Topic: More Than Just An Acquaintance

Tobias Acton

Date: 2016-05-25 09:12 EST
It wasn't hard for Valerian to find his old friend, even in a place as crowded as this. He hadn't needed Lauren to tell him where to look. All he had to do was let down his defenses and let the pull of his sire lead the way, like a beacon leading him homeward. Tobias might even sense his presence as his protege grew closer. Valerian was a fledgling no longer, able to shield himself from most vampires, including his maker, but he saw no reason no reason to do so when it was his maker he sought. His search led him to an apartment in Greenwich Village Valerian found quaint, if simple.

Tobias felt him coming, though not from a distance. Valerian had come a long way from the fledgling who had been so eager to be a vampire that he had broadcast his whereabouts to anyone with a blood connection to him through his sire. The older vampire glanced up as he felt that ring through his system that he hadn't felt in a long time, rising from his seat to open the door as his childe approached the apartment.

"Valerian, come in," he welcomed the other man, stepping aside to invite him in. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Valerian hadn't been sure what to expect upon seeing his old friend again. So much time had passed since they'd spoken that he wasn't sure whether he'd be welcome. And then there was the matter of Laurentia and Tobias' request that she not seek Valerian out. "Tobias," he greeted the man cordially, politely even, as he stepped inside. "I think you know why I'm here."

It might have been a stretch for a human to guess accurately, but Tobias could smell Lauren on Valerian as the man passed him. He sighed softly, closing the door. "That girl has an impulsive streak that is going to get her killed one of these days," he muttered, turning to offer Valerian a seat. "Please, be comfortable. This could get lengthy."

"Not so long as I can help it," Valerian replied, having a hard time not gritting his teeth and raging at his maker, but it wasn't Tobias who was to blame for their troubles - as always, it was Josef. "I only have a few hours, so let's not beat around the bush," he told the other man, as he claimed a seat. Whatever Tobias had become over the years, Valerian had prided himself on changing with the times, and the vampire that stood now before his master was as much a modern man as anyone who had been born in this age.

"You're angry." It was a simple statement of fact. Valerian looked angry, which meant that what Tobias felt from him was way off the scale. He sat down with Valerian, resting his forearms on his thighs as he leaned forward. "How much did she tell you?"

"Enough to know that it's all come to a head. We should have hunted down the bastard and killed him years ago," Valerian said, clearly agitated and unable to allow himself to relax until he had some answers.

"And do you remember why I said no to that plan the last time you brought it up?" Tobias said calmly. He, of all people, wanted Josef dead and gone, but he wasn't prepared to put anyone else in danger to do it. He had failed badly when Josef had turned Nick, but at least he had managed to save Nick's marriage.

"I am no longer a child, Tobias," Valerian argued, as if he ever was. A childe vampire, perhaps, but never a child - not in a very long time. "I have made my own place in this world. I have been careful, painfully careful to avoid Josef and others like him. I made a promise to you and I kept it, but things have changed. The stakes are too high. There are too many lives in danger, and I will not stand idly by anymore while he wreaks havoc on my city and my people and those I have come to care for. That includes you, by the way." Perhaps that much went without saying, but he needed to say it, nonetheless. He owed Tobias more than even Valerian cared to admit.

"You will always be a son to me, Val," Tobias said quietly. "I will never stop trying to protect you. I had thought I should warn you that Josef might return, but I also know that you have your hand on the pulse of the city. I've had my hands full trying to prevent Nicholas from initiating a hunt of his own. Ideally, we want to draw Josef out, not get caught in one of his traps. And the possibility of his allying himself with Serena unnerves me."

"You cannot draw him out without some kind of bait, Tobias. Who or what are you planning on using for ..." Valerian broke off, dropping back into his chair as he seemed to suddenly realize something. "Please tell me you are not planning on using yourself to draw him out," he said, his expression one of obvious horror at the thought of that prospect.

Tobias' eyes rose to meet those of the only son he would ever have, a faint smile on his refined features. "Of our group, I am the only one he will come straight for who would have a fighting chance before the others could join in," he pointed out. "I refuse to let Lauren reveal her existence to him, and Freya is less concerned with us than she is with Julian and Anabelle. You, however, are the only one to have pinpointed my role in all this."

