Thy fearful symmetry }{ open;;

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis had taken a short break from work and ventured to the Lake District, again at the behest of her landlady. The woman was intent on making Arty feel some sort of positive connection to her British heritage, which was a task in itself. The technopath had some vague recollections of her life with her family, but those weren't really enough to make England seem like home just yet. However, the Lake District seemed to improve the Georgia peach's mood immensely. She had done the whole tourist thing and gone to see Wordsworth's Cottage and Beatrix Potter's home and the like, but the sheer beauty of the countryside was sightseeing enough.

She had enjoyed the National Park, although she was overly paranoid about keeping to the paths. It was weird, being allowed to take public paths across privately owned land. Although, the elemental doubted that she could be shot for trespassing, unlike the trigger-happy laws in Georgia. However, it was probably best not to test this hypothesis. Creating an international incident was quite low on her list of things to do. Turning her attention away from home, the Arian attempted to combat another bout of homesickness. She really needed to get over this, but it was rather difficult when one was alone. She needed to make some friends, and soon.

The weather was nice...although far from sunny, there wasn't any rain in the cloudy afternoon sky. However, it was still a bit chilly for her tastes. Rummaging inside her satchel, the American donned her leather bomber jacket. As she did so, the southern belle pulled out some cookies she had baked the other day. Her tendency to stress-bake only resulted in an abundance of baked goods, usually of the confectionary sort. However, due to being on a "mini-vacation," she had relaxed somewhat. With the addition of both cookies and jacket, things were looking much better. Surveying the surrounding countryside, she was so caught up in its beauty, that she ignored the sounds of footsteps announcing the presence of another.

[Roxanne O'Hara]

Roxi had had to get away. Ethan and Loki had formed some kind of weird truce and quite frankly it was freaking her out. Yes, it was what she had wanted, but did they really have to gang up on her all the time? If she wanted to spend a small fortune on art supplies or books, she should be able to without them making comments. And just because she wasn’t a petrol head like them, it didn’t excuse them from talking a load of jargon then rolling their eyes when it went over her head.

She should never have mentioned the ‘puter or Ethan’s vast collection of gadgety bits to Loki. Or his cars and bike things. That had been possibly the biggest mistake she had made. Granted, it was nice that they were getting on so well, but sometimes it just seemed like she needn’t be there.

Take last night, for example. They’d been watching a Top Gear rerun, which was one of her favourite things to do on a slow day. After all, Hammond was cute for a human. She’d commented on how the new Mini was cute, which had resulted in a comment from Loki. And Ethan. At the same time. In unison. Far from freaking them out, it had then set them off on a rant about car stuff, all of which flew right over Roxi’s head. They were talking so loud that she was unable to hear the TV, and so she went to make something to eat for them all. Eventually, they realised she was gone and came to help with the preparations, commenting all the time on how this would be made easier with this gadget, and that gadget could do that so much quicker. In the end, Roxi had told them they could make their own damn dinner and had gone to paint in the spare room with some calming, classical music on obnoxiously loud.

They’d come to look for her after a while, but by then Roxi was walking out of the front door with an overnight bag packed. She’d grabbed Loki’s car keys, just to make a point, and had driven until she’d calmed down. Which was how she’d ended up booking herself into a B&B in the Lake District.

Now, she’d calmed down. The view probably had something to do with that, but then again the fact she hadn’t turned her phone on and was blocking the boys was probably helping just as much. There weren’t that many people around, which wasn’t all that surprising. Whilst the weather was good, it was just the wrong time of year for hikers.

In fact, Roxi hadn’t seen anyone for a few hours now. She looked around to make sure, then made a snap decision. It had been a while since she’d changed and ran on her own just for the hell of it. Now, if she mentioned wanting a run, Ethan would come along with her. And if Ethan was busy, Loki would make an excuse to come with her. She knew that Ethan was just wanting to company of running, but Loki had never liked running. She had her suspicions about his motivations; it was either to make sure no one attacked her or to make sure she didn’t forget him. Though, to be honest, it was probably a bit of both.

Roxi stood up and quickly looked around once more, before stripping down to her underwear. The air was cold against her skin, but at least it wasn’t raining. She neatly folded her clothes and laid them on the floor. She dreaded what someone would think if they were to walk past them, but didn’t really think that it mattered all that much. She picked out her phone and her purse from her pocket and ran up the hill, hiding them in a random bush; she’d be able to find it easy enough once she’d done.

