11601/Fearsome Individuals

Fearsome Individuals
Date of Scene:	14 June 2022
Location:	VIP Lounge - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	Tessa and Alexander have a conversation about fate, the future, and fencing.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Tessa

---

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    There had been times in the past few years that Alexander Aaron had come to the Hellfire Club . At first with curiousity. Then with humor. Then perhaps even a little bit of intrigue. Yet it had been a place that was ever on the periphery of things for the most part. The world for him had turned, roiling through the days passing from one event to the other. School, college, Olympus, war. It had been in some ways a blur, for at points he only remembered bits and pieces. Glimpses of faces. And one that had set him on the right path that he had met here of all places.
    Those that worked for the Club this last week and some would likely recognize him. He had been around two prior times, a legacy member. Connected to a man known as John Aaron. To most when they looked at the information attached to that member he was a construction worker? Ah, he ran a union, the Local 427. Perhaps that was the political clout that gave him membership. And how his son came to be here now and again.
    Yet for the elder members if they cared enough they would know the real reason why the pale blond youth was given access, and who that father truly was.
    For someone who had met him all that time ago he had grown some. A handful of inches, filled out along the shoulders. Today he was dressed well, black dress pants, leather shoes. A white buttoned shirt, black vest, and a jacket that was settled on the chair. For now he was enjoying a glass of sangria of all things, and his attention...
    For now it was cast upon the view below. It had always been a fine view.

Tessa has posed:
The Hellfire Club is a place where secrets are kept. All kinds of secrets. Alliances. Betrayals. Campaign promises. Economic incentives. The fat cats of the world, so to speak, need their arena where they can joust and find common ground, over cigars and brandy and that sort of thing. The VIP Lounge is one of those places.

"Mister Aaron." Tessa comes virtually out of nowhere. The purple-gowned, raven-haired woman approaches Alexander from the right side, walking with grace and poise. She makes being so composed seem effortless.

Tessa stands next to the young man's chair. Her expression is carefully modulated. 'Just pleasant enough' while still seeming neutral -- blank, but not cold. "I wish to apologize to you for the unpleasantness in the Victorian the other day. I assure you, such conduct does not reflect the values of the Hellfire Club as an institution."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Pale hazel eyes shift to focus upon Tessa and her arrival, his expression calm and steady then his lips curl up slightly, "Miss Fox."
    Her greeting returned he rises partially out of his chair, one hand uncurling to the empty seat near should she so wish to accept and join his table. And it is only once she expresses her decision on that point does he retake his seat, awaiting for her to settle in a chair before he sits in his if she chooses to join.
    At the offer of an apology he lifts his hand again, though this time it is to stay that offering as he murmurs, "There's no need for it. Talented people often carry strong personalities and that... can at times breed some small measure of conflict."
    A brief pause then as his brow furrows slightly, head tilting just so as he then states. "It has been some time since we shared two words."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa nods to the silent invitation, and sits down in the chair next to Alex's. She folds her legs and crosses her hands in her lap. Her spine is straight, shoulders squared. Despite sitting with a fluid economy of motion that dancers would envy, Tessa still ends up seeming stiff when she settles.

"It has. You've grown," Tessa says. "I've remained quite the same." She lifts one corner of her mouth, the faintest glimpse of a smile to shade her words with good humor.

"Constancy is a virtue, but then, so is change. I hope that whatever has changed has suited you."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    For now he's looking at the view, only now with her at his side. A passerby might well comment on the handsome couple, for there is something almost picturesque in the composure of the moment with them both seated so properly. The only concession made to comfort is the way Alexander is leaning ever so slightly to the side, with one hand curled around the base of his glass. And that red wine lends the slightest touch of color.
    She comments about how he's changed and that brings back some hint of life and warmth to his features. A slight smile hearkens back to the scoundrel and hellion he had been. And when he glances sidelong at her he catches that subtle twist to her features. A brief shared connection, then he exhales softly. Just enough that she'd hear the ghost of a laugh in it, and would be moreso if he but gave it a little more effort.
    "I feel I am more the person I should be. And that in and of itself." He turns slightly, "Is a comfort."
    There's a pause. Then his hand uncurls as he offers his own sortie. "And yourself? Tell me what has passed for you?"
    Those curious hazel eyes slip away to focus on the view of that grand ballroom below. The smile is still there in his eyes as he then offers her his own touch of humor as he says, "Or lie to me, for even as such your voice is a lovely counterpart to the moment."