"Pinpointed your role?" Valerian echoed, unable to hide the anger from his voice. "Bloody hell, Tobias. Do you really think I'm going to allow you to play the sacrificial lamb' Josef won't think twice about killing you. It's too risky. There has to be a better way."

"And what better way can you think of?" Tobias countered. "Would you really send a neophyte out into the open, knowing that neither one of them can protect themselves against that first rush' Would you try and tell Freya what she should or should not do' The only ones I am certain will not be in any danger at all are Lauren and Alessandra, and that is only because they will be in Alaska, where no one will be a danger to them."

"Alaska" Valerian echoed again, pausing a moment to consider that, before a smile spread across his face when he realized the reasoning behind it. "You're planning on sending them there for the summer solstice," he said, more statement than question. With nearly 24 hours of daylight, it was a damned near perfect way to keep them safe while the others set a trap. He was glad he wouldn't have to insist on Lauren's safety.

"Naturally." Tobias raised a brow at his childe's smile. "You seem surprised. Do I really come across as that old and slow these days?" He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't put any of you in danger if I could possibly help it. Josef turned Nick and set this round in motion. Nick killed Lorelei. Josef's ideal target will be Willow."

"Possibly," Valerian murmured, as he quietly thought it over. "We need to consider all the variables. Josef will want revenge for Lorelei's death, certainly, but his primary goal is to make you suffer."

"He has already made me suffer, Val," Tobias said quietly. "He took my wife from me, he killed my daughter. He threatened my home not once, but twice. If he knew about you, he would come for you, and I will not allow that to happen."

Tobias Acton

Date: 2016-05-25 09:13 EST
"I have allies, too, Tobias, and if he comes for me at the nightclub, he will find himself sadly outnumbered, but that's not what worries me. There are a few weeks yet until the summer solstice. Do you know if Josef is here in the city?" he asked, remembering he'd promised Lauren to put out some feelers, but unsure how much Tobias already knew.

"No, I don't," his sire admitted, "and that concerns me. Josef is an animal at heart; left to his own devices, he will rush in fast without considering consequences. Serena, from what I have heard, is far more calculating. If she is in the city and working with Josef, they will both be deep underground."

"She's here," Valerian confirmed with a grave look on his face. "She came to the club asking questions." He smiled briefly at the thought of the look on her face when he told her what to do with her questions. "She left without answers. Even if I'd known Julian and Anabelle were here, I wouldn't have told her."

Tobias blinked in surprise. "You know the Staffords?" he asked. It wasn't often he was surprised these days, but it was hardly shocking that he didn't know this about Valerian. They hadn't spoken in decades.

"I met him a few years ago in England before he and Anabelle reconciled. We share a solicitor," Valerian explained, not naming names. There was only so much Tobias needed to know, after all, and some things were still a matter of privacy.

Tobias nodded, filing that away for later. "Well, then, you know the main players in this," he sighed. "All but Nick and Willow, and to be honest, I am trying very hard to keep them out of it as much as I can. They're eager for revenge, but they have Alessandra to consider."

"They're fledglings?" Valerian asked, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. He didn't know any more about Nick and Willow than Tobias and Lauren had told him and the little gossip he'd heard whispered around the city, both among the living and the unliving. "Lauren told me about their daughter," he said, though he thought Tobias would assume as much already. "She should be protected at all costs."

"Yes." Rubbing his hand over his brow, Tobias sighed once again. "Nick is around nine months older than Willow, but they both have less than three years in the dark. Nowhere near time enough to prepare them for an attack. Josef intended on feeding Willow to Nick after turning him - my interference prevented that and inadvertently lead to Alessandra being born." He looked up at Valerian, a faint smile on his face. "Somehow I knew you and Lauren would connect."

"Bloody bastard," Valerian muttered through clenched teeth regarding Josef's failed attempt to have Nick kill his own wife. He said nothing more regarding the baby dhampir. Their kind generally either regarded them as abominations or miracles, and he was with the latter. "You must have known telling her not to come to me would only cause her to do the opposite," he reasoned, wondering what his sire had been thinking.

