Shaking Hands With Grenades [Lucius]

[Deleted]

So she need an extra job because those criminal cases weren't cutting it for the female Lycan. So why not talk to the Biggest business owner about a possible Job opening. Tina Ferrari, an already well known lawyer in the city, known to never let a crime go unpunished came to ZaneCorp tower today to see if the head honcho here had any job openings. She smiled and continued her walk. Tina Ferrari only knew the name of the head of ZaneCorp, she didn't know he was a vampire. Vampires... they were intriguing to say the least. Such a beautiful race unlike her own with they much rougher features. Vampires looked like they were chiseled from stone. She walked with her own kind of grace, and her own confidence. So much so certain people seemed to gravitate away from her. She sighed an stretched out as she walked to the entrance of the ZaneCorp tower and looked... up. Damn it was one hell of a building, the female Lycan seemed to be slightly intimidated by the large tower as she stepped inside.

Looking around she made her way to the main desk and asked the receptionist where she could find Lucius. The receptionist made a call to the head honcho. Tina wanted to get this over with and finally go home where she could fall asleep and rest after her recent case she had won. The receptionist looked at her and Tina Sat down on a chair nearby the desk and picked up a magazine while she waited for the woman to contact the manager. She read about a new celebrity, it seemed his name was Ndubueze Obiora, or well.. better known as Alex. He had gotten caught with a cop woman, she could only smirk in an amused fashion She had convicted him on many counts of assault, theft, homicide, and other assorted crimes and now look at him. She wondered who the cop was, She didn't seem to recognize the female cop, but it seemed that Alex looked like he cared about the woman in the picture. "Good Job Convict" she murmured to herself. She couldn't help but be happy for the ex convict whom had turned his life completely around.

She waited and waited, hoping her meeting would begin soon. Tina wasn't exactly the most patient of people when it came to getting another job. Her career was a stressful one, but she didn't seem to care, she enjoyed the court of law. She wouldn't change her job even if it was a choice between life and death. Looking at the Magazine again she looked at the pictures of different singers and ads for a masquerade being held tonight.. She wondered if her brother was going to go to that. Knowing Rique he was and she smiled. She loved that dorky childish brother of hers. No matter how much he annoyed her and harassed her like a little brother (even though it was by a minute), should. Tina watched and observed silently and wondered just who this Mister Erif was and what he was. She didn't hate vampires, in fact she seemed to like them more than her own race. Her own race was a bunch of brutes and they needed to learn how to be civilized.

Not saying that she wasn't civilized, in fact Tina was a rather civil Lycan.. She waited and waited. Hopefully this head honcho would turn up soon.

[lucius]

"Mr. Erif will meet you now, m'am," came the voice of an attendant--young, most likely an intern of some sort with the massive corporation--standing before Tina. "Please come this way. He will meet you in his office."

The intern motioned for Tina to follow him down a hallway, the carpet a crimson red and obviously well-kept. Everything in the tower seemed to ooze elegance and perfection, personally saw to by its founder while it was being created many years ago. Walking down the hallway, two ZaneCorp Security Personnel passed, eyeing Tina along the way. Not somply to ogle at her body, though. ZaneCorp's security systems were enough to regard the reclusive billionaire who resided in the tower paranoid, but what the public did not know was that he was part of a much darker world than the one most of them saw. His machines had picked up on the visitor's lycanthropy upon entering, and were just watching her. After the incident with the Dark Fang breaking in and raping one of Mr. Erif's slaves recently, security was a little tense, though ZaneCorp happily employed lycans.

The intern led Tina to an elevator. "This will take you to his office," said the young employee, nodding as the doors shut and the empire began to ascend. It was a black elevator, giving a great view of the ground lobby from many stories up, allowing its full splendor to be recognized and admired for those who enjoyed such type of things. The vessel went to the very top floor of the massive tower, moving rather quickly, and opened to a foyer where two desks, manned by receptionists, rested on either side of a double-door, wide open. One of the receptionists motioned for Tina to enter through the double doors, into the large office.

The office seemed to be something frozen in times past, and yet fully modenr. State-of-the-art technology accompanied darkened woods for furniture and ancient pieces of art throughout the room. In the center of the room, backed by floor-to-wall windows that revealed the extent of the city below, was a massive desk, covered by papers and a top-notch computer. At the desk was a young-looking man, dressed uncharacteristically in jeans and a t-shirt, leaning over his desk and talking into a conference-call speaker.

