Planning the Fires - Jon

"Uh, not noone yet," Luigui said sheepishly. He came over and smacked you on the side of the arm. "I guess you could say I'm sorta like the warning bell, heh." Well that would make things seem sort of bland. One would have thought that with Edge fussing, other kindred would want to be a part of it, if for no other reason then to get out their own frustrations. On the other hand, staying away from Edge while she was in a fussy mood was probably prudent. Of course, Luigui could always open up a can of worms, like he just did.

"So what's up with you and Vince? I mean, you tired of getting your ass kicked by him yet? I ain't gonna say I know how to whip his ass, but I is gonna say I know how to give him a hit that'll surprise the shit outta'im. He goes for that roundhouse, insteadda duckin' it, block it an then pop him with a hard left hook... I seen Edge do it, an I know a thing or two 'bout boxin."

Looking up the stairs towards the lounge area, Jon appeared as though he could see through the closed door and view what was going on behind. He wondered what exactly was happening up there right now. What kind of rage was Edge was flying into, and who was going to end up meeting Final Death tonight.

Before his wondering mind made him seem rude to Luigui he replied, “Nothing of any consequence my friend. Just running a few errands and thought I would stop on by and see what kind of trouble was brewing tonight,” Pausing for a moment to glance meaningfully up the stairs he added, “Who is the unlucky soul to bare Edge’s ire?”

"Because Edge is up there and I think dat right now she's pissed. I think it has something to do with T-Shock. Do you know who that is?" Luigui asked with a bit of empathy. He could tell that you didn't and so he filled you in. "T-Shock is a Tremere with some previous ties to Edge. I'm not exactly sure of all the details. Anyway he's an Archon. Well we all know that Tatiyanna is bad news, right?" He was right. Everyone knew Tatiyanna was bad news.

"Well anyway, it looks like T-Shock went after her on his own without telling Edge and now he got himself whacked. This pisses Edge off I guess because now with him out of the way she's down three big boons." Luigui shrugged. "So I guess Edge is pretty pissed off and I'd leave her alone."

Luigui shrugged again, both of his hands were in his pockets. "So what's been up with you?"

Flashing the other man a bright and charismatic smile, Jon spoke calmly to Luigui, “Good evening Luigui. What is the problem upstairs?” Pulling on the sleeves and adjusting his suit jacket in a very nonchalant manner, the young Brujah tried to seem slightly distracted and unconcerned, yet curious about the warning. He was trying to build a Rep after all.

You got as much as you could about the car. It wasn't much. It was either a Lexus or Toyota. The color was either tan, beige, or some off brown. It had tinted windows and one of the tail lights was missing. The driver seemed to know where he(?) was at because the car swerved to miss a pothole and slowed down to take a shortcut through a convenience store parking lot instead of stopping at the light. With a shrug you turned and headed inside the Earl Industrials building. When you got to the door you entered the code on your dog tags designed to look like a social security number and were allowed to pass.

When you opened the steel fire door and stepped inside the building past the first row of crates you seen a little Italian man in a bright blue button down shirt and black tie coming down the steps. He ran a hand through his greasy looking hair and stopped at the bottom step when he saw you. "Jon, I wouldn't go up dere if I was you." It was Luigui.

You didn't know Luigui that much but your sire knew him, so you have had some contact in the past. Luigui seemed alright and didn't judge you by your age. He also knew a thing or two about Fight Club, especially when it came down to placing bets.

Jon bid Yvonne good evening with all the politeness that would be expected. However his attention was more focused on the passing car. He tried to take note of as many details about the vehicle as he could as is drove off, it was obviously something that was important to the Ventrue and thus was of interest to the young Brujah. He tried to make out the driver’s face, any details that would give up the occupant’s identity.

Yvonne looked at you with those same narrowed eyes. It was hard to read her except that you figured she was thinking. Finally she gave you something in the form of advice. "I suppose that if I were you, I'd probably invest in some choice real estate and then make good with the Spiders or Wild Cards." You knew enough about the Wild Cards to know that if you dealt with them openly, you'd lose a good portion of your reserved image. If you dealt with the Spiders, you'd still lose a portion of your image, but it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. The Spiders were an entirely Brujah coterie and always on the lookout for new recruits.

After speaking to you, Yvonne looked over her shoulder towards the road. A car passed by. "I need to go," she said pointedly, indicating that the brief conversation was over. She bleeped her own car unlocked, opened the door, and got in...

