Simplicity is in the blood (Iota)

[baroquest]

A glance to the clock was all that Erica needed as she stepped into the ornate, Penthouse elevators that stood near the far corner of the floor. She combed a couple of strands of dark hair back and out of her face, before she pressed one of the only two numerical buttons available and signaled the doors to close. It was a short trip in the penthouse elevator, just enough time for the dark haired woman to put a few pieces of loose leaf that she was holding into the large black case she held in her other hand. It had been an exceptionally long day, and Erica wore that fact plainly on her fair features, which looked as close to her true age as they were likely to get without a bit of deprivation from the one vice the world held for her. When the doors slid open once again, Erica had shaken the weary look from her face and instead looked ahead with a focused look. The day had been long, even for one of her unusual vitality, but she wasn't about to let a few extra hours get her down, especially not with who she was making her way to see.

She drifted through the corridors with silence, even though she wore inch high heels on the fine tile floor, and a practiced familiarity born from the thousands upon thousands of visits she had made to that particular apartment. Erica didn't even need to guess as to where her destination lay, even though her visit wasn't exactly played upon an invitation.

With a glance up and down the long corridor, Erica made one last turn towards a pair of large doors, which she knocked lightly upon and then took a hold of the handle with her free hand. She waited a couple of seconds, and then pushed the door smoothly open a crack. Just far enough to spy a tall man who stood at the far side of the large room on the other side. A desk stood between Erica, a desk to which his back was faced.
"Good evening, Mr. Hartford." Erica said respectfully, as she pushed the door open the remainder of the way. One might have thought she was being overly polite with someone she was so familiar with, but they would have been wrong. If it had been her intention to be polite, Erica wouldn't have even opened the door, and would have waited to be invited in. "I see you're taking a break. I hope this is not a bad time." once or twice, she'd come across him when he was dealing with a matter than he needed a bit of privacy to think about. Such situations always involved the brooding stare out the topmost window of the Empire State's Building.

[Iota]

Julian spent his time going over various emails and sorting out a variety of accounts, micro-managing the city was never a light task but he had been doing it for 40 odd years and successfully too. It had become his nightly routine when he woke from his slumber, to have his 'breakfast' (which was a fine blood wine from various high class establishments) then to respond to the several dozen emails and phone messages, this way he would have the remainder of his time to himself and be ready for anyone who had a problem or simply any kindred who needed to speak with the Prince of New York.

He could sense and smell the arrival of his favoured ghoul. He had known her for almost one hundred years now and she played an instrumental role in Julian's rise to power and his untouchable height he has arisen to. Erica, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, Erica, all the beautiful sounds in the world in a single word, Erica. If Julian were human, he would undoubtedly be head over heels in love with her. But Julian rarely showed any type of emotion, despite if it ate away what was left of his humanity. He would let Erica do as she pleases, with justification.

"Ah, Erica.." Julian sighed softly "No matter if it is an arranged meeting or if you come unannounced, it is always a pleasure to see you, my dear." Julian smiled softly before turning around to face Erica "Is it that time of the month again, to share my blood with you? or is something ailing you?" julian nodded slightly as he spoke, he held out his hand, pointing it at one of the chairs in front of the desk "Please.. have a seat."

[baroquest]

When she was not immediately turned away, Erica continued slowly into the room. With her case held in both hands, she stood before Julian's desk while he spoke to her and let his words broaden the modest smile that almost always seemed to be on her lips. She moved back when he offered her a seat and gladly took it, before she rested her case against the side of the chair.

"It is..." She replied with a nod. The last few months had been a true test of Erica's stamina, during which she had kept up with all her usual duties as well as assumed a few minor projects of her own, most of which had required her almost constant attention. Indeed, she usually spoke to Julian well in advance about when might be best for the two of them to indulge her monthly habit, so as to avoid anything unbecoming taking place at a very inopportune time. Erica had failed to seek out her benefactor once before, and ended up looking like a fifty year old woman in the few hours it took for Julian to rise from his daily sleep. He'd been quick to inform her of the consequences that might have taken place due to her refusal to wake him, and they were no less severe than rapidly aging five decades in a matter of hours. The signs of her deprivation were already beginning to show, in fact, though they were deathly subtle when they first began. A twenty something with crows feet was odd but not entirely unheard of, after all.

Erica felt no sense of urgency though, and didn't press the issue more than a couple of words of acknowledgment. Instead, she decided to check to see if the rumor mill she set up was effective.
"I've heard that a kindred broke Elysium." She said testingly, as she gathered up her case and pried it open. It was a strange way to break the ice, but Erica was honestly curious as to whether such a thing could be true.

