As The Snow Falls • •

[orange]

A pleasant Sunday afternoon with nothing that needed to be done was exactly what Nikki felt like she needed right now.

Nikki hadn’t woken up until it was about 10 minutes until noon, and she sat up slowly out of bed when she was positive that she wouldn’t be falling back to sleep anytime soon. She brought her willowy arms above her head, stretching them as she let out a big yawn, and her arms just flopped back down once it was over. She was never a fan of that early morning exhaustion that wouldn’t go away from quite some time. Looking at the small calendar set atop of her bedside table, she realized that she didn’t actually have anything that she needed to do today. All of her homework was caught up, she didn’t have a shift at the Broadway Theatre until tomorrow, and she and her brother didn’t have plans to do anything. Her guess was that he might be out with his girlfriend today. The first time she met her wasn’t the greatest of times (she’d caught the two of them making out on the couch), and Nikki hadn’t actually seen her since then. Her assumption was that the two of them were dating now, but she’d been a bit busy trying to start up a new club at school, so she hadn’t had time to catch up with her brother to find out what was new.

So, for the moment, she had the apartment all to herself. After finally standing up out of bed, she went to the bathroom and grabbed a quick shower, turning up the temperature of the water so that she’d be warmed up a bit more. She’d woken up shivering a bit since she spilt Pepsi on her duvet and it was in the wash, so all she had was the sweater she’d slept in and a very thin blanket. After her shower, since she didn’t have anywhere she needed to go, she just put her pajamas back on, and she went back to her room to throw on her comfiest pair of slippers that would keep her feet warm. Looking around her room, she looked at the small paperback copy of Stephen King’s The Shining that she’d been re-reading the past couple days, as well as the plastic bag from Borders bookstore, which contained the DVD of The Nutcracker that she ordered a couple weeks ago. With a slight shrug, she decided to multi-task, and grabbed both the book and the DVD and headed for the living room.

Within a few moments, the classic melodies that she knew so well from going to see The Nutcracker at the Met with her mother filled the small living room. Nikki was laid out on the couch with one of the big, red velvet pillows propping her up. She held onto the yellow paperback with her left hand as she read through one of her favourite Stephen King novels. For years people believed that she was into romantic comedies while her brother was the horror and suspense enthusiast, when in fact in reality it was just the opposite. If she was remembering correctly, the first time they rented It, Ryder got incredibly creeped out. Then again, Nikki was more or less sure how he could see how clowns could be quite terrifying...

For a moment, he eyes happened to glance towards the pile of mail that was left over from yesterday. Ryder had clearly already looked over hers, but she hadn’t looked over hers yet. Putting her Alice in Wonderland bookmark to work, she sat up and scotched over to the other end of the couch to look at the mail that was left there on the end table. Some junk mail, an application for a credit card... And something else; A smaller envelope, with her name, address and a return address hand-written on it. The name above the return address was Sheryl Frasier, and for a moment she tried to remember just who that was. Then it hit her; Sheryl was one of the dancers that had performed with Sparkle Dance company recently. Their performance was a combination of urban and jazz dance, and Nikki found it quite entertaining to watch from backstage. During intermission, however, her heel got caught as she went down the metal stairs, and Nikki happened to be there to stop her before she fell over, saving her from a sprained or broken ankle. For a dancer, the recovery time for something like that was something that they couldn’t afford.

Inside the envelope was a thank you card, with orange, blue and green flowers decorating the front. Nikki smiled, and couldn’t believe that Sheryl would’ve gone to the trouble of sending her a card like this. When she went to open the card, two slips of paper fell into her lap. She picked them up and studied them, to find that they were tickets to an up-and-coming art exhibit at the Whitney museum. Her eyes widened, since she knew just how pricey some of the events at the Whitney could be. Looking back at the card, she read the message written out by a cool and beautiful hand.

Nicoletta,

If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be performing with the company tonight. Most likely, I’d be out for the rest of the season.
I owe you so many thanks. Enclosed are some tickets that were bestowed upon me.
Since I shall be busy with performances for the next couple of weeks, I am hoping you’ll accept them as a token of my gratitude.
Ciao, bella!

S. Frasier

[/size][/font]
Wow.

