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Stupid Sunrise

Pak was irritated. She'd gotten talking, maybe flirting a bit but mostly talking, with Guillaume and had totally lost track of the time. One minute they were talking/flirting and the next it was sun rise. That didn't happen to her, she was smarter than that.

She'd thought about making a dash for it. She might make the towers or Kem and Aishe's without going totally up in flames, but her car didn't have the UV filtering glass and it would be iffy at best and very probably dangerous, but she still was considering it. Navid had reality checked her, but in a very quiet matter of fact way. He'd simply said it was no trouble if she decided to stay. When she'd reluctantly agreed he'd given her a quick tour of he and his partners/friends' living space and made her up a bed in his rooms. There had been no pressure, no persuasion, no attempts at seduction. He'd understood she was still thinking about his offer and honored that.

Unfortunately, he'd also been on call and had to leave for the airport. He said he'd be there most of the day as a 'hot reserve' for the charter company. And although she'd slept a bit Pak simply didn't feel comfortable in his space. They weren't a couple. She didn't belong there. She had no right to his space. So she'd ransacked his bookshelf, borrowed something and wandered out into the common area.

While she didn't often eat there was a kitchen and she really wanted some coffee. Thanks to long friendship with Kem and Eiryk she managed to tweak the available coffee into something rather posh, richer extra fragrant and delicious.

Taking a mug she made herself at home on the sofa with the book she'd borrowed but not knowing his roommates she made no noise. It was somewhere between courtesy and nerves. Still she didn't turn on the TV or any music or even her phone, she was rather hoping to go unnoticed. Other than rather wishing she had her laptop Pak was happy enough to just chill with coffee and a book. At least for a while.

Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Kiyoshi hated leaving the warm cocoon of the blankets he shared with Evan, but he'd woken up earlier than usual, stomach growling, which made sense given that he and Evan had both worked until just before sunrise and then stumbled upstairs for some... R and R.

Evan would probably get up since Kiyo had, if he didn't get back into their room soon, but Kiyo just couldn't ignore his grumbling stomach. He was sure he was starving for real this time.

Bleary-eyed, long hair mussed and rumpled, he shuffled into the kitchen. The aroma of coffee hit him and he noticed the nearly full pot; Guillaume must have been there recently. He fumbled around for a mug, but then he realized if he wanted to go back to bed at any point he probably shouldn't have coffee, so he bypassed it and just filled it with water.

Opening the refrigerator, he blinked into the bright light. With a happy little hum he found several carefully wrapped paper packages and grabbed a small one. He opened it and greedily shoved a few bites of cubed beef into his mouth, savoring the juices. He might not starve.

Grabbing a plate, he put the remainder of the cubed beef on it and then found a sushi-grade tuna steak. It was still a bit frozen in the middle but he actually liked that sometimes. It was like dessert. He left the kitchen, focused on carrying his plate, and headed toward the comfortable couch in the living room where he could wait for Evan's inevitable appearance, or, if his partner didn't appear before he finished, he'd just return to bed.

Both hands occupied, he lifted the plate toward his mouth, grabbed another piece of meat, and gobbled it down. As he did, a strange scent filtered into his oversensitive nose. He sniffed subtly. It was floral. And musky. The floral element he recognized. Jasmine. He'd smelled it before. The musky scent he didn't really know how to place, but it was distinctive.

And close.

Blinking the sleep from his eyes Kiyo looked up at the stranger on the sofa. He froze, mouth half full of raw steak, hair in disarray. His eyes darted around, looking for Guillaume. Or an escape route. He chewed. Swallowed.


"Um. Hi. Sorry. Who are you. Hi? Where's Guillaume?" There was more than a hint of desperation in his tone.

He assumed she was Guillaume's guest. Random strangers didn't wind up in their home. He shivered, and belatedly realized he was wearing nothing but a pair of briefs.


"Um," he said again, trying to hide the awkward. Not possible. He shuffled sideways and hid most of himself behind the closest chair.

((ooc: Pak's scent with permission))
Pakpao 5 years ago
And someone entered the room. Well there went her hope of not being noticed. Maybe if she just held really still and stayed behind her...er Navid's book. Nope, they were talking, she was trapped. Oh she could have fled back to Guillaume's room but that wasn't really Pak's style.

