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Neko watched Alistair curiously for a few moments until he produced the magazine. At first Neko had no idea what that had to do with anything but a sickening thought hit him like a sac of bricks. When Riyo passed him the magazine so that he could see the front, it was like his worst dreams were being realized. Somehow, he had managed to forget.

"That ******** rabbit," Neko hissed looking the cover over. Or damn Jess and his damn paparazzi. He seemed to soak up the attention like a sponge. If the attention had been a lot more on Jess and a whole lot less on Riyo and himself if wouldn't be an issue. But now he really wondered how long it would be before others showed up at his home, paparazzi, fans, or otherwise.

As much as Neko wanted to throw his hands up in frustration and go inside to start packing, he managed to stay where he was. Tossing the magazine down to the ground he couldn't help but note how the guy spoke of him like he knew him. And what was this contaminating the bloodline business? "So what exactly sparked this social visit?" Neko asked. "I can't imagine you came all this way to give your best wishes."

"Useless?" Klyde was about to take a step forward at that comment but Riyo standing right next to him kept him from doing just that. "We're not useless." We're? Had he just included Blade in that statement? There wasn't much of a friendship to be seen or heard of but Klyde knew Blade was important to Riyo. Blade was her friend, one of the few she had and while he didn't always like the guy there he was glad in a way Riyo was trying to be more social. And at the moment they were allies standing against this one man, who just like Riyo's Dad liked to tell her things that would be best for her.

Alistair resisted rolling his eyes as he heard the two whine about being called useless. "I know you're a human and I know he's a vampire. You may not be useless to your respective kinds, but you certainly are to her." The matter-of-fact tone he held was slightly disturbing, considering the nature of their discussion.

"That's not true!" Riyo immediately exclaimed. "T-they're my friends... And they give me more than I could ever-"

"Friends?" Alistair interrupted, a snarky smirk crossing his lips. "I figured you would've learned by now that friendship doesn't work out very well for us. You have yourself. Really, what more do you need?" He asked cynically, then turned to Neko.

"No, of course not. I could care less about weddings." Stepping towards the younger man, Alistair's piercing eyes looked him over. "But I do hold interest in the well-being of my granddaughter." Which... Was a complete contradiction to what Jessee had said.

"She's very... Special. Bit of an odd ball in the family, you see. We've never actually had a female in the bloodline. It's a little fantastic, really. And I'm sure... She has great potential."

The words shouldn't have, but they actually stung Blade a little when he heard them. It dug up some old feelings of not being wanted around. Frowning at the thought of being useless to Riyo, he tried to shove it aside and stared at the grandfather.

"Looks like your dad was right about one thing about him. He really is a bitter old man," he said.

Neko's eyes narrowed back as the man insinuated that he knew more than he said. It was somewhat true but the reason for that understanding wasn't up for a topic of discussion. Especially not while Blade and Klyde were here. Neko was doing his best to keep people out of his problem, though he didn't know that Riyo had somewhat of a grasp on the situation. Ah, the fun of drunken nights you don't remember.

"Power? If you're planning on using her for some little experiment to live out some lost dream you can't reach I would think again." Neko's tone was stern, almost parental. He seemed to slip into that role now and again without really realizing it.

Klyde was starting to like Jess better and better after meeting this guy. Riyo's grandfather seemed to know just how to burrow under the skin. "He told us enough, and it seems to be true so far." He was agreeing with Blade, this man definitely seemed bitter. Finding friends to be worthless? Only needing yourself?

Klyde wanted to walk away with Riyo, get her away from Alistair. The feeling that he had was just unsettling being around this man. True he was her family but wouldn't it be better for her not to be around someone like this? They had finally seemed to break her out of her shell a little and with someone like him it would only make her retreat and build her fortress up higher. It seemed to Klyde that's what her grandfather had done.

"And what makes Neko so much better anyway? The guys a freakin' janitor." Klyde nearly snapped.

Neko's eyes narrowed even more as he looked toward Klyde with that comment. True that was his front and he had to embrace it but still. Just the janitor?

"Experiment?" Alistair repeated with a raised eyebrow. "I don't 'experiment', as you say. I merely want to help her reach that potential." He had thought about adding 'I don't need your permission anyways', but Alistair tried to avoid burning bridges with people he might want to exploit in the future. At least... As much as he could. "Honestly it's up to her. I'm not going to take her against her wishes or some such nonsense. That would only succeed in making more enemies and an uncooperative granddaughter." It was obvious he was a calculative man by the way he spoke... But had he actually contemplated that scenario beforehand?

"I don't really care what my son has told you about me." Alistair said bluntly to the two boys, his pissed look fading into nonchalance. Obviously it wasn't much by their initial reaction. "But I don't believe I ever said she doesn't have a choice. I'm not 'bossing her around'." His gloved fingers raised up to gesture quotation marks.

