18425/Dinner with a Black Bishop

Dinner with a Black Bishop
Date of Scene:	24 June 2024
Location:	The Victorian Restaurant - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	18425 The Black Herald has dinner with one of the Black Bishops... and the Black King ends up dropping in. Updates and fine dining rule the evening.
Cast of Characters:	Tessa, Harry Leland, Sebastian Shaw

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Tessa has posed:
Tessa is dressed for the occasion. Her dress leans more towards the Edwardian in style, but it evokes the time period in question while losing some of the bulk and ruffle of the true historic style. She's seated primly at the table generally reserved for Sebastian and often used by her, waiting patiently on one of the Black Bishops to join her.

As Harry appears, Tessa allows a small smile to grace her face. She watches him cross the room, ever aware of the way the workers are acting and reacting in his presence. The ladies get the bulk of his attention, naturally, but he's polite to all of them until he's settled across from her at the table. "Good evening, Harry. How have you been?"

Harry Leland has posed:
He took a moment to arrange himself before he answered her question. "Well, thank you. Busy, but well. And yourself?" he asked, strictly for the sake of politeness. They both knew full-well in generalities what the other's schedule looked like. Harry is dressed contemporary, having come here straight from work, but even when not dressed as the Black Bishop he maintained a sense of style and decorum few could reach.

Tessa has posed:
"Sebastian and I did manage an entire quiet evening in on Sunday," Tessa replies, still maintaining that small smile. "He did mention the promotion of Lady Croft and the addition of a new employee that I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, but she is on my list. You know how particular I am about keeping our staff top-notch. Other than that, mostly the same old. And you? Business seems to be doing well."

Harry Leland has posed:
"Ups and downs, but mostly ups. Our Swiss connection is still paying us dividends, although Suisse has started an internal investigation so our productive window may be closing." he said. "Market is overall up, our financial instruments are doing tolerably well, and as four our newcomers, I am witholding judgement until they prove useful past eye-candy." he said.

Tessa has posed:
Tessa nods in agreement. "At least we know Lady Croft is more than just gloss," she states, closing her menu with a snap. There's no point in her looking at it, because she always orders the evening's prie fixe when she dines here, and she trusts those who pair the wine and spirits to do so with minimal input on her end. "Do let me know if strings need be pulled with Suisse Bank or your connections, yes? I might be able to redirect some of that away to give you breathing room." She smiles at the waitress who stops at their table, topping off their waters and taking orders. She gives her own easily, then nods to Harry. "On my tab this evening please, Emily."

Harry Leland has posed:
"We may need to pull an extraction, both legal and physical. Our contact has given us the keys to a large percentage of the kingdom and we stand as of last projection to make hundreds of millions of dollars in speculation as well as exploitation of disclosed weaknesses." he said. Chumming the financial waters rarely failed to work up in him an enormous appetite. And speaking of which, he gave his own order to Emily - a nice cut of medium-rare prime rib and a dozen-year-old Scotch. They knew what he preferred here and they'd make sure to cater to it. "Analysis, please. New members of the Court. Liabilities, or potentially useful assets?"

Tessa has posed:
Tessa raises one shoulder in a delicate shrug. "The employee is an unknown - a dancer, I believe, with a bit of an angelic name and odd past. Could be useful long-term. More analysis is necessary. Lady Croft could swing either way. Her father had dealings with London, and their interests in antiquities are well-known. There are going to be players added to the board. Sebastian has been offered quite a bit of leeway to fill in gaps. There are plans in place to avoid... interlopers."

Harry Leland has posed:
Tessa's analysis was usually golden so he took her at her word. "Black Court at least seems to be stable." he said. "Modulo the other Bishop." he said with somewhat of a grimace. "And our Queen." he added after a moment.

It was well-known that the Black Bishop was, in a phrase, scared shitless of the Black Queen. She was unknowable and capricious.

Tessa has posed:
"We have fewer moving pieces than the other half of the board." Tessa nods in agreement. "I have some ideas on fixing that, but it will require getting Lex on board. Sebastian is still coming around as well, and only time will tell if that plan is engaged or if other options will be chosen instead. I will continue as I always do, regardless of the decisions made." She quiets as she takes note of a server heading towards them, setting two soups in front of them before leaving. "That is being worked on, however. It is always a matter of moving the pieces into the correct places at the right time."

Harry Leland has posed:
"Of course, of course. And if you need some financial backing, I'm sure I could arrange the appropriate funding. Either on or off the books, as needed." he said quietly. "These are dangerous times, but in chaos there is opportunity." he pointed out. "But I am not telling you anything you do not already know." he said with a laugh.

