Dillon Connery stood outside the gates of the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery, the oldest existing cemetery in the city. Officially established in 1849, according to various informative plaques here and there, it is very nearly as old as he is. He had already went through the office to acquire his physical tickets for a guided Lantern Tour, having parked across the street at the Sacramento Works building per instruction. It was a regular event that the Old City Cemetery performed yearly in the days leading up to Halloween, as a bit of real and historical spookiness for the flavor of the season. This night, it would be attended by a pair of very real and historical Vampires.

The Gangrel Priscus is dressed once again in a casual blazer and jeans, with a jacket underneath for warmth. Not that he needed the warmth, of course, but the Masquerade had to be preserved. And it is a chilly night in North California, tonight. The effect of the dark and the cold, and the various lantern lights swinging around in the normally beautiful cemetery, was impressive. And the tour groups were nice and small, too. Surely it helped create the ambiance of gloom and isolation once you were among the grounds.

With his thumbs hooked loosely in his front pockets, Dillon awaits the arrival of one of the most influential and well-informed women in the city, among both the living and the dead, Miss Ariana Donovan.

Having been dropped off not to far from the cemetery, Ariana walked and watched the patrons as they moved around. She picked out the lanterns from the groups that were on the tours. She was blushed in the night, and her simple outfit of black slacks, deep purple blouse and a leather jacket and scarf worn with gloves so she would blend in.

There were children about, and the Lordess watched them in wonder as they chattered and giggled. Her beast never craved the little ones especially since she had already ate. Their parents, were much more interesting she thought as she smiled as they chased them in front of her. As she came to the gates, she grinned to Dillon. "Good evening Mr. Connery. Lovely evening." She said with a enthused tone. "This looks like it will be fun. I have heard this is a beautiful place." Although she left off, during the day.

Dillon felt his Beast stir, and sniff, as the Harpy approached and he made eye contact, but it knew her well enough to keep quiet. Recently fed, minus the Blush of Life, it was as close to content as the thing ever gets. It and Dillon are of the same mind, all four between them, which is a fairly rare occurrence. "Much more so, now that you are here," the shameless, but truthful Gangrel says, with his own greeting smile. The grin, like his comment, is charmingly cheesy. "Good evening, Miss Donovan. I hope you're well. I regret that we haven't had much chance to speak recently, but I'm looking forward to making up for it."

Ariana smiled and shook her head a little. "Such a flatterer Mr. Connery." She glanced around a little taking in the monuments and tombstones she could see from where they stood. "I am well, thank you. There has been so much going on lately, it is hard to keep up at times. There have been many new people to meet as well." She looked to Dillon for a moment. "Making up for it?" She laughed softly. "How so?"

"Well, the best flattery, I've found," Dillon muses, "is the honest kind. Life is too short to waste lies and deceit on those you admire." When she gets close, he offers Ariana his arm in escort. "I'm making up for our lack of contact by showing you the best time that I can, of course." Purposefully vague, that. With playful innocence. "We're still a bit early for our tour. Care to look around a bit?" There is quite a lot to see, even by the entrance, and the Gangrel personally found all of the various informative plaques fascinating. He likes to see history presented in a way that is cherished, and placed here among the sculptures and flowers and trees, well you can't argue that it is.

Laughing a little Ariana said in jest. "You know, most often when people flatter me this much, it means they want something." She slipped her hand in his arm as they began walking. "Yes, I would love to look around a little. I would love to see the Masonic and Grand Army memorials." Not far from the gates, she pointed to a large memorial. "I wonder whose that may be?"

The Lordess also pointed to a few other places. "I wonder if the Mausoleums will be on the tour?" Looking to Dillon she asked. "Was there anything in particular you would like to see?"

Dillon's mouth pulls up one side in his crooked grin. "Then maybe I get to be unique. But if I am expected to want something, then I'd very much enjoy your continued tolerance for my rascally behavior."

Studying the Smith memorial from their distance, Dillon squints and still can't see the name, if there is one. "That, is a very large monument. Or, quite a tiny tomb. Beautiful sculpturing, though." He inclines his head a little as he meets Ariana's gaze. "But I'm just here for the company, the show, and maybe a little history lesson. I don't know enough about the place to have an idea where to look around. That catches my eye, though." Dillon indicates a small stand not far from the entrance, not much more than a print of an old photograph of the cemetery under plexiglass. "Taken in 1866... huh."

