Welcome to Pureblood Nonsense 101 - 5

[Shava]

Dec 20, 2011 at 12:38am

Rosalie DiAngelo was nervous. She had cleaned the entire house top to bottom three times in the last two days. The guest bedroom had been made, remade, and made again. She had changed clothes no less than six times, having started out too dressy, then too casual, and currently in something somewhat in between strongly resembling her normal casual school attire. Her grandmother would have clicked her tongue endlessly in disapproval, but this was Taranis, and she wanted him to be comfortable.

Especially since his mother had insisted on being so formal. Rose was glad she had managed to talk her mum into casual attire for their visit with Taranis' family, because even in her casual wear, Mrs. DiAngelo had looked somewhat out of place. Rosalie shook her head at the memory, some things couldn't be helped. Mum was currently in the kitchen, baking up a small banquet's worth of cookies, pasties and pies. Poor Taranis was going to have a time with it all, but she hoped he'd understand.

She glanced at the time, they'd be back any moment. Her dad had insisted, much to Rosalie's dismay, on going to pick up Taranis by himself. She knew it was because he wanted first dibs on interrogating her boyfriend, and she hoped he wouldn't lay it on too heavily. Currently, she was curled up on the couch, trying to appear thoroughly interested in the book in her hand. In truth, she wasn't even sure what she was reading, having only eyed the first line a half a dozen times. She heard the front door click, and inhaled deeply.[/quote]

[Shava]

Rosalie's father was definitely used to interrogation, verbally at least. The trip back hadn't been long, since of course they had appirated, but it had started with a fifteen minute conversation where he had asked as many questions about the farm as he had about Taranis' intentions. he had done his best to be careful, but even his slip ups he thought had gone well enough. The man seemed satisfied that his intentions were honorable and that he hadn't been kidding when he said they had been friends for awhile.

Appearing in front of a very nicely appointed looking home, and far larger then anything he had seen before this moment, Taranis felt his cheeks a bit flushed and not from cool weather. He was very much aware of how little money his family had and seeing this nice place just made him feel his knees wobbling at the thought of it. This wasn't just the money issue, it was a matter of a different lifestyle completely. he had known it from the moment he had seen Mrs DiAngelo really; no hiding a gem in a potato pile as they said.

Well as someone had said. He was sure he'd heard it that way before.

Stepping in he had felt more then just nervous, but worried there was about to be another interrogation, but he was rather pleased to see that his eyes fell on Rosalie's face first on a nearby couch. He started to raise his hand in greeting, but her father closed the door suddenly and called out a greeting, telling Taranis "Just put your bag down here next to the stand," as he hung his coat up and motioned at Taranis' broom. "Here, mind if I take a closer look?"

"Oh go right ahead sir. A family friend got it for me from Uise Wheelan in Dufftown. It's an African wood and it responds very well for me. It's touchy about others though. I can put my sisters on it easily enough, but anyone else it gets feisty." he reached out a hand to take hers as her father examined the custom made broom very careful and with quite some interest.

[Shava]

Rosalie shook her head from her place on the couch, barely in the door and her father was already leading up to what promised to be a long conversation about quidditch. Not that Rosalie normally minded conversations about quidditch, but she’d been looking forward to this since school let out for winter hols, and besides, mum would want a chance to speak to Taranis as well. She stood up, walked over to wear her father was currently focused on analyzing Taranis’ broom as though it were Taranis himself, and tapped him on the shoulder. “Daddy, maybe we could wait to have the quidditch talk until after mum’s had a chance to feed him”, she recommended. “She’ll be very upset if everything goes to waste after she’s been up backing since 7 this morning.” Mr. DiAngelo winced, and nodded knowingly at his daughter as though he’d only just remembered he had a wife and child, much less that the two had been preparing for the arrival of their house guest all morning.

She smiled up at Taranis, her eyes warm. “And good morning to you sir”, she said in a teasingly proper voice, mischief glinting in her hazel eyes. She offered her hand much like her mother would have, before winking at him and wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. “I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble on the way over”, she said to the air. Her father spoke up, “not at all, we had quite a lovely little chat didn’t we Taranis?” Rosalie laughed, pulling away from Taran and turning to her father. “I was talking to Taranis daddy.” Mr. DiAngelo made as if to look offended, before he broke into a smile and tweaked her on the nose.

