Forbidden ground.
Simon stood in front of the twin Evenhet towers in awe. He actually never stopped in front of the buildings and looked up. 'That is high.' He ran his tongue over his still chapped lips and looked around. The street was clean and very quiet. The Evenhet Towers were as sterile as he thought they'd be, but regardless of clan tastes, they were magnificant to behold.
Simon walked in the main lobby and looked around. It was completely void of life, save for tranquil looking plants. It had a very futuristic feel and it reminded him of the Domicile. Maybe the clans were not that far apart. Still, it made him feel as if he underdressed and that was saying a lot for Simon and his tastes. He was wearing black slacks, dress shoes and a cashmere pull over. His three quarter leather trench coat was open, straps hanging at the side. He walked further in and looked for a phone or some sort of intercom to speak to someone.
He cleared his throat and said, 'Hello?'
“There is nothing to forgive. This is your home.”
He gave the fingertips that grazed his jaw a light kiss before Alfarinn pulled away, letting cool fingers cool his cheeks. Standing along with Alfarinn as the lovely blonde lady was admitted, he let his companion offer up greetings while giving Simon an encouraging smile.
He decided that wondering if she was cold did not seem like a very gentlemanly thought. Especially when he should be concerning himself with the task at hand.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.”
She looked at Thaddeus and smiled, 'You must be Thaddeus Grey of Anantya.' Thaddeus was probably wondering how she knew who he was, she figured. 'Simon's report...he talked about the two of you and the ring. Well, he's since filled in the blanks. He's not really a man of very many words.' She looked at Simon and winked.
'Gentlemen, it is a hoot.'
[My god they're so cute. Hetero women everywhere will shed a tear, lemme tell ya.] She sent to Simon with a giggle.
'Oh,' she remembered her bag and dug out her lap top. It was light weight and silver with matching orange fittings. She pointed to the coffee table and asked, 'May I?'
"But shorter so I hear."
He wasn't certain such a thing was possible and gave a grin to Simon who came close to matching him in height. That she knew Thaddeus's name was something of a surprise though it was possible that Simon told her through the bond before they arrived. The mention of a report about the situation being somewhere in Tacharan's files made him uneasy. He almost missed her next statement and blinked once before comprehending the slang expression with his distracted mind.
"Simon did wax poetic when he described you to us. You should get him to repeat it for you later."
He smiled mischievously at the Tacharan before turning back to Carol.
"Oh certainly."
Alfarinn headed back towards the couch to stand next to the modern looking steel and glass coffee table. Figuring the photos to be on disk, he squeezed Thaddeus's hand before heading upstairs through the bedroom and into the study for his laptop. Coming back downstairs, he set it on the table and flipped it open.
“And you must be Carol Hedley. A pleasure to meet you.”
He gave a little smile at her comment regarding Alfarinn’s appearance, thinking that she didn’t know the half of it but stopping his thoughts there before he could make himself blush. Really, had he taken to blushing over compliments to other people as well as himself now? Giving his head a mental shake, he returned the squeeze to his hand and let his gloved fingers trail over Alfarinn’s palm as he walked away.
He looked in curiosity at Carol’s laptop; he still found such devices both fascinating and somewhat foreign, though he was learning to use his own quickly enough, and had to resist the urge to inspect hers more closely. He did, however, return to his seat on the couch, gesturing for the others to do the same and be comfortable while they waited for Alfarinn’s return.
She circled the table and instead of placing her lap top next to his, she sat down on the coffee table, short skirt rising to show the skin between the top of her white boots to high on her thigh. Carol was never one to respect people's personal space, so playing knee tag with Thaddeus' legs was not out of the ordinary. She crossed her legs, again causing her skirt to go higher and placed the lap top on her lap.
She honestly thought nothing of it.
Carol powered on her cpu and pulled up the files they wanted. Turning it around, she showed them. 'This is the building where Lykaios says is where the Beast is hidden. It's located down in the industrial section, mixed in with some abandoned warehouses near the dock. The district isn't as populated as it once was so this was probably the best place for him to set up shop.'
She clicked the image to the next page, 'The security is impressive but I've seen better. ID key locks all around, etcetera. The trick to this place are the sub levels beneath. Very Resident Evil, so to speak.' She continued through the pictures, showing him finally a picture of Tacharan's stolen property.
