Comming back for more
Aron had been fairly surprised when he received a note from Megan, asking him to come see him. He had quite simply given up on the Nachton branch of the Evenhet clan. Now he was here however, in a less dramatic attire than last time. A black and white tailor made suit and his walking stick was all he needed for now. There was no need of being overly dramatic, it would be childish and futile even to attempt it. Jeeves was waiting outside in the car, not the long Hollywood star limousine, but a classic Rolls Royce.
Aron walked up the clerk with a feeling of curiosity in the pit of his stomach.
"Could you tell Lady Bjørn that a Mr Swiftwood has arrived? I belive she's expecting me"
This would all be very interresting indeed.
"And thus, the cub comes to see the mother bear..."
Aron chuckled at May's comment.
((Edited to accomodate tha fact that Megan had sent the note, not Meegan. I very much doubt she has been in the Liefde Tower at all))
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"Sorry to interrupt you, Ms. Björn," MARI said in her usual gentle tone, "but you instructed me to inform you as soon as Mr. Swiftwood had arrived."
MARI adjusted the screen to one of the closed circuit cameras hidden in the lobby, and Megan watched the man standing before her with interest. He was more simply dressed this time, which pleased Megan greatly. Vampires in capes were so overdone these days, and she had a hard time taking anyone who wore one seriously. Still, she had managed to do a bit of research since his last visit, and had to admit it was an interesting life he led, capes or not.
"Thank you MARI," she finally said. "Show him up please."
Megan cleared her monitor with a tap of her finger, leaned back in her chair, and waited patiently for Aron to arrive.
"Greetings Mr. Swiftwood, my name is MARI," the woman announced. "Ms. Björn is waiting for you in the penthouse suite. Please follow the floor panels to the executive elevator, it will take you to her direct."
The floor panel at Aron's feet ignited into a soft blue glow, followed in suit by other panels that seemed to snake off around the corner of the lobby and out of sight.
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He followed the blue lights and stepped into the elevator. Megan was an interresting woman from what he'd been able to find out, older and more powerful than himself. The question of wether she was more cunning was about to be answered.
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"Mr. Swiftwood, so good of you to come," she said, with diplomatic tone. "Again, I must apologize for being unable to see you until now. I have had a great many things to attend to as of late."
She stood in the darkness, sporting a coy half smile. Candles lit sparsely along the walls bounced shadows across her form. The room itself was sensuously decorated, with black leather sofas and dark wood furniture. There was a full bar on one end, and on the other, massive windows stretched from corner to corner, giving an expansive view of the glowing metropolis below.
"I trust your stay in our city thus far has been... enjoyable?"Â?
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"Miss Björn, a pleasure to finally meet you in person" he said with a smile. "No need to apologize, I fully understand"
Aron focused his powers on Megan, allowing him at least a tiny glimpse behind that cool exterior. He fuly expected her to be doing the same, chances were a good deal of his thoughts were ringing out very clearly in her mind at this moment. Still, what he found was startling. Not that he showed on the outside, he could've found a newly turned transvestite without as much as raising an eyebrow, but any creature this old was bound to give any empath a sense of humbleness. Not usually Aron's strongest side.
"Well, my stay has been...interresting at least. Nachton is a rather different town than what I expected"
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Megan smiled at Aron and then drifted casually over to a nearby sofa, sinking blissfully into its plush folds; she simply adored the soft brush of Italian leather against her skin. Looking up at Aron, she crossed her legs, and motioned for him to come join her. There was something a little odd about this one, she could sense it even without the use of her gifts. Surprisingly, she found first impressions much more valuable when she didn't dip her fingers into the other's head-- Megan had read enough faces in her lifetime not to need much more than that to size someone up. After all, how one presented themselves outwardly told a great deal about who they were on the inside, and through all the decorum and style, there was something Aron was hiding. She looked forward to finding out what it was.
"Won't you come sit with me, and tell me what draws you so far from home?"Â?
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"Well...lack of thought really..." he sighed. "It turns out that when you stay in one place for a couple of centuries, people get fairly suspicious. Neighbours can easily ignore such things, but the amount of government officials curious about why a manor doesn't change owner, has been on a steady rise the last 50 years. It quite simply became to much bother staying at home. I expect I shall return at some point under a different name, but for now Nachton will be my home"
He noticed that she was not an unpleasent sight to behold at all. It would've been easy to fall into those eyes of hers. Something in the back of his head informed him that she had 8 times his own experience in seduction, and falling into those eyes would probably leave him with as much free will as an Anantya slave. Something turned out to be May.