Tessa has posed:
Tessa's eyes light up as she spots a new entrant to The Victorian. "I do believe someone finished his work early," she murmurs over her soup to Harry as her smile smooths into something soft and genuine. She's already summoning the wait staff, getting a third place setting and glass of water set for their King. "Sebastian, I thought you would be too busy for dining this evening," she greets warmly as he nears. "Did you finish things early, or decide to take a break?"

Harry Leland has posed:
Harry lurched himself out of his chair to properly greet his King. "Sebastian! So good to see you. Join us, won't you?" he said jovially in his rich baritone voice.

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
Trust Sebastian to make an entrance.

His jacket this evening is a deep forest green with red piping while the usual white silk shirt has been replaced with a -- fittingly -- black opposite number, though the frilled lace of the cuffs still fall out over the backs of his hands in negligent perfection. The ruffled cravat is still very much is evidence however, and it would seem that Shaw is still enough 'on the clock' not to have made even a small concession to comfort. At least not yet.

That sharp, raptor-like gaze scans the environs of the throw-back restaurant before he spots the pair that he is looking for, a brief and so very slight smile touching his expression as he wastes little time in immediately padding over, that gold tipped and handled walking stick tucked crisply under one arm.

"Tessa. Harry," he greets each of them in turn. "Glad to see that I escapes that dreary meeting early enough to catch you," he says, almost matter of factly. "You do not mind if I join you, I hope?" he asks, though does not bother waiting for a reply before giving a brief, sharp gesture towards one of the nearby footmen who race over with an extra chair for the table.

Tessa has posed:
"Of course not, Darling." Tessa is still as Sebastian's chair is placed next to her own. "We have been talking a bit of light shop until our main courses are out, and your input is always welcomed." That their attire matches is not a mistake, though the red of Tessa's dress is a bit more subdued, worked into the brocade of the fabric itself and appearing on the soles of her very modern high heels. Her hands rest gently in her lap for now. "A bit of actual business as well, but likely nothing you will need to concern yourself with. Harry and I have a handle on it."

Harry Leland has posed:
Harry takes a seat once his King is seated. "So good to see you, Sebastian. Scheduling is the beast that cannot be bested, only subdued." he said, sipping at his whiskey with real pleasure. Harry's the odd man out in terms of dress, going for strictly a modern look vs a more Inner Circle-inspired dress. If it bothered him, it didn't show on his face.

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
Certainly Shaw seems rather unapologetic about his love of anachorisms, revelling in the archaiac form of dress that tends to be more popular amongst at least a portion of the Inner Court. Though surely not all, except on the most formal of occasions.

Seating himself, the dark haired man gives another flick of his fingers, requiring no more to send the man scurrying away to fetch him a drink and while another of the footmen rushes over with the extra place setting, Sebastian doesn't seem to be in any great hurry to order anything himself. Maybe he already ate.

"Of course, of course. You know I trust you both implicitly to hangle what must be handled," he says with a brief smile. Which is probably... mostly true at least.

Harry Leland has posed:
What often went unsaid, especially in the Black Court, is that the "lower" ranks often served as a brake, or at the least a curb, on the wild excesses of the "upper" ranks. So far Sebastian hadn't needed much along those lines and Selene was content to play her unknowable games of mystic power and leave the mortal world more-or-less alone. "We're going to lose my Suisse contact soon." he told Sebastian. "We've extracted a great deal of intelligence and opportunity from them and Tessa and I are likely going to arrange for an extraction. They've served us well at risk to themselves and that sort of initiative and loyalty should be rewarded."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa nodded in agreement. "They have been useful for us, and those good turns are rewarded. I am certain we can find them another location to be useful at, with minimal risk to any of the involved parties. The rewards we have reaped will be worth it, and they seem to have set up a rather brazen competitor for the fall. I appreciate when our contacts take out the trash themselves rather than leaving a mess to be cleaned up."

All of this is information she has gathered in the several minutes between Harry informing her and Sebastian being seated at the table. "We also had a brief talk about the allowances you have been granted to make the other half of the board less volatile. I do have a small list of pawns on hand, but other than promotions within the Court I believe our most pressing issue is finding a suitable place for Ms. Wyngarde. I confess I am as acquainted with the woman as I would need to be to make a suggestion, but perhaps one of the positions on the outer ring to start, so that she might begin to learn the ins and outs of things."

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
Excesses? Shaw? Surely not.

