As agreed upon at the time of the covenant meeting, Arnoud calls Lenny and sets up a meeting. They are to meet tonight, at Lenny's Sterling Hotel, to "gain more insight in his affinities", "get an overview his intercovenant relations" and establish what he "would prefer to contribute to the Sacramento Movement". Lenny finds Arnoud is already waiting for him, greeting him and escorting him to their private room. Once inside that room, Arnoud offers him a seat and, if he takes it, sits down in the seat opposite it.

"So, how have you been?" Arnoud opens the proceedings neutrally.



Lenny returns the greetings. He's dressed in khakis and an oxford with the sleeves rolled up, wearing his ubiquitous aviator sunglasses.



"Fair," he replied honestly not bothering to sugar coat it. "I'm going a bit insane getting the hotel stuff all sorted out. I swear to god there has to be a hundred cleaning services in the city that call every day trying to get me to switch. Don't even get me started on the tirades from grocer's about how fresh their supplies are and how rotten everyone else's are."




"Are there no competent individuals you might consider relegating the more time-consuming aspects to?" Arnoud inquires, the question laden with subtext.



"Well, that is the question, isn't it," Lenny said making it a statement rather than a question. "It seems like the older I get the more like it seems things won't be done properly unless I do them myself."

"So your invitation made it sound like I'm talking to Prefect Giessen," Lenny said hoping that the title hadn't changed the man already.


"I know the feeling." Arnoud replies. He doesn't literally -he was seldom reliant on people for things he held close to his unbeating heart and made damn sure they wouldn't disappoint when he was depending on them- but he had noticed the same trend. The world was changing and not necessarily for the better either. Mortals and the neonates taken from their ranks were becoming more and more... subpar.

"But at the end of the night you're still just one man. No man can do everything by himself."

As Lenny continues, Arnoud almost cringes at the combination of that title and his last name, but manages to reduce it to a rapid blink. Goddamnit, not Lenny too? What was the matter with these people? Did they need for the "guy in power" -the guy who actually got his power from them- to be a total dick?

"You are. Arnoud and 'Prefect Giessen', as you all seem so hellbent on calling me, are one and the same. I prefer to be called by my given name but if you're going to make a point of calling me Prefect behind closed doors there's little I can do, Myrmidon Pope." Arnoud answers Lenny's unvoiced question and asks one himself. Arnoud was still Arnoud, whatever that meant, but was Lenny now Leonard?


"Well jesus christ you started it," Lenny said. "All that overviews, and affinities, and assessments... you sounded like that damn Six Sigma conference we had here."

"I swear to god mathematicians taste different."

Lenny leaned back, relaxing in his chair. "Court really pissed me off Arn."


Arnoud smiled at Lenny's response for a moment before suddenly becoming serious again. "A bit too heavy on the buzzwords?" Arnoud asked, not smiling but seriously wondering.

"I am still trying to find the balance between substance and a style the younger members understand as 'clear communication' because either I messed that up when I asked you and Michael to prepare and organize Court or Michael is less suited to such things as I had thought." Arnoud explains, it was clear Arnoud didn't even think the blame for the shit lay at Lenny's feet.

When Lenny leans back and tells Arnoud -from Prefect Giessen to Arn in record time, nice- that Court pisses him off Arnoud leans back too, although he doesn't really relax. He doubted Lenny was anywhere near as pissed off as he himself had been the first few hours -alright, nights- after the shit had hit the fan. Then again, Lenny's disappointment might not have been as tempered with fear as his had been.

"I'd like to hear your view on the Court debacle, Lenny." Because, honestly, what the hell? Could have been appended to the sentence if one goes by Arnoud's tone of voice.


"Maybe you're right," Lenny said when Arnoud explained his verbiage. "Do something long enough, though, and it becomes habit -- and our habits eventually make us who we are," he added. He wasn't sure if they had a friendship which would make Arnoud receptive to a slight admonition but he tried anyway.

Lenny scratched at his beard and composed his thoughts before he addressed Court.

"You didn't mess up shit, Arn. I know you want to feel like you're the head of the octopus and responsible for it's arms but you used the resources you had," Lenny said with a sigh.

"Plain and simple, those two guys made a last minute change for whatever reason and fucked it all up. They didn't tell ANY of us, let alone consult anyone. And the change was purposeful, because they didn't arrive in costume. Not only that, that motherfucker Richard went around telling people that there was no theme, and he had no idea why anyone was dressed up -- including us, his own Covenant members."

