[META PRP] (Death) Dance Central (Sascha + Chiara)

[seekingCylem]

Sascha is quickly becoming old hat at business negotiations. It figures he should pay his respects to the one who got him started.

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha looked up at the hive, and then back down at the slip of paper he'd written the address on. He cast the hive another suspicious glance. He supposed it was entirely within Chiara's personality to live in a labyrinthine brightmare hive. Still, it was pretty damn ostentatious in person. He wasn't sure if his hand was hovering over the doorbell, or some sort of switch that'd open a trap door under the threshold.

Sascha took his chances and pushed the button. He figured if he was wrong, Chiara would a least bother to fish him out of whatever tiger pit he fell into. It wasn't as though he'd bothered to dress professionally for this meeting in particular anyway. He already worked for Chiara. She already knew what he was capable of. Not to mention, putting a concerted effort into wearing something other than what he actually dressed in for their line of "work" seemed rather disingenuous. Sascha had the sneaking suspicion Chiara would have been tickled to see him turn up in his dance costume for a casual business meeting, but Chiara wasn't the one who needed to walk back and forth from the train station in a populated city.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara had been waiting for the contestants to show up, and a big grin spread out on her face as she saw Sascha at the front door. She almost wished she hadn't disabled all her traps and pranks, but it was kinda a must as her hive had become her home office as well. Also, Ephias had threatened to quit unless she disabled them all after he had opened a door and been greeted with a big bucket of suppor slime right onto his head. It was funny at the time, and she sometimes pulled out the picture she had snapped of the moment to giggle at now and then, but it was more professional to have a save labyrinth of a house. The blueblood opened the door and grinned, motioning him inside. "Long time to see, its pleasure." The blueblood ruffled the yellowblood'a hair. "Glad to see that was capable of growing back, bald before even getting to 8 sweeps would be quite something." The blueblood backtracked back to her office and moved to sit in the large office chair behind the desk. She motioned to the chair in front of the desk. "So, i hope you know that the Superstar Authority contest is rather... separate from your work with Dance Battles. I still very much want to support you, but i think it should be mentioned that your performance in the Superstar Authority thing will not affect your job with me." There, that sounded reassuring, right? "But... you still represent me and my business, so there are some things to discuss..." Chiara cradled her chin in her hands.

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

The door opened with no additional fanfare or obstacles. It was even Chiara answering the door to boot. Sascha exhaled the breath he'd been holding. "Yeah, yeah, same to you," he greeted with a relaxed grin. He waved Chiara's hand away from his hair, but at least had the self-control to be weak and flippant with the gesture.

Sascha followed Chiara further into the hive without further prompting. The blueblood had clearly planned for her office's location to be efficient for visitors, but Sascha couldn't help but mentally note the route they'd taken into the hive. As they entered the office, Sascha had already tossed himself into the guest chair as Chiara offered it. His head swiveled to follow Chiara as she took her own seat.

"Of course," Sascha responded with an earnestness that was, at minimum uncharacteristic. At most, it was completely at odds with the way he'd splayed out in his chair. Sascha leaned forwards a little more professionally. "I wanna make it clear I'm not the type of troll that drops commitments just because something shinier comes along. I wouldn't have added this onto my plate if I didn't think I could handle everything I got going on." Sascha leaned back slightly. "Besides, I figured there'd be enough overlap that there wouldn't be much addition that wasn't publicity."

Sascha inclined his head, interested to hear what Chiara had to say.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara grinned at the boy, her chin still on her hands. "Good." The blueblood said simply. Sometimes Sascha was a pain, but sometimes he was actually quite endearing. It was weird, really, considering how defensive he had been when they first met. "Because, you know i cant stand giving up any of my allotted Sascha time. Its a resource im not willing to give up." The blueblood teased, referring to the few times she had called him in to practice and get him ready for any Dance Battle competitions. "Im glad this is a commitment you care about." The blueblood said honestly. She then shook her hand, waving away that honesty and bonding stuff. She had been being too honest and caring lately, it was time for fun and games.

"More importantly, lets discuss how you can fit into Death Dancers." The blueblood silently cursed who ever had come up with that name for not thinking of "Dirty Dancers" instead, but it was out of her hands. Hindsight, what a shame. "Whats your plan for on stage? You obviously give off a competent "dont mess with me" vibe, or could..." Chiara made of note of raising her eyebrows at the yellowblood's rather casual posture. "But what are your plans for costume, style, and performance? Pretty much what i want is to just add a dash of aggression into whatever you have planned."

seekingCylem

Is it okay to imply they have been training a little off screen?

 

[seekingCylem]

"Oh, well..." Sascha scoffed in an overblown display of mock modesty as Chiara spoke of the importance of "Sascha Time." Chiara's insistence on making sure he was up to snuff sometimes felt condescending, but was easily and thoroughly overshadowed by Sascha's instinctive desire to prove himself to anyone that asked. Being confined to a medical-grade recuperacoon for an eternity (and Sascha was adamant that it was an eternity) provided Sascha ample appreciation for his own physical strength and agility. Dance practice was a hell of a lot more fun than physical therapy.

Sascha leaned on one of the chair's arms as he contemplated Chiara's words. He smirked without a hint of subtlety upon the description of his "vibe." The expression receded only slightly as he went back to thinking. "Hadn't thought that far ahead to be perfectly honest. I mean real-talk, I'm always aggressive. My usual point of critique is to be less that in my nightly life." Sascha's tone was light, but turned more serious as he regarded Chiara. "If you've got suggestions on doing this right, I'm all spongeclots. I know anticipating what others want ain't exactly my strong suit. I can dance; I can fight; I can address a big crowd of people without breaking a sweat. If you know how I can do those things and sell it, all you gotta do is set the course."

