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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 14, 2008 0:42:03 GMT -5
Nellie stared at him for a second, horrified. What could a tombstone show her that would cheer her up?
She read the epitaph as quickly as she could (reading was not her strong point), but Alexander dragged her to the next one before the joke could even process. Puns were a little above her, too. The thin shoes thing wasn’t exactly over her head, but it didn’t strike her as particularly funny, either. Any girl who died of thin shoes was obviously a city slicker who needed to toughen up. Never heard of no farm girl dying of improper footwear. And the last tomb, that one was just horrible! Granted, through Nellie’s limited observation of her, it seemed like something Pia would like.
“’As yer mom really killed people, then?” Nellie asked, appalled. People said so, but she had, until now, assumed it to be slander. They talked bad about all Nightmares, especially the monarchs. They said the Queen was an ex-whore-damnéd-creature-of-the-undead and the King was a criminal and it was his fault that the candy corn crop was attacked by ants, since there were never ants around before the countries merged. But they also said that all Nightmares were bad, and Dreams who fraternized with Nightmares were even worse, and Nellie knew that not to be true, because she had seen first hand that--
“LES MOORE. I GET IT!”
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 14, 2008 18:42:44 GMT -5
Oh no. He watched her, growing increasingly dismayed, because his oh-so-brilliant plan didn't seem to be working at all, and then she had to ask if his mom had actually killed people; what was he supposed to...
He grinned. Oh good, she got it.
Deciding to spare her, at least for now, he said, solemnly, "Of course not, Nell. People just assume that because she has a track record of husbands. But she has a heart of gold, don't worry."
They were awfully close to the cathedral, so he hoped lightning didn't strike him off the face of the realm. His mother, literally (being undead), didn't have a heart at all, but now was not the time to inform Nellie of that. And besides, his mom was a good person now --more or less-- and it was the present that counted.
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 14, 2008 19:52:01 GMT -5
“Oooh!” Nellie responded, like she had just been enlightened. Of course it was just slander. “Still, yer mum scares me something fierce. She’s way too pretty, y’know. It’s like she’s fake.”
She took this opportunity, where she was fairly relaxed, to try and take a semi-objective view of her surroundings. It was…pretty…she guessed. If you compared it to the Nightmare city. At least there were grass and flowers here. “Oh!” She gasped, clearly in shock, “you ‘ave a church ‘ere?” Somehow, she couldn’t imagine Alexander and his family attending church very often. She couldn’t imagine many Nightmares attending church, actually.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 14, 2008 20:44:57 GMT -5
"Otherwordly," he agreed off-handedly. "Yeah, I know."
When he was a little, imagine his shock when he saw another woman the first time, and realized how not-as-pretty everyone else was.
"Er... yeah," he managed uncertainly. "My family doesn't go much. My mom and sister physically can't and, you know, the rest of us don't want to be rude." He paused, studying her a moment. "Do you go to church?"
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 14, 2008 21:16:37 GMT -5
Nellie nodded like she understood, but she couldn’t fathom what would cause Genevieve and Pia to be physically unable to attend church. The ‘Vampire’ thing was beyond her.
“Yeah, we always do—oh,” She paused and furrowed her brow, “did. We always did go to church. Me Uncle Edward is a preacher, so we always went to ‘is services, every Sunday. It was kinda borin’, but me parents always said it was wot’s proper and all. And whenever anyone’s family didn’t go, me mom and aunts would talk ‘orrible ‘bout ‘e, behind their backs, they would.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 14, 2008 21:58:27 GMT -5
He wasn't sure how to reply.
Him.... at church? His family would laugh. Endlessly.
"Well," he began. "I can go... with you." Cringe. "If you don't want to be alone."
Would they even let him? He was the embodiment of hell. "And there, on the third row, that's where you're going if ye are not clean before the Almighty's eyes."
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 14, 2008 22:55:50 GMT -5
Nellie wasn’t the brightest bulb, but she could still sense the hesitation. She shook her head fervently, “No, it’s all right. I can go alone if I wanna, I can.” She squeezed his hand and turned to face him with a little smile, “’Cept on Christmas ‘n’ Easter, maybe.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 16, 2008 23:05:38 GMT -5
He tried not to show his relief too much (meaning he pretty much grinned outright).
"I guess I can spare two holidays. Speaking of Holidays, Halloween is coming up. You do celebrate Halloween, right?"
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 17, 2008 0:09:45 GMT -5
“Not really. But before Halloween I spend—spent—every waking hour. It’s loik one of our biggest ‘arvest times. On ‘Alloween, we usually ‘ave a little ‘arvest festival wiff a dance an’ bobbin fer apples, etcetchra.” Nellie teetered back and forth on her heels as she talked, gesticulating in a typically animated, Nellie-like manner. “But I’d love to, it’d be so fun! I love ‘olidays, I do.”
