An Evening Meal.

[Deon]

Her dress was the delicate color of frosted glass, tailored as sharply as her face. A high collar brushed the bottom of her chin on both sides of her neck, accentuating the dramatic V-shaped plunge the fabric took down her chest. The dress was tighter than usual across her breasts, and the look was much more suggestive than usual. She either didn't notice, or didn't care enough to cover her exposed skin up anymore.

It glowed radiantly in the overhead lighting. Her sheer dress and her skin reflected the light, bending it, wearing it as though it were her prop alone. She sat on the bench of a glossy grand piano in a large, minimally decorated parlor room. The skirt of her dress trailed off the bench delicately, as if a single motion could break it apart. Her figure was reflected in the large, dark, unadorned windows reaching up to the high ceiling that brought the outside world, shadowed purple and orange by dusk, into close vicinity of the house. There was a sense of both privacy and openness at the same time, or rather perhaps that there was no need for drawn curtains in such a feeling of silent, open emptiness.

Sophie had informed Arkady of their dinner plans without any prompting when he came home from work. She didn't give any response that would ease the obvious bewilderment one would feel in his situation when she told him that she had invited Maya to eat with them. He would understand... eventually. Besides, she didn't want to give him any chance to refuse, especially if he noticed the discomfort that she couldn't help but feel. She remembered moving the envelopes that she had sorted out from the dining table that she would make Arkady set the next moment. The letter from the board of education ended up not warranting a reply. Arkady's advent had interrupted her cooking, and she had hurried back to the oven after a quick kiss to check on the main course she was preparing that she feared would start to burn. She had to get the wine too, get the wine...

Sophie wasn't exactly known for her hospitality, nor her dinner parties. In fact, though she had been trained of course to be the perfect hostess and the perfect young lady, she had never actually used those skills from her childhood for anything in her adult years. She had never been a very social person. And... she wasn't exactly sure how to act. She felt almost as though she had shared something very intimate with Maya, but there was a still a sort of unease, a jealous tension, a strange emotion that she could not entirely place that was niggling at the back of her mind. And she was afraid what she would feel when Maya actually came to the door. So many years of conditioning, but of trying to forgive! Of trying to put it all behind her! Especially when she was the one who needed to be forgiven... Sophie tried to put it away, to calm herself, to smile as her long, elegant fingers moved across the white ivory keys of the piano. She was staring ahead blankly, cold blue eyes fixed on the wall above the instrument right in front of her face.

It needed repainting, that wall did. The color never totally went with the furniture. Perhaps something slightly darker...

She didn't even really hear the music that her fingers were playing from muscle-memory, the crashing chords, the soft arpeggios. Arkady was still in the other room while she killed time, readying herself much too early. He may have not finished the tasks that she had doled out to him yet. Get the wine, set out the hors d’œuvres on that silver platter, please stay madly in love with me even if Maya looks beautiful. She had laughed lightly at that, giving him another kiss on the cheek. Of course, she would have done it herself, but she just had to primp, didn't she? She had taken her sweet time lipsticking herself. Though with her minimal makeup, she had finished early. There was nothing wrong with taking up her time with a bit of mood music. Besides, wasn't pleasant classical music a staple of an elegant dinner party? Even if her guests weren't here... Maybe it could put her in a correct state of mind.

The glassy notes drifted off into the air.



((Hey Buttfacey, hope you don't mind I gave Arkady a few things to do... Usually we're just cool with some minor additions to what our characters have done, because we're awesome like that. :D ))

[Delerium]

(OOC: Yah, I'm good like that Besides, he's a man, he needs to be directed XD |Arkady: >=P Bite me - ow! Not literally!| ;D)