She took a final look around and quickly shifted into her panther form. In this form, she could feel Ethan and Loki no matter how hard she shielded, but she chose to ignore them as she always did. She was a cat and was therefore independent. After a few quick stretches, she jumped and span in a circle, then ran in the direction that she landed, loving the new smells and textures being away from home brought.

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis broke off a little piece of a cookie and nibbled it, replacing the bag of baked goods into her satchel. The combination of chocolate and oatmeal flooded her mouth; reminding her of home, since Helen had given her the recipe. This whole homesick business was really starting to get old, and fast. The American frowned pensively, wondering what the hell to do about it. It seemed that every time that she attempted to take her mind off of home, all she could do was contemplate how much she missed her friends and foster parent. Also, the whole deal with her being some part of some mystical tribe fighting some obscure war did little to clarify matters. As far as she was concerned, Artemis wasn't a part of this until someone made her a part of this. Certainly, she hoped to find some clue as to her sister's whereabouts, or whoever had murdered her family (if they had been murdered). It could have been some story that one of her parents' friends made up, but unfortunately the girl had those powers, so she couldn't simply brush it off as the rantings of a madman.

She couldn't help but think that life was much more simpler back in Georgia, when she had the rest of her life ahead of her. She still did, although it was apparently now extended considerably; which was a little strange to contemplate. The Georgia peach tired of standing around, so she began to wander further, not really paying attention to where she was walking. Until she stepped on something...not grass or path. Glancing down, the Southern belle was astonished to see that she had unintentionally trodden on some neatly folded...garments.... What was going on here?! Taking her foot off of the fabric, she knelt down by the clothes. They appeared to belong to woman...or a small transvestite. However, no undergarments...so either someone was running around in their underwear...or naked. It seemed far too cold to try swimming in one of the lakes, and who in their right mind would take off their clothes to run around? Or perhaps...she had stumbled upon something a bit more gruesome.

Arty paused, her eyes wide. What if someone's corpse was being dumped in one of the lakes? There didn't seem to be any blood on any of the clothes, although it was possibly to murder someone without spilling any blood.... But wait! Why would the clothes be left here, where they could easily be discovered? Although, the American reasoned, the area was fairly deserted during this season; which was partially her reason for coming there. Perhaps the murderer(s) were coming back after they had finished their grisly deed?

The girl's curiosity overcame her, however, and she began looking about for signs of footprints, a struggle, anything to help her determine what was going on. Tracking wasn't one of the skills she had acquired, however, so that turned out to be a miserable failure. However, while searching for potential clues, Artemis spotted the glint of something shiny in a bush. Having caught her attention, she slowly approached said shrub. Perhaps it was a knife or a murder weapon?! Upon further examination, the metallic object revealed itself to be a mobile phone, although it was turned off.

Further inspection of the bushes led to the finding of a purse, which Arty assumed as belonging to the same owner of the clothes. Opening up the purse, she found a wallet, which she quickly inspected for some sort of I.D.
Roxanne O'Hara. Artemis closed the wallet, although it didn't seem like any money was gone, and then the purse. She closed the bag, carefully replacing it under the bush.
Something didn't seem right here. These objects had been stowed away, deliberately out in the middle of nowhere. Eyeing the extra phone which lay in the palm of her hand, Arty deliberated.

Biting her lip, she slowly turned it on, nearly yelping when the thing started vibrating like crazy. Apparently Roxanne O'Hara had several missed calls, mainly from an Ethan and a Loki. Arty couldn't help but wonder what parent would name their child Loki, but then turned back to more serious contemplation. What course of action should she take? All of those missed calls indicated that some people were worried about this Roxanne girl....She couldn't tell what area of England they were from by the code, only that it wasn't from the Lake District. Had Roxanne been missing for a while?! Should she call them up and tell them what she had found, or was this a better case for the police to handle?

Artemis sat there, phone in hand, pondering anxiously.....

[Roxanne O'Hara]

Roxi jumped and span in the air then ran in the direction she landed. She didn't particulary care about where she was going, all that mattered to her was beating a track in the soil, hopefully helping beat down the slight tinge of guilt that was rapidly growing inside her.

Since shifting into her animal form, she could feel her brother and her mate clearly and, try as she might, she wasn't able to ignore them. She could feel the anger, hurt and remorse coming from both of them. They both apologised profusely and wanted her to come home, promising not to do it again. She mentally sighed, sending her need to be on her own for a while, but she knew it wouldn't last long. She'd likely be home by dawn.

