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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 16:52:39 GMT -6
This had gone too far. The dragon court had over stepped by turning the mage. The dragon court however had refused to see them, so drastic steps had to be taken. That meant tracking down one of the specialists. Luckily, most people were creatures of habits, and someone was waiting on one specialist in particular inside the grocery store she favored. She usually came in about this time. It was a mundane store too, so he should be able to pick up on her scent, so long as she spent nay time in the unseen at all. And given she was a specialist, she would do just that.
It didn't take long for her to arrive, at roughly the same time was usual, and he came up to her before she could leave the produce section. "Specialist." This wasn't his preferred way of handling this. However, the damned princess of the court was the warden now, and any visit to MCU offices would end up in front of her first thing. He was trying to be more circumspect about this, even if he knew his pack had not been remotely so. Some of the younger ones had begun harassing vampire owned stores. It was getting out of hand.
He could crack down on his pack, but he needed the dragon courts cooperation. And to get that, he was going to have to go through MCU.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 17:04:21 GMT -6
"I'm sorry?" Xiaolian asked half distracted with trying to figure out if the peppers they had could be subbed out for the ones in the dish she was planning. The petite woman frowned as she looked up at the hulking mass of the Cedar Ridge pack's leader. Mike O'Hara had been in charge of the Cedar Ridge pack about as long as Catherine had been Dallas's Warden. The two had risen to their respective positions at roughly the same rate as well, but for some reason the Warden held little interest in building a relationship with the pack.
'Oh fuck.'Xiaolian thought suddenly to herself as the bottom of her stomach dropped. It was not normal for Cedar Ridge's alpha to go looking for the specialists once they were off the clock, or really any specialist at all. The fact that he was standing there in the produce section of her grocery store, the one that was blessedly mundane and boring, worried her.
There was no escape from whatever the man wanted, given that many officers still held fast to the idea that the mundane and unseen needed to be kept firmly separated. If only because the mundane tended to get themselves in ungodly amounts of trouble with the unseen. "Mr. O'Hara... what a surprise." Xiaolian finally sputtered while mentally cursing herself for not paying more attention.
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 17:10:00 GMT -6
"I apologize for coming up to you like this." It really wasn't kosher, but there hadn't been much of a choice, not that he had seen. "I was hoping I could have a moment of your time." And given he was willing to track her down on her grocery run, it was pretty clear that he considered the matter urgent and important. In general, off duty hours were respected, after all, especially given how few of those the MCU officers and specialists actually got.
Either way, he knew he had overstepped his boundaries in doing this. It was regrettable but these things happened. "Cedar Ridge has some concerns I was hoping you would be able to help with." And he couldn't go to the warden because of her position and going to the other specialist was asking for trouble. There was a third now, supposedly, but they weren't well known just yet, whoever they were. It wasn't like specialists were introduced to the general public.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 17:17:40 GMT -6
Xiaolian nearly said, 'Then make an appointment.' but instead thought better of it. Sighing as she put the package of dried peppers back, she turned her attention to O'Hara. She guessed dinner would have to wait, and it'd would be another night of takeout. It wasn't like she had anyone to cook for anyway, it was just her. "Let me guess... Rahal." She commented blandly. It was pretty much known throughout the entirety of the unseen that Tyrus had finally been turned, but by whom no one was yet saying. Not that it mattered any to Xiaolian, there were other things she was more concerned with.
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 17:22:36 GMT -6
"Rahal." He agreed and sighed. "Turning him was...upsetting to the majority of my pack." He admitted. "And we would like to know why the decision was made to do so, and who made the decision. And we'd like to lodge a formal complaint. However the dragon court refuses to see us." He had tried through the usual methods, but there had been no response. So they were having to go on this roundabout path to try and get something done. "Given the warden's position with the court, the pack feels we can't go to her with the issue either. As the senior most specialist, that leaves us with you."
There was a reason he was talking to her after all. It had been carefully calculated. Not that there had been much choice there either. "Rahal was a pillar of the community. We could a least pretend he could be neutral before. We no longer have that." And it was upsetting large swaths of the population.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 17:36:39 GMT -6
"Aii-ya..." Xiaolian muttered under her breath now thoroughly irritated with the whole situation. All of this never would have happened if Grigore Constantin hadn't shown up in Dallas. Personally she still wondered what his pretenses were, and given how seldom the vampire actually appeared in public she really wondered if this wasn't some sort of sick way to pass the time. "Given the number of attacks on vampire owned businesses, yeah.. I can see that." She remarked.
