Tell Me A Story [Open Topic]

(Topic Open to any and all Quincies)

Somewhere in the human realm there is a city and in that city rests a building and in that building there is a man. Not a particularly extraordinary man by appearances. He seemed like any upper class gentlemen. He wore expensive suits and drove expensive cars. He owned many houses in many different places. He was the envy of his peers but if they were to find out who he truly was... well-- let me tell you a story.

His name is Adam Dumont age 33, billionaire, (possibly trillionaire if we were being completely honest) philanthropist and the King of the Wandenreich, the governing body of the Quincy Empire. Today he had spent the morning hours discussing business with his COO, Selena Archiagott, and then the rest of the afternoon dividing his time between the various charities he helps run. Now it is 5pm on the verge of evening hours, it was starting to grow dark outside and Adam was in the basement training; keeping his skills sharp.

Underneath the massive structure was a training room designed to disperse reishi particles in the vicinity making it hard for Quincies to use their bows. He had turned the level up high and it did not go so well even for him. As he stepped out of the room he wiped off the sweat with a towel and hung it over his neck. He was wearing only a pair of slacks and a tight fitting tank top over his body. Protocol dictated that he should change but there are at least some benefits to being the king.

He immediately entered the elevator and he entered a code to notify his secretary.

"Yes Mr. Dumont?" He says.

"Please notify Miss Archiagott that I will be showing up early for our afternoon meeting." Adam says cooly with a slight smile.

"Um..." The Secretary says visably worried about the conversation he was about to have. Adam cuts him off before he can finish.

"It's ok, I can handle this myself." He smiles mischievously and his secretary breaths a sigh of relief before realizing what he was about to do. Adam cut the feed immediately so that he didn't have time to argue. He then stopped the elevator early and began to run through the various departments to see if anyone had any premeeting things they would like to bring up.

Selena found him almost immediately. The King probably noticed her approach though, to judge by the awkward shuffling of papers and suddenly absolutely busy looks everyone got. It was like a wave as the faint click of heels were slowly audible to more and more people.

Carrying a large clipboard sized tablet of some sort, she walked quickly along the way as a frown appeared on her face. She was watching the clipboard, tapping at it with a pencil length stylus. Her gaze was on that and that only, but no one dared look like they weren't working.

"You can't just move up meetings like that, Mr. Dumont. I have things to do as well, things you should be doing instead of socializing." As she reached Adam, her violet eyes came up and she shifted her glasses up in an angry glare. "I'll have to reroute no less than three of the checklists for today, EVEN accounting for your impossible to predict outtings which I carefully account for anyways. Your schedule is in shambles..."

"Chill out babe." A male voice would speak out after Selena went off on her mini-rant at their King. The sound of cigarette smoke being exhaled would be heard afterwards as Jack revealed himself to the other two in the room. He had previously been sitting in a lazy manner on one of the comfier couches in the room and enjoying the peace and quiet, but he knew that would be over when he heard the sound of the Xenocryst's heels clacking. He leaned his head a bit backwards to look towards Adam and Selena, giving a slight nod to the King in a respectful sort of way. He then tipped some ash from his cigarette in a nearby tray as he laid his arm over one of the armrests.

"You can't always have a schedule or be able to follow it. Spontaneity is the spice of life." The Sternritter smiled in an amused sort of way as he turned his attention towards the Operations Chief. He knew it would annoy her, but that was a bonus being able to catch these two together. He wanted to report to the Boss about the Jagdarmee anyways.

Lada casually strolled into the meeting room as if she had nothing important to do. The tall woman was not dressed for work, calling her attire business casual would be quite the stretch. A sequence top, a tight blazer that cause her breast to stick out, a mini skirt, and red high heels were not exactly office appropriate, but that was Lada. Not appropriate.

"At least I am not the last one her this time."

She said, giving a wink to Adam before sitting down and obnoxiously crossing her legs.

There was a noise from an adjoining hallway and a curious grunt before squeaking wheels could be heard. A moment later, an office cart wheeled into the hallway, lazily propelled by foot against whatever wall or adjacent object was available. On the cart sat Kostya, wearing what may have once been his finest suit. It was also clear he did not own a clothes iron. He was sitting comfortably atop the cart sipping at a cup of coffee, looking all too much like he had only recently awoken.