"That's why I left Court; at least one of the reasons. Arnoud," Lenny said as he leaned forward to stress his seriousness, "I can take incompetence. Backstabbing makes me sick. If there had been a good goddamned reason to change things, why the hell didn't they at least tell us?"

"They hung us out to dry, and then went around 'spin doctoring' the situation. They acted with purpose, Arnoud, and that purpose did not include the rest of us," Lenny finally finished.

Lenny blew out a large exhale and leaned back trying to get the anger off of his face. Despite the progress they had made he still remembered how uncomfortable the other man could be when the slightest hint of a threat was perceived.

Not a great way to say what was on his mind, but he was not happy. Not happy at all.


"That's true enough." Arnoud says as he nods once in agreement with Lenny's admonishment, considering it more an unnecessary reminder than actual criticism. After all, the whole point was that he tried to stay current -he couldn't become a crusty old bastard like the kind that comprised the Invictus.

On the matter of Court Arnoud was of two minds. On the one hand he was contend that Lenny didn't say he had screwed up to his face and maybe even meant what he said, and was suspicious of Michael and Richard. On the other hand though, he was somewhat disappointed Lenny had already drawn such strong conclusions. He'd recently done the same with Taylor -had pretty much made him out for a cheap backstabbing sell-out- and now had to admit that hadn't been factual let alone appropriate.

"Something or someone made it all come apart. I am not ready to reject a combination of incompetence and opportunistic ass covering as one of the possibilities but there are indeed some things that could suggest sabotage. I can't make a move until I'm sure though. It's likely to be Michael, seems he has the most motive, but at this point it could also have been Richard, both or even someone else altogether. It would make sense for other Covenants to kick us while we're down, make sure we don't ever get back up again."

"Regardless, both have earned a spot on my watch list. There'll be some opportunities to see what or who caused the Court debacle. And when they try to mess with the Movement again I'll..." Arnoud suddenly trails off. Guess not all the anger had drained away, or maybe Lenny's anger was contagious. He'd stopped just short of saying something most disadvantageous to let anyone hear. Especially after Twist's threat.
Lenny and Twist were chummy, never could be too careful.

"Right now though I'm busy with the Prince's proclamation and how we're going to solve this shit. Ironically, we might actually be able to make the situation work in the Movement's favor in several ways. That would be a nice change of pace."


Lenny nodded, accepting that Arnoud was done talking about Court and motives. To him the fact that Michael and Richard had shown up in plain clothes was just too damning. They had all spoken, all agreed.

Now was the hard part.

"I won't be helping," Lenny said with an apologetic look for the predicament he put Arnoud in rather than for the two Childer.

"When we act as one, I will be there. If people want to act out of harmony with the whole, I will not." Lenny paused before he continued. He'd been thinking about this.

"Further I think the Movement at large will suffer by assisting, at least publicly. Despite what the Prince said, some will see the sharing of the burden as silent admission of guilt. Not only that, running shopping errands is degrading. I don't say this out of pride. I say it for the image of the Movement as a whole."

"Yes, helping them is a sign of unity. Perhaps a sign of charity. In this case, I think it does more harm than good. If they were punished for actions they took on the Movement's behalf, I would help. Cause. Effect. Actions have consequences."

Lenny sighed. "Damnit, Arn, I bought this fucking hotel and tied myself to the city and the first thing that happens is this. From the first meeting, I had my doubts about the Movement here, that talking to you assuaged -- but this, this I cannot stand. I'm sorry if I'm putting you in a bad spot. You're the Prefect. If this refusal is too much to ask, I'll leave the Movement. If you want, as long as you are Prefect, the Movement can use The Sterling freely."

There, he'd said it.


Arnoud was silent for a few moments, lost in thought. This was what he admired about Lenny, the tactician's sense. Kick out the one person he knew to be competent? Un-fucking-likely. The offer of the Sterling Hotel for Arn's purposes? That was just gravy, the little extra oomph! that put Lenny ahead of the rest.

"I see you've been thinking about this but I still feel we should do this."

"At least hear me out before you make up your mind."

"First off, you're right. If this had been about just Richard and Michael I'd say fuck it."
"But it isn't. In fact, Richard and Michael are the least of my considerations here."

"Rosuto already declared she was going to help them at Court, Lezlie will be on board with Richard because of their roots and I suspect Taylor would gainsay us out of sheer spite, just to get a kick in. So even if we wanted to stop this it's going to happen."