[Iota]

Julian took his place on his throne in the disguise of his executive office chair, he sat up straight with his hands cupped resting on the desk. He hadn't actually noticed the crows feet that had appeared next to Erica's eyes. He did have other things on his mind afterall.

"Yes, quite.... A kindred who should of known better.." Julian shook his head slightly as he thought for a moment "They broke Elysium in Ziva's club.. that Assamite who parades about like she owns the place.. it is almost 'cute'" Julian smirked softly "No doubt she will be annoyed that i had the audicity to put her domain under camarilla protection.. it is an honour, if anything.. still, with the tremere about, a lone Assamite wouldn't stand a chance who lives in the middle of the city..but there you go" Julian amused himself for a moment before pouring himself a glass of blood wine, a bag he had taken out from a mini refrigderator under his desk. He took a sip from the glass before he sighed "Still, this violation will not go unpunished and the Tremere shall be dealt with accordingly."

Julian casually rose from his seat and walked over to the fire place with his drink in hand. "How is the deal with the senator going? politicians.. very corruptable and the camarilla inner circle would relish the chance to have another senator in their pockets... i assume he liked the gift i sent him?" Julian spoke as he looked deep into the fire place with no real emotion in his voice.

[baroquest]

Erica nodded her head, though the response that she had gotten to her rather vague inquiry yielded an oddly accurate response. Ziva's club was something that Erica had been looking into actually, out of interest for Julian. Ziva and the Prince had something of a history, a history that the century old dilettante had always considered to be to the disadvantage of her benefactor. Erica had spent a good number of years absolutely destroying her own and Julian's pasts for that exact reason actually, to render a decades old contingency moot and leave Ziva rightfully powerless against her rightful Prince.
"If worst came to worse..." She offered with a calm smile while she followed her benefactor's path across the room with her eyes, "It would not be hard at all for a club with the Hidden Blade's history to run into some financial difficulty." especially after Erica gave the IRS an anonymous tip. "Perhaps Ziva does not realize how much she needs the Camarilla."

Erica smiled at the thought of reporting Ziva's business practices to the IRS, specifically the little incident of her bouncing the club between alias. Her method was sloppy, even by human standards, and it would have been so frightfully easy to pin her with Tax Evasion or Ownership Fraud if the whim ever struck her. There was obviously the issue of Ziva finding out who was behind her sudden rush of business trouble, but Erica had been making such things happen for nearly a century, and business busting just so happened to be one of her specialties. Even some Assamite who thought she was good enough to boss the Prince around could be put in her place with a few well placed phone calls.

"He has been... Resistant, Mr. Hartford..." Erica replied rather simply on the subject of the senator. The politician in question was new to office and while both Erica and Julian had contributed to his rise to power, he was under the strange impression that he didn't owe them anything in return. "But I have noticed that a good deal of the Senator's government income is going to a small massage parlor in Manhattan." it was frighteningly obvious as to what Erica was implying with such a statement, and the knowing sound in her voice confirmed that said Massage Parlor was not the kind of place any government official wanted his money associated with. She didn't even need to say it out loud. The parlor itself had a history of what one might call 'Significant Business Practice Grievances' which was Erica's own special code for 'Illegal front that wasn't good at hiding what it really did'. Specifically, this particular parlor had already spoken to the worker's relations board about the numerous underaged employees it had.

[Iota]

Julian took a sip from his blood wine as Erica spoke. To a Ventrue, a mind like Erica's is of the same calibre of that a master painter or musician is to the Toreador. The Prince stared deep into the flames, his right arm leaning against the top of the fire place. "We'll keep those cards pertaining to Ziva's lack of business knowledge quite close to our chest, for now.. if she decides to do anything that i disapprove of, then we shall remind her of her place." Julian turned his head towards Erica, she sat infront of his desk with grace and elegance. An unsuspecting person who knew how to manipulate some one. She is a Ventrue through and through and she is not even a vampire. Quite a remarkable feat indeed. Some would say that Erica is Julian's greatest investment.

"Yes, the senator.. remind him of how he got to where he is and fax a copy of his reciepts to him directly too, if you would be so kind, my dear.." Julian nodded softly before finishing his drink and walking back over to his desk. and shuffled a few folders about and placed some objects into his desk drawer. "Now, for your gift.. as always, you have earned it.." Julian smiled, his vampiric teeth pertruding from his mouth as he smiled.