That was the only word that came to mind as she read over the note once, twice, even three times. Sheryl didn’t have to go out of her way like this at all, and this simple gesture had truly made her day before it had even begun. She knew that she would definitely have to write her back and thank her for the tickets. She’d probably do it after the exhibit, so she could let Sheryl know just how much she appreciated her gift. Setting down the card on the coffee table, she laid back down on the couch, holding the tickets above her head as she studied them a bit more. It was for an exhibit called ‘Cubes and Anarchy’ by David Smith. It certainly sounded interesting... And it was in that moment, as she held onto the two tickets, that she wondered just who else she should invite to go with her. Ryder loved architecture, but wasn’t the biggest visual arts fan besides that.

It was then that the intelligent brunette from the bookstore came to mind. He had always been so nice to her... and he always had something interesting to say. As The Nutcracker continued to play from the TV across from the couch, she wondered if she liked the idea of inviting Xavier for a fun night at the museum... and perhaps calling it a date. She chuckled a bit at the idea, wondering if it was really as crazy as she thought it was.
[/center]
WORDS! 1,190
OUTFIT! Nutcrackin’
STATUS! complete
TAGS! Ryder!
NOTES! <3
INSPIRATION! Watching ‘Friends’ XD
CREDITS! Template Byarro @ Caution!
LYRICS! Mr Brightside by The Killers
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[Ryder Xavier Wilcox]

Ryder had been crazily busy since the New Year. With the New Year came new plays and that meant crazy hours and extra shifts to get things all sorted out. In the last couple months, he’d been mostly holed up with Allela in the sound booth at the Broadway trying to work out all the little finishing touches and pop-up details before opening night. When it was all done, their job would be a breeze, and run as smoothly as a well oiled machine; but until then, there was a lot of work to be done. Thankfully, he had the entire weekend off, and counted his lucky stars that Aimee wasn’t pissed at him for working so much.

He’d been spending as much of his free time as possible with the gorgeous brunette as he could. But there was still work, and school. There weren’t enough hours in a day; which was why after his shift at the Broadway was over Friday night, he’d ran home, tossed some things in a bag and spent the night at Aimee’s. He almost didn’t want to leave but of course, he still had a couple essays he needed to finish; not to mention he needed to add a couple new sketches to his book for one of his many classes. But he’d promised to grab breakfast with her in the morning. He couldn’t stay again, because he knew he’d get nothing done; he’d be too distracted to even try to focus.

In the morning, he’d gotten up, gotten ready and headed out, forgetting to leave Nik a note in case she wondered where he was. Then again, she’d mentioned she had no plans for the day, and since their parents were visiting that wretched man, there was no Sunday dinner; chances were, Nik would sleep until noon and laze about for the rest of the day, if she didn’t sleep the day away altogether. After breakfast, Ryder walked Aimee back to her apartment but after a quick kiss, left her there with her cute little dogs, and raced back across town to his shared apartment. He had too much school work and not enough time to get it all done. But, he figured if Nik was awake, he’d take a couple hours out to spend with her.

With work, and school, neither of them got a chance to just veg out anymore and it was started to get to Ry. The twins usually made time for each other, and Ry knew Nik was starting a club at the College, or at least trying to, and Ry almost wished he could dance well enough to join. Unfortunately, Nik got all those genes. A half block from their apartment, he ducked into a café and picked up something for Nik if she was hungry or awake and their favourite coffees. He handed over the cash, grabbed his treats and left. The weather was clearing up, thanks to the spring coming. That meant he’d get a bit of a break from work, with the show being on full time and all those problems worked out.

He checked the door, just in case it was unlocked; it wasn’t. Ry had to dig in his pocket for his keys before unlocking the door but he managed with his hands full and he had to kick the door shut. “Nik?” he called out. “You up?” he added, toeing his boots off and shimmying out of his sweater carefully. The apartment was much warmer than outside, but that didn’t bother him in the least. At the sound of the jingling collar, Ryder set down the drinks and food on the table by the front door and crouched down to collect his little Scottish terrier, Baxter. He played with the hyper active little dog before shooing him along ahead of him. He knew Nik was awake even before he grabbed the treats up, Ruby was at the end of the couch and her head popped up when Baxter had come running. Ruby was more Nik’s dog, like Baxter was more his. Ry stopped at the edge of the couch. “Hey! I brought you something,” he said, raising his voice an octave or two at the end; like a song. He rounded the couch and set his things on the coffee table before practically falling onto the couch.

