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 Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:04 pm
Natalie... wasn't quite feeling like her usual self.
Actually, she felt like s**t. She was curled up on her sofa, in her half-unpacked, half-cleaned apartment, with the lights out, a sappy chick-flick playing on her TV, and a mostly finished pint of ice cream by her side. There was also a veritable mountain of used kleenex piled around her. She'd need to go out and get more, soon.
But to do that, she'd have to catch a cab into town. And to do that, she'd have to get dressed in something more presentable than old sweats. And to do that, she'd have to move.
Which was entirely unacceptable.
Of course, she really should have called the theatre, told them she wasn't going to be there. It was still an hour or two before she had to be there, but they needed to call her understudy. Hm....
Too bad her phone was still burried.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:09 pm
Hadrian really needed to speak with Natalie. Thorn had interest in her, that much was obvious - but she didn't understand it yet...or, well, she may understand the interest, but not the fact that it wouldn't be any sort of romance. Just him using her.
So there the mage was, knocking on her door. He was just glad he had access to the listings of who lived in which apartment.
He didn't know what he was going to say, just yet...what he could say that would sound like the truth. He couldn't possibly tell her of his own experience with Thorn, no - but what he could he do?
Well...perhaps the rest of it would be alright to share. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that Thorn was always hitting on him.
"Natalie?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:14 pm
Natalie shifted a little, eating another spoonful of ice cream. Somebody at the door? Sounded a bit like Hadrian, though she couldn't be entirely sure over the crying on screen.
"Door's open," she finally called out. She really didn't want to see anybody, and if he was there for that cooking lesson... well, she could live with kicking him out. But who knew? Maybe her little charge had grown.
And wouldn't that be perfect, on top of everything?
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:27 pm
As he entered the apartment, Hadrian had begun to mentally prepare himself for an explanation about Thorn - but was curtailed by what he saw. Natalie eating ice cream, watching what seemed to be a horrible angst movie, and all in all apeparing depressed.
And instantly, he jumped to conclusions.
Thorn. He knew he shouldn't have left them alone last night! All that man needed was one moment of weakness and he was latched onto the throat.
Scanning her with an appraising expression, he gave her a nod, "You need to relax tonight. Call in sick to that play of yours."
Well well well, so Hadrian could be dominant after all. Such a surprise.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:32 pm
Natalie squirmed under her blankets and tissues, moving enough to be able to look at him. Her face was puffy and red from crying.
"... that involves moving," she said, simply, then returned to her former position, staring at the screen. "Besides. Can't find my phone."
Alas, if only it HAD been Thorn - instead, all nice, happy thoughts of him were erased in the face of Michael forcing himself on her. She'd thought, at first, to run to Thorn. But all she had was his phone number, and... well... phone. Missing.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:37 pm
Scanning the apartment then, he gave Natalie a nod, "..I can see why."
Why she couldn't find it, that was. Rather then going searching through the mess, he had a better idea. He was sure Ahneta had a cordless phone...and he knew where she kept her spare key, if she wasn't home.
"I'll be back in a moment, then."
And he stepped out the door. When he came back, he had a cordless phone in hand.
"What's the number?"
He'd call in for her, if she didn't feel up to it. It was - different, but Hadrian felt remarkably protective. Rather like a case of Big-Brother syndrome.
...And no, that wasn't a syndrome where he watched people.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:47 pm
"... I could do it, you know..." She fumbled for the remote, then muted the movie. "I mean. It'd be weird if you called. Gimme the phone." She reached out for it, setting her ice cream aside for the moment.
Natalie was a bit conflicted - she really didn't want to call in, and she didn't want either a tirade of 'Why aren't you going to be here!?' or a bunch of, 'Oh my god, are you okay!?'s. It just wasn't what she was in the mood for.
Then again, she wasn't really in the mood for anything...
"I just don't want to have to see him again," she murmured, mostly to herself. "It's not that I don't want to perform... I just... I don't know if I can..."
It had been tormenting her all day, this problem. She was depressed, listless - she didn't want to move from the couch. But she also didn't want to let down the cast, the audience... and she truly did enjoy her role. It was just... Michael. Michael. It was always Michael, wasn't it?
At the thought, tears came to her eyes again, and she shrunk back under the covers.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:56 pm
At hearing the murmured words, Hadrian blinked. Wait...
Why would she be uncertain of performing if it was Thorn? Swiftly, he was realizing he must have jumped to conclusions. That other man, the one she had been seeing - maybe there had been further problems with him?
Well, only one way to deal with that.
