RP:An Awfully Awkward All Hallows' Eve

Summary: Khitti throws a Halloween party on the Tranquility and Brand finds out about Meri's wolfiness, Khitti hunting a werewolf alone, and their plan to bring the wolf that bit Meri on board the ship for interrogation.

The Tranquility, Cenril Wharf

Khitti || In celebration for the coming of Halloween, Khitti’d decorated the Tranquility to look like a ghost ship. Not only did it have a spectral appearance (though it wasn’t -actually- see-through for the obvious reason of keeping things on the ship private), but Francis had helped out as well, using his own spidersilk to add to the look, spiderwebs draped here and there in various areas. Francis was very proud of his decorating skills. From within the ship, however, came a not-so-ghost-ship-like noise. It… sort of sounded like rock music? That’s because it was. Khitti had her band aboard the ship, letting their music ring out amongst its many decks. A main party had been set up in the galley, for those in Brand’s crew that wanted something more public, a few tables set up with snacks, desserts, and drinks, all of them in a Halloween theme. For those that wanted something a bit more private? Another party spot was set up in the library. The music still reached there, though it wasn’t quite as loud, and the same edible and drinkable goodies were there as well. It’d be up to that family of Khitti’s which party they decided on, because Khitti didn’t care one way or the other--both of them suited her well enough.

Khitti || And speaking of Khitti, she was decked out in quite the outfit, one that matched a character from a play she’d seen recently in Cenril. The hues of her ankle-length dress were dark and drab, as if something had sapped the color from them, the whole ensemble looking Victorian-esque (though who knows what the heck that is), and her hair tied up and looking quite a mess. Flour had been thrown here and there on it, for that character was a baker, and yet… she smelled of smoke. And parts of the dress were burned and blackened. Weird. Dominic’s outfit didn’t quite match her own, though. He was dressed as a chicken, the kid having picked out the costume himself--he -really- likes chickens. He even went so far as to make the sounds of a chicken, except… instead of it coming out as ‘bawk bawk’, it came out more as ‘bork bork’. It was heckin’ bamboozlin’. The mother and son duo was finishing up setting out the food and drinks in both areas, and instructing others as to where replacement food was kept when the platters went empty. Dominic was doing his best at bossing them around too, complete with snot bubbles and screeching. He’d been watching his father bark orders at his crew for some time now and wanted to imitate him. The kid’s just way too cute to be resisted.

Brand is wearing a costume meant to go along with his ghostly ship. He’s a pirate, of course. A ghost pirate. But no, not just any ghost pirate… he’s ~~The Flying Dutchman~~. Ooh, spooky. His entire costume has a certain verdigris, though he’s as translucent as his ship. He floats from table to table on the deck, greeting guests and guessing at the identity of various costumes. When he gets to Khitti and Dominic, though, the small fry gets big sass. “Really, kid? Aren’t you a chicken *every* day?” Chicken onesies, chicken bibs, chicken diapers… the sprout has a bit of an obsession.

Meri didn't bother getting overly creative with her outfit. She found a mask to wear, and that is about it. The rest of her outfit? Makes it painfully obvious that she is in fact Meri. Those are Meri's boots, definitely, and probably everyone has seen the bodice she is currently wearing on several occasions. Those are definitely Meri's tattoos. What mask did she pick to wear to the party? ...A werewolf mask. Though Meri was amongst family, after her little accident in Cenril she was still having reservations about interacting with anyone, especially those that she knows and loves. Her fears are not unfounded nor unrealistic, she already tried to eat Lionel's face off once. Still, as she limps up the gangplank and onto the Tranquility to join the party, she tries to push these nerves to the back of her mind. Khitti would be greeted with a hug, Aunt Meri would have no shame in trying to spook Dominic a little bit since she was wearing her werewolf mask. Just a little bit of a playful growl to say hello. Brand gets much the same hello from Meri, she's just being cheeky though and follows this growl up with a wave. And Lionel? If he is in sight? Well. Meri and him did recently have a spat, she tried to eat him, he tried to kill her. Awkward. Meri's just going to try and avoid him out of embarrassment. She's got a pretty good excuse though. Someone stabbed her in the leg, so standing up and walking around for the duration of the party is not something Meri wants to do. The blonde finds a spot to hunker down at, for now.