•Tag• The Twin!
•Words• 725
•Clothes• Surprise!
•Music• Hello Mr. Sun// Joe Brooks
•Notes• <3

[orange]

As she popped another Sour Patch watermelon candy into her mouth, she could hear the soft, sleepy sigh of Ruby from the other end of the couch near her feet. The little Scottish terrier had always stuck closer to her side than to Ry's, though Baxter loved to play with Ry and treated her like she had no sense of humour. The dogs themselves got along well enough, which was a relief. Given that she and her brother rarely fought about anything, they wouldn’t know what to do with two adorable dogs constantly at each others’ throats. She continued to watch her fluffy little baby snooze away so peacefully, and she began to wonder just what it was that dogs dreamed about. Warm and carpeted dog houses with an ocean view? Piles of bones as far as the eye can see? An endless field to run and frolic in? Dogs certainly had it made, so long as fleas weren’t constantly a pressing issue.

Just as Nikki contemplated sitting up to pick up little Ruby to lay back down with her on her stomach, so she could feel her comforting softness and maybe see what her opinion was on her current dilemma, she heard the front door open. Knowing it was her brother, she tucked away her bag of watermelon sour patch underneath her pillow, so as to keep them safe from Ryder’s filching hands. ”Nik? You up?”

[/color] he called to her. This disrupted Ruby from her peaceful slumber, and that saddened Nikki slightly, but Ruby didn’t stir from her place at the opposite end of the couch. ”Yep, I’m in the living room.”[/color] she answered, even though it was a moot point. He probably knew very well she was awake, just like she instinctively got a feeling a few moments before her brother opened the door. It was a twin thing, and something they were more than used to. As she was answering him, she watched Baxter rush between the coffee table and the TV to go and greet Ryder at the door. While Baxter was quite hyper, Ruby only had her hyper moments. They were usually pretty well timed when Nikki was feeling particular hyper, and she occasionally would dance around her room with her.

When Ryder came into the room, she sat up in case Ryder wanted to sit down. Ruby’s head popped up a bit more when he entered the room, and she looked somewhat more alert than a moment before, but otherwise was still sleepy. Stopping at the edge of the couch closer to Ruby, he said, ”Hey! I brought you something.”[/b][/color] She appreciate the sing-song tone he put on at the end, and she smiled, finally bringing her legs over the edge of the couch to sit up normally, watching as he set down a brown bag from a café she’d visited more than once, and what she was sure was a café mocha meant especially for her. Her brother plopped down, and she leaned forward to grab the bag he set down on the table, and found a cheddar cheese bagel wrapped in a thin paper; Just what she was in the mood for, despite already having scarfed down a good number of spicy Doritos and having washed them and her Sour Patch candies down with Pepsi. She immediately beamed and leaned back into the couch, unwrapping the bagel on her lap so she could dig in.

Glancing over at her twin, she realized it really had been a while before the two have them had just hung out like this without any particular reason behind it. They used to take in mountains of junk food and watch various movies whenever they felt like it, or just sit and talk about nothing in particular. When they watched movies they had to take turns choosing them, given that their tastes were so different, given that she was the horror and suspense enthusiast and he preferred romantic comedies, like he told others was the case for her. They’d both been busy with school lately for certain. They were both in the third year of their respective programs, and the workload was proving to be a challenge for the both of them. Not only that, but with Ryder’s new girlfriend, he wasn’t even spending many nights here at the apartment, unless he had something due the next day. It didn’t really bother her, but it was still a shame that they didn’t get to see each other as often.

