1x1 with x_fire

Demitri sighed, relieved as the elevator door opened and both he and Alexi bolted out, shaking their heads.
"Hm?" Demitri frowned, feeling hsi phone viberate in his pocket. He glanced down, smirking at the text from Kristen.
Sounds like a good date to me, tell Alayna thanks He responded, sliding his phone back into his pocket and grinning as he took Maddie's hand.
"Wanna see my office and then go play with Alexi?" He asked curiously.

Keith stood in the kitchen, making a bacon and egg sandwhich. He had missed cooking when he had been far to ill to even consider cooking. He smiled lightly, frying the bacon before sliding it onto the lightly buttered bread, on top of the eggs.

Maddie looked up at Demitri, lacing her fingers gently with his cold ones, frowning. Was he always this cold? He was wearing long sleeves and a jacket..yet his fingers were like ice. It was strangly comforting, and Maddie was momentarily caught up in her memories to realize Demitri had asked her something.
"Huh?" Maddie asked, blinking as she came back to her senses.


Kristen rolled her eyes at the response she gained from Demitri. Typical. She smirked and tucked her phone away as Maria caught her attention again. She chewed her lip gently before answering Maria's questions and then telling Alayna of Demitri's message.
"Ha! I win." Alayna said, smirking.
"Oh, now that we know a date, we have to go looking for a dress." Maria said.
"Lovely..." Kristen muttered, rubbing her eyes and smirking.

Demitri shook his head, "Never mind kiddo, we're just gonna go to my office really quick, and then you and Alexi can go play, alright?" He said, holding her hand gently as they walked down the hallway. He stepped into a large outter room, a receptionist and chairs as well as a small coffee bar.
"Hey Alison" He nodded at the girl, whom glanced up, suprised, but smiled.
"Hello Mr. Draq, I didn't realize you were coming in today" She said, smiling and handing him a file.
"Impromptune visit" Demitri responded, shrugging.
"I'll be in my office if anyone needs me" He said, leading the way to the closed door, which he pushed open, revealing a large, comfortable office. It had a gorgeous view of the city, but was also comfortable to be in.
"What do you think?" He asked Maddie.

Keith poked his head back into the living room, munching on a sandwhich, "That, I want to see' He said, winking at Kristen and chuckling.
"Besides, doesn't that mean you also have to pick out bridesmaid dresses and stuff?" He asked curiously, sitting down on the floor by Maria, making his wings disappear so he didn't drop feathers all over the place. He nibbled his food, smiling contently.

Maddie blinked and nodded, letting Demitri lead the way to wherever they were going. Another large room was where they were going, but this one had big windows and a pretty view. Maddie let out a small breath, stepping up to the window and gazing out and around with wide eyes...then she looked down.
Maddie shuddered and took a few steps back from the window. "We-we're really high up..." Maddie studdered, taking another step and backing into his office chair.


"I'm not going to try on a dress." Kristen murmured. "We're shopping for the bridesmades, but Alayna was designing me one..."
That reminded her friend, and Alayna stoop up quickly to get the sketchs she'd been working on the past few weeks. Maria sighed, looking disappointed.
"Well, it would have been funny to make Kristen try on a dozen dresses no?" Maria asked, smirking.
"Never. In. Your. Life." Kristen growled lightly, shaking her head.

Demitri picked Maddie up, "Yupp, pretty high, but don't worry, we're perfectly safe" He said, smiling and kissing her forhead, before passing the little girl to a much more sober Alexi.
"Come on Maddie, why don't me and you go play?" Alexi asked, holding his niece lightly and smiling at his brother.
"I'll come find you guys when I'm done" Demitri waved, sitting down in his chair and pulling open his laptop, along with the file in Alison had given him.

Alexi carried Maddie out of the office, waving to Alison and smiling.
"So, ready to go play?" he asked, trying to brighten the little girl's mood.

Keith frowned, "You're so boring, and you do realize that just because she designs you a dress, you'll need to do fittings and what not" He reminded her, shaking his head and sighing. He glanced at maria, "So when are you guys going shopping?" He asked curiously.

Maddie simply nodded, scrambling up in Demitri's arms where she felt the safest. "Uh huh." She said, puppy brown eyes still glancing at the dangerous height the window showed her. When she was handed to Alexi, Maddie tried not to protest too much. She sat up and waved to Demitri as Alexi took her from his office.
"Yea." Maddie said, looking back at Alexi with wide excited eyes.

