2021-01-26 A Lesson in Domination

Still Alive

Participants: Elizabeth Lunette Tabi

Location: First Floor - Colonial Revival House(#4427Rs[c]) - Central Los Angeles

Date and Time: January 26th, 10:00pm

Summary: Elizabeth trains Tabi in the basic use of Dominate, while Lunette is along for the ride.

First Floor - Colonial Revival House(#4427Rs[c]) - Central Los Angeles

       The first floor of this colonial revival style house is spatious. The front door enters into a large foyer area that also contains the main staircase toward the second floor while adjoining, open-air doorways lead left and right to the living and dining areas accordingly. Another open doorway is opposite the front door and leads into the large and spacious entertaining room which connects further to the back patio, large kitchen, and office space.                                                             
       The living room is carpeted with a modern entertainment center and matching couch and loveseat. It connects to the entertaining room and foyer with open-air doorways. The kitchen is also modern with sleek, granite counter tops and state of the art appliances. A walk in pantry is guarded in one corner while the far wall has been removed to allow it to transition smoothly into an older style dining room. It is within the kitchen that one can find the single doorway that leads downstairs into the basement.          
       The center piece of the first floor is the large entertaining room with it's floor to ceiling windows that overlook the patio deck and backyard. Long and dark, double-layered black-out curtains can be closed to seal the room off from the outside either electronically or through manual controls. The room includes a fully stocked bar, sound system, plenty of seating, and a grand piano positioned in one corner.

A deal was agreed upon and arrangements were made. An invitation to Elizabeth's for some initial training in the kindred's ability to control the wills of others was the plan for this evening. Elizabeth encouraged Meri and Lunette to stick around, as her pupil would likely need someone to 'practice' on. The Toreador is dressed in a cozy sweater with the 'horse logo' design of it's brand on the front. Designer jeans are paired with the ensemble and she's otherwise barefoot as she trots around getting the house ready.

Lunette is currently sitting in the entertaining room, lounging back on the couch with her left leg crossed over right. She's watching Elizabeth as she comes and goes, and can't help but look somewhat amused by.. whatever it is. She's dressed in a long tan skirt and a black blouse up top, feet bare as well. No sense in wearing shoes about the house!

Tabi shows up in her favorite blue dress. When shown into the house, and into the room where Elizabeth and Lunette are being barefootedly comfy, she smilingly says, "This place is gorgeous!" She even lifts her hands and turns about to make it clear she means the whole house.

"Thank you. We're very proud. Feel free to take a look around. Lunette has agreed to stay and 'help' with the lesson. I'll be ready in a moment." Elizabeth flutters off again and moves into the large entertaining room where she fusses over some decoration near the bar.

She'll circle back a moment later and come in for hugs and cheek kisses, "Lovely dress.", then move off into the living area. "Lunette, you might want to get a drink for this."

"Again?" Lu softly asks in a somewhat teasing way, lips curling slightly as she pushes up and rises from the couch so she may move off to the bar. As she makes her way towards it, she smiles softly to Tabi and says, "Nice to see you again.." and she continues on. "No potential risks of scrambling my brain, are there?" Lunette calls over towards Liz as she reaches the bar and leans up against it, pouring a few things into a glass and adding ice. She's actually going to take the time to make something tasty for once.

"Hi, Looney!", Tabi says, moving to intercept Lunette for a hug. When the question about brain-scrambling is asked, her smile vanishes and her eyes widen. "Wow! I really hope not! I like Looney the way she is! There ain't no chance of that, is there?", she asks, turning towards Elizabeth.

"Only when Queenie tries, dear. Tabi won't be my first student." Elizabeth watches the two hug with a fond little smile before she moves over toward the couch and sits. Her hand moves to pat the cushion next to her, "Tabi, right here. Lunette, other side of her... when you are ready, please."

The hug was certainly returned, and has even left Lu with a lopsided grin as she works on getting her drink just right. A few shakes and a pour.. there. Much better. Turning to glance back to the two, the woman sips at her drink and heads back over to the couch where she takes her seat, sure to leave enough space for Tabi between herself and Liz. She turns slightly towards the others, her attention upon them both as she looks curious.

Tabi moves over to sit down where indicated. "As long as you're sure", she says, quietly, about the scrambled brains things. Still, it is Elizabeth's own ghoul, Lunette... she wouldn't risk her own ghoul, right? Well, Tabi wants to learn Dominate, so she's going to try... and hope her trust that Liz knows what she's doing is well-placed, for Lunette's sake.

As soon as Tabi has sat down and turned to face Elizabeth, the cunning Toreador is leaning in and making direction eye contact. "Freeze!" The command is uttered clearly in a firm and clear voice and... that's all it takes for Tabi to feel herself compelled to do just that. There might be a moment's confusion where Tabi actually felt like she was 'cold', but the mind works in weird ways and the subconscious knew exactly what Elizabeth wanted her to do.

