Need help? (Robert, open)

[lelia]

Well this wasn't awkward at all, not one bit. Lelia laughed in her head at the fact that Sienna didn't even seem phased on the surface. Maybe there was a massive amount of shock, given the fact that her elusive sister decided to make an appearance finally. Watching her stand up slowly, Lelia wasn't sure whether or not to recoil and run or stay put. She expected shouting, crying, maybe a slap or something. When she was met with a hug, she wasn't sure what to do at first, so she let out an awkward laugh, and hugged her sister back.

"I guess. I just didn't want to intrude on dinner." she said, looking around at the kitchen. It was a little unreal standing here right after a few years of running around. She almost didn't believe she was awake, but she felt that hug more profoundly than she would of if she was in a dream. Taking a moment to stare back at her sister, she looked for signs, expressions in her face that let her know how she was feeling. Part of her could tell without the help, but it was just nice to be here. Maybe she was missing out by pretending that she didn't care to come home, wasting the time she had with the family she had left.

Her uncle seemed the.. same as always as far as she could tell. He was a family man, trying to keep them together through the worst. Lelia was surprised he didn't join his sister in the hunt, but then again he had always been the let it be sort of guy. He believed in letting people come to terms on their own, yet maybe she needed a stronger hand than her own. "I mean.. if you don't mind. You know me, I'm always hungry.." she said, smirking at the two of them as she sat down at the table. Merry would probably be a bit disappointed she wasn't here for this one, but overall probably pleased that something she said got through.

"Surprise me." she replied, letting Robert choose what she drank. She knew the questions would come eventually, so she was not surprised at all. "It could be better, I'd say I can't complain but.." she trailed off, looking down at her plate of food as she stuffed something in her mouth to keep herself from having to speak. "I've just been getting by, one day at a time. I work at Midnight Bar." she said, figuring she would at least give them something, incase they wanted to find her. She wasn't ready to reveal where she lived, still not wanting to be dropped in on while she was at her lowest.

"How about the two of you? How are.. things?" she asked, wondering if Sienna had ever truly moved on with things. She hated the idea that she was ruining not only one life but two when Sienna was chasing her.

[fallenintospace]

It didn't even come into her head to shout or cry. No, Sienna just felt.. numb. As if someone had drained her emotions out of her and left her.. empty. She had always thought she'd be mad at her sister once she saw her. She had expected to tell her what she thoguht and chase her off if neccesary. But, she didn't.. She couldn't. When she felt Lelia hug her back, she sighed in relief and closed her eyes for a moment. She had missed her sister so much, and she hadn't seen her in such a long time.. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to hug her.

"Oh, you're not, Robert and I just got home. I had a double shift at the hospital, anyway." Yes, that was something else.. She was too tired and too hungry to be mad. She saw her sister looking at her and looked back at her, with a look that said we do need to talk.. later. She knew Lelia would get it, how could she not? But, instead of letting that thought ponder, she smiled again, deciding to act as if all was right in the world, which at this point felt to her, it was. Sienna cared so incredibly much about her family, that she could never EVER hate them. It just wasn't in her, to hate anyone either way. Except demons, for them she made an all too willing exception.

Sienna went to her own plate and took a bite, as she relaxed a little, enjoying the conversation between Robert and Lelia. It felt.. real, safe. She had missed those feelings. Not that things didn't feel real or safe before Lelia came back.. no, she had always been happy to live her in this house and no thoguht in her head ever wanted to live somewhere else. Well, unless, she found a steady boyfriend, then of course, things would be different, even if she'd always be welcome here. Just like Lelia was. "It's good to hear that you found a job." She said, as she smiled and took another bite of her own food.

"Things are okay. I'm a nurse now, at the hospital. And I really love it there, even if it made me in somewhat of a workoholic." Sienna shrugged lightly. Seeing Lelia here, made her stop feeling all the bad for leaving her behind. For not looking for her anymore. But, Robert, as always, was right too. Lelia was her own person and she needed to make her own mistakes, without dragging other people down with her. And, as long as Lelia decided to live the life she had chosen to live, there wasn't really anything she could do about it.

[Robert Alexander Lovelace]

Robert snorted at the thought of intruding on dinner, "Family can intrude on a lot of things but dinner is rarely one of them." he said with a bit of a grin. He grabbed a soda out of the fridge and closed the door. He'd made sure there was plenty of food piled on both plates to feed an army. Sienna because she worked long hours and needed to refuel and Leila because she had just come back to the fold. He sipped his own soda and felt the sugary sweetness roll down his throat. He wouldn't gain anything from it but it was better than food.

Robert nodded at the comment about working at a bar, "Its a steady job and can be fun if you're the gregarious type." he said with a grin. He wasn't too sure that an alcoholic should work at a bar but they would fire her if she drank their profits so he didn't worry too much. Still, he kept it cool and never let any of this cross over his features. When you were a single parent you had this strange double think going that was just weird. He couldn't just be stoic and hope it all worked out because he needed to know what was going on. He'd had to be the nosy mother hen and the rock father figure. He felt the muscles in his neck and cricked his neck a moment.

