"Don't know. We'd have to have Al do a lot more research on them to find out. I
only hope we don't have our own set of ditzes to clean up after." Kalila
snatched the bag back from Devlin and grabbed a scone.

"It could be that it's all a ruse created by them to make people think they're
not as good as they really are." Allistair frowned slightly at Wren's comment.
"You're not a ditz. And I'm sure there has to be something in the
transformations. How else could they all their powers to work together the way
they do?"

~

"I'm not saying he's never seen it," Angus began. "I've been trying to get him
to watch it for years, but understanding the mechanics and putting it into
practice are two separate things. He understands how to do open heart surgery as
well, but I'm not letting him near me with a scalpel."

"You're all forgetting something very important. Wren and Al are the two shyest
people in all of the UK. It's taken five years for the first kiss. Do you really
think the first time they're semi alone they'd be going at it? If they were
doing that, they could have spent the night in one of the cars. Anybody else
hear squeaking shocks last night?"

"You're free to return to the condo," Aonghus called after Maiko. He turned back
toward the coffee shop and frowned. "I won't be there to get in your way."

He waited a few moments before walking back into the coffee shop to let any
emotions on his face vanish. "Maiko-san had to get going, she's got a class
tonight."

Miomi frowned down at her watch. "I thought her class didn't start for another
hour. Guess she had to get there early to work on something. Everything okay
with you two?" She saw him nod and decided to question him about it later. Or
Maiko. Whoever she managed to get alone first. Turning to face Aaron, she stuck
her tongue out at him.

Zvonimira shrugged. "It wouldn't do any good to 'focus the scary' on her. She
won't even look at me." She smirked at the back of the darker girl's head. "And
I can talk about her all I want in Greek," she replied in said language.

~

"Yeah, I think I've seen that. If your brother takes you to a dark room buried
under a secret family house you've never seen before, Run. Although, you would
get the ability to change your haircolor at will." Angelique winked at the other
girl, shifted the wigs to one arm and dug her wallet out with the other. "Do you
need actual bleach? Or one of those kit thingies? And I think you mixed up two
quotes there. It's 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' and 'The grass is ...'
uh, something about a fence."

"So do we have so many of us to clean up after the wonder twins, then?" Devlin
asked as he tore open the bag and started to pull apart a muffin into bite sized
pieces.

"I think that I read somewhere that the regular, human Moon is a quite a ditz,"
Wren said. "Worse than me, even. But she functions really well as Moon. Maybe
the transformation gives her something else, and maybe it does the same with
Moon and Venus?"

*

"Hate or something like it," Eirwen agreed. She wanted to smirk but kept it to
herself. She would have to share that with Kalila later.

"I'm sure your brother knows what to do. With all the time he spends on the
internet, I'd be downright shocked if he had not run across some pornography.
I'm sure he's got at least the general idea of what to do," Merrick said.

"Thanks for the reassurance, Merrick, you right bastard," Arthur said. "Look, I
don't dislike Allistair. I just want to make sure Wren is protected. And not
having sex."

"If that is what you prefer," Maiko replied in a cold, detached voice. She hid
her pain and shame by looking at her watch. "Oh my. Well, I have to be going. I
have class tonight. Ask Miomi to bring the things I left at your apartment next
time she comes into the city for me, will you?"

Maiko turned on her heel and walked toward the nearest train station. In
honesty, she had more than an hour before she had to be at class, but being with
him right now was just not possible. Stone faced, she descended the stairs and
paid her fare to get onto the train and away from this situation as fast as
possible.

*

"Just focus all of that scary on Miomi here. She's the one that was talking
about you in Japanese in front of your face. Hey, Miomi. There goes 'Koko-nee'
doing her cheetah impression," Aaron remarked as his eyes followed her down the
street. "Where is she going?"

*

"Ugh, you're right. I don't. But I think I'll stick with being an average high
school student for now. Ever see that manga, Ayashi No Ceres? That girl wanted
more than normal high school and she got a brother who wanted to kill her/marry
her and a family of crazy men who wanted her dead. I think they made it into an
anime too. Well. Anyway, it just goes to show you, the grass seems greener until
the gift horse kicks you in the mouth," Asako said. "What, is that how that
goes?"

"Well, there is some debate among the forums, but there are rumors that both
Moon and Venus are klutzes. Kind of makes you wonder how they ever managed to
defeat any of their enemies," Allistair replied, frowning slightly.

"That's easy," Kalila began, letting go of the bag, "They always had the others
there to cover their asses when they screwed up. Why do you think there are so
many of them?"

~

"Dude, he has been touching your sister. They slept together last night. On the
couch, fully clothed, with all four hands in appropriate place." Angus pouted at
Merrick, then took his seat beside Arthur. "Seriously, do you expect my brother
would even know what to do? I'm surprised he hasn't freaked out over everything
yet, personally."

