It didn't take long for Lia and Kat to get into Kat's primarily green bedroom to start getting her ready for her dinner with the elders and Issack later on that evening. It took even less time for the question to come out, and Lia allowed a frown to show over her features before she answered Kat. "Mitch isn't mad at you, Kat. Something just struck a nerve is all, I'm sure you understand that. Don't take it to heart." she told her, looking through Kat's clothes for something suitable to wear in front of the elders. Despite this seeming a bit informal, the elders did have a certain unspoken dress code that needed to be followed in their presence and it was never a fun thing to get gussied up, even for something as simple as a dinner. For a moment, Lia thought they may have to look through her things to find something for Kat, as she had been there much longer and had more things along the line of formal. Her attention was drawn away, however, when Kat found something and told Lia to close her eyes. She obliged, sitting on the large bed and closing her eyes. Once she was allowed to open them, she gave a smile after taking in Kat's appearance. She was a vision in white, despite her wearing it very seldom, and she said, "You look beautiful." She stood and helped her get the clasp of her necklace on before taking in the full view of her. She was reminded so much of the past, but she didn't allow the memory to form before offering Kat her hand. "Come on, let's go show you off." She walked with Kat to the stairs, and she looked down after hearing Mitchell's reaction, but watching him walk off had her a bit worried. He was very unlike himself at the moment, and though she was far from the person to say anything about it, it deeply bothered her. However, at Kat's statement, she nodded. "Thank you. Just be careful tonight, and don't take anything Issack says with a grain of salt. And if Elder Dana has more than one glass of wine, you will be laughing before you leave." she said, heading down into the kitchen first to fix herself another cup of tea before she saw what Mitch had laid out. A smile tugged at her face. It shouldn't have amazed her as much as it did, all the things he remembered, but often times it did, and she headed out to where he was. She didn't say anything at first, a small shiver running over her as she sat in the seat beside him. Normally, the cool wind wouldn't have bothered her, but she knew with the lack of sleep and the fact she was using her magic a lot to try and help Kat with her lessons wasn't helping her case. Still, she looked over to him about to speak before she heard Kat. "Alright! Bring an umbrella!" She called out to them before she looked at Mitchell again, giving him her full attention. "I would ask if you are okay, but we both know the answer to that." she said, reaching out and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "And I may be the last person you'd ever think to hear this from, but if you need to talk, I'm all ears." she said, releasing his hand, and she looked inside before she stood. "I'll be up in my room getting things together for the anti-magic field, so you know where to find me when you're ready to come in." She headed inside, another shiver running down her as she began gathering the things up that they would need for the anti-magic field. She began placing them in a crate and gave a sigh as she placed the last bit in it before lifting it up and heading to the stairs. She closed her eyes, briefly, and the orange glow returned long enough for her to shoot her eyes right back open before heading up the stairs and into her bedroom. She turned on the music again, humming to it softly as she began sorting things out by where they would need to be placed before she sat on her bed and held her head in hands. She didn't like that here dreams affected her the way they did, but it was something she couldn't control. She never had been able to. [I]"Run!" She shouted as she shot up from her small cot in the abandoned hunting cabin. She and the hazel eyed man that was looking over at her had been there for three days now, and she brought her knees to her chest as the sand blond came over and sat on the bed with her. "You alright there, Lia?" he asked her, his voice quiet, and she gave a nod. "Just a bad dream is all, Roland, don't worry about it." she said, and when she looked around her, she saw the charring on the wall and the bedspread. "Don't worry about it? If you wouldn't have jolted out of that we'd be toast right now." he said, offhanded, watching as she got out of bed and began getting dressed. "Like you should be surprised. I'm known as the Death Witch for a reason, but isn't that why you decided to travel with me? Because you knew that I could not only hold my own, but save your ass if necessary." she spat, and he chuckled. "That's what I like about you, Lia. You're never afraid to say what's on your mind." he said, standing and placing a hand on either shoulder. "So, where to now?" "We keep heading North, how many times do I have to tell you that South is out of the question?" she said, pulling on her jacket and giving him a bit of a look before he held his hands up. "We could head west a bit more. Into the mountains where the old coven grounds are." he suggested, but Lia shook her head. "I'd rather not. We need a quick getaway if the hunters find us again." she said, picking up her bags and he shook his head. "Why can't we go South anyway? You've been saying that for the last five years, and I could tell that prior to that you had avoided it." he asked as they left the cabin and headed out into the forest again. "When I burned Sanctuary to the ground 20 years ago, another witch escaped with me. She headed South, and since I have the hunters on me, I won't risk her safety. Besides, she needs to live a full life and find peace." she muttered. "But we're burning daylight with this chitchat, so shut up and let's move out."