Beach Party

[bailee]

Once the most recent join-ee to the game asked how it was played, Issac (he had returned her introduction) got round to explaining the rules and concepts behind it. Apparently it was a local game, which would be why she hadn't heard of it, and involved hitting the ball back and forth over the net without catching it or letting it hit the ground. At least the concept was straight forward enough, she was sure she was going to forget some crucial rule and embarrass herself. That, and Issac had nicely solved the problem of playing with only three people and of her being the unathletic obvious odd person out. How embarrassing would that have been? To be invited and have nobody want her on their team. Folding her arms across her stomach Bailee gave the ball a squinty-eye'd rueful look as she chewed her lip.

This game (as she had secretly feared) sounded quite athletic. Or at least there would be a fair amount of moving about, with some eye ...er... arm coordination. She had already said she would play, but with her mind certain she would be a terrible hindrance to the game, Bailee felt it was only fair to warn her team mate. While he seemed to be entirely new to the game as well, at least he looked like he might be coordinated enough to play.

One of the things she noticed about Isaac (besides his enthusiasm), was that he had an odd accent. Not that the idea of someone having an accent was odd to Bailee, but that it seemed uncommon among the worlds she had visited. Sure, people tended to look wildly different from each other, but they all tended to sound the same. She turned to look at her partner as Isaac raced over to prepare himself for the game on the other side of the net. He seemed ready to get the game started as well. With a tiny sigh she geared herself up for the upcoming humiliation. This wasn't going to impress anyone watching, in fact they would all (correctly) think her clumsy and uncoordinated by the end... no probably by the first few minutes of this.

As she and Gemini spaced themselves a slight distance apart on their sandy side of the court (she was going to have so much sand in her shoes) her partner spoke up again. This time his words were obviously directed at her. "I hope you don't mind working with me. I don't think I caught your name. Oh, I almost forgot. I'm Gemini of Summer." Gemini stopped shot for a second with an slightly distracted look in his eye, then went on. "I mean...just Gemini. My name is Gemini." He said the last part rather firmly, and Bailee decided it would be best if she never added on his last...name. Trying her best to be polite and not stammer (as she sometimes did during introductions) she returned the introduction. "It's nice to meet you" Don't use the word Summers, don't use the word Summers. "... Gemini. I'm Bailee, Bailee Mirrok."

She paused a moment as she looked over at him, then summoned up the courage to confess her ineptitude (embarrassing though it was). "Ah, you should know that I'm probably going to do... terribly at this game. I'm not exactly coordinated... at all. In fact" She might as well fess up this last fear while she was on a role. " there's a good chance I'll wind up injuring myself. Somehow." She gave a nervous sheepish grin and a small chuckle to try and inject some humor into her statement. Bailee was still entirely serious about the potential injury though. But, embarrassment and sand and injury aside, she was going to try out this new game anyway. While she probably wouldn't like it, at least it was something to do with other people.

[Heroic Bilby]

Kristoph grinned with child-like amusement and interest as he spun the spheroid volleyball in between his two plunder-thieving hands. Two against one should make this quite interesting, even if he was up against two newcomers to the game. After all, besides a couple of days here and the short time he'd spent learning the rules the enthusiastic pirate was a newbie at this particular sport as well. Eventually, once he saw that both Bailee and Gemini were in position and no longer introducing themselves to each other, the brunet smirked and stopped rotating the ball. Planting his right foot back farther than pulling his matching arm back as well his left hand held the object up from underneath, held out ahead of him. In the middle of lowering it in preparation of a toss, however, Isaac stopped himself with a look of realization and moved his right hand to the side of his mouth, using it as half a cone to call out to the other two players.

"Oh yeah I forgot! Since you two are both on the same team you can't hit the ball twice in a row. So if you relieve it then try to hit it either over the net or to a place where your partner can get a clear shot at it. That good with you two?"

