<strong>Emily, Mari, (Kelli?), Sue<br/>At the party<br/>Looking for prey <em>tout en attendant <del>Godot</del> Nix</em></strong><br/><br/>A shadow seemed to pass from Sue to the place where Emily was trying to chat up Mari, as if expecting something. Then it came back, almost uncertain.<br/>Nobody noticed, including the women.<br/><br/><div align="center">***</div><br/>Some kid running at speed bumped into Mari's skirt, interrupting . He looked to be no more than 10, blond, and was chasing some other kids around the pool. The impact, however, almost toppled her over.<br/>The kid seemed to be swimming regularly, if one could judge by his muscle development. Then he looked up to her and spoke with a weird accent she didn't manage to recognise.<br/>"Are you a princess?"<br/>Sue, at the same time, looked at some boys and girls she could have met in Baghdad. Red-haired, and being nude didn't help her distinguish between kids from different nationalities...<br/>Of course, these ones could simply be Jewish, she knew.<br/>Nix also appeared, and the ones with military background could appreciate his guards forming a discreet "diamond" formation around him as they emerged from the home entrance. Of course, with two of them being female, the almost seemed like normal sycophants.<br/>If you squint and don't look too closely, that is, they'd certainly seem like that.<br/>Be it as it may, Nix waited for the crowd to notice him, than touched something in his three-piece. It seems this activated a micro, since now you can all hear his words.<br/>"Dear friends and business associates", Nix began. "I thank you for coming over at my humble home, to celebrate my kids' 15th birthday!"<br/>The kids seem to be the ones that stay together, and meet all the other kids. Playing the hosts for them as his father is the host for the adults.<br/>"I'm glad to be in the presence of so many friends - for you know that I don't do business with people I wouldn't trust enough to invite at my kids' birthday - and I'm glad to see you all answered the invitation!"<br/>The gathered men in expensive suits raise a glass each in his direction, smiling politely. If they had cloaks, some might have hidden a hand under them, but alas, the time of cloaks-and-daggers has long since passed.<br/>The ethics of it, however, are very much alive - as the gathering here could attest.<br/>"On this happy day, when my kids...what the..."<br/>There's some commotion in the bushes near the party.<br/>Seems like a paparazzi has been spotted by the guards.