Ready for Business (attn Carol, Simon)
Dayle had made sure she both went to bed as well as woke up extra early. The taxi ride took longer than she'd experienced, being the middle of rush hour. She fidgeted with her purse strap on her way through the streets of Nachton, and even chided herself for being annoying, up to the point where she paid her fare and exited the cab.
She'd had the driver drop her a couple blocks from the slaughterhouse district. Walking in the twilight, she pondered exactly what she might say. She entered the correct above ground entrance and climbed onto the elevator.
The ride was short. Glancing at her watch - "I need to get a cell," she told herself - she realized she was a good twenty minutes early.
She half wished there were a receptionist to give her name and either distract or annoy her, and sat in the lobby seating area.
"I hope that I don't interrupt them," she worried. "I could be interrupting dinner, interviews, a movie, hot unbridled sex..."
Shaking her head at the strange turn her thoughts seemed to be taking lately - "After all, your own twin sister seems to have an easily accessible source of 'some'" - she took a deep breath and awaited Carol's arrival.
Opening the door she found Dayle waiting patiently. Carol wondered if she had come to a decision about her place within the clan. She hoped this would be a happy conversation.
'DARLING!' She squealed, holding her arms out to hug Dayle.
"I'm happy to see you too, Carol," she said wryly. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
'Speaking of which, should I call Simon over? I believe he's in his quarters working.' Carol opened her office door that was connected to the main lobby for Dayle. 'I'm assuming this is about your place here in Tacharan?'
Stepping through the door, she turned back to the blonde and, after a moment, shook her head. "For now, I'd just like to talk to you. I have many questions and, since I'm to be the gal who will be filling your shoes - they are a size seven, right? -" she asked with a wink, "- I'd like to know more about what you actually do... please."
Dayle tried to hide the fact that she'd spent the entire ride over planning that joke.
'Seven it is!' Carol smiled. 'Welp...when I came on with Tacharan about three and a half years ago, I was more of a legal secretary. I moved up to Marthinus' assistant but was transferred over here by request of Ellis.' She shruged trying not to think about that whole...thing. 'I handle all raid operations and general Domicile upkeep. Entering in new blood and being the eye in the...ground, so to speak.'
"This may sound like a strange observation," Dayle noted after Carol's description, her left hand fiddling with the corner of the pale blue blouse beneath her darker, navy jacket, "but wouldn't a human do better in your position? Why a vampire? It strikes me that a human or maybe a familiar would have a better point of view to impart to the newcomers, to help ease them into vampireness. You seem to have been successful in that regard... which leads me to my next question. Why me? Other than the whole 'well Dayle you've already been serving the family' ticket. What do you, what does Simon or indeed even Tacharan want that I have to offer? Something tells me that I was originally more your choice, than Simon's, even with Marthinus' recommendation."
'Why you, indeed, Dayle.' Her tone was emotionless. 'Listen,' she untucked her feet from under her and slipped her sandals back on. Professional Carol was now in the building.
'Marthinus asked you, which in itself is an honor, but more importantly it isn't what the clan itself would've done. This world...your world...isn't full of requests and pleasantries so the fact that we extended this courtesy to you, but you continue to question said courtesy is...well pretty insulting. We've asked for your help because of your loyalty to the leader's mortal family. I'm not going to blow sunshine up anything to get you to come on board.'
'Either you accept...or not.'
"Either you accept... or not," Carol had finished speaking, and didn't seem to want to wait for an answer very much longer.
"You're right, you know," Dayle admitted as she looked up from her lap to Carol's face. "Asking questions is a terrible flaw I've had ever since I was but a girl. Ask too many, people get annoyed or insulted. And my questions about the honor you're extending me... was an insult, and I do apologize. I just..." She realized she didn't have anything to add to her "I just." She'd committed so much of her life so far in doing exactly what they were asking her to do... "So it really shouldn't be that much of a mindtwist to get into the right mode, now should it dearie." The matronly voice in her mind, the one that sometimes spoke up when she needed guidance when dealing with her charges, the one that sounded strangely like an amalgam of both Ysabel and Elsa, was of course correct.
And so was Carol.
"I just want to say yes."
Giving her a bright smile, she clapped happily. 'Fantastic! The Leader will be pleased. You'll spend the next several weeks shadowing me at my duties and then we'll just intergrate you in as the Domicile's point of contact. You'll report directly to me as eyes and ears.'
Carol stood and then plopped down next to Dayle on the couch, careful not to touch her but wanting to shirk the cold exterior she just had to display with the vampire. The wee blonde was really very nice, she just had a nasty bite. She giggled happily at the thought.
((ooc - out pending response but I guess that pretty much wraps it up unless Dayle has anything further to discuss?))
"Eyes, ears, I can even do fingers and toes if you need, though I doubt I'd be much of a gopher in this town yet. I'm ready whenever you are," she commented, somewhat subdued. "Must not question," she repeatedly chanted inside her head.
Maybe she could take Carol out to lunch sometime soon.