Work In Progress (Open)

Jin looked first from one woman and then to the other. From the sounds of the conversation it seemed that Pakpao might be able to hold her own in a relationship with Artemis. Somehow he wasn't so certain that was reassuring. It would only be a matter of time before they started teaming up on practical jokes. Artemis and Alfarinn were a bad enough pair as it was.

Turning to Aishe, he said.

"I am sorry, but I must gracefully decline. I have only just arrived and there is much work to be done."

Nodding to Pakpao, Jin agreed with her assessment on fashion.

"Yes, I would look like an anime character."

Jin chuckled at Artemis and thought that if Kem were a wise man then he would do exactly that and make the man sign the forms...in triplicate.

"Oh they're dangerous," Aishe nodded at Amberelle. "To themselves as much as to anyone else."

She grinned at Pak and Artemis, pointing her finger at each of them in turn. "You do not get to be a flower girl. And you do not get to be the ring bearer, accepting the very slim chance that someone offers you the part of Frodo in a remake, which given your physical attributes seems unlikely at best."

That said, she turned to Jin and raised her cup of cocoa to him in a mock salute. "Gracefully declined indeed, sir. I will have to look elsewhere for an appropriate flower girl."

She emphasized the word girl, giving Pak her best glare. Then, addressing the idea of forms, she immediately switched the glare to her best look of sweet innocence for Artemis. "Surely you Kem's very good friends wouldn't do anything to ruin a very special day. After all, we're only going to be getting married once."

In hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years if they were lucky. Aishe didn't plan to be apart from her vampire - ever.

"However," she added, "anything goes at the reception." They had to have their fun somewhere, after all.

[You shall have to pick the movie.]

Pak rolled her eyes cheerfully at him.

[I can't do all the work now can I?]

Hmmmm she regretted the words almost as soon as they were out of her 'mouth'. Well, so long as no one threw rice at her he would be fine Pak decided. She hoped. Before shaking her head at Amberelle.

"You have -no- idea. It can be down right scary."Â?

Some days even staying in bed was dangerous, or potentially dangerous. And there certainly was no such thing as an innocent by stander. They'd proved that. More than once.

"Just remember I said that the next time they pick on my fashion sense."Â?

Pak quipped at Jin. He could potentially be an ally. Potentially. It was yet to be seen.

"I don't know he strikes me more as a Pippen don't you think?"Â?

Since Aishe was laying down the law, and Pak owed her for... well for something. Knowing Aishe probably more than one something she just grumbled.

"I promise to behave."Â?

Or ate least to not get caught. Truthfully she probably wouldn't cause too much trouble. Lord knew the two of them deserved one calm day.

[Hmm. I will have to give it some thought. What type of movie do you want to see? Action? Drama? Science Fiction]

After a brief pause and what he hoped was a dramatic internal sigh, he continued.

[For you, I suppose I would even be willing to watch a romantic comedy.]

Though to be quite honest, he was sure their own romance had enough comedy and drama to top any movie. Add in a bit of spy work, various explosions, telekinesis and vampires and it became a blockbuster action flick. Perhaps he should master script writing. There was an old, albeit bad, joke about how porcupines mate. This would be how do two telekinetic prank playing vampires date? Humorously, he was sure.

Artemis grinned as it became apparent that he would not be allowed to be the ring bearer. He could have pointed out that it was probably safer to have him busy and in the front where the bride and groom could keep an eye on him. But doing so might ruin future pranks, or at least make them more difficult. Trying his best to look offended and not overly amused, he gestured to himself.

"Of all of the great characters in film, and the best you can come up with is a hobbit? That's it. No souped up, super charged toaster for your wedding present. You shall get the plain ordinary kind."

Artemis chuckled lightly at his threat. Of course he knew some people might actually prefer the regular toaster. But those people were just weird.

"We would never ruin a special day. Just enhance it a bit"

He laughed and smiled brightly at Aishe, hoping she understood that he was just kidding.

