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.David Talbot. Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:29 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:01 pm
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Antha gave a small sound of shock as she was lifted into the air and then lowered so that her curls brushed the ground, clutching and grabbing at him as if afraid he would drop her. "They're right, Felix," she said when she was safely in the chair again, curled around Courtland like a child with a teddy bear, "Your chain has already begun to form. You are bound to us---to me. Is it so hard to open up a little?" "We won't bite," Vittorio added very simply while Dolly Jean giggled against his chest. Eleanor gave Vittorio a long, hard stare. "Don't make promises you can't keep, cousin dearest." Antha gave a little roll of her eyes at the girl. "Oh, shut up, Eleanor." "If you're not going to be agreeable," Vittorio chipped in again, "Then you can just leave." It was no secret among the family that of Antha's generation, Eleanor was easily the least liked of them all. She relied too heavily on the bond they shared, imagining they would never throw her out of their favor as long as they were connected by the blood that made them merely many pieces of the whole. As it had turned out, she was quite mistaken. It was Dolly Jean who did not pick up the faint trace of hostility in the air, despite the words being bandied about the room, and looked up at Vittorio with something like shock on her face. "It's cold," she said to him, and she seemed perfectly mystified that she hadn't noticed it before.
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XCandy and LunacyX Captain
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:52 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:20 pm
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For a few moments, tangled up with Courtland as if they would knot themselves together, Antha wanted nothing more than to go stand in the hall with Vikteren. After all that had taken place in the day so far, she wanted nothing more than some small bit of peace. But she was here for Felix, to keep them from overwhelming him, and she couldn't leave. However, she wasn't the only one with the idea. When Dolly Jean felt she had had enough of them for a few moments, she gathered her courage and dashed across the room, through the door into the hallway, closing the door behind her to keep the madness inside and the quiet outside. Of course she hadn't thought she would find Vikteren outside the door, but it came as no great shock. She had seen him in yard and it registered in her mind somewhere that she hadn't seen him anywhere but beside her cousin before. "I know you," she said softly as she settled down on the floor across the hall from him, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself, "You came before. With Antha." She let herself lean forward a few inches, slowly, giving him those childish big brown eyes, and let her voice fall to a whisper. "Oncle Julien says you live with her now. He was yelling at Malakai because Malakai likes you. Malakai says it's because you're a vampire, and because as long as you're around she'll never marry Claire Leonelli." She paused to cast her eyes once around the hall, looking for someone perhaps, and then continued, her tone more secretive, confidential. "Do you not like Claire? I don't either. He scares me."
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XCandy and LunacyX Captain
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.David Talbot. Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:25 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:07 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:03 pm
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+Rotting Lunacy+ For a few moments, tangled up with Courtland as if they would knot themselves together, Antha wanted nothing more than to go stand in the hall with Vikteren. After all that had taken place in the day so far, she wanted nothing more than some small bit of peace. But she was here for Felix, to keep them from overwhelming him, and she couldn't leave. However, she wasn't the only one with the idea. When Dolly Jean felt she had had enough of them for a few moments, she gathered her courage and dashed across the room, through the door into the hallway, closing the door behind her to keep the madness inside and the quiet outside. Of course she hadn't thought she would find Vikteren outside the door, but it came as no great shock. She had seen him in yard and it registered in her mind somewhere that she hadn't seen him anywhere but beside her cousin before. "I know you," she said softly as she settled down on the floor across the hall from him, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself, "You came before. With Antha." She let herself lean forward a few inches, slowly, giving him those childish big brown eyes, and let her voice fall to a whisper. "Oncle Julien says you live with her now. He was yelling at Malakai because Malakai likes you. Malakai says it's because you're a vampire, and because as long as you're around she'll never marry Claire Leonelli." She paused to cast her eyes once around the hall, looking for someone perhaps, and then continued, her tone more secretive, confidential. "Do you not like Claire? I don't either. He scares me."
She slunk across the hall from him, pressed her spine to the wall. Vikteren supposed that he didn't blame her. She hardly seemed one of the Mayfairs at all. Her eyes were too wide, and though she spoke as though she carried secrets, it was in the incongruous manner of a child's. And no child would ever remain one for long, were they forced to carry secrets in such a family. It seemed incongruous. The vampire looked back at her, unreservedly, with eyes as green as a cat's. "I don't know who Claire Leonelli is. I've never met him." he said straight-forwardly. "And we're not...quite living together." Certainly a little over two nights didn't constitute moving in with Antha, did it?