"It's so nice to see two men that have such respect for their siblings." Dahlia
got comfy in her seat, blushing a moment later as her stomach growled. "Too bad
we didn't convince them to take a camera along. Might be interesting to see what
Kali does to Devlin. Do you know, I think she may secretly hate him?"

~

"Good, then we might actually be able to kill him." There was no doubt in
Draco's mind that it was Edward, though there was a small place in her stomach
that kept turning over. The last thing she wanted was to have the old man's
blood on her hands, especially if there was some way her son could see the
fight. But since he had failed to mention any youma at all, she was having
doubts about that as well.

The makeshift sword finally burned out and Draco quickly summoned another attack
to fire at the old man. /'Youma,'/ she quickly reminded herself. "You said she
was your wife. That must have been a scary wedding photo. Dragon's Breath!"

"But Maiko-san, I am someone you once knew. At least Ganymede is someone
Aphrodite once knew. And he is the one that is hurt by this, not me. I would
give you all the time in the world to work through your issues, but I'm not so
sure he can." Aonghus sighed and leaned against the outside of the building.
"For both our sakes, maybe we should just forget about rekindling what they had.
It was a long time ago, after all."

Inside of Aonghus' head, Ganymede was screaming, /'You lying brat! I'm not the
one hurt by anything, you are. You're just scared to admit that you're too much
of a coward to fight anymore. You will regret this soon enough. Once I have
fully recovered my strength, there will be no more Aonghus.'/

~

Miomi kept her face blank as she heard her sister's departing comment. It was
Maiko's secret to tell and she certainly wouldn't want virtual strangers to know
something she had only just felt the need to share with anyone. "There goes
Ko-ko-nee doing her Terminator impression."

"Don't worry, it takes a lot of practice for anyone who is not Greek. And why
would you be terrified of Mania?" Zvonimira titled her head to the side and
smiled innocently at Aaron.

Miomi rolled her eyes at the other woman. "She's Mania. Now we know why they
call her the 'Goddess of Insanity'. She's nuts," she replied in Japanese.

Zvonimira frowned slightly at the other woman when she heard her name mention,
followed by Japanese. "No fair talking about me in front of my face."

~

Angelique smiled slightly as she looked at the blonde wigs. "I had a long talk
with an old friend today," was all she offered for an explanation into her
sudden change of attitude. She glanced at Asako, then down at her chest. "If
you're feeling inadequate, I'm sure there are ways to change that. Fake boobs
are two aisles over and no, you don't want to know why I know."

"Was she the klutz? I thought that was Moon," Wren said. Then she shot a dirty
look at Kalila. "We're not that bad. I don't know why you guys keep picking on
the both of us."

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist, love," Devlin said as he climbed in and
started to pull gently at the bag of breakfast items that Kali held. "It's all
in good fun."

*

"What was that all about?" Merrick asked Eirwen as he stole her from Angus, at
whom he shot a smug I-get-to-keep-my-wife look.

"I'll tell you about it later," Eirwen said and gave him a quick peck on the
mouth.

"He's a dead man if he touches my sister. I can't be responsible for what Kalila
does to him or Devlin," Arthur said. "Though that doesn't mean I won't enjoy
it."

*

Edward danced backward, annoyed at the less than youthful strength and agility
that this body had. While he dodged attack after attack, he could feel it
weakening and began to muse on the benefits and drawbacks of opting to take this
body. It seemed they did not believe that it was possible that he was not
actually Edward, which posed a problem in regards with his defensive strategy.

"I think he's slowing down," Syrinx said from behind Draco, where she was trying
to formulate a new strategy. There was a nagging doubt that perhaps this was
something else in Edward's body, but she could not bring herself to believe that
the Youma was telling the truth. It was too great a risk.

"Physical and emotional are two different things," Maiko said and blushed. "We
will be back." Then she exited the coffee shop in favor of the still barren
street.

"I'm sorry," Maiko said softly once they were outside and the door had drifted
shut. "I've been unfair to you. I can't tell you why, not yet, but I will tell
you that you don't deserve to be treated like someone that I once knew. And I
should tell you the truth. I have feelings for you. They scare me. Not just for
the reasons that I can't share, but because I don't know which parts are me and
which parts are Aphrodite. You don't have to answer. And I understand if you're
still angry. I deserve it."

*

Aaron chose not to speak while he watched Maiko and Aonghus step outside, though
he did keep an eye on Miomi for a reaction. However she did react, if she did at
all, he simply stored that away for later. No matter that things were different
now, he was beginning to understand why Menelaus and Calliope regarded the
sisters as they did in the past.

"So I'm going with Mira, since I can't pronounce the other thing you said. Its
nice to meet you. I'm going to assume what you said was sarcasm, because it is a
little terrifying if it wasn't," Aaron said and then finished the remainder of
the thought in his head: 'and pretty erotic.'

