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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 9, 2008 19:03:11 GMT -5
“Aincha gonna eat?” Nellie looked skeptically at Finola’s sparse plate.
“I am eating. What do you call this?” She gestured at the tablespoon of mashed potatoes and bite of chicken on her plate. Genevieve craned her neck around Alexander so she could more easily butt into the conversation.
“Don’t worry about it, Nellie. Finola neglects mealtimes so often that her stomach has shriveled up into a little peanut-sized thing. Just looking at food fills her up,” Genn chided.
“We kind of hate her for it,” Pia remarked flatly. Since the meal started, Pia had been stealing glances at the door. Their plan was foolproof. Everyone was in on it, ven Nellie, though it was mostly over her head, and Illie, who looked vaguely uncomfortable (schemes were not her strong point). They even had a little huddle, laying the plan out flat, before Vince had shown up. So, everything was going to go perfectly. That is, if Mary would actually show up. Tonight, of all nights, to be late.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 9, 2008 19:16:50 GMT -5
Alexander had barely been summarized on the plan of Get Mary and Vince Together. One of the disadvantages of living away from home was not knowing all the gossip. He'd found out the hard way, running into Vince at the castle a few days ago. Johnny had made slashing gestures with his finger over his throat, shaking his head emphatically, but like a fool he'd commented on the mummy's surliness anyway. Only after, as he lay quivering and dumbfounded, was the situation explained to him.
Jack tried not to appear antsy. If this didn't go exactly according to plan, Vince would probably kill them all with an army of undead antelopes. He leaned over, whispering to Pia, "You did invite her, right?"
Under the table, Simon squeeze Illie's hand. They'd talk earlier, and the plan was if Vince or Mary directed a question at her, she should just smile and say nothing, and Simon would cover. It's all in the name of love, he had said, to justify their deception.
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Post by Jules on Sept 9, 2008 20:29:47 GMT -5
Zizzy kept stealing glances at Vince when she was positively sure he wasn't looking. It wasn't that hard since he sat at a slight diagonal from her across the table. It was incredibly, incredibly hard to see her new-found Boss as unknowingly part of a plot to get him together with Mary. She couldn't actually imagine anyone feeling that way towards him. Although why he'd been so much worse lately was now explained.
"So how's the new place, you guys? I'd come and see it, you know, if there was room for more then two people at once." (like she should be talking).
Mary hadn't meant to be late, but she was still fixing up the cabin so it was actually fit for habitation. When she'd finished cutting the vines that had grown in through the broken windows, the dinner had technically already started. If it hadn't been the weekly family dinner she would've probably done more than throw her hair up and change her grass-stained clothing to err, well, less grass-stained clothing.
Running part of the way until she could catch a public carriage the rest of the way, Mary was slightly tired and so rushed she didn't think of Vince being there until she came through the doors and into the dining room. Her eyes, of course, zeroed in on the bandaged figure and she froze.
"Oh." She wasn't ready to see him, not really. It was slightly humiliating. He'd probably laughed his ass off after she'd left. He hadn't even said anything, at least he'd been nice enough to contain his amusement until she'd been out of ear shot.
"I'm sorry." She spared a pathetic smile for the rest of the family, "I'm just going to go." Mary kept her eyes averted from him, "I wasn't thinking." She'd been in such a hurry to get here, she hadn't even thought about how awkward it would be for them (her).
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 10, 2008 0:26:01 GMT -5
Pia shot Jack a triumphant look as Mary rushed into the room. “Of course I did,” she responded snootily, standing and breezing over to Mary. She linked her arm with hers, and tugged her toward the table. “Tch, Nonsense. You’re family. No one here has a problem with you staying,” As if to prove her point, she glanced around the table, making sure to give Vince an especially long stare. “Anyone?”
Nellie smiled cheerfully and Genevieve and Finola shook their head in near-unison. Illie shook her head as she stared down the table, keeping a very tight grip on Simon’s hand. Even for True Love’s sake, this was making her nervous.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 10, 2008 1:07:42 GMT -5
It was entirely cliche to say it, but he felt her come in before he heard her. And then, when he did, every nerve in his body tensed. It was painful to sit there, unmoving, knowing she was in the room and yet it was as if he'd lost function of his body. Somebody was going to pay dearly for this.
