James frowned, "I thought you said Kaliko wouldn't let him kill me," he reminded her.

"... Yes," Yue replied. "But he can be... rather creative."

James sighed a little, "Are we dating or not?" he demanded.

"Yes," Yue replied. "But can you at least try to make a good first impression?"

"What does he consider a good impression?" James asked, sounding slightly irritated.

Yue paused before simplifying it. "Just don't use any sexual innuendos and don't touch anything that a bikini would cover."

James rolled his eyes a little, "Fine," he muttered, but he didn't seem happy.

And just then Yue's brother arrived. Sheng and party were dressed in a Phantom of the Opera theme with very authentic era clothing. On his arm was his wife Ling. After them came their guards Chi, the younger brother, and Chao, the older brother. Chi appeared to be Sheng's guard, while Chao appeared to be Ling's guard.

[ costumes on first page ]

James glanced over, "Well, they went all out," he noted to Yue.

--

Laurel tugged on Nic's arm, "Wow, he does look a lot like Yue," she noted.

Yue didn't seem too surprised.

Nic didn't comment.

The first person Sheng approached was Hayden.

Hayden had a half smirk on his face as he looked up at Sheng, "Glad you could make it," he greeted.

"Thank you for the invitation," Sheng replied graciously as he smiled back. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. This is my wife, Ling. And our guards Chi and Chao." They all nodded their heads as their names were called

"Likewise," Hayden nodded back to each member as they were called, "I'd love to talk business but Rinrou won't allow me."

Laurel looked up at Nic, "I'm guessing you don't want to talk to him?" she ventured.

"Same," Sheng replied. "Perhaps we'll find an excuse to discuss business in the real universe sometime."

"... Not particularly," Nic replied, though he wasn't as physically tense as might be expected. It was just more of an inconvenience he was here.

Hayden chuckled a little as he glanced over at Laurel and Nic, "I'm sure we will," he replied before turning to greet Dalila as she walked up.

"Well, we finally meet Sheng," she mused, champaign glass in her hand.

Laurel sneezed, "I wonder if they're talking about us," she muttered, rubbing her nose.

Sheng nodded to Dalila, introducing himself and kissing the top of her hand lightly before quickly introducing the group once more. Ling extended her hand to shake Dalia's. They all were defiantly proper.

Again, Nic didn't comment.