2014.05.07 - Long May They Reign...

Emma stopped looker with a raised hand just before they were to enter the meeting area. With a hushed tone she spoke, "Before we enter, you must know that Sebastian Shaw is not the man you'd assume him to be, based off his appearances on television. He is ruthless, cunning, and brilliant. Do not be afraid to utilize your...assets but don't push it. Recently engaged and all. Any last minute questions?"
Emma of course dressed for the occasion, as befitting the grand White Queen in the corset, panties and cape number as per tradition and pleasure.
Looker makes sure her tiara is in place, that little touch of whimsy showing the other side of her personality from the ruthless, deady vampire she otherwise appeared, "No, I think I'm...ready," she says. Her opalescent eyes gleam softly and she gives her bosom a quick squeeze and adjustment. Luckily, high heels are never a problem for a telekinetic, enabling to handle even the most precarious stairs or obstacles with grace, "Time to meet a King..."
The door was open from the inside as two men dressed in the fashion of baroque aristocracy, complete with white powdered wigs. They bow as they allow Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire club and her new Princess in. When they are inside the room, they step outside and close the door behind them.
Sebastian Shaw awaits inside the Lord Cardinals Meeting Room. He stands facing away from the door, towards the fireplace with it's roaring fire. He looks at the coat of arms above the mantle, the coat of arms of the Hellfire Club.
He is indeed not what one would expect from a man in his sixities. He barely looks to be forty actually. Long dark brown hair, pulled back into a pony tail, held together by a small blue silk ribbon tied in a bow. Long full sideburns down to his chin, meticulously groomed to perfection without a single hair out of place. Dressed in a dark blue baroque styled frock coat, gold hand embroidered embellishes on the lapels, the sleeves, the pockets and the gig line. Each button was golden with what looked like a pearl set in place. His waist coat was maroon and silver, an intricate pattern hand made upon it. His cravat pure silk with gold embroidery matching that on his coat. A pair of dark tan baroque breeches and silk knee socks with dark leather shoes, completed the look of the Black King and Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club.
He turned around and his steel blue eyes looked Looker up and down, taking in the view of the lovely lady who would be Princess of the most powerful cabal of individuals on the planet, "Welcome to a place few people see and live to tell the tale, M'lady. I am Sebastian Shaw."
He bowed deeply and as he came back up he said, "I rule the world."
The corners of Emma's mouth turn up in a small smile, Shaw always had a flair for the dramatic. Then of course so does she. The Hellfire Club, the real heart of it was dreadfully powerful. Any potential recruit who thought themselves worthy for the position needed to know the weight, the importance.
She stepped to the side and held her hand out towards Looker, "This is Emily Briggs, my candidate as Red Princess. It seemed much more appropriate than white."
She did slightly arch her brow and spoke mentally to Looker, |"And he isn't kidding."|
Looker had guessed as much. She kept her own mouth quite restrained, making sure to show only a placid ferocity. While those might seem like contradiction, any Vogue photographer would tell you otherwise, as Lia manages to look at once totally at peace and utterly dangerous with a single expression, although the prominent fangs certainly help with the latter. Her red-shadowed eyes lower as she dips a knee, lacking the skirt for a curtsy but doing almost a balletic version of the same. She understands that, whatever frillies, pomp or rituals might be involved in such a secret society, she was finally walking in the halls of true power. She wouldn't stumble, anymore than she ever did on the runway.
"Mr. Shaw, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. I would say your reputation precedes you, but, from what Miss Frost has given me to understand, it hasn't even close to done you justice."
Shaw chuckled a bit and approached Looker, his eyes were as predatory as any vampires, "My public reputation has been a carefully crafted lie. As you will easily come to learn if you stay among us. Only a few things that are reported on me are actually true. I find it easier to peddle influence from the shadows than from lofty position of public attention."
He tilted his head a little and looked at her teeth and then her neck and then cleavage. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes, "Well Emma, I have to say. Your description of her did little justice. Nor do her photoshoots. You are a true beauty of the ages that much is for certain."
Shaw would have probably said something to Emma telepathically but his scrambler was on. While he did trust the judgment of his White Queen he recently had a telepathic zealot try to rip thoughts out of his mind. He wasn't in the mood to let others in.
Taking a few steps away he said, "And what has my White Queen told her so far? What is she aware of and what does she need to learn?"
MEET: You request to join Jeannette.