He closed his eyes, trying to think. It wasn't fair to drive Mary away from the only family she'd known for over a century, and most of the time he hated these stupid things anyway. So, logically, he should leave. He began to stand, but several voices suddenly rushed at him.
"Wait, Vince--"
"Vince, I had this thing I needed--"
"Don't go, you promised to do... that thing..."
"Zounds man, you can't just leave---"
"Hat says, I--- oh, wait... what was I..."
Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose, Simon closed his eyes, dropping his head as if to hide laughter. Smooth, guys. Real smooth.
Armand cleared his throat. "Ah... that feudal technique we discussed earlier, Vince? The one from the book you gave me for my birthday. The proper chakra energy is only acquired during the twenty four hour period of a new moon, and as you're aware, Chimera doesn't get many new moons, so I thought we could do it after."
Armand had to study all afternoon just to find something that specifically needed a new moon, but he feigned long-term interest pretty well.
Vince grit his teeth, torn. "Can't it wait until later?" he asked, stressing each word.
"Sorry, no. Directly after dinner. After we're through, Zizzy and I have a date," (which he realized he'd forgottent to mention to her, so hopefully she was free), "Can't wait." He grinned good-naturedly, but it did nothing to soften Vince's black look.
However, the mummy returned to his seat, looking, if possible, more sour than before. It was a bad night to be in love with someone, which gave only a tiny handful at the table immunity.
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Post by Jules on Sept 10, 2008 1:18:02 GMT -5
Mary blinked slowly and looked them all over again. Did Illie look particularly bashful or was that just her? She let herself be herded into her seat before stealing one more look at Vince before deciding to avert her eyes the rest of the evening. She didn't understand why they didn't just let one of them leave, but she guessed the family didn't want to stop having these things just because she'd been so stupid as to fall in love with the emotional equivalent of a rock.
"Okay." She murmured and scooted in her chair, but it didn't look like she was going to open her mouth to say much else. If Vince looked like a lemon personified, Mary just looked plain embarrassed.
Zizzy shot a quick glance at Armand but shrugged. She was getting used to the early hour now and could even stay up past six pm nowadays. "Thanks for inviting me to my own date." She whispered at him.
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 10, 2008 23:18:45 GMT -5
See, that’s why Armand was the favorite.
Pia flipped her hair with the back of her hand and as if that was a signal, Finola and Genevieve went back to chatting casually. Things had to seem fairly normal. “So, Mary,” Pia twittered in a tone that would have sounded confidential if it were a few notches quieter. “Who was that guy you were talking to in Dreamer’s Hell the other day? I was late for a lunch date with Annie Basiliskos, so I didn’t stop and say anything, but uh—from the view I got from the carriage, he looked pretty hunky.”
Pia wiggled her eyebrow at Mary, and she was pretty convincing. For a second, even she thought she saw Mary hanging on some guy in Dreamer’s Hell.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 11, 2008 16:57:55 GMT -5
It was pretty convincing. Jack was almost jealous himself, until he remembered the guy didn't actually exist. Through great discipline, most of the guys managed not to look at Vince to gauge his reaction.
Vince, for his part, ignored the sudden twitch of anger, gritting his teeth and concentrating on not reacting at all. Of course, his efforts were ruined when he brought his fork down too hard into his plate, and it cracked. He stared it in confusion for a moment before Johnny slid an extra one over to him.
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Post by Jules on Sept 11, 2008 17:39:39 GMT -5
Mary blinked and thought back, hunky guy in Dreamer's Hell? She had been there recently to pick out some furnishings for her cabin and odds and ends she'd never really thought of before. But the only man she'd talked to was the store clerk, he'd been cute, sure. But he'd also been a flaming gay. And Pia's gaydar was probably industrial-strength.
