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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Apr 4, 2009 15:42:27 GMT -5
It was an airy Spring afternoon near Avoir's port when the carnival arrived with its bright and dazzling multicoloured array of lights and enchanting music. It had settled in a large square just beyond the port, the elegant architecture of the turreted buildings of the city casting distorted shadows from the sun down onto the dancing parade of masks and performers and other such oddities. There were fantastic ladies adorned with dresses made from the finest materials, and large, brilliant coloured feathers from some near extinct bird. Men tottering on stilts and travelling seemingly by magic through the cobbled streets were common to see, and the general mood was frivolous and excitable. There were even rumours of fire-works; some strange magic which caused rainbows of light to explode into the night sky. But they'd just have to wait for evening for that, wouldn't they?
Fire-works or not, Lexie, for one, was thoroughly enjoying herself. She had never been to Écritêtre, and considering that she had only even been in Avoir for a few hours, she was having the time of her life! All of this feasting and singing, dancing and general celebration had put her in a good mood... not that she wasn't almost always in one anyway. The only thing she found odd was that for once in her life she actually seemed to BLEND IN with everyone, high pigtails bouncing along as she sprung through the charged up crowd, practically quivering with excitement. Oh, she couldn't sit here and do nothing!
Upon finding a small space which was free of people, she set about the primary eye-catching trick of the show(wo)man; the illusion. With a spin that was as graceful as any ballerina, what almost looked like a vibrant pink fountain awoke from beneath her feet, the silver bells on her toes jingling cheerfully as she paused, dizzy, having caught a little attention with that.
"On the way a miracle!" she called to the small crowd that had gathered, "Water became bone! What is it?" she winked. Lexie LOVED riddles. This was an easy one to begin, and they just got harder as she got more cheerful.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 5, 2009 11:12:15 GMT -5
The carnival that had swept into town was impossible to ignore. As soon as news spread that the carnival was on it's way everyone was buzzing with excitement, people decorating the streets in preparation and getting out their best clothes. The news had even spread past the boundaries of Avoir into the surrounding towns, filling up all the inns and lining the pockets of local merchants. The people here loved a show, and the drama and vibrance of the carnival was a real crowd pleaser (and the fact that you didn't have to pay to actually see the show also helped). No-one in the city would miss this. Most shops had been closed up and servants had been given the day of, even the thieves were passing up the oppertunity to loot the empty houses and sticking to pick pocketing around the port. Of course Kevay couldn't miss this. He tugged on the cuffs of his shirt as he walked, emerald coloured cufflinks flashing in the sunlight. He had also decided to stick with the carnival mood and had chosen a bright blue shirt from his closet, unfortunatly not silken but the colour made up for it's lack of texture. Colour ws his newest obsession anyway, the brighter the better. Right now he was of the opinion that a clever colour choice could resuce even the ugliest of outfits, and could also light up tiredest of complextions. However, he did have to admit that some of the colours and prints that surrounded him made his eyes hurt. Tsk, there was no accounting for taste, was there? In truth, Kevay really shouldn't be in town. He had gotten himself into a spot of bother with the head of the guards (mainly because his daughter was really rather beautiful...and how was he supposed to know that she was engaged? That ring could have meant anything.), but he hoped that today they would be too distracted to notice him. And if they did just happen to notice him then there was a big enough crowd for him to disappear into...even if disappearing was rather hard when you were Kevay. Just walking along he was drawing quite of attention from the women; and that obviously had nothing to do with the winks and charming smirks that he was sending in the direction of anyone who was even vaguly pretty. Him passing was followed by flustered whispered and excitable giggles; but what could he say? He was just that great. A burst of pink to his side caught his attention, Kevay one of the first to gather in the small clearing around the girl with the pig tails, smiling in a rather amused manner as he watched her. Ahhh, she was practically the personification of his obsession with colour...even if she had no idea what to put with what and looked as though she had been mugged by a rainbow. Now she was interesting, wasn't she? He was glad that he had stuck around now, today may turn out to be even better than he had planned. "Ice." He called out above the guesses from the crowd, brushing his hair back from his face before giving the performer a suave little smirk.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Apr 5, 2009 12:33:08 GMT -5
Lexie was smiling brightly, the pink fountain of water dancing around her heels and forming marvellous shapes as the little crowd around her shouted out their answers, the tinkling golden bells on the ribbons of her pigtails jangling merrily as she shook her head, and giggled. She opened her mouth to call out the correct answer when a smooth, sultry voice (to her anyway) beat her to it, the little trickster left momentarily stunned and lost for words. It wasn't something she was used to, but she soon recovered, gold and silver eyes searching out the owner of such a voice. The fountain illusion around her shimmered blue as she spotted Kevay, as if responding to the colour of his clothes, and it hastily formed into the shape of a large water lily around her before freezing all of a sudden, glimmering flawlessly as she grinned.