"And, like I said, this isn't something we actually want to stop. What we actually want is to have whoever screwed the Movement over to foot the bill. This is the opposite. If Michael or Richard fucked things up on purpose it was likely designed to hurt at least one of our positions -you were Host and I was Prefect- perhaps Michael really wants to be Prefect, perhaps it's something else. Abandoning ship would be exactly what they want."

"No, I can't run and hide just because I let my guard down enough for two upstart neonates to get a hit in. I wasn't kidding about what I said during the last Meeting. I'll do my damnedest to make this Movement work and if they are sabotaging it I'll find out. I'll find out and there'll be hell to pay."

"Until then I'll simply keep at it, get the Movement close to where the decisions are made, get the Movement that seat on the Primogen it so desperately needs if it wants to change anything. But for that to happen preparations need to be made."

"Currently, people think of the Sacramento Movement as unruly children, disorganized and ineffective. And between Jack being Hunted and this Court debacle we -as a Covenant- have given them nothing to make them question their judgment."

"To make any sort of long term headway we need to become an unified organization that exceeds expectations -instead of a collection of individuals that fails to meet them- and make the other Covenants realize it. We need to look at the big picture."

"Since we're going to be dressing others we might as well make the most of this power. By supporting Michael and Richard throughout this screw-up the Unaligned will see the Carthian's will always have each other's backs. Other Covenants will get their stupid clothes and see that, hey, the Movement has done something right for a change. Most importantly though, the Movement needs a serious test run. We need to see who is committed, who gets things done and how well we can play together. We need to see how good we're at goal setting, organizing and goal achieving."

"Running is for chumps, Lenny. And I know you're no chump. I know you're committed and I know you can get things done. Don't let these sons of bitches get us down. You know the saying 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer', right? Help me get these guys and get the Movement going at the same time."


Lenny listened, and his face went from anger to icy. Clever bastards. Is that what they wanted to see if someone would quit in disgust? And Arnoud was right about the others helping which was not something he had considered in the same way Arnoud had. Which of course begged the question why Rosuto was helping. Lezlie and Taylor had their obvious reasons which Arnoud had laid out. Michael and Richard were either much more clever than he had given them credit for or the luckiest SOBs in the city. Which could be even more dangerous. He had never heard of the Ventrue being able to alter probabilities in his studies. Too many questions. Had those two realized how he had manipulated the voting by playing 'bad cop', gambling Arnoud would slide into the role of 'good cop'? Was this their retaliation? Forcing him, who was supposed to be neutral, to declare an opinion? Arnoud was right -- it did merit further observation.

"The previous Prefect was murdered by some Progenitor named Bethem, and the Prefect before that was publicly burnt at the stake for Breaching the Masquerade," Lenny said as he organized his thoughts. "A Primogen seat will be very difficult."

Of course Arnoud realized that a show of unity over a wardrobe malfunction wouldn't mean squat towards that end but finding out how the Movement could mobilize to achieve a goal would give him an idea of what tasks could be tackled.

"The Covenants of Sacramento are incredibly self absorbed and insular. It's my belief that the lack of Primogen is a very subtle rebuke by His Majesty, both to the Covenants, the Prisci, and the populace at large for this lackadaisical attitude towards his Domain. If I'm correct, the best way to move towards that goal would be to take something significant off of his plate -- to solve one of his problems."

Yes, Lenny was dodging the Michael and Richard 'issue' while he still thought about it.


Arnoud waited while Lenny lost the fire and got that icy look to his eyes. It wasn't a pretty thing but hot hearts where as nothing before a cold mind. He needed Lenny in on this. There were a hundred variables Arnoud had no control over and hadn't gotten to investigate yet. Why did Richard support Lezlie at the Prefect election? What were those two and how did Rosuto figure in in all this? Was Taylor really as petty as he seemed if so what did he plan and if not why was he faking it? Had Michael screwed up through incompetence? Arnoud had said he didn't discount it yet but that didn't mean he believed it. Michael had run for Prefect and his first job, a public one that could've have earned him respect within the entire city, had instead been one big fuckfest. If the Prince hadn't been so perceptive, Arnoud would've gone to the chopping block for that one.

Which begged the question. Why hadn't the Prince kicked the new Prefect when he had been given the chance? Instead sending his Hound to intimidate him? Did he think Arnoud was controllable? Was he controllable in a way that was detrimental to the Movement?

There was Lenny to consider as well of course, there was always a small chance he'd staged things, was working through Michael or Richard for some plan a dozen years in the future. There was no way of knowing with these ancilla but currently Arnoud had to trust someone and Lenny was his best bet. Besides, it felt right.

