Dinner and Drama

[demikara]

Everyone always said hush. It was getting annoying. Furious, but knowing both of the people at her table could easily crush her, she lashed out, giving a man two tables over a blinding head ache just because she could. It wouldn't hurt him, not really, and she felt better. This was ridiculous.

Grigore looked more amused than not and shook his head. "Don't throw a tantrum child. It isn't seemly." He told Scotty, knowing perfectly well that she knew what she did. She was definitely his youngest, but at least she was willing to act and use her abilities in some way. she may shape up. Still, the crux of the matter was Catherine not cooperating, wasn't it. "I see. It's unfortunate you won't assist. I will find another way." He'd continue to work to destabilize the court and perhaps he would attempt to create more dhampirs. "It would have handily dealt with the minor issue of them not accepting you, who are not horrors, despite their opinions. They already accept a human as one of their princes. You two would at least be partially vampiric, and certainly easier to accept than, well, a human." They'd make fine princesses. Though they would need refinement and work, of course, the younger especially. And he'd have to twist a few things to ensure their loyalty to him.

Nothing he wasn't glad enough to be able to do.

[Circe]

Catherine by now had made it a point to not react to Scotty's behavior, she had after all had several weeks of this already out of the other. "Your appeals are going to be falling on deaf ears, Grigore." Catherine said plainly. Scotty tended to do things her way until it ended up with her in hot water and in need of a rescue. The latter being a thing that Catherine adamantly refused to do.

"I refuse to assist you in your deranged plans because there is little to assist with. As for the human you so snidely mock, he's been an invaluable asset to my organization and it's officers." She added bluntly. As far as she was concerned, without Rahal, Broadmoore would still be the hell hole it had been when she was there. Not to mention he willingly assisted with cases that would otherwise be left to the mundane social work system. "I have no desire to ally with, or be part of the Dragon Court."

[demikara]

"Very well." He said simply. "Then let's finish our meal in peace at least. A show of good will." He offered simply. He would simply have other children. This one was stubborn. War it was then, to show how unprepared Balthazar was for his new role. And if he could keep them unstable enough well. He just needed two dhampirs of his line, of age. Of course, they weren't likely to survive, but well, that was a minor fact. "A pity though." the cost would be high.

Hesitating, Scotty reached out and politely knocked on his shields, then spoke, quiet as possible, to his mind. 'I want to hear more about our line.' She wanted answers and he seemed like he'd be polite, for now, at least. Definitely not a good guy, but she was fast learning - no one in the unseen was actually good. they just got good at faking being good. Besides, this way she would have some answers and that was more than she really hoped for. Catherine told her nothing, Brandon didn't know, and everyone else got pissy when ever she asked anyone anything, like she should already know.

She didn't grow up in the Unseen. She grew up mundane and she had been in the hell that was Broadmoore longer than she had been out. It wasn't like anyone told prisoners information. So she didn't know. But she was going to find out.

[Circe]

Catherine knew when to say nothing, and when to keep her words to herself. She doubted that the rest of the meal would be much of a gesture of good will, despite what Grigore claimed. It was at that point that Catherine realized that holding his attention wasn't going to beneficial for anyone. She wished she could have a sudden call or other reason to leave, but there would be little escape from it without the other knowing well in advance. "I'm sure, but my answer is still no."

However, she hadn't expected Scotty to reach out, not for her mind but the other's. It wasn't hard to miss for a telepath like Catherine; especially when out of habit from decades of work with MCU to cast a wide, but careful net. Humans tended to broadcast without knowing, and that had proven beneficial in past cases. Frowning slightly, she attempted to turn her attention to the lamb chops that were growing cold on her plate.

Catherine knew how Scotty felt about the whole thing, constantly demanding answers, and unhappy with what she was given. She had gone as far as to claim to Brandon that she wasn't telling her anything. Catherine had no idea what to tell Scotty, when she knew as little as the other did.

[demikara]

'Then we can talk as we eat, young one. Perhaps you will both learn.' He admitted mentally and cut a bit off his steak. 'It have held my cards close to my chest. Perhaps it is time to share.' Besides, he had a feeling that this was the way to gather at least one of the two to their cause. He had no doubt that Catherine was listening as well. It was a bit of a downside to having a telepathic bloodline. There was no true privacy, unless one had rock solid shields and someone with strong telepathy wasn't actively looking. However, he was certain they'd not look.