Tessa has posed:
The question of what has passed for Tessa makes the woman pause. Her expression is thoughtful, but her posture is unchanged. One would be forgiven for thinking that she seems tense. On the other hand, it's also possible that this is Tessa when she's relaxed. She betrays no fear, no anxiety.

"I have been the person that I should be," Tessa says, after a moment. "I tend to the affairs of the Club. I consult the financial interests of Mister Shaw. I have purpose and clarity. My life affords me the ability to create goals, and then fulfill them."

Tessa glances around at the trappings surrounding the pair, then joins Alexander in looking at the people below. "Like everything else to do with the Club, it is a luxury."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    That had been one of the things that allowed Alexander some measure of ease in his manner when around Tessa. The control she had, there were none of the spikes or roils of a person who was vulnerable to those darker emotions that the young Olympian is so familiar with... and in some ways feeds on. It's as if with her there it is purely two beings without those detriments.
    "Part of me feels that if I were to run off for a hundred years, come back and in the ruins of the world find this place again, I could count on you still being here and politely seeing to the matters before you." His smile twists up slightly, "The rest of the world be damned." For he did in some ways have an idealized view of the quietly competent woman.
    Yet that might signal the end of that line of thought as he turns to her and says, "It's near the time when you and yours will soon toss me out on my ear when I darken your doorstep." A slight wry tone to the words, though he is meaning that he's close to the time when he cannot be a legacy member any further and must in turn either become, or not.

Tessa has posed:
"I would be quite old then," Tessa says. "I could conceivably live to a hundred and thirty, but I don't think I would enjoy /being/ a hundred and thirty very much." Tessa allows herself a more full smile.

Tessa's hands stay folded in her lap, and her smile fades in its brightness -- not completely, just a touch. "I would never toss you out on your ear, Mister Aaron. And if anyone here would, I would have to see about hiring better help." She lifts a brow. "I'm here to listen to your thoughts, if you're so inclined to share them. Do you see a future for yourself in the Club?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I thought you might be a vampire for a time," Alexander says without looking at her, though she can hear the slight hint of a smile in the words, perhaps even a hint of teasing in that subdued way they have when chatting. "So time, bah, an inconvenience."
    As if such could touch her.
    But then he lets his smile grow slightly, "Truly?" As she offers that insight she wouldn't toss him out, nor allow others to do so. For some reason that is a comfort. Then he adds with a hint of an accent he rarely lets touch his words, "That's a kindness."
    Yet it's when she offers to hear his words that he lifts his chin. "I've given some thoughts about here, the club." There's a frank easiness to him as he offers her some measure of insight into him and his mind. "My father advises me if I am to /travel in the world of man/ then I should have allies, influence."
    A deep breath is taken, "Yet, what could I offer ultimately? Spilled blood? I have a good number of prior oaths that might well stay my hand. That is not a reliable asset. My own influence?"
    He turns his head and meets Tessa's eyes, and it's a pleasure to see no fear there. A rarity. "I can barely have dinner with my family, let alone sway them."
    At the end of it he lifts a hand and gestures to the side, as if he truly had nothing to offer. Though that doesn't stop him from taking a sip of sangria.

Tessa has posed:
Tessa's smile returns, and she shakes her head, denying being a vampire. "No, Mister Aaron. I've no taste for blood, and I can walk through sunlight anytime I please. I do prefer to be invited into homes, though. It's far more polite than barging in."

Tessa shifts in her seat, slightly. Every move she makes is deliberate. The subtle shift of her pose maintains her businesslike demeanor, but becomes slightly more personable by degrees. Less stiff, less arch. Someone like Alex would be able to grok exactly what she's doing: she's trying to reduce any potential anxiety in Alex, just through the subtle cues of body language.

