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 Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:15 pm
"Thanks," Liam nodded, "And you're beautiful. It evens out."
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:52 pm
__Part 45
Julian was not subtle. He knew this. It just wasn't in him to conceal motives or play secretive. So when Crow inevitably weaseled his plan out of him by simply guessing, he sang like a canary.
"Wow," she said, taking a break from scrubbing her own blood off the bathroom floor. The room was in a state of wreckage and the Adyamaur family had all been enlisted to clean up - though she'd taken the duty of post-suicide cleanup herself.
"Is that a bad wow or a good wow?" Julian asked, setting the Tezcatlipoca skull back onto its shelf. It rolled its eyes and laughed at him.
"Good wow," Crow said, nodding. "It's sweet."
"D'you think she'll say no?"
"Aww, honey. Probably not!"
Julian froze.
"What d'you mean probably?"
"Just what I said."
"Your support leaves a lot to be desired."
Crow just laughed, picking skull fragments out of an awful stain on the wall.
"Nahal," she said patiently, "My brother, my heart. You're in such a twist over this I will be astonished if you don't burst into flames the minute you ask her."
Julian smiled unexpectedly.
"Like at the Christmas party?"
Crow snorted.
"Jus' like that, yeah," she said, nodding. "She'll probably like you better now that it's real fire, not that stupid cold white s**t."
Feeling marginally better, Julian nodded vaguely and touched the small velvet box he'd picked up earlier that day. His mouth went dry and he felt a blush creep onto his face. Crow glanced up at him and laughed aloud, much longer this time.
"You just are not good at being subtle," she said.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:03 pm
__Part 46
"She didn't have to physically throw me out of the room."
"I'm still a bit amazed she could do it, given the height difference."
Julian glanced at Ethan, who looked back up serenely.
"Crow's very strong," he said bluntly. Ethan just laughed. "So, why are you here with me again?"
"Making sure you don't run away out of sheer panic," Ethan said smoothly.
"I'm taller than you! I could just plow right past you!"
"Julian, no offense, but now that you've lost the psychotic tendencies I have to believe you could be beaten up by a fourth grader."
Julian made a face as he knocked slowly on Rabid's front door.
"Your wit saves you this time, mortal."
Ethan snorted.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:09 pm
The door swung open and Björn stood there, leaning against the door frame and ducking slightly. He looked the men over with a brow arched.
"Hey, Ethan."
He didn't even acknowledge the other visitor. It was best to keep at least one person disliking him at all times. So he stood there. Waiting.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:13 pm
Too nervous to even care about being ignored, Julian tried to swallow but found his mouth had gone dry. He couldn't do it. This had been a terrible idea.
"Nope."
He turned around abruptly, face gone pale, and tried to escape. Ethan caught his arm patiently.
"Hello Björn," he said brightly, shoving Julian with that same infinite patience towards the door. "Is Rabid home?"
"Ethan, shah riv'yar amnit!"
"It's for your own good. Now hush."
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:17 pm
Björn grabbed Julian's shoulder without a second thought, and a smile cracked his face in two.
Awwww...
He snorted at the first compassion The Voice had shown, whether it be dripping with sarcasm or not.
"Of course she is. Come in. Make yourself at home." He left the door then, going up the stairs quickly and disappearing into Dezzy's room, where the resident Vampire was currently putting her daughter down for a nap.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:22 pm
"Thank you," Ethan said, swallowing a laugh as he got a good look at Julian's expression. "Try not to look like you've just swallowed glass. It might make things go smoother."
Julian was busy trying to reason that if he could sneak through barren desert surrounded by hostile people who'd gladly crush his head and wear his teeth as earrings, he could pull off his increasingly intimidating idea. It wasn't really working. He made a small noise to indicate he was listening to Ethan and tried to calm himself down, failing spectacularly.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:24 pm
There was murmuring upstairs, and then both large man and curly-haired woman emerged, the latter wiping her hands on her pants. God knew why.
"Hm?" she asked as she approached Julian, "What's up?" She still hadn't looked at him yet. What did it matter, anyway?
Björn, however, collapsed into the nearby chair, smiling.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:27 pm
Ethan let go of Julian's arm, slinking off to stand beside Björn and trying very, very hard not to laugh. Julian, looking as though he'd just received a blow to the head, swallowed in vain.
"I..."
Want to run straight for the door.
"Um."
Still hard-put not to laugh, Ethan now had to resist the urge to clap a hand to his forehead.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:29 pm
Björn looked up to Ethan a moment and snickered lightly, shaking his head. Poor b*****d. He felt his pain.
"Yoooou um...?" Rabid asked, finally looking up, satisfied that whatever had been on her hands was now on her pants.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:34 pm
Pressing a fist firmly against his mouth just in case sound escaped, Ethan watched with the dire amusement of one watching a slow-motion train wreak. Julian, caught and holding Rabid's gaze for the first time since he'd gotten there, flushed scarlet. Mortified, he looked away, hands shoved into his pockets to conceal their shaking. His fingers brushed a velvet box and the blush grew a tint darker. Taking a deep breath, he said the first thing that came to mind.
"Hi."
....brilliant, Casanova. You're a born and bred romantic. Idiot.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:35 pm
Rabid's mind immediately jumped for the worst.
"Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to feel his forehead. Nope. Normal.
"Hm. Hi. Want anythin'? Food-wise, I mean."
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:39 pm
Ethan cringed. Poor, poor Julian. At least with the psychotic tendencies he hadn't blushed so much.
Confused for a second by Rabid's sudden concern, Julian tried to collect himself.
"No, no, I'm fine, I swear. I just...I wanted to..."
He swallowed again, willing the blush out of his face. He could almost feel the fire beneath the surface ready to ignite in some kind of insane defense mechanism.
Well, he reflected briefly, If I burn down the house by accident that'll give me a valid excuse not to do this.
The thought made him braver for some reason. He straightened slightly and grasped the box tightly in his pocket.
"I wanted to ask you something," he said, taking a long pause to try to get another breath in.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:41 pm
"Okaaaaaay," Rabid said, inclining her head slightly and arching a brow, "Are you gonna ask it, ooooor...?" Really, she loved him, but he was just so all-fire atrange sometimes.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:47 pm
Julian withdrew his hands from his pocket, the box concealed in one hand as he stood for a moment, remembering a beat later that people usually knelt or something for this kind of thing. He knelt, then corrected his posture and went on one knee, and presented the box. His heart seemed to have stopped completely some time ago and he wondered if he was on the verge of a black out.
"Marry me?"
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