Sorta maybe dinner date

Edwin was thinking just the opposite of Aren - that this whole dinner shenanigans was a date. And even though Mini had a assured him that Aren was just a very good friend that she'd like him to meet, the suspicious old vampire thought otherwise.

And when the doorbell rang, Edwin had made sure, doubly sure - as in he had jammed Mini's bedroom door with some sculpture's clay so she would have to fiddle a bit with it to open it - so that he would be the first one to greet this supposed "friend".

Reaching the door first, Edwin opened it and peered rather unimpressed at the young man, letting a second or two go by before he finally spoke, "Eric, I suppose, Mini's friend?" he said coolly to the young man as Edwin looked him up and down, noting the nice suit and then frowning as his suspicions were confirmed - it was a date...

Mini had a hand in today's meal. However, afraid she would mess up her attire, she didn't change until dinner was near done. She then went to her room to put on a nice dress. Nothing overly formal, but it was definitely too nice for just a casual meal with a friend. Meanwhile Bolt was rolling through the hallways. He noticed Edwin having pulled his clay trick. Though he did not stop it, he did tilt his head at the vampire as if to say 'Really?'. The pangolin plopped himself next to the bedroom door.

Soon enough, the bell rang. This caused Mini to jump up and scurry for the door. Unfortunately, she could not get her own door open. She wiggled and struggled with the stuck door. "W-What...." How could this have happened? "Daddy, I'm stuck!" She called out. It didn't come to mind that he lightly sabotaged it. With a bit of shaking, bits of clay dropped onto the ground. She blinked in confusion.

Bolt looked at the shaking door, then looked in every direction. He decided to quickly zoom over to the front door with his super speed and stare at Aren from the side. Now there was a blue pangolin watching.

As Aren stammered his hello, Edwin saw the Pangolin arrive out of the corner of his eye and guessed that Mini had managed to open the door to her room. Scowling slightly at this, he turned from Aren to look momentarily at the animal.

"What in the blazes are you doing here?" he asked pointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be supporting Mini or something?" he added slightly annoyed now that they had obviously managed to break free so easily, and ruin his idea to scare Aren off.

Hearing Aren ask for Mini, Edwin frowned. His initial reaction was to slam the door and send Aren away. However, his more reasonable side was telling him that such a gesture would not endear him to his newly adopted daughter. And so, giving in begrudgingly to logic, Edwin threw open the door, stood aside and yelled, "Mini! Alex is here for you!"

The pangolin made a noise and gestured back into the house. Apparently the vampire didn't notice that he was actually outside rather than in the bedroom. Thus he tried signalling that Mini was still stuck and calling for him. Though his powers were cool, they did not help with opening doors. The animal turned to Aren and awkwardly bowed. At least Aren had someone on his side.

Meanwhile Mini was still struggling with the door. "Dad, help!" She squeaked out as loudly as she could. Unfortunately maid work didn't lend itself well to strength; being a youkai with a stretchy neck did nothing either. She kept pulling and pulling and then found herself stumbling back onto the ground as she managed to get more clay out of the door. Seeing this made her feel somewhat suspicious but mostly confused. She gazed around the room for something sharp to stick through the door. She got up and allowed her neck to stretch to search for an object.

Edwin peered down at Mini's pet as it greeted Aren, silently wondering where his daughter was? She should, technically, be downstairs by now if the two had escaped her room, But as the seconds ticked by, he noticed finally a faint voice... it was Mini calling out to him.

Glancing thoughtfully and with a little scowl at Aren and at the pangolin, Edwin's mind began formulating a plan...maybe, if Mini couldn't come out of her room.. then, perhaps, just maybe, he could simply tell Aren that his daughter had changed her mind?

Bolt had other plans. He proceeded to try and ease Aren's tensions with dancing. ...Fortnite dances. Which were not meant for this little animal's body. It just looked awkward yet cute. This was his attempt at disarming the fellow. Seeing that the vampire dad was not going to help Mini, he then proceeded to suddenly roll behind Aren and tried shoving him right into the space. All the while, Mini was busy trying to get herself out of the bedroom by cutting out all of the clay in her door frame.

@Arcadia @Zora