Downstairs

Tai's face fell a little at Anya's response. The girl's body language did not invite further enquiry, but Tai could make an educated guess that it was something to do with Duncan's father. She knew that Anya wasn't particularly close to her own parents, so perhaps seeing someone else lose one of theirs had thrown her feelings into a bit of a confusing mix.

---

Tabby walked in on a slightly somber looking scene. The blonde girl - Anya - was looking rather glum and Tai looked a bit off-kilter too. Usual family fun? Maybe, maybe not. If Tabby was inclined to asked questions, she had more profound things to ask than who was having issues with who. Things like 'do you accept that you're really just a human like anybody else'?

She opened her mouth to reply to Tai, but was cut off by a long yawn. She raised a hand apologetically and shook her head with a sheepish grin.

"Thanks." she said, "I can see why so many people enjoy crashing here."

Tai smirked and nodded, glancing at Anya as the girl silent left the room with a weak smile. "We're never short of people, that's for sure."

Tabby served herself some toast and preserves, and took a pear out of the fruit bowl. She also hungrily eyed the bacon that was sizzling under the grill, but it looked like it had only just been put on. Besides, despite what Tai said, she didn't want to dive into the food too easily before anyone else was around. She took a stool near to where Ray was and smiled across at her. Each person she spoke to, or even caught sight of in the house, she couldn't help but wonder whether they were the right person to ask about everything Gavin had told her. Do I even want to ask? she thought to herself, Everything seems pleasant enough leaving the subject unapproached. Even mentioning the fact that Gavin was her brother could open a can of worms which might crawl in the wrong direction.

Tai sat down across the breakfast bar in front of the two girls with a round of toast for herself. "Well," she said, "at this rate all the boys are going to miss out! They don't seem to do so well with mornings."

Tabby laughed softly. "What about Lyra, is she a morning person?"

"Oh yes." Tai nodded earnestly, "She's usually up very early, likes to go out training."

"Training?" Tabby mused curiously, "Training for what?"

Tai seemed like she thought out her answer carefully... "Kiyoshi and her kind of spur each other on." she said eventually, "She's a pretty competetive girl...gets it from her father I suppose. So most mornings she's out running, swimming, practicing martial arts, that sort of thing."

"I think that's a good way to be." Tabby said with a firm nod, "Must admit if I lived in a place like this I'd make use of the space and practice my guitar a lot more too."

"Do you have it with you?" asked Tai with a smile.

"It's in Lance's car." Tabby rolled her eyes, "He was supposed to drop my stuff off last night but he never showed. I'll have to try to catch up with him today but I can't call because my phone's dead."

"No problem," said Tai, "He knows where you are right?"

"Yeah, he does."

Duncan smiled down at Anya as she spoke to him explaining how strange the mating game was, people who had been lifelong friends in the pack would not always end up being mates and others who might have had a very strong dislike could be mates. But now Duncan had Anya and now there was no more worry or to be straight bitterness of not having a mate, Duncan had to admit he was over the moon. To have someone who was a close friend of his and knew him so well was such a great feeling.

Anya's gentle kiss closed that feeling and made it bigger, he wrapped his arms slowly around her pulling her closer to him. Now he had an even better reason to keep her safe, they were joined now and the moon would bring Anya into the pack.

It was as though the very air was thrown up in a flurry by the arrival of James in the kitchen. The way he sauntered in just seemed to cry out that even though he wasn't the only one who lives in the house, he had some sort of extra claim to be a resident here by virtue of being the alpha son. Even so, something had stoked his spirits beyond the usual boisterousness, and Tai was less than impressed.

She coughed a couple of times and glowered at him. "You've woken up with an attitude, dear son of mine." she said, "Perhaps when you're done eating you could channel some of that energy into something more industrious, like rousing some of the other boys before the rest of the breakfast stuff goes cold?"

---

Tabby smiled back at Ray, coasting over the slightly awkward silence. She couldn't help but feel that Ray was looking at her as though she...knew something, but there was any number of things that could be. probably she'd caught wind of the fact that she'd turned out to be Gavin's sister, and no doubt the young girl's fertile mind (for that much was obvious) wanted to fill in the blanks for herself.