Emma herself stepped away and brushed a finger though the bottom of her perfectly shaped bob, "So far, only the basics."
Her body shifts in such a way that she is standing in equal distance between Looker and Shaw. While the lovely redhead was her new recruit, she wanted her to stand firm and proud, "Only the basics, none of the ritual beyond the obvious etiquette. I intend to teach her the ins and outs, and she'll be quite knowledgeable."
She looked over to her and did admire her choice in latex, "Ms. Briggs will come to understand the traditions and history, and her roles will be as Princess. I quite wanted you to get a look at her first."
Looker appreciates the compliments on her appearance. While she's fully aware of her physical beauty, she tends to bask in attention very well, keeping herself still and poised atop her precipitously high heels. "I understand that I have a great deal to learn, Mr. Shaw. I am morer than willing to be molded, however. After all, I have all eternity before me. A girl should be prepared," she says.
She wouldn't dream of trying to abuse her telepathic abilities here. She's always known there was more to the Club than meets the eye, something darker and more secret. The rats who lived in the dungeons had told her that much...
Shaw did a little mock 'sign of the cross' in front of him and said, "Well then I anoint you in Hellfire and all of that fun stuff," he let out a little chuckle, "In reality much of the mysticism of the club died about twenty years ago. I was part of the last set of members who had to do the whole 'I swear my allegiance to Hellfire' silliness."
He went over to the private bar the room enjoyed and poured himself a drink, "I believe I tried to get Leopold Luthor to do the whole silly thing when he Alexander brought him in as the White Prince but I will spear you that Emily. Just as I spared Emma and Jeannette and Victor and basically everyone else who wasn't a Luthor."
He didn't hate the Luthors, he just loved messing with them, "While I'm over here does anyone else what something?"
"Death in the Afternoon, but you know me by now, Sebastian." The Black Queen is fashionably late. "I'll spare you the jokes about assuming you don drinking... wine,"
"Death in the Afternoon, but you know me by now, Sebastian." The Black Queen is fashionably late. "I'll spare you the jokes about assuming you don't drink... wine," says the banshee, smiling just a little knowingly. All that Close, Personal Relationship with death thing makes vampires an easy thing to spot, the way death clings to them. She usually lets people assume she's one of their rank, as well. "Lovely to have someone a bit closer to my own nature in the circle. Welcome."
Emma stepped forward and kissed at both of Jeannette's cheeks in her oh so French way, "Darling, so glad you could come. This is Jeannette, the beautiful Black Queen. My ravishing redhead is Lia, "Looker" Briggs. My new Red Princess."
She looked over to Shaw and smiled, "I want champagne, Sebastian. The /good/ champagne, not filth one of our waiters tried to give me earlier this evening. I'd much rather celebrate the evening."
Looker gives another balletic curtsy, this one to Jeannette, her scarlet curls spilling just a bit loose as she dips her head, "Your Highness," she says, her wet red lips only barely covering her fangs, "I'm glad to meet so many luminaries so quickly. I only hope that I can live up to your examples," she says.
Looker's own senses don't quit fully understand Jeannette, but, then, they don't have to. She can sense power, at the very last, "And the most important part of drinking, I've learned, is moderation. Both when to have it...and when to indulge."
Sebastian Shaw smirked at the sudden arrival of his Black Queen, she was wonderfully eccentric for certain. But her arrival was fortuitous. Best Emily met the 'true' Inner Circle before meeting the Luthors. Not to say that the Luthors were not members of the Lords Cardinal. They were. Shaw had hand picked Alexander himself. It was just that since their arrival, the club had, had more internal strife than before. The Luthors wanted it all, and they were willing to in-fight to get it.
Granted he had since patched things up with Lex. And Emma had Leo quite wrapped around her finger. But there were always concerns.
He began to prepare the drinks for the three extremely beautiful vixens that were in his presence. And grinned suddenly as he remembered why he adored his position so much. True the power, the influence, the money: those were all good things, but the strong, powerful and beautiful women he met along the way didn't hurt things.
"As you can probably tell Ms. Brigs, everyone here is powerful in their own way. Emma and myself are both mutants. Her abilities being of the psychic in nature, my own are the physical. Jeannette... is something special. I wouldn't dream of spoiling it for you. Suffice to say, the two of you have things in common, and I can imagine Jeannette is going to adore you."
He finished making the drinks and passed them around to those in attendance, "And don't worry so much about sucking up to us. Everyone in this room is here because of the potential in them. We are all equals. And I know you will shine as brightly as we all have."