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:55 pm
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"What do you want, Oncle Julien?" were the first irritated words from Antha's mouth, "If it escaped your attention, we're a little busy, so could you make this fast?" She let her head fall to the side to stare at him, her gaze quite far from friendly, but pressed herself a little more against Courtland, trying to further irritate him. Meanwhile, DollyJean sat quietly for a few moments, a vague smile on her face that was reminiscent of Antha. It was a sad smile, but it promised she understood something. It was not a look that was often seen on her face. "I'm weak-minded," she explained, "The doctors said that it's a genetic deficiency. Antha says it's because we interbreed." Almost the moment the words were out of her mouth, the smile changed, becoming something shy and childish again. "I don't understand things like other people do. My cousins have to explain them to me. If someone's not with me, I get confused and get lost. But I keep our secrets. Even if I have to try really, really hard, I never betray the family. Antha says as long as it stays that way, she'll always be proud of me." Her eyes shifted for a moment, looking at the door that had closed behind Julien, and her voice returned to a whisper. "Antha's smiling different today. She looks...happier." There was something in her eyes as she spoke, her voice even, that said she credited him with this change.
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XCandy and LunacyX Captain
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:37 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:15 pm
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.David Talbot. Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:16 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:43 pm
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+Rotting Lunacy+ "What do you want, Oncle Julien?" were the first irritated words from Antha's mouth, "If it escaped your attention, we're a little busy, so could you make this fast?" She let her head fall to the side to stare at him, her gaze quite far from friendly, but pressed herself a little more against Courtland, trying to further irritate him. Meanwhile, DollyJean sat quietly for a few moments, a vague smile on her face that was reminiscent of Antha. It was a sad smile, but it promised she understood something. It was not a look that was often seen on her face. "I'm weak-minded," she explained, "The doctors said that it's a genetic deficiency. Antha says it's because we interbreed." Almost the moment the words were out of her mouth, the smile changed, becoming something shy and childish again. "I don't understand things like other people do. My cousins have to explain them to me. If someone's not with me, I get confused and get lost. But I keep our secrets. Even if I have to try really, really hard, I never betray the family. Antha says as long as it stays that way, she'll always be proud of me." Her eyes shifted for a moment, looking at the door that had closed behind Julien, and her voice returned to a whisper. "Antha's smiling different today. She looks...happier." There was something in her eyes as she spoke, her voice even, that said she credited him with this change.
He was silent for a moment, listening to the voices in the room beyond. "...Act like you don't have a deathwish!..." Vikteren returned his gaze to Dolly Jean, with a wan, crooked smile of his own. "Then I am surprised. She has had a very...trying...night." Even though she seemed a little lost, a little unclear, the vampire found himself rather inclined to like the girl. She didn't seem stupid, merely...simple, in a very complicated world. And she had picked that errant thought from his mind like a loose thread, without seeming to even try, one of the signs of a skilled empath.
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XCandy and LunacyX Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:36 pm
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Dolly Jean let her head fall as she remained silent for a moment, listening to Antha's voice like a small child would listen to their parents fighting. "I don't know your name," she said finally, looking up at the vampire, "Julien never said it. He kept calling you 'that vampire'." Again she was silent for a moment, listening to the voices, until something registered in her mind that hadn't before. "If you don't live with Antha, why are you always with her? You were with her in the graveyard, weren't you? And at the Talamasca motherhouse and Le Cirque du Graal Rouge, and here twice. Antha's never spent that much time with someone all at once before. She even got tired of Nicolae after a couple of days." She stood in one fluid movement, clasping her hands behind her back and swaying slightly as she stood, like a child who can't seem to keep still. Immediately her cheeks flushed and she turned a gaze to him that was apologetic. "No one in this family goes anywhere with anyone without everyone else knowing about it, especially Antha." For a long moment, Antha stayed still, staring at him. 'Glaring' wasn't a descriptive enough word for the look she gave him, for the depth of hate that seeped through the emerald green of her eyes. Finally, she rose, walking up to Julien until there was but a few inches between them, her entire body tense with anger. Vittorio was the one who went to her, going only close enough to hold her hand and keep her from striking him. "Listen very closely to me, Oncle Julien," she said slowly, carefully, shaking Vittorio's hand off of her own, "You do not control me. I do not answer to you. If you want to continue whining and complaining about me then go ahead, I don't give a damn. But the next time you try to order me around, I swear I will make your life a living hell. Anything you ever decide you want to do, I will forbid it, any order you make when you become head of the family, I will contest it. Anything that ever goes wrong in your life---and it will begin to happen much more frequently, I assure you---you can look back on this moment and remember that I warned you. Because if you will remember, Julien, as Designee of the Legacy, I own you. You answer to me, not the other way around. Do we have an understanding?" The moment she was done speaking, she reached behind her, grabbing for Vittorio's hand, which he gave her, because if she didn't hold onto something, someone, she was going to hit him, and the force of her fury could very well kill him. The umbra didn't know right from wrong, after all, they just knew her emotions, and Antha had taken all she could from Julien. Any more would leave him dead. "Now, I suggest you go downstairs and do no bother me again. This is my house, after all, and I reserve the right to throw you out when I absolutely cannot stand your presence any longer."
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:54 pm
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.David Talbot. Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:03 am
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