-*Alyce carried the tray of cookies balanced perfectly in the palm of her right hand. Her heels making soft tapping noises against the concrete as she went towards the door of the place that smelled distinctly of the snakes that had visited her home. These were now the leopards allies, or so she had been informed. In an effort to secure their alliance she was eager to help her Nimir-Raj by trying to see if the leopards could be made useful to their allies. Perhaps they weren't soldiers, but she wanted to prove that they still had value.*-
-*In the desolate surroundings of the skate park Alyce looked like a bright sparkly barbie doll. The dress she wore looked perfect on her curves, though it was conservative in cut. The color bringing out the sparkle of her bllue eyes. Perfectly curled dirty blonde hair was posied softly against the curve of her tanned shoulders where they showed beneath spaghetti straps. Steeling her nerve she tucked her fears down deep deep deep inside her and coming up to the door she lifted a hand to give a few sharp knocks at the door.*-
-*As she waited to see who would open the door she brushed the palm of her hand down to smooth out the line of her loose twirly skirt. From the platter she carried the smell of sugar chocolate and blood wafted delicately. Oh yes, she had met these snakes, and the cookies she brought were nothing ordinary. After all, how could she prove that the leopards could be useful if she couldn't even tempt them with her baking. Waiting for an answer at the door she breathed deep and tried not to think about garbage disposals.*-
The door yanked open and there stood the very crazy and semi fevered looking Asian. Nori stared at the woman with the cookies for a very long moment before she pursed her lips.
"I don't speak italian and I'm very sure no one wants your cookies here."
She slammed the door in the womans face. She was completely pleasant wasn't she? She shook her head as she turned to head away from the door.
-*The door was opened and then promptly slammed shut in her face so hard that a gust of wind blew back the curls of her blonde hair. It was a good thing Alyce wasn't one to give up so easily. Smoothing her palm down the pretty frilly length of her blue dress skirt she would then lift her hand and knock a second time. When life gave you lemons.....or some jazz like that. When she made up her mind to do something she did it. After having her hand eaten off by a garbage disposal it was going to take a lot more than a door slammed in her face to stop her from getting an audience with the snake's leader.*-
The candy striper often known as Crawly was taking lunch. It was someone's turn to stay home and keep and eye on Nori continually try to come into her own, and that someone was Crawly. Since sitting still and positively willing Nori to change wasn't working the child channeled her energy in other ways. She painted, toyed with her jewelry, hid Harley's things in places the boa would never look, like the washing machine, and generally acted like she always did.
With most of her clothes in a dirty pile on the floor or her room Crawly dawned her painting clothes. A tank top and undies. Frilly little things with rubber duckies on the butt. All of it covered by a fine splattering of red. Some of it was paint...some of it wasn't. Hey, the kid liked her art to be creative so when she drew something squirting blood odds were it wasn't just paint on that paper. Thankfully her Mommy indulged Crawly's budding talent. Who knew what she could achieve within the loving and nurturing environment created by the nest. The possibilities were endless.
At least after she ate. With her little mouth full of food (hint it wasn't vegetable or mineral and at one point it either went Moo or "...No, God no please, no") Crawly walked back to where Nori had just slammed the door closed. With her head tilted to the side, Crawly regarded the door. There was another knock and before Nori had a chance to answer it the little girl was there, nearly hip checking her big sister out of the way as she scrambled to open the door. Like she had seen Mommy do, Crawly affected a bored expression and set one hand on her cocked hip, glaring at who ever was behind the threshold.
When the scent of cookies and blood and kitty filled her nostrils, the look of casual boredom went poof, replaced by something like mad glee. Gray eyes shifted to black and the beast inside hissed with delight. Yes she ate, but there was always room for desert. Grinning, her bloody teeth a sparkling feast for the eyes, Crawly looked the kitty up and down as she reached up to finger the bone necklace she wore. The main piece was a complete thumb (minus the hand that is). Strung together on pink string and covered in sparkly glitter, with the former owner standing on the other side of the door holding up the cookies.