Although not thrilled about being discovered she was extremely happy she had her own clothes on, well other than her shoes. Those were in Guillaume's room.

As she couldn't take offense at the question or the newcomer's state of dress (or undress), after all she was the one invading his space, Pak did her best to smile, albeit a little nervously, as she set the book down.


"Er... hi? I'm Pak. Navid had to leave for the airport. Something about being a reserve.”

He was a rather good looking guy in an exotic way and messy or not she was kind of jealous of his hair. Her own was in a slightly abused braid and not nearly such a nice color.

Given his reaction though she'd caught him more than a little bit by surprise. He seemed rather uncomfortable with her presence and as she was totally out if her own comfort zone Pak could relate.


"I hope I didn't wake you.”

Just the smell if coffee could wake some people up. She probably should have thought of that.
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Kiyo blinked at the woman. Pak. Maybe he was still asleep. Oh, oh no. No, she was making small talk. He glanced back toward his and Evan's suite. If only Evan could read minds.

COME RESCUE ME.

Well, it didn't seem to work. What did he do now? It was just fine when he was busy bartending. Banter came easily to him. He had a uniform and played a role. Now though, he was literally naked.

He realized belatedly that he hadn't said anything.


"Oh. I'm Kiyoshi. I'm Evan's, I mean, I live here. With Evan. You didn't wake me. You're fine. My stomach woke me."

He stared hard at his plate. What would she say about him scarfing down raw meat? One of the glorious things about living here was not having his diet questioned. He could just eat what he wanted. Without criticism.

Well fuck it. He lived here. He grasped desperately at the false bravado, slipped around the chair, sat in it, and pulled the soft throw from the back of it to wrap himself up with. Then he popped another piece of steak into his mouth, wishing he'd thought to get silverware. Or a napkin. There was a box of tissue nearby; he grabbed one and used it instead.

He briefly wondered why Pak was waiting here instead of going home. Guillaume would be hours.
"Did you need a ride home?"

Oh that was rude. And even more awkward.
"Not that you aren't welcome to stay. Just, sometimes he's gone for a while."
Pakpao 5 years ago
Pak was back to seriously debating disappearing into Navid's rooms again or maybe risking that sunburn. The gentleman in front of her, Kiyoshi as he introduced himself, seemed very uncomfortable with her. She wasn't quite sure why. Sure, when the situation called for it she could be intimidating and Pak knew it, but just at this moment in time she was a small slightly rumpled random person on a sofa.

The way he introduced himself made Pak wonder if Kiyoshi was a familiar. Maybe the meat was to help rebuild blood? Although that wouldn't explain the fish and last she checked raw beef wasn't exactly good for you.


"It looks like you fixed that problem.”

She offered a weak smile and an even weaker attempt at a joke. Pak felt a little better when he sat down and continued eating. Maybe he was relaxing? Or, given his question and clarification, not. In fact he'd managed to ramp up the awkward even of he didn't realize it.

"Yeah he said he'd probably be gone most of the day.”

Pak really couldn't think of a way to make this less... yeah. Well she was pretty sure Kiyoshi must know about Navid so... ok sure she had no idea if Kiyoshi knew but... biting her lip for a second she opted for a more or less direct answer.

"Ummmm... no thanks. My car is actually outside I just... I can't leave yet.”

She fought an irrational desire to apologise. It wasn't her fault she couldn't leave even if it was her fault she got stuck.
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Kiyoshi looked down at his plate of raw meat. There was just no explaining that. And no way to really excuse it. He popped another tender cube of beef into his mouth and chewed happily.

"Yup. Skipped lunch at work tonight. Starving." He'd mostly skipped lunch to play video games with Evan on the concourse. He shouldn't have; Kiyo's metabolism was stuck forever at 'growing teen boy.'

He swallowed his meat, brow furrowing slightly when Pak said she couldn't leave, with an awkward little stutter at the end. He looked outside, wondering what exactly was so offensive out there that she couldn't go out. Evan had an excuse, but...

Oh. Lightbulb.

Well, it was a possibility, wasn't it? She hadn't come right out and said, but... what other reason could she have?

