Birthday Dinner Surprise {Lucien, Rhona}

[Irulan Flores]

Irulan Flores was a woman of haste - when she was running late, anyways. Black heels clipped loudly against the hallway as she rush-walked to Lucien's office, brilliant brown eyes glancing down to her silver-linked wrist watch. The song the White Rabbit sang in Alice in Wonderland danced through her head... "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!". It was Rhona's birthday, and she was supposed to be there in thirty minutes. Problem was, she was forty-five minutes away.

She rapped against the door of the Guild Leader's office, and opened her mouth a little in surprise when it swung open. She'd nearly barreled right into him - now that would've been something, wouldn't it? She smiled and straightened the dark burgundy button-down shirt she wore, holding the small stack of manila folders out to him.

"The profiles you asked for. I did interviews with both of them, and they both check out. Basically, they're psychologically cleared as far as I'm concerned. No harm, no foul." She smiled a little, the lightest accent to her voice. Absently, she selected a piece of wool from the gray sweater she kept in her office that had shed onto the black shin-length skirt she wore, and picked it off, flicking it at the floor with a clear-polished nail.

Lucien took the folders, a mere eyebrow raised at her promise of no signs of irreparable damage from Verde's shooting spree. Honestly, that man had to stop making it a habit of freely firing at trainees who didn't jump when he said jump - or at least, not hitting them so much when he did decide to open fire. "Thanks," he replied, trying not to laugh at the mental image. Serious Guild Leader. Bad to laugh at fail trainees. Bad.

Irulan gave him a questioning glance as she saw his lips twitch, but pressed on. "If you'll excuse me now, sir, it's my sister's birthday dinner, and I promised, and I'm already late." She offered another smile - something about Flores women and that smile, it seemed to work wonders, even if it was just a press and curve of the lips, not a toothy grin. Perhaps it was because the smile met their eyes, which just made them sparkle more - but then, all Serpiente had that glorious trait, didn't they?

Lucien nodded, reaching over her shoulder to prop the door open for her. "Of course. Sorry to request these short notice - you know the drill, though. Tell your sister I said happy birthday - how old is she?" he inquired. Irulan was late twenties, he knew, but she didn't look it. He could only guess how old any siblings she had were. He'd heard her talk about a big family before.

Irulan turned, and laughed a little. "Rhona? It's the fourth anniversary of her twenty-second birthday. You do the math," she said, still chuckling a little. She'd given up on the idea of youth a long time ago, and was simply glad that she didn't age like humans did - or rather, she did it entirely more gracefully.

Lucien was almost beside himself. "Rhona?" he repeated. "Wait a second, Irulan Flores? Rhona Flores is your sister?" No way - that was too much of a coincidence, and Lucien had really been having way too many of those for his own good. Tsunai, Victoria, the psychotic Nevla shifter...

Irulan paused. "Yes," she said slowly, the word going up at the end, as though she'd made it a question. "Do you know her?"

Five minutes later, Irulan was planted next to Lucien in his car, on the way to Little Havana for dinner.

[Lucien Cobriana]

At this point, Lucien had actually forgotten about the profiles Irulan had been planning on getting to him.  He figured that they were in her office or her car, and that she'd left for the day.  She wasn't exactly one of those members that worked all hours unless there was something special going on, so she kept more normal hours.  That was fine, and he was glad for her that she managed that.  Once upon a time, he'd been hating his hours and the lack of normalcy they brought him. 

Of course, having his pregnant fiancee vanish in a split second had taken care of that.  Now, his hours really didn't matter, and most of them were put into some form of work.

Fact of the matter was, he wasn't expecting to nearly run her down on his way out of the office, the last thing he'd expected was to find out that Rhona was her sister, and ending up on his way to Little Havana for dinner definitely wasn't in the plans.  Nothing ever went according to plan for him anymore, and he was almost starting to expect that.

Given how 'proper' his own family was, even with three children in it, Lucien was thinking this was going to be quite the experience.  He'd heard stories, but now that he knew that Rhona and Irulan, who seemed so different, were sisters, he knew that it was going to be something impressive.  He just hoped nobody minded the extra body, though big families always seemed to just welcome more.  He guessed he'd find out.

"And you're certain nobody's going to mind me being here?" he asked her once more, and for a reason.  Besides being an extra person, he was Diente.  Serpiente sometimes got funny around him.

[Irulan Flores]

"Positive," she replied, checking her reflection in the little mirror on the flip-down thing in his car. She snapped it shut and looked at him pointedly on the sound of the click, this time flashing him a full smile with teeth. "You've met her before, right? She was bummed that it was only going to be the two of us, but her schedule conflicted with everyone else's. Mama and Papa were sure to send lots of besos y abrazos, along with all five of our other siblings." She winked at him, and then nodded to the door. "Come on, Diente, this is one dinner with two girls you already know - not formal dining in a massive Avian banquet hall."

With that, she got out, walking 'round to his side, as backwards as it was, and practically tugging him along. She stopped short at the door to straighten his shirt, and then opened it, nodding to the waiter. She said something hastily in Spanish, and he lead them down the dimly lit carpeted pathway through the small restaurant to where Rhona sat, looking resplendent in a classy black dress. Her hair was highlighted and left down, giving her a sort of bronze/golden look.

"Happy biiirthday," Irulan sang, creeping up behind her to wrap her arms 'round her shoulders in a hug. "Look who I brought!" And with that, she gave a flourishing hand gesture to Lucien.

"Lucien!" Rhona exclaimed. She jumped out of her seat after a brief hug with her sister, and proceeded to nearly mow her down to catch his arm. "I didn't know you were coming!"

Irulan shot Lucien a Look that plainly said: Oh no, she doesn't mind if you come.

[Lucien Cobriana]

Hearing that it was only going to be the two of them, Irulan and Rhona, actually made him feel a little less out of place.  As Irulan said, this was one dinner with two girls he already knew, and not a formal dinner in a massive Avian banquet hall.  He'd endured those.  They were never fun.  He'd take the whole Flores clan before he'd be alright with a meal involving the formal sort of avians. 

Thus, he was feeling far more confident in showing up knowing that he didn't have a load of people ahead of him that he hadn't ever met, and he still got manhandled as he got out of the car.  He had to give her credit for it, and actually grinned at having his clothes straightened like some child about to be paraded around in front of relatives that didn't visit often.  It wasn't something that happened to him often, so he found it somewhat entertaining.  If it was his brother pawing at him or straightening his clothes, it may have been a different story, but that whole mess was something else entirely.

Really, he thought that his presence was hardly worthy of the flourish Irulan presented him with, but he grinned and hugged Rhona as she practically knocked her sister over to get to him.  "Honestly, I didn't know I was coming either until I ran into your sister.  Happy Birthday!  You didn't tell me," he accused playfully, offering up a far more comfortable look to Irulan in return.  She was absolutely right that Rhona wouldn't mind him showing up, and he'd admit it later. 

[Rhona Flores]

Rhona smiled. "I didn't know the two of you knew eachother," she sang as she and Irulan arranged themselves by their chairs. Normally, Rhona would have waited for Irulan to sit down (because she was older), or Lucien (because he was their King), but this time it was her birthday, so she sat down first, and pointed to the chairs. "Sit, both of you. I'm starving," she commanded with a smile.

"So, Irulan, I guess you do more than just psychology?" Rhona asked cryptically, arching any eyebrow at her sister. Irulan's little shrug was all Rhona needed to know, and she pointedly smiled at Lucien. "I guess it goes without saying that you have her best interests at heart at all times?" she asked.

Rhona's family unit was large, but each member had a special place. She would be unhappy if something happened to Irulan, to put it lightly.