"That all depends on how one defines rascally behavior." Ariana smiled as they walked to the photograph. Looking at it then looking around a little to the grounds, she mentioned to Dillon. "It appears they have put a lot of work into the preservation of the cemetery, judging by this photo. It looks as if even the iron has been restored." She gestured to one of the fences.

"I only did a little reading on the internet about it. There are over 600 victims of the Cholera Epidemic buried here." The Lordess said as she looked around. "The fountain is rather beautiful." She said gesturing in that direction. "I wonder how many people spend time here for leisure activity." Ariana mused as she watched the visitors walking around.

"Well," Dillon admits with a guilty smile, "I get carried away with my adjectives, sometimes. I guess I'm just referencing the stark personality contrast between me and your, um, usual escort." Not that he particularly wanted to drag Conner into this conversation, but it was a good enough analogy.

"And I only did a little 'net browsing myself. I think there was something about the first mayor of Sacramento dying of cholera? First publicly-elected mayor, that is, or something like that. Must have been during the same epidemic. I think there's a monument around here for it, somewhere." He casts a few glances around, noting that quite a few people -even the tour guides- had donned costumes for the event. "That photograph brings to mind an interesting piece of personal history, though, if you're interested." Which Dillon only mentioned because he knew of a way to say it and still preserve the masquerade. He didn't even know why he felt the need to share it, but maybe it was just that it would give Ariana something on him. Something more personal. A step closer to being friends.

“Well some may say I am rather different depending on the situation.” Ariana chuckled slightly. “Perception is such a curious thing.”

Nodding her head while Dillon spoke, “I believe that is accurate. There were many important people who died in that epidemic. E.B. Crocker who was a notable art collector, and the city’s founder Captain John A. Sutter, Jr. are also among those buried here.” As one of the costumed individuals walked passed them, Ariana mentioned. “He looks like the grim reaper.”

“What sort of history does it bring up?” She turned to Dillon with an interested look. The Lordess thought one day she should probably return to where her parents were buried as she looked at some of the headstones.


Dillon's eyebrows raise playfully. "Aha, so it's your political versatility that allows you to put up with me, is it?"

As the fellow with a lantern on a stick, presumably a tour guide, drifts by, he says something in a painfully ethereal voice about staying near the light, which kept the creatures of the night at bay. Dillon snickers loudly before he can stop himself, quickly turning it into a short, racking cough.

"I'm named after an ancestor who served in the Civil War as a very young man, and becoming a Lieutenant by the time it was over." Dillon recounts the story without any special emphasis or inflection, as he knew Ariana was sharp enough to grab onto the subtext without it. "He survived the war where the majority of his family did not, then becoming an agent for the government, to root out citizens with lingering separatist ideals.

"1866," he points lightly to the photograph before giving the Harpy a meaningful look, "is the year he died."

Ariana laughed a little. "No, that is not quite what I was referring to, however that is a good descriptor for some occasions."

Her face squinted a little to Dillon's reaction to the actor's dialogue. It was not that a lamplight would keep them at bay, it was more so that their kind were indeed scary sometimes. Ariana knew all too well how true that fact was. Elbowing the Savage playfully, she shook her head and her face returned to her usual pleasant look.

At some point in lifetimes, age was just a number. For some in their unlife, this seemed to hold true as well. Ariana always wondered the ages of a few members of their city, but that was one question that should not go asked. The Lordess listened and realized Dillon was speaking about himself. "Did the Lieutenant ancestor fight for the North or the South?" She asked curiously, although the answer was probably obvious. "It makes me wonder sometimes what people from our history would do in this day and age." Ariana still remained vague, but still implied a personal question. She was a little astonished to hear his real age.

So was she actually suggesting that Conner wasn't such a dry piece of toast all the time? Fascinating...

Accepting such a possibility with a noncommittal nod, Dillon answers Ariana's question comfortably, well detached from the memories after all of these years. Which coincided conveniently with the facade that he knew the story from researching his own genealogy in high school or something. "The North. But he was North Carolina Union Volunteer, you see. Which was met with bitter violence when the South was defeated. Some band of the less scrupulous rebels burned down his homestead with his family still inside as he was retuning from battle." Then, apparently as an afterthought. "I can't imagine what that would do to a person, but one might infer that it would erase any naive assumptions that men could put aside their differences and work together so soon after such brutality. If four years of war hadn't done that to him already, that is."