“I was perfectly reasonable, didn’t I promise?” he gave her an innocent look that very much resembled her own.
“Yes daddy”, she said in a teasing tone. Her father motioned the two of them on. “Let’s get to the kitchen and see if we can’t find your mother, hmm?” Rose took Taranis’ hand, and smiled up at him, the look in her eyes said ‘be prepared’. When they arrived in said kitchen, sure enough her mother looked to be standing in the middle of a small bakery. Her apron was splattered with flour and maybe an egg or two. She turned to them and smiled before taking a towel and wiping her hand on it. She offered it to Taranis, “glad you made it all right”, she said softly. She too glanced at her husband. She and her daughter had made a pact to keep him from being too hard on Taranis during the visit, which was to say that Rosalie had begged for her mother’s help while father and boyfriend were gone.

“I suspect Gran will be sending an invitation to visit sometime in the next few hours”, her mother observed. “I hope you have properly prepared Taranis for it Rose?” Her daughter nodded, and gave Taranis a laughing look. Her parents seemed content to use Gran as the trump card just as she did. “In the mean while let’s all eat shall we?” Her father kissed her mother softly as she removed her apron. She pressed her forehead to his, and whispered something too soft for them to hear, and then, louder. "Max, not in front of the kids." Her mum was blushing as though she were Rosalie's age again, and Rose shot Taran a look that read, 'see? I told you so.'

[Shava]

Rosalie's intervention about the broom clearly caught her father feeling a tad guilty. Taranis grinned as he took the broom back and leaned it next to his bag. He had not prepared himself for eating so soon, but he was also a teenage boy and often had an empty spot ready to go so he wasn't disturbed too much to hear he had been baked for. "Morning, Rosalie," he said determined to not let everything get too much, "I promise he wasn't harsh on me, don't get after him too much." He winked where only she could see. Actually her father had started off with a very reasonable statement that he had promised, but he could not be held accountable for what he did to protect his daughter and he wanted Taranis to understand he had to ask some tough questions.

As if between two men, Taran had agreed and told him to ask what he needed to. It had been a concentrated conversation in which only one thing he had hesitated over and that was her father's question about his intentions after graduation. His answer about seeing to the future of his family, but current and future, seemed to have satisfied him as much as hearing about what his normal work day on the farm was like. As Taran had qualified, there was no way of knowing what all would happen in the future, but he certainly tried to plan for what he could handle and not shift the load on others unless they really could handle it. Oddly enough, he had not asked Taranis once about his feeling for Rosalie and that had been the question he had been most expecting.

He had no experience with married couples and did not realize he was about to go through bad cop good cop variation.

While the house was really big compared to the simple farm cottage he was used to, the living room space was big enough to hold a good eight people or even more. "You have a very nice looking house, sir, you must be happy with it." He had never been in such a large open space in a home for just sitting in. But the kitchen made his eyes get very wide. Easily twice the size of his mother's-- no, three times he was sure, the amount of space for just dishes was big. Maybe when the manor was finished there would be something on this scale, but it just surprised him that three people had this much space. He took her hand as he said "You have a beautiful home, Mrs DiAngelo, everything is so big and so much space to work in..."

He saw the laughter in Rosalie's eyes at him and had to resist sticking out his tongue at her, though he was fairly sure she got the intention from his look. "I've been warned to be on my best behavior by more then your daughter, Ma'am, and my sisters have threatened make-up if I return in shame so suffice it to say I'm cowed enough in advance." He smiled in a way to say it was funny, but not a joke and saw she did not miss that. His sisters may not realize how important this was for their family, but they sure wanted their brother to have the best. They knew he worked his butt off for them and despite their teasing they were all very close. The few times he had gotten injured on the farm they had been right there to help nurse him back to health; he knew they meant their threat, but it was with good intentions.

Next he was surprised to find that they were not eating in the kitchen itself, but they had another room for that as well.

[Shava]

Rosalie looked up into Taranis' eyes. She wasn't certain she believed him, but she let the moment pass without incedent. She gave Taran an approving smile at his well placed compliment, and she noticed her father's expression warm a bit as well. It was a moment before he spoke. "Yes, Aryssa and I are rather proud of it, but I personally am proud of the work my girls put into it." He glanced at Rose with a twinkle in his eyes. "Rosie here has been cleaning nonstop since we found out you were coming." His eyes held a conspirational glint as they met Taranis' own and he seemed purposefully oblivious to his blushing daughter.