Sophie was like a tornado going through their house - ok, maybe not as destructive, but Arkady still did his best to stay out of her way. She clearly knew what she was doing, and he? He didn't have a frigging clue. Whatever she commanded he did. Whatever she handed to him, he prepared. And he did it all with a silent, torpor-like efficiency.
Why?
Well, Arkady had never liked having things sprung on him, much less something important that should have been discussed; like this.
But now more so than ever. As he worked, Arkady could feel Scion stirring, the ethereal wolf that shared his subconscious mind feeding off his stress and gaining strength. The only thing keeping him in check were the frequent kisses Sophie planted on his cheeks or lips as she whirled through the house. But every so often he'd still feel his left hip burning; where the tribal sun had been branded onto his body the first time Scion had taken over his form. It forever marked him as inseperable from the mysterious being.
When Sophie had first asked him about the swirling, four-pointed design (when she spotted it during an intimate moment), he'd managed to convince her that it was tattoo he'd gotten in his youth.
He felt awful about lying to her, but she'd believed him, and at that moment that was all that mattered to him. How the heck do you tell the woman you love you've become some sort of quasi-werewolf?
It didn't bear thinking about, but it was on his mind more and more these days. Especially since... well, he'd noticed something different about Sophie... He couldn't put his finger on it, but, well, her scent seemed to have changed slightly. It was... sweeter, and, although he'd never admit it, it kind of reminded him of his mother. The change didn't strike him as a bad thing, but it was still something on his mind.

Just add it to the list, Arkasha, he thought, as he stirred a saucepan while, at the same time, pulling cutlery from the drawer.

Totally unprepared, Arkady had slipped out of his work clothes and grabbed the nearest garments he considered nice-looking. Hey, she never Sophie never said it was a formal dinner... Besides, it was his damn house and he'd wear whatever he damn well felt like for dinner! ...Provided Sophie was ok with it.
Arkady wore one of his favourite neoprene shirts, the garment designed like a baseball tee with red sleeves and a white body, the shirt hugging his form, as the majority of his clothing did. Arkady didn't consider himself vain, but hey, he figured, if you've got the assets, why not show it off? A black studded belt cinched a pair of his black, form-fitting jeans around his slim waist, and for now he ran around the house in a pair of white socks.

Taking a moment of respite, Arkady took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.
Ok, this is all gonna turn out peachy... We're all adults now, everything that's been done has been done, and we're over it. This is just a little get together among friends, right? Right. He nodded as if to affirm his own thoughts before getting back to work.
Or, at least he would've if he hadn't heard the first lyrical notes flow from the piano, through the kitchen and to his ears.

One thing he could never resist...

Arkady wiped his hands off and stepped into the living room, taking a moment to savour the view of Sophie tickling the ivories. His breath caught in his throat. He could literally feel his heart being squeezed by an intangible force. And of course, male speciman that he is, Arkady could feel a definitive tug in his groin.
Arkady said nothing. Approaching her slowly and softly from behind, he placed her hands on her bare shoulders and began gently kneading the muscles with his thumbs.
Ahh gods, the heat and softness of her skin, and that fragrance! It was heady rush and Arkady could only sigh long and low in contentment.
Screw the dinner. If time froze and he was stuck like this forever with Sophie, he would not complain.

[krispey]

Maya blew out air that she'd been holding back in her lungs as she sauntered up the pathway of stepping-stones that were placed ever-so neatly from Sophie and Arkady's house to the edge of their front lawn. Her heart thudded heavily as the fact that she seriously was having dinner with two people who she had both loved-(Arkady), and hated-(Dementia), once before. She constantly, within the short distance from their front lawn to the steps of their porch, re-assured herself that she was going there for a normal dinner. Not fror some other horror film reason such as to be chopped-up and burried under their shed.

Her brown tresses took on a full-bodied look as they fell slightly past her shoulders, curled in spirals. Her lips, which were faintly covered in a rosey-red lipstick, were pursed together. Her lavender eyes scanned the house's exterior. Maya had to admit, she was impressed. Her mind began to wonder. What kind of job did Arkady and Sophie hold? It was obviously well-paying-Maya chuckled abit on the inside. She tried her best to ignore the jittery feeling in her stomach. Nervous was like karma- it always came back. She also tried to ignore that twinge of jealousy that always revisited her when she thought of the two of them together.

