Embrace of Shadows

[Quinn Durant]

The first thing one noted in the suite was the floor to ceiling windows. The ultra modern décor tempered with warm woods, and of course plants. Cause nothing said homey to Kine like those damn ferns. The gas fireplace was normally turned on, but she had requested it be turned off. Yeah...no thanks. Neither herself nor Edward needed any incidence with their beasts. Though she suspected she would struggle with it more than Edward would.

On the small coffee table was a huge bouquet of Pink Stargazer Lillies, and one White Lily in the center. The scent of them was strong, almost cloying on the tongue and in the throat. Quinn added a few pieces of Jasmine to it as well. It looked nice and smelled even better.

Quinn sat patiently waiting for Edward. She got their early to futz with the flowers. Arranging them the way she liked. Her key card was in her purse. Quinn's hair was done in a stylish blow out. The kind that looked effortless, but was anything but. Her make up low key, but very polished and she put a bit extra bronzer since she didn't blush. Her dress was all the way to the floor with a whimsical print.
White Edward Heinrich

[Edward Heinrich]

It was Edward's second visit, which meant that although he knew where to go, nothing was familiar. He even snagged the same underground parking spot, which he took as a good omen.

An elevator ride, and then a knock on the door.

If Quinn looked out the peephole, she'd see Edward wearing a short black turtle neck, black slacks, and a tan overcoat; he was also carrying two wine bottles.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn opened the door and slowly stepped to the side with it, her beast quite unhappy right about now. Fantasies of tricks and violence danced in her head a moment, but she was the master of the beast. Not the other way around, and Quinn found her smile. Her gaze moved down to what was in his hands, and the smile became more genuine. "I have had the start of many fine friendships begin with 'I'm a lightweight too!'" Quinn chuckled softly, and shook her head. "May I take your coat Mr. Heinrich?" She closed the door behind them and with an electronic click it automatically locked.

"It is good of you to bring some wine. We may need it." She paused a moment and would put his coat up in the small closet. After she moved deeper into the suite, motioning to the couch overlooking the extravagant views. She moved to the small kitchenette and pulled out two wineglasses. Real glass. It paid off to pay for the best. She returned to the small area and set the glasses down on the table with a wine opener.

[Edward Heinrich]

Edward smiled at the greeting, a little tension he didn't know he was carrying unravelling, "Priscus Durant, it's so good to see you, and yes, please do." The coat was handed over, and he gave a short laugh, "my thought exactly."

While Quinn disappeared to retrieve glasses and a wine opener, he silently catalogued the floral choice and set the bottles down on the coffee table. Specifically, a bottle of Kosta Browne Chardonnay, and a bottle of Krimsekt, both 2017. To the sommelier, the latter was, at best, a strange choice. Edward had his reason.

When Quinn returned, Edward took the wine opener with a smile. "I must say, you truly do know how to pick a dress, it simply screams stylish psychic."

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn read the labels on the bottles and an eyebrow went up on the second bottle. She'd heard of it, but never tried it herself. It was a favorite of of a member of her old Coterie. In either case, there wasn't a wrong answer. She would welcome some relaxation after the last month she'd had.

Quinn laughed at his assessment of her dress and grinned. "You know, I really am Psychic. It's not a joke or something I say to intrigue others. Though now perhaps my gifts are limited to blood magic, it wasn't always so. It was one of the many reasons I was chosen by the Kindred."

She watched him grab the bottle opener and wondered which he'd choose first? She didn't immediately jump to business, after all, for most Kindred the prospect of having a Mehket all in their head was about as terrifying as a Ventrue ordering you around like a puppet.

[Edward Heinrich]

"I truly do believe you," Edward reached for the Chardonnay, laughing at himself, "logically, at least. Even these nights, I still find myself on occasion amazed at the existence of our kind, let alone psychics." It was interesting to hear that she'd lost her powers, only to get something else in return.

He wound the opener into the cork with a smooth twirl and pulled out the cork with a muffled pop. Edward poured in silence, his mind having returned to the events surrounding his selection. The reasons for it.

"Did your Sire know you would lose your abilities? I apologize for such an indelicate question; it is only that it does seem rather strange to select for a talent only to see that capacity lost." He offered Quinn the first glass, and began pouring a second.

He held up his glass when finished, "santé."

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn chuckled a little herself nodding. "I rarely step back to think of the scope of everything I've learned and seen over the years. It's a lot to digest. I keep journals of certain powers and usage of them, but that's usually where I stop. It gets overwhelming otherwise." She paused a moment, watching him open the first bottle of wine. "Do you journal at all Mr. Heinrich? Or other methods of reflection?"