Lionel had never before been to a Halloween party. He wasn’t even sure what the holiday was, where it came from, or where it was going. There were things which concerned him and there were things which did not. Parties were far to the south of that board. Still, it was expected of him. He didn’t want to disappoint his sister. He hadn’t seen Brand in weeks, if not months. And he’d recently stabbed Meri in the leg, so the least he could do is show her there were no hard feelings. Lionel had become so accustomed to Esche’s stately interventions that he had forgotten what it was like to slip into a button-up shirt without the elf insisting he handle the buttons. He was grateful that no one was nearby in the drab tavern he’d spent a few nights in when he mismatched the buttons and wound up with one side of the shirt longer than the other. Eventually, Catal’s Last Prince successfully clothed himself. “Stepping out?” the gaunt barkeep inquired. It was just polite talk, Lionel knew. The barkeep didn’t care. He had no reason to care. “Yeah,” Lionel replied anyway. He made his way through bustling seaside streets and trotted up to a Tranquility that wasn’t quite like she was before, lifting a brow in misplaced suspicion. The strange music and mingling guests were enough to clue him in that things were fine as he made his way to the deck. “Fancy shindig,” Lionel told Khitti and Brand, and Dominic by proxy. “Nice outfits. I like chicken, too, kid. I like chicken, too.” For his part, Lionel was dressed in a black silk shirt and leather pants. Apparently he didn’t quite understand what guests were expected to do at these parties. Either that or he’d decided to cosplay as himself for Halloween. After allowing a moment for chitchat with his sister and brother-in-law, he wandered over to table not far from Meri without realizing it. He had a small plate of strange eggs and some sort of purple alcohol. Life was good.

Khitti just smirked at Brand as he floated himself over to her and their son. “If you want to deal with a screaming child that wants to be a chicken and only a chicken next year, be my guest.” Meri appeared, scared the hell out of Dominic, greeted his parents and then wandered off. Khitti hadn’t initially registered the fact that her child let out a yelp for she was far too occupied with the fact that Meri chose a werewolf mask. Wasn’t she trying to hide the fact that she was a werewolf from most people? The redhead squinted at her sister as she headed elsewhere, then shook her head and consoled the sprout. “Francis!” Her other kid was called for, and he actually heard her considering the fact that Brand had managed to find her in the library and it was a hell of a lot quieter there. The large spiderdoggo eased his way down from the ceiling and warbled in his spidery way at Khitti. He’d receive a pat on the head and very important, but simple instructions, “You take care of your brother okay?” Another warble was given, and then spidersilk was shot at Dominic’s tiny legs. With the adhesive substance in place, Khitti set Dominic down on Francis’ abdomen, letting the two run off to place together, a screeching, giggling chicken on a very happy older brother arachnid. Her attention was soon pulled from the kid and over to Lionel who… was dressed in his normal clothes. “You, uh, sure do know how to get into the spirit of the holiday, Lionel.” He too went off, towards where Meri had situated herself and Khitti was left to blink a few times at both of them and then eye Brand, “I don’t know how to fix this.” There was a lot of things Khitti couldn’t fix lately, the top of her list being herself. But, likewise, she also couldn’t fix Meri’s newfound wolfiness and Lionel’s weird. With that reminder, it was time for the alcoholic drinks and Khitti’s choice for the moment? A concoction of vodka, cherry syrup, and this weird, sugary, bubble vanilla-flavored drink.

Brand follows up Khitti’s call to Francis with some ghostly fire magic. The flames rotate around Dominic and the spiderdoggo, taking on the form of roosters and hens with that same sickly blue-green patina that Brand himself has. The flames won’t hurt anyone, but they’ll allow him to keep an eye on the pair that much easier. With that done, he gives Khitti a brief kiss and then saunters over to Meri. He’s oblivious, y’see: both that Meri is a werewolf out-of-costume as well, and that she’s trying to avoid Lionel. Sorry, Meri. “Nice costume. Hey, so. ‘Bout that leg. You get bit by a shark or something?”

