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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 21:52:56 GMT -5
Rosemary took a deep breathe once she reached the room. Wow had she screwed up something awful. But Thyme seemed to be handling this well. Okay, she shook her head slowly to herself as she hopped up on a nearby chair. She watched as Conway twitched and looked around the room. He seemed like he really wanted to do something. Too bad he was stuck with them....
The little wolf-squirrel girl blinked a few times and stared at the sword before it disappeared. Oh Holy Suits! No wonder Joe was so pissed off. Even Conway was edging away from them. "That.... wasn't the guy who started the mageness in the family a Heart? He must have come up with these artifacts or something! I mean... how else would Aunt Josephine have them?" Her tail twitched. "Joe is going to kill me for this one."
Conway sat in the corner and stared at the pair of them. Two 15 year old girls with summonable weapons. That was just a horrible idea. The old bag actually had a legitimate reason for being angry.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 22:01:29 GMT -5
Thyme stared at the bed for another few moments before looking up at her sister. "We really screwed up," she said in a more serious tone, touched with a hint of dread. "Rose... we really messed up this time. I shouldn't have done that. But I'm glad I did. But I really should have done that. Ah, hell."
She flopped herself more properly on the bed and stared mournfully at the wall. Was this a big enough mess-up to make their aunt hate them? They were still family, and she considered herself still useful... maybe even more so now that she could summon a weapon, even though she couldn't really use it until she got older, or even learn how to use it since she wasn't a Heart and didn't have the faintest idea. What was going through their aunt's head right now, though?
This was... a problem. Her eyes flicked up to look at Conway in the corner and she felt a twinge of guilt hit her. She hadn't wanted him getting involved in their mess, and doubly so now that it was a big one. He had enough problems with Josephine without her helping to aggravate things. "I'm really sorry you have to be here," she said with a sigh. "I didn't want to do anything to bring you to her attention. I just... crap. I don't know. I was being an idiot, I guess. Cause King Idiot came to visit." She rolled her eyes and looked at her sister pointedly for a minute before sighing again and stretching out on the bed.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 22:45:45 GMT -5
"I know it's all my fault!" Rosemary whimpered as she covered her face. Aunt Josephine was going to take out all her anger on Rosemary! She would never harm or yell at her darling Highlander Niece. He tail fluffed out in frustration and fear as she sat on the chair. And she had screwed over the cute servant boy. Good job!
Conway shook his head. No no no. Everything was going to be fine. This was all just an overreaction right? The old bag was a Heart, after all, she was probably ashamed to be related to Clubs. That's usually how things worked. He sighed and walked over to Thyme's bed. He really didn't want to deal with two squeaky teenage girls at the moment. He patted both girls on the head.
Seriously that was all he could come up with. He did his best to mouth the words "everything is all right" but he wasn't sure if either of them would pick up on it in their distress.
Rosemary certainly didn't.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 22:59:50 GMT -5
Thyme kicked out a foot to hit her sister in the side. "It's not all your fault, stupid. I touched a sword too. And really, I agreed to do it. You probably wouldn't have actually done it if I hadn't said yes. I won't let her heap everything on you. I'm not that much of a bitch... to you, anyway." Really, she wouldn't let Rosemary take all of the blame. That would make her feel like an utter heel. There had been two swords, after all.
She blinked in surprise when Conway walked over and pat her on the head. No one had done that for a while. She looked up in time to see him mouth the words and blinked again. Well, at least he didn't seem upset about all of this. True that it wasn't him who was in real trouble, but still, his being calm about things helped.
"Thanks, Conway," she said on the edge of a sigh. "I appreciate the vote of confidence. Aunt is just going to be a horrible trial tonight, I can feel it already. I just hope she doesn't hate me for this..." Because that would just be the end of everything, wouldn't it?
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 23:07:50 GMT -5
Rosemary flopped back dramatically with surprise. Not cool. "You know Thyme, you're totally not going to get blame for this one. I am, after all, the one what everyone loves EXCEPT for Aunty Joe. Why blame it on her darl-ing Highlander?" Rosemary rolled her eyes before flopping down on the chair to stare at her sister. It was going to be a long time before it was dinner.
Conway sighed. It was going to be a trail among other things. He had a feeling that the only reason he still had a job here was because Josephine knew that Thyme liked him. His job was on the line if the girl was kicked out of the house--which he doubted. The old bag was a bitch, but she wasn't that much of a bitch to family. If she was.... well then Conway got to take the money at run didn't he.
This was one of the moments that he wished he could talk to more than one person. He closed his eyes briefly before flopping on the floor and shifting to his animal form. If he was going to be twitchy, he could be twitchy on the floor rather than the chair.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 23:13:36 GMT -5
The hours passed slowly, and then they crawled, and then they absolutely dragged until it was time for dinner. Normally the sisters would be all for chatting and could easily while away hours by themselves but, for obvious reasons, they really weren't in a talkative mood.