Quinn nodding, understanding the question. "Yes he did know, but its the knowledge behind the ability that was important to him. That I already had a leg up on trusting my instincts and perceptions that others could not. It was not some major ability. I could sense Kindred. Even as a human, I could feel them. It was like a rushing cold sensation down my spine. I didn't always understand fully what I was feeling. But I knew." She paused to salute. "Cheers..." and leaned in to tap her glass gently to his own. She took a drink, watching him over the rim of her glass. Like a lioness raises her eyes at the watering hole.

"I'm sure you can imagine the rest? The story practically writes itself after that doesn't it? The Masquerade is everything. Everyone I ever knew was killed. Save one. I gave my life in exchange for theirs. It's all about choices. It's the choices we make and the consequences that extend from those choices that brought us here, is it not?"

[Edward Heinrich]

Edward paused briefly, but there didn't seem to be any point in deflecting or avoiding private conversation. "In a manner of speaking. On occasion, I write letters to myself. When my thoughts are unclear, it helps me find direction."

It was interesting to know there were Kine who could tell, it raised the question if the method Quinn was using now to hide her Beast worked on the psychic Kine.

"I understand. One of my most proficient former coworkers was a trained logician. She was headhunted and taught to program. Admittedly, it took half a decade for her to reach the top, but the selection was for potential, not for immediate aptitude."

With a clink of glasses, he drank and felt Quinn's gaze. Did he trust her? He had faith she would follow her principles, he just wasn't exactly sure what those were. Loyalty, justice, what else? I'm just repeating my own values.

His internal tangent was cut short with Quinn's story, surprise showed in his expression. "I'm so sorry. I... well, Priscus, none of my relations met their end. I didn't realize my experience was uncommon. To be forced into trading your freedom for another's life is beyond cruel."

That being said, Edward had led a nearly solitary existence. If he disappeared for a year or two nobody would ask a question, nobody had asked questions.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn nodded slowly at first and then the motion sped up a wee bit as she listened to his reasoning. His hesitation at first was interesting too, but she filed that away for later.

"So you can sympathize with his reasoning." She stated the fact, no emotion behind it. Just a statement of fact. "It makes sense. I suppose its as good a reason as any if a Kindred is at the age to create a childe. With the failure to launch rate, so to speak, amongst fledgling childer, even with the most attentive sire, one has to hedge their bets."

Quinn watched his expression shift and once again she envied him. She envied that naivety, and even after being inside of his head, she knew it was more a case of the grass seeming greener on the other side. She wondered sometimes if it was just an act, or if she just got royally screwed in every way personally. Quinn respected her sire but hated him and loved him all the same.

"I asked him to kill me and leave the one I loved alone. I understood the price I had to pay, but the other, he simply leveraged my feelings to get what he wanted. All these years later here I am. A well adjusted Kindred." She raised an eyebrow with a bitter laugh. "But we all have our private pain, don't we Mr. Heinrich?" She paused a moment and took a long drink from her glass. Liquid courage as they say. "You accused me of only understanding one side. So enlighten me, but before we begin, have you ever heard someone's voice in your mind before? Or shared anything without need of words? I ask because I am sympathetic to the fact that those things for the first time are unsettling. This isn't my first rodeo, so lets talk about the rules. Usually I have a subject hold my hands in theirs, and if things get a little intense, they squeeze my hand and everything stops, but you can name your own terms on this if you wish.."

[Edward Heinrich]

The dissociation from something so personal was heartrending. Edward understood, he understood seeing it mechanically, there was a reason that way. Even if the reason was as nihilistic as empty determinism.

'Failure to launch rate,' 'simply leveraged my feelings,' and 'hedge their bets,' all twists of the knife. A hedged bet and a failed bet.

He didn't want to bring himself to laugh with Quinn, so instead, he offered a strained smile in response to her bitter mirth. He took another drink, as a way to politely change his expression.

He didn't like the casual dismissal implied by her (possibly rhetorical) question, but he also recognized her desire to move on. "I'm sorry, but I find I truly cannot agree. It would feel as if agreeing would be to consent to reduce your pain to a cliche. But, we needn't speak on the topic any further, if you'd prefer to move onto the business of the night."
It was an awkward and clumsy reply, but also the best he could manage on short notice.

He shook his head at her last offer, "I have never experienced it, and your terms are acceptable."