Natalya Shrevchenko, Jon made a mental note to find out who this person was. For now however he was taken aback by this new information. If appeared the young Brujah was going to have to take this plan by the reigns and get things on track, if he could.

“Well that is news.” He said while gaining control over his facial expression. “Perhaps this is for the best.” There had to be a way to turn this development to his advantage, if only he could think. “Cut away your liabilities and strike out in a fresh direction. Do you have anything in mind that I might be able to invest my resources so as we both may benefit? I have yet to prove myself in LA and I have to admit I am hungry to make a Rep for myself.”

Yvonne looked at you casually. She shrugged when you were done. "See. Wasn't that easier?" She took a few steps forward, then another one left and right. "If you'd have told me that right away, then it would've saved us both a lot of trouble. You see, I'm disbanding the club. Natalya Shrevchenko is trying to recruit Veronica, and she's pressing hard. Barry is an idiot and I myself am no fool. I'm not interested in being a part of a mocked coterie when it makes more sense to survive on my own or join forces with somebody else more powerful."

Well damn. If that didn't suck. If this didn't throw a monkey wrench in the middle of all of your plans, nothing did. Yvonne did drop a name though, and it was a name you didn't know.

Once again, instead of agitating Jon’s Beast within which might lead to an angry outburst, the woman’s comments only fuelled his roguish nature. This crass Ventrue might just be exposing a weakness to the Brujah, “Perhaps you are correct Ms. Charles.”

Bowing his head to look at the ground for a moment, Jon lifts his gaze to meet Yvonne’s. With an even eye and a straight face he speaks, “Le Douche’s are a sad example of their former glory.” the use of the Millionaire’s new street name was an obvious jab, but when in Rome… “Desperately in need of new blood before you are wiped from the Los Angeles scene entirely.”

“For my part, I am in no better a situation to be quite frank. My Sire has not only abandoned me, but has humiliated me at Fight Club. Making it most difficult for me to create a place for myself and learn the ins and outs of unlife. I simply seek to find a place here in LA.”

One of the things just about every kindred - including yourself - had overlooked in all of your plotting was that in order to be the leader of a coterie, even a haphazard, disheveled, falling apart coterie like the Millionaire's Club, you had to have some combination of intelligence, aptitude, and personal magnetism if you wanted to retain that position of leadership. While Yvonne might not have been a good leader, she was still one of the Anarch leaders, automatically setting her a cut above the majority.

To put it mildly, you had underestimated Yvonne's ability to see through sub text. Rolling her eyes, Yvonne rocked on her heels and stuck her free hand in a pocket, slipping your card in with it. "Listen to me. I don't have patience for your little games. You chose now to approach me, you chose an informal place to present yourself formally, which is just weird. I give you credit for trying though, and now you want to quickly flee the scene and hope I decide to come to you."

Yvonne crinkled her nose and furrowed her brow. "I'm confused. So lets start again." Yvonne's face turned serious. "Don't waste my time. What do you want, and be specific, subtext is boring and it makes you look like a wimp who only carries your card on the weekends."

– If she was trying to get a reaction from Jon she was out of luck. These child-like barbs were of little meaning to the likes of the young Brujah. However, he understood that Yvonne and the Millionaire’s Club were little more than a band of wanna-be Harpies masquerading as Anarchs, and as such, she would be looking for a like-minded individual to join the Coterie.

”Good to see you have a grasp of the situation.” He responded amusedly, pausing a moment before continuing, ”I see you understand where I am coming from,” Replacing his leather card holder to it’s place within his suit jacket pocket, ”However I think you fail to see what I have to offer. What opportunities I might present one such as yourself.”

Momentarily shifting his gaze to the business card he just handed her, Jon returned to look Yvonne squarely in the eye. Bright and friendly smile splayed across his face, ”When you have a moment, I would be honoured to meet with you to talk about those opportunities. For now I believe you were brooding over a particular artist. I will leave you be with your annoyance. Unless I can be of any assistance in any way?” The last was spoken by rote for politeness’ sake, but in complete sincerity.

Yvonne took your card, and while you spoke, you thought you were making a perfect impression until she responded. It was a tough response, and it was hard to figure out exactly where she went with it, and if there was some kind of subtle tone you were missing. "If by pedigree you mean the doubly damned offspring of a disgraced elder belonging to one of the low clans, then yes, I know who you are."