"Yes, have the 6 o'clock hour news cover the red carpet for the masquerade, show off the extravagant costumes and let the public ponder as to what faces are beneath. Keep reporters on site outside if anything interesting happens, and keep a cleanup team on standby if anything needs to be secured," said Lucius, his blue eyes shifting up as Tina arrived. He smelt her first, though; a lycan. Interesting. "That'll be all for now. Make sure my outfit is all ready to go."

He hit a button and the speaker turned off, the ancient vampire's gaze focusing on Tina as he smiled politely. "Welcome Miss... Ferrari, is it? Excellent job on your most recent case," said Lucius. One of the many magazines published by ZaneCorp did a piece on Tina once, he recalled, and her most recent was mentioned in the newspaper that the conglomerate published. "I apologize for my informal matter of dress. I'm preparing for the ball that Mr. Guille is to host tonight."

The vampire elder was usually dressed impeccably in a suit, never seen in such relaxed clothing. He motioned for Tina to sit in one of the chairs opposite his side of the desk as he took his own seat. "So, to what do I owe a visit from one of the city's premier lawyers?" He hoped that this was not an attempt by the largest bank in town, which he was vying to buy, to legally challenge him. A quick sense of her feelings, though, did not feel any such hostility from her.

[Deleted]

The attendant began to lead her out of the waiting room, finally. Tina grinned in spite of the fact that she was here on a business matter. Her rather formal dress only showed that she just came out of court, finishing her closing statements. What possessed the young girl to become a lawyer? A single book. A single boon Known to be a classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird was the thing that possessed her to become a lawyer. When she was a child he always told her brother she'd one day be like Atticus Finch. A big time lawyer who had a reputation in the place she lived. She smiled and loved the fact that she was one of the few that had the ambition to go through with her dreams. In fact she was a rather proud person just because she was one of the most reputable Lawyers in the city. She may not be as good as Atticus Finch, but she'd one day be that good and she'd be damned if she didnt get that good. Tina Followed the receptionist to the elevator.

The corridor she walked down was rather well kept. Crimson red carpeting and white walls all clean as they could be. She almost felt bad for walking on the carpeting after coming in from outside. Her steps were soft and made no sound as the elevator came into view. She looked at the woman appreciatively and thanked her before stepping into the elevator. As she rose the woman took in the entirety of the building with each floor. To say the least she was breathless and not having a very good sense of direction, her first days here working if she was hired were going to be full of getting lost in the complete sense of the word. But the building itself was a beautiful building, Lucius did a good job building the place and she admired that, she like the fact it wasnt a plain old boring place like most business buildings she'd been in before. Tina stood there enjoying the view and imagined what Rique would think of the place. She wanted to reach out and touch his mind to show him the images that she was seeing but couldn't because the humans here would sense it as well.

Finally as the elevator stopped its climb, she exited and was led to a large office. Before the attendant left. Right now she wondered if it would be smart to go into the room, she could faintly hear the man talking on his phone with someone. But she entered anyway, fairly quietly for someone like Tina, whom usually was a louder brasher person. His office in the very least was amazing. Pieces of art from ancient eras caught her eye and she couldn't help but smile at them. How naive of her, he was a vampire after all and he could be thousands of years old right now. But just thinking of that made the six hundred year old Lycaness feel small compared to him. Not only was this guy a CEO of a company but jesus, he was as old as the roman empire, or so told his art. Little Tina had quite a few interesting abilities, one being the fact she could merely brush against an object and she'd know many things about a person. Tina was resisting all urges to walk around his office and admire the art instead of talking to him about business. She gave him a sheepish smile as he spoke to her.

"Welcome Miss... Ferrari, is it? Excellent job on your most recent case,"

She chuckled almost nervously, but it was more or less the fact that curiosity was taking over her mind. "Thank you Mister Erif, but small cases like those are mere bits and pieces of a bigger picture. A much bigger picture to make this city at least a little safer." She replied looking him in the eye. Her green eyes seemed to glow, it was something that happened when she was embarrassed, happy, anything that was really positive. Much better than letting her face turn completely red instead ne? The woman had her quirks to her, despite being the rough and tumble woman she normally was, while on the job she was much more polite to people but still with an edge of roughness that was much different from many lycans. She was an Alphess after all and being an alphess meant she had to learn to be polite, but tough, and to be tolerating and not discriminating. It was the petty discrimination in the world that seemed to make this world as chaotic as it was.

"I apologize for my informal matter of dress. I'm preparing for the ball that Mr. Guille is to host tonight."