She nodded earnestly at Ray's question. "Yeah it's pretty much my whole life." she said, "Been playing since I was about eight and I was really hoping I'd..."

She stopped talking with the entrance of the rather over-confident boy, who she recognised vaguely from the party last night. Wow...he certainly did have...'presence'. In a good way? It was difficult to say. She hadn't been in the house long enough to get a feel for the resident 'banter', but the indignation on Ray's face at the 'short joke' seemed pretty genuine. Tabby chewed her lip and looked down, although her brow raised when Tai referred to the boy as 'son of mine'. So that was Lyra's brother? Interesting...

And then there was Gavin's voice. Tabby froze for a moment, not sure exactly how things had been left between them. But she only had a few seconds to make a decision, and it wasn't even as though it should have been a big decision, but she turned her head slightly and mumbled 'hi'. And then in a moment there was a knock at the door, and Gavin went to get it. Tabby inclined her head towards the hall...could it be Lance finally turning up with her bag and a bigass apology?

---

When Calvin opened his eyes and felt the sparse trickles of sunlight on his eyes, he didn't die...he just felt like he did. Oh god... He rolled onto his side and winced. No matter how many times he was told, he never remembered that as a wolf he didn't experience the effects of alcohol as much as humans...but the morning-after effect was every bit as potent.

He thought about laying there for a few days to sleep it off, but the headache was so bad that even his pillow didn't feel comfortable. So he hauled himself out of bed and poked his head out of the door...the last thing he needed was anyone gloating at his misfortune. Well, what about Gavin, he'd been out partying right? Oh no, wait, he'd started drinking but then had found other things to do...mm, yeah. Less said about that the better.

He hobbled across to the boys bathroom and got himself a drink of water, then returned to the bedroom. But what was that? The smell of bacon? Oh damn, now that's done it. Can't say no to a fried breakfast. But there was also a distinct smell of burning in among it. The hell...was Kathy cooking?? Shit, better get downstairs before the whole house burns down and there's nothing left which is remotely edible.

He put on some basketball shorts and a hoody, and thundered down the stairs, but stopped at the bottom to a rather amusing sight...Gaving and his...mother!!

"Yo yo Mrs Argen-TUM." he said in a very blearly, wobbly, half-cut kind of way, knowing full well how Gavin was less than bothered about impressing his parentals, "I never really get the chance to say that, as Gavin's mother...you must be so proud."

He barely finished the sentence before he started to snigger and snort, which was abruptly cut off as the shaking of his body in laughter caused his head to twinge and he winced again, stumbling to the side. "Damnit," he muttered under his breath, "did anyone put any coffee on yet?"

A single glare of sunlight pierced the empty blackness through a crack in the curtain. Its shattered the darkness with its ray of irriation, causing Aziels eyes to scrunch at the unwelcomed newcomer. With a short moan and a ruffled kick of his covers they fell to the floor having been practically off his body which was draped over a three-quarted bed lazily and uncaring. Aziel never slept peacefully, he often shuffled and woke up in some of the strangest positions, he had been known more than once to wake up on the floor surrounded by his covers which always seem to find themselves there in the morning.

A heavy yawn escaped the clasp of his mouth as he rose from his pit and pulled a hand though his messy brown hair scratching an itch on his chest before rising to his feet and hobbling towards his on-suite bathroom. Squirting some toothpaste onto an electric toothbrush he began to clean his teeth whilst looking in a mirror with eyes that could be referred to as zombie like with his lack of sleep. He had been up late last night, not doing anything special, he had been working all day as usual at the mechanics, he enjoyed it there, he enjoyed figuring out the solutions to fixing the cars but most of all loved to try out the motorbikes that came in, especially the more expensive ones. Yet in the evening there had been some party, he hadn't been mildly interersted in it, to be honest the only appearence he made was to steal some food that was being served before dissapearing without anyone noticing. He often did this, jumping on his Yamaha bike he had left the house which he knew so well and through out the night chose to sanction himself at a bar instead of pitying through a hell hole of a party with his pack. They would surely come up with something to make the night 'interesting' and it was something he wanted nothing to do with, as no doubt they would have asked him to solve it, it was a sure guarantee, and he hated it. As a child it had never bothered him, untill he realised how many people used him for his mind and kindess, thats when he shut himself off from the world.