She had to remind herself that she had forgiven Sophie...She couldn't take that back could she? No, she couldn't, no yet at least. Maya wanted her mind clear. She didn't want an hostile feeling invading her soul while dealing with these two. But really, what was going to happen? Maya would be rolling a cruton around in a puddle of salad dressing, while Arkady and Sophie were slurping up a single piece of speghetti until ther lips met? Ugh. Maya was way in over her head...At least that's what it felt like. Hopefully, just hopeuflly, Arkady's gorgeous features wouldn't rekindle any feelings on her part. But with how happy he swore out that he was with Sophie, the feelings would be unrequited.

Maya had decided to treat this occasion as formal, which she figured Sophie would as well. So, a simple evening gown is what Maya wore. It was a brilliant cherry red, and of the smoothest silk. It complimented her curves well, insinuated her bossom, seeing how it was a halter-dress, which called for a strap-less bra. The gown flowed down to just below her knee caps. The dress wasn't too casual, but niether was it too formal. Her shoes resembled stiletos, though not as high-she figured she was tall enough.

(I'm going to infer here!) Maya's lavender eyes peered into the house, only a smudge-free glass screen door keeping her from entering. The house was well kept. And so would her's be...If Darcy's toys weren't scattered around and about. Elegant tunes passed through the door. Who was playing? Who ever they were, they were excellent...Maya took one last deep breath before knocking lightly on the screen door. She awaited anxiously for someone to arrive...More so nervously.

[Deon]

((You enjoyed biting Arkady, didn't you...? XD I would too.))

Sophie's eyes followed Arkady as he approached, not giving away any signs in her eyes as to what she was thinking. When he stood behind her and placed his arms on her shoulders, kneading the tension away, it was like an electric jolt of pleasure shot through her body from the point of contact. She leaned her head back against his chest and got a whiff of his aftershave, inhaling deeply and enjoying the quiet moment. Her fingers stopped moving on a sombre not at the end of the Sonata, and she ran her hands up the sides of his toned arms, around his neck, pulling his face down to her level so that she could lean back enough to give him a tender, intensely passionate kiss; all of the anxiety that had built up inside of her was pulled out of her through his mouth, leaving her a rag doll free of tension and limp with relaxed pleasure. She sighed lightly, pressing her mouth against his harder, as she let one hand drop, arching her back even further, so that from the position she had in front of him she could run a hand down the inside of his thigh.

The knock on the door was barely audible, but at the same time like a gunshot in the passionate silence. Sophie pulled her lips from Arkady reluctantly, as she always did. She never wanted to stop touching him, holding him, kissing him, loving him. It was impossible for any woman to resist. "Any way you can wait until after dinner, Arkasha? I wouldn't like to make a scene in front of our guest," she whispered, amusement a slightly evident undertone in her voice. "By the way, you're going to look like an absolute fool next to me wearing that," she chuckled. But Sophie made no move to tell him to change, especially while their guest was waiting at their doorway. She was probably wondering why no one was answering right about now. She gave him a light pat on the cheek and ordered him to go get the wine while she answered the door. And some shoes.

Sophie got up slowly, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she walked towards the double-doored entrance close to the parlor, her dress moving in tune with her sharp motions. There was a sort of brusque, businesslike elegance about her entire person, especially the way of which she walked.

Perhaps Sophie was just being more self-conscious, but she had noticed that Arkady seemed to be staring at her these past few weeks, scrutinizing her, thinking about something. She didn't dare ask. But the air about him was obvious, even just then. There was something that was troubling him... something that just wasn't right. It was entirely possible that she was being paranoid. Hiding something so important from someone one loved so much... It was hard, it was stupid, it was... It was a lot of things that Sophie didn't want to think about. She pretended not to notice his constant analysis, said nothing about his subtle behavior in the slightest. She had grown so attuned to him, that it was impossible to entirely conceal his emotions from her. She didn't doubt that the feeling went the other way as well. A mutual paranoia. A mutual bother. That was a nice word. Bother. So casual, so unassuming, so simple and inane. Of course, what was going on wasn't exactly a small deal, but even so... Why didn't she want to tell him? What was she afraid of? That he would leave her? That he would be angry? That he would curse and spit and hit her and throw her out? He would never do it. Never. But she didn't want to tell him anyway, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself. She made an excuse to appease her mind, saying that she didn't want to bring up the subject until she had made a decision about what she was going to do. It affected both of them, of course. But it affected her the most. It would be her... She couldn't bring herself to say the word.

