Meet your Harpy III (OPEN)

[Velma]

The door to the Harpy’s office was open.

By now you should know how the Harpy’s office should look like from the first time and the second time she had her door open for other kindred to visit her.

There is always something slightly different in her office, that welcoming place where kindred who need to unburden their hearts can go to and find solace while doing so – it’s a bit like confession only instead of having an old clergy man you have Velma, and she is always too eager to be privy to the latest piece of gossip or to receive someone who might need some counseling with a complicated situation.

As soon as someone approaches the office the audible sound of improvisation can be heard. Jazz music coming out of the latest generation of speakers by Bang & Olufsen – her BeoPlay A9 seamless audio system is pumping the music from her Iphone… technology! It just took her 2 days to understand how the synchronize works, but now!

It’s fun to have around!

The back wall has an enormous pane – Pop Art at its best, something of a love story going on in the background with guns, kisses, cars and beautiful people, all the key ingredients for a successful story. On the wall opposite to it there are dozens of vinyl covers adorning it, all of them from Jazz and Blues singers, some alive, others long dead, some of them famous, others not so much… there is a quiet swing on one side of the office, there is no desk, only two red sofas and a red loveseat arranged to face one another around a small ottoman.

The Ottoman is crowded, this time it seems that a game of Trivial Pursuit had been interrupted halfway through. Trivial Pursuit – The Harpy edition ™ – the board and all the pieces and cards with the questions reflect the warm glow of a red lava lamp that insistently remains above the Ottoman.

Who will show up to play?

As for the new piece of furniture? An amazing multicolored rug in squares of different tones of grey and red seems to have been installed under the Ottoman and the seats, it seems to invite people to give up their shoes upon entry, there is a small cardboard box and two lovely red heels by Louboutin – a present from Martha – which sit quietly above it, almost as if exposed for presentation. There is more space for more shoes inside the box to. The top of Velma’s blond hair can be seen from behind one of the sofas… she is not singing this time!

[Thomas Galilei]

Thomas lingers outside the Harpy's office. He'd met her once, briefly at Court, though they'd hardly spoken given the circumstances. He has little to offer--being of no major account in the city--besides this simple gesture of respect. Maybe, that's why he's brought flowers, red roses, not because of their symbolic romance, but because he'd heard she favors the color.

Roses

He wonders if their relationship is already overshadowed by her . . . past dealings with the Bishop. What little he'd heard had been hearsay at best, tragic at worst, but could in no light be interpreted as friendly. He wonders if the Bishop would even approve of his visit. At the bottom of it all, though, Thomas does not mistake himself for a judge--that's God's seat. Nor does he have delusions about being of such great importance that anyone would care to include him in the subject of their conversation, gossip or otherwise. He just wants to do his job. But a priest can only minister to the needs he knows of, and who knew more of the city than she, beautiful and dangerous though she may be? And so he goes.

He's less than what some would call "fashion forward," but understands that clothes are of the utmost importance to her, so he makes an effort. He'd dug a black suit and a black button-down from his closet, having heard that black-on-black had been fashionable sometime in the last decade, he thinks. He'll omit the fact that it's his funeral garb, minus a collar and with the top button undone.

Outfit

When he enters and sees her, he fails for words, dumbstruck by the combination of her striking beauty and the rage of his inner Beast, the desire to rip her clothes off and jump on her, along with the desire to rip her head off--it's all very confusing, so he does what little he can manage: holds forth the flowers he'd brought. He prays that he not fall into temptation, one way or another, and consoles himself that if things should go poorly for him, at least a priest will be present, dressed as is appropriate for reading his last rites.

[Hildegarde Bingen]

It is the dying days nights of summer. One last chance to ware that light dress of light blue and white. One last chance to experiment with heels. Tonight, Hildegarde has rouged her lips and done her hair into an elegant fall than tumbles down one shoulder. Her plan this night had been to hunt the fringes of the Communal Grounds, right up to the Princes Rack, in the hope of catching some man meal escaping the downtown nightlife. It was a half baked plan, crippled by her fugue and general ennui. Instead of hunting, she found herself drifting down the Elysium under the Nox.

Hunting under one's own steam was tiresome. And dull. And Iago could not be spared as he was planning the move of her person and goods to another haven. A nest! A shared haven. What an experiment! Once the move was complete, she doubted she would be haunting this area much in the following months.

At least this time the other occupants couldn't use her like a walking mannikin and nursemaid. Unlike last time.

There is another Beast haunting Elysium. One she has barely seen at Court. Her Beast shivers to life, expanding its liquid void and thrashing its shadowy pseudopodia around her skull. It hungers. It wants to wrap itself itself around the weaker monster. To constrict and squeeze and crush and penetrate and devour and....

Hildegarde is starting to enjoy the sensation.

So she stands, poised just so... eyes flutteringly closed.

[Velma]

Eventually Velma picks up the arrival of a kindred.

She raises from her seat as she notices the Ventrue she had met from official court. The press of her beast against the cage that guarded her was expected but not necessarily welcome, it was like a caged feline rendering her innards wanting to dismember this lesser predator for its trespass.

”Mr. Galilei” Velma smiled once again. The songstress was wearing a simple red dress but she was not wearing any shoes, her petite naked feet grabbing the rug for the sensorial experience.

”Please, feel free to come inside! You are also welcome to leave your shoes by the door.” Velma pointed to where the red shoes were and to the empty box.

Noticing the Ventrue was carrying a gift for her the smile brightened a bit.