Tabi can not move. Not even to speak.

The sudden 'freeze' makes Lunette flinch softly, for she wasn't expecting it, and as she looks over to watch how Liz works on the other, it makes her grin. Her gaze drifts over Tabi as she scoots closer to the edge of her seat, and she turns slightly, getting a good look. "Very nice.. Wish I knew how to do that. I'd have -so- much fun messing with you," she purrs to Liz before looking her way and grinning warmly. Her glass is lifted and she sips the contents slowly.

Tabi sits there, the look on her face one of wonderment, as she was, when the command was given, just starting to wonder why Elizabeth was turning her way.

"I can teach you, too, Lunette." Elizabeth says before she moves forward and into Tabi's very personal space. "One word is all it takes, clearly spoken and carefully thought... but it is the eye contact that invokes the power."

The scrawny Toreador tutors the frozen Daughter even as she moves to straddle her lap. Elizabeth plops down her lap and positions herself so her eyes are so very close to Tabi's. "It is harder to do so on our kind. Even more so on blood that is more potent than your own. But mortals? As easy as reading a book. Don't fret, darling. It'll wear off in a few moments."

Lunette continues to watch the two, though mostly Liz, and that amused grin appears yet again as she witnesses Liz straddling Tabi's lap. Her lips curl and she hides them behind her glass, sipping away at the sweet drink as her other arm crosses lightly over her chest, hand tucked lightly beneath her other upper arm. "Seems to be something worth learning.. so if you'll teach me, I'd like to be next." Pause. "Some other time, soon."

Tabi sits there, the look on her face one of wonderment, as she was, when the command was given, just starting to wonder why Elizabeth was turning her way. The only difference is that, now, Elizabeth's all up on Tabi's lap and such.

Elizabeth's eye contact remains direct and invasive. "We'll start your lessons tomorrow, Lunette. Be ready to practice in the mirror." She shifts on Tabi's lap (and must only weigh, like, 90 pounds), and rests her hands on the Daughter's shoulders. "Okay, you will fill my power fading... NOW."

And just like that, too, Tabi feels the compulsion just vanishes from her mind leaving her in full control with a small Toreador Chancellor straddling her lap.

Lunette simply nods to what she is told about mirrors and her lessons, and she keeps quiet on the subject. She won't interrupt now that things are moving along again, and simply turns to look at Tabi for her reaction to it all.

Tabi sits there, the look on her face one of wonderment, as she was, when the command was given, just starting to wonder why Elizabeth was turning her way... until, sitting right in her lap and right up in her face, Elizabeth drops the power. Tabi jumps as if startled, and... moves to shove Elizabeth off of her lap!

Whether or not she clears her lap, she sits there, trembling and with her eyes wide. "Oh fuck...! That was... that was the scariest shit I've ever felt!"

Elizabeth lands on the couch cushion and guards her expression before her sincere displeasure at being tossed can pass over her face. She sits up properly and takes a moment to fix her hair before she snaps curtly, "You know how it 'feels' so now you know what you should try to 'do'."

Lunette's gaze is locked upon the two, and the reaction the power receives, it leaves Lunette watching Liz closely. Her glass is lowered jussttt enough to where she can softly lick at her lips, and once the glass is mashed to her mouth again she takes a long, slow sip from it. Her eyes are fixed upon Liz now as if waiting patiently for something. "Wild, isn't it?" she coos to Tabi.

Tabi blinks her eyes repeatedly, clearly still shocked and surprised as she flexes her fingers and even lifts a foot to waggle it a bit, as if to make sure she can. "That... that was pretty... wow. Uhm... now that I'm ready for it, do it to me again, so I can actually pay attention and feel it? ... and... sorry for shoving ya. I was totally freaking out, trying to move the whole time -- I guess it all just kinda happened at once, when you let me go...", she says, the latter part as she starts to calm down and realizes she physically shoved around Elizabeth. She looks kinda sad about it... and nods her head in reply to Lunette's question. "... -very- wild... scary, really."

"No. Once is enough. Go on and try on Lunette." Elizabeth rises from the couch and moves over to sit beside Lunette before she shifts in close and attempts to maneuver the ghoul so her back is to her with both facing Tabi. If successful, she'll stare at the Daughter from across one of Lunette's shoulders. "Take a moment to just stare into her eyes. Don't 'look'. 'Stare'. Think about what you do when you tug someone's emotional heart strings and bend their emotions to your will. It's really very similar."