Connolly gave them a toothy grin and a right-handed thumbs-up before returning to his previous stance, lowering his left arm before letting it thrust upwards, sending the ball high. With a slight crouch Kristoph hopped u[p into the air off the sandy playing field and swung his right arm in and overhead arc, nailing it hard into the side of the ball as it fell back down towards him. At great speed the object shot itself almost perfectly between the two other players.

Unfortunately it was doing so in downwards angle and ended up hitting the ground right below the net and bouncing into their side of the court, giving them control of the ball.

"Whoops, sorry!" he yelled with an uncaring laugh at his foul-up. "I haven't quite got the hang of that serving style yet. practice makes perfect!"

[plot2]

As Mickey felt Dmitri place his hand on his shoulder, he had to say that it felt somewhat...off. Yes, Dmitri's gesture was greatly appreciated, but there was something about the way he did it that shook Mickey the wrong way. He couldn't quite say why, but it almost seemed as if Dmitri was faking everything he did. Looking up at the man towering over him, Mickey managed to give him a somewhat friendly seeming smile, but he was on full alert. This man was either planning something, or he had absolutely no intention of befriending Mickey. Of course, Mickey's better nature started to take hold of him, so he tried to shrug it off as nothing. Still, the fact that the man seemed so...distant was enough to keep Mickey on his toes.

Something was going to happen soon...whether he wanted it to or not.

All Mickey could really do as Dmitri walked away was think about exactly what it was that Dmitri was planning. The smile never moved from Mickey's expression, but deep within his mind, he was going back to his days of travelling with Riku. He had to constantly investigate everything which he deemed suspicious, and always had to keep one eye on his back. There was never a time when he would be safe from harm. For a minute or two, the King was tempted to revert back to those days and take off on one more investigation...but he was at a party! If he even thought about making any sort of adventure out of the whole ordeal, other people were sure to take notice of it. And, of course, the other people would have to involve themselves in the ordeal.

It wouldn't be long before the entire party was in on it.

But Mickey knew better than to feed fuel to the fire. If there was something going on at a major public event, he simply had to keep an eye on it from a safe distance. Looking back at Deja, all he could do was give her a friendly smile and clasp her hand gently between his. He didn't have any words to say to her at the moment, mainly because he was thinking too hard about everything that had just gone on. Giving her one of the friendliest, kindest smiles he could manage, Mickey carefully let go of her hand and started to walk away. Really, he couldn't justify his leaving her with any sort of excuse, but he needed to walk off by himself for a while. He needed to let the cool breeze of the beach take his mind into its deepest depths...

...and think all of this through...

[Renewed Gemini]

((Ok, someone needs to post in this and I shall not let it die!))

Gemini stepped on the ball to stop in and put his foot under it to kick it up so that he could grab it. "It's nice to meet you, Bailee Mirrok," Gemini said in a friendly voice. He held the ball in front of himself. He heard Issac's apology and just nodded. This didn't seem too difficult. It was a gave of strength and hand-eye coordination. Very similar to a training exercise on Gemini's old world. The exercise was called "Beatball" where they would simply hit the ball back and forth with their hands, but there was no net and they couldn't let it touch the ground unless they wanted to run a mile.

Gemini knew how to keep the ball in the air, yet the point of this game was to make the person across from you miss the ball, which Gemini happened to be good at. It often earned him and his partner a mile run every ten minutes. Gemini threw the ball into the air, jumped up with it and smacked it as hard as he could. The ball flew over the net. Well that was a start. At least he was able to get it over that net.

Nice smack, yes very nice smack, the voices muttered, I give it a six.

Gemini just shook his head to the condenscending remarks of those voices. Gemini would be impressed if Issac was able to hit the ball back for it was moving at a very high speed. The next time around he shall let Bailee serve. He couldn't always take credit for making the ball hit the ground. It was to be the girl's turn to hit.

[Heroic Bilby]

Fshhh!

Sand sprayed off to the side of Isaac's bare feet as it was pushed harshly out of the way by his side-ways slide. One had to give the contact-wearing brunet credit for being able to get right in the way of the ball quickly despite its speed. Connolly had lined himself up for a perfect recieve. It may have been too, if Gemini's serve hadn't been hard enough to surprise the secret pirate, bounce right off his arm bump and then keep going backwards towards the far boundary and beyond.

