(1807) Lina and Clara

Jul 2nd, 2018 07:37 PM

"Sure. There's a lot to tell," she said honestly. "But the long story short, we are a group of Kindred dedicated to overcoming the limitations of the vampiric condition. Fire. Frenzy. Starvation. All of this shit is awful. How you get there, now, that's a Covenant secret - but disciplined and motivated Kindred can figure out how to do it. Bit by bit, through hard work and research, we can overcome elements of our vampiric state. It's, uh, pretty amazing."

Shrug.

"Also, some of the guys make a great Mai Thai."

Lina chuckled, taking a seat on a barstool and gesturing welcomingly to the one next to her.

"Are you a member of a Covenant, Clara?"

Riks

**Clara E. Verne** · Jul 3rd, 2018 08:00 AM

Clara settled into the secluded spot and took her seat next to Lina. In a moment, Lina's words had her think on the nightly hindrances of the Vampiric condition (curse) through the lens of intense self-reflection. Then she pushed the silly thought aside and focused on how to best articulate her response. "Amazing's right. I'm only an outsider looking in and have seen members of your Order subside on animals. Just animals."

She laughed lightly at the covenant question and made a snap judgement on Lina. "Raised Invictus by dear old Dad, but I'm trying out being a vagrant for the moment. Not for any statement, though some will interpret it as such, but I've always found it's important to get the lay of the land before declaring yourself to one cause or another. Important not to stay neutral too long, though." She stopped herself before laughing. "Sorry! I was about to start going into full Machiavellian quotes without meaning to."

She then pressed her own question forward. "So, I always like to address the elephant in the room...how many cousins do you know that are Dragons? 'Cause I know exactly one."

Jul 3rd, 2018 09:42 AM

Lina grinned. "It's pretty awesome what can be accomplished, if you're willing to accept the slow grind and commit," she agreed, her hand finding the bar, palm down. "I guess it depends on why you join a Covenant, really. I'd be a Dragon, and I'll be a Dragon, wherever I go because I know how important the work is and why. For me, and for everyone else who is doing it. So here I am, running a Chapter of two with my friend, Priscus van Valen." She gestured gently toward the confident gent who had just approached the Prince, idly wondering if any boogeymen were going to jump out at him for daring. "If you were raised in the Invictus, that's a real leg up, if temporal power is your aim..."

Was Clara Verne one to take the easy road?

In response to her question, Lina shrugged. "They exist, but they're not common. Our Blood drives us toward, well, whatever we want at the bottom of our soul, and that drive is so, so bloody hard to challenge, isn't it? But sometimes, when it lines up, it can drive us to succeed. Being a Dragon is a constant test of mind, body and soul. And who better understand challenges of the soul than a Daeva?"

**Clara E. Verne** · Jul 3rd, 2018 07:07 PM

She nodded to Lina's positive musings on her Order, but the image of a Dragon rising and slumbering in an attic filled with dump-piles of tomes kept creeping back out of the fog of memory. And how thin he had looked. She smiled at the phrase temporal power and idly scanned the room. "I wouldn't just think of it in those terms, cousin. Spending a decade or two being tutored in Invictus should be mandatory for all neonates. Nothing keeps our...worst instincts in check like tradition and the Old ways."

Clara raised her brow at Lina when she started speaking of the Daeva. There it is. She couldn't make heads or tails of Lina Moretti when they had first met, but in her last statement was the true burden of the clan: the yearning that ached throughout every note and pause of their Requiem. She looked at Lina with the gaze of someone who understands desire intimately. "It's like a wave you ride from surprise to surprise. At least for me." She underscored her statement by knocking lightly on the bar. She then asked, "You're running the chapter! What's the official title I should use for you now and when's the celebration? Or is it members only?"

Jul 4th, 2018 12:19 AM

"Sure," Lina said with an idle shrug. "It actually sounds gentler than other ways of learning..."

A little shudder, as she remembered the supernatural horrors the Elder who had Sired her was capable of sharing with the world. No, learning the Invictus way sounded positively pleasant, but they couldn't all be privileged like that. "Surprise to surprise," she whispered to herself, letting the images of blood sorcery slip away from her mind. "It sounds almost pleasant, when you say it like that."

The concept of having a party over being the head of the local Chapter gave her a little jolt of confusion. "Tell you what, I grow this Chapter to a big enough point, we'll have a party. In the mean time, I've got to earn it yet. I don't insist on my Covenant title at Court, but if you feel formal, it's Grand Wyrm."

It was up to Verne if she wanted to play the Invictus title game. It didn't matter to Lina one way or the other.

"So have you had any... pleasant surprises of late?"