Meri had not really thought that much about her selection of a costume. It was Halloween and really Meri did not think anyone would who did not already know she was a werewolf would really read too much into the mask. But now that she was here and at the party it soon became obvious that maybe she should have picked a different costume, an enhanced sense of smell is not the only ability gifted to her by her newfound wolfishness. 'I don't know how to fix this' is a comment that is definitely overhead, coupled with the fact that Khitti is off to make herself al alcoholic beverage. Meri was equally not sure how to fix this at the moment. Were it not for the mask on her face, her confusion might be evident. Lionel is sitting a few feet away from her at a table, Meri glances his direction, and then back toward Khitti. The gesture goes unseen, but she is chewing hard on the inside of her lip as she contemplates things. Meri was just about to get up to invite herself over to Lionel's table when Brand comes over and gets right to the heart of the awkwardness, like a boss. Meri surprisingly finds amusement in the question and is smirking beneath that mask of hers. "No, I had an accident. I turned into a werewolf and I tried to eat Lionel. He did not appreciate that and stabbed me in the leg. Which. I can't say I really blame him. Given that it's Lionel, I'm probably lucky to be alive." This is said with a chuckle, no bitterness, and there is no shame in telling Brand about her werewolfishness. He was the only Catalian type who did not know as of yet so. Plus how many would really overhear this statement? His crew? They're bound to find out eventually, either way. Speaking of Lionel, Meri tries to wave him over to her table. "We cool?"

Lionel was thoroughly invested in his strange eggs. They were hard-boiled and split into halves with a chef’s delicate touch. What bewildered the Catalian, however, was the mixture of yolk, mayonnaise, pepper and paprika scooped inside the intact egg whites. In all his years, Lionel O’Connor had never seen anything quite like this. He sniffed his strange eggs. They smelled fine. A bit pungent, but fine. “Nothing for it, then.” He gingerly took hold of a piece and lifted it to his lips. Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he overheard Brand asking Meri if she’d been bitten by a shark. Suddenly, the egg seemed revolting. It was returned to its plate just as gingerly as it had been picked up. The purple alcoholic beverage held greater appeal now. It was half-gone before Lionel knew it, its berry-and-hibiscus flavor barely regarded. Then, upon hearing Meri’s matter-of-fact response to Brand and suggestion that Lionel should come forward, it was decided that Lionel would bring his beverage with him but not his eggs. “Yeah. Yeah,” Lionel repeated, with further crispness the second time. “Sorry about stabbing you in the leg, Meri.” At least he was being earnest.

Khitti drank her ‘Vampire’s Dream’ and studied the three as they conversed about Meri’s… curse? Blessing? That part still remained to be seen. For Khitti, vampirism had certainly been a curse, except for all of those times she almost died and didn’t because of it. Except, you know, that time she actually -did- die. Let’s not focus that though. Still, though… maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed? Even if they were a bit awkward at times. Khitti would eventually join the two Catalians and that sister of hers, somehow managing to bring 4 glasses of her new favorite drink with her. One was passed to Lionel, another to Brand, and finally one to Meri. “I know you’re not really doing the whole drinking thing anymore, but I think you’ve been through enough lately to warrant at least one. Plus, it’ll help dull the pain a bit. And! It’s not straight alcohol, so that’s also good.” Khitti leaned back in her chair a bit, the front two feet of the chair off the ground, olive-green eyes fixed on the ceiling as she sipped from her new glass. It’d been so long since the four of them were together that she wasn’t sure what to say right now.

Brand blinks at Meri. “I mean, if you don’t want to share, that’s alright, too. Wasn’t tryin’ to pry into anything personal or --” But then Lionel comes over and basically confirms the story. His head is spinning, and dammit, he hasn’t even had that much to drink yet! The drink Khitti hands him is downed in two big gulps. There. Four or five more of those and he’ll have had something that’ll warrant the head-spinning. “Oh. You were serious. How did this wolf thing happen, exactly?” And when? He’d been so busy, he’d hardly had time to check in on his friends.

