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Post by Miss Jack on May 4, 2008 4:39:49 GMT -5
Alexander held out his wrist, examining the bracelet with a slightly wrinkled nose. At least it was black.
"Smashing. That is," he said thoughtfully, "the exact adjective I was searching for. Remind me never to be sarcastic around you anymore."
He led her gallantly until they reached the streets of Chimera, definitely decorated with some of the Nightmare capital's more shifty characters, given the late hour. They reached the Faded, but before Alexander opened the door, he turned to her. "Don't talk to anybody unless I'm talking to them too, okay?"
Without waitng for a reply, he pushed the door open and grabbed her hand in an ironclad death-lock, pulling her inside. The smell of beer, sweat, and probably a little of people getting too friendly with the strippers hit his nose. They'd leave, he decided, after he'd given Nellie her first shot.
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Post by Princess Katie on May 5, 2008 19:56:34 GMT -5
From the outside appearance of the place, Nellie was fairly sure it would be less than pleasant inside. And Alexander’s ominous warning did little to convince the shepherdess to the contrary. And when they opened the door and she was hit with a stench that was unknown to Dreamland, Nellie pressed herself as close to Alexander as possible, clutching his hand for dear life.
She took in the sights with her big, dollish eyes, wide with a mix of unadulterated terror and morbid curiosity. “What is this place?” She whispered in Alexander’s ear.
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Post by Miss Jack on May 5, 2008 20:45:57 GMT -5
He led her around tables and through a crowd that was semi-big, his grip unconsciously possessive. He glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked a little. "The Faded. A Nightmare hot spot."
He found a small corner table and practically forced her into the seat. He gestured at the bartender and in return received an "I'll get there when I get there" look. He sat across from Nellie and clasped his hands together on top of the table, smiling pleasantly. "So, what do you think?"
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Post by Maestro on May 5, 2008 22:37:21 GMT -5
"No, I'm not going to gamble tonight," Bela said, yet again. "I'm in for the drink, this time," she explained. And she was having something stronger than sangria, this time. Being blackmailed into getting one of the Princes into serious, scandal-worthy trouble was definitely worth getting drunk over.
She looked up as two people came into the room; it was Alex and some girl. Oh, goodness; if he had a girlfriend, things were going to be harder than she had originally thought. Still, they could make her night more interesting, at least.
Walking over to the table, she leaned against the wall next to Alex. Her outfiit tonight had been picked to show off her awesome figure; she'd be doing that a lot now, since she never knew when she'd be running into Alex. "Hola," she said, grinning. "You're out, I see, no thanks to me," she made sure to add.
She leaned across the table, smile on her face, holding her hand out to Nellie, "Arabela de Zorro, by the way, but you can just call me Bela."
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Post by Princess Katie on May 5, 2008 23:07:25 GMT -5
What did she think? She was terrified, frightened, petrified, and slightly nauseous. And though it was apparent how she felt, she responded, “It’s…interestin’ ‘ere.”
She was going to ask him if he hung out here frequently when a girl in sunglasses and a tight-fitting outfit strolled over to the table like she was some sort of rock ‘n’ roll, Spanish Jessica Rabbit. She seemed friendly enough, but Alexander specifically said not to talk to anyone that he hadn’t spoken to first. So, Nellie just stared at Bela’s extended hand, her lips pressed tightly together. If she hadn’t seemed meek before, she seemed either painfully snobby or cripplingly mousey now.
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Post by Miss Jack on May 5, 2008 23:26:41 GMT -5
Alex stiffened, immediately protective of Nellie when someone approached their table, but he relaxed (a little) when he saw who it was. He glanced up once and then double-taked. He arched an eyebrow slowly and deliberately as he took in their visitor's apperance, letting out a low whistle. "Careful, hot lips-- in this place at this time you're going to be attracting the wrong kind of company."
He smiled at Nellie, amused. "She's fine," he assured her, and then looked back to Bela, making a show of appearing annoyed. "Listen Medusa, now isn't the best time. You and I have a bad track record and I mean this in the best possible way, but, get lost."
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Post by Maestro on May 6, 2008 0:10:01 GMT -5
Bela laughed, a sultry, sensual sound. "There's never a 'best' time to run into you, Alex; it just sort of happens," she purred, smiling. "And as to the attention, they should know better by now." Which was true; several guys were now statues because Bela had not enjoyed their ... overbearing affection.
Tossing her head, Bela laughed again. "Oh, our track record hasn't even started if I have my way, honey," she murmured, grinning mischievously. "Besides," she added, winking at Nellie, "you guys might need a chaperone."
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Post by Miss Jack on May 6, 2008 0:56:44 GMT -5
He squinted at her, turning his head slightly in a regarding fashion. He tapped a finger on the table a few times and then leaned back in his chair, smirking. If there was any expression Alexander was the master of, it was being smugly amused. "Are you.... coming on to me?" he asked, clearly enjoying himself, but obviously not taking the situation seriously either. He spared Nellie one swift, disinterested look. "And no," he added pointedly.