Rosalie, for her part, flushed bright red. "Dad!" she made a face at her father. "He's exaggerating really, it wasn't as much as all that." She stared hard at the floor, grateful when the party began to move into the kitchen. She noticed Taranis' semi-awed expression and grinned. Her mother practically glowed with pride at Taranis compliment, and she knew then that he'd have no trouble worming his way into her parents' affections. Aryssa DiAngelo smiled, "the space is a blessing and a curse I'm afraid, always enough room, but you never quite know where anything is." Rose smiled, it was true enough, the word 'accio' was probably one of the most frequently used in the house, by all except Rose of course, who had to make due with finding things the hard way.

She noticed Taranis giving her a look and resisted the urge to return it, she winked at him instead. She could just picture the situation Taran was painting for her mum. No doubt his mother and sisters had given him quite the talking to before he left, but they needn't have worried, she was sure of it. "I would be more than happy to lend them mine", she teased him softly, eyes bright with excitement and anticipation. "I even think I might know a spell to make it permanant." She sent him a wicked grin, and was about to continue when she was interrupted by her mother. "Rose, don't harrass our guest, why don't you gentleman head to the dining room and Rose and I will start bringing everything in?" When the men had left, her mother's disapproving glance warmed considerably. "He's quite an attractive young man, Rosie, almost as handsome as your father." Rose blushed, but she was pleased by the compliment.

Her mother really needed no help, she simply used basic spell work to perform a form of apparition on each item in the kitchen so that it reappeared on the table. She did however hand Rosalie one of the last of the pies, her daughter's favorite, chocolate. When her mum nodded toward the door to the dining room, Rosalie took the pie and headed through. "All right, who wants pie?"[/quote]

[Shava]

He nodded seeing the man's pride was clear and he was a good man. He tried not to laugh when he made Rosalie blush too, but it was hard not to. And there were a lot of things in the kitchen and he had seen how carefully his mother had to make due with small amounts. What could all this stuff be for? Although judging by all the food it was designed to make Taranis plump. He half suspected Rosalie of having convinced her mother to fatten him up some which would have been a trick she would have laughed about, but he couldn't get away with pulling her aside to ask. "Wow! You seem to be feeding an army here I must have missed somewhere! But it does smell good."

Her comment about makeup could not be allowed to pass. His sisters were teasing him enough as it was and she was going to add to it? Oh no. "But Rosalie, I didn't know you even had any! You certainly don't need any..." Oh yeah, the look on her face... On that note he followed Rosalie's father into a room with table and chairs and took a seat where her father pointed him towards, not wanting to take someone's seat. As food began appearing on the table, he said out of the side of his mouth to her father "Um sir? How much of this are we expected to finish? She really does have a lot of stuff..."

Taranis was starting to feel more relaxed, since things seemed to be going well.

He quickly sat straight again as Rosalie came in carrying more stuff with her mother behind her. Eying the pie he asked "Is there something about that pie I should be warned about since you have to carry it in separate?" The idea of magical pie didn't so much worry him, but there were some odd flavors out there and you never knew what was going to show up. "Everything looks so good, but I don't recognize it all. What all have you all made here?"

[Shava]

Her mother blushed and Rose spoke up. “That’s because mum has a tendency to overdo it when she’s entertaining”, she explained. Her mother interrupted, sounding much like Rosalie herself, “I do not!” Father and daughter shared a knowing look, and her father even winked at Taran. “Of course not dear”, he agreed, attempting to placate his somewhat offended wife. “After we’re done here we can take the leftovers to the mission. I think they might enjoy them too.” Her mother smiled instantly charmed. “I think that’s a lovely idea!” she agreed, “we can give the kids some time alone to catch up.” Her father nodded, before turning a stern look on them both, “am I to assume there will be nothing…” he paused as though thinking of a polite way to phrase the situation. It wasn’t something he did often, and Rosalie was grateful. “Inappropriate?”

Rosalie blushed crimson and glanced at Taranis. “Of course not daddy!” She gave him her best innocently affronted look, “Taranis is a gentleman.” If her father noticed that she hadn’t included anything about herself, he didn’t comment. At his response to her makeup comment, she opened her mouth, and the closed it again, blushing brightly. Her mother was smiling at both of them in an odd, tender sort of way. After the men had left, mother and daughter picked up their baked goods and followed them in. Rose glared at him, “of course not, it’s just a tradition of Gran’s that stuck.” As they settled to the table, she ticked the list off on her fingers. “There’s chocolate, pumpkin, and blueberry pie; pumpkin pasties; raspberry muffins; and that in the middle is mom’s special recipe for Lemon Posset.” Having finished her list, Rosalie tucked in, but waited politely for Taranis to choose first.