He would much rather think of himself as a visionary. Someone with an eye towards the future. The big prize. And if that means that a few little things get trampled in the process, well that is a small price to pay for the kind of power that they trade in here within the Inner Courts of the Hellfire Club.

Those that get trampled in the process might have a slightly different point of view of course.

That drink is delivered to the table, the bottle presented to Shaw for his approval that he gives with a silent nod for the footman, motioning impatiently for him to pour before dismissing him with an equally curt flick of the wrist. Nothing they say is necessarily the sort of thing that would be passed on as idle gossip, but the Black King of the courts sees no need to have them linger within earshot either.

Then he turns his attention back towards the discussion at hand, swirling that glass and it's deep amber liquid in front of him consideringly before finally taking a sip. A little more ruthless then the other two, Shaw would likely not oppose leaving that pawn in place, to see if they could extract some final benefit before their inevitable sacrifice. But there is value too in showing loyalty to one that has gained them much and he finally tips his head in a brief nod of agreement. "It sounds like they have earned that much consideration, and a suitable reward as well. Perhaps we can find another position for them, since they seem to have a knack of this sort of work," he agrees.

The matter of Ms. Wyngarde has him furrowing his brow, lips pursed in consideration before he gives a small shrug. "Her father is somewhat erratice, but perhaps she will show more potential long term value. Bring her in, in some lesser capacity and see if she can prove to be enough of an asset to merit further consideration," he says with a nod towards Tessa.

Harry Leland has posed:
"Allow me to translate from Sebastian to English." Harry said with a smile. All the best touches in verbal fencing should be delivered with a smile. "Jason Wyngarde is a complete cunt." he said plainly. "And speaking strictly for myself, I do not know Ms Wyngarde at all but I can simply hope that the Wyngarde nature has been diluted in his daughter. A lower position - an opportunity to prove herself - would be wise."

Tessa has posed:
"The question of the day will be which side of the board. Perhaps she could be a test for Ms. Riviere's own promotion to the Inner Court, should she desire such a thing. If not, perhaps a project for Lady Croft. The family's abilities would lend themselves to the White Rook's gathering of antiquities, and perhaps she could be a steadying influence for the woman."

Tessa flicked sharp eyes over to Harry, and her smile lost some level of its previous warmth. "That Mr. Wyngarde is erratic to the sort of extreme that he occasionally makes our own Mr. Wilson look charmingly sane is not a matter of debate, and I would immediately squash any notion of attempting to bring the other Wyngarde sister into the fold. However, Martinique has held up admirably as a pawn, and I believe she could be a valuable player in the future, particularly once she is farther from the longer shadows of her father and sister. Perhaps as White Herald or Squire. If she is uncertain which she would prefer, then a stint as Witness first, working directly with Lady Croft."

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
The assessment from Leland gets a glass raised slightly in his direction by Sebastian, that brief curving of his lips lighting there once more in sardonic amusement.

"Your words, not mine Harry. But not an... inaccurate assessment," he conceeds with a faint smirk before indulging in another small sample of that Irish Whiskey, leaning back in his seat in a somewhati ndolent posture. Not quite simply draping himself there, but close enough that the difference is rather minimal.

"If Ms. Wyngarde is anything like her father, I suspect her calling will lay with the Black. Though as our good Bishop has indicated, if she is as erratic as her father perhaps she can be pawned off on the Whites," he says drily. Probably not exactly how Tessa would prefer to look at things, but then that is the one -- slight -- difference of opinion that tends to manifest itself openly between the Black King and his Herald.

"And in regards to Lady Croft, I would like us to see that her actions receive a degree of... oversight in the near future. I suspect there is still a healthy degree of idealism there and while I hope that her talents might yield some interesting resources for the Club, a little care and discretion are probably called for," he says, continuing to swirl that glass and the liquid within. "Nobody that can be traced back to the Club, I think. Mercenaries, instead of one of our regular operatives," he muses.

Harry Leland has posed:
Harry knew he was right and refused to let Sebastian's attempts to demur and deflect alter that fact. "Ms Wyngarde deserves an opportunity to prove herself, that she is not her father, that she has the talents and the ruthlessness we look for in the Black." he pointed out, then sipped at his Scotch. "But speaking of our counterparts in the White, do we have any concerns about them rising to ascendance?" he asked. "They have been, as pointed out, staffing up."

Tessa has posed:
Tessa's smile was replaced with her normal perfectly polite mien. "Adding one person - us adding one person to their Court, that is - does not give them a strong presence. Should we add a few more to their lower Courts, they will still know which hands were guiding them into the positions and showing them the ins and outs of their roles." She gave Sebastian a look, communicated with a single raised eyebrow, asking a single question - did she speak to their Bishop about her own thought of becoming a larger player, or leave that between discussion for Sebastian and Lex?