She felt a burst of smugness from one of them, but wasn't sure which one it was. They tried to hide it, but it was too late. In her cat form she could feel everything, even when the realisation hit both of them that whoever that was had just added a few days to her trip. She knew that one of them would try to call her, but she knew it was fruitless. Her phone was switched off and hidden in bush. That was one of the few bit of technology she could actually -

Electric Six's Gay Bar cut through the peace of the countryside, causing Roxi's even stride to faulter. Ethan had programmed it to play whenever Loki called her and she hadn't even tried to work out how to change it. Loki found it amusing so no harm was done.

What was the likelyhood that someone, who happened to have the same ringtone as her brother did, just happened to be walking past where she had left her stuff and got a phone call at the same time as when the boys were trying to contact her?

She turned tail and ran back the way she had come. She bent her head low and pushed for speed, instead of jogging like she had been doing. Someone had found her stuff. And not only that, they'd gone through her stuff and turned on her phone. Anger coursed through her. As a cat, she was highly territorial. Even Loki knew not to touch her stuff when she was upset.

She came over the hill and looked towards where she'd left her bag and phone. A red headed woman was knelt by the bush with her phone in her hand. Her phone. And it was still ringing. The anger bubbled in her chest, threatening to overflow. She could feel Ethan and Loki's annoyance too, obviously they understood where she was coming from. So why couldn't the red head have guessed and left well alone?

Ethan sent her calming vibes, knowimg that she was about to confront her. Loki sent her encouragement. She mentally tossed a coin. Heads. Loki wins.

She stalked down the hill, waiting until the woman looked up. They made eye contact briefly and Roxi let out a snarl before stopping and shifting back to human form. She felt Loki mentally cheer, whilst Ethan practically head butted a desk. Any other time she'd be amused and ever so slightly apologetic, but she didn't have room for anything else. She walked closer to her, the cold air biting her skin. She stopped a few feet away from her and glared at her. "What the hell are you doing with my phone?"

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis looked up once she heard footsteps. Shit, it was totally whoever murdered poor Roxanne, coming to finish the job! Before she could take cover or teleport to safety, the murdered revealed himself to be....a black panther? That gave Arty a sneaking suspicion.... The panther snarled, and in its place stood a very angry woman in her underwear. Awesome. This is what the Southern belle got for trying to play Sherlock Holmes. A confrontation with a barely clad woman-panther-thing...were-cat. Whatever.
She was more preoccupied with feeling idiotic, than being afraid of the angry female who stood before her.

Arty turned her attention back to none other than Roxanne O'Hara, muttering nearly inaudibly, "Hadn't taken that into account..." Entertaining the thoughts of teleporting away from sheer embarrassment, she was brought back to earth by the were-cat's angry exclamation. Well, it seemed like the Georgia peach owed Roxanne here an explanation. She never should have stopped to examine those damn clothes.

"What the hell are you doing with my phone?"

Now the American was in a dilemma as to how to reply. Should she tell the truth? Hit back with a sarcastic retort? This was really not how she wanted her day to go. Arty decided to go for the truth, as Roxanne was already angry about the perusal of her stuff. Sighing, the redhead began her explanation, albeit in a bizarre Georgia-British combination accent.

"The road to hell really is paved with good intentions...."
Standing up, Artemis addressed Roxanne, hopefully mollifying her anger. "I was walking around, quite literally stumbled upon your clothes, and I reckoned someone had murdered you and dumped your body in the lake; so I was looking around to see if I could find anything else..." The elemental appeared rather sheepish at this point, but continued on, "I hadn't taken the fact that you were a were-critter-panther-lady-thing into account. But I found your purse and your phone, and I looked for an I.D...."

The Arian held up a hand before the were-critter could interrupt, and added, "I turned on your phone to call one of your friends and tell 'em what I found." Losing her train of thought, she remarked, "From as many missed calls as you have, seems like they're worried about you." She emphasized this next point with a hand gesture, "So, in my defense...that only made things look worse...like you had been kidnapped or somethin'."

Finally, the wind-witch reached the conclusion of her story, " I was deliberating on calling the cops or your friends first, and then you showed up. In short, I was trying to play detective, and failed miserably."