Kristen rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for not being the typical bride-to-be and frantic over every little thing." She said, smirking lightly as she layed across the sofa. Maria had said she would take care of most of it anyway.
Alayna came back then, pushing Kristen to make room for her on the couch to show her the sketches. Kristen grinned, forver amazed at the pictures Alayna and Keith could effortlessly conjure up.
"I like that one..." Kristen said, pointing out one of the designs Alayna had hastly skecthed in a corner.
"Really?" Alayna asked. She hadn't really spent as much time on it as the others, but Kristen had noticed it all the same.
"Yea. Its simple..." Kristen said shrugging.

Alexi smiled, "We'll have fun Maddie, and Demitri'll be done in no time" He said, walking down the hall and opening the door to a huge playroom. He smiled, "This is where a lot of employees bring their kids when they have to work" He explained to Maddie, setting her down. The room was split up into a nursery in one room, a place for small children, so soft animals, cushy floos, big blocks, stuff like that. The rest of the room was a huge play place, with tunnels, slides, swings, ball pits. Other kids ran around and attendants were either sitting around, watching them, or playing with the younger kids.
"What do you wanna do?" He asked, hands resting on Maddie's shoulders, a small smile on his face.

Keith glanced over at the drawing, "I think it suits you" He murmured, "And you should be frantic bride-to-be, you're getting married in like a month, and despite Maria planning everything, you guys do have to work out a place to get married, where to hold the reception, and get caterers and satuff" He said, smirking and finishing off his sandwhich.

"WHOA!!" Maddie exclaimed when Alexi pushed away the doors to releave the playroom. This wasn't a playroom, this was a park! Maddie took at least five minutes just staring at everything in disbelief. She held her head, giggling, almost speechless and undecided about what to do. She had the strongest urge to shift and simply run around...
"The swings!" Maddie squealed, surpressing her shifting urge and running for the swing set.


"Demitri said we could go back to Italy." Kristen said dreamily. "The house he bought has a gorgeous water front." She explained.
Maria took the skecth from Alayna and nodded, looking around for her taylor's number. "We won't need much when it comes to catering." Maria said with a small shrug. "The main thing would be the cake." She said, smiling.

Alexi chuckled and wandered after Maddie, "Want me to push you?" He asked, helping the little girl onto her swing. He was rather enjoying spending time with her.
"So, what do you think of your mom marrying Demitri?" He asked curiously, sitting next to her, incase she did want to be pushed. He smiled, waiting for her answer, he was excited of course, but he wanted Maddie to tell him how she felt.

Keith smiled, "Ah, Italy, so ceremony and reception will be held in Italy?" That sounded amazing, he wanted to go so bad.
"Will Alexi be alright?" He asked, looking at Maria a bit worridly. Demitri had told him what happened, and he figured they wouldnt want to go back if it would stress out Demitri's best man.

"Yea." Maddie said, eagerly jumping into the swing and kicking her feet. She waited patiently for Alexi to push her, and giggled at his question. She thought about it for a moment, her eyes crystalizing to their infamous blue. Alexi was excited about it, which was pretty much the major emotion when the subject came up. Maddie simply shrugged. She still didn't understand the concept of marriage entirely, but whatever made her mother happy worked for Maddie. And being with Demitri, definatly made Kristen happy.


Alayna's eyes went wide at the thought of visiting Italy. The sheer thought along made her shudder in antisicaption. Maria tensed at the mention of Alexi. She had thought about it, knowing Demitri had offered the reception to take place in the beach-side house.
"It's far enough out of Rome that it shouldn't bother him." Maria said, silently praying she hadn't jinxed herself.
Kristen chewed her lip in thought then, worried about Alexi now all over again. Maria saw the look in Kristen's eyes and smiled. "Alexi wouldn't want your wedding plans changed on his behalf Kristen, this means a lot to Demitri's brothers."

Alexi smiled, begining to push Maddie lightly on the swing.
"Sir, if you'd like to leave your little girl here, that's fine" An attendant came over. Alexi chuckled, "She's not my daughter, she's my niece, we're just wating for her Dad" He responded, still pushing Maddie.
"Oh, well normally we dont allow parents or relatives to play in the play area" She said, causing Alexi to chuckle again, "I think you'll allow me" He murmured, "After all, I am in charge of your pay checks" He arched an eyebrow.
"Oh? Oh!" The girl gasped, realizing whom she was speaking to. "Oh, Mr. Draq forgive me, so this must be Demitri's daughter?" She asked, Alexi nodded, "Madison" He murmured, slowing the swing.
"Well Madison, we're having some cookies and juice, would you like some?" She asked, Alexi looked down at Maddie, waiting for her respnse.

