Walking the Dog (open-outside the mausoleum)

Sorcha found the banter between the two of them amusing; it was good to see a happy couple especially after meeting the woman and Evgeni.

She sent to him just so he knew that she was still here.

[How is the rest of the party going?]

Watching Amir sniff carefully at Pak's hand, Sorcha sent to him.

[I wonder what the odds are that her friend is Evenhet as well. He lives in the building but that doesn't mean anything.]

Ah well, she could send to Pak and probably not have the woman start running for the hills thanks to Amir's information. Sorcha would just have to say that she chose to talk to Pak from some different decision making process.

"Like a ghost told you to do it? That always works." Marcus stood watching the scene with amusement. "Do you think she can get him to play fetch? ...For the sake of appearances, of course."

Sorcha tried not to look scandalized at the idea in front of strangers. "Marcus!"

Deciding he did have a valid excuse, of a sort, Sorcha sent to Pak.

[Hello? Would this method of communication be uncomfortable to you and your date?]

"Ah, Roma. Where all civilized people are from." The soldier's eyes, transparent though they nearly were, still managed to sparkle with mirth.

"Hmmmrph." Was Sorcha's only mental reply.

She took the pad and wrote on the paper.

Italy? I have a friend from there. Its quite beautiful.

Sorcha resisted the urge to glance at the apparition standing nearby.

She nodded to Pak's assessment of the situation and gave her a smile. It was nice not to have to travel to work. For her, though, she could travel or not travel as she chose; being an author had its perks.

Flipping to another page, Sorcha wrote.

What is a Mon cut?

Amir looked up at Sorcha and cocked his head. [I would say the odds are good. Very.]

Amir had no qualms telling her who Artemis was but his own somewhat contrary nature had him playing slightly reticent with his information. Sorcha was Evenhet, after all, and bound to figure out Artemis' identity on her own. He didn't have to give up everything.

There was, again, little for him to say or do in this situation. He wondered if Sorcha might just send to Pak and make both of their lives easier. And if she did that, what sort of excuse she'd give for her daring. Writing it out was all well and good but sending was far too efficient not to be of great use here.

Cause trouble without getting caught and without his usual toys? Artemis knew a challenge when he heard one. He considered the matter for a moment. He wasn't too worried about Sorcha knowing of his abilities. Even humans living in the towers knew about vampires. But there were others, humans, who didn't know. His mischief would have to be subtle and discrete.

Wrapping an arm around Pak's shoulders, he playfully kissed the top of her head. He laughed at himself as he lingered in that position. It had been a poor attempt to mask the fact that he was looking for trouble. With a slight hand gesture, he indicated to Pak and Sorcha where he was looking. There, several feet away, was a couple making out on an intricately carved stone bench. Next to the man's foot was an empty wine bottle laying on its side. Artemis shifted his gaze to the stars and reached out with his mind until he found the bottle. Very gently, he rolled the bottle back and forth a few times and then stopped. After waiting a moment or two, he repeated the process. When he heard the woman comment on the bottle, he lifted it so that it stood mostly upright before letting it drop. The woman tugged at the man, but he did his best to play it off as a trick of the wind. Artemis chuckled quietly as the couple moved further down on the bench away from the bottle.

Giving Pak a wink and a wicked grin, he returned to the previous conversation. Artemis remembered that Sorcha had mentioned having a friend from Italy.

"Your friend is from Italy? What part? I am from the south myself. The Amalfi region."

Pak's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Well that was a bit on the bold side. But, she reasoned, it was a calculated risk. While living or working in the towers didn't guarantee anything it did make the odds more favorable.

[Much easier for you I should think, but yes... both of us.]

The rolling bottle made her smile, but the couple's reaction was better. It was all about the ghoulies and ghosties and things that went bump in the night. Knowing that Sorcha was family Pak didn't feel at all bad about batting the wine bottle over again and rolling it toward the couple again.

