Outside, Izumi spoke with the doorman for a moment, exchanging pleasantries and getting directions before proceeding down the path to find Reiko. Having seen the latest text from Kendra gave the woman a reason to rejoice. "It looks like we'll be preparing for two of my sisters instead of one!" Reiko called to the kitchen. Hearing the door open and shut, the woman hurried over to greet the delinquent. When she caught up, it was with a wave of greeting and a wide-eyed stare at the size of that watermelon. "Hi Reiko," she greeted cheerfully, "Hearing you were not feeling well, I have come to visit," she announced, lifting the shopping bag. "And to bring you some new books to read while you recuperate." Well, Reiko would give a proper greeting after she put the watermelon down on a nearby table first.
She squeezed Izumi into a tight hug. "Well, I don't know about that?only that I have no idea what the Hell is going on and am confused." When Izumi gave Reiko a squeeze and a bright smile with squinted eyes, Reiko let go, pointing at the bag with a grin. "Ooh?books. Maybe they'll help me pass the time until I'm free to go back to work again. You know, making candles and playing barmaid and such."
"Huh, well, that makes two of us. I saw you last night, but you didn't seem yourself at all. I have no idea what's going on either. But today you seem okay." She handed over the bag of books, having gone heavy on the mysteries since those were almost always a safe bet. At the top of the pile was her own favourite, Drood by Dan Simmons. It was a monstrously heavy book that would eat up a lot of time.
The woman balanced the watermelon on her left hand just long enough to take the bag of books, and then she held it with both hands again. She blinked at what she was hearing. ?"You saw me last night?" Reiko asked. Blink, blink. She tilted her head slightly to one side in the way that she usually did. "Was I walking to the Cemetery to track some stray emotions? Because that's the last thing I remember." No matter how many times the woman searched her mind and tried to use her telepathy to aid her memory recall, the woman just couldn't remember. "My manners...thanks for the books." Oops. "And the important question: did I hurt anybody?" She gestured with her left elbow for Izumi to follow her to the dining room, where they could cut slices of the watermelon for themselves and for others. Izumi followed along just a pace behind into the dining room, thinking for a moment to line up the details as she recalled them.
"Well now, it was in Andu's dimension you know...a party for the kittens' birthday it was." She offered to help with the monster melon, adding, "No, you didn't hurt anybody. Several said you didn't smell like yourself. You know what I think? I think there might be a Reiko imposter out there somewhere."
"Huh." Thoughts of somebody trying to impersonate her were enough to stop her mid-step. Then she realised that she had missed her nephews' and nieces' birthdays yesterday. "Oh no!!! Yesterday was their birthday, and I missed it!!!" Reiko cried. She pointed in the direction of the knife rack, which was in the kitchen. "This is too weird...I'd never miss out on their birthday!" Sitting down at the table the monster melon was now on, she put her head in her hands. "Oh man...I really screwed up by letting them down this time, didn't I, Izumi-chan." Reiko's head hung. "I hope I can make it up to them somehow...from what little I was told? Big Brother had been the one to bring me back from the Cemetery. How did I end up there with him after being at..? This doesn't make any sense at all." The woman paused to try piecing the puzzle together. She hoped she wasn't too far away for Kendra to track her scent.
Meanwhile, Kendra stopped to look around. Placing the basket on the ground, she took a deep breath and let out a roar. Her ears flicked as she listened. Her nose twitched as she searched for Reiko's scent. Tracking her scent to the Estate, she shifted into her human form when she spotted the guards. The jaguar-now-human took her cellphone out as she walked towards the doorman, crossing her arms and growling as she spoke. The doorman stared at her as Kendra sighed and typed out a message to Reiko.
"Sis?.can I knock this guy out? he
won't let me in...is there a password
or something?"
Izumi took a knife and set to work, expertly slicing up the melon. As she did, the gentle vibration of Reiko's phone prompted the contemplative woman to pull it out and read the text with a soft sigh. "Well, I'm sure they'll understand, what with you having a crisis that we don't even understand. I don't know how Andu worked that out. To tell the truth, I didn't know about the birthday myself. I came to beg him for help to rescue some baby woodpeckers in a tree that fell by my workshop..." How right Reiko knew Izumi was. Reiko sighed because of that and because of the issue that Kendra was having with the doorman. The last encounter with an imposter had been with her friend Billie...whatever happened to her, anyways. She thought for a moment as she continued to prep the melon. Then she added, "Well if it is an imposter, being stuck here, even if it?s boring, will be helpful. That way if you show up again, we know that the real you is here and can confront the Imposter-Reiko at once without doubts."
"Those poor birds?hm. My doorman isn't letting Kendra in for some reason. I'll be right back." Standing again, she politely excused herself whilst sending a text back to Kendra.
"Don't knock him out please, sis. I'm
coming to the door to let you in myself."
