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Post by Maestro on May 26, 2008 2:42:04 GMT -5
ooc; For Red, whenever you're here! ^^
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Ever since Mercedes had locked her into this cell, Bela had been pacing. She had not regretted setting the Gaia on fire; it had been LOADS of fun, but she was not looking forward to confronting her parents. She'd get the worst of it from her mother; even if she had been an angel, Bela didn't think Annie would be pleased with her. Miguel, on the other hand, would probably be a bit easier on her. Really, it all depended on what kind of mood he was in. And things weren't exactly looking good.
Well, at least she still looked good. It would never do to see her mother unexpectedly when she didn't look her best. Annie was a trend-setter; Bela was, too. Well, all she could do was wait; hopefully things wouldn't turn out the way she was picturing.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 28, 2008 0:04:09 GMT -5
Annie stepped out of the passenger side of the blood red sports car. She was in a rather stormy mood ever since she'd gotten that phone call from her eldest. Her Italian leather heels clicked on the stone path way leading up to the prison. She and her husband were greeted by the warden who lead them to Bela's cell. The girl was sitting inside, sulking away. Annie crossed her arms over her fitted red leopard print jacket.
"Hello, Bela. And what have you gotten yourself into thisss time?"
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Post by Maestro on Aug 28, 2008 1:05:41 GMT -5
Bela was having a good old time, sitting, pacing, thinking, and it was cut all too short by the arrival of her parents. She smiled slightly, attempting to win some of her mother's favor. Yeah, right. Like THAT Was going to happen. Bela knew that look, oh, too well.
And yet, she had to make it worse for herself. Standing up, she walked over to the side of the cell where her parents were. Tossing her head, she answered flippantly, "Oh, you know, the usual: burning down buildings, resisting arrest, that type of thing." She knew that she was in deep, deep trouble, so why not go down with an attitude?
Miguel just watched his daughter, shaking his head. She would know that he was disappointed in her; that was far more effective than yelling at her seemed to be, at least in his case. In Annie's case, disappointment might fuel the girl's antics.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 28, 2008 14:51:19 GMT -5
Annie raised a dark eyebrow over the rim of her tortoise-shell sunglasses. Burning buildings? So Mercedes hadn’t been over exaggerating.
“Do you know what bail is set at, Bela? Because I’m not paying it.” She didn’t really need to considering her husband was likely going to cave to his little girl’s wishes anyways. “I think a stay in the Rissa would give you time to think about things.” She pushed her glasses up on her face in a subtly menacing gesture.
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Post by Maestro on Aug 28, 2008 15:37:52 GMT -5
Smiling sweetly, Bela looked straight at her mother. "No, I don't know what bail is set for, madre más estimada; why don't you tell me?" Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the "sweetness" was gone. Bela laughed, shaking her head. "I knew you wouldn't pay my bail, madre; you wouldn't pay my hospital bills, not even to save my life." Her father on the other hand...Bela turned to Miguel, smile back in place.
"You'll pay my bail, won't you, Papa?"
Usually, when Bela got into trouble, she required a little bit of help, but she had never been put in the Rissa before. This was another situation entirely. Sure, Miguel was glad to help his little girl out from time to time, but this was different.
"Your mother is right, querida," Miguel said. "You have never been in the Rissa before, maybe it will do you some good." Sighing, he shook his head. "Bela, I'm disappointed in you. I know you like to gamble; I do, too, but to get yourself in the Rissa by setting a building on fire? I thought you had more sense, Arabela."
Under normal circumstances, a speech like this from her father would have shamed Bela into behaving, for a least a little while. Right now, though, all she did was narrow her eyes and toss her head defiantly. She didn't talk back to her father, so she kept her mouth closed. For now.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 28, 2008 15:55:53 GMT -5
Annie tensed at the hospital bill jab. Arabela knew better than that. She was just blowing off steam. Honestly, the girl had so much potential, perhaps even more than her older sister, and she wasted it on blowing up public restaurants. What had happened to her impish little Bela? Well, the impish part had certainly come into it’s own, but it was no longer cute in a lady on the brink of being an adult.
“Bela, your father and I are moving back to Chimera- oh! Morpheus. We thought you were adult enough to handle living on your own, but you clearly still need our support. Bela, I’d like to have you move back in with us for a time.” Annie said this with great reluctance.
