Darkroom 2 (closed)

Clement: With his drink still in hand, he pulled back the velvet curtain of their new secluded location. Located in a hallway at the far back corner of the station, it would have been difficult for anyone oblivious to its exist to find it on their own which is the exact reason why Clement chose this for their little meeting. He had little intention of spending his night interrupted with a surprise interview but that wasn’t going to stop him from finding at least a little bit of enjoyment from tonight.

The faint red glow of a hundred candles lit up the cozy room behind the curtain, filled with a hazy cloud of sweet scents and ambient music, deeply contrasted to the loud music and chattering just outside the hallway. “I’d assume you’re at least familiar with hookah,” he commented in a dull tone, waiting for them to pass through the threshold before letting the curtain swing closed and led them to a table near by.

At Clement’s question, Esther made a noncommittal noise. It didn’t really matter, did it? It wasn’t like she was going to go within an arm’s length of it.

Trailing somewhat behind Alim (if there was potential backstabbery to be found here, she wanted to be close to the exit), she took in the changed atmosphere of the room down the hall and behind the curtain. It was softer, assuredly. A more relaxed, almost lazier environment than the one they’d just left -- but that didn’t mean she would let herself be lulled into winding down.

They’d been led past the curtain and to a table. At least it looked they’d be talking business like civilized people… assuming nothing was said that instigated any arguments. She wasn’t ignorant of any of their age gaps (thousands of years, something over a century, and then merely a few decades, respectively), but… well. It didn’t seem like a good idea to speak to Clement in a way that could be misconstrued as a rebuke. People like this… people like this didn’t often appreciate it. It didn’t matter if Alim was older; he needed to be more willing to conform (at least initially) if he wanted to get much out of this.

Of course, there was no way to express this sentiment to him. And it didn’t really matter what he did or said, so long as she didn’t end up retreading unsuccessful grounds. She would just have to have faith that he knew what he was doing and what he wanted.

"Yes, pretty much," was all he said, not really bothered by the other's tone and comment as he sat down and leaned back in a more relaxed manner. Alim guessed he should simmer down with his attitude though, since it was clear instigating the other further was a bad idea on his part. All amusement aside he blinked at Clement's next statement before offering a sincere apologetic smile. "I do apologize for taking up your time, really. A man such as yourself, surely you have little time to enjoy any free time with your busy schedule," he offered, showing reprieve in antagonizing the other any longer. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy ourselves, and I don't mean to take up much of your time," Alim then added as he clasped his hands together.

As he waited for the other to recover from his drink, Alim went straight to the point. "As I said before at the bar, I don't have any plans on joining this war between the hunters and apprentices. Of course, nothing really goes the way its planned hm?" he started, his face now having an unreadable expression as he looked over at Clement. "Four hundred and eighty-one years of being away from HQ. Of hiding and running, until I finally found some peace...that is until the hunters rose in numbers," Alim continued, eye narrowing slightly in scrutiny. "I can tell you right now Clement that I did not choose this life, neither of us did really, but I don't plan on just hiding in fear of being attacked by both hunters and apprentices, not again," he emphasized the last part before letting out a sigh and calming down again.

"Sorry, I just...I'm tired. Of the conflicts, the lies and secrets. I often find myself hoping that Death can be replaced already so this fiasco can end," he said, his tone showing just how tired he is of this shit before looking over at the hookah machines, his hand itching to just reach out for one of them as his patience ran thin. "And I know you have better things to do than hear an old man nag, but my offer is this: information for immunity," he offered, relenting and reaching out to one of the hookahs on the table. He needed to wind down. Noticing there was already water inside the vase section, as well as the tobacco and the coals ready to light Alim took no time in lighting them up. "Almost three thousand years worth of information on HQ to be precise. Is that of any interest to you?" he finally asked, lifting the hose up against his lips and inhaling deeply as he went to lean back once more.

He sighed and propped his feet up on the table in front of them, letting the rather potent alcohol warm and relax his tense muscles as he let the other speak. Clement was courteously silent and listened, though his eyes were busy at work picking apart any sort of evidence he could gather from the other’s appearance. Surprisingly well put together, not shabby at least, appears mentally stable (what a plus), decent fashion sense, emphasis on ‘decent’, annoyingly confident, nice hair, what was that eye patch for?

