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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 19, 2008 2:12:18 GMT -5
“Your sister expressed a desire to see you, this morning,” Pia said rather coldly, over a glass of blood, “but you know Genevieve. She said she didn’t want to disturb you. She’s out back, in her little pavilion, I believe.”
Genevieve was out in her little pavilion, a glass and wrought-iron gazebo nestled in a copse of trees, dead in the center of her zoo. The gazebo was built for her when she was little, when she only had a few pets to speak of. The glass was UV proof; it let the warmth of the sun and the sunlight in, but prevented her from getting sun-sick. Heavy red curtains were present, just incase the sun should ever be just too much. It was her little place of solitude, well stocked with books and pillows for lounging, the soundtrack provided by the heavy rain hitting the adjacent koi pond and the birds that nested in the trees around it. On the wrought-iron leg that faced the castle, there was a tiny sign that read “NO BOYS ALLOWED – except Daddy” in a very young Genevieve’s handwriting. The pavilion was any little half-vampire bookworm girl’s perfect habitat.
Our little half-vampire bookworm girl was currently curled up in a nest of pillows, crying into her hands. She clutched some well-worn hardbound book to her chest, pausing occasionally to dab under her eyes with a handkerchief. With the storm beating down on the glass roof, the red velvet curtains drawn around half of the pavilion, and the princess looking oh-so-sad, it really was quite the dramatic scene.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 23, 2008 22:57:33 GMT -5
Armand nodded at his mother. He kept conversation to a minimal with her recently, not wanting to provoke any backlash from what his father affectionately termed 'perpetual-PMS'. Eventually, he figured she would forgive him, but until then...
Far done with his meal, he stood and went outside to Genn's pavilion. It was raining, and when he entered his sister's private nook, his hair and shoulders were damp. He took in her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks and immediately frowned in concern.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 25, 2008 22:56:58 GMT -5
Genevieve’s sniffles turned to giggles as she realized she had company. “S-sorry,” she said, placing the gilded-paged book on a wrought iron shelf, and offering Armand a towel she had hanging up. It was slightly damp from when she used it an hour or so ago. “That book is the saddest. Every time I read it, it makes me cry. Like, you think I’d know what was coming, and I’d steel myself, but nooo.” She rubbed her eyes on the back of her hand, the rain and her tears had already ruined her makeup; she wasn’t too worried about it anymore.
“What brings you out here?” Genevieve was honestly a little shocked to see him. Not that she resented Zizzy for it, or anything, but ever since she moved in, Genn had seen a lot less of her brother, which was a shame, because they had always been rather close.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 26, 2008 2:23:10 GMT -5
Armand gave a small smile of relief. He tipped the corner of the book up to read the title. Where the Red Fern Grows. She was right. It was the 'saddest'.
His eyes shot up to hers in surprise at her question. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I believe the term Mom used was... you 'expressed a desire' to see me."
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 26, 2008 2:56:55 GMT -5
Genevieve cocked her head to the side, thinking for a moment. She had? “Oh, no! I was just talking to Mom about how my phoenix’s eggs would be hatching today, and how beautiful it is, and that you’d probably appreciate seeing it. And it’s been a long time since we’ve had some good Armand-Genevieve time. Sorry to make you come all the way out here, in the rain, no less.”
She plopped back down in her nest of pillows, looking up at her brother. “Hey, does mom seem extra-fearsome to you today, too? I was trying to tell her about how cool the baby phoenixes are, since they’re born fully feathered and they only hatch once every century and all, and I could tell I was really getting on her nerves. She didn’t even like, humor my animal-talk like she usually does. ”
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 26, 2008 3:04:44 GMT -5
Ah.
Apparently, his mother's cold 'suggestion' had also been a not-so-subtle hint to relay the bad news to his sister.
"I believe she's.... a little stressed," he chose his words carefully."I'm glad I came, it's not any trouble, and we should... talk." He sat next to her, wiping away a bit of stray, smudged make-up in the same way he used to clean dirt off her cheek when she was little. "Tell me about the baby phoenixes."
