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 Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 10:11 pm
He noticed the other coming toward them long before he even kneeled before his sister. Gabriel lifted a brow in question, pale blue eyes filled with confusion and protective fire. There was no harm in this man talking to his sister, but the fact that he had so blatantly come forward to address her startled him. "Chris, forgive me for being blunt, but, can I ask you what it was that brought you over here?" He was not use to others taking interest in his family affairs, and certainly not in a place or an event such as this. He took a step to the side, letting Chantal talk to this new boy if that was what she wanted. She had said it perfectly. He was her protector, her knight, and she was his little princess. The young girl smiled as the new man kneeled at her feet, her tear streaked cheeks catching the light and shimmering abit. Her voice was almost shaky, she holding onto the hem of her pale, pink dress. "I am ok...the girls said i...I am too young to be here. That this is a big girls party and that babies need to stay at home." Her eyes looked once more to her brother, her hand reaching out to take his in her own. "Gabriel says I am ok. That I am not too young. I am smart and kind and that those girls are only jealous." Chantal's lower lip shook slightly, glancing to Chris with those same pale, blue, eyes. "Are they really jealous? " Gabriel could almost feel his heart break. The way her voice cracked, the way she shook. He should have come alone. He could have left Chantal with their mother and spared her this pain. "They do not understand how special you are, Tal. They only see an eight year old girl. They do not see how smart, creative, and unique you are." Ever since Chantal was born, he had known she was special. She had been the key to save his parents marriage. She had brought them back together, and with that she was their true gift. They were stronger now, all of them, and happy, and with Chantal growing up strong and unbelievably smart for her age, it only forged a bigger bond in the family. "Those girls only wish they were as great as you."
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 11:02 pm
KD was so excited but nervous, too. She had agreed to meet Willie here at the Spring Fling on another date. Things seemed to being going well with them and her tummy did flip flops when she saw him. She dressed meticulously, tossing nearly everything out of her closet in an effort to find the perfect thing. Once she was dressed she found her own way over, knowing the drive from the farm was long and she didn't want him going out of the way to pick her up.
There wasn't anyone here she really know. Some people she knew casually from school but, honestly, she wasn't close to many people. She hadn't spoken to Arias much lately and wondered how he was and secretly hoped he'd show up. He needed to meet Willie if he was going to become important in her life. And he was...
She spotted him when he came in the door. KD moved toward him, smiling, making her way through people dancing and eating pizza. She wanted to greet him first, not knowing if he knew anyone else here or not. There was still a lot she had left to learn about him and would be happy to meet his friend now that she'd met at least a few of his brothers.
"You made it. You look nice."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 1:58 am
Chris glanced up at the young man curiously, lifting his hands from where they rested on his knees only slightly in a show of peace. “She looked upset. I only wanted to see what I could do to help,” he explained, somewhat taken aback by the attitude he received. Protectiveness he understood, but perhaps this young man was a little more… overprotective than he’d realized.
He looked back to the girl when she spoke and shook his head, holding back a wince at the words she said. His heart broke, but not only for how she felt, but the lies she was being told. ‘Jealous’ was an awfully big word for a young girl like her. “Well, if you’re too young, then we’ve got a problem,” he explained, his smile back in full before turning just enough to look across the room.
“See the little girl with the lady in the pretty pink dress? Her name’s Lilah. She’s only two. You’re definitely older than she is, aren’t you?” he smiled. Despite his rocky relationship with his younger brother, he loved children and hated seeing them upset. That, if nothing else, was what drew him over to the two.
“Do you want to dance? I wouldn’t mind dancing with you, but I’m kind of tall, so I don’t think it would be very comfortable for you. Would you like to meet my younger brother? His name is Peter. He’s a little bit older than you, but he’s still in middle school.”
Again, he could understand the need to boost confidence. He used to be that scrawny, nerdy kid whose backpack was bigger than he was, but he was worried about her ego being inflated in the wrong way. Instead of just telling her people were jealous or they wanted to be ‘great’ like her, why not just prove she can have fun and anyone who hurt her feelings didn’t matter that way.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 6:33 am
There were familiar faces in the crowd, Paris noticed as she released Lilah to dance. She smiled and gave a friendly wave to Alex, wondering who his companion was. Then she saw Harmony lingering in the back of the room and brightened a little bit more.
Grabbing Lilah under the arms before she had the chance to struggle away, Paris lifted her little sister onto one hip and made her way to the back of the room, looking a bit too well-dressed in her dress and sparkling jewelry.
“Harmony!” Paris greeted her. She came to a stop only when she was near enough to offer a one armed hug. “I didn't know you were going to be here. It's good to see you. The pictures were a hit, by the way, thank you so much. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for them.