Kiyo wasn't sure how much of his thought process was written on his face. He ate more meat.


"Well, since you're stuck here waiting for Navid or, um, sundown? There's plenty to do around here."

Kiyo looked around for all the things to do. They were here. Like, TV, or video games, or snogging your hot boyfriend. Not that that was on offer.
Pakpao 5 years ago
Pak watched Kiyoshi eat the raw meat. It didn't bother her, the raw part that was, it just made her think. She tried to remember being that hungry for food and could almost manage it, not quite though. Of course she still got hungry it just seemed different these past few... well centuries. She was also starting to think, more significantly, Kiyoshi might play for the same team as Guillaume.

She'd actually teased Navid about eating a salad rather than what, to her, seemed like standard werewolf fare of raw meat. He'd explained their dietary preferences could vary. Oh he didn't give away all the deep dark secrets but that one had been harmless enough and for some reason Pak was glad someone could eat outside of their stereotype.

She didn't ask though.

When he said wait for Navid Pak looked very embarrassed. It was like some twisted inversion of the walk of shame and they hadn't even slept together.


"More sundown."

She confirmed Kiyoshi's very accurate conclusion. Nice of him to not make her out and out say it though.

"Thanks. I really don't want to be a bother though. Just such a stupid mistake really..."

And one she hadn't made in years. No wonder Eiryk had so much trunk space and a couple of bolt holes. Apparently some people thought ahead. As well older and wiser and all that.
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Kiyo wondered if Pak knew that there was a vampire in residence. How did that work, anyway? Did Evan know Pak? Would he? He wasn't about to 'out' Evan to anyone, because that would just be rude, so instead he just said, "I understand," when Pak indicated that it was the sunlight keeping her indoors.

Let her make of that what she would; maybe they were just used to vampires around here.

When she further said it had been a stupid mistake, it seemed obvious what the nature of the 'mistake' was, since she had clearly stayed through the night. He held his hand up, palm out, in a 'stop' gesture, shaking his head.


"Nope, definitely enough info. I don't need to know. Navid is like a brother to me."

He made a little 'yuck' face, followed by a small quick smile to elt Pak know he was joking. Mostly. He really didn't need to know any more details about Navid's affairs other than 'they happened.'
Pakpao 5 years ago
Pak was increasingly unconcerned that she was basically having breakfast with a naked man who may or may not be a werewolf. She tried to decide of she'd be this... well non-hostile of not gracious if their positions were reversed. Not that anyone she didn't know or wasn't expecting ever showed up in her apartment clothed or unclothed. Of course, she'd never really had roommates so maybe this was more common than she realized.

Kiyoshi's response to her embarrassment was a little confusing and she said as much.


"Who? What?"

Suddenly tumblers clicked.

"No! Nothing like that. I just meant get caught out after sun rise. I haven't been that stupid in a very long time."

Her rather adamant response was probably doing nothing for Guillaume's reputation but Pak hadn't decided if she wanted to go a relationship road with him yet and wasn't ready for people she didn't know to start making assumptions.

She also decided it was maybe a good idea to shift the focus a bit.


"Do you have a lot of us get stuck here?"

Let Kiyoshi decide if she meant women or vampires. Pak was interested in either answer. Honestly Pak was dead curious about Kiyoshi but just because she'd tipped her hand didn't mean he had to show her his and she knew it.

"Ummmmm did you want some coffee? I'm out."
Evan Talkingwater 5 years ago
Evan rolled over and reached out to the empty space next to him. Kiyo had gotten up and clearly hadn't yet come back. He felt around to the far edge of the bed in case that would help make his partner appear before resigning himself to getting up. He opened his eyes and sat up..

Crawling out of bed with an obligatory mumble or two, he was headed to the door when he heard an unfamiliar female voice. Looking down at himself, he decided pants would be a good idea. Evan stuffed himself into a pair of faded comfortable jeans and then went out to rescue his partner from conversations with strangers while in his underwear....because Kiyo was most certainly only in his underwear.

Coffee was mentioned just as he stepped out of the bedroom.

