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Post by Cres on Nov 3, 2005 10:38:12 GMT -5
When the taxi pulled in in front of the familiar house, Meadowlark swallowed nervously. She had insisted they take a taxi instead of ordering a limousine, like Cheval had suggested. He had shrugged, but Meadowlark still felt as though he was angry at her for this decision. The usual calm, peaceful expression lingered on his face, however, so she couldn't tell for sure.
Meadowlark waited patiently while Cheval paid the driver. He stepped out first and then bowed and offered his hand out to her. She forced up a thankful smile, touched unconsciously her curled hair to make sure it was still gathered atop her head and got out of the car. Her slender legs moved with the same gracefulness as always, and the fur-lined coat around her fit her perfectly. Cheval was wearing a neatly cut red vine-coloured suit, which he straightened and dusted out before offering out his arm to Meadowlark.
While the taxi drove off, the couple walked through the front yard to the door.
[[*pokes Kat* ...oh, and if you want this to be some other day, it's fine with me - I just assumed it would be logical they would be arriving on a non-weekday]]
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Post by Kat on Nov 3, 2005 13:32:57 GMT -5
Clover was sitting on her bed, her eyes closed and feet tapping forward in beat to the music. Meadowlark and Cheval were supposed to be arriving anytime now and the seventeen year old was relaxing herself the best way she knew how-- closing her eyes and envisioning herself dancing to her favourite music. She was lost in her own little world so much that she didn't notice her father open her bedroom door and enter the room until he tapped her on the arm. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, immediately wondering if it was time.
"They're here."
Those two words were all she needed, quickly sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed, her feet slipping into her slippers. She stood up and smiled excitedly at her father, making her way out of her basement bedroom, across the specially laid floor that made for a nice personal dance studio, up the stairs and toward the front door where her mother waited anxiously. Clover looked at her mother, seeing a frown on the woman's face.
"Clover, darling, couldn't you have put on something a little nicer?"
Clover looked down at herself, noting the black track pants that she had rolled down around her hips, the tight blue tank top that matched her slipped. She looked back up at her mom and shrugged her shoulders. "I match, that's what's important." In reality she was annoyed. Why should she have to dress up just because Meadowlark was coming home? She didn't think her sister would mind.
"Well, it's just that your sister is dressed so nicely dear, and here you are with half your body showing. It's just not proper, Clover."
Clover narrowed her eyes and shot her mother an angry glare, pissed off now that her mother was trying to ruin the reunion with her pettyness. "Mom, just shut up and open the door. I can wear whatever I want." Pushing down the hall ahead of her mother, Clover opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. She looked down at Meadowlark, who was walking across the yard with Cheval. Seeing her older sister again reminded her of how much she'd missed her. Without putting much thought into it, Clover bounded down the stairs and ran across the grass to where Meadowlark was, embracing her sister in a strong hug.
**I can't remember, how tall is Meadowlark? I think I made Clover 5'7" or 5'8" and she's got a very lean body, she still looks feminine but you can see her muscles; how is Lark's body?***
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Post by Cres on Nov 3, 2005 14:08:09 GMT -5
[[ummmmm I think Meadowlark is around 6' or so. Just slightly taller, and also slim and slender. Not quite so lean as Clover, I think, beautiful in a "rounder" way. She also has muscles - ballet dancers need those too but right now she's wearing too much fur for it to really show. I'll post her human face after I've posted this.]] Meadowlark saw her sister open the door and a smile lit her face immediately. She, too, forgot for a moment of all surroundings, and though she was - as she had always been - too composed to rush to her, she opened her arms eagerly when Clover bounded to her. Cheval let go of her arm quickly to allow the sisters to embrace, his usual polite, calm expression on his face. But right now Meadowlark was too busy with the reunion to really take notice. She was astonished at the strength of her sister's hug, as it nearly squished all breath out of her. She had always been of a rather delicate built, and her ballet and acting had definitely not made her as muscular as her sister's modern dancing had made her. She gasped and then laughed, hugging her back, pressing her head against Clover's shoulder. She took no notice of her casual clothing. All that mattered was the joy in her heart. She was home again. Her eyes swelled up with tears. She had not taken into account the possibility that she might react so strongly to seeing her family again. She felt the tears swell inside her and pain grasp her heart, and quickly she realised that if she allowed herself to remain like this for one moment longer, she would burst out crying. So she lifted her head from her sister's shoulder and took her by the shoulders, pulling her a little backward, to look at her. There were still tears in her eyes, but she managed to smile still, and looked mostly just happy. Like she mostly felt like. "Oh, Clo... look at you," she whispered, looking up and down on her sister's body. "You've grown."