For a moment she thought about saying something to Ry about the tickets she received from the nice dancer that had performed with her company at the theatre, or about the articulate boy she’d made friends with from the bookstore, but decided that she’d rather hear from him than disclose details about what she’d been up to. Leaning forward again to grab her coffee, she asked her brother, ”So what’s new with you, Mr. Busy-Busy?”[/color], smiling at him as she took a sip of her drink. Miraculous! It wasn’t a complete beverage without whipped cream and chocolate shavings, and Ry hadn’t forgotten her personal preferences when ordering her morning coffee! What a good brother he was...
[/center]
WORDS! 868
OUTFIT! Nutcrackin’
STATUS! complete
TAGS! Ryder!
NOTES! 1 reply down tonight, yay!
INSPIRATION! Watching ‘Big Bang Theory’ XD
CREDITS! Template Byarro @ Caution!
LYRICS! Mr Brightside by The Killers
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[Ryder Xavier Wilcox]

Ryder hadn’t been around the apartment lately, instead spending more time with his lovely girlfriend, if he wasn’t at the library, in class or at work. It was taking its toll on the twin’s relationship a little bit; at least that was how Ryder felt. He knew the two had their own lives and basically just lived together. But they used to share so much and now there was so little between them that Ryder needed to have a little sib time; just a couple hours where they could veg out on the couch and talk about everything and anything like they used to. She could rant and rave about work, and how the diva of this particular show was being just that; a diva. And he could rant about the amount of homework he had covering the sound booth while said diva bitched and moaned that her mike wasn’t working; again.

Ryder stretched his feet out over the coffee table, crossing his ankles to get more comfortable. He’d been thinking a lot lately, and wanted to run a few things past his sister before he made any set plans. Ry stretched his arms up and rested them along the back of the couch, taking up as much space as possible, apparently before Baxter jumped up and he lowered his arms again; all of that taking mere seconds that seemed to stretch for minutes because of the topic on his mind. He scratched Baxter behind the ears as he leaned forward to grab his own coffee and take a couple testing sips. He’d already burnt his tongue once that day; there was no need for a repeat performance.

Ryder set his drink down again, picked up Baxter and turned so he was leaning against the arm of the couch and facing his sister. “Not much. The usual, I guess. School is trying to kick my ass. The Diva is trying to ruin work, but Alley-Cat’s got her covered. How about you? Anything new?” he asked, reaching over for his drink again. “And please, tell me it’s a hell of a lot better than mine!” he added, laughing. School wasn’t anything Ryder worried about, he was good at it, and even though he wasn’t spending as much time as he used to, there was still enough set aside that he was still getting excellent grades; top of his class, excellent.

He listened and drank his coffee while scratching Baxter. Everything on his mind was trying to get free and he didn’t want to blurt it all out with no warning; Nik wouldn’t be too impressed, in fact, he was pretty sure she’d figuratively kill him. But his thoughts needed to be voiced more than anything. He wasn’t about to do anything drastic or well, anything along these lines until he spoke to Nik about it, and his parents; but as much as he loved them, they could wait until his sister was heard. They’d always been close, and hers was the only opinion that mattered to him when it came to serious topics and decisions. “Nik, what do you think about Aimee?” he asked, curious about her answer. They hadn’t spoken much about his girlfriend and everything was moving so fast, he wasn’t sure how she felt about it all. Sure, it meant she basically had the apartment they shared to herself, but did she mind that? He knew she had something to say about it all, and he wanted to hear it. After all, she was Italian, and they always had something to say; especially their family.

•Tag• The Twin!
•Words• 596
•Clothes• Surprise!
•Music• Hello Mr. Sun// Joe Brooks
•Notes• <3

[orange]

As she watched her brother begin to relax on the couch next to her, she realized it really had been a while since the two of them had been able to hang out. For one, she would’ve gone on and on about the club she was trying to start, or about her new friend at the bookstore, or about how she was currently counting down the days until they’d be back in Italy for the summer. It was a trip she looked forward to from the moment they got back to the US to the moment they hopped on the place back to Italy. It was probably when she was at her best. She got to see all her cousins and friends, she played soccer, she practiced dancing whenever she had the free time (like always), and just enjoyed the surroundings from the first 6 years of her life. Ry then went on to say to her, “Not much. The usual, I guess. School is trying to kick my ass. The Diva is trying to ruin work, but Alley-Cat’s got her covered. How about you? Anything new? And please, tell me it’s a hell of a lot better than mine!”