Lunette is already beginning to turn so that she may better face Tabi, and as Liz slips in to sit behind her, she finishes turning completely. She can't help but lean back just slightly against the woman when she places her chin upon her shoulder, and as she looks at Tabi, her red lips curl slowly. "I'll try not to blink," she promises, lowering her drink to rest on her lap then as she gives her complete focus to the woman before her. She does as she said, too, trying not to blink as she stares into Tabi's eyes. She won't make it any more difficult than it has to be.

Tabi nods, and pouts a little... but it's more a look of concentration as she tries to remember what she felt when Elizabeth Dominated her a bit ago. She tilts her head to one side, then the other, then looks up to stare in Lunette's eyes... and after a moment says, "Sleep!" ... but, well, nothing really seems to happen.

Elizabeth goes so far as to hug Lunette from behind and rest her chin on her shoulder. "The command but be one that makes sense. A single word, intent clear, but possible for the target to obey if they were willing. Sleep would be difficult. Do they fake sleeping if they are not tired? What if they can't compel their physical form to rest like that? Freeze works better. Run. Duck. Jump. Stop."

Nothing happens, no, but Lunette is still sitting there perched on the couch, looking at Tabi and staring into her eyes. She has to blink a few times now, and as she does she give san encouraging smile. She could have acted like she was passing out just to mess with the other, but.. maybe next time. Her smile shifts to a grin, and she remains as she is in case she is to be practiced on more.

Tabi nods at what Elizabeth says. "I'll try 'Freeze' next...", she says, closing her eyes for a moment before staring back into Lunette's eyes, once more. "Freeze!", she says... and keeps her gaze on her friend's to see if anything happened.

Elizabeth's arms have wrapped around Lunette's front from behind and one hand rests on her hip while the other tucks in under her bosom where her fingers curl around the outer edge of her ribcage. "Follow, if you need them to come with you, though note it may not last as long as you desire. Laugh is an interesting one when you need someone to draw a distraction. Scream, too."

"Mmm.. Scream. That one-" and Lu is suddenly quiet, with her green eyes locked upon Tabi's, and her lips slightly parted for the next word that just can't make its way out. As Tabi's second try works, Lunette sits there perfectly still just as she was, leaned back slightly against Liz and with her glass on her lap.

Tabi's command seems to have worked! In her excitement, she forgets about one part of what Elizabeth instructed: don't break eye contact. She looks over at Elizabeth and says, "I did it?!", then looks back into Lunette's eyes... but, by then, she's no longer focusing on the command and it's pretty well just gone.

"You did it. Just like that, see?" Elizabeth lightly nudges Lunette forward before releasing her from-behind hold. Lunette's mind will likely compel her to continue to 'freeze' in place, even at a forward angle.

Lunette remains as she is, though now leans forwards that slight bit thanks to the helpful nudge from Liz. Her hand is still holding her glass, and she still looks like she is about to speak.. and it won't be long before she does.

Tabi blinks. "I... uhm... I feel like there's something in my head, kinda fuzzy", she says, then shakes her head. "... that's not the right word, but I can't think of how else to describe it. It's like... I'm trying to hold mud in my hand and keep it from leaking out", she adds, lifting her hand to mime what she's verbally described.

"That'll get easier to deal with as you hone this talent. For now, you can let this play it's course..." Elizabeth pulls Lunette back against her chest and rests her chin against her shoulder again. "...or you can search your mind for that 'feeling' of a connection and will it away."

Holding her hand out, the one she's using to mime holding a handful of mud that's dripping away between her fingers. "... maybe that's this weird feeling I have?", she wonders. "I'm gonna try and let the muddy feeling slip away...", she says, and closes her eyes, trying to release whatever this is she's feeling... then she looks puzzled for a moment and says, "... oh wait, it's already gone..."

Blink. As Lunette comes back to the present, she smiles a touch at Tabi and says, "Second try. Not too bad, mm?" She grins at the woman as she lifts her glass, and she brings it to her lips for another soft sip. She leans back a touch more into Elizabeth, and she says, "It's strange.. makes you weary of looking into anyone's eyes.. Knowing what they could possibly do to you."

Elizabeth presses her lips against the bare skin of Lunette's neck but just rests them there for a moment. It's not quite a kiss but it's not -not-, either. At the ghoul's words, the Toreador lifts her head away and nods once. "Alfred never knew the trick, at least that I'm aware of, but Elizabeth Tanner was quite gifted at it. I saw so myself. She would make me do terrible things when I was still a ghoul, in those nights where she would catch me while Alfred was away."

Tilting her head to the side, the woman frowns thoughtfully, "I still don't quite understand how I took to it so naturally without a teacher when I 'became' her so many years ago."

Tabi blinks her eyes, and lifts a hand to the side of her head while Elizabeth speaks of her past, and seems to not want to comment on that. "It's... been a -long- time since I had a headache. I -think- this is a headache, anyway... is this because I'm trying to do something I've never done before, Liz?", she asks... then adds, "... you okay, Looney? No scrambled eggs?"

