Jewell was lounging around on a mound of pillows and blankets--all piled on top of one of those awesome bean-bag doggy-bed-for-people type things--waiting for Nat to come back with their assortment of treats. She was completely comfortable in her sports top and sweatpants combo, keeping warm in a sweatshirt so over sized for her small frame it would be natural to assume it had once been a man's. She figured the girls would appreciate her breaking her sleeping-mostly-or-completely naked tradition for them.

She had spent the earlier part of the day cleaning up her room for them too. As brand new as the house was, Jewell's room quickly became a disaster area. Clothing had been strewn every which way as well as weapons and children's toys. Now it was neat and she could sit back and enjoy her little sanctum.

The walls were crackled different shades of blue, textured to appear like the rippling ocean that crashed on the rocks outside her balcony. She had pushed the low backed couch away from the chairs in the corner of the room, giving the girls and herself a nice space to chill for the night.

Her eyes were dancing around the room, occasionally stopping on Charna as they chit-chatted idly, before Nat came in. The singing drew her eyes to the door to welcome back their comrade in sleep-over-party-fun and her mouth fell open just a tad when she saw Nat, hidden as she was behind all that yummy food.

She followed Nat with her eyes carefully as she got settled, a grin tugging on her lips. She should have known to expect something unique from the teen by now. It took her a moment to respond to the question, somewhat taken aback as she had been, but she did so with enthusiasm to match the young girl's, "Oh! I was thinking we could paint our nails, or tell stories while we eat. Or maybe play a game! Spin the bottle won't really work...but I have cards!"

Even with her friends? reactions subdued Suki seemed to be a bit sharper tonight, her eye wandered back and forth between the two, the beginnings of a blush started, even if mostly hidden by the usual drape of blue, the pool of jade widening partially, ?? whaaaat??

As if she didn?t know! Yet the prospect of the evening?s activities as relayed by Jewell sent her mind spinning elsewhere it seemed and pearls descended to her lower lip to keep from shouting out the first games that crossed her mind, emerald gaze wandering over to Charna?s, as if awaiting for permission from the other to suggest any of a possible billion games in her head, but the other was chewing merrily away and Suki whispered quietly, a quick glance back over to Jewell away from the consuming Charna briefly, ?How does she do it anyway??

And yet, perhaps coincidently or in an effort to draw away attention Charna managed to pull Suki off that line of questions with her ?go ahead? look and she raised herself up on to her elbows, gloved fingers interlocking before her in a sign of barely contained glee and her face spoke it as well, ?Yay! ? ? ano ? well??

Her expression faltered. There were only so many hours in a night! How was she to choose which of billions and billions of things to do? This was too much for one teen! A bite to her lower lip again as she began to think, a hand slipping away from the other?s grasp to steal a grape away from Char?s plate to, as she explained it, ?Help her think better.? Now what had Jewell suggested the other night that sounded so wickedly fun?

?Well there?s Tru?? and a third bite to her that poor lip to stifle out the rest of ?th or dare?. No no no no no. That was much too embarrassing! ?? uuu??, what could she turn that word into that wouldn?t too obvious?, ? ? oops of card games I know! Mhm! We could play Rich Man Poor Man! I know that one! It was my favorite back in school. I didn?t win much, and CharChar said she was really good at card games but I?m sure you could beat her Jew! It?s a really simple game, you see you deal out all the cards to the players and the youngest goes first, so then she lays down a card number, as many as she want. Then the next person has to match that, play higher or pass. If everyone passes the original person starts all over again. If all four of a card number is played consecutively the number orders reverse for the round and it?s called a ?Revolution? and you?re supposed to say it all scary and sudden like when you do it. Threes are the lowest and twos are the highest, and the loser, the poor man? we ano? we can paint their toe nails and they doesn?t get a say in the color!? In. One. Breath. Was that a bit of panic in the teen?s voice?

?Troops of card games?? Her head hung for a moment and then jerked up again to peer out at the two to see if she had slid it past them, an enthusiastic nod given to help convince herself as well, the jerky movements of her head resulting in a slight net loss of blue curtain to reveal the shade of red that was returning to the tops of her cheeks.