"Da, but you can not just spend all day sleeping on couches. It is important to find middle ground." He chimed in on the conversation, taking another sip of his coffee before turning an eye to Jack. "'ey. Can you spare me a cigarette?" He asked before finally addressing their King.

"Sorry for interrupting Adam, miss Selena." He gave them both a pleasant half nod. "I only just finished my work this morning and slept in the break room. Hopefully you do not mind?"

Hoping to buy a few more moments before confronting Selena he found himself face to face with her. How in blue blazes did she know that he was going to arrive early for their meeting? Adam was about to say something when several others arrived, one of them, Lada, had even mentioned a meeting that wasn't suppose to happen for another 2 hours.

Also Kostya had been sleeping in the nearby room. Not that Adam cared but all of it was contributing to Hurricane Selena. He thought about running away but his mother's voice echoed in his head, "A king belongs to his people". Adam took a cleansing breath and said

"Jack, Lada always a pleasure"
"Kostya if you prefer we have small rooms for these sorts of things scattered around if you like also my private residence is at the top of the building and you are always welcome to crash there."
"Selena... You know how much I appreciate the job you do here right? So take it from me, it'll be ok."

Adam rapid fired these replies like a professional marksman realizing that he had not averted the storm but if he could focus her derision towards him then at least the others would be spared.

Like a man with nothing more to lose he walked to the private refrigerator and pulled out several glasses. "Can I offer anyone a drink?"

By this point Adam had even forgotten that he was dressed in little more then jogging pants and a tanktop

"Oh, look it's you and that disgusting habit." Selena wrinkled her nose as she got a whiff of the smoke smell that permeated the vicinity with Jack. She shifted her glasses, the glare from the lights hiding her violet eyes for a second as she waved in front of her face with the other hand.

However before she could react much more, such as knifing the repulsive object, Lada walked in. Her eye twitched at the attire of the Lover. The Deadeye was a pain and annoying, but she could deal with him. Lada was another story. A sound that was very much like a rage filled grunt erupted from her mouth at the entrance of Kostya. Shaking with anger, she could barely speak as they just came in one after the other, before she could properly berate them or make comments.

The King's words only mollified her somewhat, and with a crack she snapped her stylus as she glared out at the assembled party of apparently slackers and useless dimwits. Forming a new crystal pointer, she held it out at Jack with as a dark aura emanated from her. "You! You're smoking habit is disgusting. Stop smoking in the building, no one else wants to smell like an ashtray."

"You either Kostya!" Her pointer now aimed the man on the cart. CART of all things, her fiery evil aura growing. "No smoking, also I DO mind you sleeping in the break room. That is a cart not a beeeed."

"...Lada, we have our issues and you know them. Please at least drop the sequins when not Casual Friday." Her hand shook as she finally turned to the King, while ignoring his offer to drink. Instead of any words, she just tossed the blunt and not strong crystal pointer at Adam. Then, she grabbed the drink tray from him and bent over to rifle through the fridge.

"NOW you may get a drink if you wish." As if she hadn't just gone on a tirade at each of them, she held the tray out and smiled slightly.

Kostya sighed, stretching as the COO worked herself into a frenzy. "Velp." It was usually best just to let her blow off some steam when this happened. He slipped off the cart and took a few steps, cracking his back with a grunt. "Not that I think it MATTERS in this situation, but I vas going to smoke outside." He nodded at Jack to see if he was going to join in the smoking area. Not that he would blame him if he kept trying to aggravate the great organizer. "And 'ey. If I thought it was okay, I vouldn't have asked."

Lada slowly got up and strolled over to Selena and grabbed a drink from the tray she was holding after she went on her little tirade. She was too cute to be such a stuck up little shit.

"Selena, I have something else you can add to your check list."

Lada said pointing at the tablet the woman was holding as she took a sip of her drink.

"Be sure to go fuck yourself."

Jack caught that death glare from Selena when she turned her tirade towards him as she went on a verbal attack on practically everybody in the room. He knew that one. That one was "I want you to go jump off a cliff without a bungee cord". He made mental notes of all the stares she gave him.

As she went off and he stopped paying attention to what she was yelling about, the Deadeye took the time to notice the others that had entered prior. Kostya and Lada...Jack didn't have any problems with these two. Kostya was a little rough and Lada was a little...well lets just say she got around, but its not like he cared how other people lived their lives. Wasn't his business. He nodded to his fellow Sternritters as they provided welcome distraction from the rage. Especially now that Lada was about to get a harsh tongue lashing.

