A Room With A View of the... Mall? (attn: Nic, Dani)

Dani approached the counter and waited for the clerk to acknowledge her, still watching the group out of the corner of her eye. She smiled when Arin joined her and wondered who this mysterious present might be for, though she was distracted from that by a sudden tug on her purse. She looked sharply around but saw no one…then felt a harder pull and looked to Theo, who was looking right back at her.

“I’ll be right back, Arin.”

Taking the hint, she approached the group and considered the sight in front of her. Hmm, a tube of super glue, a shoe, and it appeared that Theo was sitting on the book she had been holding.

Wondering where this was leading, she crouched down, shooting Nic and Aishe a questioning look before turning her attention back to Theo.

“Did you need something, Theo?”

A noise made her turn her head in time to see a rather interesting little vehicle run into Arin’s and she looked up and around to see who might be operating it, though she figured she could make a good guess. Grinning at the sight of the scientist, she gave a little wave, her nose crinkling as she smiled outright, before turning her attention back to Theo.

“I gave up my conscience years ago.”

Well she’d tried. Of course, Alfarinn’s comment about needing thicker socks made her feel a bit guiltier. It wouldn’t stop her though, guilt, after, can be rationalized.

Smiling innocently as Alfarinn excused himself, she turned her attention to Aishe, Nic and a girl. Pak did not do well with children, not at all. As they tended to remind her of her beginnings and that she was, had been, a mother. To this day Pak identified the voices she heard on occasion as her children.

Not realizing it, she’d begun twisting on long strand of hair around her finger as she watched the encounter. Vaguely uneasy or not, she applauded the glue idea.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Artemis until he was right next to her. The offered gift made her smile though, quite broadly and mischievously.

“Pretty and practical, and it got you out of the lab. I’m flattered.”

Even though she was not particularly good at playing coy Artemis did get one of her more flirtatious looks before she noticed the car. Pak was rather fond of remote controlled cars and currently ad two that were part of her hall closet museum.

“Very nice. I’ve not seen this one before. It flips over?”

Only slightly aware of the goings on around him, Nic was more than puzzled by Theo's actions. When Dani approached and gave him a look, all he could do was shrug...he had no clue as to what was going on.

"Nice to meet you Theo...what idea did you have in mind for my shoe. I assure you the fit is not the issue...they were custom made."

He had them made by a shoemaker in Italy, but that had been many years ago, and it wasn't like he was overly attached to them. They were just shoes, albeit very well made, and normally well fitting shoes.

Pretty soon, once again, his attentions were diverted, but this time by a small toy. He checked it out and smiled. What fun it would be to play with one of those things among all these people, swerving and racing around. Though Nic would pride himself on avoiding the obstacles...he had never been fond of demolition derbys.

He looked back to Theo, and moved his bare foot to rest atop his shoed foot, as he waited.

Aishe glanced at Nic with some mild amusement. The man had his shoes custom made? She stifled a giggle. How... amusing. But she supposed everyone had their little likes and dislikes. Briefly she wondered if he was one of those people who needed to have his underwear neatly folded to avoid going berserk.

Then she winced inwardly and realized she did not want to speculate about the state of anyone's underwear drawer.

Aishe watched Theo hold the shoe, wondering what the girl planned on doing with it. The thought crossed her mind again that she probably shouldn't be encouraging this, but it was just too funny... and rather cute. She reminded herself that Nic had gone along, anyhow.

She turned her head suddenly when she heard the mini-whine of a toy car. She'd heard the same type of noise many times before. Her back was to it at the moment, but she turned to see who the 'driver' was. After a moment she found him, a tall dark-haired man with a grin on his face. When he moved and she saw the length of his black hair, she pinned him down as the... rather inventive dancer she'd seen in passing at the ball.

Aishe knew she was here to meet the Evenhet family, but she certainly hadn't expected to see them all in one night. What a popular bookstore, she mused. She was still crouched down by Theo, so with a little shrug she simply stayed where she was, curious as to what was going to happen to Nic's unfortunate shoe.

Thaddeus listened with interest as Alfarinn told him about the girl, smiling inwardly at the choice of words that left the impression of something deeper than physical beauty.

[I can certainly understand that…and remember.]