She grinned, "Ah, its fine, I dont mind. You're going as well? Thats cool" Tina thought of the red dress she bought at home, the one her brother said she looked like a chile pepper in. "I don't at all mind informal attire, in fact I prefer it, its much easier to sit in for hours on end rather than what I wear to work every day" she laughed. Ah yes, the normal Tina whom liked the vampires better than the lycans, not that she hated Lycans at all, but she just seemed to like vampires more because they were much more conserved in their actions, not like the wild animals that the Lycans were. The Lycans and even herself sometimes were to loud and brash for their own good, and that caused problems for everyone. But that Loud brash self of Tina's seemed to have been channeled into the way she presents a case and goes about winning her cases. The fact that this girl was nicknamed wildfire by her brother only meant one thing. When she was in a case she incinerated the opponent and won by a landslide.. She had only lost a few cases, when she had just begun, but ever since then... You had better watch out if you were opposing Tina Ferrari.

"So, to what do I owe a visit from one of the city's premier lawyers?"

She looked at him and grinned. "I was wondering if you had any open spots for an Attorney here at ZaneCorp. I finally feel like I'm good enough to handle domestic as well as criminal cases." She looked at him and mentally pulled away as she felt him trying to sense whatever feeling she was feeling at that moment. "I'm not here to be Hostile Mister Erif, if that's what you're worried about." She told him in her usual friendly voice. No Tina didn't come here to cause trouble with an Elder Vampire, but she couldn't seem to keep eye contact for long. Yeah, she found someone she was a little bit intimidated by. Instead her eyes danced around the room looking at the art, and she remarked, "Beautiful art you have here Mister Erif" she liked the ancient yet modern feel of this place and she couldn't help but look at the artifacts from a time before she existed. Even though she was around six hundred and fifty years ago to be exact, she wasnt around to have seen the greatest empire of all yet here were little glimpses of history.

Thats all she needed.

[lucius]

The tastes of the vampire elder could be considered to be antiquated, as could his senses of style and mannerisms in general. That was why, in the building that served as the mecca for media, telecommunications, and technology research in the city, so much could be reminiscent of ages past. Lucius had been an avid art collector--and, himself an artist--over the centuries, the vaults below the ZaneCorp Tower concealing masterpieces and artifacts from every era of human development. He would portray his most favorite pieces around his four-story penthouse, and his most regal ones here in the office, and then other works of approval throughout the rest of the building. Art was something he found beauty in; one of the most beautiful things humanity could produce, and one of the last shreds of his humanity that he held onto so dearly in his other dark existence.

Ah, ambition. Lucius could tell from her first words that she was looking for something bigger than locking up a few villains on the street now and then. Her skills were too great to be wasted on such small meet, perhaps. So why not go to the biggest corporation in town and see what they offered? It seemed clever. Lucius was known to always keep an expert legal team around him, looking through every loophole man had to ensure that his often questionable methods of business never got him into any trouble with the law. "And you think you can find the bigger picture here then, I assume," said Lucius as he gazed at her curiously. Yes, the ancient vampire was always focused on the 'big picture' in life. It was what drove almost all of his actions, and what ZaneCorp delved into most.

He nodded his head to her. "Of course, of course. Men like me are sometimes required to accept invitations to such events and from men like Mr. Guille. I'm actually looking forward to it. Throughout my existence, masquerade balls have always been my favorite type of parties," replied the vampire, memories of the countless masquerades over the past eighteen centuries flashing through his mind, reliving every one in just milliseconds. "Ah, well, I'm almost always in it, and do not mind it much. Formal attire is so much less formal than it once was." Again, Lucius was often stuck in his antiquated manners. He had been born into the Roman senatorial aristocracy, and lived as an aristocrat throughout most of his life. He felt somewhat out of place in the 21st century when not in a suit of some type; it was just what he was used to wearing, and was not made uncomfortable by such clothing at all usually. Sometimes he liked to break loose, but such occasions were rare in happening.

Then, there it was, that ambition and purpose. A grin formed its way onto the lips of the ancient creature as he felt her own mental blocks try to come up and withdraw from his reaching out to her emotions. Power. Unusual. She must have been a relatively old and skilled Lycan for such near-successful attempts to block out Lucius from reading her emotions. "Trust me, my dear, I am not worried. Merely curious," said Lucius, his voice calm and friendly. It took a lot to worry someone like him. "As a matter of fact, there is a rather high-ranking legal position open up here at ZaneCorp. Though, I am curious, Ms. Ferrari, what such an.... independent Lycan as yourself seeks to work with a business like ZaneCorp."

