Triple Chocolate Cake

[zozee9]

At first, Illi was tempted to slap him. She had never slapped anyone before, of course, but no one had ever spoken to her like that, either. After all, she never caused trouble for her older siblings. And her younger ones learned that teasing her didn't work... partially because her older siblings would step in. And strangers? They either ignored her (because she unintentionally ignored them) or thought she was a sweetheart. Which, given some of her more notorious siblings, wasn't much of a surprise.

The fact that he was criticizing her about books, of all things, only made his words sting more. Why on earth would she tear a book? She hadn't done a single thing except hand him the book, anyway! And the fact that the book was so old? She knew that just by looking at the binding. She might put up with him criticizing her personality or ignoring her or whatever, but this was simply too far. She stood up with plans of confronting him and his harsh words.

But as he continued to talk, her anger turned to horror. Partially because it gave her time to calm down, and partially because of the new information brought up. She had totally forgotten his last name and did not make the connection between the story and him...

The mix between how upset he clearly was, the fact that he was yelling at her (about books, especially!), and the personal relation of the story made Illi feel absolutely horrible. Still a little angry, but mostly horrible.

With a deep and uneven breath in, she looked up at the second floor. Maybe she could curl up in a couch up there and read a book. Away from him and away from her emotions. But as soon as Illi turned around so that she could run—for she had no plans on letting him get the pleasure of seeing her cry—her will collapsed alongside her strength. Now crouched down on the floor with her back to Davishire, Illi started to cry. She kept it as silent as she could, though her whole body was still shaking, and she tore off her mask so that she could rub the tears away from her eyes. She hated crying about real things, but she simply couldn't help it.

[visualspice]

Blinking and almost expecting a rebuff, he just... blinked again and stared, bewilderedly at the wilted girl upon the floor. ANd then he saw her shake was she...
Good heavens! What on earth was she crying for!?

"Miss Treyburn!" he began, his first, his voice was booming and rough as he took a step towards her, but paused a moment in hesitation to find- she truly WAS crying, and somehow.. deep inside him, his heart panged with guilt.
"Er.." his hesitation came out in a growl, as all o fhis words did as he looked down at her before fishing out another kerchief and getting down on one bended knee (which surprised him even) as he offered it over to her.

"I sometimes forget my voice can be so harsh.." he growled, albeit softly as he waited to see if she'd accept his kerchief- and well, perhaps a segway into a small apology...
He should have known she hadn't realized what she was doing. He had seen her smiles and looks before but... well...

Rats. He was never good with girls. Let alone those that cried, for he never had to deal with them. Or.. at least any he cared for.

[Paradox]

Begrudgingly, Braxton had left the game room in search of Janette because he was sure that Trevian , after all of his incessant whining , was probably not going to find the little hellion. So off Papa Bear went, passing one room after another and grumbling about maybe getting his son, Ethen, to do this instead. He happened by a room that was full of books and paused when he thought he saw a familiar face.

He poked his head inside and saw a girl crouched down on the floor , crying. "Jilli?" Then his sights settled on Davishire and the dark expression on his face was that , literally, of an angry bear. He slipped into the room and put himself between his sister and the creep that had likely made her cry. "You got thirty seconds to f$!#!@&  explain yourself, pup." He growled menacingly.

((So I will give Broodyshire a chance, but not really. :) Mature language was filtered out for lulz, mostly. )) 

[visualspice]

Startled by the sudden rude appearance of another Treyburn, his own face showed some anger before it showed a bit of shame. He glanced down at Illi with a frown as he was forced off his knees, righting himself as a proper gentleman, and standing at his full 6'4", but leaving his signatured kerchief near Illi's lap.

"It seems I have upset your sister, Lord Treyburn," he said. "She was giving me the synopsis of one of her stories and I.. misconstrued what she said. I thought she was making a jab at my family, but it seems she had no intentions of the sort. You walked in in the after math. There is nothing more than that."

Except...

"Except for my apologies."And he paused stifly a moment, but then turned down to look at Illi's form and his expression, only then became soft.
"Though I suppose if you would allow me to, I can speak to her properly for the apology."

[zozee9]

Illi just kept crying as Davishire tried to apologize to her. She could hear him, but not really process what he was saying. Too wrapped up in her own head, she wasn't really processing anything happening.

That is, until her loud brother entered in. Illi's eyes went wide and she glanced up at the duo as her brother started yelling. When Davishire tried to defend himself in that offhanded way, as she was sure he would do, there was no doubt in her mind that Braxton would cause some sort of pain to him. And... well, needless to say, her brother wasn't a weak one!

