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 Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:10 pm
Natalie took Thorn's arm as she got out of the car, face bright with a smile. They probably made quite the picture - dashing business man, pretty young thing, and a beautiful child.
Of course, none of them were really connected in the ways onlookers might guess.
"I think we shall! Haki, what do you think?"
Hm, so now she'd get to meet Hadrian's ex? She couldn't hate him - as far as she knew, he hadn't done anything wrong. All in all, she'd come to a nice conclusion - it was none of her business, and any injuries would heal in time. It wasn't her role to get involved and take sides - but she could offer her shoulder.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:28 am
Thorn smiled enigmatically. He patted the hand slipped in towards his arm, and gently led her to the door. Haki smiled, leaning closer because, well-- thats what his movement did.
A similar thought seemed to cross Thorn's mind, and he was delighted by it. Husband, wife and child? Well, more like man, mistress and b*****d, but it was more romantic if you looked at it the other way.
And while Thorn was not romantic, he knew others could be.
"Marc~" the girl chirruped happily, nodding her head. And as they went through the door, Thorn didn't wait before making his way directly to where he knew the man would be sitting.
Towards the window, so he could see everyone, far from the corners and the kitchen. And that was where he found the man, talking in his cellphone. Marc hadn't seen them yet, so he said to Natalie.
"That, is..." he began.
"Daddee." Haki finished, giggling as she nodded her head. Daddy~!
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:34 am
"Aaaah..." she murmured back. "Yep, the guy from that day at the school."
Natalie watched him for a moment, feeling slightly inadequate - a lunch between businessmen! Well, it wasn't a business lunch, no, but... still. Hm.
She glanced over at Thorn, unsure of what to do. Her better sense told her to wait until Marc was off the phone, but with some people, that could take forever... still, Marc didn't know she was coming, so she couldn't just go and sit down or tap him on the shoulder or something.
Thorn'd have to do that.
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:17 am
Haki did whatever it was needed for them. Patting Thorn frantically until he knelt down to let go on the ground, she ran forewords, determination clear in her face as she all but jumped up onto Marc's lap. Well, this must have been practiced alot! And it was. How else do you think she's managed to stay so skinny?
It was all in the gymnastics.
"Daddee~!" she crooned, her eyes bright. And he grinned, ending the phonecall with a bursque 'I'll call you later'. It didn't matter now. Heck, his boss was here too! Who cared who he was on the phone with?
Thorn would understand.
"Sweetheart." he said, picking her up and standing up as well, eyes searching for Thorn. Ah. There he was!
The woman standing next to him was familiar-- maybe he'd seen her at a function? He coudln't remember, not really-- and so Thorn introduced them to each other.
Again.
"Natalie, this is Marc, Haki's father. Marc, this is Natalie. She lives at the compound."
Marc arched a brow. So it was like that, was it? "A pleasure." he drawled, nodding as he offered a hand.
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Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:28 pm
"Likewise," Natalie chirped back, smiling as she took his hand. Marc made a good father! She hadn't known what to think, what with conflicting stories and sad tales, but he seemed like a very nice guy.
All the more reason to keep her nose out of his business - there was nothing bad, aside from general romance drama, about Marc, Hadrian, or Thorn.
"Thorn invited me - do you mind at all?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:50 am
Haki beamed. The woman was speaking in such a nice tone to her father! That was always good, in her books. Nodding her head, she turned and waited for her father to speak to Natalie in a nice and friendly tone too.
"Of course not. There's more then enough room." he said. Motioning to the seats, Thorn neatly pulled the chair out next to him, gesturing for Natalie to take it.
"I get a dress!" Haki squealed the moment her butt touched the seat. She was happy, and she wanted to share the news! "Na'lie gonna make me a dress." her eyes were shining. Now this, this was something that involved her only, and something that made her look good!
She had Thorn, and Natalie, and daddy and they were like her court, listening to what SHE was going to say. (Never mind the the fact that she was just the child being humored).
What was it the woman had called it? "A queeeeeen."
The word felt so good on her tongue.
"Queen Haki, is it?" Marc asked, amused. He turned with a glance at Natalie and Thorn, wondering what all this was about.
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:51 pm
Natalie sat down, momentarily noting that she was sitting next to Thorn. Well, that was to be expected - she was one of only four people at the table, it was small, and she was more his guest than Marc's, after all. Nothing else to it.
Natalie laughed a little at Haki's enthusiasm. "There's going to be a costume party - with any luck, I still need to, ah, find help funding -" she explained, not quite ready to outright ask for his help yet - "and the children are having their own smaller party away from all the adults. So I'm making Haki a costume - Queen of Hearts - along with the other clothing Thorn's getting for her."