Lucius was a trafficker of information in the city. It was his business to know everyone else's business, to use his abilities to piece together all of the information and predict the logical conclusions of things. Ferrari, like the new chef in town, had no connection with the pack led by Hiroshi and his attempts to raise an army to counter the vampires, nor had she any connections with the growing rebel resistance to Hiro and his own antiquated ways. He was curiously monitoring the situation to see if they were start their own splinter cell of lycans, essentially dividing the group into three as the vampires were divided between traditionals, tunes, and psychics. He was beginning to get the sense, though, that she and the cook may be a little different than the rest of the pact. Curious. In that sense, he knew why she was here. But he wanted to know if she knew what she was here. ZaneCorp was no end in itself; it was a means to something else, and he wanted to know what the something else was.

"Thank you. I collect art. It is eternal like we immortals, able to withstand the tests of time, and it speaks so much more of humanity than they speak for themselves," said Lucius, glancing around the office. Several of the artifacts and works of art were world-famous pieces he had acquired for an extensive amount of money, others personal mementos of his that he had gathered over the years-- his gladius from when he served in the Roman armies in Gaul, a mosaic of the Colosseum, a crucifix belonging to Constantine, a brass mounting of Merovech the first Merovingian king, a sword that had belonged to Attila, a painting of scenes from Dante's Inferno, busts of various historic figures, some items of mystical proportions, and other works. Lucius displayed his best here in the office. "These glimpes of the past and human ingenuity serve to remind me of how much the world has advanced despite--or, perhaps, in spite--of we immortals lurking in the background."

[Deleted]

"And you think you can find the bigger picture here then, I assume,"

She grinned sheepishly, the poor woman's eyes settling on his figure, "I need a little more experience with Civil and Domestic Cases, I haven't lost a case like that but I'd like to help somewhere other than the streets as well." her voice had a slight tone of embarrassment to it. This Erif guy seemed friendly enough so why was she so nervous around him? Well everyone here could be wearing a facade and that could lead to her death. Not that she feared dying in anyway. In fact the only thing she feared was someone hurting her brother. If someone from this cooperation attacked and harmed her brother by getting any information out of her, well that would break her trust with many of the races here in the city. Her shoulders rolled back and she sighed, before looking back at the man. Maybe she was being a little straight forward with him and it was bothering the elder vampire. But this was her version of polite so.. she didn't know what to do other than this. The poor woman was a rather confused one at that.

In the bigger picture Tina was only a speck on the map of lawyers. She was merely a single dot, so why would the older vampire choose her if there were so many others that weren't of this enemy race to the vampires.She didn't know why but she seriously wanted a job here, mostly for private reasons she wouldn't disclose to him unless he wanted to know or well rather... needed to know. Her brother making that fine new restaurant was doing awesome, her? Not so much. She lived in her home but she wanted to do something more than that so she didn't have to worry about bills all the time. Being a lawyer she did get paid real good money but that was only when she was on a case and she was paid by the city government most of the time and they cities paychecks were bare minimum of what a lawyer of her status was getting. But it wasnt just about the money that she needed, it was also about the fact that she wanted to work here. She seemed to like the place despite its huge size.

"Of course, of course. Men like me are sometimes required to accept invitations to such events and from men like Mr. Guille. I'm actually looking forward to it. Throughout my existence, masquerade balls have always been my favorite type of parties, "

She laughed, "In Spain the balls were always elaborate, I wonder how this one will be. Seeing as In Spain, we don't waltz, we salsa, tango..." she trailed off into her mind, enjoying the memories of of former parties she had attended in the past. She loved Spain but there was no opportunity for her there so she and her brother snuck onto a plane and then got a lift to this city where she learned some harsh realities of this world to only grow stronger from them and become much wiser. Being an orphan child she had nobody to protect her, but she protected her smaller brother "Lo siento señor Erif." She suddenly murmured for trailing off into her mind and after that "Oh.. erm I'm sorry Mister Erif.. I sometimes forget that I should be speaking in English.." her accent was rather apparent whenever she spoke that she wasnt from this country. The girl was now radiating a nervousness that was more and more apparent with every passing moment. The poor girl looked down at the floor and sighed, well that was one way to blow an employment opportunity.

"Ah, well, I'm almost always in it, and do not mind it much. Formal attire is so much less formal than it once was."