"Cookiessssss!" She hissed and her fingers curled towards Alice where she caught air as if it was a tangible object. The leopard's scent was in her hand and brought her fist back mouth where Crawly opened up her fingers and slowly licked that scent off her skin as if it was powdered sugar. "And they brought dessssssert!"
-*There was only the slightest waver of her demeanor when she saw who had come to open the door. Tongue licked momentarily at her lips as she schooled her expression into a sunny smile that gave nothing away. Every ounce of control was set into containing the wild hot energy of her beast who was snarling like it was about to be shoved into a cage.*-
-*Looking passed the child she could see the wild eyed asian woman pacing like she herself felt rather caged. It was then that she felt a strange shimmer from the other woman. A leopard. Alyce felt it, and it made her beautiful shiny lips make a little O of surprise. She hadn't known there were other leopards here. But still there was something different about this woman that made her own beast steer clear for the time being. Crouching down in as lady-like a way as she could she offered the tray of cookies to the child.*-
"Hello. I'm here to have a visit with your mommy. Is she home?"
-*It felt strange talking about the snake queen as someone's mother. seemed wrong somehow. Then again considering the cild it seemed they were perfect for eachother. Alyce's fingers pinched the cellophane that was covering the cookies and pulled it back so that the child could grab several of the chocolate chip cookies that had been flavored with just a hint of blood.*-
-*If any one in this place was going to hurt her she was betting it would be the Queen. The woman was frightening, and Alyce was betting that none of the others would want to do something without her permission and risk whatever punishment the woman might think of. It was a risky bet, but one she had to be willing to take.*-
-- Edited by AliceInWonderland at 13:58, 2009-03-12
::Crawly tilted her head to the side, a motion that sent her paint filled hair cascading to one side. Half of that mess fell across her face to obscure the bloody grin brought on by the kitty's visit. Seriously, the day just took a turn for the most interesting. Also, bonus. Crawly was running low on the "other" red paint.
Rising onto her tip toes she peeked down at the tray of cookies Alice was holding out for her. The disappointment at seeing the woman's hands, both of them, intact as clear as daylight on her face. But that could be a good thing, Crawly always could use a new necklace or a bracelet. Seriously her nickname was ever so wrong, maybe one day it would evolve to Bones, or something equally clever. For now though, the child just looked over at Alice and smiled as she stepped aside to clear the doorway::
You can put thosssssse in the kitchen.
::Even though her toothy smile was anything but, her voice was downright sweet. Friendly even as she stared at Alice's pretty blue eyes, the beast writing behind her black gaze as it hissed at the leopard. It recalled the taste of the woman's blood, the sounds of pain she made. Crawly positively hissed as she slid away from the door, glancing over her shoulder once while she pointed towards the kitchen:: Right next to the sssink. Make sssure you don't drop any.
::The last bit was said with a snicker as Crawly took a few bouncing steps towards Nori and slipped her arms around one of the skinny woman's legs and grinned at the kitty.::
-*Rising again to stand before the child she said a simple thank you before passing the girl on the way to the kitchen. Being ordered around by an ankle biter didn't bother her. Alyce was submissive, her beast grew more and more dominant daily, but Alyce herself never minded being helpful or taking direction. It was a strange little dichotemy they had going on. Once she walked into the kitchen her sweet sugary lips again made that O of surprise. The place was a pigsty.*-
"Oh dear dear dear."
-*Searching for a clear spot to set down the tray of home baked cookies she finally found one, on top of a sugar jar that had lord knew what in it. The place was splattered in blood and what looked like mess from making drinks. Underfoot her heels crunched on something that felt like it might have been a ligament at one time. Really these people needed a maid. But, seeing as she was going to be there waiting for the snake queen....*-
-*Alyce searched the drawers until she found a few clean dish rags. One was used immediately to tie around her head and keep her hair clean and out of her face. Then with the others tucked into the cinched waist of her skirt she crouched down to check under the sink for cleaning supplies. Instead a big fat rat scampered out and hissed at her. Alyce was tempted to snatch it up, her cat wanting to play with it, but there were more important things to do.*-
-*So when Shane got there that was how she would find Alyce, whistling and humming a little tune as she cleaned the snakes kitchen.*-