Pawns in the game

[Oriena]

His Russian tongue earned no reaction; well he should speak the language, and fuck what Brandon thought. The toast impressed her even less. Beauty was an ephemeral thing. Not a compliment she coveted unless it was one she coaxed through blind obsession, winding it around herself like a wreath. But that was not on the agenda tonight. Manix slammed down his glass. Thought to dazzle with showy words. A distraction. Did he think she was fucking stupid? Or that his secret was worth the effort it would take to pluck it from his lips? She'd already guessed at what he was. The rest didn't interest her tonight.

Her gaze wandered away, languidly taking in the rest of her kingdom. Carmen kept glancing at their table with hard eyes. Belatedly Ori remembered she had blamed Jaxen for the bruises on her face the following day, and Ori had never bothered to correct her.

Speaking of. Jaxen's insult didn't graze her; he certainly hadn't complained when he'd been inside her, moaning into the curve of her neck. But the intention; that twitched a violent streak. She only had to shove the foot resting on the table to shunt in hard into his knees. The promise of it glittered into the gaze she turned on him, even as she resisted the action. She wondered if he'd learned more of the power since their last encounter; if she could lure the temptation to act rashly. Ori knew he had a temper. And a deliciously delicate ego.

Lust and violence entwined irrevocably in her mind, and the sly promise in her gaze could confuse either one. The low lighting sucked the colour from her eyes, leaving them gray storm clouds. "I have a better toast for you,"
she said, smirking. "To the "ascendants." To the new gods."

[Jaxen Marveet]

"Owe!"
Jaxen yelped when the stiletto stabbed his knee cap. Oriena's eyes flashed black marbles in the dim club interior. Jaxen grinned defiantly in response, eyes honed only upon her as though Manix wasn't even there. Or like he was some creepy voyeur.

Her toast yanked the devilish grin from his face. Transforming his expression into something more pensive, serious even. A rare sight for Jaxen.

He raised his glass and joined the toast. Tarin and Sora called their kind 'Ancients'. Oriena called them Ascendants. The Atharim called them gods.

None of those names seemed right. despite how much Jaxen enjoyed thinking of himself as a god.

Manix, on the other hand didn't seem like the type to be aware of current events. Did he know about the announcement by the Ascendancy?

"Did you hear the government come clean?"
He asked of Manix. "Apparently, magic is real. You and I have it. So does about a thousand other people. Probably several in this room."
His gaze swiveled around them, only to land on Oriena. But it was her secret to tell, despite the temptation to betray it for her, Jaxen kept quiet about it.

[Manix]

Cold radiated from the lady and Manix could tell she was jaded. She prolly thought he was some blowhard trying to impress her, He liked fire, not ice. Jax yelled at what Manix figured was s deserved kick.

The Toast: I shall not be joining that one! Magic or no, we be not Gods.
To late he realized his one word mistake. So be it.

We not be Gods, we are something old reborn, as the old gods were. Didn't make em Gods, nor us.


Listening to Jax, Manix thought out his words carefully. Why the announcement, or I should say, why now? Did either of ye see the the big demonstration?

[Jaxen Marveet]

Manix was surprisingly grounded. There was almost a hint of animosity in his deflection of the title. Jaxen approved. By the slender snake of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, he even agreed.

"You're right. They aren't gods." He waved a hand casually as though sweeping up every person in the city into the category. "And the ones that think they are, they'll learn better soon enough." A gleam in his eye suggested his knocking the gods was less about equality or morality and more about mischief.

As to why now?

"Who knows why the Ascendancy does anything. Oriena might know though. Rumor has it she and the night excellency himself were close at one time. Maybe even the benefactor of this whole operation you see around us?"

That's right. He dug into her past.

[Oriena]

Defiance sharpened Jaxen's grin, its edges alluring the whisper of satisfying memories. The intensity of that devilish stare made Ori more inclined to purr than the glamour and illusion of simple words, but the sting of insult was not without its consequences. The look she returned was all softened edges and calculated innocence.

She hoped his knee fucking hurt.

"More than several,"
she amended. Not a threat. Nor a warning. Not intentionally at least. She was briefly amused that Jaxen didn't chose to divulge what she was. The discretion might have mattered once, but no longer; she'd decided at Sofiya's grave that she was done hiding. Not that it meant she planned to register either.

Her eyes trained on Manix at his refusal. "How morally conscious. I wonder if everyone else will be so enlightened?"
Something old reborn? Ori's soul could have been through the wringer a thousand times already for all she cared. What difference did it make? If Manix desired scholarly companionship, he'd sought it in the wrong place. "It's just semantics. Who the fuck cares what they call us."