"In all seriousness, I would never pull a prank during the ceremony. Though you probably don't want to give me free reign over the reception."

Jin was safely out a job and he sat back and listened to the others continue to talk about the wedding. He doubted Artemis would do anything during someone's ceremony but perhaps Aishe didn't know him well; practical jokers do get a reputation of not knowing when to quit.

Of course giving him permission to run amok at the reception might have been a bad idea. Jin would have to remember to bring a video camera if he was invited.

He waited until Artemis threatened Aishe with an ordinary toaster and then put in his bid for the Lord of the Ring vampire remake.

"My vote was for Golem."

Jin shrugged and smiled kindly at Artemis.

Looking at his watch, he realized that he had spent entirely too much time enjoying the conversation. He had work to do and leads to find. Leaning over to retrieve his laptop, jin nodded his head to everyone in the group.

"It was good to see you again, Artemis, though I still question your taste level with some of those pop ups. And it was good to meet all of you. Congratulations, Aishe. May it be a fine day some time in this century."

He knew that at least he and the Roman could wait a century but even if Aishe were one of their kind Jin really doubted she cared to wait so long for her big day. Jin picked up his things and headed for the door.

((OOC: Jin Out))

Aishe blinked at Artemis' momentary solemnity. "Of course you wouldn't," she said. She had just been teasing, after all... she was chagrined to think she came across as the sort who might actually think any of her clanmates would willingly get carried away with their silliness at such an event.

"But the reception is fair game; I promised Kem." She held up a finger. "Just bear in mind that at least I picked the character with ridiculously big, blue, adorable, 'love-me' eyes. And I don't imagine it matters what sort of toaster I get; anything with a plug and moving parts is going to be confiscated and turned into something mechanical in our garage."

She grinned at Artemis. Kiamhaat didn't have a lot of spare time lately but he still spent what he could out in the garage, which still never had a car in it, but many of his toys. Aishe never complained. He never gave her a reason to feel neglected.

As Jin stood to leave Aishe smiled at him. "It was nice to meet you, too."

Looking across the table at Pak and Artemis, Aishe smiled and made a little 'cell phone' call. It was fortunate that she had complete coverage. While she couldn't exactly send to Kiamhaat without his doing so first, she could certainly pull at their bond a little bit, giving him a little 'hey, you' when she needed him. His response was immediate and she managed a brief exchange with him.

"I think I might go home with Kem," she said vaguely, wanting to leave Pak and Artemis to their own devices. "He's getting out from Meridian very soon. I thought I'd grab a bite and meet him."

She stood, herself, and gathered her empty cup of cocoa to bring back to the counter. "It was good to see you both again Artemis, Amby. I'll catch you soon Pak."

With that Aishe, too, departed the little cafe, smiling to herself and hoping Pak took advantage of the night.

((ooc: Aishe out))

Shaking her head at his 'drama' Pak let him off the hook. With the exception of a very few movies she didn't really do romantic comedies herself. She had enough trouble on that front and Artemis was exhibit A and he probably knew it.

[Anything that doesn't involve sparkly vampires is at least worth considering.]

Maybe she was going to have to rewatch The Lord of the Rings, but to her recollection it was Merry and Pippin who had wandered of and gotten in more trouble then Sam, Frodo and Golom combined. But she could be wrong it had been a while.

She bid a polite good-bye to Jin, who she deiced was probably a good sort. At the very least she wouldn't mind talking to him again. But it was Aishe who caught her flat footed. Pak had driven! Aishe was her 'get out of jail'/'no I'm not really avoiding anything' card. And now that card was gone. Amberelle she didn't know at all which meant Pak was basically alone with exhibit A.

Pak gaped for a second and wound up blushing scarlet for another second before getting herself under control and not looking totally flustered.

"You'd almost think they did that on purpose..."Â?

She mused aloud with a half smile.

