[for_peace][/for_peace].[for_sirens][/for_sirens]
Tagged: (spoken) Azraeth, Every
(telepathy) Azraeth, Doc, Every
(mentioned) Ayuka, Elizabeth, Mordechai
Every’s description of Harper Rock six years ago had been spot on. She was well aware vampires had been more in the closet so to speak back then which had made her position of knowing they existed, even if she worked with them to preserve their masquerade, precarious. That the woman had been forced to take her classes online seemed to be common among the nightwalkers for more than just the obvious reasons. She had been fascinated by the woman’s discussion of her major and career path. It had been interesting; she’d have to ask her about it more sometime.
Her eyes danced across the room as she silently sought out those she knew. Doc and Elizabeth were still by one of the bars having some sort of discussion if she was correct. As nothing was going completely haywire, aside from the sound system, she was left to assume it was a pleasant conversation. Perhaps the English woman was attempting to talk him into mingling with the rest of the guests; Goddess knew it’d be the perfect time to at least get his name out there in advance of the elections if nothing else. If Liz couldn’t convince him, she’d take a shot at it later.
The screech of that inferno megaphone caused the red-head to glare in the direction of that elf. Her allergy-induced headache was bad enough without the added pain of the high pitched noise. A mental promise was made to herself that if she heard it one more time that elf might find the device shoved in a very uncomfortable place. Granted it wasn’t likely his fault that the sound system wasn’t working, but shouldn’t someone be working on figuring that one out? A tap on a wine glass to get attention would be far preferable if the system was to be down the entire night.
The announced reindeer rides held no interest for the woman. She couldn’t ride a horse so attempting to ride a reindeer, even in such a controlled environment, was out of the question. The stream of guests heading for the door shortly after the speech was also a deterrent. There was no desire to go stand in a line outdoors that might take an hour or two to get through. No, if she was going to venture outside, it would be to build a snowman; if she got the chance, she was going to do so. It had been far too long since she had had the opportunity. The frozen feet she’d end up with would be worth it.
The message from Doc had caught her off-guard. Did mayors that threw these types of balls typically attend the entire thing or did a singular appearance usually suffice? Having no experience in this arena, she had no idea; perhaps she’d make an inquiry of Ayuka if the woman rejoined her. The Asian seemed like the type that would know. She, herself, had only expected the man to make a brief appearance and perhaps a statement before disappearing so hadn’t been too concerned on his current absence. More telling, in her opinion, was the lack of presence from his staff overseeing the event. There was no way these elves were in charge if they couldn’t even do something about the stereo system. Never mind that there didn’t seem to be anyone mingling to get the pulse of the party so things could be adjusted on the fly.
Noted. Seems more suspicious none of his staff seems to be on hand as I doubt these elves are in charge.
The continuation of the conversation after a pause had been unexpected both in timing and content. Idly, she had to wonder how that question had even come to mind. Had Liz said something that made him question or had he stuck his foot in his mouth in regards to a comment of hers? Her eyes scanned the crowd again, noting that the couple had broken apart with Elizabeth joining one group and Doc was now at a different bar from the original at which she had spotted them. Her eyes narrowed for a moment.
Better a boyfriend than a boytoy. It was part in jest and part serious. Boyfriend would be infinitely better than being considered the woman’s boytoy and she really hoped he knew what it meant as she didn’t want to have to explain.
Man friend, I guess, would be accurate, but you’re correct it sounds horrible. Significant other is also correct, but since you don’t like that… uh, how about suitor? Frankly, she thought that one sounded dated, but he had asked for options.
I supposed there’s ‘bae’ but that’s a little too hipster and desperate for you. How about ‘beau’ or ‘paramour’? She’d happily admit she’d broken out the thesaurus for this.
But in all honesty, you and Liz need to find a term that works for both of you. Together.
Her eyes continued their journey falling on the small group that contained her new acquaintance as well as the recent addition of Elizabeth, who seemed to be having back. Ayuka seemed to be doing well in the group from where the blood thief stood. She had recognized Alaric earlier and she had to admit she had no idea who the woman was, but the other man seemed familiar. It took her a couple seconds to place where she had seen him before; the camping trip soon popped into her mind. Jude, she thought he had said his name was though she was terrible with names and had met a handful of new people that day so it was likely that she was completely wrong. She had to admit Ayuka seemed to be in her element which was to be expected for a public relations representative for a fairly large company. Honestly, she missed the woman’s company even though she’d only been gone a short while.
Her thoughts were brought back to her brother as he spoke into mind. It took everything in her power not to burst out laughing at his reply to her playful comment about rings. She should have known he was a Tolkien fan. Despite his jest about the One Ring, she could tell he was serious about his intent. She was pleased he had found someone which was a greater incentive to get to know her fellow human. She couldn’t help but have a bit of fun with him in return.
The One Ring, huh? Wouldn’t that be a collar in today’s society? A perfectly innocent look was kept on her face as she waited about twenty seconds before continuing.
Seriously, though. He seems like a great guy and I can’t deny he makes you happy. You’re quite the pair.
It wasn’t overly surprising that he had taken her dissertation of her pseudo relationship with Ayuka in stride. After all, he knew first hand that she wasn’t about to go down without a fight if things went south. She was also fairly certain that he had picked up on how careful she intended to be in light of the potential danger. That she was human was certainly likely a point in her favor with the siren; she wasn’t competition for humans nor was she, at face value, posing a threat to the city. She could understand the siren’s dislike of vampires for that reason; she didn’t like the idea of the two groups at odds but she could understand both sides. She supposed it was quite like how she could see both sides of the human-vampire divide; she wasn’t truly a member of any group.