"Yikes!" the Captain said in sudden realization as his neck craned backwards to follow the ball's trajectory. As he did so though Isaac ended up leaning so far back as to fall right over on to the sandy ground. The volleyball looked to be heading right for just outside the white line behind him and since he'd touched it last that'd mean a point for the opposing team. It looked like an impossible situation but Kristoph wasn't quite ready to concede defeat twice in a row. Turning over so his tomach faced the earth the brunet coiled his legs and fired himself forward, back towards the ball's landing zone. In a flash his speed let him zip with a few clumsy steps before falling forward onto his belly again, but with both hands outstretched. Before eating sand Isaac bounced the white sphere back to way it had come in another high arc with both hands, just barely making the distance he'd needed to save his game for another few moments.

Knowing there was nobody else on his side to make sure the ball go to the other side of the net Isaac pulled both his legs under himself and pushed off, causing the man to hop up backwards off the ground and then run backwards towards the net. If he could do anything it seemed that Connolly could move, as even backwards he was going fast enough to catch up to the ball before it fell down just short of the net again, hop up and bounce the ball off both his hands over towards Bailee's area before his back hit the grid between them. Isaac bounced off the net himself and then turned around after landing back on the beach floor, backing up so he was ready to move again once the ball was returned.

Man this game was fun!

[xxx]

There was a strange purple feature to the ocean waves rippling against the shore. It was as if the foam on the edge of the waves was turning purple, and soon black. But soon, the color of the foam returned to its natural self. As it did so, a wisp of dark energy swirled against the sand from the foam that soon disappeared. The energy gave off a strange growl, and as it disappeared a dark being came into existence from out of nowhere, in contrast to the bright radiance of the sunlight that brightened everything in its path.

Dark Sora felt rather hungry, but for what? He stood just like Sora, his moist flesh burning slightly under the heat. Or did the burning sensation come from the light, the light which countered the darkness and was so prominent here?

There was so much pain...it probably was the fact that he'd just traveled through the Corridors of Darkness, from the depths of darkness itself, and now ended up here, in a realm so different and...radiant. It almost made dark Sora angry, for no apparent reason. It brought out the animal within him, the one that sought pain in others, as if that would ease his own. But there was nothing he could do now; the light weakened him, rather. Or so he believed..

Spotting activity in the distance, dark Sora placed his two black hands on the sandy ground, expressionless, and charged for the ball; it agitated him so, for reasons he could not come to understand. It was just...that ball...it was so infuriating. It was so active and yet so little... Why did it have to exist? Why did it have to be so vain and bold? Why was it so active?!

Feeling something he couldn't really interpret, dark Sora leaped into the air just as the ball flew over the net and attacked it, falling barely on the other end of the net and tearing the ball into pieces with his claws and teeth, just like a Heartless...

[High's .Valentine.]

[Meh, I just went ahead and posted]

Upon entering the area, your clothes change into something that you can swim in…

A piercing scream—sure to distract the group of people on the beach from the strange being that had pierced their beach ball—shattered the easygoing atmosphere of the beach. Then curses, foul language full of spite and hatred tailed soon after the agonized shriek.

Sun. Oh the sun it’s everywhere. Why was he bare of any clothing? Why was he NAKED?! Well, there were materials on his lower body, but it’s short. The ragged material only came to his knee. Exposing the rest of his rather pale legs. Pale. He was pale all over the place. And he could already feel himself burning. Ohhh, the burning…he was charring, he was cracking… He doesn’t have long, this fire ball’s going to burn his skin to a crisp, then he was going to peel, and there would be nothing left of the Black Mantis except skin and overcooked organs…he wouldn’t be able to finish his goal, he wouldn’t be able to…

From the distance, the panicking man just seemed like a hermit that had been lucky enough to avoid sun for the duration of his life. He was however, well toned and muscular despite the ghost like appearance. His long black hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and the man’s high cheekbones once again exposed to the world thanks to the disappearance of his scarf. Now it was more than obvious that he seemed to be around his early or mid-thirties. Pursed, cracked lips of rage, furious, snake like eyes, and uneven intake of breathes revealed a man in distress.

