Dialogue Between A Dying Man And A Priest - Dragon

Jennifer nodded and shrugged everything off. "So, what have you been up to here? If it wasn't an assignment or some shit I can only assume you're here on pleasure? And why the hell didn't you tell me?!" She poked you again.

She entered the room and looked around, taking it in. "Wow, not what I had expected. It doesn't look creepy or Frankensteins lab-like at all. Where's all the sacrificial babies and brains in phermaldehyde, and wacky glyphs?" She teased. "Christian would love this place. Oh, you know he's here right? He got tired of all the bullshit and called in a favor Eve owed him. She set him up with some digs somewhere."

Dragon listened to Jennifer and kept her close, as close as she'd let him. When she finished, Dragon was silent. He slowed his pace for a few seconds while in thought. He shook his head and then continued, crossing the street and heading towards the lobby of the large, but nearly unnoticeable 7 story building that made up the Tremere Chantry. The crazy thing was, this building was all but invisible, even though hundreds if not thousands of people came past it every day. "Are you suggesting I should come back to New York? It wouldn't be hard to take the city from John, and fact of the matter is, I have not one but two Justicars in my pocket. Ryan doesn't give me orders. He gives me suggestions he hopes I follow, and for the most part I do. Although the answer to Lazaras is pretty simple."

Dragon stopped about 15 feet away from the door. He was far enough away from the old doorman to not attract his attention enough for him to approach the couple or open the door. "I'd suggest that your Lazaras either doesn't exist, or is still in torpor somewhere far away and distant from the picture. It's more likely that Alabastar, under the guise of high level obstipoofy--" Dragon couldn't help but smirk at his Alyssa spoof.

"It's more likely Alabastar is the one behind it. John is a pushover. Ezekiel is toast, but who confirmed it? Ryan is a threat, but not to me. Dora isn't much without Christian backing her, and finally, Esperanza is no threat to anyone who can think outside of a box. Of all the elders in the city, Alabastar is the only one I kept for regular counsel because he's the only one I knew was a threat to my power base."

Dragon shrugged, dismissing it all. "But enough about that." Dragon smiled to himself. He very briefly made eye contact with Jennifer before stepping up to the door and allowing the old ghoul to do his job. He even earned a decent (though not necessarily spectacular) tip. While taking Jennifer to the top floor, Dragon added one more side comment.

"Natalya is here. She got back earlier then I expected." With that, Dragon stepped out of the elevator and moved towards his front door. He paused long enough to try his key and unlock it. Then after a brief look at Jennifer, he opened the door and let her in.

"I'll stick around. I don't have anything to do and I kinda want to meet this kid of yours."
She smiled as she spoke then revisited what you were saying, "Well you've got to remember, Ezekiel is dead. John's running things, but i was referring to Ryan. That creepy old fucker has been showing himself around Elysium all up in everyone's shit. Since- Oh you don't know do you? Lazarus sent a message to John. Killed one of Ezekiel's kids in the process. He's pissed apparently, and now its got everyone jumping through hoops and fucking with each other. Crazy thing is... That old bastard hasn't done shit since then. No appearances, no more messages, nothing... At least as far as anyone can tell. Rumor is not even Virgil can dig anything up on his movements. Which is saying something. Virgil is just as good at his job as Al' ever was, maybe even better."

She continued the walk with you and spoke while the last block between you and the Chantry disintegrated. She clung close to you, clearly she missed this closeness. You had seen her and Chris together, and while he was affectionate to her, their relationship was different than what you and her had. You weren't so jaded to see that there was something more between you too, and something less. Still, Jennifer was her own person, and they had a history, like you two. She went where she wanted to be. For now, that was with you.

Dragon chuckled again at Jennifer's response, but when she mentioned him pissing someone off, he had to think about it. "Uh... to be honest, nobody. Seriously. The only one who had any authority was Ezekiel, and even he can't hope to have enough authority to send me off. I'm out here on my own accord." Dragon smiled a happy, normal, 'I wanna get laid tonight' smile. "I mean, isn't this the last place someone would look to find me?"

At the intersection, Dragon swung right, keeping Jennifer with him. "We're about a block away. You going to stay for a few minutes or are you interested in hanging around a while?" In his mind, Dragon was figuring out who would be around, who wouldn't, who would would care if he brought Jennifer home. Tyler was the only one who might have something to say that actually mattered.

