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 Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:14 pm
"Good? And will you hurt a guardian's feelings because after all this trouble, you don't stick around for the end of the show?"
He asked this quickly. Smoothly, and walked swiftly after the mage. "What are you running from, darling Hadrian?"
The words were loud enough that heads turned just slightly at the sound, and he reached for the other with a quick, firm grip.
"I won't hurt you. I won't bite." his face was pleasantl. No frustration, no unease. 'But I won't let you walk out on a nineteen year old girl because you don't want to be here."
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:31 pm
Clenching his jaw, Hadrian stopped. Natalie...Natalie didn't deserve that.
"...Fine. I'll stay."
And he'd attempt to be polite, for her sake - it had been a good play, really. Even he could tell that, and he hadn't been the most attentive observer.
So, he'd stay and compliment her in person.
Then he would leave.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:36 pm
Thorn nodded his head. But since they were almost out anyways... looknig at the crowds and searching for a face, one hand went up when he recognized his driver. And the driver promptly arrived with a large bouquet of flowers. Purple roses.
"Shall we find our way back stage then?" he asked politely, carefully, nodding his head and leading the way. He wouldn't touch the mage right now-- the man didn't want to provoke Hadrain again.
While it was fun, maybe later. When this Natalie girl was occupied herself.
He looked over at Hadrian with a glance. A look. "Excuse me." he asked the nearest staff. "How do we get back stage?" He motioned with the flowers as if that was all that was needed.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:43 pm
Luckily, they got a nice, innocent young guy who didn't know you weren't really supposed to let the general public backstage. And, well, the guy was bringing flowers! Maybe he was one of the girls' beau's. And he didn't want to get in trouble with one or two of them...
"Oh, I can show ya. Who all do you need to see?"
He eyed the monocled man. He'd never actually seen a real monocle. In person. Well, he'd seen props, but...
"... hey, man, is that a real monocle-thinger? Like the one the Peanut Man has? That is so cool!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:53 pm
"Yes, it's real."
Peanut man? Who was the Peanut man?
Hadrian was - to put it simply - bewildered. This was the first time someone had seemed excited to see his monocol, and it confused him...in his own world, they weren't too out of the ordinary. But in this world, they apparently were.
"Ah, we're to see Natalie..."
((Pretend he said her last name, if it's neccessary XD))
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:56 pm
Thorn looked over with some amusement, remembering the monocol he was still holding onto back at home. Why, he couldn't quite justify at the moment either.
"The one who played Jane Eyre." he confirmed, nodding. "It was fantastic."
He was in full PR mode, his gleaming, teeth winking and a smile more or less coming and going every couple of seconds but for a reason, if only to catch the eye of the young guy.
"If it's not too much trouble." he said, and nodded.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:01 pm
"Totally awesome, man." He gave Hadrian a thumbs up.
Natalie, huh? But hadn't he seen her with... eh, it didn't matter. Whatever. None of his business. ... but he really did enjoy gossip. Oh well.
"Oh, yeah, Nat. Sure, you can see her - if she's anywhere, she's probably in her dressing room," he said, leading them backstage through the throngs. "Sometimes she disappears after rehearsal or whatever, but she's probably busy jumping around all hyper, or somethin'." They turned a corner, and he pointed to a door with Natalie's name on it.
"Go on in - it looks like it's open, so she's probably not changin' or anything. And even if she was..."
Well, apparently the men of the crew liked the way their leading lady looked.
"But yeah. I hafta go back out and do my job. I'm getting paid, ya know." And then he was off.
Behind that door was Natalie, and Natalie was a complete wreck. She'd managed to pull herself off the ground, barely, and was sitting at her mirror. Her hair was half down from it's tight, prim bun, hanging in limp, scragly curls around her head. She'd wiped off what little make up she hadn't cried off, leaving smudges of foundation and eyeliner in odd places on her reddish, slightly puffy face. She'd obviously been crying for a while - since the end of the performance?
Her right arm jerked every once in a while, as if she wanted to lash out and break the mirror she was staring into. There were a few things overturned in the room already, but nothing looked quite so shattered as Natalie did.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:29 pm
Hadrian stepped towards the room, intent on congratulating her and leaving as soon as politeness allowed - but as he entered the room, thoughts of that flew out of his mind.
Well. He hadn't been expecting this...
"Natalie?"
He just stood there for a moment, blinking at her. He wasn't exactly one of the best people to comfort someone; he wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do. Especially with someone he didn't know very well.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:43 pm
Thorn blinked, taking a moment to adjust himself. Or his mentality. But it was quick enough, for some part of him relished the anguish suffered by another person.