'Alright.' she took a bite of her mashed potatoes. She was willing to listen if people were willing to give her answers. There was just so much she didn't know and it wasn't like she was getting the comprehensive seeming education that the kids in the unseen schools got. It was frustrating.

'Hm. To start with, my sire was one of the first vampires. It is the reason our bloodline gift is so strong.' and the reason he was so old.

[Circe]

Catherine didn't intend to listen, but curiosity sometimes got the better of her, and this was such an instance. But, she preferred to not let the others know, given that was potentially inviting one or the other past her own shielding in one way or another. It also meant that keeping her thoughts or feelings to herself would be difficult, Scotty just barely respected shields and Catherine had little idea of Grigore. But, seeing how easily he had exploited Molly's personal wards, there was cause for concern.

'That explains everything and nothing...' She thought to herself, keeping careful watch on her own shields for any attempts at breaching. Using an old technique taught to her some time ago, she thought of her mind as impenetrable and empty as possible. It was difficult to do and still pay attention, but it had to be done.

[demikara]

'I found that no full vampire could handle the extent of our bloodline gift.' He admitted. 'It can be entirely too powerful. Perhaps now, in this post veil world...but I lost too many fledglings to desire to try again. Dhampirs handle it well enough.' Or at least, well, better than vampires. They just didn't tend to live very long. Modern medicine was a blessing that human had no clue how lucky they were to have. And it seemed much of it had been luck. Dhampirs were already difficult enough to birth, but surviving to adult hood was equally, if not more, rough. Susceptible to human illness and vampire weaknesses, surviving to adulthood for much of history had not been easy.

But it was better now, even if the end result was rather weak, as evidenced by Scottlyn. Weak and pitiful in many ways. 'Of course, the sire of the Ra bloodline was jsut as old, but he has passed and his fledglings did not.' Or at least not all of them, rapidly. Oh they were a significantly more bloodthirsty line, to be sure, but that seemed to be the major drawback to the Ra line. Something that used to be perfectly acceptable. It was a much better drawback than the one for their bloodline: a high likelihood of insanity. And of course that little state that Scottlyn had been discovered wielding. But he didn't mention that.

'Is that why you were never around? You were scared?' That was the dumbest thing Scotty had ever heard and it, unfortunately, made perfect sense. She nibbled at her meal, unsatisfied with the answers she was getting. She wasn't human because someone was too scared to be around in case she died, is what it sounded like. Gee, what a deadbeat she had for a sire.

[Circe]

Catherine seriously doubted that Grigore had been scared, she did know that some lines were more unstable than others, but she hadn't considered her own might be. She wasn't looking forward to whatever information the Council attempted to pry out of her once they heard about this meeting. As far as Catherine was concerned, she did her job, she wasn't a risk to the community at large; no matter how much some individuals would like to paint it as such. What she suspected is that it was all some sort of strange attempt to garner power in the courts by any means possible.

Now it was Catherine's turn to speak up, 'What do you mean his fledglings did not?' She questioned. Her mental voice was clear and cold, cutting through the fog of confusion and denial that the other seemed intent to generate.

[demikara]

'His line survives without him. Perhaps mildly less terrifying, but his line survived with..minimal losses.' He smiled, amused. 'You cannot think that you are truly my oldest childe. There have been others before you and others after. You are merely the oldest surviving, who did not give into madness.' Well, not for long, but it happened. 'You came back from the berserker rage our line can enter. Both of you did. You blossomed...and survived.' Left unsaid was the implication that most did not. He had lost more children than many ever made. There was a reason he preferred humans now. It took them longer to go through their first rage, but after? If they grew with their powers, their abilities, aware or not, well. They were stable.

If they made it through puberty of course. That was never guaranteed.

Scotty frowned and remained silent, nibbling her meal and thinking over it. 'Tell me about the rage? You said blossomed. That implies we're different now than we used to be.' She had caught that. She didn't understand it though. She didn't really...well, right after she hadn't felt different, just very confused and scared. And now she felt different, but she was pretty certain that was Broadmoore and not any blossoming.

[Circe]

'Those are assumptions I never made.' Catherine replied, her tone still cold. 'While you are right that the Ra line is ending, they manage.' She added before taking a bite of her bread.

For now though, while Grigore prattled on, Catherine held back her growing anger. This man was exactly what she had pegged him as; a womanizing commitment phobic asshole. 'And yes, I am curious as to what exactly it is you mean by such a nauseating term as you said.'