[/b][/color]

School seemed to be kicking both their asses lately. Nikki found her lectures to be harder, and her practical courses left her sweating and trembling. Of course, she loved to dance, and so she loved every minute of it. ”Not a whole lot I suppose... class has been tough, and I’ve been thinking about looking for some auditions before I get any older...”[/color] It was a sad truth, but a lot of professional dance careers didn’t last for very young, and the younger you started off, the better. If Nikki had started going on auditions at 14, than she’d be an established dancer with a company by now, but she’d decided to take the risk and go to University, on the off chance that dancing didn’t work out. Plus there was still the issue that she didn’t know what kind of dance she wanted to attach herself to for the rest of her life, since she loved all forms of dance... Looking at the card sent to her, she handed it to her brother with the tickets inside and said, ”Oh, and do you remember when Sparkle Dance company did their goodbye show a few weeks ago?”[/color]

Nikki was pretty sure she’d told Ryder about helping that dancer from falling the night after it happened. When a company or production finished their run, it wasn’t just the performers that went out to celebrate later; all the theatre employees went out as well, even though she and her twin brother were not yet able to drink legally. When he was finished looking at the card and the two gifts inside, she took it back from him, saying, ”I think I’m going to take one of my friends next week.”[/color] Of course if she’d received tickets to something she thought Ryder would enjoy, she’d have asked him first, but she doubted an experimental art show at the Whitney would be better for him than finishing up homework or spending time with his new girlfriend. For a moment she wondered if she should ask for her brother’s opinion about Xavier... normally she wouldn’t hesitate, but she found herself not saying anything for some reason. And Ryder soon beat her to it by asking her another question. “Nik, what do you think about Aimee?”[/b][/color]

It was both the randomness of the question and his tone that surprised Nikki, and she looked over at him. She’d been too distracted to notice earlier, but it looked as if something was bothering him. She sincerely hoped that Ryder hadn’t been under the impression that she hated his girlfriend... heck, she’d only really met her once before, other times she’d seen her around it had never been long enough to actually converse with her. While she’d been able to make an assumption about Aimee’s character from the first moment she met her, that didn’t mean she hated her. And she certainly wasn’t going to voice that assumption to Ryder. ”Hope you don’t think I hate her or something, I barely know her.”[/color] she told her brother. ”She seems nice enough. Why, what do you think of her?”[/color] Chuckling a bit after she asked her question, she took another big gulp from her warm coffee. She had a gift of never burning her tongue, getting brain freeze, or other such ailments. She’d never even had a paper cut before! It was an odd gift to have, but she was thankful for it.
[/center]
WORDS! 774
OUTFIT! Nutcrackin’
STATUS! complete
TAGS! Ryder!
NOTES! <3 Still hoping for a spit take XDD
INSPIRATION! Watching ‘Big Bang Theory’ XD
CREDITS! Template Byarro @ Caution!
LYRICS! Mr Brightside by The Killers
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[Ryder Xavier Wilcox]

Ryder adored his sister, and really felt horrible for neglecting her lately. But it was a necessary evil; for the most part. They managed to hang out at work, when they were both working, though Allela was there a lot for that, so it wasn’t just the siblings. That didn’t really matter much because Ryder honestly felt like Allela was his other sister; like he had two. But now they had the time, and he was going to enjoy what little of it they really had. Ryder nodded. “The theatre down from work is starting auditions next month for a musical. You should check it out,” He said, encouraging her. Nikki was always there telling him to keep up with his music, he couldn’t not do the same for her with her dancing. Plus, she was good at it, he would know, having to play partner when hers didn’t show.

“I know it’s not with a dance company, but it’s a start, right?” She already knew he wasn’t the best with the lingo of the dance companies as opposed to the theatrical companies, but it was mostly because he’d been a part of a theatre that rarely showcased anything other than plays that he hadn’t really needed to get all the terms straight, though Nik tried to teach him. Ryder scratched Baxter’s head, nodding slowly and accepted the card. He read it over quickly and the night came back to him. Nik had found him and relayed the events and all he could say in the moment had been “Wow” and “Lucky you were there to catch her.” “Yeah, I remember. You helped one of the dancers from the company. You didn’t say a name I don’t think,” he said, still going through his memories of the evening but was coming up blank.

