In the room sat a sedative haze of cigar smoke and fine fabric. Leo had kept himself while waiting for Gray. A cigar hung fat in his mouth as he maneuvered about a pool table and aimlessly hit at balls.
The man was not late by any means- not if the grandfather clocked that ticked away next to a fine inlaid mantlepiece spoke truly. The wax-sealed invitation had read to meet him in Meeting Room B, "11:00pm"- right after the last opera show, where Leo could hear the rapturous applause like thunder from above.
The meeting room reflected the main stage in its design- luxurious victorian, with a high ceiling, glass tables and slices of modernity, including the section of two pool tables topped in green carpeting. Leo was hunched over the pool table, drew his cue back. Eyes were focused on the ball before him, his visual surroundings blurring. He snapped his cue forward and both balls, 4 and 7, shot across the table and disappeared into adjacent holes.
Leo surveyed his handiwork, as he reapplied chalk onto the cue. Already, he was looking for his next maneuver- mastering the game of pool meant understanding angles, physics, where best to monopolize on an intersection of potential paths. In the routine that had settled into his life as a high ranking Jabberwockie, he had found pool one of the few distractions that truly exercised his brain and kept the monotony at bay.
He was midway through taking his next shot when he heard a rap at the door, that echoed through the high-ceiling room. He did not let the sound distract him, and he wound up and fired his next shot. It missed.
Sighing, he turned towards the door, careful not to let the frustration wrinkle his features.
"Come in," he called, as he reached for a half-filled glass of whiskey and took a distracted sip from it. A man popped his head in, dressed sharply in the formal and crisp colors of black and white.
"Gray Pierre is here, Sir."
That jollied his mood up. He set the whiskey glass back on the the side of the pool table and set the cue aside. Just for this moment. "Excellent. Send him in." Tag : Gray Pierre
Gray had a love for all things luxurious and opulent. There was something to be said about the feel of silk against the skin that was just… perfection. And it was perfection that Gray strove for. Not a single hair out of place nor a wrinkle in his clothing. Everything was as it should be, pressed and tailored to perfection. And he was right on time as well, not the kind of man to ever be late for anything. To be late was to not be perfect! And god forbid that Gray was not perfect! It spoke quite a bit to who he was that these things were important to him, and to such a degree. It was obvious that he had something going on in that rather devious brain of his that suggested he found it pleasing when things were in their place.
And right now his place was at a meeting with Leo, which had him quite intrigued. As ever he was curious what another might want or need with him. He could offer quite a bit after all and he was more than happy to help those who came to him seeking his aid. It was a wonderful way to gain someone who owed you a favor down the line and he did so love being owed favors. They were quite the useful things in this life. Though there was also much to be said for helping simply to build that relationship with another. He wondered what this night would bring of the two.
And so he had made this particular meeting a priority for himself tonight. A priority that he was delighted to get the chance to attend. And one that had him putting some effort into his appearance. His black hair slicked back, allowing his blue eyes to stand out all the more. The sharp look they held missed nothing around him. And the black three piece suit he wore over a pale blue dress shirt was tailored to his tall lean frame.
He adjusted the cufflinks on his sleeve as he waited for the man he’d informed of his meeting with Leo to return. When he did his smile was pleased and he inclined his head, following said man to the correct room. As ever this place was sheer perfection! Honestly he delighted in coming here just for the beauty of its architecture and the way that Leo had decorated it all.
He stepped into the room with a smile. ”Leander, what a pleasure it is to meet with you tonight.” He spoke in a softly refined voice, the accent cultured and speaking of the wealthier part of this last bastian of humanity.
Gray Pierre. Businessman, aristocrat and a damned handsome man with a wicked smile.
Leo saw a little bit of himself in the him.
But, he was hesitant to label them as "similar". Whereas Leo felt his blood was dirtied by the streets that he once called home, as an orphan, a son with a mother who could barely care for herself, Gray reeked of poise and high society. If he were to assign a face to the Upper Citadel, Gray came to mind - with his slick-backed hair, creaseless suits, glinting shoes, slippery voice. In the other man's presence, Leo felt the imposter he was - a street boy caked in dirt, fighting by his splintered nails to keep alive, keep his stomach from consuming itself in his hunger.
