Tanith (silverwhip) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2011-08-13 18:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-08-19, tanith, treat |
You're a what?
Who: Treat and Tanith (maybe Eztli, who knows with that damn cat)
When: Midday
Where: Mostly Anywhere but Here
It was exactly three weeks today since Tanith had gotten a good night’s sleep. Three weeks to the day since Alistair had been taken and given to Angeline. Tanith was far too suspicious to write that off as a mere coincidence. It didn’t add up though. It wasn’t like she felt guilty. She certainly wasn’t losing sleep because she felt bad for the piece of shit. She’d been the one that had wanted to kill him outright. Still did.
She would sleep, but never feel rested. When she woke, she felt certain that she was being watched. That she wasn’t alone. And that just wasn’t possible. Her room was so heavily warded that the cleaning staff wouldn’t even walk near her door. She’d even grown so desperate that she’d allowed that fucking cat to start sleeping in her room. It was no good. Something was wrong. Tanith grew increasingly frustrated with each passing night. Today, she decided it was time to do something about it.
After her last client of the day, Tanith went to her room to call Treat. She hadn’t spoken to him since their lunch... thing, but she knew he was involved with anti-vampire organizations. That was a good start. I’m going to regret this, she told herself, and with a sigh, she dialed his number.
Treat had begun to start practicing law again. He didn’t have to, but it was the more prudent decision. He couldn’t live off his trust fund forever and it was a matter of pride to him. He’d gotten a small office and started his own practice. He didn’t want partners or anything of the sort. All he needed was two independent contractors that served as paralegals and a cleaning service. He had shifted his focus to estate planning, which proved to be a relatively profitable source of income in Scarlet Oak. Midday found him looking over a client’s will that the old lady wanted changed. It was her desire to disinherit all her children and leave all her money to her 16-year old cat on kidney dialysis. Treat shrugged. The cat was going to die before the old lady, most like. People were strange.
His cellphone rang. He ignored it. He was expecting it to be Cameron. Calling about something completely asinine. He tried to focus on his brief, but his eyes kept flicking to his phone. What the hell. He reached over and looked at the number. He didn’t recognize it. Contemplating letting it go to voicemail, Treat reconsidered. There was a select number of people that knew his number. It was probably important. He pressed the answer button and held the phone up to his ear. “Lorimer,” he said into the phone. “This better be important.” He wasn’t being rude as far as he was concerned. Everyone who had this phone line should know better than to call him at work unless Bad Things were happening.
Tanith had half a mind to hang up on him. Actually, it took every ounce of self-control not to. “You’re much more polite when talking to a cat,” she responded, voice dry. “Should I put the furry bastard on?” She didn’t think that would work, actually. If familiars communicated telepathically, phones were out of the question - but dammit, she had to say something sarcastic. “Tanith Beckett,” she said, in case the cat thing wasn’t enough to remember her by. “You and a large feline harassed me into lunch one day. Perhaps you recall?”
Treat actually recognized the voice immediately. The mention of that gorgeous kitty cat was only additional information. He had a head for this sort of thing. Part of the job and what not. He twirled his pen in hand as he let her finish. He’d learned very quickly that talking over someone, especially on the phone was completely pointless. When she pause to let him speak, he smiled to himself. “The cat I remember, the lady is a little more hazy. I do remember a rather attractive, rather naked blonde,” Treat responded. That lunch had been interesting enough. Tanith disliked vampires. Lookie, something they had in common. He’d been surprised. Then again, everyone needed to hate vampires. People who enjoyed their company had issues. Real issues.. “Did you want that second date, lovely?”
Oh, yes. There was that regret chiming in. She’d made it a whole ten seconds though. Tanith sighed, and shot Eztli a dirty look when he started to look too amused. In the end, she decided to ignore the question and launch into what she wanted in the first place. “You mentioned that you work with a certain sort of political organization,” she said. She wasn’t about to say exactly what it was, not here. She didn’t trust anyone in this building in even the slightest way. Certain things were better left unmentioned in vampire brothels. “I would like to meet with you and talk a little more about that. Is that something you would be open to?”