"I can get it." He held out a hand to the small Asian woman on the sofa and indicated her coffee mug with a glance in its direction. "I plan on grabbing myself one. It smells good." He didn't eat much but there was little waste in drinking so he had no problem enjoying beverages. "I am Evan, Guillaume's business partner and one of the people who drags him around on dubious adventures."

Evan walked over to Kiyo and kissed his lover on the top of the head. "Do you want a cup of coffee?" He noticed that Kiyo was wearing a blanket around his waist so it was possible that his desire to remain covered was greater than a desire for a nice cup of joe and this was another thing he could help with.
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
When Pak made it clear that Kiyo had misunderstood the nature of her visit with Guillaume his cheeks flushed bright red. He could feel them heat. "Oh. Oh I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. Sorry. That was stupid. Erm, and no, not a lot of, um, people, get stuck here. Of any type."

Up until that point he'd thought he was doing pretty well holding down the fort, but he quickly reversed his opinion. It came as no small relief when he heard the unmistakable sound of the door to their rooms open and the light footfalls of his partner.

He closed his eyes and leaned up toward the kiss he received, a small smile of contentment on his lips. Evan was here and now the awkward would go away. Kiyo could handle people all right when he was on the job, but Evan seemed to understand that Kiyo basically used up all his 'people' quota at work and didn't have much left over afterward.

He shook his head at the offer of coffee.
"No thank you. I was hoping to come back to bed after I ate. We didn't get a lot of sleep."

His cheeks grew red again as he realized what he said, but, well, he was mostly naked and Evan was wearing jeans and probably (hopefully) nothing else. Since they'd emerged from the same door, Pak would certainly be correct if she assumed about him what he'd erroneously assumed about her and Guillaume.

Kiyo quickly downed another piece of steak or two, hoping that when Evan returned he'd squish into the chair with Kiyo so Kiyo could curl up in his lap or alongside him. He was shamelessly clingy.
Pakpao 5 years ago
When Kiyoshi blushed at her rather aggressive denial of anything like that. Honestly she felt bad, she hadn't meant to embarrass Kiyoshi she just didn't like to be mistaken for a whore and might have been a little extra touchy about it.

"No... it's... I mean it makes sense and it isn't like it would..." She sighed and dug up a sheepish smile. "I'd probably have thought the same thing."

Oh look more partially dressed men, well man. Under other circumstances Pak might have enjoyed this turn of events, neither was hard on the eyes, but as it was she was just feeling rather trapped and awkward. She rather wished she knew if Kem was awake or not, her brother really was her go to for any kind of stability.

Trying to muster up some of the confidence she brought to work, but mostly looking self conscious she offered her coffee cup to the new man, Evan. Dear God he was so tall. Why was everyone so tall and why hadn't she gotten any of it?


"Thank you. I'm Pakpao... Pak, dubious acquaintance. Navid told me he had a business partner, I'm sorry we haven't met."

Which would undoubtedly have made this whole situation less awkward.

And apparently she was distracting a happy couple. Pak felt like a bit of a heel, so she stood to get her own coffee and bolt... well hide anyway.


"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was telling Kiyoshi I'm stuck here for a while but I'll just get my coffee and hang out in Navid's rooms. If someone could get my laptop you won't hear a peep out of me."
Evan Talkingwater 5 years ago
Evan smirked at Kiyo's statement about them not getting much sleep. He shrugged and squeezed his partner's hand. "Sleep is over rated."

He bowed slightly to Pakpao by way of greeting so that she didn't have to uncurl herself from her seat. Taking the cup, he nodded to her and then listened to the cup's latest story.

It told him of a woman who hated the daylight and missed her home. She wanted to read and wait out the sun. It then tried to go on and tell him a story about Navid spilling coffee on his newspaper and into his lap and the colorful words that had been used in its presence but he patted the cup gently, mentally thanking it for the short tale about the woman and promising to listen to the other that sounded very entertaining.

Their new friend was saying that she could get her own coffee and could go hide in Navid's room. Evan held the coffee mug up high and shook his head, feeling slightly bad about using height advantage to get his way.
"I am afraid that's not going to happen, Missy."

He went into the next room and poured coffee into her mug and then grabbed one down for himself. It greeted him by telling him about its experience in the washing machine.