"You are a young man, whose life is beginning. You are figuring out who you should be and where that should take you." Tessa isn't that old, herself, but she speaks like she carries the wisdom of the ancients, rather than the wisdom of a nebulously Eurasian woman who's around thirty. "I think that you should realign your perception slightly -- tell me, in a word, or a phrase, what is the Hellfire Club?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "It might be interesting on some level to see you barge into anywhere, Miss Fox. I imagine it would have to be some monumental event for such a breach in protocol." Though he perhaps has no real idea of what the good assistant is capable of.
    It is such a strange dichotomy between the two. Tessa presents herself as such a knowledgeable and wise figure, timeless in her own way. While Alexander still is searching through the world for definition, clarity. Yet he carries with him an old soul tinged with the voices of those who were called Phobos before him.
    "What is the Hellfire Club?" He echoes as he looks back to the ballroom. His handsome brow furrows, gaze distancing as he sees not the people and the celebration below. But instead what it all means to him.
    "The Hellfire Club is a network, souls bent on aiding themselves, each other, benefiting those who can be of benefit to them. Protection, and power. Though to be fair it is the insight that appeals to me."
    He turns his head and meets her gaze, "The people are unique, so many who hold themselves to strict rules, and yet ignore others. It is intriguing to... find those boundaries."

Tessa has posed:
"That was much more than a word or a phrase," Tessa says, once more flashing a little smile.

"In all that you said, Mister Aaron, you did not capture what I believe truly describes the Club best." Tessa waits a beat, probably just for sheer dramatic tension. "Above all else, the Hellfire Club is opportunity."

Tessa pauses again, to let that settle in. "At this point in your life, you should not view membership in the Hellfire Club as a transaction -- what we can do for you in this moment, what you can do for us in this moment. Instead, view it as an opportunity. As you find your place, as you continue to grow, the Hellfire Club can invest in you, and down the line, there will be a dividend. You may not feel that you can offer anything in this moment... but truly, what do many of our VIPs offer, outside of their money?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Another soft exhalation is given, a thing that would be a laugh if only. There is a subtle hint of incredulity as he watches her, listens, those pale irises intrigued but also tinged with a hint of skepticism. For he is no easy sale.
    "Opportunity," He echoes. And his eyes slip to the side, whatever inner monologue he is having sees him lifting his eyebrows slightly as he perhaps awards a point to one side of the argument or the other.
    He takes another sip, then sets the glass down precisely in the center of the small ring of moisture it had left. He takes a deep breath and then says calmly, "You know the main reason I've enjoyed coming here in the past, Miss Fox?" A look is given to her as he continues, "To people watch. Outside of here you see people going from moment to moment, but here so many people do plan for the future while they're here."

Tessa has posed:
"The smartest members of the Club are the ones who listen more than talk," Tessa says. Considering that she hovers silently around the Club, listening to all around her, perhaps she's calling herself some kind of genius.

"The world belongs to those who can observe it -- understand it -- see the patterns in it -- and predict it." Tessa lifts her brows to emphasize her point. "And it again comes back to 'opportunity,' because the Hellfire Club is an opportunity to do exactly that."

The dark-haired woman is still somewhere between formal and relaxed, leaning a bit more toward the formal side. Not literally leaning, of course. Her posture remains excellent. "Of course, a hammer is of no use to someone who has no need to drive in nails."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    As she talks she can read the subtle signs of body language in the young man. Or rather the lack of them in some ways, which might have been what made him stand out those few years ago. No hint of tension to him, no self-doubt, a confidence that is simply present and at its ease. Though there are tell tale markers of interest, the slight tilt of his head, the curve of a winkle near his eyes. He is listening, and the smile is the easiest to read. He had been partial to her in the past, and now? Charmed most likely. Yet not so easily as some.
    One hand lifts to rest around the base of his drink. And then as if it was the most natural course of events he turns his head just so and then asks with such calm aplomb. "Miss Fox, do you fence?"
    As if it were some natural progression from one moment to the next. Observing the world, taking the opportunity, and striking home. Perhaps it makes sense in a way.

Tessa has posed:
"Once or twice," Tessa replies, to the question of fencing. "In most sporting activities, I am resolutely a dilettante." She can absolutely read Alexander's body language, and perhaps that is why she's still sitting here. A -- dare it be said -- mere mortal would probably have given up their stance already, and been marked by Tessa as a win or a loss for the Club. From there, the rest of the conversation would just be a matter of execution, of seeing things out to its natural and logical conclusion.