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:32 am
Marc turned his eyes at Thorn with a gentle look of reprove-- someone (crazy) had suggested that he wean his child from so many toys and clothing. It wasn't good to encourage the addiction to physical goods from such a young age! And while he was all for raising a proper, practical little princess... well, Thorn had to help too.
"It was pretty?" Thorn said, excusing himself with something Haki always used as her number one excuse.
"Thank you." he said instead, nodding at Natalie. "I hope Thorn hasn't inconvenienced you too much?" and then, a favorite topic of his. "So, how did you too meet?"
Haki didn't care, of course. She was too busy focusing on the menu and looking at the delightful little squiggles, pretending that they made sense for her too, just like they did for the adults.
"Marc." Thorn chided, amused. "It will be a great costume party. Perhaps we should attend."
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:55 am
At the small tense silence, Natalie turned her own eyes to the menu, scanning it quickly. She had absolutely no idea what some of the stuff was, but that probably came from it being a nice, upscale-ish cafe. Maybe she should have Thorn order for her, like last time.
Speech returned after a moment, though, and she looked back up, smiling. "No, it's fine. After all, it's more fun to do business with friends. Less chance they'll go diva on you." She giggled, before glancing away, wondering how to answer the second part.
Eventually, she decided on the truth. Or at least, the basic part of it. "I got lost in the maze on the Compound, and Thorn led me out."
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:09 am
Marc arched a brow. "He led you out, did he?" That sounded tame. And nice and polite and definitly not like Thorn at all. The other man seemed to hear the train of thought, because he smiled.
Nicely.
"Of course. We should do our best to help out our neighbors, yes?"
Marc laughed. "Neighbors?" he looked over at Natalie with a new gleam to his eyes. "He must want something to pretend to be the good guy." he said, jokingly-- kind of. Maybe. If you didn't know Thorn, you could consider it a joke.
"As for the costume party... that sounds fun. And with Haki attending, I don't see why not." he grinned. "I'll talk to Hadrian about it."
((I cannot for the life of me remember what happened with Hadrian and Marc around this time. xDD So I'm going to go with 'they're getting along'.))
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:12 am
((Well, it was after the big break-up, but I'm not sure by how much. Maybe... a week or two?))
Well, Thorn probably had wanted something earlier. But now? Now he was just taking advantage of connections.
"Oh, I suppose he wanted a nice young seamstress on call, for all those tailoring needs, hm?" She winked at Thorn, completely bypassing the part of the story where they almost went out, had a major fight over Hadrian, and were only just recovering.
Natalie's face lit up when she heard Marc mention Thorn. He'd talk to him? That had to mean they were on good terms again.
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:16 am
Haki brightened. Talk, to Hadrian. Hurray! That was a good thing, wasn't it? Hurray! And Marc seemed to realize when he said-- it was habit already, and something crossed his face before he put it away.
Angst wasn't good for company. Especially when you had a toddler there.
"A seamstress, sure." he said instead, teasing her. Laughing, he nodded his head. "Why don't we order, then? And we can spend the meal with me convincing you to stay away."
Thorn grinned. This was nice. Pretending that they were one big family, and he turned with a flirtateous smirk. "On call, for those tailoring needs." he repeated, a glint in his eye. The fact that Haki was there only meant he had to be more subtle- but it wasn't hard.
"If you want to call it that." he said.
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:21 am
The menu was quickly (and a bit rudely) in front of her face. She blushed, flustered slightly at the comment. She'd meant it as a joke! For Marc!
She looked at him, sidelong, with a, 'That better not mean what I think it means,' look, then took to staring at the list. As she did, she lowered the menu a bit to less than a ninety degree angle, focusing wholly on finding something she recognized.
"Stay away?" Natalie managed after a moment, once she'd gotten her composure back.
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:59 pm
Marc laughed. "We're a dangerous bunch, don't you know?" he said, grinning as he did so. Haki smiled too, nodding her head-- not because she had any idea what they were saying, but all sounded so _nice_. And the tone, and the laughing and the grinning. Well. It was nice when people got along. They were all hers after all.
As the waiter came around, Marc ordered for himself-- and for his little girl. He smirked, watching Thorn as the man did the same. Order for himself, that is. And then suggest.
"The vodka penne is fantastic."
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:00 am
Well, she didn't have to worry about that. The name worried her slightly, but alcohol was always cooked out. Right? Right.
So she agreed and ordered that for herself, along with some soda.
When the waiter left, she turned a lovely smile on the group and said, hestingly, "Now I'm worried about just eating something with alcohol in it, with you guys around. Who knows what could happen?" Natalie giggled.
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