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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 20, 2008 0:02:15 GMT -5
“I would be ‘appy t’ ‘ave you show up at me weddin’ and grill me bridegroom. It’d probably be much more excitin’ than a normal weddin’. They get so dull, you know? The best bit is cake.” Nellie’s attempt at humor fell rather flat, ending up sounding more like straight pessimism. “An’, realistically, ‘e’ll mos’ loikly be older than me. That’s ‘ow fings work back ‘ome.”
She glanced over at Alexander as he steered the cart down a road she had never seen before. Something looked different. He didn’t look as…fiery as normal. Nellie frowned, taking Alexander’s hand and descending from the carriage. That probably was not a good sign.
“I upset you,” She stated, her brows furrowed. “An’ I’m sorry.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 20, 2008 21:43:17 GMT -5
He bit off a choked laugh, avoiding her gaze. "Upset. Yeah. I don't even know why it got to me like that, you don't have to be sorry."
He threaded his fingers through hers and pulled her into the paradisical scenery. They passed a white, sandy beach, tropical plants and other picturesque landscape, until they reached the gurgling sound of a waterfall pooring into a crystal clear pond. The moon, of course, was full and huge, making the water look white. Alexander let go of her hand and walked to one of the black rocks outlining the pool and leading up to the top of the waterfall. "C'mon, Sheep Girl."
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 20, 2008 23:34:27 GMT -5
Their fingers fit surprisingly comfortably with each other’s. It felt so natural to hold his hand that Nellie didn’t even think twice about it. She hardly had the time to blush before he let go of her hand. She wiggled her fingers experimentally, as if trying to see if something was wrong with her hand, then shoved them as far as she could into the pockets of her skirts.
She eyed the waterfall with no small amount of skepticism. “C’mon where, ‘zactly?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 20, 2008 23:55:09 GMT -5
He flashed a ne'er-do-well grin over his shoulder, answer enough, and began climbing the rocks. He made it to the top of waterfall and pulled off his boots, laying them neatly side by side. He stripped off his shirt and dropped it over the boots. He scooted to the edge, hands on his hips, squinting down at her to make sure she was watching, and then grinned again, his teeth glinting in the moonlight.
He raised a finger and three loops of fire appeared, creating a direct path to the rippling pond. He backed up for a running start, out of sight, and then suddenly launched off the ledge, his body arching gracefully into the air before moving seamlessly into a dive. He sang through the rings of fire, parallel to the falls, and hit the white water with barely a splash.
Smoke curled with the passing breeze in his wake, and no other sound disturbed the site for several long seconds until Alexander surfaced again, whipping his hair out of his face with one shake of the head. He raised a challenging eyebrow. "Your turn."
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 21, 2008 0:59:01 GMT -5
Nellie watched, awestruck. Geez, it was like he was professionally trained at doing things that were meant to give her a heart attack. He was surprisingly graceful, to his credit. And she applauded his sense of drama.
”Your turn.”
She laughed, a ‘oh-ho, good one’ sort of laugh, before realizing he was serious. Of course he was. Nellie assessed the situation; sizing up the waterfall, the depth of the pool, the rocky death that awaited her if she missed. She thought hard about protesting, but she gave up before she even wasted the energy. He’d talk her into it anyhow.
“If I die, I am gunna haunt you until you do th’ same,” She declared, climbing up the rocks with a sense of purpose. It was slightly higher up than she anticipated; her stomach did a little flipflop as she peered over the edge. She was already up there, though, and Alexander was watching. There was no way she could chicken out. She reluctantly slipped off her slippers and stockings and shimmied out of her bodice jacket, petticoats, pockets, and overskirt. Her pile of discarded clothing was a thousand times bigger than Alexander, and she was still more covered up than he was, in her stays and bloomers.
She shimmied to the edge, her heart beating out of control in her throat. Nellie glared down at Alexander, “Can’t we ever like, just ‘ave tea or sumfin?”
It’s a game, Eleanor. A game! You’re great at games.
She took a deep breath, crossed herself, and took a running leap off of the waterfall. She pulled her arms in close, pressed her knees together, and tried to keep her body very straight. Nellie was no expert diver, but she knew she didn’t want to bellyflop.
Her splash was considerably larger than Alexander’s and was certainly lacking the theatrics. She bobbed to the surface, her face flushed, her breath heavy, and a big grin on her face.
“’Ow wos ‘at?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 21, 2008 22:32:39 GMT -5
Have tea? Pffft. This was relaxing.
He bobbed close to the surface, blowing a few bubbles in the water. He raised a dripping hand and made a 'so-so' sign. "Eight. Eight and a half, maybe."
He laughed, unable to help himself, and propelled his arms a few strokes, making a sort of circle around her. "Nah, it was pretty good." He studied her for a moment, lifting a brow, his mouth tilted into a crooked, arrogant smile. "You're downright indecent, Clementine."