He leaned forward and regarded the two for a moment. "I'm dealing with a difficult client at the moment. I'm in and out a lot with meetings and power lunches." Being a vampire was the ultimate "Power Lunch" he inwardly chuckled and sighed the suffering sigh of a man dealing with a diva, "I'm slowly going to be giving control to Merry at some point down the road but she's got a lot on her plate at the moment and I'm not going to add to it. I keep hoping she'll start dating the high school football coach Rodney but that boy Connor keeps showing up like a bad penny." He grimaced. He did not want anyone living the life he did. He wasn't quite swilling the hateraid that Connor was but he wanted to see Merry happy and he didn't think she'd be happy never seeing the light of day.

It was just his opinion though. For all HE knew she secretly might crave it. His family did like the exotic. After all who named their kids Zatana and Zatara? His relatives had to be on some epic drugs to do that one. He exhaled quietly and remembered to breathe and try to fake being human at least for their benefit.

[lelia]

It was actually a good thing that there was no crying or yelling, she would have been out of here faster than she came in. It wasn't that she didn't feel she deserved it, but more along the lines that she was afraid of it. In most situations she hated confrontation, avoided it with all her might, and she was also afraid they were going to do some sort of intervention. By now they probably knew about her habits, the drinking, the drugs. Even right now she was still a bit high from earlier, it was how she even managed to get herself out of bed this morning to come over here.

"You work at the Hospital now, nice. I always figured you would get there soon." she said, offering an awkward smile to both Sienna and Robert. She continued to push the contents of her plate around, staring at it as if she had never eaten before. Compared to the crap she normally ate, she might as well not even consider it eating. It was survival, her terrible cooking skills, and ability to provide for herself properly like this. Lelia was far from lady like as she stuffed large portions of food into her face at once, only becoming self concious when all eyes were on her. "Shorry.. haven't eaten yet.." she said, swallowing the large bit as she spoke.

She definitely caught the look from Sienna, she knew it was all going to come undone at some point. Already her mind was plotting to duck out, find a time when they were distracted to bolt. She owed Sienna more than that though, didn't she? Of course she did, so she fought to push down her urge to run as she continued to listen to the conversation. "Yeah, it treats me alright. I absolutely hate it though. You would think that all those creeps only really do that crap in movies, but the type of men I get coming in to try and score with me.." she trailed off, shivering visibly. She was even sure that she had a stalker.

Lelia could tell that Robert was trying his hardest to keep them together, where it seemed she was doing the opposite. She gave him an apologetic look, though attached no explaination as to why she was giving him such a look. "She told me about Connor, I can't say I really like it either. She kind of told me.. a few things." she said, though she didn't know if she should say that she was now aware of Vampires or not. Nodding her head slowly, she smiled at the rest of his comment. "Have you had a chance to meet this Rodney? Sounds like a safe bet." she said, trying to hopefully win him over a bit by agreeing.

"What about you, sis? Any tall, dark, and handsome men in your life?" she asked, taking a drink now.

[fallenintospace]

There was always plenty of food for everyone and now that had a whole new reason; Lelia, that would come in and out of the house whenever she wanted, which she hoped, would be a lot more often. She listened to what Robert said about his own job and smiled a bit. Also when he spoke of Lelia’s job at that bar, which was indeed a steady job and might just be what she needed most of all. And yes, she would be fired if she took her job the wrong way.. or if she got drunk at the job. And maybe what Lelia needed as well, was an intervention, to get rid of the alcohol and drugs in her system. She saw people come and go, who overdosed, asked to be brought back to health and then went out to get high once again. And she really did wish she’d never have to see her own sister in the hospital like that.. or any other way, for that matter.

”Yes, I’m very happy that I did.” Sienna agreed, to what Lelia said to her. When she started to push the contents on her plate around, she sighed and looked up at Robert, before looking back at Lelia. ”There’s enough to eat, so calm down.” She said, as she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. The smile however faded, when she heard what she said about her own job. ”But you manage them alright, don’t you? I mean, you’ve always been kind of tough, but if it doesn’t.. then just say so and I’ll help you find something else.” She said, as she couldn’t help feeling worried about her sister.

”Is Connor the vampire that bit her hand the other day? When I came home not too long ago, she came to me and told me a vampire had bitten her hand and if I could re-bandage it for her.” She looked at Robert and Lelia, now too worried about her niece and whether or not, she was doing what was right. She smiled and took a sip of her drink. ”I haven’t really met him, in fact I don’t think I’ve met all that many people.” She stated dryly. However, when she heard Lelia’s question, she had to swallow before looking at her sister. ”Well, there’s this one guy at work..” She said with an innocent smile, as she thought about Logan.