*

"Do you think our boobs are big enough to be bad singers?" Asako asked and
grinned. "Where did this change come from?"

"I think she'd love having us around. The two of you could be the best of
friends. Just don't let her near open flame. I've heard she's quite the klutz."
Allistair smiled at Wren as he followed her into the van.

"Do we have plenty of earplugs?" Kalila asked, shooting Eirwen a dirty look.
Climbing into the van after Allistair, she chose a seat as close to a window as
possible. "I hope you've had your air-sickness pills, Mr. Driver. You'll need
them before we even get moving."

"'Soon to be dead man'? Would that be Al or Dev? In a van with Kali for any
length of time, both men are at risk," Dahlia replied. She climbed into the
front seat beside the driver and turned to grin at her brother. "We may all be
aliens, Mer, but some of us still have our heads in outer space."

Angus put the last of the twins' bags into the van and grinned. "Poor Merrick,
looks like you're going to be sharing a seat with Artie. Unless Eir's up for a
sandwich."

"I'm sure she's okay. Ichiro-san isn't the type to harm a woman, especially not
one he just risked his life to save," Aonghus replied. He handed the phone back
to Miomi and frowned at Maiko's tone. "Yes, I think we need to."

Miomi watched as the white-haired man turned to leave again, then looked at the
phone. /'He deleted the message he sent. Why would he do that?'/

Zvonimira grinned at Aaron and leaned against the counter. "Mania is my lesbian
lover and she's waiting for me outside right now because she doesn't trust me
around men. They never found the last guy." Her grin changed to a smirk. "My
name is Zvonimira Vivas. If you're a good boy, I'll let you call me Mira."

"And if you're not, you have to call her 'Mistress'." Miomi tried and failed to
hide the grin on her face as she began to examine the candy Aonghus had brought.

~

"That is assuming, of course, that you need to be able to sing to form a band. I
think you and I have enough 'talent' to not have to worry about singing. Now we
just need to find someone who can pretend to play an instrument." Angelique
grinned as she found a wig that was a few shades darker than Asako's chosen
color. "I think I may have over-reacted slightly to the whole thing. But Trin
won't be home for hours, anyway. Tonight is her cooking class. Which means
she'll probably end up in the Emergency Room again."

"You think she'd let us stay?" Wren asked Allistair with a cute little smile on
her face.

"Aren't we all aliens?" Merrick mused, his tone sounding like he was either
sking a great philosophical question or he was a character in a science fiction
movie.

"Aye, to a degree. And we'll be missing our flight to Mars if we don't get our
collective arses in gear," Devlin said and slipped out the door.

"I was being serious. Originally, we were none of us born on Earth. Well, most
of us weren't Thus, aliens," Merrick replied.

Eirwen let the rest of the group flow out of the house before her and locked the
door only after she checked that the lunch was packed. She handed Kalila one of
the bags of breakfast pastries and held the other in her hands.

"Merrick, Dolly, Angus, Arthur and I will go in the first van. Kalila, Wren,
Allistair and Devlin will go in the second van," Eirwen said and smiled
innocently. "Don't forget to share with your driver. You've plenty of muffins
and scones."

"Thanks Eir!" Wren said and climbed into the furthest seat back. Not only did
this seat afford the most privacy, it also allowed the others the chance to look
away from them if their closeness was bothersome.

"Yes. Thanks, Eir," Arthur echoed. "I think I'd lose it if I had to sit with my
sister and the soon to be dead man."

"I hope Mayura-san is okay with Ichiro-san. We think something bad happened when
they went with Zephyr," Maiko added for the benefit of Aaron and Aonghus.

"Other half? Like married other half or split personality other half?" Aaron
asked and then paused. "Do you think you can repeat that?"

Maiko reached out and touched Aonghus' hand lightly to get his attention. She
bowed her head forward slightly in his direction. "Aonghus-san, can we speak
outside?"

*

"Ichi-san has more to worry about than my hair. He'll get over it," Asako said
with a devilish grin. "If you can afford them, get them all. Ohhh, it'll be so
cool! Like an anime or pop group. Too bad I can't sing or else I'd say we start
one. Oh, and Ichi-san won't mind. It'll be cleaned up by the time he ever gets
home. Unless you want to go home. I thought you couldn't, though."

"Fine, if I can't call him a robot, I'll call him an alien," Dahlia replied,
calling through the house.

Angus shook his hips as he quickly packed the laptop away and flung the bag over
his shoulder. "I'm riding with Eir. Would hate for her to have to wait to
deliver punishment. We can stick the lovebirds in the other van. Don't want
Merrick getting sick on us."

Allistair rolled his eyes at his brother. "If we weren't identical, I'd swear he
was adopted." He slipped one arm around Wren's waist and turned toward the door.
"I vote we run, far far away from anyone we may be biologically related to. I
hear Venus is nice this time of year."