Hand reaching out for another grape from CharChar?s pile?

Jewell had it all covered. Charna had picked up on that curious little falter that Suki tried to play off, too, but what with her cheeks all puffed out with food, she was finding it hard to speak and call her out on it. She gave Jewell a little look, as if to assure that later they would get to that game. Best to start off slow, right?

A smirk as she forced down the full mouthful of mashed up food, fingers still quick even after it'd been so long ago that she'd done any real thieving, using them to catch Suki's hand as the girl reached for more of her food. A faux snarl, which was ruined by her giggling at the end of it.

"Now, now, darling. People have lost hands for doing that. Want I should make you up a little plate, too?"

She tacked on a purr towards the end of the question, Jewell chiming in immediately afterwards. Charna nodded her head along with the sentiment, a raven brow sliding up.

"Yeah....are you trying to get an unfair advantage there, you little sneak?"

She snickered after that, as well. She really didn't want Suki to take her seriously. That'd be a shame.

She watched in amazement as Natty first defied gravity and then became it's victim! She was leaning forward to check and see if the younger girl was okay when she popped back up, giving Jewell quite the scare. She tumbled back onto her pillows with a little "Gah!"

It took her a moment to recover and by then Natty was well on her way to looking upset. This could not be allowed! Friends were not allowed to be visibly upset in Jewell's presence, especially on super-cool sleep over night! She instantly scoots over the floor once more and throws her arms about Natty in a hug, "Now now...darling, Charna was just playing! We both were. Of course the youngest goes first, that makes the most sense." She just rattles that off so easily, motherly training put to good use.

"So, don't worry! Just sit back and leave everything in my capable hands!" With a manic laugh, she sits back on her throne of pillows and takes the cards out. She dealt out the cards with a little bit of clarification dragged out of Natty and a bit of stumbling through the first round...a practice round!

The second round went a little better quicker too! When Jewell won, she insisted that it was no longer practice and for real, "And since you lost, Natty, I get to choose a color for your toe-nails. Though, I'm not painting them cause feet are yick!" She was so at ease, laughing and shoving remnants of fruit in her mouth between turns.

Suki was smiling again after the motherly hug and words. She just couldn?t stay unhappy it seemed. She bunny kissed Jewell in return for the uplift and after a quick rub to her forehead she quickly scooped up the cards being dealt, happily clarifying any rules for them.

The look slowly fell over the next five minutes as she got horribly hammered in the game, only managing to shed less than a quarter of the cards she was dealt. Yet it was only a practice round! The happiness returned once more as the next round started and once again her mouth slowly slipped open in disbelief as in the real round she shed even less cards. The girl has no luck. A whimper was stifled by biting her lip again and upon remembering her hasty rules to make the game more interesting and divert them away from Truth or Dare slip she swallowed nervously at Jewell?s declaration which then turned to ? what else, but further embarrassment, ?My feet aren?t yicky!?

She pushed herself up, and swung around to place her sock covered feet on the pillow she had been using, tugging the feet?s socks off, ?Only one foot per loss though?? perhaps she might win the next round and stave off ruining her beautifully colored toenails that perfectly matched her hair color, marvelously pedicured toes wiggling briefly in the air as Charna reached for the color? or colors that Jewell indicated. The teen was looking everywhere but towards the ruination of her toenails, an effort to keep her toes from fidgeting under Charna?s ministrations.

?? well, I?ve guess just one more round? I?ve only got one foot left to paint? but this time I?ll win for sure!? her fist raised and shaken in pure determination.

?

Just twenty minutes later she was squirming again, laying on her back to stare up at the ceiling, unable to bring herself to look at her toe nails as Charna painted the other foot?s set. She lamented more to herself than the others, ?? how do I always end up with all the threes??

Her voice raising to comment to the other two, one forearm resting over her eyes in an unintentionally dramatic pose to help her from peeking, and it helped hide the red creeping over her face from losing? horribly? twice. The previous tone shed for a bit more cheery sounding one, ?I don?t wanna choose the next game? JewJew can pick since she won the first game. I don?t know about this ?gossip?, but just no more card games for me tonight??