Psychometry had been the first of the abilities he had discovered since his turning and to say that had been a disorienting surprise would be another of his absurd understatements. He had been convinced that he was going mad and it was some time before he recognized the ability for what it was, considering he was not inclined to speak of feeling and seeing things when he picked up certain objects. Yet another instance when his tendencies toward less communication came back to haunt him. When he came to his family villa after fleeing Bulgaria he had, at least, been surrounded by familiar things and could write his senses off as a sudden manifestation of a very vivid memory but it soon became clear there was something else going on.

His shape shifting ability had provided some respite from the strange world he had entered and complimented him well, providing a sort of balance to his abilities. He supposed he was quite fortunate in that respect; he imagined Empathy would only make matters more confusing at first and wondered what having both at once be like for both Theodosia and Alfarinn.

Alfarinn’s thoughts seemed to have disquieted him and he wondered what his companion might be thinking or perhaps remembering, but the moment passed and he felt the hand leave his own after a light squeeze. Grinning a little at Alfarinn’s parting remark, he sent:

[I think it will be here when you get back.]

He absently wrapped his fingers around his wrist as though to ensure said hand would remain in place and turned to follow Pakpao’s gaze. He wondered just what would come of Theodosia’s examination of the shoe but another distraction in the form of a motorized car cut off those thoughts.

He grinned in spite of himself and then realized that such things probably didn’t belong in a book store, even if they were quite impressive. Even so, the smile did not entirely fade and came back fully when the car’s owner made himself apparent. Taking the offered hand to shake, he reflected that the proprietor must be a very patient person to tolerate the somewhat boisterous group and could see why Alfarinn didn’t think he would be in any danger of being thrown out.

“Good to see you again.”

He looked down at the car, supposing that Pakpao’s assessment was likely correct. He wondered if the vehicle could be used for some sort of recognizance work but decided his guesses in that department would be about as accurate as any theories he came up with for the pen.

Dani seemed to have understood that Theo wanted her attention and came over to join the group, but now there was a new problem. He didn’t think the shoe was damned, and he didn’t think the shoe fit wrong.

‘It is clearly psychosomatic.’

She thought that was rather arrogant of Paul to assume, but under the circumstances it did seem reasonable. Perhaps she should keep the shoe so that Nic would not have to worry about it, but next he might start thinking his pants were the cause of his clumsiness and there would be no end in sight. No, she would need to come up with something more helpful.

She let go of the shoe to put her glue away, absently using her telekinesis to hold it up in the air. While she did that, she answered Dani’s question.

“Never mind. It is more serious than I thought.”

’You’re not supposed to do that.’

“Do what? Oh.”

She let the shoe drop to the ground and looked somewhat sheepishly up at the group.

“I forgot.”

Brushing off the little mistake, she looked down at the shoe for a long moment, considering what could be done to convince Nic there was nothing wrong with it without seeming rude. Finally coming to a solution, she nodded her head firmly.

“You’ll have to apologize.”

Perhaps if he would feel better if he earned the shoe’s forgiveness. It was an odd solution but then so was thinking that falling had anything to do with a perfectly fine shoe. Plus, if he solved the problem himself he would be more likely to believe it had worked.

She held it up for Nic to see better and waited expectantly.

It really was quite astonishing, how Nic's life had changed over the past few days. When he had a few moments to himself, he'd take the time to reflect.

He'd also stop and catalog the people he had met, for his little trio had grown by leaps and bounds. It almost seemed as if they were all being pulled to some central, magnetic spot, there in the mall. Briefly he had to wonder how many more Evenhet would converge upon them there, in the bookstore.

Seeing his shoe, now floating in thin air, caught Nic's attention. A helpful skill, he thought...moving things with one's mind, yet it seemed odd to see someone practicing such abilities as Theo appeared to be doing. Her lack of discretion, Nic chalked up to age. No one else seemed concerned or distracted by the situation, and therefore Nic had to assume this kind of thing was not unusual around Meridian, or the Towers. It also started him wondering if possibly some such activity was responsible for his shoe sticking to the floor.

His concentration was broken by Theo's strange words...

'Never mind. It is more serious than I thought. Do what? Oh. I forgot.'

He couldn't tell of she was speaking to Dani, or someone Nic couldn't see.


Those words seemed to be directed to Nic, but that didn't mean he understood them.

"Beg pardon? I'm supposed to apologize...to who, and for what?"