"Ice! That's correct!" she beamed from within her frozen lily, which abruptly melted to nothingness. Through the small scale applause of the crowd Lexie gave a flambuoyant bow, partially for show but mostly to try and stop herself from toppling over completely. Her knees suddenly felt vaguely weak, and she didn't know why. She remembered seeing the man who had called out the answer to her riddle... she remembered his smile. Suddenly she felt giddy all over again, and remarkably stupid for feeling so.
Lexie didn't care about mens' affections. Not right now, anyway. So where had this come from? Oh, forget it. It was probably a one off. Straightening up again, she gave a smile to the crowd and lifted her hands, brightly coloured spheres appearing from seemingly nowhere for her to juggle. It was easy to do when the balls were an illusion, but still, mimicry took a little skill, right? She tactfully avoided the gaze of the man on the outskirts of the crowd, smiling faintly as she called out her next riddle.
"The more there is, the less you see." she chirped, the coloured spheres in her hands doubling until there were at least seven, not that she seemed to mind. "What is it?"
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Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 5, 2009 17:25:20 GMT -5
Illusion and wonder; it was everything that the carnival was about, wasn't it? It was about making people happy and letting them forget about the trivia of reality for a while, and what better way to forget about day to day life than to be enthralled by a little bit of fantasy? The crowd 'oooh'ed and 'ahhh'ed as the pink fountain flowed around her, little children gathering around the front of the crowd to point and gasp. Yes, the whole crowd was enjoying the show that the girl was putting on, and that included Kevay. He even applauded with the crowd as the fountain shifted into the frozen lilly. The girl deserved some encouragement, and people were even starting to throw coins into the space around her.
He couldn't help a mischevious little smirk as he noticed a momentary flater in her act as she looked at him. No matter how many times it happened, it still amused him to see how different people reacted to him. Women generally got so flustered around him it was hilarious, so she had done pretty well to get herself together and carry on with the show. However, that just made him all the more determined to catch her attention again.
He let his hands rest in his pockets as she called out the next riddle, waiting fo a moment to listen to the suggestions from the others in the crowd. He actually feigned thinking about the riddle to give the others a chance, but when no-one else seemed to know the answer he decided that it was time to step in.
"Darkness." He called in that same, confident tone, grinning to himself as he watched her. He had to say, he quite liked this game.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Apr 6, 2009 7:49:08 GMT -5
Lexie had taken to juggling with her eyes closed while the crowd shouted their answers, the coloured spheres seeming blurred as they weaved their way through the air. She let out a laugh of triumph as the right answer was called, again, confidently over the shouts of the people, letting the spheres drop from the air and snapping her fingers rather suddenly. Each sphere exploded into a black fog which surrounded the crowd, bathing them in thick darkness, impenetrable to the eyesight. A few of the smaller children let out cries of alarm when they couldn't see, only for Lexie's cheerful voice to ring out and calm them.
"Look here! When it is dark enough, you can see the stars..." she chimed, and small, twinkling gems of light began to shine throughout the mist, which eventually cleared to show the little jester with one such gem cupped in her palms, smiling down at a young girl.