Knowing what he meant she laughed, She was alive in the victorian era and she saw those dresses and wanted to kill herself. The girl wouldn't have been caught dead in those dresses. "Yeah, The Victorians really know how to dress up" she rolled her eyes. She sighed and looked back at the man who was probably rather amused at her comments "Luckily being an orphan child came with its perks. I never was forced to wear those dresses" she grinned. Being who she was, she never really could afford those fancy dresses that were out when she still a child orphan. The woman looked at the male vampire and sighed, "I'm sorry if I'm being rather impolite Mister Erif" she apologized once again. After all this was a CEO of a company well known in the city that she was talking to like she knew all her life. Hell it was Tina's nature to be that way, but she had to keep that friendly side of her in check. After all it could get her into a bit of trouble with people around ZaneCorp.

"Trust me, my dear, I am not worried. Merely curious,"

She sighed, the man was curious about the female lycan. "Well ask away Mister Erif. I'll answer what I can to the best of my abilities." she replied to him, "However on the same note, I'm going to be honest, don't delve to deep into my past and present." her voice was somewhat defensive. She wasnt going to tell this strange vampire her entire back story, however she would ell him the general idea of who she was in the past and present. She sighed, "I don't mean to come off as rude, but we all have... our pasts. And My own is something I don't normally talk about comfortably." She was tense, she was really tense about the fact of him being curious about her and it was showing. However her eyes lit up as she was told there was a spot for a lawyer here. "If you wish to employ me, I'd start work right now after we're done talking Mister Erif." she grinned at him. Jeez what a dork this girl was, and yet she'd always be a mystery to those whom have only seen her from the outside.

She noted that Zanecorp was an information highway to to speak and she smiled, so she was working for every celebrities worst enemy. How ironic, she laughed to herself. Looking back to the male he began to speak of his artwork, and she smiled. "Well said Mister Erif, I agree with you, and I have my own personal collection from Spain at my home" She laughed, "they're the only memories I have of my past really. Most of it is a vague blurry memory thats almost like a half remembered song."

[[Sorry for shortness]]

[lucius]

The lycan woman seemed to be a good person, talking of wanting to help wherever she could. It was such an odd thing to witness. Lucius indeed thought of what he was doing through ZaneCorp as being good, but he was often more-than-willing to use questionable means to accomplish what little good he did. That meant, for the most part, his lawyers were busy keeping the law off of his back and finding loopholes and gray areas for the massive business conglomerate to operate in; excuses for their slightly not-so-good tactics that they occasionally employed. Of course, they did require lawyers to assist with copyrights and contracts and such things; the typical type of subjects that business law tended to require. He was sure he could find a way for her to fit in. It was one of the things he was good at doing; reading people and seeing how to best operate around them.

"So, you want to help with something bigger and grander. Noble aims, indeed," said the ancient vampire elder. That was ambition of some type, and Lucius not only sought ambition, but enjoyed seeing it in others. Ambition led to good performance and work. Though, he wondered as to what, again, the ends of such ambition were. "Your brother, too, has recently stepped up to something bigger and grander, no? The Bénedictine is the talk of the town right now." His blue eyes remained settled curiously on the woman, looking for her reaction closely.

Spain. Lucius had lived in Spain for a few decades throughout his life, running a theater in Sevilla for a short time with a coven of vampiric actors back in the 16th century. He quite enjoyed there; the climate, structures, and history were all very similar to his native Rome, and he had remembered traveling through the region while it was still Roman Hispania. "Quite alright, my dear. I speak several languages and understand getting caught up now and then, especially in our native tongues," replied the vampire as he glanced at her. Truthfully he spoke well over a hundred languages, his photographic memory sampling every one he came across. His native language was, of course, Latin, but the one he spoke in most was English anymore. Given his mind's strength, he managed to operate between languages, dialects, and accents quite easy. "So you dance, then? Wonderful. I quite enjoy the Spanish styles," continued Lucius. He had mastered many type of ballroom dances through practice over the years; dancing was also a good way to work on form for duels, which Lucius used to partake in-- he was an avid fencer as well, and the training between the fencing and dancing was not all that different in the slightest.

Again, ever the aristocrat, the Victorian era had not been one where the formal clothing annoyed Lucius; he actually preferred the general formality of the era to the extremely relaxed codes of the current era. He had lived through many different types of fashion. The togas of Rome, the robes of the Dark Ages, the armors and capes and cloaks of the Middle Ages, the garb of the Renaissance, the colonial styles, Victorian styles, early 20th century styles, and then the modern styles. Tastes changed so often among humans that it was almost difficult to keep caught up with it all.

He refocused himself on Tina, that curious tilt still to his head. An orphan. More pieces of the puzzle that was her life being revealed. "No, do not apologize. I like to get to know my employees when hiring them, and find learning of other people as fascinating as yourself to be enjoyable," came the response from the business magnate, that charming smile remaining fixated upon his lips. It was genuine, though; he did enjoy learning about people, and the lycan before him was certainly interesting, especially as she apparently ran with none of the established packs in the city.