Nic was now squatting, and addressing Theo at eye level. He spoke to her in a very gentle, and conciliatory tone. Being that she seemed a little 'off' to him, he tried to take that into consideration

Alfarinn smiled at the owner of the bookstore and assured him that Nic was quite alright in hopes of diverting the man's attention from their group. The old man cast Alfarinn a dubious look not at all believing they weren't somehow up to something. The owner had seen way too much in his time, and in his time here in Meridian; he had a way of making Alfarinn feel like a guilty school boy whenever he got caught doing something he shouldn't. It was a good thing Zone wasn't here also or they would really look guilty.

The owner had just went into the back to find his book when Alfarinn felt something run up his leg. For a moment he stood still in surprise and then turned slowly to see whether the thing was about to make a repeat attack. Seeing the remote control car had him immediately looking for the Roman because who else would drive a remote control vehicle through the bookstore? Okay, there were probably several in his clan, including himself but this still didn't change the fact that Artemis was on the top of the list. And there he was standing next to Pakpao offering her a pen; this thing must be serious, she was getting the good toys now. He gave Artemis an injured look for the attack and then shook his fist in a mock threat before turning back to the counter.

Just in time for the proprietor to come back with his book, Alfarinn smiled meekly and hoped the man hadn't noticed the car or Zone, who was likely to have the same reputation in the store.

Walking back over and standing next to Thaddeus again, Alfarinn quietly reclaimed his companion's hand and grinned over at Artemis.

"Nice car but your driving skills could use some improvement."

Looking back at the group around Theodosia, he noticed they still had not resolved the issue with Nic's shoe. It no longer appeared that the method of restoral was to glue it to his foot so that was probably a blessing. Theo pronounced that the solution was to apologize to it and Alfarinn had to smile. It made perfect sense to him, but perhaps that was because he had a more childlike imagination than most or because he had psychometry and thought of objects in a different light than many others. He answered Nic's question about her meaning.

"The shoe, of course. You said you were angry at it. Theo is suggesting that if you apologize to it perhaps it will stop causing you problems. "

He then turned his gaze back to Pak and Artemis, figuring Zone had probably been somewhere nearby the whole time and was the likely culprit.

"That's likely to work. Don't you think so?"

With a nod, Artemis let go of Thaddeus's hand and smiled at Pak. After the ball, he had felt that he owed her something by way of apology. Granted he had not planned on or invited the crazy lady. That woman had not only killed the mood that evening but had stirred up quite a few doubts about Thaddeus and himself. He knew she had questions and that he would have to answer them, but he was not sure if he was ready to address some of them. Naturally when faced with a situation like this, a smart man stalls, bribes, or when possible does both.

"Remind me later and I will explain the different buttons. Best hide it quickly before Geezer spots it and demands a block of cheese to go with the wine I owe him."

Yep, you can get away with a lot when you bribe. Artemis smiled and raised a hand in greeting to Dani. He would have said something, but she appeared to be busy. From past experience, Artemis figured she was probably trying to control whatever the situation was before whatever it was got out of hand.

Looking back at Alfarinn, he had to stifle a laugh at the expression and raised fist. When Geezer returned, he did his best to look innocent. However since that rarely worked for him, even when he was innocent, he quietly moved the car over a bit with his foot. There was no harm in trying to hide the evidence. Artemis grinned at his friend's return and comment about his driving. Alfarinn surely knew by now that such statements only offered encouragement.

"Really? Well, I can try it again. Stand still."

For emphasis he pressed a button on the remote that caused the little car to make revving noises. After moment, he followed the gaze to the other group. Clearly he had missed something. Apparently it was all about a shoe, more specifically apologizing to it. Artemis assumed Alfarinn was teasing the man and decided to go along with it.

"I can't say I have much experience with loafers. Wise men don't wear them. They come off too easy." Turning to the loafer man, "Perhaps you angered the loafer gods. In addition to an apology, you might need to make an offering."

Turning back to Alfarinn with a quizzical look and a shrug, he asked quietly.

"What's up with Shoeless Joe?"

Nic blinked at the absurdity.

First Arin was telling him to ask forgiveness of a shoe, and then the strange, dark young man was encouraging it. He had to wonder if the entire Evenhet clan was a bit mad.

"So, let me get this straight. I pay excellent money to have these shoes created. They provide me with years of terrific service, and I treat them extremely well...I have them cleaned, when they are dusty, and polished when they thirst...I take them with me and show them the world, like few other loafers ever see, and yet I owe them redress? Do neither of you feel that is a bit much?

Am I then to begin doing penance to my pants...my shirts? Is that a common practice here in Nachton, or am I receiving some special treatment?"