"To be a star," she told her wisely, "You must shine your own light, follow your own path. And don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest." she winked, before looking up to seek out the man with a knack for riddles - she'd recognised his voice from the others this time, and was ashamed to say that her knees felt weak yet again as she spotted him. Oh, this could not do.
"It seems we have a Riddle King in our midst!" she grinned, straightening up to let the tiny 'star' whizz away and trying to avoid suddenly... flinging herself at the man. What was wrong with her?
"Try this one." she smirked playfully, "If you have it, you want to share it. But when you share it, you nolonger have it." she looked at him expectantly.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 6, 2009 8:38:01 GMT -5
Kevay seemed as cool as ever as the darkness wound around him, grinning a little at the children's responses. People reacted so predictably sometimes, then again, it was never nice to lose your sight, was it? He glanced up as the silver spangles glittered in the darkness. He, however, was watching the crowd now rather than the illusion. Starlight was flattering, and even more so for the group of rather pretty girls that were stood not far from where he was. He gave them one of his most charming smiles, about to slip over there to comfort them when the performer drew his attention back to the show, catching sight of the glow from the corner of his eye. For a second he was fooled into thinking that it was a real star before it whizzed away through the air. Morals, riddles and illusions; for someone so young she really was rather talented, wasn't she? She was also rather pretty when you looked past all those clashing colours. Style her hair and shove her into a ball gown and she would have been able to fit in with the nobility; but she would be more interesting. That glimmer of mischief came back into his eyes as he noticed that she was looking over at him again, smirking arrogantly about her 'riddle king' comment; when you had been around as long as he had you had heard your fair share of riddles. It wasn't that he was particularly smart, he just remembered the answers...and loved the chance to show off in front of the crowd. He held her gaze as he realised that she was still looking at him, smiling to her as he folded his arms over his chest. "A secret." He told her before the rest of the crowd had the chance to guess. "Come now, I'm sure that you have a few more difficult ones up those sleeves of yours."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Apr 13, 2009 9:00:51 GMT -5
Lexie smiled brightly as he told her the right answer, yet again, the crowd seeming to find this 'double act', so to speak, even more entertaining than when the little jester had acted on her own. It was like a mental tug of war, except that Lexie wasn't interested in winning, just playing the game. "A secret is correct." she winked to the charming man who, she saw now, was even more dashing than his suave and confident voice had portrayed.
"The man who can keep a secret may be wise," she murmured, "But he is not half as wise as the man who has no secrets to keep." she winked. Morals were just things that tended to come hand in hand with the riddles; Lexie knew a variety of riddles, puzzles and other such things, but the morals behind them had only ever occured to her after some thought. It helped the point she was trying to put over though, and it earned her a bit of gold, so she couldn't complain. She just liked to perform.
She grinned to him at the suggestion that her riddles were too easy, giving a mock insulted gasp and looking at her brightly coloured sleeves as if expecting more riddles to jump out. "I've no more riddles up my sleeves, my friend." she apologised, lifting her arm to tug at her sleeve, only for a stream of bright, multicoloured butterflies to spill out of them, fluttering around the giggling children and the applauding cloud. "Alas, I only have butterflies up there." she smirked, "But I think I may have another riddle for you."
"If I say 'Everything I say is a lie.' am I telling the truth, or a lie?" she asked, a challenging smile on her face. This one had even taken her a while to work out.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 18, 2009 19:28:13 GMT -5
Ah, Kevay thought with a smirk, a man who has no secrets to keep may be wise, but they were definatly boring. Morals, they were something that he had no time for. What use were they anyway? They didn't help anyone, or stop bad things happening. You could believe that things such as infidelity and betrayal all you wanted, but it wasn't going to stop them happening, and it wasn't going to stop people enjoying comitting such terrible moral crimes. Morals were for people who were dumb enough to care, and Kevay cetainly wasn't one of those people. He was too pretty to care anyway, he would leave that to the ugly people who didn't have anything better to do.