What devil’s work was this? Someone out there wanted him to end, right here, and right now. Despite the thoughtful bumbling, the man retained a freakishly calm appearance. But his head was busily shoving itself left and right in order to look for a small piece of shade. Something, anything. If not for the dignity long beaten into him, he would have been scrambling to burry himself under the sand. Another few minutes in this god-forsaken heat and he might really do jus that. And a crimson flush had invaded his cheeks when he realized how…exposed he was. He was a conservative old being after all.

Already, the blistering sunlight had casted an effect on the creature of the shadows. His skin was taking on the healthy blush of a love struck school girl. Yet, something about it was not going to be so healthy later…

Turning to the girl that was no doubt next to him, he screeched at her, forgetting for a second there that he was the Black Mantis, respected for being a being of power, not instability. She was the one who dragged him into this after all. Stupid elf and her need for light. This was too much for him, he should have smolder her on the spot when he first set eyes on her.

“You!! This is your fault! I am burning! Have you forgotten what I AM? Do you not remember what I SHOULD NOT BE EXPOSED TO?!”

No doubt, he was still capturing the entire beach’s attention. Probably long enough for the strange dark creature to slink away if everyone was gaping at the pale man for a long enough period of time…

[Iris|Kairi]

"...Uhm.....Luther...I'm sorry! I forgot....and I didn't know our clothes would disappear! " she squeaked meekly, shying away from his yelling. Her conservative black bodysuit had been replaced with just the opposite; a small white bikini. She had curled her arms to herself in reaction to her companions reaction. Really, she wasn't even aware of herself or the fact she was in a place she'd never been in before with some sort of soft warm ground between her toes. "But! But I can fix it!" she said loudly, frantically looking around. She had to make Luther happy... He came first. She'd look around later. She noted a bottle nearby that said "sunblock". That sounded perfect!

"I GOT IT!" she grinned happily, bounding off through the sand and then back with the bottle. Ah...unintentionally making a scene. She popped the top off and without asking, as usual, she squeezed it and cool white lotion flew at him, splatting onto that white chest of his. "Really, Luther. Just calm down! Your body looks good out from under all those layers! And this will help!" she chirped, nearly tackling him as she hurried to rub in the stuff and save the vampire's sensitive skin. "It'll be okay, see?"

She'd squirted enough on him to cover his whole chest, shoulders, neck, most of his arms and around his back. If he didn't freak out, she could use a little more and get his whole body protected. "Isn't this all better?" she cooed, giggling. It was so sunny here...she loved it.

Honestly, she had no idea what sunblock was. She just assumed the title meant what it seemed to. Something that blocked the sun. Maybe with this stuff Luther would be able to enjoy daytime with her. She personally had no idea why anyone would want to block the sun...but she'd also never had a sunburn before..

[♥ kats KAT kats ♥]

"Ahhhhhh!"

It was more like a squeak, as something very small fell from the sky. The wind moving around her, to create an almost comet like effect as she was practically hurled through the sky, towards the sand. And the people below who seemed to be playing and having fun. Well, most of them it seemed. But, from her perspective as she cared about was living through this...

She had fallen through her mirror, which acted as a portal. It had decided to drop her off, about 20 feet from the ground. She was practically thrown from her mirror. Sometimes her mirror hated her. Decided to treat her with unkindness. And that was exactly what it had done. She would give it some attitude later. She landed on the ground with a smash, the sand practically exploding upwards as she hit it. She had only landed a few feet from a girl and a boy. Sand sprayed upwards, towards them.