"This cemetery -is- haunted you know."Â?

She said with a certain amount of innocence.

Letting them talk about Italy, a place she'd not spent much time, Pak couldn't help but noticed Artemis hadn't dropped his arm from her shoulders. That worked out quite well as it was colder out than she liked, what had possessed Pak to walk outside she didn't know. The worst Nachton could throw at them in the summer barley made her blink but it was very easy for it to be too chilly out. She took a half a step into Artemis, just because she could.

At the misunderstanding, Pak shook her head with a grin.

"Mongkut. My cat. He's named after one of the kings of Siam."Â?

Yes it was cliché and yes it was hard to say but some how the kitten had gotten that name. It had just popped out and Pak hadn't fought it.

Sorcha sighed inwardly at Amir's very helpful response. It wasn't as though the poor man had reason to know the ins and outs of her own clan so she really couldn't expect more from him.

[Ah, well that's good. I had thought the odds were in my favor that you wouldn't at least go screaming through the graveyard.]

Even had Pak been a human living in the Towers there was still a good chance that she would have known of vampires. Not that Sorcha would have normally been so reckless with her abilities.

She covered her mouth in a silent laugh at the antics of the tall man in the top hat. The bottle rocked back and forth disturbing the couple on the bench. Well, one should be more respectful of the dead. You never knew when they were watching. Sorcha had good reason to know that first hand.

She answered the man's question mentally since Pakpao stated that he too was one of their kind, giving the answer to the question to everyone present in turn.

[From Turin.] Sorcha rolled her eyes and quickly added [Torino] Before Marcus could correct her.

Sorcha smiled at her clan mate when she was given an explanation on the name.

[Ah, well I think it probably wise that we not introduce the two of them.]

((OOC: Sorcha is sending everything but the first sending to all three of them, one at a time but, hey, thoughts are quick! The first was just to Pak ))

Amir sighed at the antics happening around him. Silly Evenhet vampires. Great idea, flaunt your abilities right there and freak the humans out. It's all super until some idiot makes trouble and then you have to kill them.

Not that Amir minded killing humans, but why cull your food source if there was nothing wrong with it? That was the fundamental difference between Evenhet and Anantya though... whether or not humans should know.

Amir gave a deep sigh and walked toward the couple, glancing back at Sorcha when he reached the end of his leash. She dropped it and he trotted to the bottle, picked it up carefully in his teeth, and trotted back past the three vampires.

Locating a newly-disturbed grave site Amir spent a few moments digging a small rectangular hole. He placed the bottle in it and patted the earth pack over it into a tiny mound.

There. He was able to say clearly what he meant to say. Kill this topic. Still, it required a finishing touch. Looking around Amir spotted what he wanted; a piece of marble had broken off of a very old monument not far from where they stood. It was vaguely square. Retrieving it, Amir dug a smaller trench and placed his improvised headstone at the head of the buried bottle.

Then, just because he could, he returned to Artemis and Pak. Lying down, he rolled over, rose, sat back down, offered his paw to Pakpao, and grinned. He couldn't bark; it wasn't really in the jackal repertoire.

((ooc: permission for Sorcha's action))

Ah, Torino. He had smiled and nodded when Sorcha had corrected herself. Clearly she was used to her friend correcting her. Artemis had to admit that he was also a bit picky at times when it came to Italy and the names of her cities. There was a lot of history there. Some good, and some bad. But all of it should be respected. His opinion of Sorcha had gone up based on her willingness to do so.

" I am familiar with Torino. It has always been a lovely city. It is a bit of a shame that they are moving away from their Roman roots to the more modern architecture styles. But it is still beautiful."

Artemis looked down to hide him smile as Pak rolled the bottle toward the could. The benefit of vampire hearing is that one could be a discrete distance away, as they were, and still hear the effects of one's prank. The man was once again trying to convince the woman that it was just the wind. He smiled at Pak as she stepped closer to him. Turning slightly toward her, he wrapped his other arm around her to add additional warmth.