What Sophie really needed was someone to talk to. Huh. Good luck with that.

She opened the door with a graceful smile on her face to meet Maya. The entire torturous thought process had only taken a few seconds. She extended her hand to warmly usher her into their house. Still, there was something unnervingly mechanical about her voice and motions.

"Please Maya, do come in. If Arkady's through with setting everything up, he should be in the living room." Her eyes immediately appraised Maya's figure, as subtly as she possibly could. Of course she still looked... pretty. Sophie didn't want to give her too much credit. She didn't need any jealousy or fear of infidelity to be the block that would topple her emotional wreck of a tower. Her heart fluttered slightly with anxiety nonetheless. This was going to be a good dinner party, and they all would get from it exactly what they needed. She was hell-bent on that, and would achieve it no matter what.

"I must say, that is a nice color on you. How are you by the way, Maya? We didn't really get to talk at the post the other day, but of course we'll have time tonight..." She leaned in to Maya's ear to speak in an audible whisper, like an exchange between best girlfriends, "Oh, and you'll have to excuse Arkady's appearance. He seems to not like wearing a nice suit very much, and I ran out of time to hassle him into one." Sophie leaned away, hesitated slightly, and continued. "Please. Make yourself at home," she recited as she led the way to the living room.

[Delerium]

(OOC: Sexy men are tasty :9)

Electricity tingled in Arkady's skin where Sophie's hands passed, the path they traced tangible even after her feathery touch had moved on to explore more of his body. Her lips held the taste and feel of divinity, and Arkady couldn't contain a deep moan of pleasure when she seized his mouth. He nearly jumped out of his clothes when he felt Sophie's hand so close to the most sensitive part of him, and was tempted to pull her down to the plush carpet with him right then and there.
Yeah, he'd gotten a nasty rugburn last time that happened, but it had been worth it; and Arkady was more than willing to sport another one...
Gods, almost ten years it'd been, and his desire for her felt as fresh as the day she'd first kissed him.
That was just one of the many things about her he loved so much: Sophie had never been afraid or shy about taking exactly what she wanted from his body. He'd never been a wilting flower himself, but the sight of a woman -no, of Sophie taking charge and just...

Tock tock.

Damn.
As Sophie pulled away and pat his cheek playfully, for a moment Arkady could only stand there, still half bent in posture with his hands frozen where they had been on Sophie's irresistable form and his mouth hanging open.
It was so unfair!

As he stood and shook himself out of his reverie, Arkady couldn't help but reflect on the pleasant little interlude for a wrinkle in time. Maybe he was working too much, but some things had felt a bit... bigger, perhaps? With a slight wince, he knew with unwavering certainty that he could never ever bring up the issue with Sophie if he didn't want to sleep on the sidewalk for a month, but still...
I must be working too hard... And he didn't feel like getting a thumpin' from Sophie, so he pushed the it out of his mind.
And aside from that, fretting over something caused Scion to get restless, and, well...

Besides, Maya was waiting.
Placing the wine and the last of the cutlery on the table, he couldn't help overhearing:
"Oh, and you'll have to excuse Arkady's appearance. He seems to not like wearing a nice suit very much, and I ran out of time to hassle him into one."
Sometimes having the keen hearing of a wolf wasn't such a bad thing.

"There's nothing wrong with my outfit!" he called in a half-whine. But, the sound of his sock feet pounding up the stairs followed shortly afterward.
In their bedroom, Arkady instinctively made a face at the suit Sophie had laid out for him on the bed before diving into his closet.
Hell no, he thought with a childish raspberry. Suits are for weddings and funerals, NOT casual dinners!
Quickly selecting what he felt was an upgrade, Arkady threw what he had been wearing over the suit and pulled on the new outfit in record time.
Practically skipping down the stairs, he took the steps two at a time while folding back the sleeves of one of his few white silk dress shirts halfway up his forearms. The top two buttons were undone, but at least he'd tucked the bottom into the waist of the tanned dress pants he wore. They were cinched with a chocolate brown leather belt sporting a gold buckle in the shape of a running wolf.

