[Sodium_noir] Friday Night Continued

[Mara Ravenclaw]

After leaving Arkana, Mara goes back to her car and puts the blouse back on, being careful to button up her jacket.  It was so very hard sometimes, trying to be properly dressed for the occasion.  There had been more than a few nights where she’d failed, like when she gone out to attend a charity event and Greywolf summoned her to an Anarch party.  She’d survived, the dress didn’t.  Fortunately, she hadn’t been very attached to that particular Versace gown.   

The furniture store was supposed to stay open late for her, according to Mr. Wolf.  Or was it Mikhail?  Should she address him by his mortal name, or by the one the Basarabs used?  She wonders as she drives to the furniture store.  Friday night was a good night for customers, and judging by the cars in the lot, she wasn’t the only customer tonight.  That was good, as she hated to be attacked by swarms of sales people bent on making a quick commission.  She had a good idea of what she wanted, she didn’t need to be upsold on something else.  Used would actually be better than new, as the clientele wasn’t very kind to the furniture.  LSS had a line item in their annual budget for furniture replacement.  So too, did the budget Mara sent to Lady Sinclair.   

Walking in the door, Mara is quick to notice that the place is practically deserted except for the other customers.  Her list was pretty simple actually.  A mattress, desks, chairs and a table were all she needed for the moment.  She makes her way first to the beds.  In this case, price, not comfort, was her priority.  And one that came with free sheets and pillows was a bonus.  There were a couple mattresses that met the criteria.  She doesn’t even bother to test them, but simply removes an order slip from the hang tag.  

Next was the office furniture.  The desks and chairs she would be a bit more picky about, as comfort and practicality overrode concerns about price.  She examines each of the desks offered, and finally settles on a large desk of dark veneer for her own office, and a u-shaped reception desk of scarred and battered wood.  A non-profit should never look too prosperous, as it tended to erode one’s credibility.  The table would be a simple thing, a rectangular folding table that could be put away as needed.
Market Street wasn’t the ideal location for a law office, but she would make it work.  She had to.  For better or worse, she’d bought the place.  

For better or worse.  Mara’s thoughts again turn to Christine.  Was same-sex marriage legal in New York, or more importantly, Gotham?  Maybe if she offered to make an honest woman out of her, Christine might be more inclined to return.   At least the cat had returned, along with some files and the suits she'd bought Christine for her birthday.  An unwritten resignation letter.  Guess she didn’t need to buy a second bed.  Then there was the matter of having furniture delivered.  If they couldn’t do it after sunset, then perhaps Leon…Mikhail…might be willing?  She hated relying too much on someone else’s servants, but desperate times called for desperate measures.     

Having made her selections, Mara goes to the counter and smiles at the sales clerk.  She hands over the sales slips, and notes the surprise registering on their face.  A sizable sale for any store, when most customers simply came in for a single piece.  If they treated her well now it would probably not be her last visit here.  Mara smiles at the clerk.  "I need it delivered.  What’s your latest scheduled delivery time?"  

"Five thirty."  The clerk replies without checking.  

Mara nods.  Fortunately, with the approach of winter, it was doable.  "Five thirty tomorrow, then."”  She replies.  "It can’t be any earlier than that."  For an order as large as hers, they had better be willing to accommodate her.   

"Certainly ma’am."  Mara doesn’t flinch as the clerk finishes ringing it up.   She gets out her checkbook.  Oh wait, an out of state check?  They wouldn’t take it.  Well, there was always plastic.   She takes the gold card from her purse and hands it to the clerk as soon as she is told the damage.  The credit card company at least would take her checks until she found the time to open a new account with a local bank.  Again, she found herself wishing that Christine was around.  Things would be so much easier than having to do this all alone.   

Mara pushes the thought from her mind.  She didn’t have time to mourn.  Not now, when there was so much to do.  She’d have to hire another secretary soon.  Maybe after she got an idea from Lady Sinclair as to how much support she planned to offer LSG?   

Starting LSS hadn’t been this hard.  Mara muses to herself as the clerk runs her card.  But Seattle had been her home turf, not a strange city she’d only lived in for a couple days.  She’d been able to call on the contacts she’d made when she was still alive to help her.  Here, there were no contacts, no lifelines, and no allies save Kindred ones, and it was never a good idea to be indebted to those sorts of allies.   

The clerk hands back the card and Mara puts it away.   She smiles at the person.  Funny how they never realized how dangerous she really was.  She’d killed two people in the heat of Kindred passion, what most called The Beast.  Strangely, she didn’t feel all that bad about it.  After all, they’d nearly killed Christine.  

As she walks away, Mara tries to shake her thoughts of Christine out of her head.  Damn it, why couldn’t she stop thinking about her?  Mara sighs and puts the car into drive.  Now that she had accomplished her mortal dealings for the night, it was time to start the immortal ones.  Time to pay her respects once more to Hector.

