A Dragon and Marcus

[Rebecca Dawson]

Sacramento had average nightly temps around 51 degrees, the home he was coming to was a mini estate. It was rented out by the owners through various listings like VRBO and AIRBNB. It boasted a large backyard, complete with seating area around an electric lit outdoor fireplace, a heated in-ground salt water pool and spa, and a 10 ft tall privacy fence with space between you and neighbors.


The interior was a more modern take on Farmhouse decor. More contemporary, but still with that warm and relaxed feel to it. It was decorated in staggering shades of browns, tans, grays, with little pops of color here and there to give it a more modern feel.


Rebecca would greet Mr. Roman at the door and as this was the third time seeing him, it wasn’t as large of a problem as it was the first few times. She held her ground despite the flight response. She opened the door and would step aside to let him come in. She would offer to take his coat if he had one, and stow the items in the foyer closet.
She showed him the living room but moved on to slip out the back sliding glass doors to the backyard. Which in her opinion was the real jewel of the place.


She led him back to the living room and curled up on one end of the large couch, and made a motion for him to sit.


“Please have a seat after our mini tour of the place.” She chuckled softly. “We will have time to enjoy the backyard, but for a more frank conversation, I wanted some guaranteed privacy.”
She had set out food and drink for her guest should he wish to indulge in some costly pleasures.
There were exotic fruits of every type, tropical in nature, ripe, and set out in bite sized morsels. There was chocolate and cheese, and chilled bottles of Celebrator beer in the bottles. A German double bock that Rebecca was keen on.


“If you like to indulge you may, if you would not like to, that is fine as well.”
She let him get settled for a few minutes, enjoying the pleasantries.


Living room

Outdoor Nook

Pool


Outfit



Marcus Roman KindredSpirit

[Rebecca Dawson]

Bookkeeping

[Marcus Roman]

Marcus' black cruiser roared up the road and into the driveway. He dismounted the bike in his combat boots, freshly polished a button down shirt, black. Jeans, also black. Skin flush with life his eyes looked over the house before heading to knock on the front door where he was greeted by an angelic sight once opened. His beast wanted to clip the angels wings but as he'd seen Rebecca a few times it was shoved into its box more easily than earlier.

"Ms. Dawson, good to see you..." He said entering and following her along on the tour. "This place is fantastic, though not as fantastic as its host. Lovely selection..." The Roman sat on the couch not too close but not overly far away from the Daeva, looking over the food and drink. "None for me tonight, but perhaps next time. Thank you though, it's a kind thought." After a moments pause "So, you wanted to pick up our earlier conversation?" He said curiously.

[Rebecca Dawson]

Rebecca grinned at the compliment. "Thank you Mr. Roman, that is kind of you to say." She watched him settle with all the interest of a host making sure her guest was comfortable. She nodded with a smile. "I do desire this conversation Mr. Roman, but if you would indulge me a completely personal question?" She put it out there. Watched his reaction, reading it, examining it. She let her disarming presence work its magic on the savage. "Why have you not joined a covenant?" She asked curiously.

Not to be one to take without giving something in return, she opened a beer and took a drink. Willing vitae to make the withered organ work to hold down the food. "I only recently joined the Ordo Dracul myself." She chuckled slightly, like she was poking fun at herself. "I was unaligned for most of my Danse. Until for a spell of time when I wasn't going to court nightly and constantly intermingling with my fellow Kindred. I was away long enough to wonder why I was chasing power within the Kindred court." She shook her head. "I couldn't even answer my own idle question directly or with any confidence." She paused and looked directly into the other predators eyes.

"I was without a true purpose. I was acting only on my instincts for domination and fighting for resources within the Kindred arena." She shook her head. "Watering barren ground and expecting growth... growth of what? The Beast?"

[Marcus Roman]

"No small talk tonight hmm?" Marcus grinned a little. "Well Ms Dawson, to answer that question is...lengthy." He paused trying to summarize in his head before speaking. "When I was made, what memories I have that aren't warped by the long sleep that is, there was no Ordo Dracul, or Carthian, or even Invictus. We hunted the Lance for sport. Then things changed while I slept, and I found that I didn't care for money or lengthy conspiracies so that left the Invictus out, though I do appreciate what they do for the Masquerade, and other traditions. I also appreciate their order...but I was never invited to join the club and I didn't really care to ask. I have nothing against them, when they act right. The local Invictus are actually decent, at least the two or three I've interacted with most."

Marcus stopped, realizing he wasn't summarizing at all, but rambling. She was so disarming. A little tour, some gifts of food and drink that were a lovely thought. All curled up on the couch with that aura of ease and likeability...

"Anyway, I don't worship the Crone, I worship the Gods so the Circle is out. Lance is out, aforementioned hunting. From what I can tell they're just blood sorcery with a philosophy and a PR team. I do like the Carthians. Upstarts that if they could ever find order could give birth to a decent Senate. Truthfully I know next to nothing about the Ordo. Youngest covenant, secretive. Occultish. Booksy. I'm not very Booksy outside of my little joy of history. So I do me, mostly. That's worked for a long time, and my bloodline have always been Unbound anyway."