She didn't recall there being some kind of a password required for entry. She reached the front doors and opened it, seeing her sister and the doorman staring each other down. "All right, that's enough. My sister's one of my many relatives who's authorised to visit me. Please don't cause anymore trouble," Reiko spoke up. Her mid-shoulder length hair was puled back into a low ponytail. "Go on ahead, Kendra."
Kendra bared a fang at the man, then sighed and made her way over to Reiko. "Good thing I didn't have to fight him...I?m still weak." She kissed Reiko's cheek and said, "Thanks sis," whilst dangling the basket.
Reiko placed a hand on Kendra's shoulder gently. "It's all right. He wouldn't have actually started a fight," she said. She peered at the basket that Kendra carried whilst showing her to the dining room. Izumi was still there, having finished slicing up the watermelon in the meanwhile, and nibbled at a piece of it herself. She was, of course, very fond of the watermelon, especially this time of year. "Izumi-chan's come by too and brought me books to read. I...think she might've gotten a little hungry." Poking her head in, sure enough, there was the delinquent at the table. "Is it delicious?" Reiko teased with a smirk as she stepped in.
Izumi looked a little embarrassed as she nodded. "It is completely delicious. I got a little hungry." She waved now when she spotted Kendra. "Hi Kendra!"
Reiko pulled out a chair for Kendra before pulling one for herself and sitting down. "Would you like something to drink? I smelt lemons being squeezed for some homemade lemonade and could have some brought to us."
Kendra chuckled. "Hey Izumi," she greeted, setting the basket down on the table, "I brought some fresh tea leaves." She pulled out two canisters. One was lavender; the other was blueberry. She looked at Reiko with a smile and then at Izumi with a chuckle. "Good thing I went nuts as usual with baking, huh?" With a smile, she took out wrapped plates with scones, cookies, muffins, and all sorts of sweets.
"Whoa..." This should really cease to surprise the woman that Kendra would go happily overboard with the desserts. Not that anything was wrong with going overboard! "...I spy blueberry scones...ooh, and cookies...and holy shyte, more than I've ever ordered from the Tomes when I was working on my projects! Wow!" She giggled at her own reaction. "And tea...we'll pass on the lemonade, Carlo! Could you bring us three china mugs instead, please?" Reiko called out the door.
A well-tanned man with dark hair brought in three matching cups with all of the fixings anybody would ever need for a nice cup of tea, including hot water in a kettle that kept the water hot for hours. "Thanks." She waited for him to leave before handing the cups to each female, reserving herself for last. "Carlo is my footman. He's recently become my permanent footman to aid me in my travels...or, right now, keeping me in line."
Kendra quirked an eyebrow at Reiko. "Is he the reason your room at the cottage was always spotless?" she asked, snapping her fingers. The transparent coverings over the desserts shattered to allow the scents to escape into the room as she moved her hair, a faint bite mark showing between her neck and shoulder.
The woman gave an easily-perceived nervous laugh. "Not so much...that?s more of my just not wanting to stay still for long." She finally put the bag of books down on one end of the table, having forgotten for the moment that it was in her hand.
Izumi looked back and forth between Reiko and Kendra before looking to the treats set out. "Hm, it all looks wonderful," she said.
"Help yourself...it?s all just freshly made." Kendra sighed happily, and the first thing Reiko reached for was a scone, which was quickly worked over before the second scone was eaten a bit slower.
"Hm. Mating season?" Reiko asked, pointing at the bite mark that she caught from the corner of her eye. It earned her a quirked brow from Kendra.
"Nope?just Damien testing out his new fangs." With a shrug, Kendra picked up a lavender scone before picking at it slowly.
Hey, the woman was rather blunt! She raised her hands in a casual shrug offered and continued to work at her second scone. "Oh?" Reiko had only met the man once. He had passed the Reiko-Military-Style Test that night. "He seems nice enough for me to trust around my family...what of you, Izumi-chan? It seems like everyone's been finding their partners and soulmates except for you. Does anyone suit your fancy?"
Kendra laughed as she chewed on some of her scone. "You sound like Max."
"Max?" Reiko definitely hasn't met anybody named Max; at least, nobody she can remember by that name. It would really be nice if she didn't have this problem with remembering recent events. Subconsciously, her right hand brushed against the Silver Claw pendant that she wore on her necklace and felt her Miracle-Glow hair along the way. That was it. Reiko was going to give herself another haircut before she went to bed tonight. She reached for a cookie and started to nibble away. "I hope this isn't come Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde thing..." Reiko said. This really bugged her!
"Oh, that?s right...you haven?t met my older brother," Kendra said, looking at Reiko in thought. Reiko shook her head at this. She had been munching away on the nice variety of Kendra's desserts quietly, all the whilst thinking as Izumi quietly excused herself. The delinquent had received a message requesting her return to Kabuki Street, which left the other two women.
"I haven't...so, how are things with you and Damien?" Reiko asked, hoping to keep the conversation going. Her lack of memory regarding last night's events were pushed towards the back of her mind, where they would be filed away for the time being.
Kendra chuckled before answering, "He took on a Jaguar, and he is huge," she answered with a smile to Reiko.