"Oww....owww." The small creature uttered, though it was a high pitched squeak from what all the others could hear. She rubbed her head. She then regained herself, shaking her head. She looked at herself. To make sure everything was intact. She spread her wings as she sat there on her behind. The sand was particularly a bit hot..but for the meantime it didn't bug her. She just wanted to be alive. Her wings were okay, they weren't damaged at all. If they were her mirror would probably get a beating later on. She stood up, and examined her body. Finding herself in what seemed to only be a skimpy top, that only covered her breasts. And bottoms, that acted more like underwear. Where were her other clothes!

She found herself standing in some sand, she looked up to find herself in a hole. Probably created from the impact. She went to the wall of the hole, and dragged herself up. She then stood up straight, fluttering her wings a bit. Spraying the sand out from them. Then she started to walk off, with a small 'hmmmpf'. But, then found herself bumping into someone's leg. She looked upwards to find herself looking up at a human. Much much bigger than herself. "Yikes!" She said as she backed away, and started to flutter away only to end up hitting a lounge chair in her hurry to get away. "Owwwiiee..." She muttered, rubbing her head again.

[Heroic Bilby]

"Uh... that supposed to happen?" Kris wondered as the black... thing started ripping up their volleyball, his right index finger pointing towards it as a confused look spread over his sand-speckled face. The pirate's thoughts were interrupted by the yelling of a newcomer to the scene, somebody who seemed very, VERY uncomfortable for some reason. As the girl with him(Wow, now that's what I call cute. Wonder if they're a couple?), she was busy trying to ease his pain with an apparent overdose of suntan lotion.

Some people just weren't cut out for the beach, he supposed.

As Isaac turned his attention back to the volleyball game, while keeping the blue-haired girl in mind, he found the ruined volleyball left behind and no sign of what had caused it to be in that state. The... thing... had just vanished.

"What the heck!?" the brunet demanded ina light tone, starting to become annoyed. The game had just started and now it was over already. Sure there was probably another volleyball somewhere on the beach, but if sports item-eating monsters were native to the island then that would just be an effort in futility. The Captain raised his palms to chest level while pointing them skyward. "What's next, people falling out of the sky!?"

A thud behind him... Isaac refused to even look and opted to stand there in silence instead. In a few seconds of personal denial something lightly bumped into his leg, forcing him to take physical notice and look down. Way down.

'Is that a... fairy?'

The small creature seemed startled and disoriented. It quickly retreated, but ended up hitting a lawn chair before any verbal warning could be give. Connolly took a cautious step closer and knelt way down, spreading his bent legs out and resting his arms on them.

"You OK there, little miss?" he asked, more inquisitively than with actual concern.

[High's .Valentine.]

Shade…why is there no shade in this hell-hole? Still breathing unevenly—big gulps of air, big gulps of air—Mr. Sensitive Skin spotted a nearby palm tree, and was just about to head for that heavenly patch of land when something cool splashed onto his chest. For once, Luther looked genuinely surprised. Well, ever since he met Faye, he had been genuinely surprised far too many times much to the Vampires upset. Now this icky white substance sure beats out all those other moments of shock. Then the double whammy. His tag-along decided to jump on him and start rubbing the disgusting oily thing all over him. He had never let her touch him before, and now she was soiling every inch of his skin with this thing…the nerve.

Ah…but it did kind of feel good. He was reluctant on letting the argument end just like this. He was still bare of clothing. And so was Faye apparently—don’t look, don’t look. It was not making the situation any better. The Vampire had came from a world void of beaches and bright sun. He was a creature of the dark, and this sunlight, despite this cooling cream being rubbed into his neck, back, arms [Ahhhh~], was not sitting well with him.

“Tell me, how does one calm down when one is about to be reduced to dust? Have you never heard of tales of Vampires, you clueless girl?” He scolded the Elf as she used the entire container of sunblock on him. Just then he lifted his feet, realizing why he was so uncomfortable around his feet regions. The sand was burning his feet. Just as he was about to grab the plastic bottle from the girl, something shot from the sky, startling the Vampire. Instinctively, Luther held Faye back as he raised a hand in defense.

He was met with a geyser of white sand. Ugh.