Keith smiled, nodding his head in agreement with Maria.
"I doubt Alexi would agree if he didn't feel comfortable enough" He murmured, "Besides, Maria's right, The Draq's are a lot more excited about this then they're letting on" He said with a small smile. He smiled, looking at Alayna's drawing again.

Maddie stopped swinging once the lady came over. She looked up coldly at the lady, her hands tightening on the swing. This lady was not going to make Alexi leave her. Maddie wouldn't stay here by herself, no matter how amazing it was. She glared up at the attendant, thankful for the fear that Alexi inflicted on her at the mention of paychecks. Maddie smirked but shook her head at the offer of food. "No thank you." She said tightly, shaking her head again.


Kristen smiled and nodded. "Alright." She said as Maria caught her attention again about the dress. The taylor Maria called would be here in the morning for measurements and the designs Alayna had skecthed. That would work...they could do down to the city for the bridesmaid dresses...
Alayna glanced over at Keith, seeing him looking at her drawing. She smiled lightly, handing over the remaining sheets of skecth paper for him to look at if he wished.

Alexi knelt down beside Maddie, hugging her.
"Don't worry kiddo, I wouldn't have left' He said softly, kissing her cheek and sighing. "Besides, it's no fun being here by yourself" He glanced around, "Did you want to try and meet some of the other kids? I know a few, and Demitri invited some of them to your party" He said gently, nodding at a shy little girl in the corner.
"Do you wanna say hi?" He asked gently.

Keith accepted the drawings, "So, when are you guys going shopping then?" He asked, looking over Alayna's sketches. He chuckled as he found one of him in a tux.
"What's this?" He asked, he knew he was one of Demitri's groomsmen, and Alexi was the best man, but besides that, he didn't know much more.

Maddie grinned thankfully as Alexi said he wouldn't leave her. It was reassuring and she sighed. Looking around the playground again, Maddie pulled in her powers softly, not wanting to feel overwhelmed at the moment. She looked over where Alexi was pointing and nearly became shy herself. The girl looked a bit lonely...and Maddie felt for her. Looking back at Alexi, Maddie grinned and nodded for him to stay here while she walked over to the girl.
"I'm Maddie." she said softly. "Do you wanna come on the swings with me and my uncle?"


"Probably tomorrow." Maria said, putting a few papers away in a folder and hanging up her phone. This was good. Now that she had a date, and a few prefenses of Kristen, she could get everything done in the month they had left before the wedding. This was exciting and Maria was grinning at the thought of it all.
Alayna glanced over at Keith and grinned with a small shrug. "You never protested my drawings of you before." she said, smirking teasingly. She didn't have to look at the drawing to know which one Keith was talking about.

Alexi smiled, sitting back down on the swing, watching Maddie go talk to the girl with a grin. He knew for a fact that the little girl was gonna come to Maddie's birthday, so her be-friending the child was probably a good idea, and would be better at the party.
"H-Hi" The little girl said in accented english. "I'm Alyassa" she murmured, smiling lightly She glanced up and saw Alexi smiling at her.
"O-okay" She said, grinning and standing up, "Are you the Maddie who's birthday is coming up?" she asked curiously, playing with the hem of her skirt.

"Have fun" Keith chuckled, "You know there's no way you'll get Alexi and Demitri to go, right?" He chuckled, rolling his eyes at the drawing.
"I'm not protesting the drawing, but seriously Alayna, a tux?" He looked at her, incredulous.
"I don't look like that when I wear a tux"

Hearing the girl's accent english, Maddie realized how much of a jump she had taken. "Oh, you do speak English, cool!" Maddie said, grinning. "Alyassa," she repeated, nodding to her.
"Come on then." Maddie said, gently taking the girl's hand and smiling to lessen her shyness. She didn't need to read the girl's emotions to see that. Walking over to Alexi, Maddie nodded.
"Uh-huh. My Dad's throwing the party. I'm gonna be six. How old are you?" Maddie asked.
"Alexi, this is my friend Alyassa!" Maddie said eagerly as they walked up to the tall vampire. "Can you push us on the swings?"


Maria shrugged. "They have to get fitted for tuxs.." she pointed out. "Might as well do it all in one shot no?"
Kristen smirked, thinking it would be an interesting sight to force Demitri and Alexi to watch them try on dress after dress. She laughed quietly to herself and shook her head. "That would be comical."
Alayna rolled her eyes. "It's not finished Keith." she chided gently. "And I've actually never seen you in a tux, so I didn't have much to base it on."