Hm. Perhaps she would not be as easy to learn more about as he had anticipated. She was mysterious about her past. Lucius was not, so much. His past was well-known and kept recorded in some books, scrolls, and manuscripts down in the vaults. Only the public was kept unaware of his past, and much about him, because he was sure that the general human population would react poorly had it been made known to them that an ancient vampire was running the media and their telecommunications in the entire city. "I will respect your boundaries, Ms. Ferrari, and understand your hesitation," replied Lucius, leaning forward some in his seat. "I do want to know why, of all groups and business in town, you have chosen ZaneCorp to come to apply to. You are a Lycan; they usually suck up their hatred of my kind and come to me for work when they have been cast out by the packs around here or have some great aversion to working with them. Why you?"

He smiled at her as he glanced at the works of art around the room once before before allowing his gaze to settle on the woman again. "Ah, I remember every second so clearly," said Lucius. Both the good times and the bad times forever burned into his mind. "And how far back does your memory go, Ms. Ferrari?" He was curious as to her exact age.

[Deleted]

The woman seemed to enjoy the conversation with the man that was hopefully to be her future boss. Conversation was one of her strengths in life. An outgoing young woman with nothing in the world to fear but fear itself. She and her brother both had dreams and both of them had dreams that were becoming a reality and for that she was happy. She didn't really ask for much, but when she wanted to work for something she did. She was working to become the best lawyer in the city and it was something she had spent so many years in law school and court rooms to get to that point. Tina smiled inwardly, she was happy with the fact she was known by the top dog in the city and it seemed like she may actually have a chance at getting employed if she happened to pass an indirect background check. She rolled her shoulders a small crack coming from one of them and she sighed. She'd kill those guards at Cyanide after she had gotten done here. Her eyes fell upon the elder vampire once more and she listened to him speak,


"So, you want to help with something bigger and grander. Noble aims, indeed, Your brother, too, has recently stepped up to something bigger and grander, no? The Bénedictine is the talk of the town right now."

She laughed, "Yes, 'Rique did step up on a much grander scale. Im rather proud of my Twin brother." her voice genuinely happy. What was with this strange lycan woman that wasnt at all hating the vampire in front of her, and the fact she wasn't tense, in the fact she was angry. Her piercing green eyes held a warmer happier fire that was always there when she was meeting someone new. This Lycan was the truest physical meaning to the saying, 'Children are never born with hatred, only taught it.' The fact that Tina never learned to hate the vampire race left her fascinated by them. Their speed, strength, grace.. a lot of things she was oddly childishly curious about. Sure vampires sucked blood or energy, but it didn't bother her. Lycans ripped people to shreds when they were angry, so why couldn't a vampire feed when he or she was hungry when they needed to. The hate towards vampires from her race in her mind was absurd. They were beings on this earth as well and for that she seemed to hold a rare appreciation towards the race of Erifs.

After all there was one vampire that saved her life, and she saved his own in return. She had been a teenager back then, a dumb child that had accidentally walked in onto a coven of vampires whom had nearly ripped her to pieces, but a vampire whom she had nicknamed Luke saved her life and then brought her and her brother to safety. It was because of that single vampires kind deed that she viewed the vampires as a much nobler race than that of the Lycanthropes. And Luke stayed with her and her brother, as a protector of sorts and one day she had saved his life. One night he had returned to the house they all resided in mortally wounded. She knew vampires seemed to heal faster if that drank blood. So she let him bite her, and to this day a scar remained on her where he had bitten her. But she seemed to view it with pride, happy she had saved her friends life. Luke shortly after however disappeared telling her he had to go on a personal journey and to take care of herself and her brother.

That she did.

"Quite alright, my dear. I speak several languages and understand getting caught up now and then, especially in our native tongues,"

She gave him a grateful look. "Thank you for understanding Mister Erif." she replied to him. He seemed like that Luke from way back when, but he looked much different and didn't smell like him either. Yes.. Being a lycan she could identify people by scent, and this man did not at all resemble Luke physically but their personalities were similar. She smiled at the similarities but knowing full well that they weren't the same person. In Spain it was rumored Luke now resided in Italy. Maybe one day she'd go to Italy and ask around to find that man named Luke, the man whom saved her very life from a coven of vampires. She preferred speaking in Spanish but she refrained from doing that. She was slightly curious, "What languages do you find to be the most interesting?" She found the Cyrillic letters of the Russian Language and the Calligraphy of Arabic to be the most intriguing things to her. In fact Russian and Arabic were two of the languages she wanted to learn.

