“Yeah, sure. I’ll be there,” Melian closed her eyes and gently massaged the bridge of her nose as the person on the other end of the line replied in an excited voice. “I’m looking forward to seeing you too, Dee. Uhm-hmm. Okay. Bye.”

Ending the call, Melian sighed and tossed her phone onto the couch before flopping down unceremoniously beside it. The timing couldn’t have been worse, but to be fair, it really couldn’t be better either. It figured her cousin would call out of the blue and beg to meet up for dinner when Melian was insanely busy with the theater and with her extracurricular wanderings as a Dark Mirror senshi. But to be fair, the latter wasn’t ever going to be something that went away. And the theater could do without her services for one night.

“I wonder what made her call now,” she wondered softly. It’s not like we’ve ever been super close.”

Using both hands, she pulled her silver hair from her face and tied it in a loose knot. The last time she’d seen her cousin had been a couple of years ago. And she’d never had a lot of patience for Alodie’s enthusiasms. Still, Alodie was family and Melian had, in her own way, sort of missed the twit.

“Besides, this is just meeting up for dinner. It’s not like a simple dinner date is going to shatter the world.”

Briefly, she wondered if Alodie still dyed her own silver hair that alarming shade of green that matched her eyes so well. Then, she blinked and frowned. Why, she didn’t even know how Alodie’s parents were doing lately. Hell, she barely talked to her own parents. Feeling a twinge of guilt for neglecting her own kin, Melian decided that as much of a twit as Dee could be, she’d keep her temper and do her best to not needle away at her cousin, hunting for the words and actions that would wound. Family deserved a little more consideration after all.

Did Dee still play guitar for that ridiculous band of hers? She’d have to remember to ask. And then find out when and where they were playing next. It would be something to do and probably make her cousin very happy.

“Well,” she spoke again to the air around her, “I’m not getting a lot done just sitting here.”

Dee had insisted on casual. Burgers and beers. Which meant that, unless she wanted to be stared at for something other than her height and silver mane, Melian needed to go digging through her closet for something appropriate. Jeans were always good. And hot as it was, cutoffs would probably be the most comfortable. Do I even own a pair of denim cutoffs, she wondered as she rose and went to her closet.

Apparently she did. And some t-shirts that she could barely remember ordering. Simple sandals, yes. Good. Hell, she even had a baseball cap buried in the back. She’d manage to camouflage for this one night, anyway.

Though she was sure she’d end up spending considerable time wondering why in the seven hells she even owned a ball cap.