video | un: wooden sword & un: widow

[vdovy]

[ It is late in the night when the video feed goes live. The scene: a spacious, gilded room in one of the lux summer villas where Messalina's infiltrators have been stationed. Warm candlelight illuminates Yelena, standing with her hands on her hips in front of Natasha, who is seated (if you can call it sitting) in a large, ornate chair with her legs hanging over one of the chair's intricately carved arms.

The pair of them have looked better. Yelena's crisp patrician attire is wrinkled and in some places torn and Natasha only seems presentable because her clothes are dark enough to mask bloodstains. Their faces are smudged with dirt and their hair, once carefully braided back, now resembles a bird nest, complete with loose leaves and small twigs. ]

We've just finished cleaning up after Alir. Again. [ Natasha runs a hand through her hair and makes a face when her palm comes back streaked with blood. Next to her, it's Yelena's turn to address the network. ]

He could have been exposed tonight, or any other night, the way we've all had to cover for him.

He's a problem. So the question is, what are we prepared to do about it?

(OOC: Default color dialogue is Natasha, red dialogue is Yelena. Tag around, threadjack at will. Alir is the shapeshifting demon impersonating Senator Maximus Faustus. Nat and Yelena are opening discussion up between Messalina's infiltrators, most of whom have had to pick up after Alir's appetites, but other party members are welcome to chime in.)

Comments

un: ut malum pluvia | audio

[somebadnews]

[ What are they going to do? Chat about it with the peanut gallery, apparently. — Not that he doesn’t know that Alir is a problem, but it’s one they need to be smarter about. ]

You don’t do anything.

It’s not ideal, but act too quickly, and the whole thing falls apart.

[vdovy]

He eats the wrong person and it all falls apart anyway.

[somebadnews]

Which is why some of us need to be keeping better tabs on him. Does anyone know where he is right now?

un: widow, video

[redhourglass]

I can babysit or I can clean up his ... missteps, I can't do both.

[somebadnews]

Aren't there two of you?

[ As if he didn't get Wangji's help to burn the last body. (Which is technically not his job!) ]

[redhourglass]

At the rate Alir's going, we're going to need way more than two.

[somebadnews]

[ Somehow it's not Alir's lack of self control that he's worried about. He'd be fine with offing him as much as the rest of them, but it'd be a wasted opportunity. ]

Theoretically, we have more. [ He just hasn't discussed the whole scheme with... well, anyone, but it takes him more than a day to sort out something this potentially significant. ] We need him alive, for now. Think you can keep your co-conspirators on task before we have more of a problem than we started with?

un: widow, audio

[redhourglass]

( no, she’s not lowkey pleased that he has (rightly) assumed she’s in charge — that would be silly! )

I can’t control every variable associated with this. All it would take would be one random passerby walking down the wrong alley. ( spoken like a professional. ) Short of feeding him myself — which is not an option — he’s going to keep killing.

[somebadnews]

[ She gives off a vibe, what can he say? ]

You're right. It's not sustainable if we can't hurry the campaign along. [ He's only just started to get an idea of the intricacies of their politics, and the path for Messalina is... narrow. ] So we work with what we've got. Deal with him in a way that still accomplishes what we want, without making any of us look like traitors.

[redhourglass]

( of course she's right!!! )

What we've got is a liability. ( darkly, but she's considering his words. messalina would pick them out for traitors the second they tried to kill alir; they'd have to pick the right time. after he'd outlived his usefulness, but before messalina thought of disposing of him herself. ) Things might resolve over the next few weeks, but until then we need a way to leash him.

[somebadnews]

[ She continues to be right, so he doesn't remark on the obvious liability. He's going to need time to work out exactly when and what they can get away with, preferably with the desired outcome. Time he'd prefer they buy him.

The use of the word 'leash' is enough to link the parts of the other conversation he overheard. ]

You're considering Vanessa.

[redhourglass]

I'm considering all of the options. Aren't you?

[vdovy]

So sorry to have gotten distracted with the frivolous work of paying off witnesses and disappearing remains.

Hey, you're the strategist, tell me how pointing fingers gets us anywhere?

[somebadnews]

You paid them? [ Sounds insane to him. We're trusting random citizens to keep their word if they're tortured? ]

...It gets us somewhere if we point them in the right direction. If we can't control Alir, we use him. We can't let it get out that he's a shapeshifter, so we do the next best thing.

audio

[downswing]

Men have fallen apart.

[somebadnews]

...I'm not saying he isn't an issue. As much as I enjoy our quality time together, it's obviously counterproductive.

[downswing]

You enjoy it.


( The burial of men, sir. )

[somebadnews]

[ He thought calling it 'quality time' was enough to get the point across. ]

Only about half as much as you do.

[downswing]

( MOVING ON. )

How do we achieve this?

[somebadnews]

The question is how much are you going to listen?

[ They've only been here a few days and everyone is already getting twitchy. It doesn't bode well. ]

There's a chance we can make this work for us, as long as nobody gets impatient.

[downswing]

Elaborate.

[somebadnews]

Do you think there's a reason I didn't bring this up in the first place?

[ Besides the threat of being exposed, the Merchant won't be happy if he hears they're dabbling in politics. ]

Just know that I'm working on it, and I'll call you when I need you.

[downswing]

...as if a dog.

[somebadnews]

[ Sorry, buddy. That’s how this works. ]

Did they give you one of those?

[downswing]

My husband mislikes them.