's pleasant surprise – everything seemed to be going well. Everyone was rather reassured by how things had unfolded so far. Alice already seemed like part of the furniture, integrating herself into the family at a surprising speed as if she had been the missing piece since forever: decorating Edward's stolen room in a whimsical manner, delighting in sharing details about her gift with Carlisle, enthusiastically throwing herself into Esmée's arms for no reason at all, joking with Emmett, chatting cheerfully with Rosalie about cars and clothes, and – a rare feat – even managing to occasionally lighten Edward's mood.
Jasper remained reserved but appeared much more relaxed than on the day of their arrival. At least, he had stopped tensing up at every sound and seemed comfortable enough to let Alice wander out of his sight within the house. That already meant a lot. He had spoken very little since his long and grim exposition on the Confederacy and the Civil Wars, but with each passing day, he seemed to become a bit more natural and confident in his interactions with the Cullen family members. Smiling easily at his companion's antics and Emmett's, and no longer looking like a man on the verge of an attack at any moment. He also seemed rather at ease around Esmée and Carlisle, even though he remained with them with such extreme politeness that even the stiff Edward found it exaggerated.
He had spoken a bit about History and Philosophy with Carlisle, accepting with some enthusiasm the patriarch's proposal to borrow books from his personal library. He had since had a book almost constantly attached to one hand, taking notes and writing remarks in various notebooks provided by Esmée with the other. He was catching up on decades where he had only had access to a few scattered texts gleaned here and there. Maria had provided him with some books on military strategy at the beginning of their collaboration, and over the years, he had sporadically been able to retrieve a few novels and newspapers by plundering the homes of his victims… but he had never had access to so many books. Even less on subjects that interested him. Seeing such a collection of works, even in his human days, would have been incredible. Jasper had always been a fervent advocate of the adage "knowledge is power" [1] and was determined to gather as much data as possible about the world around him. Furthermore, it had the secondary benefit of allowing him to relax his tight control he had been trying to exert over his mind since living under the same roof as Edward – regardless of Alice telling him that the maneuver was bound to fail and wouldn't hold up in the long run. The Navajo vocabulary was too limited for him to form complex thoughts and use it consistently in daily life without it being tedious, even with his vampire brain. On the other hand, reading didn't seem to pose great risks. While Jasper was inherently repulsed by the idea of the telepath having unrestricted access to whatever crossed his mind, it was more that he caught stray thoughts about his time in the Southern wars and his relative distrust of the Cullens that bothered him. He cared little about what the other vampire might think of his way of analyzing subjects related to social sciences.
Currently, he had been quietly perusing all the reference books in various intriguing fields for several days: History, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology, Law, Economics, etc. Everything was covered, and Emmett eventually gave him a truly sorry look after he had started his eleventh book of the week.
"Who would have thought, seeing you, that you were an incorrigible bookworm… worse than Edward or even Carlisle? Dude, when are we going to spend some quality time together as brothers? You can't be like the Lone Ranger [2] and behave like an old stuck-up scolar!"
Perhaps because Emmett had subjected him to an episode of the dreadful series the night before on this fabulous technological feat they called a television, or perhaps because the giant was pleasant to be around, his emotions always calm and mischievous, it caught him by surprise and made him burst out laughing. The sound drew a big joyful smile from Alice, happy to see Jasper starting to truly warm up to some members of the family. She had seen him integrate into the Cullens in her visions, of course, but it was always sweet and reassuring to see things positively unfolding "for real."
Emmett looked rather proud of his effect, and the other members of the assembly, who had never seen Jasper so genuinely delighted since they met, were briefly stunned. The delight of Alice and Emmett, coupled with Rosalie and Esmée's amused incredulity and Edward's frank astonishment, further lifted Jasper's cheerful mood, and he had to restrain himself from laughing again.
