A Possible Lead

IC Time: Evening on November 23rd, 2007
Location: The Black Orchid Lounge - PTA
Synopsis: Spencer wanders in and makes a few suspicious comments; Aro finds Spencer is immune to him.
Submitted by: Staff


It's after ten p.m. on a Saturday, and the Orchid is strangely near empty. It's usually brimming to the top with the city's upper middle-class drinking wine and enjoying dessert after going to the theater, or dancing. A mountain of luggage is stacked near the entrance to the hotel lobby, and at a table tucked in the back; Aro sits with his mate over an empty table. The conversation seems relaxed, something unusual for the recent turn of events. There's a lack of security roaming about, just the vampire in the lobby that's temporarily taken over the duties of the check-in clerk — and she's watching something on a portable DVD player. "The driver will be here soon," Aro says to Sulpicia, and she nods in reply. After all, there's only so much a couple that's been through thousands of years together can talk about. Submitting to the thrills of modern technology, he pulls out a PDA and glances down at it while they wait.

Chelsea steps into the lobby of the hotel, dressed for an evening of clubbing from the looks of things. Wearing a leather outfit that looks like it was painted on her form. Her eyes-color hidden behind a pair of dark contact lenses. She has work to do, people to see, people to eat, trouble to cause. The usual. As she notes the stack of familiar luggage she looks around to see her Master waiting to depart and slides into the dining area, "Lord Aro…" she murmurs, the title said in a lower tone of voice then the name. No bows or curtsies here in public. "The town will be a lesser place without your presence and that of your lady." She murmurs in flatter as she nods toward a chair.

Everything in its place. A hotel so shiny and new. So perfectly tidied and polished for presence. A place of class and element surviving against all odds faced with the redneck fascination that wanders by outside along the streets of Port Angeles. It is of Spencer’s opinion that the Volturi stand out rather obviously among the city people. Of course, perhaps that's just the foresight of his sarcasm leaking into his knowledge base.

It's been….a while, at least since the eternal source of chaos and his ADHD last visited Italy. Not long enough according to Ramona. And not long enough according to Spencer's manners either. As the teen enters the hotel he lacks many things. Grace. Poise. An attention span and coordination. In fact his lack thereof, coupled with his fixation of the iPod (shameless commercial plug!) in his hands ends in one disastrous explosion of destruction. The teen walks face first into the luggage, knocking it over. Spilling the luggage cart to its side. He does what any loyal vampire would do in his situation.

He sidesteps the mess and the glaring, barking clerk, and continues his route toward the lounge. He also returns to his game. The Sims…after all, cannot rule themselves!

The sound of footsteps has Aro thinking perhaps it's time to go — he almost seems faintly disappointed to instead see Chelsea, even in all her painted-on-leather-look glory. Nevertheless, he stands, offering a smile to eclipse any other feelings. It doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Chelsea. Back so soon from hunting?" he presumes. Her compliment earns a wry smile, edging on a smirk. "Too true; but it's not really the place for me. Sulpicia and I are looking forward to living with the comforts our beautiful home can provide us." Not to mention there's a lot of reputation-clearing shit to do in Italy, with regards to his Safest City award. "Sulpicia, would you mind checking on the status of the driver?" He glances toward the lobby in a well-meaning way, and she gets up to leave. Such a loving relationship there.

Intending to divulge Chelsea on something a bit more private, the loud disruption of the cart spilling irks Aro. "Sulpicia —" he begins, but mistakenly finds Spencer. "Oh. What a surprise," he calls over, rather flatly despite the 'welcoming' smile on his lips. "This is a private party."

"Oh just heading out…the night is still young." Chelsea says almost in a purr as she inclines her head to the Lady. Her gaze is quick to fall back on Aro as the woman is dismissed. "Well I suppose I cannot fault you there, I will be glad to return to Volterra, but I will remain here as long as it is required of me." She continues before the disruption causes her to turn quickly and spots Spencer. "Ah the Swan boy…it seems his return to our company has left him lacking in our graces though." She murmurs to Aro as she looks up to the young man.

