Night's Omen

 Iloquil made a very loud noise of exasperation when Niall plucked her wine glass from her hand just as she had it tipped all the way back and was tonguing the thick ichor within. It hadn't totally hit her yet, so she bypassed him completely with a wry smile, and made her way to where her incredibly angry mate was throttling their former best friend.

She was approaching in such a way that made Verity take a step forward, and Niall raised his hand, but said nothing for the moment. Instead, he put his hand to his mouth, eyes wider than they should have been, and just... watched.

"Oh, dear," Verity murmured. "It's like those Arelis all over again," she said in a low voice. "Remember Cerise's birthday at the country house?

"HNN," Niall said into his hand. "Ramsey took two whole bottles to himself."

"This is worse," she said flatly.

"Yes," he agreed. Then, he stood a little more straight, turning his head to look at her incredulously. "Have you heard from them, recently? Those two were absolutely terrible. Such wonderful guests."

"You know, I don't think I have," she mused. "I thi -- OOH ILOQUIL, NO SWEETIE!"

And with that, she was across the room in a flash, prying Iloquil's (now marinated) form away from Justin as she tried to put herself into the middle of their conversation, which was intensely serious. She was rambling in her archaic gibberish again, though Verity recognized a few words here and there - carnival, masquerade, party - they were all roughly similar, anyways, though she clearly referenced different eras with the specific words she used.

"Just.. let me.. get you.. some fresh air," she strained, practically ripping her away from Justin's side. She huffed, giving him an apologetic glance, though they all knew this was nothing out of the ordinary, and managed to drag her back a few feet enough to get her to turn around. It was like trying to back up a Zamboni in a bird cage: Iloquil was acting like she was dead weight in her higher-than-hell stiletto shoes.

"You really need to lay off of that stuff," Verity said more loudly as she got her through the door; the words lay and off were punctuated by two sharp shoves each time to Iloquil's back. She was answered with more laughter, and she tossed a last glance over her shoulder and just waved her hand around in a circle as if to tell them to keep the interrogation going.

Once she'd gotten Iloquil into the room where Persephone, Darren, Kronos, Katya, and Raphael were, she just sort of cleared her throat. She looked directly at Darren and Persephone and said, "Watch her. No more wine, do you hear me?" She ducked back out of the room, and then flung the door open again. She only pointed a long-nailed finger at Katya, who was sitting in a chair looking incredibly uncomfortable, and said, "No funny business with my cats, do you hear me?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and slammed the door behind her. As soon as she'd done so, Verity pressed her back to it, posing primly at it, with a breathy laugh and a very broad, fake smile.

"Well, then!" she exclaimed.

 Persephone had been sitting in a chair next to Darren, alternating between staring at her nails and the clock on the wall. She glanced at Katya every so often, then to Raphael. If she was bored and uncomfortable, those two acted like they'd worn Halloween costumes to an intensely somber funeral. Raphael exhaled with puffed cheeks every so often and ran his hands through his hair, while sometimes stopping to pick lint off of his suit. Katya... she sat slumped to one side in her chair, her forehead on her fist. She had strands of her long, dark hair pinched between her fingers and was examining them for split ends.

Darren, in fact, was the only one who didn't seem to have a problem at all. He and Kronos had begun to play cards. Poker, to be exact. And Darren... was winning.

"Call," Darren said.

Kronos scratched his jaw with the cards in his hand.

"Hey!" Darren warned. "None of that mind reading bullshit!"

Kronos met him with a very, very dark gaze, but strangely, Darren didn't back down. Instead, he squared his shoulders a little, then hovered his hand over the stack of chips in front of him. "Care to make a side bet?" he asked.

Kronos threw his cards down on the table face down. "Fold," he said gruffly.

And then... and then Iloquil had happened. They'd been instructed not to give her any alcohol, so of course, as soon as Verity was gone, that was exactly what Iloquil tried to do. First, she went for the decanter, but Persephone effectively blocked her. She turned gracefully on her heel as though she had never been headed there in the first place, then dropped down into the comfortable chair that Persephone had been seated in.

"No seat backs," the vampire declared. She raised her and and snapped her fingers loudly. "Charlotte!" she called. "Wine, if you would."

"Charlotte," Persephone said, her voice tight. "The lady misorders. She will have sparking water, with a fresh lemon and an orange twist." When the servant froze, unsure of what to do, Persephone merely widened her eyes a little and jerked her head to the door as if to tell her to GET OUT.

"Ugh, whatever!" Iloquil said loudly. She threw her arms up, allowing her hands to slap down on the chair in a rude way; it caused Katya to jump, which in turn made all three cats shiver (yes, even Kronos).

Iloquil, not unaware, sat up slightly and looked around between them all, very pointedly. "What...was that?" she asked. And then she smiled in a horribly broad way, and that was about the time Persephone swore that she would bash Raphael's head in with a rock for ever inviting that fucking vampire along with him. She liked Katya - honestly, even without the power - but this was not a good time.

She tuned back into the room just as Iloquil physically dragged herself across the room in her chair until she was right in front of Katya. "And what is YOUR name?" she was asking sweetly.