"Maya! Good to see you made it!" Arkady said, his sapphire eyes twinkling as he was genuinely pleased to see her. "Hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place; Sophie's horrible at giving directions..."

His white socks were obvious against the burgundy carpet.

[krispey]

"Why thank you," Maya said towards the compliment that Sophie gave; it was probably a reluctant one.

"Oh, and you'll have to excuse Arkady's appearance. He seems to not like wearing a nice suit very much, and I ran out of time to hassle him into one."

Maya chuckled on the inside a little bit, a closed smile appearing on her face. She was almost too busy looking around the house; for arkady, to even notice Sophie's attempt at making small talk. She laughed and smiled at the insight, knowing that Arkady would be the most beautiful thing even in trash bags. But what she wanted to say was "Cut the act. I almost didn't show, but I did, despite how much you may or may not have wanted me to. We're not friends, we're not enemies, we're just doing this out of the small microscopic speck of kindness in our hearts. I know you probably think that me having dinner with you two means that I won't have even the slightest cravings for your man, but you're thinking wrong, honey."

But no, she owuld say nothing of that sort...She wouldn't ruin this dinner...Well, she wouldn't, but a little friend of hers named Rachel would her dirty work for her...Still, the girl's intentions with Arkady were unknown, so this would be a surprise for everyone. Hah. this dinner wasn't going to go as planned. Not in the least bit. Of course the typical uncomfotable eyeshift was to be expected, but nothing of this sort. Maya's eyes shifted over to Sohpie, "Oh, and by the way, you look nice in that color as well," Maya started, "It compliments your skin tone." She wished that she had been lying, but for right now, something had to go accordingly. Then, she heard his deep, smooth voice.

That voice was enough to make you melt! It rang through her ears. It wasn't long before the owner of that gracious voice was standing infront of both Sophie and Maya herself. Maya flashed a quick, graceful smile, "Nice to see you too, Arkady." Maya, wrapped her arms delicately around his solid torso, not wanting to linger onto his built frame for too long, although that proved to be a challenge. She caught scent of a strong, yet appeasing colonge that lingered form him to her nostrils. Oh how lucky Sophie was... Did she have a clue who she had on her hands? Well, hopefully. It would have been a shame to let something as scrumptious as Arkady go... Withdrawing almost as quick as she engaged in the friendly gesture, Maya turned to Sohpie, "This way to the living room, is it?" She asked, as though nothing had just happened. She hoped that they were headed to the living room, because truth be told, she wasn't even that hungry. After that hug, alls she wanted to do was....Well, that coulnd't be disclosed...

[Deon]

Sophie stared at Maya curiously with a practiced analytical eye; there was something about her smile that made her extremely uncomfortable, and it wasn't just the fact that she was looking for Arkady.

God, Sophie didn't want her to see him. It wasn't jealousy. No, no. She wasn't afraid that Arakdy would leave him. That would be a stupid fear... irrational... irrational... Yes--yes!--she had better things to worry about than waste her energy on something so impossible as that. It was just... The world... humanity as it is now... none of them deserved to see him. None of them deserved for his presence to grace their sight, none of them deserved to brush him on the subway, none of them deserved to share the same air with them! The way that he could walk down the street and be seen by those hundreds of cruel, dead eyes, eyes that belonged to corpses and not men, people who would so willingly give up their own minds, people so horrible that she didn't even want to think about him ever being touched by something from their world, from something outside of their lives. He was too pure to be tainted by something like that.

Arkady's advent interrupted her coherent thoughts, and she didn't realize that she hadn't responded to Maya's compliment after his voice flooded her ears, almost like a tangible caress. He brought with him a feeling of relief, and she turned to smile at him and take his hand gently. The weakness of her smile gave away what she was feeling without words.

