A visitor comes a calling.

[Idrial]

"Even though I can not fly I can run pretty fast," she smiled back at Kiel. His muscular frame filling the kitchen door frame. He leaning figure full of poise and grace. It was funny watching Shae jump and get all excited over Sam being here.

"Will you be joining us for supper Kiel? I am making perogies, cabbage rolls and kutia a dessert." She asked with a happy tone of voice, Sam loved to cook and the more the merrier to eat her meals.

[Seragil]

Saraekiel smiled lazily as he strolled into the kitchen proper, avoiding the flour disaster he moved in behind Sam and peered over her shoulder at the shifting dough “ What cheese are you going to add to the potato and are you going to serve them with some fried bacon and sour cream?”

Smiling wickedly, he looks over Sams shoulder towards Shae. “You are stretching and pulling too much. You need to roll more and stretch the dough the pull it back rather than just stretch and pull”

Leaving Sam, he walked over to and opens the double refrigerator. He looks at the shelves before opening a draw and pulling out some cucumber and radishes. “How about a salad to go with the cabbage rolls? A cucumber and radish one?” he asked Sam as he continued to dig through the draws in the fridge.

Dinner would be a nice distraction from his continuous search for Zoheret and yet his hands trembled slightly as he reached for some green onion. Pierogis, cabbage rolls and kutia, food he hadn’t eaten since his wife died. He didn’t know how he felt as the situation was stirring a lot of memories. Grabbing a container of sour cream, he planted a smile on his face and turned back to the two women. “You got room for one more at your counter?”

[Idrial]

Sam was surprised that Kiel knew something about cooking; even more surprised he wanted to join. Shae didn’t have a clue and she wondered who taught Kiel. He didn’t seem like the type who could be bothered with cooking at all, he had the money to buy all the take out he wanted. Making Sam’s curiosity lead the way again, maybe they would have a quiet moment tonight? Then again it might not be good to ask and bring up the past; perhaps it was better to let sleeping dogs lie.

"No I am going to kick you out of the kitchen," playfully sticking her tongue out at Kiel. She was only kidding of course, “Since you have an idea you can knead the dough.” Turning towards Shae now, “You can help me with the cabbage rolls. That’s easy.” A grin on her face. Grabbing a large head of cabbage from the fridge she then came to Shae’s side.

“All you have to do is peel it like an onion, make sure to get the leaves individually. This should be easier for you to use telekinesis.” Grinning at Shae again, “after that we will boil them before we put the filling into them and roll them up. I’ll show you how to roll them.” It seemed like a mediocre task but some things in cooking weren’t all grand. But the pride she would feel afterwards always outweighed the boredom. Plus she wanted to encourage Shae to use her telekinesis; it was a really cool ability.

“I think those two salads would be lovely Kiel. And I am doing buttered onions, bacon and sour cream. As for the cheese what would you suggest?” Sam was just going to put regular old cheddar in the perogies. But she also had some more exotic cheese in the fridge, old cheddar was just a good neutral choice.

[Seragil]

Saraekiel plunked the ingredients for the salad on the counter and looked down at his black, Saint Laurent, step hem button down shirt then the flour all over the counter and sighed heavily.  He happened to like his clothes and he liked keeping them clean, so with a dramatic eye roll at Sam he walked over to a set of counter draws and pulled three simple black aprons out from the bottom one and smacked them on the counter as well. "Cleanliness is close to Godliness" he said with a smirk

Once his apron was tied around him he pulled the frisbee shaped dough towards him and started to expertly knead it with quick, precise movements. "Cheddar is fine" he said in answer to Sam inquiry " I was just curious to know if your recipe called for something unique" His wife had also used whatever cheese they had available, or she stuffed them with mushrooms and sauerkraut or mince and onions depending on how she intended to cook them.

Shae's draw dropped as she watched Saraekiel, The Dark Angel of Chaos move around the kitchen and knead the dough as if he did it every day of his life. Where had the dark, broody and mysterious predator she knew him to be gone to? This was a side she had never seen before and at that realization she felt a small twinge if jealousy. How deep and true was their friendship? She thought there were no secrets between them and yet here he was, at home kneading dough like an ordinary smuck. Frowning slightly and feeling a little miffed but not wanting to cause a scene or ruin the little gathering she telepathically yanked the cabbage towards herself and started ripping the leaves off yet her eyes were dark with unexpressed questions and thoughts.