Though the Gangrel's tone carried no somber mood beyond one normally reserved for another person's tragedy, and he easily maintained his polite good charm, it would certainly be much easier for him to suppress any further chuckling at the kine around them and their ironic ignorance. Useful, that, just in case one of the guides mentioned something about Civil War soldiers being spotted still walking around the Grand Army Memorial.

As Ariana listened to Dillon, her face could not hide the reflection of her own memories. “No, sometimes man cannot put aside their differences. History outlines this rather well does it not?” Her voice sympathetic as she continued. “Even though the man quite possibly learned such a hard lesson, I hope that he conveyed that message to others. There is so much violence and squabbling, people cannot always see past their own ambitions and the damage it would cause others.” She stated to the former Union Soldier.

“Sometimes it is the ones you least expect that turn on you.” The Lordess added, trying to be vague but it was a small indication that she was familiar with the subject. “It makes me wonder if people that commit such atrocities have any soul left.” She said it conversationally, trying to keep the tone light and to hide within the masquerade. Her own family had also been stripped away, nearly in the same circumstance. Even though Dillon seemed to disconnect from it, she knew it was something that never leaves.

Dillon nods appreciatively, glad that Ariana had grasped the truth of it. "Too true. History is riddled with the violent struggles of bitter men. Though I like to think that it is always there to give us another chance to learn from it. I like to think that I've learned from my ancestral naivety, though the lesson is hard for me to put into proper words. I try to take little for granted."

Realizing that Sacramento's Harpy is likely hinting at her own sort of shared tragedy, Dillon gives her hand on his arm a soft pat of understanding. "But you can't let things like that eat at your own spirit. It can consume you. Not that we should forget our past sorrows, or those of others, but we must always remember to carry on. It is the best way to honor what others have both lost and given freely." He gives her a friendly, if subdued, smile that suggests that he's not trying to be preachy.

“There are so many things that are taken for granted. Not often does everyone realize this.” Ariana said in agreement as she remembered His good will in her thoughts.

“Mr. Connery,” She chuckled softly for a moment. “I do honor those I have lost, and those that have gone missing. Sometimes their tribute is carefully hidden in what I do daily.” The Lordess smiled to Dillon, perhaps a secret was hidden within her smile. “Although when the distance of time is not that far, remembering is very easy.” Ariana implied gently as she looked around the grounds and let her eyes rest on the fountain for a moment.

"I don't doubt that a bit," Dillon says, in comment to Ariana's assertion. Maintaining the thoughtful smile, he follows her gaze to the fountain and adds, "I hope I can say the same for myself without being a liar." It isn't a sad comment by any means. There is no moping about for this Gangrel. Rather, he's quite encouraged to be having such a gently solemn conversation with the Harpy.

As they walked through the cemetery, Ariana spotted a few other points of interest. "I believe there is a memorial for the Grand Army of the Republic over there." She points in the direction of a set of fencing. "I think that building over there is the Chapel." There was some uncertainty in her words. "Although it does not really look like it would be one."

Ariana smiled and glanced at Dillon for a moment. "Part of me wonders if you are searching for what makes me tick?" She snickered a little. "Or perhaps that may be a mutual curiosity."

"Ah, there sure is." Dillon says with a small smile toward the statue. "Well it's a grand memorial, at any rate." Because he had a hard time thinking of his battalion of smelly, haggard men who had squatted in the mud and ate little more than stale crackers as a grand army of anything.

Returning Ariana's smile with a multiplication that few people are capable of, Dillon carefully keeps from chuckling. "You can be maddeningly vague, sometimes." Not that it wasn't fun to banter with each other, of course. She just seemed very intent on keeping him guessing. Too much time hanging around that Mekhet, no doubt.

For obvious reasons there were things they could not discuss. "Well Mr. Connery, as a journalist it is generally my job to ask the questions." She said with a teasing smile to Dillon. "Besides there are so many interesting things that other people have done. Like your family's heritage. People still discuss the North and the South, that connection to a piece of history is something to treasure I would think."

