What a Surprise {Lucius}

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"Ma'ma, you can't go in there!"


Her fuchsia colored eyes swept over the tight black suit of the little prick of a security guard before she threw back her head and laughed. Who the hell did he think she was? She wasn't just some average woman to walk into Zane and expect a meeting with oh-so-famous Mr. Erif. No, she was here because SHE was rather important. Too bad this little man didn't know that yet. Oh well, she at least could have fun while breaking and entering.

Lailah Arcamenel, or Lust as some knew her by, was here for a business proposition. This Mr. Lucius Erif was into the same thing she was: power and money. The two utmost things that she loved besides breaking hearts and ruining lives had to be money and power. So who better to come to than Mr. Lucius Erif himself? Lailah waved her hand at the security guard and gave him a wink while blowing a kiss. As if she was going to listen to the likes of him.

"Lady, if you go in there, Mr. Erif will have your head!" The little man was still barking behind her as she threw open the doors with a grin.

Lailah's face lit up with a rather nasty smile and she retorted, "Please, if anything, it will be I that has Mr. Erif's head." Of course the poor man didn't have a clue which head she meant exactly before scrambling off to find his boss.

This was nice. All the furniture was of high end and his little toys and things were in perfect order. Well, at least the man had style. Lailah needed a way to embezzle money through a Vampire and this Lucius Erif was looking like just the one to help her in her slave rings. Well, they really weren't slave rings that Lycans' were used to, because frankly, she was robbing them all blind. Which she knew Mr. Erif could appreciate being a rather nasty Vamp himself. All she had to do was wait. Taking a seat and throwing her long legs on a table, Lailah relaxed until the Vampire finally made it upstairs.

[lucius]

Lucius Erif sat in his private office at the very top floor of the skyscraper, his glass walls offering him a view of the entire city below. The glass could, with the touch of a button, be shaded to block out the sun, of course. Erif was in that room often, going over various documents or meeting all sorts of people when it came to running his official business and many of the other things that the elder vampire had his hands in around the city. He was finishing up some business for the day and was planning to go downstairs and read a little bit.

As the ancient vampire descended his staircase, one of his aids came scrambling up to him. "Sir! I apologize, but she wouldn't listen! We tried to get her out but she just would not leave. She-"

"Who?" asked Lucius, his voice calmed and demeanor unchanging as he reacted to the news. When the younger vampire faltered for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond, Lucius gathered that he had not taken the name of the intrusive woman and was therefore useless. "Get out, and get the rest of the servants off of my floor. I'll take care of this. If the intruder is a problem, then I'll summon a security detail to escort her out."

As the other vampire bowed and disappeared through a door, Lucius turned and pressed open another, entering the room where the black angel waited. His blue eyes scanned her over curiously. She was attractive, but there was something more to it than just the physical appeal; he could feel something emanating from her very being that seemed to signal lustful tensions within him. Odd.

Sensing no hostility from the woman, he walked by her to a small table in the corner, pouring himself some blood from a wine goblet into a nice silver chalice, not seeming to be bothered at all by her presence. "I trust, my dear, that you have good reason for breaking and entering into my home," said Lucius as he poured the liquid. He turned around, taking a few steps towards where the fallen angel sat. "If not we might have a bit of a problem. I don't do random audiences for anyone." Though, his voice bore no hostility or annoyance; he was genuinely curious about the rather evil-looking beauty sitting in his penthouse. Anyone bold enough to force her way into his building was worth the time to listen to.

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There was no mistaking the smell of a Vampire with money. Lailah turned around in the chair and arched one delicate coal black brow while her head tilted to the side. Yes, she was giving him the one-over look and smirking like the cat that caught the canary. Thrusting a blood red nail in between her lips, she turned the phermones up a little higher and watched him blink in confusion. Oh how fun it was to be Lust! She watched him squrim a little more before she turned it down low. It would do her no good to have a horny Vamp to deal with.