Riyo had remembered mentioning something like that to Blade, and he was right, but at the same time... She wondered about this man.

"W-why're you dressed like that in spring?" She asked cautiously, calling attention to the heavy clothes that covered most of his body.

Alistair paused as Riyo asked her question. Well, she was certainly observant. "I hate sunlight." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. No, years of what he had been doing had worn on his body, and it clearly showed on the surface.

Though, the vampire's clear ignorance bothered Alistair ever so slightly. What did she see in such a dim creature?

"You're not a very sharp vampire, are you? Alright. Let me spell it out. You can't have children with a living being. cross-breeding often causes deformities. In simple terms, one should stick to their own kind when seeking partners of that sort." It was a very cold and scientific way to look at relationships and romance, that's for sure.

At first, Riyo had been a little dim as well... Though, she'd been assuming since he was her grandfather, he wouldn't talk about that kind of stuff just like her father refused to... God, was she wrong.

"Y-you're talking about... Y-y-you... I..." Slowly, her face started to pale until her complexion matched Klyde's. Mortified... Accurately described how she felt right now.

Frowning still, Blade didn't have anything else to say, though the thought of Alistair basically only be interested in Riyo's power and her capacity of continuing the lineage was a bit disturbing. It seemed that Neko had a fairly good handle on what was going on here or at least how to deal with it.

He didn't really buy the whole sunlight excuse either, but he couldn't think of what the real reasoning would be.

Standing back in the meantime, he watched Alistair to see if he would do as Neko requested.

This guy sure knew how to paint a pretty picture. Even Neko could feel the side he usually tried to keep tucked away crying out as if it had found a savior. But..."And you'll live the rest of your life alone with only yourself for company." Neko finished since that seemed to have happened to Riyo's grandfather.

"That really sounds no better than the man in his high position looking down his nose at the people serving at his feet. You have that better than anyone else disposition, but what gives you the right to decide what's fit for this world and what it can do without? The world isn't going to be understanding if you want to go off and play God or Overlord, ruling people with fear and violence."

"The world is full of shitty people, that's the way it's always going to be. Everyone has a tough time just some to a higher degree then others." Neko focused his attention on Riyo instead of the old man. "I know how temping it sounds. Power, no fear, the ability to strike down those you don't like. I get it, I really do, but the price you pay for that will be steeper than you will ever realize until its too late." With reluctance in his voice Neko continued, the close proximity Alister had to Riyo making him a little nervous. He didn't much care for the guy to be so close after just showing up out of the blue.

"It's not my choice. It will never be my choice. You're going to have to decide what you want. But just know...I do care what happens and I'm not the only one standing beside you right now who worries about you." Man, that had been tough to say, Neko was surprised how smoothly it had ran off the tongue. He had never admitted to caring for anyone before though he was hoping the boys might add in their two cents for backup. "You have friends and you have family....if you want to count him," Neko gestured to the old man. "Do you feel like you have nothing to lose?"

Klyde was trying to take this all in but he just couldn't help but feel like the child who had been told to go to their room while the adults spoke to one another. He was merely just there, a witness or bystander to this whole event. Though with that had come a small degree of verbal abuse that just couldn't be brushed aside.

When Neko had looked at Riyo and asked if she had anything to lose, Klyde turned to her with a nervous expression. The old man's words sounded temping he knew, but what would she say? Did she feel she had nothing to lose and if so...what did that make him? "I...want you to be happy." Klyde finally said after a long drawn silence.

The nervousness Riyo felt started to melt away when Neko and the others chimed their opinions on the subject. No. She had everything to lose. It may not have been much to Alistair or anybody else, but it was the world to her.

"I don't want to lose my friends." Riyo said sternly, looking up at her grandfather with a determination to get her point across. "Power means nothing to me." Pulling back from his grip, she pulled Klyde's hand closer, adding her other to the equation for assurance. While her father wasn't that much better than this guy, at least he encouraged her to keep her friends and do what she wanted to do.

Pulling back his arms, Alistair appeared less than impressed. "Like father, like daughter." He shrugged. Certainly, this fellow may have one the day, but the war was far from over.

"As I said, I'm not going to force you to do what you don't want... But I warn you, just because you don't want to lose them, doesn't mean you won't anyways... And it may be 100x worse than it would've been had you just let them go in the first place." Was all he said as he backed away from his granddaughter, looking towards Neko. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again." A rather ominous comment, but it started his feet treading back towards the forest... To go God knows where.

As Riyo watched him leave, something in her body screamed at her to call out to him. To take back what she'd said. Go with him and find out what her limit was... But the thought of never seeing Klyde, or her friends again kept her feet glued to their spot...

... But would she really lose them anyways?