Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 24, 2009 20:52:00 GMT -5
As he'd turned to greet her and therefore exposed his front, Lady Capulet stopped to examine him from a few feet away, mouth pursed. Her eyes traveled over his chest, over the various bruises and scrapes. There was no point in asking whether he'd been in a fight. Then her expression softened, and she stepped forward sharply, raising a hand as though to touch the cut on his cheek but hesitating before actually completing the motion.
"Oh, Tybalt, didn't you have your sword?" A sharp wave of her other hand sent one of the servants to take the bloodied shirt away from him; really, the silly thing needn't wash it on his own. "I hope you gave the other man worse than you got!"
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 25, 2009 10:53:20 GMT -5
When the servant took the shirt from him, he felt even more powerless and bare than he had only moments before. Here indeed was a man who sober and with a sword could have given Mercutio the duel the man had wanted - indeed, more than Tybalt wanted love, from Juliet, from Meg, from anyone, from this woman here - reduced to feeling like little more than a child in Lady Capulet's presence.
He looked away from her. He wanted, almost rebelliously, to tell her the truth, and opened his mouth to do so. He wanted to see her face at the sound of the words, I let him do it. I wanted him to.
But those weren't entirely true, were they? And he did not really want to see her face. He felt a little sick at the thought.
But he couldn't lie, either. He couldn't, for once, forget it. And perhaps he was still a bit drunk when he said, "No," sharply, "I was drunk."
His arms had up until then stayed strictly motionless at his sides, as though to let her inspect him and remark with disapproval, but he lifted a hand and made a motion as though to push her hand away, except without touching, as they were not touching, and crossed to the other side of the room.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 25, 2009 11:19:09 GMT -5
Just as sharp was the look she gave him at his words, her eyes studying him with renewed cause as though she might see the drink in him or its effects. Of course, she hardly had cause to say anything; Lady Capulet did like her drink. But she certainly didn't go and get herself beaten because of it, either. And it was so unlike Tybalt to lose control of himself.... somehow disappointing. And worrying. At least they weren't in Verona for the whole household to know that something was wrong with him.
"All you all right, darling?" she asked, as though he'd ever been in the habit to answer her when she asked that. And, lightly, "Perhaps next time you feel like drinking, we could drink together. You never spend time with your aunt anymore!"
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 25, 2009 11:28:59 GMT -5
The thought of drinking with Lady Capulet... detailed from the previous night came back to him, less visionwise and more sensation. The feeling of Mercutio's mouth working on his, and the way it felt to press Mercutio's name against his teeth, whispering to him half-nonsensically, pulling him to him, feeling Mercutio push a knee between his own and parting his legs to accommodate... no control whatsoever.
Tybalt blanched. He was glad he wasn't facing her, and in a moment was hit with a wave of nausea. Hopefully, she could blame this on the drink, as he bent suddenly.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 25, 2009 11:44:14 GMT -5
She rushed forward at once, of course, bending slightly at the waist to lay a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" His injuries, or - God forbid- another fit?
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 25, 2009 11:57:07 GMT -5
He lied through gritted teeth, remaining bent so that she'd not see his face, and so that he wouldn't have to look at her. His muscles tensed and knotted under her hand. He could tell the shape of it, the weight, the warmth. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."
He felt badly for saying it, of course - it was a lie, and it was also likely to disgust her, and he felt ashamed at the mere thought of being anything she'd find disgusting - but perhaps she'd step back.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 25, 2009 12:09:31 GMT -5
Her hand leapt off his back immediately. But a moment later, and rather hesitantly, she drew the hair back away from his face for him, turning her head to order a servant to fetch a basin.
"Go ahead, if you must."
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 25, 2009 12:13:01 GMT -5
Oh, but he didn't really need to. Why wasn't she pulling back to allow him to? He wanted her to stop. He wanted to embrace her, which he hadn't done since childhood - well, no. Which he hadn't done since he'd been 13 and forgetting he was no longer a child.
She had never really liked it. And now, taller than she was, broader, stronger, noticing only how young she still was, and beautiful, embracing her would be....