Her fuchsia eyes moved with him as he walked to a table closer to her. Lailah kicked up her booted feet and crossed them at the ankles on top of the nice furnishing. If he had a problem with it, he could go find a new table, she could care less. She liked his cool attitude, it meant he was level headed thankfully. Lailah knew how much this world needed more of that. "And why else would you be so lucky to have me here Mr. Erif?" her dark voice hinted with desire purred through her ruby lips while she smirked. She sat her long legs back on the ground and stood. Lailah was not overly tall, but she had a prescence about her that made her commanding. And hell, why else would Lucifer be so bent on having her back in the day? Her hands at her hips, Lailah threw one arm in an arch and bowed mockingly, "I am Lailah Arcamenel. Or better known as Lust dearie. And what I have to say will knock off your expensive little black socks you are so fond off." Lailah walked over to the table and poured herself some of the blood. No, Black Angels did not regularly drink blood, but Lailah was a diffrent type of Angel altogether. "Besides, wouldn't you like to know why one of the most notorious of the Seven Deadly Sins is in your home?" With that, she downed the blood and a sly, knowing smile danced over her lips that were now blood red.

[lucius]

Lucius watched with intense curiosity as the black angel presided in his penthouse. Everything that she did just seemed to have some sort of extra attractive quality in it to him. He found a familiar desire within him growing, and had to utilize his immense powers of personal control to keep it from manifesting, his head remaining clear to listen to what she had to say.

As she spoke, his mind meandered through his photographic memory. Lailah. Lust. Seven Sins. Now it all made sense. He had heard of the villainous Seven Deadly Sins group that had arisen in the city, monitoring them with mild interest but otherwise having had no interaction with the group to date. Now that sin that was his favorite was sitting in his penthouse, drinking the blood he had on tap and letting it redden her lips in a way that only served to make her more vexingly attractive. She certainly fit her role in life rather well enough, he decided.

"Lust, hm? Well, that's different," said Lucius as he took a seat, sipping the blood from the chalice as his blue eyes settled on her. "Well, I have a few ideas of what a sin like lust might be doing in my home, but I'm sure you have something else in mind. Go ahead with you presentation, love. Let's see what the Seven Deadly Sins require from a vampire like me." He assumed that she was representing the group and that they desired something of him, as he tended to provide a lot of different uses to people.

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Poor thing, she really wasn't playing fair with his little executive mind. Her phermones were always high no matter what, but she was purposely turning on the charm for the extra attention. She was Lust, she loved attention. Her eyes wandered over the penthouse with a glint in them as she twirled the cup in her long delicate fingers sinisterly. Lailah turned her eyes back to him with a grin, shutting off most of the attraction.

Smiles were never easy to come by when it came to Lailah, but she was smiling now. Why? Because she knew that he was angry at the strange attraction she held. All men, and some women even, hated her because of it. Even the other Sins, besides Than because he was gorgeous himself, had told her to cool it. Not that she ever would anyway. Looking at him now, she knew just what type he was. Bored, lonely, and power hungry; the basics. And my, oh my did she have an idea for him.

A dark cloud arose on her face and she snorted in lieu of laughter. "You, Lucius Maximilian Cornelianus Erif, are a very bored man. I know this because you sit up here in your silly little cave watching every single thing that goes on around you. You rarely pertake of the 'fun' to be had and frankly I think it is about time you did darling," her accent was hard to pinpoint. But that was just Lailah. She could be anyone or anything at any given time she pleased. "My brothers, the other Sins, do not know that I am here. I think that is wise to keep that betwixt the two of us for now. And as for my presentation...." Lailah flicked her wrist and a cloud of fog appeared much like that of a movie screen. "I have created blood ties with those filthy Lycans in the Underground. With the help of some of their Alpha pricks, I have been robbing the idiots blind. But... I believe that they are forming a legion against the Vampires. I've heard whisper of a few rising up in hopes of destroying what your race has worked so hard for."

With another flick of her wrist, Lailah smirked much like a cat. "If you scratch my back, I just might scratch yours, Mr. Erif."

[lucius]

The vampire elder listened closely to what she had to say, but otherwise his outward appearance seemed to be disinterested and detached, sipping slowly on his blood while listening to her. Beneath it, he was incredibly attached, her attractive qualities making him even more so than usual, which only annoyed him. He prided himself on his ability to control himself to the extreme; it was what moved him and made him so successful. And then came this demonic angel, Lust, going and turning everything topsy turvy and making one head of his almost overpower the other as far as his motives and control over himself went.

"Ah, intrigue and conspiracy. I like it," replied the vampire, his blue gaze returning once more to the black angel, scanning her over once before meeting her eyes. So, she was here more for personal gain, without the knowledge of her angelic cohorts nor her lycanthropic employers. Now this was quite interesting. Lucius enjoyed playing such games. She had connections with the Lycans in ways he did not, and could prove to be quite the ample source of information on their doings. Lucius did enjoy keeping tabs on things.

