I'm Doing This For Them

Nightly Adventures

From that night on, whenever it was possible, Alison would flee her father's castle to seek Jetpack Girl, or JPG as Alison began to call her, out. And it always went this way, with Alison being the one to come calling on JPG, and never the other way around. Initially, JPG had been somewhat hurt and embarrassed by this arrangement, wanting to be the one to come calling on Alison at least once, but as time passed, Alison was finally able to instill some of her level-headedness into the fiery JPG and get her to see why having JPG try to call on Alison would be a bad idea.

"What if you came calling one night and I couldn't go because of my father? Or what if one of the other vampires of my father's court got you first?" Alison had demanded of the spunky little inventor and, finally, JPG seemed to get the picture. Although she still felt bad that she was never the instigator of their nightly adventures, forced into being the passive one instead, she had to admit that Alison had a point. It wouldn't exactly be good if JPG were ever to meet the wrong vampire, and after hearing Alison complain enough about the kind of vampires she had to deal with in her father's court, JPG wasn't exactly keen upon ever meeting a vampire again.

"You're lucky that out of all the vampires to cross paths with, I was the one you met!" Alison had told the inventor. "It could've been anyone else in the almost 100 vampires that my father has! And they wouldn't have let your talk carry on as long as I did!"

"Ok, ok, I get the picture!" JPG had promised as Alison finished another lecture about why JPG needed to be more careful and less reckless. But she really did. Although a small part of JPG did still want to return to the vampire castle and explore it properly, like she had intended upon doing the night she met Alison, Alison had finally convinced her that it was far safer to wait and let Alison come to her instead of the other way around.

"I guess I can wait," JPG admitted defeat and dropped the subject, consenting to the idea of letting Alison be the one to come calling.

"Good," Alison replied, breathing a sigh of relief. Wait. What? Breathing a sigh of relief? Sure, Alison had grown fond of JPG after all their nightly adventures, but why was the vampire princess suddenly so invested in JPG's safety as well? Sure, it made logical sense for Alison to worry. And yes, it was natural for a vampire to be quite possessive and protective, especially when it came to something (or someone) that the vampire cared about. But this was such a different type and level of possessiveness that Alison really had no idea what to make of it.

All she knew was that she was more concerned for JPG's wellbeing than what would be considered normal. In fact, as their nightly adventures carried on, Alison occasionally found herself fantasizing about betraying her own kingdom, her own family, just to keep JPG safe if it ever came to that. It didn't even matter that JPG had made good on her vow never to return to the vampire castle, Alison could still see herself willingly defying and fighting every vampire she knew to the death to save and protect JPG. And that was the craziest part of all: how far Alison felt willing to go if it meant JPG would be ok. Alison would even defy her own father...

It was not uncommon for a vampire to be willing to turn against their own kind if they really wanted to. Despite the powerful bonds vampires forged with one another, even those could be altered or forsaken if something "more attractive" came along. This was what Alison was going through now, feeling the connection between herself and Dorian physically fading away the longer she hung out with JPG. In time, it became JPG who had Alison's loyalty and not Dorian.

As unexpected and incredible as this happenstance was, it was neither impossible, nor was in uncommon. What was uncommon, however, was the impetus that made the bond break. Seldom did a vampire ever turn against one of their own for the sake of a human companion that they cared for, yet that was exactly what had happened with Alison and JPG, even though JPG didn't know it. But Alison did, and that was all that mattered. She knew that her loyalty had shifted, and she would never go back to the way she used to be. Not when, at last, she had finally made a real friend that she actually liked.