He handed the card and ticket back. “You deserve a night out,” he said, happy she’d be getting out of the house and not just for work or school. Of course, he wasn’t entirely aware of her comings and goings lately since he was hardly there himself, so it was merely a guess. He hadn’t meant to blurt that out, really. Just flat out asking Nik what she thought about Aimee. He had wanted to be a little subtle about it. That was out the window now, oh well. He shook his head. “I didn’t think you hated her, Nik,” he assured her. At her question, he took a millisecond to think about it. “I think I’m going to marry her,” he said bluntly. He ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair, and let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding about this. “Nik, you know I wouldn’t be calling her what I do if I didn’t love her.” Lord, he didn’t know what he was getting into. “So tell me the truth about how you feel,” he said again, his voice firmer as he reached for his coffee on the table and gulped it down.

•Tag• The Twin!
•Words• 504
•Clothes• Surprise!
•Music• Hello Mr. Sun// Joe Brooks
•Notes• I am so sorry! I completely spaced! <3

[orange]

If she was being honest, she’d definitely say that she’d been missing her brother lately. He seemed to always be busy with work or school, and any time he had to spare went towards his new girlfriend. Nikki knew that this time would come of course; they’d eventually find significant others and wouldn’t be quite as close as they always were. It was the progression of life, after all. Plus school and work got in the way. It was true that they worked in the same theatre, but the sound booth was at the front of the theatre, where as she worked as a stagehand backstage. If they ever hung out, Allela was there as well. Though they both probably always knew that the first to start seriously seeing somebody was going to be him, given that Nikki was more or less afraid to talk to men. It had always been that way for her, and occasionally her brother would pick on her for it, but other than that he left her alone because it was a serious annoyance for her to feel so awkward towards the opposite sex. She’d been like that her entire life, with the obvious exceptions of her family and friends that she knew since childhood, like the friends she played soccer with in Verona each summer. Taking another sip of her cafe mocha, she listened to her brother say, “The theatre down from work is starting auditions next month for a musical. You should check it out. I know it’s not with a dance company, but it’s a start, right?”

[/b][/color]

It was nice of him to be considerate enough to let her know about the possibility of a job opportunity. Then again, the both of them had always been considerate in that way about each other. If Nikki knew of a local place that was looking for more performers to fill up a late night queue, she always let her brother know. Nikki actually liked the idea of being in a musical... She wasn’t talented enough to be a soloist, but she could dance like any fury, and that might be enough to get her a job as a performer. ”Good to know. Thanks.”[/color] she told him, smiling at her twin brother. It was nice to be spending this time with him again, but he seemed a bit out of it. Like with his response to the tickets and card she received from the dancer she’d helped out. “You deserve a night out,”[/b][/color] he told her, and it was strange because he’d been out of the apartment so much lately that he probably didn’t actually know whether or not she’d been busy constantly with school and work or if she’d been out partying every night (which she wasn’t, but the point was still valid.)

”I didn’t think you hated her, NIk.”[/b][/color] Ryder then told her, and she nodded, reassured to hear that. She really didn’t know his girlfriend well, so she couldn’t exactly judge her. Perhaps her first impressions at dinner hadn’t been the greatest, at least according to Nikki, but she kept that to herself. And, of course, Nikki happens to take a bigger gulp of her cafe mocha when Ryder decided to give his news. ”I think I’m going to marry her.”[/b][/color] Cue spit take... now. The words had been so blunt and shocking that she lost most of her mouthful of beverage over the coffee table. Not exactly the most ladylike reaction, but Nikki wasn’t the epitome of femininity anyway. Her reaction made Ruby jump, though luckily she didn’t try to lick any of the drink she’d just spewed, given that too much of it and it would most likely kill her. As Nikki grabbed some napkins from the bag to clean up while Ryder seemed to keep talking. “Nik, you know I wouldn’t be calling her what I do if I didn’t love her.”[/b][/color] It was from both the reflex of cleaning up her mess and the shock of the bomb he’d just dropped that had her confused as to what exactly he was talking about there, but she was doing her best to calm herself down so she could respond; it wasn’t working.