Tobias didn't say anything one way or the other, simply sharing his smile with Valerian. There was a knowing look in his eyes as he leaned back comfortably. Of course he'd known what would happen. "I could hardly approach you myself," he pointed out. "For decades, we've managed to keep you out of Josef's line of fire. And now, through no fault of my own, you are aware of the dangers in the city. That isn't such a terrible thing, is it?"

"I knew of Serena already," Valerian replied. It was only a matter of time before he'd found out about the rest, but he was grateful for the information. It was information, admittedly, that could be life-saving. "I'm not afraid of Josef," he added, though he knew Tobias was afraid for him. He and Tobias had once been friends, close enough to be brothers. It was that bond that had caused Valerian to become what he was.

"But we didn't," Tobias said quietly. "I did not intentionally keep you out of the loop, Val. But you are the closest thing I have to family, and I know Josef wants to hurt me. I couldn't bear losing you to him. I've lost everyone else. I won't lose you."

"You have family, Tobias," the other vampire replied, as gently as he could. "You have Lauren and Nick and Willow and Alessandra. And me. You will always have me, and I will not sit idly by while Josef and Serena try to hurt those we both care for." He did not bother to mention Julian and Anabelle, but they were part of that equation, too. "But you are right ..." he added. "We cannot do anything that will make them suspicious." He frowned as he realized something else. "I should not be here. I should not have come."

Tobias shook his head. "This is as safe as it comes for me in New York, Val," he assured his friend, deeply grateful for the offer of friendship, even if it had begun in annoyance. "A different name, a different bank account, a different entrance and exit. If they know I'm here, they can get to me with ease, after all. It troubles me that there hasn't been any overt attack yet. That suggests that Serena is the brains behind whatever is being planned."

Valerian very nearly exhaled a sigh of relief. He did not want to be the cause of any trouble for Tobias; he had, in fact, already given him enough cause for trouble over the years. "Josef is unpredictable, which makes him just as dangerous," he pointed out.

"I would rather have the unpredictable working alone than with an obsessive who has been hunting for four hundred years," Tobias pointed out. He rubbed a hand through his hair. "If only there were some way to convince Freya to come out of the shadows and deal with them herself, but she refuses to. She won't even meet Anabelle, or the Gregorys. And, of course, she refuses to acknowledge Lauren's existence altogether."

"Why should she?" Valerian asked, momentarily playing devil's advocate. "She's old. She's seen more history than any of us. Why should she risk her life for ours" What do our squabbles matter to her" She will wait in the shadows and watch, until her hand is forced, unless ..." Valerian broke off a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Tobias eyed his childe thoughtfully. He could guess where Valerian's mind had wandered, and though he didn't like it, he knew the man was right. "The problem there is that Freya is set in her ways," he pointed out. "If she won't acknowledge that Lauren exists, she won't even contemplate the fact of Alessandra's existence. She knows me too well to trust me if I were to ask her to meet me somewhere she does not know. We would need to resort to trickery, and I could not be involved in that."

"Not even Freya could ignore a threat made to an innocent," Val reasoned, glad Tobias was following his train of thought without having to explain. "Do you think she would meet with Julian, if he asked" We could arrange a meeting at the club. It's neutral ground. I don't like the idea of tricking her either, but she needs to understand what?s at stake here."

"Hmm." Tobias leaned forward once again as he thought this over. "I don't like the idea of taking Alessandra out into the open, but it may be our only option." He didn't bother to ask if the club was secure; he knew Valerian's opinion when it came to dhampirs, and he trusted the man not to intentionally put a baby in danger. "You still have that mezzanine there?" he asked, trying to recall the layout. "The back room is out of the question, but as I recall, that level of yours is as private as we can get."

Tobias Acton

Date: 2016-05-25 09:15 EST
"Yes, and there's a way in that would allow them to arrive without being seen," he added, referring to the way he'd taken Lauren out just a few hours earlier. "Tobias, I must ask you something ..." Val said, going off track a little. "It's about Lauren. She is ....special. I know I do not need your permission to see her again, but I would prefer it if we had your blessing."