[demikara]

'Hardly a nauseating term. Instead, one of stability.' He corrected and smiled at them both, gently. 'It essentially means that your survived your first rage, mind intact. That is not common in our line.' It was distinctly uncommon in fact and was the reason he had lost so many of his children. He shrugged it off and continued his meal. 'As for the rage, well. It makes us rather hard to take down. We rarely remember what happens in it, of course, but the cost of it is worth it, collateral damage and all. It is a rather powerful deterrent, and with practice, you can go into it on purpose.'

With practice, which hinted at frankly terrifying practices that the vampire across the table from them definitely encouraged. The weak would perish after all, and they were no use to him. They should be no use to them either, but it did seem like both had a rather modern weakness for the helpless. A terrible, if useful, weakness. He wondered what would happen if the saw a kitten die in front of them. Probably tears.

[Circe]

Catherine found herself trusting the other less and less, but she also knew that it was important to keep Grigore talking. The more information she could gather from him and present to the Council the better; that was if they even gave her the time of day. With Alexander having disappeared off to wherever it was he had gone, there were fewer and fewer people on her side; or really anyone's it seemed. 'That seems to be more of a precedent for risk than stability.' She remarked.

The inability to remember anything made Catherine uncomfortable, she preferred to be in control of herself at all times. In many ways, the binding that the Council had demanded was a blessing in disguise. It limited largely what she was capable of, and she had reached some amount of reconciliation with herself about it.

Dinner had become a quite affair once the trio had moved to other means of discussion. It was in ways more private, but also came with other risks. Catherine knew that she would have to carefully inspect her own mind after this encounter for any residual traces or connections to Grigore, and even Scotty. She had reasons for her distrust, and they weren't unfounded, but it did make things difficult.

Considering things carefully for a moment, she soon had an idea of what to say. 'Before we go any further... and as tempting as your offer of this is... you speak of lines... aside from you, where does it originate?' She asked, more than willing to ask the question that seemed to weigh heavily on everyone but his mind.

[demikara]

'I am a childe of the first vampire. I am the head of the line.' He said simply. 'As for my sire? He said many things. Sometimes, he claimed it was spontaneous. Other times, a curse from the gods. I am inclined to believe that one.' A curse from the gods made the most sense, as far as he was concerned, and frankly it wasn't like his sire had ever been particularly sane. 'He claimed our ability to turn others was so that we would never be alone. Each of the first generation had a different gift though.' And he had never liked the Ra line, brother or not. No one ever said you had to get along with your siblings after all, and he planned on doing what he could to eradicate the line in its entirety. It was already pruned to one small branch. Four vampires remained from the Ra branch. Balthazar, Milo, Brandon, and Aequitas. Belphegor had been turned by his husband, and well. He had only had one surviving childe.

'You. Are really, really old.' Scotty informed her sire. The vampire went still for a moment before he burst into delighted laughter. The young woman looked confused and stared at him then looked to Catherine to see if she understood what had just happened there. Most people did not laugh when they were called old. She hadn't quite meant to call him old, but well. He was. And she couldn't even imagine how old he was at all. Scotty glanced back to him a little concerned, before reaching out to Catherine, as politely as she could. 'I don't get it? Why is he laughing?'

[Circe]

Things just kept getting better, or worse depending on the situation. Catherine would more than likely have process what she had been told before dealing with whatever came next. She had assumed that for all intents and purposes, her sire was likely dead, like the rest her biological family. For her to be sitting at dinner with him and a sibling was surreal. The majority of her life had largely been spent alone or married to her job. Both had more than likely been a coping mechanism to deal with some of the trauma she had experienced as a child.

Sensing Scotty's question, she just shook her head. Catherine wasn't sure what the amusement was herself, but it was more than likely at their expense.

[demikara]

'You are very bold. Perhaps there is hope for you yet.' He responded, amusement tinging his mental voice. He shrugged and smiled. 'My sire's name was Ambrogio. He currently lives in Florence, or he did last time we spoke. Perhaps you will be able to ask him, one day. You are not yet strong enough to stand in his presence, but Catherine is.' It required a certain strength to not be laid flat by his sire's presence. It would be amusing to watch either try, of course. They were much younger than most of the vampire's who attended his sire. The majority had been made before the veil. The ones after were all much weaker after all.

The vampire finished his meal and put down his utensils, then called for the check.He had invited them, and so he would get it easily. There were advantages to being old after all, serious and good ones.