“This is my little sister Lilah,” she said by way of explanation. “Lilah, this is my friend Harmony. Can you say 'hi'?”
Lilah, who'd been in the process of reaching for one of Paris's too expensive earrings, turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the stranger. She waved excitedly and said, “Hi, Harmy!”*********************************** Haven frowned at Peter when he left her there by herself. She almost called after him to apologize, but she doubted he'd believe her anyway. So she sat by herself in the back of the room and looked around at all the people, trying not to let her eyes well up with tears.
There was no reason for her to be upset about Peter Gallo. They were rivals more than they were friends, and they'd said enough mean things to one another over the years that being brushed off shouldn't hurt so bad. But it did, and Haven had no explanation as to why except that she didn't want to be there alone.*********************************** Lovely Belrose had not come to this dance by choice. Rather, he'd been forced out of the house and had nothing better to do, and upon crossing paths with Ilian (a too-common occurance, in Lovely's opinion) he'd been pestered into coming along to this... dance. He supposed this is what he got by pestering his older brother—thrown out of the house to attend a half-assed event that couldn't even count as a proper party.
He wore black dress slacks, a striped button up shirt, and a blue cardigan, but had gone without a tie. Anything put on by the community center made a tie seem too dressy (again, in his opinion).
He stood around with Ilian and tried to think of something to do that wouldn't be boring. He wasn't much of a dancer. In fact, aside from one ballroom dancing lesson he'd walked out of as a child, Lovely couldn't dance at all. He was therefore quite glad when Ilian brought attention to the food instead of the dance floor.
“Excellent,” he said, though he doubted whatever food was provided would be any good. “Let's go get some. Don't worry, I'll pay,” he said, in a tone that made it seem as if he said such things often in Ilian's company.
He did.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:14 am
Lost in her own thoughts and more interested in who was coming in and not who was around her, Chailee was not at all prepared when she felt someone run right into her. She squeaked in surprised, feeling herself falling backwards but was thankfully saved by whomever it was that had bumped into her. "I am fine, it's alright." She stammered instinctually reaching out to take the dollar being passed to her when she realized that he was sporting her drink all over himself. "Oh no! I am sorry!" She blushed furiously. "I hope nothing is ruined." She reached for a few extra clean napkins to try and blot out more of the soda after his own were saturated. In fact, she was so caught up in what she was doing that she realized she was about to reach forward and try to clean him up before blushing furiously. "Um, here's a few more. It's better to get as much out now than later." She held out the napkins to him. With the blush still tinting her cheeks Chailee finally really looked at the boy that had run into her. Her blush deepened a bit as she realized the boy was rather cute with his brown hair and golden eyes. "Um, I am Chailee, by the way."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 9:05 am
Harmony brightened as she saw Paris approach, remembering again that they were similar in that their parents both had children much later than their own births so it made sense when she introduced Lilah as her sister. Sarah still preferred grabby hands to real greetings, though. She beamed, though, because she loved kids.
"Hi Lilah. You look pretty tonight."
She smiled at the other woman to imply that she looked pretty as well. It was nice to hear that their conspired gift turned out well. It made her feel good.
"Are you here with Chris?"
She had yet to meet her friend's husband and was looking forward to it. Anyone who captured Paris' eye had to be worth knowing, certainly. And it was nice to know she had someone to hang out with during this spring fling thing. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I'm here because I'm filling in for mom. She offered to chaperone since she works at Crystal but Sarah's got a cold so she stayed home..."
Her and Tony were protective of the baby, and why shouldn't they? It was a scary world.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 9:31 am
Ciel had been looking forward to this dance for while now. Especially in the last few weeks, she had been stressed out from her Knightly responsibilities and her school responsibilities so it was good to be able to forget all of that and just have a fun night.
Her mother had taken her shopping and bought her a new dress and a pair of small gold hoop earrings. She also got new white block heels to match her dress. She wore the heart-shaped gold locket that she had gotten for her birthday a few months ago. Her mother had lent her a pearl bracelet to wear and had braided her hair in a french braid and helped her apply her makeup.
She felt like she looked older, or at she she hoped she did. Normally she looked younger than she actually was because of her short stature and soft features. While she usually didn't let that fact bother her she wanted to look more mature at least for social gatherings like this.
She was having fun dancing to the music, even if she didn't have a date she was determine to have a good time. After a little while she made her way over to the refreshments to get some punch.(anyone feel free to interact with her if you want biggrin )
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 11:14 am
Chantal let her eyes move from one side of the room to the other. She took note of the small toddler that was pointed out. She was little, she was younger that herself, why were the girls being so very mean to her? Perhaps Gabriel was right, they were jealous, many of those in school were the same.
