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Post by Jules on Nov 28, 2008 1:59:12 GMT -5
Somehow, Zizzy didn't think it would be appropriate to go into the Faded. No matter how badly she wanted a drink, just to dull the edge of the anxiety, it wasn't worth the risk. So instead, she'd chosen a small grill-restaurant. This way, Alex could drink if wanted, and she could pretend with some virgin cocktails.
She sat at a table, enduring strange looks and whispers, she wondered if Nellie went through the same thing. It was strange to have the waiters show a lot more respect than ever. The place was packed, people were in line for a table, but she had been allowed to bypass them all. Oddly, she was pretty sure it was thanks to the Wail that they even knew who she was.
The concept of her being anyone of interest was still a little weird. Discreetly, she laid a hand on her stomach, feeling the very slight bulge that was too taut to be fat. Her eyes sank closed and so she jumped a little when a waiter coughed for her attention.
"Ready to order?" "I'll have a---" Be good. "---virgin daiquiri, please." She palmed her cheek and looked to the door, waiting for Alex to stride through them.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 28, 2008 2:12:23 GMT -5
Alexander entered the grill and didn't try to be conspicuous, but he was anyway. He sauntered over to Zizzy, used to being the center of attention in a room.
"SO," he said, plopping into the seat across from her. "Armand Junior. Fun."
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Post by Jules on Nov 28, 2008 2:18:23 GMT -5
Zizzy just stared at him for a looong moment. She was trying really hard not to let the articles in the Wail get to her, but she couldn't help but want to prevent worse rumors. "I don't know about that." She responded, kicking his shin under the table. "I--" She looked at him and wondered if he would even understand. "He asked me to marry him. When you ask Nellie, don't take tips from Armand."
She smiled as her drink arrived and the waiter deferred to Alex for his order as she tugged on her straw a few times. "How've you been?"
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 28, 2008 2:22:15 GMT -5
Alexander ordered a tall shot of whiskey, and glanced sharply at Zizzy. "Who says I'm marrying Nellie?" he asked. Marriage was not the kind of thing Alexander Ira did. Maybe. And if he ever did, probably with Nellie, but... ick.
He glanced at her stomach. "Armand said you knew. He said you asked Camilla." He raised an eyebrow. "Or were you blowing smoke?" He deftly and suavely avoided the 'how are you' question.
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Post by Jules on Nov 28, 2008 2:28:33 GMT -5
"No one says it, it's just implied." She said, with a slight smirk. No such thing seemed to be implied for Armand and her. The look of disgust on his face was an exaggerated version of Armand's own less-than romantic expression when he'd 'proposed'. "I know about the baby." She rolled her eyes when she caught his glance to her stomach.
"I'm not entirely sure about the 'fun' part. You didn't see his face." She sighed and eyed the delivered shot with envy. Zizzy recognized that he'd skipped over her question, but she was content to vent about her own problems for now. It wasn't like he'd let her talk about herself too long anyways.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 28, 2008 2:33:24 GMT -5
Alexander lifted a shoulder in a rueful shrug, watching the brown liquid in his glass swirl around.
"I don't claim to be an Armand expert," he said. Did anyone? Armand was more closed up and tied in than anyone he knew. "But I think he's just scared. A baby is a big deal. It's not that he doesn't want to marry you." He grinned playfully. "Who wouldn't?"
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Post by Jules on Nov 28, 2008 2:50:43 GMT -5
"I doubt even Armand is an Armand expert." Zizzy looked down and fiddled with her straw. "But I can tell he only offered because he felt he had to." And maybe it was being pregnant, people said it did wacky things to your hormones, but she found she was quite hurt by Armand's proposal. "Besides, he'll be King one day, and I'm a nobody. I can't be royalty."
Zizzy smiled back at him however, attempting to shake off her sour mood. "I can think of very few. How's everything with Nellie? Please don't say there's an Alex junior anytime soon, the world can barely handle one of you."
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 29, 2008 23:54:52 GMT -5
He blew out a breath. Armand would be king one day.
He could see Zizzy's point. It wasn't that Zizzy would make a bad Queen, but Armand as king was a cold, powerful image of stoic countenance, compassion and fairness, but almost no laughing. Who'd want to marry that?
