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TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:13 PM
(New Scene @Solstice (they/them) )------------------
The Theater -name still not announced - was ever closer to completion. Luigi spent more and more time there, it was effectively his home now. That night, dressed in a warm golden suit, the Theatrephile was working on paperwork at a table set up in the lobby. Already he had guests- invited and uninvited, so the Ventrue had decided to basically make it his greeting hall, even if the buillding was yet finished. And contracts and memos would not wait…
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:19 PM
Outside, the sound of a motorcycle approaching, before it stops. Not three minutes later, there's Phaedra, wearing a leather jacket over one of her usual floaty dresses and a pair of leggings, her hair worn back in a braid tonight, tied off at the end with a scrap of yarn. "Boo."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:30 PM
Luigi looks up from the contract he was signing, setting the silver pen down on a holder. For a simple fold out table, all the accessories were his usual high class standard. he folded his hands together and sat back in the chair. "Good evening Signora Lamb," he said with his just a touch of roughness, genial voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure tonight?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:31 PM
"A chance to catch you without Calamity around. Not that I don't enjoy their company, but it's hard to talk around them, sometimes about some things." She walks closer, shaking her head. "You know what I mean, right?"
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:37 PM
His smile widened. "Yes, I very much do." He motioned for one of the plush fold out chairs at the table. "Please, be comfortable. I do not have rinfreschi to offer, yet." Luigi paused to see if she would sit before continuing. "Maestro Calamity is an interesting person. They are very protective of you, and they seem to hate me. But i am used to this."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:41 PM
"They're nervous about a lot of people. Especially people who act nice. Something about it being too good to be true. What you'll find of not just Calamity, but a lot of the younger Kindred in this city is that many of us have been, let's be frank about it, abused. We've dealt with smiling faces that held lies and torment for us. Calamity understands some of what I've been through in my life."
She takes a seat at the offered chair, steepling her fingers as she looks at Luigi.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:46 PM
"Ah, a common story, unfortunately," Luigi says with small nods. "I never had a childe- I would probably make a poor Master. They would hate the repetitive footwork lessons." He chuckled. "I was lucky, I was taught how to swordfight as a mortal, and only ..ah..polishing was needed once I was assassinated." He leaned forward and rested his head in his clasped hands, Gendo style. "You said yourself you had a ....fortunate embrace, was it?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:49 PM
"Very. My sire rescued me from a life that was hell. And then was killed two years later. Hunters; she sacrificed herself to save me. Her cousin is the current head of the Rodriguez family, so I'm not completely alone, but. I take care of myself. I have to take care of myself." There's very little emotion behind the words as she speaks.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:52 PM
"Everyone has to take care of themselves, Signora, even if there is someone else to help them," Luigi noted. "But I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like it is everyone's loss that she was taken." Luigi sifted through some papers on the table. "Have you corrected the imbalance, killing the hunters?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:53 PM
"No. I'm not strong enough to, alone, and they left Philadelphia shortly afterward."
She shakes her head. "That's not the point."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:55 PM
"What is not the point?" Luigi asked, apparently finding the sheet he was looking for as he pulled it out and read it over.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 8:56 PM
"I didn't come here to talk about my past." She shakes her head. "I came to get a better measure of you."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 8:59 PM
"Ah, I see," Luigi stated, and slid the paper before Phaedra. "Sono come mi vedi. This Theater is why I am here, nothing more, nothing less. If I do anything else, it will be because someone...forced my hand. That is the expression, yes?" He tapped the paper. It was an offer sheet. "Have you ever wanted to be a Patron of the Arts?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:00 PM
"Not really. I don't know much about art. I've never seen a play before." She shrugs casually, like this isn't a big deal to her. "A rock concert, once, but never a play."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:04 PM
"Never...seen, a..." Luigi was shocked. "I will help correct this unfortunate happening. But music is art as well, regardless its form. It may not suit everyone, but it is still art." He started to withdraw the offer sheet.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:06 PM
She reaches out to put a hand on the piece of paper like a cat clawing at a roomba, just long enough so she can read it and get the gist. (Offer sheet? What, is he trying to get money from her?)