The failed detective shrugged, the phone still in her hand. "I haven't taken anything, if you don't believe me, you can go through my stuff." She gestured towards the satchel slung about her shoulder. "There're oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies in there too, if you're hungry." Slowly, she approached the scantily clad woman, gently placing the phone in the palm of Roxanne's hand. Hopefully this girl would believe her and not laugh too hard....

[Roxanne O'Hara]

Roxi stood with her hands on her hips as she waited for the red-head to explain herself. She was disappointed when she didn't smell any form of fear coming from her, but she didn't let this show on her face. She couldn't hide this from the boys, however, as she'd stupidly forgotten to put her shields back up. She could feel Loki's amusement coil around in her stomach and could almost hear his laughter. Ethan was also amused but was mostly relieved that there hadn't been a confrontation.

Roxi then realised that the woman in front of her didn't seem in the least bit shocked that a half-naked woman was stood in front of her after having transformed from a black panther. She cocked her head slightly in confusion, then leaned closer to her to pick up her scent. Elemental, go figure.

[/color]

She stood back again and crossed her arms over her chest as she started to explain herself. "I was walking around, quite literally stumbled upon your clothes, and I reckoned someone had murdered you and dumped your body in the lake; so I was looking around to see if I could find anything else..." Roxi blinked in surprise, then struggled to conceal her amused smile. It wouldn't do any good if she was trying to look threatening whilst grinning.

"I hadn't taken the fact that you were a were-critter-panther-lady-thing into account. But I found your purse and your phone, and I looked for an I.D...."

Roxi frowned in the direction of her bag and noticed that it wasn't how she'd left it. She felt another burst of anger and opened her mouth to comment, when she was silenced by the Elemental holding up her hand. It wasn't the actual gesture that silenced her, it was more the fact that she had done it that did. Judging from her accent, she wasn't from around here, but even if she was just visiting, she should have heard what was going on in the Courts. If she had found some ID, which was highly likely, she should have recognised her name and known that she was now Life Mated to the next in line for the Throne in the Moonlit Court. And yet, there she was, silencing her!

She caught a hiss just before it escaped, realising that she sounded like Loki's impressions of Ethan when they first met. She cringed inwardly, hoping that neither of them had felt her emotions back then, but, judging from the huge bursts of amusement she was getting, it was a pointless hope.

She sighed and tuned back into what was being said to her. "From as many missed calls as you have, seems like they're worried about you. So, in my defense...that only made things look worse...like you had been kidnapped or somethin'. I was deliberating on calling the cops or your friends first, and then you showed up. In short, I was trying to play detective, and failed miserably."

Roxi nodded. She had to admit, it was a good story. And so whacky that it had to be true. No one would be able to make that up on the spot. And she could see where she was coming from. Roxi wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion herself, but if someone watched too much Film Noir or something it would be quite easy to make those jumps.

She watched as the woman shrugged. "I haven't taken anything, if you don't believe me, you can go through my stuff. There're oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies in there too, if you're hungry." Roxi smiled, letting it show on her features this time. She had to admit, she found this girl rather amusing. She shook her head as she gestured to her backpack . She didn't need to look in the bag, she could smell that there was nothing with her scent on her other than her phone, which she slowly placed into her hand.

She smiled, then looked at her phone which had stopped ringing a while back. 213 missed calls. How the hell had they managed that?! She groaned and looked up to the red head again. "Just ... one minute. I really should call them ... "[/color]

She walked over to her clothes, hoping that she didn't walk off and leave her. Now that she'd met her, she was curious. After all, she was a cat. She sat down and dialed the last caller, Loki, and waited until he answered.

"Hello? And who is this?"

"Don't be a prat Loki, you know who it is."

"Is that ... Is that Roxi? God it's been so long I've almost forgotten your voice!" Roxi growled down the phone. He was trying to guilt trip her and it wasn't working.

"It's going to be even longer now."[/color] She hung up the phone and put it on the ground, running her hands through her messy curls. She wasn't even sure what she was angry at any more, but it was still bubbling away inside of her.

She stood up and roughly pulled on her jeans. As she had her tee half way over her head, her phone rang again. She pulled the tee back up and pressed loud speaker. "You better be ringing to apologise Lok, cuz if you're not, I'm hanging up again."

"It's Ethan. And Loki says sorry."

"No I don't! I most certainly do n-" There was a muffled thud and a yelp as something hit her brother. Roxi couldn't help but smile. She managed to pull her top on without stumbling over and sat next to the phone pulling on her socks and shoes.

