cupid's arrows...or knives

[Camille St. James]

Lillia St. James

Back...forth...back...forth…

Camille's dark curls swished back and forth across the floorboards, the very tip of the longest curl brushing along the seam between two of them. Camille watched them with eyes half out of focus, her mind wandering vaguely between them and the day she'd had.

Back...forth...back...forth…

She'd gone off to explore the world as a commoner once again, this time as an adult, more free to roam than a child. She acted as if she were running errands, just one among the crowd as she'd explored. And then, being her, she'd wound up at a bookstore. That part was boring. What was interesting were the people she'd met there.

Hm. That Finnian. Something about him just made her want to understand the puzzle. Like she was missing a piece or something. And maybe it had a little bit to do with the fact that he was handsome, or maybe it was the fact that he'd gone from terrifying to shy in an instant. Something about his bristly front seemed like it was put on, to her. Maybe because she was pretty experienced with faking it, too.

On the other hand, it could be that the adrenaline of being held at knifepoint had infected the rest of her memory, and she found the whole thing exciting as a result...but she preferred to believe it was the spark of something else. And she wouldn't know unless she tried, right? Plus, she'd promised to make a better impression next time.

The door creaked as it swung open, startling Cami out of her trance. She recognized those boots right away, even upside-down.

"Lili! Good timing, I need your advice. A cute guy almost stabbed me today, and I need to know how to impress him. Do you think me having a knife too would help?"

[Lillia St. James]

She was pissed. He did it again. Again with the challenges. Nicholas Cawdor was going to end up one day with his teeth knocked in if he wasn't careful. Not only had he been adamant that day about doing everything since she was a girl,  he had the audacity to critique her knife technique and hold the blade out of her reach after retrieving it before she could. She was gonna kill him. She really was. 

Lillia was nearly foaming at the mouth when she threw her and her twins bedroom door open. She usually had to sleep back in the barracks but she was able to snag a few days at home when she could, or the DeGraff's city home. She was in the process of undoing her belt, angrily unclaspign the buckle before she hurled it into a nearby chair. She froze then, turning her head to see Cami laying on her bed, staring up at her from where she was handing upside down.

Blink.

Had she just heard correctly? She looked at the wall, reaching up to stick her pinky in one ear cleaning it out as she turned her head back towards her sister with a look of confusion on her face. For a moment her anger at her fellow solider long forgotten. "I'm sorry-What?" She asked,

Blink Blink.

Lillia started to laugh then, staring out light before it was almost a belly laugh. And then it was like a switch was flipped and she placed a murderous look on Camille. "Did you just say someone nearly stabbed you?"  She asked walking towards her twin, bending slightly to hold Cami's head in her hands before she began to tilt it side to side gently, looking for any injuries or nicks from a blade. Instead of plotting Nicholas Cawdors murder, she started to plot the death of the unfortunate soul that had decided to pull a knife on her sister.

[Camille St. James]

Camille grinned when her sister started laughing, then cut off just as abruptly as her sister's face changed. Oops. Maybe she should have thought that out better before it came out of her mouth.

"No! Well, yes, but only almost! He was already holding the knife because he was carving some--wait, is it called whittling?--he was whittling something, and then I startled him. He had that knife at my throat faster than I could blink! But he apologized right away. It was strange, like he was someone completely different for a moment, then he blinked, and it was gone, and then he apologized two, maybe three times." Cami rambled as her sister checked her for injuries. She wanted to soothe her sister's worries, but she wasn't particularly fazed by her sister's reaction--Lilli was always protective of her.

"I'm totally fine, I promise. And I told him I'd make a better impression next time, so I'm wondering if I knife is a good idea. Ooh, or maybe I could give him a knife! No, too early for gifts…" She sighed, carefully extracting herself from her sister's hands so she could roll onto her stomach and prop herself up on her forearms. "You like knives. What would make you like a person better who startled you before?"

She paused, then realized she was being rude. "I'm sorry, you just got home. Hello! How are you, sister dear?"

[Lillia St. James]

Lillia listened carefully as Cami rambled, all the while inspecting her over with a meticulous eye. She eyed her neck instantly as she said the knife had been pressed against it. She didn't find a scratch on her. Lucky for the boy, unlucky for her that she wouldn't be able to outwrite kill him. Her brows furrowed in confusion as her sister went on to describe this boy. It made her uneasy that he'd apparently flipped a switch so fast. They were usually the sort that had hidden lives, or past they didn't like to remember. Just who had Camille run into?

"Next time?!" Lillia whispered incredulously. Why would Cami want a next time to some man that had held a knife at her throat? But...Her sister was naive, and sweet, and just wanted people to like her. Lillia just hoped she wouldn't get hurt. She let go of Cami's head as she lifted herself up and rolled over. She placed her hands on her hips and frowned down at her, raising an eyebrow. "To leave me alone." She answered dryly. 

Camille was the far more extroverted twin. Lillia was prickly, and could communicate just fine when she had to, or really knew the person, but she was shy. If she was honest she didn't have friends outside of Sara, and didn't spend time with anyone that wasn't family. It was an insecurity of hers. Secretly also wanting to be liked, but where Cami was the puppy outwardly expressing her desire for people to like and be friends with her, Lillia was a cat who didn't trust easily. 