Thinking this over, Tobias had to admit it was a good plan. He wouldn't be able to be present himself, he knew, or Freya would never show up. But he thought she would for Anabelle and Julian, old friends as they were, and the Staffords had grown rather fond of little Alessandra. He was pretty sure he could convince Nick and Willow to stay home, too, so long as Lauren was in attendance. And speaking of Lauren ....

He looked up as Valerian edged around the topic to address something personal. "Are you concerned that I may be harboring romantic feelings toward her myself, Val?" he asked curiously. "Because I have never thought of her in that way. She's a pain in my backside, but one that I have become very fond of over the years. If you feel you can protect her, and even come to love her, then you do not need my blessing. You only need hers."

Valerian didn't need to quality that with a reply. He knew Tobias well enough to know he wasn't looking for romance, and even if he were, he sensed the other vampire would consider Lauren more a daughter than a possible mate. "I cannot say whether anything will come of it, but I do not wish to sneak around behind your back. You must think me foolish and hasty, but I have never met anyone quite like her."

"That's because there is no one quite like her," Tobias smiled. "She has two sisters, one older, one younger, and neither of them embrace life the way she does. Val, she's more than old enough to make her own decisions. If she has decided on you, no one else should have any say in that choice. Just try not to hurt each other." Each other. He wasn't warning just Valerian; Lauren would get an earful if she did anything to hurt him, too.

"I will do my best," Valerian promised gravely, but that was all he'd say on that matter. He frowned a little as he looked to the window to gauge the time. The night was growing short with only a few hours until daylight, at most. "I should be going. Can you make the arrangements?"

"I can," Tobias nodded, glancing to the window with him. "Same number?" he asked, needing to be sure. Some of their kind went through phones like breakfast rolls. "I'll need to contact you without alerting her, so phones are probably the best bet unless you'd like to use Lauren."

Oh, he'd love to use Lauren, but not in the same way Tobias meant. He tried to keep the smirk from his face as he moved to his feet. "Same number," he replied. "It is good to see you, Tobias. It has been too long."

Smirk or not, Tobias knew that look in Valerian's eye, chuckling as he, too, rose to his feet, offering his friend a hand. "Far too long," he agreed. "I have missed you, Val. Perhaps I am over-protective these days."

"Why do you think I chose New York for the nightclub?" Val countered, as he took the other's hand in a gesture of friendship. Why indeed" Perhaps because he knew that Tobias was living nearby. It seemed likely that fact had weighed into his decision to move there.

"Dark horse, indeed," Tobias smiled. "You had better get back to her before she finds her way into all the secrets you have hidden in your home. That, or decides to redecorate. The woman has a mania about making our homes even more luxurious than we can."

"It's only been a few hours!" Valerian pointed out with a chuckle. A little too soon for her to start rearranging the furniture, or so he thought.

"Ah, so you did leave her at your place, then." His sire laughed, surprised to find that so much of his tension had been relieved just by seeing Valerian well and whole. "Take care, Val. No risks."

"You, too," Valerian replied, surprised and relieved their impromptu meeting had gone so well. He hadn't known what to expect before he'd come here and was glad to leave knowing they were still friends. He knew not everyone was on such good terms with their sire - Julian was proof of that.

"Call me," Tobias told him as he escorted his friend to the door. "I won't be going back to Albany until all this is over, so you can guarantee to be able to contact me for the time being." He clasped Valerian's shoulder. "It's good to see you doing so well. Stay that way."

"We have some catching up to do," Val said, smiling amicably as they reached the door. That much was certain, as they hadn't been in touch in years, though it seemed each had kept tabs on the other. "I will be in touch," he assured him further. Hopefully, once the threat was past, they could renew the friendship they had once shared.

"Good. Now terrify the early risers of New York with your need for speed before dawn starts making a mockery of trying to go anywhere."

It was a dismissal, but a friendly one. Valerian had left Tobias with a lot to think about, not least of which was how he was going to convince Nick and Willow to let their daughter out of their sight for an evening. But their list of allies was growing longer, and that could only be a good thing.

((And so the plot thickens! Will their dastardly plan work, or will we be mourning one of our vampires soon' Who knows"))