Illi picked up the handkerchief that Davishire had left next to her. She wiped off her eyes (which were starting to calm down in reaction to fear for her strange companion) and was just about to stand up to tell some sort of lie. About how she accidentally tore a book or something along those lines... which would be due cause to cry, given Illi's temperament.

But when he started talking... and saying the sincere words that he did, Illi was left speechless. She looked from Davishire—whose eyes miraculously seemed to become gentler—to her brother and back again. Illi felt as if she should say something, but she didn't know what. So instead she just smiled hesitantly, hoping it would break up any tensions.

[Ivory]

There was a tap on the impossibly tall man's shoulder before either Illi or Brax could make an answer to the heartfelt apology.

And as soon as he turned to find out, no doubt, who had so impertinently invaded his space with such a crude gesture, there would be, without warning, a fist delivered directly to his nose.

It was an awkward punch, in part because Cherie stood a full foot and a half shorter than the man.  However, she showed no fear of either his improbable height or his ridiculous girth; why, both of her brothers bore terrible scars on their faces, and another brother had a tail.  And, she had a sister his size -- a girl, for goodness sake!  She only glared at him, eyes full of stubborn anger and pride.

"In Angsar's name, if I see even one more tear because of you, I'll shoot you in the face.  You don't apologize after you've hurt someone, you tremendous idiot.  You don't hurt someone, period.  If you insist on being a callous brute, you insufferable twat, you can just lock yourself in a tower at Angsar knows where, where no one will even miss you.  Now, tell me you understand and get the hell out of here!"

[Paradox]

((Well that did not go the way I was expecting it to. Warning: some language.  ))

"No shit she's upset, asshole." Braxton snapped. Really? Why else would Braxton Treyburn be here about ready to defend his little sister from this dog if it weren't so?

Braxton folded his arms across his broad chest and listened to Davishire explain the situation. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed and he wasn't buying the apology, but he looked over his shoulder at Jillian and was about to ask her if she wanted him to run the wretched cur off when ...

He heard Cherie's voice raised and he whipped his head around in time to see the girl punch Davishire. His lips curled ,smirking.

That's my little sister.

"Nice hit, Little Red." He sounded quite proud because he was!

[visualspice]

Dropped to his knees out of surprise more than anything, Davishire found himself on the ground near to Illi as he blinked and rubbed at his throbbing jaw. From this angle, he looked like a hunched over dire wolf, ready to attack, though the only one who might have caught his small smirk would have been Braxton's sister, Illi, as it slowly faded into his usual scowl.

Peering over now at the youngest girl, Cherie, he paused a moment, after he rose to his feet, and recomposed himself before the three of them. Hair and fur aside from his eyes, and his suit a bit less asymmetrical, Lord Davishire now turned towards the other Lady Treyburn and bowed his head to her.

"Young Lady Treyburn," for he already knew who she was without Braxton pointing it out. "I understand fully and will humbly oblige." And casting Braxton a half glare, he moved to exit the room. As much as he wished to remain and help clean up Illi's mess...
Propriety dictate that he not. Obviously not wanted by the Treyburn's, there was little left for a Callister to do....


OOC: Davishire has exited to the veranda!

[zozee9]

Illi's weak smile dropped to an open mouth when Cherie hit Davishire. She hadn't even noticed the girl come in! As surprised as she was, however, the whole situation just seemed kind of... comical. First her brother comes in and starts yelling at the Lord. His presence makes up for the lack of height competition. But then Cherie pops in out of nowhere and punches him. She could hardly even reach! Plus, it was clear that Davishire thought it a little strange, too. The smirk led Illi to believe that much.

Even still, she was a little upset that they made him leave. Sure, she was upset, but mostly at herself. Plus... she would have liked to have heard an apology.

Standing up, Illi wiped her eyes once last time, leaned over, and gave her little sister a hug. Then she backed up and looked at the girl seriously. "Cherie, you can't just go around punching people! Especially not at events like this... it's bad for our family reputation." Even Illi, who hardly paid attention to reputation, knew the Treyburns were not high on the list of people you should be around. "And it's cruel. I mean, you could have just scorned him like Braxton did." Though she was pretty sure he would have resorted to similar means of punishment... "If I had walked in and found you crying by a boy..." she hesitated before a foolish grin appeared on her face. "I would have smacked right across the face with a book."

Illi laughed before giving her sister another hug. No wonder the girl punched people—she had been a horrible role model! Well, almost everyone in the family was anyway. But that didn't mean Illi didn't help expand her spirit and courageousness...