Arnoud was half-way through sorting out his options when suddenly Lenny dropped one big whopping piece of a puzzle in his lap. Arnoud grows silent, a pensive look on his face as he ponders what this revelation meant.

Arnoud had heard snippets -a word here, a half-allusion there- but to have the entirety so stated... The previous three Prefects had met tragic ends; murder, public execution and banishment. No wonder Lenny hadn't gone for the position.

It was unlikely three consecutive Prefects had all been retards. Were people messing with the Movement? The Invictus was a certain opponent though he'd heard Dragons could be fairly interested in 'change' too, messing you up for no reason whatsoever.

And who knew what the religious Covenants even thought. Perhaps the Lance was sick of losing Damned to the Movement. Perhaps the Circle was fucking them over 'for their own good'...

Arnoud, noticing that Lenny was steering away from the Michael and Richard issue, kept quiet about it, glad he was thinking about the Movement's long term goals.

"You sound like you may have a potential problem in mind." Arnoud says, prodding Lenny to continue.

He'd thought about it too. After this baby step training thing they could go bigger. The current hottest issues at Court had seemed to be O-Yama's absence -or even his disappearance- and of course there was still the issue of the Lost Nights. Currently though, the Movement simply didn't have the occult, scientific or investigative wherewithal to handle the latter.


Lenny kept the disappointment off of his face. He wasn't sure if Arnoud hadn't been able to come up with anything, or was being passive aggressive about him 'going first'. He studied the younger man, and almost asked if he could feel it. It being that sensations that a moment of convergence, a catalyst, was nearing.

Lenny slowly nodded. He would go first, because he was the artist, and social systems were his canvas. For the first time in a century, perhaps he had found someone who could appreciate how he had changed mediums.

"Before we can determine what a person wants, we have to look at that person," he said. It was an opening statement, not a bit of information he thought Arnoud was too stupid to know.

Another pause, another moment of doubt. Revealing what you knew was an act of faith, telling another so much about what you did, and what you thought. That moment passed, as he recalled Arnoud's original assessment of the Domain. It was rough, and hurried, but it was earnest. If Arnoud had kept digging, he would know much of what Lenny would say. If he had not, his reaction would be interesting.

"Let us consider the Prince. Prior to the phenomena known as the Lost Nights, there are only three known things about him. First, that he was selected to be the Ventrue Priscus. This is much more significant than it seems, when you consider his 'peers' were Alder Lords and Ladies of the Invictus. How was he acclaimed by them to be the paragon of the Lords?"

"Secondly, that he served as a Deputy. No information is available, which suggests his performance was either acceptable or lackluster. He was credited in assisting several other bring in the criminal Gabriel Marcus."

"Third, that the previous Prince complimented him publicly in Court. Although the Harpy made the compliment known, the reason for the compliment was unknown."

"Now let's move to the Lost Nights," Lenny said. "In an incredibly short period of time, the Prince ascended and immediately had his retinue. A retinue which has shown no signs of weakness or of being temporary."

"What does this tell us? That the Prince had 'sleepers', which he possibly developed over years or decades. This is supported by the current Harpy. Consider that the majority of the Domain looks at this woman and only sees the Prince's sex toy. In two months, he has managed to erase the knowledge that she held the previous Prince's peace as Sheriff for two decades. How did he do this? This woman was nowhere to be seen for weeks after the Lost Nights, and then we were forbidden to use the word Sheriff. And so we forgot. Now, the Prince has a Harpy who is god knows how powerful that the masses consider to be nothing more than a beautiful diversion. The question then begs, does the Prince have more assets he never activated? Is he currently developing more?" Lenny asked, leaving the question unasked: was Arnoud one of his sleepers? Was Arnoud being 'courted' to become an asset?

"His retinue also makes you ask: How?" Lenny continued. "Observe them carefully, Arnoud. The Reeve, the Harpy, and the Hound. There is no sign of jealousy. There is no Vinculum. Unless they are all cross-bonded to each other, which makes them as unapproachable as the other option: loyalty. How does the Prince inspire such loyalty? This goes back to the Ventrue Priscus question. Everything is tied together, very subtley. Either the Prince is the most inspiring man the city has ever seen, or more powerful than imaginable. Which is entirely possible considering he never does anything. He never reveals what he is or is not capable of."

"What does this man want? That we can give him?" he asked rhetorically.

Lenny leaned back, realizing he had been slowly sitting forward as he spoke and dissected what he had learned and what he had surmised.

"Tell me what you have seen, what you think of the Prince," he asked. "Without considering what I've said."

Please Arnoud, I went first.