~

"Yeah, pretty much positive." Draco summoned another, weaker attack, but instead
of aiming it at Edward, she used it to light the makeshift sword on fire.
Raising it to a striking position, she tried to remember the fencing lessons her
mother had insisted on. "En garde!"

Moving to strike at Edward, she aimed for his glowing red eyes.

"Yeah, I think they were together with Zephyr. We may want to give them some
time to calm down before heading back there." Miomi followed Maiko's gaze to the
window and quickly glanced over the two men. "At least it looks like they
managed to avoid a fight."

Aonghus nodded slightly. "Yeah, they've been pretty good at covering up the
reports. Nemesis' news crew is the first one that's really spread the news
outside the country." He smiled at the two sisters, then chuckled at Aaron's
reaction to the new woman. "Secrets just don't last around you, do they?"

Zvonimira smiled at Aaron and shook her head. "Nope, I'm Zvonimira Vivas. Mania
is my other half."

Miomi handed her phone to Aonghus. "You have a message from Raz. And I'm super
gluing your phone to your hand so you'll stop losing it."

"I didn't lose it. He took it." Aonghus glanced at the message and frowned. He
placed the bag on the counter and sent off a quick reply. "Stupid Demon."

~

Angelique picked up a strand of blonde hair in a shade similar to what Asako had
chosen for her hair and held it up to the other girl's face. "Your brother is
going to freak. Maybe we should do this at my house so he doesn't complain about
the mess it's going to cause? I definitely want pictures of this." She dropped
the blonde hair and picked up a medium-length black wig.

"And just for fun, we'll go for one of these as well." She picked up a shorter
purple wig, smirking. "Think I should get a full-length blonde one as well?"

"You'll be the one getting a spanking if you don't knock that off, Angus Bairn,"
Eirwen said, sounding strangely similar to a chiding mother.

Wren grinned at Allistair like an idiot and blushed. It was the goofiest look
that Arthur had ever seen on her face and he wished that he had not packed away
his cell phone already. This would have been a lovely picture to show their
parents. Or Allistair and Wren's children, should the two ever do the deed that
made Arthur so intensely uncomfortable.

"Oh, don't call him that," Wren said. "He's not even a little bit robotic."

"Anyone have any insulin? I feel a diabetic fit coming on," Arthur said
sarcastically.

"Lets go, guys," Merrick said. There was a grin on his face as he shook his head
at his friends. "We're going to be late if we don't get on those vans soon."

*

Edward side stepped out of the way of the blast that came from Draco, and caught
Synrix's attack just in time to dodge that as well. He bent in such a way that
no human ought to be able to, let alone an older man. He came back up and
laughed.

"So certain, aren't we?" he asked with glowing red eyes.

"Certain enough," Syrinx replied and shot off another, weaker attack.

"Or he's angry," Maiko replied with a small shrug, suddenly feeling guilty,
though she could not exactly understand why. "Judging by Ichiro's back entrance
and Mayura-san's reaction, he wasn't too happy. Weren't they together?"

She looked up at the window, where she saw Aaron and Aonghus. This couldn't be
the source of the guilt, could it?

"Looks like you'll be able to pass the message on," Maiko replied and looked
away to hide her blush.

*

"I'd say go with a wig. You can go as long, short, or crazy as you want to and
they don't cost too much more than hair dye. Then you won't have anything to
regret, especially if you're only doing it to drive Trin-san crazy," Asako said
and picked up a second box of hair dye, since she has so much hair. Better to be
safe than sorry. Then she picked up one of the colored hair strands and held it
up next to Angel's face. "Ooooh. Purple looks nice."

*

"Yeah, well, they seem like they're hiding whats going on here. I had no idea
that my family was coming to a place like this. If I had known about the Youma
activity, I might have told them not to go. Anyway, a waiver might keep us from
getting sued, but I'd still feel like I was to blame for one of them dying or
getting hurt," Aaron said with a shrug and walked into the coffee shop. He
scanned the three women to make sure they were alright and his eyes caught on
the unfamiliar one.

"Hey ladies. Are you Mania?" he asked.

"Nothing like trying to keep our identities private," Maiko said.

"Oh, Eir, are you upset that we're not harassing you?" Angus asked, sticking his
head back into the room. "I can't find your laptop, idiot, what did you do with
it?"

"Why should I hold it against her? She obviously realized that I was the better
choice." Allistair turned to look at his brother, then frowned slightly. "Uh, it
was-"

"Nevermind, I see it. Am I going to have to buy Wren a leash for you so you
don't get lost?" Angus grabbed the computer, then pulled lightly on his
brother's ponytail as he walked past him again. "Sorry, Dev, these hands are
going nowhere near your ass. I'd like to use them later."