"Don't answer her," Persephone commanded.

"Shut up, you buzzkill," Iloquil snarled.

You'd think, after Alexander answered his question and revealed himself to be somewhat cooperative, Justin would loosen his grip.  No such luck.  Either he didn't trust Alexander, even as a human, not to pull a fast one, or he was just that angry.  Maybe both.  "What alley?  Address."

Alexander stared at him, surprised still at the level of interest from these ancient vampires.  He wasn't stupid, just having trouble believing all of this, so the idea that he was somehow...two thousand years old?  It was a little hard to swallow.  Of course, it was also hard to breathe right about now, so he definitely had other problems.  The others around them just continued on, mostly as though nothing were happening despite watching it very closely.

As with most talk of the Arelis, Niall was....torn.  They were powerful and dangerous, but could also hit a level of petty malice that sometimes rivaled even Justinian and Iloquil.  Ramsey was less so, which Niall attributed to his being a warrior for centuries and making it a point not to care about stupid things, but they'd also spent so many of those years playing whatever 'court politics' an area had to their advantage.  That their game involved copious amounts of sex only made it that much more interesting and complicated.  Inviting them always made for such a wonderful party, as much as it made Niall groan to remember some of it.

While he'd initially stopped Verity from getting too involved in what Iloquil was doing (he'd taken her wine glass from her, which was more daring than they usually had to be, but Justin was busy), he didn't step in once Iloquil had started injecting herself into the conversation/interrogation going on.  Why?  Because if Verity didn't, it looked like Justinian might backhand his mate, and that was never a good sign.  Better to haul her off and let him finish what he was doing.

Alexander, for his part, stared at Iloquil as she did this, understanding, but still not entirely sure how, as she went on and on about the magnificent parties they attended in places like Venice and Paris.  She spoke of them as though they were recent, but he got the distinct impression that they weren't.  Also that Justinian was upset, which was why he suddenly spit out the alley's address amid her reminiscing.  It stopped the angry vampire holding him from either choking him out or hauling off and nailing his obviously intoxicated mate, so win, right?  The fact that it worked, and Justin stared at him like he'd said something important as Verity dragged Iloquil off, had to count for something.  Since Justin lowered him to the ground and released his throat a moment later, he figured he was right.  Verity returned to Justin cursing.

"That fucking voodoo king."

If someone asked him how exactly he was dealing with this whole evening the way he was, Darren never would have been able to explain it.  Here he was, sitting in the same room with a vampire he really liked, her date who'd tortured the hell out of him just a few hours ago, a jaguar/vampire who was scary as hell, and the friend that had totally mind-fucked him as to who she was for awhile there.  There was a hunter that Darren didn't know well, but knew of, in the other room probably getting his ass kicked, and here was the leopard in the middle of an awkwardly quiet room, playing poker.

Winning.

On some level, that might have been the crazy part, but Darren spent a lot of time with hunters, and in the bar.  On slow days and nights, they'd play at the Hollow, and it was definitely something to see someone as old and smart as Ash play the game.  Naturally, he had unfair advantages, but between Ash and Dave, Darren had picked up a few tricks.  Still, he hadn't entirely thought that he'd gotten as good as he had (Ash and Dave both still beat him often enough, though it was less than it used to be, by a lot; Connor didn't beat him often at all), and he sure as hell didn't think that he'd be crushing Kronos the way he was.  The vampire hadn't seemed to expect it, either.

Darren couldn't deny that he was enjoying it.

He was not, however, a fan of the way his temporary feeling of control and confidence got kicked in the nuts by Iloquil appearing (she was nice, but still powerful enough that he was just a little nervous, though dinner had helped make him somewhat more comfortable) and then startling Katya.  That was the problem.  Katya had kept her power so totally underwraps that evening that, even though she could never turn it off enough that Darren wouldn't be tempted to sit down next to her and get cozy, he'd been able to resist well enough - Raphael was also a good deterrent.  Having her surprised by the sudden sound and movement out of the ancient who seemed pretty sloshed (Darren was thrilled that Persephone had that whole, 'no more booze' thing under control, though being a bartender meant that he could have cut her off himself, if he had to) meant that all of the cats in the room got an awesome dose of cat-lady power.  Darren shuddered through it, his already chartreuse eyes going all cat for a second as he inhaled and tried to rein in.  He wouldn't have been surprised if Persephone had a similar level of difficulty, both of them far too into their feline side, and though he didn't complain, shift or otherwise lose control, he most certainly set his cards down while he got a good, deep breath and worked on that.  It was a matter of a few seconds, but those were some shitty seconds before he turned mostly-human eyes on Iloquil and Katya.  The former had dragged her chair up in front of the latter, and that line of questioning?

This wouldn't be good.

"Any good at poker, Miss Iloquil?" he asked suddenly, and instantly somewhat regretted it, but anything to distract her from Katya, or try to.  He'd purposely throw a few hands just to make sure she was happy if he had to, but damn it, none of this.

