Third Floor Common Room, Saturday Evening

[wesleynotponcy]

Wesley felt a little silly, entertaining his bratty child in the common room with board games that she seemed irrationally talented at. Honestly, what nine-year-old could beat a trained and experienced Watcher at Scrabble? He was positive that she was making the words up, but every time he consulted a dictionary, all he saw was Eloise's smug little

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[daventry_vamp]

Oh look, another child was there. And no father to make weird faces at her at the mention of her lineage. Plenty of people had parents who weren't actually married and only acted like friends.

...okay, so they didn't. Shhh.

"Hello?"

[nothingbutgrey]

As Wesley turned around to see who it was, Eloise quickly plunged her hand into the bag of Scrabble tiles and exchanged two of her six vowels for more profitable letters. Yes! An M and an X. Perfect!

Then she looked up, all sweetness and innocence. "Hello," she chirped. "Look, Daddy, another little girl."

[daventry_vamp]

"You took some tiles," Malaxandra said, because her father raised her to tell the truth. And her mother raised her not to listen to people when they radiated sweet innocence.

[nothingbutgrey]

Eloise gaped, appalled that anyone would have the nerve to "out" her like that. "No, I didn't," she lied, but the secret was out and she knew it. Then, sulking: "All right, fine, I did. But I don't remember which letters I had before, so ha!"

Wesley was not amused.

[daventry_vamp]

"You're not very nice," Malaxandra informed her. "Cheaters never win."

Unless they do it well.

[nothingbutgrey]

"Oh yeah? Then why am I winning?" Eloise pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest smugly.

This was the kind of stuff her mother taught her.

[daventry_vamp]

"You're not winning now."

[wesleynotponcy]

"Actually, she is," Wesley was forced to interject.

"But she's quite right, Eloise. Cheating is -- it's very bad."

Eloise gave him a withering look.

[daventry_vamp]

"She was." Someone learned to argue from her father. "But not anymore."

[wesleynotponcy]

Wesley was about to contest this further when he realized that it was useless. "All right?" he tried, baffled.

[daventry_vamp]

Malaxandra had these mad skillz.

"I am Princess Malaxandra of Daventry," she said with a little curtsy. Her grandmother drilled that into her.

[nothingbutgrey]

Wesley was about to give his own name, just to be polite, when Eloise cut him off, quite a bit more friendly than she'd been only a moment ago. "I'm Eloise Morgan-Pryce," she said sweetly. "You have pretty hair."

This was about the princess thing, for the record.

[daventry_vamp]

The princess thing did wonders for lots of things, Malaxandra found. "They made me wear ringlets."

[nothingbutgrey]

"I like them!" Eloise lied enthusiastically. Then she moved on to the important things. "Do you have a tiara?"

[daventry_vamp]

"I hate them," Malaxandra shot back. In proper frenemy fashion. "You'd look better in them."

[nothingbutgrey]

Eloise was missing the point. "In the tiara?" she gasped, her face lighting up.