Here, in this moment, Tessa genuinely isn't sure where Alexander will land. And that interests her.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    That is when Alexander finally turns fully in his seat. It's a soft rustle of fabric from the chair perhaps as he does so, resting a hand light upon the arm of the seat. Those pale eyes meeting hers directly, his head tilting now to the other side ever so slightly. No words for the moment as he watches, perhaps a slow blink.
    Then the left corner of his lips curves up slightly and he says, "You should." Though he gives no insight as to the why he thinks such, nor what inspired such a thought.
    Instead he then elaborates, shifting the conversation ever so subtly to the side as he offers another avenue of discussion, "I am a passingly decent hand at it. Perhaps that is something others here might wish to improve." He looks to the side at some of the decor, and the way some are dressed in that... particular way.
    He looks back to her and offers as his smile slips more wry, "It would be... thematic."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa is the type of person who has no problem making eye contact. She can stare down people with the best of them, but 'staring down' isn't what she's doing now. Like her body language, her facial expression is carefully regulated, down to the micro level. Playing poker against her is probably hell.

"I agree with you that there are many here who would enjoy an opportunity to engage in such a privileged pastime," Tessa says. "Though I'm curious, Mister Aaron, why you feel that /I/ should fence."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I think you'd be very good," Are the first words he offers. She could read that when he was looking straight at her he was indeed looking for those subtle tells. Some insight given away. Yet the fact that she has none and he comes away none the wiser... it seems to please him for some odd reason.
    He straightens up in his chair, turning back the way he had been though less to look down upon the ball room and more to return to that at ease posture. Even going so far to lightly cross one leg over the other and resting his hands upon his shin.
    He smiles then, as he decides to at least confess a hint of his thoughts, "But you are a mystery to me, Miss Fox." Then those pale eyes shine with a warmth as he looks back to her, "And it's a lovely thing. But my father, he has a saying..."
    One hand lifts and uncurls to the side as he gestures and elaborates, "If you wish to know who someone truly is then you cross blades with them."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa adopts a thoughtful look for a moment. "Your father's idea is a sound one," she says, after considering it.

A hand is lifted and Tess makes a vague gesture, palm outward. "I think that you will be disappointed if you 'solve' my 'mystery,' Mister Aaron." Tessa gives a smile that's almost apologetic. "I understand the temptation to read into things... but I am exactly what I appear to be. Everything that there is to know is right here on the surface."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I..." Alexander cants his head to the side, "Don't think I am. Usually I have a good feel for such things." He bites his lower lip slightly in thought as if considering what to say in reply, eyebrows lifting as he considers. "There are..."
    He pauses then looks sidelong, "Aspects of life that come from being a person from my family. Like, to most people... fate is just a word. To me, they're three grumpy women who like to cause problems."
    He takes a deep breath, frowns for a moment. "And they like to manipulate various threads. Sometimes when you meet people you can get a feel. When your thread nears their's. The Fates, they like to put those threads next to each other until one breaks."
    He stops for a moment, eyes distanced again as he frowns, then shakes his head slightly and presses on. "Eventually you can tell when that's going to happen, or if there is something... else there."
    Until finally his nose crinkles and he murmurs, "It's hard to explain."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa is silent for a beat, and then two beats.

"You say that it's hard to explain, but I understand it completely," Tessa says. She purses her lips very faintly, as if seeking to find the correct words. "I was not lying to you when I said that what there is to know about me is right there, on the surface. In fact, it has been throughout this conversation we've had."

"I observe. I understand. I see the patterns. And I predict." Tessa brings her hands together, and then spreads them apart. "No threads, and there is only the one of me. But your Fates and I, we seem to be in similar industries."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I could see that as well," Her and the Fates sharing a hand, an archetype, a shadow on the cave wall.
    A nod is given, but then he looks at her sidelong and says with a small more reserved smile, as if knowing he may have trespassed in some form. "I apologize, I seem to have taken up a good amount of your time. I should allow you to get back to your duties instead of spending all your hours chatting with a curiousity."
    At that having been said he sits up, taking another drink of the sangria, though it is a rare liquor that affects him. "It was kind of you to chat with me."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa lifts one eyebrow. "A curiosity?" she repeats, and then shakes her head. "You are a valued member of the Hellfire Club, Mister Aaron. One whom I hope to see within these halls for years to come."

Tessa rises from her chair. "Perhaps not a hundred. Believe it or not, I /do/ plan to retire at a certain age." She doesn't say /what/ age, of course. "This talk has been my pleasure. Your father perhaps would advise us to cross swords, but in many ways, we already have."

With that, Tessa is off, to go attend to whatever it is she must do.