Micillia

Yeah, absolutely! Sascha wouldn't have had it any other way.

 

[Micillia]

Chiara was a little sad that Sascha got right to business, no time for a game? She was totally thinking of getting a tattoo, terminate or temp, of her logo and asking Sascha to put it somewhere... interesting. But, she could get to business, it was fine. Chiara smiled, that sounded heartfelt, how sweet. "Yeah, you usually have it pretty on the mark concerning your work with me. I have no doubt you will represent my company well."

Chiara tapped her chin, looking for the words. "What i mostly wanted to talk to you about is your other sponsors." The blueblood pulled a sheet of paper closer and inspected it. "I noticed you went with Lorata... and thats fine, really it is. Any past disagreements we have hand in the past are, for the most part, behind us. None the less, we have a wager, me and her, and it looks like your right in the middle of it..." The blueblood pursed her lips. She didn't want Sascha to drop either her or Lorata as sponsors, but at the same time, no matter how much she had said she was on Lorata's side, the seadweller brought out some sort of competitive streak in the blueblood. Or more like, some more extreme competitive streak out.

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha instinctively sat up a little straighter as Chiara complimented him. He was in good spirits, but continued to watch Chiara carefully in preparation for the other shoe to drop.

And drop it did. Sascha felt a wave of hindsight bias wash over him. For as little as he paid attention to the machinations Chiara got up to in her free time, he absolutely should have seen this coming. Sascha's expression shifted between dull realization, exasperation, and finally acceptance. Of course these two women knew each other.

Sascha slumped back down in his seat. "So what do I gotta do to... I dunno... Maintain the equilibrium of the universe?" He asked, waving one hand in a circular motion. While he wasn't afraid of having to jump through a few hoops, he had concerns the ultimate consequences would be further reaching than he'd like.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara put on a serious face, furrowing her brow a bit. Then, in a straight voice she answered gravely. "Yes Sascha." The blueblood lowered her hands and folded one on top of the other, keeping eye contact. "This is about the fate of the world, of all Alternia, and its in your hands now." Without breaking eye contact she picked up one of the mints from her desk candy bowl and tossed it at the yellowblood's forehead.

The blueblood snorted and leaned back in her oversized chair. "If it comes up, just, you know, give her a subtle idea of your work and undue loyalty for me, your supreme lord, boss, and obvious favorite." The blueblood shrugged. "Mostly its just something i thought you should be aware of. No big plans," yet, "And, you know, tell me if she asks you to do anything special or out of the ordinary." Chiara shrugged casually. That was pretty much all she had to say, she had mainly just wanted to catch up and see if she could spot any plans Sascha himself might have in the oven. "If theirs nothing else you need to add, then i guess we are done here." Chiara smiled warmly, half hoping Sascha had some plan, and that he wanted to share it with her.

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

The mint bounced off of Sascha's forehead harmlessly, though he caught it on the rebound. He ate it with an obnoxious, pronounced crunch. "Well of course. I wouldn't expect any less from your network, Chiara," he said with a predictable amount of sarcasm.

Sascha adjusted his stance as he considered Chiara's words more seriously. "So just let her know where I stand in relation to you," he paraphrased, sounding skeptical. It sounded too easy--too honest, even. "I mean considering you two've obviously got some kind of rivalry thing going on, I can see why that'd be prudent... for me, at least. Not sure what you're getting out of it." Sascha crossed and uncrossed his legs before shrugging the conversation off his shoulders. "But fine, whatever, I'll do it. She starts doing anything sketchy, I'll pass it along. Just give me a chance to clear the blast radius."

Despite Sascha's cavalier tone, he had no idea what the likelihood of attempted subterfuge manifesting between Chiara and Lorata was. Beyond that, he didn't know the potential scale those two would shoot for, or to what extent they would attempt to utilize him. It was concerning, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't find the intrigue, well, intriguing.

"How many other horses have you got in this race, Chiara? I mean, of course I'm your best and brightest, but this whole competition seems too perfect for your other clients to not be throwing themselves on its doorstep. Or have you toss them bodily." Sascha added as an afterthought.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara smiled through all the sarcasm at the yellowblood boy. Sascha was quite skilled in sarcasm, and Chiara snorted at the boy. She liked that he was taking it so seriously, and leaned in as the boy talked. "Sascha," The blueblood started, smirking, responding to his question of what she got out of such things, "Dont ask questions you dont want the answers to." The blueblood said, winking. Her thing with Lorata was private. She liked Sascha, but she wasn't about to go around spouting off all her personal thoughts and plans to to guy.

Chiara rolled her eyes at the boy, he was taking this all so seriously. "Just tell me how your meeting with her goes, and ill make sure you dont find your costume having holes in interesting places. Or at least, none you don't intend to already have." Chiara smiled warmly at the yellowblood, tapping her fingers and giving him a look saying it was time for him to go.

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha had the sense to at least look slightly perturbed by the look Chiara was giving him. "...Noted." He mentally filed the nature of Chiara's relationship with Lorata away as "None of Your Business," subtitle: "If You Know What's Good for You." Of course that order didn't preclude Sascha from asking Lorata about any of this. That is, if he really wanted to know. He wasn't sure that he did.

Chiara seemed to relax, and Sascha followed suit. "Tempting as it is to explore this train of thought, I feel like I should take my leave." Sascha eyed Chiara as if gauging the seriousness of her threat. "I'll report back when I see you next. I'm not expecting anything bombastic to happen--if I'm lucky at least."

Sascha stood from his seat and stretched. "I can see myself out... probably."

Micillia