Alyassa smiled at Maddie.
"I'm six, my daddy said we're going to your party" She said with a small grin as she let Maddie take her hand. She trailed along behind the other girl, suddenly realizing she had been speaking english to her. "Oh" She giggled, smiling up at Alexi.
Hey The tall vampire said in Russian, trying to make the little girl feel more comfortable. "Sure, I can push you on the swings" He grinned at Maddie, picking her up and setting her on one swing, then did the same with Alyassa.
You speak Russian? The little girl asked with a grin.
Yupp, I live here, along with the rest of my family, Maddie and her mom are from America, they just moved here He explained, smiling.
"So are you gonna be at the party?" He asked the little girl.
"Yupp, my daddy and I are going' She smiled, grinning at Maddie, her newest, and what she hoped would be a good friend.

Keith winced, "I wore one, once" He said, rolling his eyes.
"Ah, Demitri said something about tailors coming to the house" He said, "So, we techincally don't have to go shopping" He said with a small smile, "And, I seriously doubt they'd last in a bridal store very long" He said, shaking his head and sighing.

Maddie grinned, liking this Alyassa girl more and more. "Does your daddy work here too?" she asked, hoping onto the swing as Alexi agreed to push them. She frowned for a moment as the two spoke Russian, which was still a forgein language to her. Maybe Alyassa could teach her a few things...
She grinned, liking the idea that Alyassa would be at the party. "It's gonna be fun! Alexi's gonna be running the games. Right Alexi?" Maddie asked, looking back at him as he pushed her on the swing.


Alayna raised eyebrow. "When?" she asked, curious now. Not once could she remember seeing Keith in a tux...then again, there were a lot of things she still couldn't remember that well.
"Oo the cheat. I had the idea first." Maria muttered quickly to herself, shaking her head. Kristen smirked, surpressing her laughter for the most part. Maria and Demitri had an interesting relationship that borderlined competition, which Kristen found funny.
"You gotta admitt, the sight of two vampires standing around in a bridal store watching the girls try on dresses would be hysterical." Kristen said, smirking at the thought.

Alexi smiled, "Right-o Maddie, I said I would, so I will" He said, pushing the two girls effortlessly as he listened to them chatter.
"Yea, my dad works in a big office, upstairs" Alyassa said, grinning. "Does your Daddy work here too?" She asked curiously, like most kids, she didn't fully understand the concept of a job, so she figured Maddie's dad was like her's, though she knew her dad had a boss, she just didn't relate that the Mr. Draq, or Demitri her dad talked about, was the same one. Alexi chuckled, but didn't explain, he'd let Maddie answer her new friend.

Keith smirked, "It'd be pretty funny" He murmured, agreeing with Kristen.
"I think that tailor is more for my sake" He admitted, "In case I fall asleep in the store" he was still exahusted easily, but he was improving, which was a good sign, especially if he had to travel to italy within a month and help with a kid's birthday party.

"So does mine!" Maddie exclaimed, hearing that Alyassa's dad worked in a big office. She nodded, laughing as Alexi pushed her higher on the swing, and Alyassa followed.
"Yea, we got to see his office today! It's really big," she said, emphasiszing the word big with her wide eyes and a nod of her head. "Alexi, how much longer is he going to stay up there? Can we go see him?" Maddie asked then, mildly curious as to what Demitri was doing, half wanting to introduce him to her new friend, and half conscious of that ache starting to grow in her chest.


Alayna sighed, resting her chin on her hands as she watched Maria re-orgainze papers, and hand things for Kristen to decide over. She let her mind wander a bit, staring distantly at the floor. She was half listening to what was going on, hearing something about Keith falling asleep in a store made her smirk. He was getting better, not as exhausted as he used to be, but still tired all the same.
Kristen nodded, half focused on Maria and taping the screen of her phone before shoving it back in her pocket, telling herself he'd be home soon.
"Ooh, I like that one." Kristen said, leaning forward and pointing to a picture Maria had shown her for decorations and table centerpeices.

Alexi smiled, "Sure, we can go anytime you want" He said with a small chuckle.
"Alyassa, care to join us?" He asked.
"A-alright" she said with a small smile, "Maybe on the way we could stop and see my dad?" She asked softly, she missed her dad during the day, she only lived with her dad, her mom had died, and she didn't like being apart from him for long.
"Please?" She asked.
"Sure, we can stop, do you know the way to his office?"
"Yea" She smiled, hopping down from the swing.
"Come on Maddie" Alexi said, holding his hand out and waving at the attendant.
Alyassa's gonna come with us to see her dad
Ah, alright She smiled half-heartedly, watching the three leave.