"Well sis, thanks, I guess. But now I'm afraid we both owe mister Davishire an apology. After all, he hardly did anything wrong..." Except yell at her. About books. She was still a little cross... though the guilt outweighed that. Either way, she wasn't planning on letting her siblings see those emotions. It could only make things worse.

[Ivory]

Cherie received the hug gratefully and laughed out loud at the comment.  "Of course you would.  Treyburns stick together, don't we?  And, anyway, it looks better if I punch him, don't you think, than if Brax does?"  She gave her older brother a quick grin and salute.  "He can pretend to yell at me and send me home early to punish me, but if he had done it, it would have been a big no-no."  Or so she assumed!

Putting her hands on her hips, the youngest Treyburn shook her head, then.  "Absolutely not, Illi!  I am not going to apologize to that creep, and I don't see why you would want to either.  He made you cry!"

[Paradox]

Braxton smirked and leaned his sturdy frame against the bookcase behind him. He nodded and smiled , looking quite proud. He'd always admired Cherie's spunk. She was like Big Red and that wasn't such a bad thing. Not even for a lady. 

Lord Treyburn nodded, "That's right, Little Red. Good thing ya came too because if you hadn't hit him, I would have kicked him in the balls. Heh. Assuming that he has any, " He shook his head, " I look out for my own , Jilli. You're my little sister and I'll beat the shit out of any man that breaks your heart or Cherie's ;I think Lord Callister knows this now. " Yes, Braxton was informed and knew enough. "However, you're an adult. If you want to chase after snobby pricks, I won't stop you but if he hurts you again and I find out about it, he's a dead man." And he was pretty damn serious about that.

[zozee9]

Illi had to admit that her siblings made good cases... things would have been a lot worse if Braxton had acted. First off, Davishire probably would have actually been hurt (more, at least). Second off, it could be excused if it was Cherie. She was the youngest, while Braxton was the face of the family. Plus, it wasn't like Davishire could rat out a girl so much younger than him.

Then again, Illi got the feeling he would have kept the whole situation a secret, anyway.

Illi enjoyed the intention behind Cherie's sweet words, but appreciated that Braxton had enough respect to let her make her own choices. Though honestly, the only person he would probably ever restrain from men would be Janette.

But despite both warnings from Cherie and Braxton, Illi couldn't help but want to apologize to Davishire. And she didn't even know why. He was being a jerk, even if he had some reason. But there was something different about him. Something quirky that made him stand out amongst all the fake nobles. Plus, he knew who she was... her costume, that is.

Illi gave Cherie one last hug and affirmed her, "It wasn't a big deal, Cherie, it really wasn't. I've just been expecting so much from this ball and was upset when it wasn't delivered quite as I had hoped." Which wasn't technically false—after all, she had been waiting for her prince charming and Davishire wasn't anywhere close to charming. "And if nothing else, respect says that I should apologize to him. But thank you—thank you both." She turned to Braxton and gave him a mischievous smile, "And I'll let him know you said that, don't worry."

She then leaned down and placed the remaining books carefully on the counter. While she wished she could have returned them to their spaces, she knew it wasn't required. After all, that's what the librarian was technically for. And surely the Duke expected to deal with a lot more at this party than a couple out of place books... plus, she wanted to catch up to Davishire while she still could.

With one last smile to her siblings, Illi said, "I'll see you guys later!" Then, in a slightly quieter voice, she added, "And don't let that handsome fallen angel learn about this, okay?" They all knew Jana would want to do something about the situation, and Illi didn't really want any more outside involvement. "Bye!" and she walked out of the library with full intentions of returning to its magnificent beauty someday.

----

Exit to: Vanilla Pecan Candies

[Ivory]

Cherie stared after her sister, the expression on her face one of incredulous disbelief.

"I don't get it," she announced to her elder brother as soon as the girl had gone.  "She's not that desperate to find a husband, is she?"

She glanced down to her fist, looking at it scornfully.  "I should have just kicked him in the balls.  It would have been easier than trying to punch him..."  But, no, she decided to be tough rather than a wimp!

"Well, I suppose it's back to the ball, isn't it?  Oh, you haven't seen Janette, have you?  Trev's been looking for her all night.  He's asked me twice already."

[Paradox]

((A little language warning.))

Braxton shrugged , "Huh. Your guess is as good as mine on both accounts. " He chuckled and sighed, "I'm so glad my daughter has a good head on her shoulders. "

Ansgar! He dreaded to imagine what sort of nightmare parenthood would have been like if Carleigh had been so naive like Jillian or so wild and mean-spirited like Janette!  "Pity she couldn't take a page or two from your book. The kid needs to put those books down for a bit and pull her head out of the clouds."

He guffawed at her comment about kicking Davishire between the legs, "I would have paid all my fucking winnings from the games to see that!"  He meant it.

