No use crying over spilled milk

[mirandaducharme]

It was just after nine in the morning, and the nice quiet cafe was just where Miranda wanted to be. She'd worked a busy third shift, and the thought of curling up in bed sounded like an invite from Heaven. However, when she walked in the door and was nearly knocked over by an already wide-awake four year old, other priorities fell into place. Once the sitter left, Miranda began to scramble up a breakfast at home...But there wasn't any pancake mix. Or eggs. Or even a box of cereal that hadn't gone stale yet. On the way to the cafe, she wondered what they'd eaten for breakfast lately. It wasn't until they were in a parking spot did she realize she was still in uniform. Quickly, she unbuttoned and then shrugged off her uniform top. Adjusting the dark tanktop underneath, Miranda glanced towards the cafe. After a few seconds she removed the gun from her belt and put it in the glove box.

Almost as soon as they sat down, the little girl bounced in her seat. "I want hot chocolate," She stated with a big grin. Looking across the table at her, Miranda offered a small smile. Their pale complexions and facial shapes were duplicates of each other; but while Miranda had short dark brown hair and stormy-gray eyes, Juliet had Caribbean-blue eyes and long deep-red hair. Thankfully, she'd yet to ask why the two looked so different.

"Careful, it's hot," Miranda reached out, moving the mug of hot chocolate further away while Juliet focused her attention on coloring a napkin various colors. She already knew what she wanted: Chicken fingers and french fries. Miranda, however, stared at the menu, looking for anything to grab her attention. Maybe she'd just pick at Juliet's fries and save some money...but then she'd never hear the end of it when all the fries were gone.

"Did you catch any bad guys?" Juliet asked without looking up, huddled over the table and her drawing as she kept going. It was the same question every time Miranda came home, and yet it never got old. Glancing up at her daughter, Miranda suddenly furrowed her eyebrows. Juliet was still in a pair of long pants and a t-shirt, both a pale pink with little silver crowns. Across the front of the shirt it read 'Princess.' Had she really forgotten to change her out of pajamas? Damn, she needed sleep, she was never this forgetful. The child didn't mind, so she'd just remain silent.

"Nope, everyone was good last night," Miranda lied. It probably wasn't the time or place to explain that mommy dearest had gotten involved in a high-speed chase that had lead to a pursuit on foot. When her stomach growled, Miranda wrinkled her nose.
"Sweetie, help me pick something out," She said, pushing a few strands out of her face that fell out of her short pony tail. Shoving aside her crayons and napkins, Juliet took a look at her menu.
"Get a.....Muffin!" She nodded, satisfied with her choice. Glancing down at the menu, Miranda furrowed her brows again.
"Where are they? I don't see-"
"Right there!" Juliet jumped up excitedly, nearly lunging across the table to point at her mom's menu. She missed her hot chocolate, however her lunge caused her to knock into the mug of hot coffee Miranda had ordered. The liquid spilled, pouring over the table edge like a waterfall and spilling into Miranda's lap.

"Shit!" She jumped up, sliding out from the booth in one fluid motion. Juliet sat back in her spot, her hands over her mouth.
"Swear jar!" Her little voice was muffled, and yet her words were still clear. Grabbing some napkins, Miranda ignored the burning on the front of her pants and focused on cleaning up the table.
"God d--" She mumbled under her breath at the burning, though stopped and looked at Juliet. "Bless America," She finished between clenched, offering a smile towards her daughter to show everything would be okay. Just very, very uncomfortable for someone with coffee-soaked pants.

[/center]

[Darian Raniari]

Darian smiled from the corner.

He sat watching Miranda and her daughter through the dark lenses of his sunglasses. The early morning sun was a bit much for him, but it was more of an irritation than anything else. He adjusted the high collar of his long jacket to keep the warmth and light off of his face, his eyes never leaving Miranda.

Darian had followed her here, of course. Something had stirred within the vampire the night that he'd met and spoken with Miranda. What it was he wasn't sure, but he was curious, and felt the need to investigate a bit closer. Whatever it was, it was slightly disturbing, and it put him in mind of the way someone else had made him feel, so long ago...