He knew of the lycans' plans to destroy the vampires. Hiro himself had told Lucius of plans to attack Club Cyanide. "So, information is what you offer. Enticing," replied Lucius, slowly licking some blood from his lips as he gazed quizzically at her. "And what does scratching your back entail, love? What is it that you want from a simple vampire like me?"

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Lailah, after finishing her little speech about the Weres, leaned over on the table and cupped her Roman profiled cheeks in her delicate hands. Lailah was meant to entice, to allure, and to be nothing short of pure, raw desire. It was what she was made for and hell, she was damn good at it too. So when she felt the annoyance of one elder Vampire as he squirmed in his high dollared seat, she could only luaugh inwardly, knowing that it really wasn't all that fair to him. It was all apart of a little thing she liked to call cat and mouse. Rather fun actually.

She winked lazily and nodded, "Aye, that it is love." Her own wild eyes scanned him and the room casually, never seeming to settle on anything at once. "It is what I do best honestly...other than make you weak in the knees that is." A short, but beautiful laugh, escaped her ruby red lips as she snickered. The other Sins would probably like to have seen her crucified right then and there, but really, what could they do? Lailah had always been a wild one, even when she was a White Angel (if only for a brief time) and they still could not contain her wild ways. Personal gain was right up there with destroying happy relationships and gaining her own lovers. She was Lust afterall. Plus, she had been watching this one. He was good at what he did, and if Lailah was going to get anything accomplished, she believed he was the one to help her do just that.

She settled herself atop a table and crossed her long, shapely legs. Her black brow of her left eye rose slightly, only making her profile more distinguished and even more statue-like. Many had compared her to the Roman and Greek busts before; at least back in her White days. Examining her nails in a manner that appeared that she had nothing more to do, Lailah smiled easily. "Scratching my back can mean a treasure chest trove of things. But..." Lailah uncrossed her legs and laid out on the table, completely uncaring for his personal space, and looked up at him, "What I want most is the power you can give. I want protection and lots of it. I also need more than what those mangey mutts are providing me. Do you know how utterly boring it is down there? I want to raise a little hell, love. I want total chaos! I want to reek havoc." Her eyes flashed red dangerously as her smile became all the more alluring and seductive, "And you're just the man I've been looking for that can help me do it."

[lucius]

The ancient vampire closed his eyes for a few brief seconds as he sipped some more of the blood down his throat, trying to focus his lustful intentions on his bloodlust rather than that which the angel before him was drawing from within him. It was proving to be difficult and, altogether, futile, so Lucius gave up and focused his blue eyes on the devilish woman in front of him again, listening to her closely as she spoke. Well, she was openly admitting that she was making him weak at the knees on purpose. "Yes, you are certainly good at that, love," he replied with a light chuckle, admitting that she was wielding such a peculiar power over him.

It was with a mild, detached look in his face that he watched as she sprawled out on the table in front of him, himself remaining unmoving as he crossed one leg over the other and watched her. Of course, beneath the surface, he was entranced by her and her statue-esque beauty being so close to him, but he did his best to not show such feelings to her. He grew up in the ancient Roman empire, and she reminded him so much of the great statues that would be built of important individuals.

"Cry, havoc, and let slip the dogs of war," quoted the vampire interestingly, tilting his head at her with a curious glance. "So, in exchange for my undivided protection, you have a great store of wealth for me to tap into. All the while you plan to cause a ruckus with the system the lycans have established, hence your necessity for my protection." How interesting things would be. Lycans attacking vampires, pure vampires attacking psychic vampires, demons attacking lycans. The disruption and chaos would sure be amusing. "However, such an operation means a great risk to myself and my own safety and neutrality," said Lucius, slowly running one of his fingers along the rim of the silver chalice he hold, his eyes flickering down to meet her gaze. "Can you afford me anything more than mere material wealth for such help on my part?" It was good business, of course, to see if he could get more, even though he knew he would eventually settle for whatever was offered. But, he was genuinely interested to see what else she would throw out to him.

