Sadie had a dastardly plan. Luna'd invited her over (and she'd remembered where the house was, this time), and she had missed that one Halloween party at the library due to a large amount of due dates suddenly falling near Halloween. It was a pity, really - and Sadie was a huge procrastinator. But she'd had costumes planned and everything! Yes, costumes - she'd been planning to drag her friend Artemis over in a matching one (Raeburn had refused, vehemently. Apparently Skitties had tacky colors or something - whatever. They were totally adorable, and he knew it).
Instead she was dragging Artemis out to see Luna with her. In their matching costumes. Hey, she had to show them off to someone, right? Raeburn had declined to wear his, claiming it would be awkward dressed up when no one else was. Sadie had a sneaking suspicion he merely thought that the coral reef costume he'd created was too heavy. She had told Artemis that they were going on a hike, winking at Raeburn all the while. The Herald had rolled his eyes in a childish, I-don't-really-know-how-to-roll-my-eyes-but-they-do-it-in-movies way. [cont]
thypope: And now the three of them had just arrived on Luna and Michael's doorstep. "Oh," said Sadie, in the least convincing tone
ever (Raeburn thought). "What a quaint house!" Artemis sighed.
But Sadie was already knocking on the door clad in her Wailord gijinka costume (she still refused to wear skirts; she'd had to be the "lord"). "Hey guys!" This made it very apparent that she knew the inhabitants of the house. Artemis supposed he should be used to this already.
Michael had opened the door, beaming as he set eyes on Raeburn and Sadie. "Cool costume!" he said, grinning at his friend's mom. "Mom's waiting in the living room." He paused when he set green eyes upon Artemis. He gave a giggle before covering his mouth with his hand. "Nice costume," he managed.
Luna, as Michael had said, was in the kitchen. She had made cookies to go with hot chocolate; since it was getting colder by the day and she assumed Sadie had come by other means than a warm car. "Mickey? Are our guests here?" She took the last batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven, setting it on the stove carefully before going out to greet them. "Hello," she said, having spotted Artemis first. Her confusion at his presence quickly softened. She gave him a shy smile, before redirecting her gaze to Sadie. "Lovely costumes. I wondered why you weren't at the party."
Sadie grinned. "Hi guys! Yeah - I had, um, way too much due recently, unfortunately. I should probably work on my time management skills." She'd really wanted to make it, though. "But I couldn't resist showing off my costume!" The blond shoved Artemis in front of her. "This guy's Artemis - he goes to my school and we're, uh, matching, see."
"I don't normally dress like this, I swear," chuckled Artemis to the child with the flaming wings. "It's lovely to, ah, meet you." He smiled at Luna and Michael.
Raeburn aimed a grin at Michael. "It's nice to see you again," he said, nodding. Michael was still much bigger than him - but he'd catch up!
"I think you should," Michael said, in a serious tone and with an expression to match. "You could dress up as a different pokemon every day." He grinned at Artemis to let him know he was teasing, before turning his attention to Raeburn. "I've missed you!" he informed his friend, before leaning into whisper, "They don't have color sense, do they? I wonder if Mom'll end up liking him..." He paused, and aloud he said, "Let's play paintball!"
Luna blushed, smiling at Artemis before glancing from Sadie to the man. Were they together? She certainly couldn't blame Sadie if she was with him; he was rather handsome...and charming. And friendly--and well, Luna found him altogether attractive, even with the skitty costume.
"Yeah, well," Artemis grinned, not one to be easily let down. "I'm not talented enough to make...six hundred costumes now, isn't it, Sadie?" There were an awful lot of Pokemon nowadays. Man, it had all been so simple way back when... "Ahem, um, are we all playing paintball? Because I wouldn't mind sitting down - Sadie has someone she needs to
introduce me to." Hint, hint. He slid his icy blue eyes over her way.
"Six hundred forty nine, I think - " Sadie began almost automatically, but stopped the moment Artemis continued on. Damn. Sadie knew she'd forgotten something. "Well, Luna, this is Artemis, and Artemis, this is Luna. That kid over there's her son Michael." She waved at him.