"Well, I reckon your Lone Ranger is a tad different. Mine's a brown-haired, pint-sized fella who ain't too handy with a weapon and sports some snug pajamas. I reckon the only resemblance we share is his dreadful fake accent " he said with a mocking smile, deliberately choosing the words and elongating the syllables to amplify the Texan touch. "I guess I'd rather resemble a stuck-up scholar. By far."
"Come on, Faulkner [3], take a break from your readings, and let's do something fun," retorted Emmett, laughing.
"Fine. What do you suggest as a fun activity for 'spendin' quality time as brothers'?"
Jasper snapped his book shut and raised an eyebrow challengingly.
"Playful brawls?"
"Already declined. Twice."
Jasper wasn't sure how kind he could be and playfully fight with an almost stranger, as friendly as he might be. He was afraid of what his instincts might do when faced with someone of Emmett's size if he lost control of the situation. He had no desire to seriously injure the other vampire.
"Well, I reckon y'll give in one day, cowboy. But in the meantime, a competition to see who can catch two brown bears the fastest, between Edward, you, and me? They've been out of hibernation for three months now: the mating season is about to begin, promising some action!"
Jasper cast an uncertain glance toward Alice. If they were destined to stay for good within the Cullen clan, he wouldn't be able to continue watching over her constantly, every minute of every day. He knew that Alice only tolerated his overprotective attitude out of understanding and love for him, but her tolerance had limits… And he was about to exceed them if he continued to smother her in this way. Two days earlier, when Esmée had suggested to Alice to go shopping with the girls, and Alice had sadly refused, citing a stupid reason after barely five seconds of hesitation and a sideways glance at him, he had briefly felt her frustration and disappointment sting him. It was heartbreaking for him to be a source of annoyance for Alice, especially since he knew his attitude was largely uncalled for.
And Rosalie had sent him a spike of anger and a very dirty look: the girl was terribly intuitive and hadn't failed to understand that his overprotectiveness was the sole reason for Alice's refusal. He didn't want to find himself on the wrong side of the beautiful haughty blonde again. For some reason, the blazing hatred she had directed at him on the first day had disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and Jasper had no intention of provoking her again. Since they had returned and had officially been welcomed into the family, Rosalie's emotions toward him had been absolutely incomprehensible: annoyance, amusement, compassion, anger, curiosity, sadness, mistrust, understanding. Quite a volatile cocktail. Jasper had asked Alice for clarification on the matter, but she had just given him a funny smile, telling him it was "not the time" [4] but that he would understand soon.
He shrugged but forced a smile, an irrational part of him hating the idea of letting Alice out of a perimeter where he could protect her, even for a few hours. He knew that with her gift, her reflexes, and her cunning, his companion was more than capable of defending herself: she had survived alone for decades before they met, for heaven's sake! She could very well spend an afternoon without a bodyguard.
"Why not. Would you also be up for it, Edward?"
He turned to the telepath, intrigued; he didn't really need his gift to know that the sullen teenager didn't like him very much. Not at all, even. He was polite to him but also very cold, staying in the same room as little as possible and barely suppressing irritated sighs in response to Carlisle's pleasant conversations or Emmett and Esmée's attempts to be friendly. The boy's predominant emotions toward him were mistrust, fear, and irritation. Which Jasper could completely understand; if the telepath had seen a good portion of his memories, fear and mistrust were the dominant emotions; the irritation must come from the fact that he neutralized, as much as possible, his ability to read his thoughts… and he could empathize with that, he would have hated for a dangerous person to live with him and partially block his empathic perception. But more surprisingly, he also felt spikes of sadness and jealousy coming from Edward.
If he couldn't explain the sadness, he was even more dubious about the jealousy: despite the astonishing indulgence the telepath had immediately developed for Alice, he was – thanks to his gift – sure that he harbored no romantic interest in her, so jealousy was a strange and misplaced feeling. Moreover, the jealousy spikes didn't seem to focus on his relationship with Alice but also on his interactions with Emmett, Carlisle, Esmée, and even Rosalie, with whom he hadn't exchanged more than three sentences. His jealousy seemed to concern his own person. Which greatly disturbed Jasper: what, for heaven's sake, could the boy envy him for?