She bounced up and down, clearly antsy. She had been so down lately, so somber, she definitely had an excess of energy. She wanted to explain to Alexander how grateful she was that he set all this up and more or less dropped everything for her, but she knew she wasn’t eloquent enough to properly thank him. She wanted to express how frightened and excited she was, how she was totally, spleen-numbingly terrified and yet so anxious now for Halloween. And she wanted to see what the cottage looked like on the inside, and whether or not Alexander’s kitten was there. All of this, she summed up in an uncertain little grin and a tug on Alexander’s arm.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 17, 2008 0:24:52 GMT -5
Fortunately, their moods often ran on the same wavelength. Alexander caught her intent even before she tugged on his arm, and they walked back to the cottage.
He gave a mildly disgsuted sound. "A harvest. Tch." He shook his head. "We'll show you a real Halloween. Everyone dresses up. There's parties everywhere with lots of spooky Halloween games and pranks. Everyone has candy on them at all times, because you Trick or Treat to anyone you want, at anytime. The whole city is lit up all night long, and for just that night, my dad uses his powers or whatever to summon a portal right in Chimera so everybody takes trips to real world and scare all the mortals, and get a little woozy on conscious fear."
His eyes took on a luminescent glow as he spoke, his step tight and springy, partly catching onto Nellie's antsy mood, and partly in excited memory.
He grabbed her hand (it was such a natural gesture now he barely thought about it) and led her up the steps to the front door, which he opened without aplomb. He flipped on the light, illuminating the cozy front room, mostly so because of the cramped space. "Ta-da."
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 17, 2008 22:46:26 GMT -5
Alexander’s excitement was contagious. Generally, Nellie trusted his judgment (strangely enough) and he described something that sounded like pure fun. Games? Costumes? Candy all night? She could do without the ‘scaring of mortals’ thing, but if it was part and parcel, she would deal with it. “I’m excited! Your Halloween sounds like fun!”
Nellie grabbed her little wicker suitcase and held her breath, just a little, as Alexander opened the door to their home with a notable lack of drama. The sudden shift in light made Nellie squint. She gasped, “Electric lighting?” That amazed her. She had never had electricity in her house before. They were so bright!
She carefully placed her suitcase on the table, turning around in a full circle to get a good eyeful of her new living quarters. It was not big. It was not that impressive (besides the electric lights). But, for some reason, she felt sort of deferential, like she was witnessing something important that she couldn’t put her finger on. Nellie stole an excited glance over her shoulder at Alexander before she tore off to explore the wide expanses of the cottage.
“BUNKBEDS!” She screeched excitedly from around the corner.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 17, 2008 22:52:12 GMT -5
It was 'cozy', as Aunt Illie had put it earlier. He admittedly liked it a lot better with the addition of Nellie. Now it felt private and fun, unbothered by the outside world. He watched her reactions until she disappeared behind the corner, apparently discovering the bunkbeds.
Alexander followed quickly after, pushing past her into the bedroom. He folded his arms across his chest and placed a foot on the bottom bunk. "Bottom's mine," he said, staking his claim.
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 17, 2008 23:21:58 GMT -5
Nellie frowned at him. “That’s juss ungentleman-loik. Inn’it ‘Ladies First’?” She was overAlexander’s lack of chivalry rather quickly, she wordlessly ran back to the livingroom-area and grabbed her suitcase, ran back, and threw it up on the top bunk. “It’s okay ‘cause I wanted the tippytop anyways.”
She climbed up after her suitcase, kicking her shoes off in the process. This was very exciting, having the top bunk and all. She peered over the edge of the bed, her hair hung down over her shoulder. She felt like Rapunzel. “Why didn’cha want the top bunk, Alexander?” She asked, making a face at him. Clearly there was something wrong with him.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 17, 2008 23:29:17 GMT -5
Ungentlemen-like? He gave her a pitying look, like: How long have you known me?
She surprised him by wanting the top bunk. Problem solved. A fit to yet another puzzle piece. He tilted his head, regarding her for a moment. Truthfully, he wanted the bottom because it was such a pain to crawl to the top every night, and he felt cramped so close to the ceiling, but her self-righteous expression irritated him.
"Because," he said, all full of faux-sympathy now. "The top bunk is haunted."
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 17, 2008 23:39:25 GMT -5
“No!” Nellie gasped, disbelieving, pressing herself close to the mattress like a frightened kitten, so only her eyes and her blonde curls were visible. “Nuh-uh. Yer pullin’ my leg,” she said, though she clearly didn’t even believe herself.
“Right?”
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