She was just finishing up Natsuki's pinky toe, painting the nail a putrid green color, when she heard Jewell's game choice. She sat bolt upright, her huge grin defying logic by only growing bigger. She nodded furiously, putting strain on the pigtails, which looked as if they were coming loose.

"Yes, yes! Truth or dare! Let's start!"

The normally stormy blue-green eyes weren't quite as cloudy, now. Delight was sparked behind them as they danced from one girl to the other, her right hand still holding up the cap with the nail-brush at the end. She'd chosen all sorts of bright and kind of sickly colors when decorating Suki's toes, such as icky purple, bright yellow, a color called "acid rain", and a too dark red along with the aforementioned green. She took a look down, grinning to her handiwork and to the owner of the toenails, before craning her neck to smirk over at Jewell.

"I'm not afraid...but maybe Natsuki should be."

She snickered, waggling her brows. She screwed the cap back onto the nail polish, so that there wouldn't be any spills, before giving a little bounce, awaiting further instructions. More sweets found their way into her mouth.

Their mixed reactions over the suggested game were delightful. Jewell herself was giddy with excitement--truth or dare could prove to be so enlightening and entertaining!

She grinned her agreement to the fact that Natty should be scared, "Oh yes! Charna and I can be quite...merciless." She had branched off as Natsuki just smacked the snacking Charna with a pillow. Grabbing up one of the pillows nearest to her she leaned over and smacked Nat on the head with it. "Pillow fights come later!"

Letting the pillow drop, she sat back and eyed Charna with a wicked smile forming on her lips. "All right...Charna, truth or dare?" She was practically bouncing in excitement, thinking of all the wickedly embarrassing things they could make each other do.

A tongue stuck out briefly at Charna?s accusation, perhaps a retort of ?You started it!? on her lips before she too is giggling, arms snaking out to wrap around Charna?s waist and now Charna?s lap has been commandeered as another of Suki?s resting spots, cheek resting on the other?s thigh to peer between the ridges of the vixen?s knees as she was sitting cross legged, to glance at Jewell, ?Ooooh? CharChar?s brave? I bet Jewell has been thinking of things ?allll- week.?

A nod given against the leg pillow to better convince them and herself that there would be horrible repercussions for choosing dare.

Without much thought required, she rested one hand on Natsuki's head, drawing her nails carefully through the girl's hair. She was smirking, irises dancing from her lap to the fae sitting across from her.

"Oh, pleeeeease. I can handle whatever she throws at me..."

She said in reply to Suki's warning, cooing the confidence out. She tipped up her chin to show off that mock haughtiness she'd perfected over the better part of a decade, but unlike her usual performances, this one ended with a long fit of little giggles.

She watched as Jewellsie struggled for a bit to figure out a fitting initial dare, and just as she was about to tease her friend, Jewell issued the challenge. The Vix blinked once, lips pursed. She had to consider this offer, it seemed. But she knew Jewell well enough to know this probably wasn't dangerous, so it wasn't long before she was grinning again.

"Alright, Empress. Do your worst. Well, you know, worst not including poison."

She winked, all ready in the process of psyching herself up for this.

She clapped happily as Charna accepted her dare and climbed to her feet with much exaggerated groaning and whatnot as if she were really old.

She gave a bit of a pause at Natty's list of suggestions, nose wrinkling up in distaste, "Ewww...water from the toilet? That's just wrong!" Another moment worth of pausing and a shudder as she just thought about that some more, "Yick!"

She got control of herself and grinned to the girlies, "I am off to the kitchen to prepare your last drink, Vixen-o-Vixen! Follow if you dare." Laughing, she took off out of her bedroom and down the main staircase to go into the kitchen.

"Chotto matte kudasai!" cried the youngest of the three as she franticly scrambled to her feet, slipping a few times with the lack of purchase her socks were gaining on the nylon sleeping bag surface.

She looked far more curious than concerned about the grapes even though she bent down to grasp another one and took a half bite and placed it back on her plate, the hideously cute green hat still staying firmly attached to the top of her head in this 'head at knee level' manuver and then she's skipping along behind Charna, her arms thrown around Charna as they neared the kitchen placing her hands over her sister's eyes, " iie! You shouldn't see what's being put in it oneesan!"