Meri is gifted a drink by Khitti. The Vampire Dream. The masks hides the surprised look on Meri's features, but Khitti is quick with some pretty valid points. It's been a rough week, and what is the harm in having just one drink that really is not straight alcohol anyway? It is practically sugar. No one ever said that Meri had to quit drinking for good, she just needed to learn a little something about moderation. A drink every blue moon would be okay, right? "Thanks," Meri says to Khitti with a smile. "What's this drink called?" Meri inquiries before giving it a sniff, it's a wolf thing now, and a sip. "Smells good. Tastes good." Brand certainly needs a drink after hearing this story. He clearly thought Meri was joking, which...Given Meri's humor sometimes, it's not really a stretch. Regardless, in order to indulge in this drink Meri is going to have to remove her mask. No real objection to that, it's flopped on the center of the table revealing the face of a wild Meri who is glistening with just a little bit of sweat, it's hot inside that mask, and has a case of mask-hair. She's oblivious. "Uh. Well I was walking through the forest and then all of a sudden I got bit. Whoops." That was a simplified version. Lionel saw the aftermath of this biting. It was not as simple as Meri described. This is exactly why those blue eyes are settling on Lionel for confirmation of this next statement. "Maybe...A month and half...two months ago?"

Lionel wasn’t sure what he’d think of this drink. After all, he couldn’t for the life of him remember what he thought about his last drink. As it happened, he was now holding two drinks, but this suited him just fine. A hearty swig of the Vampire’s Dream later and the robust vanilla underpinnings eclipsed his tongue and took him to heaven. Heaven wasn’t clouds and children dressed up like angels for no apparent reason, although mulling over it, Lionel supposed that that was what Halloween was about, at least. Heaven was alcohol, particularly good alcohol, specifically particularly good alcohol being consumed while he was surrounded by friends and family who wouldn’t let him die of alcohol poisoning. “Indeed, Meri was bitten whilst wandering the forest.” It wasn’t much of a backup motion, but it would have to do. “I fastened a horn to a white horse to make her look like a unicorn. The horse, I mean. Not Meri. I was on the hunt for some bandits, you see.” What was the correlation between a pseudocorn and bandits? Khitti and Brand would have to figure that one out for themselves. “Wait. No. Nevermind. The unicorn story comes afterward. There was no fake unicorn when I spotted Meri. Sorry. My bad. I’m thinking of something weird.” What a revelation. “Anyway, I helped Meri back to her house.”

Khitti, in typical motherly fashion, got up briefly to deal with Meri’s hair. You know, smoothing it down, combing it with her fingers a bit. She could’ve used a fork like that mermaid from that favorite fairy tale of hers, but no. She’ll spare Meri from that. “It’s, er, called… Vampire’s Dream.” Insert awkward cough here. There’s more awkwardness as the werewolf (elephant) in the room was spoken about at length, to which Khitti would add at the end, “And… I might’ve… maybe… started hunting it.” She side-eyed the ground, instead of looking in Brand’s general direction, because Khitti knew she should not have started the hunting on her own, and she may very well get lectured about it. Khitti does try to cover her own ass by continuing quickly after gulping down her drink in desperation, “But! Me and Meri came up with a plan. And it involves another hunter. And maybe bringing the werewolf onto your ship for interrogation…?” Yeah, that’s probably also not the best thing to end on; she didn’t exactly talk to Brand about this first. But it’s fine right? Totally fine. Absolutely. Waiter! Another drink please! Wait… there’s no waitstaff. Khitti has to get the drink herself. And she does, as well as another round for the rest of the table, if they want it.

Brand takes that second drink once Khitti offers it, then leaves to help himself to a couple more. High tolerance, okay? This is totally normal. “Right,” he says when he returns. “Well, that’s what we have a brig for, isn’t it?” Usually, caging someone isn’t his style. He’ll have to have someone dust in there. Khitti is given A Look -- we’ll talk about you hunting werewolves without telling me… later. Later is not now. Now, everything is hunky dory.

Meri did not think that Khitti was going to spring this on Brand at the party. Then again Meri was not exactly intending to tell Brand about her werewolfishness here and now. And based on the look that Brand is giving Khitti, she might not have told him about hunting werewolves to begin with. We're back to awkward conversations again. We had almost just gotten past it! Sort of. Kind of. Not really. Meri tries to look at Lionel while all of this is happening. Please send halp. Except, Khitti already brought help in the form of the drink so Meri is quick to set her sights upon the drink next. It's half empty before she knows it, and she told herself she'd go easy on the one drink that she was going to drink tonight. "Vampire Dream. Spooky. Fitting for the party tonight. Love the decorations by the way." This is where they are supposed to change the subject right? Lionel's comments about the unicorn strike Meri as odd. She remembers that little incident, but she is not going to shift the subject to that, but she has questions. Ah well. Another time. "Are we taking the chicken boy out trick or treating? Is he even allowed to have candy yet?" Meri did not know. She was just being awkward and trying her hand at awkward subject changes.

