Transguild Promenade, Tenth District, Ravnica (Monday, Fandom Time)

[deathsmajesty]

Ravnica was a much better plane to do one's recovering on. For one thing, it was still intact (or, well, as intact as any plane could be that housed the Izzet, the Rakdos, the Gruul, and the Simic), which meant that they were no longer lacking in the creature comforts that a disaster-struck plane simply couldn't provide. Liliana had left Gared with a truly obscene amount of money and told him to start overseeing the repairs to the structure of Vess Manor as soon as he could find enough surviving competent craftspeople to handle them.

They had gotten some news in the intervening time; Olivia Voldaren lived and had proclaimed herself Lord of Innistrad. No one knew what had happened to Sorin, but he hadn't shown up and beheaded her with his claws for the audacity, so it was possible that the previous Lord of Innistrad hadn't survived the battle. Liliana privately assumed he'd Planeswalked elsewhere when the fighting had gotten to be too much, but Olivia certainly wasn't telling--not that Liliana had gone to confer with her 'friend' in person. Runo had also survived, or so the gossip said, though much of the Stromkirk line had been twisted by Emrakul's corruption. Piotr had been one so corrupted, and 'put down' by Thalia and her cathars in the new 'Order of Saint Traft,' whatever that was. Kristoff was said to have survived, though the same could not be said of most of his grandchildren, all of whom had been human and thus, easy prey. The Falkanraths had been similarly twisted, and rumors said there were barely a third of them remaining. The Markovs had, of course, been mostly slaughtered in their home (though Liliana now had an idea of what happened there), and while Olivia had declared herself the victor of the battle with Nahiri the Lithomancer and her army of Eldrazi spawn, a large percentage of her line had died on the battlefield as well.

It was truly a fascinating time in vampire politics right now, and if it didn't involve being on a plane where privation was a fact of life for even the most rich and powerful, Liliana would be gleefully watching as they all fought and scrabbled for power, probably with popcorn.

But since Innistrad was in such a pathetic state, they had decamped to Ravnica for a bit, where they could enjoy peace, plenty, and the pleasures of civilization. Liliana had merely had to mention the quality of healthcare she might receive at the Clinic to immediately convince Ignis that Ravnica was a much congenial locale for her recovery. And so it had been; in fact, they were even taking a stroll along the Transguild Promenade from the South Plaza towards the Gateway Plaza, where the Hall of the Guildpact - and, according to her spirit spies, the 'Headquarters of the Gatewatch' - were located.

What a crazy random happenstance.

[NFB for distance and for the paramour, please]

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

"Well, you certainly don't need my permission, my darling," Liliana said. "And it doesn't seem like they're talking to me, so..."

"Gideon." Jace's voice was tentative, slight. He nodded towards the far corner and the two of them shifted over there to talk quietly amongst themselves. Liliana made sure to show no hint of the smile she felt, while Chandra chattered at them both to relieve some of the awkwardness of the moment. Yes, Cloak Boy, bumble your hesitant way toward your sincere desire to help me.

They came back a few minutes later and it was clear Gideon was not happy about it. Though Liliana was not sure Gideon was ever happy about anything. You should at least delight in your youth and attractiveness while you still have it. Why are children so dumb?

There were more do-gooder words about do-gooding, Gideon asking if she, too, would keep watch, but Liliana was too focused on the oath to pay close attention. She had thought extensively about the right approach to the oath. Too sincere, too sugary, and suspicions would be raised—suspicions that would make her next steps harder. But too cynical, too revealing, and those suspicions would instead be confirmed. She needed a delicate touch, a hint of cynicism but with her heart clearly in the right place. Worse yet, she wasn't just trying to convince these idiots children, but Ignis, who knew her far better than they ever would.

"Oh fine," she sighed. "I can already tell that Ignis wants to - or at least feels obliged to anyway - and who am I to interfere?" A slight wrinkle of her nose, another sigh, and she was offering up her oath. "I've learned over the past year and a half that together we're more powerful than we are alone. If that means I can do what needs to be done without relying on the Chain Veil, then I'll keep watch. Happy now?"

[chef_chocobro]

Well, Ignis had been willing to give the others the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he had perceived even more about this situation incorrectly, but now there was no denying that they had been intentionally skirting around Liliana or her potential inclusion. And while he would have suspected it wasn't a thing she'd like to be involved in regardless, it did not settle well with him that they had been skirting around the fact that none of them would even be here to have this discussion without her. To dismiss her so roundly, and not even have the decency to even be subtle about it...

But Liliana would never go in on something like this, and he prepared for her to thoroughly thrash the entire notion down to its very conceit...

...only to have her...acquiesce? Agree? With an almost certainly performative casualness, at that. And that tug of cynicism, of doubt, found itself settling, though, with the rest of her words. He knew she was sincere, at least about wanting to rely on the Chain Veil less, and she had shown up in the end, hadn't she?

He certainly didn't want to do this unless it was with her; and he'd suspected that would be an easy out, a convenient excuse. But if she was genuinely interested?

The next tug was in the corner of his mouth upward, Just slightly.

"Well, if even Liliana is on board," he stated, "then I am truly bereft of reasons why I shouldn't be as well. Truth be told, you wouldn't even need an oath from me to begin with. Should any of you seek me out for aid or assistance, it was already yours. But, since I do have a healthy respect for the proper order of things and neatly official boxes, yes. I will keep watch."

And he'd even be good and not make some remark about the questionable nature of that particular wording.

[mtggarystu]

"Excellent!" Jace said, all smiles now that everything has been sorted to his satisfaction. Chandra was also happy with the outcome, cheering and making enough noise for all four of them.