Jennifer shifted her weight and shook her head. "She's a big girl. She can take care of herself." She listened while you spoke and rolled her eyes when you started gloating, at least thats how she saw it. "I don't think it'll be too hard on her. She does have you as a sire, and your rise was pretty meteoric. Which reminds me... What brings you out here? Who did you piss off?" She smiled again and let you keep your arm around her as you walked.

"Well you've got all of my attention now." Dragon slipped an arm around Jennifer and led her away, walking slowly. "I could summon Eve if you'd like?" Dragon knew Jennifer well enough to know that if he gave her the option to solve any issue she could potentially have with Eve, her actions, or the situation, and she didn't take it, she'd either never comment on it again, due to her own guilty conscience. On the other hand, if she did take the offer it would show she had actual concern for Eve's well being.

"I think you'd like Natalya alright. She's stubborn, catty, sexy... like you. She has her moments. I suspect that one night she'll accumulate enough power to make a run for Kingpin here or come back to the Tower and try for authority there. Though, admittedly, I don't think it'll be easy for her. She'll have to follow my footsteps, but there can only be one of me, and honestly... nobody has the same amount of impact that I do." Dragon chuckled. He might have seemed like he was gloating, but he was really toying with Jennifer. Her status had risen and astronomical amount because of her association with him.

Jennifer shrugged again in that way... When you invited her along she smiled again, "You've got another kid?" She poked you in the ribs and laughed a bit. "Yeah I'd love to. Always nice seeing whats got your attention this week. Since its not me 'n all." She pulled a little closer to you and smiled again. Clearly she was having a good night, but you knew if the negative stuff about Eve came up for long she would probably go on a tirade for hours about how fucked up her friends were and how much the whole Jyhad thing pissed her off. Jennifer was an Anarch at heart, but she was civil, so that meant she spent a lot of her time in Elysiums and hanging around the more intelligent people. That nugget of truth also told you there had to be something more to Ken and Chris than guns, weed, and fast cars, but that was neither here nor now...

Dragon felt his brain cells diving off of the bridge he called intelligence. The worst part about it was that the brain cells were like lemmings. They kept following each other off the bridge. Rubbing the side of his temple, Dragon visibly frowned. "Wonderful." He said. "I knew it was going to happen. It was one of the things I talked to her about last night, but she wasn't having it. Eve never listens...and this is what happens." He shrugged. Fuck it. If Eve wanted help she could come ask for it. In the meantime...

"So what's going on now? I was about to head back to my place. I have a childe who will eventually wonder where I am, provided she's not busy trying to figure out how to set things on fire." Dragon might've been teasing about the last bit, but then for him to not be telling the truth about that... "Why don't you come with me?"

She beamed at the odd friends comment. "Yeah. I love it. But yeah. This was tonight. About an hour ago. She got hit. I'm not sure if you know, but months ago she tried to take Chris down while they were still in New York. Well, NOS got her back tonight. That call was seeing if I had heard from her." She frowned. "The way he talked they were gonna leave her there for the sun, but he went back to get her and she was gone. He called to see if I had heard from her." She sighed. "So yeah, thats about it. I swear I don't get any of them sometimes..."

Dragon led Jennifer off to the side of road and up along the side of whatever building was close. There was no reason to be in the middle of the street. "I seen Eve just last night, so unless it's more recent then that, or prior to that, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about." He smiled at her a little and shrugged, not really mocking her but teasing her all the same.

"I was just over there myself." Dragon pointed. "I had steak and shrimp..." Then it dawned on him. "You said you were out here to see Chris... the knuckleheads in NOS?" Dragon nodded again. He smirked once more. "You have odd friends."

Jennifer shrugged the way she usually did when you acted a little aggressive about anything you said. It wasn't fear or blowing you off, merely her way of saying she wasn't in the mood for it. "Well, Christian left New York and all hell has broken loose. I figured it best to get out of there for awhile. I know Christian came here, but I mainly came to see Chris. As for what I'm doing on your stomping grounds..." She made a defiant face. "I just had one of the best meals over there. It was amazing. I feel so good. Oh! Did you hear about Eve?" She looked troubled, but it passed quickly.

Dragon held onto Jennifer just as long as she held onto him. When they hugged, he pressed his face into the side of her neck, scooping her off her feet. When he set her back down, Dragon smirked his usual smirk. He didn't want to believe this was a setup but it was too convenient. So, Dragon kept himself guarded just in case...

"Esperanza doesn't know shit. She never did." Dragon smiled, letting a hand linger on the side of Jen's arm and another on the small of her back. "Since Ezekiel felt it necessary to betray my trust I've been keeping as low a profile as I possibly can... but enough about me. What about you? What on earth are you doing out here. Forget that. What are you doing in my specific stomping grounds?"