”So tell me the truth about how you feel.”[/b][/color] Nikki was still in shock, and she wasn’t the least bit calm about this, not even for a millisecond. ”Ry, why the hell do you not look like you’re kidding? You should be wearing that smirk of yours and ready to tell me that you’re messing with me.”[/color] Of course, they both knew that expression wasn’t due to arrive anytime soon. One thing that seemed to always grip Nikki when she got really passionate or angry about something was her Italian side, courtesy of the first 6 years of her life and her mother. She got off the couch and onto her knees to reach the rest of the coffee table to keep wiping away the cafe mocha she’d spit out while angrily saying, ”Come hai potuto essere tale un imbecille, maledetto fratello?”[/color] When she heard her own angry, Italian tone, she took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down. Normally they only spoke in Italian to each other on occasion, though Nikki cursed a lot in her mother’s native language when she was upset about something. Switching back to English, she said, ”Honestly, they sell condoms at pretty much every corner store in this city, don’t they? How could you have let this happen?”[/color]

Yes, her initial assumption was that this was going to be a shotgun wedding. After all, he was only 20, the same as her. He was too young to get married, and to Nikki that was a fact. He’d have to be an even bigger idiot than she initially assumed to be thinking of mariage without the initiative of pregnancy this early in his life.
[/center]
WORDS! 985
OUTFIT! Nutcrackin’
STATUS! complete
TAGS! Ryder!
NOTES! Yay, angry Nikki & Spit take XD
INSPIRATION! Watching ‘Big Bang Theory’ XD
CREDITS! Template Byarro @ Caution!
LYRICS! Mr Brightside by The Killers
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[Ryder Xavier Wilcox]

Ryder was distracted, but not enough to slip up on the conversation. He’d been there that night, at the after party, laughing and joking around with Allela and a couple of the lighting guys. That particular show had Nik doing most of the work, and he and Allela just making sure the right song and cued up for its part in the dance. Considering the other performances the theatre had put on, this one was a breeze. But now their topic hand changed, thanks to him and he was starting to wish he hadn’t said anything just yet. Still, he shook his head,, looking as serious as the young Italian man could. “I’m not joking around this time, Nik,” he said, carefully, nearly neutrally.

Ryder sat back, eyes wide, stunned, just staring at his sister. What the hell?! She thought that… He’d never taken into consideration that his own family would take it as a shock. Sure that family dinner was a little awkward, but he’d thought that was all because of their good for nothing ass of a grandfather. Their mother seemed to love her, as did their father. Maybe it was a bad idea to talk to Nik about it. He’d wanted her help not a lecture. “Aimee non è incinta, Nicoletta. Come puoi anche solo pensare una cosa del genere? Onestamente, se non ti piace Aimee, che avrebbe potuto dire qualcosa!” he said, slipping into Italian so easily with his frustration. “Aimee non è incinta,” he repeated. “La amo.” Ryder stood up without another word and went straight to the kitchen.

He’d honestly thought Nik of all people would be happy for him. He hadn’t been happier than this past while. Surely, she could be happy for him and realize as much. But apparently that was too much. Maybe it was all just too soon and everything was spiraling around. He and Nik talked about everything, and he wanted her to be a part of this as well. He didn’t see it as a sort of shot gun proposal. He’d known from the minute she literally fell into his lap that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the gorgeous brunette. In the kitchen, Ryder paced the length, before rummaging through the cupboards for the bottle of Captain Morgan’s they kept on hand. He practically slammed the bottle down on the counter and wrenched open the cupboard for a tumbler. He poured the bottle until the glass was roughly to the half way mark before slamming the bottle down again and tossing the alcohol back like water. He didn’t know where to go from here.

•Tag• The Twin!
•Words• 441
•Clothes• Surprise!
•Music• Hello Mr. Sun// Joe Brooks
•Notes• Sorry it's kind of short xD <3

[orange]

Right now Nikki was incredibly frustrated, but doing her best not to lose her temper again as she cleaned up the mess she made. Ryder couldn't possibly be this serious about a girl, but he was still saying as much. Her anger just built up when Ryder didn't immediatley provide an explanation, until he gave her an answer, seeming angry enough to scream at her in Italian as well. “Aimee non è incinta, Nicoletta. Come puoi anche solo pensare una cosa del genere? Onestamente, se non ti piace Aimee, che avrebbe potuto dire qualcosa!”

[/b][/color] Given that she was already finished wiping up the cafe mocha, and because her bother was walking out of the room, she found herself growing enraged, and she threw the napkin down onto the table, standing up as she faced her brother's back and called out, "Che mi piace o no è irrilevante. Smettila di comportarti come se fossi al liceo!"[/color] He'd moved from the living room to the kitchen, and she happened to look over a moment towards the couch to see Ruby. She didn't seem to like all the fighting going on.

