[META PRP] Operations, Cooperations (Chiara - Engrav)

[Micillia]

 

[Micillia]

This whole space thing was hard not to get wrapped up in and excited for. There was commotion everywhere, paperwork flying, information just lying around, ripe for the taking. And that wasn't even touching on all the busy trolls around. It was a little chaotic, to say the least. Trolls were either filling out piles and piles of paperwork to even be allowed to go into space, or milling about waiting for something to happen and for the whole thing to start. Chiara had given Ephias her paperwork, she wasn't paying him for nothing! Actually, she wasn't paying him... even better! So she was free to mingle, roam, and generally enjoy what Chiara enjoyed most; havoc and connections. She slipped easily through the crowd, keeping her eyes open for familiar faces, or at least interesting faces. She was starting something big, something amazing, something that required an extensive network. And what better way then to prey on those that could not escape?

Chiara kept her eyes open, looking at troll after troll, dismissing most of them, when someone caught her eye. She grinned as she closed in on the target. She reached out to put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey cutie." She lied, faking it as flirtatious, teasing, "You look familiar, have we met before?" It was a bad pick-up line, but to be honest, it didn't matter. She could correct him and then bam, conversation started.

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav was deep in conversation, but his eye kept flitting to the corners of the room, looking for those who might be listening in. It seemed a number of the trolls here had secrets to hide, and while he was interested in figuring out what they were, he certainly wasn't going to be talking to them about it with prying ears nearby. The yellowblood's practiced eyes spotted several trolls drifting through the avenues of conversation, listening in here and there. Engrav didn't exactly keep tabs on those trolls, but he glanced up now and again to see when they were close.

One blueblood drifted like the rest in and out of the closely-knit groups like the rest, but she wasn't talking to anyone. It looked like she was looking for something. Engrav wondered what it was. He turned back to his conversation, not willing to spend too much time away from the little tells he could glean from it.

Suddenly, a hand fell on his shoulder. He was pretty sure he hadn't seen anyone near, but someone had snuck up on him. Clever. Engrav excused himself from the conversation and clicked on the tape recorder in his jacket pocket in one smooth motion, turning to the owner of the offending hand.

"Hey cutie." the blueblood from before chimed with a predatory smile. "You look familiar, have we met before?" Engrav gave her his best fake smile back. He lowered his voice just a notch, and answered "No, we most certainly have not. I would have remembered a creature quite as alluring as yourself," with the same tone of flirtation. Who did she think he was? That line had been horrendous.

"It sounds like you're looking for someone to talk with. Looks like there's a quiet little corner over there, if you'd care to join me?" The yellowblood pointed to a little alcove that hadn't yet gathered any trolls.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

"Aww what a gentleman!" Chiara cooed, taking in the yellowblood's appearance. He... Well he definitely was unique in his appearance, that was for sure. It didn't phase her much tho, i mean, she had seen Sascha right after his... incident. This guy was just a little bit worse, no big deal. She took his arm in hers and let him lead her to somewhere with a little more space. "Its a shame, really, that i haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet. Im glad thats going to get fixed." Chiara said, "Its not often someone sees a lowblood quite so well dressed. I thought you must be someone interesting." Chiara giggled demurely. "Whats your name? Im Chiara Moteku." She leaned in so the yellowblood could hear her speaking softly, "Dont forget it, okay?"

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

As Engrav and Chiara slipped into the darkness of the corner, he slipped his hand from hers and the fake, smarmy smile dropped from the yellowblood's face. "Chiara." he mused, running the sound over his tongue. "Won't forget it. I'm Engrav." He looked at her for a second. That line had been pretty amateurish, but he didn't know her. That probably meant she didn't know him either, and she wouldn't necessarily use her good material on a lowblood she'd never met. Engrav noted mentally that she'd singled him out for some reason, and that she had been surfing the party looking for something. Maybe she'd found it.

"Straight talk here. I was watching you cruise the party earlier. You were looking for something." He was watching her face carefully for reaction. maybe a little twitch. Not much there. She was good. "I've done some of that cruising myself, and you're really good at it. Better than me, even. So."

The yellowblood ran his metal fingers through what was left of his hair. He felt guarded, but not overly worried. If she'd wanted to do anything unsavory, the flirtatious manner probably wouldn't have been the way to start. "This fake cheery flirting isn't gonna get me talking. Why don't we just have a little bit of a real conversation? I don't know you. What do you want with me?"

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara sighed and gave the yellowblood a sad look. Where was the fun and games? Where was the tiptoeing around social norms and secret languages? She snorted, ruining her "sad look", and instead grinned, intrigued. "You really are something." Chiara said, moving in closer to the boy. He had seemed eager to let go of her, so why not make him uncomfortable. Besides, closer equaled better in the blueblood's book.

"Straight talk, huh?" She raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the boy's face. "Well..." The blueblood started, putting one finger on her bottom lip. "What i said was true. Look around. How many other lowbloods dress to impress? I can see a lowblood being jumpy, sure, but i saw you look over your shoulder 5 times in the time it took me to get near you." She paused. She liked games, he wanted to stop, but why did she need to? She stroked his jaw line with one finger. "How could i not check that kind of troll out?" She stepped back and tilted her head. "You brought me to this secluded corner tho, what do you want?"

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

The blueblood stroked his jaw with a finger, and Engrav flinched away and tried to cover it with a cough. Dammit. That was way too much information to give someone who was fishing like that. He folded his arms across his chest and set his stance as the blueblood moved in. Engrav wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him react like that. He could control himself. "Not really worried about fashion, Chiara." he intoned. "Just like to look my best when I'm meeting old friends and new people."