Then Maya... hugged him. God, the word was so benign, so innocent. Sophie hadn't let go of Arkady's hand during the split second that they made contact, and squeezed it unnecessarily, as if he was her only support mechanism to keep that smile on her face, even if just to rip Maya's arms off. When she finally let go after what seemed like an eternity, the feeling subsided, but she only lessened her tense grip on Arkady slightly. The expression she held on her face made it seem as though nothing had happened as she led both Arkady and Maya to the living room, pulling him gently by the hand to sit down with her on the loveseat across from a plush chair. The way she sat was not stiff, only too poised to be comfortable. She let go of Arkady's hand but didn't take away the tips of her fingers from his thigh. The feeling of his body was enough to keep her going through this for now.

She chatted gaily all the while. An answer to Maya's question like a wonderful hostess: "Yes, we're headed to the living room. A little before-dinner talk while the roast finishes cooking." Nuzzling up against her love with a content smile: "You look absolutely wonderful, Arkady! Glad to see that you've chosen something more appropriate, though you look dashing either way." Turning to Maya: "Can I get you anything? A drink perhaps? We have everything under the sun for a good time you won't remember tomorrow." She was the perfect balance of listening and talking, of showing a vague interest in her guest, but not enough to make her seem uncomfortable or watched. She had a practiced air in the way she acted, like a well-oiled machine who knew all the drills.

A machine with a tic. Her fingers twitched slightly on Arkady's thigh every once and a while when he and Maya made contact. It was the only thing that gave away her unease.

[Delerium]

(OOC: Oh man, this is gonna be so funny...)

Gods, you could cut through the tension in the air with a knife. Especially when Maya had hugged him and Sophie's nails dug into his hand. He'd never understand how women could hold a grudge over a man for so long; he was extremely tempted to say "How old are you two?" but nothing united women like a common foe and to speak his mind at that moment would have resulted in his death. Or worse, a double nagging...
A wash of guilt momentarily seized him at the spurt of delight he felt from Maya's hug.It brought back fond memories, and the spicy, cinnamon scent of her hair was still enough to leave him weak in the knees.
Fortunately, she let go before his mind could wander any further in sin - not to mention Sophie's iron grip kept him firmly on the ground.

As the two women preceeded him into the living room, Arkady couldn't help but make a face at Sophie's back; here comes the boring part - the part where they sat around the coffee table like polite, well-mannered adults and talked about trivial things like the weather, career, children (heaven forbid) and all the other things he used to sleep through as a kid. As it was, he only half-paid attention as Sophie and Maya conversed, stating his opinion when it was needed, but you couldn't say he was actively participating.
Sophie's hand on his thigh kept him from straying too much, but... couldn't they just play scrabble or something? Did they have to converse so rigidly like stuck-up snobs?

Scion was really beginning to tug on his mind, and Arkady was ready to do something pretty drastic in order to quell the invisible sparks flying between the two women. He began glancing around the room; there had to be SOMETHING.
Oh, wait, there - cue the angelic choir. Biting back a smirk, Arkady lunged forward, reaching under the coffee table; no doubt Sophie would know what he was grabbing almost immediately. Biting back a smirk, he produced a cloth-wrapped bundle roughly the size of a football.
"Hey, check this out," he said with a broad grin. "Tadaa!" Yanking the towel off with a flourish, he revealed a bong in the shape of a frog, its mouth shaped like it was puckering up for a kiss and the bowl protruding from its butt at a 45 degree angle.
Yeah, he was probably gonna pay for this later, but hey, he had a reputation to uphold too - that of the class clown.

[krispey]

(OOc: LMAo!!!! Well, Maya's about to do her dirty work...Hehe)

Maya sighed mentally, periodically. The topics of their conversations were all so...Boring. She was sure that Arkady had been thinking the same thing, for his facial expression was that of a bored person. She felt like she was watching George Bush rant on and on about the war in Iraq...And how he swore out he was "only there to rebuild". But perhaps this was the only way they could keep their claws out of eachother's eyes....Well, soon enough, all of this would become the candy land every kid wanted to visit.

