The Cardinal lounge was the less-reputable section within the larger Opulent Pyre establishment. Located behind the bar and down a dank hallway, the suspicious, black-padded door almost felt inviting, despite the scenery around it. Kieryn paused at the door handle and reached into his jacket pocket. Unfolding them from the handkerchief, he adorned the crimson-lensed circular glasses that pinched upon his nose. The lenses were mirrored, obfuscating the Ashenborn's most telling features. More than that, they were almost more infamous than the man behind them at this point.
Swinging open the door to the Cardinal Lounge revealed a more intimately sized, quiet club. Lower-volume swing music was played by a small band upon the walnut-colored stage. The entire room was accented with shades of a brighter red than Kieryn's taste preferred, and dark-colored woods accented the extravagant furniture. The smell of Rockweed was far more subtle than within the Pyre itself, and it wasn't the only substance consumed around the premise. Several well-dressed men and women were sat, leaning around a small table and separating what looked to be like blackvine into ivory-colored lines among the table, to be consumed leisurely throughout the night
Kieryn's eyes danced around the room, Ava was nowhere to be found. She knew full well of the lounge, and occasionally could be found within, but tonight she was lost within the sea of people out front of the establishment. Kieryn felt a mix of relief, but also worry. There are few within the Rhenvale underworld he can still call his ally, a picture clearly painted by the gazes many flashed Kieryn upon his entry.
The front club and bouncer may have not known who he was. The people in this lounge, however, certainly did.
"Well, fancy seeing you around these parts, Kieryn!" A jovial female voice could be heard from the upper balcony seating. A clack of shoes and tapping of a cane echoed through the floors as a petite, younger red-headed woman leaned over the top railing, overlooking the lounge. She wore a black bowler-style cap, with a small cardinal's feather pinned within it, the hat far too large for her head. Her voluminous hair puffed out from the underside of the cap, flowing in large curls down past her shoulders, draped on the dark, grey fur of the long, purple coat. Behind her, A tall, pale man with horn-rimmed glasses towered over, dressed in a perfectly fitting black suit and matching tie, with a bright red pocket square folded neatly into a tri-fold. His alpine green hair stood out from the rest of the color scheme of the room, putting much attention on him. Covered in the many layers of his suit, it was hard to get a judge on how he filled it out. From the way it draped over him, he appeared to have a similar build to Kieryn, albeit shorter. Slender, athletic. Built for dexterity, not raw strength.
"You got a lot of nerve, walking in here with the Whorl." The woman teased across the room, a wolfish grin upon her small face as she crossed her arms, resting them on the balcony ledge. Kieryn bowed his head, formally returning his response. "Giselle, glad to see you're well. I happened to run into Ava in the line, just a coincidence."
"Coincidence? And just so soon after your big important meeting?"
Kieryn's eyes squinted underneath the glasses. Had news spread that soon?
"Well, you seem to get your news fast. Helped get me through the door faster. You really should work on that line around the building."
He lifted his head with a smirk just in time to see Giselle beckon him upstairs just as she stepped away from the railing. "Get up here, Kieryn!"
Careful to avoid bumping any tables, Kieryn made his way to the other end of the lounge, and up the red-carpeted stairs. At the top, he saw Giselle sitting cross-legged on a large, crescent-shaped sofa off to the side of the balcony. The cushions looked hardly used, save for the one under Giselle. An entirely separate bar was up here, where no bottom-shelf liquor was to be found. Giselle had expensive tastes in her drinks.
"Cardinal family's dealing in Blackvine now?" Kieryn spoke up, in a tone far more casual than when he was in the public eye. He and Giselle had a confusing past, and an even more confusing current standing with each other. "Seems a bit on the extreme side."
"Bosses just tell me what to push, I find a way to push it. Why, here to bust me, 'Agent'?" Giselle let out a quick, yet oddly cheerful titter as she spoke the words.
"Can't do business, not tonight. Besides, if I did, I'd miss out on all this!" Kieryn would wave his hands around at the Lounge. "Shade of red isn't quite to my taste, but it's a nice change of pace from home. Have you considered redecorating?"
"I heard about that. Can't practice until you've got employees, right? You always struck me as a more lone wolf kind of guy."
Giselle only had known Kieryn personally after his old Agency fell apart. Most had, in fact. It was easy to keep a low profile when you're mixed in with a larger crowd. Since then, Kieryn largely carried out his work as a drifting self-practitioner. Though she only knew Kieryn after that, they had met once before, in passing years prior while he was still working with his family. It was hard to tell if she even remembers that chance encounter, or if she's simply chosen to believe it never happened. It might be for the best if she had forgotten.
Kieryn sat down at the sofa, crossing his legs and sitting a reasonable few cushions away from Giselle. They weren't that close.
"Haven't found the right group of people, is all." He'd say, as he nodded to the bartender who reached for the shelf to pull out a decanter, full of brown liquor. Giselle side-eyed the bar.
"Blech. Do you still drink that stuff? Can't stand the aftertaste."
"My family was practically raised on the stuff, you know that." The comment was enough for Giselle to cross her arms, her body language stiffening.
"What did you come here for, anyway?"
