Queer Incidentals

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe sat at the table indicated by Emil. She looked around the room, wishing it was darker. She waited for Emil to sit, observing him as he did. She was unsure what he was going to say. He was most likely going to apologize for his idiot friend Lamar. This would suit her fine, but Lisa-Joe wanted something more from him. She didn't know what it was, but now that she had him she was not inclined to let him go without getting whatever it was.

"Should we order drinks first," she asked, indicating a looking waiter.

It was just a suggestion and if Emil chose to proceed with thier dialogue and forgo the drink Lisa-Joe would not object.

[skeggsismad]

Emil interpreted the question as less of a question and more of a gentle order. He nodded his head.

“Of course.”

Raising his hand, he flicked his wrist gently a couple of times to casually call over a server. A young waiter approached them with bright blue eyes and a wide smile.

“What can I get the two of you?”

Emil gave a quick glance from the waiter to Lisa-Joe and then back to the waiter.

“Can we get two of your special drinks, sir?”  Emil replied, smiling back. He wanted to ask the waiter how he was and make some casual chit-chat as he was regularly a rather chatty person, but for Lisa-Joe’s sake he held back and left the conversation formal.

“Absolutely. Will that be all?” The waiter asked. Emil tipped his head yes, trying to make the exchange as minimal as possible.

Once the server had left, Emil turned his gaze back to Lisa-Joe. He still didn’t know what speaking terms they were on and thought it would be best to let the woman lead.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe felt an awkward silence envelop them. She had expected Emil to start speaking, but when he hadn't she'd just sort of sat there. Luckily, the bar was quick with the drinks and a full, hot wine glass was placed before her with substance. She sipped and found the blood pleasing, but not overly so. She preferred hotter blood. She decided enough silence was enough and asked the only thing she could think off.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Her tone was not accusatory, it was more matter of fact. She leaned back in her chair and kept a peaceful  sort of eye contact as she waited for an answer. 

[skeggsismad]

Emil politely sipped from his own wine glass, completely uninterested in it, as he’d already fed earlier, but trying not to show that. It had been what Lisa-Joe wanted and he was trying hard not to mess any of the social cues up.

His eyes widened a bit when he was asked if Lamar, of all people, was his boyfriend. It hadn’t been the first time the question had been asked and he wondered what impression they left with others for it to be such a comment query.

“Oh, no! We’re just very good friends.” Emil explained with an emphasis on very, but he wasn’t sure how to explain the emphasis exactly. He fiddled with his hands for a moment, deciding it was best not to waste Lisa-Joe’s time by attempting to do so.

“Be that as it may, I feel terribly responsible for what happened tonight, Ms. Hampton. I do want to explain, if that’s something you’d want to hear.” He was still tip-toeing around it, trying to make sure 100% that Lisa-Joe would even be interested in an apology or explanation of sorts. Perhaps she would be insulted by such a thing, but Emil’s make-good nature was kicking in and it was what he needed right now.

[Black Philip]

She'd only asked the question because she wanted to end the silence but when the emphasis was but on "very" it made her wonder what sort of friends they were. Still, if he wasn't going in to details she was not going to ask. Things were strange enough without her picking at Emil's personal life. It didn't really matter who he was to Emil, just that Lamar mattered to him. Lisa-Joe felt guilty for making Emil so obviously nervous. She decided it would be best to try and admit some fault so that Emil would stop blaming himself.

"Oh, I shouldn't have lost my temper," she said averting her gaze. She was still a bit embarrassed. "If it will make you feel better to explain it to me then I'm all ears."

She gave him a reassuring wink. It was the best she could muster but she knew it looked a lot less smooth than her normal gestures.   

[skeggsismad]

He didn’t know if he should try to argue with Lisa-Joe on her last point or not. If she was saying it just for him to refute it he had obviously failed that test, as he decided it was better not to question Lisa-Joe’s judgment. If she thought she had lost her temper, then certainly she must have been correct. Who knew Lisa-Joe better than Lisa-Joe herself?

The younger vampire gave a faint, nervous smile in reaction to the wink. He made sure he had some sort of eye contact with the woman before he began the big ‘explanation’.

“Contrary to how it seems, I never spoke ill of you to Lamar or anyone else. After that night, Maggie decided she’d rather not have my friendship. I couldn’t think of a way to explain my behavior to her and I certainly couldn’t tell her the truth- she isn’t aware of our kind.”

He paused to allow the information to sink in before continuing.

“Lamar and I share the same circle of human friends. They were understandably upset with me and Lamar demanded I tell him why I had treated Maggie in such a way. I explained what had happened the best that I could. Some rather unpleasant social happenings occurred to both of us afterward and I think he misguided his anger towards you. Lamar doesn’t quite understand our culture and if he did I’m certain he wouldn’t have lashed out at you like that.”

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe sat back listening. She absorbed the information and decided that it all made sense. The only thing that still burned her was that Lamar felt inclined to pass judgement on her. She didn't care for that, and wondered if Emil was the source of his scorn. Lisa-Joe knew to an extent that Emil respected her because of her age, but she wanted straight and truthful answers.

"Did you think my approach that night was incorrect," she asked. She did not elaborate. She wanted a truthful answer. 

