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xp_logs2009-11-05 12:21 pm
x-empath.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2009-11-05 12:21 pm
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Manuel & Garrison
Manuel makes an offer and conversation shifts to the Hellfire Club while Garrison manages to keep a straight face at the price for buy in.
The call had come as a slight surprise. He expected it much later, but as the invitation was put out in a voice mail, Manuel was very interested in attending, if only to brush up on his skills. Company would have sufficed, any company for that matter. Where he might have asked Jean-Paul if he wanted to attend, instead, he found the next best choice was the other Canadian, Garrison, who's door he stopped at and gave a light knunckle knock to see if he was in.
"It's open." Garrison said, working away at his laptop, suit jacket tossed on his bed and his tie hanging loose. Fortunately, it had been a lighter week at work, and Kane was only a few more pages from finishing up his reports before having the whole weekend free. He mused about seeing what Adrienne was doing tomorrow, but tonight? Tonight was going to be his.
Manuel entered but he did not step further into the room. Instead, his hand rested on the doorknob, the other holding his cane, and he gave the room a sweeping once over after he addressed Garrison.
"Hello Garrison."
"Hmm? Hey Manny. What can I do you for?" Kane said, turning to look at the man, and then back to his computer, still typing away at a surprising clip.
"It is more of the question, what can I do for you? There is a poker night tomorrow. Would you be attending?"
"Poker, eh? I'm not much of a card player, and I don't mean that in an 'aw shucks farmboy who secretly played with his twelve siblings all day everyday while growing up and can bluff the eyeteeth of a slick city mechanic' kind of a way. I might not be the best competition at the table."
"Call it a learning curve if you will, your luck may be with you Senor Kane. Perhaps friendly competition is what you need." His eyebrows lifted and he gave a general gesture. "You are talking to me and still working. I believe that is sign enough to put the pen down - so to speak - and test your skills of a different sort."
"Yeah, yeah. You can wait until I finish this page. I have a boss to answer to on Monday." Kane said lightly, fingers still bashing away at the keys. Duncan kept threatening to replace his laptop with an old manual typewriter, due to the force Kane used while typing. "So, tomorrow. When, where?"
Manuel checked his watch. "I will send you an email to the location. It starts at 8pm and does not finish until late." Manuel nodded briefly. "I will leave you to your work."
"Manuel, tell me something." Kane said, before he could leave. The Canadian turned his chair, leaning back in it as he looked at Manuel. "I know what the Hellfire Club is on paper. But what is Adrienne really getting herself involved in, joining up, working with them? You've been there, had access to the-- Inner Court, that's what they call it?"
Manuel paused. "It is nothing good, I assure you," he replied evenly. "Think of it as a hedonism, if you will, laced through intricate lies, popularity and who has the most money when shifting loyalties from the white court to the black court. Adrienne is neither. She is of the outter circle. Therefore she has less to be worried about."
He shifted his weight, gripping his cane for more support as he carried on. "The more valueable you are to one court, the more disposable you are to another. They will see to her fall if she shifts her loyalty to one or the other, whether it be to strip her of her membership or ruin her reputation."
"What's the point? I don't mean in a metaphysical kind of way. What comes with dominance of one court over another, or over itself? Most of the information we've got on the club is circumstantial; guess work. We know they've got some serious political influence when they need it, but it's come up so rarely and over such a long time period, there's no way to guage."
"It depends on the branch," he replied. "New York is a mutant based elitist club. The A-Listers of corporate dealings. Consider it extending your network, the more you know about someone, the better you can deal with them in business." Although there wasn't complete truth in that. He knew some that were good people but ruthless business associates. "Shareholders shift their attentions from one to the other and abandonment would surely spell out a revoke in membership." Another pause. "The europeans are something entirely darker and far more dangerous, in my opinion."
"So, boiling this down to simple terms, taking control of the club basically means being the most popular kid in school?"
"Or painting a clear target on your back. Two courts, remember Garrison. Balance, however if you are worried about Adrienne, she is safe and she is also a Frost. I have never been one to underestimate that bloodline."
"Yeah, trouble is, if I'm Johnny Bastard looking to jump my name up, I'm going after the biggest target I think I can make my bones on. Frost or not, get her in the right place at the right time, and she's still just a normal woman." Kane said, deep in thought. "Thanks Manuel. I appreciate it. What's the buyin for the poker, he said ignoring the fact that it's technically illegal to gamble in this state at a non-licensed table."
"Five hundred. A nominal start." There was little he could do about Kane's concern for Adrienne and he began to close the door but paused again. "Oh, one more thing. Being a court member is like being an alcoholic. You have to want to stop going, to stop going. Intervention rarely works and only sets up for relapse and question of loyalties. Not a good position from what I have seen."
Garrison managed to keep a straight face at the buy in. He could afford it, but it was a long way from his old twenty dollar games with friends in college. Still, he'd already agreed. "Yeah, you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. However," The Canadian's smile was slightly grim. "you can make sure that people know what the price of trying to make it personal with her will be. See you tomorrow."