" So, what have I missed" Kiel asked as he turned and pushed the dough around with the heel of his hand.  It had been awhile since he had laid eyes on the vampire and in truth he hadn't actually thought he would see her again. He really wanted to ask her about her sire and if she knew what was happening on a political level within the cities supernatural political scene but he held back. Interrogations tended to sour dinner parties, plus he didn't want to push Sam away or make her feel uncomfortable. There was plenty of time for questions later.

Unable to keep quiet anylonger Shae lifted her gaze off of the cabbage and looked square at Saraekiel. “How come this is the first time I have seen you cook? You have never cooked before, not in this kitchen anyway”

“I’m not cooking, I’m helping Sam cook” he said simply as he continued to knead the dough then with a sharp cheeky smile he looked up at Shae “ If you want to cook sometime I will gladly help you too. Otherwise we are dinning out.”

[Idrial]

Sam stifled a laugh through a small grunt at Kiel’s ‘cleanliness is close to godliness’ comment. Did the little Angel not want to get dirty? Smirking as she thought that to herself, she wanted to tease Kiel more but gave it a rest. Suppressing the urge to throw some flour at him, he wouldn’t see that coming. She politely shook her head at the apron; for it was much more satisfying getting a little dirty.

“Not usually just potatoes, my Baba was pretty plain Jane woman,” with everyone on task she went to grab the old cheddar, “but she was a farm woman, cheese is expensive so it was usually a treat when she got to use it.” Making herself some room at the counter, she started to cut the cheese into smaller sized cubes. Sam loved the smell of cheese, she really wanted to plop one in her mouth. It was sooo tempting as her thoughts on cheese were broken, she went to go answer Kiel then Shae spoke up. Her eye’s so intense towards Kiel Sam couldn’t help but notice the tension now.

Uh oh. What did I do? Not quite speaking yet, she wasn’t sure if Shae was going to accept his cheeky answer. Sam’s chopping of the cheese slowed a little as she looked at Kiel. Sam was more confused than anything, how the hell did Kiel cooking hit a nerve with Shae? Sam remained quiet as the two shared looks that could kill a bear, actually a supernatural bear. Yeah they both could kill a supernatural bear right now with a single look.   

[Seragil]

Shae narrowed her eyes slightly as she continued to glare at Saraekiel, she really, really wanted to yank a few invisible feathers out of his wings and slap him with them but with some effort she controlled her temper and the urge. She continued to pull the leaves off of the cabbage but by using her fingers instead of her powers, she needed to feel the snap and tear, it felt very satisfying at the moment.

Kiel was right, they never cooked anyway and she doubted she would bother learning how, still the idea of being in the kitchen, preparing food and chatting away with kiel as he helped was a pretty and slightly disquieting image in her head. Honestly he would probably end up saying something snarky and sarcastic and she would end up stabbing him

Saraekiel watched Shae for a few moments, he didn't understand where her sudden agro came from but he did know she was an emotional creature and tended to act on her emotions whilst caught up in them. Seeing her settle down and tear at the cabbage he waited a few more moments before looking at Sam and re asking his question.

"So....what have i missed?"

[Idrial]

Sam wasn’t sure what had gotten into Shae, no longer using her telekinesis to de-leaf the cabbage. That was bummer for her and it was too bad. That something, whatever it was hit a sore spot with Shae. Sam decided to leave it alone as Kiel repeated his question, a devious grin on her lips. They had discussed many things and Shae would see what Sam was talking about, making Kiel work for his information. This was going to be fun; it was rare she met an individual with the wit to fire back.

“Oh you know normal girl stuff, like how to poison an individual,” a coy smile on her lips. The rhythm of cutting cheese slowed. Her stare holding Kiel’s own, she knew what he was after, “Even talked about my own clan… oh and the fall of the Oligarchy.” A flash of ‘speak up’ flew through her eyes; it was the talk of the town right now. That coy smile still on her lips, Kiel could ask whatever question he wanted. Just like Shae she wasn’t about to give out information freely, Shae had to ask to get her information.

[Seragil]

Games, the vampire wanted to play game. So be it. Saraekiel smiled benignly as he placed the dough in a clean bowl and set it aside to rest. Next, he got another knife out of the draw and stated to expertly chop the cucumber into thin slices.

“Poison? Really? and how would you go about that exactly and who were you thinking of poisoning?”