Now the other one. She hadn’t said a single word since she made her presence known. A sheep following her master it seemed like. What a delicate little thing, he could only assume she was another fallen. Couldn’t really see a faithful apprentice hanging around a Fallen, let alone in the middle of a literal hunter’s nest. She seemed interested, though he expected his curiosity as to her presence would win him over sooner than she spoke.

The mention of Death in such context pulled a bit of a smirk out of him, actually moving from his still position and joining the other in pulling off a pipe. He took a long drag from the pipe and filling his lungs before speaking. “Oh believe me, I am quite familiar with the feeling. I’ve been working actively at this for nearly 50 years, you don’t think I’m tired of it all too?” he mused, tilting his head lazily back against the couch and letting the last bit of smoke escape his lungs. “That is certainly a compelling argument but you’re going to have to offer me something worth my resources. I already have a number of spies in HQ pretending to be very capable and faithful apprentices.” He paused and took another drag. “I’m not at a shortage of information here, er...Alim, was it?” he added, his tone purposely bored and disinterested.

Ah. So he’d gone with unimpressed. Great. If Esther had wanted to deviate from her impassive expression (and she didn’t), she might’ve rolled her eyes. Or scoffed. But she probably wasn’t helping with the lack of intrigue, considering that she’d exchanged precisely zero words with the person across the table from them. The person who seemingly held most of the cards, for the time being. But she wouldn’t speak unless she was addressed directly -- or unless something came up that she wanted to address. But nothing had.

… Save for Inkidortes, perhaps. But that wasn’t a matter to discuss here.

But now she knew, without a shred of doubt, that there were other Hunters in HQ. She hadn’t noticed any of them, but nobody had ever noticed her, either -- you’d have to be somewhat overt with your intentions in order to get caught, it seemed. “Somewhat” being an understatement. Nobody there was safe -- and how would they react, she wondered, if they knew that their house had rats in it?

Unless the leaders and Death and known? They had to have known, but that. That brought up more concerns. If they knew but took less action against it than they should, then what did that say about them?

She did glance at Alim at the mention of trust, though, as to seem interested. Or at least curious. Trust, huh? The amount of it that Clement was placing upon them right at this minute seemed… well. Suspiciously much. Forgetting that they were surrounded by Hunters, security seemed lax. No guards. Nobody towering over the table threateningly. Nobody eyeing them from the corner of the room, hands hovering over weapons. Not even counterparts to the two silver-haired right and left hands prowling around.

… Well. The last one spoke of a possible lack of trust -- just not any directed at the strangers across the table. Not even a weapons check at the doorway, huh? “A great leader”. Hm. Don’t underestimate, but don’t overestimate, either: that was a rule. He didn’t seem impressed, but neither was she. Not just yet.

Oh? Instead of beating around the bush Alim reached over to his breast pocket, taking out a small business card and lightly placing it on the table before sliding it over to Clement. On the card was the name of his shop, as well as the address. "You'd be surprised at how inconspicuous a book shop is," he said, his voice a bit lethargic due to the smoke he had inhaled not long ago. Yes, it brought a pleasant relaxing feeling over him, but perhaps he should cut down on the smoking for now and focus on the task at hand.

"I take it your interest has been piqued." It was not a question, but a statement. It was quite obvious that out of everything he's said tonight, it was his relationship with the Apprentice leader that caught the other's attention. Still, he was ready...or as ready as he'll ever be. There was only so much he'd reveal about his relationship with Cacira, but there was no chance of him going back to HQ. He needed to do this, and there was no turning back now.

He took the card, flipped it over in his fingers and inspected it closely, slipping it into his breast pocket for safekeeping once he was satisfied. “Mind if I stop by then?” he inquired with a slight smirk and a raised brow, taking another long puff out of the pipe before letting the smoke steam out of his mouth and nose with a heavy sigh. “Well you haven’t bored me yet, consider this conversation in your favor,” he added in a bit of a drawl, feeling the effects of both the absinthe and the smoke as his head lulled back onto the couch.



“So what’s this bookshop like? Get a lot of customers?” he continued, thoroughly at ease with where this was going and felt no need to rush right away into dealings. There was plenty of time to learn more about good old Inkie once the time came.

_{(omg i am so sorry for taking so long ;w; freelance work has slowly been killing me but i will be done in a day or two sobs q q9 )}