Combing though his hair and dragging on a simple black shirt whilst leaving the buttons open not being bothered to do them all, he stepped into a pair of loose jeans dropping to his hips showing the tips of his boxes. He had no-one he cared that much about to try and look presentable for, he had lived in the house for nearly seven years now and knew it just aswell as the people in it.

Smoothing over his morning stubble Aziel mulled out of his room at a steady pace to the drawing smell of breakfast, it tingled his nose and senses getting through his groggy awareness, he was never a morning person. As he got the down the stairs he noticed Calvin nearby, Calvin's tendancy to exhaggerated practically everything and his own self-importance irritated Aziel passionately. The result led to a disdain which he never really acted upon as it would be too much of hassle, instead he chose to ignore him most of the time, like he did most people.
He got the slight shot of what he said to Mrs Argentum, with a unpleasent turn of his lips and a shake of his head he stepped onto the hallway. Gavin had always seemed as though he was never himself to Aziel, he had always felt he was hiding something, nothing important just something that troubled him as a person, however Aziel had never really not gotten on with Gavin. Gavin tended to be well minded for most of the time anyway.

"Are your manners getting worse or is that really just your brain getting thicker Calvin" he said for heck of it making his way to the kitchen. He had been referring to the accent Calvin had used to greet Mrs Argentum, it sounded retardish in Aziels mind. However walking on not caring for his reply Aziel walked into the kitchen not surprised to find Tai, he simply nodded to her in greeting with a one word syllable of "Morning." James was present and so was Ray, he had known from their scents. He didnt take a liberty in greeting them in any other manner than a lazy lift of his hand in a poor effect for a wave when it was more of a gesture. Anya and Dunan were cause for his eyebrow to raise but he never said anything and just continued on his way.

Tai was a woman who Aziel gave respect for, not just because she was the Alpha's mate, but because he thought she was generally kind natured and she never tried to upset a balance within the pack as some leaders tend to do. She had had a more difficult like than his considering everyone she was responsible for, he gave her credit for that. James Aziel had never been too sure on, he threated too much about the small things, like his wolf form, he liked to boss his way around aswell sometimes in order to beat everyone or something, he had never really known or cared. Ray on the other hand had a tendancy to bring a smile to his face at times, her jokes were always fun to watch, he especially loved it when she upset people, though not when she played them on him. That was a different matter though he wouldnt over-react like most people. Would he? He does have a bit of a temper sometimes...

A frustrated growl hummed in the back of Aziel's mind, his wolf being impaitent as always. With a unsubtle sigh Aziel strolled over towards the fridge grabbing about five slices of ham, grated cheese and a tomato before slamming them into one large sandwich happily taking a bite to satisfy his stomach and wolf simultaneously. As he was eating it was then that he notice a girl that wasn't familiar to him, squinting his eyes to get a good look at her he swalloed the bite he had taken. "so" he paused for a moment in consideration. "who's then new girl" he asked calmly and matter of fact the right shoulder of his shirt slipping to reveal the top of the tattoo that lay on his upper arm.

“Don’t worry Tab, it’s not always this crazy around the house, especially not in the morning.”

Tabby smiled appreciatively at Ray, and hoped that it would be as easy as laughing it off. The atmosphere in the house was very different to that which it had been the night before. She couldn't even remember seeing some of these guys the previous night...if she had, she'd probably have had a much easier time believing that it really was a den of wild animals! Even Tai - seemingly the 'den mother' - appeared to have a difficult time keeping them in check.