He had lied, apparently. It wasn't much - how long had it been since he'd eaten? - but he jerked away from her and retched onto the stone floor. His mouth tasted of acid. Almost burning with shame, or possibly with feverishness, he wiped it on the back of his hand.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 25, 2009 12:27:17 GMT -5
Behind him, and unseen, Lady Capulet watched him stagger away from her, frowning just a little. So independent. Sometimes she wished he was just a little less so, and ignored the nagging feeling that that might be her fault. He was a good boy, just... "Don't wipe your mouth with a hand, Tybalt." She sent a servant over with a cloth, instead.
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 25, 2009 12:39:16 GMT -5
Tybalt took it from him sharply and pressed it against his face. He was used to there being an audience of servants who feigned disinterest and looked elsewhere around him when he was coming to from a fit, when he was injured, when he was... however he was. But that was not the same thing as not being bothered by it. Resigned though he was, he wished desperately for nothing more than for Lady Capulet to send them away.
And then leave, herself.
Or maybe stay...
"I'm going to bathe," he said in a ragged voice, standing slowly, even the action looking painful, muscles twitching beneath his skin. But when he took a step he found himself quite sore and breathless and reached out a hand suddenly for the wall, stumbling and leaning on it heavily.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 29, 2009 14:47:51 GMT -5
She was at his side in a few long strides, a really remarkably feat in today's dress. "You are going to go to bed and rest, Tybalt," she said, slipping an arm through his in one brisk, lady-like move. "Sheets can always be washed again, you know! I'll walk you to your room." He'd just dismiss a servant, and the silly things seemed to have no backbones when it came to her nephew; no, she'd go with him herself and make sure he actually went to his room to rest. Lady Capulet had no illusions when it came to the little comfort Tybalt allowed himself.
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 29, 2009 16:29:34 GMT -5
This was also humiliating. Not so much being led, which was, of course, bad enough, particularly when it was happening in front of everyone, but which he was used to, but having to take her arm, as though he were leading her onto a dance floor, or down a path at the Opera, or something like that. He did not not follow, but he slowed a bit, his arm stiffening and pulling back slightly, although gently, to get her to release it.
It did not help matters much that he was still divested of his shirt, and her arm was - her arm was bare, and - touching him...
And he needed to bathe, after all, didn't he? All this blood caked on had to come off. He thought suddenly of being a child and suffering from a training accident, a strike to the temple, bleeding, and young Lady Capulet sponging the blood off briskly after the nurse told her in a jittery voice that young Tybalt had upturned the bowl of warm water into her lap and told her in a curt voice to leave.
He did his very best to banish this thought, incongruous as it was with his current state (which was twenty-three, currently, and half-naked), his expression tight-lipped (as well as it could be with his mouth so soft and his lip so swollen) and as blank and blanched as a ghost's.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 30, 2009 7:20:44 GMT -5
Lady Capulet turned her head to look at him, her arm tightening instead of letting go as he was ever-so-gently hinting that she should do. Her mouth thinned, eyebrows raising, eyes flickering as she glanced down and then back. She wanted to say his name in a warning tone, but Tybalt wasn't a child anymore, and although that didn't stop her sometimes it was enough to make her pause. He certainly wasn't her child. He was- such a man. She let go of his arm.
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Post by Tybalt on Sept 30, 2009 7:28:02 GMT -5
Tybalt might have mumbled a thank you under his breath, but it couldn't be certain, and without the need to gently push Lady Capulet back from him slightly, without something to direct his will at, he seemed rough around the edges and faint. He concentrated his efforts on keeping himself upright as he went laboriously up the stairs at a decently brisk pace, upon keeping up a show of strength to such a degree that she could not rebuke him or try to have him helped, even if his exhaustion was obvious.
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Lady Capulet
- Masterful Virgin -
I think I am going to like Paris.%\1\%
Posts: 37
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Post by Lady Capulet on Sept 30, 2009 7:36:19 GMT -5
She watched him go for a moment before turning back to the servants, scattering them with an impatient wave of her hand and the brisk pace she set for the door of the laundry room.
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