She found herself wishing that she could trade the gangs, prostitution, violence and drugs that now plagued the Ba-Shu community instead of this idiocy. What she wouldn't give to be back home dealing with what she knew instead of what she didn't. The were-creatures and their pack dynamics gave her a headache of epic proportions. "Look, this isn't exactly the place to talk about this issue. There's a place a few blocks down the road, I know the owner and we should be good to talk there. Sound good?" Xiaolian suggested.
It was Ba-Shu owned, and while their numbers were few it still provided some of the comforts of home Xiaolian missed. Besides which, it would give her a chance to at least get something for dinner.
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 17:44:02 GMT -6
"Of course. Lead the way." He stepped back so she could and followed her from the grocery store to the place she spoke, entering it with some curiosity. It was definitely an Unseen place, but he couldn't place the culture. Somewhat chinese, maybe? Either way, it looked like there was food, and that would be welcome. He'd offer to get her meal as well, given he was infringing on her time for this. And it was outside of official work hours too. "I am working on controlling the attacks and lessening them." He admitted. "But the pack has been on edge for sometime and is getting unwieldy."
More so than usual at least. Even the ones who could be counted on to be level headed were suddenly hot headed and easy to anger. He had problems holding his temper as well, more than he wanted to admit. It was like something was infecting his pack. But that wasn't possible, so he ignored the possibility. People were just feeling cooped up in the city again. They'd have a field trip out to the plains and let everyone run themselves ragged. It would help.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 17:58:40 GMT -6
Xiaolian said something to the owner as they walked into the restaurant, it sounded vaguely like Mandarin Chinese or another related Asian dialect. The words were almost singsong in their tone, and came across rapid fire with both laughing at some inside joke. "He says he'll get us a table in the back where we can talk without getting disturbed." Xiaolian informed O'Hara before she followed a man of similar build and stature through a doorway.
"Yeah I can tell. Attacks have increased almost double what they were last year." She added once they sat down at a small round table. Looking over at the owner, she said something again in the same language as earlier. She was asking him a question and pointed to something on the menu and then O'Hara. The owner nodded and Xiaolian gave him a thumbs up. "The food will be here shortly, in the meantime can you tell me why the pack is so upset? We're usually willing to work with you guys, but it's not been easy for us either."
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 18:06:23 GMT -6
"I wish I knew. Rahal being turned is upsetting, but he's always leaned more to the vampires." Anyone with eyes could see that. So him being turned was upsetting but almost anticipated. "It started a few months ago. Tensions have been growing steadily in the pack as well. I can't figure out why." But it had been growing and he had been able to tell that much. He did stay aware of the comings and goings and patterns of his pack after all. "The younger people in the pack are looking for a reason to fight." He admitted. "I've been riding herd on them, but I can't control their every move."
Hence the attacks on the vampire businesses. Add in the historical disagreements between the two species and things tended to get tend very quickly now.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 18:23:22 GMT -6
Xiaolian frowned, this didn't tell her anything and she could sense that he was just as confused as she was. "Given that he was raised in the previous court, yeah... that's pretty much expected." She pointed out.
Tea and a few small snacks were brought ahead of the main meal. Xiaolian poured tea in her own cup before motioning for O'Hara to do the same, although it was likely going to be comical watching the gigantic man grasping the pot and small porcelain cups. "Spoiling for a fight is going to get someone killed if they attack the wrong person." That was Xiaolian's main fear, she'd get called out to deal with someone or another's murder at the hands of these youth. "We don't expect you to control their every move either." She shook her head.
It seemed that he was as ignorant as the rest of the unseen about the missing mask. "Maybe it's time you talk to your lieutenants or whatever you call your second in command. They might have a better idea?"