She looked at you for a second and a small smile slowly spread across her face and turned into a huge grin. "Oh my god!" She practically sprinted the last few feet between you two and threw her arms around you. "Oh my god! D! Esperenza said you were in Vienna." She was warm, flush with vitae. She had just fed not long ago and was probably buzzed like you. Though it had been awhile since you two had seen each other. "What are you doing out here?" She didn't let you go, but pulled back enough to be able to see your face.

Dragon had to do a double take. He seriously was sure he wasn't that high, but what the Hell. "Holy shit." Dragon blinked. He winced on the inside. That wasn't one of his better comments and he knew it. Digging through his jacket pocket, Dragon once again frowned. He was out of cigars. Fuck.

"Uh... Hello Jennifer." Yup. He was drunk.

After Han left you spent a minute getting your head together and then another minute tracking down your potential meals for the night. An hour later you emerged from the club, a little buzzed, and happily fed. The weather was still nice enough to do a stroll, and maybe work off some of the alcohol before meeting back up with Natalya for the night. You let your feet guide you, knowing where you were made navigating the sprawl of LA a lot easier, and you were more than confident in your ability to handle any trouble, so you walked.
You had been walking for about fifteen minutes when you seen a woman standing on a street corner. She was turning around, looking up and down the road casually as she spoke on her phone. She was across the street from one of those classic bar-hopper bars, you could see throngs of people going in and out of the corner door and directly up stairs.
"You did what?! Holy shit. What the fuck is wrong with you two!?" She paused, and then sighed. "Yeah. Yeah I guess you're right. I just didn't expect it to get so out of hand."
There was another pause and her voice came clearer as you got closer. There was something familiar about her, but it was hard to pick out in the glow of streetlamps. Her voice carried a timbre to it... Her posture... Her walk... Jennifer!
As soon as that realization hit you she froze, said something into the phone and hung up. She sniffed the air and turned, facing you as you approached....

Dragon didn't flinch. He didn't need too. Han's reaction was...predictable. An elder of his age was certainly not the type to like an ultimatum. He especially wouldn't take to being called out in such the fashion that he was. Dragon knew something else though. If Han didn't figure out some way to appease the Tremere, there would be no grand plot to sweep in and take the city...the Cathayans be damned.

While gloating on the inside at the ability to finally get under the Lasombra's skin, Dragon once again let his eyes roam attempting to find the perfect vessel...

Han raised his eyebrows and almost laughed in your face. The elder didn't bother to make much of an effort to hide it. "My time, is more valuable than whatever call Edge has issued for me-But," The elder paused and continued, "I will give your words consideration. I'll let you finish your meal." Han rose, and offered a bow, then paused giving you another chance to speak before walking away, disappearing into the thickness of the crowd.

Dragon shook his head. His attention snapped back to Han away from the pool of mortals swarming around below him. From the way Han was talking it sounded like he thought this was a recruiting drive. "I wouldn't leave your associates up to negotiations. I really wouldn't even leave it up to you if I had a choice." Dragon smirked. "Our reputations do precede us, but yours is even more hated then mine." Dragon didn't seem to feel the need to let Han know he had been fucking Anarchs for the last few decades with the sole purpose of making good connections among them. Dragon never minded though because fucking is fun.

"To be honest Han, I don't trust you. So, before I reveal more to you, I need something from you... a token of your sincerity if you will. Edge has called you out in Fight Club." Dragon paused. He very carefully took a long drag from his cigar. He deliberately exhaled down and in front of himself, finally crushing the small butt of the cigar in the glass ashtray on the table. "If you don't have the ... what do we say here in L.A... balls. Yeah, if you don't have the balls to at least answer the challenge, I'm afraid you have no place working with me."

Dragon was very serious about this. There had to be some kind of hold over Han to keep him from ass-raping the entire project. If Edge was keeping tabs on him, or if at the very least he was being distracted by her, it would keep Han from being able to focus on dealing with the Tremere, a tactic that would cause him to fail at his own agenda. "I will contact you in three days time. If you haven't answered Edge by then, I won't be contacting you for a business proposal."

Very briefly Dragon thought about putting some force behind his warning, turning it into a subtle threat but he decided against it, figuring the absence of a threat made it more intimidating.