Having assumed his normal visage of threat when met with something dangerous, Luther had his mouth ajar, hissing at the hostile subject. Now, he choked on the snarl when he found himself eating sand. Grains of it stuck to the sun-block lotion that had not yet been absorbed, and in the end, he just ended up looking like a monster of the beach.

Luther’s temper could take the disguise of a monster. No longer aware of his burning feet—for his sense of revenge was targeted at the falling object now—he eyed the little sprite that crawled back to the surface, dressed skimpily and looking just as offend as the Vampire.

Ember eyes watched it as intently as a predator as it bumped into a man not far from the duo and then into a lounge chair. Humph, the man may be concerned with the sprite’s well being, but someone here is intent on worsening her condition.

Before the sprite could answer, Luther picked her up by two fingers, holding it an arm’s length away from him as if he had picked up garbage.

“Soon, she’s going to be anything but ‘OK’,” the Black Mantis snarled, turning the sprite so he was staring straight at it with his spine breaking ember eyes.

All in all, Luther looked slightly ridiculous. Red, cream white, and sand white, he was an array of colors. But there’s nothing funny about his expression. The Beach Monster seemed ready to swallow the poor creature whole.

[♥ kats KAT kats ♥]

(Meh, sorry for such shortness...not so short anymore?)

The little faerie stared up at the human. The man who was much much bigger than herself. She crawled backwards on the lounge chair. Trying to get away from the man who was getting closer to her. She was about face to face with him now. He then spoke to her. His words much louder than her own. She could practically feel his breath upon her face as he spoke to her.

You OK there, little miss?

Well, she had just fallen from the sky. Gotten scared by him. And then flown into a chair. And she was still a bit jittery and scared. She tried to back away as much as she could, without falling off of the lounge chair. He had asked if she was OK. She might as well, not act so scared anymore... but he was BIG. And he MIGHT try to harm her. She wasn't sure. But, if someone was asking if someone was okay, didn't that mean that they wouldn't try and hurt you? But, she hadn't always been one to trust humans...especially men.

She rarely at all, trusted men. She stood up straight, trying to be brave. He wouldn't get the best of her...well she hoped not. "..uh..I'm okay." She said to him, in a squeaky faerie voice. Most would be unable to hear her though. She just hoped that he may know what she meant...or might read her lips? or might actually hear her. Rarely anyone did. But, he HAD noticed her. Hadn't he? Well, she had fallen from the sky. Not every day you saw someone fall from the sky. Specially something so small.

Then...all of a sudden something picked her up from behind. Picking her up by two fingers. She squirmed as whoever had picked her up, held her arm's length away from him. "Let me go!" She squealed. Squirming even more than before. "Put me down!" She squealed again, wanting him to put her down. She continued to squeal and squirm as he held her. She then remembered the man in the coach that had picked her up by her wings. Such...horrid memories. She wanted down now! She started to scream, her scream high pitched. She began to move her legs all about, her wings fluttering trying to get away from this man covered in sand now. She hoped that the other man...would help her. Or someone!

[Iris|Kairi]

Once more Faye was lost in a blur of events. Last she knew she was covering Luther in suntan lotion, trying to talk him out of his spaz fest. "Oh, Luther...you aren't going to turn to dust. That's silly. You'll be just fine." she chirped again in response to his verbal chewing. "And if you remember, I know nothing about vampires, so I guess I am clueless." she giggled lightly, taking care not to let her feet burn off on the hot sand. She'd gotten a glimps of water, so that's where she planned to head after she calmed him down. Maybe looking at the large collection of water would calm both Luther and their scortching feet...

But she had no more time to actually think on it.

Next thing she knew she was being whipped around like a rag doll. She heard a thumping sound and felt the warm particles falling onto her skin, getting in her hair and such. Now she felt rough...what strange ground this world had. She was about to examine the gritty texture when Luther left her in an angry fit. She had to admit. With this strange dirt stuck on him from the lotion, he looked quite comical. She'd never dream of laughing outright at him, for that would only make him more angry...