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Poor executive tight-wad, Lailah mused as she watched his inner struggle. Really, if he wanted something to sweat about, then she could raise the bar a little. But this, this was nothing. A slow smile worked its way on her face and she perked a brow, "Oh, well you see dear, I'm not doing it all that much. In fact, I lowered my lustful desire down to almost nothing. You just think I'm pretty is all." A shrug of her shoulder indicated that she could care less, because honestly, she had men bother her even when she didn't have any of her power radiated from her. Lailah twirled a curl on her index finger and let it snap back as she looked back at him with fuschia colored eyes.

As Lailah cupped her face in her hands, she sniffed the lust rolling off of him and sighed contently. That was wonderful; the power of desire and want made her only stronger, more beautiful than before. It was like a toxian to her and it was so addicting that sometimes she would just sit around others to feed off of it. And Lucius was trying so hard to be unmoved, to not feel a thing. Sadly that was a hard thing to do, but Lailah was going to play nice and try not to...bother him any further.

Lailah looked up from observing her ruby nails and a flicker of recongnization crossed her features. "Ah, so you are well read as well. Good to know, Mr. Erif." A crooked smile appeared instantly and she reflected back to the date that which the quote had been written. "I do believe that that particular writing was about my brother Wrath, darling. But I am sure there are others that contain myself. And yes, it is so. Don't you find it rather fetching? Think of all the wonderous chaos and domination one could have if they just knocked a few pawns out of the way." There would be hell, total pure hell on earth. Yes, Lailah was apart of the one third that followed Lucifer into Hell litteraly. She was one of the first female Angels for that matter before she became a Sin and a Black Angel. Once she was the Angel of Hope, now she was a Sin and loving every second of it. "Of course it does, but you are not without the means to abort any operation that may come your way," she answered with a feigned yawn. Lailah knew that look; yes it was the look a power hungry man would get when he stared into the vault before him, wishing it was all of his gold. Lailah leaned forward, not caring about personal space, and licked her lips. "Name your price and I'll match it. Anything at all, it does not matter." She tossed back her wild black hair and smiled seductively, "Whatever your little cold dead heart desires, Mr. Erif."

[lucius]

A low chuckle sounded from the throat of the ancient vampire as he tilted his head, his eyes wandering once over black angel before reaching her own sultry gaze once more. "Well, yes, you certainly are pleasing to look at," conceded Lucius to her. Beautiful women were, throughout the centuries, one of his soft spots. Even though his desires were strong, he had enough fortitude and self-discipline to keep himself controlled. The ancients were expected to stand to the rest of their kind as examples and role models and leaders, exemplifying self-control the best way they could in order to help preserve and govern the race. The vampires were old, yes, but younger than the angels, and it was far more usual for angels to live longer spans of time than for vampires. Lucius was no yet two thousand years old, but one of the eldest of the vampires still remaining in the world.

The business magnate smiled, nodding his head. "Yes, I had dinner once with Shakespeare before seeing a performance of the play in that little shack he called a theater," said Lucius. The literary genius was one of the favorite humans that Lucius had encountered in his existence. "For you, though, perhaps 'There is no evil angel but love' would be suitable." A smirk crossed his face before he relaxed his tense body some more, thinking on what she said. It would be fun to watch, no doubt, but he could only allow it to go so far before he himself would have to withdraw. Lucius was all about keeping a balance between things, occasionally messing things up when it was in the interest of all for a clean slate.

That was where the angel could come in handy. Chaos was needed at times to produce order. But, he had to tread carefully. Dark angels--much like that first group of vampires that Erif's sire had been a part of--sometimes had a nasty view of resurrecting hell on earth and either enslaving or destroying all the other races; something Lucius tried to avoid with all of his work over the centuries. "Well, these terms are acceptable," said Lucius, nodding his head as he took another sip of the blood he continued to swirl around in the chalice he held.

Whatever he wanted. Now, that was interesting. Lucius was not a man with many material wants. Yes, he hoarded gold and treasure, but the money was but a tool for different ends. Smirking mischievously as Lailah leaned forward, the ancient vampire reached out a hand and with only his forefinger lightly brushed it against the cheek of the lustful angel, acting as if he were being seductive himself. He leaned forward for a moment as if to kiss her, but merely grinned as his lips hovered from her own before he resettled into his seat. "Information. You feed my people whatever I need to know about the Lycans, and you tell me when other people come looking for it. I also want exclusivity. You don't feed the information to anyone but myself and your other Deadly Sins, who I want to not bother me," said Lucius, presenting his terms to her.