Edward seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second but eventually acquiesced with a forced smile, a bit of curiosity and amusement rising within him. Emmett was inwardly jubilant that his idea had been accepted, and Jasper restrained himself from sighing in contentment at the other man's joyful emotions, definitely a pleasant person to be around.
"That could be fun."
Alice lost herself for a few seconds in a vision then bubbled with excitement, clapping her hands, her joy and excitement caressing Jasper.
"If the boys do that, would you be okay with us doing some shopping like you suggested on Tuesday, Esmée, Rosalie? It would be the perfect day! The weather will remain overcast all afternoon, and I really need some new clothes! I'll take the opportunity to buy a few things for Jasper too; he can't indefinitely go around with two pairs of pants and three shirts, even if vampires don't sweat.
Alice and Jasper had arrived with the outfits they were wearing as their only luggage. Esmée had altered a few of her dresses to fit the slender seer, but she was so petite that, even with Esmée's sewing talents, they weren't perfectly fitted at the necklines. Jasper had made do with borrowing some clothes from Carlisle, which also didn't fit quite right; the empath being significantly taller but having a bit less bulk than the doctor.
"Of course, you need more clothes to fill your closet; that will be our welcome gift from Carlisle and me," said Esmée with a warm smile. Carlisle usually provides a monthly allowance to each of the children: he hasn't had the chance to discuss it with you yet, but I know he intends to give you one soon, you can save it for later or buy whatever you like with it."
"Very good idea, I'll also offer you two or three outfits, Alice."
Rosalie's tone was dry, and she shot a fierce glance at Jasper as if challenging him to object or try to back out of his acceptance of letting his companion out of his sight.
"Oh, that's very kind of you, but you don't need to offer us clothes," chirped Alice with her bird-like sing-song voice. "We have money, you know! If I only have one dress and Jasper has only one outfit, it's not because we couldn't afford clothes, but because we didn't want to damage them on the road. As nomads, we rarely had a roof over our heads, so it would have been complicated to keep a lot of things with us and maintain them in good condition."
"You have money? And where does it come from?"
Edward's voice was stern, and there was anger and a good dose of disdain in his emotions. One didn't need to be a mind reader to understand his insinuation: he thought their money came from thefts committed on corpses while they still fed on humans. Jasper could have sniffed with disdain at the accusation. Of course, he had never hesitated to take clothes from bodies or objects from homes during his time in the South. It was common practice for any vampire who drank from humans, and compared to the murders themselves, it was just a sordid detail. He found moral scruples on this matter laughable: even as a Confederate, he had had to engage in such thefts and retrieve better quality equipment from the bodies of defeated enemies… It was nothing honorable, but it was just material. All's fair in love and war. Anyway, that was not how one made a fortune, and since Alice hadn't drunk human blood for over twenty-seven years, it would have been surprising if she had kept gains from that time. The boy's ability to jump to conclusions and put his foot in his mouth was staggering: how could someone with the ability to read minds so often speak without thinking and easily offend those around him? It never ceased to amaze Jasper. He had managed to upset Alice, and she responded quite coolly, despite her mocking pout.
"Well, Edward, as a reminder, I have a gift that makes me extremely lucky! I convinced a kind homeless man to lend me a dollar in 1932 in Youngstown, I played Three-card Monte in several cities and accumulated a hundred dollars; I then spent my winnings in various craps and poker games where I consistently won the bets. I'm so good! I also briefly worked as a fortune teller in a circus on the Pittsburgh side, but I was afraid that the accuracy of my predictions would attract unwanted attention, so I stopped after a few weeks. After that, I managed to obtain the identity papers of a young woman with no family who had just died and decided to impersonate her and take an interest in the stock market [5], so I invested in a few stocks. In 1935, when I returned to Youngstown, I had accumulated over $10,000. I found the gentleman who had helped me out with a dollar in '32 and gave him $6,000. Even though I haven't played any gambling games or speculated in years, I still have $30,000 in the bank. If you'd like me to participate in your finances, I'd be happy to give them to you!"