With a speed that was clearly unnatural, Darian slipped out of his booth and grabbed a towel before drifting to Miranda and her little girl. Smiling charmingly, he cleared his throat, offering the towel to the off-duty officer and taking her now-empty coffee cup, gesturing to the waitress for a refill.

"Quite a way to start the morning, Officer," he teased, not bothering to give her the customary wink, as it would have been hidden by his large, dark glasses.

[mirandaducharme]

The sudden appearance of another made Miranda turn on her heels, body tense. For a moment, mother and daughter both stared at their new visitor. Finally, once her mind registered the familiar face, Miranda visibly relaxed. Taking the towel, she sopped up what remained of the coffee on the table and her seat before finally turning to dab at her pants. Wrinkling her nose as it stuck to her skin underneath. Glancing out the window, she debated if she'd had an extra pair of pants in the car or not. Shaking her head at her thoughts, she dismissed the idea. She carried an extra change of clothes for Juliet, but not herself.

"My morning began a long time ago," she said with a weak laugh, shaking her head while still dabbing at her pants. When all hope was lost, she balled up the towel and placed it aside. Opening her mouth to speak, she stopped as she was suddenly cut off.

"Who're you?" Juliet finally chimed in, her hands back to her crayons and head cocked to the side just slightly.
Miranda glanced to her daughter, quiet for a moment before going on. "This is my friend Darian, Darian this is my daughter J--"
"I'm Juliet! Wanna sit with me?" The child was quick to finish the sentence, sitting straight up in her seat.
"How about I sit with you, and Mr. Darian gets his own big seat?" Miranda glanced back to her daughter, smiling lightly and moving to sit beside her. Playfully, she wiggled a bit dramatically once she'd sat down, scooting her daughter just the slightest with a smile. Motioning across from them to the now empty seat with one hand, Miranda used the other to corral any loose crayons that had rolled across the table.

"You're more than welcome to join us, I've no clue what I'm eating so we haven't ordered yet," she shrugged, reaching for the menu that had been placed before Juliet earlier.
"Why are you wearing those?" Juliet looked up, pointing up towards the sunglasses Darian wore. "We're inside..."
"Juliet, don't point," Miranda said quietly, not looking up from the menu and reaching over to gently clasp a hand over Juliet's extended finger. The gentle tone completely contradicted the remains of the uniform she wore. It was amazing the double life a mother could live.

[Darian Raniari]

Darian forced a smile for the little girl's benefit.

Sitting down, he wiped a nonexistent speck of dust off of the shoulder of his suit coat, adjusting his collar and loosening his tie. Sure, it was early in the morning and he was sitting in a tiny diner in the middle of the city, but the vampire made a special point of looking good no matter what. Besides, he'd spent an obscene amount of money on this particular suit, and he intended on showing it off.

He stared across the table at them, glad that his eyes were hidden behind the dark, reflective lenses of his sunglasses as they settled on Miranda, studying her closely. What was it about her that seemed to call to him so? It was true that she was beautiful, but he'd spent plenty of time around the world's most gorgeous women, and none of them had aroused such unusual and uncomfortable emotions within him. She was brave, and seemed to speak her mind fearlessly, and she was selfless as well, no doubt throwing herself in harm's way to help others.

She was fascinating.

Kindly waving off Miranda's comment about ordering, Darian said, "I'm afraid I've already eaten. Breakfast on the run and all that." His smiled a bit as he thought about said "breakfast": a middle-aged man jogging in the park who Darian had played around with a bit before finally taking down. All in all, it had been an invigorating start to the day.

The vampire was snapped out of his musing when the child asked him about his sunglasses. God, children made Darian so uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why, really, but something about them and the way they seemed to prattle on about the most pointless and inane things just set his teeth on edge. Still, this particular child was quite adorable, and it seemed like there was a bit of uncommon intelligence in her clear blue eyes, so Darian decided he'd try to be at least polite to her. Besides, she was Miranda's daughter, and he didn't think that answering the girl in his typical scathing tone would impress the woman.