A soft sigh escaped her lips at the thought as she felt that arm snake around her; she was more than happy to oblige the man. A good hug was never amiss; it was a warm, comfortable feeling to be securely snuggled in to the dragon.
”I will,” she commented softly to the pair after Every added her own comment; though she had to concur that there were enough of them present to deal with an issue if it arose.
”How tonight goes will likely dictate what occurs next, honestly. I have to admit I’m curious as to why she sought me out first despite there being ‘higher class’ society members present. She gave him a small smile,
”I won’t go anywhere private until I know her better if things get that far.” It was a promise she had every intention of keeping even if she had a suspicion she would be safe with Ayuka anywhere. Fate was a ***** not to be tempted. Besides, she wasn’t going to worry her brother or any others unnecessarily. She cared too much for each of them to do so.
Quietly, she thanked the elf for the stocking she was handed. Perhaps she should have brought a bag with her after all with all the treats and goodies being handed out. She’d save it for later to go through as Azraeth’s dissembling of his gave her a view into what to expect. Chocolate was a wonderful addition to the stockings that she’d be sure to savor later; though now she was curious what had been in the vampire-specific stocking. She’d have to ask Doc or Elizabeth later, assuming one of them had grabbed one.
The question caught the red-head off guard. She had forgotten that Christmas Day was only a couple hours away. ****. Had she gotten gifts for everyone? Her staff was done; their gifts had been given at the party a few nights ago and bonuses were scheduled to go out in their next check. But the others? She wasn’t sure now; her mind was drawing a blank. She could recall going over gift ideas for Doc with Elizabeth several weeks ago, but that was the extent of it. A stop home after the party before she went shopping would have to be in order; she was not going to be caught without gifts! In truth, she wasn’t surprised to have forgotten. She knew it was Christmas time; it was hard to miss, of course, but it had always been just another day to her. Her mother had made certain of that before the red-head had moved out and after she’d come to Harper Rock, she had always just worked at the Necropolis each holiday. This was new to her; it was different. It was another first, she supposed; a semi-proper Christmas celebration. Or as it had been put at the Thanksgiving-disaster, a new tradition all their own. She could work with that as anything new was certainly preferable to what she knew of holidays. It’d also help the fact she really didn’t know much about the usual traditions.
”Quiet sounds wonderful after the extravagance and gathered masses this evening, honestly. I think we have the same planned though I have to admit to being fuzzy on the details.” She was sure something was planned; she’d have to check with Elizabeth later to see what was what, but knew there was no way that the holiday was left to chance with the English woman involved. Thanksgiving had been a testament to that, though she knew there would be no opportunity for a repeat of that disaster this time.
”I’m not quite sure why Bancroft thought it’d be ideal to hold a ball on the eve of the holiday, but to each their own. Certainly the timing could have been better; the gifts gathered tonight would have to be hurriedly sorted and distributed in time for tomorrow unless they were just intended that each child would just pick one. It was an option, but a poor one in her opinion. Wasn’t it better to attempt to tailor the gift to the child? More time would have been ideal for such a scenario.
The announcement of the lighting of a ‘Yule log’ confused the red-head. Wasn’t a yule log supposed to be a rolled cake decorated like a log? What were they going to do? Bring out a large log cake and flambé it? Her eyes sought out the announcer elf whom she was surprised to find at the fireplace with a rather large log that he was talking to and pouring something on. What the hell? Perhaps the elf had had too much eggnog. Who the hell wanted to talk to a log? Especially in this crowded arena where one could be overheard; she wouldn’t put it past the press to publish any such confessions or secrets that they happened to stumble upon. If she was going to do any unburdening, it would be to a well-paid, very discreet psychologist; not a log. If it wouldn’t have landed her in the emergency room, she would have been inclined to take as many of the roses as she could and toss them in; but she had learnt the hard way that was a rather bad idea years and years ago. No, she was stuck with those inferno blooms all around her. Just wonderful; she didn’t want to have to add Christmas as yet another holiday she had to stay away from public areas.
As if she felt the eyes fall upon her, she looked up in time to notice the giant killer glancing in her direction. She hadn’t even known he was in attendance not having heard whisper of his arrival as she would have expected. Though, she had to admit it wasn’t likely that he had entered through the main doors; attention wasn’t really his style from what she knew of him. He was more of a low-key kind of guy even if his stature didn’t lend itself well to that venture. It seemed to be her night for looks as she caught the smirk Elizabeth was tossing her way, though she suspected that was more in regards to the thought that had been brewing in her mind since their return from Las Vegas. She’d have to catch up with the elder later to see what was new. She was sure it would be a most interesting conversation as most of theirs had been as of late.
She smirked lightly as Every’s message slid into her mind. She totally concurred with the woman’s thoughts and she had a few tricks up her sleeves as well. As she waited for Azraeth to start his explanation, she replied to the woman. She knew a bit of the couple’s history, but Az was a great storyteller so she was sure this was going to be a treat and a half. Hopefully, she’d be able to make it through the impromptu storytime before she needed to duck out. She also needed to find a way to disappear for 10-15 minutes and not be missed. That would take some thought, though she supposed the old standby of ‘there was a line for the ladies room’ was an option. She just really wanted to get her hands on those meds before she ended up with red raccoon eyes. That was definitely not an ‘in’ look this season. ******* roses.