Lionel had never before heard of trick-or-treating. It was curious that a popular enough holiday to warrant decorations and peculiar rituals had eluded his awareness for so many years. What would happen to young Dominic if he were tricked? What defined a treat? Was this an initiation ritual? A rite of passage? Was his chicken costume somehow part of the event? Like Meri, Lionel had questions. Lionel’s questions just weren’t the same as hers. “Interrogating a werewolf right here on the Tranquility, huh?” If Meri had hoped to change the subject permanently, Lionel was not making it easy. “Let me know when you’ve caught the bugger and I’ll do that thing I do with the intense scowling so it doesn’t get any funny ideas about breaking free. The decorations -are- nice, by the way.” There. A supporting gesture. None of the decorations made a lick of sense to Lionel, but he had to agree they were well-constructed. “And the drinks are excellent.” To demonstrate, he downed whatever he had in his hands at this point.

Khitti knew The Look and tried to ignore it. It was the same look she got after she got her memories back and asked Lionel to train her in preparation for fighting Kahran. That… “talk” did not go well. It eventually got better, but there was definitely a bit of yelling and a bit of crying and… you get the picture. Oh thank the gods, Meri changed the subject! This is why we’re sisters, okay? Amongst other things. But still. “Thanks!” Khitti was about to say that Onyx’s illusions were much better than anything she could conjure up, but that’d also be awkward. Guys, why is everything awkward?! “And, maybe, if we’re not too drunk later! I figure whatever candy he can’t eat safely is all ours. Parenting perks, you know.” And then… Lionel brought things right back to the werewolf subject. “Uhhh, considering the fact that we think the wolf that bit her might be female, and also considering the fact that if she turns back and is unclothed as a werewolf typically is upon transforming back… it might not be such a good idea. If going wolf spontaneously is anything like when a vampire’s not had blood in awhile, with all that feistiness and not-themself-ness, they’re going to be a bit confused until things are better again. You know, like Meri was. Also, I’d much prefer that if things went south, you weren’t there to stab them impulsively. No offense.” Khitti finished off her glass and shrugged, “Like I said at the pet shop, for once in my life I can’t act on my own impulses to stab, maim, or murder something, so… no one else gets too. For now. If they end up being like Eirik, or some of the other werewolves around here? Then, I might be inclined to let it happen.” Francis would eventually return to his parents, bearing a gift for them: it was a napping Dominic, all snug in a spiderweb cradle that Francis had knitted for him, that was hanging from the spider’s mandibles, “Aww. Lookitchu. You’re the best spiderbrother. Yes you are!” That egg that Lionel failed to eat earlier was snatched up from his plate and tossed into Francis’ mouth once Dominic had been retrieved from the spider’s clutches.

Brand || “I guess that’s a ‘no’ on the trick-or-treatin’, then.” Like hell he was gonna wake up a napping Dominic just to give the kid a sugar coma. Sure, they’d get the leftovers, but guess who was on parenting duty next? Let the kid sleep through his shift; they could scrounge for sweets when it was Khitti’s turn again. And speaking of sweets, he decided to be a sweet and assist in the changing of the subject. Sorry, Lionel. “Most of the decoratin’ work is Khitti’s. Francis helped.” The spider gave a happy warble. “I did most of the drinks, of course.”

Meri has not fully checked out of the conversation, she is nodding her head in agreement with Khitti. It may not be the best idea for Lionel to be there, for all of those reasons that Khitti has mentioned. Francis brings Dominic back into view, this time sleeping. Which answers the question that they would not be going out trick or treating tonight, Brand also has put his foot down and said no. Aunt Meri is not going to get in the middle of that one. She'll leave that one to Khitti and Brand. Blue eyes are leveled on Khitti and once she is sure she has her sister's attention, Meri makes grabby hands for her nephew. Meri wants to hold the sleeping baby. Her mask is not on so she won't scare him to death if he wakes up and sees whose arms he is in. This puts Meri squarely back on team 'over talking about werewolf business'. As stubborn as a mule...Which she lowkey wants to devour.

