Here For the Party {tag: Connor, Diana}

[Stormy Quattrone]

((*glomps* I have missed your character sadism SO MUCH. ))

The buffet table? Valerie glanced way back at it and spotted Verde lurking nearby. Ah. "I don't know, mon ami," he murmured, risking a smile at Connor's expense just this once. His nerves could use the release. "I think the great Domingos would find your situation a wonderful joke." Val wasn't going anywhere NEAR the buffet table, but it was still fun to antagonize Connor.

And then he saw a vision of angelic lovliness, and fun left the entire world.

"Connor..." Valerie felt a headache. "Tas de merde[1], I wish you would choose your words more carefully." He could discreetly run, but as she had already seen him, what would be the point? She would either give chase, or find him later and mock his cowardice. Might as well stay, be afraid, and get it over with.

"Diana," he greeted her, returning the politeness and betraying not a shred of uncertainty. "Good evening. I suppose it is a surprise, but even I could not miss such a large gathering." He faked his best fake smile. "You look stunning." When in doubt, pander to it, and even if she would see through him immediately, he was going to be civil to the end.



[1] "pile of... excretement

[Connor Batten]

"Oh?  What's this?  Did someone develop a sense of humor all of a sudden?" he asked in his most false friendly voice, shooting a very brief glance at Verde and his...orange tie.  Very festive.  "It'd be the first time I saw that man laugh, I'm sure."

All dry comments and teasing aside, Connor got a hint of Val's sudden shift in mood, and it would have been foolish to think that he hadn't tensed up somewhat and STARED at Valerie.  If there's something BAD, you'd bett---  Nevermind, he could figure out what was wrong before he even had a chance to finish the thought, considering Val had hardly finished speaking before he was greeting a woman who didn't really strike Connor as being human.  Given the reaction, he was willing to bet vampire, and took a step closer to Valerie without a word.  If it was someone who caused Val to give off the feelings Connor was getting through the bond, the hunter was going to be on guard and best behavior.  Antagonizing Valerie right then struck him as being a bad idea.

Keep me informed.  I mean it.  Is she a danger?

[Jessica Markova]

"True," Diana laughed, "but I still wouldn't have been surprised if you'd given it a miss." Let's see how much she could raise Val's bloodpressure, mm?

"You look stunning."

"I know," she said, flashing a dazzling smile. "But then, why come to a Masquerade Ball unless you're planning on it?" She laughed a little, and finally glanced down at Connor.

"Hm, you brought a new toy. Tell me," with a wicked glint in her eye, "does he do any tricks?"

~*~*~

*glomps Kuchi back*

[And then he saw a vision of angelic lovliness, and fun left the entire world.] XDD I love you.

[Connor Batten]

Nevermind, he offered up simply as she responded and made it clear to him what his opinion was.  It was vampires like her that made him hate their kind.  Pompous, egotistical monsters.  Really, she was likely to shoot Connor's blood-pressure through the roof before Val's, but she didn't need to know that.  The fact that he was limited in what he could say and do there didn't make him feel any better, either.  He was going to explode before the night was through.

"Certainly, but I have horrible stage fright," he joked, keeping his tone surprisingly light and teasing for the attitude beneath.  He certainly wasn't about to do any 'tricks' for a vampire.  "Besides, I don't take well to being shared."

Actually, he didn't take at all to being shared, and he didn't want to deal with Valerie, let alone this woman, whoever she was.  He couldn't stand female vampires.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Connor's "nevermind" echoed in Valerie's head. No surprise there; the woman tended to have that effect on people. Valerie was actually proud of Connor to have dealt with her teasing so maturely. There had been a ripple of indignation from Connor's end of the bond that had had Valerie thinking for one terrifying moment that the Hunter would disregard everything and say something offensive.

But it had not gone that way. Connor had moved closer to him almost instinctually, the closing of their physical distance helping Valerie calm his nerves. Diana still scared the merde out of him, but at least he wasn't facing her alone. Speaking of which... Connor might as well know EXACTLY whom she was.

Diana is the vampire who lured me to Aristide's for the ritual.

"No one is sharing you, mon ami," he said gently, playing the part of a vampire calming his jumpy human. "Diana is teasing." She probably wasn't, but who wanted to be straightforward when subtle intimidation was so much more entertaining for the Devil herself? "You are doing well, I expect?" he asked of Diana. There was precious little polite conversation he could really make with her. Any ordinary comment could be turned against him. He hoped that if he remained stoic and gave no ground, she would get bored and leave him alone. Despite her best attempts to scare him, they WERE still at a party, surrounded by hundreds of powerful guests, and Bruja guard detail besides. He wouldn't put it past her to try something subtle, but at least for the moment there was little she could physically do.

