Westside Salon II

Participants: Bartok, Cassie, Effie, Hall, Jay, Joseph_Avamuna, Karner, Lascaux, Nisha, Rabbit, Riley, Shawna, Spade, & Zebastian.

Location: Echelon Falls, The Circle - Brentwood, Westside

Date and Time: March 13, 2021 10:15 pm

Summary: Beauty - drama - tentative philosophical navel gazing - botched apologies slash speculation on implausible poisonings - a whole lotta love for a gorgeous crow - DAD?! Just another Salon in Westside, with Anarchs from all over Los Angeles coming together to do what they do best: be messy and talk a lot. Only when are they gonna start offering food at these things?!

---<Zebastian>---------------

Echelon Falls - it's so chic, right? Whether someone arrives via the main entrance through Eigengrau Lounge techno club within that oh-so-luxe Circle complex, or comes in via the super-secret discreet back entrance? One has to pass the Vibe Check with security and pop tonight's entry code to get in -- leading into the moodily lit VIP lounge, everything bathed in flattering twist of marbled red-magenta-blue-gold lights.

Place is poppin'. Tonights tentative Salon theme of 'beauty' represented in, well, all the different shades and interpretation of pretty - or pretty ugly, depending on mood. Around the edges of the room there are some licks already chattering away to one another -- and somewhere in the middle, by the serpentine sofas? Zebastian!

Tall, pale slip of androgyny - dressed in various shades of black (groundbreaking) that's no doubt Yoji Yamamoto or Rick Owens or who-cares-but-Toreadors; vaguely utilitarian trousers tucked into boots, and a thin black cashmere turtleneck - two chains visible; one thin gold with a minuscule pendent, and a silvery chain with a moonstone. The gem glimmers as Zebastian gestures on animatedly and chatters to Cassie;

"--exactly, it's the strangest thing - because of /course/ I see the beauty within the moral, ja? That's what it =is= --- but it's the thing, isn't it? With the immoral being cloaked in beauty, that can just soak through the senses -- because who can withstand an ugly truth, when there's a beautiful lie to placate and pleasure? Because that's what it's //about//, at the end of the night, nei? Pleasure. Why do anything if it's not pleasurable?"

Somewhere in the background by the ping-pong-meeting-table, Mae -- stylish, don't worry about -- puffs on her juul, and observes with cool indifference the coming and goings.

...So begins the Salon.

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux looks - nice. In Lascaux parlance, this means: his hair seems to have been combed through carefully, so that it mostly lays in waves and the occasional curl, rather than the typical birds'-nest disarray it's usually in. His shirt, one of those 70s sheen-y polyester affairs with a dagger collar and exaggerated cuffs, is printed in vibrant shades, some imagined Venetian sunset, and it doesn't even have any holes in it. At least he's made up for it with his jeans, which are black, slim, laddered with holes all the way down, and the usual combat boots are, perhaps regrettably, also present.

He's also, perhaps more importantly, carrying a tremendously fragrant bouquet of velvety purple-black roses, which he bears past all the Kindred in the room, instead presenting them to Mae, without a word of explanation, before wandering to join - eavesdrop - /join/ the conversation Cassie and Zeb are having. A quick glance at something Zeb's wearing makes him smile, but the expression slips into quiet curiosity after a moment.

---<Rabbit>---------------

Holed up in the back of the lounge, tucked in among the pillows and cushions on a velvety booth bench is a gray hooded monster. The Hoodie Monster. Nothing large or intimidating, just what seems to be a woman who's made her way in and watches what she can from her comfortable spot with amber eyes peering out from the shadows of her own clothing. A pair of mismatched pillows are clutched in her arms and held against her chest, chin resting on the top of one while a single strand of blueish hair finds enough light to be visible.

A little twitch of the woman's nose is truly the only movement other than the rapid flit of eyes back and forth. She totally used the super secret back entrance. No doubt.

---<Cassie>---------------

"Because.. sometimes the ugly is needed, and the drab necessary for contrast to truly enjoy and appreciate the beauty?" Cassie muses in reply to Zebastian, pretty features drawn into a slightly thoughtful expression as she looks up at the much taller Norwegian, blinkblinking her big blues.

The tiny Toreador has opted for the full pink look today, dressed in a /dangerously/ short, strapless mini dress with detached sleeves covering her arms from the elbows down, tall platform stilettos, and stocking that leaves a good four or five inches of bare thigh on display beneath the hem of the dress. Completing the outfit is a chic, puffy pink beret-cap worn on her head and a choker with the words 'Snap Me' boldly spelled in rhinestone at the front worn around her neck.

Glancing towards the door as more people begin filtering in, each new arrival is greeted with a little smiles while still keeping the majority of her attention on the tall, androgynes Malkavian.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Mae, when met with a handful of roses? Gives Lascaux a look which is just shy of withering - watching him as he walks away, then turning with nary a huff to start taking the roses and arrange them. Full bouquet? No. Individual roses are places in the various objet d'art and vases along the under-used concrete bar - busying herself with popping stems in dusty glasses fetched from below, before doing the rounds and placing them on various tables and side-nooks. Even the reproduction statue of Psyche and Cupid in the alcove gets a rose, unceremoniously thrown at their feet. She'll be preoccupied with that for a while.

Zebastian chatters along to Cassie in that undammed stream of consciousness, rendering his focus myopic - she's easy to look at, after all. Enchanting presence. "//Exactly//, one needs balance -- so that /drive/ for pleasure is part of the problem, nei? Because if it blinds us to the full picture - if we only listen to beautiful words we want, at the cost of hearing the ugly truths that enable us to survive? Pleasure will never---"

The chattering stops, as Zeb notices Rabbit over yonder pillow fort -- a hand raised high in greeting, expression bright-bright-bright and seemingly oblivious to what the word 'introvert' could be. "There she is! /Rabbit/ it's been =eons= -- you know Cassie, don't you? Come say hi -- Cassie, Rabbit is an artist; her medium is skin and ink, and it's /beautiful/... How are you? Where's beauty been keeping you busy? What's been /occurring/?"

---<Shawna>---------------

Back entrance, you say? That is how Shawna Weber will enter and the tall and lanky blonde even brought a guest. Her 'plus one' comes in the form of a sleek, masculine crow that is perched on her left shoulder, head bobbing as he balances himself when she moves. The security guard must have assumed he was part of some magic act, perhaps.

Shawna doesn't move too far in from the entrance before she surveys the room with a stoic, almost vacant and aloof expression. The crow, meanwhile, stares with a far more eager and erratic demeanor.

---<Lascaux>---------------

"Psychologically," Lascaux interjects, "We're wired t'favor those things and folks we find t'be beautiful over those we don't, as it is. We have more positive reactions t'them, we're more likely to believe they're morally sound, or just plain /correct./ So Zeb's right, we got t'subvert that natural urge in order t'actually pursue th'truth, especially when it's comin' from the mouth of somebody who's less appealing, for whatever reason. Beauty ain't just a physical quality, after all."

He extends a hand to Cassie. "I don't think we were properly introduced t'last time. Name's Lascaux, pleased t'meet you." And as Zeb calls another unfamiliar name, he turns to look over his shoulder and see who Zeb's speaking to, as well.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade's arrival is with as much fanfare as always, which is to say almost none: He walks in alone, hands in pockets with his shirt buttoned only at the neck flowing out either side of him. Tonight's outfit is a heavy cotton shirt in tan over a clean black tee with Southside in cursive across the chest. His chino shorts are pressed to within an inch of their lives and end below his knees with tall black cotton socks pulled up to meet them. At his waistline, half-heartedly concealed, are the handles of various knives in flagrant disrespect to the unspoken rules of the Lounge.

The one-eye pauses just inside the lounge to acclimate to the atmosphere, feel the vibe, touch the rainbow or whatever newfangled slang the kids are using these days, and then he picks a person to head over to: Mae. While she's busy arranging roses he joins her with an upnod and a quiet greeting. No apparent desire for actual conversation, that would be expecting too much from such a clearly high ranking personage, aside from his casual demeanour it might look more like he's just escorting her around the room even. At some point whenever she's finished with the rose task, he extends a hand, offering her a little something with a flash of brass to it.

---<Rabbit>---------------

Amber eyes stop moving when someone clearly calls for her. She had managed to slip in without the others who know her noticing, but now her cover is blown. There's one blink. Then another. Staring back at Zeb a smile starts to peel across Rabbit's lips as she gives those pillows a tight squeeze for a moment as if steeling herself against whatever onslaught of attention she's about to receive.

There's no verbal reply, but the fact that she's unfolding herself from the velvety comfort of the alcove must be enough for her to convey a greeting. There's only one - two - twitches of an eye as her ratty sneakered feet hit the floor and she pushes herself up. A hand lifts, covered in that overlong sleeve and a wave is offered at that point. "Hello Zeb." She calls back. "Just been hoppin' around, doin' my thing. And yes, I know Cassie. Nice to see you again, too." A glance is given to Lascaux, but there's no recognition.

Yet, then there's another blonde. This one has a crow. Those eyes slip over to that pair, perhaps curious about the magic trick.

---<Jay>---------------

Jay and his latest companion, Money Shot, are also here. They'll arrive sometime later than the rest of the Anarch crew, which isn't a surprise, though slipping into the rest of the group rather naturally and discreetly. Flashy jewelry is almost always present on Money it looks like, even if the Caitiff looks like he's a tiny bit underdressed than usual tonight, his red puffer jacket made present but only a wife-beater underneath. Golden grills are visible whenever Money talks, fashioned in a way not to hinder his canines for better convenience. Black trousers and the latest branded sneaker shoes make up the rest of his clothing, along with the occasional rings and bracelets here and there.

Jay's dressed in a plain black hooded coat, a bit oversized on him, but that's how he prefers it. It's zipped halfway up for some reason. The rest of his attire aren't that remarkable to be mentioned, all black of course, but he does wear a nice set of white and red Air Force 1s with gang-like motifs that'll definitely get him shot in some of LA's ghettos. No LA cap tonight, as the hood is enough to provide his head with cover. Jay goes to greet everyone with simple gestures on his way in, the Caitiff mimicking his gestures, with a select few getting a little more than just winks and nods, before he sneaks off to an empty couch in the corner somewhere.

The occasional thick, flavorful smoke can be seen billowing from their side of the room, as Money has somehow managed to convince his partner to try out vaping.

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie smiles brightly up at Zeb, letting out a happy little sound and looking almost a little proud for a short moment as she noddles at what he says. Philosophy... not exactly were she shines the most But her attention is easily shifted; first to Rabbit who gets a bright smile and a little wave. "Oh, hi Rabbit! I hadn't even noticed it was you back there." There's a little giggle, and a glance back up at Zebastian. "We've met, but only one time." she quickly notes to him, before looking back to the other blonde. "It's nice to see you again. How have you been? Everything good, I hope?" she inquires with a thinly veiled, upbeat curiosity.

Then it's on to Shawna, and her crow, who both get a a happy smile and a little wave as well, and then a little 'come join us' sorta summoning gesture of her hand.