It wasn’t until they’d all begun eating that an owl swooped in, presumably he’d come through the roosting space in the attic. It took Rose only a moment to recognize the tawny creature with its carefully preened feathers: it was Gran’s owl. She waited, holding her breath for what she already knew was coming. It was her mother who took the letter from Gran’s owl, scanned it, and looked up a bit apologetically. “Sorry kids, looks like you won’t be getting any private time after all. Gran has decided it’s necessary to have you both for afternoon tea.” Rose sighed, even though she’d known the invitation would come, she had at least hoped it would come tomorrow. She shrugged, shot Taranis a poignantly apologetic look, and put on her best brave face. “Then I guess we’ll be going for afternoon tea.”
[/quote]

[Shava]

He liked the way this family worked together indeed. He almost felt accepted in just because of the looks her father gave her about his wife's cooking. He smiled and nodded along as they spoke. "Sir, I wouldn't consider it. You can trust me." His delight in catching her off guard with the truth carried him out to the table with more settled nerves indeed. As Rosalie entered he asked her "Is the pie a tradition or carrying one end by itself, just so I know what's happening here..."

He waited and listened as her mother cut several of the pies making sure they were all ready to go and then her father motioned for Taranis to begin. "Well I've never had a lemon posset so I have to try that first, sounds very good!" He got a piece of that and the pumpkin first and took a bite of the lemon and nearly crossed his eyes. "Oh wow...good is an understatement. Man, wish we had access to lemons I might have to bribe your mother for this one..."

He was surprised how quickly they folded to their grandmother's invite. It had the sound of command instead of invitation the way they all reacted. "Well okay. I was expecting it anyway from what Rosalie had told me about her grandmother." Actually he had expected it tomorrow not today, and he thought that Rosalie's face had shown the same thing he was thinking, expecting the big news to be in the note. Feeling he had narrowly dodged a very big spell arrow he asked "Is everyone going or just the two of us?"

And how do we get to this woman's house otherwise foolish one, he thought to himself. Still, it did feel like he was being summoned somewhere like the headmaster had sent a note around.

[Shava]

She knew Taranis was still nervous, she could tell by the small differences in his manner. He was always polite, but there was a formality to his tone that amused her. Rose wasn't certain whether to be pleased with the sincerity of his response or somewhat offended that he wouldn't even consider it. It was during the middle of this thought that her father spoke. "See that you don't", his tone was stern, but his expression had warmed considerably from what it had been in the beginning. Taranis was doing beautifully, and she was grateful for that fact. Rosalie laughed when he asked about the pie. "The carrying of the pie, silly", she told him. "We always carry the last ones in, its for show mostly. Gran's big on doing things for show."

Her mother shot her a look that said she was being impolite and she ducked her head. "Sorry mum", she apologised, but then couldn't resist adding, "but its true!" Her mother sighed, "just because something is true does not necessarily mean it needs stating Rose Marie." Rosalie sat the pie gently on the table and took a seat next to Taranis. "Yes mum", she had her head bowed low enough to press her nose to her chest. It was her father who sought to alleviate the tension. "The Posset is very good indeed, but it is my mother's recipe actually." Rosalie nodded, "just be careful not to eat too much, dad swears it turns you yellow." Her mood felt instanty lighter, but then, her father had always been good at that sort of thing.

Rosalie made certain her mum wasn't looking, and the wrinkled her nose at Taranis. "Just the two of us I'm afraid", she whispered so that only he could hear. A moment later her mother spoke. "It'll be just the two of you this time I think", her mother's tone sounded almost apologetic. "Your father and I have...other engagements." Rose stifled a giggle in a poorly disguising cough before whispering: "translation: they might not even be in the country for the duration of our visit." Her mother didn't appear to have heard, but her father's eyes held a distinct glint of amusement as he gazed at his daughter. She wisely took a bite of pie rather than speak her current thoughts. She swallowed and gave Taran a reassuring look. Everything would be all right, even if she had to give him permission to charm one of her relatives.