It had been a few years since he had even been to a movie. While in Italy, he did not have much time for movies. When he was playing the part of Artemis Bellezone, vineyard owner, he was shaking hand with all the right people and doing all the things a respectable businessman should do. When he was keeping his identity a secret, he was....not anywhere near a movie theater.

[Sparkly vampires? Clearly I missed something during my time away. Is it a comedy?]

How could sparkly vampires not be a comedy? He just didn't get it. Although he did wonder how that would happen. Was it a vampire fight in a Las Vegas show? Odd. Artemis looked up at his friend as he prepared to go.

"It was good to see you as well. We will have to get together again when Alfarinn returns from his trip. Take care."

Yes, he had let the 'Golem thing' slide with just a grin. Had it been one of the ladies who had suggested it, he might have done an impression or two and played it up a bit. But, it just wasn't in him to call Jin "My Precious". Definitely not.

Alas, it appear it was Aishe's turn to leave them. There certainly appeared to be a trend forming. Standing, he prepared to say his goodbyes to Aishe.

"It was good to see you as well. And again, congratulations on the engagement."

Artemis watched Aishe leave the little cafe before returning his attention to Pak.

"It certainly looks like it. Doesn't it?"

As if coming out of a bubble that had suddenly burst, Artemis remembered Amberelle was sitting there as well.

"I apologize. Pak and I, we have an...um...history. It would seem our friends have decided that we should sort it out."

Artemis offered the girl a smile and a shrug. What else was there to do in this awkward situation. Make polite conversation? Nice weather. What's in the shopping bags. I can make a remote control car out of that. Considering he had taken a taxi from the airport with plans to make the rest of the trip on foot, perhaps the best thing would be to ask Pak if she would give him a ride home. What's the worst that could happen? She agrees and then shoves him out of the car while still going 90. It wouldn't hurt him too bad, but might put a dent in the pavement. The real truth behind where potholes come from. Vampire mafia.

"What do you say Pak? Perhaps we could continue our conversation on the way back to the towers? Mind giving me a ride home?"

Deciding that he would be leaving even if Pak made him walk, he turned to Amberelle and smiled.

"It was nice meeting you."

Slightly oblivious to Amberelle Pak decided that there was no point in keep their conversation secret or trying not to confuse people with it. Hell maybe it was even confused Amberelle and that could be fun, even if she wouldn't be there to see it.

"I think it is -supposed- to be a romantic saga kind of thing... but we'll never know. I don't do horror movies."Â?

She had an analyst with a big huge poster celebrating that mess in their office. She heard more about it than she cared to and it frightened her. Honestly what would the girl do if she learned she was working for real vampires? She'd probably be highly disappointed that they had as much trouble dating as humans, maybe even more.

As to being left alone,

"And they think we're the trouble makers."Â?

Pak was trying to be shocked by Aishe's sudden departure, she really was but just couldn't manage it. She winced a bit when she realized that in no time at all Kem would be aware Artemis was back and they'd been chatting. Even money on whether or not Kem and Aishe relayed all this to Eiryk as well. You know it would have been nice for this all to go under the radar. Even just a little bit, for a day or two. Too late.

It was a perfectly reasonable request and she did have to get back to work. Still Pak eyed him speculatively and considered things for a moment. What she eventually decided was that awkward and confusing or not, there was still somethings that needed to be discussed, even if it turned out that once all was said and done she wasn't speaking to him. Beside he was still cute and deserved at least a chance to explain himself before she held a grudge for the next two or three hundred years. So, she could play nice. Hey it was a possibility he wasn't even interested any more, so... cart, horse right?

That decided Pak stood up and took care of her coffee cup.

"Yeah. I can do that. But you have to help me take the top down."Â?

With that deliberately flirtatious comment did lead them out to the parking lot and true to her word made him help take the retractable hard top off the 'Lil Bird and stow it. She did take a bit of pity on him and didn't drive home as fast as she'd driven here. Wind blown hair and beads did not mix.

((OOC... Pak and Artemis out too))