He was momentarily distracted as all the butterflies fluttered from her sleeve, all the moving colours filling his senses. He really did love colour, smiling softly as he raised a hand to allow one of the butterflies to land on his fingertip. He liked this girl more and more as her show continued, just because she could fill the world with vibrance in the blink of an eye. Maybe he should steal her away? He could use some entertainment and cheeriness and his long journey to where ever she was heading.
He looked up again as she called out her next riddle, letting the butterfly flutter off. By this time he had decided to play along with the show, tilting his head to the side to feign thinking for a moment or two, enjoying the puzzled looks from the crowd as they attempted to work out the correct answer, many just watching him expectantly, too lazy to think for themselves.
"I think that you will find that it is a lie." He nodded after thecrowd had shouted out a few unsure sounding answers, his voice filled with that same confidence as before. He was enjoying this game.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 22, 2009 16:18:13 GMT -5
Even Lexie was just a little surprised when this beautiful man answered her riddle once again, although she hid it with an amused smirk. "Correct. It is a lie. My my, someone has done their homework." she nodded, the crowd around them still seeming to be trying to figure out why, but the little trickster only giggled and shook her head. She had been about to ask another riddle to this strangely enticing stranger when a heavy, arrogant looking man elbowed his way through the crowd to get past, grunting in annoyance at the fact that his path was blocked. He glared at Lexie as he shoved past her, grumbling curses in Écritêtrean, the jester frowning ever-so-slightly before giving a mischievous grin, eyes glinting excitedly.
As the crowd watched in full view, while others moved to enjoy the rest of the carnival, Lexie feigned a terrified gasp. "Sir, sir, O please wait!!" she cried, prancing like a ballerina with the bells on her shoes tinkling merrily until she was in front of the man, who grunted in surprise. "Sir, please! I believe I saw a most deadly spider just crawl beneath the collar of your coat! They're rare in these parts, you know, I'm VERY surprised to see one here!" she shook her head, sounding panicked. "Do you feel faint? Have you been bitten? What about your hands? Any purple spots?" she gasped, although anyone behind her could have seen the flick of her wrist as she conjured an illusion.
The man glared as her as though she was trying to swindle him out of his gold, but looked down at his hands none the less. His greasy face paled considerably however, when he saw the large purple blotches on the backs of his palms, and he staggered back, clawing at his shoulders and neck for the 'deadly spider'. "Oh no, sir! Please, don't panic, lest it bite you again!!" Lexie waved her hands, trying to hold back a smirk while the crowd around them snickered and concealed their amusement.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 31, 2009 18:53:39 GMT -5
Some people were so rude, weren't they? Rushing around and shoving others out of the way as though they had the right of way. It was actually rather amusing and fitting that this man had become the new center of the performers show. For the crowd it was pretty easy to see through her teasing, but the man hadn't seen her previous illusions, and in his panic he would be far too willing to accept what his eyes were telling him rather than consulting any of his other senses. Kevay had to admit, vision was his favourite sense, but it wasn't completely reliable. Sometimes you had to look a little further than what you saw to find the truth.
The crowd snickered at the man's panic, though none stepped forward to put him out of his misery. Why should they stop the show? What harm was a little teasing when it was all in the name of entertainment. Even Kevay saw fit to join in with this little show, hiding his smirk as he stepped forward and out of the crowd, looking concerned. "Oh dear. I think someone should find a healer. Though...it may already be too late. I hear that the poison from these spiders takes affect rather quickly." He added a serious tone to his voice to make the charade more believable, though he was finding it difficult to mask the mischief in his eyes.
"If you have any messages for loved ones I would be happy to make sure that they get them, just incase you take a turn for the worst."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jun 12, 2009 15:07:09 GMT -5
If anyhting could have frightened the man more than Lexie telling him he'd been bitten by a supposedly deadly spider, then it was the backing up of her claim by, to him, was just another person in the crowd. His face was ashen and sweaty, and he was beginning to tremble as he looked at his hands. "But... but I feel fine!" he bellowed, the crowd beginning to chuckle again, their attempts at hiding their laughter becoming somewhat difficult. Lexie, still putting on her show only sighed in what sounded like a regretful tone, and shook her head at the man.
