Barrens and Bureaucracy

[Seth Kind]

Lords Above. Daeva and Invictus? What more potent combination could there be, to bring someone to such a monologue? Still, Seth listened- but throughout it all the gist of what the new company man was saying was... Kind of gibberish. A long way to make a simple case.

His cousin wasn't as bad- a bit lengthy, but he made some points as well. Their suggesting were actually something to consider- well, some of them. And some of their words were downright laughable, such as the latest Invictus' suggestion that Seth was challenging her authority.

"Yes, the thief in the barrens with no significant contacts or allies and a distinct lack of deadly hell hounds. I pose such a challenge to her authority. That's why I posted the ad in Elysium- an open invitation for treason. Though I must say, if even this gesture of jest is considered a challenge I shudder to think what you would consider open treason." A friendly chuckle, though behind it a clear thought- just how necessary were the Carthians, if things were this bad?

"I'm not a party planner, but I'll see what can be done. I think I know a Daeva that might be interested in such a prospect." Next, his cousin.

"As for the purpose, perhaps we disagree on it's use. Regardless, that's why we're here- discussion. Airing out our views on things. It is indeed the hope that such an event will help ease tensions and foster cooperation. The... Intention, futile as that may be.... Daeva Twist? You have been quiet. Surely you have views- would you mind sharing them? I am actually curious what someone of a higher stature might think of this little dalliance with discussion."

[Derek Menzies]

Derek cringes internally as if a joke were made in poor taste.

"I am glad you are interested in conversing over such things. I hope you are listening with the same enthusiasm to the warnings that are given, cousin. I find that conflict is best avoided through respectful behavior. Behavior that could have prevented your brief stint here."

He had been there for Seth's scolding and exile. He could not understand Seth's stubbornness to paint a target on himself. Derek looks to the Elder, yielding the floor to her to share her thoughts.

[Ellis Meadows]

Oh Seth.

Ellis' fangs tickled the roof of his mouth as he looked at the man with a growing sense of disappointment. It baffled him that Seth could not understand the things all three of them have been telling him, how he could be blind to what he saw when he looked at the Prince. She had a hellhound. One that she specifically bought, bound to her and trained to protect her. In Elysium. The very heart of her power and authority.

The Prince took her authority seriously. She took slights to that authority seriously. She might very well be actively Paranoid about Kindred plotting against her. Knowing that, what the fuck did Seth think she was going to do when the city's newest Carthain decided to plaster her Elysium with fliers calling for a discussion on 'politics and recent events'?

The answer to that was that she sent her Hound. And since Seth wanted her to share her views on the matter... well, Ellis stepped back.

To allow Hound Twist a path free from distractions if she cared to share them.

[Twist]

Twist's eyebrow's raise as he, again, tried to side step what this meeting was. What it so obviously looked like.

Unless he just truly was that stupid?

And then Daeva Twist? Maybe he was an idiota. He was in the Barrens after all.

Uncrossing her legs, her posture went from languid to coiled in the blink of an eye. "Perhaps I have made some assumptions. If so you will have to forgive me. I am not accustomed to having to introduce myself.

"My name is Twist. I am of the Daeva clan yes. But more importantly for this meeting I am Judex of Sacramento." A pause, Twist's dark eyes meeting Seth's, "and Her Majesty's Hound."

Smiling, she leaned toward their host, her words gentle "Do you know what those mean Seth?"

[Seth Kind]

Of course he knew how this looked. He wasn't blind to the looks and winces from his guests- nor had he been ignoring their warnings. Her Majesty's Hound- look, he'd put things together. While he most certainly couldn't detail the specific functions of each member down to the appendices, "Hound" was pretty self explanatory.

It would perhaps be found humorous by some, the level of caution given to something with genuinely innocent intent. By some.

"It means that if you or anyone privileged enough to work for our Prince deemed me a threat to their safety, you'd not hesitate and I'd be ash in the wind. Or, ground. Or in a flowerpot- I'm unaware of how she decides which becomes which." It was said with total seriousness, perhaps disorienting given the jesting mood he'd portrayed thus far. The fact that she considered him, considering this, as risky or threatening- even slightly- was almost flattering.