With his thumb on his left hand, Julian cut into his right wrist, blood slowly starting to drip from the incision, he got up from his chair and held out his arm about eye level to Erica, expecting her to place her mouth under his wrist as if she were drinking water from a tap.

[baroquest]

Erica slowly bowed her head when Julian passed his decision regarding the politician, though she didn't think that she would be following his instructions quite to the letter. The last thing that she wanted was to somehow link herself directly to the evidence that could be used to blackmail him, but there were other avenues available to let him know just how vulnerable his own vices made him. It would be an interesting project for Erica, in and amongst the other things that had demanded her focus of late.

Next, Julian was offering his blood to her, and praising her with it as a reward. Erica tried not to look too excited as her benefactor's wrist moved closer and would like to have said that she hadn't even noticed he was offering it to her. The truth, however, was that she had noticed not just the offer, but the motions and tell tale mannerisms that lead up to it. Subconsciously, she had been pining for the very moment when that familiar smell would touch her preternaturally sharp sense of smell. As she leaned forward, Erica loosely grasped Julian's arm and settled her lips in around the wound, with as much composure and modesty as she could afford herself while suckling the morbid nectar. The facade fractured quickly however, as the human's eyes drifted happily closed and her whole posture relaxed. The wave of relief and euphoria Julian's blood brought was just what she needed after such a long day.

Unfortunately, Erica's attention was snapped harshly back to reality when the starting cords of 'Music of the Night' filled the still air of Julian's office. Swallowing the last of her benefactor's blood, the small woman reluctantly pulled away turned her attention upon the case in her lap, the origin of the muffled musical tone. She sighed and, with an apologetic glance to Julian, snapped the case open with restraint to actually breaking the expensive carry on when she did so. The welling frustration subsided somewhat after only a few moments, but Erica loathed to be interrupted while she was feeding. Nothing could be crueler. She fished out a small phone, which she had purposefully buried in her case before she got to the Empire State Building, which continued to loop the operatic melody. If the phone was playing 'Music of the Night', it was important.

Erica's eyes flicked to Julian when she spotted the origin of the message on the phone's screen but, otherwise, her stoic expression remained the same, with only a touch of exasperation upon slightly furrowed brows. She brushed some hair out of her face with her other hand and offered a quiet sigh.
"There is an urgent email waiting for you, Mr. Hartford." Erica offered, perhaps the hopes of explaining why her phone was going off at nearly eleven at night. "Sent by Leif..." She added. Leif was an Nosferatu whom often lent his services to Julian's dealings with the Kindred world. Services one would expect a Nosferatu to provide. In recent nights, most of his dealings had been through Erica however, using his particular talents to dig up information on the various interests she was investigating. This particular email on her phone, however, was not addressed to her but Julian and had instead been forwarded to her, as all the Urgent emails he received would be if he was indisposed.
"Shi got himself into a bit of trouble tonight." Erica went on, though her quickly moving eyes revealed that she was still going through the finer details contained in the email. Leif, while as unpleasant a kindred as she had ever had to deal with, was very thorough when he thought he could get rewarded for something. "Apparently he was in an altercation with a small group of attackers near the docks," Erica decided to give a somewhat abridged version, since Julian was almost certainly going to read the email himself, "At least one of them was kindred, and used 'shadow magic'." The way she said it made it clear that Erica wasn't immediately familiar with what 'shadow magic' was. It sounded like the kind of thing a Nosferatu would use...

[Iota]

Julian retracted his wrist when enough blood was drunk by Erica. He turned, wiped his wrist with a cloth he took out from his pocket and procced to pour another glass of blood wine to balance out the blood lost in the feeding. He sat backdown behind his desk, his eyes closed for a moment. Still, the silence did not remain all too long as the popular song from 'Phantom of the Opera' played. Quite a fitting song in a sense. One of which that Julian actually liked hearing, despite the consequences of the song playing from Erica's hand held device.

"Shadow magic..." Julian sighed softly "only two clans that use that sort of discipline.. one of which would not make such an..." Julian paused for a moment as he raised his right eyebrow "Suicidal move.." Julian sipped from his glass before shaking his head slightly "That leaves the Assamites.." Julian stood up from his chair and walked over to the bay windows, he stood with his arms interlinked behind his back in a regal manner "Shi would not be in trouble.. he has fought tougher opponents and was victorious.." Julian stared down to the streets, the kine and kindred below almost the size of ants, if not smaller. "Send the Nosferatu to spy on all the assamites in the city and to Albany too. There aren't many.. they are almost extinct as it is.." Julian took sighed again, he had no need to, just one of the quirks that he kept to help him remind him of his humainty to an extent. "Consider Elysium on Ziva's club revoked.." He simply stated in a cold, calm collected manner.

