The Don’s View from “The Talk”

Notes by Logan

Location: Armandasanti Family Grave Site

Time: Just past 1 a.m.

Date: Sometime in the future

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A recollection of memories came about in a flash of speed as though a motion picture film had been sped up and slowed down at the same time. He could grasp any single image and watch the scene with absolute clarity or he could let it pass by without any sort interaction and the film would still trudge along without flaw. The image that he pulled up this time was the focal point of this favor trading.

“So...I guess it wasn’t meant for me to get a good nights rest without seeing a few more thing straight. See, Jinx has gone to her room and opted to wake up her new friend. I guess she wasn’t all that aware on how to educate a ‘friend’ in this new world. She called to me and Rose happened to be by. So we went to go and see what was going on. When I got there, this Chad fella was all sorts of turned around and Jinx seemed a bit frazzled. I didn’t have the time to explain anything in depth so I gave some standing orders. Don’t hurt Jinx. Don’t leave the house. If he could do that, good things awaited.”

A sigh broke from his lips. When pulling a memory from the depths of his mind he also seemed to pull the emotions that came with it. Including the stress that road with him in these nights as he struggled to figure out what was going and how best to manage this new group.

“I had to leave because, again, time was not on my side. Luckily my bed was not all that far away and I found myself a good rest. I couldn’t say the same for the...people...left in my room with me. Waking up the next day came with it’s own stress. I had to make some serious calls before the others woke up. Firstly, I needed to contact a family friend. He had the method of getting us to the place we needed to be without causing issue. Luckily, I can safely say that he is agreeable and friendly so it all worked out.”

Now, while Vito spoke about his clan in a manner that reflected the polite nature of them all and the agreeable nature they might have, he was not blind to the rest of what lay behind the veil. Still, they were a ‘Clan First’ type of group and this boon would show the other Clans that even the youngest Ventrue can pull his own weight among the courts of the dead.

“The next call did not go to plan. See, while getting in contact with my own Family was easy, getting in contact with someone else from another Family was not easy at all. With my failure there I was forced to turn to my own Family once again. Jordan answered me quickly and even gave me the directions to where I needed to go. Jordan had some requests of me and they seemed very important. Said I needed to meet with him as soon as possible to discuss some Family stuff. I agreed and told him as soon as my business was done I would go see him.”

It worried him, to some extent, that Jordan was so gung-ho about the Brujah thing to start only to turn on it’s head and tell Vito not to move a muscle. Jordan must have found something truly heinous for him to sound the halt order and Vito was all the more curious to find out what it was.

“So, again, the phone needed to be used. This time it was to call Bobby. He answered quickly and I gave him the run down of what the plans were. To my surprise, he seemed a bit saddened. Apparently, he was in too deep trying to cover up some stuff and needed to call in additional aid for his payment. Prentiss I believe was the name. Get this, I would later find out that Prentiss was Jinx’s mother. Yeah, right? Fuckin’ small world. Anyway, I told him the news and when to meet and it was good to go.”

This...Prentiss woman was something interesting to Vito. He had not met many Childe and Sires in tandem with one another. He was curious to see if it was like his own. Barnaby was a good and firm teacher and helped make Vito in to a future leader of the Camarilla. At least, that was his hope and he carried that hope with him in these nights. As though it was a defense.

“I left the room, got my breakfast, handled the rest of the calls I needed to do and was tasked by Howard to speak with Jinx. Seemed easy enough and, truly, it was. She wanted to make a special smoothie and I just...can’t do that nor approve it’s production. Like...think about it...When do we eat or drink smoothies? It boggled my mind then and it boggles it now. Either way, we had more business to handle and I pulled Jinx along. We had to go talk with the new friend Jinx made.”

What came next was something that pulled on his mind and the humanity that rested within his soul. How do you explain what you really are? How do you explain that this Chad fellow was in a world now that was very hard to break free. That he only had two choices, really. He either followed through and became a slavish servant to Jinx or he refused and had his mind wiped. Leaving only the addiction and no explanation. 

“Rose, Jinx, Henry, Chad and myself all sat down and had this uh...talk, right? See like, the Family that Jinx, Rose, Henry and myself are from are all different but we all adopt. And Chad well...he was halfway adopted and needed to be told what the new rules of this. See though, Jinx was the one who was going to adopt him and she wanted this to be his choice. I don’t think it was the wisest choice but it’s Jinx’s choice. Chad, eventually, decided to take the day and decide for himself. We, on the other hand, had shit to do in another fuckin’ town. Lord above, I never get to take a moment to just relax.”

The travel to another domain was always nerve wracking for the Ventrue Mob Boss. Why? Simple. The risks were too high and the chance that something goes wrong was high as well. Perhaps he would do some expanding in to here? Set up some sort of baseline area that would be safe for him in the future. Something to ponder.

“Anyway, the Helicopter arrived and the package was moved with us. I guess while we were up in the air, Jinx found something out in the river? Some kind of ‘turd island’ she called it? Look, don’t give me that. I don’t fuckin’ know either. She just says wild shit sometimes and sometimes it pans out. I didn’t even have time to contemplate what that meant before we arrive at the special place for this drop off. See, the drop off was easy enough. I introduced myself again and the others got to meet a good person. The credit was transferred to us and even Bobby got to show up.”

Vittorio was a pleasant person as long as the rules were followed. Vito never had an issue with that so it never was really a problem for him at all. It was actually nice to see that the Camarilla was serious about its workings and it’s job. The Tremere, while he didn’t trust them to be truthful to him, were always good about security. 

“Now, get this shit. Prentiss stared at this man we dropped the prize off at. I didn’t know what was going on but the others seemed real uncomfortable with the two of them. Prentiss wanted to talk with her daughter and I couldn’t see a reason to deny her. I thanked for her service to protecting us and let them go. Shortly after, we picked up and shuffled out where my car awaited. We had to go to a bar! I know right? A fuckin’ bar of all places. I needed to talk with someone there and the others earned a little bit of time to rest.”

Prentiss was...interesting. There was certainly the feeling of wild energy there but there was also the feeling of a honed killer. The way she spoke and how she carried herself was confident. Something you could only get with years of dealing with the unnatural. Not like Barnaby but no less scary. The ride to the bar was quiet. Everyone seemed shaken by Prentiss but Vito wasn’t quite sure why. Not yet.

“The bar was Irish themed and had a really good vibe to it. Sadly, as always, I had business to handle. I did, however, give a few rounds to the bar and went to check on this Mr. Banks. Someone came to make sure I knew the rules, big cowboy hat and southern drawl. Told me not to make any wild moves. I didn’t plan on it but the security was reassuring. I went to speak with Mr. Banks and informed him on the situation at hand. Granted, this was my introduction to him and it was done in good faith. I could’ve signed my death warrant but it turned out that Mr. Banks was a type of family man. I respected that. Hell, Rose even offered a favor in trade for them. That business was settled with agreement and the promise of friendship.”

A smile formed upon his lips. A gracious relax of his shoulders, a plume of smoke coating the air about him. It seemed for the time being, it wasn’t all that bad but he knew better than to rest on his good merits. He intended to hit the ground running as fast as he could. Jordan and his clan wouldn’t wait for him.

“Yeah, in that moment I felt pretty damn good. Everything was floating nicely. Now, to make it to Thursday for the payment and my conversations. Who knew what was around the corner?”