"Cream or sugar?" Evan leaned out and held up the mug. "So, dubious acquaintance, where do you work? I haven't seen you around the airport but I don't fly planes as much as I used to now that I spend so much time here. I AM really hoping that we manage to get space travel up and going in my lifetime though. I think that would be worth coming out of retirement for." His lifetime was pretty long so he thought there was a better than average chance that he would see space travel become less restricted.

When Pak told him that she didn't put anything else in her coffee, he nodded and brought both mugs back unadulterated.


"Squish over you." He nudged Kiyo's ankle with his foot and then sipped his coffee while waiting for his partner to make him some space. Normally he would have just flopped down and they would have sorted it out but he didn't want to spill his drink. Which has a nice hint of vanilla now that he brought it closer to his nose.

"Mmm, this is good."


((OOC: Pak's coffee order and coffee making skills with permission. Navid's past coffee experience totally without permission. :evil ))
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
With Evan there to be more social than Kiyo, Kiyo gratefully allowed the other two people in the room to converse while he took the opportunity to surreptitiously gobble down the rest of his steak and start on the tuna. As usual he paid attention to Evan's movements, and by the time his partner returned with his request, Kiyo was definitely ready to squish over.

He set his plate to the side, held his blanket in place for the sake of modesty, and squirmed around until Evan had seated himself. Once they were both ensconced in the chair, Kiyo grabbed his plate again and wrapped himself around Evan, burrowing beneath his arm and doing his best to disappear beneath blanket and boyfriend while also still eating. It didn't take him long to vacuum up the rest of his food, and once finished he set the plate aside again.

When Evan commented on the coffee Kiyo lifted his head, sniffed at it, and nodded. It did smell good, but he definitely had fantasies of more sleep.


"Is there vanilla in it?"

He had smelled vanilla before but it hadn't fully registered that it was in the coffee.

(ooc: Sorry for the mostly quiet post, but we figured Kiyo could finish stuffing his face and return to participating after Pak had gotten a few words in. )
Pakpao 5 years ago
Seriously what did this guy eat? She was fairly certain that he had Kem and Navid beat by a couple of inches and neither of them was short. On her best day in her tallest heels Pak would still need a stepladder to get her coffee cup back, well that or telekinesis and that just felt rude, so she let him take her cup.

When Evan brought the fnow full mug back she was grateful to be able to fidget with it and let the happy couple sort themselves out. Pak was rather used to being a third wheel/odd man out. Most of her friends had paired off after all. She didn't feel quite as awkward about as she had for a while though. Someday, maybe, she might find someone, maybe Guillaume maybe not, but she wasn't sure she'd ever be that snuggly.


"Thank you. And yes there is. I hope that's ok."

Not that she'd planned on making coffee for more than herself. Although now that she thought about it she should have. At least she'd made a full pot instead of just a cup or two, that would have been extremely rude.

Well no one was volunteering to get her laptop so it looked like she was sticking around rather than hiding. To be fair, Evan seemed perfectly nice. That and, now that she thought about it, she had to assume Navid would have given her a heads up about any possible issues. So Pak tried to will herself to relax some and try and be friendly.

At the space travel comment Pak made a derisive sound and gave a wry smile.


"If they don't get it up and running in my life time someone is doing something wrong."

Either she fucked up and got herself taken out or the world and technology had all gone to hell.

"But until then I'm in IT over at Meridian. It usually keeps me off the streets."
Evan Talkingwater 5 years ago
Evan watched with a smile as Kiyo lifted his arm and then snuggled beneath it with his plate of meat. His never warm enough boyfriend looked fairly cozy in his blanket/Evan burrow.

"It's very good." He lifted his coffee mug up in salute.

Pak said that if they didn't get space travel up and running in her lifetime then there was something wrong. With those words and the tale from the little mug, Evan was fairly certain that Pak had a life expectancy as long as his own.


"My people, The Ananyta, tend to live a long time." He remarked with a complete poker face. Anyone not well versed in Native Tribes and not a vampire would likely just nod and smile. He supposed someone with a knowledge of Sanskrit might catch him on the name but he could fast talk his way out of that if necessary.