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:10 PM
As soon as she does, Luigi raises his hand, letting her keep and read the sheet. His smile does grow, though.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:15 PM
“I don’t know enough to help you with this, Luigi. I wouldn’t be helpful, and while the offer is flattering...it’s kind of empty if I can’t bring anything to the table.”
She pushes the paper back toward him.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:19 PM
"I respect your honesty in this," Luigi admitted. "Something I think I would get from you regardless, which is partly why I made the offer." He took the sheet and began tearing it into very neat, tiny squares. "Do you worry I am going to become a monster that tries to undo the families? Interesting arrangement..."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:22 PM
"No, I don't worry about that. Even if you tried, there's no chance you'd succeed, not against the Sakima." Phaedra laughs. "I worry that you want to find a reason to put me in a cage, a very nice gilded metaphorical one. I worry that you'll try to help me, but only in ways you recognize as help. I worry you'll get the wrong idea about Calamity, or that you already have."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:24 PM
"Over protective friend that has too many demoni in their head? " Luigi asked.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:27 PM
"Not just in their head. In their life."
Phaedra shakes her head. "What do you worry about, Sir Fabri? I could go digging and peek at the answers, but that'd be really rude, especially in your theater, I think."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:32 PM
"That is admirable of you to not," Luigi noted with a laugh. "I worry that more of the Unconquered will follow in my wake. Why that would be a worry..well..." He gestured vaguely with his hand. "You seem smart. You can probably reason it out. I also worry that somewhere, someone with a hatred of the Unconquered will decide to torch my love."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:34 PM
"...you're not the first to say that it's, like...something to admire that I don't dig into Kindred's heads without asking. Are the Mekhet elsewhere so prone to intruding on people's privacy?"
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:37 PM
Luigi smiles wide, then laughs quite a bit. "Anyone with that ability seems to use it like a handshake. And for good reason- information is a powerful tool. A weapon. Your kind find that particularly so."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:40 PM
"I'm not going to say I never use it, or that I've never used it around you. But I don't dig all the way into people's brains. Skimming the surface for a situational read, sure. And I used it on the cards, to understand...context? Mm. But. If you're worried about the Invictus coming for you, here's the place to be, yeah. With the added bonus of being an okay city in its own right."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:42 PM
"It is a shame the sports teams here are terrible," Luigi said with affected seriousness, then chuckled. "I will believe you when you say that the danger is less here, but forgive ...I shall still prepare as if betrayal is still coming."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:44 PM
She snorts. "Don't ever tell Hot Doug you feel that way about the Flyers. That might get you challenged to a duel."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:44 PM
"Hot Doug?" Luigi asked, pulling out a notepad.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:46 PM
"Nosferatu, Carthian, leader of the Fly By Night Society, which stands on equal footing as a family within Philadelphia. They're all Flyers fans. Don't show up at the Wells Fargo Center if you're not rooting for them. Ever." She seems absolutely serious.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:51 PM
"The Flyers...that is...Hockey?" Luigi seems disinterested in the sport, but he still takes down the notes. Something else must have struck his fancy. "The Union, at the least, are objectively terrible. But such is the state of football in this country."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:53 PM
"When you say football, you mean soccer, don't you?" She laughs.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 9:55 PM
"Ah, yes. Soccer." It is the most noticeably distasteful thing Luigi has ever said around Phaedra. "At least it exists here, unlike cricket."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 9:56 PM
"What's cricket?" This doesn't seem to be teasing; she's genuinely never heard of the sport.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:00 PM
"If I am honest, it is a complicated sport played with a flat wooden bat. The point is to hit the ball as far as you can, then run between two stakes before the pitching team can field the ball and get you out." (ICly Luigi would know the rules. OCly, I don't, I am guessing!) "It is played all over the world. Except here."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:01 PM
"We have baseball. That's got to count for something, right? I never played baseball, but my cousins and I played kickball, out in the field, when I was really little. When I got older, I wasn't allowed to."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:02 PM
Luigi's face runs the gamut of amused, to interested to confused. "Why were you not allowed to play? Was this something to do with your natural talents?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:06 PM
She tilts her head to one side and her gaze moves past Luigi, smile fading away completely. "Yeah. Something to do with them. My uncle was the leader of the family. Everything went through him, everyone listened to him. He was pretty much God's second in command, on the farm. When he figured out I was psychic, he declared me a prophet, cloistered me away from everyone most of the day. No games, no sports, no friends for me."
