An Open Invite

[Anton]

Entering the room, Anton almost died on the effort to keep a lid on stating how unsurprising it was that the Brujah had only a weapon of murder to offer. In a polite game of cards.

Ignoring that Clan as much as he could, the Malkavian sniffed, and crossed the room, coming up stealthily behind Keane's seat. Crouching down slightly he murmured,

"Dad, you know that's not Valentina, right?" just under his breath. Anton tapped the elder's hand on the third knuckle, just where it was fondling the coach, and Anton vanished cheekily around the sofa, plonking himself down beside Keane.

"You look like you're really socialising over here. Can I join you?"

[Posh-Tim]

Keane looks down at his knuckles where he was tapped, realises someone is talking to him and goes through the ridiculous motion of turning the wrong way round on the sofa to see who it was before Anton plonks down next to him.
"I'm what? Oh, yes. I'm not very good with card games. Well, that or too good. You understand."
Keane is still quite bleary and takes a moment to realise who he's talking to.
"Oh, Anton. How did it go, did you talk about everything you wanted to?"
He smiles in a soppy sort of half drunken way.

[alanwrotethis]

[Anton]

Anton peers warily into Keane's eyes, noting the wider-than-usual pupils and the lapse of noticing Anton's barb.

"Are you - are you drugged?"

Let it not be admitted that is in fact - concern - that warms the boy's emerald eyes, as they search his Primogen's. Anton casts his attention around the room, inhales once, and spears the teapot an angry glance.

He fastens his gaze on Keane. "... Hey, are you all right? You took that willingly, right?"

[Posh-Tim]

Keane looks momentarily confused by the enquiry then tags on to the sentiment behind it.
"What? Oh! Yes. I forgot, you don't drink do you. Well, it is a party after all and you were taking so long you see."
He feigns (badly) a sense of hurt.
"Besides it really is quite relaxing. It's something new they call Opium. Raife told me about it at first but then Elder Aurelia over there made some for everyone when we were at the Sheriffs house."
He gets the vague sense he's rambling.
"Anyway, never mind that now. Did you manage to do everything you wanted to do."
Again he smiles at Anton to continue.

[Anton]

Anger and futility pass through Anton's eyes like stormclouds hurrying over.

"All right..." he says doubtfully, watching Keane for several seconds longer than necessary. "Wait - what? I told you I would be just under an ho- oh. You're joking. You're joking? You're joking." Anton blinks, an impish light gently returning to his gaze. "I didn't know you could do that, Dad."

Anton sobers a little more. "Opium, huh?" He glances back at the teapot, but at the name 'Raife' and moreso 'Aurelia' Anton's aura darkens and he focusses entirely on the middle distance.

"Oh right. Maybe we shouldn't be all just drinking stuff from strangers, huh?"

Anton shoots an accusatory look at the teapot, and then looks at Keane. "Yeah I managed to do what I needed to do. I just wanted to... catch up on some things. I didn't really know Vex before, but a friend of mine did, pretty well. I'll fill you in later."

"So," Anton flops backwards, falling partly towards Keane so that his shoulder bumped his. The earlier anger was still livening the Malkavian's aura, and occasionally his gaze would swing back to the card table. "Who do you think will win? Why aren't you playing? Is it cause you're drugged?"

[L .]

"But I don't have anything with me," Aurelia frets. She looks down at the only article of clothing that she's wearing, beyond her boots that is. Skin-tight black silk shifts slightly as she does, and the Elder quirks an eyebrow, makes a thoughtful face.

"Unless we are playing... strip game?"

As the conversation builds around her she intuits someone's attention like an egg down her spine, and lifts her gaze to search the room. Almost everyone's sat at the table. But she eventually comes to double-take a surprisingly vehement look from someone she didn't recognise at all.

Eh?

Aurelia blinks, her eyes falling half-mast in thought. Partly in curiosity, partly in reflexive ire to those sort of looks.

[Posh-Tim]

[alanwrotethis]

Niketas watches Aurelia's eyes as she searches the room. When he catches her gaze his fingers tap on his wrist, and he nods.

[Anton]

There's a lot of things Anton wants to say about that game, not least Dukes' advantage and the seating arrangement given where two mirrors were located, but Anton's gaze was still fixed on Keane. Finally, and as Keane continued to talk, the anger bled away to leave only concern.

He forces it aside with some effort as he relaxes his shoulders, giving Keane a weak smile at the nose-in-the-air pout. "I liked your card reading. That whole night lead to - uh - interesting events."

"How long do we have to stay?" Anton gives a bleak look back to the pot, tension coiling and uncoiling in his muscles. "Is everyone getting wasted?"