She loved her daughter, but she was semi-retired now. She was supposed to be living it up and enjoying her life with Miguel. Bela was full grown. Weren’t they supposed to be able to take care of themselves by that point in time? Had she failed as a mother somewhere along the road? Mercedes seemed fine. A little distant and Annie really wished the child had more friends, but the girl was at least self-sufficient. Bela still needed her parents.
“Understand, querida?” she asked, borrowing the rest of the family’s habit of inserting Spanish into their conversations. Her pronunciation wasn’t great, but who really cared?
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Post by Maestro on Aug 28, 2008 16:09:57 GMT -5
Moving back to Morpheus? What? Bela just stared at her mother, trying to take in what she had just been told. "You're moving back?" she managed to get out, still in disbelief. "But aren't you supposed to be retired and enjoying your 'golden' years?" Why did they have to come back NOW, when she was becoming friends with Alex and was being blackmailed by the D.E.N.?
"Move back in with you?" she repeated, even more worried now. She'd never show it (especially when she was in the Rissa and her parents were on the other side of the bars) but if anything went wrong with Alex, it would be likely to reflect on her family. And she couldn't allow that to happen. They were much safer out of the city. "I'm not a child anymore, madre," Bela said, somehow managing to keep her voice from trembling. They didn't have the best of relationships, but Arabela loved her family; she didn't want anything to happen to them, even her mother. Perhaps especially her mother. Most of the reason that Bela resented her so much was because she was so much like her; she needed to be her own person, without having people compare her to Annie all of the time.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 28, 2008 16:21:20 GMT -5
"Yes, Bela. We," she looked at her husband for support, "talked about it on the way up. Your Papa's already found a place, apparently," Annie said. She looked at her husband sideways. She had no idea how he had already 'found a place' on such short notice, but she trusted him. Miguel had a certain way with building contractors. Apparently they fell over to let him use the premises.
"If you want to be treated as an adult, we'll need to see that you can act like one, dear. I'll call Mercedes and let her know." She addressed this last sentence to both father and daughter. Annie gave her youngest one long look before going in search of the warden and a telephone. "Back in a flash," she called after.
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Post by Maestro on Aug 28, 2008 16:29:45 GMT -5
Bela just stared after her mother for a minute, not sure what to say to that. "You think I can be treated like an adult, don't you, Papa?" she asked, and there was something of the little girl she had used to be (mischievous, yes, but unsure of herself) in that question. Her eyes were scared, scared of what could happen if the D.E.N. found out she was living with her parents again.
Miguel sighed, shaking his head. "I think that you are a very capable young woman, querida," he began, running a hand through his hair. "I just don't know if you're capable in a way that is useful to anyone, really." That may have sounded harsh, but Miguel knew that she would understand what he meant. There had always been a special understanding between the two of them.
After a moment of silence, Bela asked, voice quiet, "Are you going to pay my bail, then?"
"We have to talk things over with your mother, Bela," Miguel answered, which pretty much meant yes. But now that she was going to move back in with them, it was completely different than if they were just releasing her back into the wild, to cause whatever havoc she wanted.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 29, 2008 0:17:00 GMT -5
“Yes, for the foreseeable future… That’s sweet of you, dear, but I’m sure we’ll manage… No… No, I’ll have your father swing by and pick up her things… No need… All right… You, too, darling.” Annie hung up the phone, flashing a fanged smile at the warden. They really only had one working telephone on the premises and he’d been so good as to show it to her.
As Annie made her way back to Arabela’s cell she could hear her husbands voice. Good. Bela listened to her father on occasion. Maybe he’d be able to get through to the stubborn girl. Annie honestly didn’t know where she got it from! She rounded the corner, coming upon her daughter and Miguel.
“Well, it’s all settled. We’ll be moving Bela’s things from the apartment to wherever we’re going,” Annie informed her family matter-of-factly. She’d ave to go post bail now, or rely on her husband to do it. No sense in keeping Bela in prison if the child was going to be moving back in with them.
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Post by Maestro on Aug 29, 2008 0:29:38 GMT -5
Miguel smiled at Annie as she came back into the room; it was always good to see his wife, no matter how short a time they had been apart. He walked over to her, asking with his eyes whether he should go pay the bail. Receiving the go ahead, he went off to have his daughter released.