Keith glanced up, watching Maria with a small smile. He was much more intune to people's emotions, thoughts then they realized. It was an angel thing, "Anytime now" He murmured, standing up to put his stuff in the sink and glancing outside. It was really nice out, but he yawned anyway, wandering back into the living room and sitting down beside Alayna. He set his head on a pillow, sighing and letting his eyes slide shut, basically passing out in a matter of moments.

Maddie's eyes went wide and she grinned, jumping off the swing eagerly. "Let's go!" she said, bouncing enetergetically in one place. She was glad that Alyassa had agreed to come along, since she would have felt bad leaving her here by herself. She was double glad still that her new friend was coming to her party.
"When's your birthday?" Maddie asked curiously, keeping close to Alexi, though making sure Alyassa was still with them. Seeing Alexi's hand outstrecthed to her, Maddie took Alyassa's hand again before taking Alexi's to keep up with him.


"Hmm?" Maria asked, looking up as she heard Keith mumbled to himself. She raised an eyebrow gently before busing herself again with stuff to do. She needed to keep her mind focused on this since there was so much to do for the wedding and she only had a month.
"Hey, let's get Jason to D.J." Kristen said as Maria brought up the topic of music. "He did a pretty awesome job at that New Years party you and Alexi threw."
Maria smirked and nodded. "That can work." she said, jotting down a reminder for herself to call Jason the next chance she got. Then she scracthed it out; he'd be here for Maddie's party this weekend-she'd ask him then.

Alexi trotted along side Maddie and Alyassa, keeping his pace slow so that he didn't go to fast. He shook his head, listening to them with a small smile. It was nice Maddie had a friend, and he could see a slew of sleepovers and what not in the future already.
"April third" Alyassa said gently, smiling shyly at Maddie.
"It's down here" She tugged Maddie's hand gently, pushing open the door to a nicely sized office, smaller then Demitri's of course.
Daddy She called out, running over to a tall, blond man, wrapping her arms around him.
Ah, Alyassa, what's wrong sweetheart? He asked, kneeling to her level to return the hug.
"Nothing" She said, switching to english.
"I just wanted you to meet my new friends" He glanced up, "New friends?"
"Maddie, it's her birthday that we're going to" She smiled.
"Oh?" He looked up, eyes growing wide for a moment. "Alexi Draq?"
"Yupp, that's me, and this is my brother, Demitri's daughter, Madison" He said, shaking the man's hand as it was offered.

Keith tossed lightly on the couch. He was half asleep, though much more asleep then awake. He sighed, hand dangling off of the couch, listening to the girls talk distantly.

"Oh cool." Maddie said, being jerked away from Alexi as Alyassa pulled her into an office. It was smaller then Demitri's, but Maddie looked around curiously anyway, smiling up at Alyassa's father. Why must all the Dad's be so tall?
Maddie waved lightly with a giggle at the man's astonshiment when he saw Alexi. Everyone seemed to have the same reaction, Maddie suddenly realized, looking up at the man with her crystal blue eyes. She wondered distantly why as the two men shook hands.
"Everyone is surprised when they meet my Daddy or Alexi..." Maddie murmured quietly to Alyassa. "I dunno why though..." she said with a small shrugg.


Alayna glanced over at Keith, smirking lightly. Kristen looked up as well as the Angel stirred and she frowned.
"Ever exhausted huh?" Kristen murmured quietly.
"He's getting better." Alayna said, with a small shrug. "At least he gets up out of bed now."
Maria smirked. "Well, Sven said the healing would take time to recover from."
"Go figure." Kristen muttered, massaging her temples. "Can we take a break? I need something to eat." she muttered, her stomach actually growing for food instead of her throat burning for blood. Maria sighed dramatically but nodded and Kristen hurried quietly into the kicthen.

Alyassa was gaping along with her daddy.
"That's because your daddy owns this whole building' She said, her dad had told her that. She smiled shyly at Alexi, but he had seemed nice enough, and he was nice to her daddy, so she wasn't to scared of him.
"Shall we go see Demitri now Maddie?" he asked, he glanced at Alyassa's dad.
"Would you mind if Alyassa joined us this afternoon? I can give you our address, to pick her up later?"
"No, of course not, she's welcome to go, if she wants. Alyassa, do you want to play with Maddie at her house today?" He asked his daughter gently.