Hopefully.

[Jessica Markova]

Diana smiled warmly at the both of them. She really enjoyed doing stuff like this - annoying or alarming or just generally... well, messing with people because she was old and powerful and they were not and so there was nothing that they could do about it. If she wanted them to like her then she was fully capable of being most charming, but in most cases.... Well, it would be a waste, that's what it would be. Let it never be said that Diana was wasteful.

As to them being safe - well, she wasn't likely to rip anyone limb from limb. Not that she did that very often anyway unless they really annoyed her. Or stumbled across her at a particularly bad moment. There had been occasions in the past when she'd visited such acts of violence upon others simply because she felt like it and for no other reason, but... well, while rending was all in good fun, she wasn't in the mood tonight. Besides, she didn't particularly want what seemed to be all of Bruja after her for crashing the party.

Ah well. She had Valerie to tease and poke at now, and he (like all other stiffs) tended to be so much more fun to do so to then anyone else. What a pity that they liked it the least - but since when had she cared? Never.

"This is what for you, two bloodbonds now, Valerie?" Diana asked lazily, all but ignoring Connor for the moment. "My oh my, you're gaining quite the little following." He took such good care of them as well. Diana took care of her fledglings or bonds when she felt like it and killed them when she felt like it. She had a few of both running around - she'd occasionally drop down on them, for one reason or another. Some loved her, some loathed her - and both could be so much fun.

"Maybe you should consider getting another pet, to keep them company," she said with a very slight smirk. "Not a cat though, cats are aggravating creatures." She was betting that Valerie was a cat person. "If, of course, you want a dog then I might be able to suggest a few breeders."

[Connor Batten]

It was ironic that Val was the vampire and supposed to be the more powerful end of this bond, but it was Connor who was completely unafraid of this vampire before them.  Of course, he had a habit of doing that.  He'd grown to be a man who would insult a vampire even as the creature tried to tear into him.  He had in the past.  He certainly had his fears, but dying and monsters weren't among them.  This vampire, no matter how old and powerful she might be, wouldn't scare him.  Sure, she could kill him, or at least, try.  She could torture him if she could get to him like Tabitha had, but she wasn't going to scare him like that.  It was just the way he was.

It was a delightfully free feeling.

The fun part about it happened to be that his getting closer to Val actually didn't do ANYTHING for Connor in this case, except satisfy the bond's desire for closeness.  Val was the one who benefited, which was really the point.  Connor could feel the man's fear leaking through the bond, and that wasn't acceptable.  Hearing who she was helped explain Val's reaction, though for some reason, it pissed the hunter off.  Part of that was because if Diana hadn't led Valerie to the ritual, Connor wouldn't be stuck bonded to him.  He had to stop and think that it was better that it HAD be Val than someone like Diana, though he wasn't about to admit that to Valerie.  No need to encourage him.  That was really only a portion of it, however, and he couldn't entirely explain the rest.  It felt like he was angry that she was intimidating Val, almost...protective, which made no sense.  He'd figure that out later, though.

He made it a point to rest a hand on the vampire's shoulder after Val 'assured' him that nobody was sharing him, and he raised an eyebrow behind that mask of his.  At least he was wearing it; he got the feeling that Diana wouldn't have minded spilling his secret all over the place.  "Is that what she calls teasing?  Jeez, you vampires have no sense of humor," he told Val 'privately'.  He'd said it loudly enough that a vampire should definitely have heard it, and it was intentional.

"Actually, I can entertain myself pretty well without him getting any pets," he told her, his voice returning to normal volume as he managed a pleasant smile again.  "And really, why a dog?  They're so useless and needy.  If I was going to bother with an animal, it definitely wouldn't be a loud, obnoxious, slobbering mess of a dog."

He was willing to bet his life that Diana was a dog person, from what she'd said, and though he didn't usually care either way, his cousin was a leopard.  He was kind of 'required' to like cats better.  Darren insisted.  Besides, he could handle bashing dogs if it would annoy this vampire a little.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Valerie had a momentary out-of-body experience as he entertained the notion of thanking Diana for making an appearance. While he and Connor were not yet a completely synchronized bloodbond pair, they were at least beginning to take cues from one another and act that way, and Valerie could only attribute it to their need to defend against the threat that Diana presented. Connor's hand was a further comforting pressure on his shoulder, one he was glad for. He never would have instigated contact on his own; it would have looked too needy for his taste. Connor touching him, now that was fine. The bloodbond was allowed to support his master.