She began to attempt to lead her blind friend into the kitchen, barely able to see over her friend's shoulder with little jumps before sticking her head out to the side in an effort to see around instead.

"Oof! Eep!"

That was the sound little Charnas made when smaller Natsukis were steering them into counters accidentally. Char stuck her hands out to grope the air in front of her, determined not to...

"Ow!"

...bang her elbow, again. A frown, but it subsided when she heard a clatter coming from somewhere ahead of her. She stepped forward timidly, using the sound as a guide. It was a role reversal, since she was now basically leading Suki.

"When I puke? Please! I bet I've choked down grosser! You wouldn't believe what used to constitute as meals for me...."

Which probably explained why she was so damn skinny. Of course, she didn't delve too deep into that topic. When all the mixing and pouring and devious cackling seemed to simmer down, she carefully reached up to remove Natsuki's hands from her eyes.

"Mind if I have a look now, dar---oh, gods, Jewell!" She exclaimed with a laugh. "It has chunks! And chocolate! Oh, you're wicked, all right...but I can do this!"

Her nose was wrinkled as her fingers wrapped around the glass, and it didn't look like she'd be un scrunching it anytime soon. The blue-greens flicked from Natsuki to Jewell, then back. Repeat. She avoided looking at the line of ingredients the Empress was thoughtful enough to leave out in the open.

"Alright...one....two...three!"

On three, she tossed her head back and began to pour the muddy colored, and yes, chunky, contents of the glass down her open throat. There was a gag, a visible one, but through sheer will, she forced the mouthfuls of ickyness down into her belly. Oh, she'd feel that later. After she'd drained the cup, she clamped her lips together, and took a few massive swallows to clear the remnants of the concoction from her mouth. She felt a little queasy, but thankfully, none of it was threatening to come up. A triumphant look to the Empress, now daring to open her mouth again to smile.

"Told you!"

She laughed madly as Charna got her first look of the drink...it did have chunks! Did she feel a little bad? Yeah, because if it was her drinking it she would have been gagging just looking at it. Fortunately, she didn't have to drink it so game on!

She watched with eager eyes as Charna chugged the horrible concoction, chanting a low, "Go! Go! Go!" At that gag she couldn't help but shudder, perhaps the tomato chunks were a bit much. She grabbed the nearest bowl she could find, holding it ready in case the Vixen had to vomit. She'd even hold her hair back for her as it would be her fault.

Fortunately, no vomit! "Wooo! Charna that was awesome!" Much clapping ensued until what Natty said processed in her brain. She stared at the girl a moment before breaking out in a grin, "Now now..we'll go easy on you sweets. Or, I will..I can't say the same for Charna."

She waggled her brows at the Vix, "Your turn!"

Several quick steps were taken backward as Charna made that funny face and then forward again when it passed, moving back up to the countertop to lean on it again and look up at Charna, even if just a few inches away, and then down at her stomach like she was tracing the path the terrible concoction had taken, Suki looked just a little ill herself now and she hadn't even drank it. Jewell's words got her attention and a flourish of hair as her head turned.

"You will? I..." and then Charna confirmed what Jewell had been saying, eyes widening, "Reeeeeally? JewJew and Oneesan you're great!"

Her eyes lighting up and both hands held up into fists before her in a sign of determination while her face was nothing but pure glee. "I can do it then! I can..." she faltered at Charna's positively demon-that-just-arose-from-an-inner-circle-of-hell -class-devious smile, a half step taken away from the kitchen counter like she was about to bolt back upstairs, "Waaaaaah? Now?! ... how... how about Jewe..." she swallowed, she could see this was going nowhere and squeezing her eyes shut now used her arms to defend herself like she was about to be hit and her head twisted to the side. There she was ready! "... d.... dare."

Charna had told her it was the only way to play the game and perhaps she was taking it literally, another half step back taken as she chose her poison.