"I do apologize, I figured posting an open invitation would paint a pretty clear picture that I'm not suicidal. I genuinely do think there are individuals that take issues with the Court- issues that can be resolved without master plots and Intrigue, and pose no threat to the Prince. Recent events have painted a tense picture, and I'm sure several closed door meetings have already occurred to discuss them" If court was anything of the sort- and it's not as if Seth hadn't partaken in a few of them. He was a shadow, after all. "I did not realize making such an event public rather than private made it threatening to the Prince... Should I be inviting discussion discreetly in the future?" It was a genuine question.

Seth was a Fool. Not quite an idiot- well, not usually. But definitely a fool- intentionally or otherwise.

"Am I to understand there is nothing you take issue with, then? Or... Perhaps your station pushes such misgivings aside? I suppose it would be folly to expect someone of your stature to display such information blatantly. I suppose I had arranged this hoping for conversation and genuine debate. Another folly, then?"

The thief looked almost disappointed- not in the way a parent might to their failing child, but the way a child would at realizing their parents wouldn't buy a candy bar for them.

[Derek Menzies]

The tension is thick in the air of Seth's home within the Barrens. To say that makes Derek nervous would be an understatement.

"Your Grace, I think my cousin understands what has been told to him. He has been very open and honest thus far with his intentions. Blunt, even. But perhaps that is how one cuts to the point of a topic. Of course respect should be paid to those who have earned the Prince's trust and favor. May I suggest that Mr. Kind pays that respect by offering a straightforward opinion, bearing his motives unfiltered so as not to be misinterpreted?"

He looks to Seth hopefully.

"I mean, what better way to resolve misunderstandings then to talk them out. That is what the Sheriff, Harpy, and Her Grace managed to do."

He tries to keep an even and non-confrontational tone despite his fear in this situation.

[Ellis Meadows]

'I am sure several closed door meetings have already occured to discuss them.' Christ. Of all the asinine things to say to the Hound's face. Did the man want to be staked and given to the harpy for her to experiment on? There were easier ways to get tortured for information if that was really what you wanted out of the last few nights of your Requiem.

"You are thinking like you are Kine, Seth." Ellis is very suddenly very serious. "You are thinking that we have human reactions because we used to be human. Because we look human. Look at the four of us very closely." He gestures to the four of them. Some confident, some timid, some striking, some not. All with the too pale pallor of a bloodless corpse, for none of them had come into the meeting foolish enough to waste blood on pretending. "We are corpses, Seth. We are not the same as them. We have to drink their blood and use it to make us look like them so they don't realize that we are eating them every night. If you insist on pretending that you are human, you will kill one of them and it will be no one's fault but your own. Someone will be dead and gone forever in an instant because you could not deal with the fact that we do not naturally play well with others."

"I say this because I don't think you understand what your actions look like to us. That you don't understand what you are saying sounds like to us. I think that you think we are overreacting to an innocent faux pas on your part, a mistaken turn of phrase." Ellis shakes his head. "If you want to change the Domain, you need to work with it. You need to become someone who's voice matters, who people respect. Make yourself someone the Prince wants to court because you make their lives easier, not someone they have to deal with because you make their lives harder."

[Twist]

Twist was silent for a moment after Seth spoke. Which probably is what spurred both Derek and Ellis to speak up. One to diffuse what no doubt appeared to be an increasingly tense situation and the other to explain why it was such.

Twist smiled toward her two fellow guests. Maybe it was meant to be reassuring after her pause? "I hope you are right. I am not overly fond of the word play he is attempting. I know many are, but it has never been one of my passions. My version of talking it out usually involves far less words." Reassuring. Surely.

Turning back to Seth, "More simply- they are titles. Titles I have earned and am rather proud of. I appreciate that you are not insulting my Invictus sensibilities with calling me simply Twist when I have not given you permission too do so, but either Hound Twist, Judex Twist or your Grace is more acceptable than Daeva Twist."

Not that she wasn't proud of being a Daeva. Goddess knew that wasn't the case. There was little closer to her sense of identity than her clan. But it was not one of her titles.

"In regards to Kindred having issues with court- as has been pointed out already," a nod of acknowledgment toward Ellis' earlier comments, "That is obvious. And if you don't know that then..." Twist make a small tsk'ing sound almost of disappointment.