Turning to Lascaux when when greeted, she gives him a lil look over from top-to-toe, not bothering to be at all discreet about it either, and then extends her hand for a light little shake, smiling. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Cassie.. or QT.. either is fine." There's a faint little giggle at that, pert nose crinkling a tiny bit with the slightly puckered smile tugging at her lips, but then... more people! Both Spade and Jay, and any they might have brought with them, get a happy smile, a little upnod, and a wave of waggling fingers should happen to look her way.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian looks surprised when Lascaux is just suddenly alongside him and Cassie - did he not notice? Apparently not! But he laughs at what's said, nodding his head; "That is such a good point -- and subvert the urge - and besides, true beauty is a /moral/ absolute, nei? I mean, it's an -essential quality-, one that cannot be ravaged by time or twisted by pretty petty falsehoods; the truth always comes out - and with it a different, true beauty."

"Oh yes of course!" Zeb chimes to Cassie at her clarification; leaving her to give Lascaux the ol' look-over - there is a fluttering of hand, as Rabbit's emergence is encouraged and he speaks to her; "It's good to see you hopping out tonight, ja? Oh, this is Lascaux---" a turn, and Zebastian clocks Shawna -- a hand raised to her and Hanz, something of a grin of his face-- only for a greeting to be cut short by the waft of vape and sudden noticing of Jay; "So /now/ you roll in out of Venice, fortuitous -- what's good, comrade? No trouble by the sea, I hope?"

Over by Mae island: the arranging of the roses is paused as Spade comes sauntering on over. He gets a full on optical pat-down and zero comment vis a vis the flagrant disregard for unspoken rules. Why is this? The offering in hand is take - observed - then the Ghoul turns, smiling in that enigmatic way of hers - a purple-black roses picked up, boinked against his chest, then tucked into his waistband without comment before she turns away.

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna freezes momentarily once 'clocked' by the others, but then Cassie's beckoning invitation has her crossing over to join the growing group around the littlest Rose and Zebastian. Her crow, Hanz, balances carefully on her left shoulder before letting out a soft warble when he recognizes the hoodie monster that is Rabbit standing near the other two.

Shawna notices Rabbit, too, and she offers her a chin-nod and a calm little "Sup, girl. You good?" Her gaze lingers on the hooded woman before flicking toward Zebastian, "Hey, Zeb. Ya'll not rambling on about lunar cycles and astrology and shit, are you? That shit'll lose me, if so."

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux goes stiff at the obvious optical pat-down, like, oh no, A Toreador Is Looking At Me, and he's probably glad he didn't wear the 'I fuck like a beast' shirt tonight, and that he did something with his hair other than let the windowlessness of his car and the inevitable passage of time twist it into some form of modern art. "I like your choker," he offers Cassie. "Well, I like th'whole outfit, really. It's very like, Cher Horowitz meets underground electronica club."

He manages a little smile for Rabbit, too, offering his hand to her as well. "An essential quality," he repeats, after what Zeb says. "I guess like - something beyond humanity, then, and I can agree with that. Certainly explains why it's harder for us t'perceive it, sometimes. But that's part'a what I wanted t'talk about, how we perceive beauty in relation to ourselves. Y'all read any Lacan?"

---<Spade>---------------

Propitiation offered and accepted, Spade wishes Mae a good night and turns away to address the actual salon, leaving the purple-black rose tucked into his shorts. Hands go back into his pockets and he proceeds around the room in the opposite direction from Mae until falling into Zeb's orbit somewhat naturally, approaching the group there and chilling on the periphery, an upnod to return Cassie's greeting with a somewhat muted, "Sup?" as a general greeting to all, waiting to figure out what the conversation is actually about before getting more wordy.

---<Nisha>---------------

Wearing a black and red Hawaiian shirt, Nisha reveals some flesh by having this top unbuttoned and open. A pearl white sports bra was visible underneath, along with some gnarly scars that traced along her skin. Beige cargo shorts adorned her legs, while she walked around barefoot. Chuckling as she passed the vibe check with that nasty piranha mouth of hers.

A lit cigarillo hung off her lips as the gangrel meandered and then closed in. First by visiting the hosts, "Zeb and Cassie, here's to tonight! Hope it stays safe.", winking at the two of them with a pleasant bow. "Thank you for having me.", keeping it short and simple. Not wanting to eat up anyone's time.

---<Karner>---------------

Provided they were allowed in, some more of the Hollywood contingent (+ a Pasadena outlier) arrive late, but not /too/ late. A large Gargoyle is the first to arrive, walking ahead of Karner Blue, who is wearing a black car coat over a three-piece suit, also black, of course. His shirt collar, front, and cuffs show up as sharp white triangles. His round sunglasses, tie, ring, and polished Oxfords are black, too. Only a tie pin decorated with a freshwater pearl carved and painted to resemble an eye -- an exceedingly blue eye -- serves as any colorful decoration.

Karner seems a great deal more sober than the last time he was here. Carried in both hands is a large bouquet of blue hyacinths. A veritable plethora of sweet-smelling, lovely hyacinths. But not so many that he can't have them all gathered up in his arms.

---<Zebastian>---------------

"Bitch, I could be." Zebastian quips at Shawna, laughing only on the edge of ~hypomania~ before he stills himself and waves a hand, "But for -you-? No beautiful, I'll remain on subject - what are we talking about? Oh - the pitfalls of disingenuous beauty masking the essential though painful truth of things... Has that ever happened to you or?--"

There's a distracted look, and whatever Zeb was going to say? Distracted by Nisha -- moving to wiggle his fingers in greeting, only to wrinkle his nose and laugh at what she says. "Oh darling, of course -- how could we say no? What's the news on the beat?"

So much activity! Zebastian's fractured focus can't seem to keep up with it all - tracking new arrivals included; but hey, it's busy.

---<Hall>---------------

Hall walks in behind Bartok and Karner, taking some time to look around at who's here, and at the decorations -- such as they are -- that have been put in place for the event. Blinking a little. He's dressed simply, in a white T-shirt and jeans.

---<Rabbit>---------------

"The threads ain't seen fit to kill me yet, so I suppose everything is just dandy." Rabbit remarks to Zeb and Cassie, a two for one response. Lascaux receives a bit of a nod from Rabbit, but the blue haired woman starts to meander closer to Zeb and Cassie's little group. A glance is cast back to Shawna when she speaks and Rabbit gives a little upnod in return, the corner of her mouth curling up a bit more. "Yeah. I'm good." Then she adds, "Hey Hanz. How's the little lady? You're looking mighty fine tonight."

---<Bartok>---------------

Bartok is dressed as he is on most nights. Black hoodie with the belt buckles. Acid washed jeaned. The crocs. Baggy clothes that reflected the era and demographic of his embrace with enough volume to hide the deformed body underneath layers of fabric. It was his 'look' and he 'worked it'. He has to draw his wings in to make it through the door. He walks at a professional pace, which is not too slow but in no hurry, either.

He stops by the door to let his gaze pan the room like a security camera. His chin jerks in an upnod towards Shawna and Hanz, and then looks over his shoulder to check and seen if the other two more-normal looking Kindred were following in his wake like a watchful mother duck.

The Gargoyle nods and starts walking towards Zeb so Karner could make his introduction to the host of the affair. The monster is keeping quite close to Karner tonight.

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna is standing among the group that is Zebastian, Cassie, Rabbit, Spade, Lascaux, (and more?). Hanz, her crow companion, is perched on her left shoulder though the corvid seems more interested in Rabbit than anyone else. When Rabbit addresses him, the crow begins to caw loudly in excitement before he attempts to flutter over to her shoulder, instead.

Shawna smirks at the interaction before she glances back toward Zebastian. Her answer to the Malkavian's question about disingenuous beauty masking the essential though painful truth is met with a dull stare that is only broken when Bartok arrives. Glancing toward the Hollywood Gargoyle, the Gangrel of Griffith Park nods her head, "Hey, Big Guy. All good?" A head nod toward Karner, eyes now curious.

---<Jay>---------------

Jay's no stranger to smoking, though his days of hitting rolled-up Backwoods joints in the slums of South LA are long past him, back when smoking weed felt a little bit better if only for showing off purposes. The Brujah and Caitiff pair are starting to fill up their side of the room with some dissipating haze as the smoke builds up, silently watching on everyone else, and they don't seem like they're budging out of their seat anytime soon 'til Zeb walks up. Jay eyes, quiet for a few seconds like he's hesitating, lips wrapped around the mouth of his vape as the signature sharp sound of the device clears some of the silence away, before smoke is followed by words. "What you mean? I always roll out of Venice for your events, Zeb."

He rises up to chat, though his Caitiff friend stays put even as eyes occasional dart over to Mae, and lazily struts towards the Malkavian. "You know how it is, with Manners and all." As in Antwon Manners. "The motherfucking Baron of Santa Monica sold Venice to the Ghost Town crew for his own sake, but you know your boy got his own deals made in the back, so I secured my spot. Eitherway, Oakwood runs the place now as we already know." The Brujah shrugs, puffing.

"But I'd say I'm doing much better with that, even with that fucker running the place now; he's got his underlings working with me in my studio. Heard of Young LGND? He's earned me a ton of cash already, boy's a superstar in the making."

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux looks around the little circle which has gathered around the evenings hosts, as it were. Nobody has heard of Lacan or /wants/ to hear of Lacan, so it seems. He sticks his hands in his pockets and goes silent, listening instead at the interplay between acquaintances and friends, the greetings to new arrivals, Karner's giant flower bouquet, et cetera.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley walks in from the main entrance, the girl wearing a strapless minidress that is of an oddly bright pink color that would stand out among the more 'edgy' crowd. She obviously was about to be let in without much hassle from the bouncers, that is, until she leans in to talk to one. Everything is too loud, of course, for anyone to overhear, but anyone looking over could see the blonde reach delicately in her purse and pull out a small bit of stationary. Still leaning over a bit close due to the music bumping, the poor bouncer seems quite distracted even as she apparently is reading off of this paper as if ... well it's obviously the damn password. Nodding after a soft blush, the bouncer just motions to the back of the club toward the VIP room. Smilingly brightly, she wrinkles her nose and makes toward the back after a light touch to the man's arm. As she makes her way over, the other bouncer obviously makes fun of his co-worker, eliciting some sort of punch to the shoulder. A hard one.

---<Effie>---------------

Dressinf in baggy jeans that bunch at the ankle, a halter top with the stylized words 'Tats and Gats are Girl Toyz' and gauged ears with large black discs. The literal newest vamp in town arm in arm with a guy who could potentially be 'Dad.' He's in a suit and looks like he's here as mostly arm candy despite being average in appearance and in a suit most typically associated with police detectives. Vape in hand she takes a long drag and whispers something to Dad before grinning ear to ear.

Dad, simply nods and stays close to her. Both look a little uncertain about how to go about things.

---<Karner>---------------

Karner follows after Bartok, managing to keep his grip on the huge amount of blue hyacinths he has on his personage. Once he and Robbie are close enough to Zebastian, the director clears his throat. It's not a terribly necessary thing to do, him being a vampire and all, but old habits die hard. "Oyg -- Zebastian," Karner says, his Transatlantic accent cutting above the din loudly enough for his fellow Malkavian to hear him. "May I have a moment of your time?" To the others he knows, standing nearby, he offers a nod and a friendly enough smile.

