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edenfallingI hereby present "Weregild" part nineteen, in which Ariadne is displeased, Anita is suspicious, Arthur is conciliatory, and Dom is quietly eating dinner in the background, I guess. (1,600 words)
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Weregild, part 19
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"I may what?" the Executioner demanded.
"If you wish to keep watch on Arthur and Dominick for the duration of their stay in St. Louis, then Ariadne is at your disposal for that task," Jean-Claude said. "She remains under my authority in all other ways, of course, but if it will ease your mind, this is a small thing well within my power to offer."
Ariadne slowly and carefully uncurled her toes and gave Arthur's leg an apologetic pat. He nudged back, apparently unfazed by the tiny trickle of blood she could feel soaking into his sock. She spared a second to regret that they were in public; she would very much have enjoyed licking the wound until it closed.
"I take it Ariadne's the one sitting next to Arthur?" the Executioner asked.
"I am," Ariadne said. She rose from her chair and offered a slight bow toward the high table before resuming her seat.
"And you're okay with Jean-Claude loaning you out like a piece of furniture?" the Executioner said, leaning forward with a tight scowl on her face.
Ariadne shrugged. "He is the Master of the City. I have neither the strength nor the inclination to challenge him. So yes, I go where he sends me."
The Executioner's scowl deepened and her hands clenched on the edge of the high table. "Right. And if you're so soft and harmless, what good will you do me as a surveillance partner?"
Ariadne hesitated, looking toward Jean-Claude. Her tracking abilities weren't precisely a secret, but Nikolaos had never publicized them either and he had continued that tendency toward discretion. The Executioner was also known to be somewhat paranoid, and if she thought Ariadne had spied on her in the past...
"Ariadne has a particular gift for tracking," Jean-Claude said. "Once she had tasted someone's power, she can find them anywhere within her range, which is several miles in radius. She is also discreet and quite experienced working within a chain of command." He smiled at the Executioner's skeptical look. "She will help you with surveillance, ma petite. If you wish backup of a more forceful nature, you will have to look elsewhere while Arthur and Dominick are under my writ of free passage."
Damned with faint praise, Ariadne thought, tipping her head to acknowledge Jean-Claude's assessment. "Do you wish my assistance?" she asked the Executioner. "I would appreciate knowing so I can make arrangements to cover my shifts at Guilty Pleasures if necessary."
The Executioner blinked. Then she turned to pin Jean-Claude with an incredulous look. "Does every single person under your power have to work in that strip club? Is that a guild membership requirement? What's her trick -- playing to the ones too scared to go for real underage humans?"
"Ariadne is the manager," Jean-Claude said, voice utterly stripped of inflection.
Ariadne went still reflexively. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
Yet the Executioner either failed to notice or failed to care. "Right, because the big bad vamps are going to listen to a single word she says. How can you do this to people? What gives you the right?"
"I am the Master of the City. All master vampires who reside here do so on my sufferance; all others rise and retain control only by my will," Jean-Claude said, his voice still terrifyingly calm and even. "As for Ariadne, do not mistake a lack of ambition for weakness. She survived Nikolaos and gave me her fealty freely thereafter despite being a master in her own right. She is not suited for leadership, but she does not need a protector."
The Executioner closed her mouth and gave Ariadne another look, more measuring this time. Ariadne tilted her head and proffered a bright smile, doing her best to seem harmless and nearly human. It was an act she'd honed through long practice, on the theory that camouflage was both the best defense and a useful offensive technique, if only to unbalance any potential foes. It did cause occasional difficulties with humans, whose instinctive visual assessment of her tended to trump their intellectual knowledge of vampiric abilities, but a discreet flash of fangs and an immovable grip on fragile bones could cure that disconnect if necessary. And if not, well, a shy young woman was so much less memorable than a dangerous creature of the night.
She hoped the Executioner would decide her assistance was unnecessary. Arthur already knew her greatest secret, but dream-walking was not the only thing she'd kept private over the decades. If she spent the next several nights in his company -- because while her gift was invaluable for determining locations, it was useless at actual surveillance -- she hated to think what he might learn. Attractive though he was, she had no intention of letting anyone close enough to truly hurt her, and even less interest in potentially getting tangled in Arthur and Cobb's own troubles.
Alas, luck seemed to be against her. The Executioner settled back in her seat with a considering frown. "Right. Sorry. So you're how Jean-Claude pulls his mysterious all-knowing shtick."
"Merely one of the many tools at his disposal," Ariadne demurred.