"So what's happening there?"

"Well, I'm currently wondering how the hell shoe laces get tangled when you leave them untangled."

"No, honey, I mean, with the other person. You obviously didn't fight, we'd have felt that, but we don't have a clue what happened."

"Oh, that. Yeah, she saw my clothes and thought I'd been murdered and so decided to play detective and go looking for my corpse and / or the would-be-killer."

Roxi could hear a laugh from the other end of the phone. She sat back, looking towards the red head and smiling at her. "That sounds like something off Spankheat and Leathersizzle."

She frowned and turned back to the phone. She knew she was going to regret this, but she had to ask. "Spankheat and Leathersizzle?"

Another laugh, this time from Loki. She obviously wasn't the only one using speakerphone. "It's this new detective show me and your Mate have been watching. It's amazing. These two really busty women, running in slow mo to catch a killer. It's so crap it's good." He changed his voice slightly, obviously mimicing the voice over. "Spankheat and Leathersizzle ... Where it's not just the villains getting off ..."

Roxi cringed and dropped her head into her hands. Then Ethan's voice floated out over the speakers. "And handcuff's have more than the one use ... " They both laughed and simultaneously burst into song.

Roxi turned around to look at the Elemental and blushed. This wasn't exactly the best first impression the boys had ever given out. Then again, it wasn't the worst either. She quickly turned back to the phone. She had to stop this before it got any worse.

She forced a laugh and picked up her phone, putting it back onto the handset before speaking to them both. "That sounds ... great ... Okay, I lie, it's obviously a boy thing. Look, I've got to go. I'll see you ... soon. Love you both, and behave. Byeee." She hung up quickly and shut of her phone before they had chance to ring back.

Turning back to the elemental, she offered her a weak smile. "Can you see why I ran away from them for a few days?"[/blockquote][/size]

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis was carefully studying Roxanne's reactions as she explain her reasons for rifling through the were-cat's posessions. The woman seemed to calm down, although she did look considerably annoyed that the elemental had looked inside her purse, going so far as to hiss. However, Roxanne seemed to catch herself in the act and hurriedly stopped. Were-cats.

However, the panther apparently believed her story, so there was no trouble there. Looking back, Artemis realized how ridiculous she had been. Watching all of those Sherlock Holmes specials on TV clearly wasn't good for her overactive imagination. That landlady of hers was really a bit too much. Shaking her head and feeling absolutely presposterous, Arty was about to apologize when the were-cat decided to call her friends.

Well, as much as the American wanted to slink off out of embarrassment, an apology was certainly due to the were-critter. She'd have to wait. Thankfully, at least the other girl was now merely annoyed, as opposed to all-out angry.

The redhead' had to try and refrain from laughing at the voice of Loki, who apparently annoyed the hell out of Roxanne. She couldn't help but eavesdrop, since the phone had apparently been set to speaker. Hopefully the owner had done that, instead of her. All the aeromancer had done was pick up the phone and turn it on, she hadn't messed with the contraption beyond that. Now she was treated to the sounds of Ethan's voice, as he called Roxanne to apologize.

However, the laughter which the wind-witch had worked so hard to contain, was let loose at the sound of something hitting Loki. It sounded like those two could give the Three Stooges a run for their money. Arty tried to keep her laughter down, since Roxanne was busy talking, and also to look like she wasn't totally eavesdropping. So the other two would have felt if she and the were cat managed to get into a stand-off? Were the other two were-cats as well? Roxanne didn't really seemed to mind the failed detective's listening in though.

Spankheat and Leathersizzle? One of the Georgia peach's eyebrows rose at that. Upon being enlightened, the girl started to laugh, but attempted to disguise it as a cough. If she had taken a sip of a drink, she probably would've done a spit-take. However, when the two males burst into song, Arty couldn't help herself. She began laughing so hard that tears began to form in her eyes. Just how ridiculous her own attempts at detective work had been, and being compared to some half-baked cheesecake detective show.

The were cat obviously looked mortified at this, and quickly changed the phone mode. As Roxanne hung up, Arty tried to calm down, since she wanted to apologize. However, the were-cat's sheepish remark sent her into new paroxysms of laughter. Wiping her eyes, the elemental replied,

"I haven't laughed that hard in a while...Anyway, I stuck around to apologize for rifling through your things, but now I guess I should apologize for eavesdropping as well."