It then occurred to Nic that maybe this was his way of atoning for the wrong he did to Ellis. But with a short 'Ha', mostly under his breath, he saw the folly in that thought...much too easy for one, and then what connection did Ellis have to his shoes?

No...it must be a joke. Not knowing the personalities of those around him, he couldn't be sure, but he would go with that thought for now.

He looked back to Theo.

"Is that the way of it then? I am to ask pardon of my shoe...or shoes...I suppose I should include both, to be safe?"

So fine...he would humor them...he could laugh at himself just as easily as anyone.

Still grinning, the gift of the pen had provided a complete emotional about face for Pak, she slid it into her pocket. Of course, she desperately wanted to push the buttons now, but her previous project, Nic’s shoe, was developing quite nicely. So she’d wait for a lesson, well she’d wait a while and then curiosity would no doubt win out.

“What no trial and error? I can’t blow anything up with it can I?”

Don’t laugh. She wanted to, especially now that they were up to apologies and offerings. What kind of offering did one provide the shoe gods?

Artemis’s comment that loafers were too easy to walk out of was nearly her undoing, but she managed to keep up the appearance of innocence. It also made her wonder if he’d played this game before.

Now feeling helpful she chimed in.

“Probably both shoes. Just to be safe, after all you wouldn’t want the other to get jealous.”

She added more quietly, not wanting to encourage the girl too far. After having seen the shoe float, just for a second, she understood she was telekinetic; and if there was one thing Pak knew it was that one should not encourage or upset those with telekinesis.

“Personally I think the glue was a better idea.”

Did that shoe just float? I think that shoe just floated. There's no way that shoe could have just floated. Shoes don't float!

Aishe recalled briefly that Dani had mentioned vampires' odd abilities. Her practical mind quickly made the leap of logic required and drew the necessary conclusions. So Theo was a vampire, and perhaps one of her strange abilities was to make things float. Did this apply just to loafers, or did the ability extend to slippers and pumps as well?

Apparently she still had a great deal to learn. Luckily Kem had never made anything float around her. Perhaps not all vampires could do that, however. Her mind was suddenly brimming with ten times as many questions.

The conversation had progressed while she had traversed that line of thought, and she came back to it to hear a slightly agitated Nic wondering if he was now to make amends to all of his clothing.

"Is that the way of it then? I am to ask pardon of my shoe...or shoes...I suppose I should include both, to be safe?"

At that question, Aishe lifted a shoulder at him. "Why not include them both? They do come as a pair after all. What if your other shoe takes offense at being left out of such an apology? You'd never have the end of it. It certainly doesn't cost you anything to be polite to both shoes at once."

As soon as she said it she felt incredibly silly. Had she just advised Nic to say he was sorry to his shoes?

And then, quite suddenly, her previous train of thought caught up with her and she realized that if vampires had odd abilities and she was trying to become a vampire herself... oh, my. Well, if she acheived her goal she wouldn't be able to say life was boring.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at the loafer man.

"A man who cleans his shoes and polishes them when they are thirsty has a problem with an apology? Surely not. Most decent people say they are sorry when they have done something wrong."

Artemis had to fight the urge to shake his head. If loafer man associated his shoes with having thirst, he must be one step short of talking to them already. This man was clearly bit light in the loafers. Artemis looked at Pak, a bit astonished. Did she just say glue? He had apparently missed quite a bit.

"But that was my original confusion...I am unaware of having done anything wrong. I was attempting to enlighten you all to the fact that I value and take care of my shoes."

Okay...Nic knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he had to exert at least a little backbone here. He did give the dark man a bit of a look though. It might be nice if he had come into the situation with full knowledge of what had transpired, before offering advice.

Dani gave Theo a little grin at her grave pronouncement, wondering what plan she had rejected upon further considering the circumstances. She pulled a face when Theo left the shoe hanging in mid air to put away the glue and looked to Aishe, hoping the action didn’t shock her too terribly. She had mentioned abilities very briefly but hadn’t taken Theo into account; most vampires were a little more discreet around strangers and she had assumed Aishe would have plenty of time to gradually get used to being around people with a myriad of unique talents.

Despite the anxiety, though, she couldn’t help but think that this was one of the things she liked about Theo. The girl just ‘did her thing’ and while she didn’t always seem to have a grasp of the consequences of that, it made Dani proud that there was a safe place for Theo to be herself.

She gave a little shrug when Theo explained that the display of ability had been forgetfulness rather than an intentional need to show off or alarm people, taking that at face value.