But things only got worse as suddenly the onslaught was coming from both sides. Firstly Aziel continued his tactless enquiries from across the breakfast bar, taking the place Tai had vacated only moments previous. Tabby looked his in the eye intently, her lips thinning as the boy filled in the blanks for himself with infuriating presumption.

She began to reply to him, her voice thin, weak and wavering with rage, "You don't know anything..."

She stopped when the overstated French woman slammed her hand down on the breakfast bar, and was practically leaning over Tabby to address Aziel. Tabby hunched slightly and looked down, riding out the moment of awkward and intimidating proximity. But she could not remain passive at the shocking tirade which flowed from the obnoxious woman's mouth about her own parents.

She pushed her way off the stool and drew herself to full (if rather underwhelming) height, glowering at Evon as she turned to leave again.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" she growled, "My dad's dead, I though Gavin was dead...my mom's back home still thinking they're both dead! I don't know what happened back then, but it sounds to me like you took Gavin away from us and brainwashed him with this werewolf rubbish."

She felt a pang of discomfort in her chest as she heard her own words escape her lips, and realised she may have insulted or angered any number of people. After all, she didn't know how far this werewolf cult thing spread, but the one thing she was sure of was that she was right in the middle of it's headquarters. Aziel had talked about shifts. Evon had talked about shifts. Nobody had taken them to task on it. She had no reason to doubt that everything Gavin had said to her last night was held true to some degree by everyone in the house. That was the only reason she didn't follow after Evon when she left, not knowing if the woman had even taken any notice of anything she'd said. And for a moment she couldn't look anyone in the eye, until Ray spoke up in her defence.

"Look it's OK." she mumbled, "I didn't mean to cause a stir here. I should probably get going...I just, could I use the phone to call Lance?"

---

Tai's panic spiralled to new heights when Evon bit back as Aziel. The words she spoke were nothing Tai hadn't heard before, but the way she spoke them...that was enlightning. Evon had such indignation for the father who'd supposedly abandoned Gavin to his death, and yet had been keen to remain aloof from him from quite an early age and for most of the time except when she felt like interfering. There was most certainly more to all of this than she had supposed, especially considering Tabby had a version of events which raised questions to say the least.

"Evon..." she implored, "...come on. We're all getting crossed wires here, let's get a drink and calm down. James, show Tabby where the phone is would you please?"

Raising an eyebrow at James as he offered his hand, Tabby cocked her head and grimaced a little.

"Actually, I'm good thanks..." she declined, wondering who on earth James thought she was calling if he'd felt the need to suggest that he was 'better looking'...clearly he didn't realise that Lance was a guy twice her age who could quite plausibly be her uncle, as she had told Lyra and Tai he was even though that was't true.

But when Aziel began to laugh at her Tabby could scarcely get a word in edgeways with everyone seeming to pull her from pillar to post. She certainly had something to say to Aziel's insisting that she go with him to be shown something, except the trepidationg this time was far greater than last night when Gavin had told her he was going to prove his point. She could see there was a door in the kitchen which seemed to lead out of the house, and the idea of bolting was coming to the fore as the most attractive option...in which case Lance would probably have done her a favour by failing to turn up with her things, because she'd have nothing to leave behind! What was going on in this house, and how on earth had she become the centre of attention of it all?!

Then James came to the rescue, but his mannerism suggested a something less than altruistic motive. Even so, she was willing to use the guy as a buffer zone between herself and Aziel, and then Ray ran out of the room...perhaps to get Tai to come back and restore the peace? Actually perhaps not...Tai had already done her part by removing that French woman and was probably wrapped up in that.

Oh god... Tabby thought to herself, ...is this the sort of thing mom was trying to protect me from by keeping us seperate from the rest of town all those years?

---

Calvin's mood was taking a dip in proportion to the raising of voices, which were not doing his headache any favours. James' challenge to take Aziel outside was the last straw, and Calvin set his mug of coffee down on the side counter with enough force to make a loud bang...as well as spilling a little bit of the piping hot coffee onto his hand.