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 27, 2008 2:12:03 GMT -5
“Oh Armand! It’s the most beautiful thing!” Genevieve took his hands, as if she could somehow send the absolute joy of the experience to him through her fingertips. “Okay, so I have two Phoenixes, a male and female, and for as long as I can remember they’ve had these two eggs in their nest, and they take turns sitting on them every day for a hundred years. And the other day, I noticed that the eggs were turning shiny black, like obsidian, and I was really afraid, so I did some research and found out that a color change is indicative of a hatching, and the day before they hatch, they turn completely see-through. So, I’ve been on total baby watch lately. And this morning they hatched! This is the really beautiful part. The babies hatch fully grown, and the mom and dad do this little dance, see their babies for the first time after a hundred year wait, and then they explode into fire. Of course, in the ashes are two new eggs; the ashes form a little ring, and the little phoenixes start building a nest around their former-parents’ eggs. It’s the most beautiful, saddest cycle,” she sighed, her eyes all watery again, just from the memory of it. “Sososo pretty. I wish you could’ve seen it.”
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 28, 2008 1:31:52 GMT -5
It did sound beautiful. Though, it was almost worth missing it to see Genn's face light up telling him about it.
"The phoenix is a fascinating creature," he agreed. "How are you? I know you stopped 'rebelling' as it were, though it left its mark on you..."
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 28, 2008 2:18:24 GMT -5
“Oh, I’m good, as always,” Genn replied breezily. She never put much thought into the old ‘how are you’ question. “And yeah. My little uh—cry for attention was a flop. I just didn’t feel like throwing out all those new clothes. Seemed a bit of a waste. I wish I could’ve kept it up. It was actually—“ her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “fun.” Except for the constant guilt of lying to her parents, fun.
Genn drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on the tops of her knees, “How about you?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 29, 2008 23:49:29 GMT -5
Good, as always. How true those words were.
It wasn't as much her lack of expecting a baby, or burning buildings to the ground, so much as it was just the way she was. Genn, the eternal optimist.
He didn't really want to bring this news down on her, but perhaps she wouldn't think it as awful as their parents seemed to.
"I'm... alright," he managed. His mouth twisted as rearranged the hundred and one ways he'd pre-planned to tell his family. None really fit. "Zizzy and I are expecting a baby."
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 30, 2008 3:00:20 GMT -5
“Ohmygod…” Genevieve’s face was rather blank as the news sunk in, “ohmygodareyoukiddingme?!” Through her tone of shock was a hint of a tone of excitement, her lips turned up ever-so-slightly at the corners. Then it escaped its restraints and flourished into a full-blown smile. “When? What kind? A girl-baby or a boy-baby? Do Mom and Dad know? Ohmygod, that’s why mom is so mad huh? Ohmygodohmygod. She’s going to be a grandma. I’m going to be an auntie! Oh, my dear Armand, I am so excited for you!”
Her brother’s serious tone gave her pause, however. Oh. What if he and Zizzy were not excited for themselves? As various thoughts, brought on by this unexpected news, nibbled at her brain, she silently hoped her little animated outburst was not offensive.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 30, 2008 3:39:44 GMT -5
His eyes widened slightly at her enthusiastic response, and then he smiled. "It's a boy," he said, and the smile reached past his eyes.
"Yes, they know. Clearly." He gave a soft snort of amusment. "I'm glad you're so excited," he admitted. "Not that I'm not, it's just... it was unexpected."
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Post by Princess Katie on Nov 30, 2008 4:18:13 GMT -5
“How about Alexander? Simon and Illie?” Oh, she could imagine Illie very excited by this news too, casting on stitches for a baby blanket as soon as she heard. “And, oh, how wonderful it must be to be in love, true love, with a baby to sort of be an ambassador from your love to the world.” Or at least, that’s how Genevieve saw it. It sounded awfully corny, but Genevieve was naturally corny. It’s why she didn’t voice her romantic thoughts in front of anyone but her closest confidantes.
Genevieve laughed, “You didn’t expect me to be excited, really? What, did you expect me to get all bent-out-of-shape like mom? Ohh. How did Dad take it?”
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Post by Miss Jack on Dec 1, 2008 0:56:25 GMT -5
"Alexander knows," he replied. "And I'm not sure if Dad has told anyone else." He sighed, lips curving into a slight frown. "It will probably get announced at a family dinner." Shudder.
Genn really was making him feel better. Even if it had a slight chick-flick spin to it, it was true, wasn't it? A baby was a wonderful symbol of love between two people.
He planted a kiss on Genn's cheek. "Thank you."
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 1, 2008 1:45:23 GMT -5
“Oh god, at Dinner?” Dinner. With a capital ‘d’. Genevieve winced. That promised to be a traumatizing event. “Sorry.”
She blushed when Armand kissed her cheek, “Thanks? What for?”
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