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She adjusted her body position to get more comfortable, and then brushed a strand of her curly red hair away from her eyes. The way Aron had been looking at her hadn't escaped Megan's notice. On the contrary, she knew very well the effect she had on men, both humans and vampires alike. She had learned, over the span of her extended lifetime, to hone many skills. Her sexuality was no different. It was a tool, like any other; applied correctly, it would yield the expected result.
"I'm delighted that you've resolved to make our city your home,"Â? she said, offering the warmest of smiles. "Even if it is just temporary, as you say."Â?
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Aron could feel her playing him like a violin. She was doing a very good job, this was not the way he had envisioned it all. Aron liked to be, and usually was, in complete control of himself. She was making him loose it, and the worst part was she knew it.
"Focus!
May's voice had the effect of a bucket of icewater. Refreshing and chilly.
"Thank you dear..." he whispered.
"Well, temporary might be half a century...might be a whole. It would depend on how succesful my other activities in this town turn out to be"
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"Other activities you say?"Â? she asked, her eyes never leaving his. "Oh, do tell me, how does a vampire like yourself fill his nights?"Â?
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"Alas not always with such interresting company as the current" he said with a smile. "I have been trying to get into the rather interresting buisness life this city has to offer. The new cultural house has potential if I can get in on it before they finish it. Alas so far I've been unable to reach the people behind it"
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Megan moved to get up, and then stopped herself, turning back to Aron with an apologetic smile.
"I was about to go fix myself a drink, can I offer you something?"
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Looking up at Megan he pondered for a moment before answering.
"Well...a glass of sherry if you have it? Otherwise soda and scotch will be fine"
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With the bar before her, Megan opened a pair of mahogany cabinet doors, and ran her fingers over the labels of several bottles of liquor. She drew out a bottle of sherry, holding it up to the nearby candle light. Carsebridge, vintage 1960. Good year, she thought to herself as she produced a glass and poured Aron his drink. For herself, she mixed a martini, adding just a thimble of blood from a freshly chilled bottle she had delivered earlier that evening. She dropped an olive in and wiggled her way back to the couch, handing Aron his sherry before reclaiming her seat beside him.
"So,"Â? she said, taking a sip of her drink. "You still haven't told me what it is you do, Mr. Swiftwood."Â?
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"Wrong path Aron, focus"
He took a sip of the excellent sherry before answering her question.
"Well...I'm a simple tradesman. Mainly information, but just about anything as long as it's not overly imoral. I also happen to own a bit of land, a few companies and such... But ofcourse you know these things, I'm not an overly secret man"
"Liar...the last three attempts to estimate your assets weren't even within 50 million pound sterling of what you actually own"
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"I'm not sure modesty becomes you Mr. Swiftwood,"Â? Megan said, casually plucking the olive from her drink and sucking the gin off it before popping it in her mouth.
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"And if you continue that line of thought, you deffinetly will be. Vampire or not, she is just a woman, using the same tricks women have for the last one million years"
"I find it is more becomming to be modest and being able to act on what you say, than brag and fall through. But then again, I am British...."
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There was a sadness in her eyes when she spoke, as though the memory were a painful one. In those days she was still young, and couldn't help but feel sympathy for those who struggled to remain free of Roman rule. She had feared that someday the Empire might march across her native land, burning villages and enslaving her people. The failure to seize the British isle had given her hope, but when even they succumbed to the might of Rome, the fall of the rest of the world seemed all but inevitable. She had still been very much attached to her humanity then, and it pained her deeply to think of her people in chains.
"It took Rome the better half of a century to claim Brittania,"Â? she went on. "Your people were fierce then, untamed; they turned Caesar from their shores not once, but three times. I often wonder what happened to that raw passion, if your kind would have evolved differently had they never been conquered."Â?
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By the way, did you know I have been able to track our clan back to Denmark as early as the year 400?"
He had indeed. There was now little doubt in his mind that the stories of the danish elves had originated from vampires, judging by the nature of the stories most were certainly Evenhet. For years he had been wishing to find a vampire old enough to confirm his suspicion. He hoped Megan was able to answer his question.
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Saying the idea was merely unpopular was somewhat of an understatement. As Megan recalled, the council had solemnly forbidden her from taking action. Humans were food, nothing more, and it was dangerous to consider them otherwise. Megan entertained very few regrets, but one of them was that she had respected their decision for nearly four centuries before abandoning tradition and walking a divergent path. The correct path, she thought to herself. Evenhet's financial success alone is testament to that.
As her mind drifted back to the present, she couldn't help but be impressed with Aron's interest in clan history. Though he may not have known it, he had managed to trace back to a time when Evenhet was little more then a whisper behind closed doors.