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Post by Kat on Nov 3, 2005 19:06:16 GMT -5
***Holy crap Lark's a giant! I'm going to make Clo a little taller than, about 5'10", just so there's not a huge height difference between them; oh, and Clover never told Lark that she switched from ballet to modern, so I wanted to ask you what you want to do: we could either have it that Lark still thinks she does ballet, or we could have it that their mother told Lark that Clover switched, but neither of them told Clover that Lark knows, which could cause some stress between Clo and her mom ;)***
Clover looked up at Meadowlark, a sly smile on her face. "Yeah, definitely not the little shrimp you last saw, huh?" She let go of her sister, turning to face Cheval. "Hey Chevie, nice to see you again." She gave him a hug as well, hoping he wouldn't mind. He had always been really nice to her when she was a kid, would he act differently now that she was older?
Mrs. Springling tried not to frown as she watched Clover sprint off and grab Meadowlark, wishing for once that her youngest could have employed a little restraint. She had wanted this moment to go perfectly, the happily tearful reunion it should have been. She decided not to dwell on Clover's overtly excited reaction, and she ensured she herself was composed enough to not come off as a sappy old lady as she walked across the lawn to see her daughter. As she approached Meadowlark though she couldn't help the tears that sprang to her eyes as she took in her eldest. Approaching Meadowlark she held her arms out, her hands resting on Meadowlark's arms for a moment as she looked her over.
"You are still just as beautiful and elegant as you always have been; my angel." She put her arms around her daughter, drawing her tightly into an embrace, so happy at that moment to have Meadowlark back.
The girls' father followed slowly, watching the reunion with a few tears in his own eyes. It was nice to see his daughter again, to see that she was still the beautiful young woman she had been when she'd left.
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Post by Cres on Nov 4, 2005 0:26:23 GMT -5
[[yeah... I thought Lark should be pretty tall. It's intimidating to play her that way though - I'm frightened by tall people, personally .I was thinking that Lark didn't know about Clo switching to modern - maybe the mother's been hoping Clo would switch back, and she doesn't want to tell Meadowlark - having a bit of "appearances, appearances" attitude as she does. And she might keep on trying to keep conversation off of it - especially in front of Cheval? That'd probably blow Clo's fuse eventually, hehe. Oh and... I am not good with French, so I'll probably be misspelling Cheval's French quotes and omitting the accents as I really haven't got a clue about that.]] She let go of her sister, turning to face Cheval. "Hey Chevie, nice to see you again." She gave him a hug as well, hoping he wouldn't mind. He had always been really nice to her when she was a kid, would he act differently now that she was older?Cheval was clearly startled by the hug. His perfectly polite expression broke for a moment by the combination of the hug and the nickname - which he did not appreciate - but quickly he had composed himself again, and smiled politely to Clover. "Enchante," he said, bowing shortly. "You are still just as beautiful and elegant as you always have been; my angel." She put her arms around her daughter, drawing her tightly into an embrace, so happy at that moment to have Meadowlark back.Meadowlark got more tears to her eyes as she allowed her mother to pull her into an embrace. She hugged her tight, but had to disentangle herself quickly again as not to start crying. "It is so good to be back home, mother," she said, just the slightest French accent to her voice. She had picked the note from her long years in France, but hardly noticed it herself these days. She looked up at her father and smiled warmly. "Father," she said and rushed to him next, this time embracing him herself. Cheval, in the meantime, bowed to the girls' mother. "It has been far too long," he said with his strong French accent.
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Post by Cres on Nov 4, 2005 2:52:47 GMT -5
[[you know what - I'm mixing up my inches. I meant Meadowlark to be, uhh, 5'10". *blush* that's what happens when a person who's used to using the metric system is given feet and inches to work with. Yeah. so 5'10". Because Cheval is taller, and he's 6']]
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Post by Kat on Nov 4, 2005 8:48:31 GMT -5
***Ah that's good then, 6ft was a little Amazon-ish, haha, but 5'10" isn't that scary, I'm 5'10" after all! ;) I would rather play it too that their mom tries to hide Clo's different style, Clover does have a show coming up she wants to invite Lark to, so their mom could spaz out and be all "omg she just got here, let her rest" and then Clo could explode. Lovely. :D***
Clover grinned at her sister's accent, finding it a little amusing. When all the hugs were done with the family finished their walk across the lawn and entered the house. The girls' mother had obviously been on a cleaning spree the past week-- everything in the house was dust-free and sparkling. "Can I get you two anything? Clover, go get your sister something to drink, I'm sure she and Cheval would like a nice glass of wine, maybe? Or just some water? Clover?"