 If Justinian had slapped Iloquil, not an individual in that room would have stopped him. Verity and Niall had gone through their bouts at times, but for the most part, they respected eachother enough not to interfere. Neither of them would take their brawls to the level that Iloquil and Justinian would, but it was mostly because their time together was minutes compared to the eternity that the other two had been together. It wasn't domestic violence in the sense that humans considered it - Iloquil was far from helpless, or abused.

At Alexander's utterance of the address, which Verity had missed thanks to having to remove Iloquil's drunk ass from the situation, the situation had changed entirely. She returned to Alexander catching his breath and Justinian angry about an entirely new set of problems. When he said, "That fucking voodoo king," nobody had to ask to whom he referred, because they all already new.

"That meddlesome little shit!" she exclaimed in spite of her previous composure. She now stood with her hands defiantly on her hips, looking between her own mate and his maker. There was a moment of silence as the silver-eyed woman looked between the three people in the room, and then she just said, "Well, how are we going to handle this?"

She had never met Aristide personally, which was odd considering how he liked to acquaint himself with figures of power, but she'd heard enough about him to know that he wasn't precisely to be trifled with. If she had to guess upon meeting him, she may have incorrectly assumed he was a Triste - he just had a way about him that spoke of many years of power, and discipline to control said power. Aristide was so much more though, and because he operated under a completely different set of rules and gods, the vampires despite their age often left him to his devices for fear of ending up in his crosshairs. Alexander, it appeared, hadn't been so fortunate.

Of course, Verity didn't know that this all rooted back to her lovely friend who was currently intoxicated beyond belief in the next room. She did know that Alexander must have meant a great deal to her to drive her to the point of blind drunken behaviour, though, especially to interfere with Justinian and basically undermine his intensity in the middle of his interrogation. She almost flinched at the thought of what he would say to her later when she had sobered up. He may have been younger, but his power was every bit as great, and he had suffered enough at her hands for petty emotions to be willing to return the favour.

She approached the hunter, who was gaining his bearings as he tried to, with as much dignity as he could muster, breathe smoothly to replace the lost air and calm himself after his very near brush with Justinian's ire. This was still her house, as much as that little fact had been overlooked, and she would not prefer to splatter the hunter when he had her cat, even if that was what the rest of them were voting for. It was sudden, her change of heart, but she realized there were much bigger things to deal with.

"My dear, it seems you're caught up in a rather large net of trouble at the moment, the least of all what you initially came here for," she said softly, offering him her arm. He would do well to take it, even if he didn't want to. For the moment, it was a sign of a very tense peace.

"Have Cerberus fetch the creature he requested, and initiate the trade. Fear not, hunter, I will agree to this small favour, but make no mistake, you will reside here while I allow my friends a chance to figure out what's going on. You won't be harmed any more by the hand of my staff, but I cannot and will not speak for the two with whom you share a bond. That is another matter entirely, and if you have any sense at all, I'd advise that you attempt to delve further into whatever memories you can so that this mess can sort itself out."

She basically told him that he wasn't leaving anytime soon and that it would be in his best interests to try and tell Justinian and Iloquil as much as he could. She did it all with facial expressions that alternated between concern and irritation, but she didn't seem to threaten him outright. In fact, she all but said that he was safe within the walls of Midnight from everyone except for the two ancients - those two she had no control over and she wouldn't even pretend to try and order them around. She could only imagine if she and Niall had been separated for some reason. If this situation were reversed, she doubted she could maintain her calm long enough to get any information out of someone at all, let alone as much as Justinian had gotten.

"I think you should go check on Iloquil, Justinian, and let the hunter gather himself together for the moment."

 She wasn't likely to forget about Katya any time soon, but Darren's question distracted her enough that she let the other vampire go for the moment. She turned in her chair, studying him over her shoulder with her brown eyes, then answered. "Good enough to take all of your money," she said confidently. At that, Kronos backed his chair away and stood up, gesturing to it.

"You can have my spot, then, my lady," he said, his voice still holding the irritation of his defeat. He glanced back to Darren, then to his daughter, and they all seemed to share the knowledge that keeping Iloquil both distracted and amused would probably be for everyone's benefit. He was relieved when she stood, abandoning her chair in front of the duo who tried very hard to be quiet so they'd go unnoticed, and walked to the chair he'd offered her.

"Thank you, darling," she purred as Kronos seated her. As soon as her water came, he set it next to her, reminding himself that some days a glorified butler was better than being on the other end of her anger, and gave Darren a very dangerous look.

"She will cheat if you let her," he warned him.

Iloquil put a hand to her chest, her mouth falling open in surprise. "I will not!" she said, her voice offended. She took her water and had a few generous sips, then set it down and held her hand out for the cards. "I'll shuffle," she informed Darren, her fingers wriggling until the deck was placed in her palm. And shuffle she did; Iloquil may have been drunk, but she shuffled the cards like a Vegas dealer. "How do you want to play this?" she asked as she did so, referring to the amount of betting as well as which version they'd be playing. She herself preferred Blackjack, but she could go for five card stud or Hold 'Em - or anything, really. She was a little too intoxicated to cheat, despite what Kronos had said.

