☬-Thorn of The Rose-☬ 2x2 W/ Wolfrunner & Spiritstar3

[wolfrunner]

“Then Tis best I do hurry. Everyone will be able to tell what he cooked and what I did if that were to happen and I’d rather the whole house not be upset with me.”, said Aralynn half laughing and half sincere. Yes. It was best for everyone that lived there that Aralynn not be allowed too cook no matter how much aide Valentine may require.

Turning around then, the blond moved leaving Al to his thoughts in order so that she may head towards the kitchen in search of something that could possibly ease their nerves even just a bit. She needed to be quick and stealthy about this though so as to not get caught. In other words that meant no lingering for very long.

[owl0430]

Esme has also declined the dinner invitation, though she asked the staff to wish the others well regards and thank them for inviting her. In the contrary, Akira- despite some initial hesitancy due to Rigel's presence- opted to attend. Even if it was just to visit with Haruna more.

Granted, it would do her well to get to know Rigel better. Having her brother there to serve as somewhat of a support system would help with that.

She knew that she didn't exactly hide her lingering distrust towards the blonde pureblood, especially since her behavior towards Lhcas was quite contradictory in comparison, but could they really blame her?

If they could've just seen it from her perspective, and Haruna's, they'd understand. Confused and suddenly sent far from home, after which not even a day later the exact thing they'd unknowingly been fleeing from comes to seige and later destroy the Highguard Estate.

They'd already been scared and confused, and that had just been the icing on the cake.

Injured in a sudden explosion, bleeding, and opening their eyes to bodies and an entirely new, horrific world surrounding them. Screams and death echoing from every direction, and just when they had thought they could perhaps escape, Rigel had made his appearance.

He'd appeared in that moment like a harbinger of death, an omen of things to come. Of course, in retrospect Lucas had undoubtedly told Rigel not to actual harm them. She was sure it was part of his plan. But that didn't make that moment any less...effective, so to speak.

When they'd had just a glimmer of hope, his appearance has in that moment felt like their fate was sealed. So in her mind, Rigel was a representation of all that she was afraid of.

Sure, there were vampires she surely had far more reason to fear- and she did, though she dared not utter their names even internally- but that didn't take away from the fact she was still scared of Rigel.

Tough as she tried to act, in her moments alone, she still felt like that damsell in distress back at highguard; in over her head and just trying to survive. She could try to hide it and recite the now-known facts all she wanted; try to move on with her life, and to make amends. But none of that would make any of what had happened less real. It wouldn't change what had happened.

On a horrific, scarlet night, she'd had her first encounter with vampires. And they'd been every bit as monstrous as one would expect. But that's all the soldiers had appeared as; ferocious, vicious monsters. Rigel had appeared as a creature that, on the outside, was almost human... and perhaps that was what scared her most of all.

That those creatures could, if desired, appear and act so human at will- and in the blink of an eye, everyone around oneself would be dead...

A sudden jolt of movement occurred as she suddenly slammed her hands down onto her vanity, knocking over a bottle of perfume and spilling it onto the vanity and the floor- Thankfully not one of her favorites.

Evidently she was still bothered by it more than she thought. A cold sweat lightly covered her arms, chest, and back. Her heart was racing, and she had to take deep, shaky breaths to calm herself down.

This was going to be a long dinner, wasn't it?

After she'd managed to calm herself down, she quickly cleaned the spilt perfume best she could and cleaned herself of the sweat before making her way to main reception area; a rather peculiar dining destination.

[owl0430]

In the area outside of the observatory room, a strange odor of herbs and a strong mint could be found.

Someone had been listening in on the conversation between Aralynn and Al; but the scent wasn't that of anyone who lived in the manor- unless it had been someone clever and experienced enough to hide their own scent.

But in the scenario one were to track the scent, it would lead to a dead-end at one of the spare rooms, with nobody inside.

Down in the kitchen, however, a certain red-head was working on everyone's breakfast with a solemn look on his face.

[wolfrunner]

Nina accepted her own mask from Haruna as well. Her eyes staring at the ornate feline mask staring back at her. "They're really pretty.", she said looking over at Ai who appeared thrilled at their gifts. Nina was more in awe as she lifted it trying to put the mask on. "Is it really okay for us to wear them?"