'The Beast is just shy of nine feet tall and made of stainless steel and titanium. It sits on a three foot thick base and the body is placed down the center of course. All these lines,' she pointed to the plastic leads, ' these are intravenous contraptions. It brings just enough blood in and just enough out to maintain the vampire's life but keeps it immobolized by practically starving it.'
She looked up and waited for the men to say something.
Realizing that she was trying to show them something, he looked back down, then up at the ceiling again, then down at the screen, watching as Carol explained the photographs. He blinked in confusion at one part, sending [Resident Evil?] but not wanting to interrupt.
When she got to The Beast, though, he found he was a good deal less distracted by Carol’s proximity. It was…
“…aptly named, that.”
He rubbed his chin, trying to find something to say and finding that ‘thank you for coming and showing us this horrible picture’ wasn’t going to come off as all that sincere.
“Well. That should serve as proof. Thank you.”
He squeezed Alfarinn's hand, as much to assure himself as his companion.
He couldn't help himself and sent to Carol, [You know you're wasting all that leg on them.] Simon put his arm on the back of the couch and covered his smile with his fingers.
'We still don't know how Hillman infiltrated the clan, but if I can figure out how to get into his database, hopefully we'll find more out. I have my geeks working on that.'
She walked back around the table and settled down next to Simon on the couch. Carol scooched as close as she could to him and gave him a soft elbow in the stomach.
[You'll have to tell me later about all the great things you said about me.] She put her hand on his thigh and smiled at him.
Alfarinn turned back to look at the laptop in time to notice the petite blonde cross her legs and for the skirt to rise from dangerously high to illegal with Thaddeus's comfort level lowering in response.
Placing a reassuring hand on his lover's leg, smiled at him before continuing to look at the pictures. Once the images of the beast were shown he frowned thoughtfully until the touch of Thaddeus's hand in his own brought him back. He couldn't help but wonder how many vampires had been on that machine already, made to suffer in the name of Ellis's sick version of science. Imagining himself on it made his skin crawl and the idea of Thaddeus ever being a target was something he simply did not want to think about at all.
[Resident Evil is a movie with a huge underground complex for high security testing. The whole thing goes awry,much like this situation.]
"I think it will make an impression on the other elders. Thank you."
He nodded in understanding at the situation with Hillman. Hopefully they could find out how this human got access to the beast and knowledge of their kind.
" Something soon would be nice. I imagine the infiltration of her organization by a human does at least interest Ellis enough to find out before slaughtering everyone that might be able to tell her?"
Nodding at the exchange, he wondered what else these humans might have found out. Who else they might have told. There was no way of knowing, and while perhaps once the compound was raided they would eliminate the threat, this could also be a single root that came back again and again.
Yes, finding out what Hillman knew and how he knew it would be useful information indeed.
'That's everything, gentlemen. There's nothing left to do but wait for Ellis to assemble the clan and raid the compound. Carol and I will keep our relationship hidden till...whatever happens, happens.'
He didn't think there wasn't anything else he could say and waited for the gentlemen to comment.
[I said horrible things about you,] he replied to Carol, [but I have something to show you later. I'll tell you then.]
"Any time. Thank you for the evidence and thank you, Carol, for bringing it by. Let us know if you need anything further. Best of wishes to you both."
He wondered how they both felt about the bond but obviously they both wanted it. Still it might be difficult to get used to when you didn't expect it.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Carol and you have your work cut out for you with this one. "
Alfarinn pretended to look innocent after that statement and stood up, reaching a hand out to Thaddeus.
“Yes, it was a pleasure, thank you.”
He looked from Carol to Simon, resisting the urge to give his companion a playful elbow in the ribs at the comment about Carol having her work cut out for him.
“Do call if you need anything, and the offer is open should you need a place to lie low.”
She looked at Simon and gave him a curious look, [Should I leave first?]
Simon grinned and held the door open for her.
((OOC - Carol out))
((Simon heading out, pending response))
“Be safe.”
Turning to Alfarinn as Simon and Carol took their leave, he raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“I suppose we have business in Anantya.”
He saw their guests to the door and turned to answer Thaddeus's question.
"Yes, should. There is something I need to pick up down at the bookstore but it is already paid for and on hold for me so it is just a matter of stopping for it. If you don't mind."
((OOC: both out ))