"So you dance, then? Wonderful. I quite enjoy the Spanish styles,"

She smiled, "Yes, the balls back in Spain are rather fun, Ive been to a few in England before, and I have to admit that I prefer my home countries version of dance" she laughed. "Italy is a close second though. Italian balls are wonderful as well." Ah yes, she had been all over Europe when she was a kid, only to end up back in Spain. Italy and Spain with their hot climates were places she preferred to be without a doubt. She seemed rather happy he was a little bit educated on Spain and its culture, most of the humans were ignorant of her linage and called her and her brother Mexican. Which often made her and her brother rather angry. Being mixed up with Mexicans was a rather high offense but for the most part Tina didn't rip the person's face off. Instead, she went to the gym and went kickboxing. It was an awesome way to blow off steam as long as she was careful not to break anything or anyone in the gym.

"No, do not apologize. I like to get to know my employees when hiring them, and find learning of other people as fascinating as yourself to be enjoyable,"

She watched a genuine smile etch its way onto its features, "That's rather cool, most people that run businesses don't really care who they hire as long as they work." She replied, rather impressed that he actually took the time to get to know people that he thought of hiring, and she laughed at his statement, "Heh, Me interesting? Jeez that's flattering, I'm a Lycan that's to independent for any of these packs, they all disgust me anyway." She was not stupid as to what went on between the two packs in the city and she had heard of a pack member from one of the groups having raped some poor woman. Ah yes just another Lycan she wouldn't exactly tolerate. She loved her own kind, she did, but she hated certain individuals for things they have done. And that Lycan was never to be forgiven, even if she didn't know him. Her eyes closed, "No Pack would want to handle someone like me. If I've been returned to Cyanide and escaped from that slave ring to many times to count then No pack would dare recruit me. As I don't hesitate to kill when need be."

Hell yes Tina was open about certain aspects of who she was. No Tina was no whore, in fact no former slave master had even gotten her close to a bed. They were knocked out by the woman if they even mentioned anything like that to her. Most of her former masters had been humans so she had to be gentler with her punches when she did that so she didn't snap their necks and kill them. Tina had always been a feisty woman, even now with this new owner of hers Gunnar, she didn't let him near her. That man she wouldn't trust, he was the leader of that disgusting rebellion, a power hungry maniac who deserved to be quieted for the rest of time. She closed her eyes and blanked out the image of that man who dared call himself her master. Nobody owned Tina, she merely used them as a way to escape Cyanide and that disgusting Slave ring.

"I will respect your boundaries, Ms. Ferrari, and understand your hesitation, I do want to know why, of all groups and business in town, you have chosen ZaneCorp to come to apply to. You are a Lycan; they usually suck up their hatred of my kind and come to me for work when they have been cast out by the packs around here or have some great aversion to working with them. Why you?"

"I carry with me absolutely no hatred of your kind. Such things are trivial matters, that do not concern me. I was saved by a Vampire when I was younger and in return I saved his own life. From that Moment my view of your kind has always been a good view. Unlike many of my kind whom are animals that fight about even a scrap of meat your kind is.. much nobler than that of the Lycanthropes." She told him. "My hatred lies nowhere, I tolerate and like all races, they're all unique and cool in their own ways, like for example your race, the fact they your race carries such an amazing sense of balance and grace, it amazes me really." She paused, she could feel this man could be trusted and therefore she would trust him with her words, "Since i was saved by that vampire, I'll honestly tell you that curiosity doesn't always kill cats, its nearly killed me on many occasions. Your race like many others fascinates me." She paused and rubbed the scar on her jugular and grinned, "I was once told that children are never born with hate, they learn it. And being without a pack or parents for all of my life My brother and I harbor no hate towards anyone."

"Ah, I remember every second so clearly, And how far back does your memory go, Ms. Ferrari?"

She laughed, "No Need to be so indirect, I'm six hundred and forty five years old. If you want to know something just ask, I may not give many details But I'll give you enough information"

[lucius]

"Indeed, it is something to be proud of," said Lucius with a nod of his head. The new restaurant was sure to be a great success in the city, and was a breath of fresh air for those more refined individuals with higher tastes for food. Lucius had long been wanting some sort of such eating establishment in the city and was pleased when the information that had reached his desk informed him of Enrique's business venture. He had the newspaper and his media networks talk it up and offer some good advertising to get it a bit of a leg up, just so ensure its financial survival-- not that Lucius was too worried about it. The high-end restaurant did not exactly have a great amount of competition, and plenty of wealthy and wanting customers to go enjoy whatever delicacies it offered in its grand and comfortable setting. It was a perfect spot for the likes of someone like Lucius Erif.