"Ow, dammit!" Calvin cursed, "For fucksake guys will you both just sort it out? I've got a hangover and I will personally shove your heads up each others asses and turn you into a wolf ying-yang if you don't turn the noise down. Az, come outside with me, I got something I wanna tell you."

The scene was quite something to behold, and even within his throbbing brain he was relating everyting that unfolded to what Jason had told him in the bar the night before. It compounded everything. Chaos. That was the inevitable outcome of trying to create a static type or order in a pack just stagnated and festered in a human-like existence. Which all sounded reakin' philosophical for a guy who was still half-cut from the night before, but the words had made such an impression on him that the confirmation bias took hold over his hangover and sent his mind into overdrive.

If it was to Calvin's advantage to sow seeds of discontent...well, Aziel was a grow-bag full of rich compost. He picked up his coffee again and walked over to the back door to the patio, and looked at Aziel to see if he could come.

---

Tabby looked at the ground, hoping that Aziel would follow the other guy outside and the gorilla chest-beating in the kitchen would burn itself out, when Ray reappeared with a phone. Thank god. Tabby held out a hand to take it with a grateful smile, but the smile dropped slightly when Ray did not immediately hand it over, but instead unexpectely implored her to believe that there was truth to the werewolf business. But coming from Ray it was different. There wasn't a hint of malice, mischief or bravado...or even pretence. Tabby didn't doubt that Ray believed what she said, and that she didn't want her to be frightened by it. She was also the first person to intimate the slightest hint of sympathy that such a claim would be hard for Tabby to accept.

So Tabby took a deep breath in and nodded, took the phone and hesitated before dialing, looking across at Ray and wondering how to respond. It didn't matter how genuine she seemed. Tabby didn't believe in werewolves. Or ghosts. Or fairies. And no amount of sincerity was going to overcome that. Even so, it was obviously important to these people. Hell, Ray had said 'it's our life'...Tabby had no interest in trying to challenge or rock the foundations of that if it was such a big deal to them.

"That's cool." was all she could think of to say, "I get that. Who am I to say it isn't real...thanks."

She gave a weak smile and stepped out into the hall with the phone, struggling to remember Lance's number. She couldn't even check it on her cell phone because the battery was dead...damn...what was it again...?

---

"Too bad." Adrian said to Sid with a nod. No worries though, I'm sure I'll catch up with him soon enough. And yeah when you see Mr Dean on Monday be sure to make a Panda joke, it was a classic moment. And make sure you tell your dad about it, he'll get a huge kick out of it!"

He chuckled to himself as he began to make his way down the stairs. Of everyone in the entire Khöller pack, Sid was the pup who'd turned out most like his father. It was sometimes like having Tyler back in the house all over again. Which for the most part was an awesome thought...but that said, Adrian and Tyler had been through some pretty rough stuff together. The fact that there was one bedroom with a much newer window and decor than the others was testimony to that...

Aziel watched Tabby intently as he waited for her reply, of all the things to have come about in the past few days he had never expected to meet a werewolf who didn’t know what they were. It was a strange theory, but he knew it was also highly dangerous for the girl. If she mated with a human, (whom knows if it could happen) she would have no clue what would be happening to her the following full moon when she shifts. The panic alone would probably kill her at the start of her shift before she even got to the difficult part.

It was for her own good that she learns what she is and fast, for all he knew she could be mated already without realising it, all it took was one little interaction with a male and her death would be sentenced. Knowing all this Aziel was not prepared to stand by and allow an innocent girl die just because of her own stupid naivety.

He may be an ass most of the time, hell it him amused how the slightest thing could upset people, it was as though they had no tolerance with their wolfs bantering on in each of their heads. It was the same for him after all, probably worse than most of the others with his wolves dominance problems. However Aziel understood the things that had to be done, most people like to tiptoe around difficult situations, but Aziel just liked to get things over with.
Tabby had to learn of her true-self as soon as possible so she could have enough time to cope with it, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to face and like most people needed visual confirmation in order to believe the truth.

So he was going to do what had to be done.