She was in accelerated classes, two grades above her current age. This made her the youngest member of her 5th grade class, but she was also one of the better students. She had been told so many time by her mother that she should stick to her studies, don't worry about what the other kids said. but sometimes her emotions got the better of her, she was, after all, only eight.
As the young man before her asked her to dance, she blinked. She had to take a moment to process his question. Her eyes looking him over and trying to figure out how she would dance with such a tall man. It was only when a younger brother was mentioned, that she smiled widely. This could be a chance for a new friend, and that was a rare things for her.
"Would he be upset, if you asked him to meet me? If he is having fun, I do not think I want to bother him." She lowered her head, blushing just abit. She was very proper when nervous, and she did not like to be in the way.
Gabriel watched the exchange. Perhaps this one was not a bad as he had thought. He did seem to genuinely care about Chantal, and that was a rare gift in many a being.
He did not interrupt them, it was only after Chantal was done speaking that he moved closer to Chris, he speaking in a near whisper as he pushed a stray bit of hair from his face. "Thank you...for making her smile." His eyes flicked to the side, never really turning his head to look at the other, but he smiled lightly. Anyone that could make her smile, was alright in his book.
He made a note to thank the man in a more proper way, later, when Chantal had gone off to have fun, or perhaps even after the dance itself. It was not his way to be so very social, and even this was a bit much for him on a normal basis, but he knew it was a basis for life, and being that he had so very few people that dared to give him the time of day, he might as well tend to the relationships he could get.
He glanced around the hall, there were more people now, and many of them young. He was rather surprised at how many of the young people were out, after all, it was late, right? He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He sounded like an old man, or even worse, he sounded like his father.
That thought made a shiver run up his spine. He loved his father, he was one of the few role models he had in his life, but the idea of becoming like him scared him more than anything.
He had made a promise long ago that, if he ever fell in love, if he ever had children, he woulds be there for them, no matter what. Family came first, and the well being of that family was paramount.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 11:22 am
Lilah look quite pleased to be told she looked pretty. She demurred somewhat, but was soon distracted by Paris's dangly earrings again, going back to playing with one of them while her big sister talked to the stranger.
“Chris is... around somewhere, yeah,” Paris said.
She looked around for him in the crowd but didn't immediately see him. Then she spotted him over by a small group of people, another young man and a little girl.
“That's him over there,” she pointed. “Come on, I'll introduce you.”
Paris led the way through the crowd with Lilah still on her hip, letting her play with her earring if it meant she wouldn't try to wiggle away to go back to the dance floor. She smiled at Harmony excitedly. It always thrilled her to be able to introduce her friends to her husband, especially since Chris's name and face were getting out there more as a pitcher for the Destiny City Comets. People were starting to recognize him when they went places.
“Chris!” she called, coming to a stop by her husband, a young man who seemed to be around her age, and another little girl who looked like she'd been crying. “I wanted to introduce you to— … what's going on?” she asked, momentarily side-tracked by the little girl. “Is everything alright?”
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 11:45 am
Destiny was not quite sure why she was here. Booze was not exactly kid friendly, though she did see some adults in the crowd that looked like they could use a drink. She sure could, but then again that wasn't the best form of PR, to get drunk at a dance meant for kids. She really wanted to do more good than harm for the bar here so she curbed her own impulses and resigned herself to pizza and punch.
She'd rather have been home with Karma cuddling on the couch or in the bar bettering it. She was a slave to that building, sometimes, and to the Negaverse. Both of those things sometimes hindered her relationships. They definitely hampered her free time.
She spotted Imara right off and suddenly this didn't seem like it would be as boring as she originally thought. Thank God for small favors. She waved across the room, getting her attention.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 5:01 pm
“Nice to meet you. I’m Peter,” he introduced, looking up from mopping the soda off his tie to show her a warm smile. He could tell she was blushing, but he could only imagine it was because she’d been embarrassed about almost falling. It made him feel bad. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” his smile faded to a concerned grimace, wishing he had been looking where he was going. She didn’t look like she was hurt, which was good. Although that cute blush… he supposed it was probably bad for him to think running into her wasn’t all that horrible.
“Nah, nothing’s ruined. Don’t worry about it,” he shrugged, noting that she hadn’t retrieved another drink just yet and reached over to grab a replacement for the one he’d spilled. “Are you here alone?” he asked, looking around to see if anyone else he knew was nearby.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 5:13 pm
Chris shook his head at the little girl, thinking she was much too young to be worried about the things that obviously bothered her. At least the young man, whom he assumed was her brother, seemed to warm up to the idea of a stranger talking to her.