---<Joseph>---------------

A few minutes after Karner Blue and company enter, so too does Joseph. A black 'BLM' headband surrounds the entirety of his forehead; he must of hit the clothes store, because he picked up a long black trenchcoat. Everything else is par for the course. He immediately seeks out the Malkavian, nods to him, and stands relatively close, giving similar 'hellos' to Bartok then Hall.

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie giggles sweetly at the outfit compliment from Lascaux, nose crinkling slightly with the amused little grin pulling her lips wide. "Thanks." she chirps, letting her eyes linger on for a brief moment before her attention is stolen by Shawna coming over. She can't help but grin amusedly at the Crowgrels comment, a quick little glance between her and Zeb. "Hi Shawna" she greets her in a slightly softer and more hushed voice, before then glancing to Spade when he comes over, a smile and a quick "hey" offered to the SC fangbanger.

Nisha's comment earns her a bright, clearly amused smile. "One can hope!" she titters, before adding "Ofc! It's great to see you." followed by another little giggly sound. Yea... lotta giggling. It's a whole thing. *4th wall shrug*

Everyone elese arriving - or a least everyone she notices and who might catch her gaze, is given a polite smile and a faint dip of her chin.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian smiles dreamily back at Shawna and her dull-eyed stare at his question, oblivious or simply accepting that some things take time. He going to rush the Gangrel with a crow on her shoulder? /No/. He half-glances towards Bartok, attention nearly snagged by the huge blur of blue that is the bouquet of hyacinths held by Karner --- and while it's obvious what Jay has said has piqued interest, there's only so much focus he can withstand.

"...Hold that thought, Jay? There's so much to unpack there, nei? I mean, we could talk about the Venice bungle all night -- and we should, just..." A beat, then Zebastian turns back to Karner - diverts attention and gives Bartok a raised hand in greeting, little upnod as well -- then back to Karner, eyebrows raised, smile bright and dreamy. "Of course, no need to be a flower-wall after all -- air your grievances - we've all got time, nei?"

Head tipped to the side, hand brushing at the cuff of his cashmere sweater as Zeb waits attentively to listen to whatever's coming next from Karner.

---<Bartok>---------------

Bartok gives Shawna a slow thumbs up and a nod. He then looks around the room and shrugs. The monster takes a look towards Jay, seeming to listen as he brings up the Ghost Town deal. He then looks back to Shawna and steps forward enough to pat the Gangrel on the shoulder with a deformed hand, then holds a pretzel for Hanz. The treat for the crow is a comically tiny morsel between the Gargoyle's fingertips.

---<Hall>---------------

Hall looks surprised to be greeted by Joseph, but nevertheless, he replies, " -- hi." The sight of Bartok feeding a pretzel to Hans is also surprising. He blinks again. Then he asks Lascaux, "Did you get to the part about socks yet?"

---<Rabbit>---------------

Really, just forget everyone else. Rabbit turns a bit as Hanz flies over to her, offering her shoulder up. "Who's the prettiest one here? It's you! Yes, it's you!" She coos at the crow. One hand dips into a pocket and she pulls out a small, unopened back of peanuts. Unsalted. Lifting it up, she tears it open with her special, special teeth. Just opening the bag up, she offers the contents to Hanz. "I had a feeling I'd see you here. Did you miss me? I missed you." Who wants to talk about beauty when you've got the hottest crow this side of the Rockies on your shoulder? You know....THE Crow. Better than Brandon.

---<Karner>---------------

"We've got all the time in the world, Zebastian. It's just as you say." While Robbie entertains Hanz, Karner presents Zebastian with the giant bouquet of flowers. "Anyway, this is to apologize for the...inebriated state I came in last time. As you can see, tonight I'm sober as the night is long." The heady blooms perfume the air all around, whether or not Zebastian takes them. They will go on perfuming everything in sight! It's what a good flower does. And these are a lot of flowers. Probably expensive. "Do with them as thou wilt. Distribute them to the masses, masticate them, drop them in the ocean, whatever good and free use you would like for them, they are yours now." He glances over when Rabbit starts talking and grins at her, not expecting to see her here. Joseph, too, gets a similar grin.

---<Nisha>---------------

"What's the beat ...? I can't just drop the secrets of the universe for you like that, Zeb. Got to wait for this chapter to end first ... a few more pages and we will be there. It probably coincides with the Prince's mysterious arrival.", waggling her brows. Tiger eyes to Cassie, "Hey, let's talk in the future. Here's in my number.", pulling up the info and showing it to QT.

Looking over her shoulder. "Robbie you talking tonight? The subject is beauty. Do you really like those croc shoes, or is it something that fits?", looking at his feet. "Because they remind me of cheese. Swiss cheese, and I love Swiss cheese. Just not on my feet.", apparently Nisha wanted to talk the beauty of shoes with a gargoyle.

---<Effie>---------------

The full body tattoo'd woman watches with a keen interest as all the other vamps and other in the know types go about the pleasantries. Leaning onto the wall to carefully watch the surroundings, Effie continues to suck in deep inhales of her vape and blowing out various shapes. Just watching and observing, gauging the attendees.

Dad, however, just wanders over to the bar to look for two beers and to try and see if anyone would mind the well dressed but very unknown man taking some drinks if any looked available.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade gives Cassie a taste of her own medicine, with his one-eyed once-over, down and up, punctuated with another nod afterwards and another laconic comment, "Nice." Around the time Karner is presenting Zeb with the huge bouquet the Southsider backsteps and walks away from the group, re-treading his previous steps around the outside of the room, avoiding other conversational groups of Westsiders deftly as he travels the space at an amble. When he comes to the main entrance in he just keeps walking though, breaking the pattern.

---<Lascaux>---------------

"I didn't even get to th'mirror," Lascaux laments to Hall, drifting in that direction and eyeing the hyacinths as they're presented to Zeb. "I woulda gone with irises, or orchids, I think," he admits, as though he didn't just give Mae a giant bouquet of roses, and giving a ghoul roses is /kind/ of like giving her domitor roses, right? Or maybe not. He looks at Joseph, eyeing up the BLM headband, and says, "Who's this, Ash? The new guy I been hearin' about?" Hand stuck out and offered to New Guy. "Name's Lascaux. Don't doubt you probably heard of me, too, by now."

---<Joseph>---------------

Long, unkempt hair goes every which way as his head shakes in a 'no.' Joseph does shake Lascaux' hand -- pausing a moment as the feel of beast against beast strains against him. "Sorry, I might have; people have been throwing so much information at me. It's been a lifetime course in etiquette and who's who in less than two weeks." He tries to explain it in such a way that there's hopefully no bad feelings about his ignorance.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley -finally- makes it to the VIP room from the main area, that last step in makes her stumble a bit as she trips over something (likely her own feet), the girl turning around to glare at, well... the guilty floor. Taking a deep breath, the out of place girl turns around to look over the room with a friendly smile, her bright green eyes taking in everything, her demeanor that of someone very curious and happy to be there. By happenstance, she finds herself right next to the the tatoo'd Effie, the girl giving the other a look, then after only a slight hesitation, says, a bit loudly due to the music, "This looks fun, huh?"

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian's head tips as he looks from Karner to the flowers - considers them for a moment with hazy focus - then looks back up a this face. Something soft there, smile twisting at the edges. "...I don't remember needing an apology about your compromised cognition - such abundance - how thoughtful -- but I couldn't possibly accept an apology that had nothing to do with me. What could I do with that? Here--"

A gesture, towards where Spade wanders, then Shawna and Bartok -- head tipped as he catches something Lascaux says, almost laughing before Zebastian steadies himself and continues; "I'm sure the apology for your behaviour should go to them all -- causing such a fuss, and for what?" A light laugh, then Zeb shakes a hand abstractly. "The bees will be furious at all that nectar was stolen, so do it quick before they notice!"

Flash of a grin, then Zebastian looks back over towards Jay, eyebrows raised. "...There's so many other things to account for."

---<Bartok>---------------

Robbie looks around the room to find the sourse of sound to whoever is calling out to them. The creature was mostly non-verbal in all situations. Especially -crowds-. He looks upto at Nisha's call and just lifts his deformed shoulders in a shrug that rustles his wing-cloak. It's as he's responding to that invitation with a silent reply that suggests this much... would you -really- ask a guy as hideous as any Nosferatu what they think about beauty. Whatever he could think about such a highbrow concept is apparently, not even worth the effort of him speaking up about it. Nisha should not be disapointed, though. There were plenty of Kindred here that enjoyed talking so much that she should have no fear to find herself deafened by any silence. Vampires tended to share their opinions on such things whether anyone wanted to hear them or not.

He does look down at one of his shoes. Croc. The choice footwear of Clan Nosferatu. His feet are indeed quite massive. One should be thankful the hideousness of the crocs protects the eyes from the surely hideous toes beneath.

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna meets Bartok's gaze and returns the nod after a moment. Her gaze follows the gargoyle as he reaches out to offer that pretzel to Hanz, who is now on Rabbit's shoulder getting the proper love and affection he rarely gets from his own mistress (ahem!).

The blonde Gangrel frowns thoughtfully before she asks aloud, to no-one in particular, "Wasn't it Oakwood that laid up Cassie and took out her sire? We're... I mean, ya'll are running with 'em now, just to stay offside from Oakwood?" Shawna raises a hand toward her face and quickly rubs her nose with the heel of her palm in a brief flash of sudden social anxiety. "Shit, not my business and I'm not meaning to stir anything up. Just figuring out where shit stands."

---<Karner>---------------

"Well, generally speaking, when one makes a ruckus, one apologizes to the host. Which I suppose you won't admit to being, Zebastian. So be it." Karner tosses the blooms carelessly on a nearby couch. "Feel free to give them back to the birds and the bees." He looks over to Bartok with his eyebrows raise. "Robbie, shall we go, or is there something else you wish to do here?"

---<Lascaux>---------------

"It's /fine,/" Lascaux replies to Joseph, with a huffed laugh and a shake of his head. "I ain't anybody worth hearin' about, truthfully, and I'm /glad/ t'hear you don't know me from Adam. I heard a little about your story and you got my sympathy, so I got no desire t'give you shit over your situation or like - etiquette, or whatever. This is - should be, is s'posed t'be - a chill place." He's looking in Zeb's direction, and by that note, Karner's, as he says that, chewing at the inside of his cheek and waiting to see Robbie's response.

---<Effie>---------------

The blonde clutz gets a nod of recognition and a smile on that tattoo'd face of her, the jelewed snake bites glisten and shine in the various lighting of the environments. "Fun is probably an accurate word for it!" Just as the well dressed ghoul returns with a bottle in hand of nondescript booze to give to Effie. "I'm Effie bee tee dubz. Just got into town a couple nights ago after this guy got everything situated for me!" Trying to be heard over the loud music and other conversation.

Effie swigs from the bottle without a care in the world and swishes the liquid in her mouth before swallowing. "What's your name?"

---<Joseph>---------------

"It's not a very interesting story, I'm afraid." Joseph tells Lascaux in an honest tone of voice, "..and a short one. I'm trying to make it as long as I can." Attention passes to the Gargoyle. "Are you with Blue, or..?" The question is posed since, as Lascaux said, the childe literally does not know this man from Adam.