He raised his glass and said "To Hellfire. And to the World's Revelation," he offers in toast quickly.
Jeannette smiles, and gives Emma a nod of approval in regards to Looker, and takes the glass. She chuckles at Shaw's toast. "You never do think /small/ do you?" she murmurs, amused. Still, she toasts, and drinks.
Emma held up her glass and repeated, "To the World's Revelation."
She sipped. Ah good, he picked the decent champagne. He always had fine taste in drink, and women of course. She smirked to Jeannette, "Would we be where we are if we did think small? I'd probably be...nowhere pleasant, certainly."
She slipped over to Looker and slid an arm around her waist, "First and foremost there is a quick important lesson I want you to learn now. There are no sides. We will fight, but there is no white versus black or any of that such nonsense. It's been a...common misconception."
She let out a soft laugh as she sipped again at her drink, "Nor are the Queens and Kings betrothed, could you /imagine/?"
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Looker takes her own glass, pleased with the vintage she's offered, having selected the cask last night from among the Club's select staff. Mmmmmmm, even still warm, how delightful. "I'm glad to hear it, Mr. Shaw. While I've got plenty of ego to spare, I wouldn't dream of crossing swords with those I have, thus far, met. I only hope that I can contribute."
She smiles more brightly, getting a little rush as she takes in the blood, eyes fluttering for a moment, "Ahhhhhhhhh...I also hope that I can provide...fun. Like everyone here, I appreciate power and wealth. One of the main things I've gotten out of has been some truly excellent partying." she grins.
Sebastian looked over to Jeannette and paused to think about Emma's line about 'betrothal.' It wouldn't be the most horrible thing in the world. Though he doubt he'd survive to their Tin anniversary, "I am already engaged besides. Though between her modeling, her foundation and my work both here and elsewhere we haven't seen much of each other since our engagement party."
Shaw loved Millie very much but they were both very busy people, that much was certain. The problems of being involved with busy people after all. Life was indeed easier when it was parties and trysts.
"Power and wealth are only the beginning. You'll learn this in time, Emma is a remarkable teacher that much is for certain. But the truth of the Hellfire Club is that we are that conspiracy that every person seems to know, but noone knows for certain. We are the secret masters of this world, and have been for some time now. Though the faces of this club have changed," Sebastian said seriously, "Our goal remains the same, to shape this world in the image of the Lords Cardinal. To bring about Revelation."
He gestures to the doors, "Out there right now are hundreds of politicians, diplomats, military generals, celebrities, CEOs and the like. They are out their for the party, to do whatever they will, as they harm none. And harming can be bought for a price."
He raised his glass again and said, "And in here, we use those people, shape them, mold them, influence them. We give them their agendas, their goals, their very jobs. Through that we shape the opinion of every man and woman on this planet."
Jeannette didn't really say anything to agree or disagree with Shaw's explanation of the club. She did like having her hand in the pots, this was true. Though she'd lived through enough revolutions to know she'd be high-tailing it out of here the second the commonfolk started suspecting something was up with their little clup and started circling the walls. She's seen the gaps between the haves and have-nots grow before, and knows now to get out of the way before the heads start rolling (in some cases, literally). In the meantime though? Lovely parties, and fantastic oppurtunities.
Emma's eyebrows lift as she looked to the side, a small grin spreading on her plump lips, "Oh fret not, we do have excellent parties. Commonly there are the charity events, but they can get...scandalous. Then there are the small VIP parties. Now that is a good time."
Emma stepped over to Sebastian and rested an arm on one of his broad shoulders, and rested her head at the back of her hand, "Precisely. They all have something they need at some point; money, contacts, or just a place to let loose. We get our hooks in early, then sometimes we take a much more direct approach."
Looker smiles, "Well, I certainly have plenty of hooks out there now, but I'm always looking to spread more around," she says, licking a bit of blood from her already crimson lips, "Obviously, I'm bringing media and fashion to the table, first and foremost, and there's nothing that shapes the lives of people today more, especially the young people. I currently possess 1.4 million Twitter followers, and just short of a million on Instagram. My Tumblr feed gets nearly 100,000 reblogs per day. While I may lack a pulse, I like to stay on the pulse, so to speak," she grins.
"Plus, taking pictures of pretty dresses is fun, even if I can't do a proper selfie," she says with a soft pout.