"They always do, my dear sir, they always do... I'd give you about an hour, tops, I'm afraid." she tutted and patted his arm sympathetically. Though not even she expected it when the man suddenly just... keeled over right in front of her in a dead faint, collapsing with the grace of a sack of potatoes and making the jester have to leap out of the way unless she wanted to be crushed to death. There was silence for a second or two and a few concealed giggles, right up until when Lexie marched up and poked the unconscious man in the side with her foot, nodding triumphantly. "And that's what you get for being rude!" she told him.
Then the crowd was full of laughter, and she waved her hand to remove the illusion while the mass of people dispersed to enjoy the rest of the carnival. That rash and irritable man had interrupted her flow, anyway, she couldn't carry on a performance after that. Instead she moved, graceful and pixie-like to pick up the coins that people had thrown to her, humming merrily to herself. She had even almost forgotten about Kevay, the key word being almost. With a sudden 'oh!' as she remembered that he had been there to back her up on her little white lie, she turned to face him, trying to ignore the faint blush that crept up over her cheeks, forcing it back down where it belonged. What was with her today?
"You're quite the performer, you know." she chuckled lightly, "Thanks for your help."
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jun 13, 2009 16:49:18 GMT -5
Kevay couldn't contain his amused chuckle as the man fainted, shaking his head slowly. Some people were so gullible. He might have felt sorry for him if he hadn't been so rude before, but as it stood the man had just been subjected to a rather embarrassing lesson. No doubt the story of what had happened would have circulated around the city once of twice by the end of the night, and the man would, of course, swear blind that there actually had been a spider and that he was actually very lucky to be alive. By the morning the story would be out that there was a killer spider in town and everyone would panic at the sight of the most common of spiders, but that was gossip for you; you could never trust it until you had seen it happen for yourself.
He wasn't quite sure why he lingered when everyone else started to move on, watching Lexie as she went around collecting the coins from the floor, slipping a silver coin from his own pocket. He wasn't planning on throwing it on the floor though, he figured that it was far more polite to hand it to her...plus he wanted to see how she reacted to him. She wasn't like any other girl he had met so far; she stood out in the crowd, and not only because of her attire. Her aura was...strange. He couldn't read it.
Kevay smiled as she spoke to him, reaching out to cup her chin in his hand and turn her face up so that he could look at her properly. "Hmm, I wouldn't have thought that you could get very much more colour into your outfit, I have to say that you have succeeded." He teased with a smirk, releasing her chin to hold the coin out for her. "No problem. I have to say that I was rather entertained by your little show. Maybe I should follow you to your next performance and see what else you can do..." There was a mischievious glimmer in his eyes as he looked down at her, his smirk still sitting upon his lips.
"May I be priviledged enough to learn your name?" He asked, tilting his head at her, "Or am I going to have to follow you until you tell me?"
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jun 14, 2009 10:25:09 GMT -5
Shock wasn't really the word for it when Kevay suddenly touched her; she'd have been surprised even if he wasn't the finest looking person, male, female or otherwise inclined that she'd ever seen in her life. But it was almost like electricity flowed from his fingertips, and to make it worse he was staring right down at her. Any other person would have gotten a startled squeak at the very least (and a smack and a few choice swear words at the most), but he seemed to have stolen her voice with his touch, as well as her ability to think. Indeed, it took a good couple of seconds for her to actually realise that he was talking... and another second to decipher that he was talking about her attire, gold and silver eyes flashing as he released her, breaking the spell.