"Eww... Don't want to know, Gus. And I'm not letting anyone touch me, even if
Devlin gets his spanking first." Dahlia grinned at Eirwen, then shot Allistair a
strange look. She quickly followed after Kalila. "What did you put in that
coffee? Robo-boy is acting like ... a man."

Kalila grinned as she grabbed her suitcase and carried it to one of the vans. "A
good cook never reveals her secrets. Neither does a good Barista. Besides, he
could use a little help to realize that life doesn't have hard drives and USB
cables." She winked at Dahlia, then turned back to the house. "If you lot aren't
out here in five minutes, we're hijacking the vans and leaving you here."

~

"If you are, in fact, not really Edward, I think he would rather wake up impaled
than wake up to find that he was responsible for the deaths of innocent
civillians. I think, you are Edward and you use the guise of the sweet old Irish
tour guide to lure innocent people up here so that the youma can feed." Draco
grinned at Edward as she felt enough power surge through her fingertips to form
a regular strength attack. Hopefully, he wouldn't be as strong as the snake had
been. "This buffett is over. Dragon Fire!"

"Ah, and Raz-san?" Zvonimira asked, placing the coffee in front of Maiko.

"The brunette with the attitude," Miomi replied, giving the green-haired woman a
look. She felt her pocket vibrate and jumped. Hearing giggling, she turned to
glare at Mira again, but the other woman had already turned back to the coffee
machine. Pulling the phone from her pocket, she grinned at the ID. "Speak of the
devil. He just sent a text to tell Gus to meet him at home. Guess his run-in
with the vampire took more out of him than he realized."

~

"I'm not sure I want to dye it any color. Maybe instead of dyeing it, I should
find me a wig," Angelique replied, walking over to a row of synthetic and
brightly colored clip-in streaks. She decided to ignore the comment about cute
Italians. There was no need to further discuss her views on boyfriends. "Or just
cut it really short to scare the hell out of Trin."

~

"But that would be why you'd have to designate a safe place that you could take
them if and when a fight broke out. And make their parents sign a waiver. Hell,
they should make you sign one just to live in this crazy town." Aonghus saw the
coffee shop and sighed. If he was lucky, the girls wouldn't be there yet and he
could put off the inevitable fight with Aphrodite. /'You would go hide in the
far corners of my mind right now, wouldn't you, Ganymede?'/

"Oh, give me a break, Dolly," Wren said and shot her sister a look. She finally
got Allistair to notice her and she honestly wasn't too sure how long it would
last. Tomorrow, he could decide that he just got swept up in all that was
happening and that he did not actually want to be with her. Or he could go back
to his computer and never notice her again. She was going to take what she could
get while she could still get it.

"Wren's room used to be plastered with Prince William," Arthur said and smiled
when his middle sister blushed. "Though this was about ten years ago, so you
probably can't hold it against her now."

"Now, now, you three. Am I going to have to put the whole Cox family in a time
out?" Eirwen asked.

"If it comes to it, can I punish the girls? They're neither of them too old for
a spanking," Devlin offered with a roguish grin.

"Only if Arthur gets to spank you. I'm sure you deserve it," Merrick replied.

"That wouldn't be nearly as much fun for me," Devlin shot back.

"I think that was the point," Arthur replied. "Though I'd gladly pass that duty
to Angus because I wouldn't find it all that entertaining. And I'd likely never
be able to get the image of your bare arse out of my head."

"Alright you lot," Eirwen cut in. "I called a cleaning service yesterday, so
this is good enough. Stop sexually harassing each other and get into the vans.
I'll split you up if I have to."

*

Syrinx heard the comment that Draco made and opted to hang on to that for later.
If they survived, she would have great academic interest in the meaning behind
that comment. For the time being, she had to focus on Edward.

"The Negaverse has certainly improved the cloaking devices," she said in an
attempt to buy some extra time. She had not quite recovered from the energy she
expended on the previous attack either.

"Or I have a unique gift. Say, for instance, that this was not my body. Were
that the case, the sword you're holding in that pretty little hand, dear, do you
think that Edward here would like to regain himself and find that he's been
impaled on a sword? Or I could be lying to both you lasses in an attempt to stop
you from attacking me. Difficult question, that," Edward replied.

"I'm sure Ichiro-san is far from perfect just like Raz is," Maiko replied. "He
is the owner of the shop, the one who does not speak any English. Sorry, I
forgot that you hadn't met him."

*

"Not if you bleach it first, I suppose," Asako shrugged. "Are you sure you want
to dye it blond? Oh, green would be a fun color on you, though. On second
thought, maybe we should do your hair blond, just to see if it works. If not,
you'd still look hot. Maybe go catch yourself some cute Italian or whatever."

*

"I think I'd rather come up with excuses for missed days than legitimate reasons
why someone's daughter is dead or in the hospital," Aaron repliedand caught
sight of the coffee shop in the distance. "About time. You think the espresso
machine got damaged?"