Honestly, Nikki didn't either. Ryder and her rarely fought, and always supported each other in whatever endevors they wanted to pursue. But in this instance, she believed her twin had entered a moment of insanity, and she was determined to shake him out it. No longer enraged, she walked into the kitchen and saw her brother downing the cheap rum from a tumbler, and she rolled her eyes. Now she believed he really was acting immaturely, moving to alcohol immediatley when he became annoyed with how things were going. Moving towards where he was, she took the bottle from him before he could pour himself another glass and put the bottle away where they usually kept it. Turning back around to face her brother, she took another deep breath, so she could calm down and attempt to talk this out rationally with her brother. "Ryder, for God's sake, you're 20, you can't blame me for assuming the obvious conclusion. Either way, that is way too young to be getting married, you haven't even graduated from school yet."[/color] In her mind, while love was one important aspect of marriage, so was rationality. She was a very spur-of-the-moment kind of girl, but she wouldn't jump into something so life-altering until she was completely prepared. That and when she was perhaps a bit older and out of school, preferably with a full-time job. After all, his Aimee seemed a bit high maitenance to Nikki, and she wondered how long it would tak Ryder to acquire a job that would support her.
[/center]
WORDS! 483
OUTFIT! Nutcrackin’
STATUS! complete
TAGS! Ryder!
NOTES! np, so is mine XP
INSPIRATION! N/A
CREDITS! Template Byarro @ Caution!
LYRICS! Mr Brightside by The Killers
[/blockquote][/size]

[Ryder Xavier Wilcox]

Ryder felt betrayed, really. It didn’t matter that Nikki thought they were too young, he didn’t. She wasn’t the one talking about marriage, he was. Ry drew his brows together and shook his head. Where had they gone wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything and just left it as it was; a non-topic. But no, he had wanted to have his sister’s approval and help. Too bad that didn’t work out the way he’d planned it all in his head. He should have known she’d freak out but he had thought she’d be happy and excited for him. “It’s not irrelevant, Nik,” Ryder said, sadly.

The young musician sighed, shaking his head. Ryder didn’t think there was anything he and his sister differed on at all; and now there was this. He waited until Nik said her piece before he spoke again. “Okay, you’re against it but can’t you at least pretend be happy? I’ve always said when I met the one I was going to marry, I wasn’t going to wait long. Now all of a sudden you don’t believe that?” It had been a few months, why wasn’t that enough time? He’d heard of people getting married after two months! Some even less than that! Ryder wanted to pour himself another three fingers but Nikki took the bottle from him before he could. Racing to a bottle of alcohol wasn’t Ryder’s way, and he usually avoided the stuff unless he was out at the club with Nik and friends. And even then, he would only have a couple before he switched it for soda.

“I guess this means you won’t be helping me pick out a ring, then?” he asked, but it was rhetorical. Nikki was as stubborn as he was; he knew her answer before he’d even opened his mouth. He hadn’t mentioned Aimee’s life to her, believing it hadn’t been his place. And if he’d thought for one second all of this was because his sister was protecting him, saving him the heartache of a broken heart from the lack of money coming in, he would have told his sister everything. Money wouldn’t be an issue, though it did annoy him to some degree that he couldn’t provide as much as he would’ve liked to. “Mi appresto a lasciare la casa. Tornero dopo,” he whispered.

He didn’t tell her he was going to grab some coffee then hit the library. He was too dejected for that. He loved hi sister, he wanted her to be happy for him. Ryder had always been the more romantic of the two, loving surprising the women in his life with little things. He went straight to his room, stuffed what he’d need into a backpack and left without another word to his sister. All he wanted was for her to be happy for them, was that really too much to ask? They’d been through so much, and this was going to put a rift between them? Ryder could feel his heart breaking and he really didn’t want to. When he left, he didn’t slam the door like he’d wanted to, but he did ignore his sister, stopping only for a second to scratch Baxter behind the ears; then he was gone.

•Tag• The Twin!
•Words• 542
•Clothes• Surprise!
•Music• Hello Mr. Sun// Joe Brooks
•Notes• I don't know to say xD <3