Shae closed her eyes slightly in resignation as Kiel naturally chose the side topic and no doubt he will make it a main topic once he discovered the subject she and Sam were talking about was whether or not a vampire could be poisoned via a blood mule. Not that her winged friend needed poison when he could just set them alight.

Shaking her head slightly at the direction the conversation was about to take Shae sat back and once again focused peeling off leaves with her mind.

[Idrial]

Sam gave Kiel a hearty laugh, of course he pick the poison subject. Seeing Shae shake her head slightly at the return of the ghastly topic. However, Sam would not go into detail like she did with Shae; for obvious reasons of course. With the cheese done she added it to the still hot potatoes, pureeing it once the cheese melted a little.

"Vampires," grabbing a pot for the cabbage leaves. "And as I explained to Shae it's a dumb idea." Walking over to the sink and filling the pot before speaking in a plain tone.

"Most vampires would smell or taste it in your blood and some bloodlines are immune to disease so that doesn't work either." Lifting the heavy pot and turning the stove on. Turning to face Kiel again but remaining at the stove to watch the water come to a boil.

[Seragil]

Saraekiel raised an eyebrow at the mention of who the woman were discussing poisoning and blatantly ignored Shae's pointed sigh at his choice of topic.

“Vampires huh? My my” he grinned broadly with amusement as his smoke coloured eyes narrowed with speculation. Curious now he tilted his head and watched Sam as she filled up the pot. As she turned and looked at him, he raised his eyebrow again questioningly as a smirk played along his lips. She was the one who brought up the subject after all.

“So then Fangs, if poisoning is out, how would you kill a vampire then?”

Shae groaned softly in despair at Kiels question and closed her eyes in resignation. This was not polite conversation nor hypothetical girl talk this was, this was pure Kiel talk. She understood he was unhappy with the balance of political power in the city and that his obsession with vampires was out of fear, fear of them having power over him, of controlling him. He wanted to be able to stand equal if not above the city power structure with the freedom to be able to tell anyone who thinks to lord themselves over him to fuck off. She on the other hand was a small fish, she had money yes which was a kind of power but if it came to a physical fight, she didn’t stand a chance, she worked better from behind the scenes.

[Idrial]

Sam took Shae's actions into account as she softly groaned at Sam and Kiel. Earlier in the night Shae had grown quite uncomfortable with the subject; but it was apart of the life of a vampire. It could be violent and bloody, one had to be prepared for such horrible things. However many vampires lived quiet and peaceful lives; they were not all blood sucking leeches.

"Murder or suicide. How you do the act is entirely up to you," she quipped at Kiel. Peering into the pot again before looking back at him.

"If I beheaded your pretty little head you be dead. Same thing applies to vampires, we do not die of natural causes. And with you being immortal Kiel neither do you." A small smile on her lips.

Sam would not give away to Kiel that her clan could withstand a barrage of bullets or even the sun over time. When they first met they had only discussed the history of her clan. For now until she like to keep it that way with Kiel. She was not sure of the Dark Angel's intentions as of yet, but maybe one day Kiel would earn enough of her trust to know.

[Seragil]

Saraekiels lips curled up with amusement at the sharp bite in the Sams tone. This is what drew him to the vampire in the first place, from the moment her heels clicked angrily on the pavement as she confronted that drunken jerk at that club oh so long ago. He didn’t know what to make of her really or what to do with her. Could she be an ally? Or was she merely a tool? Either way she was pleasant company, even if she was the undead.

“You know Fangs.” He said with an amused tone “ if we can die that means we aren’t immortal right? No matter how long we get to live. It just means we are long lived, timeless …and hopefully very hard to kill”

“Oh, for crying out load” Shae said with exasperation. “Enough about killing and murder. And fyi I actually am immortal. Thank you very much” smiling sweetly she then proceeded to telekinetically pick up a knife and wave it around. “What do you want me to do next Sam”

*What the fuck?!* Saraekiel sent angrily to Shae *Why did you share that with her* He kept the metal communication on a tightly controlled wave length. He couldn’t remember if Sam had told him if vampires could hear thoughts, but he didn’t want to risk her hearing this conversation regardless.

