Mayfair Manor

[Average Doe]

Volusia trotted up the front walk up to the door, feeling for her keys. She tried the door and it was already unlocked; she wasn't surprised. Stomping the icy leaves and mud off her shoes, she unwound the scarf around her neck. As she stepped into the warm house the floor beneath her creaked and poped with her weight. Continuing into the house she was escorted by the warm smell of the kitchen. She dashed up to her room to deposit the small package she managed to obtain from the bank. Grinning from ear to ear, she made a little slash through somthing on a scrap of paper. It appeared to be a list, most of the objects had already been marked off. The girl tossed the package in a small box filled with other packages of various shapes and sizes, then stuffed the list in her pocket and headed down to find everyone else.  

[+.+Your.Dark.Eternal+.+]

Ezekiel stretched, feeling as though he had just woken up from a deep sleep. The final effects of Jacob's fear had at last worn off, and he was glad for it. After staying in his room for so long, he wanted to feel awake now, instead of regaining the sleep like trance he'd been in for those three days. He sighed, staring at his feet as they swung back and forth, dangling over the edge of the counter that served as his current perch. They had a rhythmic timing that entertained him, and since no one else in the kitchen was speaking, he figured it was the easiest way in which to occupy himself.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

For a moment Antha listened calmly to the thoughts of the two remaining. She dwelled momentarily on the thought of Ezekiel locked away in his room for three days, threading it together with the time shortly after her first arrival at Mayfair Manor that she had done the same. The only thing that had drawn her out was the word she had seen embroidered in the air before her aunt Georgiana, her uncle Rémy's non-Mayfair wife who was due to give birth to Millie Dear the next day. She had read the word aloud, 'reaper', and they had all gone hysteric and then furious when the baby was fine, questioning Antha's powers and sanity. Had they not been so preoccupied with her, they might have noticed Georgiana's death sooner than they did.
"I'm not at all fond of this gloom," Antha announced suddenly, her words mixed with a tired sigh as she rose gracefully from her chair. "Ezekiel," she called over her shoulder before turning and taking a few steps towards him, "Come, let's go get a tree before oncle Julien wakes. He's absolutely intolerable during such things." This said, she took her uncle's hand and gave it a soft little tug as if to urge him on, a sweet smile spread across her face in place of words begging him to come along.

 

[+.+Your.Dark.Eternal+.+]

Ezekiel looked up at Antha, blinked once, and smiled. "Okay," he said with a nod. He could sense the dismal feelings surrounding her, wavering blue threads that spread from her body, and he wanted to help her get rid of them. "So where to?" he asked, dropping from the counter to land on the smooth kitchen floor.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

"You know, I'm not sure. I suppose I'll ask uncle Michael. Meanwhile, we had better get dressed." Mentally she considered the scarf and hat tucked away at the top of Malakai's closet (which had at one point or another become her own). But it was better to not think about it, she decided as she ambled along up the stairs, lost to the world. "Volusia!" she called as she began down the hall and past her door, "We're going to go get a Christmas tree." You would have to know Antha to realize that when she was lost in thought, this was considered an invitation to tag along. But Antha never noticed; she remained in a daze until she stepped through the doors of the sunlit side hall and into Malakai's warm room where he still lay fast asleep on the floor.
Quickly she removed from the closet her stocking, boots, and a dress that had never been worn, a strange thing of black silk lined with white lace that her aunt Suzette had bought her. Making sure not to wake her brother, she dashed into the bathroom to change, leaving his old shirt she had slept in folded in the chair beside his bed when she was done and bouncing down the stairs and back through the kitchen to Michael's room. Once she had gotten the address of the tree lot, she continued back to the front hall and stood waiting patiently for her cousin beside the door.

 

[Average Doe]

Volusia appeared suddenly beside her. "Yuss, mummy dearest?" she crooned. She straightened her pants and smoothed her sweater, in a mock effort to look presentable.  

[Rynn Calais]

Dorian walked slowly up the steps of the patio, twirling a flower--a black-eyed susan--between his thumb and index finger. He stared at it as he passed into the kitchen, not really seeing it, then folded it into his fist. When he opened his hand again, a single petal fluttered to the ground. Dorian brushed his hand against the leg of his pants and took the stairs to the second-floor library. He was in a rather irritable mood today. He sat down in a plush velvet chair and picked up one of the books that had been idly discarded, a thick volume with crimson binding and a faded green bookmark inserted half-way through. It fell open in his hands, and he wrinkled his nose. An illustration of a demon, wreathed in flame, with four extra sets of arms and a set of horns that would have made Bambi's dad proud, stared up at him, face contorted in a silent scream of rage. He only had to read a few words to immediately recognize it as bad fiction from a moderately well-known B-rated author. Trash. He realized now why it had been discarded. Snapping it shut, he carried it to the window, unlatched it, and dropped the book out.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha gave a soft smile to her cousin, shaking her head only slightly. She was about to repeat her question when she heard the back door slide open. "I'll be right back," she excused herself, following her cousin up the stairs. She was just in time to catch the flash of crimson plummeting down to the garden. "Dorian!" she cried, rushing to the window and staring out to confirm her fear. "What was that for? These are my books, you know!" She turned to face the boy, her eyes unnecessarily sharp and a slight pout to her face. "Honestly ducky, you can't go throwing things out just because you don't like them." She gave one more despairing look out of the window at the red settled among the grass below, a small groan immediately escaping her lips. "Just lovely..."
She turned and made her way to the armchair nearest the front windows and threw herself into it, momentarily mourning her loss before taking another thoughtful look at Dorian. "You're utterly cruel, you know that?" she teased him, sighing dramatically and falling listlessly against the back of the chair.