Now the conversation turned to Janette, "I'd like to find the giant Ma fooled with and sock 'em. That girl is a f---ing headache. Haven't seen her since Trevian let her run off." Yes. He'd blame Trev because he was the one whining about their wayward sister to begin with!

[Ivory]

Cherie's face pinkened slightly, and she suddenly found the binding of a random book rather interesting.  "Well, it isn't as though I have a beau either, Brax.  Except for you and Dahlia, I think most of us Treyburns are hopeless."

It certainly seemed to be true!  Not that she was particularly complaining; she didn't want to be set up!

"Trevian let her run off?" she repeated, not commenting on the rest of Brax's complaints about her older sister; it was rather par for the course.  "He told me you distracted him and she got away!"

[Paradox]

Braxton clutched his belly and laughed, " He would say that! I didn't distract him. He distracted me from my game, whining about Janette being intoxicated and flirting with him. So I told him to take her home and he kept whining and trying to weasel his way out of it... and she got away. Both of them a right old pain in the ass. I guess if I want something done, I gotta put on the big boy pants and drag Janette's sorry ass home myself.  "

He went over to his youngest sister and put a hand on her shoulder, "I was sixteen when I met Leanna. Between you and me, I was definitely hopeless without her. Heh. I still am. " He shook his head , "You're gonna be fine, Little Red. With or without a man. You just keep being you and whatever will be , will be. Everything falls into place eventually. " He patted her shoulder, "Alright, well it'd be damned shame to spoil yer night by askin' you to look for Janette. Just keep an eye out for her and let me know, okay? "

((I presume Cherie wants to be on her way. Or they could go Janette hunting lololol....I don't know why that amuses me so much. ))

[Ivory]

Cherie giggled in response to Brax's complaints about her other siblings.  "Oh, but I think he's been looking really hard!  He's asked me twice!  And I've only seen him flirting with a handful of people!"

Which, really, was quite impressive for Trev!

Her smile softened at her brother's advice, and she spared a moment to give him a tight hug.  "Thank you."

But, really, he couldn't expect her to go back to just wandering around boredly, could he?

"I'll help you look for Janette," she announced as she released him.  "But!  You're going to owe me if I find him first.  Let's say...  10 cookies to the winner!"

-----

Exit to A Slice of Lemon Cake

[Paradox]

Braxton grinned and then laughed at Cherie's issued challenge. He was confident that he'd win because he wanted her to make the cookies. If Brax didn't know any better, he'd claim that Ansgar had bestowed his little sister with some sort of otherworldly cookie baking abilities! So divinely tasty! He felt his mouth watering already at the thought. Oh what a cruel , cruel image. Yes. He had to win! For the cookies!

" You're on!"

And away they went! The hunt for Janette was on!

(( I hate doing this crap. Exit to :A Slice of Lemon Cake  ))

[zozee9]

Illi solemnly walked back into the study from the ballroom without any of the gusto that she left with. With a sigh, she slumped against the wall. Why did she have to go and ruin anything? She had acted and spoken without a thought, and now Davishire probably hated her.

But she promised herself she wouldn't read. Not here. And breaking a promise she made to herself was something she was unwilling to do—so instead she twisted her own words. Instead of reading, she would write. Write out her thoughts and wishes and soul and all the things that she would never let anyone see... for more reasons than one.

Seeing as it was a study, Illi had no troubles finding some paper and something to write with. Then she sat up on one of the couches, using every ounce of her will not to kick off her shoes and lie across the cushions. After all, she was still at a ball and had to maintain at least a little bit of decency. So she sat in a manner that would at least be considered acceptable and started writing, tuning out the world around her. But unlike when she read, Illi would immediately hear any sounds made—after all, she couldn't have anybody reading her heartfelt words.

[visualspice]

By the time Lord Davishire had made it to the study, he was red faced as he huffed, pausing just a moment to take in the place and it's empire of books before adjusting his wolfish mask and stepping into the room. Though the only noises heard were the echoes of his footsteps as he glanced around, eyes fervently seeking Miss Treyburn. Though it took some time, he finally noted her in a quiet corner before he huffed a sigh and stared over at her form, writing, so it seemed, by her lonesome.

"Miss Illi," he began, the name she had chosen him to call her, sounding strange to himself as it came off his tongue, and he gave a bow in her direction before approaching. "I hope it's not too imprudent of me to follow. But I felt it wise to accompany you here, seeing as I have upset you yet again."
And it was something, clearly, he was becoming very good at indeed! Bloody hell! He'd have to watch his temper and words this time. The girl seemed quite upset!