Rattlesnake {Nero}

[Sasha]

And for that, Aimee was going to get to be Sigried's plaything at some point, but she said nothing, nodding and smiling warmly. "That's good, then," she breathed. "If only my life had been so easy." She cast a strange sort of look at Aimee, then - and there was the insanity floating to the surface, like a dead body in the East River. Bloated, pale, and very, very diseased - just a flicker of it, in the strange smile she had, the way her eyes narrowed just slightly, and the soft, almost inaudible laugh that left her mouth.

Oh, yes.

And then it was gone. She was turned back to Nero, nodding and smiling, clasping her hands together in eagerness to see the rest of the laboratory. "Do you have anything that explodes?" she was asking, voice curious, amused. She liked explosions, especially chemical ones. They made all sorts of pretty flames of different and unnatural colours, like an inferno of the Aurora Borealis - she hoped he did. She didn't even so much as glance back to Aimee as she followed him on, like an excited child - the moment, it seemed, had passed entirely.

Strange.

[Libby Belmont]

Aimee's relief - he hadn't noticed it.  Nero was an intelligent man and noticed a lot of things, but emotions just weren't his forte.  Aside from being completely engrossed in the vampire, which he knew he was and couldn't entirely protest to, all things considered, he was always disconnected from feelings.  That was why most relationships with him, friendship or otherwise, generally didn't do so well.  Especially not coupled with the fact that his first priority was usually his experiments.

Things like that tended to happen and it was always his fault.

He stood idly, listening but not really hearing what the women were saying.  Then the attention went back to him and his face brightened considerably at the mention of his chemicals.  "Of course," he answered easily as he gestured towards his cabinets.  "I try to keep most everything on hand - you never know what will be necessary."  His eyes shifted towards Sigried as he finally asked, "Is there anything in particular that you wanted to see?"

He wouldn't let her touch them.  She would have had to ask directly because that was something that just went against everything he stood for.  Non-professionals couldn't touch his chemicals without his supervision.  The professionals, of course, included himself and...

He glanced over at Aimee - finally - and let brief recognition wipe across his face.  He had almost forgotten that she was present, but that really wasn't his fault.  Aimee was important to him.  More than he would admit.

But he wanted Sigried to stay.  He liked her.  Later he would blame her, but at the moment, he liked her.  And that left him in a dilemma.  Aimee was there to spend time with him, not the vampire, but Sigried just... something about her felt nice to be around.  All it took was for him to glance back at the vampire to be stuck again, his dilemma suddenly wiped clean.

He was in such deep shit and he knew it somewhere in his mind.

[Sasha]

  Sigried shrugged a little, still smiling. "I don't know the names, but I know if you mix certain things together, they burn different colours. Can I see that? It might inspire a new painting, who knows. I could credit you for it at the gallery," she said cheerfully. She knew he probably wouldn't normally give a flying rat's ass about art, considering how scientifically-minded she could see he was, but the offer to credit him might fluff his ego a little.

  "Can I sit?" she asked, gesturing to a stool near several of the beakers and other odds and ends. "I promise not to touch anything," she added solemnly, holding her hands up like a child would to show an adult they weren't doing anything.

  Aimee was far from her mind at this point, regardless of how close physically she was in the room. She wasn't going to let the shapeshifter spoil her fun - and of course, she'd get her later. She almost laughed out loud, because it was so... so Wizard of Oz. I'll get you, my pretty! She ran her tongue along her lower lip and looked to Nero, waiting for his answer.