Treat’s face took a more serious expression as she mentioned Cameron’s organization. “Tanith, darling, you don’t need to create excuses to ask me out again. All you have to do is ask. I could never say no to you. Just say when and where,” he clicked the pen open and poised it over his appointment book, ready to write down wherever she wanted to meet. He’d sort of fallen out of Calvert’s movements recently, trying to focus on recreating his life and his image. Still, if Tanith had some vampire that needed extermination, he was willing to assist. If it was any other issue, he’d have to refer her back to Cameron. He put his pen down as his fingers twitched. “Just say the word, beautiful.”
Tanith grit her teeth, trying to ignore the fact that she would have loved nothing more than to bash her head against the wall. This is ridiculous. Independent vampire hunting would serve me much better. Though she knew that wasn’t really true. In fact, the idea seemed a little suicidal, considering her employment. “As soon as possible,” she forced herself to say. “My schedule is very open.” Most of her clients were after the sun went down, or early in the morning. That worked out well enough.
“I’m at work right now,” he told her. Hey, a little truthfulness never hurt anybody. Just as long as it was only a little. “Anywhere downtown would be convenient for me.” Treat half-expected a place completely out of his way. It was weird she was being so agreeable. He concluded she needed something. His fingers twitched again. Vampire extermination. “I can be ready in half an hour.” He paused. “And stop pretending to be so acquiescent. It’s not you and it’s kind of weirding me out.” Another pause. “Put the cat on the phone and then I’ll believe you’re you and not some weird shapeshifter or possessed demoniac.”
That actually made Tanith grin. “Well, at least there’s been something in this for me then,” she mused, sounding pretty damn amused with that idea. “Anywhere But Here. Seedy bar that looks diseased.” Tanith hated to go there herself, but people minded their own damn business in a place like that. “If you want to see the cat so much, you’ll just have to be there.” And with that, she hung up.
”Are you quite pleased with yourself?” Eztli asked.
“...Yes, actually,” Tanith answered. She felt a little better. “Come on. You’re coming with.” She had the feeling Eztli would have liked to scold her, but he wasn’t going to argue - and risk not going after all.
Treat chuckled when Tanith pointed out that she’d gotten something out of it. “I live for your pleasure, darling,” he shrugged, even if she couldn’t see that. He wrote down the name of the pub. He’d heard about it but was unfamiliar with the location. “Half an hour, then,” he responded before letting her hang up. He put the brief away in his safe box, idling for a few minutes before using his phone to look up Anywhere but Here. Treat didn’t like “seedy” pubs. He took his jacket and tie off and loosened his cuffs before rolling them up. Everything about him would still give away the fact that he was too wealthy to be in a place like that without a specific purpose.
Nevertheless, it was time to go if he wanted to be on time. Getting into the car rental he had ended up leasing, he drove down to the neighborhood. He kind of stuck out. No, he really stuck out. Nevertheless, the gun pressed against his side was enough to keep him calm. He walked into the bar, trying to attract the least possible attention towards him. He took a seat by the bar so Tanith could spot him easily when she came in. He ordered a glass of water with a lime twist. He always kept a clear head when talking business. No exceptions.
Tanith elected to use one of the house’s drivers, which also amused her. Using the boss’s chauffeur to discuss destroying the customers. Said chauffeur looked less than thrilled with the idea of Eztli climbing in back, but the man was so terrified of Tanith that he kept his mouth shut. That was smart.
Eztli enjoyed the ride, and Tanith suspected he would have been whistling if he could have by the time they got there. Once they arrived, Tanith told the driver to wait, and took a peek in a dirty window to see if Treat was there or not. He was, and looking greatly uncomfortable. She smirked faintly. ”Oh, go in there and put him out of his misery.” Eztli urged, his tail thumping against the back of her leg. Tanith sighed. “Stay,” she told him, before walking in the door. The bartender nodded to her, recognizing her from the demon gatherings, but she mostly ignored him. Luckily, the place wasn’t that busy. It wasn’t the right time of day for things to get crowded.
She sat across from Treat without waiting to be invited - or before he could have a chance to try and be chivalrous or something equally ridiculous. “I take it you haven’t been mugged yet.”