A pause. An unnecessary deep breath; she's not Blushed.
"My sire was planning on turning the family cult into a Herd for herself, manipulating their faith to her own ends. But when she found out about me, she scrapped her plans and requested permission to Embrace a childe."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:12 PM
"What a turn of fate," Luigi whispered,listening intently to the story. "Would she have been the sort to have embraced you even if denied permission? Or is that sort of action strictly enforced here?" The implication being that elsewhere, it was not.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:19 PM
"It is very strictly enforced here. Though there's definitely been a good few Kindred who've tried to get around it, in recent years, their childer still trying to get their lives together. That's one thing families are good for; adopting childer whose sires have been executed."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:21 PM
Luigi was silent, his smile still in place. Then he nodded once. "The enforcement of that tradition is the surest sign of strength of the leadership. Cities were such is not the case indicate a leader that cannot risk killing who ever they want. New York was one such place, but that is result of having too many ancient monsters there."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:23 PM
"Boston's also pretty awful too, I've heard. There's two Kindred in town who came from there--at least, who I know. Daniel Hawthorn and Cian Doyle. They're good men, and both thought that city was fucked up. Might be good for comparing and contrasting and commiserating, a little."
There's a bit of a thoughtful smirk on her face.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:32 PM
"Or we could talk about the future," Luigi suggested. "There is nothing to gain from talking of a bad past, except for a want to drink that which we cannot enjoy." He raised an imaginary beer glass. "Now if you wish to talk other history, or have other questions, please, ask."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:34 PM
"Why...what type of history? I'm studying for my GED--trying to get ahold of dates and wars and everything. It's always nice when older Kindred offer their actual perspective." She leans forward, intrigued.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:36 PM
"I can give you considerable detail of Italy before and during the Great War," Luigi suggested. "Or if that is not something you like, then perhaps New York after World War Two? I guess you could look that up easily enough."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:38 PM
"I could look it up, but firsthand perspectives are more interesting." She grins. "I've heard about old German mercenaries from Guy, some. And Atalo's shared some Greek history."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:41 PM
"Oh, that is interesting. I was a Duke, you know? One of the last few before the Aristocracy became...inutili," Luigi stated.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:42 PM
"...so your family were all nobles, then?" Her head tilts to one side slightly. "In what part of Italy?"
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:46 PM
"Paliano," he said with a sigh. His eyes misted over as he recalled. "It is a region just south of Rome. You could possibly find me in a history book, though i would look...just a bit different." He chuckles.
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:49 PM
"Did you have the same name then? Luigi, Sir Fabri, Duke of Paliano?" Her focus lingers on him like a laser beam. "I wasn't always Phaedra Lamb, myself."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:50 PM
"Hah, no, the name is different. I was Prince Fabrizio the third of Colonna, Duke of Paliano," Luigi recruited with a soft laugh. "The prince title was not royal. It was a quirk of history."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:52 PM
"Why did you pick Luigi now? I only know that name from the Mario games."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:54 PM
"It is a name that means guerriero famoso, so it seemed correct," Luigi told her. There was a chuckle. "But yes, most know only of the game. Perhaps I should wear more green?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 10:55 PM
"Overalls. Really really well-tailored overalls. Troll everyone." She nods.
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 10:57 PM
Luigi leaned his head slightly back, his eyes gleaming with thought as he tapped the table. "Yes, well. It is a ...thought. So, what will you do with the rest of your night?"
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 11:00 PM
"I hadn't thought that far ahead. Might find a bite, might go do some more studying. I'm off tonight, but I've got a couple nights in a row at work coming up, so I ought to enjoy it now. Or something."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 11:07 PM
"You may be mostly immortal, but you should still enjoy every hour that you have as much as you can," Luigi urged her. "For now, i am an old man fussing over papers. You are welcomed to stay, but there are some things I must finish tonight."
Solstice (they/them)Yesterday at 11:08 PM
"No, no. I'll go. Nice to talk to you, though. Really-really talk." She nods. "Have a good evening, Sir Fabri."
TheC (Luigi)Yesterday at 11:18 PM
"You as well. Give Maestro Calamity my regards," he said with a folding hand wave, before burying himself into his work once more.
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