The Warehouse has a new proprietor. Damaris tries to "butter him up" by talking about her grandkids.
"They've always wanted to see one of my concerts... I promised them I'd dedicate my largest one to them," she says, sniffing tearfully.
He seems moved by her story, "We don't have any performers booked for tonight. Sing well for them, alright?"
Damaris smiles, "Of course! Oh you don't know how happy this will make them..."
She also talks him into buying one of her albums.
The same night, Dot happily greets Alistaire. Moving around work commitments means he can come over for dinner every so often now.
"I'm happy you did this," Dot is aware of the effort he's putting in.
"It was important to you..." Alistaire replies with the truth.
"How about we go inside and have dinner?" Dot suggests.
"Good idea."
While Dot sets the table for both of them, Alistaire looks around the small kitchen/bedroom.
Was that there a second ago? Alistaire suddenly notices a strange statuette next to him.
"Dinner's ready!" Dot calls softly over her shoulder. Alistaire sits down, strange statue forgotten.
It disappears while the couple eats, quickly gone. Neither of them notice.
Damaris's show is ready.
She was bemused when all they had was this gothic setup. If Marc were still around, he would've appreciated the dark tones.
There's even a gargoyle, for plumbob's sake!
The crowd finds the bubbly pop songs sung by an old woman wearing cat ears to be a cool contrast with the somber setup around her.
Although Solomon finds the doll mildly frightening.
She is captivating. Marvelous.
She is... PALE VAMP!
After dinner, Tatum can hardly contain her curiosity.
"Are you Kaira's daddy?"
Dot watches his reaction carefully. She's told Tatum about Alistaire, but this is the first time they're meeting.
"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you." Like Wei, Alistaire's not too sure how to talk to kids.
Tatum doesn't really care though. "You're so tall! I bet you're good at climbing trees. But not better than me and Lucky!"
Dot breaks away to clean up their meal. She's sure Alistaire will be fine.
Though Tatum is easy enough to win over, Ume is more skeptical. She scrutinises him as he talks to her niece. Alistaire pretends not to notice.
"So who is this Lucky? A friend from school?"
Tatum smiles shyly, "He's my best friend! But he...isn't here right now."
"Well, when you see him, tell him I say hello."
Tatum smiles, happy to finally have her "imaginary" friend acknowledged, "I will. Hey, do you know anything about fish, cause..."
While she tells him about the class pet, a goldfish named Polo, Ume doesn't stop staring at him.
So he finally shows up. About time. As far as Ume's concerned, there's no guarantee that he won't be just like Justin, skipping out when things get hard.
Alistaire has his work cut out for him if he'll want Ume to warm up to him.
Damaris is nearing the end of her performance. She takes a break to drink some water when she spots a familiar face in the crowd.
The guy who gave her his phone number and a tip.
It could be worth it, she considers. What has she got to lose by talking to him?
Nothing, she decides. Things are looking up Pale Vamp!
Alistaire complies when Tatum asks him to read her a bedtime story. She doesn't want him to see Lucky and make fun of her, so she doesn't let him go to her room. He reads her a story in her grandmother's bed instead.
She falls asleep quickly.
"Tatum?" he checks to see if she's really asleep.
When she doesn't reply, he pats her shoulder through the blanket.
"Sweet dreams."
Outside, the sculpture glints faintly.
But nothing's there when Alistaire looks up. Must have been his imagination.
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AN: Finally they let Damaris preform! She's level 9 in the singer career now. Shouldn't be long before she accomplishes her LTW.
Ume was giving Alistaire the evil eye the entire time she was in the kitchen, I found it too funny not to include.
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