"Um... thank you." she murmured softly as he held the coin out to her, gently taking it and slipping it into a small pouch at her waist. She felt all weird and... and... she couldn't really explain it, but Lexie was never EVER shy, and this stranger had managed to stunt her confidence with just a compliment. Although a faint blush stood out on her cheeks as he suggested following her to her next performance, but she quickly fought away the fluttering little feeling in her chest, managing to regain at least some of her composure; she even managed to look Kevay in the eyes again and smirk playfully, the mischevious look on her face matching his... although his was much more perfect, of course. Everything he seemed to do was perfect.
"Well, I wouldn't want to put you at a disadvantage at having to stalk me when I already know that you're there." she shrugged to him, grinning. "So that does make you priviledged enough for my name." she decided, stepping back to give him a graceful, flambuoyant bow. "I'm Anathea Bromista Lexley. But you can just call me Lexie, it suits my personality more." she giggled. "Might I be bold enough to ask for your name in return? Or will I have to wait until you've followed me enough to tell me?" she asked. It was easier to deal with this handsome stranger, she found, when she just continued to pretend that it was all a show. He still managed to fluster her without her knowing how, but it was less likely when she expected it. Sort of.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jun 14, 2009 10:53:59 GMT -5
Kevay knew all too well the effect that he had on women, and he tended to use it to his advantage. One would think the amusement he got from stopping a woman's thoughts in their tracks would fade, but it never did. He found their sudden shyness and lack of words endearing, much better than the carefully constructed facade that most women tended to surround themselves with. He even chuckled to himself as he read the surprise in her eyes, reaching up to brush her hair back from her face, letting his fingertips briefly touch her cheek. "What's wrong darlin', cat got your tongue?" He teased playfully, letting his hand fall back to his side, tucking it in his coat pocket, as if to say that he would behave now.
"Maybe I don't want to tell you my name. I will lose all my mystery if you know who I am." He grinned down at her. She had done a rather good job at recovering her senses, she had even managed to look up at him! He liked this girl, he really should steal her away with him. "However, as you have obliged to tell me your name I guess that it would only be polite to repay the favour." He faked a sigh then before suddenly reaching out to take her hand and bow to her. "Kevay Taylor, pleasure to meet you." He smirked as he leant over to brush his lips over the back of her hand, lingering there for a moment before releasing her and straightening up again.
"So..." He began as he looked around, "...where next? I suppose that my stalking plan might not work, but I can accompany you, right?" He asked, flashing her one of those dashing smiles as he looked to her again. It wasn't really a question, more of a statement really. What woman in their right mind would say no to him?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jun 14, 2009 11:59:56 GMT -5
Although he'd successfully managed to turn her into a mute with the faintest feeling of his hand brushing past her cheek, she still managed to pout at him adorably, as if in response to his playful teasing. Lexie could probably have seen where he was coming from, though, with his enjoyment in causing women to turn to putty in his hands. It was probably just like a joke or a game to him. And Lexie liked jokes.
She smiled lightly as he bowed to her, biting back the giggle that threatened to escape from her lips. At least she could have said that she'd have laughed whether he was the most handsome person in the world or not, that's just who she was. Although she was rather unnerved not only by the strange hammering of her heart in her chest when he kissed the back of her hand, or the strange hot flush that came over her, but also by the seething, down right MURDEROUS glares from the women that were passing them throughout the carnival. Oh... this wasn't looking good for her. She'd come to the conclusion that there was something definitely not quite right about Kevay, and she was getting curious as to just what that was. Ah, well. At least the worry that she was going to be killed by a mob of women had distracted her from his kiss, so she didn't swoon or faint or anything.
"It's wonderful to meet you too, Kevay." she managed with a smile as he stepped back from her, keeping an eye on those pesky women in case she had to run from them. She was dragged from her suspicions by the sound of his perfect voice all over again though, looking up at him dazedly to try and work out what he'd said. "Huh...? ...Oh!" she laughed, making the tinkling bells on her pigtails jingle merrily. "I was planning to enjoy the rest of the carnival and see what there is to do. I only got to Avoir this morning, I'm trying to see all the sights that I can. You're welcome to join me." she offered, nodding to him as though it was the most natural thing in the world. He was right. No woman COULD say no to him. Damn.
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