Lionel didn’t understand the first thing about Halloween, but he knew subject-changing like the back of his hand. It would have been an uphill climb from here to try gathering further information about the search for the big bad wolf. Time enough for that later, he supposed. Lionel had forgotten all about his strange eggs, and now he missed them. Yet now they were Francis’ to do with as he pleased. “Good work on the decorations, Khitti. Good work on the decorations, Francis. Good work on the inebriations, Brand.” Good work all-around. In the center of the group’s discussion rested a slumbering child who seemed to be akin to a lost treasure between the rest of them. The spider, the sailor, the paladin, the psion. Each of them longed to hold the baby in their own way. It was an interesting phenomenon. Quietly, Lionel hoped that Meri would be able to obtain Dominic as she desired. The woman had been through much and more lately, after all. Such an interesting phenomenon.

Khitti certainly wasn’t going to deny Aunt Meri her cuddle time with Dominic. After removing all of the webbing from the kid and wiping it on Brand--hey, it helps with his costume!--she hands Dominic over to the psion, “You could always take him with you if you want. If he wakes up before you get there, you and Cal could always take him to get some candy in Kelay.” If Khitti knew Lionel’s confusion about Halloween, she’d certainly tell him that it was big in Vailkrin. It let the “monsters” be monsters--though, of course, -she- didn’t consider them monsters (at least not now that Meri was one of them). But, alas, his confusion isn’t voiced and instead, Khitti just side-eyed Brand briefly. She knew his baby shift was up next and wasn’t trying to pawn the kid off onto his aunt or anything (yes she was). Besides, Dominic’s room was so close to theirs and if there just happened to be a fight between the two about certain wolfy issues, well it was better for Dominic to be elsewhere. “And I can send someone after you with some of this food too, seeing as how I can’t just eat what I want anymore.”

Brand || It’s not a full moon anytime soon, is it? No offense, Meri, but Brand doesn’t want his firstborn getting eaten by anything, regardless of whether or not she’s a friend the rest of the time. He looks at Khitti again, not *A Look* this time but… a discerning look, gauging how she feels about this whole werewolf thing. Well, she clearly knew about this beforehand, and she wouldn’t have suggested Meri borrow their kid if she was concerned. So… Brand was going to have to trust Khitti that Meri was still safe enough to babysit. And he’s not *quite* rude enough to ask his questions out loud. Especially after they all changed the subject. “Righto, you wanna take the kid for a spin, be my guest. Maybe take Francis with you, too. He’s a great help if the kid gets too rowdy. Spiderweb pacifiers -- they’re the best.”

Meri :: Take Dominic. This is something that Meri is usually more than happy to do, and it's not that she doesn't want to...she does, but she is nervous. That nervousness shows on her face. Should she really be trusted to make it all the way back to Kelay by herself with a baby? Khitti seemed totrust her sister with this task, which...Meri appreciated wholeheartedly, but her 'accident' with Lionel and Khitti was so fresh that she could not help but wonder if she should really be trusted. Call it sisterly intuition, but she was definitely picking up on the fact that Khitti was pawning Dominic off onto his Aunt. Which made it harder for Meri to say no, despite her concerns. Brand seems less trusting of Meri right now, the blonde can clearly see that look. She knows what it means and while she understands, it also stings a little. This causes Meri to shift her gaze back to Lionel. "Great. I will enlist Lionel's help. He can be that someone to help me carry all the baby gear and the food back to Kelay. Well. I hope he is willing to help. He happens to be here, and someone, so...." A pleading look is leveled on him. It has nothing to do with the gear. She's just trying to get out of here with anymore awkwardness at this exact moment.

Lionel was willing to help. Despite his overarching cluelessness concerning sentient humanoids under the age of late adolescence, he would always feel a bond toward young Dominic. A bond he didn’t comprehend at all, because he barely comprehended -Dominic- at all. But it was there. What’s more, his friend needed this. Meri wanted desperately to carry on, faithful aunt that she was, and the curt nod Lionel afforded her matched his hopes that that could happen. “I can carry things,” he said simply. Truth be told, he wasn’t especially physically strong, but he could likely be counted on to get the job done.

