((I'm happy I get to use all my pretty Alice/Jasper icons now. XD))
And he knew exactly how the question was meant. The undercurrent of distress bothered him—he hated being the cause of so much concern and worry, especially with Alice—but he let it be. He rarely tampered with Alice's feelings the way he did so casually with others. It seemed entirely too dishonest to do so, except in less serious circumstances (namely the way he enjoyed causing those little shivers of pleasure for her at random moments when they weren't even near each other; Jasper was, perhaps, almost as bad as Emmett and Rose with that sort of teasing, but had the ability to be far more subtle about it.)
"Better," he said solemnly. Alice didn't need to be a mind reader to know that a large part of that better was due to her being there. "If not for Edward," he murmured, unknowingly voicing her thought, "I don't think I could have stopped myself the second time. It's a small comfort that no one can die here." Since he likely would have tried killing everyone else in the room after finishing with Akabane, even the little talking dog he'd become fond of. Even Bella, whom he loved as a sister. It was disturbing to think a regular, bleeding person would still be alive after being torn apart, the way vampires could be.
"And about Edward, and Bella as well... I'm not sure how, but they're—not ours," he explained hesitantly. "They're from our past, I mean. I still can't understand it. Time must work differently here." He leant down to lightly kiss Alice's temple, regretting that she had to be greeted with so much bad news. "They're not engaged here. That hasn't happened for them yet."
no subject
And he knew exactly how the question was meant. The undercurrent of distress bothered him—he hated being the cause of so much concern and worry, especially with Alice—but he let it be. He rarely tampered with Alice's feelings the way he did so casually with others. It seemed entirely too dishonest to do so, except in less serious circumstances (namely the way he enjoyed causing those little shivers of pleasure for her at random moments when they weren't even near each other; Jasper was, perhaps, almost as bad as Emmett and Rose with that sort of teasing, but had the ability to be far more subtle about it.)
"Better," he said solemnly. Alice didn't need to be a mind reader to know that a large part of that better was due to her being there. "If not for Edward," he murmured, unknowingly voicing her thought, "I don't think I could have stopped myself the second time. It's a small comfort that no one can die here." Since he likely would have tried killing everyone else in the room after finishing with Akabane, even the little talking dog he'd become fond of. Even Bella, whom he loved as a sister. It was disturbing to think a regular, bleeding person would still be alive after being torn apart, the way vampires could be.
"And about Edward, and Bella as well... I'm not sure how, but they're—not ours," he explained hesitantly. "They're from our past, I mean. I still can't understand it. Time must work differently here." He leant down to lightly kiss Alice's temple, regretting that she had to be greeted with so much bad news. "They're not engaged here. That hasn't happened for them yet."