[Shava]

As she laughed about his pie question he smiled, seeing she had recovered from his trick in the kitchen. The moment however turned a bit, and he looked back and forth for a moment before nodding. "I take it she likes the traditional ways more...I'd best keep that in mind." The pie was very very good. "I'm not familiar with posset, but almost anything fruit or vegetable is usually a hit with my tongue. This is very tasty I have to admit. Your families are both skilled in cooking I'd say..." he nodded his head at both of her parents, father first and then finished off the two pieces of pie he had.

He did look a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry, I hate to sound backwards, but I don't have any relatives besides my family, who you all have met. Is it common for the older generation to send tea invitations you have to go to? I apologize if I sound offensive..." Taranis didn't mean to be rude really, he was just not used to being summoned and it felt distinctly odd. He took a drink to have the excuse for keeping his mouth shut, wondering if he had done something wrong.

The two of them? Thank goodness. Then the parents would not have any idea yet of what was happening so the secret would remain longer. What was going to happen when Rosalie was at ground zero and he wasn't there? He shook his head and patted her hand on the table. "I'm sure we'll be fine. It's just tea." Rosalie had of course told him it would be an interrogation but he played it safe so her parents wouldn't be suspicious. Looking at her face he pretended to looked worried and said "Right?"

Ah my, this was going to be both interesting and fun combined.

"Well do we have a chance for me to get a small tour before we have to be off? I should probably put my things away wherever you want me to keep them unless you plan on me dressing in the front hallway." The image of Rosalie on the steps trying to get an angle on the front doors while he dressed behind the coat rack came to him and he smiled, amused. This place was so big they might even have a separate room for dressing attached to the bedrooms.

[Shava]

Rosalie nodded to Taranis question. "Understatement of the century" she agreed. She paused, "dad will have to lend you some formal robes, unless you happened to bring some?" She realized with a sudden jolt that she would be dressing up as well. It would be the first time they'd seen each other in anything other than casual clothing or uniforms. She hoped he woudn't give her too hard a time about it, but she could see him teasing her only too well. Her parents both smiled, and she wondered if Taranis realized how thoroughly he was charming everyone. Well, everyone except her, she already thought he was rather charming, not that she'd tell him. "You have such lovely manners Taranis, your mother must be very proud of you." Rosalie hid a smile behind her hand, and she couldn't resist pushing him a bit further out of his comfort zone. "He's such a gentleman mum, we ought to dig that old suit of armor out of the attic and let him try it on." She sent him a covert, wicked grin.

Rosalie gave him a warm smile, "you aren't being rude Taran" she assured him. It was her mother, however, who answered his question. "Generally speaking, age lends one a sort of superiority in upper pureblood society." Rose heard her father mutter something like "whether one deserves it or not", but couldn't be sure. She didn't miss the sharp nudge her mother gave him either. "While it isn't absolutely required that one accept such an invitation, it is expected in most cases." She smiled a slightly sardonic smile that strongly resembled her daughter's. "Unless there are extenuating circumstances of course." Her father took pity on Taranis' obvious discomfort. "Usually, we'll send an owl to Rose after an hour or two telling her she's needed at home. If things are giong well, she's free to ignore the letter, if not, its a convenient excuse for her to take her leave."

Taranis' relief was as palpable as her own, and she was surprised by her growing awareness of his emotions. She could sense his unease just as poignantly. She forced a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and nodded. "Right" she confirmed, best to put on a brave face for now. "I should probably give you a runthrough of Gran's expectations before we leave though. Just to be on the safe side." When he spoke of the tour and his sleeping arrangements, Rose blushed, and her parents laughed. "Of course you won't be dressing in the front hallway!" she exclaimed. Although on second thought, the idea did have its advantages...no! She stood from the table, as did her parents. "I believe your mother and I shall be on our way, we'll see you two this evening." He paused before adding, "best of luck." He and her mother made their way to the door. After helping her mum into her jacket, he shrugged into his own. They offered one final wave, before they made their way outside. The distinct 'pop' of apparition could be heard on the other side of the closed door.

It felt odd to be suddenly alone, and Rose found herself oddly nervous. "S-so, what woud you like to s-see first?" [/quote]

[Shava]

He nodded in response to her question. "You told me to so I brought them. They are in my bags." he chuckled under his breath before he answered her mother. "Mom always said you might live in a barn but you'd better not sound like it. She always pushed us to learn manners first off, but I can tell you, I don't get to practice them very much. It's hard to be polite to a field of grain." Her comment about the suit of armor made him turn and almost stick his tongue out but he held it in. "I admit, it would be more protection sometimes around certain people who like to poke me in the side..."