Letting himself fall lazily into one of the chairs as though he was worn out, the blond watched the girls while Haruna presented them with their gifts. Arms resting lazy over the arm rests of the chair watching the human children's reactions to the ornate feline faces. The appearance was more of some lord having just returned to his estate after a long day rather then a blood-thirtsy creature of the night at that moment. "I am pleased you approve. Though Haruna spotted them and pointed them out, all I contributed twas agreeing with him.", the blond said before adding, "Of course. Tis the whole reason we bought them for the pair of you in the first place, so that you may enjoy yourselves with them. Though try not to eat a meal in them, twould be doubtful that twould end well.”

[Spiritstar3]

Isabella- f- Renier- blue eyed blonde- golden light and dog shift (mix of her parents powers)- married- Lucas is her son, Rigel is adopted- Tags: Nina and Ai, Rigel, Haruna

The blonde woman -next post-

Haruna- Haru- male- Embere Heir- homosexual; Rigel is crush- Ai and Nina- Demon (reverse leopard) and Angel (red blanket) Appy, plus new mare Angelic Song)- kitten Dream (white with black forehead streak and tail)- manor- Tags: Rigel and co

The dark haired boy wasn't thinking of home, or what had happened at Highguard. He had no time for the thoughts to invade. The girls and Rigel were keeping him busy and focused. Surely, if he were on his own somewhere, with only his thoughts for company, he would have...He didn't think of any of it now, though. He smiled as he looked at the two little girls, then watched Rigel as he reclined.

Snorting, forcing back a giggle by doing so, he shook his head a couple times. He blinked once, twice, then turned away for a small moment. He looked to Isabella, whom seemed quite happy just to watch them. He offered her a smile, then turned back to her son. He looked back to the girls again, nodding and saying "Yes, you may try them on now. Rival is right, though, you need to take them off when we are served the food."

He then looked up and around.

He thought he heard Akira heading for the room.

Aiya- Ai- f- 4 y- July 12- human- bi when old enough; no crush- sister Nina- Ebony pony (black with white socks and blaze)- wants a pet- Tags: Nina, Isabella, Rigel, Haruna

The reddish brown haired little one giggled as she held the mask up. She continued to stare at it, then held it with just one hand. One finger of her other hand traced the reddish pink flowers at the ears. She then held it with both hands once more, before lifting it as Nina did. She imitated her twin, putting the mask in front of her face. She nodded and said "We will, we'll take them back off before dinner!"

[wolfrunner]

The blond left the door to the Observatory open a bit as she turned around to face the quiet long hallway running along in front of the room. The scent of herbs and mint hit her nose as she turned but she continued on her way taking a few steps forward heading for the kitchen. Hands reaching to pick up her skirts so as to make less sound, Aralynn hurried along quickly focused on the task of avoiding Valentine.

Sure enough the girl reached her destination and slowly with great care pushed her way into the vampiric chef's domain looking around the area. There wasn't any sign of him....at least right there by the kitchen doors there wasn't. If Valentine was already busy in the kitchen at these hours then he was too busy or not right by the enterance at the moment. Good. Aralynn felt a little bit of hope rise in her that, just maybe, she'd be able to pull off her little thief operation without any issue.

With her new found boost of confidence, Aralynn became a little bolder and fully stepped into the kitchen while closing the doors behind her so as to make as little noise as possible. After which she started searching for something she could take back to the Observatory.

[owl0430]

Ugh. Just great- she'd gotten inside her own head too much. Now she was having trouble getting herself calmed back down. Her nerves were on edge, and she couldn't get her heart to calm back down; it was like she'd activated an internalized version of fight of flight and couldn't turn it back off.

Attempting to keep her footsteps quiet as possible she approached her destination- only to halt in her steps as she'd went to round the corner; and the shock she felt at the sight before her had no problem showing itself on her face.

There sat Rigel, with Haruna and the girls close by. In a way, the four resembled a family- and though he looked rather tired at the moment, despite not having a need for sleep, Rigel appeared to be content with the current events unfolding before him. It was...odd.