After taking a few deep breaths, her laughter died down. Which was good, because the American's stomach was beginning to hurt from all of her laughter. Grinning, she replied to Roxi, "Heh, if I were you, I'd try and get away from 'em too."

Shaking her head, the elemental added sardonically, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Those two sound like a regular comedy duo. Perhaps they should have their own TV special."

Since the were-cat was now dressed and off of the phone, Arty approached her, hand outstretched. Since she knew Roxanne's name, and had rummaged through her purse, introductions were most certainly in order. Perhaps they could get back on the right foot. "Sorry about all of that. I'm Artemis. Artemis Havelock."

[Roxanne O'Hara]

As Roxi spoke to Ethan and Loki on the phone, she was aware of the badly hidden sniggers behind her from the American. Even if she had managed to hide them, though, Roxi still would have been able to tell she was finding this conversation amusing. As a werecat, she had a slight empathetic ability. Nothing huge, but she could generally tell the mood of the people around her. If, by some fluke of chance, she was actually able to take the throne with Ethan without being killed for it, this power would increase and she'd be able to influence the mood of a room slightly, which would be very useful in the whole not-being-killed thing.

She hung up the phone, switching it off quickly before Ethan had chance to call her back. She could feel his frustration a second later and guessed that he'd tried to call her. She felt slightly guilty about cutting him off so completely, but she'd had a lot to get used to in a small amount of time. And just as she'd gotten used to it, it had changed. Anyone would need to take some time out in order to get their head around it.

She looked towards the Elemental and smiled shyly "Can you see why I ran away from them for a few days?" Her comment was met with the Elemental practically doubled over laughing. Roxi frowned for a second, then smiled and joined in, only with less enthusiasm. Thinking over what was said, she could see how it would be amusing for people that didn’t know them. For her it was just strange to hear them getting on so well when only last week they couldn’t stand to be in the same room for longer than five minutes.

The red-head straightened up and wiped her eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in a while...Anyway, I stuck around to apologize for rifling through your things, but now I guess I should apologize for eavesdropping as well."

Roxi grinned, not minding in the slightest. As a cat, she wasn’t that bothered by privacy. And even if she wasn’t a cat, living with Loki for so long would have seen to that. She didn’t mind people listening to her conversations; in fact she was kind of used to it.

She shrugged lightly in response to the comment, “Don’t worry about it. I would have taken it off speaker phone if I bothered me. And the only reason I did by the end was cuz … well, let’s face it, they were getting out of hand.”

The American eventually managed to stop laughing, she grinned at her. "Heh, if I were you, I'd try and get away from 'em too. Those two sound like a regular comedy duo. Perhaps they should have their own TV special."

Roxi laughed as an image popped into her mind, somewhere between My Family and Being Human. “That would be a hell of a tele-show … But if you ever meet them please don’t say that. They’d most likely go for the idea and drag me into writing a script to send off to BBC or Dave or something … ”

She ran her hand through her hair again. It was getting uncontrollable as it always did after she’d changed. She had a collection of hair care stuff in pretty much all of Loki’s and Ethan’s car so she could do something with it after running, but the car was currently a good few miles out of the way. She’d have to hope there was a shoe lace or headband in the bottom of her bag.

She was about to start rummaging through it when a hand appeared in front of her, breaking into her thoughts. How she’d managed to forget the stranger was there, she didn’t know, but it was a good sign. She was getting comfortable enough around her to let her guard down. "Sorry about all of that. I'm Artemis. Artemis Havelock."

She took her hand and shook it for what she gauged to be the right length of time. She’d never really been one for shaking hands; it was too human a trait. Cats tended forgo all that stuff. “Roxi O’Hara. And don’t worry about it, s’all in the past now.”

She looked around then laughed at herself. “I would offer to take you to a coffee shop or something, but I think we’re a little out of the way here.”

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis felt relieved as Roxanne reassured her that the whole listening to her phone conversation was in fact, alright. Those two guys--what were they to the werecat? They sounded like siblings or close friends, from what the American could tell. However, Arty was well aware of wacky friends getting a little out of hand--most of her friends from university were like that. However, that was what she got for going to a liberal arts school.

At Roxanne's admonishment not to suggest a TV special to the duo, Arty stored it away somewhere in the back of her mind. Depending on if she met them, and how they acted, she'd wait on suggesting anything of that nature. Although it might be amusing to see what the two would come up with.