"Allistair used to notice girls. Until he 'realized computers were much more
interesting'. This was, of course, before his hormones kicked in." Angus grinned
at his brother as he left the kitchen to make sure his bags were ready to go.

Allistair gave his brother a strange look as he left. "At least I wasn't the one
that nearly got us both expelled." He turned to Devlin and smirked. "Who said I
didn't see them? I did see that they were vapid, shallow people who wanted
nothing more than to marry into the Royal Family. Why would I want to waste my
time on them?"

"Wren saved your goodies, Eir. At great personal sacrifice. She had to let go of
Al for a whole minute." Dahlia grinned as she quickly cleaned the espresso
machine and left it so it could dry.

Once most of the bags were on the porch, Kalila went into the kitchen to grab
her notebook. "If there are any more bags in rooms, you had better grab them now
or risk flying to Japan with no underwear." She smiled a little at Wren and
Allistair before turning to leave the room again. "I vote we stick the lovebirds
in a van by themselves."

~

"Wh-What!?" Draco spun to face the doorway and gasped. She had certainly not
been expecting their nice, friendly tour guide to be a monster. "If we survive
this, I have to seriously have a talk with that kid about forgetting to mention
certain details."

She found a crude sword and dropped into a defensive position. It would be
several minutes before she felt confident enough to try another attack of the
strength used to kill the snake, but she didn't want to leave herself
defenseless. "She tried to kill us first."

"I guess you're right. Raz probably just wandered off somewhere. He'll find his
way back eventually." Miomi shrugged and picked at her cream bun. "Although, I
can't say I would blame Ichiro-san if he did leave him there. The brat can be
annoying."

Zvonimira nodded to Maiko and began making the drink. The machine was slightly
different from the one she was used to, but she quickly figured out how to make
it work. As the coffee was brewing, she glanced over to Mayura. "Who is
Ichiro-san?"

~

Angelique glanced at the blonde colors on the shelf and frowned slightly. "But
wouldn't my hair just turn green if I tried to dye it blonde?" She picked up a
couple of shades, a darker blonde and a more yellow blonde. "The problem with
going blonde is that there are far too many shades to choose from."

~

Aonghus smirked at the blonde man beside him. "Your mind works in a very
interesting way, you know that?" He shrugged when the other man asked if he was
serious. "Just trying to keep all my options open. It is easier to have a job
where I didn't have to keep coming up with excuses for missed days."

"Better early than late," Arthur said as he went to go help Kalila take the bags
outside. He had not eaten, and would wait until they were in the cars. With all
the money being paid to this company, they had better not complain about the
group doing a bit of eating.

"I was a lad at school once, if you'll recall, Allistair," Devlin said with good
humor and a smirk. So he was jealous. How funny that it had not bothered him in
the slightest when Devlin was 'kissing' Wren the previous day. "If you'd been
looking at the world outside of a textbook and a computer screen, you might've
seen them."

"Tell me this isn't another 'my package is greater than thine' discussion,"
Eirwen said as she breezed into the kitchen to pack up the goodies. She was
pleasantly surprised to find that they had all been finished and not a one had
been burned. "Thank you, whoever rescued my muffins."

Wren just stayed with her face buried in Allistair's chest. Maybe once Devlin
realized how jealous her boyfriend was, the Irishman would give the two of them
a break. Though, she thought, it would not hurt to break Allistair of the
jealous habit, particularly because she did not want it to grow as their
relationship did. If their relationship would grow.

*

"If I'm to die, I'm glad to do it beside an ally," Syrinx replied as she
returned the sentiment. She threw all that she could into her attack and was
pleased to see that the idea had worked. The serpentine Youma began to
disintegrate with a hideous screeching noise.

"Well, that was ea--" Syrinx began, but was cut off by an unnatural sound of
some mixture of rage and pain.

"You bitches will pay for killing my wife," a man's voice said from the doorway
that they had entered through.

"Edward?" Syrinx asked of the batlike creature by the doorway that bore an
uncanny resemblance to their tour guide.

"Dopio Espresso, please," Maiko requested and inclined her head slightly. "And,
no, of course I didn't think Ichiro-san would leave Raz anywhere or with anyone
that could be dangerous to him. He seems noble. And that is if they even got
anything out of Zephyr."

Mayura stood at the door and tried not to be offended on Ichiro's behalf. She
turned around and walked away as she tried to force her fangs to retract from
her mouth. No wonder other vampires had such reservations about befriending
mortals.

*

"Only if you want to," Asako said brightly. "I got this idea when I was trying
not to fall asleep in a super boring history lesson. The more I thought about it
to keep myself awake, the more I liked the idea. Don't just do it to do it. Do
it because you want to do it, you know?"

*

"You can't guarantee anyone is ever going to think highly of you, so thinking
highly of yourself means at least one person does," Aaron said with a cocky
swagger. "Of course, I don't really have to worry about that. But, dude, you
were serious with the bodyguard thing? I thought you were kidding. I would never
guard for those spoiled brats, because I know something would happen to them and
we would be responsible."