Behind them, Raphael gripped Katya's hand tightly. "This is the most uncomfortable I've been in a very long time," he confessed, leaning in to whisper the words into her ear. "Are you okay, or should we make an excuse and go?" Katya watched Darren as he glanced back to them, knowing that she'd have a lot of explaining to do later about why she seemed so friendly with the vampire they all knew to be the personification of fear itself, and sighed.

"Tell me about it," she said. She turned to look at him, realizing that he was still very close, and gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine," she said gently. She appreciated the concern he showed, but if he showed too much of it, those questions she'd have to answer would multiply by a lot. "Why don't we move in closer to spectate?" she suggested.

Raphael didn't look like he wanted to do anything of the sort. Having Darren watch their interaction only told him that the cat had found a weakness in the terrifying vampire. That the weakness happened to be a friend of his meant nothing - if there was anything Raphael knew of people, it was that they would exploit said weaknesses if it meant saving their own asses. He was thankful that Katya could control Darren, but he knew that her power didn't extend to all hunters, and Darren was connected enough that he may accidentally say the wrong thing to the wrong person and Katya could end up in trouble at his own expense.

"Okay," he agreed. "If you think it's a good idea."

As they stood, Katya felt him release her hand. "I don't think it is a good idea, but it's probably the best option we have. If she's having a good time, she'll forget. By the time she remembers, we'll be gone." She noticed that Raphael only grimaced in response, showing his doubt, but didn't argue with her and instead pulled out a chair at the medium sized table for her to sit down. He seated himself next to her, and unfortunately next to Darren as a result.

This was so goddamned awkward.

No, Iloquil wasn't abused, just like Justin wasn't - they kept each other on their toes, you could say.  Whatever one did to the other could be returned just as bad or worse.  Fortunately, they stuck to petty shit rather than razing cities (they left that to Alexander, or used to).  One of the things that Alexander had forgotten was that, while he was the logical and most sane one, he was also the one who tended to leave more damage in his wake, just by nature of what he did.  There had been more than a few cities in the last two thousand years that had either been destroyed or had their leadership rearranged...violently.  Fortunately, while he went very 'soldier of fortune', he also had this habit of doing things just because he thought they were 'right'.  Hitler, as egotistical as he was?  He didn't think he was going to lose, and he did not kill himself.

Voodoo king?  Alex stared from Justin to Niall (who'd essentially facepalmed) to Verity, and he might have asked them what the hell they were talking about if that wouldn't proclaim his ignorance, and if he didn't have an idea already.  He wouldn't have had details for them, but he remembered a little of that ridiculous situation; he didn't want to remember anything more of that.  It...hadn't gone well, and it was all horror and pain. 

He didn't really have much to offer on the subject of what they were going to do about it, mostly because he was still trying to figure out exactly what they thought was wrong (all he could gather was that they were all insane, really, because what they suggested was impossible), when Verity approached him and offered her arm.  He was suspicious about it, but accepted the gesture -- what choice did he have in the matter?  It was a comfortable enough position on his part despite being such an old thing (modern people didn't hold onto each other in such a way often), almost as though he'd done it many times in the past.  Even injured, he held up fairly well in taking her arm and walking alongside her, and the fact that he didn't trust her really didn't hamper him in the slightest.  He didn't know it, but he'd walked with many women in such a way in the past, some of whom he'd known intended to try to poison or stab him.  It was a pleasantry, no more.

"That is a gracious offer, thank you," he told her, and to a point, he really meant it.  Being promised that he wouldn't be harmed by her people essentially eliminated most of the threats to his well-being in this place.  It only left Justinian and Iloquil, and somehow, he wasn't especially afraid of them hurting him badly.  It wasn't his safety was was too concerned about at this point, though.  Originally, he'd been expecting to be escorted out, probably with a gun to his head or the like, to bring Walsh to Samantha and Kimber, then have them hand Xavier off to Midnight's people.  It would have been a wonderfully simple thing, except Verity wasn't allowing him to leave until Justinian and Iloquil were satisfied.  That put a kink in the plans, and meant that he was worried all over again.  "If I'm being forced to stay, can I get some assurance that the two women who will be escorting your cat in are granted safe passage back out with Walsh?  They're freeblood, but that hasn't been much of a guarantee this evening."

It was actually Niall who snorted, Justinian merely watching and curious at who his friend could be concerned about, but the Master of Midnight himself stepped in on that one.  "As long as they conduct themselves appropriately, they can leave.  I understand the snow leopard isn't in any condition to leave on his own, anyway." 

Not a good sign, but Alexander wasn't surprised.  He'd take that, though, and nodded his thanks.  Justinian, frustrated that he didn't have a plan for fixing this whole situation when Verity had asked, made some impatient gesture and stalked out of the room to go collect Iloquil, who was...wrecking the young leopard, Darren, in poker.  That was...unexpected.  "She cheats, you know," he pointed out for the cat's benefit, but even as he walked in, Darren was winning that hand.  It looked like he hadn't won many, based on the number of chips in play and how few he had, but he was apparently winning a few.  Impressive.  Iloquil was a sharp player, even drunk.  If Niall and Verity didn't find a use for this cat, Justinian might.  After he was finished dealing with his mate, of course.