Remembering their earlier discussion about disrobing in public, Artemis had intended to offer Pak his coat. Unfortunately, he got a little sidetracked when Fritz decided to go pick up the wine bottle. It was strange though, he did not notice any signals from Sorcha instructing him to do so. Perhaps there was more to Fritz than there appeared to be.

He didn't have to wait long for his suspicions to be confirmed. He watched incredulously as Fritz not only buried the bottle but gave it a gravestone. Artemis was concerned about this little show. The humans had to have noticed the dog pick up the bottle that was making them nervous. It was also human nature to keep watching. Morbid curiosity was a dangerous trait in humans.

Clearly, he was not a dog of the normal mortal variety. While Sorcha might have savage savant abilities similar to his own, it was unlikely that she wouldn't have released the leash without his needing to request it. Artemis looked at Pak as he sighed and rolled his eyes. It took quite a bit of effort not to shake his head as well. It would appear that they were dealing with a young vampire that had not yet mastered the art of subtlety.

"How young is your...dog?" He was aware that most people asked 'How old', but he was certain that his real question would be obvious. Fritz had playfully returned, clearly looking for congratulations for his part in their prank. Turning to Sorcha, he said, "Nevermind, no need to answer that." Artemis knelt in front of Fritz so that he would be closer to eye level, ignoring the extended paw. He spoke quietly so that only their group could hear.

"Our kind has to be careful when using our abilities. Normal dogs generally do not give the items they bury tombstones. While there may be some distance between them and where you buried the bottle. There is a very good chance that at least one of them kept watching to see what became of it."

Artemis regraded Fritz for a moment before continuing. "While we may have played a small prank, we used our talents in a way that could be explained as something else, the wind or perhaps ghosts. And, even if they had said something to someone else, no one would have believed them. You have unfortunately left evidence behind."

Standing up, Artemis looked over at the couple. They had been sitting near the bottle and had no doubt seen Fritz's antics. He removed his coat and placed it around Pak's shoulders before walking over to them. It was several minutes before the couple stood, nodding and smiling at Artemis. The man shook Artemis's hand before leaving with his date. Smiling and shaking his head, Artemis returned to the others.

" I -suggested- that there were rumors that the cemetery was haunted, but that piece marble had already been there. It had just shifted positions while Fritz was digging."

It had been easy enough to explain away why Fritz chose to bury the bottle in the first place. Dogs like to bury things, and the rolling had caught his attention. Simple.

" I also suggested that they would be more comfortable finishing their date someplace warm with some soft music and nice bottle of red from Meus Carus. My brand of course."

Winking at Pak, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders once more. He couldn't help but grin. She had ended up with an article of his clothing. Again.

Anything Pak had been going to say was forgotten as 'Fritz' collected the bottle. Huh.

It didn't take much to realize that Fritz was an Anantya. She suddenly felt -really- bad about petting him. That was probably very rude. She also suspected he wasn't young at all. He was behaving as if they knew each other, and the only Anantya she knew were quite old, well old in comparison to her. She cocked her head at the 'dog' and tried to guess who was under the fur.

She grinned when she once again hijacked Artemis' jacket (jacket, cloak, whatever).

"Did you want this one back?"Â?

Pak was typically pretty circumspect about playing games around humans she didn't know. Hell even around other vampires she was, could be, a bit reserved. But... oh well all's well that ends well.

"You know that last suggestion has merit."Â?

Warm would be really good right now. She smiled at Sorcha and her date.

"You two wouldn't mind if we excused ourselves would you?"Â?

((OOC... go a head and out them. Today is the last day of the event after all.))

Sorcha watched Amir go grab the bottle and then run off to bury it. She hid a silent giggle behind her hand. Amused that he wanted to play this game as well. Adding the marker was an interesting artistic touch. She wondered what future guests would make of it.