---<Hall>---------------

"Well, uh. Maybe you can explain it to me again. Because. I'm not sure I understood it the first time," Hall tells Lascaux. He watches Hanz get fed a few times over. Then he squints at Shawna. "I, uh. Have no idea." He glances over at Zebastian and Karner after those flowers hit a couch with a thud. His eyebrows go up, too, maybe surprised. Then his gaze moves on, back out and around the room. Seeing Spade seem to change direction, he pauses for a moment, looking thoughtful.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley tilts her head slightly as she mouths Effie's "last name" to herself, apparently trying to get the pronounciation in correctly. She watches as the man brings back a bottle of wine, and she gives him a bright smile as well before turning her attention back to Effie, "I'm Riley!" she almost yells back. Damn that music has really upped its volume in the last few minutes, or is it just her? "Nice to meet you!" She continues before turning to fully face the ghoul, "Hi! And you are?"

---<Jay>---------------

Jay bears no significant expression, no enthusiasm whatsoever even as he spoke about Ghost Town/Oakwood and Santa Monica, but it's not unusual for him anyway. Guy has always been creepily cold for some reason, even as he rants on about something. Which is about to happen again soon as he overhears something from a particular someone. "Nobody's running with Oakwood, but nobody has the time to deal with them neither, for obvious fucking reasons," and as he says so, his eyes suddenly dart to the Hollywood group, eyeing them all up and down, before his eyes land on Shawna with the same gesture. "And then some more." He shuts himself up with his vape and blows smoke, before eyeing at it weirdly. "First and last time I'm trying this shit out," looking over his shoulder at the mellowed out Money Shot in the back.

A sigh, then. "If only Abrams wasn't a walking piece of shit, right, Zeb?" His eyes dart around the room, landing onto the unfamiliar pair of faces around: Effie and Riley, and then Joseph. "Your acquaintances, Zeb?"

---<Cassie>---------------

"Sure." Cassie agrees with a smile after grinning at what Nisha says to Zeb, reaching into her outfit-matching pink Prada handbag to get her phone and quickly jot down the Tigress' number before putting it away again and looking back up. And just in time to see that look over Spade gives her. The tiny Toreador shifts her stance slightly and strikes a little pose for him, a naughty little smile and a faint wiggle of hips, eyes dancing, before a soft, slightly silly giggle is drawn from her pillowy lips. "You too.." she notes, licking the tip of a canine while her eyes linger on for a moment as he moves to.. do whatever it is he's doing.

She didn't hear the beginning of people starting to talk about Ghost Town, but when she catches on to the topic, right around when Shawna speaks up, her smiles fades and a pained flash plays over her pretty features, arms wrapping loosely around herself. "It was.." she murmurs. "It's... complicated Jay's just doing what he has to do, and.. hey, maybe something good will come out of it, right?" She doesn't seem completely convinced by her own words, perhaps, but her smile is fast enough to reappear and she she seems like she at least -wants- to believe it.

---<Lascaux>---------------

"Not this again," Lascaux says, low, almost to himself, straightening up a little, the slouch rolling slightly out of his shoulders. "Oh - uh, I'm not a member of h'Hollywood crew, no, if that's what you're askin'. Neither's Ash here, though. Mr. Pasadena. He's the biggest badass outta all of us, secretly, makin' th'trip down here all the time." He tosses Hall a sidelong, crooked smile, but his attention's clearly on what's going on with Jay, Cassie, et al.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian's eyebrows raise at Karner's comment -- only to raise even further as he watches the abundance of hyacinths get tossed away carelessly. His head tips to the side, hand raised to brush hair over his shoulder; "How quickly apologies get tossed aside, mm? When they could so easily be redirected to the deserving."

A look to Bartok, Zebastian's smile a touch apologetic itself - or is it simply sympathetic? Dreamy around the edges -- then refocusing, as he turns to look at Shawna -- a hand held up as he chatters on to her;

"Nei, nei you're alright right Shawna -- that's a totally valid question, but I think you got it a touch twisted, ja? Jay doesn't run with them -- it's just with all the /tedious/ and unnecessary fussing with lines in the sand, it's like a compromise had to be met, you know? See, what Cruce didn't take in account when he made that /strangely/ impulsive backroom 'deal'? Was that there are Westsiders who've lived in Venice for /ages/ -- where were /they/ when things were talked out? Kept from the conversation, of course. Though it seems like that's a theme, because nobody who's anybody's heard a peep from Cruce in... What? Since that house in Sunset Park burnt down?"

Zebastian clicks his tongue, shakes his head. Zero recognition to Jay when he calls for a value judgement re: Abrams - he just chatters on in that loquacious way of his, hand waving abstractly; "It just doesn't /do/. What reason is there to =sell= space we Westsiders have spent /decades/ protecting, if you're just going to hide away doing... What, exactly? Nothing? Behind closed doors. Be -out-, be /open/, make stuff =happen=. Because what value to Westside have the Cruces and Los Perdidos contributed? Can't say anything /notable/. The whole concept's just, ew. //Stagnant//; Baron's are just so passe - true leadership is not about petty compulsive hoarding of personal power, but the //will of the people//. Nurturing our liberty, collectively. To just /be/."

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna's gaze turns to Jay as he answers and it lingers there for a moment afterward. The comment about Isaac Abrams draws no reaction from the otherwise somber-looking blonde's expression. Clear-blue eyes turn to Cassie, next, and Shawna listens to her before offering a solemn nod. "Sorry for bringing that shit up, QT." Her expression turns almost shy-like as she regards the littlest Toreador... and then she's looking toward Zebastian and listening.

Hanz, meanwhile, just basks in the adoration and affection that comes from Rabbit. All this vampire talk? Boring!

---<Effie>---------------

The man just nods and raises his glass of booze up to Riley with a smile that screams not caring to be here. "Sullivan, but she refuses to call me anything but Dad." To exacerbate his gripe and to give merit to his domitor's name, he looks at her like an annoyed Father might a child. "It is a pleasure to meet you Riley. And to add... she was meaning by the way. Ever since she found out about Net culture she's taken to shortening most things."

Effie just shrugs And takes another swig. "This is why I keep you around. I get to have fun and do my own thing while you worry about the boring stuff!" An affectionate kiss is given to Sullivan before continuing the conversation. "He's right though! Ever since I found out the youth shorten shit it's made my hair salon infinitely more fun! People don't expect me to talk like them and understand you know? It's kinda L.O.L. at how crazy religious people are to the language."

---<Joseph>---------------

Joseph watches in silence as Zebastian goes on about duty and liberty, before canting his head to talk to Lascaux once more. "I'm Joseph Avamunda. You probably know that, but." Broad shoulders roll in a shrug. "Anyways, I can guess that we're on our way out. Nice meeting you."

---<Bartok>---------------

Bartok looks over his shoulder towards Karner, whomst he still hasn't ventured far from. He gives Mr. Blue the sort of encouraging pat on the shoulder you give a geriatric relative, as if to suggest that he is proud that Karner has gotten out of the house today. He does look at the tossed aside Hyacinths and then up to Zeb. Malkavians courting each other was only the strangest thing Bartok had seen in Undeath... next to Vozhd. On some nights he probably preferred to be in a room with Vozhd. The monster turns his head back to observe as Jay makes his response. He fixes Jay with a stare. Behind his mask his eyelids droop.

---<Karner>---------------

"Not this again," Karner echoes Lascaux, running a hand through his unruly hair. "I believe it was /you/ who was tossing my apology aside, Zebastian. I merely made the gesture more concrete. Feel free to redirect the blooms to the 'deserving,' whomever they may be. Or, if there is something else you would like to say, then say it."

He ignores the insults directed toward Isaac, And Zeb's political rant, which wasn't directed at him, anyway, although his gaze does linger on Shawna for a moment, one eyebrow raising, before he turns to Joseph, Lascaux, and Hall. "I'll stay as long as Robbie wants. This is really his party. Robbie loves the people, you see, and for whatever reason, they love him." His tone is rather dry as he glances up at the Gargoyle, after he gives him that pat on the shoulder. He smirks a bit, shrugging, although his shaded gaze looks Jay's way as well when Bartok stares at him.

---<Nisha>---------------

Nisha -tssks- either at Robbie for not answering her, when she likely considered his opinion greater and more interesting than all others abound them tonight ... or perhaps she tssked at Karner for the flower disposal on the couch. "Fine, keep your secrets.", she offers to Robbie with a wink.

Yet, Nisha is instantly gathering up the blue Hyacinth flowers dropped on the couch. Completely thrilled to recollect the plants. "Did you know Zeb, hyacinth bulbs are /poisonous/? They contain oxalic acid. Hyacinth's belong to the liliaceae family, and contain allergenic lactones or similar alkaloids. They can be lethal.", happily regathering the bouquet. Shaking them at Zeb once done, "It's not everyday someone gifts you with a -beautiful- poison bouquet. Blue poison none the less!", pointing to the bulbs. "Don't let family, friends or pets eat this, but they can also be brewed in a tea for a special surprise. Be right back! I got to put these in my car!", walking up to Spade.

"Dude can I borrow your car keys?", Nisha knew a little too much about poisons.

---<Rabbit>---------------

Not being in the loop on what has been happening for the most part makes it -so- easy for Rabbit to give Hanz the love and attention that he -rightfully- deserves. It is known. Little scritches. Offered peanuts. Assurances that she hasn't been cheating on him with any other birds.

Yet as Zeb starts talking in more detail about Los Perdidos and the puppet her expression sours a little but and she turns back towards the alcove she had been tucked into before Zeb called her out of hiding. Easing into a seat to not disturb Hanz, the amber eyes of the Hoodie Monster don't remain on Hanz all that much at this point, instead shifting between a couple of locations. Just observing even though the terms of endearment continue to be lavished upon the bestest bird ever.

---<Hall>---------------

"Don't tell Joseph shit like that," Hall tells Lascaux, laughing a little. "He might believe you." But like Hanz, he doesn't seem to care for the vampire talk too much. His expression, already sour when at rest, darkens. Then he shakes his head and says, for some reason, "Not once in a billion..." He seems to be talking mainly to himself, almost like it's some kind of mantra.

---<Jay>---------------

"Yeah, right, I suppose that's good enough of a topic maker for tonight's event, Zebastian." Jay clicks his tongue and shrugs, his attention shifting over to the Hollywood group to respond to the stares he's getting. He doesn't say anything else, but opts to return to the seat from whence he came, Money Shot just laughing in the back at the view. Blinkless eyes are held hard on both Bartok and Karner as he trudges across the room, plops down on the couch, and stares back up at them like he's looking for one damn reason to then walk up at them and cause some trouble. But he doesn't, and probably won't, though his gaze is still pinned on them for some reason. If they return the stare, Money Shot will take notice and waves a hand, white canines flashing at them from the dark with an amused grin.

---<Karner>---------------

Karner pulls his midnight blue iPhone out from his jacket. "Oh, look at that. Murray again. He wants to talk to me about the rewrites, for a change. And all this after he's been in Palm Springs for the last three weeks. Producers!" He lets out a hyena-like guffaw, though anyone who's known Karner for longer than about five minutes probably knows he just laughs like that. "Robbie, I should probably go attend to that. Shall we go? Incidentally," he adds, to no one in particular, "vampires can't be poisoned. At least, not by consuming hyacinth bulbs." The director gives Rabbit a big grin. "Lovely to see you again, Rabbit. Won't you drop by Der Blaue Engel sometime? Shawna, Lascaux, good evening." He turns to take in Hall and Joseph again. "Robbie and I are leaving, and I suppose you can come with us if you'd like, but you're certainly not obliged to, gentlemen, and...Avamuna, what /are/ you going on about?"