Chivalry wasn’t quite Treat’s style, if he had known what Tanith was thinking. He turned to look at her when she sat down next to him. He smirked at her. “Just robbed of my breath looking at you, lovely,” he teased. “Would you like a private table?” he added, a little more seriously. If they were talking business, he wasn’t going to have this conversation with her at the bar. Bartenders were not on Treat’s list of people to trust. Bartenders at a creepy, dusty bar even less. He slid off his chair and allowed her to take the lead at selecting a table. They were meeting on her terms as far as he was concerned and it would stay that way until she put her cards on the table. And then he’d have a little more say in what needed to happen next.
Tanith could have just as easily warded their immediate area, made it difficult for others to hear them, but she would have needed to use her blood for that and Treat probably wouldn’t have been appreciative of such a thing. So she rose and lead the way to a more secluded table, far away from any other patrons. “I won’t waste your time, or mine,” she said. “I work with a lot of vampires. I have a lot of information on many of those local to the area. Everything from houses to aliases, addresses, personal history... weaknesses. I’m of a mind to start putting it to use. Is this something your organization would be interested in, or not?”
An eyebrow shot up. She worked with them? Treat’s usual carefree banter was lost for the moment. “In what capacity?” It was a relevant question. Cameron would pirouette through the air with this story. Treat could already see it now. Especially after Amanda’s accident. “My colleagues would be very interested, yes.” Treat paused. “Look, I’m typically not the nosy type...” Lie. “...but I’d need to know how you know these vampires and whether or not they’d be able to make the connection once we start solving the problem. Plainly spoken, would they look to you as a possible cause of their disposal?” Treat would have to cover his ass, as would Cameron. They could make it very discreet, no problem, but would anyone miss these vampires if they started trailing off? The information was a gold mine...but potentially fraught with difficulties.
Both were good questions, and ones Tanith had partially prepared herself for on the ride over. “I’m a professional dominant,” she informed him. “The field was all but taken over by vampires in the area in May. They pay me to humiliate and occasionally torture them. They pay me well because I am very, very good at it.” She shrugged. “It’s a living, but I preferred working with humans.” And even then, she’d been disgusted by every client. “The line is drawn at biting or even touching me. There is one vampire who may grow suspicious of me, but he’s a deranged fuck who hates women in general. I’ve been trusted with information well above my job title, and for the most part I’m confident that I could get away with it. If they did catch on to me, they’re weak to my magic, and I know how to handle myself against them. I can provide a constant stream of information, some of it very incriminating, but I’m going to want something in return.”
Treat really couldn’t say that the answer did not shock or surprise him. Dumbfounded for a second, Treat spent a moment to stare at her. While it wasn’t something he couldn’t quite imagine, it wasn’t something that most people generally did for a living. “So...you...provide, um, entertainment to masochistic vampires?” Treat said at length. “Just to clarify.” A pause. “How the fuck do you land a gig like that?” Treat tried not to swear unless it was necessary. He found it was off-putting to many people and he liked to stay on people’s good sides. But this was a good cause to swear, in his opinion. He rubbed his forehead and looked at her. “I would have to speak to my colleague about it. He runs the show, pretty much. He’s tried to speak to government but he typically works within the...legal lines. I...personally, don’t care much for laws if they’re protecting the wrong things.” Treat took a deep breath. “Oh yeah, and what do you want for your information?”
That was pretty much the reaction Tanith would have expected, though the fact that she earned a curse from him was mildly entertaining. She didn’t answer right away, clicking her tongue as she took a moment to decide whether or not she was going to be honest. Normally such a question would have been met with nothing but snark, but today, Tanith found she was a little too tired for it. “You start with an upbringing that teaches you little more than how to inflict pain upon lesser creatures, bum around under the table jobs for a few years, and fall into it when some creep you want to punch in the face says he’d actually pay you to essentially torture.” She shrugged. “That’s how I got into it. Then the vamps took over the sex industry, and I hated them, but I liked eating. So when it was work for them, or go back to the drawing board...” Tanith waved a hand dismissively. “Shit happens.”