Artemis asked how young her dog was and Sorcha gave him a little shrug. Old, maybe? That is what she would have guessed by Jin asking him to come with her tonight and the fact that they had worked together in the past. However, maybe her father just knew that she would easily be able to talk to Amir in his current form.

She bit her lip at the dressing down the tall vampire gave "Fritz" and wondered how the Anantya was likely to take it. Maybe it was best to just stay out of it where her escort and her clan mates were involved. Sending to Artemis, Sorcha explained.

[While I see your point, he is not likely to see things from the same point of view. Anantya have been known to have strange opinions on humans.]

Sorcha looked down at Amir and back at her clan mates and shrugged, sending to everyone.

[No permanent harm has been done and it was all in good fun.]

Her phone went off and Sorcha looked down at it. Hmm, apparently the cats found something interesting. She wondered what trouble Jin had managed to find and how Mara might be taking whatever it was. She vowed to get the full scoop from him later. Looking down at Amir, Sorcha sent.

[It appears Jin has need of our presence in one of the rooms inside.]

To her fellow Evenhet, she sent

[ Not at all, Hopefully we will see each other again, perhaps at the Towers. ]

Amir grinned at Pak's cocked head and quizzical expression. And then blinked as Pak's face was replaced by a very up-close-and-personal Artemis, who proceeded to lecture him in a scholarly well-meaning manner. Amir's eyes grew wide. He briefly considered snapping but he couldn't manage it. He was laughing too hard at the entire situation.

And it came out. Jackals' noises were by no means quiet or normal. Amir restrained himself, so the noise didn't echo throughout the graveyard but remained hushed, focused mostly within their small group. It was a jackal's laugh nonetheless, an eerie sort of sound that actually fit in rather well with the night's somewhat ghoulish theme.

[I would love to see this so-called evidence,] he chortled mentally to Sorcha. [Fingerprints? DNA? Surely two inebriated humans couldn't have played a prank on their friends... but he means well, and no, no harm was done.]

It was the most diplomatic answer he could manage (for him, very diplomatic. Mara would be proud), given that he really didn't care what the two humans thought. Nor was there any possible story they could tell that would be believed.

[I'll just come back and eat them both later anyway,] he added, [if they're sober enough.]

Amir nodded his head to Artemis in a gesture that could have meant anything from, "Yes, I'm a bad vampire" to "thank you for your advice" to "yeah yeah get on with it, I have things to do." He figured he'd leave the interpretation open.

When Sorcha told him Jin (and therefore Mara) required them inside, his manner immediately became more somber. [Then by all means please pick this leash up and get some control over me before I do something rash and youthfully stupid,] he responded to her.

He flashed Pakpao a grin, offered Artemis a nod, and together he and Sorcha made their way back up the hill toward the building their partners were in.

((ooc: Sorcha and Amir out))

[No, I suppose they don't all see things the same way.]

Evenhet was more open with humans than Anantya, but they were still selective in who they told. Artemis had felt partly responsible, which is why he had tried to explain things to what he assumed was a young vampire.

After saying their goodbyes, he watched as Sorcha and Fritz headed back inside. That laugh had been unmistakable. Either Fritz didn't understand what he was trying to say or he simply didn't care. Given communication was not Artemis's strong point, either was possible.

Whatever Fritz did in the future would be Anantya's problem. However, since he had initiated the prank, he could handle the cleanup on this one. In the off chance that the humans told someone about a haunted wine bottle that was buried and given a tombstone by a dog, he would make sure there was no buried wine bottle or paw prints to corroborate their story. It wouldn't take much for someone to remember that a dog had been present. It was better to make sure nothing was there to be found. Later though, when there were fewer people around.

"So, would this someplace warm be your place or mine?" Laughing as they headed toward the car, he said, "I will need that jacket back though."

(ooc: Artemis and Pak out. Please lock)