banana It's Saturday night.. and the pressure is on! Though ...

VermainNicolaeVermain<strong>banana</strong>dammitwho<strong>banana</strong>mattbaby<strong>banana</strong>NicolaeVermaindammitwhoNicolaeThe whole last month has been somewhat of a blur forAnatoli. After <strong>the</strong> Manion incident, he reported back,faithful a hound as ever, <strong>and</strong> now... well, what -now-?H<strong>is</strong> sire was looking awfully perky for someone who wasnearly destroyed by a yeti, <strong>and</strong> for someone who wascamped up in <strong>the</strong> cellar of <strong>the</strong> Dragon's academy. Which,of course, only brought <strong>the</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r question of why hewas <strong>the</strong>re to mind.He looks down at <strong>the</strong> splintered doorframe in h<strong>is</strong> h<strong>and</strong>."Ah, yeah..." He shrugs.All in all, Anatoli has an armful of questions <strong>and</strong> fewanswers. And <strong>the</strong> d<strong>is</strong>co lights are only fur<strong>the</strong>ring <strong>the</strong>descent of h<strong>is</strong> mood.Vermella flickers eyelids, <strong>the</strong> butler makes her shrug."On matters like th<strong>is</strong>, I think ANY sane Kindred will beon <strong>the</strong> same side as us."She's about to say more, but at that moment your phonerings.Sarah looks apologetic at her sire, <strong>the</strong>n flips open herphone. "Yes."Anatoli's been left with more questions than answers,but also few responsibilities. As <strong>the</strong> Prince's..whatever he <strong>is</strong>, he's got free accomodation <strong>and</strong> neverhas trouble hunting - boredom <strong>is</strong> almost a problem.People seem slightly scared of him, <strong>and</strong> Luca Sillovir<strong>is</strong> h<strong>is</strong> main conversational<strong>is</strong>t. She's here to<strong>night</strong>,somewhere, but not on th<strong>is</strong> sofa."M<strong>is</strong>s Thalmann. <strong>It's</strong> Anton. Do you have a moment?"Meghen takes a couple of shaky steps back, getting awayfrom your presence enough to calm her Beast. "Right.Okay, shall we go, <strong>the</strong>n? Th<strong>is</strong> place <strong>is</strong>n't verycomfortable with that hole.""Right. First I want to make a call. Where should Imeet my backup?" he asks, getting out h<strong>is</strong> cell.Anatoli <strong>is</strong>, frankly, a bit relieved. As charmed as he<strong>is</strong> with Luca, he's found her starting to be a bitgrating on him. Perhaps it's merely <strong>the</strong> fact that sheseems to be <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r end of <strong>the</strong> conversation moreoften than not, or how often she's interested in bloodtoasts. But <strong>the</strong>re's very few o<strong>the</strong>r people who seem tobe willing to converse with Anatoli, or, perhaps, justput up with h<strong>is</strong> bad accent.<strong>It's</strong> Lady Thalmann, you god-damned nouveau richeglorified accountant. "M<strong>is</strong>ter Chernovic! I'm sure I canspare some time for you. What <strong>is</strong> it?" she sayspolitely.Dietrich looks over at Meghen, <strong>and</strong> dials a number,looking at her out of <strong>the</strong> corner of h<strong>is</strong> eye. He hopes