However, as expected not everyone had the sharp mind that Aziel had nor the intuition to put small matters aside and just do what is needed even if it means hurting someone and sacrificing their own problems. James seemed adamant that Aziel wasn’t going to solve this problem with Tabby, as he shouted "Oh, yes you are, You are taking a No for an answer, and here it is, No." James said again, "You can make an ass of yourself after she has called this lance guy, and after Ray and I leave." The grinding of Aziel’s anger began to settle in as he tightened his fists, James giving him orders? He wasn’t Alpha yet, and he doubted he would be since Lyra was a lot calmer in such situations when she wanted to be. The idea of taking orders from James only left him amusement and adamant it wouldn’t happen. The only possibility of it happening would be if James somehow impressed him, which he highly doubted.

Aziel was going to ignore his comment but James just had to open his mouth again, "So keep your mouth shut for the next five minutes then feel free to go back to being an ass." James said harshly, "If you do not the people going outside are you and me, and I swear, I will knock your damn teeth in."

“Knock my teeth in?” he repeated his last words with an un-nerving glare “Coming from a pipsqueak like you that’s fancy talk, last time I checked you didn’t give me ‘orders’ James, you’re not Adrian so don’t go getting all high and mighty brat” a growl slithered from his lips in a threatening tone “so unless you want to be humiliated I suggest you shut your own mouth and go scuttle off somewhere if you want to leave with Ray. I don’t need her with Tabby if you want her that badly”
In reality he knew having Ray around would probably help Tabby cope, but, if that couldn’t happen she would just have to deal with it on her own unless someone else came along. He’d try to change back to human as soon as possible if need be to help talk her through it, even though she may not want to see him after. Maybe that other new girl could come with her, didn’t seem like the blonde had anything interesting to do.

The smell of coffee filtered through Aziel’s nose as he tensed his body ready for fight, "Ow, dammit!" Calvin suddenly cursed, "For fucksake guys will you both just sort it out? I've got a hangover and I will personally shove your heads up each others asses and turn you into a wolf ying-yang if you don't turn the noise down. Az, come outside with me, I got something I wanna tell you."

At the sound of Calvin’s interruption it was as though the room suddenly zoomed back to reality, in his attempt to calm his rage Aziel had only focused on James for a time forgetting of the others presence. Whipping his head around to face Calvin he raised an eyebrow, “wolf ying-yang?” he said it with a questioning tone with slight mockery, what kind of threat was that? It just made him want to snicker at the comedic aspect of it. Not expecting a reply to his mockery he continued “we can sort out it easily, Tabby just needs to come outside for a moment and James can go prattle somewhere with Ray”

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Anya and Duncan, they were being all cuddly which could only mean another pair had mated. Aziel felt slightly glad for Duncan considering how long he had waited before pushing it out of his mind to return to Calvin.

“You can tell me whatever it is after i’ve shown Tabby what she needs to see” he wasn’t shouting but his tone was beginning to grow frustrated, Ray had handed Tabby the phone as they had been talking, and Tabby had managed to leave the room with all of the distractions about.

“God damn it” Aziel growled frustrated as he turned to the direction she had disappeared too, he wasn’t going to wait around to sort out this mess, that wasn’t his nature. “Calvin come with me outside you can tell me as I again have to sort out everyone’s bluddy’ mistakes. Can’t any of you do things yourself for once!”

His temper had reached maximum, could they not see the immediate attention that was needed here? They all only prattled about their own lives not thinking about the small consequences of each of their actions. Holding back from convincing Tabby for their own guilt at hurting or scaring her was just going to cause her more harm than good if they weren’t careful. The faster she knows the better.

Not wasting time Aziel stormed into the hallway following Tabby’s scent, he quickly found her after looking around, walking up to her with a determined glare he took liberty in locking his hand around her upper arm not caring that she was looking at the phone in thought. “Your coming with me now, no objections” he said not waiting for a reply as he continued to drag her along with him, he paid attention not to hurt her however, his grip just tight enough that she couldn’t pull free. It wasn’t in Aziel’s arbitrary to harm females despite his anger problems.