[baroquest]

"With all due respect..." Erica said simply, a phrase that quite comonly preceded most any contrary thing that the aged human said to her vampiric benefactor, "I would consider any assault made upon Shi to be disconcerting, regardless of whether or not the attackers actually managed to hurt him." Shi, Julian's weapon of mass destruction, was the ultimate effect of the Prince flexing his muscles, and his services were only ever used in extreme cases, such as lawlessness in the face of the Camarilla's basic edicts. The fact that anyone in the city would have the gall to attack him outright struck her as incredibly disresepctful to Julian's rule, a for of treachery and subversion that simply could not be tolerated. Maybe Erica just took the matter far more seriously than her confident benefactor...

She paused for a moment after that, as she readied to dial a number on her phone, and cast her hazel eyes in Julian's direction. Something he had said had just struck her. Asamite was not a clan she was familiar with, but then she had never been formally versed on the different clans and only knew the proper name for three of them, though she did know the slang names for a number of others.
"Asamites, Mr. Hartford?" Erica asked respectfully, her tone a clear indication of the confusion the name summoned.

Erica raised the phone to her ear and after a moment, spoke simply into it, with a confident and commanding air as though she were speaking to an obvious subordinate, though she maintained the respectful tone she always held.
"Good evening Mr. Shade..." She began while she watched Julian out the corner of her eye. Erica never adressed the Nosferatu she knew by name over the phone.
"Well enough, thank you, and yourself? Glad to hear it... The reason for my call, The Prince has asked that you and yours keep an eye on the Asamites in and around New York until further notice." Erica paused after that, and the sudden sharpness in her eyes betrayed that the Nosferatu on the other line was doing what such kindred did best, aside from spy and skulk that is. He was bargaining.
"I'm aware of how many monitors that would require." another few moments of silence, and Erica's stoic expressions knitted into a frustrated frown, slight though it might have been, "Mr. Shade, I respect the manpower and resources required, but I'm afraid that your involvement is not negotiable at this time. You will be compensated as The Prince see's fit, which will be handsomely should you serve him well. I can promise you that much."

Erica fell silent and a smile faded across the frown she had held only moments before.
"Yes, I can see how that might impact your effectiveness. Consider such illegitimacies taken care of. Report any of your findings directly to the Prince. I will contact you in the usual fashion before the end of the week." something about the way she said that particular sentence seemed to suggest that she had expected to pay a much greater price than what she had just agreed to.
"Thank you, and yourself as well." Erica said finally, before she closed the phone and placed it back in her case. She then looked up at her benefactor with that smile of hers and closed the case in her lap.

[Iota]

Julian took a sip from his glass, he remained silent for the time being until those words "with all due respect.." Julian had been known to execute ghouls and kindred alike who dared try to speak to him in such a manner, luckily for Erica, he had some what of a soft spot. He replied with out looking at her "The Sheriff is not the only card i hold to my chest.. there is something that you haven't even noticed that i have in my possession that could do as much damage as the sheriff." Julian stared at his computer screen for a moment, staying rather stoic and emotionless "The Sheriff is a survivor, win or lose he shall not die as he can disappear as fast as he can materialise infront of you.. i trust in his abilities and the traitors shall either perish or run for the hills." Julian nodded slightly.

The Prince stood up from his chair, never quite content staying in one position for long. He made his way over to his piano, he sat on the chair and lifted the lid before gliding his fingers over the keys, not pressing hard enough to make a noise, just to feel the keys. After a few seconds, he proceed to play "Moonlight Sonata" byLudwiv Van Beethoven. His most favoured song, a song he would play when he had a lot on his mind, to sooth the inner beast with in, as it were.

He proceed to speak shortly after Erica finished her telephone conversation "Assamites.." Julian laughed softly, under his breath. "Hunters, assasins or soldiers of fortune, if you will..." Julian continued to play his song, swaying his head softly to the tune of the music "Not many of them about in this day and age, they are usually disgarded or fall victim to an 'accident' when they are no longer needed.. watch what you say around them.." julian had his eyes closed by now as he continued to play his song.