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Post by Princess Katie on May 6, 2008 1:11:29 GMT -5
Nellie snorted. “Ha, no.” If there was any opposite-sex couple that didn’t need a chaperone, it was Nellie and Alexander. Nellie knew enough about flirting (most of the employees on the farm were young boys, many of whom were interested in her, especially when she kept her mouth closed) to know that A) Alexander was not flirting with her, and that this Bela was flirting with him.
The little blonde kept her mouth shut for now; she was still quite scared in this environment and not provoked enough to jump out of her comfort zone to make a lengthy retort.
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Post by Maestro on May 7, 2008 1:50:10 GMT -5
"No, you're right, we're more likely to need chaperoning," she said to Alex, ignoring his question for a moment. She needed a moment to figure out how to answer that, anyway.
Turning her attention to Nellie for a bit, Bela smiled. "How did you manage to make friends with this flame, anyway?" She hadn't sat down, but she was leaning against the table in such a way as to show herself off to Alex but not to Nellie. It was interesting, this attempt at seducing Alex. And she'd have to be able to get him alone at some point, but for now, this was fine.
"Oh, and in answer to your question, that depends on you, I suppose," she told Alex, laughing. Even though she had been blackmailed into this, it could be interesting.
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Post by Miss Jack on May 7, 2008 18:42:16 GMT -5
Okay. Pause, for a moment. This was, perhaps, the first time he'd ever openly accused someone of flirting with him and not been just as openly told where to stick his crazy ideas. He gave Bela a what the hell look and kept his mouth shut. Bela was more than attractive (obviously, but he allowed himself another look just to be sure) and if she was willing, he was willing, but... not now. He looked at Nellie and felt a little guilty. At least, he thought he did. He wasn't exactly sure what guilt felt like.
"Can we discuss this later?" he asked Bela with a bright, implying smile.
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Post by Princess Katie on May 7, 2008 23:39:02 GMT -5
Oh, wow. She would have been more embarrassed if she fully understood what was going on, but she was just a little embarrassed, and it’s not like you can tell when she’s blushing, anyway. Everybody was so blunt here. At least there were no convoluted goose chases to deal with, Nellie supposed. A bit more openness might do Dreamland some good, but this just seemed overboard. But whatever.
At Bela’s question, Nellie paused. This was the second time today she had gotten that one, and she needed a better answer than the last one. It sounded so lame when she was explaining how she met Alexander to Marie. She considered making something up completely, but then she remembered that she was a terrible liar. So, with a heavy sigh, she went with the decidedly uninteresting answer. “I were lookin’ fer one of me sheep, and it was with him,” Nellie shrugged. “Boring, really.”
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Post by Maestro on May 20, 2008 23:40:47 GMT -5
"Sure thing, princey," Bela purred, grinning mischievously. "Just pick a time and a place and we can certainly continue this ... conversation." She didn't think that Diaspro and co had wanted her to enjoy her 'assignment', but she was so far. Although, this probably wasn't going to cause a scandal enough; she'd have to think of something else. For now, though, this could work.
Well, now that "initial contact" had been made, Bela could actually pay attention to Nellie. "Oh, it may be boring, but sometimes boring things turn out better than ... exciting things." Personally, she thought setting fire to the Gaia had been a lot of fun, quite worth the trouble, but maybe Alex didn't think so. Ah, well. She was going to have to get him in more trouble than that, and that might not be nearly as fun.
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Post by Miss Jack on May 21, 2008 0:04:20 GMT -5
He raised an eyebrow. She made no effort at subtlety, which would have been refreshing, except that he couldn't help but be suspicious. "Sure," he said evenly.
The waiter finally arrived with their shots, and he almost spilled Nellie's shoving it over to her. "Here's what we do," he explained quickly. The longer they stayed in here, the more he wanted to leave, which wasn't what he expected to feel. Imagine him wanting to preserve someone's innocence. "Drink the whole thing in one swallow, toasting to something really stupid first. Got it? You call the toast."
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Post by Princess Katie on May 22, 2008 1:09:13 GMT -5
Nellie stared down out her shot with her lip curled in a clear expression of distaste. That looked thoroughly unappealing. No bright candy colors, just an ugly brownish hue. The shepherdess glanced from the drink, to Alexander, silently asking, “Do I have to?”
But, she didn’t sneak out of her room past midnight and let herself be dragged to a bar just to chicken out now. She lifted her glass, and thought of something to toast to. He said ‘something stupid’, but why would Nellie wish good things on something stupid? That was stupid. So, instead, she toasted the first thing that came to mind. “So, ‘ere’s ta ‘opin’ that I gets new boots this Christmas. Theesuns is startin’ to wear out in the front part.” Was that okay? She glanced to Alexander for approval, then tipped back her shot glass.
“Ch-uuuuuuuuuuuuughh-PFFTTT!” Nellie coughed and spluttered. She really hadn’t expected it to be that strong. She had wine with dinner on special occasions, and it was not half that disgusting. With her nose all wrinkled up, she stuck out her tongue, just in case she hadn’t made it clear that she did not like her drink yet. “That was SO GROSS. Why wouldja do tha' by choice?”
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