"Pissed, but what else is new." She sighed. She'd often complained to Sara about the army private that was a thorn in her side. She bent down, pressing a quick kiss on top of Camille's head and then turned and sat beside her, beginning to pull her boots off. "Cawdor is just so freaking irritating. I swear he does half the shit he does, just because he wants to see me react. Try as I might to ignore him, he weasels his way under my skin." She growled. She tossed the boot away and the other soon followed. Lillia turned to face Cami then, giving her a serious look. "You ever see Nicholas Cawdor, you stab him okay? He's a tall blonde gargoyle with beady blue eyes." She stood up and went to her dresser. "Fucking lumbering Oxe..." She muttered under her breath. She pulled out a drawer, finding a nice gotten dress to wear around the house in. "Why do you feel obligated to give knife boy something? He pulled it on you, shouldn't it be the other way around?" She asked as she started to undress. 

[Camille St. James]

Cami listened, but she wasn't sure she was really hearing what her sister was saying. Tall, blonde, blue eyes? This gargoyle was sounding pretty good so far. And picking on Lillia just so he could have her attention? It may be immature, but if she didn't know better, she'd think tall-blonde-and-gargoyle had a crush on her twin. But if Lilli hated him that much, he really ought to back off. Forcing yourself on someone was never a good idea.

"I'll keep that in mind," she promised, although she wasn't planning on stabbing anyone, not Finnian, and definitely not Nick Cawdor.

She watched her sister move around as he considered her answer to the other question. Why did she want to give Finnian something? "I don't feel obligated, exactly… But I also don't want him to dislike me. I startled him before, so it felt like it was my fault, somehow, for upsetting him. So perhaps it's an apology? I'm not sure. I suppose when you put it like that, it does sound ridiculous," she mused, thinking out loud.

Cami groaned and heaved herself up to sit cross-legged on the bed, tucking her legs into the skirt of her dress. "I just want people to think I'm nice and pretty and likable, is that so wrong? I'm tired of feeling like I'm stuck on the outside of everything. I want to belong somewhere, as you do with the army. That's your team, and you can trust them--even if one particular boy is a lumbering ox gargoyle with pretty eyes."

[Lillia St. James]

Lillia listened to Cami while she explained herself. She was quick in changing before pulling the dress up over her head, and letting the soft fabric slight down her body. She looked over her shoulder at her sister while she adjusted the dress into place. "So then just tell him sorry. You don't have to give him anything." She said, bending down to pick her clothes. She walked towards a chair and dumped them on it before she started to fold them neatly. 

She paused, and placed her hands on her hips, before she turned and stared at her sister, fixing her with a look that said she thought she was full of bologna. Was her sister blind? Or did she have a veil over her eyes? In Lillia's eyes, Cami was already pretty and likeable. In fact, Lillia got a bit annoyed with her just then, because Cami was the version of herself she wished she could be. She might have been if their real parents were still alive and they hadn't been on the streets for those four years. But their life had morphed and shaped them into who they were now. 

There was a small laugh at "her team." Right. Her team. They called her the Devil woman, or in Cawdors mind whatever sweet he could think of for that week. No one had made effort to get to know her, to form those bonds save for Raina De Sardet. Nick harrassed her, Raina seemed to actually care, and besides...Army girls had to stick together. "He doesn't have pretty eyes, they're beady." She scoffed, grumbling to herself as she picked up the stack of folded clothes and then went and put it in the laundry basket. "People already like you Cam, and your certainly a head turner. You don't have to try so hard." Lillia told her walking over and sitting down next to her. Her gaze softened on her sister, not wanting to tell her that it was her who wanted to be liked by everyone. "You just haven't found your niche yet. You're still young, I'm sure you'll find it eventually." She said reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. "What's not to like about that smile of yours. You're pure sunshine." She Lillia told her with a smile, reaching up to poke her gently in the cheek. 

[Camille St. James]

Camille made a face as her twin insisted that she was crazy. Sure people talked to her, but that didn't mean they liked her, trusted her, wanted her around...those things were harder to come by. But, at least she was trying? She'd struck out so far, but she could keep trying. Eventually, she had to succeed, right?

"I don't think I know how to try any less," she muttered, leaning over to let her head drop onto her sister's shoulder. Involuntarily she found herself sighing heavily, releasing tension she hadn't even realized she was holding in her shoulders as she relaxed in her twin's presence.

"I know you're right, but I don't want to solve this eventually. I want it fixed now." She knew she was whining, but she didn't care. It was the truth. The people at the court made it look so easy and beautiful, a choreographed dance where everyone knew their place and their partner. And she couldn't figure out all the moves. She was so close...but it just wasn't quite right. She was missing something.

She shook her head and looked up at Lillia. "It's your smile too, you know. We have basically the same face." She poked Lilli's cheek the same way she had done.

"If I'm the sun, does that make you the moon? That's kinda nice."