His friendly smile shifts slightly into one of understanding, his response was almost aristocratic in tone, “No trouble at all. I can understand how taxing it can be in dealing with a free spirit.” The last was not mentioned on a positive note, leaving the implication that reserved control was preferable to impassioned chaos.

Jon’s pleasant smile and demeanour returned immediately and he continued, “In your position and with my pedigree I am sure you are aware of who I am. As well you no doubt know of my current standing with my Sire. I merely wish to introduce myself and network to those I might wish to do business with. ” He paused a second, “However you are a busy woman and I have no desire to detain you any further when you are so obviously busy this evening.” He reached into his Armani suit, flashing his $10,000 Rolex watch, retrieved a small leather case. When he pressed a tiny button it sprung open and automatically pushed a single business card out to easily be taken. Extending his arm slowly, he offered Yvonne one, “My card... I would like an opportunity to sit down with you and talk about what we might have to offer one another, when you are available.”

Yvonne put away her phone. When you spoke, she stood her ground, looking down with somewhat annoyed, obviously agitated eyes. You could see that the message her eyes was sending was not a friendly one. While she listened, she folded one hand across her belly and used the back of the other to prop up her chin. When you finished, she seemed to soften just a bit. Perhaps your good manners were something impressive to a Ventrue.

"Yes, I am Yvonne Charles. On the risk of being rude, is there something you wanted? I am quite annoyed with a certain artist right now, and so I am not at my best manners."

Making himself look busy with his own iphone, he was seemingly focused on whatever task was on the tiny screen. Moving away from his own vehicle, Jon slowly passes by the leader of the Millionaire’s Club still appearing to be completely absorbed when he stopped dead in his tracks a couple of feet from Yvonne.

Pretending to just notice the beautiful woman, he takes her in with an appraising look and clears his throat to alert her of his presence. He was sure she knew he was there, if rumours were true, her Ventrue lineage would appreciate some basic tact that seems antithesis to the local Anarchs.

“Good evening.” He starts with a slight cant of his head in greeting, “Excuse my forwardness, I am Mr. Jon Peter Franson the 3rd. Might I assume you are Ms. Yvonne Charles, the leader of the Millionaire’s Clue Coterie?” as he speaks he casually slides his iphone into the inside breast pocket of the Armani suit he was wearing.

You made it there without much of a fuss. You found Yvonne, or who you assumed was Yvonne just outside of the Earl Industrial HQ. You assumed it was Yvonne because it was an attractive black woman with some gaudy jewelry on. She was dressed well, especially for an Anarch. She also was pacing around a Mercedes, apparently on a phone. She wasn't talking on it though. She was texting. She hadn't yet appeared to notice you.

This really shouldn’t have been a surprise to Jon, but as a recently turned vampire, he himself was still very much a part of the mortal world. The young Brujah could easily continue to ‘live’ as the mortal Jon Peter Franson the 3rd for another 10 years or so before his ‘Youthful Good Looks’ started to draw undue attention. Unfortunately there was going to be many great difficulties getting past his vulnerability to sunlight.

Jon remained at the table he and his Sire had occupied for a couple of more minutes in quiet contemplation. Normally it would be up to a Neonate’s Sire to make introductions, help to establish a new vampire in his undead life. However, the young Brujah had little help from Vincent, quite the opposite actually. The ex-Baron was going to be actively working to thwart Jonathan’s every move in order to maintain the vale of shadow and keep their clandestine plans a secret.

So he had little choice but to get out there and do some leg work, something he wasn’t too interested in doing himself. There were usually people he could hire to do these kind of things. His only option seemed to be go to the local vampire hangout, the ‘Elysium’ or the Earl Industrial HQ. Jon hoped he would be able to pick up the information he needed to let him make contact with Yvonne.

He waited a couple of more minutes before getting up to leave, he wanted to make sure that Vincent had had time to move away from their meeting place. Walking out into the warm night air, Jon checked his watch for the time as he turned off the alarm to his car, he got in and made his way to the Earl Industrial HQ.

*Final Bump*

*Bump*

*Bump*

It was Shouldice, and it was bad news. He could find nothing registered in the city, or county records of Business Licenses, any of the Chamber of Commerce Registers, nor tax information for a Yvonne Charles. Which made sense when you thought about it. Given her status as deceased, Yvonne Charles couldn't legally own anything, and thus would not be a part of any organization, nor would she have to pay taxes on anything. Property taxes could be forged, or paid through someone else, and that was the easiest solution to a nasty problem.

Chances are if you wanted to make contact with the Millionaires you were going to have to do it on your own...