Pak said she worked at Meridian and that helped confirm his theory as well.
"I hear the Evenhet are also pretty well perserved...except for that shared sun allergy." While he was out on the limb he might as well jump up and down on it a few times to see if it would break.

"So...IT? Their security is pretty tight over there." Evan coughed. "Not that I would know from any type of experience or anything." He flashed her a grin. "I -have- heard of the supercomputer you folk have and I have always wanted to see it. I would even promise to behave."
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Kiyo was quietly thankful for Evan's presence. He was so much better at dealing with people than Kiyo was, that the awkwardness in the room had decreased exponentially. He had tried to make Pak feel at home, but honestly it wasn't his forte and he was trying not to feel too badly about having bungled it.

Belatedly, as the talk turned to IT and computers, Kiyo realized he was the only person capable of getting Pakpao's laptop for her. However, he was cozy and warm, drowsy, and stuffed full of steak and tuna. Also mostly naked. If she asked for her laptop again he'd run and get it. Otherwise, he figured, they could chat and he would get it for her before he and Evan went back to bed, if they got the chance.

Evan mentioned a few names that got Kiyo's ears perking up. Anatya, Evan's clan, and Evenhet, one of the others. Evan and Kiyo had a long-standing rule of not discussing werewolf and vampire business with each other when it shouldn't be discussed. That was for private things, of course, and over the years the rules had become a little relaxed, but he still didn't want anyone to get into trouble on his account.

He cleared his throat a couple times.
"Should I not be here for this conversation?" he asked Evan softly when he had his partner's attention. "I can go play games. Or eat more."

He could always eat more.

He peered over at Pak.
"I know there are things you can't say in front of me. It's ok."

For that matter, Pak might be one of the only other vampires who knew about him and Evan now. He really didn't want Evan getting in trouble because of him, but then, Pak was here visiting Guillaume as a friend so perhaps she was openminded and would be all right with them.
Pakpao 5 years ago
Pak knew pretty much nothing about American Indians... Native Americans? She didn't know what term to use and she didn't know if Evan was one, she thought he might be, but wasn't at all willing to assume. She did, however, know what Anatya was.

She was aware that Navid was friends with a vampire other than her and this seemed to be said vampire. Interesting.


"Some of you are too old for your own good."

She agreed with him while trying not to think about how many old Anantya she was related to. Pak really like two of them and mostly like the other two, even if she didn't always understand them.

There was no point in even trying to hide, she'd basically spelled things out to Kiyoshi and for his part, Evan was using a big old neon sign, so Pak just agreed.


"It isn't the sort of thing you can wear a medic alert bracelet for is it? Of course they are generally ugly so I guess it is for the best."

Kiyoshi had gone so quiet Pak had almost forgotten he was there. Given his words it seemed like he did indeed share something with Navid. She cleared her throat a little guiltily.

"It is your home. I'm the one who shouldn't be here. Besides, I don't think we're going to be swapping top secret information. Most of that is over my pay grade any way."

Pak paused, bit her lip and -really- wanted to ask Kiyoshi how he felt about the lunar cycle. But he'd been so awkward with just her presence that she didn't dare. Besides, what she did know about wolves was, typically, they weren't her kinds biggest fans. Mind, given how cuddled up with Evan Kiyoshi was Pak could only assume Navid wasn't the only open minded one.

Fortunately, things shifted back to a topic she was more comfortable with. Although the almost sort of admission had Pak narrowing her eyes suspiciously and a little defensively, at the other vampire in the room.


"And people like you are the reason it is tight."

It took nothing to recognize another... information specialist. Pak didn't keep the self righteous front up for long before rather intently avoiding eye contact by studying something behind Kiyoshi and Evan.

"Although... you guys are no slouches yourselves. You know... from what I've heard."

And they were letting that topic drop before anyone admitted to anything. Although, she might schedule a meeting with data security to just double check everything... just in case.

"MARI? You haven't fabricated and excuse or an errand to say hello?"

Other folks from his clan had met her, she knew that. Pak also liked showing her off... well honestly letting MARI show herself off really but Pak wasn't the best at extending invitations.
Evan Talkingwater 5 years ago
Evan squeezed Kiyo tighter to him when his partner suggested that he could leave the room. "No, you are fine." Pakpao said something similar at the same time.