As her mother came back, Bela stood up. "I guess I should thank you," she murmured, wanting to keep up her defiant front, but at the same time, she desperately just wanted to throw herself into her mother's lap, tell her the whole story, and be comforted, like she had been when she was little. Unfortunately, she did not know how her mother would react to that, so she simply stood there, head held high, as though she had all the pride in the world. And that was quite far from the truth.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 29, 2008 9:16:46 GMT -5
When he smiled at her, Annie was suddenly reminded of the fact that she was married to the most handsome man in Morpheus. A man that had given her two beautiful daughters. She beamed back. Miguel could always remind her of the romance in her life, even with just a smile, and it was one of the things she loved most about him.
As her husband left, she turned to her daughter, softened by her recent revelation.
"Come here," Annie said, sliding a hand through the bars and motioning for her daughter to take it. Annie moved in as close as she could, resting her head against one of the metal poles. "I love you, Bela. You really scare me when you do reckless things like this." She squeezed the hand in hers. "I know we don't talk as much anymore. So, how have you been lately, dear?" she asked, her tone turning light and open.
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Post by Maestro on Aug 29, 2008 16:42:52 GMT -5
For once, Bela did as she was told. Perhaps she felt guilty about causing her parents this much trouble, but it was more likely that she was worried about what could happen to them. Either way, she went over to her mother, taking the hand offered to her.
"I love you, too, madre," Bela responded, in a rare show of affection. Usually, she was trying to piss her mother off, but well, right now, she didn't want to. "Mercedes has always been the favorite child, madre; one of us has to make you angry." She offered a smile and a wink, but at the same time, her tone was serious. It was true, in Bela's mind, anyway, that there had to be a black sheep of every family. So, why not her? Mercedes could continue being the favorite and Bela would do the getting into trouble. It had seemed to work so far, anyway.
With a shrug, Bela thought over what she'd been up to lately. "Well, the band is going, as usual. We haven't done much recently because Damon's been on the lam. Um, Prince Alexander was the one that helped me set the building on fire earlier," she added, almost as an afterthought. Really, though, she was proud of that accomplishment. How many people got to say that a Prince of the realm had helped them commit arson? Not many, that's how many.
"How has life been for you and papa?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Having ... fun with no children there?" she teased. Even though there were times she didn't get along with her mother, there were these times, too, the fun times. And now was definitely a time for teasing.
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Post by redtopaz on Aug 29, 2008 16:59:45 GMT -5
Annie smirked and shook her head at Bela's mention of Prince Alexander. Poor Pia had to have more than her fair share of work. Annie had enough and she only had two. She leaned in conspiratorially toward her daughter.
"Did you know, a long time ago, that boy's father blew the doors clear off the Opera House? Would have cost me a fortune if your father hadn't come to the rescue! I think whatever-it-is runs in their family," Annie joked back. After her initial anger and disapproval had subsided, she was just glad to be able to see and talk to her baby again.
"Papa and I have been fine. We visited my old hometown! So much has changed, I didn't hardly recognize it. The land is still beautiful, though. Then we saw Spain, and we swung up through Germany just last month. It's been splendid, but we've missed you and your sister," Annie said, patting her daughter's hand.
"When your father get's back, we'll get you out of here. I've already told Mercedes to start packing up your stuff." Annie wasn't sure how Bela would receive this news. The girl certainly liked her independence and Annie was expecting a argument.
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Post by Maestro on Aug 29, 2008 17:17:27 GMT -5
Bela gave her mother an amused look. "So that's why the two of you are so fond of those doors," she said, figuring it all out now. "I knew there had to be some reason you both start grinning madly every time you walk by them." Of course, for all she had known, it could have just been because they both loved the Opera, but no, now she knew better.
She was about to add something to tease her mother when Miguel came back. He had paid the bail (there went some lovely hard-earned money; he'd have to make it up, somehow) and now they were going to release Bela. "Time to go, querida," he said to Bela as the warden opened her cell.
As soon as it was unlocked, Bela sprang out of the small space, glad to be free. With a yawn, she stretched, enjoying the extra space. But, it had to be said. "Madre," Bela began, choosing her words carefully (for once), "I like living with Mercedes. Can't I just have, I don't know, bi-weekly check-ins or something? I really don't want to move back in with you and papa; besides, I know I'll be scarred for life as soon as night falls." Amazing, she was actually trying to be polite to get what she wanted!
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