(Necropolis) An Impromptu Meeting

[Connor OBrien]

Connor does the song and dance of parking a few blocks away from the house containing the entrance to the necropolis. His cloths match the true meaning of this meeting. It isn't a social gathering alone today, it was a time to get work done and make power plays. He makes his way down the street, past the street lamp he met the Lady Notary at before, and toward the house. He passed it and worked his way back around, as Jennifer had, before going inside and using his own key on the heavy padlock.

Down in the Caldarium, which Connor fully intends to make into a bath house even Archon Twist would be proud to find herself in, he rearranges the seating area that Jennifer had made; noting the location of each piece of furniture in order to put it back later. He sets the scene much like a family dinner you would see in the movies, one chair at the head of the coffee table, while the others are placed to either side. He had thought of bringing wine, but decided otherwise. The last thing he needs is a member of his family going hungry in order to conform to a social obligation that wasn't needed. This isn't an Invictus meeting of course.

With everything set properly he seats himself in the chair at the head of the table, crosses one leg over the other, and sets his hands with fingers laced in his lap. Now to wait.

[Helen Kingsley]

After some time spent getting to their clubhouse and walking some extras to be on the safe side, Helen enters the Necropolis. As its a family meeting, she's left most of the baggage with the rest of her stuff. Thus, tonight's attire is just jeans, sneakers and a plain red t-shirt. She doesn't feel she needs the jacket or even half of what she normally keeps under it, so she doesn't bring it along. She's also decided to put her hair into a ponytail for tonight.

Helen knows she's about to meet an unknown kindred, which is helpful in steeling herself for the inevitable reaction, yet she freezes at the door for the time she needs to fight the urge to slam the door right shut and get the hell out of Dodge down. Still, something at this guy irritates her, and its not the stuff he's done with the furniture...

So mice really do feel free without the cat around !

The display makes pretty clear who's show this is supposed to be. Or at least who wants to be seen as first among equals, so to speak. Thy'll se soon enough which one it'll be. As she walks closer, she plucks the unlit half cigarette from between her lips and tugs it behind her ear. Is that guy somehow trying to threaten her ? She sizes Connor up with just slightly narrowed eyes while closing in, the reaction to Connor's curse a slight change in posture she might not even be consciously aware of, but if anything comes, she'll be ready. It is subtle, but someone with Connors experience might be able to pick up on it.

She's decided at the door already. She won't run. Not here and not from a Mick.

"And here I thought I was the newest kid around the block. Looks like I was wrong. Welcome to town."

She picks up the chair at Connor's left, swivels it around so that the backrest is facing Connor and sits down, arms crossed on the top of the backrest. Still, the way she looks at him displays some waryness.

"I'm Helen Kingsley. That would make you Connor O'Brien, right ?"

[Connor OBrien]

The tell-tale sound of the door opening and closing up the stairs alerts Connor to the new arrival, the presence of his Cousin's beast is the second indicator.

Kill them, tear them to shreds and let their ashes decorate YOUR new home.

His beast was persistent, if not extra gruesome tonight.

When he first lays eyes on her, Helen doesn't seem to be much. However, that is a specialty within his own clan, and looking at himself currently he would say the same. He had set the table this way as a power move, and hopefully it works to some degree.

He stands, as is courtesy, as Helen nears the seats, giving her a small bow as she speaks to him and only just now noticing that her shadow twists and turns in odd directions. "Thank you for the warm welcome, Cousin, hopefully the first of many. Please have a seat anywhere. Hopefully the others will be here tonight, but we shall see."

The way she sits means something as well, a power play of her own, perhaps? She is wary of him, of course she is, not only is he unknown to her, but his curse can't be doing any favors. "I am indeed, Mister Connor O'Brien, Nosferatu of the First Estate," he says while he sits back down, "but in here you may just call me Connor. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Kingsley, and I thank you for accepting my invitation. How does the night find you?"

Pleasantries first, get to know each other, loosen up the tension a little. Then we can get on to business.

[Helen Kingsley]

So he indeed is one of Jen's finest... Should have known !

"We'll see indeed."