He nodded and paid attention, making sure to listen attentively, especially to her father's last comment. Well, they wouldn't be able to use that today. For this to work they had to stick it out for her grandmother's satisfaction. "Thank you both, I really had no idea. It's funny, but it's only know I start to see how much I've missed out on in this type of situation." Truly, he would also have left some parts alone, but still. His eyes laughed at her immediate reaction to his comment about the front hall even as her parents laughed, but he didn't miss the change in her eyes right after, thoughtful. Startled, he looked again but it was already gone.

Her parents stood to go and he waved saying "Thank you very much for letting me into your home! See you tonight!" As he turned to her he heard her words and smiled. "Nervous, Rosalie? Why? And don't we need to put away the food first before anything else?" he mused as he stood and stopped with his hands on the back of the chair. He did need to see the general layout, though it was doubtful he would remember it fast. But at least the route to his room would be good. "I think wherever you want me bunking down first. I think not your room till after your parents are back so I can truthfully say I have no idea where you sleep."

He caught her hand and gave it a squeeze and then pulled her in for a hug of reassurance. Into her hair he whispered "It's okay, Ree-love, I'm here. The big bad grandma isn't going to blow your house down with me around." A good squeeze to remind her they were in this together before he let go and followed to see where she was going to take him first. Wow, her parents must have trusted him to be alone with their daughter in the house. That thought made him more determined not to let anyone down in this particular situation.

[Shava]

Rose smiled, remembering suddenly that she had indeed told Taranis he might need his dress robes. She sighed, relieved, one less thing to hassle over. Her parents laughed, and Rosalie grinned. She wrinkled her nose at Taranis. "Hey! I'm not the only one doing the poking thank you very much! Who was it that insisted on scaring the kitchen elves by poking me half to death?" She noticed her parents eyes going back and forth between them, both were wearing similar expressions of amusement. Rose blushed and returned her attention to her food. Rosalie answered Taranis softly, hoping her parents wouldn't hear, "you actually haven't missed all that much, family politics can be rather...tiring."


She smiled and took a deep breath. "Already done actually, mom does a spell to put everything under stasis in the kitchen," She nodded in a way that conveyed 'that makes sense' and motioned her to follow him up the stairs. When they reached the top, she motioned to the first door on their left. She turned the knob and pushed the door open. "This is the Guest Bedroom, where you'll be sleeping" she informed him. She settled into the chair across from the bed and smiled, motioning to a door on the oposite wall. Guest Bathroom", she added by way of explanation. She gave him a few minutes to get his things settled before she stood and offered her hand.

"Ready for the rest of the tour?" When he nodded his agreement, she smiled and led him down the hall. She pointed the next door on the right. "My room, but I'll show you that one later of course. Dad may have it warded for all I know." She chuckled as they continued on. She pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "That room belongs to my parents", she grinned. "And it's also possibly warded." She eyed the door warily, "I'm not sure I'd want to take you in there even if it wasn't." She turned, and took a few steps in the other direction, before stopping suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She looked up at the celing. "I would step back a bit if I were you." She reached up and pulled a seemingly inauspicous string in the celing. She smiled as she motioned him up the stairs that now led into the celing. "This is my favorite room in the entire house, but that might be because I'm the only one who's ever up here."

"This", she said with intentional dramatic flare, "is the Attic!" She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the mixture of books both old and new. "Mum and dad originally used it for storage space, but when my book collection started to overtake the house, they had everything moved up here." She sent him a mischeivous grin. "Its also a convenient place to hide during dinner parties." She moved forward a few steps, and began running her fingertips over the spines of several volumes. "I love being up here, its like having my own personal hideaway." She shrugged a few moments later, "but that does it for the second floor I suppose. You've already seen the sitting room, the dining room, and the kitchen. So that really only leaves the pool."

Her eyes took on a mischeivous glint. "I should probably tell you that the pool was a gift from Gran, her apology for being out of the country for my tenth birthday." She couldn't resist almost pulling him down both flights of stairs. She pulled him through the glass doors in the dining room and ought onto the back deck. "I told you Gran tends to go a little overboard, but this is it". She waited for his reaction. "I think that does it, what do you think?"[/Color]

[Shava]

She took him upstairs and put him in a room which he knew was bigger then his house. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but still. "What?" He looked at her, eyes wide. "Rosalie...This is way too much for me. Like, you could raise a family in here!" He didn't even put his things down, looking around with wide open eyes. And a window wall right next to the bed? Where was the privacy in that?? "You have no idea... Wait, I think I can explain here, watch this."

