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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 5, 2012 15:11:08 GMT -5
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Joshua said, grabbing hold of Amelia's arm. "It's okay, I was joking."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 5, 2012 15:13:21 GMT -5
"Fine!" squeaked out Amelia, "It's rather high up here, isn't it?" As she said this, she grabbed onto Joshua's arm for reassurance, her eyes never leaving the looming ground. She could feel herself growing dizzy as she stared.
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 5, 2012 15:40:45 GMT -5
"Do you want me to help you down?" Joshua said gently. "I can, if you want. We'll be back on the ground in a second."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 5, 2012 15:44:13 GMT -5
"Please," whispered Amelia, clinging to Joshua's arm with her hand as though her life depended on it, which, as she gazed to the ground, it very much did.
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 5, 2012 17:09:37 GMT -5
Joshua balanced himself carefully as he pulled Amelia up with one arm, clutching hold of the tree with the other. Slowly, he managed to carry her back down the tree and deposited her safely on the rock.
"There you go. Just breathe, we're down now."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 5, 2012 19:36:24 GMT -5
Amelia breathed deeply when they reached the rock, suddenly relieved by it. She felt the earlier dizziness fading, and color flooding back to her cheeks. Too much color, in fact, as she blushed a bright red. Not meeting Joshua's eyes, she added, "Thank you. I guess I shouldn't climb trees anymore."
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 3:21:53 GMT -5
"That would probably be best." Joshua smiled gently. "But on the positive side, at least we've dried off now.'
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 11:39:08 GMT -5
"Yeah," said Amelia, "If you want to stay dry, we'll have to walk around the lake. Which do you prefer?"
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 12:10:29 GMT -5
"Maybe we should sit down for a second first, you still look ill." Joshua said, concerned. "Iwas worried about you up there, I thought you were going to pass out."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 14:36:53 GMT -5
"I was feeling a bit dizzy," admitted Amelia, "I've never been up that high before! And then you mentioned falling..."
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 14:52:43 GMT -5
"I really am sorry about that, you know." Joshua said formally. "It really was a bad move. At least we'll know not to do that again."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 14:57:35 GMT -5
"Yeah, wait, again?" asked Amelia, surprised. She hadn't thought Joshua would be interested in meeting again, or that they were already goos friends! The idea depressed her, and it showed on her face, as she would have to leave him behind too.
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 15:01:15 GMT -5
"Well of course!" Joshua laughed. "I'm not just going to walk off at the end of the day and never see you again, am I? I like you, Amelia. Nobody else really treats me like a friend."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 15:03:55 GMT -5
"Well, you aren't anything special, you know," she teased, though she couldn't quite smile, "Besides, you're the first friend I ever got to make all by myself. Otherwise it's always my brothers or mother who tell me who I can talk to and who I can't. Or worse, I stay at home."
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 15:30:57 GMT -5
"Well, isn't that charming." Joshua said, pushing his lips out into a fake pout. "But that doesn't seem very fun. I wonder if they'd approve of me? Vicky certainly seemed happy, I'm sure they'd be okay with us being friends."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 15:45:30 GMT -5
"Your male," said Amelia with a smirk, "They'll disapprove of you completely, even for just being acquaintances. Especially upon the fact that Vicky let you take me swimming. I don't doubt she and Kent won't fight about it tonight. Vicky will win, of course, but Kent has to tell Robby and Johnny he did something. But Kent will be the easiest to win over, and Robby will never be won."
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 15:56:57 GMT -5
"I'm a future lord though!" Joshua laughed. "Like I said, it comes in handy. They have to approve of me now!"
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 16:01:11 GMT -5
"Maybe," said Amelia, doubting it, "But Robby will never approve. He is after all the brother I'm closest with. I doubt he approves of me even one day getting married. When we were younger, he used to get jealous I was making a friend, because he was always so popular, but he was popular in such a way that he liked to play with one friend at a time. And as a kid, that meant if I was playing with someone, I wasn't going to be able to play with him anymore. Sometimes, I really doubt he's outgrown that stage much."
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 6, 2012 17:07:30 GMT -5
"Although that probably seems annoying to you, at least you have somebody to do that." Joshua shrugged. "Many don't. Your brothers sound like they really care for you."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 6, 2012 17:56:32 GMT -5
"They do," said Amelia with a small smile, and then a scowl, "If only they didn't try and dictate my life! Do you know the feeling?"
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 7, 2012 4:06:38 GMT -5
"Yes, I do." Joshua said darkly. "What do you think my parents do?"
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 7, 2012 6:23:23 GMT -5
"What's it like? I mean, you know how Vicky's trying to push me to marriage, and how my brothers isolate me from reality, but I don't know anything about your complaints," said Amelia with a small frown.
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 7, 2012 6:33:08 GMT -5
"They basically only had a son so that I could continue the family name and inherit the land when my father dies. They use me to gain favour with those higher up in the social standing than them, and heaven forbid I actually showed any will of my own! My life has been set out for me already, and I hate that. I join the witch hunters and kill people, then I marry a woman of my fathers choice, possibly a princess or someone of that standing. I have a child to carry on the family line, I pass the land on to them, I die. It's stifling. I want to make my own choices, but I can't."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 7, 2012 8:49:09 GMT -5
Amelia listened quietly to Joshua's rant, trying to picture his life and hers. She couldn't fathom living such a lonely sounding life. She looked up at Joshua, "But then how do you escape? How did you get here?"
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 7, 2012 10:12:58 GMT -5
"I can leave the house, as long as Im polite and don't cause trouble. Today, I was going out to find out about the decree and gauge the public reaction. You get used to lying and giving excuses." Joshua sighed.
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 7, 2012 12:11:47 GMT -5
"That's awful," admonished Amelia, a sympathetic look, "But what about your mother? Surely she cares about her only child some?"
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 7, 2012 15:22:37 GMT -5
"Not really." Joshua sighed. "She doesnt really care about anything, my mother. She's ill a lot, I don't really see her."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 7, 2012 15:24:54 GMT -5
"But, when you were younger?" scrambled Amelia, trying to find something to offer Joshua, her eyes widening as she thought of his life, "Did she not love you then? I mean, even something small, like a hug or a kiss? Hasn't your family ever offered them to you? Or even a distant relative or mother figure?"
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Post by eskimoRock on Sept 7, 2012 15:31:41 GMT -5
"Maids and the cooks looked after me." Joshua shrugged. "I was presented to them in my Sunday best once a week. One of the old cooks was like a mother figure, but she retired years ago now. You know, this is quite common within the upperclass families. I'm not the only one."
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Post by G. Novella on Sept 7, 2012 15:37:52 GMT -5
"Common?" asked Amelia in surprise, trying to fathom how going without hugs and kisses could ever be considered common or even without affection, "But, why? Parents are supposed to shower their children with love and happiness. Not distance themselves! I can easily say I've been hugged everyday of my life at the least once, and I know the twins must have received countless dozens of hugs in their short life! Are you telling me nobody offered you affection after the cook left?!"
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