[Rebecca Dawson]

Touché. “Truth be told, I despise small talk. I always have and always will.” Small talk was for when you needed to spend your time until you found someone better to talk to, or when it wouldn’t be prudent to share. Court was an excellent example of small talk being necessary but not the preferred conversation anyone really wants to have.


“I knew there were parts of our ancient history that had it right.” She muttered when he stated they used to hunt the Lance for sport with a slightly predatory smile on her lips. “I am afraid I didn’t enjoy being dragged to the city to go to mass. It was the one thing about my former domain that I won’t miss. You had to at least pay lip service to the religion.” She kept her own counsel on the topic of the First estate.


She watched him and listened to him recount the covenants, and when he said he didn’t know much about the Ordo Dracul, Rebecca was only too happy to oblige him.
“The Ordo Dracul was founded by Dracula, our infamous progenitor of the Order. It is said he was cursed by God personally into vampirism, hence, he has no sire. It is this peculiarity that started Dracula on a path to lessen the curse of God, to lessen the great banes of the Kindred condition. Fire, Sunlight, the Beast, Blood Addiction, Torpor and its ravages and more still. He unlocked the beginning of the secrets to making changes to the Kindred condition itself. We call this “The Great Work.” It is no less than the study and pursuit of transcendence.”


She stopped there to let the Gangrel absorb this idea, and to see what his initial response was. She took a long drug from the pony necked beer sweating in her hand.

[Marcus Roman]

Marcus listened intently, then grew quiet for a long moment as the words set in. This can't be real.

"Ms. Dawson, I have survived a long time. I might even be the last of my bloodline. So I have seen some things...but what you've just said...If this information is some kind of joke, I will be very cross." He was so serious. Almost like she had offered him something he needed desperately without realizing it.

Forget small talk indeed. He took a moment to real himself in, feeling the edge in his voice earlier. He continued on in a lighter tone with that not quite Italian accent.

"Lets ignore the bit about Bram Stokers villain founding a magic school. Just out there Dumbledoring it up. I can't even begin to process that reality in this moment. When you say lessen the Beast, what do you mean?" The Lance had their stories, which Marcus certainly believed was bullshit...but their sorcery was very real. Could this be real ?

[Rebecca Dawson]

Rebecca didn't smile this time, just watched him closely. "You slept through one of the largest Masquerade breaches in Kindred history." She said softly and shook her head. "While everything the writer wrote wasn't exactly true, the rough cut is, and it was only the beginning and a very limited part of the story."

She paused and shook her head. "It would be impossible to lie about something like this and not be directly caught Mr. Roman." She smiled slightly then. "I am a lot of things, but a Kindred itching for another ass beating in my Danse, really isn't one of them."

She paused and considered how to answer his question. There were many ways, but one in particular that Rebecca herself intended to undergo soon. "I myself am seeking this change next in my studies of the Coils of the Dragon. I will begin my preparations soon, but if the attempt is successful on my part-then with a great act of my will I can stop any frenzy in its tracks."

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "The Gangrel are especially gifted with this work and an integral part of our Covennat. As a master of Protean you yourself have made physical alterations to your body, have you not?" She challendged his way of thinking about this, because perhaps linking his own abilities to making more significant changes would intuitively make more sense to him. "These changes are permanent."

[Marcus Roman]

"Yes, I guess I did..." What else had the Roman slept through? He laughed a little about her comment on itching for a fight "No, I promise. No non-consensual ass beatings from me."

His jaw dropped ever so slightly when she mentioned stopping any frenzy, and considered her next words carefully as she related it to his clans own discipline. "Any frenzy? Including those given to you by a bloodline?"

If true, this would solve so very many problems, Marcus barely kept his excitement in check just below the surface but it could still be seen in his eyes.

"If so, what's the catch? The Invctus' is the expectation of eternal servitude. Carthians their fractured nature. The Lance...well, The Lance." He gestured with a general 'everything' vibe using his hands.

[Rebecca Dawson]

There it was. The spark. Not that that was a really intuitive leap given his clan. She still hadn't quite expected it to hit that hard. Once he explained a little further regarding bloodline, she understood. There was always prices for coming into more power amongst the kindred. It enhanced the weakness inside of them. On a long enough timeline, every Kindred would experinece its horror.

"I understand your disbelief Mr. Roman, but I have seen it for myself." She paused a moment to answer his question. She didn't want to jump to conclusions that every single bloodline weakness could be stopped. Sometimes the price is steep for the power the bloodline allows, or their could be some great mystical curse associated with it that cannot be fully vanguished. "I cannot guarantee that it would work for all bloodline weaknesses, but I can tell you that I have never seen it fail. Not once. Please respect my knowledge here. My mentor was Gangrel. He doesn't frenzy unless he wanted too."

The catch was a doozy. It was why Dragons were some of the most resolute and fearless Kindred. They faced actual death everytime they learned a new coil. She paused a moment at the gravity of the answer. "Every time you make an attempt to thwart the severity of your curse and come another step towards Transcendence, you risk final death." She paused. "That is the cost of failure. That is why without the proper training with a mentor it is impossible to suceed." She paused again and smiled ever so slightly. "You must fully commit yourself to the Great Work. Nothing can come before it."

She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. "That got heavy quick, but I have to impress on you what it means to join the Dragons."