---<Spade>---------------

Spade's slow patrol around the circumference of the room is interrupted by Nisha carrying a lot of blue flowers. The single quirked eyebrow and slight twist of his lips betrays some confusion. Of he course he didn't get all the run up poison infodump, just a request to borrow his car keys, which he seems initially reluctant to hand over, but after a moment of processing just pulls out his keyring and holds it out to Nisha. The blue of the flowers will probably clash with the blue of his car, a stylistic nightmare, for someone who would care about that. He seems to be in a particularly not talkative mood this evening, having spoken perhaps six words all night and the majority of them to Mae. After Nisha takes the keys he returns to his slow circumnavigation.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley blinks a couple of times and then giggles, placing her hand over her mouth as her cheeks turn a bit pink. Wait, did a human manage to find themselves in here? "OH! Ok, that was silly of me. Of course, buh da bee, now I can hear it. Glad you didn't let me go on thinking that it was your name, Ms. Badabee!" She giggles again, and then raises one eyebrow just a bit with the other woman's free use of "LOL" in a sentence. There's a slight shake of her head and a grin before she looks at Sullivan and show a little playful roll of the eyes that Effie wouldn't see.

"So, I hear that people are talking about... well, it's some sort of discussion about.. beauty, right? Something like that?" she directs her questions to both the tattooed woman and her "Dad" escort.

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie's smile pulls a little wider as Zeb elaborates some on things re: GT and Jay and... everything about the whole Venice situation, putting words to it much better than she's able to at present. The smile fades a little as the Malkavian goes on half-explaining half-musing, but it doesn't disappear completely, and it warms slightly again as she looks to Shawna, giving the Crowgrel a soft shake of her head. "Don't be sorry, it's ok. Can't not talk about things just because someone might feel a little uncomfortable, right?" she offers, and again there's that sense that she's not completely convinced herself, but wants to be, as her gaze drifts to the ground, lingering there for a few second while she sucks on her bottom lip. The bickering between Zeb and Karner and Co. just gets a slight roll of eyes, tho it's unclear who, or what, exactly it's more aimed at. And Nisha... Nisha gets a curious, lingering little look, lips quirking into a lopsided little smile and head tilting slightly as she follows the other girl making her way over towards Spade.

---<Rabbit>---------------

"Later Karner." Rabbit calls out, "I'll stop by sometime soon. I miss the pool."

But then she turns to whisper something to Hanz before laughing and shaking her head, "Can you believe it? I hadn't seen anything so crazy in my life and some people say -I'm- a Malk!"

---<Joseph>---------------

"Good call, Mister Blue. I'll explain later."

More silly than important, Joseph seems to think it's a good idea to leave, and will follow paces behind Karner and Robbie and whoever else follows after. Hands settle in the pockets of his trench coat, and his head cants from left to right, taking in what he sees.

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux slips away from Hall and Joseph with an apologetic look, crossing the few steps needed to bring him back to Zeb's shoulder. "Zeb's right," he says. "I ain't been part of this scene for long but what I can already see is that a lot of gripe and fightin' goes on over who has what little piece of territory and where th'borders are and what title they get t'put in front of their name. And it's funny because - in a hell of a lotta ways, it's /just like/ the shit they do over at th'Tower. Y'know, these events? Th'kind of stuff that y'all think doesn't matter, it's just philosophy? It's the kind of stuff we need to talk about, because we need to have ideals. We need to understand where we all are, what /matters/ to us, so we can focus on those things."

He takes a deep breath. "People lost folks. People got hurt. People saw awful things. And y'all got every right to want to express that hurt and anger, it's true. But at some point we got to stop tryin' to burn everything down 'cause we're upset about the things that happened, and focus on what it is we all want t'build, instead. And it shouldn't be like, another goddamn Tower, except smaller and with lower membership fees."

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna's gaze leaves Zebastian for Karner when the director announces his departure and she returns his farewell with a quick chin-nod and a low, "Catch ya, Blue." The Gangrel spares a quick glance toward Rabbit, now custodian to her prized crow, then adopts a faint smirk before looking away again. Cassie's words earn her another nod, less shy than before.

As the other Hollywood Anarchs leave, Shawna seems content to stay for now.

---<Hall>---------------

Hall runs his hand through his hair, startled. "Uh... yeah, okay," he says. "I mean. I don't have, uh. Anything to contribute to the theme, anyway. I was just curious." But maybe not curious enough to risk ending the night this far from home without a ride. He looks around and bids a polite, "Good evening," to those nearby. Including Lascaux, just before he slips away. "And, uh. Thanks." That more vaguely, perhaps to the room at large, before he heads out.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian gives Karner a side eye, eyebrow arched and prelude to laughter almost kept back as a hand brushed over his mouth, and he just shakes his head slowly, smile sad. "That blame ain't mine either, baby Blue. Take a chill pill."

A shake of his head--- then he blinks and look over to Nisha's direction - eyebrows going up!, before he /does/ laugh, hand pressed against the centre of his chest. "The girls at the club warned me about the poisoned pen - but flowers now too? Have /mercy/. Is nothing sacred? You have them, darling - be careful of bees."

Zeb clicks his tongue and shakes his head, watching as Karner pulls out his phone and explanations. A breathless sigh, then he's turning - looking over to Jay. Expression hazy for a moment, before the Malkavian sobers - is sober the right word? Looks a tad more serious, his hand shook. "Is it a marker? I think it's important to be said; no empty apologies, no empty promises, no empty gestures from those who have no real investment in what's already /here/. If -we- want to see what Westside already has thrive, we have to cultivate our garden; like Westside Collective have been doing -- just with a little less poison, nei?"

---<Effie>---------------

Effie shrugs and lets the still wrong last name go for now. "I have ZERO idea what this is for really." She shrugs and pokes Sullivan softly. "I just caught wind of something going down and drug Dad here. He said we shouldn't have come without specific invitation but I was like..."

Sullivan butts in and finishes her statement for her and she shuts up as he speaks. "Unfortunately for me, she only heeds /some/ of my more 'boring'" Finger quoting. "concerns. I have not much say in where she drags me though." He sounds annoyed but the obvious love of a blood bond is there as he glances at Effie.

Taking back over conversation. "But I am a hair stylist so I am alllll about beauty!" She shows off her body which is essentially one big body sleeve to Riley. "Ink and hair is beautiful you know? I am sooooo glad I got really bored and took a cosemtology night class."

---<Jay>---------------

Lascaux's statements yield a shout from across the room, by none other than Jay of course. "Tell that to the shithead Abrams! He's the problematic one," and then he shuts up, though likely not for long - not if he overhears something juicy he can intrude on soon. "Boo," Money Shot feels the need to also do some shouting, which bears no contribution whatsoever to the situation, and juts both of his thumbs down afterwards. The kid's just like that.

---<Nisha>---------------

"Thank you, Mista Blue for the -POISON-!!!", Nisha calls out loudly to him in a sing song voice, just to be brat. Trying her best not to bust up laughing, as the gangrel takes the car key from Spade and heads on out.

Sometime later, Nisha would return. Flowerless, and she would deliver Spade his car keys. Whispering something into his ear. Before turning back around. She made a large enough scene for the night. But to her, it was funny.

---<Bartok>---------------

Bartok nods to the room. Apparently it is time for the Warrior Poet to depart and escort Karner back to ja-- Home safe in Hollywood where he belongs. He gives Zeb a departing stare and a polite bow before turning to head to the door. On the way out he turns around points to Jay and then points to himself. The Monster then thumps his own chest.

---<Zebastian>---------------

So much activity! Lost in the fray, Zebastian does seem a touch Distractible(tm), even as part of the Hollywood Set start their exit -- but when Robbie gives him that stare and gesture of g'bye? The Malk pauses, stares back at him with something of a dreamy smile, then bows his head in return. A kind of stillness settling over him, though he does raise a hand - held up like a Vulcan might, watching as the Gargoyle makes his exit...

---<Rabbit>---------------

From the alcove, Rabbit chimes in rather loudly after some of the Hollywood crew leaves, "This petty drama is not super juicy NOR entertaining. Change topics."

But then she's back to the bird, quietly trying to make an appropriate 'caw' sound for a few moments, then asks Hanz, "That was terrible wasn't it? Did I say something completely horrible? Didn't mean to insult your mom or whatever. I'm sure she was a lovely lady crow."

---<Riley>---------------

Riley nods and gives Effie an appreciative look, "Oh definitely! Although I can't imagine getting so many tattoos, I really have a low threshhold for pain, afterall. But I'm super impressed by people who can though!" She looks at her bare arms, raising one and twisting it a bit to show it off, "See? No ink whatsoever. The most I ever done was those temporary tats back when I was just a teen." She pauses a bit, turning her attention to people watch a bit more, her green eyes obviously locking on to the more... atypical... members here. She definitely seems distracted by that crow, though. "I'm amazed that birb can handle itself in such a high energy place, I would think it would panic or something!" she half-shouts up to Effie.

---<Jay>---------------

Jay's only response to Bartok is a blank stare. He's got his arms spread across the headrest, but they only move to provide him with a puff of the vape, muffling his almost expressionless face even further. There's probably a glint of recognition in his eyes, but amidst the haze and the dark, it's difficult to see through. Money Shot does it for him and thumps his own chest in response, and when they leave, the two dudes are just chillin.

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna slowly makes her way over toward Rabbit and the crow, Hanz, that the hoodie-monster is tending to so dutifully. "Talking 'bout me or his real crow-mama..." She asks with the hint of a smirk. The Gangrel won't wait for an invitation before she turns around and lowers herself into a seat beside Rabbit. Hanz will just stare at her before leaning in to peck at the rim of Rabbit's hood.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade isn't hard to find on the return, he's still the only cholo fangbanger in here that looks like he'd be more suited to a street corner in South LA, ready to pop a cap in someone's ass just for looking at him wrong. That is indeed the depth of nuance that his mere appearance suggests to some people. Unapproachable, quite clearly. When Nisha returns his keys to him he pockets them again just as casually, listens to her whisper and nods, "You planning something for them?" His speech, when he isn't sticking to monosyllabic sentences, carries a heavy latino accent, which he's putting on a little heavier than usual even.

---<Effie>---------------

"I think it might be a ghoul or something if it can handle all of us in one room." Half shouting back as she studies the birb that is being fussed at. "But I feel like a fish outta water here you know? These are the first Kindred I've seen and your the first either of us talked to since we got here." The rest of the booze (why is she drinking anyways?) is downed and the bottle placed on a surface near her. "I just wanted to come in and say Howdy do but it looks kinda clique-y and I dun wanna interupt business or what ever." Apparently taking /some/ caution.

---<Zebastian>---------------

There is stillness from Zebastian -- like uncanny stillness, like gosh, he was a corpse or something -- as he watches the empty space that once held a Gargoyle named Robbie...

Wait. What the fuck is happening? Where /is/ Zebastian?