Isn't that sweet. Spencer might lack the grace they prefer to see (at this moment at least), but he doesn't lack the ability to hear the girl. It's just too quiet. It's her little whisper that summons a sulk from him as she continues forward, not glancing upward until he passes the bombshell and her leather goodness. Of course, this merely draws his personality to the forefront. "That outfit makes your ass look big." Just sayin. Ain’t he precious? Only then does his gaze /actually/ turn forthright, causing a variety of expressions to surface as his eyes fall on Aro.

Firstly, he's disappointed.

Secondly, he's annoyed.

And Thirdly..he's conflicted. And slightly disoriented by the setup.

"Where's Caius?" His tone even relays a bit of his confusion. And the slight discomfort with being around the ONE of the three that bugs the hell out of him. Still, nothing that happens halts the small buzz and beep of the phone as the little people wander the streets of the unnamed city.

"It certainly is." Aro's smile disappears momentarily. "Heidi would have loved to go with you. The loss of a friend is so sad!" It's said with a certain amount of enthusiasm, oddly enough, though his features remain grim as he focuses on Chelsea, momentarily /trying/ to ignore Spencer, but it's difficult with the Sims babbling in the background and his iPod going on. Generation Y would be the bane of his existence, somehow. "It only reminds me why our cause is so important," he finishes smoothly, after a pause.

The ancient glides across the restaurant toward the newborn, scrutinized him with a calculated smile. "Caius is at home. How very unfortunate, he'd probably be /very/ interested in seeing you, my friend. We heard about your mishap. Curious, really." He reaches out a hand as if to shake with Spencer. It's not so much a gesture of respect as it is a gesture of dominance, in his case. "Maybe you'd like to go back to Italy with us so we can explore it further?"

Though Chelsea is nowhere near as old as Aro and she does not mind some of the modern aspects of this age, she was born of a different time and the younger vampires often bring her some annoyance. "Indeed it does. The ones made around here seem to have so little respect for their elders." Charlene says smoothly before she looks back to Spencer, "Oh really? Why thank you for the compliment." She replies evenly to the young vamp, not letting his little barb touch her inthe slightest.

Sad really…Aro /almost/ had him willing to touch..Till be brought up that. Lets unravel /all/ of Spencer's mental issues in one BIG REMINDER OF DEATH. It causes the teen to twitch slightly before retreating back at…amazingly enough, non-slacker speed. At least a little proof he does in fact possess those little newborn skills. He also clutches the phone tightly. "I'm fine. I don't like Italy." It's not even spoken with his normal, casual taunt of attitude. He genially doesn't like Italy. It's a very. Bad. Place. "My mishap wont mishap again." he then states for the ancient, tilting his face downward slightly. He's not stupid. He knows his place. At the moment is place is not in touching distance of the older, much more capable vampire. Or his little coochie-lacky in the corner, who gets her own little glare from the boy. Not so afraid of the girl at the moment. One person at a time.
.

Aro's facade of cheerfulness drops very quickly as Spencer backs away. His mouth sets into a firm, grim line, and his shoulders shift slightly, squaring in a more intimidating gesture. After a moment of trying very hard not to glare, the smile reappears. "Ahh, perhaps you misunderstood, Spencer. It's customary for one to shake hands in circumstances such as this. Especially given your…status." He laughs airily. "It was just a suggestion. You can stay here in this…lovely area. Afton and Chelsea promised to make sure they'd find out how you managed to do what you do." He ponders for a moment, and then speaks, almost to himself. "Perhaps it was a gift?" Looking up, he steps forward with more urgency and offers his hand out again.

While he waits for Spencer to accept the shake, Aro shoots a side-long glance to Chelsea. "It's true. Did you, by the way, see Stasia?" he asks quietly. Time is of the essense, after all — his driver should be coming soon, and there are some matter thats need to be settled. Perhaps mistakenly so, Aro sees Spencer as a non-threat as far as gossip goes. The ancient eyes the newborn's phone and figures he's more into his pretendy game, anyway.