But first, the meeting with Arkana.  She drives to the mini-storage place, and makes a call to Crosby on the way.  It was simply rude to go to a party like Lady Sinclair's without an escort, and for a Ventrue, a party like that would offer a lot of opportunities.  Mara leaves a message with Crosby's butler, along with her cell phone number.    

But even so, Mara makes her way to the Mini-Storage place.  It was a 24 hour one, which was a good thing when you needed to come and go at all hours.  The manager was still around though.  She goes to the office, and watches the man's eyes noticeably travel down her body, stopping at her chest.  Guys.  She thinks to herself.  Do they ever think with something besides their dicks?  

Mara returns his interest with a glare.  "I need to rent a unit.  A 6 by 9."  She says.  "A dollar for the first month's rent, right?"  

The guy nods and hands her a clipboard.  Mara fills out the information, using a fake name and phone number.  She notices that they have locks for sale.  Convenient, but probably spendy, but what the hell.  "I'll need a combo lock too."  

The guy takes one off the hanging rack.  He barely glances at the paperwork.  "Ten seventy-eight."  

Mara hands him a twenty, making a note to get more cash soon.  "Unit 13."  He says, handing her the key and the lock with her change.  Mara tucks the items into her purse and then heads to the unit and slides the door open.  She inspects the empty unit.  There were large reddish ring-shaped stains on the concrete.  She kneels down and inspects them. Rust, not blood.  There had been large metal containers in here at one point, but that was not her concern.   
   
Mara goes to the front of the building to wait for Arkana, her phone still on, and scanning the road for signs of Arkana's bike.  


"All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream." - Edgar Allen Poe 


--- antoniabifano at hotmail.com wrote:

From: "Antonia Bifano" <antoniabifano at hotmail.com>
To: sodium_noir at elsinore.net
Subject: [Sodium_noir] Friday Night Meeting
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:26:18 +0000

Mara .... Arkana....
a Brace of Brujah

*Joint post*

Arkana walks away from her 'victim' after what had been quite a drink.  She 
was drained from last night, but now felt 10 times better. She lays him to 
rest against a wall sitting on the ground, even placing a booze bottle inhis 
hands, supposedly being crafty, but he was not dead only weakened. She gets 
back onto her bike, and heads for a little spin till she figures out which 
place to hit first, the Anarchs hang out, seek out Sandoval, or get together 
with Wire.....  A parked car looms ahead of her, and Arkana swerves, barely 
missing it.

As Mara heads back to her car, she sees a bike come within inches of hitting 
it before swerving at the last moment.  She goes to it at a fast clip, not 
quite sure what the idiot was going to do next. She'd just bought the car 
and didn't want anything happening to it.

Arkana was not focused on the road, instinctively she brings the bike to a 
screeching halt and looks back, her hands still clutching the handle bars.  
Not more than a couple of metres away she notices a familiar face, and tries 
to get a closer look.

Dismounting, Arkana removes her helmet and reveals who she is to Mara.

Strange coincidence, seeing her here.   Mara thinks to herself.  Then again, 
maybe it wasn't.  Her look of concern melts into something a little more 
friendly, but still, she was a bit puzzled. "Arkana, what are you doing 
here?"

As soon as the woman speaks, Arkana recognizes that it is indeed Raven, and 
was she glad it was a fellow clan mate otherwise there could have been a 
possible quarrel over the car.

Mara is a bit relieved.  The car wasn't harmed, but admittedly, if Arkana 
hadn't been the driver, she might have gone after them, even though the car 
wasn't hurt.

Arkana keeps on closing the gap between the two of them, and places her 
helmet under her arm. "Raven", a smirk is evident on Arkana's face, but 
before she continues she gives a quick once over to their surroundings, 
"Just taking a little drive, you know, let the food settle before running
some......errands, I'm really sorry for doing that before", though a 
mischevous look was evident in her face, she still meant what she said, if 
only to respect Raven, had it been someone else she would have already 
bailed by now.

Mara knew that look that Arkana was giving her well.  She'd seen it on the 
faces of Seattle Anarchs that had gotten busted for doing something 
'naughty' to a Cam.  Respect with a forced apology. Well, better than 
nothing, she supposed.  Mara shrugs and tries to look calm. "No harm, no 
foul." She replies.  "Doing much the same as you actually."

Smiling with somewhat of a wicked grin now, Arkana nods, agreeing with 
Raven, as if saying exactly, no harm no foul, "Cool. So....going anywhere 
interesting tonight?" her hand reaches for her cigarettes and Arkana 
proceeds to light one, cautiously. "Well I got one more mortal errand to
do,then I'm gonna pay Hector a visit.  You going to be there tonight, or do 
you have practice?"  Arkana blows out smoke circles into the dampness of the 
night, half thinking where to head next.  "No, no practice tonight",....she 
pauses and takes another drag, "I'll be giving Hector a visit later for 
sure".