At the were-cat's introduction, the Southern belle made a note to call her by her nickname in the future. The redhead had a tendency to refer to people by their full names, until she got to know them better. It was a habit that she was trying to break, although it seemed like it would fit in here better than back home in Georgia. At Roxi's comment, the elemental grinned. It seemed a little late in the afternoon for coffee. She wasn't sleepy just yet.

"Well, isn't that what the Lake District is all about? Getting away from the hustle and bustle of civilization?"

From all the pamphlets her landlady had given her, that was the impression that she had received, anyway. Why else would Wordsworth and all of those other poets like Shelley reside here? Or Beatrix Potter, for that matter. Arty had had to dodge a couple of overeager Japanese tourists on the Beatrix Potter estate when she had briefly visited. The cottage hadn't held much particular draw for her, but it had been something to do.

She drawled, "Besides, I'm not afraid to walk around." Glancing over at Roxi, she added, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, "Unless I stumble over more possible belongings of murder victims in the process."

[Roxanne O'Hara]

Roxi took another quick look around the landscape. Now she’d mentioned coffee she felt a sudden surge of energy. She wasn’t really one to drink coffee, instead using it as a general term for hot drinks, but for some reason lately she’d been craving it. If it weren’t for the fact she knew it was impossible, she’d be worried. Of course, she hadn’t told Loki that it was impossible just yet; she was enjoying him running around getting her stuff whenever she mentioned ‘cravings’.

“Well, isn't that what the Lake District is all about? Getting away from the hustle and bustle of civilization?”

Roxi snapped her attention back to Artemis, trying her hardest not to bounce on the balls of her feet. She was right, the whole point of coming here was to get away from the crowds and stress living in a city brings. To get away from reality in general and imagine that you’re someone you’re not, living in a place where stress doesn’t even exist, let alone affect you. It was probably what bought her here in the first place, but she couldn’t be all that sure about it. After all, she’d just let her instincts guide her when she was driving. Ethan would be proud; he’d been trying to get her to do that since they met. Well, he would have been if it weren’t for the fact that her instincts had led her away from him.

“Besides, I'm not afraid to walk around. Unless I stumble over more possible belongings of murder victims in the process.” Roxi laughed and started walking in no particular direction. She could see this being the start of a pretty good friendship. She wondered vaguely what Artemis would make of Loki, if she’d be like all the other elementals and take an instant dislike to him just because he has dual abilities or if she’d over look it like JD, Rory and Lottie had done.

She smiled over to Artemis then made a show of looking around, lifting her hand above her eyes. After a few seconds of doing this, she sighed and turned back to her, “You know, I think we’re the scariest things out here. Any human killer doesn’t stand a chance against us. Forget Spankheat and Leathersizzle, Havelock and O’Hara are on the case!”

[/color] She put a fist in the air to add emphasis. She was defiantly buzzing now so perhaps it was a good thing that there wasn’t any coffee shops up here. [/blockquote][/size]

[Artemis Havelock]

Artemis remained where she was while Roxi paced about. Following suit seemed like it would be rather awkward. Staring into the distance, the elemental thought to herself. The werecat seemed like a fairly nice person, and rather understanding about their whole encounter. Hopefully, the two would be able to laugh about humorous events in the future. After all, it would be rather difficult to forget someone after having encountered them in such an odd meeting.

Her attention turned back to the werecat when Roxi remarked, “You know, I think we’re the scariest things out here. Any human killer doesn’t stand a chance against us. Forget Spankheat and Leathersizzle, Havelock and O’Hara are on the case!” The Southern belle couldn't help but chuckle. Hopefully she wouldn't catch too much teasing from Roxi's two friends, although from the sound of them, there were no guarantees on that front.

She remarked playfully, "We must look a dreadful sight--you all deshabille, and me as an awful American tourist." Although Roxi's words had reminded the Georgia peach--she could teleport, so if the two of them really tired of walking, they could always 'port to the car. Traveling by such means to a coffee shop didn't seem like such a good idea, due to the possibility of being seen. Furthermore, Arty's knowledge of British cities was quite limited at best. Well, she might as well offer. Pulling her attention back to the present moment, the Arian remarked,

"By the way, I do have an alternate means of transportation....We could 'port out of here if you really wanted."

The British-American reckoned that she might as well offer, in order to be polite, although she didn't mind walking the distance to Roxi's car if the young lady wanted to go to a coffee shop.