It seemed that the rest of the group was inclined to take Theo’s suggestion at face value as well, though that might have had something to do with the idea being both harmless and amusing. Someone –probably- would have interfered if Theo had decided, say, burning the shoe for witchcraft was the only solution, but this idea hurt no one…save perhaps Nic’s already somewhat wounded pride.

She gave Nic what she hoped was a reassuring grin and spoke, gently.

“I think that’s a consensus.”

Fatty, from his position flopped on the floor and looking for all the world as though he had simply collapsed from boredom and fallen asleep, gave a little woof, twitching one paw.

Theo nodded in Alfarinn’s direction, pleased that he had caught on. It seemed the rest were in agreement with this little charade but Nic was surprisingly reluctant. That was too bad; everyone was trying to help, after all.

“You want to fix it, don’t you?”

Frowning, she confessed in a stage whisper:

“I don’t have any better ideas.”

Seeing that Nic was apparently unhappy with giving an apology because he wasn’t aware of any wrong doing, she nodded in sympathetic understanding. Sometimes you had to apologize even when it was someone else’s fault for being irrational, though.

“It’s only a shoe, though. It can’t help its nature.”

She smiled and gave the shoe a little pat.

“Hear that? He values you.”

Perhaps if she showed that she was willing to talk to the shoe for the sake of keeping the peace Nic would feel better about doing the same.

Deciding enough time had been devoted to his shoe, and his discomfort, Nic agreed to swallow the pill and take it like a man. He wasn't sure, but from her comment about being out of ideas, Nic hoped that Theo was, indeed, a part of the game...and not actually caught up in it as he'd originally thought.

"Well then, may I ask a favor of you?"

He studied Theo with no evidence of humor, or letting on that he now regarded this little scene as anything more than another game.

"Since I've only recently found need of apologies, and have yet to master them...nor have I the familiar way with shoes, such as yourself...do you think you might be able to offer me some assistance here? I mean, do I just say something simple...like..."Dear shoes, I beg your pardon for having offended you in such a way as I am totally ignorant, but most humbly sorry...Please accept my most honest apology, and I will do my utmost to see that you are given a double polishing tonight...?"

There...that sounded sincere, and heartfelt, didn't it? Surely Nic could master the act of apologizing to a pair of shoes, no matter how long it had been since he'd been before a camera.

Thaddeus raised one eyebrow at Theo’s display, hoping it wouldn’t cause a stir, but it seemed the group was largely unfazed and no passersby had stopped to stare. He decided to keep his opinion, that a coerced apology was a rather worthless one, to himself, as he imagined Nic probably just wanted to get his shoe back and there was no reason to complicate things with technicalities.

Instead, he gave Alfarinn’s hand a little squeeze and looked down at the car. For some reason being around Artemis and his gadgets brought out the ten year old in him and he had to repress the childish urge to point and say ‘I want one of those!’ for a second time upon encountering a clever invention of the man’s. Odd that he never would have considered himself in need of such a thing until he saw it, but he supposed that was the way of technology.

In any case, it would likely set a bad example to operate such a thing in the manor…if he were caught.

He looked to Artemis, curious.

“Can it navigate a flight of stairs?”

Theo beamed a bright smile at Nic as he commenced with his apology. While what was important was that –he- thought it was good, she understood that it helped to have corroboration.

“That was very good!”

’Now absolve him.’

Theo frowned at this suggestion, thinking that it might be sacrilege, but ultimately decided that the intentions were good. Looking up at Nic with a grave expression, she dropped her voice a few octaves and spoke.

“Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis”

She pushed the shoe back toward Nic, explaining.

“That means you’re forgiven. It’s not the same as a priest saying it but it is, after all, a shoe so I think it’s good enough.”

/ooc Actual translation is ‘I absolve you from your sins.’

Pak nodded cheerfully at Artemis’s look. He’d missed some of the excellent lead up to the apology. It was a shame too, he probably would have helped.

“Apparently the shoes were damned at one point and they were going to glue them to his feet.”

Biting her lip to keep from laughing Pak resisted the urge to say that Nic should offer a more sincere apology. She didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about creating this situation, in fact, she was rather proud of herself. Although she did wonder a bit about the girl who’d decided Nic had to apologize to the shoe. She seemed a bit… unique.

Letting Thaddeus draw their attention back to the car, she was a bit surprised an Anantya would be interested in such things. It must be Alfarinn’s influence.