Not that she doesn't believe him about the others, but would they bite ? She smirks and holds out her hand for a shake, if Connor is so inclined.

"Helen is good enough. Well, it's a family invitation. What would it look like if I didn't show ?"

And the next one who calls me Miss Kingsley in here pays for that butler !

She leans a bit forward towards Connor.
"Not too bad, thanks, although it's still pretty early. How's yours been ? Already got the basics on the town ?"

[Connor OBrien]

Connor takes her hand firmly, as if for a job interview, and gives it a few small shakes. "Helen it is, then. My night has been fine so far, thank you for asking. I do have the 'basics on the town' as you put it." She's testing him, or at least he thinks she is. "Should I start with a little bit about myself, that way you know I can't extract information from you and just walk away?" His emerald eyes remain on Helen; unblinking, reading, calculating.

"I was born in the mid 1800's, on a farm in Western Ireland. The potato famine drove me to America after the death of my father. After landing in New York, I spent some time in an underground boxing ring; four years to be exact. It was then that the man who would be my sire offered me a chance at 'immortality'. I was so drunk or high... or both for that matter... that I didn't think twice. We spent the next century and a half or so traveling the East Coast, from Maine to Florida; but we always returned to New York City. He left on his own shortly before I came to Sacramento. I like to think it was so that I didn't become dependent upon him, but I don't really know the reason." He gives a small snippet of his life, a truthful snippet, hoping that Helen will respond in kind. Part of the point to this meeting is, in fact, to get to know his new family within the Domain

"What can you tell me of yourself, Cousin?"

[Helen Kingsley]

"Works for me. Not that I think you went through this whole setup to simply walk at one point or the other."

Likewise, she keeps her eyes on the other Nos. Closely. And listens, also closely. Fun stuff !

"Let's see... I went to the big city to study medicine on a government budget. In exchange they got to send me overseas when I was done. After my return from the latest trip to the sandpit, I had just started to settle in again when I was snatched up by this stray Nos passing through town. I did not get to tell her where to stick her immortality, but I got to leave my folks basically overnight. We parted ways a few years later and after a few stations on the way, I ended up first in Vegas and now here. I'm good in a scrap, allergic to bullshit and although its far from my specialty and some time since I last got to do it, I have moonlighted enough with dentistry that I used to be sorta okay at it."

The good old mix-up... A summary, something interesting, a little misdirection and something possibly totally irrelevant. At least it was fun at parties ! She leans back a little.

[Connor OBrien]

"You're quite astute, Helen, and I can respect that. I didn't call you here simply to get to know you, granted that was definitely part of it. I'll let you in on a little secret, this whole set up with the table and chairs was for show. Do I think I'm better than you? No... I don't know any of my Cousins enough yet to even begin to decide on that. Did I want to make it appear that I thought that? Yes. See, I wanted to see what would happen if my kin thought they were being challenged. You've impressed me in that regard; you played ball, but the entire time you've been conversing with me I've noticed that you haven't taken your eyes off of me. I can't believe that is entirely because of my looks." He stands up and moves to a chair across from Helen, as if to drive the fact that he isn't better than her home. "I'll be the first to admit that I make power plays, and I make shows of them."

He leans back in his chair some, keeping his eyes on the other Haunt. "I plan to volunteer to take the role as Whip. You must be thinking that it will be bad to have members of the First Estate as both Priscus and Whip, but let me assure you that I have the family's best interests in mind. If you were to back my claim, you and the entire clan could consider me something akin to a Union Steward. It would be my job to unify us, and it would be my job to make sure that should Priscus Hazelton do anything that might damage the reputation of the Clan, the rest of you have someone to make your grievances known to, and trust that they will stand against the Priscus if need be. While you may be concerned that doing so may effect my standing within the Invictus, I assure you that Miss Hazelton realizes that familial matters are best left within the family, so I have no qualms speaking up against her when I need to." He pauses for a moment to let it all sink in. "My duty is to the Domain first, then my Clan, then the Invictus, and I hope that you will help me with my claim to the title."

