In just a few hours, Alice made her way to the circus that was set up near the park. It happened to be the very first night of shows and Gotham was the last stop for the tour. With one of her sketchbooks in hand, and her purse slung over her shoulder, she wandered about all the many tents and trailers before going to search for a seat in the big top.

Alice noticed a few performers here and there scurrying about, obviously rushing to get themselves together for the night. Nobody paid any mind to her nor did she to anyone else. It wasn't long until she stopped in front of a large, gray trailer. In front there was a cage with a snake resting inside of it. Her eyes were locked on its form.

"Aren't you a pretty one," Alice smiled. Her eyes suddenly lit up at the thought of a new piece she could do in her sketchbook. Opening to a clean page, Alice took out her pencil, starting to draw an outline of the snake. Once that was done, she began to work out the snake's scale pattern. "Hm, you will be quite a challenge. That's what will make this more interesting."

Little did Alice know there was a figure standing not too far behind her. They weren't standing there for too long, but suddenly there was the urge that they should speak. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

Alice froze, putting her pencil at a pause and turning around to see who was talking to her. The figure was a he, and quite a few inches taller than herself. His eyes were a bright blue which accented his red hair. She gave him a sweet smile. "Y-Yeah. She really is."

"Uh, forgive me for startling you, if I did." The red head spoke, a hint of shyness in his voice.

"Oh, no no, you didn't. Really. D-Does she…belong to you?" Alice placed her pencil back into her bag.

"Kinda. She's…my mother's."

Alice blinked for a moment. "Your mother?"

"Snake dancer. She's not here at the moment. Unfortunately. Usually doesn't stick around for a lot of the shows I'm afraid."

"Aww, well that's too bad. Hopefully she'll make it back safely. Wherever she may be."

The red head only nodded. He was keeping up his appearance at that moment. Playing off that he really was concerned about his mother.

"Oh, um, I'm Alice." She said, stepping a tad bit closer to him and extending her hand.

With a small smile, his hand gently reached out to shake hers. "Jerome. And that's Sheba."

Alice looked back briefly towards the snake. "Well, it's very nice to meet you both."

"Likewise." Jerome was never one to socialize too much to anyone while traveling, but something came off of Alice that he liked. Was it the cheerfulness? The kindness? Her smile? He was immediately drawn to her smile once he saw it. So natural and beautiful, he didn't want that to go away any time soon.

"I hope you don't mind my using of Sheba for one of my pieces. Just for fun really. I'm not one to advertise my work to the world."

"No, not at all. M-May I…"

"Of course! I'm not finished yet, but I think it looks pretty good so far." Alice gently handed Jerome her sketchbook, the page opened to what she started of Sheba. "And, if you want, you can flip through the other pages I've done, too."

Jerome was suddenly captivated by the various pictures. Damn, she had a good eye for detail. He was thoroughly impressed. "Wow…you're amazing. Honestly. I've never seen anything like this before."

Alice felt a light blush tinting her cheeks as she smiled. "Thank you." For him to take such interest in her art made Alice a bit warm inside, the fuzzy kind of warm that felt good. It was a feeling she was not very familiar with.

Jerome handed back the book to her. "So, are you here by yourself?"

Alice nodded her head before answering. "Yeah, it's just me. My aunt would have been here, too, but she had work. Told me I should just come and enjoy my birthday at the circus anyhow."

Jerome wore a sincere smile now. "Ah, well, first off, happy birthday. And secondly, allow me to accompany you for the evening." He offered Alice his arm, which she gladly accepted as he led them to the big top. Just in time, too. The last call for seating was going on.

"Oh, we better hurry inside." Alice said, the two of them right outside of the massive tent.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." Jerome told her and walked away for a brief moment or two. He managed to sneak a bag of popcorn and a soda and brought it back to Alice.

Alice smiled at his kind offering once he returned. "Why that's very sweet of you. Thank you. And I will share." She happily took the drink into her hand as she and Jerome walked inside the tent to find a seat.

A/N: Alrighty, so Jerome has shown up! This is only just the beginning, folks. I will try my best to write as frequently as possible for this story. Hope you like it so far!