Collars and Masks

Who: Eris and Mathias
When: afternoon
Where: Babylon

Eris had been waiting for Mathias to arrive. And really, his timing was fairly fortuitous. She had the masquerade planned, and that ought to be an interesting time. So, she would like to have her new 'bodyguard' on hand for it. Just in case. Generally speaking, she was looking forward to getting a better gauge on the town. Who and what was in it. Besides, she was bored, really. Nothing exciting had happened in a while. The shadows had been entertaining, but really.

Therefore, she thought she'd go and give people an excuse to converge. On her terms, of course. She planned for some surprises. She got notified when Mathias was on his way up, and of course waited for him to come in, setting everything else aside for the moment.

He'd considered leaving this until tomorrow. He'd only just got back to town, after all. Barely enough time to shower and change. But, what would that achieve, anyhow? He'd made his deal with the woman and he'd keep to his end of it - breaking it wouldn't accomplish anything. So, having stood outside for a couple of cigarettes' worth of time, he headed in and up to her office. He paused outside, before figuring he should probably knock.

At hearing the knock, Eris got up to open the door for him. "Mathias, nice to see you." she said with a smile, what might have been some semblance of warmth beneath it, but it was feigned. Eris rarely had true warmth for anyone. Even if she did find Mathias entertaining. "I trust you found your brother well?" she asked, letting him in as she headed back towards her desk.

"I did, thanks," Mathias said, stepping inside. Not that he really needed to thank her, in his opinion. This was a business deal - there was no suggestion that she'd done him a favour. But those were the little things that greased the wheels and gratitude never did any harm. "Did you miss me?" he added, giving her an almost cocky smile.

"You're welcome. And of course I did. Actually, I'm pleased you're back in time for my gathering tomorrow. I'll be requiring your presence." Eris told him, sitting back down behind her desk, but she kicked her feet up on it, and gestured to the bottles she had over against the wall. "Have a drink if you'd like." she invited.

Mathias considered the line of bottles, then poured himself a small glass. "Would you like anything?" he asked her, dropping a single lump of ice into the glass as he looked round at her. "And I saw the fliers. Are costumes mandatory even for staff?" he asked her.

"It would be nice if you came in costume." Eris said. "And please. Whatever you're having." she said. Anything in her office was ridiculously high quality, so it didn't matter what she had. "Or, you can merely go with a mask. That's the only true requirement." she added. "I'm sure you'll still be just as charming when women can't see your handsome face."

Mathias chuckled slightly and handed her the glass he'd gotten for himself, before pouring another one. "Mask, that I can do - I've never really been one for costumes though.
I think the best I could do you is just to go for the all in black thing - but I'm sure that people would forgive me..." he added, confident in the knowledge that he could generally get anyone to forgive him anything.

"Somehow, I imagine they would in fact, forgive you." Eris agreed with a light smirk. "But wear whatever you wish, just make sure you have a mask. That's all. I don't expect too much trouble, but one never knows. I have invited the whole town. It would actually be mildly disappointing if absolutely nothing happened..."

"I'm sure if you get truly bored, you can think of something," Mathias told her, raising his glass in a small toast, before taking a sip. It was, in fact, truly excellent quality - but then he'd expected no less. "In the meantime, if I'm working here, why don't you go over what you expect from me and anything else I'm going to need to know."

Eris took her own drink and sipped it after holding it up with him. "There isn't a whole lot. Generally speaking you'll be paid but bored. Violence in general is warded against in my establishment. You will be exempt. I just occasionally need someone around so that others don't get the bright idea to try anything against me personally. There's a loophole, you see." she explained, setting her glass on her blotter.

Mathias looked at her. "Define 'warded'," he said, first and foremost. "It there's shit going to be raining down, even if I'm exempt from it, I want to know ahead of time. The effect is so much better if I don't end up standing there shocked as hell," he pointed out. And yes, it was all about the effect. "And then go on and tell me about this loophole," he added. Those were the two things he wanted to know at this point.

"Anyone who instigates violence within the walls of Babylon, if it isn't sanctioned, such as certain rooms upstairs...gets teleported away to a random location. Which means the problem isn't a problem anymore, at least, not right here. It's probably a difficulty for them, but there's enough warnings up and around to say that people were warned." Eris explained. "They go poof, other people wonder what the fuck happened to them, people don't continue to cause problems." she extrapolated out for him. "So far it works well. But there's always someone who wants to try and buck the system." She tsked. "The loophole is that I am exempt from it as well. With the way I have things set up, the wardings I have in place don't recognize me as seperate from Babylon. And it wouldn't go off if say, someone punched a wall. Therefore my policies will help defend everyone inside it's walls that aren't me."

"Right, so, someone hits me, they fuck off - someone hits you and they break your nose," Mathias summarised. "That seems easy enough to get around," he mused, after another sip of his drink. "Just make sure that someone's between you and whoever's coming at you." As long as if wasn't a bullet, of course someone would be having a really bad day.

"Correct." she said. "Things should be fairly easy for you, like I said. I haven't really made many enemies here, I don't plan to, and most people are good little children and follow the rules, especially if they get that there's something going on they don't understand. Such as the fact that Babylon doesn't stay put. But...it's always best to be safe instead of sorry, so, you're hired. Like I said, you'll likely not have a lot to do. If you're bored, you can just hang around, sample what you like. Talk to whoever, and I'll just say now for clarity any business you happen to drum up while you're on duty is still your business. I don't care what you set up while you're working for me, so long as you make sure nothing gets to me."

"I'm not out for business - I'm keeping a low profile myself," Mathias told her. "If I'm drumming up business, it won't be around here. Too close to home for my line of work. But thanks anyhow. So, do I start tomorrow, or do you need me here today?" he asked, figuring that this was probably going to be the most boring job in the world, but he'd always found regular jobs to be that - no matter how much people may claim otherwise. It was like having a leash around his neck. Just another facet to make him feel caged here.

"Tomorrow." Eris said, not especially feeling the need to have him there right this second. "We'll negotiate your schedule then. But tomorrow you're expected to be here. Remember the mask." she said, with a light smile. "Have a good night, unless you wanted to stick around just to be in my company." she said with a wink, knowing full well he wouldn't.

"Maybe some other time, sweetheart," Mathias allowed. In actual fact, Eris intrigued him on a lot of levels, but right now, right now he knew that she had him over a barrel and he wouldn't be her little puppy dog, lounging at her feet. So, he'd leave - and in all of this, he'd keep his distance. He set the half-finished glass down on the table and turned towards the door. "See you tomorrow - mask and all," he told her, before walking out.

"Nighty night, dearheart." Eris said, wiggling her fingers after him as he left. Then she finished her drink, and went back to her paperwork and design ideas, so everything would be perfect for tomorrow night.