"I'm certain you are going to fit in here quite nicely then, my dear." Shaw said with a smile and he touched Emma's jaw with a single finger. The two obviously had, had something together at one point and Sebastian wasn't afraid of letting Looker know it either. Despite having just mentioned a fiancee.
"And there are many exotic treasures and pleasures to behold in this club, I know that Jeannette can attest to that as well." He reached his and over and played casually with one of Jeannette's curly locks... careful to avoid her neck.
"We mix our business and pleasure here. We are all very skilled at doing that," Shaw said with a small but devious smile, "Life is not worth living and power is not worth having if one lives as an aesthetic. Trust me on this one, I spent the first twenty or so years of my life trying."
Jeannette smiles, and allows the hair-touching- not something she'd permit very many men to do. At least not so casually. "I do have a few employees you may be interested in meeting," she muses, considering the re-clad woman, mentally going over lists in her head. She does have a fair number of individuals hardy enough to survive several encounters with a vampire, perhaps even enough to have on-call for feeding requirements. It's been a while since she's kept company with one. A good century or so, at least. She'll have to put some thought into this.
"All work and no play and all of that." Emma let out a soft laugh as she brought the drink to her lips. She was in fact quite comfortable around Sebastian, and many of other members of the inner circle. But not Lex Luthor. Never Lex Luthor.
Emma did hold up a finger to Looker, "But no being /too/ naughty darling. That's generally frowned upon."
Looker smiles, "Oh, Emma, you don't have to remind me. I am always utterly aware of the importance of publicity and public profile. You think the newshounds didn't spend at least a year trying to find corpses in my wake? I promise, I am always tres discreet, except when it's advantageous not to be. A little properly managed scandal can be a marvelous thing. S'why I got that mayoral candidate last year to send all those pictures of his scepter of office. I mean, it ruined his career, but I got a marvelous bump out of it..." she grins.
"I really do /like/ this one, Emma," says Jeannette, finishing the last of her drink. "I can't wait to get to know you better, Emily, darling. I think we'll find we have quite a bit in common." She smiles, touching the ribbon at her throat. "For now, though, I've an appointment I must be keeping. It was lovely meeting you, and of course, seeing you and Emma, Shaw." She blows kisses to her fellow royals, and makes a polite, but hurried exilt.
"Oh please Emma if she killed someone, as long as it isn't some major politician we'd cover it up. We did that favor for Selene and that one handsome Australian actor in '08. Politicians are harder, they tend not to die of overdoses."
He chuckled at Looker's reference to the mayoral candidate, "He actually came to me to get it to go away. I threw him to the wolves. I was backing the other guy anyways."
Slightly more seriously, "Here you will have more opportunities for that sort of thing. But before you strike, make sure they can handle it. That poor actress from 'Mean Girls' was never the same after I preyed upon her."
He smiled as Jeannette blew him a kiss, "As always a delight my Black Queen. I look forward to the next time we meet."
Shaw suddenly had a thought and walked over to the bar again, pulling out a champagne flute and then reached into his inner pocket a small dagger was removed. He rolled up his sleeve of both his jacket and shirt and then pressed extremely hard against his skin, it was resistant, absorbing the kinetic energy of the motion as he tried to cut himself. After a moment though he was able to pour his blood into the champagne flute.
He walked back over to Looker and Emma and held the glass up towards the new Red Princess, "How about a rare vintage. A poor boy from Pennsylvania who rose to the status of a king. He made his first million at age 20, his first billion at age 30. His great grandfather was the Sorcerer Supreme of this world and was part of the Salem witch hunt."
Emma blew a kiss back towards Jeannette as she sauntered away, "Ta darling, text me! We'll do sushi on someone nude."
Her brows quirked in interest as Sebastian had made the motion to cut himself. She grinned to Looker and moved over to place a hand on the small of her back, "A rare treat, darling. /Do/ drink up."
Looker smiles and waves goodbye, eyes trailing after Jeannette for a moment before returning to the powerful pair at hand. When Shaw cuts himself, her nostrils flare potently, the heady, coppery aroma of fresh spilled blood different even from the still warm remnants in her previous glass. Not to mention this blood is obviously potent and superhuman. She steps forward, "I'm privileged," she says, dipping her head in acknowledgement before she takes the glass, "Not to be forward, Miss Frost, but I've served as buffet in the past. I found it a...pleasing experience. Especially the dessert course," she says, and then begins to drink.