"Iloquil."

Darren knew he was going to lose.  Somehow, that knowledge was actually somewhat liberating instead of depressing, mostly because he wasn't sure if winning against Iloquil was safe.  Kronos gladly gave up his seat and Darren might have been irritated over that if not for the fact that he was volunteering to help keeping Iloquil both distracted and amused for a bit.  Taking one for the team, so to speak, and keeping her from getting too interested in Katya and doing anything about it.  That was acceptable.

Kronos' warning didn't go unheeded, and Darren sure as hell hadn't let the man cheat himself, so he wasn't surprised.  It was such a delicate situation, handling these vampires who were ridiculously old, but he'd found that not freaking out and being himself seemed to work.  They apparently appreciated that.  He chose five card stud, watched her carefully as she dealt, and then proceeded to lose.

Hard.

Make no mistake, he won a few hands and he actually got the impression that she was too drunk to cheat effectively, so he wasn't worried about that.  She was just an awesome poker player, more on the level with Ash than Darren (Ash still wrecked him regularly), but he didn't mind.  He picked up on tricks from people who were better than him.  Nobody seemed to realize it, but Darren paid a lot of attention to his surroundings, and he noticed shit.  He also learned quickly and was very adaptable, or he wouldn't be social and functioning right about now.  Considering he'd been in a cell being tortured by one of the vampires in the room just a few hours ago, he was doing pretty damn well.  Persephone should be proud, for sure.

He did not fail to notice Raphael and Katya scooting closer to watch, or how friendly the two looked, but he didn't let his attention linger on them; he didn't want Iloquil to notice them again, and he really did need to pay close attention to the game.  He also looked up as soon as Justinian entered and spoke, smirking at the warning that everyone seemed willing to give him, but actually more pleased with the fact that the ancient's entrance didn't come with the scent of blood.  Seemed like he had not actually splattered Alexander, which was a relief.  "So I hear," he offered easily, finishing out that hand successfully, then hesitating.  Justinian seemed to have a purpose for coming in here, and that meant not distracting Iloquil first.

 Verity nodded, apparently agreeing to Niall's terms, and summoned Cerberus from out of thin fucking air. "Be a love and escort the two no doubt receptive ladies along with Xavier in for me, won't you?" she asked. The way her pitch and tone altered when she spoke to Cerberus was almost comical - she took that soothing sound on when she spoke to all of her shifters. It was almost amusing to watch, especially since they'd heard her swearing and yelling earlier in frustration at both her drunk friend and the revelation that Aristide was behind the mess they were currently in.

Well, one of the many, anyways.

She allowed Alexander to be released from her grasp, if only so he could take the offered toiletries from a servant and tidy his appearance up quickly. In the meantime, she folded her arms and looked to Niall, brows raised. "What do we know of 'Samantha' and 'Kimber'?" she asked, the names purposely sounding foreign by her tongue.

"Well, Kimber is Xavier's little girlfriend while he's away," Niall reminded her, which caused Verity to nod with sudden recognition.

"Oh! The lovely little lupine lady!" she exclaimed. "How funny," she added, a mischievous smile on her mouth. "Fancy that I've been asking to meet her, and she's about to walk right in with him."

No sooner had she said that then did Cerberus appear in the doorway. "Your guests, Lady," he rumbled, stepping to the side. He revealed a rather beaten (but very firmly standing on his own) Maltese Tiger, who had an arm wrapped tightly around a slender brunette wolf who looked pale with anticipation. Next to them stood a tall (taller than Verity, even) woman of tan skin and blonde hair who looked like a model more than a hunter.

"Xavier!" Verity cried, rushing to him. He let go of Kimber to greet her, and Verity did not fail to notice that the wolf seemed to rock back to place her weight on one foot, allowing her arms to fall behind her at rest. She seemed obviously more relaxed than Samantha did, and Verity made note of it.

"What happened, darling? Are you well? What do you need?" she demanded, flooding him with questions.

"Verity, let him breathe," Niall muttered from the background.

 Iloquil had been having a dandy time playing (and winning), and she'd almost forgotten about the trouble in the next room - until her beloved came in to fetch her. She was actually in the process of taunting Darren with what he could have in his hand at that very moment - demonstrating her ability to count cards now that she was sobering up. The thing about Mojo was that it came on strong and left just the same; that Iloquil was over 3,000 years old just meant that on her it happened even more quickly. When she heard Justin's sharp voice, she sat rigid in her chair, her smile (as her back was to him) freezing on her face.

With a slow, deliberate sigh, she put her forearm on the table and shoved all of the chips back towards Darren. "Good game, Mittens," she said, her voice holding a tone of regret as she was pulled away. She stood, turning on one of her very high heels, and walked around the chair so that she could meet Justinian face to face.