**Clara E. Verne** · Jul 4th, 2018 11:43 AM

"Well, making anything sound like a good time is par for the course." She watched as the suggestion of celebrating a triumph surprised her cousin and nodded. "Whenever you decide to celebrate, make sure to let me plan it for you. I haven't arranged a proper bash in ages." She was watching the Court at a distance now. The Savage Prince had just made her grand entrance and Clara felt the urge to be chased by her well up in her still heart. The rush washed over her and subsided. "Well, I wouldn't presume to tell the Grand Wyrm how to manage her covenant or how to conduct herself at Court," she said with a sly smile and a wink.

The refusal of titles and pedigrees was more common in younger Kindred, Clara had found. That rejection of the trappings of power itself a prideful sort of humility. She gave the question some thought before snapping her fingers. "Starbucks! A delightful coffee shop that is everywhere! They're open fairly late, too, but I like the challenge of bagging one in thirty minutes or less. Much easier to feed than you would think and, if you get your vessel to order the right thing, you can taste the diabetes! Have you tried it yet? I can help you, if you haven't. The cup sizes were very confusing the first time for me."

Jul 4th, 2018 04:59 PM

She gave a thumbs up to the suggestion that she ought to have a party and let Clara host it. But what really surprised her was the answer to her last question. Moretti's eyebrows both popped up as she seemed surprised by... Starbucks?

"I am very, very familiar with Starbucks," she said with a laugh. "In my mortal days, I was addicted to the stuff. I hate ordering there, but it's not a bad place to chill to pick up some shy nerd for a nip or whatever." She paused, giving Clara a long, assessing look. "I'm starting to think you might be of a... finer vintage than I am, Clara Verne. Was it harder, before? People less inclined to go off with pretty gals?"

She peered out at the gathering, too. Noticed John Davis sitting alone, noticed Aaron speaking to the Prince. Good. That needed to happen.

**Clara E. Verne** · Jul 5th, 2018 03:50 PM

Clara's eyes followed Lina's line of sight to the Prince and the Lord. What would a Dragon need from the Prince? The thought was shelved.

"It's a delightful place. Kine need coffee like we need Blood." She paused as if to take a breath, and was considering the term fine vintage. "It's not like I'm old enough to tell you whether the 20's were overhyped or not." The slyest of smiles crept up onto Clara's face. "I'm sure you know one of our kind that can't find a date won't last long. No, pretty girls are timeless attractions. The hard part during my first nights was finding someone who wasn't numb from uppers. Fun for all of ten minutes before the rest of your night is spent dealing with coming down off the high. And sure, drunks are easy any decade but they make me sad and I don't even feel like doing anything after sampling one of them, so I try to cut them out unless I'm really hard up on it."

Her eyes glazed over as these aspects of her existence were recited as facts of the Requiem. Then her face lit up with excitement as she turned to Moretti. "But Starbucks! Amazing place. Squashes almost all of those problems." She was now watching Taft and Davis play cards out of the corner of her eye. "Do tell me how you slake the thirst, cousin Moretti. I'm curious." She intoned with a purr.

Jul 6th, 2018 01:05 AM

"I, uh, go for shier people. Drunk ones, sure, sometimes, but often it's the university crowd or whatever at karaoke or billiards halls or whatever." She shrugged. "My kind of people. I don't like clubs that much. I get bored. Being able to talk at least makes it more fun. And sometimes, I make a friend who actually can be useful for more than a meal. Straight up, one time I was hanging in LA and was working this fella at a pub. Turned out he was a young cop, so I just made friends rather than trying to eat a cop. Years later, he's here in SacTown raising his young family somewhere less crazy. Feeds me info, and I help him out where I can. I never would have met him at a club."

Johnny Law was a good guy to know.

"I really do need to make some consistent friends to sip. Get a solid herd going. But there's time."

She chuckled, looking down at the ground shyly.

"I don't usually talk about it. Feeding, that is. It's strangely personal, isn't it?"

**Clara E. Verne** · Jul 6th, 2018 01:20 AM

It's personal for us cause we leave hunting to monsters. "Getting a solid herd is a necessity here. More than most places, unless you petition and manage to get Rack rights." Her big brown eyes found and settled on Goto chatting with the girl she'd met in passing.

She then smiled at Moretti's chuckle. "Do you do that shy thing on purpose, or out of habit? 'Cause it's good. Real good." She was thinking on Lina's words, and where they were, and how easy it would be for prying ears to hear her words. "Well it's always personal for us. Our Family. Nature of the beast. Other Kindred here, they...go about it differently." They wouldn't understand. "And feeding habits tell you a lot about where you're at in your Requiem. That might also be why it's natural to keep it close to the vest. Like, it'd be a pretty solid guess to say that you're in touch with the girl you were when you lived and you haven't eclipsed yet. Am I wrong?"

(1807) Lina and Clara

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