A blink, and the Malkavian is present -- a bounce on those booted soles, then he laughs -- looking over to Rabbit, waving a hand in her direction before it's pressed to his chest. "Forgive me, ja? It's all gotten a little twis---- //ohmygod//--" Another peel of laughter as he looks around at the crowd, proper amused. "Did we just witness the =worst= attempt at poisoning ever? //Mae// could have gotten a =rash=."

Over by an alcove, Mae looks up from her cherry-scented juul and wrinkles her nose.

Enough of that! Zeb brushes his hair back - looks around, around, aro--- oh what's that? En route to Riley and Effie, fingers wiggled in greeting. "Oh Hanz is just /fantastic/ - lovelies, forgive me too, ja? For not thanking you earlier for coming -- the grapevine, right? =Soooo= twisted."

---<Lascaux>---------------

Folding his arms, Lascaux says, "I still got Lacan up my sleeve, if any'a you folks wants t'hear about the formation of self-recognition and identity." He looks wryly dubious about this, as if he very much doubts any of the remaining crowd is into that kind of thing. Which is fair, probably.

---<Nisha>---------------

Nisha gives Spade a knowing nod, but never explains what she might use those flowers for. Probably for the best, as it was likely illegal. Eyeing the crowd, "Well, that ushered them all out.", nibbling on her bottom lip.

"What about you Spade. Any comments on beauty?", looking at Effie from a distance. "What do you think about tattoos? I know you got some. But do you prefer unmarked skin, or enjoy those with ink more?"

---<Rabbit>---------------

That tall gangrel doesn't need to get very close before amber eyes are on her. Just watching. Of course, there's a silly little smile that slips to Rabbit's lips and makes those piercings at the corner of her mouth angle upwards, glinting in the odd lighting of the lounge.

"Well, I don't know his crow-mama. I do know his sugar mama and she's definitely someone I won't talk smack about." There's an affirming nod before Rabbit simply leans in against Shawna's side.

"Hey! Hanz, don't get jealous. No one can replace you, pretty boy." A pause. "Not even this blonde walking thirst-trap." Smirk.

---<Cassie>---------------

"What he said" Cassie agrees with little smile, gesturing to Zeb and looking between Jay and the others who are still part of the conversation, before offering polite farewells to those leaving - at least the ones which aren't too quick out the door.

Rabbit's comment about the 'drama' earns her an amused look and a mostly held back giggle, the tiny Toreador looking like the other blonde just put words to -exactly- what she herself was thinking. "She gets it." she notes with lingering amusement, reaching to pull out her phone and swipe at for a moment before it's put away again in the safety of her stupidly expensive clutch. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I think I'll go for a ." she offers to the rest of the group with a sweet smile and a collective dip of her chin before turning around and stepping away. She /does/ manage to just catch the comment from Zeb before she's too far away, a tinkling giggle at the humor following in her wake as she moves to... take a quiet moment to herself? Doesn't seem like her, but that /does/ seem to be the case. Maybe she just needs to clear her head a little.

---<Shawna>---------------

"Not all of them." Shawna calls over toward Nisha before adding, "I'm still here." The Gangrel studies her clan-mate for a quiet moment before she settles back against Rabbit's side. Her gaze moves to land on Zebastian as she listens to Rabbit's words beside her. Something her companion says to Hanz is enough to bring Shawna's smirk back. "Fuck, girl. Take him with you and get a room or something."

---<Riley>---------------

Riley's eyes, already large, widen a bit more when Effie points out that the crow might just be a ghoul. Practically ignoring the part about the social aspect, she asks, "Wait, so, like a ghoul, a real ghoul? Something you do that... " she pauses, her brows furrowed a bit before she brightens up again, "Blood bond, thing, right?" Did this girl just crawl out from under a rock or something? "I didn't even know that's possible with animals.." she says, looking toward the bird with an obvious look of new aw now. But as focused as she is, she does get pulled back by Zeb just showing up, the girl looking at his wiggling fingers almost in a comical way that cats do with moving objects before shaking her head a bit to get focus back. She looks at the host and smiles, "Hello! And you welcome, thank YOU for hosting this wonderful party!" She pauses, then adds, "Wait you are the host right? Oh gosh, if you aren't I'm sorry!" She looks flustered, making a 'oops, my bad' face.

---<Rabbit>---------------

"What are you talking about? He deserves positive reinforcement, too. I'm sorry, but...like, haven't you seen how people treat their dogs? At least I'm not baby-talking him." Rabbit notes to Shawna. There's a little 'grump' huff that slips from the blue haired girl at the sentiment that people seem to share about her adoration of Hanz. Then, she whispers, "They're just jealous of you, handsome."

Except one.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade follows Nisha's look across the room at the tattooed Effie, then glances downwards and back to Nisha with one of his ever eloquent shrugs, "The question of what beauty is continues to be debated ad nauseam, with proofs in both directions flying back and forth, written by feverish philosophers in basements across history. If something evokes a pleasant feeling in you, then it's beautiful? Go down that road though, and you'll have Zeb talking to you about brain mould, how do kindred even work?" He then makes a gesture with a fist, jerking it in the air a few times, "Who cares? Your tattoos are for you, not anybody else. I wear mine as part of the story of my life and I find them beautiful." Anybody who's seen Spade's tattoos will know they are subjectively not beautiful though.

---<Effie>---------------

Effie had been keeping a close eye on the goings on and the man walking towards them didn't miss her attention. An upnod and a grin as she steals the booze from Sullivan's hand and swigs it before returning it. Speaking in German, <Hopefully I am not embaressing myself and you don't speak this but thanks for the welcome. I am Effie and this is Dad.> She points to her ghoul who doesn't seem to know what she is saying. Back to English and looking at Riley with a raised brow. "Are you new?" Maybe it was a bit rude to ask but the lack of knowledge had her curious.

"I also don't mind the delay, I have zero idea who is who. Just came in a couple days ago after getting my Salon all legal and shit."

Effie then looks at Nisha and those around her. A small tilt of the head and a shrug. "I mean, I got all these cuz bare skin is too bright. It's empty and needs to be painted on. I also do hair styling cuz boring hair is boring."

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie end up lingering near one of the alcoves, lightly leaning against the wall with one bare shoulder while tapping and swiping at her phone, occasionally looking up and around at what's going on, a sweet smile offered to anyone that might catch her gaze, before returning to whatever it is she's doing. Resting cute face. It's a thing. She makes a slight correction to her dress, looking down and tugging it up just a little to make sure that nothing pops out. Her dress is only barely able to keep that from happening at the best of times, as is.

---<Zebastian>---------------

"Jay, comrade - we've all heard your tracks, we know you've got more than a few thoughts on the formation of self-recognition and identity, nei? Let Lascaux here rap about Lacan - expose some of his existential demons on the secret beauty of self out in the open."

Zebastian teases the two, then turns - giving Cassie a little smile and wink as she takes a moment for herself, before that fractured attention has him looking past Rabbit to Shawna, a rather complicated smile at something she says ... then the Malkavian's notoriously fractured attention gets snagged up on Riley and Effie once more.

"To say I'm a host takes away from the collective efforts, ja? Because /really/?" Zeb dips a little closer, speaking in sotto voce to Riley and Effie; "If it weren't for Cassie and Mae and Jay and a legion of the undead? I don't know what the fuck I'd be doing -- probably bolted up in a basement, watching shadows on the wall and going 'damn, reality TV got real good'."

He laughs, hands waved abstractly as he chatters on-- that is, moves to chatter, but what Effie says to him, in German? A blink - another blink - then he laughs, pressing a hand to his chest as he looks from her to her Ghoul then back again, chattering along; "I'm Zebastian, this is Her Benevolence," A gesture to where Mae is, ignoring the crowd in favour of whittling the stem of a rose with a small brass knife. "Mae of the Pacific and North America Plate -- but enough of that; what's this salon? What's beautiful? What kinda trouble y'all wanna see happen in this gloriously fucked world?"

---<Nisha>---------------

"Shawna, I wasn't really including you in the shitty old mens club. I don't view you the same as them, in a polite way.", Nisha clarifies and offers sincerely to her clan mate. "You pass the vibe check."

Looking back to Spade, "I'm sure they wrote most their sonnets about beauty, one handed if you know what I mean.", throwing out jokes with a smile. "Honestly, I've known people of the faith. That via their covenants with a higher power and the beliefs that they were made perfect in Gods image. They do not believe it is ok to mark or scar the body, and while this can be superstitious. I find that level of commitment beautiful. I also find men and women with tattooed skin, beautiful as well. I don't know if it's just a visual aesthetic. I'd like to believe some of us have beautiful souls, whatever that means. But I debate marring my own flesh.", taking in a deep breath and letting out a sigh.

---<Jay>---------------

Zebastian gets vape smoke blown his direction for whatever reason, when he goes to address Jay. "If he's got the talent for it, just lemme know." A simple reply from the Brujah. "What the fuck's a Lacan?" Money Shot asks, with Jay shrugging at the question, clueless himself.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley just stares. Like stares for a moment juuuuuuuuust a bit longer than one would consider polite, before she blinks and shakes her head a bit. She's been doing that quite a bit tonight, as if she needs that physical motion to jostle her brain back into place. The expression on her face is a clear indicator she has absolutely NO idea what Zebastian is actually talking about, but at least she has enough good sense to be polite by smiling and nodding, "Then thank all of you for organizing this fun event!" Of course noone can even hear what she said besides the 3 people around her... most likely. The young blonde totally ignores the questions, though, not trusting herself enough to answer properly due to her current confusion. However, Effie's question did come back around in her head, and THAT she can answer, "Oh! Well, I've only been... introduced... to this culture just recently, really, a couple or few years back, really. So you must forgive me if I act a bit like some redneck wandering into NYC."

---<Rabbit>---------------

Apparently growing a bit more involved, Rabbit remarks at Nisha's statement about tattoos, "That's all silly. If they're made perfect in God's image then why is everyone different and not exactly the same? Like clones. Or hamburgers at Mikky D's? If anything, our bodies are temples and temples are decorated to celebrate and accentuate their beauty." There's a shrug as Rabbit tries to get Hanz to climb onto her head.

Then, over to Jay, "Lycan? Like in those weird Vampire movies with Katie? They're werewolves, Jay. Where have -you- been?"

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux gives a soft sigh - whether it's at Zeb's exhortation to speak, or at some nugget of wisdom offered from one of the others isn't exactly clear. He unfolds his arms, though, scrapes his hair back, and quite unnecessarily clears his throat. "So, Lacan. Th' theory I got to thinkin' about was one about the mirror stage. See, he believed that the first time we develop an idea of the 'self,' an idea of an 'I' versus the rest of the world, as well as starting to understand the symbolic dimension of things, is when we see ourselves in the mirror for the first time, as babies. Because the second we look in that mirror, we realize something: we realize that simultaneously what we see in the mirror /is/ us, but it /ain't/ us. It's a representation of us but it don't match up with what we though of as ourselves previously. And in that instant is when we start to develop our idea of what beauty means."

---<Cassie>---------------

"Beauty is whatever makes you happy. And beauty is never bad." Cassie calls out to no-one in particular from her spot against the wall, not even bothering to look up from her phone as she does so. There's a smile lingering on her lips, tho, and the clear sense that she's keeping at least half an ear on what's being talked about around the lounge.