Lucius was not one to discount people based solely on what race they were; not for any moralistic, life-changing reasons, though. Rather, from a long, careful observation of the world and an understanding of how things in the world worked. His ancient mind had come to realize the futility of the blood feuds between the various races and realize that not only was coexistence entirely possible, but it was rather necessary as well. Peace could be within grasp. Of course, he did hold his prejudices. Vampires, for the most part, while the most refined, beautiful, and elegant of the races, could not be entirely trusted. Lycans, for the most part, tended to be quite savage and brutish, though there were always exceptions, such as the woman sitting before him now. Demons tended to be quite diabolical, but not all were evil. Humans were ignorant, but their potential for things was admired most by Lucius of all the other races. Fairies and nekos were not more than children, for the most part, in his prejudicial thinking about it all.

But, time and the experience that came with it let him come to realize that the stereotypes are constantly defied and that there is something similar between the lot of them, and it was for that reason that he focused in on finding and expanding this similarity for the greater good of things. Time and experience was also what allowed him to so fluently engage so many languages. "Ah, English has the greatest breadth of use. My native Latin is, of course, always reserved in my mind as grandest though. Of the hundreds of languages I've sample, French seems to sound the best. But, me in my antiquated ways, I prefer my old languages along with my latin-- Greek, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Arabic. The words and their utterances are so much more connected with the body," said the vampire elder, his mind perusing through the various tongues he had tried in the past eighteen centuries.

The smile on her face was genuine; Lucius could see that enough without having to use his powers. She seemed to be a rather straightforward individual with no unordinary or devious second motives behind her being here. Trustworthy, in a sense-- much more than many others who had graced the office of the business tycoon recently. "I like to take a special interest in many of my employees. I've always been very hands-on with my management of this company," from its founding to its present day. Nothing happened without his knowledge, and few things ever took place without his express consent. He was very much involved in every aspect of the organization, and wanted to connect with many employees--though, not the strings of secretaries and security guards and the like--to ensure their good intentions towards him and his company, and to give them a boost of morale that, more often than not, led to a better work performance.

Now, that was interesting as she explained more of her recent past. A burning dislike for her own kind and escape from slavery in the market at Cyanide. "Of course you're interesting. Rogue lycan, escape from slavery, keen legal mind," said Lucius, chuckling slightly. "What is there to not find interesting?" He gave her a curious look as he tried sizing her up again. So, she had a feisty streak in her that made her undesirable for the dominance-oriented packs of the lycans. This did not concern Lucius greatly; in ZaneCorp, his word was law such as in the Lycan Imperial Army, Hiro's word was law. The difference was that ZaneCorp was a business that one voluntarily entered, got a paycheck from, and could voluntarily leave, and, unless one worked in the darker divisions of the corporation, his orders did not revolve around killing or destroying things.

He listened to her story with general interest, nodding his head. So, she was truly enlightened after all. That, there, alone, sealed the deal for her employment at ZaneCorp. She held a similar world view, and Lucius knew that such a view was hard to come by across lycans in particular. As her thumb ran up to rub her skin, his eyes momentarily followed, noticing the scar. It was a very distinct type of scar. She had been bitten by a vampire, and yet she held no ill will towards them and found them fascinating. That meant that she could indeed be quite trusted with things. The elder folded his hands together in front of him on the desk, smiling that charming smile at the rogue lycan. "A very wise lesson that is, Ms. Ferrari. ZaneCorp is about tolerance," said Lucius simply, finding no need to use any anecdotes to follow up her rather impressive story. "And that there, my dear, is why I shall be hiring you. How does the position of General Counsel sound?"

It was an important position. The chief legal position in the company. Good salary, good office, other lawyers working beneath her. Prestigious, too, to be the GC of such a large corporation, and offering the ability to take part in cases of her choosing that can range from criminal complaints against people who wronged ZaneCorp, corporate contracts, patents, and more.

He smiled coyly as she told him to be more direct. It was not in his nature at times to be such a way; he enjoyed being indirect at times. It was how he operated on many levels. "Ah, a nice old age. That means you should have plenty of fine world experience," said Lucius, nodding his head. He paused momentarily, then thought it would be nice to reveal his own. "For my age, triple yours and subtract some." He was roughly three times her age; over 1800 years.