"She's right. We aren't going to talk about super secret vampire stuff and pull out the clan handshakes or anything." Evan flashed the letters for Anantya in American Sign Language against his shoulder in rapid succession and ended it with a chin nod at Pak.

Pak mentioned Anantya's security and also mentioned that she had no reason whatsoever to know why it was so tight. He hummed noncommittally in response.

She mentioned the AI. He couldn't remember what MARI was supposed to stand for but he had heard it at one time. The complexity of the program sounded intense and they had to have a gigantic computer hidden in those towers somewhere.


"Fabricating a reason to visit...Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. I have a friend that hangs out there but it would be weird calling on him." Evan sipped his coffee and then muttered behind the mug. "Because he's a bird."
He had been hanging around The Towers in his magpie form when he noticed a crow flying in and out one of the windows. It took a while and lots of bribes to become friends with the crow and his family but eventually they became buds.

"So, I could deliver some...ah...books." He nodded to the one she was reading. "To you." Evan raised his eyebrows in silent question.
Kiyoshi Salinas 5 years ago
Both vampires assured him he was fine to stay, which made Kiyo smile. He was quite content where he was, and hadn't really wanted to move anyway. The trouble now would be staying awake, since he was warm and full and bundled up next to Evan. He was interested in Pak, though, and a little bit in what her family... Clan... was like. She seemed nice, if a tiny bit suspicious or defensive, but they were talking about security so perhaps that was to be expected.

He peeked up at Evan when his lover fabricated the excuse Pak seemed to be expecting. He wanted to ask if he could come along, but he wasn't sure if that was entirely out of the question. The way they were talking about the AI, though, sort of fascinated him. He tightened his arm around Evan's waist, a subtle little signal, prepared to raise his eyebrows in question when Evan looked down at him. They knew each other well enough that he figured Evan would know that was a sign of interest from him.

Scooching up a little bit so he could meet Pak's eyes, Kiyo said,
"Have you been to Terminus? Is that how you met Guillaume?"

If Pak was technically inclined, that would make sense. There was lots at Terminus for the geeky crowd, and plenty for the non-geek crowd. Kiyo wasn't even sure what else Guillaume did aside from work at Terminus and fly.
Pakpao 5 years ago
Not knowing enough sign language to respond, in fact she was only pretty sure what Evan had spelled out she could only shake her head.

"Ixnay on the andshak-eh."

She said with a playful roll of her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that oddly enough her pig Latin was worse that her alphabet only sign language. She really did need to learn another language. She'd learned a few things here and there from Ran but maybe they should actually do something official.

"What kind of bird? Do you just chat or hangout?"

Pak was a little curious and didn't see the harm. She knew folks who became animals and folks who just chatted with them. She'd noticed those with an actual wild side we're Anantya and the chatty ones were Evenhet. She just wanted to see is the pattern held.

Sort of remembering her manners when Evan suggested delivering some books.


"I'm sure I could forget something and you could drop by to return it and it would just be rude not to ask you to stay for a cup of coffee."

That shouldn't be a problem, especially if she gave security a heads up. She just didn't know where they stood on werewolves. She really was going to have to chat with either Kem or Alfarrin. She'd rather talk to Kem but with her luck she'd catch Alfarrin in an elevator or something.

At least Kiyoshi's question was easier. In fact everything seemed to be easier since Evan had joined them. Pak didn't think it was because he was a vampire either. He just seemed more comfortable and relaxed and it benefited the situation as a whole.


"Navid? Well... I made the mistake of trying to teach an advanced folding class. It didn't go well and he was as frustrated as I was and I asked him out for a drink after."

He was also the only one who had managed to keep up and understand what she'd been trying to demonstrate.

"He invited me around here after that but I usually sneak in through the green concourse."

She half apologized. Pak wasn't trying to be antisocial or avoid any one she really was just trying be low key and not call attention to herself. Having met Evan and Kiyoshi, who she assumed worked at Terminus as well, she might have to occasionally come in through the front and at least wave.

"You work at Terminus too then?"

She asked figuring she might as well know for sure. Although it was had to imagine the shy nervous man working in the bustling bar/gamer Haven.