Taking her through the hall and towards the doorway, he made sure to avoid Adrian has his scent drifted around nearby. He didn’t want to have deal with him right now.

Light shined through the glass windows as he pushed open the door leading outside and walked out into the open still gripping onto Tabby’s arm, taking her over to the patio area he turned and placed his other hand on her upper arm saying “Now sit, and watch” as he lightly pushed her down onto one of the wooden chairs that were mildly comfortable. If Calvin came he could act as a comfort to her distress if Ray was opting out due to James. He didn’t care; she had to learn the truth.

Sid grinned at Kathy before walking a few steps back up and grabbing her hand, pulling her down the stairs with him as he made his way towards the kitchen. "It'll be safe enough as long as you stick with me. People don't get between my and my food and most of them probably know that by now." Sid laughed as he entered the kitchen, still pulling Kathy behind him.

"Hey guys, long time no see. Sounds like I missed a hell of a shindig while I was gone but if you guys don't mind I have a bigger interest in grabbing myself some of the homecooking I've been longing for the past few days before someone fills me in on everything." he said to those few that remained in the kitchen as he made his way over to the cabinet to pull a plate out for himself and one for Kathy. "Now, where's the grub?" he asked with a smile on his face.

Feeling marginally reassured, Kathy followed Sid down the stares and into the kitchen, hunching slightly half expecting to walk in on a pitched battle even though the noise seemed to have died down. The smell of food was still in the air though, and a lot of breakfast food was laid out on the side where Tai had left it earlier. It was tempered only slightly by the smell of burned bacon left by Adrian before no doubt.

She let go of Sid's hand and scurried over to the side bar to grab a croissant. Or maybe two. She looked out of the window and paused, feeling nervous again at what looked a little bit like a wild west stand-off.

"Why do these things always happen when the boys get involved?" she said out loud wistfully.

Kathy finally plucked up the courage to pop her face out of the back door. For the first time ever trouble had kicked off in the house the moment Ray had left, rather than the moment she'd entered! Kathy would have to tell Ray about that later, she'd get a kick out of it no doubt.

"I'd love to go." she said meekly, "I think James took Ray spelunking or something so I know they won't be coming."

Kathy wasn't quite sure why she said that or why it was playing on her mind so much. It could have been something to do with Sid's words about her finding her mate. It certainly seemed like everybody else was all at once...was that why James had tried to get Ray on her own so eagerly? She stepped back to let people come back in the house if they wanted, and almost bumped into Calvin with a jump. She shuffled away from him quickly giving him a sorry smile, but that quickly dropped off her face when she saw the look on his.

"I'm sure it won't be lame Calvin," she said nervously, "it would be nice for you two to be involved in something the rest of us are doing for a change."

Lyra nodded thoughtfully to Tabby, considering the idea of the car being where it was last. "That sounds good. One the way back from the Fete we can always stop by to see if there car is still there. For all we know, Lance might not have had the energy to make it into a hotel last night and just crashed in the car again. But Dad's right, I wouldn't be surprised if we bump into Lance at the Fete. I know what he looks like so I'll watch for him." Lyra offered Tabby a reassuring grin.

She looked up to Kiyoshi and gave him one last squeeze of affection, unsure what we thought of taking the afternoon off from training... again. "This will be fun, and we can train again after we go out. Or even on the beach while we are out. Don't worry everything will be fine tomorrow, okay, Kiyoshi-san?" she asked. She wanted to give him a kiss of reassurance, but was still timid to display such affect in front of her father. After all, they had not even discussed the matter of her mating yet. Instead, Lyra settled on wrapping her arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder for a moment. Lyra understood how fearful Kiyoshi was of the following night and knew she had to stay strong for the both of them.

Slipping from his grasp, Lyra turned toward the rest of the group and lifted her hand in a wave of farewell. "I'm going to change into something nicer before we head out," Lyra informed them as she headed out the kitchen and towards her room.