He lounged back against the wall, letting the blueblood move as close as she liked. The yellowblood tensed up a little as she approached, but was careful not to show it. At least he was pretty sure he didn't. "And personally, I wouldn't call it jumpy. I prefer cautious. And can you really blame me?" he said, motioning to the ruin of his eye with his metal hand. "Been burned before, after all." he finished, careful to lead with the implication that his injury had happened in a fire. That was untrue, and also intentionally misleading. Good to keep trolls on their toes.

He looked out around the room again, making sure that no one was listening in. Engrav wasn't particularly worried about anyone overhearing the vague shapes of this particular conversation, but it felt good to double check. Triple check, even.

"As to the corner- Well, I was hoping to put an offer on the table for some troll tonight. But, as it goes here, you seem to just want to play games. So I guess I'll go find who I actually meant to talk to." Just vague to spark interest, if she was hungry for it. He turned to leave, taking his time. Relishing it. Stopping for just a second and looking back. "Unless you're someone who would be interested?" he asked, leading her on carefully.

micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara felt a faint rush as the yellowblood flinched back. Playing with prey. It always got her a little excited. "Burned, huh?" Chiara said, cocking her head to the side. "How about you tell me about that sometime, over dinner?"

The blueblood felt annoyance rise up in her. Of course, bait. She inspected the boy's face with her eyes, not answering yet, looking at the scar, the messy, unkempt hair. This guy, had two sides to him, and that did not just refer to his looks. She spent a bit more time looking at him, really looking at him. The coy smile was gone as she examined him. "I can see your into fishing..." Chiara started, tilting her head to the side. Old Chiara struggled with new Chiara on how to respond. It was obvious that the lowblood wanted her to back down, to let him have the power in this exchange. Old Chiara fumed at this, wanting to intimidate the boy, make him really fear her. New Chiara, on the other hand, thought it over. Sure, backing down would be taking a blow to her pride. But on the other hand,it was worth information. She could see it, what Old Chiara would do.

Chiara put a hand on the wall Engrav was leaning against. "Sure you can handle what you catch?" She was blocking his escape now. The only way he could get past her was to awkwardly duck under her arm.

That would lead to the yellowblood either panicking and revealing things, or, more likely, clamming up and admitting to nothing. Then the opportunity would be gone, and she would get no reward but the pleasure of making someone beneath her cower. New Chiara tried to think a few steps farther. Assuming she did throw her pride out, she would probably get the information. Or at least, the information he wanted her to have. There in lied the catch. They had just met, she could tell the yellowblood was more than just a lowblood, (they usually were, the ones that lived at least) and a lowblood giving up all their cards right from the get-go? Foolish.

"Im intrigued..." Chiara said, smiling faintly. "Consider me caught." Of course, this troll didn't want her games and coy words. Really tho, it was a hint, a view into how little he knew about highblood social ques... Or, of course, how little regard he had for them. "Your, ah, going to need a partner who actually knows how to play the game tho." She frowned at the yellowblood, scorning his social skills. "If you want to make it far at least." She turned it into a smile. "Arnt you lucky."

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

"Fishing?" Engrav mused. Chiara REALLY didn't want to bite. That in itself was interesting. She was definitely interested, but she was trying to run these half-measures. Plus, Engrav had noticed, just for a moment, that she'd grinned when he was off balance. She'd liked it. That was worrying.

"How's this for fishing? You're a rebel spy. No, wait, you're a royalist plant." He looked at her for a reaction, but he wasn't expecting much. She played it very close to the vest, and now her guard was up. "Doesn't matter either way. One way, I get roped into a cause I don't care about just cause I shot my mouth out at a party, then eventually culled when I slipped up. The other way, I just get culled for having ambitions above my station. And all because I wanted to tell someone about a, a new flower stand or something. A coffee shop. Whatever." He wasn't getting worked up here. He just needed a second to think the whole thing through. Maybe just a little worked up.

"I don't know you. I don't know anything about you. And you're absolutely right: I do need a partner who can play the game. Socially, at least. I can fake it for a bit, but I'm not a natural. I can't even pretend at the level of someone who's been doing it all their life." Engrav let all of that sink in for a second. "I even like you just a little bit. You're clearly better at this than I am. You're powerful in this arena. I can respect that. I think half of these little plays are knowing where you're weak, and playing to your own strengths. But I'm not gonna bite right here, right now. We both know it."

That little grin on her face came back to Engrav's mind. She wanted to win, to feel a real victory over the poor, tragic lowblood just scraping to get by. Or maybe she didn't, maybe blood didn't factor into it at all. She just wanted to see him uncomfortable, to focus focus on how good her power felt to wield. That felt more right for some reason. It played with the way she acted, the way the started with flirting, the unwanted physicality.

Engrav shuddered. He flipped a card out of his vest pocket and handed it to the blueblood. "Listen. I do have an opportunity for interested trolls. I think I am gonna need you. But I need to know who you are and what you bring to the table. Visit me and we'll talk about it. For now, though, you win." He turned and limped slowly, sadly, away.

Hook set.

He could already tell this one was gonna blow up in his face.

Micillia

Uh-oh

 

[Micillia]

Chiara raised an annoyed eyebrow. She had seen him earlier, he didn't have a limp. It was all part of a little pity act. She looked down at the card. Usually it was her move to drop a card and then do a sexy yet intimidating exit stage right. She smiled and snorted a laugh. He was just as manipulative, just as trixey and into playing games as she was, going with all that "serious talk".

The blueblood liked games, she wanted games. Her current toy was broken, boring. Sure she had broke them, but it was just as well. Time for a new one.

Buzzwulf