"Whatever. That sounds like a useful trick. Okay. Consider yourself conscripted. Until this Council crap is over, you're on call from dusk to dawn. Your standing assignment is to keep tabs on these two and tell me if they start acting suspicious."
In the corner of her eye, Ariadne saw Arthur start to roll his eyes, then think better of the motion. She tapped her toes against his ankle. His lip twitched, subtly, as if he were biting back a smile.
"I'm afraid my definition of suspicious behavior may not match yours and I'd hate for us to have any miscommunications. Perhaps periodic reports?" Ariadne suggested. "I can acquire a cell phone tonight and text you with the number -- I assume Jean-Claude has yours."
"He does," the Ulfric said, face and voice caught halfway between annoyance and amusement. "Oh, does he ever."
"And no sense of when a text is more appropriate than a call," the Executioner added in a similar tone.
"You wound me," said Jean-Claude, face still blank, but he sounded sardonic rather than empty. His temper had passed, then.
"I wish," the Ulfric said. The Executioner shared a tiny smile with him, across Jean-Claude's body. Then they both seemed to realize they were smiling and the moment shattered.
The Executioner turned back to Ariadne, just a shade too fast for nonchalance. "Yeah, get a phone and give me the number. Text me every time they go to a new location, and every hour if they're not moving. Call if something big goes down, like a fight or a meeting with anyone important."
"I understand," Ariadne said. She paused, wondering how much the Executioner had sensed from Jean-Claude's guests, and how much Jean-Claude might have told his triumvirate. Then she decided she didn't care; if she was inconvenienced, then Arthur could be inconvenienced along with her. "You are aware that Cobb is a lycanthrope and Arthur is an animator. Do you wish me to report if and when they use their abilities?"
The Executioner glanced dismissively at Cobb -- "Only if he shifts," she said -- before settling a sharp, assessing gaze on Arthur. "Wait a minute. An animator named Arthur. You're the guy Larry said was fishing around at my job this morning! Why were you spying on me when you say you're only here to do business with Jean-Claude?"
For a moment Arthur's pulse jumped where it thrummed against Ariadne's toes. Then the seductive chill of his power pulled inward and his heartbeat steadied. "It's a sensible precaution to learn about the major players in the local preternatural community before getting tangled in their political affairs, however tangentially and briefly," he said. "Additionally, I am an animator. I figured I'd pick up a couple freelance jobs while I'm in St. Louis so I don't raise roadkill by accident."
"You don't raise any zombies unless I'm there to keep an eye on you," the Executioner said.
Arthur shrugged. "Your city, your rules. Would you prefer me to arrange some work via your employer, or simply to take some of your own scheduled appointments off your hands? We can inform Mr. Vaughn or not, whatever is most convenient for you."
"Dealing with Bert is never convenient, but we're going to do this by the book so we have a record when things go south," the Executioner said. "I'll tell Ariadne when and where you should meet me. It'll take a couple days to get the paperwork through."
"I can give you a copy of my certification from the Resurrection Company, if that will speed things up," Arthur offered.
The Executioner looked sour. "Send it to the office. I'll tell our secretaries to expect it. But use fax or email. I don't want you around my coworkers. They have enough of their own problems; they don't need to get caught in any Council craziness."
"Nobody needs that," Arthur agreed.
That, Ariadne thought, was probably the truest thing anyone had said so far this night.
To her right, Cobb sighed and tossed his crumpled napkin onto the table. "Great. We've passed on our news, Jean-Claude's given us permission to stay, and Blake's put us on a leash. Are we done here or are we going to talk in angry circles all night long? The food's good, but not that good, and frankly I have better things I could be doing."
Ariadne took a tiny sip of her wine and waited for the inevitable explosion.
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End Part Nineteen
continue to part 20
back to part 18
read the final version on AO3 (Trust me, you want to read the final version. The journal version is a beta draft, with all the errors that implies.)
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That was not quite where I thought I was going with this, but I realized partway through that Ariadne's regular job would be an obstacle to the plot -- I did not want to start going through ridiculous logical contortions to make Arthur and Dom visit Guilty Pleasures -- and this was the most obvious way around that.
And now to bed. :-)
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Weregild, part 19
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"I may what?" the Executioner demanded.
"If you wish to keep watch on Arthur and Dominick for the duration of their stay in St. Louis, then Ariadne is at your disposal for that task," Jean-Claude said. "She remains under my authority in all other ways, of course, but if it will ease your mind, this is a small thing well within my power to offer."