The young Brujahs plans for the Cathayans was much more complicated than just setting all of LA against them. In his mortal days, Jon had spent many years in the Beijing office of his law firm. He is familiar with most Asian customs - cultural, business and legal - also he fluently speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. With a little research and effort, he hoped to make contacts within the Asian undead. There was a lot of influence, power and wealth that could be earned in dealing with the Cathayans before the Vampires of LA finally get it together and push them out… if they ever could.

As his Sire rose from his seat Jon knew the rest of the night was his own to get back to work. His eyes followed Vincent as he got up and after a moment of silence it became obvious the older vampire was ending their conversation, Jon said, “Until Fight Club them.” Turning his face casually away from the departing Brujah, Jon reached inside his suit jacket to retrieve his phone.

Mr. Jon P. Franson III had been trying to make business contacts with the Cathayans through his father’s construction and land development corporations. He was hoping to get confirmation soon from his business manager about a possible meeting with a shell company of the Oriental vampires. That company owned a large tract of undeveloped land in Orange County and they are looking for bids on a contract. Jon was willing to low-ball his competitors in order to get it.

Checking his recorded message on his cell, the young lawyer just hoped it was either James Shouldice from the LA Business Association with the info about Yvonne or his business manager about the meeting. As he pressed the buttons to input his pass code and listened to the automated voice tell him he had a new message waiting, he couldn’t help fantasize about the freedom a million-dollar car would feel like. What it felt like taking a corner while gunning the engine, trying to hold the turn without sliding out or flipping the gorgeous ride. How smooth the whole thing would feel… He snapped out of his daydream as the message began.

Your sire looked at you a little quizzically when you went over your plan, but nodded, realizing his own weaknesses and ultimately, what lead him to embrace you in the first place. "Cathayans are a hard sell. Nobody wants to get into a tiff with them because of the shit they can do." He wrung his hands and cracked his knuckles as you finished speaking then looked at you squarely. The gravity of his age and sheer strength struck you, "Watch your ass out there. There's a lot of fuckers out there willing to watch you burn because you're my childe. Don't get caught with your shit hanging out. I'll set up some drop boxes so we can communicate. I don't want you calling me. So you'll have to be careful." He stood up, drawing the meeting to a close.

His standing left you with the option to reply and then get on about your night before it was all wasted. It was still early, and you had a lot you could be doing. It had occurred to you that your sire had ended this meeting only to give you as much time as possible for what ever you had to do. Vincent did everything deliberately. Regardless of his ability to see the bigger picture or not, one of the strengths you had to respect; the man was willing to make a decision, and he stood by it, for better or worse.




OOC: Need to know what you want to do from here.

A smile spread slowly across Jon’s clean-shaven face. His pearly white teeth almost reflected the light in the room they were so bright, they disappeared when his expression quickly turned conspiratorial. The young Brujah leaned forward a little and said in quite the cocky tone, “Well since you asked…“He sat back and brushed the tops of his legs with both hands before continuing, “It seems to me that I might win the favour, of not the trust, of the Millionaire’s leader if I convince her we must bring the Coteries together to fight off the threats to LA. Namely the Sabbat and the Cam’s, but I think the biggest problem lies with those Cathayan bastards.” The conspiratorial look once again shadowed Jon’s features, “Now I have to convince Yvonne that leading that battle will garner her, and the Millionaires a lot of influence and respect.”

“Also,” He scratched the back of his neck for a second before continuing; “I’m going to call you out again at the next Fight Club.” He paused to let it sink in, “Now I wouldn’t dream of asking you to throw the fight let alone even take it easy on me. I think another good beating will only add to our apparent split, as well add fuel to my fire to get back at you. I might be able to smoke out some ‘allies’ against you.” Jon knew his actual plans were far too complicated and Machiavellian for his Sire to fully appreciate. It had been one of the leading reasons to Vincent’s fall from power, his inability to see the whole picture.

Right then Jon’s cell phone began to vibrate in his suit pocket. It was probably James Shouldice, his contact at the cities Business Association Office, with the information he wanted. Mr. Shouldice was looking into any local business dealings Yvonne Charles or any of her known retainers have and get back to Jon with the information. However, Jon knew it wouldn’t be wise to interrupt this meeting with his Sire and ignored the call letting it go to voice mail instead. Instead he said to Vincent, “Is there anything about your plans you want me to know now, I don’t know how many more opportunities we will have to meet in the coming weeks.”