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Post by titan on Jul 28, 2008 8:30:41 GMT -8
Rui's eyes widened slightly and he tried not to look contemptuously at Lily. He hadn't really been told the reason that he was here, but now he was absolutely sure: To keep that very good looking guy away from his woman. He wasn't quite at the point where he needed to walk up and stand between them, but he was close. Curses, why did there have to be so many other men in the world?!
For his part, Xerxes just let out a little kitty sigh. Yep, there was just one more dude to get in the way of his search for true love, and good milk.
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Post by shinigami on Jul 28, 2008 16:02:42 GMT -8
"It's going well," Val says, laughing. The laughter is easy (because, really, Val is an easy person to be around; easy charisma, easily the most stable in any given room; Val is a stone), albeit touched with some puzzlement.
Val is surprised by Lily's, er, enthusiasm you see. Both of his eyebrows lift, although his features are still animated by his smile, by his chuckle, and he catches her when she jumps. Returns the hug, one-armed.
His gaze switches from Lily, to Rui, to Lily again, back to Rui. "You must be Rui." He offers his hand.
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 28, 2008 16:12:41 GMT -8
Lily grins and drops back down to the ground. You see, Lily was never the type who had many friends. She's always kept to herself, and is a bit socially awkward. But she's really nice, and is quite happy that she has a new friend. One who's so comfortable to be around, like Laurel.
"Rui, come on over and say hi," she said happily, swaying on both of her feet in an obvious sign of comfort and giddyness. Outside, the tree were following her movements, bending a swaying their branches in a little dance. "He's my buddy!"
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Post by titan on Jul 29, 2008 11:44:14 GMT -8
Rui returns to himself, getting a little closer, and switching Xerx to the other side so that he can offer a hand to this new person...Val. He feels Xerxes tense as if he's going to spring, and then relax again as if there's just no point. He finds himself agreeing slightly.
The unfortunate thing here is that Val seems like a very likable person. Damn it.
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Post by shinigami on Jul 29, 2008 22:04:05 GMT -8
Valentine can't help but look rueful when Lily, all innocent naivete, proclaims him to be her buddy. After all: it's the equivalent of being told he's a nice guy. Which Val doesn't mind, per se, but there's a stigma. His grip is firm, although he looks puzzled -- for a different reason -- when he registers Xerxes in Rui's arms. He isn't put off by Rui's quiet, though; Simon didn't talk for months.
"You brought your c--"
Simon has been lingering around Val, Lily and Rui without saying anything, and the little boy casts a wistful look toward the stairs. "Do..." he whispers. Then he sort of sidles up to Valentine and says, quietly, "Mom and Dad..."
"Right," Val says. "Mom's in the kitchen; Dad's upstairs; Bea's picking up some last minute items. C'mon, I'll introduce you. You're the guests... so you'll kind of get to call the shots tonight.
New voice. Enter, Anesidora Crow. "Mom is not in the kitchen," she says. Then Rui and Lily both find themselves hugged. Yes, by a stranger. Who smells good, of cooking food and sort of incense-y.
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Post by shinigami on Jul 29, 2008 22:23:50 GMT -8
Meanwhile, upstairs, in the tenebrous space beneath a window seat, there was a little pool of darkness, a little shadow, dainty, delicate, refined, and -- okay, not a shadow. Not literally. But a very, very black cat opens her eyes, which are luminous green, and lifts her delicate head to sniff delicately at the air, then snort. Cat for wtf is that.
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Post by titan on Jul 30, 2008 0:43:46 GMT -8
Ugh. Family pleasantries. Xerxes wriggles away from Rui, who starts to go after him and decides against it, looking strained. Xerxes is not a cat, after all, and he should be able to handle himself.
Xerxes goes up the stairs, and sighs as best he can as a cat. It's a relief to be away from- wtf is that? He smells something else up here. But it's so angry...couldn't be a GOOD GOD HOLY BEJEESUS_----
~cut back to rui~
Rui does his best to smile and make small talk with the rest of them, feeling extremely ill-fitting with the rest of the cheerfulness.
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Post by shinigami on Jul 30, 2008 17:21:05 GMT -8
Location: Upstairs. Situation: Trouble. Target: Xerxes.
That? That was the sound of doom.
Crow slunk out of Her spot and Crow viewed Xerxes' tiny little kitten head with Disdain. Not only was there Disdain in the way she looked upon Xerxes, but her sleek black tail fluffed out to about three times its size. The sound she made? Deep, deep in the back of her throat? A sort of rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRR? Was a sound of doom.
After swishing her tail once, twice, three times -- she revealed teeth as sharp as rattlesnake fangs. Sharper, actually.
Xerxes has a choice. Go downstairs. Go out the window. Go into one of the rooms. Or, y'know, be attacked. Of course, he's smarter than a normal everyday territorial cat, yeah?
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 30, 2008 21:31:59 GMT -8
Lily felt a twinge of worry for Xerx leaving. There was a cat up there somewhere, right? But he could handle himself. He may be a small cat, but he still had a human mind. He'd pull out something, riiiight?