Khitti frowned first at Brand’s lack of trust, and then Meri’s obvious wariness when it came to taking her nephew home with her. “Look, Meri. I’ve got more experience with this type of thing than the three of you combined. Things are going to happen. Not all of them good. Not all of them entirely bad. But they will happen. It will continue to happen until you get a better hold on your new abilities. It’s the same with vampires, except you’ve got something they don’t: you’re still alive.” Khitti sighed and settled down into her chair more, arms crossed over her chest, “With what Ulah told me, Cal would be dead right now if you’d not shapeshifted. And to be honest, I’d rather it be me and Lionel that you attack instead of someone else--at least you know we can deal with it. So, stop worrying--cause that’s my job damn it--and spend time with your nephew. And if the wolf is hungry? Just, I don’t know, eat Cal’s horse first.” This last thing was a joke, of course. Mostly. Maybe. It could be her emergency food supply, yeah? “Worrying about it’s just going to mess with your head more and you won’t be focused at all when you do have to control those urges to feed. Trust me, I’d been yelled at enough back then about it.” She nodded in Brand’s direction, indicating that he was definitely the one that’d lectured her about that sort of thing. “And take my cat. It’s less time spent travelling and you won’t have to carry anything. And if you still don’t feel safe, then yeah, take Lionel. But, basically, -I- trust you.” Khitti shrugged a little, her thoughts said and her point made.

Brand || What was good enough for Khitti was good enough for Brand. Didn’t mean he was happy to see Meri go, though. “I hate to see you leave so soon. Honestly, I do. But maybe… another time? With less people around? We should catch up. I feel bad for not being around enough to hear about this sooner.” And from the look on his face this time, the sentiment was genuine. Work will drown us all if we don’t come up for air and friendship every once in a while.

Meri felt a little better in light of Khitti's reassurances. They were good points, all of them, Meri had no argument against them. "We'll take the cat so that we don't have to carry anything." Evidently Meri was still going to try and take Lionel though, for everyone's own reassurances. He'd get the job done and Khitti and Brand could bicker it out over Khitti hunting the werewolf without telling him first. Or maybe they'd make out instead. To be honest, Meri was rooting for that option. She didn't really want to her sister fighting with her bae. Up from her seat she goes, with the nephew she is about to run off with for the night. "You're right though. Cal would be dead...And I did manage to not eat Cal so..." Maybe she'd get a handle on this yet. Meri was not wrong to feel nervous, it would be potentially reckless for her not to be, but Khitti was not wrong to trust her sister either. Meri'd get there in time. Those blue eyes level on Brand. "Could always come pick Dominic up tomorrow. Or the day after." Or whenever Mommy and Daddy were ready to have their firstborn back. The point was, it was an invitation to catch up. If not then? Well Brand could always spring a surprise visit on Meri. They could stress over the fine details of 'catching up' later. Another look to Lionel, "Shall we?"

Lionel felt duly impressed with Khitti’s speech. It was sudden, it was moving, and it was meaningful. It reminded him of darker days -- and with Kahran and his forces gone but not defeated, the darker days still to come. Back then, impassioned speeches about trust and bolstering self-confidence favorably held the line between life and death. “I trust you, too,” Lionel told Meri before turning to face Khitti and Brand again. “And I’m grateful for the festivities. There’s a lot I don’t understand about tonight’s ceremonial celebration, but perhaps some other time you can fill me in on all that, sis.” Something about the colors and accessories involved in the decorations keyed the Catalian in that this was probably more Khitti’s scene than Brand’s. Lionel took the last strange egg into his mouth, savoring its equally strange taste. He didn’t know what the devil to call them, but they were alright. “I’ll see you in a few days.” He led the way for Meri and the baby, intending to fetch his Tikifhlee. Tikiflhee? His writer could no longer remember the spelling.

Khitti wasn’t quite sending Meri off just yet. She could leave when she wanted to obviously. If she wanted to get away from the party? Khitti could set her up in one of the spare rooms for a nap or something--Meri did have a hurt leg after all. But, Meri seemed keen on leaving too, so Khitti would let her go. And thankfully, for Meri’s peace of mind--even if she never found out--most KhittiBrand arguments do tend to result in making out. They may have also resulted in making a Dominic. Who knows? Things were crazy after Khitti came back from the dead. She’d nod to both Meri and Lionel, gave her kid a kiss, and then once her siblings had left, she ever so carefully snuck off to the dessert table to rummage through what was left. And the alcohol table. Hopefully, Brand will magically forget that they were supposed to “talk” about things at all.