She dropped her eyebrow quickly though, as staff emerged with their dinners and appropriate pairings. Tessa gave them a nod of appreciation and a brief smile at the excellent work, then turned her focus to her plate. "Would you like Ms. al Ghul to meet up with Lady Croft, then? Rook to rook, showing her the way of things? She is quite capable of it, and would provide that oversight." The alternative, of course, was this being some level of encouragement to her own suggestion, in which case she would be well-placed to provide direct oversight.

Harry Leland has posed:
Harry set about consuming his meal with gusto. He knew perfectly well that there were always machinations in play and he wasn't privy to all of them. His role was to keep an eye on the numbers, to look for ways to increase the Black Court's temporal power. He was uniquely well-suited to the task, as lawyer and financier both. He kept his eye on the more outre machinations of the Inner Circle, naturally. They had to pay for things, after all, with no suggestion of strain or weakness.

It might even come as a surprise to Sebastian and Tessa both how much he was privy to, even outside of his responsibilities as a Bishop. Follow the money, see where it went. Find a little bird to whisper secrets into his ear.

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
For his part, Sebastian only raises a single brow towards Leland at that staunch defense of Ms. Wyngarde, seemingly unphased. Nor does he appear to be in disagreement. "She deserves her chance to prove herself," he agrees quietly. "Though no more then that. Family connections may be enough to wrangle a VIP invitation to the Club in general, but I have no wish for anything by merit to dictate the composition of the Courts, both Inner and Outer," he says simply.

"As for Ms. al Ghul, it should be worth at least putting them into contact. Certainly Talia is a more practiced hand and while I'm certain that Mr. Fisk's black market connections will be of interest to Lady Croft as well it might be no bad thing to get Talia's opinion of the woman," he asserts with a slow nod.

That last draws a considering look from Shaw in return to Tessa's silent inquiry. Certainly it makes a certain amount of sense to try and draft the full support of the Black for their still secret gambit. Then again, sometimes the wider a rumor spreads, the harder it is to keep it a true secret. Weighing the matter quietly, he finally gives an almost imperceptable nod his head.

Not yet. Not tonight. But soon. Especially if he can't convince Lex in the value of the entire thing. Where friendship fails, being able to muster the Black might just before enough.

Tessa has posed:
Tessa places an accepting hand on Sebastian's knee in response to the negative shake. Chess is a thoughtful game, and telegraphing your moves is a sure way to lose.

"I will work on that connection then. Mr. Fisk has been rather busy with his empire of late, but I do believe he and the Lady Croft met briefly at the egg hunt. Ms. Ireton has done well on her tasks. I would like to install her as a Page for now and have the rest of the Outer Court work with her for a bit. I believe she will ultimately end up along the path of the Knight, but she has expressed interest in being more than just a weapon, and I am inclined to allow her the ability to be more rounded. Such interest is to be nurtured, in my opinion." She pauses for a moment, somewhat uncertain. "Has anyone asked Mr. Wilson if he is content in his position or would like an elevation? He is rather a wild card, but a delightful one."

Harry Leland has posed:
Harry had nothing to contribute to the line of conversation, but he did pick up that Tessa and Shaw were playing a game. Not sure if it was against him, independent of him, or if they were contemplating bringing him onboard. Whatever they decided, they'd let him know soon enough. He'd continue working on getting someone inside Shaw Industries - friendly espionage had been their way since they crossed paths all those years ago in the courtroom.

He also made a mental note to security screen his people as well. They'd just had one not too long ago, but another couldn't hurt. He had secrets of his own to keep, after all. And he needed to make prelim plans to extract his asset inside Suisse, find a place where they could continue to work - under a new identity, of course - their particular brand of magic.

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
It would seem that the business of the Inner Courts is proceeding rather well.

While Sebastian might believe that he has bigger fish to fry, there is no denying that he does take a certain satisfaction in this sort of plotting. Such games might not appeal to them all. But they certainly do the Black King.

Tessa's update draws another slow nod from him, lips pursed in consideration before he abruptly downs the rest of that drink in one swallow, setting glass back down atop the table and pushing his chair back.

"It would seem that we all have our respective pieces in good order. No less then I would expect. I'm pleased that I was able to catch you both," Sebastian says with a smile. "We must find time to do this again. Soon," he asserts before offering a rather florid bow to them both. "For now though, other business calls."