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libraryofbabelDamian Silvanus is a shitty bastard man, but the problem is that he's the Prince Sterling Engelhart's childe, and unfortunately he wants to believe that Damian will be better-behaved after a talking-to, because he is too nice for his own good.1 You're quite certain that it will mean he'll just get stealthier, but your hands are tied, publicly.
On the other hand, for this one you have help, because you don't even need to tell your new protegée2 about your extracurricular activities; she's excited to take down her sire for the personal reason of "he's awful."
Silvanus has a lot of hobbies, such as art collecting. Shame that his imports keep getting impounded, or disappearing, or declared forgeries—weird how they keep showing up in the Ordo Dracul's Academy instead. It turns out that you can mess with someone quite a bit with the right skills of paperwork and knowing who to call. The interior decorating gets a lot more exciting around the place. Your colleague from the Sworn of the Dying Light, Xin Fields, jokingly suggests that you might have missed a calling as a museum curator.
The women he chats up also start having a strange habit of ghosting him after a few days—suddenly leaving town, going into the career life, just declining to call him back and picking up stakes, thanks to you keeping tabs on who he's seeing, and Eve having very candid chats with them. Women who come to Los Angeles on their own aren't stupid; now and then one is a little too head-over-heels daydreaming to be convinced, which is… unfortunate. But if they can keep any away from him, that's a net good while she works to find a way to blemish his name enough.
Pulling off your outer layers from a night of tailing him and rubbing your temples, you wonder not for the first time why you even care. You could just kill him. It would be easier. Is your cover, and the stability of the city under the Engelharts, who are otherwise quite good—is that reason enough to stay your hand?3
Are you slipping?
[1] In retrospect, Yi would wonder if instead the issue was that Engelhart was simply overlooking the reality for his own convenience.
[2] Eve was quick to leap to vengeance; at the time Yi had considered it to be a good trait, since her own desire for vengeance had fed the fires of righteousness within her heart. For Eve, however, it resulted in vampire society turning into more of a place of safety and power—a place she fit into easily.
[3] Hope would wonder how many other times she had been convinced to stay her hand, and how many times it had actually been a good idea.
On the other hand, for this one you have help, because you don't even need to tell your new protegée2 about your extracurricular activities; she's excited to take down her sire for the personal reason of "he's awful."
Silvanus has a lot of hobbies, such as art collecting. Shame that his imports keep getting impounded, or disappearing, or declared forgeries—weird how they keep showing up in the Ordo Dracul's Academy instead. It turns out that you can mess with someone quite a bit with the right skills of paperwork and knowing who to call. The interior decorating gets a lot more exciting around the place. Your colleague from the Sworn of the Dying Light, Xin Fields, jokingly suggests that you might have missed a calling as a museum curator.
The women he chats up also start having a strange habit of ghosting him after a few days—suddenly leaving town, going into the career life, just declining to call him back and picking up stakes, thanks to you keeping tabs on who he's seeing, and Eve having very candid chats with them. Women who come to Los Angeles on their own aren't stupid; now and then one is a little too head-over-heels daydreaming to be convinced, which is… unfortunate. But if they can keep any away from him, that's a net good while she works to find a way to blemish his name enough.
Pulling off your outer layers from a night of tailing him and rubbing your temples, you wonder not for the first time why you even care. You could just kill him. It would be easier. Is your cover, and the stability of the city under the Engelharts, who are otherwise quite good—is that reason enough to stay your hand?3
Are you slipping?
[1] In retrospect, Yi would wonder if instead the issue was that Engelhart was simply overlooking the reality for his own convenience.
[2] Eve was quick to leap to vengeance; at the time Yi had considered it to be a good trait, since her own desire for vengeance had fed the fires of righteousness within her heart. For Eve, however, it resulted in vampire society turning into more of a place of safety and power—a place she fit into easily.
[3] Hope would wonder how many other times she had been convinced to stay her hand, and how many times it had actually been a good idea.