"Natalie." he purred, chiding lightly as he walked into the room. He crouched in front of the girl, reaching for her hands in an effort to pull her closer to himself. Sometimes, touch helped. And women seemed to like touch.
He glanced at Hadrian, as if he expected him to do something about it too. A look of mild bemusement flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly tempered. It wouldn't do to let this one know that he was having a good time.
Not yet.
"Natalie." he repeated, nodding his head. "Tell Thorn what's wrong."
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:54 pm
At Hadrian's voice, Natalie lifted her head. And when Thorn came up to her, took her hands... what little control she'd regained slipped away, and she crumpled to the floor, holding onto Thorn's hands as if her life depended on it.
"I-I should have known," she whispered, voice hoarse from singing and crying. "I should have... I should... he... he..." Natalie swallowed, hard, looking up at Thorn with tears in her eyes. "H-he was using me, he's... he's... he's engaged. I should've known that... that... that he couldn't want anything w-with somebody like m-me. I'm j-just... just a stupid little girl... it's not a play. It's n-not like a story, and t-there was ne... never going to be... be a fairy-tale ending. I-I'm not Jane... he's... he's not Rochester... and god DAMMIT, I'm such an idiot!"
By the end, her words were barely comprehensible, blurred with tears and anger - not at him, it seemed, but at herself. Well... this was interesting.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:59 pm
Hadrian was at a loss. And unsurprisingly, Thorn seemed to have it well in hand. The mage didn't have the slightest idea what to do; it wasn't like he had much experience in comforting slighted women. Or anyone, for that matter.
If someone wanted comfort, they usually went to Dacian. Or Ahneta, depending on what kind of 'comfort' they wanted...
Shifting awkwardly, he didn't know whether to leave and give her privacy, or try to help in some way. And if how, if he was going to try and help.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:08 pm
Thorn smiled. "Hadrian." he said gently, his tone calm. "Could you get her something to drink?" He nodded his head holding her and leaning forewords until their foreheads touched.
Female chattered never meant much to him, but he had a vague idea what she was talking about. "Engaged?" The female mind baffled him. So what? Did it make a difference to him that Hadrian had Marc?
What did that have to do with anything?
"Darling." he crooned. 'You are far from stupid." or a little girl. He added to himself. "And you are much more prettier and more splendid than Jane could ever be."
His knees hurt. He wanted to bait Hadrian, but this girl seemed a little bit like a female version. And the irony too... it was almost enough to make him laugh. "Now sweetheart. Why don't you get up, and Hadrian and I shall do everything we can to cheer you up."
Natalie came... second. (There was no first, in Thorn's list) But this would keep Hadrian by his side a little bit longer.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:14 pm
"Engaged to somebody his own age that he seems to love way more than his little... his little..." She wanted to say ******** toy, honestly, but they'd never gone that far. "Toy." That would suffice.
"But what's a naive little college girl to an older, more attractive, probably infinitely more successful blonde bombshell?" she whispered. If she hadn't been so heart broken, she probably would've blushed at the compliment. As it was, it only made her shiver. She felt like he was mocking her, somehow. "I should've known he just wanted..." She couldn't finish the sentence, though, not even to herself.
But she tried to push herself up, black, austere dress rustling. "... no, i-it's... it's fine... you can... go and do whatever you had planned... I... it doesn't matter, really... I'll get over it..." Natalie wasn't sure she meant that, but she did know she didn't want to ruin these two's night out, just because of her silly school-girl follies.
Her eyes fell on the roses Thorn had appeared to forget.
... were those... for her?
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:29 pm
Just glad to have something to do, Hadrian hurriedly got Natalie a glass of water. It didn't take long, and the mage held it out towards the girl in a silent manner. Thorn seemed to be handling this pretty well - so he wasn't about to jump in.
And oddly enough, it never crossed his mind that Thorn would do anything to take advantage of Natalie; apparently he did trust the other man.
To an extent.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:45 pm
Thorn smiled at the water, and nodded at Hadrian. See? He could be good too! Deciding that this was ample opportunity to show off/prove that he was a decent gentlemen, he pressed his lips on Natalie's forehead in a somewhat (somewhat. Wouldn't want to convince her too much) paternal gesture.
"It will be our pleasure." he flicked his eyes up to Hadrian. "Let us take you out, hmmm?"
Seeing her eyes turn to the roses, Thorn gestured, nodding his head. Purple roses- but only because he liked the color. Regal, and all that. "It was a fabulous show. You were amazing." he nodded, looking at Hadrian. "Don't you think so?"
Pulling the man in. Because he was hardly going to let him go. He had the both of them together, now.
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