"Yes, my darling?" she asked, her throat suddenly going dry. Damnit. She needed more water.

The rest of the room was suddenly a flurry of chairs as the others nearly ran over themselves to clear out into a further room, Kronos at the lead of the pack. He was promising them something about television and refreshments, and they all seemed eager to be there - or anywhere other than where the tension was suddenly building to the point of electricity.

Xavier...actually couldn't complain about his captors once he was in the car.  It was a nice car (Alexander's), and his 'captors' included his girlfriend and two other hunters who gave so little fucks that it was actually laughable.  By the time they arrived and parked where they'd wait for Alexander to go in, he figured this was going to be a pretty comfortable wait.  He wasn't wrong.  Technically, he was still a captive because his hands were bound, but neither of the women seemed worried about him being dangerous (hell, Kimber had no reason to think he'd be, and she was in the backseat with him), and the conversation had quickly turned to silly stories, Samantha bitching about her unconscious partner (which was curious enough that Xavier had asked about it), and the three of them generally just bullshitting around until Cerberus appeared.

"Relax, him being here means she's accepted the trade," he informed the girls, and Cerberus didn't hurt things by putting his hands up to show that he was unarmed, or at least, not holding a weapon.  He leaned down towards the window that Samantha cracked, glancing into the car.

"The mistress asked you ladies to come on in, she's got your cat coming upstairs as we speak," he informed them, glancing pointedly at Alexander's sleeping form.  "Bring him, too."

It was up to Samantha to carry Alexander, which Xavier got a small amount of amusement out of, and he casually shed the bindings from his wrists as they got to walking so that he could hold onto Kimber more comfortably.  Was his nervous?  Yeah, a little.  He'd been taken down by the guilds, which hadn't happened before, and now Verity got to meet Kimber for the first time in a decidedly unpleasant fashion.  He was hoping this would all go smoothly, but was still a little off-balance about it.

He shouldn't have been so worried.  As soon as they entered, Alexander looking up from where Verity had essentially deposited him (and looking like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer or something, which Xavier translated to mean that Cerberus had played with him), Samantha stood straighter and Xavier let go of Kimber for Verity to rush over and fuss.  "I'm fine, nothing that won't heal, milady.  I'm sorry I worried you."

If they had doubted that she gave a shit before, seeing her fuss like this over him sure was proving the original point, which was that she'd ruin lives if she didn't get him back. 

While Verity was fussing over Xavier and Niall spoke up to hopefully get her to calm down and let Xavier breathe, Alexander sighed and rolled his eyes (much like the Master himself had done just a moment before) and went over to where Samantha had laid his unconscious form on a fainting couch.  He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd just dropped him somewhere, so he appreciated that she hadn't, but the point was made.  He was obviously injured and worse for wear as he walked over, but he was quick about waking himself up and dropping the body double.  It wouldn't do him any good now, anyway, and it was a relief for those injuries that had been much worse before to be shed now.  The only problem was that the bruising on his throat from Scarlet was still present on his actual body, and that was unpleasant.  Whatever, he'd deal.

Actually, he seemed almost as comfortable as Kimber was in the room once he'd woken up, since he basically just sat up and watched the rest of the interactions, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, but otherwise remaining seated.  Fuck all this formal bullshit.  Oh, and wonderful, that servant that Cerberus had left to bring Derek Walsh up did his bit, and the snow leopard?  He was being half-carried, one eye was completely swollen shut, and one was only cracked.  His face was caked with blood and it was very obvious that there were other injuries, though it was possible that part of the pained way that he moved was internal from being force-shifted so many times back and forth.  The cat didn't seem to be too present in the mental sense.  Wonderful.

Yep, Darren was right in thinking that the game was over when Justinian entered and said her name like that, and her words as she shoved the chips his way confirmed that.  He didn't even pull a face at being called 'mittens', figuring it was safer to be getting endearments out of someone like her than the alternative, and basically took Kronos bringing up television and refreshments to mean that leaving was a good idea.  Nobody questioned the wisdom of this decision, and with the barest backwards glance, Darren followed the others further into the fortress.  None of them wanted to be present for this.

Justinian, to his credit, started out pretty mildly.  There was some intensity to his words, but he wasn't accusatory just yet.  The problem for Iloquil was actually something that she usually viewed to be a favored quality about him - he wasn't stupid. 

"I got an address out of him, my dear.  The place that he woke up?  It's suspiciously close to that voodoo man's establishment, which makes sense considering what's happened to Alexander.  What I don't understand is the why of the situation," he pointed out, almost conversationally.

Nope, not stupid.  He knew she'd gotten that drunk and had herself removed quickly for a reason, and he sure as hell knew that Alexander wasn't the sort to piss someone off, then casually walk right into a trap laid by the same person, especially without sending in his body double.  Alexander couldn't have known what was coming, and Iloquil was behaving suspiciously.  "What did you do?"