Jasper smiled slightly at the astonishment caused by Alice's announcement. They had discussed it the day before when they went out hunting alone and had agreed to give their money as a contribution to the Cullen household: it seemed fair if they were to settle in long term. If he had been skeptical before their arrival about whether Alice's visions would come true and if the Cullens were what they claimed to be and would accept them among them, he could hardly deny the truth after several weeks in their company.
It was unlike any clans he had heard of: it resembled a family, and the atmosphere in the house was… well, peaceful. He would never have thought he could be so calm with five almost unknown vampires around after only twenty days. Esmée was one of the sweetest and most compassionate people he had ever met; Emmett was definitely funny and friendly; Rosalie was less cold than she let on and seemed quite fun to be around despite her changing emotions which made him confused. Even Edward, despite his distrust and hot temper, didn't seem truly hostile. That was what surprised Jasper the most and made him, against all odds, feel at peace: even though he had confessed most of his crimes, these people were barely uneasy in his presence. Jasper had thought they would fear him and tolerate him grudgingly to please Alice, but that was not the case. They didn't know if they were crazy, unconscious, or just too kind, but the fact was here : they were unusually pleasant and welcoming to him. Their emotions reflecting their actions.
The leader didn't seem to be a bad man at all; he had a pleasant conversation and clearly took to heart playing the "good" father figure. He hadn't formulated excessive demands on him when he had outlined the clan's rules: not to attack family members or use his gift offensively against them; try not to kill humans and not to expose them.
It seemed to him like common sense rules and simple to follow.
He had been relieved that Carlisle didn't seem surprised or too bothered by his admission of struggling with the vegetarian diet. Even after meeting Alice, he had fed on humans three times. No matter the agony the murders brought him, he still didn't have a good enough handle on his thirst and could easily slip when encountering wounded individuals. Worse, now that he was trying to refrain from killing, his resistance seemed much worse than when he was trying to indefinitely delay his meals: the taste of animal blood was revolting; after a certain period of abstaining from human blood, his instincts would flare up at the slightest significant scent from his natural prey. It was incredibly frustrating. Furthermore, the thirst of other vampires also affected his own: the Cullens being a large clan, the hunger of one or another could at any moment mingle with his own through his empathic perception and push him to the edge.
Alice had of course told him about the "human masquerade" the Cullens engaged in before their arrival. Jasper didn't think he was ready to conform to this charade for many years and had no desire to have to approach humans while being accompanied by other thirsty vampires. When he had opened up about these forthcoming difficulties, Carlisle had assured him that his dependence on human blood would diminish over time but that in the meantime, they would help him develop strategies to improve his control and avoid being confronted with "risky" situations. As long as he sincerely tried to adhere to their diet, the man had assured him he wouldn't have a problem, even in case of failure... it was much more leniency than Jasper had expected.
It almost seemed too good to be true, but since his gift told him there was no deception in the Cullens' emotions and Alice was more certain than ever that their place was here, he wasn't going to try to swim against the current even though he felt more peaceful in this place than he had been in decades. Alice radiated joy since they arrived, and he himself could start to imagine a future in this strange family alongside his mate. And it made him stupidly happy.
Returning to the question of money, Jasper would have preferred Carlisle to be there to discuss the amount they owned and wanted to give them, but the man was at work and since they were on the subject of their financial means...
"I also have money. Last year, I sold to a collector the few items I had left from the Civil War. That's an extra $15,000. I want to give you this amount to thank you for your hospitality and contribute to the expenses incurred by our presence."
He had honestly been surprised at the exorbitant price he had gotten: the uniform had been worth around $8,000 even though only the jacket and vest were still in decent condition. The fact that the Major's insignia was directly embroidered on the sleeves of the jacket must have contributed to the buyer's crazy generosity. The sword and revolver went for $3,500 each even though the blade was chipped and the revolver's barrel completely rusted.