[skeggsismad]

Emil was starting to feel the heat. What was that saying- if you can’t take the heat stay out of the kitchen? Unfortunately he’d had no choice in the matter; Lamar had dragged him right into the oven, head first.

“I don’t think it’s my place to pass that sort of judgment, Ms. Hampton.”

He glanced to the table, uncomfortably folding his hands and clearing his throat. He didn’t want to voice his opinion and upset Lisa-Joe. Even though part of it was self-preservation, the other aspect was mere personality. Above all things, Emil quite disliked conflict.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe raised an eyebrow. Emil was avoiding conflict. She didn't like that.

"But I do think it's your place, because I asked you," she commented, her tone still somewhat safe. She was not as angry as she'd been. However, Emil was not getting out of this without a straight answer. Her gaze was serious and she took a sip of blood as she waited for an answer. 

[skeggsismad]

He let out a sigh. Lisa-Joe wasn’t going to let him get out of this and he was now thinking of the best way to phrase what he thought without lying but without offending. He looked back up at the woman, respectfully giving eye contact and quitting his fidgeting.

“I wouldn’t have done what you did.” He admitted, biting the bottom of his lip with apprehension.

“But that doesn’t mean what you did was wrong, persay….it only means we don’t think identically.” He added, just to smooth the waters.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe smiled. She liked his honesty. It was refreshing and in a strange way empowering. Most younger vampires would never have disagreed with her, even if she'd encouraged them to. Emil was brave to some extent. She didn't like his justification of what she'd done though. It seemed like backtracking and covering his earlier statement. She was alright with it though. It had still taken guts.

"Thank you for the honesty," she said. She let that sit before going on, making sure Emil had a chance to hear it, process it and relax.

"Did you tell Lamar what you just told me," her next question came out a bit harsher than the previous one. It wasn't Emil, it was the thought of that moron Lamar. She hated him still.

[skeggsismad]

Smiles meant different things depending on the circumstances. Lisa-Joe could have given the gesture for any number of reasons; thus, Emil started his own decoding. When she didn’t bite his head off he eased, but not completely. He decided it would be wise not to let his guard down until this whole matter was complete and it seemed Lisa-Joe still had more that she wanted to ask. She didn’t sound particularly pleasant this time and he prevented himself from flinching from the strong emotions; it felt like wall slamming against his face.

“In more or less words, yes.” Emil replied delicately. Lamar had wanted to know why he behaved in such a way and he’d explained that it was wise to do what an older vampire asked of him. He realized now he’d not expanded enough and that the fae had come off with the impression that somehow Lisa-Joe had taken advantage when really he’d simply gone along with things in order to avoid unnecessary conflict.

[Black Philip]

"You're friends bravery and loyalty enters into the realm of stupidity," Lisa-Joe said in direct response. "I'm not saying this to be a bitch. I'm just pointing out that had he said what he said to me to an ancient or to certain types of demons he'd probably be dead or injured."

She leaned in close to Emil, smiling wider now that he was speaking truthfully. "I'll be honest, I'm mad at you for telling Lamar first and not confronting me. If you had, this whole misunderstanding could have been avoided."

Calling it a misunderstanding was a very old south way of looking at what had just happened. She knew Emil would appreciate the language. In her mind, he was big on presentation and language. She sat further back, awaiting a response. Her tone was more forgiving than the last, but not exactly friendly, not yet.

[skeggsismad]

Emil very well knew that Lisa-Joe could have killed Lamar and there would have been no problems in the supernatural community. Things such as that happened all of the time and Lamar really did need to be properly educated on how he was supposed to conduct himself when in the presence of others that weren’t of his kind. Emil rationalized he probably didn’t know exactly how old Lisa-Joe was, but he couldn’t even rationalize that to be perfectly honest. He recalled how the Fae had ignored his mental warning and could indeed agree with Lisa-Joe’s statement.

But now where were they? Lisa-Joe would have preferred him to discuss the qualms he had with her but the notion of it made him want to grind his teeth. He’d been taught in a particular way; you simply didn’t attempt to argue or discuss things with those that were older than you. Lisa was proposing a new way of doing things that Emil interpreted as being entirely deadly to his survival.

“Why, it’s certainly understandable why you’re upset with me, Ms. Hampton. I can see how my actions would cause a sore spot and why you might want me to come to you with my qualms firstly before I discuss them with anyone else.”

All he was doing was mirroring what Lisa-Joe had said to him. It was a tactic of communication but also of avoidance.

“I didn’t want for this and I apologize sincerely for how this has all unfolded.” But he didn’t agree that next time he would confront her about the issue nor that he had necessarily been wrong.

[Black Philip]

Lisa-Joe was no fool, despite not being the smartest vampire around. She noticed that Emil simply repeated what he said, and it made her wonder why? Was he afraid of further offending her? Surely custom only went so far, even with a gentlemen like Emil. Was it fear that she'd retaliate? As those and other various scenarios entered her head, she chewed on her lip and stared intently at Emil; she made sure to take care when picking her next set of words.

"Are you afraid of me Emil," she asked. She tried to keep the toe inquisitive and free of both judgement and pressure.