Kimber couldn't deny that the last few hours where she'd been stuck in the car with her boyfriend and the Serpiente (and her unconscious partner, whose body they had moved several times at Samantha's varying states of rage) had been anything but torturous. Sure, the night had started off with a bang, but it was ending on a low point - or, it was until her retelling of the time that Remi had gone to Denny's with the wolf crew and threatened to fight an entire high school track team on his own. Thomas had been quiet up until that point, but he had been every bit as drunk as Remi had, and it was when one of them called Remi a faggot that the two wolves had stood up and shit got real. It had been pretty amazing until they called the cops - and then the fight had moved into the parking lot. It had ended up with Kimber stealing a cop car.

When Cerberus arrived, Kimber was snuggled up in the back with Xavier. They were bathed in a red light from the trunk, which was open and angled up, allowing snow to fall into the space within. Alexander would be pissed, no doubt, but it had been Samantha's doing to begin with. There were thick drag marks in the snow from where she'd moved his body from the passenger seat to the trunk and back again after Xavier pointed out that he would get hypothermia if he stayed in the trunk long enough - or suffocate.

Samantha had found a bag of Jelly Bellies in the trunk, no doubt from where Alexander had hidden them after catching her trying to smuggle them into the car at some point, and she sat in the driver's seat eating them by small handfulls as they all chatted. Eventually the hole in the bag turned out to be insufficient, and Samantha yanked it to make it wider - she ripped the bag in half and sent tiny rock-hard jelly beans everywhere, including all over Alexander's unconscious body. The car was totally silent for a second as the beans rolled around and fell, and then Kimber snorted like a horse from the back seat and buried her face into Xavier's jacket.

"I bet he's going to be pissed when he sees this," Xavier observed, knowing Samantha enough by now to know that she wasn't about to try and clean the mess up. He'd already heard her explain how disgusting she was two or three times, but that was enough for it to sink in - he wasn't surprised that she was single. At all.

"I'm sure he will," she said, leaning over far enough that it strained her voice. She grabbed a handful of the fallen candies and began lining the pockets of Alexander's expensive (and bloody) suit with them. Wouldn't he appreciate that?

"He's bound to be hungry," she said, defending her behaviour.

"Oh, I doubt that. Verity is a gracious host. She'll see your friend stuffed with food before his departure. He just might not realize that it isn't a threat," he added with a noise not unlike a laugh. "She's old country. Still has a fascination at playing house, which includes having people fed and appropriately seasoned with wine."

Cerberus had come shortly thereafter, and Samantha had rolled the window down just a hair while simultaneously eating another handful of candy. They all got out and followed the massive shifter to the manse, Alex slung over Samantha's shoulders like a sack of potatos. As soon as they'd gotten somewhere where she could dump him, she unceremoniously dropped him. He was lucky that they'd provided a fancy cushioned fainting couch - more or less because Verity loved the style of decor that came with it - and he slid off after a moment, hitting the ground in a heap.

"Whoops," she said, her voice thick with candy. She chewed noisily while leveling her gaze at the hologram of Alexander, all the while knowing that everyone in the room was looking at them. The attention finally broke when Verity and Xavier reunited - only to build back up as Verity confirmed he was well and then shifted her focus past him to the brunette.

"And you must be Kimber," she cooed. She held her hands out for the wolf to approach, and Samantha watched with mild interest as she did so. It was an odd situation, to say the least - Kimber and Verity had a polite chat about their arrival, Kimber's evening, et cetera. Then, of course, Verity offered them leftovers, and Samantha snorted a jellybean out her nose and into her hand.

It was then that Alexander took his own body back, sitting on the couch for the moment until his world made sense again. He locked eyes with Samantha, then slowly reached into his pocket while he did so. He pulled out a jelly bean, drew his lower lip in over his teeth in a sneer, then threw it at her as hard as he could. From a bystander, it looked like Samantha jumped and blocked thin air with both arms, her head turning as her body contorted to shield itself from the assault. A few more came after it, each thrown with total rage, and they pinged off of her head and hands, stinging her with each strike.

"Stop it, faggot!" she exploded. She ran at him, fist raised to punch him, as though she had totally forgotten her environment. The entire room went totally silent then, and she straightened out, pulling the edges of her v-neck shirt down and ironing them with her hands. "Uh.. I'm Samantha," she said dumbly. "Just in case there was ever any doubt."

"There wasn't," Alexander hissed.

"There wasn't," Niall snapped simultaneously, looking up from managing Verity to stop her from micromanaging Kimber and Xavier. "Get your cat and go somewhere that isn't here," he commanded, waving her away like she was a fly.

"Niall!" Verity exclaimed.

"Alex!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Unnnh," Derek groaned. He slid against the wall he'd propped himself up against and came to rest on his backside on the floor.

"Janet!" Kimber called out, unable to resist the Rocky Horror Picture Show moment.

 Iloquil ran the tip of her finger down the bridge of her nose, looking up at Justinian through her lashes as he spoke. She was tall, but he was taller. Unfortunately, her big, beautiful brown doe eyes were absolutely no help to her at the moment, much like how in the next room, all of Samantha's charm didn't stop her from being both pelted by candy and making an ass of herself in front of rather important people. Iloquil was sorry she was missing it; she'd rather be anywhere then in her mate's crosshairs. This wasn't one of those little petty things that would blow over, either. This... this was a lie. A big one. It could even be the big one. The one that got her dumped. Like, permanently.