Turning her face slightly so that she can look right at Liz, Lunette softly says, "You experienced it enough.. Of course it came naturally to you. I'm not surprised." Her lips tug to a soft frown at that, and she lifts a hand to gently brush it against Liz's cheek, caressing it softly for a moment as she looks at her for just a moment later.

She finally turns her attention back to Tabi, and she smiles her way as she says, "I'm perfectly fine.. Promise. But," she grins, "If we find something that you just so happened to screw up, I'm sure Queenie will let you know." She sends a playful wink her way at that.

Elizabeth is about to answer Tabi's question when Lunette's comment has her wincing. "I think she can 'hear' you, Lunette." The Toreador shifts on the sofa so she can better push in against Lunette's back. "Try it again, Tabi. You'll know if the headache is related."

"If I did mess anything up in your head, I -deserve- it!", Tabi says to Lunette. She glances over Lunette's shoulder at Elizabeth, then, and then looks down and away, even as she laces the fingers of both hands together at her knees.

When Elizabeth suggests she try again, she nods. After a moment during which she's obviously concentrating, she looks up into Lunette's eyes and says, "Laugh!"... but then immediately closes her own eyes and lifts the fingers of both hands to her temples. "Oh... yeah! That's related!", she says.

Nothing at all happened on Lunette's end of things.

Between Liz's comment and Tabi's, Lunette is laughing and grinning wide, and she says, "I'm teasing you, Tabi.. I'm fine. Never better." Her wide grin returns and she calms down quickly, getting back to merely smiling a touch at the other as she looks at her again, waiting quietly, staring at her. She waits for it.. and when nothing happens, she reaches her free hand out to rest it against Tabi's knee, giving a soft squeeze. "You'll get there."

"That is it in a nut shell." Elizabeth's voice is soft as she speaks. She pauses to kiss Lunette's shoulder and then detaches from her and rises from the couch so she can move over and sit beside Tabi again. "I've long believed that the mental gifts of the kindred are one in the same, just honed in different directions to get different results."

The Toreador reaches out with her hands and, if Tabi doesn't stop her, will carefully slide her fingertips along the Daughter's temples before offering a light and tender temple-rub. "The gift of my clan may be biological to a degree, but we are enforcing our will over our targets and bending their emotions in our favor. The gifts of the Malkavian and Nosferatu allow us to do similar in reverse. Instead of drawing their attention, we remove it entirely. To dominate is along the same lines. It just digs deeper, is more literal... more structured. Dwell on this as you practice at home."

Tabi doesn't stop Elizabeth from massaging her temples, lowering her own hands and closing her eyes. "I'll have Johnny help me practice once or twice a day, I guess...", she says softly. "...and thinking about it, you sounds kinda... I dunno... angry? ...when you told me to 'Freeze'. Do I hafta be 'mad' about it, too, for it to work better?

Lunette watches Liz move over to Tabi, and she decides to keep quiet for now and let the two chat. After all, she needs to listen as well, if Liz is going to teach her how to do it, too.

"Not mad so much as intense. Direct. Commanding." Elizabeth says each of the latter two words in a similar tone as the one she used when invoking that earlier command. Tabi's temples are rubbed tenderly before she withdraws her hands and scoots away.

Tabi nods her head again. "I probably have to work on that, too. Johnny keeps telling me I'm too nice to everyone", she says. "... it's kinda easing up, but it feels like it's gonna be a while going completely away", she adds, reaching up to lightly touch at her head, to indicate she means the headache. "I think I'll try again when it's completely gone?"

Lunette remains quiet, sipping at her drink as she now watches Tabi curiously, as if she's wondering if she'll end up with those dreaded headaches as well.

"If you'd like. These gifts must not be pushed, though. They'll come naturally over time." Elizabeth crosses her legs and leans back on the couch cushion where she adopts a more casual posture. The Chancellor is letting her hair down around the Daughter tonight.

Tabi leans back into her seat, letting her head roll back some whiles he closes her eyes. "I really appreciate you taking the time to try and teach me this, by the way... my sire taught me everything else I know, in terms of the Disciplines", she says.

Elizabeth's smile adopts a more coy and amused quality. "You're paying for the lesson, Honey, as well as the next one. But you are welcome." She sits very still now, in no small part due to a vampire's lack of any need to breath other than when they are faking it or speaking.

Tabi lifts a hand and waves as if to push something away. "Payment aside, you didn't -have- to do this, and I know it. You could've just said 'no' and left it at that... and... well, I still feel kinda bad about the way I reacted, earlier, shoving you away like that. I was just... scared, y'know? Never had that done to me, before this", she explains.

The topic then changes to Kennedy Wilde's upcoming talent event and whether or not Tabi would be performing...