*I trust her* Shae sent back just as sharply *and I like her. We need to let more people into our inner circle Kiel. As strong as we are if we don’t start adding to our power source we will get swept away in whatever bullshit scheme you have stewing in that bloody brain of your*

She turned and looked at Sam with serious eyes. "Kiel is having a mental hissy fit because I chose to share something of myself with you"

[Idrial]

The atmosphere of the kitchen suddenly changed from light and bubbly to anger and confusion. Shae waving around the knife didn't help either, what did Kiel think she was here for? To spy!? If Sam didn't know better she yell at Kiel but this needed a more subtle approach; it was obvious Kiel did not trust Sam. She did not blame him, after all, she knew his true name after a prank done by Shae.

"Shae you can put the leaves in the pot the water is boiling now, " addressing Shae first before Kiel.

"Kiel, "  she started softly. "Whatever we discuss stays in this house." Her eyes had a serious look to them as she gazed back at Kiel.

"Foremost I am here as a guest. And if I can learn better on how to treat you as equals, then that's a bonus. Just because I am a vampire does not mean I hold myself above you." Many older vampires had this opinion, but Sam was not like other vampires.

She was not blind to the fact that they were not perfect creatures; everyone no matter what species had a flaw. Fighting among different species was common always trying to show who was the bigger dog. Not Sam, she wanted to change that way of thinking.

Sam is a blue-blood among the thirteen-clans, but instead of arrogance, she held a humble stance over herself. Perhaps it was the violent way she had been sired, she was not chosen but she would grow into the role. Sam wanted to make a new type of Ventrue that made her stand out from the rest; the time of arrogance must come to an end if one wanted to treat others as equal.

[Seragil]

At Sam’s words Saraekiel’s anger at Shae dissipated. Sam really was a sweet and innocent creature. How did she become one of the undead, surely her purity of spirit had earned her a Watcher, an Angel of Light that would have helped guide this child to become a beacon of hope for humanity on some sort of scale at least? Why had she not been protected? Was the heavenly war so virulent t the moment that such people were falling through the cracks? His old self was abhorred at the idea yet the dark angel he was, was beyond intrigued for if that was the case then there was an infinite amount of chaos to be created. That however was a subject for another day when he had more time.

“Sam” he said with a small smile “If I thought you had even an inkling of being superior to me or thought me beneath you, I would have most likely turned you to ash that very first night” he said simply. There was no threat or animosity in his words, just simple truth. “ In fact I am more than intrigued by you, despite your undead nature, and I most certainly find your personality enjoyable. I think I may even like you.” He said with a cheeky wink before sitting back in the stool and watched Shae kinetically lift the cabbage leaves and place them on the pot. All the while she sat there at the end of the counter with her chin resting on her fist as she leaned over the benchtop and watched the conversation between them with amused yet intense focus.

“As for being a spy, I have never thought that of you. However, you yourself told me that your sire can easily enter your mind and dig through it as he pleased. So…as much as you say you will keep and protect our secrets and the things you learn here, you can’t, not really. Can you” he asked the vampire seriously.

Since they were talking about secrets Shae figured it was time she eased Sam’s fear about the big Angel no no one, plus it was time for a little subject change again. Saraekiel was seriously killing the mood. Maybe she should tell him to get lost for the weekend.

“Talking about secrets.” She said as she turned her dark amused filled eyes to Sam. “Saraekiel here isn’t so paranoid about his silly name anymore.” She then turned her eyes to Kiel and smiles wickedly. “Are you Pidgeon”

[Idrial]

Sam nodded her head at his first statement, Kiel would have turned her into an ash pile. This did not just pertain to his species, vampires were also known to kill for the same reason. However, his the next statement put took Sam off guard. Did he just say an enjoyable personality and LIKE in the same sentence?! Her lips going bright red at his comment, still standing at the stove cabbage leaves floating by and into the pot.

She was glad to hear Kiel did not think of her as a spy, it warmed her heart. However, Kiel brought up the fact of how could she keep secrets from Jake? It was simple Jake had kept his promise to not micromanage Sam, to give her a little more trust. Besides, she needed allies of different species. With Dark Angels being most misunderstood, alongside Demons. She grinned at Kiel pleasantly. Going to answer Kiel but Shae threw her off.

"So what exactly changed with that?" Her tone serious on the matter. Her friend Maria had a sacred name, and Sam did know it. But with Maria's affinity with the old mother and father, no one held power over her; a trickle effect from the power of true faith. So how did Kiel achieve this without the help of the old deities?