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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 22, 2016 18:37:01 GMT -5
Lyra gave a sly grin as she leaned forward and refilled her glass. "It's your turn, darling," she said in retaliation for his withholding nature. Lyra had her secrets too. She was not ashamed of most of them and might have shared her tales, had he been more forthcoming when she showed an interest in his confessions.
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 22, 2016 19:48:15 GMT -5
"Oh very well." he scowled, though his frustration wasn't as deep as it appeared.
"Never have I ever, slept with someone famous." he returned, once again taking a sip of his drink.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 22, 2016 23:12:13 GMT -5
Lyra's interest was once again piqued but she curbed herself, knowing Nicolas was goading her. She didn't drink and as soon as his glass left his lips she took her turn. "Never have I ever made up stories to win a drinking game."
If he had slept with a celebrity, he wouldn't tell her. But he had too many shocking secrets for this game, and none of them matched the picture of Nicolas that Lyra had in her head.
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 23, 2016 1:42:53 GMT -5
"Well aren't these grapes sour." he said laughing that Lyra would accuse him of such a thing.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 2:00:58 GMT -5
"You expect me to believe you've been with a celebrity?" she said with a laugh. "I'll admit, you had me with the tattoo, but there's no way I'm going to believe this one. When do you have time for all of this? You're always with Sam."
She kept the remainder of her thoughts to herself, but she wondered how much Nicolas could really love Samantha if he was able to sleep with other women. Lyra could never fathom doing that to Julian, and she wanted to believe Julian felt the same toward her.
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 23, 2016 2:15:32 GMT -5
Nik's expression was a mixture of incredulity and surprise at Lyra's thinking.
"Sam is in school, actively. She was your house champion and is on several committees. She runs a multi-million dollar magazine, has an active hand in at least eight other business ventures, to say nothing of a social life and the charities she's a part of. What on earth makes you think I am always with her? I couldn't keep that schedule if my life depended on it, and I wouldn't choose to. Believe it or not I see Sam about as often as you do and I practically live here. I'm here more than she is."
Nik casually took a sip of his drink and refilled both their glasses.
"She's also sixteen, and while she's not the most conventional sixteen year old I'm four years older than her. Did you think I sat at home and knitted socks while lusting after an 11 year old?"
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 2:26:40 GMT -5
It felt as though Nicolas was always there when she saw Samantha, save for a few sporadic moments of girl time. So if Nik and Sam saw each other as much as Lyra and Sam, it meant that Lyra was often encroaching on the "couple's" time together.
"Do I get in the way?" she asked, pulling back her glass and sipping the fresh drink. "Of you and Sam, I mean. I sort of just assumed you did most of those things with her. I guess I didn't really give much thought to you by yourself. Do I get in the way of your time together?"
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 23, 2016 2:32:40 GMT -5
Nik gave a small understanding shrug, "Our relationship...it's different." he said unsure how to explain himself or the relationship in question.
"I've known Samantha my whole life. I was the third person to hold her after the Doctor and Edward. I've always loved her, but she doesn't belong to anyone. At least the time she spends with you makes her happy, and that's what I want for her."
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 3:01:29 GMT -5
Lyra sat quietly for a moment, drinking and thinking about Nicolas' words. He obviously cared deeply for Sam, the looks he gave the girl were undeniable. And no, she didn't expect him to sit at home and lust after an eleven year old, but Sam wasn't eleven anymore. She was sixteen, nearly an adult by law and older than Lyra had been at the time. How could Nicolas be with anyone else if he loved Sam.
Was this another habit of the rich that Lyra knew nothing about? Did she need to be worried about Julian?
Lyra set her glass on the table and stood, wanting to move about the room having grown stiff from sitting for so long. But as she stood she realized she'd had more to drink than she realized and she teetered sideways a bit before grabbing the arm of her chair. She laughed.
"I guess I win," she giggled.
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 23, 2016 3:09:00 GMT -5
No, Samantha wasn't 11 anymore, and Nik was well aware of the woman his intended was becoming. Loving Samantha was like breathing air, it was all he had ever known, but just as he knew that he loved her, he knew that she didn't love him. She adored him, and would marry him, and they would get along famously as they always had, but not everyone experienced the end all be all love that Lyra was currently obsessed with.