Was it possible for him to be mroe angry?

Blinking, she now realized what was happening before his eyes. Whatever had fallen to make such a mess was apparently alive and very small, and Luther was about to attack it. "She? Luther..what's in your hand...is it a person?!" she asked, scrambling to his side and around, peering at what he held. She gasped. "No! Put her down!" Faye cried, deep pink eyes filling with fear and compassion. "I'm sure she couldn't help it.. please, Luther.." she begged in a small, sweet whimper of a voice. Her heart was possibly too big for her own good, for no sooner had the words left her lips that her hands were on his arm, trying to gently pull it down in a gesture that she should let the poor being down.

"I'm sorry, little pixie-girl...he's just grumpy in the sun..."

[Heroic Bilby]

"Hahahahaha! Lookin' good, matey. Hahahahaha!"

Hands over his stomach, the short brown-haired man proceeded to laugh at the state of the newcomer. The vampire, who literally stood at least eight inches taller than Isaac himself, didn't seem to intimidate the human into a state of respect simply by his threats towards the little one. If Isaac had a bigger heart maybe he'd be more concerned for the fairy's well-being, but that wasn't really the case now was it? He found the situation far more amusing then he did distressing. It was around this time when Fae finally made her way over to the scene, pleading to the Black Mantis to release his captured offender.

'Oooo, cutie at three o'clock. Time to behave.'

"Hehehe," he continued, lowering his laugh into a chuckle until it softly died, right hand wiping underneath his matching eye for a moment. "All right, fun's fun. Let the little miss go before your girlfriend here gets mad at you. Trust me, that doesn't do anyone in the vicinity any good."

Isaac spoke only form his own personal experience, of course. Still he did speak with an air of authority about him once he had stopped giggling at the lotion-smeared individual, so it seemed he was comfortable in the position of telling others what to do, regardless of his small stature. Actually it was kind of nice being the second tallest in a group, even if he missed first place by such a wide margin and third was only a few inches below him. Of course, last place was an even wider margin.

Maybe he should make some friends of these tiny races that could be found around the worlds and hang out with them more often... nah, he didn't want a reputation of trying to look tall; his desired legend had far more epic things in the foreground and background.

[High's .Valentine.]

It was not that funny. The spineless twit didn’t have to laugh that hard. Why, Luther can pummel the short maggot into the ground. He would have done so too if he didn’t have an elf hanging off his arm. But that never stopped the Black Mantis did it? And what did he call Faye? His girlfriend? From the context the man was using, it sounded like something similar to a mate he had been bonded with for too long. A lover. Why would the idiot assume that? Could he not see the age difference between the two? Bewildered, Luther frustrated over this tidbit of thought. Judging from his appearance, his age had to be at least twenty years older. Dull-witted morons, what was wrong with them? But the Vampire said nothing, merely giving the boy a snarl that clearly showed two fanged incisors.

However in the end, Luther took the gentleman’s approach and grabbing the girl’s arm so he could turn her palm up towards him, he released the sprite from her ‘prison’. Not without a forceful flick of course.

“There. Now hush up. Your whining is grinding at my ears.” He hated it when Faye used that voice on him. It tugged at his dead heart strings and made him succumb to her wishes. He wasn’t about to let her in on that little secret though. He also wanted to get as far away from the sun as possible, and with Faye playing monkey bars on his arm, the possibility of that was thin. Not to mention even the Black Mantis was slightly fearful of what the elf child would do if he did do something to the little glittering bug. It was something about stubborn females that he did not want to be put through. Like the young man said, it didn’t do anybody in the vicinity any good if they found out that this elf had a temper.

“I will be retiring to the shade over there,” he pointed at the palm tree, beckoning him like a lustful lover. Soon…soon…

“Enjoy yourself,” uttering his last words for a long while no doubt, Luther began his trek towards bliss, all the while enduring the devil like hot sand burning the soles of his feet while he walked and rubbing at the gritty material that was still stuck to him in the most disgusting manner.