Which was good, since neither Gideon nor Nissa were particularly happy about Liliana's inclusion and were not pretending otherwise.

"So, we're using these rooms as our headquarters," Jace continued. "Everybody's been given their own personal suites, just speak to my assistant Lavinia and she'll assign you somewhere. She knows what we are and what we're doing, so you won't have to worry about hiding it from her. And--"

"Oh, no thank you, darling."

"Huh? What?" Jace stopped, looking almost comedically confused. "No thank me for what?"

[deathsmajesty]

"No thank you for the offer of rooms," Liliana said crisply. "I have my own townhouse, and I see no reason why I should give it up and move in here. I quite like my own space, thank you."

Not that the Hall of the Guildpact wasn't large enough to fit all of them and never notice, but Liliana Vess would die before she relied on Jace Beleren to provide for her.

"You...do?" Jace asked.

"Yes, Jace," Liliana said, slowly and simply, like talking to a child. "I've been renting that townhouse since before we met."

"I...didn't know that."

"Yes, Living Guildpact, I'm aware," Liliana drawled. "But unlike some Planeswalkers, I prefer to maintain residences on the planes where I spend a great deal of time, rather than acting like an itinerant drifter. So you may keep your rooms, Ignis and I are fine in our current lodgings."

Please note she wasn't sharing the location of said lodgings. Look what happened the last time he had known where to find her.

"Now then, as delightful an exploration into true friendship as this was, I do believe it's time for us to depart. I promised Ignis we'd try for Millennial Platform tickets tonight. Unless you happen to have any...?"

"Err..."

"Yes, that's about what I figured," Liliana sighed. "It's a good thing I didn't join this group for the perks." She said it with a touch of a smile, but just a touch. Besides, her pleasure was genuine. The best lies always contained enough truth to slide through.

She was now a member of the Gatewatch. Futures unfolded in her mind, full of promise and ambition.

"My darling, are you ready?"

[chef_chocobro]

"I do believe so," Ignis replied. This was not entirely true; especially regarding the conversation with lodgings, he'd had a few questions pop up into his mind about logistics, but, quite frankly, he was sure it would all be sorted out should the need for this Guildwatch crop up again. He would like to think that it would be a good, long while before they had to worry about it, but, considering this lot....

Well...

But he also didn't feel very compelled to get into it now, either. His mind was already working towards something else, and for that, he would need to be alone with Liliana again. And so they made their departure, back out into the streets of Ravnica, and once he was quite certain they were a good distance away, the arm around Liliana pulled her in closer.

"Darling," he said, hoping to finally put this nagging curiosity to rest, "what are you scheming here?"

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana nearly made the fatal misstep of freezing upon those words; only centuries of deception let her continue on with not even a hitch in her strolling stride.

Damned too-perceptive paramours.

"Me? Scheming?" she asked with exaggerated innocence. "You don't believe I have been struck with the overwhelming desire to join the ranks of do-gooders?" Her over the top shock lasted through until her brain could hastily provide a convenient explanation. "My darling, that's terribly hurtful. Surely I could have no ulterior motives...like shoving myself directly where I'm not wanted and making them choke on the everything that I am."

Well, she didn't have to feign that bout of spiteful amusement and offense, at least. It would have the utter ring if truth.

[chef_chocobro]

There was a faint huff at that, a little too indignant to be fully amused. "The absolute nerve," he said, letting himself get distracted from his main point because it had been building up ever since he realized that this invitation hadn't been intended for her at all. "None of us would have even been here to even have that discussion if not for you, and then to blatantly disregard that while apparently singing the praises of everyone," oh, his voice was dripping with vitriol as he echoed Gideon'scwords, "in the room. So, yes, quite frankly, making them choke on just how much they owe you as often as possible is quite the noble pursuit indeed, but..."

Just because he was going to detract from his main point didn't mean he wasn't going to circle back around to it.

"That doesn't take into account why we were so eager to accept this audience in the first place, my love."

What was that? About too-perceptive paramours?

[deathsmajesty]

They needed to be stopped at all costs was what.

"Well, if you must know, I was hoping to be invited back into their little coffea klatsch, she huffed. "In no small part because if they're going to continue blundering into problems, I want to know up front what they're doing and who they're antagonizing, so I can prepare myself for whatever happens. I certainly don't wish to get caught in the middle of things because of their short-sighted ignorance."

She let that linger there in the air between them, as if that was all she was going to say, before relenting and adding, "And because they may prove to be useful."

And then, even more reluctantly still, "...and, because, it wasn't the worst thing. Standing up to Emrakul. Keeping her from killing you..." And then she put on her most ungracious and truculent expression. "And if I'm going to be pulled into doing so anyway..."

[chef_chocobro]

Whatever Ignis was going to say at the end of that lingering died away on his tongue as Liliana continued, and he was all the more glad to have lost it. A soft smile took its place. Had he guessed these ulterior motives correctly? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps he was just glad that she'd told him any of it at all.

He leaned in to kiss her.

"If it's any consolation," he offered, "I do hope to reduce such incidents significantly in the future. "

[deathsmajesty]

And how much had she said that was the truth? How much had she carefully left out, trusting that she could keep him focused on certain aspects more than others? And how much was truer than she even knew?

Who could say?

"Hmph," Liliana sniffed, "I'm not sure how you retained that sense of giddy optimism in the face of Jace Beleren, but here you apparently are."

She kissed him again as they made their way to the steam trolley station to head back to her townhouse in the Fifth Precinct. Not that she was tired, mind. She just wanted to get Ignis home. They could try for Millennial Platform tickets another time.

"It will be interesting to see how they manage the mental gymnastics of keeping their distaste for me, and yet calling upon my power, don't you think?"