[Helen Kingsley]

"I'm not saying to have members of the First Estate as both functionary spot as such is automatically bad. Look at it from my position. All three of the domain officials are Invictus, so are four out of five Priscuses. I'm also not saying the Invictus is stacking the deck, Sacramento's not the kind of domain where they'd need to, but to an outsider like me, it still tastes funny. Unusual-funny, not ha-ha-funny. Let's be frank here. My problem is not that I think you don't have your priorities straight or you're telling me the good stuff you think I want to hear. My problem is that the way the distribution of power in the domain works by the looks of it, which of clan, domain or covenant comes first, second and third doesn't make that much of a difference. I'm not saying what you told me is all bullshit, I just don't think keeping that stuff cleanly apart is as easy as it sounds."

That, and there was that small mistake he made in his little speech that fed her suspicion about the whole whip thing at least a little. She raises her hands in a surrendering gesture.

"I'm the first to admit I might be a bit too harsh on you guys, though. I have had a few bad experiences with Invictus people in the past, but I'm really working at not letting those colour my dealing with you folks too much. So let's not get that little bit get between us too much. At this point, I'm interested in several things. I mean, I always felt whip is a pretty... spongey job with a lot of leeway in all directions."

She leans a bit forward again. She has a lot of questions ready, but decides to start with the big ones first and see where they go from there.

"So, to start us off, two questions for you. One, why do you think we need a whip in the first place ? And second, if, say Alexander or Bellemy throw trheir hat into the ring, what makes you so well-suited for the job I'd really want to pick you over them ?"

[Connor OBrien]

"To be fair, I believe three of the five Priscii are also our court officials so we're counting them twice. It also should be noted that the Prince doesn't appoint the Priscii, the clan selects them, and may choose to attempt to force them out at any time. I can understand how this may make look to you though. If it is any consolation, the duty of the Whip is not to make decisions for the clan, but rather to turn the clan's collective voice into a unified front."

He listens as Helen voices all of her concerns, and her perception of the officials of the city. She is correct in that as an outaider looming in, the Domain would appear to be Invictus controlled, this isn't the case to someone withing the domain however.

"The Court Officials are the Kindred within the Domain most trusted by the Prince. While I agree that from the outside looking in, it may appear as if this were an Invictus Domain, I can promise you that the only reason there are so many Invictus within the Elite of the city is because they've had more time and opportunity to prove themselves worth of their positions, not through any sort of favoritism. I would also like to weigh in on the idea that Whip has a lot of leeway. The Whip is an informal title. I would have no more piwer than you within the Domain, or even within the clan really. I would just be the one willing to accept any backlash should the Clan disagree with the Priscus or even with the Domain, because I would be the one voicing the concerns."

Connor leans forward to match Helen's own movement. He rests his knees on his elbows and lacea his fingers in front of him. "Well, for your first question, I would say that a Whip is necessary to be taken seriously in Court. Especially for our clan, we have to work twice as hard for the recognition that other clans receive. By presenting a unified front in Court, we show that we're a clan that 'has our shit together' so to speak, making it much more likely that our voice will be both heard and heeded. To your second question, I'll answer with a question. Will they fight for you, literally if need be? Because I will. I've taken my share of beatings, and if I have to take another one for your voice, or their voice for that matter, to be heard, I wear a smile while it happens. Do you have any other questions for me?"

[Helen Kingsley]

Helen frowns while Connor gives his little lecture and nods along here and there.

"Informal titles can carry a lot of informal influence, but then, I don't think someone with your experience doesn't already know that... A lot is possible betwen 'voice of the unhappy minority' and 'Shadow Priscus', depending on local conditions and folks involved. Remind me when I talked about favouritism, exactly ?

A whip helps getting taken seriously, counts doubly for us, and keeping the shit together, right. I can accept that answer."

She shrugs, scratching the back of her neck.

"Figuratively, maybe. Literally... I can't say, really, but then, I normally prefer to do my own heavy lifting and the clan as such doesn't really look like there'll be much need for real fights. But okay, you'll fight for our voices to be heard. That's fair enough, I guess. Well, what else is there ?

What makes you suited for the job, do you have any experience with holding office, formal or informal ? What makes or breaks a whip ? What would make you good at the job and what would you consider stuff you need to work on to become more effective ?"