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Lailah watched with an amused look to her bright eyes and a smile upon her red lips. This vampire was proving to be rather fun actually. She could enjoy herself come to think of it. "Well, I have heard that a couple of times before," she mused mischeviously with a glint in her eye as she batted her extremely long lashes. Men of all ages loved beautiful women. Before Lailah hit her downfall from the Heavens, she had been the weakness of several notable men. Why? Because it was the most fun in the world to watch a man struggle between his empire, gold, and wife, just to have a night with the most beautiful women in the world. Empires and cities fell, but Lailah always remembered the men and the face. But this vampire was doing well. In fact Lailah admired his self-control in the very prescence of Lust herself. Older and more powerful men than he had not been able to do that.

"I liked Bill. He could beat around the bush until he drove you insane, but you kept reading because the words were pretty. They made you...want more," Lailah curled her hair around her finger and then let it fall back on her shoulder. "Ah, that was one of my more favorites of his works. I do believe he knew a little bit more about the supernatural around him that those twiggy things they called priest and scholars. At least Bill knew what the hell he was talking about," she mused almost silently. Hell on earth, chaos, and destruction. What could be more fun than that? There would be total panic and finally Lailah would come sitting out on top. Though, come to think of it, Lailah was always on top of things. No matter what they were. She wanted to reek havoc and in all honesty, she wanted to see the Sins ahead of the game this time. White Angels be damned.

So he thought he could play well? If she had been a mortal woman, or someone of less experience, then yes, that would have worked on her. But as he played along, Lailah only smiled and rolled her eyes. It was a cute gesture nonetheless, but did nothing to her flattery. "Then information it is then, Mr. Erif. And the others, well, I cannot promise that my brothers will behave the way you wish them to, but their tongues are not loose when something this dark is at hand, nor will they bothered you as much. As for the Lycans..." The Black Angel looked throughly disgusted even mentioning the vile things,"They will rue the day that Lailah Arcamenel stepped into the Undergrounds." She sat up then and reappeared in a chair not to far from his own, with her black clad legs stretching out on the table. "You have just made a deal with the Devil, Mr. Erif. You must remember how dire the siuation can become if you break the deal," Lailah purred from across the room and smirked.

He would find out real easy how dire the consequences could become if he broke them. And Lailah was sure he would not like to find out that badly.

[lucius]

"I'm sure you have," replied the ancient vampire. He understood himself to be handsome, and had used his looks over the centuries to lure many a maiden into bed with him. It was so easy to throw on the charm and finesse in order to do so, though he supposed it may have been much easier for her to corrupt men into doing what she wanted. The hearts of men were so much more easily led astray by beauty--and sometimes beauty alone--and so controllable. He had watched many conflicts over the centuries start because of men falling for the wrong women, and opposite of that. Same went for between races too; classic tales of Juliets seducing Romeos and all sorts of trouble starting. Lucius had managed to harden his heart, though his passions still managed to indeed hold quite a sway over him. He was just a master of appearances and continued to look the part of the calm, detached businessman here to make a deal.

The ancient vampire listened to her reply to the terms he presented, thinking on them. He understood that she could not control those other destructive sins, but figured it was worth a try to at least influence them into not interfering with the affairs of ZaneCorp. But, at least they would not say a word. That was the important part. What is done in secret has great power; that was something Lucius tried to live by. That was why he worked so hard for centuries to keep vampires unknown to the general human population. Her zealousness towards the Lycans was not all that odd; most other creatures of the underworld looked down on them as brutes and beasts. Then again, with examples like the Dark Fang prancing about, the Lycans surely did not have a very good public face. "I'm sure they will," said Lucius, though with no zealousness in his voice. He was just making good business for information; he was driven by no archaic desires of any sort. His eyes following to wear she reappeared, the vampire let out a small smirk. "My dear, I am one of the ancient damned. I've made more deals with the Devil than most realize," he replied with a slight sigh.

He understood the terms fine enough as they were, and knew what it was to go to war with angels. Lucius has held his own against them before, but was in no hurry to do so again. Tough fights, and unnecessary ones. Feeling business was done, he tilted his head at her. "Well then, I have nothing more to go over if you don't. I'm sure you can show yourself out after so nicely entering," said Lucius, reaching for his chalice of blood again.

"Unless of course you're up for a quickie," he added playfully, chuckling before he lifted the chalice to his lips and sipped down the blood. This new source of information, combined with the rest he was getting, would certainly be useful to him.