Her brow's rose at Jaxen's accusation, and for the briefest of moments the surprise showed in her expression, before the amusement hooked a smile in its wake. Now where did he find out something like that - and, more to the point, why had he bothered looking? Throaty laughter hummed from her lips."Do you dig into the background of all your one night stands, Jaxen? That must be very tiring."


She wondered if perhaps he'd discovered that the night of the party the Ascendancy had extended an invitation. And that she had dismissed it. Or if he just inferred the most salacious possibility from the black gaping holes bribery and discretion had placed in her files. Not that that explained the why. It pleased her nonetheless. Of course it did.

He'd intended to unhinge her - and he had, to a degree, but if he meant to also shame her by revealing the "benefactor" behind her wealth, he'd be disappointed; Kallisti was a jaded mockery of its illicit roots, and Oriena did not care for pride so much as she did vengeance. In fact, if Jaxen buried to the truth of it, it was not Oriena he'd make and enemy of. A tantalising prospect.

She teased with a smirk, the glitter in her eyes a touch brighter. She did love to play, and secrets were her currency. "I'm hardly about to divulge pillow talk."

[Jaxen Marveet]

He shrugged, crunching on ice from his drink. He checked up on people. A man got bored sometimes, and the research was easy. Hell, sometimes he had all he needed to know in the space of a banya stream house.

Did he check into Oriena? Definitely. Did he really believe the rumor about Ascendancy-not really. Rumors circled that guy like flies. But that didn't mean he knew nothing about her. Or anyone else that caught his interest. "Only the good ones."

Oriena thought that curling her fingers around Manix would stoke jealous embers in her previous prey. Oh it did. But Jaxen didn't play games without tinkering with the rules.

He slipped from the couch and sauntered by Oriena, squeezing her shoulder as he did. "Be careful of this one, Manix. She'll claw your eyes out if she can. But it'll be worth it."

He laughed and headed for the door.

[Manix]

A wicked grin crossed his face "one night stand, eh
", he thought. Briefly he imagined a night with her..................wow, he slipped deeper into the light.

Releasing the thread around her neck he, he dropped the hillbilly act. Rubbing the chills on his arms to eyed her directly. Amused that if one of his crew got that look they would wet themselves.

It does matter what we be, and I mean WE, are called. It gives disillusion that will set courses of chaos
....eyeing Jax quickly. WE best get a grip on the truth of the matter before Greek tragedies play out in today's world.


Waving the cute lil redheaded waitress for another drink, he continues.

You can hide in ur den of lust, I no care, unless ye give me cause to! I mean to find the truth of it all.


Turning the stern gaze to Jax: Can I count on you or not?

[Jaxen Marveet]

Manix stopped him before he could leave. Taunting him with a challenge that burrowed under his skin. Jaxen turned, eyes narrow and momentarily thoughtful. What the hell? He had nothing better to do anyway.

"Alright. What do you want to do about it? You said you had a plan. What was it?"


He didn't retake his seat, but he didn't leave either. That was a big deal.

[Manix]

Manix smiled, always stepping on toes.

Nothing you haven't done before mate. Get into a secured library and get information on the old written "fairy tales" taken from verbal history. Tales like Beowolf and Grenden, fairy rings and elves. Myths that has no origins, Hero's with no past or just disappeared. Some may even be under these idiots call ancient alien theorist. That believe every myth is from space.


Standing: Most important any old scrimshaw. Now that ye and the lass here has seen my cards, are u in?


The redhead brought his drink, Manix downed it and returned it to the tray leaving a generous tip and a phone number that he had wrote out earlier.

[Oriena]

Jaxen offered her up like a gift. Irritation rippled beneath his touch. She leaned away from him.

"The moment Nikolai Brandon admitted to the world what he is, the world changed. Why disdain the chaos it brings? Change is messy."
And necessary. Ori didn't care to take sides; morality meant little to her. Responsibility didn't burden her shoulders just because she had been born differently, and she felt no duty to use her gifts wisely. But neither did she desire power. "Oh, I don't plan to hide, Manix."


Why would fairy tales be in a secured library? It seemed a poor treasure to take a risk on, but the breath of challenge had clearly been enough to tie strings around Jaxen's wrists. To Manix, Ori shrugged, leaning back in her seat. "Secrets are a currency I understand."
To Jaxen, her gaze flicked up, a dare writ in their depths and a smirk on her lips.