The Lordess began to sway their walk to the historic rose area. "The value of such information varies from person to person of course." Ariana laughed slightly. "So that being said, why would someone want to take a further look into the looking glass with someone such as myself?" She asked with inquiry while.

Dillon nods to the comment about history rhythmically, assuring his agreement. Maybe he'd been a bit too sober about his involvement with the war and given the wrong impression. "It is something to treasure, indeed. Even if the events were a great tragedy of this country, and mankind in general, it would be a crime to close the book on it and forget it, wouldn't it?" He wasn't so pretentious as to spout that old cliche about not remembering the past and being doomed to repeat it.

As they get nearer to the rose gardens Dillon shrugs playfully. "Maybe it's just the mystery behind such a well-composed classy lady that I find so interesting." Which were traits that the majority of women today lacked. "But I'm willing to bet that the mind behind those pretty blues of yours is anything but boring." His curious look to the flowers might hint at the Gangrel's absence of floral knowledge. Though advertised as a historic rose garden, some of them looked very unlike roses at all.

Ariana nodded in agreement. “Yes, of course and forgetting our past ultimately seals our fate for our future.” She was not alluding to anything in particular in her statement. “I would be interested to know about your ancestors sometime.” Looking to Dillon, knowing this was not the place to discuss something of this nature.

“Mysteries are fun, are they not?” Ariana chuckled softly. “If everything is revealed immediately, what is there to look forward to?” She smiled to Dillon. Then something occurred to her that she was uncertain why she never asked before. “Mr. Connery, forgive me if you have already mentioned this to me. Where did you move from before Sacramento?” The Lordess was beginning to wonder if they should change locations, as their conversations were possibly becoming difficult to speak of in public.

Dillon grins as both statements deflect the conversation back to him. "You're right, of course, and I do love a good mystery." And he shrugs away the apology. "What with all of the business we've been thrown into since I arrived, I'm not sure whether we discussed it or not. But since you're curious; I spent the last year or so in Baja California, where I have some family. They were going through a tough time getting settled, having problems with the locals. Causing problems with the locals, if I'm honest about it, but I think I got them straightened out." Time will tell. "Before that, I worked security for a company out of Chicago. Made a lot of business trips. I won't bore you with the details, here, but I'll tell you all about it sometime, if you're interested."

The Gangrel gives Ariana a sly raise of his eyebrow, not yet willing to let her off the hook. "How about you? Have you traveled, much?"

Ariana turned her head slightly at the problems with the locals statement. "If that means what I think you mean, it is probably good that you took the time to assist with such an issue." Smiling to Dillon as she continued. "You are not boring me Mr. Connery. It is always interesting to hear where people come from or what they did before Sacramento. I would indeed enjoy a further discussion about it sometime."

Shaking her head, Ariana mentions. "No, I am not as well traveled as I would like to be. I only traveled a little outside the New York City area." Looking to Dillon's eyes, she asked. "Were you ever in New York?" The tone of her question had a little more weight to it than others that evening. The Lordess was beginning to wonder if she should have Felix bring the car so they could talk, as she glanced to the direction of the parking lot for a moment.

"They were a rowdy bunch, that's for sure", Dillon confirms about the Bruja with a nod. Then, returning Ariana's smile in kind, "And I always look forward to the possibility of another conversation with you."

"A New Yorker, huh?" Dillon holds the smile, scratching his chin absently with his free hand. Or at least it might appear that way. Rather, it was actually a practiced tell that helped fellow Kindred know that there was more to this story than he could talk about among the kine. He had never explained any such tell to the Harpy, but he did it out of habit, one of many subtle bits of training that would always stay with him. "I've been through a few times. I got the impression that they wanted me to stick around, but at the time my heart belonged with Chicago. Well, the last time I visited was after I went freelance, but that was just for a few nights. I didn't meet anyone I recognized."

Perhaps he did not have the answer to her question, yet that question would need to wait for another time. "Yes the Big Apple." Ariana smiled with a wink to Dillon. "Of course, I would be delighted to continue our conversation." She gestured to the next group for the tour gathering up. "Perhaps we should go on one of these tours this evening. It may be, delightful." She chuckled softly, both of them knowing very well the folklore it would entail.