Clover stood with her arms crossed, staring at her mother with a sour look on her face. "You know, would it kill you just once to say please? Instead of just barking an order at me?" Shaking her head in aggravation, Clover trudged off to the kitchen, highly annoyed. Way to go mother, ruining the reunion.
Once Clover was on her way to the kitchen, their mother leaned over to Meadowlark, her eyes still misty as she looked at her daughter. "Don't mind Clover, you know how most teenagers get. You were never that way though dear, always the polite little darling."
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Post by Cres on Nov 5, 2005 15:55:34 GMT -5
Meadowlark saw instantly that things were not well between her sister and mother - not that she was surprised. She had predicted collision of some kind ever since Clover was young. Now she faced her mother with a rather serious expression.
"Mother..." she began, but at that point Cheval interrupted, perhaps not realising that Meadowlark would have wanted to say something to her mother, perhaps he did - Meadowlark couldn't tell. He could never tell when Cheval did something out of spite. He was always so polite, so perfect.
Meadowlark started to feel the strangling feeling in her throat again.
"Shall we go inside?" Cheval suggested, offering his other arm to Meadowlark and the other to her mother.
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Post by Kat on Nov 5, 2005 21:50:49 GMT -5
Clover tramped into the kitchen, knowing she was acting childish but not being able to help it. Her mother always did that! She always just told her what to do, expecting her to just listen. She just wanted to talk to her sister and tell her about life. Looking at the counter she saw that her mother had put everything on a tray she thought they might need. Clover leaned down against the counter, sighing and blowing a lock of hair away from her face. She heard a noise behind her and looked up, seeing her father.
"You know she's just nervous, Clover. She hasn't seen Meadowlark in years--"
"Well neither have I! It's not just today, dad. She's always like that and it just drives me crazy." She turned back around and leaned against the counter again.
"I know, honey. Honestly, she drives me a little crazy sometimes too." He laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Now come on, soon enough we'll all be sitting down and you can talk to your sister all you want."
Clover sighed and knew her father was right. Turning around to face him she gave him a hug, kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks dad." She then picked up the tray and took it into the living room, arranging it nicely on the table.
Mrs. Springling took Cheval's offered arm, completely unaware that her daughter was about to make a comment to her. "Oh Cheval, you're still just as charming as always! You're so lucky, dear, to have such a fine gentleman still pay attention to such small details. Let's go on inside then and sit down, maybe give you a little tour of the house! It has changed a little since you've last been here, after all."
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Post by Cres on Nov 7, 2005 14:38:32 GMT -5
Meadowlark's smile had just the slightest tight edge to it when her mother complimented her for her luck in husbands. She said nothing, for she did not trust her voice. Cheval, the charmer as always, smiled however, as he led the two women inside.
"Why, you are making me blush, Mrs Springling," he said as he walked the two women inside the house. Once in the hallway, he turned to take Meadowlark's coat, which she gave to him, all smiles as usual. She left him putting the coats away and walked first to the living room. Her smile warmed when she saw Clover setting the tray on the table. She went to her and placed her hand on her sister's shoulder briefly, gently.
"We all know how mother is," she said quietly, trying to get her sympathy across to Clover before their mother got to them.
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Post by Kat on Nov 7, 2005 15:06:10 GMT -5
Clover stood up just as Meadowlark spoke to her, a smile immediately springing to her face. Leaning in to her sister she whispered in her ear, "and she's only gotten worse over the years, or maybe I've gotten mouthier, who knows". She grined and laughed a little, immensely happy for that comment from her sister.
A moment later their mother entered the room, a bright smile on her face. "Well then, what would you like to do? Sit for a drink or look around the house? You did clean the basement like I asked, didn't you Clover?"
Clo rolled her eyes and nodded her head at her mother. "Of course I did, I don't like living in filth mom, so I don't need you telling me to clean. You know I always keep my space clean." That was true, unlike most teenagers, Clover hated to have her personal space messy. She was constantly cleaning up the basement and putting things away, wiping off the dust when it was beginning to settle.