"Well," he started, flashing the girl his most charming smile, "it seemed like the sunglasses would be just the thing to set off the suit, I suppose." Sliding the glasses down to the edge of his nose, he winked at her, saying, "It's okay to wear sunglasses inside if its for the sake of looking really, really cool."

Darian's smile broadened as Miranda spoke to her daughter and grabbed her finger without even looking up from the menu. Yes, she was certainly fascinating, but Darian wondered what his plans were for her in the long run. He didn't really have any desire to feed on her, or to kill her. And he definitely didn't wish to do Juliet any harm either, for though he was often thought of as insane, Darian took pride in the fact that he had never, and would never, harm a child.

"Please, its fine," he said softly to Miranda, taking the glasses of and squinting a bit against the sun that streamed in through the diner's windows. "The girl just speaks her mind, like her mother." Tucking the sunglasses in the front pocket of his suit coat and gracing Miranda with a genuine smile.

[mirandaducharme]

Juliet tugged on the hold her mom had on her finger, grunting softly and getting her other hand involved to try and pry open Miranda's hand, finger by finger. Smirking lightly, Miranda kept her eyes on the menu, though stopped reading. Eventually, she lifted gray eyes to focus on Darian, offering a weak smile. Her short hair was pulled back into a tight stub of a ponytail, some rebellious strands falling loose and hanging in her face.

"Really, really cool?" Juliet looked up from her attempt at freedom, eyebrows raising high. Quickly, she looked to Miranda. "Mom can I--"
"You're already really, really, really cool, Juliet." Miranda smirked, looking back to the menu. The comment brought a cheshire-cat-like grin to Juliet's small face. Quickly, she looked back to Darian, giving him a look that clearly stated 'I'm cooler than you. Ha.'

When the waitress had returned with Miranda's fresh coffee, she placed their order. Juliet's chicken and french fries, and a chocolate chip muffin for herself. Finally releasing Juliet's hand, she reached for a handful of sugar packets. Adding them a couple at a time, the amount could make any dentist cringe.
"Speaking her mind like her mother could get her in the same trouble her mother's been in," she said, looking up to him. Oddly enough, she stirred up enough trouble while growing up. Others often blamed on her "acting out" with lack of a mother and her father being too busy with work to even cook. She blamed it on simply being bored and not wanting to bite her tongue. It was something she prayed Juliet wouldn't take from her...Though at the same time, hoped she'd pick up more personality traits from her than the biological father.

"How come your hair is so long?" Juliet's question broke Miranda out of her thoughts. Stirring in the sugar, she simply raised her eyebrows towards Darian as she waited for an answer. Lifting the steaming mug to her lips, she took a small sip. Shutting her eyes, she focused on the warmth, letting it fill her from the inside out. Putting down the mug, she glanced towards Juliet.

"Why don't you draw Mr. Darian a picture?" She asked, sliding over some napkins and handing over some crayons. Instantly, Juliet attacked her new project. Smiling, Miranda glanced back up towards Darian.
"So what brings you here? In a suit, no less? Hot date with the forty-year old waitress over there?" She smirked, brows raised as she waited for an answer. Glancing down to her mug, she hesitated a moment before holding it out towards him. "You really should try a sip, beats the hel--Heck out of stuff from the can at home."

{OOC: Meh! sorry it's not great, typed it up quickly before hubby got home and I went brain-dead halfway through ;-; }

[Darian Raniari]

When Miranda mentioned how speaking her mind had gotten her in trouble, Darian smiled.

"It's been my experience," he began, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward, "that those who most resent us when we speak our minds are those who most wish to speak their own minds. They are simply too cowardly to do so themselves, and so they take out their displeasure accordingly."

Juliet's question about his hair made Darian smile a bit. He was surprised by this, as usually kids made him uncomfortable at best, and downright frustrated at the worst of times. Juliet, though, was an enigma to him. There was a certain intelligence in her eyes that one didn't usually find in a child her age, and it fascinated him just as much as her mother had. Again, Darian felt a bit disconcerted by the stirrings that they caused within him, and he tried to bury the feelings deep, and the old memories that came with them.