The hug caught her off guard, but the woman was so nice that Lily just couldn't help but adore her. She'd never really had a mother figure in her life and this woman definitely had the motherly vibe going on. She loved it.
Smiling gratefully to the woman and indulging in small talk (because she had no problem with it whatsoever), she danced over to Rui and slipped her hand in his. It was an act that was done as if it was second nature, like it was unnoticed by her, but secretly an effort to just be closer and silently tell him that she still loved him and wasn't about to just run off with Val. She may be oblivious, but still, she did have her moments of redemption, however small they may be.
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Post by titan on Jul 30, 2008 22:05:07 GMT -8
Xerxes was still for about a moment, using the old if I don't move, I'm not there.
Cue matrix kitty.
That's right, this little kitty knew kung fu, and he wasn't afraid to use it. He stood his ground, tired of all the bloody females in the world raining on his god damn parade. He'd had quite enough, and he wasn't moving, damn it!
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Post by shinigami on Jul 31, 2008 1:20:55 GMT -8
Meanwhile, for the witches below the introductions continue. Anesidora, after hugging both Rui and Lily, steps back and beams at them both. Anesidora is an older woman, delicate-boned but sharp; she seems vibrant, somehow; it's something in the eyes. And there is a distinct air of Power about her, fine-crafted. Most witches in Las Vegas know Anesidora, or know of her. Then again -- the Night World was an even smaller world than the World In General.
"I'm sorry; too familiar, I know; I'm just glad you came. I can definitely feel -- " Then she frowns, flicking a glance at her son, who tops her by a good two foot. "What'm I doing? My name's Anesidora, but most folks just call me Ani. Come on into the kitchen; that's the heart of the house -- did you two want to eat outside or inside?"
Ani and Val do their best to draw Rui out of his shell, and both are quite warm towards Lily; they're just warm people. Simon stays quiet and why, although he hangs around -- mostly because they go into the kitchen, where there is a vast array of food -- a veritable feast -- already laid out. He clearly has an eye for stealing some of it.
There are sweet corn tamales, tamales of pumpkin and raisin; avocado dip, spicy guacamole; Indian fry bread, still hot, smelling like a piece of heaven; pumpkin bread, roasted sunflower seeds; a golden winter soup, butternut squash and onions and spices. There was more, even! Goat-cheese pizza, hand-made, with sundried tomatos and olives. Friendship bread: loaves, crunchy on the outside, practically golden. Fruit: apples and pears, red and gold and lovely, cut into slivers, caramel on the side -- mushrooms stuffed with cheeses -- Fondue -- brie and fig jelly sandwiches, finger-style -- toasted brie and jelly sandwiches, toasted spinach, onion and cheese sandwiches -- after all, Lily'd said she was a vegetarian. And yeah, something was still cooking.
Rude was in the kitchen. He looked up quasi-guiltily when his wife, his two sons, Lily and Rui entered the kitchen. Perhaps because he was juuuust sliding a chip out of a bowl and dipping it into the guacamole. He popped it in his mouth quickly, crunched down. He didn't hug, but he did shake hands; his eyes were blue, lined, and he was pretty mellow.
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Post by lily tomlinson on Aug 27, 2008 13:52:40 GMT -8
Lily was feeling the distinct urge to get down on her knees and bow down to Val's mother. Because all of the food looked amazing. Absolutely, breath-takingly amazing. And vegetarian!
Instead she made a happy noise in the back of her throat, clasping her hands together in glee. A wide grin spread over her face and she was trying very hard not to dance around in joy. "All this... I have no words except to say it looks absolutely spectacular. Thank you!" And then, because she was just so friendly, ran around the room and hugged each member of the Crow family present. "Man, I wish I could have been adopted by you guys."
In all honesty, she'd never been around this much wonderful food. And family dinners... well, those weren't something that happened in the Tomlinson family. It was fend for yourself, or you get nothing.
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Post by shinigami on Aug 31, 2008 12:18:44 GMT -8
There's a moment -- a stone's skip -- of silence. Rude and Valentine exchange a glance; Simon hides behind his floppy hair. Ani, however, looks startled, and then touched as well as sad. Needless to say, she returns the hug wholeheartedly. "Oh, honey; if you were up for adoption, I'm sure we'd take you. We could use another girl to keep Beatrix company. You're welcome to come over any time."
Rude had looked mildly bemused, amused, when Lily hugged him; Valentine, well, his expression was similar, sort of: dear god, this girl is friendly; Simon had looked terrified, and turned as pink as a cherub's butt. Dear god! A girl! Hugging him! A strange girl! And ... She smelled all girly! And she was a girl!!
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Post by lily tomlinson on Sept 10, 2008 13:54:18 GMT -8
Lily grinned, her cheeks reddening. "Heh, sorry. I get a little over-excited sometimes," she said. "The food is really lovely."
Truth was, she was really embarrassed to have startled them with the hugging or to make such a comment. She didn't really like talking about her own family, and it was a refreshing change to be around such a nice one. And really good food. Amazing food. Okay, so sue her, she was hungry too.
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