(OOC: This is continued from the former RP forums. A full backlog of the story is stored on the www.paragoncity.com/ website. Here's the last post).
He laughed again, this time longer and louder than before. He walked faster and turned to face her bowing at the waist. "I am honoured to meet one of the few to have done so. I would have paid good money to see the expression on the Countess' face"
"You left before you caught the look she sent me at the Mayor's reception... that was priceless," she said with a smile. "It's quite true, and circumstantial."
"There are only a handful of people in the world who can follow what Reggie Fairfax was doing, and it can mean a great deal of money to the health care industry. They offered me the world to get me out of my ivory tower..."
"But they had Reggie's work... and I have to make sure it ends up in the right hands."
"I understand your feelings but perhaps you are not aware of how manipulative the Countess can be. But enough business talk for now, it is such a lovely evening after all, not to mention the company."
'I'm not..?' she thought to herself, the laundry list of suspicions and inconsistencies flooding back into her mind so that she almost missed the rest of his sentence as she pushed them back.
"As you like it... thank you," she said, allowing her mind to catch up. "I will warn you that I am hard to keep away from science, though. If you offer me a penny for my thoughts at some abstract point I won't take it, but I will probably answer 'telomeres'."
"And if you do I appologise in advance for the blank expression on my face" he smilled again. That was another thing that made him think, he hadn't smilled this much in a long time.
"Not at all... only don't ask me to explain it. I left the Royal College before the undergraduates could teach me brevity..."
She watched the trail the sun had blazed along the tops of the sparkling waves and very carefully refused to wonder what she was really doing there. The sunglasses weren't all that necessary, so she pushed them back with one hand.
By now they had reached at the top of the island and come to a large rocky outcropping on which there was a wooden gazeebo which was well lit.
"If you will forgive the assumption I had chef bring some food down to the gazeebo in case we came down this far. It's an ideal spot to watch the sun set."
"Assumption or contingency plan?" She asked. "It's lovely, that's a fine idea."
But for his self control he might have blushed but merely nodded and led the way up some steps carved into the rocks and waited for her to enter before him.
The gazeebo was roughly 0 feet across and in the center was a low table on which a variety of chilled foods were waiting along with a bottle of champagne on ice and several non alcoholic drinks.
Despite being open, the gazebo was relatively warm thanks to underfloor heating and Argo waited until Liv was seated in one of the wicker chairs before taking one himself.
She brushed past him and slipped into her seat, all the while admiring the view. "Definitely a contingency plan," she said softly. She looked across at him as he took a seat. "And you are not without your libation to family solidarity. Very nice," she concluded with a teasing smile.
He nodded and smilled.
"It is the choice of a new generation after all!"
"Is it? I'm sorry if I failed to notice..."
Mattheus laughed and gestured towards the drinks. "Would you care for anything?"
"Water, please. It really does make the world go 'round."
Nodding he reached for a bottle of mineral water and poured a generous amount into a tall glass.
There was a hole a little less than an foot wide in the center of the table and at a clap from Argo, a small fire started up and the ambient lights dimmed a little.
"Please, help yourself to the food. I made sure Chef left out anything you might be allergic to."
"Thank you," she said, shooting him an odd glance. That was something she always asked people about when hostessing. She took a long drink of her water.
Mattheus poured himself a drink of pineapple juice and sipped on it slowly, his appetite being replaced by a strange hollow feeling in his stomach.
(OOC: This is continued from the former RP forums. A full backlog of the story is stored on the www.paragoncity.com/ website. Here's the last post).
He laughed again, this time longer and louder than before. He walked faster and turned to face her bowing at the waist. "I am honoured to meet one of the few to have done so. I would have paid good money to see the expression on the Countess' face"
"You left before you caught the look she sent me at the Mayor's reception... that was priceless," she said with a smile. "It's quite true, and circumstantial."
"There are only a handful of people in the world who can follow what Reggie Fairfax was doing, and it can mean a great deal of money to the health care industry. They offered me the world to get me out of my ivory tower..."
"But they had Reggie's work... and I have to make sure it ends up in the right hands."
"I understand your feelings but perhaps you are not aware of how manipulative the Countess can be. But enough business talk for now, it is such a lovely evening after all, not to mention the company."
'I'm not..?' she thought to herself, the laundry list of suspicions and inconsistencies flooding back into her mind so that she almost missed the rest of his sentence as she pushed them back.
"As you like it... thank you," she said, allowing her mind to catch up. "I will warn you that I am hard to keep away from science, though. If you offer me a penny for my thoughts at some abstract point I won't take it, but I will probably answer 'telomeres'."
"And if you do I appologise in advance for the blank expression on my face" he smilled again. That was another thing that made him think, he hadn't smilled this much in a long time.
"Not at all... only don't ask me to explain it. I left the Royal College before the undergraduates could teach me brevity..."
She watched the trail the sun had blazed along the tops of the sparkling waves and very carefully refused to wonder what she was really doing there. The sunglasses weren't all that necessary, so she pushed them back with one hand.
By now they had reached at the top of the island and come to a large rocky outcropping on which there was a wooden gazeebo which was well lit.
"If you will forgive the assumption I had chef bring some food down to the gazeebo in case we came down this far. It's an ideal spot to watch the sun set."
"Assumption or contingency plan?" She asked. "It's lovely, that's a fine idea."
But for his self control he might have blushed but merely nodded and led the way up some steps carved into the rocks and waited for her to enter before him.
The gazeebo was roughly 0 feet across and in the center was a low table on which a variety of chilled foods were waiting along with a bottle of champagne on ice and several non alcoholic drinks.
Despite being open, the gazebo was relatively warm thanks to underfloor heating and Argo waited until Liv was seated in one of the wicker chairs before taking one himself.
She brushed past him and slipped into her seat, all the while admiring the view. "Definitely a contingency plan," she said softly. She looked across at him as he took a seat. "And you are not without your libation to family solidarity. Very nice," she concluded with a teasing smile.
He nodded and smilled.
"It is the choice of a new generation after all!"
"Is it? I'm sorry if I failed to notice..."
Mattheus laughed and gestured towards the drinks. "Would you care for anything?"
"Water, please. It really does make the world go 'round."
Nodding he reached for a bottle of mineral water and poured a generous amount into a tall glass.
There was a hole a little less than an foot wide in the center of the table and at a clap from Argo, a small fire started up and the ambient lights dimmed a little.
"Please, help yourself to the food. I made sure Chef left out anything you might be allergic to."
"Thank you," she said, shooting him an odd glance. That was something she always asked people about when hostessing. She took a long drink of her water.
Mattheus poured himself a drink of pineapple juice and sipped on it slowly, his appetite being replaced by a strange hollow feeling in his stomach.