It was more information than Tanith usually offered up about herself - even if it still wasn’t very much in the long run, and she was glad to have something else to think about. “Lorimer, I couldn’t be paid to give a fuck about the laws. No hippie march or happy funtime telethon is going to convince me that vampires are anything but a parasite upon humanity, and humanity itself isn’t really a shining beacon of virtue either. I would like nothing better than to rip the fangs out of every last one and watch them bled dry before my very eyes, and I’m not terribly interested in associating myself with people who feel differently. You can talk to your people, the offer will be on the table. I will have a few rules, though. I won’t give the name of my employers, or other human-” Well, humanish, anyway, “-coworkers. Once the vampires are out of this picture, I intend to keep this job. It works for me. I’d like a guarantee that I won’t be sold out, but seeing as you can hardly expect one from me, I’m willing to call it even there. And in exchange, I need information, too.” And when you cut to the quick, that was why Tanith had done this. She started to shift uncomfortably, realized she was doing it, and immediately stilled. Weakness was not allowed. “I need to know what kinds of vampires can interfere with a person’s sleep,” she said. “And what I can do to stop it. Magic isn’t doing the trick, and if I start researching it myself, people might ask questions.”
Treat kept quiet as Tanith spoke, giving her his full attention. As she told him where she’d come from and why she was doing this, it became very clear to Treat that she truly had some serious feelings about the...what were they calling it? The Light of May? And vampires. Treat did, too. He simply would not have put it the way she did. Then again, they seemed to be quite different people at any rate. Raising his hands to show innocence, Treat nodded. “I’ll make sure your employers are any coworkers you’d like left out remain unharmed.” After all, it wasn’t like he was going to go in with a machine gun and just start killing everything in sight. Naturally, the NHM might not want to get too involved too quickly or they themselves would get into serious trouble. Treat ran his fingers through his hair quickly and looked towards the bartender. “Are you sure it’s a vampire?” he asked calmly. It could be another dream eater. That meant he wasn’t alone in this town. “And not some sort of witchcraft or curse of that nature?” Better make sure before he went asking about it.
Tanith shook her head in a quick dismissal. “I would know,” she said, and of that she sounded absolutely certain. “And even if I didn’t, the cat says he could detect it. There’s no magic to it, but he agrees that he senses something different.” And oh, did it pain her to admit the furry little bastard was actually being useful. At least it didn’t seem like Treat was in a mood to gloat.
Flicking a stray peanut off the table, Treat pondered it for a second. Naturally, if such a vampire existed, it would be very interesting to learn about it. He had read about such vampires, but it had been a while since he’d actually differentiated between the kinds (they were all sort of lumped into the ‘evil’ category now). But...he still couldn’t rule out the possibility it was a dream eater. Treat rubbed a spot on the table with his finger as he thought about how to phrase his next question. “Can you see the vampire in you dream? Or...know its in your dream?” he paused and looked up at her. “Does it give you nightmares or give you restless, dreamless sleep? Or does it alter your dreams from good to bad? A few preliminary questions to narrow the field, if you don’t mind,” Treat had to be sure it wasn’t his own kind, which would be proved if she answered truthfully. Personally, he wasn’t sure whether he wanted it to be a dream eater or not. On one hand, he’d love to meet one. On the other, he wasn’t in the mood to reveal their existence to anyone, least of all Tanith, who looked like she was ready to murder the source of the sleepless nights.
Tanith’s dreams were not something she wanted to discuss with anyone. She blinked at him, and for a moment nearly refused to respond. And yet, if she allowed herself to think, the line of questioning seemed pretty specific - like perhaps Treat already knew something. And she wanted that information. If she knew how they were doing it, she would know how to stop it. Other than just killing him, which would have been tricky considering her boss. “It has nothing to do with my dreams,” she said, and as far as she knew that was true. “My dreams are no different than they’ve always been.” Which was to say, bloody awful. She shifted uncomfortably again, and grit her teeth once she realized she’d done it. She couldn’t remember the last time she was so damn uncomfortable. “I feel like I’m being watched,” she said, looking none too pleased about it. “But only when I sleep. I wake up feeling unsettled, like there was someone watching me, in the room with me. And even if I slept eight hours I still feel like I just ran a goddamn marathon. There’s no one there though. I started letting that damn cat in the room at night just on the off chance some vampire bastard was getting past all my wards. He says he can tell something is going on, but he doesn’t know what.”