[/I] Lia shook her head, glad that it wasn't a different memory that came to her, and she stood back up and began placing things around the room in their proper places so the field would work correctly. After this, she would cook dinner for the two of them and hopefully by then the field would have been up long enough to give it a test run. -- Atticus gave a sigh, almost frustrated at the tie he was wearing before he loosened it a bit and he gave a sarcastic laugh to Mitch. "Ha ha. It feels weird, and I don't like it. I feel like this tie is choking me." he admitted. He noted a small shake in Mitch, but he didn't call him on it as he heard the movement from the stairs. He heard Mitchell's compliment to Kat, and when he looked up and saw her, he gave a smile. She looked amazing, and when she came down the stairs and Lia left them, he spoke. "You look great, Kat. Definitely pretty enough to have dinner with." he offered his hand out to her to help her up, and he noticed that even with her heels she was still slightly shorter than he was. At least that was a plus. Once they began heading outside he gave a chuckle, though keeping Mitchell's words in mind. He took the umbrella from Kat and he smiled as they walked. He was sure to keep a slightly slower pace than normal, knowing that she was in heels and the ground may not be as forgiving as normal, especially being as wet as it was. He gave her a smile. "Well thank you. And why would I get mad at you? It gives us a chance to get away from Lia and Mitch, and plus when was the last time we were in front of the elders? Might be nice." What Mitch had said was still nagging at him though. How bad could Issack be? I mean he was just another vampire right? And he was a leader so wouldn't he at least be a little like Checkov? The questions that came over him halted as he opened the castle door for Kat, and once they were inside, Atticus led her towards the main hall. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in the main hall, except for when it was for meetings. The last one he had faced alone too. [I]"So, Atticus, we know it has been almost a month since the attack on Kathleen and after proper investigation, we noticed that you fed on the vampire who attacked her. Why is that?" Elder Dana asked, and Atticus sat there before them a bit nervously. He didn't like how they were going into a full inquiry about it, but he was answering honestly. It was something that he could see Checkov respected, but even he seemed annoyed with the meeting. "Instinct I suppose. Before I got here, when things got rough that was how I disabled foes, and he wasn't backing down." he answered, and Elder Dana gave a nod. "Perhaps you can enlighten us as to why Kathleen was alone for that moment." another elder spoke, and Checkov went to step in, but Atticus' eyes darkened. "She needed a little bit of space and stepped out into the hall. She was still close enough for me to be there if she needed me if the need arose. And it did, unfortunately." he hissed. "If you want to openly question if I am good at this, then do it already. I don't like this beating around the bush bullshit." The elders grew quiet, but Checkov spoke, "Atticus, I believe we are-" "No, we still have questions." one of the elders said, and Atticus stood up. "Then ask them! I'm done, really, truly I am. I can't stand this feeling like you are going to take me off this assignment over one incident! I know that Mitchell and Ophelia had to have had incidents as well, and I worked with the pair of them for 16 years before I became Kathleen's bodyguard. If you are going to take me from my post then [b]fucking do it already[/b]. You've heard this story at least a thousand times!" he growled in an almost inhuaman fashion, and Checkov looked to the elders. "We are not removing you from your post, there is standard operating procedure when things like this happen." Elder Dana said. "So calm down." "You try sitting here then, being belittled. I'm not answering any more questions that you already know the answer to." Atticus said, and Checkov stepped up. "You are dismissed Atticus, I believe we have heard enough." he said, and Atticus left in a bit of rage.[/I] Often times Atticus forgot how dark his own nature was until he stepped into the main hall, and Checkov seemed a bit pleased to see them as well. "Kathleen! Atticus! So glad you could join us this evening." he said, and Atticus escorted Kathleen to the table, pulling out her seat for her before sitting in the one directly beside her. "I hope the walk over wasn't too horrible." Atticus' eyes remained trained on the one person he didn't know in the room. He assumed that it was Issack, and he did not like how he held himself, much less how he felt very judged when he came in. He did answer Checkov though, "Not too bad, the rain let up a bit before we walked over." he answered, and Checkov nodded. "Splendid." he said, taking his seat at the head of the table as the other Elders began drinking their wine-blood mix. Atticus could smell it, and it made his nose wrinkle a bit before he allowed himself to relax as wine was poured for he and Kathleen. "Thank you." he said. Proper manners had been pounded into his brain for meetings like this with the elders, and he was glad for that much. "Issack, I would like you to meet Kathleen Emerson and Atticus Slater. Kathleen is the younger of my two coven witches, but don't let her age fool you. She's quite a gem." Checkov introduced them, and Atticus could feel the same reaction he always had come over him when Checkov referred to the girls as [I]his[/I] witches. He couldn't understand why he preferred that term, but he did know that it put almost everyone on edge. It was as if he owned them, the way he said it, and he had barely began to catch onto that, but he pulled himself from his own thoughts before nodding a bit to Issack. "Nice to meet you, sir." he said, looking to Kathleen as Elder Dana spoke to her. "So, Kathleen dear, how are your lessons with Ophelia coming? We have yet to have a negative progress report, but we also must hear how the student takes to the teacher." she smiled to her, almost warmly. That was odd, most of the elders were cold and very professional all of the time, especially Dana, but he supposed it was because this meeting was a bit more informal. Hopefully this didn't end badly.