Leaning back again in her seat she continued, her voice easy "So let's combine the suggestions offered. Show me that your voice could matter. Show me that you have something worth discussing rather than this vague fishing for random people to voice complaints." She paused, "Or at least a better plan to learn about these closed door meetings and the complaints within..." A touch of scorn coloring her voice at the idea that this would have accomplished that.

[Seth Kind]

His cousin was as nervous a wreck as ever. Trying desperately to diffuse the situation- was this truly that outrageous, what he was saying?... Were all Kindred so tense? That they lived a life of shadows and embodied a code of secrecy didn't mean everything had to be so serious about everything.

And the Daeva, who chided Seth. And spent many words doing it. "And you are speaking as if we should abandon much of what being human meant." Just because they were monsters didn't mean they needed to forsake all that came before. And all that could be learned from it.

"I am not deluded in my acts- and I don't seek ambiguity with my words. I thought I was being rather blunt with all of this... And if we lose touch with our humanity, we truly would be monsters. Feral beasts. That alone speaks that such values have simply that- value. Is it so extreme, that I wish to preserve more than the simple sense of morality ingrained in our very being?" Humans had created things that would outlive their mortal hands- and had already, in fact, outlived many kindred. Was it so surprising that a Kindred wished to lean on such a strength?

"Of course- work within the system. Did you think I proposed anything but? I am not suicidal- and I rather enjoy the company of many Kindred. But is this; these talks- outside that system? A more open forum? Must we subject ourselves to the shadows in their entirety? Even as a Mekhet- Paranoia, lies, secrecy. All are things I feel, all I adhere to. But I would not let that- or the instinctive nature of my being- be my sole master." Hopefully that cleared things up. Hopefully.

Daeva Twist did not like that name?... That genuinely came as a surprise. Her invoking "Invictus Sensibilities" was less of one. As was her chiding him as the Company Man had. "I had hoped to err on the side of caution with that name, as it was the first information of you ever presented to me- and you did not seem the sort to enjoy nicknames. Hound Twist it is then." The Kindred here did not seem to like nicknames at all.

"I am well aware of potential misgivings- we are Kindred, and just as the Kine conflict is inevitable among us. Among anything mortal, perhaps... Questions for a more philosophical time. As for something worth discussing- if I had any idea of an actual solution I'd be a politician. I am not- I am a thief." He'd made that clear enough in his introductions, and his actions thus far.

"Were I capable, I'd have organized something much more formal than pamphlets in the community hall and a meeting in the Barrens. I am not. I simply recognized an issue, and that the means with which individuals settled such issues weren't doing much to help tensions. I wondered if someone else might have as well. If we are to resign ourselves to tension, so be it- but I'd rather make an attempt before surrendering to Court Meetings.... Hound Twist? I don't suppose something more.. Vibrant.... Would be outside the picture in court? A change of scenery? Aesthetics are something I understand well enough- artwork. An art expose? I ask because I've lost many contacts in such fields- your position and... Identity... Could provide perspective." He wasn't about to start to change the system with some big plan. He had nowhere near enough red string.

"If you wish to enlist my services as a thief, I am always around. Though my Cousin is far more capable in simple matters of stealth. Nonethless, should there be a need to learn information my talents are always one sale. But I've no secrets you'd find worthy." Kindred dealings were good for business. Not so much for long-term health prospects. Mr. Kind could make quite a pretty sum from them, for sure... Though someone might see some hypocrisy in a soon-to-be Carthian profiting from matters of Intrigue.

[Derek Menzies]

Derek thinks for a moment while Twist speaks, each of her words seeming to carve themselves into the empty air, heavy and precise.

For his part, Derek is genuinely surprised by the substance of Seth's response. He wonders if his cousin simply plays the fool. Though now he hardly seems the threat that Derek had assumed him to be.

But Ellis. All this we this and we that. Eyes furrow for a moment as they glance to the Incubus, but he stays silent through each of their exchanges.

When a pause opens up, he addresses Seth. "I think you mean to be more than simply a thief, Cousin. I understand the desire to connect with your fellow Kindred. You're eager to belong to something more, something to fulfill your Requiem. This meeting is your solution to that. And I think you know now how that may have appeared, contextually, with the events at Court."

He turns his head towards Twist. "I'm also searching for my voice, as an Unbound. I imagine there will be stumbles along that path for me too. We've each spoken our piece, yes? Surely there is no conspiracy here, nor threat?"