“He wouldn’t be upset at all,” he promised, glancing up to try and spot where his younger brother had wandered off to, but noticed that they had some company. He did not stand from where he was crouched down at the little girl’s level, but he did look up to smile at Paris when she approached, glad that he would have a chance to at least introduce Lilah to the other little girl. “Lilah, come here,” he asked, holding out his hand for the two-year-old to toddle over to him. “Can you say hi? Isn’t her dress pretty, Lilah?”
Hopefully Paris’s friend wouldn’t mind that he was still distracted by the children to immediately say hello. “Gabriel, right?” he asked, looking up at the dark haired young man. He’d heard the little girl mention what he could only assume was his name. “My wife, Paris,” he introduced, although he immediately felt guilty for not knowing the young lady’s name who’d come over with Paris.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 6:56 pm
Raleigh had spent most of her evening insisting to her parents that she absolutely, positively, must attend the Spring Fling dance. Okay, maybe things had gone just a smidge poorly at the last dance she went to. Okay, maybe a little more than poorly. Okay okay sure, she was kidnapped and nearly beat to death before finally returning home over a week later. Okay fine. Maybe her parents and Brodie had a reason to fret over her. But there was no way to get over the past if you couldn't move forward and live in the now, so that was exactly what Raleigh had intended to do. At least, that was what she told herself. Raleigh slipped into the big room in the community center, her hands immediately going to her opposite wrists protectively- almost as if she could feel the rope binds still there- self conscious of the scars that were likely only really visible to her. The 15 year old took a few steps forward, practically wincing at the loud music and crowd of people. Deep breath. She swiped her phone on and took a picture of the growing crowd, uploading it to instagram. #SpringFling #DestinyCity #cantstopwontstop #partytime The bluenette slipped her phone into her dress pocket and bee-lined it to the food table. Food made everything better. Quote: Raleigh is totally open for interaction!
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:04 pm
It wasn’t often that Ilian got to go to events like this, so of course he relished in the idea of being able to experience all the things he hadn’t before. There were so many different people around, and while he didn’t recognize them, he wondered if any of them were officers. It wasn’t impossible to assume.
There was a girl with white hair and a white dress that approached the punch bowl, and he watched her curiously as he shoved a piece of pizza into his mouth. She looked his age, maybe a little younger. Was she an officer? Probably not. She looked much too happy.
But then there was another boy close by who looked rather angry. He had black and neon green hair and looked rather hilarious, if someone asked Ilian. He’d never had the opportunity to dye his hair, but he doubted it would look very good if he did. From the looks of it, no one could really pull it off without looking like they were straight out of a comic book.
Without really thinking about it, Ilian reached his hand into the bowl of ice and lobbed a piece in the teenager’s direction. He didn’t intend to hurt him, just maybe get his attention. “Just thought you could use that to cool off. Right? Doesn’t he look like he was dragged here?” he asked, turning not only to Lovely, but to the girl with the white hair as well. “Isn’t this a dance? Lighten up!”
He lobbed another couple pieces at the boy, but he was pretty sure a piece accidentally hit the girl in the star spangled dress behind him, too. "Oops..."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 8:17 pm
Gabriel nodded once at the young man before him. So he had been listening when Chantal had spoken his name. It was rare fit others to actually pay that level of action to detail, especially where he was concerned. It made the other gain are more points in his book, and that was certainly not a bad thing at all.
He turned his head toward the women that approached. He grinning rather foolishly as he was introduced. Girls, he was horrible around girls. "Hey..." He made eye contact for the briefest of moments before glancing down again, his darkly made up lids hiding his pale blue eyes. "A pleasure to meet you, miss Paris. I ask forgiveness for not introducing myself to your husband, but my name is Gabriel Westinghouse." He glanced to his sister, placing a hand once more on her shoulder as the young one glanced up, looking at the older lady. "This is my sister, Chantal. Your husband was only wondering if she was alright."
And there he went, babbling like a damn fool. He could have left it at the introduction, but nope, he never did. He groaned inwardly, convinced he had said too much. He glancing down as Chantal turned in her seat to glance at the two year old girl in Paris' arms.
"Hello Lilah. My name is Chantal, do you like to play?" She had never been around too many younger children, most of those in her neighborhood were older teens or her own age. This toddler was interesting to her. "You have a very pretty dress on, did your mommy buy it for you?" She glanced at Paris. She was Chris' wife, was this little girl theirs?
It was Chantal that took notice of Harmony first, she smiling and waving at the other woman. She knew how it felt to be left out of the crowd tonight, so she would do anything to include the girl. "Hello...you can come play as well if you want. Chris said he might ask me to dance. Or his brother." She giggled, that lighthearted joy back in her voice and in her eyes.
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