Taranis walked over to the foot of the bed and gauged it with his eyes. Holding his arms out he showed the bed and it's space only and said "This is the size of the space that's mine at home. You've, let me see, just multiplied that by...ten?" It was then he spotted the glass was actually a door as well. "What's this?" He walked over and tried it and then turned to her, determined to coax a blush out of her cheeks. "Ah! So this is where you are planning on sneaking in here from outside to surprise me are we?"

He might not have been so blatant if he wasn't reeling from how much money she had and didn't seem to realize it.

Walking over to the bathroom he opened the door and his jaw dropped open. "Merlin's Bloody Balls, you've got to be joking!" He walked to the shower and with disbelieving eyes looked at the walls you could clearly see through. "No way...Glass walls?" It was clear he wasn't going to be using the shower from his expression of surprise and confusion. "I don't get it. Why have glass shower walls?" The idea of showering naked in his "fiancé's" house was enough to make him self-conscious, but in a shower like that he'd be too busy looking all around. Still carrying his things around he put them down in the bedroom right next to the bathroom door more then a little over-awed.

"Maybe you had better show me some more." He registered what she said about the other two bedrooms, but when she lowered the stairs he almost felt better; this felt at least somewhat familiar to him. At least the size was better, even if it was their entire attic size back home. He walked the length of it looking around and felt good about it. "Okay this seems more my style I guess. And you say your grandmother's place is bigger then this place?" At her response he let out a rather impressed whistle. No, he had really not comprehended how much money they had. Now he had something to put it in perspective and it was blowing his mind what he had stepped into.

Then clearly eager, she got hold of his hand and dragged him through the house to the back yard, clearly wanting to impress him with the pool. "Morgana's mustache..." he said softly, awed by the work the entire place had taken to build. It was a minute before he could turn and speak to her. "You know, you tried to give me an idea of how much money your family has, but damn, Ree-love, you all could buy the farm and another dozen like it with just selling this house for cash." In fact, the idea of her speaking to her grandmother about giving Taranis money for the farm even blew his mind as he realized how much they were talking about here and how huge. And to think she was talking about sharing that money with him! He felt faint just thinking about that.

[Shava]

Rosalie smiled, his bewilderment amused her, though she tried her best not to show it. She smirked, "you could also use it as a guest sleeping space", she pointed out a bit sardonically. She tilted her head. Given those dimensions, she could somewhat understand his reaction. She laughed softly, even as she blushed. "Surprise you? Nah, if I were going to surprise you I'd send an owl at six A.M." she enunciated, referring to Taranis' early morning letters a few days previous. She eyed the glass door thoughtfully, "although you're right, it would make sneaking rather easy..." she let the thought trail, and winked at him.

Rosalie almost jumped at his exclamation. "Merlin's bloody...what?" She stood, and peeked over his shoulder, "joking about what?" she asked. She laughed, "for looks I guess" she paused a moment before adding, "glass is also easier to clean than tile." By the time they had made their way into the attic, Taranis seemed calmer. When he asked about Gran's house, she almost giggled. "Oh, much", she informed him. "My parents pride themselves on being thoroughly middle class. My grandmother on the other hand prides herself on being thoroughly upper crust." She shook her head, "You could fit our sitting room and kitchen in her entry way." She blushed, but managed a shrug. "We really don't have that much, mum and dad are just frugal, and they work hard." Her tone demonstrated just how proud she was of her parents for refusing to do anything but stand on their own two feet. It was a lesson their daughter had taken thoroughly to heart.

She sighed suddenly, and turned to face him. "We had better go get ready, Gran will probably be expecting us soon." As Rose turned to go back to the house, she found in an instant that she had misjudged two very important things. One was the distance between herself and the edge of the pool, the other was her footing. For as she attempted to turn on her hill, she had put a bit too much force into the motion, thus resulting in a perilous loss of balance, and a resounding splash a moment later. She came up spluttering, and then chattering when the frigid air hit her already cold skin. She sloshed over to the stairs by the pool's edge, grateful that she had actually dressed up, and was currently wearing a sweater dress, rather than jeans. She was not, however, grateful for the way the wet fabric clung to her skin, nor for the fact that she was now soaking wet and freezing.

"W-we should p-probably go inside n-now", she observed, her eyes dared him to tease her about her current state. [/quote]