To her credit, she didn't fall apart, instead swallowing very slowly and pressing her lips together as he took a step in on her. Her skin tingled with his proximity, as it always had; Justinian would always have the same effect on her, and he'd always use it to his advantage when it came to tactics of battle. Because this was a battle, whether she liked it or not.

"Well," she said slowly. "I didn't do anything. Not really," she added. She pressed her lips together, unwilling to take a step back when he stepped in again, and put her hands up to his chest. "Now, Justinian," she said slowly. "Be reasonable." She tossed her hair to the side, exposing her lovely neck, and rolled up on her tiptoes to nuzzle against him, trying to get on his good side.

This couldn't have been more surreal if they tried, Alexander had decided as Samantha, Kimber and Xavier were lead in by Cerberus, but then he shivered, stopped to consider why he was cold and damp (she was a cold-blooded snake, so he knew she'd run the hell out of his heater the whole time she was out there), and finally reached into his pocket to find out what was there that hadn't been before.  Finding rock-hard, frozen jelly beans? 

Fucking straw that broke the camel's back.

The look he fixed Samantha with, obviously realizing that she was to blame not only for the jelly beans, but for his current disheveled state, he just about lost it.  Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be throwing the damn candy at her, but he just...couldn't stop himself.  This was supposed to be his day off, the one day a week where he didn't spend all day literally awake and all night projecting (technically, his body slept, but his mind didn't), and he'd spent the entirety of it dealing with Samantha's company, this Midnight mess, being tortured and killed, then rushing out to do it again.  Jeremiah and especially Scarlet had done a number on him, then Cerberus had beat the snot out of him when he came in here, which didn't even include the stress and insanity of Justinian and Iloquil's reactions.  He was so over this day, and it wasn't even finished.  When he started pelting Samantha with the jelly beans, she was just lucky he didn't have a gun or something, but he managed to weaponize the candy well enough.

He wasn't surprised when Niall essentially took his side when he lost it, having the vaguest idea from what had been going on that the people here knew him well enough to understand that it was unusual for him to lose his temper, even if he didn't feel confident in knowing them that well.  "What?" he demanded, not sure what she expected him to do about Niall telling her off, especially since he thought she deserved it.  On some level, he realized that she must be over being entirely mad at him if she was screwing with him again, but it meant to him that keeping her away from his body while he was projecting was a good thing.  Thank god she hadn't had a sharpie. 

Xavier sure as hell wouldn't have stopped her if she'd had one, and though he was paying attention to Kimber and Verity as they played nice, he couldn't help noticing the two hunters being asses to each other.  This only confirmed how pissed he'd guessed Alexander was going to be about his trunk when he saw it, not to mention the fact that, if someone didn't get out there soonish, the battery would die.  Not sure who would come out to give him a jump right outside of Midnight.

Xavier was glad to accept leftovers, the ridiculous amount of healing his body was trying to do making him starving, but he didn't miss Samantha's snorting a jelly bean out of her nose (was she seriously female?  He'd never seen a woman do shit like that), or Derek's arrival.  Seemed the cat they were trading for was definitely worse for wear; the hunters were getting damaged goods, and if they thought they were offering Verity the same, they were waaaay wrong.  Xavier's ability to bounce back was pretty awesome.  He was hurting still and definitely slow, but getting to relax in the car with Kimber had been nice, and the guild's infirmary had treated him well.  Leftovers sounded awesome, but he did glance to Kimber to gauge her comfort level.  He certainly hadn't been planning on introducing her this way, but it worked, he supposed.  Verity was being absolutely charming and even Niall was friendly, trying to keep his mate from completely suffocating both of them between monitoring the Alex/Samantha situation and telling her off.

Xavier smirked at that, not surprised, but Niall didn't seem to give too many fucks about what she did if she stopped behaving like a child; he figured it was a good thing the man wasn't around actual children often. 

Unless you counted Verity's cats, which Niall sometimes did.  She seemed to collect them even more completely than Katya did sometimes - Kronos, Persephone, Xavier, now that leopard Darren, and now they had a snow leopard in the room that Niall personally would have preferred to keep.  If he didn't think that Alexander would tell him straight out that it wasn't his division, Niall would have offered to change the trade from Walsh for Xavier to Darren for Xavier; Darren's family would no doubt want to be assured of his safe return (they didn't have to know that he was already going to be safely returned and had mostly been well-treated), and having a snow leopard would likely make Verity rather happy.  He remembered Alexander being very...no nonsense, and usually fairly cold and calculating in his decisions.  He seemed less so as a human, but Niall wouldn't have been surprised if he stuck to whatever deal he was sent to take care of.

Beloved, we have another feline present who's a bit...unwell.  I would send him and the disgusting snake away, but I know how you like to entertain.  What would you prefer?

He may have been the master of the house, but in some situations, the mistress ruled.  Entertaining was one of those.