Often, Leander had to remind himself - he had grown out of his hunger for food, and instead, lusted for power, for influence - not for him, but the family he had found.
"The pleasure is mine," Leander retorted, greeting the man with a firm handshake and a well-meant smile. "Every time I visit the Silverlight, I find my mind drifting to the man who built it. It is a true architectural wonder."
The King of Diamonds nodded his head toward the pool table, his pool cue discarded, stretched across the green felt, half-drunken whiskey standing by the side. "How about a glass and a game while I run a couple of ideas by you?"
Gray Pierre was not just the mastermind behind Nightline Architecture - he also led the elusive Black Crown Society, a shadow organization Leo was quick to ally the Diamonds with. Truth be told, though the Diamonds eclipsed the other three Jabberwockies in money and influence, their brute strength was lacking. They had their fair share of casino guards, hired mercenaries, but coin did not cement a bond as strongly as loyalty, and from what he had witnessed as a child, sometimes the dirtiest methods were the most necessary.
He could not risk the Diamond's reputation by sending out street thugs like the Clubs - no, he had to be smart, secretive, pull strings from the shadows as was the Diamond way. What better, then, than a relationship with an organization whose assassin's wore clean-cut suits and were well-versed in Upper Citadel politics?
Leo liked to talk architecture with Gray - but what he liked more was discussions of vengeance, deaths that served as a mutual interest to both parties. As he poured Gray a glass of aged whiskey and chalked his cue, Leo said, "We have a little issue on Casino Block we would like addressed. Have you heard of a little establishment called the White Bull?" Tag : Gray Pierre
QuotePosted 12-23-2022, 12:30 PMThis post was last modified: 12-23-2022, 12:30 PM by Leander Wilkenson
The fact that this city thrived in ways beyond what was seen on the surface was what drew Gray in. While the surface was amusing, it wasn’t all that itneresting nor did it tend to linger as anything more than a passing fancy.
It was the darker depths of the city that drew his true interest and curiosity. The places where the depravity of humanity was on full display and yet no one seemed to care. That was what he enjoyed, what made his lips curl into a cruelly pleased smile. Perhaps that was why he had found himself so pleased with his current arrangement with Leo. It allowed him to keep more of his fingers in that dark underworld that truly controlled this city.
He had his own group of course, one that was quite strong and well connected. It held many figures within the upper city and in the lower. Spreading his reach far and wide. It gave him immense influence but he could never quite get enough. He always wanted more, likely something that would lead to his downfall one day but so far it had worked quite well for him. And he was planning to keep it that way.
Thus why such relationships with ones like Leo were important. Well that and the fact that Leo was just ever so pleasing to look at. The man was handsome and Gray could not deny his enjoyment of a handsome man. Or a beautiful woman. He’d never been one to be all that picky about gender anyway. But Leo’s poise and tendnecy to dress to impress were certainly not wasted on him, always drawing his gaze whenever he was around the other man.
That smile was answered with one of Gray’s own, pleased by both the greeting and the firm handshake. Such things were important in reaffirming where one stood with another and it was always pleasing to know he stood in Leo’s good graces. ”As ever your words of praise are delightful to hear. And I must admit the Silverlight is one of my favorite works, truly something I can confidently consider a masterpiece in its own right.” Hard work paid off and it was always pleasing to hear a compliment for his work.
He glanced at the pool table and smiled, fingers twitching to pick up a cue himself. He could not deny that he liked the game, finding it a wonderful passtime to get through the hours of the night. ”That sounds utterly delightful and so I will happily accept such an offer.” Frankly such an offer was yet another thing he delighted in about Leo. The mana always seemed to know how to entice him into their conversations. And he never minded talking business over a good game and a good drink.
He had a feeling that this meeting was about the Black Crown Society rather than his more public company, Nightline Architecture. After all this sort of invitation was most certainly an under the table sort of thing for if Leo wanted his public image he would have come by the public offices. That was fine. He was used to that with Leo and was more than happy to work with him in the capacity of “The Black King”. And certainly he was happy to use that role in regards to speaking to the King of Diamonds.