The last things he had kept from his human days were his identification tag and his father's old tobacco pouch. The dog tag was rusty, hanging around his neck on a metal chain, the engravings almost illegible. The memory of a soldier never fallen in battle. The pouch was an antique, the outer leather had started to gnaw away over the years but it hadn't completely torn yet, for which Jasper was grateful.
Esmée was amazed and quite embarrassed, she was caught off guard and didn't exactly know how to respond to the two new family members. If she had been human, she would have blushed and stammered.
"Oh... that's really sweet of both of you, but you don't have to contribute, you don't have to thank us in this way, we're really happy to have welcomed you among us. Keep your money for future projects."
"I insist, ma'am. I would feel bad if you didn't reconsider the matter, we don't want to be a burden in any way and we imposed ourselves on you rather cavalierly. I understand well that this isn't the normal functionin' of your family and, in principle, Carlisle fully finances the expenses of his creations but we had a long life before joinin' you and we have our own funds. It's a factor to take into account. Money matters very little to nomads, and since you and Carlisle seem determined to house us and provide for our material needs, it seems right to make an initial contribution. Please, at least take the time to think 'bout it."
It was hard to argue with Jasper, even when he wasn't using his gift, he was still strangely convincing whether it came from his personality or from a persuasive quality conferred by his power even when he wasn't consciously using it.
"Very well. I will discuss it with Carlisle tonight," conceded Esmée with a slight smile.
Emmett seemed tired of the deliberations about money and jumped up.
"All right! This is all very exciting, but the bears are waiting for us, gentlemen. It might be time to get started and let these ladies plan their shopping afternoon!"
"That's settled then," Alice energetically agreed. She then gave Jasper a dazzling smile and moved closer to him in a sudden, jerky motion, perching on his shoulders in a leap so strange and graceful that no human gymnast could hope to replicate it. She leaned in and whispered very low so that only he could hear.
"I've seen my future, and we'll be back in less than five hours with a whole bunch of fabulous clothes. You don't have to worry about me. I didn't look to see who won the hunt to leave some suspense to your competition, but you're all three intact when we return and seem to get along just fine."
Good. It was moment for quality time among brothers.
[1] "Scientia potentia est" maxim generally attributed to Francis Bacon or Thomas Hobbes, but a variant "Knowledge is the key to power" can already be found in the writings of Confucius in the 6th century BC.
[2] There have been several versions of Lone Ranger, let's assume that the -very wealthy- Cullens had a television in the 1950s and that Emmett showed Jasper (who had probably never had access to a TV before) an episode with Clayton Moore (who was from Chicago)... who was not at all small, admittedly, let's say that it was the fake Texan accent and the pajamas that offended Jasper's sensibility and unfairly made him caustic. ;p
[3] A great writer of the Deep South, his favorite themes were tragic heroism (notably the inevitability of passions), family ties, and racial relations during the time of the Civil War (and post-war after the decline of the Southern ideal). In 1949, he had just won the Nobel Prize in Literature, which made his novels quite popular in the USA at the time when the story takes place.
[4] Free reference to Doctor Who ;)
[5] It is said that Alice was already making stock transactions before landing with the Cullens and that she convinced Carlisle to invest in stocks shortly after her arrival... it is also said that she and Jasper arrived "without material goods" in Minnesota, I'm trying to dance through these different paradoxes.
[6] No idea what the amounts announced by Jasper and Alice represent, or if they are minimally credible, I tried to find information on the average incomes of American households in the 1950s and the prices at which items from the Civil War would have sold... critical failure, I didn't understand anything about the few data I found. Let's admit that it's a very large sum (apparently, you could get a house for $8000 in the 1950s), hence Esme's discomfort. Jasper not being really proud of his Confederate past in this story, I have him get rid of all his possessions related to that time... except the "military dog tag", in my opinion, has a different resonance.
I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter will focus on Alice, specifically on her first visions :)