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 18:33:03 GMT -6
"I've tried. They're helping. It's not just our pack though. It's everyone in our area of Dallas." Whatever it was was effecting a large area of people. "The pack is...fairly well congregated in one area. But it's not just our pack there. Some mundanes are acting out of character as well. More violent, easier to anger." He hadn't been able to pinpoint it. "I was going to come to MCU shortly over that as well. We need some kind of reassurance that Rahal will continue to treat us fairly, but, I've been viewing these at two separate issues." Something was going on with the pack and he couldn't pin point it.
The pot was so tiny. He was very careful as he poured himself a cup of tea and picking up the cup. It was comically small in his hands and he managed a bemused smile. He looked rather out of place here. But he was a mountain of a man and most of the people here were significantly closer to the specialist's size. Carefully, he took a sip. He didn't want to accidentally break the cup.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 18:50:06 GMT -6
"And I'm sure without their help it would be that much worse. But Rahal is likely going to treat you as fairly as he had before the new court.. when he was still tied to the previous one. Your people picked a fight with a battle mage and veiling." There wasn't a better word in English to describe what Xiaolian knew of the Warden. "What did you think they expected, Mike?" She asked patiently. There was so much going on with this that she couldn't even begin to unpack it in just one sitting. But it did give her some tentative leads to address with MCU about their mask.
"But you're right, they're likely two separate issues but something has made them one issue. Has anyone in your pack been out of the country or been in contact with someone they're not usually in contact with?" Xiaolian remarked as steaming plates of rice and food were brought to the table. "Careful, the chicken is spicy, but the pork buns and dumplings should be fine."
The food had been greatly westernized and tailored to the mundane tastes, but it was still better than ordering a pizza. Besides which, it gave her a chance to briefly harass family, even if that meant and apology for conducting business at the restaurant.
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 18:56:32 GMT -6
What was a veiling? Then again, did it matter? He sighed. "My people are young, hot-headed and full of idiots." He pointed out. "Hell, I'm hot-headed and I know it." He tried to be aware of his temper at least. Though there were times he couldn't help but needle the dragon court, whether it was wise or not. "As for your question..." He trailed off and took a sip of the tea, and considered it. "A few months ago, before this started, one of the family's went to Europe. They had won a vacation. And there had been a few new neighbors in our neighborhood who aren't pack. We're not going to just ignore them." Those were the only real changes that were out of the ordinary. "Some of the younger members went off to college. They've come back on their breaks a couple of times."
He couldn't think of anything else.
Mike took a bit of the chicken and immediately swallowed and reached for the tea, drinking to rather rapidly. Next time, he'd listen. That was definitely spicier than he was used to.
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Post by Circe on Jan 2, 2020 19:04:45 GMT -6
"You state the obvious sir..." Xiaolian remarked her chopsticks paused over a morsel of chicken as she watched Mike O'Hara immediately reach for the tea. She had warned him after all, but apparently not listening was one of his strongest traits. "Next time listen when someone says be careful." She chuckled. It couldn't be helped, many people like the werewolf in front of her weren't brave enough to try her brother's infamous nine hells spiced chicken. But not everyone was Mike O'Hara either.
"I asked because we've noticed the increase in incidents coming from your area of the metroplex and I'll be honest. We're extremely concerned because the Dragon Court has actually gone out of their way to not provoke your people." Xiaolian suspected more and more that he had less of a handle on his pack than he let on. "Did you notice anything strange about the family who went to Europe? Like... say were they different or did they say things that made you concerned?"
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Post by demikara on Jan 2, 2020 19:11:59 GMT -6
He ate a dumpling to try and forget the taste of the chicken. The dumpling was delicious and he hummed in delight before he answered the question. "The youngest has been a larger handful than she was before. I had assumed it was because she's entering her teen years more than anything else." Teenagers were headaches just waiting to happen. He wasn't fond of them, especially given what headaches they were to keep a handle on. "The parents had been more on edge and snappish than they used to be. But the entire pack has been on edge, so I didn't think anything of it." Vacations could be surprisingly stressful events after all. And given they were dealing with a bratty teenager it was going to be interesting to see if they calmed down before she was out of the house.
He had his money on definitely not.
"I can arrange a meeting with the family, if you think they may know something." This had diverged from where he intended to take it, but he'd bring the subject back around to the dragon court soon enough. He had an opening now after all. "And my wolves seem to think the court is provoking them."
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