---<Effie>---------------

Sullivan elbows Effie with an appropriate 'be polite' look which the woman just ignores for the moment. "Trust me, being a redneck is fine. Atleast you know some stuff." Sucking in a long drag of her vape before blowing circles in the air. "I've met some sad MoFo's who took in the Cammy propagnda a lil too hard and even when they were dead they didn't believe Vamps existed." There was a shift in posture as she leans into her ghoul. "It took showin em the sun and what it did to them for their little bubble to pop."

Sullivan simply nods to both Zeb and Mae politlely. "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. And to answer your question, from what little I know." He rattles off the address of her hair salon which is on the Westside and Hollywood border. "is on the border. She caters to both Kindred and humanity in equal measure in case you want a different hair style for the evening or an event."

---<Shawna>---------------

Shawna offers Nisha a quick nod of her head and an appreciative glance. She shifts in her seat before glancing toward Rabbit, "Ya watch him for a while, yeah? I'm going to head on back to Griffith Park. He knows the way and can find me when you're done. Think the fucker missed you."

The tall and lanky blonde will rise to her feet and lift a hand toward Zebastian before she turns and heads toward the back entrance. Spade and Jay will receive small little nods on Shawna's way out.

---<Jay>---------------

Money Shot points a finger at Rabbit and turns to Jay, eyebrows raised. "She's got a point." The Brujah though, just blankly stares at his Caitiff friend for several beats before making a face, and shakes his head. "You're really listening to her?" A dismissal wave of his hand then, at the ridiculous notion. "Who the hell even calls them lycans? Nerds do, that's who." Jay makes his own point, and as Lascaux gives his own explanation of it, the Brujah presents a hand towards his direction. "See? Nothin to do with Werewolves. I've got zero idea what the fuck it's about still, though. A theory, I guess?" He smokes on his vape, seeking wisdom from the haze, and then puffs. Gets nothing from it.

"Yo," Jay calls Lascaux over. "Whatever stuff you got in your mind, write em down on a piece of paper - maybe you're a lot better at producing ideas than tracks, but we'll see. My audience loves cryptic shit."

The gesture from Shawna is mirrored by a similar upnod from Jay, but nothing more after that.

---<Nisha>---------------

Nisha nods, "That's a great question Rabbit, and while I cannot answer it with any authority ... I'd like to theorize an answer for you.", offering a little shrug.

"I would proponent that we aren't all carbon copies of each other, because a higher power doesn't have one singular form. Just as the ocean doesn't have just one drop of water in it, we represent a piece of the whole. We could all be different and unique aspects of the same being. But that's just a theory.", waving at Shawna. "Have a safe flight.", Nisha then restarted her cigarillo that died.

---<Rabbit>---------------

With Shawna getting up Rabbit moves to do the same. "Hey, wait. I'll walk with you." Of course she's sure to keep Hanz nice and safe with her.

A glance is cast back at Jay along with a smirk. A smile and a friendly 'bird' is given to Jay before Rabbit skips after Shawna, though Nisha's response does make her slow for a moment and she murmurs quietly to herself with a shrug before heading towards that back entrance as well.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade's answer to Nisha is fairly simple, "If you find it beautiful then it's beautiful right? I don't find the judgement of someone else beautiful but I also try not to give a shit what other people think about me either." He shrugs one shoulder as if that part might be a work in progress that isn't always successful. He pats Nisha casually on the back while moving off, "If you want some tats, get them, you like it, it's beautiful and nobody else's opinion matters. I gotta talk to Cassie." As Shawna crosses his walk his response is a head bob and acknowledgement, "Crow girl." It's with all the grace of a fangbanger that he interrupts Cassie's personal space, hands in pockets, walking where she can't fail but to see him past her phone, "Cassie, sup? You got a moment?"

---<Zebastian>---------------

"You're welcome - it's not a riot, but there's always next time." Zebastian chimes back to Riley -- nary a glance given to Jay and that vape haze, or the foray into continental philosophy Lascaux is now rappin' about -- instead he smiles dreamily at her and Effie, head tipped to the side - fingers combing through the ends of his frankly ludicrously long hair. Eyebrows going up as Effie describes the unwilling undead. "That is /wild/ -- what did they say? When the bubble was popped, I mean. Besides 'fuck this hurts like hell'?"

As Shawna moves to go, Zeb tilts his head in her direction -- hand lifted, upnod given, and something mouthed silently? A goodbye, for sure. It's then that the Malkavian gets distracted by Sullivan, making a low noise of understanding,"Oh, how fantastic. Real hot spot, too." Back to Effie, he chatters along; "If there's any trouble, you know, little rough unpleasantness? Do tell -- WeHo and the Strip's been quiet, but you know what /some/ folk can be like; wanna play faux-Praxis and claim all that glitters is their own. We should be free to be enterprising, nei?"

Another beat, then Zeb looks back to Riley with a smile. "If you want a lay of the land, some hot goss on what's been cracking in Westside? Just say. Westside is pretty relaxed, don't let the failed poisoning throw you off -- it's all just, you know, price of admission on the wild ride." A laugh, and he weaves a hand abstractly through the air.

---<Lascaux>---------------

Jay's words get a soft huff from Lascaux. "Yeah, sure," he says. "Trust me, I got plenty'a cryptic shit for you, if y'audience digs it. We practically grow it, in the dirty South. Never been much of a rhymer, but I imagine you're the one who's good at th'wordplay aspect of it, huh? An' if y'ever want some weird analog equipment, give me a holler, too. I got a lot of bizarre old shit out at my place. I'm sure you can get samples'a most of it on the internet, but sometimes it's nice to have th'real thing."

---<Riley>---------------

Riley listens attentively as Effie tells her a story. Her mouth was slightly open when she started and fully agape when she finished. Piggibacking on Zeb's question, she adds "Wait... so he obviously realized what he was when he was shown the sun... but... I mean, he's still alive, right? I mean, un-alive, or alive-dead, or.. undead. Ok, ok, yeah, sorry, that's the term that came up in my research." Research? Cute! And with that she listens in to people who obviously know more than she, the blonde taking everything in. There was a slight moment when she might of missed a few words, as she twitched slightly before she catches herself from getting her attention pulled into looking at Zeb's abstract movement of his hand in the air.

---<Effie>---------------

"The poor sap then got shot by a US marine and frenzied on his ass." Leaving her age still vague as she recounts her tale. "I was just wanting to get some sense knocked into them." Looking at Dad who just sighs and swigs the beer in his hand. "You can say he realized real quick when he woke up that he was, indeed, a fucking vampire. It's funny looking back at it /now./" She just grins at the pair and pats Sullivan on the back. "But I can't tell you how much danger I put myself in to snap a dumbass into reality. The stuff I do sometimes in the name of helping people." Puffing another cloud.

---<Nisha>---------------

Seems like parts of the Salon are running down. Nisha checks the time and calls it, "I'm probably gonna head out myself. Spade, Cassie, Zeb ... I'll catch you later.", giving a peace sign to Jay and Money Shot.

To Effie and Riley, "Sorry we didn't really get to talk. Perhaps next time? I'll see you around, hopefully."

To Lascaux she pauses, "Well said on Lacanianism.", admitting she was paying attention to him. But that's all Nisha gives him.

---<Jay>---------------

"Whether it's gonna entertain me or my audience will be for myself to decide." Jay points out that statement for Lascaux before moving on. "But I don't mind taking a look. I could hand some of those ideas to my pupil, LGND's done me a ton of work lately and he's more up to date with the modern shit. He's got the... charisma, to live up to, to the younger audience out there." Money Shot nudges at Jay, then points to himself with his brows furrowed. Jay makes a face at him again. "Maan, cut the bullshit, you know damn well all you can do is sell drugs and fuck girls who don't know any better." And that's about the extent of what Jay has to say about it, whatever it was. The Caitiff huffs and relents, aware of his own lack of rapping potential.

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie leans a little to the side to peek around Spade so she can give Nisha a little waggle of fingers and a smile. "Later, Nisha. Give me a text when you have time." she calls out to her.

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian blinks once - Riley has said a magic word, and that word is 'research'. The Norwegian Malk looks over to her with an 'oooo' expression on his face, interest totes piqued. "What's the hot ticket subject at the mo'? How is the research going? In better circles, the term is 'Kindred' - which is beautiful, nei? For all our differences, we still share some sort of essential essence..." A beat, then Zeb laughs; hand covering his mouth briefly before he adds; "I mean /beyond/ plain ol' vested interest in vitae, you know?"

Before the motormouthed Malkavian can continue, Zeb's focus gets snagged on another word, or in this case a few: 'shot by a US marine and frenzied'. "/Whaaaaat/?" Hand presses against his chest as he looks Effie over, then whistles and shakes his head. "I fucking bet --- here, do me a solid and spill some tea; you a good shot? All in the name of helping the people, I assure you."

Grin! There is slight distraction as Zeb raises a hand in the departing direction of Nisha -- but nah, the kid's true attentions stick with Effie; inquiring Malkavian's want to knoooow.

---<Jay>---------------

Both Money Shot and Jay return the deuces to Nisha as she leaves.

---<Lascaux>---------------

Lascaux shrugs, still amused, although he gives Money Shot a sympathetic nod, as a fellow relatively untalented purveyor of prohibited goods. He slinks over to a sofa and slouches down onto it like - he was expecting this all to end in fire, slaughter, screaming, summoning the devil, or all there, and is immensely relieved that it has not.

And he didn't even have to chase any Tremere out of here, either.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade turns back when Nisha announces her departure, upnodding to her and even lifting a hand in a static wave, "A'ight Nisha, later." He takes the opportunity to look around the lounge, taking in the remaining crowd before turning back to Cassie. He steps in closer and drops the volume of his speech to a quiet murmur, almost a whisper, but without the stage affectation, to converse with Cassie at least semi-privately. There's still some gesturing done with his hands, expressive as he is with body language and facial expressions when talking, but nothing more concrete than gestures at Cassie herself.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley's face looks shocked and horrified when told about the Marine + Frenzy fiasco with that vampire-in-denial. There's a decided not when Effie talks about her sumaritanism, agreeing with her completely! As for Zeb's sudden interest in her 'research', she seems to be a bit startled, "..oh! Well, I guess right now I'm totally interested in seeing what kind of superpowers some vam-... some of the Kindred." She pauses there and nods at Zeb, "Eh? Right? Kindred?" she clears her throat and continues, her cheeks warming a bit as she realized how cringy 'that' was on her part, "... yeah, powers. But I can't get a good description.. at least online, y'know? All I got is that it is very different for most, and is tailored to the individual."

---<Jay>---------------

For whatever reason, Jay feels the need to interfere in the conversation between Zeb, Effie, and Riley to correct the latter of the three. "Tailored to the /blood/ that runs within the individual, not towards the individual itself. We're not superheroes with our own unique powers and movesets." He then darts his eyes towards Zeb, "Unless you're thinblooded I guess. I've heard the rare instances where the thinblood phenomena yields... interesting results, powers which are different from the Kindred Disciplines we've all grown accustomed to," even if his words are supposed to be addressed to Riley in particular. "But rumors will stay as that: rumors."

---<Effie>---------------

Effie puts the vape into one of her baggy pockets and cracks her neck. "I'm not all that good a shot or knife swinger." She makes a scissor motion with two fingers and a imaginary keyboard with the other hand. "I can manage to not hurt myself is the good way of explaining it. I'm waaaaay better at makin people pretty and trollin the net. I know how to uh... use a first aid kit too." Rubbing the back of her neck.