Eyeing Natalie, he offered up his suggestion, "...if that's what you're nervous about, maybe you should go. You'll only know if you try, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be."
Because then she would be nervous about explaining why she hadn't been there the previous time, and people would ask questions. And questions like that were never a pleasant affair.
"We can find a way for you to relax, afterwards. And with tonights performance off your chest, perhaps it will help."
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:01 pm
"And maybe Michael will be considerate for once," she snorted, peeking her head over the couch again, watching Hadrian.
"But... you're right, I guess. I'm so... so..." She sniffled. "I can't go on stage like this..." Natalie gestured to her teary eyes, the kleenex, the sweats. "I mean... what do I have to look forward to? A heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking night on stage... followed by what? An empty apartment. It's not like I'm going to a sleepover or something."
Sighing, she slipped off the couch, grabbing the bucket of ice cream and padding over to the kitchen. The sweats she was wearing were ratty and much too big, a perfect compliment to her mood.
"It's not so much relaxing that I need to do," Natalie said, voice muffled as she disappeared into the little kitchen nook. "It's more forgetting."
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:09 pm
"Then we'll make certain you forget. If...you need to forget - I'll take care of that. Just come back here after the play."
Surprisingly confident. Already Hadrian had idea's swirling around his head, planning. Hmm...sleepover, she said? Ahneta would never make that a comfortable affair, but if she didn't mind it being men here - Dacian would love it.
And he'd probably take it on as a personal mission to help her forget, as well.
The only question...what did people do at 'sleepovers'?
And at least he didn't need to worry about explaining to Marc, since the man had business work tonight.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:14 pm
Natalie's little frizzy head popped out and she looked at him, curiously. If it had been anybody but Hadrian (scratch that, if it had been Michael or Thorn), she would've balked. It would've sounded so dirty!
But Hadrian was so... so... oblivious? No, not the right word. But close enough. Innocent? Maybe. Taken? Probably.
"... okay," she agreed, nodding and grabbing one of the last tissues to blow her nose.
"I'll be gone for about... uh..." She glanced at the clock. "Four hours. As long as... uh... well... Michael..." No, no, he didn't need to hear this. "... Never mind. Four hours."
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:17 pm
Let's see...Hadrian would grab Dacian, snatch some alcohol from Marc's stash - the man had enough that surely he wouldn't miss some - and find out what people do at 'slumber parties'. And he had four hours.
At least he had time to do research...
Smiling at her, he gave her a confident nod.
"I'll see you in four hours, then."
Time to plan...
((I think that means time jump, now - jump to her returning? >.>))
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:24 pm
Natalie returned in one piece. Michael had, indeed, stayed away from her all night except for their scenes together. But during those scenes...
She now knew what it was like to be the last slice of pizza in a frat house. Michael's eyes had only left her when the performance dictated, and those moments when they touched... well, she had tried to ignore it, but she could tell he was using those to his advantage.
So she hurried up the stairs and into her apartment, ready to return to her chick flicks and ice cream and crying (she'd managed to stop the flow of tears long enough to get through the performance, though her heart still ached and her mind reran the previous nights over and over), barely remembering Hadrian's promise.
He probably wouldn't do much of anything, anyway. Right?
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:34 pm
Hadrian had done his best, but unfortunatly Dacian was not familiar with this sort of thing either. He had considered asking Ahneta as well, but had decided against it; any suggestions she had would likely make Natalie nervous. Not to mention embaress him.
The way that woman's mind worked was terrifying.
So, without much of an idea, he and Dacian had set it up as a typical 'party' sort of thing. The alcohol (though not any hard liquors; they weren't going to just let her get roaring drunk), Dacian had located a comedy to play on the tv, they had gone out and gathered snacks -
And now, all that remained was waiting for Natalie.
Though, Dacian had snatched a few things he was unaware of...the man had a slightly better idea of these things then Hadrian (he had sisters, after all), but had not shared them with the other man for the simple reason that he would not approve.
What he had gathered? Oh, just a few things he had borrowed from Ahneta while Hadrian collected food.
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:40 pm
When Natalie came in, the first thing she noticed was, well - some of the boxes had been pushed to the corners of the room.
Second thing? One of the mages from the day before - ... Dacian, was it? - was there.
Third? ... well, that'd be the alcohol. Oh yes. She needed that.
Still, the whole thing was a bit of a shock to her. She entered slowly, closing the door behind her and looking around. She'd changed, before leaving for the theatre, into slightly nicer pants and a sleeveless turtleneck top. A bit more presentable, and just as comfortable.
"Uh. What's... all of this?"
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