Her mind kept flashing back to that first encounter; but before her was something the exact opposite of that scene.

A deep breath in. Then out. Then-

" Well you wouldn't want anything to get on the masks now would you? You both look far too adorable in them, 'twould be a shame if they got ruined." spoke Akira, slowly striding into the room and over to one of the empty chairs.

" You both did good, regardless of your respective roles in the selection of the masks." referring to both Rigel and Haruna. "They fit the girls well."

[owl0430]

Aralynn would not know peace for long. She'd been, unknowingly, granted a grace period. After which a voice called out from across the kitchen.

" If you are going to be rummaging around my kitchen while I am trying to cook breakfast, then the least you could do is to bring me those herbs over there- to your left, up three shelves. Before you ask, yes, the ones in the glass containers with the wooden lids. " Completely emotionless, aside from what one may have called a tad bit of grumpiness.

As fate would have it, contrary to how things currently appeared, Valentine was not an early bird.

" After that I need a cup of milk, two scoops of sugar, some honey, and then you need to cut up precisely ten strawberries." Just because he'd finished giving Aralynn a to-do-list did not mean the torture was over. " Should you complete all those tasks before I come up with more for you to do, perhaps consider if sneaking around my kitchen at this hour is really worth whatever late-night snack you oh-so-desperately crave. " There was a bit of a tease to that last line of his, but of course there was some seriousness to it as well.

" One does not simply take my ingredients without paying the cost- especially when deliberately trying to do so without me noticing. This manor may belong to Al, but I am the one in charge of this kitchen. Nothing in here slips past me."

[wolfrunner]

Nina had held her mask up to her face and was messing with her sister when she heard the familiar voice of Haruna’s sister joining them in the room. She stopped what she was doing and turned lowering the mask to see if she was right before grinning wide at the blond. “Miss Akira!”, she welcomed the former Princess happily.

Rigel looked up from having been watching the girls in time to see Akira settling down into a seat. “It Twould appear someone did receive he notice and decide to grace us with their presence. I am glad someone is not too busy to share a meal. I was starting to wonder if anybody Twould be joining us and becoming worried.”, the younger Renier said before adding, “We thought it best to bring something back for them. None in this house would hear the end of it if we had not, it Twas what was best for everyone.”

[Spiritstar3]

Isabella- f- Renier- blue eyed blonde- golden light and dog shift (mix of her parents powers)- married- Lucas is her son, Rigel is adopted- Tags: Nina and Ai, Rigel, Haruna, Akira

The blonde woman smiled as she continued to watch the boy and girls. Her eyes would once in awhile glance over to her son, as well. She looked up as she heard the voice of the other human, the girl. She smiled as she said "Good to have you here with us, for the meal." She usually was there for the meals anyway, but Isabella didn't actually see any of them terribly often. She'd sometimes stay with her husband.

Haruna- Haru- male- Embere Heir- homosexual; Rigel is crush- Ai and Nina- Demon (reverse leopard) and Angel (red blanket) Appy, plus new mare Angelic Song)- kitten Dream (white with black forehead streak and tail)- manor- Tags: Rigel and co

The dark haired boy hummed a small sound as he smiled at the girls. He too looked up as he heard the voice, saying "Sister." He then blinked at himself, he'd never really called her sister like that. It was too formal, they always called each other by their names. He quickly said "Akira... I'm glad you came," and smiled the softest, sweetest smile at her. He then nodded and said "Yeah, I just...wanted them to have some fun too."

Aiya- Ai- f- 4 y- July 12- human- bi when old enough; no crush- sister Nina- Ebony pony (black with white socks and blaze)- wants a pet- Tags: Nina, Isabella, Rigel and Haruna, Akira

The reddish brown haired little one giggled as she looked at her twin. She held her mask before her face as well, making quiet meowing sounds. When she heard Akira, however, she fell silent and lowered the mask. "Auntie!" she cried, then squeaked and blushed, shaking her head. She hadnt even called Rigel or Haruna as Dad...She quickly said "Miss Akira," then looked to the two boys as they also spoke.