Kate nodded at Allison's comment as she peered around at their handiwork. Black tablecloths, blood-red roses on each table and dim lighting. It was ready.
"You'd better go change. The guests will start arriving in half an hour, and you and Luc are supposed to be in the receiving line," the head editor warned. Kate grimaced, but nodded and gestured to Chris that it was time to go. She started out of the ballroom.
Allison, Chuck, Tom and Deeana had all already changed; they had been exiting one at a time to get into their costumes, leaving the others to continue decorating. Kate and Chris were the only ones left. Kate had deliberately put it off until now. She wasn't looking forward to telling Lucern that he was the star attraction at this ball. She knew he was not going to be pleased, and after the laughter and passion they had shared, she was fearful the annoyed and surly Lucern would return.
"Buck up," Chris said as they stepped out of the elevator. "Luc has loosened up quite a bit. He may take this in stride."
Kate forced a smile for her coworker. She only hoped he was right. She felt guilty for not having told Lucern about this from the start, but she was a coward.
The vampire ball hadn't been her idea. Chuck had come up with it. He'd considered it a brilliant bit of promotion, and when Kate had tried to talk him out of it, telling him that Lucern wasn't a very social person and that it might overwhelm him, Chuck had steamrolled over her protests. He had even ignored the fact that the conference attendees would have little time to prepare for the switch from the spy party that had originally been planned. Kate was worried sick that half the attendees would arrive in trench coats, the other half in capes. It might all turn farcical!
These worries faded from her mind as she paused at the entrance to the suite. C.K. pulled out his key card and unlocked the door. Kate spotted Lucern immediately. He was seated on the couch, watching television. His hair was wet and he was in a robe, obviously waiting to finish getting ready. He didn't notice their entrance at first, seemed instead quite involved with whatever he was watching. There was a look of abject horror on his face. What was he watching?
Kate glanced at the TV, recognizing a rerun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Lucern suddenly sat forward, a sound of disgust slipping from his lips. It sounded very much like "bitch," though Kate couldn't be sure.
Aware that they had very little time to get ready for the party, she cleared her throat. "Er… Luc?"
He glanced at her sharply, a scowl on his face. "Did you see that? Buffy just staked that poor vampire. He had yet to even do anything untoward, he just crawled out of his grave and she staked him. That is just not right. She is taking out her problems with that Angel fellow on vampires, that is what she's doing." Luc muttered a curse as he turned back to the screen.
A little burst of laughter slipped from Chris's lips, as he headed for his room. "Urn, I'm going to get ready."
Kate bit her lip as she watched him go.
"Look!" Luc snapped, sitting forward again. "She's just done it again. Stake-happy is what she is. She's just staking them left and right, sometimes for no reason at all. This Buffy person is—"
"Luc?" Kate interrupted.
"Hmm?" he asked. His gaze was still fixed on the screen.
"We have to get ready to go."
"Yes. I showered and shaved, I just have to dress. I was waiting for you to return to see what I am supposed to wear. I didn't know if you had another costume or—she did it again!" He launched to his feet, glaring furiously at the screen. "Who writes this nonsense? We don't turn into slavering beasts when we bite, and did I turn into a puff of smoke when I was staked? No. No, I say. This is shameful nonsense. Just ridiculous. I ought to write and…"
Kate didn't catch the rest. She left Lucern waving his fist at the television and retreated to her room to collect the costume she had rented for him. So, Lucern had discovered television. It was a shame, really. It was even her fault. She had insisted that he watch TV that first night.
He was still ranting about writing to whomever was in charge of the Buffy show and straightening them out, when Kate returned. She paused beside him and shook her head mournfully.
"I suppose I should be grateful that you haven't discovered sports yet. Men can be impossible when they're sports freaks," she commented.
Lucern tore his gaze away from the TV and snorted. "Sports. I saw what you people call sports. Sheesh. If you want sports, you should watch a joust. Now, that was a sport. Matches won, lives lost, blood shed." His gaze dropped to the bag she held. "Is that for me?"
"Yes." Kate handed it over. She started to turn away, but gasped in surprise when he caught her hand and tugged her off balance. She landed in his lap with an ungraceful plop. Before she had quite recovered, his mouth covered hers and he subjected her to a thorough kiss.