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Post by Cres on Nov 7, 2005 15:19:29 GMT -5
Meadowlark giggled a little to what her sister said about their mother, feeling somehow lighter at heart for a moment at getting to share that moment with Clover, even if it was not to last long.
Their mother coming in made Meadowlark grow more serious again. She was so conscious of appearances that Meadowlark was instantly pushed off behind her smiling shell that felt more and more like a glass house around her these days. Fragile, yet impenetrable by light or air. She breathed out as she smiled and took a seat on the sofa, making sure to leave room for Cheval even if she would rather have sat either alone or with her family. But she was so patterned now that she didn't even think about it anymore.
Cheval walked in and smiled when he looked at the living room table.
"Beautiful setting, Clover," he said politely as he went over to the sofa and sat down next to Meadowlark.
"I think we would rather just sit for a while," Meadowlark said. "It was a long trip. And there's so much to catch up on!" She gained a little bit of her old enthusiasm as she looked at her sister. "Do tell what's going on with you these days, little sister, since we last talked? I understand that dancing is going well."
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Post by Kat on Nov 7, 2005 17:57:58 GMT -5
When her sister and Cheval took a seat, Clover perched on one of the chairs, tucking her long legs up under her. She looked at her sister, for the first time realizing the differences between them. Lark seemed like she was always acting, sitting like she was on display in some art gallery, while she herself preferred to slump into her chair, legs and feet everywhere, constantly bobbing her head and tapping her feet to her own personal soundtrack. When she was younger, she ahd always wanted to be just like her older sister. But now that she was grown up herself, she was glad she hadn't turned out like Meadowlark. She just didn't seem relaxed.
When the topic of Clover's dancing came up, Mrs. Springling was quick to speak up. "Oh her dancing is going fine, isn't it Clover?" It was obvious from the tone of the mother's voice that there was something being hidden between them.
Looking her mother in the eyes, Clover contemplated her course of action. Meadowlark still didn't know that she had changed from ballet to modern and now that her sister was here in front of her, she just couldn't bring herself to lie about it. Looking at Meadowlark, Clover smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it is going really well, actually. I have a show coming up in a week, maybe you'd like to come see me dance?" Her mother had already told her not to mention the show to her sister, but Clo couldn't help it. She wanted Meadowlark there. There was no better way to tell her sister what her dancing was like than to just invite her to see in person.
"Clover! Honestly, your sister has just come back after being away for years, must you be so selfish?" Mrs. Springling was furious at her youngest daughter. She had been wary of Clover ever switching when she was younger and it was only at the urging of her dance teacher that her husband had given in. But how could she possibly explain to her daughter and son-in-law, such proper and elegant dancers, that her other daughter had gotten involved a style that was entirely too wild for a proper dancer, at least in her opinion.
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Post by Cres on Nov 8, 2005 2:49:27 GMT -5
Meadowlark caught the attempt to steer the conversation away from Clover's dancing. It puzzled her a little. Never before had her mother behaved so. "Mother, please," she said softly while reaching for the tea. She poured first to Cheval, an automatic reaction after numerous and numerous tea parties in the past, where she had been the hostess. "Of course I'd love to come, Clo." She looked at her sister over the table and smiled. "I haven't seen you dance since, oh, so long. Are you still going to Madame Percheron's to practice?" [[wanna have her find out Clo's dancing style only at the show? Either way fine with me. ]]
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Post by Kat on Nov 8, 2005 6:43:21 GMT -5
(The show sounds good:)
Clover smiled when Meadowlark agreed to come, shooting her mother a quick look that was equivalent to the younger daughter sticking her tongue out. When Madame Percheron was brought up, though, Clover looked back at her sister, not sure just how much she should divulge. "Um, no. Well it is the same school, but Madame Percheron retired a little over a year after you left, actually." Maybe they should have told Meadowlark about that before, after all she had studied with the old lady herself. "She fell ill and had to take time off, the doctors told her she was just too weak to continue teaching dance. So another woman came and took over, she was pretty young actually but honestly, she was a lot more fun than Madame Percheron." Clover smiled, for some reason not feeling like divulging the rest of the story just yet. "Let's just say that with her new outlook on things," Clover shot a glance at her mother, "the natural dancer in me started to emerge a little bit more."
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