A Proposal ... Who: Ben & Lilith Where: Avarice When: Thursday evening
Entering Avarice, the vampire cast her light gray eyes around the club, watching its patrons until she spotted her quarry at the bar. Well, her sources were telling the truth of his appearance; Benjamin Bale was certainly easy on the eye. A little ... soft looking for Lilith's tastes, but she wasn't here for that.
As she made her way to the bar, Lilith registered the stares and glances she got by both genders alike. And why not? With flawless pale skin, dark painted lips, pale red shadow on her eyes along with a cropped turtleneck shirt in black, matching jeans, and steel-toed boots, the vampire was a knockout. Neon pink hair was pulled back into a ponytail, revealing the spiked piercings that protruded from either side of the bridge of her nose, the staple a bit lower on her nose, and a pair of snake bites just above her upper lip.
Sliding onto a bar stool next to Ben, she caught the slightly pregnant bartender's attention and ordered a glass of red. Then, without preamble, Lilith turned to the club owner with a greeting, "Hello, Benjamin." There was a slight pause as she smiled, revealing fangs, "I have a business proposal for you."
"Well..." Ben looked over at her, grinning laviciously (he diiiiid love him some vamp women) and winking to her. "If it involves me, you, and possibly handcuffs and chains? I'm all ears."
The vampire threw her head back in a laugh, her British accented voice replying, "Sorry, love. Not that kind of proposal. Although, you will be all ears with this one as well. It involves your League." The bartender arrived with her glass of wine, which Lilith thanked the girl and took a sip from, waiting on Ben.
Ben perked up there, not surprised as most demons and such in the area knew about (and supported!) it. "The SFA? Well... then by all means, what's this idea of yours?" He was intrigued, as he'd never had anyone approach him about the league before in a business capacity.
"What would you say if I told you, that I can guarantee you one additional fighter and possibly half a dozen or more fighters. And" She emphasized the And, "Eliminate some of your competition?"
"...I would say, without a second thought, that it's something I'm very interested in exploring." Ben knew better than to jump too quickly at anything. He was young, and eager... but never stupid.
"Perhaps it would sweeten the pot if you knew that you wouldn't have to pay the one fighter?" A finely manicured brow arched in silent inquiry.
"That's irrelevant." Ben stated quickly. "Money is not an issue. I want to hear more about this fighter, and what you mean, exactly, by eliminating competition."
Lilith waited while she sipped her wine, gathering her thoughts a moment before smiling again, "Well, what I have to say will more than likely seal the deal. I have it on good authority that this other ... league that you are competing against has this fighter, and others, held captive. Against their will. And ..." She paused, purely for dramatic effect, to sip from her glass again, "... it is your king, who I believe has been missing for the past 30 years?" Her smile widened, revealing fangs again, "Wouldn't you just love to ... take care of ... the ones who kidnapped him?"
"Edmund...." Ben's eyes widened, and he had a look of disbelief on his face. He'd often suspected this "king" to be a thing of legend, something wolfen parents used to strike fear into their children.
"Indeed, yes. Edmund." Her demeanor had gone from amicable to serious as they discussed the Lycan king. Lilith's pale features were carefully blank as she continued, "Edmund is ... someone of value to me and I am quite unhappy with those that took him. It has taken me 30 years to find him." Her light gray gaze hardened, "I will not let them escape again."
"Screw competition... tell me where he is, and my entire family will back me in freeing him." Ben was staring directly into her eyes, all pretense of negotiations gone.
Lilith was quite taken aback by Ben's reaction that she was speechless for a moment. She had anticipated that the Lycan would be soft-hearted enough to free him and the others ... but not this much. This will be better than I planned, she thought to herself, those thieving bastards will get what's coming to them and more if the whole Bale pack will free him. It took all of the vampire's will not to start laughing outright at the thought. "He, along with the other fighters, are located in the warehouse district. Building thirteen." Lilith drained the last of her wine and said, "I have one request of you when you go."
"That's fine. Because I have one request of you, also." Ben looked at her, fire and pure determination in his eyes. "You first."
The vampire, who was usually so composed and spoke properly, was completely out of character when she leaned forward. Her eyes bled to yellow, as if her features had morphed for feeding, yet her face remained as it always did. The same fire and determination reflected back at Ben, "I want the head of the one who took him on a silver platter."
Ben laughed, there. Actually laughed, right in her face. "Baby ... you'd be getting that even if it WASN'T a special request." The young werewolf smiled, but not his usual flirty smile... this was the smile of someone about to take revenge for generations of his family and many others like his. "Now ... my request. This other league. Let the fighters be. They can join mine if they want, or not. But don't harm them. The people running it, however ... I want them destroyed. Obliterated. Hell ... have fun with it"
Lilith's laughter was an echo of Ben's and she leaned back, "Oh, I knew I'd like you." The vampire chuckled some more.
He leaned in there, his face a visage of pure steel. "I know you have power... I can feel it. Sense it. So realize I'm not stupid enough to throw out threats at you. Just know that come hell or high water... if you betray me.... there won't be enough of you left to fill an ashtray."
The vampire sobered, "Oh, I would not dream of crossing you, little Benjamin. I want Edmund back just as much as you." She patted him on the shoulder, "Perhaps I undermined your king's value to me." Lilith leaned into Ben, murmuring in his ear, "Edmund has been at my side and I his for centuries. I would rather be dust in an ashtray, as you put it, than spend the rest of eternity without him. Is that assurance enough for you, little wolf?"
"Well then. I believe we have... an understanding." Ben grinned, cupping her chin without fear. "And for the record, dear... feel free to visit this establishment any time you wish.... hopefully next time will be for more... pleasurable reasons."
"Oh, no doubt about it." Lilith looked out to the rest of the club, "I'm sure Edmund will want to do his fair share of socializing after being locked up for so long." A soft smile curved her darkly painted lips, "He does love to go dancing ..." The vampire cleared her throat, looking back at Ben, "Of course, I mean proper dancing. Not this dry humping shite you young people do these days." Light gray eyes narrowed at Ben.
"Believe me, gorgeous. When I want to 'hump', I don't don't need the pretense of dancing to do it." He gave her that lazy grin that drove most girls crazy. "Think about that one."
She turned her gaze away, her back to the counter, arms draped across it. There was an amused smile on her lips as she answered, "Sorry, love, I'm spoken for." A dubious glance was given to Ben, "Last I heard, you were as well."
"A lie, a hurtful, blasphemous lie."Ben said with a laugh. "Me? Spoken for? Please."
One of her finely shaped brows quirked, "Really? You and the little Slayer are no longer together? Pity."
"What can I say? She couldn't hande who I really am." He left it at that, as Faith was still... a sore subject.
"Surprising. For a Slayer." After a moment of silence, Lilith inquired, "When will I hear from you regarding Edmund?"
"Tomorrow morning, I want to see, on paper, everything you know about where he's being held. As soon as I get that, we will take care of the rest." He stood, crossing his arms. "It's as simple as that."
Moving off the bar stool, Lilith turned to Ben, "One of my day time associates will have everything you need." From the back pocket of her black jeans, she held out an ivory colored business card. It has a dark red border and the name "Eden" was printed in the same dark red with flowing script. The background held a faded out red apple along with the address, "Come to this location in the morning."
"Believe me.... I will be there." He laughed wickedly, swiftly folding the card into his pants pocket.
"Excellent. Then we have an accord?" She held out her hand to him.
"We do." he shook her hand, wondering how things would go from this point on.