Han nodded. He was a little older than the Camarilla and Sabbat, so the idea of the three factions working together didn't seem completely out of the realm of possibility. "That idea has some merits. I do have coworkers I could enlist to help with the reach out. Like you, I have no desire to be at the front. At least, I'm assuming thats the case with you... Both of our reputations have a habit of preceding us." He smiled at his little deduction. "And the fact that I did not know you were here until now means you're laying low, as am I. Who would you propose we approach first?"

Dragon looked off to the side and watched the mortals floating around. He was looking for something to eat that was more of a medium rare fillet mignon served with French onion soup and a crisp red wine. As his eyes moved around, Dragon subtly flicked his tongued against the back of his canines. "I do." Dragon said quietly before redistracting himself with Han.

"If you were to approach the Anarchs not under a banner of war but a banner of truce and try to unite against the Cathayans you will probably have a fighting chance." Dragon took a long drag from his cigar, but paused in mid action to watch the server as she came over. She had the caramel colored skin of someone Hispanic but her nose was broad and her hair was thick and crinkled. What really caught Dragon's attention was her height. She was easily his height, even before the three in heels on her stripper boots. Two quick nods and a smile in her direction later, Dragon was ordering an extra dirty martini. While the cocktail waitress left, Dragon couldn't help but watch the tail part of her before finally turning back to Han.

"We could then act as mediators and join the fight when the Cathayans become a problem for both the Sword and the Anarchs. This would then be the first tri-faction truce."

"I think he's perfectly capable of dreaming that big. However there are too many forces out there that would unite against him just to bring it to an end." He shrugged. "I am not so naive to believe the Sword can actually win its little crusade. You mentioned a plan though?" Han's comment before his question further let slip a piece of the elder's own philosophies with the Great Jyhad.

Dragon nodded slowly. He was glad that Han was starting to get interested in this. Once the seeds were planted, it was going to nearly impossible for them to not grow... "Once again, we completely agree. But what if he's not moving money? What if he's spending it?" Dragon looked at Han seriously.

"The Cathayans are coming to the west coast in record numbers...Power players like you and I are being wrapped up in key positions all along the board to make us ineffective in our own realms of experience. Think about it. Why on earth would you be sent to L.A. to increase your position when it would make more sense to let a powerful local take all of the heat? Sure you may be up for promotion, but where are you really dangerous? Out on the east coast, right? Out here, before you will really get a good handle on things you'll need to figure out how to deal with Myself and Tyler... there's Edge too, and lets not forget West Coast Steel."

Dragon sold his conspiracy theory by leaning forward again. He was really getting into it. "I think Reichart is going for world domination again, but this time he's going to do it through economic control. Assuming he's at the top of the totem pole, he's in a position to strangle out the economic powerhouses by playing them off of each other. For example, if he can take control of China's economy, he can use it to steamroll what goes on here in the US... or worse, if he has the US too, he can use China and the US to move together. What do you think would happen if he managed to put their countries' respective military together?"

Han nodded. He was definitely following, whether he was buying or not was hard to gauge. "Dirk's global finances are common knowledge, and if he's moving things around on a massive level it would clearly make waves. Still, you must remember who he is. This is not a fight I am willing to embark on quite yet. Something like Dirk is not taken down, in any form, lightly. But you have my attention. Please continue..." He was an elder, of course he would want to hear a conspiracy theory. With the Jyhad, you never knew which ones would be correct and which ones would be misinformation, or both...

Dragon nodded. It was good to know that Han at least appeared to be susceptible to conspiracy theory...and that was the sort of thing Dragon could spin all night long in any direction he wanted. After hearing what Han had to say, Dragon ashed his cigar, took another deep drag and then leaned forward. He exhaled as he spoke. "Right. That's what we had thought too. But when has Dirk ever just been financially motivated? We all know he was prince of Berlin during the Third Reich, but did you also know that World War II wasn't his only attempt at global domination? It was just his most successful."

Dragon waited to gauge Han's response. He didn't figure that bit would surprise him, but he didn't expect Han to be aware of it either. "We, I, think it's more subtle this time. If I'd have known you were coming, I'd have brought my paperwork. But if you look at the economic resources coming into and out of the corporate districts all across the world, you can see that Reichart has his hands in two out of three major industries in every section making money." Dragon waited again. This time it was to see if Han was following or if he'd have to elaborate more. "Do you see?"

Han offered a slight shrug, "I know he has a childe in the city. So I can assume he has an interest here. With his reputation, I would assume its financial. Beyond that, nothing." You knew he was being honest. There was nothing to gain by lying now for Han. He had to be telling the truth.