”Oh! Roses? For me?” She started to approach the Lord when another beast came nearby… this one more familiar but no less unwelcome to her territory.

Hildegard Bingen.

”Miss Bingen! Please, join us!” Velma gestures to the mannequin and gestures for the Lord to come hither.

”Have you met Mr. Galilei?” The Harpy makes the necessary introductions.

”Mr. Galilei, this is Miss Bingen of clan Ventrue.”

[Thomas Galilei]

Thomas slips his shoes off, sets them lightly beside the bright red heels. "Ms. Bingen." Thomas tips his head, keeping the predatory snarl of his Beast from leaking into his smile, the wide-eyed rage from his soft gaze. "Thomas Galilei, Lancea Priest. Lovely dress . . ." He glances back at Ms. Star. "Both of you, I should say--I dearly hope someone I know will happen by, that they might develop the wrongful notion that I always enjoy the company of such exquisite beauties. As for myself, I'm glad to have taken the care to wear matching socks today." He looks to his feet, wiggles his toes; though both socks are black, they're clearly from separate pairs, one silk and gold-toed, the other wool and plain black. All his socks are black; it makes the "matching" easier.

He strides inside, takes in the ambiance of the room: the jazz, the Pop Art, the multicolored rug; it's all so lush, so vivid, so sensual . . . so Velma Star--the room had become an extension of her self. Thomas touches a finger to the box on the Ottoman, a board game, has a hard time believing that the Harpy's actual pursuits are ever trivial.

[Hildegarde Bingen]

The Lord approaches. Makes a contented sigh when she kicks off her heals - then stoops to arrange them perfectly. Pausing before she crosses the threshold, Hildegarde takes the time to admire the decor... and politely step to one side as the Spanish Lady, rustling in full court dress, glides into the chamber and makes herself comfortable.

[Velma]

Velma chuckled at Thomas’ words, a pleasant and joyful chuckle with a brush of mischief. ”Ah Father Thomas, there is nothing wrong with enjoying our company, I promise I won’t bite… I can’t say the same for Miss Bingen though.” Velma replied in good mood smiling to both Thomas and Hildegard and bidding them to join her inside.

”Please, come inside.” Velma removed the Iphone from her pocket and tried twice in vain to reduce the volume to manageable levels until she finally made it right.

”Please sit.” The Succubus gestured to the loveseat but eventually they were free to sit in one of the other sofas. Velma herself picked one of the sofas and sat, allowing her naked feet to rest over it feeling as comfortable as she wanted in her own office, even if in the company of two other kindred.

”Get comfortable, relax, here we are not bound by rigid protocol.” It was an invitation to feeling free to relax and enjoy the quality of the sofas and the music and have a pleasant conversation.

She would allow any of them to pick the topic of conversation.

[Hildegarde Bingen]

Hildegarde was content to sink to the floor. In fact, it appeared that the Lord was quite taken by the Trivial Pursuit.

"You have settled into your role well, I see," she said at last, tearing her eyes from the board. Cast her glance back at the painting, she asked quite seriously: "What does it mean?" The doll mask set on her features without her knowing it.

[Thomas Galilei]

Thomas chooses the couch, a respectable distance from the Succubus. Against his will, his mind takes him down a taboo path, from reclining on a couch beside her to . . . He strains to focus on the conversation at hand. It's little wonder how she's so good at her job, when proximity alone is seductive . . . intoxicating, makes unbidden thoughts welcome, certain to disarm, to turn the tides of any social situation in her favor. Thomas realizes too late that he's taken a seat in a sugar-coated lion's den, can't decide if he wants to run screaming or stay forever. He's wise enough--though it's little consolation--to know that he's not special in her attentions. Hope, he learns right then, can be a sin. A shame that he's never known lust to be a virtue. A crying shame.

He can't help but think the innocence on Ms. Bingen's face is contrived, the way she'd sighed, kicked her shoes off, sat on the floor . . . She must either be familiar with the Harpy, or very comfortable in her presence. And how can one who keeps such company be harmless? Camouflage, it seems to him, is deadlier than the roar of fanged jaws or the swings of mighty claws. Maybe he's paranoid; maybe he's hyper-vigilant because of his own comfort, but such things kept a man thinking with the right head, kept that right head on his shoulders where it belonged.

Thomas follows Ms. Bingen's eyes to the Pop Art on the wall, and then he turns with her toward the Harpy, awaiting a response. He does an admirable job of keeping his eyes on Velma's . . . on Ms. Star's eyes--admirable but not perfect. If Eve and the Serpent each had a hand in Adam's fall, what could happen when the woman and the snake were one? Thomas thinks that if he starts saying "Hail Mary"s now, he might feel clean in a week . . .

[Velma]

”What does it mean? A curious question…” Velma looked to the painting, turning her head and waiting a moment, the image of her body turning backwards melting against the front of the painting and the red sofa.

”Well it tells you what your heart wants you for it to tell.” Confusing? Instead of delving into further explanation the Harpy just stared at Hildegard with her mask of practiced politeness. The topic wasn’t one she was too fond of discussing but she didn’t allow other thoughts of her loss of talent to spoil her mood.

”You interested in playing? It’s Trivial Pursuit! Kine play it all day to keep busy and learn at the same time. Interesting answers to interesting questions like…” Velma moved from her seat to join Hildegard by the floor next to the board.

The Harpy picked a random card that was laying around in the Ottoman and reads one of the questions:

”What is a group of bears called?” Shoulders raise in query, apparently the Daeva was at a loss. She looked to Hildegard and then to Thomas... who knew the answer to the dificult question?