"Ah looks like the little boy is scared of Italians." Chelsea replies with a tilt of her head as she looks over Spencer, a lovely little smile on her lips. "Well how are we to know Spencer? It is something we truly must investigate thoroughly, though I suppose Afton and I can continue to question you here." She comments casually as she glances to Aro for such permission and it is quickly backed up by Aro's own words, "I think it must be…but what a gift…a bane really." She responds before looking to Aro and nods slightly, "Briefly, she did her animal thing and found some things in the harbor…I have not spoken to her sense…She is probably off doing her animal thing again." She says with a wrinkle of her nose and casual flick of the hand.

Spencer eye Aro…and his little concubine with a rather curious gaze, his eyes shifting between the two rapidly as they exchange words. It's weird. Not to be viewed as significant enough to worry about. Normally people make him cover his ears. It’s nice. It also relaxes him just a little despite the fact that Aro seems intent to touch him. Which is creepy in itself. But Chelsea does one rather good thing. She taunts him, likely without even knowing it. And if there is one thing Spencer Swan is, it's arrogant.

"THAT is not what I do!" he sulks loudly back toward the bombshell, his eyes locking firmly on her for a moment before he sullenly offers Aro his hand. Caius wouldn't make him shake hands. "At least….not on purpose. I personally prefer to either be miserable dead or miserable alive. The whole writhing in pain thing is NOT something I prefer to do over milk and cookies, pussy cat." See. He’s playing nice now. Which brings about a new topic. One switched to rapidly as he looks toward the ancient again. "Are there like…rules about NOT helping particularly ignorant and slightly bitchy vampires who /maybe/ might possibly be dead? I mean, hypothetically. Just asking. Ya know…to know…or…something." Blink.

Aro laughs freely at Chelsea's comment. "So it seems. We're nothing to be scared of, Spencer. Why, my brother Marcus wanted you to stay with us. We might not have minded having you in our family. Our home is always open to you." It comes off sounding as every bit slightly-creepy-old-man as it sounds, unfortunately. At least he's smiling in a friendly way, and not in a dubious or perverse way. He regards Chelsea then with a more serious expression. "I see. Please see to it that you find her within the next day. We need her gift; we can't have her deserting us," he murmurs before turning his attention back to the newborn, somewhat eagerly.

Aro grabs Spencer's hand with a tight grip, pressing the whole of his palm against the younger vampire's. He waits for a moment, his lips parting with an unspoken surprise, and then squeezes his hand harder. "What's this?" Vocalizing his surprise, Aro proceeds to try and feel up Spencer's arm, thinking he might have put something over his hand to prevent the power from working correctly. Eventually, Aro's surprise turns to a rather sharp anger, one that he acts out upon by trying to yank the newborn toward him closer with a violent pull of his arm, if he doesn't make his way out before then. "All vampires are dead. What did you do? Tell me right now how you're doing this," he threatens impatiently, staring Spencer down. He shoots Chelsea a frown, and nods for possible reinforcements.

"Do not worry, I tidied the attic up when we last met, it should stay neat enough till I find her again." Chelsea replies to Aro with utmost confidence of her own abilities. "She is a child, but not so delicate that she did know her place with you and without you." She murmurs before looking she glances to Spencer's babbling, "Just say it plainly kid…" She starts before Aro's exclamation catches her off guard and she is quick to reach for her phone. She needs no other orders save that look. She has worked with Aro for over a century by now.

Spencer rolls his eyes lazily as the older vampire speaks. Not so much in a disrespectful manner. Its much deeper. its absolute boredom. Nothing personal of course. That however changes as she mans expression shifts and his hand begins the patting, pressing journey up his arm. Color Spencer alarmed. His eyes widen as does his mouth.