 

[Rynn Calais]

"It's just a penny dreadful
It's nothing more than trash
You should be grateful, Antha
I've not found your other cache."
Dorian replied, scorn somehow making itself evident through the sing-song pattern of his rhyme. He went to her side and sat down in front of her, reaching out and clasping her hand in his. He probed at her mind gently, looking for a entrance into her thoughts, looking for answers to his questions. Where has Antha been? What's she been doing without me? His dark eyes stared at her, accusingly, and he let her hand drop, conceding--for the moment--that he could not possibly slip past her defenses without her willing.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

She let a smile come to her lips, something considerably soft for all the secrecy that illuminated her eyes, while the walls went up protectively around her mind. "I've done a lot, but nothing you should concern yourself over." In a flash it seemed her soft smile had turned into something mischievous---wicked even. "And what exactly have you been doing, may I ask?" she continued with an underlying tone of accusation in return to his, shifting slightly as she spoke so that her arm propped up her head and her legs crossed at the knee, the skirt of her dress sliding back an inch or so as a result.

 

[Rynn Calais]

+Rotting Lunacy+

She let a smile come to her lips, something considerably soft for all the secrecy that illuminated her eyes, while the walls went up protectively around her mind. "I've done a lot, but nothing you should concern yourself over." In a flash it seemed her soft smile had turned into something mischievous---wicked even. "And what exactly have you been doing, may I ask?" she continued with an underlying tone of accusation in return to his, shifting slightly as she spoke so that her arm propped up her head and her legs crossed at the knee, the skirt of her dress sliding back an inch or so as a result.

"I've been living, Antha!
In alleys and streets
Between the coffee and wine
and cheap hotel sheets.
I've been living, Antha
As you have not
I've been relearning the lessons
that you have forgot."
Dorian recited teasingly, rising up on his knees to look her in the eye. His words were cryptic, but the look in his eye revealed enough; if she had decided to keep secrets from him, he was allowed to keep secrets from her. It's a fair trade, after all. His cool fingers drew up her leg, tracing enticing little circles on her skin. It was quite clear what he'd been doing between cheap hotel sheets. It was only a question of with whom.  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha turned her attention coldly away from him, watching instead the dance of the iced leaves outside the window. The slightest trace of expression touched her face, a rather hurt look if anything. "Fine then! Keep your secrets, I don't care." Secretly she couldn't help but think that it was indeed a fair trade; anyone could tell him that she had been occupied with the same activity as he had. She made no point of hiding it either. "You know, you are frustrating," she informed him, sighing softly as she straightened again in the chair, her eyes closed as if she were weary.

 

[Rynn Calais]

+Rotting Lunacy+

Antha turned her attention coldly away from him, watching instead the dance of the iced leaves outside the window. The slightest trace of expression touched her face, a rather hurt look if anything. "Fine then! Keep your secrets, I don't care." Secretly she couldn't help but think that it was indeed a fair trade; anyone could tell him that she had been occupied with the same activity as he had. She made no point of hiding it either. "You know, you are frustrating," she informed him, sighing softly as she straightened again in the chair, her eyes closed as if she were weary.

"That is my charm
My blessing and bane
No matter to me
to be held in disdain."
He said brightly, leaning forward to kiss her eyelids briefly, then sitting back.
"Except for you." He added, with the charming grin that had so often won over the hearts of others. Not Antha, though. She was made of sterner stuff. Or perhaps she merely knew him too well. The pleasure of the game was diluted by conquest. But he was quite content to merely flirt.
"No more dire fate could I conceive
Than to Miss Mayfair's displeasure, at last, receive."  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

She laughed gently, flashing him a momentary smile. "Is that so?" She gave one vague shake of her head, the forced curls of her hair softly battering her cheeks. "If such were true, you would be in a bit of trouble, I should think." There was one more laugh that issued from her, a peculiar sound that suggested she knew something he didn't. "But come now ducky, will you really not tell me where you've been?" She pouted slightly, her eyes giving off an utterly pitiful, dejected look.

 

[Rynn Calais]

+Rotting Lunacy+

She laughed gently, flashing him a momentary smile. "Is that so?" She gave one vague shake of her head, the forced curls of her hair softly battering her cheeks. "If such were true, you would be in a bit of trouble, I should think." There was one more laugh that issued from her, a peculiar sound that suggested she knew something he didn't. "But come now ducky, will you really not tell me where you've been?" She pouted slightly, her eyes giving off an utterly pitiful, dejected look.

He quirked a brow, more concerned by her first comment than any other. But he answered the properly expressed question first, as etiquette dictated.
"Over hill,
over dale;
Through bush,
through briar;
Over park,
over pale;
Through flood,
through fire."
He quoted airily, adopting a mockingly haughty expression. He stood up, as if to challenge her. Keep your secrets, and I'll keep mine. Dorian thought. Perhaps his time outside the Mayfairs had made him overly brash, but he did not fear for Antha's wrath tonight.

For some strange reason.