Dad gets an elbow to the side and a grin. "I like Dad and I learned a bit on how to keep him from kickin the bucket because I am a responsible kindred." Riley's mention of what she is researching gets a raise brow and a chuckle. "Yea, we all got our fun toys. Have you figure out how to learn new ones and the dangers therein?"

---<Zebastian>---------------

"Exactly right -- and that's a wild question, ja? Like /the/ question - what are any of us capable of? I dunno! Something new every night - that's the---..." Zebastian's rather airy and quite contemplative - no cringe at all - reflection on Riley's question hits bit of a road-bump at mention of 'online' which causes him to press a hand to his chest. Side-glance to Effie, then look back to Riley, a soft smile settling over his features as he bats at the air near her shoulder with his hand. "Darling, you've got to go right to the source -- all that online will bring you is trouble. We should have a chat on night soon, ja? I'll have Mae give you my deetz..."

As Jay pipes up about rare phenomena, Zebastian's eyebrows go up - intrigued, but not diving in head first. Just letting the thought - rumour? Concept drift away -- his eyes unfocusing, drifting too - looking past Cassie and Spade, over to where Lascaux is--- where is that weirdo? Oh, lounging on the sofa. A slow blink, then Zeb turns back to Effie at her words.

"That's iiiinteresting -- but almost a shame, nei? If you had been, I'd invite you to the games -- well, Spade's games, he knows all the nitty gritty--" A gesture in Spade direction, then Zebastian laughs softly, looking from Sullivan to Effie. "Good deal for Dad, eh? Congratulations!"

---<Lascaux>---------------

On the sofa, Lascaux, who is sprawled like a piece of clothing someone flung carelessly, is already looking in the general direction of Zeb's conversation with Riley and Effie, and quite probably eavesdropping. He catches the little glance sent his way, but doesn't move, just puts his hands behind his head and stays where he is, one perpetually-unlaced boot starting to slip off his foot. There's only so far he can go toward being properly presentable, after all.

---<Riley>---------------

Riley turns her attention to Jay, listening as he explains in better detail what she gleened from the interwebz. She nods along, taking all in, only showing some paused reaction to the mention of rumors about thin-bloods. At that moment she seems quite uncomfortable, so she quickly turns to Effie's inquiry with higher than usual gusto, "Not yet!! I don't even know too well what I have now, much less how to learn new ones!" And with that the blonde is then distracted by the batting hand over her shoulder, unable to keep herself from doing so. It's an odd quirk, or maybe not that odd, perhaps it is a Kindred thing. "Huh? Oh." she pauses as she digests Zeb's comment about online, "Well, I kinda make my living on it, so.... can't really ignore it, y'know?" she responds, a bit sheepishly.

---<Spade>---------------

Over at the side of the room, Spade converses with Cassie, blocking most of the view of her off to the rest of the room, one might describe it as him having her cornered, if they were to be negative in their assessment of that situation. The hand with which he previously pointed at Cassie he lifts a hooks a thumb pointed vaguely towards the door, the front entrance.

---<Effie>---------------

Always one to help someone and curry cred no matter how small. She brings a finger up to her mouth and a fang pokes it. The blood starts to pool and she has it drip into her mouth. "You learn the /fancy/ toys through the blood of another who knows it." The finger is given to Sullivan who seems to suck on the bleeding finger willingly. "The less fancy toys can be learned spontaeneously when stressed or with enough personal training."

"And I have to agree with her. The Net is the future dude. Be smart and you can do almost anything with it."

---<Zebastian>---------------

Zebastian laughs gently at Riley's words on being online -- good natured, nothin' nasty about it in the slightest. A hand is batted her way, though it never comes close. He chatters on to her and Effie both; "Ohmygod, no don't /ignore/ it, nei, never -- there's plenty of licks who've got a lucrative stream flowing -- but there's certain questions about the nature of reality, ja? Better asked face to face. Keeps the spiders from crawling, strange men in cheap suits watching you - you know how it goes."

A wink, then Zebastian's attention gets snagged -- drifting, drifting past the loose shoe of Lascaux's which is threatening to besmirch those beautiful hand tufted rugs with its causal dishevelment -- drifting over to where Spade and Cassie are. There is a soft smile, then he turns back to Riley and Effie, inclining his head -- no alarm to Sullivan's snack, that's just par of the course. He chatters along; "I'm so glad our paths crossed -- how fortuitous -- Mae's gonna exchange deetz, yeah? But excuse me, I've gotta pay Miss Beverly Hills a visit before running back to Sawtelle -- don't be strangers, ja?"

Brief grin, then Zeb leans in to nudge Jay without his elbow ever touching the Brujah. "Play nice - keep sharp -- we'll talk about Venice soon, or else." Or else?! He must be teasing --- but he's also moving, gliding over in Spade and Cassie's direction. Zero shame about interrupting - just ain't done.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade turns around and with complete confidence puts an arm around Cassie, a light touch if any at all, she's so short he barely has to lift his hand to do it, and all just in time for Zeb to glide up. If the taller kindred was wearing a dress he'd no doubt look like he was floating. In fact, as Zeb approaches Spade asks him without hesitation, "You ever seen those dancers with the long dresses that look like they're floating along? I bet you could pull that off." Now turned around he once again scans around behind Zeb, the rest of the room, seemingly habitual, before turning his attention back to Zeb politely.

---<Jay>---------------

Jay's pretty much doing jackshit beside messing with his vape, as well as the occasional re-fills of its liquid which is a tad bothersome to him. His attention is taken over by Zeb when he's addressed, though. "Uh, gotta specify when is soon. Like in a few days from now, or you want me to wait around here a lil longer for that discussion? I'm not goin anywhere 'til people are leaving, anyway."

---<Riley>---------------

Riley gives a glance at Effie and smiles as she agrees with her although admittedly she was a bit entranced by that whole show of blood on a finger to Sullivan. As far as Zeb pointing out the "Big Brother" aspect of the internet, the blonde nods in a very solemn and serious manner, showing clearly how much she fully understands and agrees on how everyone is being spyed on! She straightens up a bit when Zeb makes his exit, the girl raising a hand in a little wave as he zips off. With that she turns to both Effie and Sullivan, giving them a bright smile, "Well, on that note, I better get going as well, I do have a stream I need to get ready for. It's been absolutely GREAT to meet you both!" She hesitates and then just hugs Effie and then Sullivan quickly, as if she does this all the time to relative strangers. Flashing her pearly whites once more so wide that the two can see no sharp edges anywhere, she then hands each one a pink business card so fast that it didn't even look as if she reached into her purse for them! The girl also hands Mae another card, and writes down some info that Her Benevolence tells her before placing her pad away.

---<Lascaux>---------------

Eventually, Lascaux gets up and makes sure his shoe is actually on his foot. "Nice t'see everybody," he offers politely to the room at large, before stopping over toward the Gliding One on his way toward the door. A quick murmur, a nod to Spade and Cassie, and then Lascaux is headed on his way back out into the evening too.

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie re-appears into view when Spade moves and turns, the buxom little blonde glancing up at the fangbanger with an amused little -look- for a lingering moment before turning her eyes to Zeb when he comes over, playful mirth painted on her plush lips. "Hey Zeb" she chirps, before giggling slightly goofily at Spade's comment to the Malkavian. The little lookover and following shrug of lips Zeb gets doesn't indicate that she necessarily disagrees. "What's up?"

---<Zebastian>---------------

"Soon! Soon -- so soon - but not /too/ soon, Jay. In the //opportune soon//." Zeb chimes in Jay's direction as he glides away - content, like his time management skills are both perfect and entirely unquestionable. This is, of course, a delusion. A wave to Riley and Effie, and then barely a ripple as Lascaux intersects - nodding once, saying nothing, gliding on.

Over on the cherry-vape scented Mae Island, the Ghoul turns to catch Jay's eye -- gesturing with a wave of her hand, before she pulls out her phone and starts tap-a-rap-tapping something on the screen. She's in charge of scheduling - and no doubt, before the night is over? She'll try to exchange deetz with Riley and Effie, and get Jay a proper time specified.

"Babes, I look so fucking good in a Beryozka Ensemble, you'd /lose your fucking mind/." Zebastian quips back at Spade, then laughs -- glancing to Cassie, smiling at her in silence for a beat, before his head tips and he waves a hand, "Just saying good evening to my favourite Roses, of /course/ - what are are =youse= doing?"

A bounce on the tips of his boots, then Zeb finger-guns. "If Mae /is/ poisoned... Like, we'll---" What sounds like the start of A Paranoid Ramble is suddenly cut, with a laugh.

---<Riley>---------------

And with that exchange of info completed, Riley did a final wave to the 'gang' and turns to go, making her way main club toward the entrance. After the bubbly blonde dissappears from everyone's line of sight, a few seconds later there is a sound of glass crashing to the ground, followed by a lot of apologetic sounding voices. Now there -is- a chance that had nothing to do with Riley in the least.... but Occam's Razor and all that.

---<Effie>---------------

Effie lets Sullivan take a good few minutes of 'snack time' before withdrawing her finger and looking at her phone after being given the info from Riley. A finger point's the Mae and Dad wanders over to exchange info with the other kindred's ghoul before returning to her. She gives a wave to the still gathered people and she filters out in her own pace with Sullivan in tow.

---<Spade>---------------

Spade stands with his weight on one leg, casually cocked, but remaining alongside Cassie at close quarters, that one arm lightly extended behind her. "Yeah, I can see it, fair enough man. I got some shit to discuss with Cassie privately." He doesn't say clan stuff, everyone should know that Spade mostly spurns the idea of clan blood. Not entirely, but clan is less important than sect alliance and an individual actions. He doesn't give much away either, but that would be the point of a private topic anyway. "Mae could definitely handle whatever weak shit Karner can cook up."

---<Cassie>---------------

Cassie giggles and strikes a pretty little pose, theatrically turning her head and dipping her chin before batting her lashes at the compliment. "Just catching up a little bit, nothing big. Probably gonna slip off here in a few." she chirps, lifting one dainty shoulder in a slight shrug, touching her tongue to the back of a canine behind slightly parted lips, eyes dancing, before the Fangbanger standing next to her gets a soft nudge of her elbow and and another amused little -look-. Looking back to Zeb after a second or two, amusement lingering on her features. "My money's on Mae, too." she agrees confidently, casting a glance her second-favorite ghoul's way, grinning.

---<Zebastian>---------------

"Ah, you're right - you're right - you're right, right, right." Zebastian chimes on to Spade --- then seems to recognise he's being a broken record. Another thrice-swept glance between Cassie and Spade, then the Malkavian bops his head threefold and steps back, giving the pair of Roses a wiggle of his fingertips.

What, no more chatter from Zebastian? Nope -- it seems he may have reached his maximum social cohesion limit, and with that? They get a little bit of mime-work as a g'bye -- the hand weave and wave gesture shared to the rest of those still gathered --- except for Jay's buddy Money Shot, the cad --- then the Norwegian Malk turns, and with all the precise grace he can muster in expensive boots, glides on outta there -- pursued by a notably non-poisoned Mae, in time.

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