This is obviously different than her earlier sip, that flutter of eyelids more intense, a rosy blush coming into her face beneath the powder of her make-up. Crimson whorls mingle in the white smoke within her eyes as she absorbs its potency.
"You ain't just whistlin' Dixie..." she purrs.
And then of course that flood of experience that Looker gets from the blood. In this case it is Sebastian Shaw looking very young, barely eighteen years old if even that. He's working at a steel mill when the mail comes. He opens the letter and it was everything he had hoped for a full scholarship to the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
He asked for time off to go tell his father and it was granted, he ran to the hospital. When he arrived the Doctor told him that the genetic disease had over taken his father at last. He sat down by his father as he died and told him that he had done it, and that he was going to make him proud.
Shaw totally oblivious to this experience, said, "I decided that if you were to work with me, what better way to show my trust for you, than to share what is the most important part of me."
And then the line about the buffet. Honestly, Shaw was beginning to regret his engagement, the lonely nights had been stacking up and while he did love her, he was much more a hedonist before she came into his life, "Well then, I suppose we'll have to arrange something. A private engagement."
Emma sipped from her champagne and smirked as she did so, "Then I think we'll have to make ourselves a dinner date for the three of us. Or four, if Sebastian isn't busy playing tennis."
While Emma was a woman of perfect posture at nearly all times, that memory Looker saw, which she in turn did as well made Emma's shoulders slump just slightly. Her eyes turned to looker, than Sebastian, and suddenly she had to refill her glass. Much of Sebastian's history was sad, and cruel. She had seen some of the worst of it. Perhaps why he enjoyed what pleasures he could, to block out the bad.
Looker again shows her ability to remain poised, her face betraying nothing of the solemn memory she received, althouogh she might seem ever so slightly less ebullient. "Rich indeed," she says, tongue swiftly cleaning her fangs. "And, of course, I'm at beck and call, for both of you. Well, at night. Daytime engagements are a little rough with my condition," she smiles.
Sebastian Shaw smiled at that last bit, "We'll work on that," he said simply. The Lord Imperial was not just some fop in an amazing outfit. He was an engineering savant. Not to the level of Tony Stark or Lex Luthor, but to a level that he had designed and built giant robots with genetic scanners to take down mutants and metahumans. When Emma had told him that Ms. Briggs was a vampire, an honest to Hellfire vampire. His mind had already started to work on that problem.
He finished his own drink and said, "Welcome to the Lords Cardinal. Where my problems are your problems. And your problems are mine."
Emma stepped over towards Looker and placed one long gloved fingernail underneath her chin to turn it towards hers, and gave a soft kiss on the lips, "That means he likes you. See Sebastian? I have the /best/ taste in all things."
With a sly look she eyes Sebastian over her shoulder, "Always told you, more women in the inner circle would make for a better circle. What's the rule?"
Looker gives another shiver, this one purely pleasant, at the soft kiss from Emma, her vampiric nature making the soft growl in her throat perhaps slightly more resonant, slightly more feral. She certainly appreciates the compliments and Sebastian's promise to work on her daylight problem certainly has her intrigued, "We always smell better, that's for certain," she smiles.
"For the night however, I'm going to let the two of you enjoy it." Sebastian said with a bit of despair in his voice. How he would love to ravage these two girls. To remind Emma who he was, and show Looker exactly the type of man he was. But that would have to, at best, wait for later.
He had members to glad-hand and deals to make. The job of the Lord Imperial was never done after all. And a man engaged should more than likely try to stay away from his former lover and her new, very sexy princess.
He walked forward and gave Emma a small peck on her lips, then to Looker, a kiss on each cheek, he would not assume such familiarity with her as of yet. Even if she had tasted his blood.
He went to the door of the Lord Cardinals Meeting Hall and opened it, "My staff is of course at your disposal. Emma, will tell you exactly how at your disposal they are for the Lord Cardinals."
And with that the Black King is gone.
With a wicked grin Emma watched as Sebastian left the room. Once the door closed behind him she let out a soft laugh followed by a genuine smile as she spoke frankly, "He's a difficult man, the most difficult person I've ever met. But Sebastian is my best friend, and was once my mentor, occasionally a bit more. We owe quite a bit to one another. So don't ever anger him, at least lastingly so and you should be in his good graces. He can crush titanium in his bare hands."
She placed her fingers on both sides of her jawline, "Now, let's find the best bottle of red wine in the cellar and we'll drink it from one another's navals."
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