"And yet I'm pretty sure I drank more than you did."
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 3:27:13 GMT -5
"Well you had a head start," she replied before recognizing that she was referencing his attempt to drown his sorrows over his lost sister. She quickly added, "plus I'm smaller than you." She didn't want to leave him on a sour note, but she knew she'd be in worse shape if she stayed any longer.
"I should be going."
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Post by Nicolas Everhart on Dec 23, 2016 3:29:40 GMT -5
Nik sighed, knowing that the bitter memories would return once Lyra was gone. He sought to prolong such a thing from happening.
"Let's get you home then." he said getting to his feet.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 3:53:35 GMT -5
Lyra insisted she didn't need an escort and Nicolas insisted that Julian would murder him if he let Lyra leave drunk and alone. The compromised when Nicolas ordered a carriage to take her home and gave her a stern warning not to make any detours.
Lyra fell asleep in the carriage despite the short distance and when the carriage driver shook her awake she was in front of her apartment building. She smiled bleary eyes at him and thanked him once for driving her home and a second time for catching her as she slipped on the step down.
It took a few tries for her to get the key into the lock of her door successfully but she eventually managed as she stumbled into her living room, laughing to herself.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 23, 2016 3:56:36 GMT -5
They weren't dating, not officially, at least that's what Lyra wanted. It was what he wanted too, in theory, which is why he probably shouldn't have been waiting for her in her apartment cooking dinner, but that's where he was regardless.
"I was wondering when you'd get home...are you drunk?"
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 4:17:08 GMT -5
She had gone into the kitchen for a glass of water and was pleasantly surprised to see Julian; her not-boyfriend. She broke into a gigantic smile at the sight of him and rushed to hug him.
"I won the game," she told him in response to his question/accusation. "Nik and I were playing a drinking game, but as I won so spectacularly I decided to come home."
She attempted to school her features into a serious look, but she was too happy at the surprise in her kitchen. "Don't worry. He ordered me a carriage and we made no stops." She knew Julian would be overly concerned with her safety if he'd found out that she'd been out alone, drunk again.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 23, 2016 4:18:48 GMT -5
And he was concerned, particularly that she had been out alone and apparently drunk. But knowing that Nik was looking after her soothed any worry he had, until he remembered what day it was.
"Wait, you were with Nik?"
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 14:10:11 GMT -5
"Mmhmm," she answered as she pulled a glass from the cupboard and moved to the sink to fill it. "Does he really have a tattoo? He wouldn't show me, even after I threatened him. I think he was lying."
Lyra turned around, leaning against the counter as she drank her water. Julian had a strange look on his face and she wasn't sure why. "I swear I wasn't drunk in public again. I've learned that lesson, thank you very much."
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 23, 2016 16:08:36 GMT -5
His tone if nothing else was confused, " Yes a Tibetan prayer on his back... Wait so you were with Nik... Today?"
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 23, 2016 20:20:38 GMT -5
Lyra didn't understand Julian's confusion, and the look she gave him told him as much. "Yes," she said clearly. "I needed to talk to him about...some things," she finished carefully, wanting to avoid letting on that her purpose in seeing Nicolas in the first place was to yell at him for not letting her know about Julian's suicide attempt.
Then Lyra realized why Julian seemed so perplexed by Nicolas spending the day with Lyra. Nik's sister's birthday. She'd nearly forgotten.
"He wasn't really in the mood to talk, you know, because of his sister. So we drank instead." She waited half a beat before asking the question that Nicolas had skirted around earlier. "Did she die? Obviously Nik wasn't too chatty on the topic, but I had never heard about him having a sister."
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 4:25:49 GMT -5
"No...well...no one knows." Julian answered somberly.
Julian had known Nik long enough to know the story and why this week was sacred to Nik. He was more than shocked to discover that his non-girlfriend had spent the day with his best friend on today of all days. To give reason to his expression of confusion he explained, "It's not just his sister's birthday, it's the day his mother died."
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