Although the knowledge wasn't uncommon, Valerie still didn't appreciate Diana knowing anything about his personal life, into which Hiroshi was most definitely included. He didn't appreciate the pet comments, either. Connor's little side quips, on the other hand... Thanks to the support indicated by Connor's close presence, he didn't think it was the human's intention to get them in trouble. Connor, in Valerie's experience, just simply didn't like to take things lying down. It was that aspect of him over which they tended to clash. Valerie preferred to stay out of trouble, and Connor found it amusing to taunt trouble to trouble's face. Like he was doing now. If Valerie could have smacked his head into something, he might have, but as that option was unavailable he simply stood still and pretended that Connor's words didn't shock him in the least. Even if Connor wasn't in Valerie's control, it would be prudent to maintain the facade that he was. "Not all of us share your unique taste in sarcasm," Valerie replied dryly, as if it was an old joke between them. Connor's support, potentially detrimental though it may be, was having the strange effect of giving Valerie's confidence a boost. Diana still scared him, there was no helping that; Connor couldn't be with him always, and if the female vampire decided to take him out when he was alone there wouldn't be much he could do to stop her. Still, he was beginning to understand what it meant to have power in the vampire world, or at least a standing higher than dirt.

[Jessica Markova]

"Oh? You are the bold one, aren't you? My oh my." Diana's voice was almost lazy; uncaring. Good for Connor if he wasn't scared; he didn't have to be. She'd found people who were utterly fearless in the past and had still made them eat their own intestines. Fear didn't much matter to her. Luckily for Connor, perhaps, that he was only human - as human was the operative word there, from her side of things. A lowly little mortal who, quite frankly, didn't deserve to be elevated further by her paying more attention to him. So she let her eyes wander casually up and down his form, as though he were nothing more then an exotic piece of furniture installed for the party, then turned back to Valerie. Who was, honestly, hardly any better but even so....

"I see you do have some work left, as far as training this one goes," Diana said casually. She didn't use the word 'train' in the sense that a Midnight vampire would; she found all that 'I taught them to love me' business both ridiculous and pretentious. No, she used it in a more normal sense, in the way that someone would train an animal to behave. Teaching a horse not to kick or a dog not to bite (except where you wanted it to). She turned back to Connor and smiled. "Careful - you keep on acting like that and you'll doubtless upset some of the more... fastidious guests here and won't be able to show your face in polite society for years afterwards." She turned again to talk to Val.

"Are you having problems with him, then?" Sympathy. "Well, I suppose I can see how he might present you some difficulties."

Translation: So you can't control your bloodbond? Only what I expected - weak. Having a standing higher then dirt? Hardly; it's below it. And, naturally, if Connor kept acting the way he was accustomed to, he'd be proving her point.

Diana smiled.

[Connor Batten]

To give credit where it was due, Connor managed a laugh at Val's comment, playing along as though it was an old joke.  Diana was grating on his nerves with each word, but he was trying to keep from getting too outwardly angry.  First, he didn't want to give her that satisfaction, and second, he'd promised Val that he would try to fit the part he was playing.  So, he was trying, while attempting to keep them from getting stepped on.  He had to wonder how much it would take to get a couple of Onyx hunters to take Diana out.

The way she looked him over and so easily dismissed him was actually pleasant, and something he liked about vampires.  They were so stupid.  They had their heads stuck so far up their asses that they ended up missing important details. 

He continued in the 'amused' vein and shrugged.  "I'm a work in progress, but I can assure you that I'll know how to behave when we're finally presented with 'polite society'.  I think that if the present company was to be included there, my dear friend would have been treated as an equal from the start, and his bloodbond would have been shown more respect than a mere animal.  You don't seem quite stupid enough to be new at this, so I'm sure you know how to be courteous to those who matter, and you're making it look like Valerie doesn't matter to you.  If that's the case, then why don't you stop wasting his time and move along?  He promised to introduce me to some of the more respectable guests."

The way he finished, with his body having somehow ended up within mere inches of Val's, should have made it clear that the vampire could have told him to shut up at any point.  He actually would have listened, despite what Diana might have thought.  He wasn't actually going to cooperate if Val really tried to implement any 'training', but he could pretend that he would.  He certainly knew how to keep his head down and make Val look good in the presence of those who mattered, and he didn't see how this woman did.  She was annoying.  Old, perhaps, but so petty that he wouldn't even take her seriously.  And if she tried to harm them?  She'd have all of Crimson on her ass.  He'd make sure of it. 

This one has her head so far up her ass, I bet she couldn't tell us if the sky was blue or green, he shot at Val with the mental equivalent of an eye roll.  I liked your French friends better.