He sighed. "Nellie is great, as always. She's not hard to please." He tugged his hands through his hair. "Except, the whole reason we were in that little crypt was to be secret, but now it's out in the stupid Banshee Wail, and even if Mr. Peep would never taint himself with Nightmare news, somebody might tell him. Oh, and I kissed someone else not on a truth or dare dare, and I haven't told her yet."
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Post by Jules on Nov 30, 2008 0:18:51 GMT -5
Her hands curled into fists involuntarily. "I hate that stupid rag. Wanna burn it down?" She wasn't joking. She could only imagine the trouble they'd get into if the Peep farms came moaning to the King. "Do your parents know the exact...circumstances...of Nellie coming to Chimera?"
It was just like Alexander to add the fact that he'd cheated on Nellie as an afterthought. She remained silent, mulling this over. She supposed if it was just a kiss...this was Alexander they were talking about. "Who? It didn't mean anything, right?" After her experiences, she wasn't so easy-going as she might've been in the past on the subject of two-timing.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 30, 2008 0:33:52 GMT -5
He paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Zizzy probably wasn't going to like the 'who'...
"Er. Marie Antoinette," he said, as casually as he could manage. "And it didn't... I mean, it didn't mean nothing, but it wasn't like with Nellie. I, well..." His voice dropped in a sort of grudging embarrassment, "I love Nellie. And I don't love Marie, but just... okay." He held up his hands. "Picture Nellie. She's easy to love, right? I care about her more than I care about myself, she makes me happy, I think she's beautiful... but... she's Nellie. I'm not exactly hot for her, you know?"
He sighed and dropped his forehead on the table. "That came out bad. We kiss and it's great, but I don't ever see myself out-of-control-passionately kissing her, mostly because I think I'd give her a heart attack. But Marie and I just have really good chemistry... that way. And it's fun. We have fun. But it doesn't mean anything like that."
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Post by Jules on Nov 30, 2008 0:46:28 GMT -5
Zizzy did indeed stiffen. It was hard to understand how he could stomach the French twit. Maybe she wasn't an outright pig to him, but surely he'd seen her ugliness. "You're attracted to Marie?" Her expression was an incredulous one as the simple fact failed to connect in her head.
"And besides, as naive as Nellie is, didn't she tend sheep? She's probably well aware where babies come from. She might surprise you. Either that or you're celibate the rest of your life. And we don't have to burn it all the way down. Maybe just a reporter or two."
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 30, 2008 0:51:14 GMT -5
"Burn what down? Oh." He allowed a self-satisfied smirk to pass over his features. "Yes. Just name the time, babe."
He gave her a flat look. "Don't sound so astonished. She's attractive to most people. And I know Nellie's not totally naive, but she's just.... not interested. And it's not like Marie and I did the make-a-baby thing. We just kissed. And we're not going to again."
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Post by Jules on Nov 30, 2008 0:59:56 GMT -5
"Oh yes, I can see how being a nasty, manipulative bitch would turn you on." She rolled her eyes at his little euphemism. "Good. And you have to tell Nellie." She jabbed her straw around in her daiquiri glass, "Break it to her gently and don't include any of the parts about chemistry."
"I'm not kidding. I would very much like to lodge a formal complaint about defamation of character. It's now a wide-spread belief that I got pregnant because Armand was about to leave me." And the funny part was, it was her who was considering running away. She was not good at problems. She would talk to Armand first, of course. But she didn't see how it could work. Queen. Ya, right.
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Post by Miss Jack on Nov 30, 2008 1:14:05 GMT -5
His eyes widened in fake shock. "You mean, that's not true?" He shrugged. "I'd be glad to help. So would my mom, and just about every other member of my family."
He sighed heavily. "And of course I'll tell her. I honestly have no idea how she'll react."
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Post by Jules on Nov 30, 2008 1:22:22 GMT -5
"You're mom is even less fond of me at the moment." She dropped her face into her hands and groaned. "I've made a huge mess of everything." Everything had been going so perfectly up till now. Except for the one intrusion from Iker, there had been no big issues. So of course that didn't last for long. The Universe didn't like her blissed out, apparently.
"Good. Because those things have a way of coming out. And I would watch myself around Marie, she's really conniving."
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