by Rondell » Sat Mar 18, 2017 3:49 pm
Michael
Michael impulsively started to take a step in Fia's direction, but the pale man's hand, still on his chest, held him back and kept him from his target. There wasn't a lot of power in that hand, and he briefly considered pushing on past. He could do it easily. Quickly. And if that crazy lady had actually been trying to break his glasses... Micheal felt his anger cresting. But before he could try anything, a faint voice broke his train of thought. "Please sir... it's not worth it." Michael glanced down at the bartender who restrained him and blinked. The other man's face was pleading in the extreme - he appeared to be doing everything he could to win him over short of getting to his knees and begging. His lower lip was even quivering.
With a massive sigh and a roll of his eyes, Michael broke eye contact and turned his back on the room, raising both hands and running them through his hair in the same motion. Fine. Fine! He still had a space to light. He had his word to keep. And the sooner he got things done, the sooner he could get the hell out of here and back to things he was actually getting paid to do. He was halfway to the door before he stopped and called out: "I'll stay away from you if you stay away from me. As far as I'm concerned, he and I are the only ones in here." he jerked a thumb at Kiba. "Your crew be hanged and burned alive." This last was said in a barely audible voice - one would have had to be right next to Michael to have heard it.
Having said his peace, he now made his way back to the pale stranger and resumed talking in the same subdued voice. The last thing he wanted was for someone's overlarge ears to pick up something that wasn't intended for them. "You. Are you busy?"
"Err... well..." The man hesitated.
"Let me borrow you for a minute, and I'll clean the glass up before I go so you don't have to bother. Deal?"
This time, Michael was surprised by the man's firm response. "Deal."
"Fine. I need your help pulling the ladder from the storage room. And I'll be turned into a pumpkin before I let her use it." Having successfully recruited the man, he started for the door again, expecting him to follow without being prompted. A quick glance over his shoulder proved him to be correct. The guy was following a step behind just like a loyal puppy. "I have no idea why she's flirting with you either. If she's doing it to make me jealous, it's failing." Not to mention queasy. "I personally recommend vanishing before she spots you again. If you turn her down, she'll kill you." By this point they'd passed out of the party room and had entered the main dining area, where hundreds of eyes immediately began tracking their progress. Michael simply smiled and ignored them. It didn't bother him in the slightest. "Of course you could also take her up on the offer. Slip rat poison into her food. Do the world a favor."
It was the work of a few short minutes to get to the storage closet, work the ladder loose, and lug it back to the party room. It would have taken less time, but the pale man was proving to be only minimally helpful. Once they'd returned and gotten it set up, Micheal thanked the man politely and set to his work. From this point on he could move it around himself.
Kiba
Kiba allowed himself to feel the smallest flutter of relief when the woman whirled about and moved off to berate the crew. It seemed as if his ploy had been successful! He almost wanted to go around and thank each member of the crew personally. If it hadn't been for their antics, he'd most likely be a shattered pile on the floor by now, and the other two would be rolling around trying to gouge each-other's eyes out. All he had to do now was keep the man from kicking things back up again. Because he sure seemed to want to! As the man started forward, Kiba increased the pressure he was putting on his chest, even going so far as to step into the gesture a bit. "Please sir... it's not worth it." He was rewarded with a glare. Yet after a moment, the glare softened and the man turned away with a terrible sigh that sounded as if he'd let all his anger and tension flood out of him at once.
Then the woman was renewing her her dinner invitation, in case Kiba hadn't heard it the first time. Again he was at a loss as how to respond, and he let his mouth open and close a few times in confusion. He hadn't been on a date since Moon had left. He hadn't so much as thought about dating since Moon had left. Yet suddenly there was this woman - a woman he didn't even know, as different from Moon as he himself was from the man - asking him out. He hardly even heard the last exchange, so preoccupied was he with his predicament.
"You. Are you busy?"
Kiba jumped. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't even realized the man was heading his way - it almost seemed as if the other had materialized behind him. "Err... well..."