Well, in the perspective of fun, perhaps not pleasure, but fun....And then, her thoughts trailed off....Off to that one guest that she was supossed ot have been helping out....Rachel, well, she had a different name; One Maya couldn't quite remember. The question was; Should Maya bring it up? There was tons of things Maya could have brought up right about now. She could have already disturbed the peace tremendously.

Well, lets just go throughthe list shall we? Seaheart told me of a guy that played a tremendous role in Dementia's life....Dariusz. He claimed that Dariusz was the only reason she had been with Arkady...Well, that she was using him as a crutch...And then Arkady...He's connected to a tribe of Wolf Laguz, is it? Hmmm...Perhaps I should toy with them abit? Hah...Why do I suddenly feel abit evil. Bringing up the very past; or present that they may or amy not have shared with eachother...Maya you bad, bad girl.

Maya sighed. But really,what was this dinner all about? Was it about having both Maya and Sophie's friendship on the mend? That couldn't be the case! So apparently, this dinner was just to- just to what?!? It was inexplicable.

"Hey, check this out,Tadaa!" Maya's eyes shifted over to a bong of some sort. Maya couldn't help but let out a chuckle she was trying to surpress....But on the inside, she was embarressed. Embarressed that Sohpie must have been highly embarressed. Now was a perfecttime to strike!

"Hmmm...Sophie, tell me," Maya shifted her attention to her, speaking with an inquisitive tone, "Would Dariusz have acted this way?" She asked, her eyes slightly squinted. She spoke as though this was all normal, and as though it were a typical disscusion topic.

Her fingers curved around her glass, sipping nonchalantly at the wine before setting it down with grace. Her leg crossed, and she turned to Arkady. "Arkady, tell me...What do you know about a, what is it, Laguz wolf tribe?" She was beating around the bush; she hadn't given anything away about Rachel, but was sure that she had struck a nerve....With both of them. But she had to keep in mind that this wasn't to destroy either of them...But it was getting a little boring; She had to spice things up!

[Deon]

Sophie knew instinctively what Arkady was reaching for, but her mind didn't have time to process before it was already too late to stop him. She shut her eyes reflexively as her only defense against the motion when he unveiled that atrocious thing... Perhaps if she didn't look at it, it wouldn't seem as bad. Wait. Strike that. She could see him in her mind's eye, smiling that goofy, sheepish smile of his, holding the cloth up triumphantly as if it he were uncovering a prized trophy won from battle. She'd been trying to get him to get rid of it forever. Sophie thought that the quite vivid and horribly embarrassing mental picture in her head must be an exaggeration, until she opened her eyes and saw the vision come to life. A small sort of chuckle bubble up in her chest and left her lips weakened as she shot Arkady a quizzical glance. Her eyebrows creased into a light frown.

"Not in my house, Arkady Scott Belmont," she told him in the tone similar to a parent chiding his child. "I don't care if you and Maya want to go stone yourselves out of your heads outside, as long as I wake up next to the same person I normally do, with no unwanted company." She set her restrictions with a small, playful smile that would be quick to disappear with Maya's next words.

"Would Dariusz have acted this way?"

Woah.

Rewind.

What the hell did she just say? Sophie stared in disbelief at Maya's lips, refusing to even consider the possibility that that name had just come from her voice, from the motion of her tongue and lips, from the vibration of her vocal chords. Hearing her pronounce Dariusz's name was as painful as envisioning Arkady sharing a subway with strangers on his way to work, being brushed against and touched and looked at by people. Horribly ordinary and human people shouldn't be able to grace their eyes with the sight of an angel. Dariusz's name was almost a taboo in a similar sense. Maya had no right to say his name so casually.

But... how? Even through Sophie's enraged disbelief, she had no idea how Maya would ever come to know that kind of intimate detail about her past. She certainly hadn't mentioned to Arkady the kind of thoughts that went through her head the first moment she saw him, though he had asked her about it before; he was quite curious from the outcome of their fist encounter, and the rather strange, to say the least, ways that she had acted around him for the longest time. Some had been explained. Other details... were omitted. She regretted it, and not just now.