Mara regards Arkana. "Well, then I'm sure I'll catch you then." She was 
trying to get to her next errand. They wouldn't keep the store open forever, 
no matter how large the sale might be.

In between exhaling the smoke out of her lungs, Arkana continues, oblivious 
to the rush Mara was in, "Right now Ihave some pressing questions, I think", 
or a moment she takes her gaze off
Raven, then lifts her head back up, and continues to puff away.

It is then that Raven catches Arkana's next statement. "Questions?" She 
asks. "What sort of..questions?"

"Glad you asked, you seem like the, attentive, informed type", she gestures 
with her free hand, her tone and mannerism polite. "Last night, I received a 
note, not harmful really, I just want to know who sent it".

Mara raises an eyebrow, "A note?  Do you still have it?" Personally, she had 
no idea who might send Arkana a note, and since she was in Gotham, she 
didn't know anyone who could get any impressions off it.  The Prince 
certainly might, but she wasn't ready to ask for his help.

The slightest of smiles forms on Arkana's face, and her expression 
brightens. Already getting ahead in what she needed to figure out this 
night. "I sure do", she brings the bag saddled round her shoulder to the 
front, and chucks her cigarette to the ground extinguishing the red amber 
under her heavy boot, she produces the card between her index and middle 
finger, and hands it to Raven. "I noticed a similarity, a name of sorts, do 
you know any of ours with names as such", she waits for her companion's 
response.

Mara reads the note.  She smiles, recognizing the symbol, as well as the 
names. "Why, I believe you just received well wishes from the Basarabs." She 
replies.  She will regard Arkana, gauging her reaction to this piece of 
information.  She hands the card back to her.  "Have you met them yet?"

The Basarabs eh, Arkana thinks to herself.  How they knew where she'd be did 
not surprise her at all, the Basarabs are after all, well, the Basarabs.  
What did surprise her however was why they were interested in showing their 
support, if that was the reason at all. Arkana looks again at the comely 
brunette before her, "I... no, I havn't met them", after another pause she 
continues, this time
Mara notices the change in her tone, a little stern, "Who's side are they 
on, do you know them enough?"

"I've only spoken with them twice." Mara replies.  "But that's enough for me 
to know they're not on anyone's side, though they have affection for as they 
put it 'their consanguine'.  They are a force onto themselves."

Arkana bites her bottom lip while taking in Mara's words, further closing 
the gap between them she continues, "And I also heard some, medieval type 
chanting, when at a certain venue", she finishes her sentence with a raised 
eyebrow and looks at Raven to gather her reaction.

"You heard chanting, hmm? At a venue? Are you talking about the 
Lachrymatory?" Mara was nothing, if not direct. "Can you tell me what it  
sounded like? I might know someone that could help in that respect."  Two, 
actually, but given the option, she would rather not go back into the
church.

"Yes, after our gig", Arkana smiles her mischievous smile and proceeds to 
fish something out of her bag, "I knew this little thing would come in 
handy", and she shows Mara a small platinum colored tape recorder.

Chanting in the Lachrymatory. Actually, oddly, she could see it.  The place 
definitely had a gothic...or perhaps demonic sort of feel.  She smiles at 
the sight of the tape recorder.  So she wasn't the typical dumb Brujah. 
"Those do come in handy, don't they?"  She replies.  She'd used them to her 
benefit a few times herself.

"Hah, yes indeed they do", Arkana offers in agreement while tucking her 
belongings securely in her bag and letting it swing back behind her, 
adjusting the strap across her chest, "But I suggest we listen to it, 
somewhere in private?"

"Yes, but can it wait an hour or so? I do have to finish this last errand."

Arkana nods,  "Definitely, where and when do you want to meet?"

"I think I wouldn't need more than a couple hours." Mara replies. She tries 
to think of a private place.  Her office, certainly, but she wasn't ready to 
share the location of her haven with a Kindred she barely knew, Brujah or 
not.  However, there were more than a few hotels that rented by the hour.  
It would offer a modicum of privacy, and be close to Bellamy and Panic if 
she needed to talk to either. Then again, a mini storage unit would be a 
very worthwhile investment in the long run. She'd seen a couple of them. 
"I'll meet you out front of Gotham Mini Storage." She replies. "See you 
then."  She waits for Arkana's agreement, then walks back to her car.

Arkana listens carefully to Raven's words, when she's finished, she nods in 
agreement, she starts to grab her helmet, ready to slip it back on. "I'll 
give you between two and half, three hours, I'll wait on the opposite side 
of the road."  As Arkana watches Mara walk away she slips on her helmet and
backs away to return to her bike she revs the engine before getting on then 
heads off.

Deny the Impossible



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Sodium Noir site: www.khaoshq.fsnet.co.uk/sodiumnoir/index.html

Project Khaos www.khaoshq.fsnet.co.uk



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