Ariadne slowly and carefully uncurled her toes and gave Arthur's leg an apologetic pat. He nudged back, apparently unfazed by the tiny trickle of blood she could feel soaking into his sock. She spared a second to regret that they were in public; she would very much have enjoyed licking the wound until it closed.
"I take it Ariadne's the one sitting next to Arthur?" the Executioner asked.
"I am," Ariadne said. She rose from her chair and offered a slight bow toward the high table before resuming her seat.
"And you're okay with Jean-Claude loaning you out like a piece of furniture?" the Executioner said, leaning forward with a tight scowl on her face.
Ariadne shrugged. "He is the Master of the City. I have neither the strength nor the inclination to challenge him. So yes, I go where he sends me."
The Executioner's scowl deepened and her hands clenched on the edge of the high table. "Right. And if you're so soft and harmless, what good will you do me as a surveillance partner?"
Ariadne hesitated, looking toward Jean-Claude. Her tracking abilities weren't precisely a secret, but Nikolaos had never publicized them either and he had continued that tendency toward discretion. The Executioner was also known to be somewhat paranoid, and if she thought Ariadne had spied on her in the past...
"Ariadne has a particular gift for tracking," Jean-Claude said. "Once she had tasted someone's power, she can find them anywhere within her range, which is several miles in radius. She is also discreet and quite experienced working within a chain of command." He smiled at the Executioner's skeptical look. "She will help you with surveillance, ma petite. If you wish backup of a more forceful nature, you will have to look elsewhere while Arthur and Dominick are under my writ of free passage."
Damned with faint praise, Ariadne thought, tipping her head to acknowledge Jean-Claude's assessment. "Do you wish my assistance?" she asked the Executioner. "I would appreciate knowing so I can make arrangements to cover my shifts at Guilty Pleasures if necessary."
The Executioner blinked. Then she turned to pin Jean-Claude with an incredulous look. "Does every single person under your power have to work in that strip club? Is that a guild membership requirement? What's her trick -- playing to the ones too scared to go for real underage humans?"
"Ariadne is the manager," Jean-Claude said, voice utterly stripped of inflection.
Ariadne went still reflexively. That was a bad sign. A very bad sign.
Yet the Executioner either failed to notice or failed to care. "Right, because the big bad vamps are going to listen to a single word she says. How can you do this to people? What gives you the right?"
"I am the Master of the City. All master vampires who reside here do so on my sufferance; all others rise and retain control only by my will," Jean-Claude said, his voice still terrifyingly calm and even. "As for Ariadne, do not mistake a lack of ambition for weakness. She survived Nikolaos and gave me her fealty freely thereafter despite being a master in her own right. She is not suited for leadership, but she does not need a protector."
The Executioner closed her mouth and gave Ariadne another look, more measuring this time. Ariadne tilted her head and proffered a bright smile, doing her best to seem harmless and nearly human. It was an act she'd honed through long practice, on the theory that camouflage was both the best defense and a useful offensive technique, if only to unbalance any potential foes. It did cause occasional difficulties with humans, whose instinctive visual assessment of her tended to trump their intellectual knowledge of vampiric abilities, but a discreet flash of fangs and an immovable grip on fragile bones could cure that disconnect if necessary. And if not, well, a shy young woman was so much less memorable than a dangerous creature of the night.
She hoped the Executioner would decide her assistance was unnecessary. Arthur already knew her greatest secret, but dream-walking was not the only thing she'd kept private over the decades. If she spent the next several nights in his company -- because while her gift was invaluable for determining locations, it was useless at actual surveillance -- she hated to think what he might learn. Attractive though he was, she had no intention of letting anyone close enough to truly hurt her, and even less interest in potentially getting tangled in Arthur and Cobb's own troubles.
Alas, luck seemed to be against her. The Executioner settled back in her seat with a considering frown. "Right. Sorry. So you're how Jean-Claude pulls his mysterious all-knowing shtick."
"Merely one of the many tools at his disposal," Ariadne demurred.
"Whatever. That sounds like a useful trick. Okay. Consider yourself conscripted. Until this Council crap is over, you're on call from dusk to dawn. Your standing assignment is to keep tabs on these two and tell me if they start acting suspicious."
In the corner of her eye, Ariadne saw Arthur start to roll his eyes, then think better of the motion. She tapped her toes against his ankle. His lip twitched, subtly, as if he were biting back a smile.
