Eric

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia did not take Eric's advice and leave her silver at home. But she did have the silver knife inside her purse with absolutely no intention of bringing it out unless it was a matter of life and death. After talking to Michael (and then, inevitably, Cesare, because Michael simply couldn't keep anything from her brother), she was even more wary of the idea of vampires than she'd been before. Her brother had also very intentionally not warned her away from them, and she was smart enough to know that he probably saw how she might be useful. And that didn't bother her. She was a Borgia, after all. And she had a lot of anger and unrest at the moment. Best to distract herself. And finding out more about vampires seemed like an awfully good distraction. As did finding out more about her brother's connection to vampires, which he hadn't exactly been forthcoming about.

So she went back to the Blood Diamond one night. Alone, this time. It was a warm night, one of the first in a while, and so she was wearing a white fluttery dress spotted with red cherry blossoms, and red heels. She wondered if there was something she should or should not wear to look more or less like a snack. She had no idea. Would a tight black leather dress have been better or worse?

She garnered a few looks as she walked in, going to the bar. She ordered an old fashioned, and looked up to the balcony, wondering if she would see Eric. She supposed she could ask for him, though she wanted to look around a bit first.

Comments

[thenorthman]

"You asked me, last time," Eric replied as they reached the VIP room, "if you should be frightened of me. I'm one of the safest vampires for you to be around."

Which, of course, did not mean 'no'.

[borgiafatale]

"Would you like to give me a list of the rest?" she asked with a quirked smile. "Or should I just proceed under the assumption that I should stay away from all of them but you?"

[thenorthman]

"It was a word of warning," Eric replied, leading the way towards an empty couch. "What you do with it is up to you."

[borgiafatale]

That did not exactly answer Lucrezia's question, but that was not unexpected. She sat, finished off her drink, and set the glass on the table in front of them.

"Forgive me, I'm trying to think of topics for small talk so that I don't simply launch into a series of intrusive questions about the nature of your species that you likely won't answer anyway," she said.

[thenorthman]

Eric chuckled quietly. "So you walked in without a battle plan?"

Of course, it was much more likely that this was of the battle plan. And it was a good move; he appreciated the candor.

[borgiafatale]

She was glad that she'd hit the mark and succeeded in amusing him. "Well, I thought we might talk about the weather," she said, "but then I realized that might not be the most tactful topic of conversation for you."

[thenorthman]

"It rains at night as well, you realize," Eric pointed out without losing his amusement.

[borgiafatale]

"Very true," Lucrezia said, looking rather amused herself. She put her fist to her chin in a pose of casual thoughtfulness. "Well then, how are you enjoying the warmer evenings? How is business going? Are you seeing anyone special? What do you think of the new Beauty and the Beast film?"

[thenorthman]

"I don't give a shit about Beauty and the Beast," Eric answered, eyebrows raised almost provocatively.

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia pressed her lips together briefly as she stifled a laugh, eyes twinkling. "I confess I haven't seen it," she said. "But it was my favorite fairy tale as a child. I liked the idea of the beast. Princes were always the same. And so boring. I remember hoping that his transformation at the end did not mean she had tamed him into something less."

[thenorthman]

Eric tilted his head slightly towards her, lips ticked up into a discreet smile. "So you like the untamed beasts?"

Whether she was playing it up for her audience or actually meant it, he would like to see where this conversation might lead.

[borgiafatale]

"I certainly like them better than dull, mewling princes," Lucrezia said. And all of this was true, though she was also aware of how it might play for her audience.

[thenorthman]

"And your husband?" Eric asked, very aware of how private a territory he was venturing into. "Which is he?"

[borgiafatale]

There was a flicker of unease across Lucrezia's face before she schooled it away.

"Dull," she said flatly. "The transformation to prince did not suit him." She saw no reason to lie.

[thenorthman]

"So he was once a beast?" Eric asked, interest in the topic undisguised in his eyes.

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia laughed, though there was not a great deal of mirth in it. "No, not really. He was just a man. But less dull and mewling then."

[thenorthman]

"He sounds awful," Eric pointed out, reclining in the couch and resting his arm on its back. He could have easily touched Lucrezia's hair, if he had wanted to.

[borgiafatale]

"I'm not sure that my marriage troubles constitute small talk," Lucrezia pointed out.

[thenorthman]

"I never said I wanted to limit myself to small talk," Eric shot back, his slight smile growing more pronounced. And so, perhaps more dangerous-looking.

[borgiafatale]

"Ah," said Lucrezia, not sounding surprised at all. Nor intimidated by his smile. She simply smiled serenely back at him. "Well, then if I answer questions about my husband will you answer questions about vampires?"

[thenorthman]

A note of approval crept into his smile, and he inclined his head slightly in assent. Of course, she'd already answered his questions, but he could get even more personal, that way.

[borgiafatale]

"Well," said Lucrezia, recognizing that Eric had already gotten a question in to her, "Based on what happened with - Serena, was it? - and her devoted follower, I'm guessing you have some kind of mind control abilities. I'd like to know what that does and how it works."

[thenorthman]

She was asking him a question she already knew the answer to; Eric did not believe for a moment that Borgia would not have told her sister all about it. So she was likely checking that he would not lie to her; of course, he did not. "We call them glamours, others call them compulsions. They require eye contact, and allow us to impose our will over that of a human."

[borgiafatale]

He was correct. She was checking to see if he told her the truth, and also whether he would tell her more or less than what Cesare had told her.

"How strong is it?" she asked. "I assume you could make someone bark like a dog. Make them let you bite them." She tried to think of an extreme. "Could you make them kill themselves?"

[thenorthman]

"Could I, or could any vampire?" Eric asked, amused and unsurprised at the turn of her questions.