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 21, 2008 23:36:16 GMT -5
Tch? Only eight and a half? She ought to get at least 7 points for trying. Isn’t that how things were scored? “Well, excuse me fer not practicin’ cliff divin’.” She paddled over to the edge of the pool, pushing herself into a sitting position on an underwater ledge. Swimming definitely fell below daisychains and marbles on her list of talents.
She pushed her bangs out of her face, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, why y’ lookin’? T’aint very gentlemanly of ya!” Very maturely, Nellie blew a raspberry at Alexander, “An’ you try swimming in all them clothes. It’s easy fer you, boys is permitted t’ run around shirtless ‘n’ not be completely indecent.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 22, 2008 14:56:44 GMT -5
Alexander didn't follow her immediately, leaning back and half floating, half swimming. He chuckled under his breath, one side of his mouth hitched up in amusement. "If you want to go shirtless," he said, "you don't need my permission."
He arched back and flipped underwater, surfacing near the edge of the pool near Nellie. He crawled up on one of the rocks and shook out his hair. With a sudden hiss, steam poured off his body, and seconds later, he was dry.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 22, 2008 15:27:34 GMT -5
Nellie looked positively scandalized. She narrowed her eyes at Alexander, choosing not to dignify his comment with a response. She stole a glance down at her chest, making double sure that everything that she was covered up, for the most part. Just in case, she pulled her hair over her shoulders to cover her torso, mermaid-style.
She watched with a great deal of interest as Alexander evaporated all the water off of himself. She cocked her head to the side, “That was nifty! Bet it comes in ‘andy a lot, hmm? An’ where’d you learn to swim loik ‘at? ‘Ow’d you know about this place, ‘ere?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 22, 2008 15:45:47 GMT -5
"I'm a generally nifty person," he replied. He hopped over one rock until he was by her side, dangling his feet in the water.
"Swimming is just something I picked up, I guess. I spend as much time as I can away from the castle. I was just exploring one day, much like the time I met you, and came across it. Hold still." He reached down and picked up a lock of her hair, sending waves of heat into the golden tresses. It turned out to be a bad idea. Her curls combined with sudden massive heat equalled a big poofy mess. It looked like she'd stuck shaken hands with a ticked off Zizzy. He bit his lip, trying to hold it in. He turned away and put his arms on his knees, burying his head between them. His shoulders trembled with the effort of keeping the laughter in.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 22, 2008 21:20:41 GMT -5
“Why? Don’t you like to be wiff yer family? They seem perfectly wonderful, all of ‘em,” she said cheerfully before sitting absolutely still, as instructed.
Yeah. That was a bad idea.
She screeched in surprise and ran her fingers through her frizzy birdsnest of hair, trying to smooth it down some how. “Gee, THANKS, Alexander,” she muttered, in a surprising instance of sarcasm, stepping out of the water, and marching over to an area where the water was stiller. She knelt down on all fours and glanced down at her reflection. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Gracious, I look loik me cousin Janet’s pet poodle!”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 22, 2008 21:28:39 GMT -5
Hearing Nellie's bell of laughter pushed him over the edge. He laughed until tears of mirth streamed out of the corners of his eyes. It was funny, but it probably wasn't that funny. All his emotion over Nellie's soon-to-be marriage had finally found an outlet and was bubbling over uncontrollably.
He clutched his side. "Ow... ow..." Stomach hurting. Lungs. Couldn't breathe.
He finally collapsed on the rock, a hand on his bare abdomen, trying futilely to slow it's rapid up-and-down pace. He took a big breath, laughed again, and then got a hold of himself. "Okay..." He coughed, cleared his throat. "Er... if you get your hair wet again, it'll probably fix some of that."
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 22, 2008 22:50:55 GMT -5
“All right, all right, it ain’t that funny,” Nellie said, her hands on her hips. She didn’t look very serious, in just her underthings and her hair all poofed out. But she was trying hard.
She took a few steps back, and took a running leap into the water, making sure Alexander got a good douse of water from her splash. She bobbed to the surface and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get the frizz and knots out of the mess.
She blinked up at the once-again dripping Alexander, putting a false apologetic expression on her face. If he didn’t know Nellie, he might have been convinced. “Oh, sorrrryyyy. Did I splash ya?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 23, 2008 19:38:52 GMT -5
Alexander very calmly wiped a lock of hair plastered to his forehead out of his eyes. He stood to his feet and pretended to warm up for a serious exercise. "Eleanor, Eleanor. Why do you always challenge me when you know you're going to lose?"
He cannon-balled into the water right next to her, but didn't surface. Even after the ripples had calmed, he stayed out of sight, under the water.
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Post by Princess Katie on Aug 23, 2008 21:42:00 GMT -5
Nellie screeched in surprise, flailing and falling beneath the water’s surface for a moment. She surfaced, spluttering. She actually didn’t know why she invoked his vengeance, since she usually did lose.
Wait a tic. Shouldn’t he have come up by now? Nellie nervously treaded water, looking down into the pool, “A—Alexander?”
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