(OOC: Hee hee. No Problem. I figured that's what happened.)

"You can call me Dread Pirate Roberts, my Lady. I just need to dig out my black
clothes." Allistair grinned at Wren, ignoring the other people in the room. At
least, he tried to until he heard Devlin's comment. He tightened his arms around
Wren and gave the Irishman a blank look. "And you'd know all about schoolgirls,
wouldn't you?"

"Don't pick a fight so early in the morning, Al. Didn't our mother teach you
anything?" Angus smacked his brother on the back of the head as he walked past
him to grab a muffin before they completely cooled. "Should we start eating or
wait on the two lovely ladies outside to return?"

Kalila followed Eirwen into the house and began taking the bags from the living
room out to the front porch. "In that case, I fear it's a lonely life of
celibacy for him. Or his own personal bed at the local A&E."

Hearing Eirwen's voice, Dahlia quickly finished her juice, placed the cup in the
sink and grabbed a bag to fill with baked goods. "They're early. We've still got
a good ten minutes of quality time before they're supposed to be here."

~

"Not really, but what other choice do we have?" The other youma were standing
back, watching the fight with intense interest. Draco finally found herself
standing next to the Scottish woman. "whatever happens, it's been fun."

The snake youma raised it's body in preparation to strike at them, revealing a
black triquetra on it's skin above where the heart should be.

Draco spared a quick glance for the other woman to make sure she saw the mark as
well. It was as good a place to strike as any. She summoned as much power as she
could and poured it into her one and only attack, "Dragon's Breath!"

(OOC: You can decide what happens to the youma, if you want. And just in case
you don't know, A&E is short for Accident & Emergency, British ER.)

"I can. You can't get my brothers out of bed in the mornings without coffee."
Zvonimira smiled at Mayura and moved behind the counter to the machine. She was
glad she was finally able to be doing something rather than just sitting around,
staring at the walls. "Any requests?"

Miomi frowned and glanced toward the front door. "Wasn't he with Raz? I haven't
heard the loudmouth yet." She glanced toward the back room. "You don't think he
left him with that general, do you? Or worse, in whatever dimension they wound
up in."

~

Angelique picked up a box of hair color like the one Asako had and checked the
back. "We could always mix up a small amount of the chemicals and see what they
do to your hair. Or we could just bleach it and be safe." She replaced the box
onto the shelf then shrugged. "What color would you suggest, then? Should I go
blonde as well?"

~

"If he comes calling, I'll be sure to send him your way. I have enough trouble
with my love life. I certainly don't need another person following me around."
Aonghus chuckled at the comment about Raz. He certainly wouldn't deny that it
would help the other man relax, but there weren't many that would rouse the
other man's interest. He laughed again at Aaron's comment about himself. "You
think very highly of yourself, my friend. But I'm not sure guilt is the way to
go. If something were to happen to someone ... we'd have to cut and run, drop
our charges and return to the fight. We should talk this over with the others."

(OOC: Whoops. Haha. I had handwritten that post, so I was only copying it into
the computer when I was writing it, and I guess I had my favorite undead
Wallachian Prince on the brain...)

"Oh, now, you're just saying that," Wren said and she flushed with pleasure.
"I'm not a Princess. Lady, at best, Wesley." She wrapped her arms around
Allistair and squeezed.

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to learn from the one with the ovaries. Next
best thing and so on," Devlin said and he turned to consider both sisters. "You
know, the school teacher, librarian look is pretty sexy. Stern outside that
you'll have to crack to reach the pot of gold at the center. But, no. I'd say
she looks a wee bit more like a schoolgirl with those cute pigtails, which is an
altogether different type of sexy."

"Oh, good Lord. Here we go again," Arthur said and hung his head.

Wren blushed even harder, now out of embarrassment rather than pleasure. Since
her only thoughts on how to respond to her sister were stupid or overly mean,
she just buried her face in Allistair's chest, much like the ostrich that buried
its head in the sand.

*

"If the woman that Arthur fell in love with was worth her salt, we wouldn't have
to kick his arse. She'd do it before we ever had the chance to do a thing,"
Eirwen said and she motioned to the two vans with one finger up to indicate they
would return in a moment. "I'm sure they're from the car company. And, as I
don't smell anything burning, I think breakfast is just fine."

"Lads and lasses, our chariots await!" Eirwen called to her friends upon
reentering her house.

*

"I'd suppose that this is mommy dearest, but its just a hunch. Now is as good a
time to try the plan as any," Syrinx said in French and began to prepare her
attack while she kept an eye on the large snake. "Ready?"