The call had come as a slight surprise. He expected it much later, but as the invitation was put out in a voice mail, Manuel was very interested in attending, if only to brush up on his skills. Company would have sufficed, any company for that matter. Where he might have asked Jean-Paul if he wanted to attend, instead, he found the next best choice was the other Canadian, Garrison, who's door he stopped at and gave a light knunckle knock to see if he was in.
"It's open." Garrison said, working away at his laptop, suit jacket tossed on his bed and his tie hanging loose. Fortunately, it had been a lighter week at work, and Kane was only a few more pages from finishing up his reports before having the whole weekend free. He mused about seeing what Adrienne was doing tomorrow, but tonight? Tonight was going to be his.
Manuel entered but he did not step further into the room. Instead, his hand rested on the doorknob, the other holding his cane, and he gave the room a sweeping once over after he addressed Garrison.
"Hello Garrison."
"Hmm? Hey Manny. What can I do you for?" Kane said, turning to look at the man, and then back to his computer, still typing away at a surprising clip.
"It is more of the question, what can I do for you? There is a poker night tomorrow. Would you be attending?"
"Poker, eh? I'm not much of a card player, and I don't mean that in an 'aw shucks farmboy who secretly played with his twelve siblings all day everyday while growing up and can bluff the eyeteeth of a slick city mechanic' kind of a way. I might not be the best competition at the table."
"Call it a learning curve if you will, your luck may be with you Senor Kane. Perhaps friendly competition is what you need." His eyebrows lifted and he gave a general gesture. "You are talking to me and still working. I believe that is sign enough to put the pen down - so to speak - and test your skills of a different sort."
"Yeah, yeah. You can wait until I finish this page. I have a boss to answer to on Monday." Kane said lightly, fingers still bashing away at the keys. Duncan kept threatening to replace his laptop with an old manual typewriter, due to the force Kane used while typing. "So, tomorrow. When, where?"
Manuel checked his watch. "I will send you an email to the location. It starts at 8pm and does not finish until late." Manuel nodded briefly. "I will leave you to your work."
"Manuel, tell me something." Kane said, before he could leave. The Canadian turned his chair, leaning back in it as he looked at Manuel. "I know what the Hellfire Club is on paper. But what is Adrienne really getting herself involved in, joining up, working with them? You've been there, had access to the-- Inner Court, that's what they call it?"
Manuel paused. "It is nothing good, I assure you," he replied evenly. "Think of it as a hedonism, if you will, laced through intricate lies, popularity and who has the most money when shifting loyalties from the white court to the black court. Adrienne is neither. She is of the outter circle. Therefore she has less to be worried about."
He shifted his weight, gripping his cane for more support as he carried on. "The more valueable you are to one court, the more disposable you are to another. They will see to her fall if she shifts her loyalty to one or the other, whether it be to strip her of her membership or ruin her reputation."
"What's the point? I don't mean in a metaphysical kind of way. What comes with dominance of one court over another, or over itself? Most of the information we've got on the club is circumstantial; guess work. We know they've got some serious political influence when they need it, but it's come up so rarely and over such a long time period, there's no way to guage."
"It depends on the branch," he replied. "New York is a mutant based elitist club. The A-Listers of corporate dealings. Consider it extending your network, the more you know about someone, the better you can deal with them in business." Although there wasn't complete truth in that. He knew some that were good people but ruthless business associates. "Shareholders shift their attentions from one to the other and abandonment would surely spell out a revoke in membership." Another pause. "The europeans are something entirely darker and far more dangerous, in my opinion."
"So, boiling this down to simple terms, taking control of the club basically means being the most popular kid in school?"
"Or painting a clear target on your back. Two courts, remember Garrison. Balance, however if you are worried about Adrienne, she is safe and she is also a Frost. I have never been one to underestimate that bloodline."
"Yeah, trouble is, if I'm Johnny Bastard looking to jump my name up, I'm going after the biggest target I think I can make my bones on. Frost or not, get her in the right place at the right time, and she's still just a normal woman." Kane said, deep in thought. "Thanks Manuel. I appreciate it. What's the buyin for the poker, he said ignoring the fact that it's technically illegal to gamble in this state at a non-licensed table."
"Five hundred. A nominal start." There was little he could do about Kane's concern for Adrienne and he began to close the door but paused again. "Oh, one more thing. Being a court member is like being an alcoholic. You have to want to stop going, to stop going. Intervention rarely works and only sets up for relapse and question of loyalties. Not a good position from what I have seen."
Garrison managed to keep a straight face at the buy in. He could afford it, but it was a long way from his old twenty dollar games with friends in college. Still, he'd already agreed. "Yeah, you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. However," The Canadian's smile was slightly grim. "you can make sure that people know what the price of trying to make it personal with her will be. See you tomorrow."