"Let me borrow you for a minute, and I'll clean the glass up before I go so you don't have to bother. Deal?"
Now the man had his full attention. He had been dreading the moment when his boss would tell him to sweep the glass up, almost as much as he'd been dreading his own efforts to bribe a friendly coworker into doing it for him. If the man was willing to do it himself... "Deal." His response was bordering on reflexive.
"Fine. I need your help pulling the ladder from the storage room. And I'll be turned into a pumpkin before I let her use it." With that, the man started for the door yet again, leaving Kiba standing by himself and worrying about his ability to move a ladder. It took him a couple seconds to catch up. And by the time he did, the man was talking again, this time about the woman's having asked him to dinner." I have no idea why she's flirting with you either. If she's doing it to make me jealous, it's failing."
He couldn't help but blush, and elected not to respond. What was there to say?
"I personally recommend vanishing before she spots you again. If you turn her down, she'll kill you."
By this point they'd passed out of the party room and had entered the main dining area, where hundreds of curious eyes immediately began tracking their progress. While the diners had all kept their seats during the commotion, Kiba had no doubt that each and every one of them was burning to know what had been going on. Their attention made him itch. He could feel their stares... squirming subconsciously, he tuned out the words of his temporary companion and managed to catch the attention of one particular pair of eyes - those of the head waiter hanging out not-so-casually by the kitchen door - and shot a quick thumbs-up in their direction to let them know all was clear. They'd then relay the news to the rest of the staff.
It was the work of a few short minutes to get to the storage closet, work the ladder loose, and lug it back to the party room; Kiba moving as slowly and deliberately as he could the entire time. The last thing he wanted was to lose his grip on the darn thing and have it smash his foot. Or his knee. It would be a simple mistake, sure. But it would also be an irreversible one. And after surviving the morning's whole chaotic ordeal, he didn't want to tempt fate. Once they'd returned and gotten the ladder set up without incident, Kiba hung around for a moment longer while the man thanked him for his help. Then he smiled, said no problem, and moved off, casually observing the progress of the crew. He still hadn't quite made up his mind how he was going to answer the woman's proposition. To be honest, she scared him. So he was tempted to accept and have done. Yet he didn't really want to do that. It seemed like a cheap reason to have dinner with someone. Plus, he was probably overplaying the significance of the invitation. He didn't know her any more than she knew him, so it probably was nothing more than her way of apologizing for putting him between her and the man. Which she hadn't really done. But still... he couldn't just run away like the man had suggested. The thought bothered him. Kiba muttered absently under his breath, more thinking out-loud than anything, and stepped slightly sideways to avoid colliding with a crewman whose arms were full of decorations.
Before he knew it, his path had brought him to Fia. Her back was to him, so he cleared his throat quietly before speaking. He'd already jammed his hands in his pockets again to hide their shaking. "So... who's... who's this party for, anyway?"
Leizu
"They are. Michael used to take me there a bunch when I was younger so that I could look at all the Chinese artifacts they had. He wanted me to know where my family had come from." Leizu was still looking at her friend curiously, but the other seemed to daydreaming or something, and was barely even paying attention to the conversation now. She still wanted to ask about the amnesia. She'd read about the condition plenty of times in plenty of books, seen it figure into a couple of TV shows - but she'd never dealt with it personally. She also didn't want to offend Caelo by prying. She knew from personal experience that very few people were actually as open about themselves as she was. Even Michael had trouble opening up sometimes. Of all the people she'd met, only one had even come near Leizu's own level of non-concern. And she was the one who probably had the most to hide.
They had reached the foot of the dune now, and Leizu's own personal dock could be seen stretching off into the waves to their right. "That's my house up there - not much, but cozy enough." She smiled over at Caelo. "If you've never climbed a dune before, it's easiest to tack diagonally instead of trying to cut straight up. If you have, well... you know what I'm talking about!" With a small giggle, Leizu started forward, placing her feet carefully and confidently as she climbed. "Just follow me."
In no time she reached the top, and stood waiting for Caelo several yards away from her front door.
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