Her eyes are still squeezed shut, trembling at the sound of Charna?s giggling, one eyelid cracking open to catch the sight of Charna circling her and started to close again to avoid the sight of her impending doom but the purr managed to keep it open, and from her bolting. The other eyelid cracked open when Charna spoke. Time had slowed down to a stand still as Charna took her sweet time tormenting the teen, her arms lowering a little as nothing seemed to happen yet. Maybe Charna had taken pity on her?

Her mouth opened to suggest a dare, but the words never quite made it out of her lips when Charna?s suggestion came, her own voice coming back in her typically soft voice and raised up nearly to actual loudness, ?Outside? yell?!? Like the word yelling was a foreign word to her and she had never heard of it or just completely lacked the faculties to do so.

Yet it was her suggestion of what that truly took the cake, ?WHAAAAAAAAA?!? Two steps back away from Charna, her arms thrust downward to her side fingers curling into her palms to make outraged little fists. But it was those tremendous size her eyes had become, shocked nearly to her their limits, those big saucers watering up just a little, ?I? I? I? I have to say? to yell? that? outside?!?

A quick nibble to her lower lip and almost a shake of her head, ?You can?t be serious Oneesan someone might hear me! And? and? and then what will people think of me?!?

The teen that was could just be perfectly described as a dash of outraged and smattering of shocked gave a quick glance to Jewell as if summoning her help forth.

"People will think you're probably one of the most innocent beings left in this town, silly. Come on! It isn't even that bad! This is me going easy, darling...you should be most thankful."

She was trying so hard not to start laughing, but snorts and snickers kept escaping as she heard Jewell behind her. To prevent from further offending Suki, and perhaps to fix some of the damage already caused, she wrapped her arms around the younger female, and planted a sisterly kiss on Suki's cheek. Once again, she adopted the purr, letting it stroke over and smooth out the girl's nerves.

"You can do it, zaichik. It'll be over before you know it, yeah? Come on..."

She released the girl from the hug, giving her sleeve a tug as she started moving for the door. On her way past Jewell, she lit up with a mischievous grin, thankfully keeping it hidden from Suki, considering the back of her head was to the teen.

"You'll love this." She slid through her teeth to the fae in a conspiratorial fashion. After that, she just headed through the door to the kitchen, using her memory to lead the procession out of the darkened house.

As Charna whispered, "You'll love this," to her, Jewell rubbed her hands together like some evil scientist. Even the glare from Suki--shocking though it was from the usually sweet teen--could not damper her excitement for the dare.

She skipped out of the kitchen after Charna and then had to pick up the speed to catch up with Suki. The tricksy young girl was trying to get out of having an audience! She skidded to a stop before the door, just in time to step outside and hear Natty's shout.

The girl was certainly being dramatic about the whole thing but this was ignored as Jewell dissolved into hysterical laughter upon hearing what Charna had told the teen to say.

She was doubled over as Natty ran by into the safety of the house, filling the silence of the night with her guffaws. She only straightened when she heard poor Natsuki stumble on the stairs, a glance given to the open front door through teary eyes.

She let herself laugh for a little longer, even as Charna headed back inside. That really had been too perfect, she could only hope some of her neighbors heard; too bad the Sanctuary wasn't a little closer.

She felt bad for not feeling bad at all; it had been Charna's dare after all and an excellent one, at that! She wiped at her eyes one more time and tried to kill her smile a little before going inside and up the stairs.

She hung behind Charna a little, peering over her shoulder at Natsuki. She should have probably just let Charna do all the comforting but she couldn't help herself, "I bet no one besides us even heard, hun...and you know, there's nothing wrong with kissing boys. It's a lot of fun, actually!"

Words of wisdom from the Empress.

She was really, really working on not snorting, here. Mustering up a kind of voice meant to soothe a swarm of angry bees, honey-soaked and warm, she stalked towards her little sister.

"Lovey, lovey, calm down, yeah? I'm sure no one even heard! And by the time anyone looked, only Jewell and I were standing out there. They probably thought one of us said it. If anyone asks, that's what I'll tell them?"

She kept a straight face (through some small miracle) as she delivered that, then sank down to her knees at Suki's side. Lightly, she stroked the right side of the persian blue mane.

"Is that better?"