"It is nice to meet you, Mira-san. My name is Mayura. I Work here as a baker for
Ichiro-san and I have plenty of food. At least, I hope I do. Otherwise, you'll
have to send Asako-chan and her friend to the store," Mayura replied with an
almost motherly smile.

"Oh, Mayura-san, you speak English? I'm starting to think that poor Ichiro-san
is the only one who can't," Maiko replied.

"Speak of the devil..." Mayura said when she heard the back door. She turned to
face the storeroom and smirked privately at her pun. "Uh oh. He only comes
through that door if he's upset. I'll go check on him. Please, you are welcome
to take anything you want. If you can work an espresso machine, anyway."

*

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go with the lighter blond. I've never dyed my hair
before. Do I have to bleach it first because my hair is so dark and I'm going so
light?" Asako asked. She took the green hair dye out of Angelique's hand and put
it back on the shelf. "He's had a pretty hard time. We'll find something else to
torment him with later. You sure you want to go plain old boring black?"

*

"I just thought he really liked you. You could always keep an extra box just in
case you want to seduce. I mean, who am I to get in the way of true love. Or you
could give it to Raz. He could probably stand to get laid. As for the
prostitution business, I'll stick to managing you boys. The ladies here couldn't
afford a man of my skills," Aaron said with a cocky smile as he flipped up his
collar.

"If I wrote the ad? Hmm... Maybe something like 'does the ever-present Youma
threat to your children cause you worry? Then buy a little piece of mind with a
real life Greek Alliance member to protect them. How much is your child's
welfare worth?' Maybe not verbatim, but really play up the guilt factor."

Ichiro slipped into his office and kicked the wall. He needed to rein in this
anger and he needed to do it now or he would take it out on all the wrong
people. It was a constant struggle to keep his temper in check, and the struggle
was always more difficult when his parents were thrown into the mix.

Angus chuckled. "Then it would seem that you are the perfect girl for my
brother, Buttercup."

"That's Princess Buttercup to you, you rodent of an unusual size." Allistair
made a face at his twin, then pulled Wren into a hug. "Then we'll enjoy the
lines together."

"I'm afraid that bitchiness of that level isn't something that can be learned,
Dev. It comes with the ovaries." Dahlia smirked at her sister. "You're just
jealous because no one mistakes me for an old school teacher."

~

"Arthur is a jerk, but he does know that he can't act that way for a woman he's
in love with or we'd all kick his ass." Kalila let herself be pulled toward the
house and had to stop quick when the other woman stopped. She glanced toward the
cars and frowned. "Sorry. Guess we'll have to grab breakfast and eat on the go.
Hopefully, the others haven't let your scones burn. Are we sure those are the
cars from the driving service?"

~

(OOC: Dracula?)

Draco mumbled a quick reply that they could try, but she wasn't sure how well it
would work. She fired an attack at a passing youma, then turned to see what had
happened to the old woman. "I don't see her anywhere." She incinerated another
youma, then heard growling behind her. Spinning to face the noise, she came face
to face with a large, snake-like youma. "Where the hell did you come from?"

The snake youma growled again and smacked at Draco, barely missing her. The
other youma backed off as the snake creature began pushing Draco toward Syrinx.

Miomi asked Mira what she wanted, then selected a chicken bun and a cream bun
for herself. "Not since we ran into her." she jerked her head toward the
green-haired woman who walked up to the counter beside her.

Zvonimira selected a rice ball and thanked Mayura, who she quickly figured out
was the chef for the shop. She extended one hand over the counter and smiled.
"I'm Zvonimira Vivas, but you can call me Mira. Are you a-" She eeped when she
felt someone pinch her side and turned to glare at Miomi, who was ignoring her.

Miomi pinched a piece of the chicken bun flat between her fingers and glanced at
Mayura. "I hope you have enough for the boys. You know what bottomless pits they
are," she said in Japanese. She wasn't sure if the other woman spoke English or
not, but if Mira had said what she thought she was about to say, it wouldn't
have mattered much.

~

"The green would go with the school uniform, wouldn't it? But I don't think it's
for me. Nah, the green's for Aaron-kun." Angelique grinned and picked up the box
of black hair-color. "This is for me. Have you decided which color you want yet?
Or should we just buy a rainbow of colors now and let you decide after you get
home?"

~

"Zephyr isn't my friend. He's Athena's old friend. And what would be so bad
about that? Are you saying you wouldn't want to spend time with a few lady
friends for a fee? We can let Orion handle the boys." Aonghus grinned slightly.
"So if you don't want to sound like a male prostitute, what would you have the
ad say?"

~

Raz flipped a bird at Ichiro's retreating form until he was safely out of sight
of the other man. Once he was sure he was alone, he paused at a corner and
looked at the street sign. He glanced at his cell phone, then began walking
toward the train station. If he caught the next train back to the island, he
could call the airport from the house and find out when the next flight back to
Canada was. If he was lucky, it would be before Aonghus and the others got home.