Leaning back in his chair, Treat listened to what Tanith had to say. He could tell it was like pulling teeth for her to get this out. He nodded when she affirmed there was no difference in her dreams. Not a dream eater, then. “All right. I’ll get my research in and I’ll have that answer for you as soon as I can.” Treat stretched his legs out under the table. “When will I get that first name?”
Tanith considered that for a moment. Her initial reaction, of course, was to tell him that he’d have a name when she had a commitment. She also considered the possibility that if she didn’t give them something, they might blow her off altogether. If she’d been thinking more rationally, she would have planned more for this - not just done it on a whim. She thought through some of the vampires she knew that deserved to die more than others, and eventually settled on one that had only come in to Ad Gustum once. He lived in Detroit, and he hadn’t come to see Tanith, either. He’d come for the wretches in the dungeon. Not something that would ever be linked to her. “John J. Marcum,” she said. “Lives in Detroit. A pilot, working at Metro. Not an ‘out’ vampire. He was a soldier in WWII who got a little too into the battle. He was caught raping a couple of Japanese girls by a couple of his buddies and beaten and left for dead. A vampire had been watching and saved him for death, deciding he’d like to harness that taste for war.” Tanith had read his file when the brothel was between slave masters, and she’d regretted it immediately. She’d come very close to killing him herself. “Let me know when it happens so I can have an alibi ready.” Just in case. “When you’ve got a commitment from your people I can keep the names flowing.”
His people. Treat forced his smirk away. Fat chance that Cameron was willing to get his hands this dirty. Yes, the man could rant and rave and debate all he liked but he hardly thought the NHM would actually start doing anything that was currently deemed “illegal.” Treat did not have a similar sort of patience. At least not for vampires. And most certainly not for the kind that Tanith had just described. He kept his hands from flexing into fists. “Marcum,” Treat repeated under his breath. He made a mental note of everything Tanith had to say. He’d ask Cameron later if any of his associates could make a quiet inquiry...and then Mr. Marcum would no longer be a problem. “Naturally,” Treat agreed. “How about...’dinner at our usual...bring the cat’ when it’s all taken care of? People can so easily misinterpret phone calls,” Treat added dryly. “Is there anything else in particular I should know about this vampire? Special abilities, perhaps?” Treat was smart enough to know not all vampires were created equal. Why exactly, his studies had not explained.
In a way, Tanith couldn’t help but feel frustrated and restless. She hated the idea of not doing the job herself, longed to be the one to end the scum, but her logical mind knew it was too risky. This was the smartest way to go about it, even if she didn’t particularly like it. “That will work,” she decided, before removing a card from her bag and setting it on the table. Yes, even hired dominants could have business cards - and this one had her number as opposed to the brothel. “He’s what you call a tin soldier,” she told Treat. “When confronted, he’s likely to go into a frenzy. He won’t stop until one of you are dead. Thing about tin soldiers though: they melt.” It was a truly horrific thought, and Tanith couldn’t help but grin. “I mean that quite literally. They can’t even walk near a warming stove. So I’d advise you to light the fucker up.” Another reason for Tanith to not handle this one herself: fire was not her thing.
Filing that little tidbit away for future reference, Treat took the business card and slipped it into the breast pocket of his shirt. Tin soldier melts...how amusing. Vampires were clearly not the most creative of sorts. Treat was used to simply shooting vampires in between the eyes but, hey, if you killed it, you killed it. And setting something on fire might be amusing enough. He would certainly talk to Cameron about this vampire...but if Cameron was a fan of inaction instead of action, he would settle this himself. Treat had made up his mind and, unfortunately, no matter what Cameron’s opinion on the matter was, it would not be heard unless it was agreement. He scanned his mind quickly for anything important on his schedule and anything he knew of Cameron’s. There was the wife’s birthday soon enough and so his news could wait while he researched and Cameron had his little party. “Thank you,” Treat said regarding the information. “I suppose we’re done here.” Looking around, Treat didn’t see anyone that was paying the slightest attention to them. Nevertheless, the longer they sat together, the more probable it became that someone linked them together. “I’ll keep you informed. And next time, I’m choosing the place.”