"I'm afraid my definition of suspicious behavior may not match yours and I'd hate for us to have any miscommunications. Perhaps periodic reports?" Ariadne suggested. "I can acquire a cell phone tonight and text you with the number -- I assume Jean-Claude has yours."
"He does," the Ulfric said, face and voice caught halfway between annoyance and amusement. "Oh, does he ever."
"And no sense of when a text is more appropriate than a call," the Executioner added in a similar tone.
"You wound me," said Jean-Claude, face still blank, but he sounded sardonic rather than empty. His temper had passed, then.
"I wish," the Ulfric said. The Executioner shared a tiny smile with him, across Jean-Claude's body. Then they both seemed to realize they were smiling and the moment shattered.
The Executioner turned back to Ariadne, just a shade too fast for nonchalance. "Yeah, get a phone and give me the number. Text me every time they go to a new location, and every hour if they're not moving. Call if something big goes down, like a fight or a meeting with anyone important."
"I understand," Ariadne said. She paused, wondering how much the Executioner had sensed from Jean-Claude's guests, and how much Jean-Claude might have told his triumvirate. Then she decided she didn't care; if she was inconvenienced, then Arthur could be inconvenienced along with her. "You are aware that Cobb is a lycanthrope and Arthur is an animator. Do you wish me to report if and when they use their abilities?"
The Executioner glanced dismissively at Cobb -- "Only if he shifts," she said -- before settling a sharp, assessing gaze on Arthur. "Wait a minute. An animator named Arthur. You're the guy Larry said was fishing around at my job this morning! Why were you spying on me when you say you're only here to do business with Jean-Claude?"
For a moment Arthur's pulse jumped where it thrummed against Ariadne's toes. Then the seductive chill of his power pulled inward and his heartbeat steadied. "It's a sensible precaution to learn about the major players in the local preternatural community before getting tangled in their political affairs, however tangentially and briefly," he said. "Additionally, I am an animator. I figured I'd pick up a couple freelance jobs while I'm in St. Louis so I don't raise roadkill by accident."
"You don't raise any zombies unless I'm there to keep an eye on you," the Executioner said.
Arthur shrugged. "Your city, your rules. Would you prefer me to arrange some work via your employer, or simply to take some of your own scheduled appointments off your hands? We can inform Mr. Vaughn or not, whatever is most convenient for you."
"Dealing with Bert is never convenient, but we're going to do this by the book so we have a record when things go south," the Executioner said. "I'll tell Ariadne when and where you should meet me. It'll take a couple days to get the paperwork through."
"I can give you a copy of my certification from the Resurrection Company, if that will speed things up," Arthur offered.
The Executioner looked sour. "Send it to the office. I'll tell our secretaries to expect it. But use fax or email. I don't want you around my coworkers. They have enough of their own problems; they don't need to get caught in any Council craziness."
"Nobody needs that," Arthur agreed.
That, Ariadne thought, was probably the truest thing anyone had said so far this night.
To her right, Cobb sighed and tossed his crumpled napkin onto the table. "Great. We've passed on our news, Jean-Claude's given us permission to stay, and Blake's put us on a leash. Are we done here or are we going to talk in angry circles all night long? The food's good, but not that good, and frankly I have better things I could be doing."
Ariadne took a tiny sip of her wine and waited for the inevitable explosion.
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End Part Nineteen
continue to part 20
back to part 18
read the final version on AO3 (Trust me, you want to read the final version. The journal version is a beta draft, with all the errors that implies.)
---------------------------------------------
That was not quite where I thought I was going with this, but I realized partway through that Ariadne's regular job would be an obstacle to the plot -- I did not want to start going through ridiculous logical contortions to make Arthur and Dom visit Guilty Pleasures -- and this was the most obvious way around that.
And now to bed. :-)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-21 02:45 pm (UTC)i liked when jean-claude was angry and ariadne noticed and apparently no one else did >_>
whoops cobbs.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-22 02:50 am (UTC)I am pretty sure Asher and Damien noticed Jean-Claude losing his temper (Jason may have as well) and Arthur picked up from them that something was off, but there wasn't a good way to get that onto the page. *ponders* Well, I'll see if I can clarify that before I post the collected chapter on AO3. (One more section should do it! *crosses finger*)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-22 08:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-23 03:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-21 03:14 pm (UTC)The toe-flirting is vastly entertaining, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-22 02:54 am (UTC)I am having a surprisingly fun time writing the flirting -- it is not my forte at all, but that's how Ariadne and Arthur wanted to play this and who am I to argue? *wry*
(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-21 01:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-07-22 03:00 am (UTC)