[baroquest]

Erica's features didn't so much as crease when Julian replied to her, which was a feat in and of itself when one considered that he had actively avoiding acknowledging the observations that she'd made. It was mostly due to the fact that she didn't like questioning what her benefactor said, not in the slightest, and was aware of how little he cared for it too. Julian was brilliant in the eyes of her and she understood the way that he thought which meant she could often see the logic in what he did. The one other thing she could hardly tolerate on the other hand was that someone would attack the sheriff, arguably Julian's best held weapon. Often the sheriff's arrival was enough to subdue kindred, and the fact that someone would attack Shi displayed incredible contempt for the Prince. Something told her that Julian understood that point, however, though that didn't quite relieve how jilted his complete disregard of her input was.

Erica's expression did change when Julian described the Assamites though. While she was relieved that there was a reason that she had never heard of the clan, the description she was given of their preferred talents was even more distressing. Kindred did not tend to stray from the the statutes of their clan and bloodline, so it was fair to assume that a member of a dying clan of gifted assassins would be a gifted assassin. Erica sent a worried look in Julian's direction, though it would likely go unnoticed with his attention upon his piano.
"I see, thank you for the explanation..." Erica said quietly, her mouth suddenly quite dry, as she hoisted the case off of her lap and slowly rose to her feet. Though her duties for the day seemed to have, once again, wrapped themselves up, she felt as though she would not be sleeping that night. Feeding often brought such a feeling of restlessness with it, as did worry, both of which she had enjoyed that night, happily and ironically respectively.
"Mr. Hartford..." Erica said, her voice quiet as though she were tentative to speak over the sound of the Moonlight Sonata. "Would you like me to organize some enforcers to deliver the news to Ziva?" Such a thing could have easily been delegated to another subordinate, but it was somewhat apparent that Erica was seeking a reason to be kept awake. In all her one hundred years, Erica had rarely been content with sitting idle.

[Iota]

Erica was somewhat troubled, Julian new this, he barely even needed to look at her to realise this. "The Assamite will no doubt know of what occured, things like this would not go unnoticed by her kind. So, if you are intent on talking to her, take what she says with a pinch of salt and act as if what she tells you is the truth.. undoubtedly she will in all likelihood deny to knowing anything about the incident. I also doubt she would admit to it either, if she knew what was good for her." Julian finlly came to a halt playing his favourite song on his piano which was the same age as the empire state building but kept in a very good condition as it always looked new.

"Take a Cotorie of kindred with you" Julian nodded softly as he lowered the case of the piano over the keys and getting out of his seat. A few moments had passed as he wondered over to Erica. Using the back of his right hand, he gently stroke the side of Erica's right cheek as he tilted his head to the side slightly and smiled to her. "Be careful, my dear.."

[baroquest]

Julian's advice couldn't have been more typical nor appropriate given the situation as Erica understood it. It seemed the nature of the Kindred was to act one way while harboring an agenda or assumption that was the utter opposite, though that was something you got used to after about fifty years. She'd even become pretty good at it herself, though she wasn't nearly as good nor practiced as her benefactor. It was unfair of some of his insubordinate subjects to call Julian two-faced, but he must have had the knack to get to such a seat of power.

Erica bowed her head when she was instructed to get a group of kindred together, though she suspected they would be serving as more of a deterrent than actual retainers.
"Thank you, Mr. Hartford." She said, as she knew he was thinking of her safety. Her hazel eyes drifted part ways closed when his hand touched her cheek, and her expression softened considerably. Erica knew she wasn't herself, that she was exhausted well beyond the capacity of a mere mortal, but the modest reminder of what it was that she was a part of soothed her anxieties somewhat. It was seldom that she and Julian were blatantly affectionate with one another due to Erica's polite upbringing and the Prince's station, or so she assumed, but it was nice to be reminded that he cared about her in such a simple gesture.
"I will be. Don't worry about me." Erica, who looked as though she might fall asleep with her head rested into Julian's hand, replied softly. Despite herself, she then reached up and softly took a hold of her benefactor's hand, to pull it from her face and hold it in her grasp for a few moments. She needed him to stop if she had any hope of doing what he had asked of her.
"I'll send word of any developments as they happen." the small woman told the Prince as she stepped slowly away and let his hand fall out of her's, right before she lifted her case and made her way towards the doors.

With one last wave and a strangely youthful smile towards her prince, the young looking woman shut the doors to Julian's office behind her. It was going to be a long night for Erica Rockefeller, and the smile she wore on her lips let the whole underworld know she wouldn't have it any other way.