[Robert Alexander Lovelace]

Robert watched Lelia gorge herself, "Leila you don't want to make yourself sick, slow down. I'm not going to take your food away from you." he said with a soft chuckle, "As for the bar if you need me to step in and talk to a few folks I can. I can be quite persuasive." He exhaled and looked at the twins, "Well I imagine she told you I am a vampire as well and have been since before you were both born." he said as he looked at his drink, "And yes, Connor is the vampire that bit her. He's young and impulsive and bucks authority. That's fine when it is just him dealing with the consequences but I will punch his teeth in if he hurts Merry or anyone else in this family. He's got a mentor helping him so I'm easing off but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'd like all you girls and Tana to find someone you're happy with. If for Merry that's Connor then I'll back off but if she chooses someone else I'll support her decision and back it."

He looked over at Sienna, "That's why I can't pick you up before dark. I just can't put on some shades and walk out there with no big deal." he did smile at Sienna, "Invite him to dinner if you like him. You know you're going to have to at some point or take him to the circus. Merry's at the Circus with Connor as we speak." he said with amusement in his tone, "Hense, the Chinese leftovers. I didn't know when folks were coming in and ordering take out was easiest."

[lelia]

Lelia's cheeks coloured a bit as she set her fork down and took a drink. It wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't make her any less hungry than she felt right now. Watching the two of them, who seemed to be watching her, she got an uneasy feeling like they were thinking at a million miles a second about how to help her. That was the one reason she could never bring herself to come home, she didn't want the attention, even if she knew she needed the help. "How could I say no to that? I could always use a little help." she said. It was true on several levels, there was always room for someone to come into her life and pick her up. It was just more likely that she was going to end up over dosing before that happened.

Blinking at Robert, Lelia opened her mouth in surprise, did Merry tell her about him being a vampire? If she had, the drugs she took the moment they go back to the apartment definitely wiped it from her memory when she woke the next day. There was actually nothing but shock registering on her face as she eyed him cautiously. "Uncle Rob that's.." she started, unsure what to say to him. Every human instinct in her body screamed at her for caution, but then again he was family they would be safe, wouldn't they? "I don't know what to say to that. Why didn't you say something to us sooner? Then you wouldn't have had to keep that secret by yourself." she said, surprisingly sounding like she could care about something else for once.

"He attacked her though, why not do something now? I don't really see it the same way as you, I guess. He'll always be dangerous, a time bomb." Lelia said with a frown. Even if it was incredibly judgemental she couldn't help herself, she felt it was the truth. Sometimes love, even if it was pure, just wasn't enough in her mind. How would they even make that work? He was barred from daylight, they couldn't have children, what sort of life would that leave her with? She had gotten so absorbed in Merry's life that she forgot she even asked Sienna a question. Trying to shake it from her mind, she put on her best smirk and glanced at Sienna.

"Oooh. Do tell! Another nurse? A doctor? An orderly? What does he do!? How tall is he? Does he have a nice bu-" she started, but stopped herself. She was acting like a teenage girl, most likely heading down a road that would embarass the crap out of Sienna. "I'm with Uncle Rob here, guys are dumb sometimes, it can be a good thing to just get it out there."

[fallenintospace]

”Frankly we shouldn't even need to offer this to you.” Sienna noted, as she looked at Lelia, with a smile still on her face. Now, she decided, was not the moment to have an opinion on this matter, besides that, she didn't want to chase her away as soon as she had come. ”Before you go; 'don't they want to help you?', we do. I do. But, if you let us in on more of what happens in your life, we can avoid things like this to happen next time.”

When she heard what Lelia said about Robert, to Robert, she looked down at her plate, then got up and filled hers and Lelia's back up again. She was still hungry and she could only imagine Lelia was too. ”Sis, I agree we should've heard sooner, but uncle Rob here only wants what's best for us and wouldn't we all just freak out to have an uncle who's a vampire? I mean, we're witches, Merry's a witch.. that on it's own is a lot to handle, as well.” She looked at Robert with an apologetic look in her eyes and then sat down again, giving Lelia her plate too. That Lelia cared, meant a lot, and it was good, some might even call it process.

A time-bomb? Weren't they all time-bombs waiting to go off and yell or lash out? Lelia too, with the drugs she was taking and the alcohol, was somewhat of a time-bomb. She took a bite from her food and looked up again, mirth playing around in her eyes. ”His name is Logan, he's a doctor and frankly I'm not the only one that's attracted or in love with him, so I'm not going to do anything about it.” She said, trying to sound he least bit resolute.

[Robert Alexander Lovelace]

Robert sighed, "I wanted you all to be old enough to handle it. Its not something you tell someone out of the blue. You have to have tact and know when the time is right to do so." he exhaled more for them than for himself, "Leila, its not that simple. I can be mad at Connor for biting her but it forged a connection and that means that she can sense him on a deeper level. To just tear her away from him could harm her. And might drive him a bit further unstable. I don't like that he is using Merry as a mental crutch but she is one of the most level headed beings I know and she calms his rage. I've seen her thoughts on it. Until he learns how to stand on his own he needs her."

"Every being on earth is a time bomb and honestly humans do just as many horrible things to each other as vampires. Just ask Sienna. Hell, My god daughter Marina is constantly dodging her father and trying to forge a new life for herself and she is one of the gentlest people out there unless she sees someone else hurting. We just don't know how folks treat each other. Being a vampire doesn't make you a monster its what you do that determines that."