The side of her lip twitched up and brought the other up into an involuntary, odd smile that stayed plastered to her face while she considered the situation. She had a split second to react before Maya would notice that she had hit a nerve, and she wasn't about to let that happen... No. There was no way that she could possibly know what that name meant to her. The only person who did was Seaheart, and she hadn't seen him for nearly ten years! And even so, if she had somehow come upon it... No. Stop even thinking about that, Sophie. You're giving her too much credit. There is no way she realizes the importance of that name. No possible way. But then what was her purpose in bringing it up? Sophie tried to stop herself from doubting her first ruling. She must answer, but the social machine was not equipped to dealing with this kind of a situation. Its CPU short-circuited, smoking inside of her head as it self-destructed from an overload of stimuli and search for the answer to an unanswerable problem, like that of infinity. She was utterly alone and had to act for herself. What a pity. She thought this would be a nice little party.

Sophie gave a little laugh in response to Maya's question. "Oh, him?" She avoided saying his name. "He was much too proper and protective, at least around me." A skillfully crafted half-truth that easily escaped the telltale symptoms of a lie. Then she asked Arkady something strange. She shot him an inquisitive glance, which held an undertone of "help me" in its meaning.

"The... what?" She couldn't possibly fathom what Maya was getting at, and attempted to make a joke with a weak chuckle as she took Arkady's hand almost protectively. She didn't know what she was trying to protect him from, or even if it was more comfort for herself. "Don't tell me you're getting into LARPing, dear. You know how horribly geeky that is."

[Delerium]

"Yeah, yeah, I knooowww," Arkady said in the exasperated way a child would respond to his chiding parent. "Didn't you ever wonder why I bought that screen for the patio?" Whoops. There went one of his top secret plans...

The levity ended though when Arkady caught a suspicious glimmer in Maya's eye, and the words that tumbled from her mouth had a definite, if subtle, edge. What was she getting at? She had to have changed much more than he'd initially thought if she was trying to start something - but what?
Dariusz? Wolf laguz? Huh?
Maya wasn't making much sense.

Ok, one thing at a time...
Arkady could recall Sophie mentioning something to him about a childhood friend of hers named Dariusz, but what did that have to do with him and that stupid bong of his? Would Dariusz have acted this way? The way the words had been formed and the current they carried... He had felt a distinctive lurch in his chest - Scion's way of telling him something was definitely up. But again, what?

And... wolf laguz?
Ok, she'd said tribe of wolf laguz... Well, the wolf part he could understand, but laguz? Wasn't that a norse rune meaning river? But as his mind played with the odd, foreign word, he could feel a steady warmth building in his chest; it almost felt like... well, the closest he could akin it to was lying in the sun with every part of his body covered but the centre of his torso. Vague, but that was the only way he could describe it to himself. Like... something wanted to burst, was on the verge of it, but was somehow unable to...

Wierd.

But it didn't matter. The look Sophie cast him, like a drowing person pleading for a lifeline, and how she tensed up. The current of tension and worry tangible to his hypersensitivity. He gripped the hand she thrust into his with affection and re-assurance, and gave her glance that said he would help her through this - whatever it was.
He didn't know what Maya had touched on that had affected his lover so deeply, but the fact that it had been said with malicious intent sparked a small flame of anger alongside the warmth that continued to blossom in his chest.
Then his hip began to burn, the sun mark on his skin there signifying the dormant power within him was ready put a stop to what was causing these negative emotions.

Uh-oh.
He had to get to the bottom of this - and quick. Arkady had never known the golden wolf to be patient.

Pasting on his own nonchalant smile, Arkady nudged Sophie playfully and said, "Hey, careful what you say! I was into LARPing in my teens..." Turning back to Maya, he then said. "And uh, what was that you said? Wolf laguz? I have... no idea. I can't even see how the two terms connect, honestly." Suddenly, a hard edge unexplainable latched onto his tone. "Care to explain, Maya? If you know something, it would be... rude not to share..."