Another servant came up to inform them that dinner was being served and the mistress of the house requested their presence. What a pretty turn of phrase. If they didn't come down, Aunt Josephine would probably come up and drag them all down by their hair. Or, in Conway's case, his spine. And that was just unacceptable. The Highland wolf hopped off her bed with a repressed sigh and walked downstairs with the others.
Everything was already in place for dinner and she obediently hopped into the chair next to her aunt's. Rosemary took the one next to her. And then, to Thyme's great surprise, the woman indicated that Conway should sit down at the table as well. What... was going on...
Damn, the woman was planning something, and it was going to be nasty. She just knew it.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 21, 2008 23:26:26 GMT -5
Conway was very confused when he was directed to sit down at the table. Which obviously meant that something Very Bad was going to happen. This woman was a whole new level of sadistic wasn't she?
"I am very disappointed in you, girls," Josephine began as two of the servants started to bring out food. "However, what's done is done, and it can't be fixed." Her worry lines were showing through her makeup, and a rather thin scar above her right eye could be clearer than it usually was. It was rare for the Highlander to let her makeup go unfixed unless she was extremely frustrated. Thank you children.
"Conway is going to be your personal servant now, Thyme. He is to tend to your every need. He will be eating dinner with us, and he will be watching both of you like a hawk. If he fails his responsibilities the blame is on both of you. And you're responsible for giving him proper punishment Thyme. Understand?" She gave the girl a dark look.
Conway whimpered. STUPID OLD BAG.
Rosemary sighed. Well she fucked up rather nicely, didn't she?
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 21, 2008 23:35:17 GMT -5
Thyme stared at her aunt, close enough to see all of the imperfections in her makeup but not caring about a single one beyond the fact that they made Josephine's dark look even darker and more intimidating. She sat straight in her chair, meeting her aunt's gaze only through practice and determination, and slowly nodded her head. "Yes, Aunt Josephine. I understand."
There wasn't anything else she wanted to say to that. Or could say to that. She just broke the eye contact first and looked down at her food, waiting for her aunt to take the first bite before she started. After a few minutes, she tilted her head enough to look at her sister and met her eye for a long minute before she looked back down. Implicit in the gaze had been If you make me have to punish him, I will make you suffer.
Her sister would hopefully get the message.
After things had gone on awkwardly for long enough and the first course was done, the wolf took a deep breath and raised her head. "Aunt Josephine, are we allowed to ask questions about the weapons, or would it be more appropriate to wait until after dinner? I was... able to summon it in my room." She let the rest hang in the air unspoken. How weird it was. How something like that shouldn't be possible. How neat it was going to be. That one was left very, very unspoken.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 22, 2008 0:02:00 GMT -5
Rosemary got the message as she glanced at her sister, her Aunt, and then the food. Suddenly she felt very unhungry. Wow she had screwed up so many lives in one swoop of stupidity. She gave didn't start eating until Josephine picked up her fork and took a small bite of food. Guh, her stomach hurt, and then Thyme just had to ask that question. Joy.
Conway stared blankly at the plate in front of him. He couldn't manage to think of anything else to do. Damn. Just damn.
Josephine sighed. "Those were artifacts that were created as an experiment so many years ago when Devya was still a young mage. He originally studied summonable weapons. Those were his twin swords that he never found owners for. They were probably his greatest creation. They have potentials that even I don't know about." Honestly the woman wanted to cry because of this whole affair. She had lost two of the most...amazing things in the entire... well Highlands to a pair of fifteen year old girls. One of which she would throw over a bridge to drown if she could.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 22, 2008 0:17:46 GMT -5
Thyme listened to her aunt, excitement and trepidation warring in her stomach with every word, and she wished that she'd eaten less of dinner so things didn't flop around like that. Artifacts created by her ancestor. Dark, that was just... incredible. And she and Rosemary were now in possession of them, for better or for worse.
In her aunt's mind, probably for far worse. They weren't Hearts. Would having summonable weapons be different for them? Would it cause them problems? Would they cause the weapons problems? She really had no idea, and maybe her aunt did, but maybe she didn't. And then where would they be?
Figuring it out, she guessed. It was terrifying. But it was exhilarating too. She just wished Conway hadn't been dragged into the whole family mess.
She couldn't say anything flippant, so anything she said had to be tinged with the utmost regret. She was feeling regret, oh yes, but nowhere near as much as her sister. In a way, this was part of her birthright, to learn about things like this. Not actually having the sword attached to her, but having it around in some way... and this way would just be different from how her aunt had it for years.
"We... weren't aware at all, Aunt. We were being stupid. And I'm very, very sorry that I disobeyed you by touching them. Can you tell us anything about what is known?"
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