"I think Sadie came up with it," Raeburn said in a stage whisper. "I bet she was lying when she said she learned Color Theory before." Raeburn wanted to take a Color Theory class. It sounded like something he'd be into. "Which way's the paintball?" the Herald asked, taking the change of subject gleefully. They hadn't gotten to do it on their last visit, which was sad. Raeburn wanted to paint...something.
"You're not invited," Michael informed Artemis, sticking out his tongue at him. "You get to be boring with my mom. Raeburn and and I get to play paintball outside while you do. If you get too bored, though, you could join us. Not until then!" It was quite clear that the herald believed adults should stick together--or maybe he had something else in mind. Why did he keep looking from Luna to Artemis? And what was with the small smirk playing on his lips?
"Nice to meet you," Luna said, awkwardly, offering Artemis her hand. Her mind was elsewhere however; she scarely noticed Michael and the looks he was giving her, or she would have known he was planning something. "Would you like some tea? The cookies just came out of the oven, so--" she flushed. Handsome man was handsome. And in her house.
"I'm sure your mother won't bore me, Michael," Artemis said kindly. She was Sadie's friend, after all. Sadie tended to have very interesting friends. Although Luna seemed a little less obsessed with parties than some of Sadie's other friends were. (He raised an inward eyebrow at the kid's glances, but did not comment.) "Oh my god, cookies? Sadie, you could've told me Luna baked cookies and you wouldn't have had to make up this nonsense about hiking on our Halloween costumes." He offered a grin to the woman, who was quite stunning for someone who'd already had a kid. With...flaming wings. Maybe he shouldn't ask about that. Or maybe the kid was adopted, like Sadie claimed Raeburn was. Who knew?
Sadie grinned and winked at Michael as he and Raeburn discussed paintballing. "No painting on the grown-ups, okay?" She'd obviously taken the glances in the wrong way. "If you show me where everything is, I'll get the kids started while you and Arty, ahem, get to know each other." She watched as Artemis shook Luna's hand and glare over his shoulder. He hated that nickname.
Raeburn nodded at Michael. "Sadie doesn't let me play paintball at home," he rambled. "Or with paint." This was because they lived in a loft that Sadie was renting, but Raeburn didn't quite get that concept just yet. They lived in it - that surely meant they could do whatever they wanted, right? He was always coloring on the stubbornly white walls, and Sadie was always having to paint back over them with more white.
"I like you, Temmy," Michael decided with a nod. Of course his mom wouldn't bore the man; it was obvious she liked him. Maybe he would like her too? But only if they got of the way. "And don't worry, Sadie! I'd never paint you guys. Mom's pretty enough as it is~" And so saying, the older herald led his friend into the backyard; through the sliding glass door in the living room. "There. Now we won't bother them," he said with a nod. "You ready to paintball?" he asked. "Mom doesn't let me paintball inside either," he confessed. "She doesn't like the walls to be messy. She says I can pick out what colors to paint them, though. Maybe orange..." he liked warm colors.
"I like the costume," Luna assured Artemis with a smile, before going into the kitchen. Not more than a minute later, she came out with a tray of cooling cookies. "I don't know if you'd rather have milk with them," she mused aloud. "Or if you'd like tea, or maybe hot chocolate?" Hot chocolate was always good for colder days. "Temmy," she had caught the nickname from Michael. "Timmy?" she mused. "I like it."
Raeburn had no idea what had just happened. But he knew to follow his friend out with a grin. Paintball - yes! "Maybe a paler orange?" It wouldn't be nice if they clashed too much with Michael's wings. "Ours are just white. They're really ugly." He frowned, scratching an itchy spot on his back absent-mindedly. "I've never paintballed before, though, so you prolly have to teach me," Raeburn added. Sadie followed them out with a wave - she'd be supervising them. Except not really, because she'd also be peeking into the house to see how Artemis and Luna were getting along. Their names were hilarious.
"Timmy's much better than Arty," Artemis drawled. "Sades - sorry, Sadie calls me that all the time. I don't even know why." He smiled at Luna, seemingly at ease in his Skitty costume despite any earlier complaints about it. Or maybe he was just easy-going in general. "I don't - mm, they smell good. Milk would be nice. I haven't had milk and cookies in so long, and to be honest - I drink so much hot chocolate on campus that I'm kind of sick of the taste. Although I'm sure yours is delicious."
