[OPEN] MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR

[baisant]

The Duke of Central London's Samhain festivities are open upon invitation only. Those who are fortunate enough to have received one, either from the Duke himself or from one of his guests, are privy to quite the affair. Raymond has obviously been planning this for some time now, and the bar is fully stocked, the room fully decorated for the festivities. Collected from the fae hunt that their leader had encouraged, fae blood flows freely, available freshly served in punch bowls or straight from the source itself, in the form of kidnapped fae off of the streets. The vampires who partake are drunk with it and high on the euphoria that it offers, a drug unlike any other their kind can partake in.

As promised by Raymond himself, it is a rave the likes that London has never seen before. And it's about to get a lot more memorable still...

Comments

[longterm]

Cesare smiles. "Good, then that means you can't possibly have seen me here. I didn't attend. Grew ill at the last minute, you see. Swallowed some bad blood."

As much as he has his own reasons for supporting Jean-Claude, he has more reasons not to be seen doing so. Cesare is a man who is best suited to shadows when it comes to underhand dealings and assassinations. He doesn't like to be publicly declared an executioner. He's learned over time that it tends to taint his business deals. Whisperings are fine, but when it comes to political killings, he would prefer not to be the one photographed with blood on his hands.

He is sure Natasha understands that. After all, he knows she's smarter than he usually gives her credit for.

[outstandingbalance]

"I wouldn't have any way to know, one way or the other." Natasha says by way of agreement. She thinks they're both on the same page about that. For different reasons, it's better that both of them not be in the spotlight.

For Natasha's part, if no one even speculates she was here outside of the few allies in the circle.

"You know, I wondered who's side you'd come down on. I had a pretty good guess, but there's always an air of mystery."

[longterm]

Cesare laughs at that, leaning back into his chair and taking a swig of his drink.

"You think I'm untrustworthy?" he asks, though he doesn't take offence to it. He's incredibly trustworthy in the sense that he'll always prioritize himself and those he cares about. He can be relied on for that. He has never lied about that and he doesn't intend to do so now.

[outstandingbalance]

"I didn't say that." She answers in good time, not missing a beat or rushing to set the record straight. When she clarifies her position, her tone is easy and professional. "What I didn't trust was that you wouldn't see your best interests and Harris's aligning. I know we have priorities. Different ideas about vampires best role in the city."

And Natasha doesn't judge that, not really.

[longterm]

Cesare's idea of the vampires' rightful position has always been pretty clear: the top. He didn't join this team for it to be a losing one. He can understand that Natasha might be more interested in keeping the peace, but he doesn't agree with it. He's been on this earth long enough to realize that a truce of goodwill tends to be shortlived. Tonight is proof of that.

He smiles and shrugs.

"The people wanted change, an end to the bloodshed, even if they had to shed blood to do it." He says the words knowingly, a call to how ridiculous this all truly is. But everyone else had wanted it and so, ridiculous as it was, Cesare had gone along with it, making sure to pick up what he could along the way.

[outstandingbalance]

"Sometimes you have to get your hands a little dirty," Natasha says. She's not going to pretend any personal moral superiority. She doesn't see it as hypocrisy; just pragmatism.

"Harris's style of leadership wasn't any more sustainable than the bloodshed was. Something would have given one way or another."

She sips her drink, shaking her head slightly.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you came out on Jean-Claude's side."

[longterm]

Cesare smirks a little, giving her a look over his drink as he takes a sip.

"And why is that? Hoping to avoid a larger fight, perhaps?" Cesare has a tendency to be over confident, but even the most objective of observers likely think that if they can dodge a feud with Cesare, it's probably for the better. Cesare's old and strong and has a lot of hands in a lot of pots. He could be defeated, of course, but he'd damn well try to take a lot of people with him. Having Cesare on the side of Jean-Claude makes things simpler.

"Jean-Claude and I have a history. Of course I would support an old friend." Though he doesn't entirely mean it. The past is the past and the future is fair game.

[outstandingbalance]

"I know what politic does to old friends." She says it the way someone might say they know what rain does to a picnic. There's no judgment or rancor in it, just understanding the facts of nature enough not to fight them.

"But it's an easier fight with you on his side, isn't it?" That's the sensible answer, isn't it? Natasha prefers those whenever she can. It neatly sidesteps her feelings. Perhaps the fact she'd rather not have to try to kill him.

Not because she doesn't think she could, but she'd rather not test it. "Shouldn't really be a surprise I'd rather not see more blood on the street."

[longterm]

"Ah, yes. Of course," Cesare says with a smirk and a laugh. "We all know your aversion to blood." He's not going to argue about her decision not to drink blood with her, not for now or directly anyway. But he's still disappointed. It's such a waste. It always will be. Natasha may be a vampire, but she's only half of one at this point, in his eyes. She has a lot to learn first.

"I'm surprised you're here, to be honest. With the greatest of respects, this isn't necessarily your fight." After all, Natasha isn't allied with Islington. She isn't choosing her own leader here, but someone else's.

[outstandingbalance]

"If you think that, you don't know all that much about me." She says it lightly, a grim twinkle in her eyes. Natasha has spent decades as a weapon—one for hire. Even when she'd worked for the KGB, before she was a vampire, she had earned experience meddling in other nations politics, manipulating them to her nest and her nation's benefit.

Now, it had seemed the most natural choice in the world.

Perhaps that reflects poorly on her?

"But here we both are."

[longterm]

Cesare knows some of her past. After being caught off guard during their first meeting, he made a point of finding out about her. He knows she's a fighter, but still...

"I'd suspected your time with witches might have tamed you. They certainly seem content on taming us." And by us, he mostly means himself. For some reason, he's taken a rather extreme dislike to the witches. In his eyes, they hold too much power that they insist of wielding against others. Cesare doesn't like it, though that could be because he would rather be the one with the power himself.

"But here we both are," he echoes, lifting his glass in toast. Well done, Natasha. Respect for not being so easily swayed.