"Heyheyheyheyheyyyyyy…..I am not a boy scout and you are NOT a troop leader!" The groping is disconcerting, as is Chelsea's sudden need to call…someone. Still, he's shell-shocked and beyond, Aro should have no trouble jerking him around. "I didn't do anything! I don't even know what you're talking about! I didn't kill her!" Either way, he does begin the attempt to separate himself from the ancient. It is, after all, becoming very creepy.

The pop culture reference about boy scouts is lost on Aro, who'd much rather spend his time learning about the past then trying to keep up with the nuances and scandals of modern times. "Kill who?" he inquires, releasing the younger vampire if only to try and end the over-dramatics Spencer has going on. "You know something about what happened at the docks?" His eyes narrow. "I'm beginning to think, my friend, your trip back to Italy is inevitable. First you do something to interfere with my reading, and now this?"

The elder looks to Chelsea for a second opinion, although she's on the phone. She's a fair and unbiased source, right? "Chelsea, my dear. What do you think Spencer here is trying to tell us? Why were you even here in the first place?" The latter question is directed back toward Spencer as Aro's voice rises in suspicion.
The other guard are called as Chelsea moves forward to step around to the other side of the new newborn. "Speak plainly kid, his Lordship hardly has time for your prattling on." She looks up to Aro, her carefree attitude lost now, looking much the dark angel now. "First …what do you mean …dead vampires?" She asks sharply to the young man.

Spencer is much better once he's released. In fact his personality shifts in its entirety once he's free. He even calms back into the lulled state that is the normalcy for the newborn. He also returns to his game almost instantly. It is, rather obviously, a coping mechanism. He's uncomfortable. If the game doesn't show it, his constant need to move does. "Firstly, no. I didn't see whatever happened at the docks." he stats slowly, as though he were beginning a small ramble, "I saw something else. It was at the docks but it wasn't at /those/ docks." Being clear is not a talent he has. "Secondly, I didn't DO anything. I just make stuff…not work. I can't help it. I'm just that freaking pleasant to be around." another pause, and the small sounds of fire trucks escapes the tiny speakers of the phone. It draws a long doubt of ADD from the blond teen, which is eventually retired and his eyes return to the elder..and then Chelsea. "And Thirdly…don't YOU threaten me, cupcake. So stop picking a fight. You're too pretty to talk so much." Pushing his luck, Yes he is. And he's aware. He also ignores Chelsea's question since, apparently, he should be 'respectful' of the eldest in the room. "And fourthly" and low, his attention span has spent itself. For a moment. Finally, a pause later he recollects his thoughts, lifts the phone, and punches the buttons to spring it to life again. "Oh…right. Nadia's like…" and as the words fail him, his ever present spurt of youthful expression does not. He merely makes a small explosion sound, lazy as it is, waving a hand in the air loosely to better amplify the explosion effect.

Aro makes another move toward Spencer, but this time, it's not so much for a limb as it is for the phone, which, if he succeeds in getting it, he tosses toward the nearest wall. There's just something about trying to talk to someone about serious issues — like murders — and having someone play videos games simultaneously. Perhaps Aro is a bit old-fashioned in that aspect. "Make stuff not work," he then says calmly, beginning to pace. "Nullification, perhaps? Perhaps in some relation to our dear Bella." This, at least, seems to cheer Aro considerably. "How very fascinating! I do think another trip is in your future. I'm sure it will be more pleasant than the last time."

Despite this rather exciting revelation and its effects on Aro's future plans, the talk of Nadia being "like…" and then explosion sound is not met with excitement on any realms. "Another murder? And… you're the only person that knows about it?" His brows furrow and he thinks for a moment before glancing at Chelsea and the other guards, and then changing his demeanor toward the newborn.

"Interesting, but I'm sure it's completely irrelevant. Since you're here anyway though, why not stay? You can have the penthouse suite. It comes with all the latest video game systems. And other perks, like your own personal maid. Just for a few nights? I insist!" he exclaims genially, before beginning to walk out. "In fact, I'll make sure we get that settled right now." And then he's gone. Hopefully Chelsea knows what to do — Aro needs to make a conference call.


Back to: Logs

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License