Sadie sneaked back in to watch the adults for awhile and
totally did not wave at Luna in the process. Or wink at Artemis.
"Yeah, a paler orange would be nice," Michael agreed with a smile. "Like an autumn orange," he added in explaination. "Not a mac and cheese orange." He paused and nodded. "We could just, you know, throw the paintballs," he said, considering Raeburn's size and age. Should someone so small really be playing with paintball guns? They could be dangerous. "The sheets are over there," he added with a grin. "Maybe you could take yours home and hang it on the wall."
Luna returned Sadie's wave, seeming somewhat confused. "I'll go get you a glass of milk, Timmy," she said, flashing the man a smile. "Would you like some too, Sadie?"
Raeburn nodded. "Mac and cheese looks ugly." Even if, as Sadie claimed, it tasted good. Raeburn wasn't willing to sacrifice his eyes for the experience of tasting delicious food. "Okay," Raeburn said agreeably, heading over to pick up a sheet for himself as well as one for Michael. Together they dwarfed him, but he managed to get them off the ground, at least. There was a problem, though - neither Herald was tall enough to hang up the sheets. He glanced around. Where'd Sadie gone...?
"All right," Artemis said, and then turned around - he hadn't noticed Sadie coming in at all! Or, incidentally, the wink she'd sent him.
Sadie grinned and fluttered her hand at Luna. "It's fine, I've got, uh, water! Just checking to make sure you haven't murdered each other yet...not that I'd expect that of you, Luna." She headed over and plopped herself down next to Artemis.
He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "If I'd known you were ditching us for women this pretty I might've tagged along sooner." Sadie pressed a finger to her lips and shushed, although she couldn't resist doubling over in giggles. Artemis couldn't see what was so funny.
"We have cider too," Luna added for Sadie's benefit, from the kitchen. She made her way over to them with a pitcher of milk and an empty glass, which she put on the coffee table. "Did you say something about murdering him?" she asked Sadie with a grin. "And rid the world of a handsome man?" She shook her head. "I'll check on the boys, if you're not up to it," she added. "I don't like to think about how much trouble they could cause alone."
Michael took a sheet from Raeburn in attempt to help. "I can't reach," he said with a sigh. "We'll have to wait until one of the adults comes out again." It was a pity Sadie had said they couldn't paint the grownups. It would have been funny.
"Oh god, not cider," moaned Sadie. "You're just asking me to infringe upon your hospitality even more, Luna - cider's my weakness." It was not, really, but it came close. Nothing could beat ducks for cute. "Well I'm sure you're much too sweet to kill anyone," Sadie winked, jabbing an elbow in Artemis' side. "Oh, I don't - I just wanted to, uh." There was no way she was going to admit that she was trying to see how much Artemis and Luna were flirting with each other. Skitty costumes attracted all the women; what could Sadie say?
"Uh?" prompted Artemis, raising an eyebrow. He didn't receive an answer, although he did receive the milk extremely well. "Hey, no milk for yourself?" he teased. "Or wait, am I supposed to get myself a glass?" He stood up and headed toward the kitchen - although he had no clue where Luna stored the glasses so he was really using it as an excuse to stare at her refrigerator photos, if there were any. There were always kids' photos and drawings on the refrigerator - at least in Artemis' experience.
Raeburn held his sheet up awkwardly. "Or we could put them on the floor and throw the paintballs there." Although then they might get dirty, with paint all over their clothes and hands and feet. What a dilemma. The Herald's little wings flapped in his frustration. "Yeah, we probably do have to wait."
Luna smirked. "Then I'll make you some," she said, nodding at Sadie. She hadn't missed the interaction between her friend and Artemis; and wondered what it was about. College students, she figured. "Oh no, Timmy," she started. "I was about to make myself some tea and--" she hesitated as he went into the kitchen. "So," she whispered in Sadie's ear. "Is he single?"
Michael set his sheet onto the ground in response. "We can do that," he agreed. "If we stand back far enough, the paint won't get us," he mused, picking up a paint ball. "Want me to help you set yours up?"