"A drink, celebration, you know, the fun stuff--Who's he?" Kieryn would point his hand towards the well-suited, green-haired man across the sofa, who the entire time appeared sat laid back, arms sprawled over the top of the sofa with his legs crossed. Most within the Cardinal Lounge still kept their ears perked and nerves high, but this man seemed to be apathetic to the goings-on down on the first floor. His guard was completely down.
Giselle turned to the man, as the group remained quiet. His gaze slowly met Giselles, as he raised an eyebrow, causing his glasses to fall slightly down the bridge of his nose.
"Just a business partner," Giselle answered monotonously, turning back to Kieryn, who half-raised himself from the chair and extended his hand over to the man, the lanky arms of the Ashenborn capable of reaching across the table.
"Kieryn Tetrinos, a pleasure."
The man turned his head back to eye Kieryn, eyebrow dropped. He said nothing at first, but the moment they locked eyes, Kieryn felt uneasy. He could feel him staring through the glasses, making direct eye contact despite the mirrored lenses. A rush of emotions flowed through Kieryn, causing him to roll his shoulder and wince, uncomfortable as the gears in his head started to turn at the un-nerving sensation. The rings around the Ashenborn's eyes flared orange, as he felt naked to the eye of the man. The thoughts in his head raced faster than he could parse, trying to get a read on the man as he had so easily done to many in the past. But nothing came through, and it forced Kieryn to feel weak. Like the rug had been pulled out from him. He was struggling to keep a cohesive train of thought until the man finally spoke.
"Cedric." The man's low voice shot through his mouth, cutting Kieryn's trance. Kieryn felt force to shake his head clear, trying to re-align all the gears inside. He gave no last name, but Kieryn couldn't pry. He didn't want to. The sensation he felt wasn't one he had experienced before, he didn't want to keep the conversation going any longer. Cedric refused to meet the extended hand of Kieryn, who was stylishly saved by the bartender, cutting the awkwardness by sliding the requested drink into the outreached hand. "Ah--Thank you."
Giselle opted to cut the tension between the two. "So---" she cleared her throat. "Kieryn, it's convenient you came around anyways. some news popped up, I figured you'd want to know."
"About?"
"Mokeis guy, goes by the name of Aiko. He was out looking for you, seemed important?"
"Aiko's always got something going on that 'seems' important. But thanks for the heads up, any idea what it was about?" Kieryn started the sentence slowly, trying to come back to reality. It took a second for him to feel himself rebooting back to normal.
"Not sure." Something about Giselle's tone felt off to Kieryn, and her eyes seemed to dart to her left as she spoke, trailing in the direction of Cedric. It was hard for Kieryn to get a read on Cedric, not so much on Giselle. Cedric sat like a statue, still unmoving on the sofa since the conversation started.
"I see," Kieryn said with a large gulp of his drink. He felt it wasteful to take the drink in such stride, but something about Cedric's appearance brought a tangible pressure to the lounge Kieryn couldn't comprehend. Perhaps it was the unknown face, or simply the awkward encounter, but it made him feel unwelcome within the Pyre as a whole, let alone the Cardinal Lounge.
"It's clear you two have business to discuss, I'll leave you be. Bright and early tomorrow for interviews, after all. Have to keep a clean appearance." Kieryn stood up, setting his crystal glass upon the table and looking over the balcony, eyeing the patrons enjoying their night. Giselle stood with Kieryn, reaching for her ebony-colored cane. A denim blue handle engraved with a copious amount of gold inlay, including her 'GL' initials, and an oddly out-of-place revolver cylinder coated in the same gold in the middle of the handle.
It made more sense when you noticed the trigger that was attached to the handle. She always had a sense of the theatrics when she fought, and her gun was no exception. "I'll show you out, at least to the door. Don't really feel like dancing tonight." Another giggle exited her lips as she walked with Kieryn, down the stairs.
The two said nothing to each other as they crossed through the lounge. He felt a gaze on him, and Kieryn's turned his head to see Cedric staring at the two from the balcony, his head quickly becoming the same sense of overwhelming thoughts and emotions from before. He managed to keep appearances up, casually shuffling his way to the door. The moment his eyes left Cedric's, it became slightly easier to think and react, but the pressure was still felt. As he reached for the handle to the doorway out of the Lounge, he felt Giselle's slim fingers wrap carefully around Kieryn's other forearm. "Good luck out there, 'Agent' Tetrinos!" She spoke in a jesting tone, though as Kieryn's head turned to see the woman, her face seemed twisted. Her lips quivered slightly, and her eyes were squinted with worry. Kieryn briefly felt her fingers grip a bit upon his forearm, before she exaggeratedly closed her eyes, bringing a smile back to her face and spinning around, making her way back upstairs. Kieryn's gaze eyed back up to the balcony, careful to avoid Cedric's gaze, who was still overlooking the lounge with a stalwart gaze locked on to the pair.
Oddly enough, the first thing Kieryn noticed when looking over the balcony himself was the Blackvine that was cut into lines on the table of the guests. It remained untouched during Kieryn's entire visit, and the fogweed smell never raised above a faint wisp. People were being careful tonight in the lounge.
Perhaps it was Kieryn's appearance, or perhaps it was Cedric's that was setting people on edge. Or perhaps it was both, being in the lounge at the same time.