Her eyes slipped around the table again and shrugged, "Mr. Delfonz?" She asked, still kind of bewildered. The noise of cracking ceramic had her eyes flying to Finola, but caught Johnny sliding an extra plate to Vince and she frowned. Something was going on. "He is handsome." She agreed, conveniently omitting the fact that Mr. Delfonz would be infinitely more interested in Vince than her.
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 11, 2008 22:58:29 GMT -5
Illie immediately snapped her head toward her daughter. She smiled at Mary when she noticed they had the same reaction. Finola flinched at the sound of shattered ceramics, her stomach dropped into her knees. It was like when you heard someone crack their skull open on the sidewalk, that inescapable cringe you got.
Pia just breezed through like nothing had happened. She was rather glad that Mary had gone along with it. But even if Mary had contradicted her, Pia would have just played it off like Mary was in denial. “So…you guys are an item.”
It wasn't really a question.
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 11, 2008 23:12:26 GMT -5
Alexander flicked a brief look at Vince, whose stormy expression appeared prone to thunder at any moment. Women, he decided, were evil. He had to wonder how many times his mom had pulled a similar trick on him (there was no question that she had, at least once, with Jack). He turned his gaze to Nellie, glad she wasn't born with any innate conniving.
...or was she? Did it come with the deal? Warning: Natural manipulator (includes once a month crabbiness).
Vince tried to block out the conversation, but was it him, or was Pia talking louder than usual? He would never admit this to himself, but he'd been holding onto Mary's love like a tiny treasure, the bittersweet product of all this pain. But now, as he'd predicted, hearing her move on without him was like getting struck in the face. And he hated that he felt that way.
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Post by Jules on Sept 11, 2008 23:32:05 GMT -5
"Ummm, what?" The idea of her being an item with Delfonz made her snicker, and how much of a hussy did they think she was? She'd barely moved out of the circus, she wasn't exactly eager to go man hunting. Mary was still furious with Vince, not because he didn't love her back (she hadn't expected anything of the sort) but because he hadn't said a word to her since. It wasn't like she stopped loving him just because she moved away, but of course to him now she barely existed, and it pissed her off.
Even now, as she stole another glance at him, he was as stony faced as ever. Of course the image of her with another guy didn't bother him.
Oh.
She glanced at Pia and then at Illie and all the boys and smiled to herself. They really did love her, didn't they? She was surprised they were even trying at all, though. It was Vince they were talking about.
"Oh him. I guess?" She flashed a wicked grin at Pia. "I don't love him or anything, but he's a nice distraction."
Paaaayback.
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Post by Princess Katie on Sept 13, 2008 0:37:48 GMT -5
Thank God for Mary. She didn’t simply allow their plan to work, she was assisting them. Pia wanted to reach across the table and high-five her. “Well, you know, I think that those are really the best kind of relationship. Not too many strings attached, free to be…’free’.” IfyouknowwhatImean. She paused, and gave Finola and Genevieve her best ‘stern’ look, “Ladies, you didn’t hear that.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Sept 13, 2008 0:44:42 GMT -5
Jack rolled his eyes. "I'll pretend like I didn't either," he muttered.
Vince calmly and deliberately set his very dangerous eating utensils down and pressed his palms together, leaning his forehead on the tips of his fingers, almost as if he were praying. Which, in a way, he was. Dear Ra, help me endure this torture and not commit murder on Johnny, who keeps grinning at me, or every Nightmare in Dreamer's Hell until I've decided I've killed the one that touched Mary.
How long was this meal going to last? No one could possibly retain an appetite with this kind of dinner topic.
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Post by Jules on Sept 13, 2008 1:17:09 GMT -5
Mary watched Vince carefully out of the corner of her eye and smiled in satisfaction, for whatever reason it was angering him. Maybe it made him feel uncomfortable, maybe he figured it out too, but it didn't matter. If she could enrage him, she'd be happy. It would dull some of her own fury.
"But you know who I ran into the other day? James!" Vince had been informed, sporadically over the years, of who James had been as it had come up. If any name would bother him, it would be that one if he cared. He knew how the vampire had screwed her over. "He actually doesn't live that far from me, he's been helping me with some repairs around the cabin."
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