"Well, my dear," he said to her, "this was the style that men wore their hair where I come when I was young. I suppose that I keep my hair long like because it reminds me of home." Nodding to himself, Darian smiled a bit, sadly, though he tried to maintain a facade of happiness.

Taking the cup of coffee when it was offered to him, the vampire sipped at it gingerly, raising his eyebrows in approval before returning the mug to Miranda.

"Not bad at all," he agreed, nodding, and then chuckling at her question about the waitress. "No, no hot dates for me I'm afraid. Besides, she isn't exactly my type, you know. As for the suit," he went on, shrugging and smirking a bit, "I guess I just like to look sharp. To be honest, though, I had a bit of business to attend to last night in Atlanta, and I decided that when it was wrapped up I'd fly in to see you. My jet just landed an hour or so ago... I hope you don't think it too forward of me, but I remembered what you'd said about looking you up at the precinct. Lucky for me, I ran into you here. What are the chances?"

[mirandaducharme]

Smirking at his response, Miranda tilted her head to the side just slightly. "And where did you learn that little saying, Confucious?" She smirked, stealing a glance towards her daughter briefly. She'd could hear and see her daughter out of the corner of her eyes, though it would only ease her constant tension to physically look at Juliet. Overprotective by heart, a profession in law enforcement did not help when it came to Miranda's shield around her daughter.

"Doesn't beat coffee back in New York, I'll tell you that. They've got the best everything. Bagels, hot dogs, coffee....Well, everything but crime rates," she smirked, shrugging as she brought the coffee back up to her mouth. Her constant share of germs probably explained why she'd get sick at least twice every winter. Shutting her eyes, Miranda took a long sip, fingers curling tightly around the mug.

Too forward? Opening up her right eye, Miranda smirked and opened up the other as she put the mug down. Quiet for a few moments, Miranda eventually shook her head. Reaching back, she finally tugged the hairtie out of her hair. Dark strands fell loose, hanging to just below her chin. Sliding the tie around her wrist, she glanced back up at him.

"Coming to find me right after your flight landed? Well don't I feel special, and we barely know each other. Everything alright?" She smirked, glancing over to her daughter briefly to check on Juliet's progress. The child was scribbling away, acting as if the world around her didn't exist. Glancing back to him, her brows furrowed again. "It's been a long night, so I'm sorry to ask again...So what is it you do again?"

[ughhh. I'm SO sorry I took forever and this is crap ;_; I'll get better!]

[Darian Raniari]

Darian watched Miranda, openly admiring her.

"Yes, everything's fine," he told her, nodding to himself. "To be honest, I just needed a break. Some time to breath, I guess. And it was refreshing, the conversation we had the other night." He sighed, shaking his head a bit and lowering his eyes, losing some of the confidence that he'd been exuding. "I have precious little intelligent, adult conversation in my life. My... my brother, it seems, has turned everyone against me."

It was true. Darian could barely step into a place sometimes without someone drawing down on him, or throwing magic at him, or just trying to kill or maim him in general. It was exhausting. The vampire knew he was no saint, though, and that oftentimes he instigated things, but on those times when he didn't, he just wanted to have a quiet night out and relax. He spent so much time in the air, on board Abrielle, that there were times he just wanted to feel his feet on solid ground again. And even something so simple as a stroll through the park could sometimes go south, if a hunter was around, or a friend of his brother's.

Snapping out of his brooding, Darian looked back up at Miranda again, smiling, though his eyes were still shadowed.

"As for my job," he went on, "I have my hand in a lot of different things. Stocks and bonds, real estate, various pharmaceutical and scientific organizations... You name it, I've probably done it. Or funded someone who's done it, at any rate." He shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "It was a grueling process to get where I am today, but I'd do it all over again, without a second thought, for what I have now... My freedom, my independence. I'd be lost without it."