[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

[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.