He wandered over to the pool table and started looking over the cues, running his fingers along them even as he glanced at Leo to show he was still paying attention to him. This was serious business after all! But the game was there before them and he was not about to let it go to waste either. He took the glass with an inclination of his head and smiled. ”I have heard of it… not particularly my kind of venue but that’s no surprise if it's being discussed now.” He brushed his fingers along a cue before tugging it from the rack it was on, examining it more closely. ”So, what about this White Bull has become such an issue that you seek my aid in dealing with it?”
The White Bull. Leo was not sure if this were a coincidence, but given that the owner was a fan of old world literature, he suspected the establishment was named after the fable. And they both admittedly had parallels. The glistening, marbled walls of the White Bull Casino matched the description of the bull in the story - magnificent, regal, and a symbol of envy. Leo was not sure how the establishment came to existence so quickly, and without the Diamond's knowledge, but before they knew it the rival casino had sprung up on a shadowed corner and began drawing in crowds no Diamond's casino had seen in the past year. As soon as its success fell on the upper echelons of the Diamond's ranks, Leo wasted no time dispatching spies. Allegedly, the casino's success was due to the abnormally high win rate of its clients, the grandiose interior (that did not reek of cigarettes) and a supplier unbeknownst to the Diamond that pawned several quality wines.
Leo had felt the success of the casino on his business, the Velour, as his customer base began dripping away. Where he spent most days content in a penthouse office, now he wandered the main floor of his own casino, trying to convince those left to stay with free rounds of alcohol and unbridled charm.
Independent casinos did pop up from time to time, but the Diamonds were quick to "persuade" the owners to fall under the gang's protection for a cut of the profit. However, the owners of the White Bull were elusive, and any attempts to meet up with them were silenced. Even when White Bull floor attendees and managers started to go missing, i.e. kidnapped and tortured by the Diamonds, they would not, or could not, confess to who actually ran the place. They simply didn't know.
It was a headache, a growing, persistent one, and Leo was tempted to march in there himself and demand to see the owners himself. Bella demanded results, and Leo couldn't get them if the owners continued to ghost him.
Which is where Gray came in. Leo watched his elegant fingers danced along the pool cues, slate eyes drawn in careful thought as he considered each one. The man was well put-together, but Leo also saw a killer in those skilled fingers, that calculating gaze. He was quite happy the Diamonds were on the Black Crown Society's good side, when they had people like Gray filling their ranks.
And he could almost imagine the pleasure he would feel when he could watch the White Bull's marbled walls charcoal as it burned.
"The issue is its very presence," Leo answered as he collected errant pool balls and deposited them into the racking triangle. "The White Bull only came up recently under our radar, and has no plans of leaving it soon. Normally, the Diamonds are efficient at corralling these strays. But the owner has still not answered our invitation to meet - no matter how many grunts we send to their floor."
Leo adjusted the racking triangle, delicately nudging it until it was perfectly aligned at the top center of the table. It slid off, leaving a cluster of pool balls ready to break.
"It's getting quite troublesome. The house advantage is impossible for our places to beat. And as you know, the Diamonds do not like to go into a place with torches lit and guns blazing. We would rather exhaust all other avenues before we resort to such extreme measures. And we've never had to - thanks in part to the Black Crown." Leo flashed a smile to Gray, as he brought his whiskey glass to his lips. "So, cheers to your efficiency."
After a gratifying sip, The King set his glass down on the pool table's side with a crisp clink. "My request is this. I'd like you to investigate this matter. Find out who the owner is and bring them to us - without force, preferably, but do as you must to bring them to me face-to-face. If they continue to refuse - kill them," his lips curled in a grin, "and do as the Black Crown does best - leave no trace." Tag : Gray Pierre
QuotePosted 05-05-2024, 03:48 PMThis post was last modified: 05-05-2024, 03:50 PM by Leander Wilkenson
stripes & solids
Posted 10-05-2021, 04:41 PM