He sat up a bit and reached into his jacket, pulling out a fresh cigarette and tossing it over towards the Russian for him to catch, then lazily lifted his rested arm back to his face and took another drag of the cigarette, blowing the smoke out through his nose this time as he turned towards the King.

"Hey Boss. You just get outta the gym or something?" He asked with a chuckle as he stood up, straightened out his jacket, and walked over towards Kostya to go join him in the smoking area. He also grabbed a glass of whatever whiskey they had from the tray, giving the orange-blonde haired woman a content smile as he walked by. It was about time he got up anyways. He had been lazing on that couch for the whole afternoon.

Kostya wrote:

"Not that I think it MATTERS in this situation, but I vas going to smoke outside."
"And 'ey.  If I thought it was okay, I vouldn't have asked."

"I appreciate that, my apologies. Just remember the rooms for impromptu naps." The way she said impromptu made it sound like a bad word, but she did give a nod and a smile to the man. He was rather polite and she understood why he was so tired. If only he could contain it to the right rooms...

Lada wrote:

"Selena, I have something else you can add to your check list."

"Be sure to go fuck yourself."

Lada's words caught her attention and instead of the blow up everyone expected, it was merely a cold tone. "I criticize your work and you bring up personal? What we do on our own times is our business. I stay out of yours, so I expect you to stay out of mine."

Her work ethic had nothing to do with her sex life or lack of. Why did everything with Lada revolve around that?

Jack wrote:

He also grabbed a glass of whatever whiskey they had from the tray, giving the orange-blonde haired woman a content smile as he walked by. It was about time he got up anyways. He had been lazing on that couch for the whole afternoon.

She tried to be polite and say nothing, but he ignored her and just...continued smoking. If Selena had been the type, she would have ducked the tray down for he couldn't get any. That smile made her angry again and she narrowed her eyes. If she could adjust her glasses again she would. "Just do it outside in the first place. Ugh, its disgusting."

Kostya gave a sideways glance to Selena, placing the unlit cigarette in his mouth. He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Do not be bottling up your anger too much Selena. You will get stomach ulcers, then bleed and die." He muttered through the cigarette, giving her a second reassuring pat before heading out for the smoking area. He did a half turn, walking backwards, as he preemptively pulled his lighter out. "Let me know if you need to talk to me about anything else."

"You didn't criticize my work, you criticized my fashion sense, which might as well be personal."

Lada sat back down in her chair once again crossing her legs. She sipped the whiskey and then placed it on the table next to her as she eyed the woman.

"I was merely suggesting that if you got a little bit you might be a much more pleasant person to be around is all. No need to be so uptight. I might dress racy and suck the occasional dick, but I do my work, and I do a damn good job."

As some of the group began to disperse it was time to take care of the most obstinate member. Usually a gentle touch would suffice but he would not hear them bicker like this while he was in the room and things would only escalate given time. This time though Adam didn't even take a deep breath before he began.

"Lada..." he starts calmly enough before finishing with. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE TILL I CALL YOU BACK." and with a shove she exunted from the room. Adam then shut the door and locked it for good measure so that only he and Selena were in as Jack and Kostya had left to go smoke in a different part of the building.

He then composed himself and said over the intercom "Can the Chief of Security report to Meeting Room #9 please?"

In the meanwhile he began pouring himself a drink. Usually wine sufficed but this was a vodka day. He took a mental note to share it with the others later. "Why today... if the pull this nonsense tomorrow..." Adam says to no one in particular while sitting down.

Finally calm and relaxed he looked towards Selena with his soft eyes and asked "So, going to berrate me how this wouldn't have happened if I had just stuck with the schedule?"

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom

Or smoking area, whichever suits your fancy, Jack finished the cigarette he was on, exhaling the smoke as he put it out in the closest ashtray to where the two Sternritter were standing. Reaching into his jacket with his free hand, as he was too lazy to drop his drink, he put the fresh one on the tip of his lips and looked towards Kostya.

"Light me up too would ya?" He asked in a slightly muffled manner, before chuckling a bit "Truth be told, good thing we got out of there, hm?" He asked, gesturing his head back slightly to the meeting room down the hall, where Adam had just screamed at Lada.

Kepler wrote:

Kostya gave a sideways glance to Selena, placing the unlit cigarette in his mouth.  He gave her a pat on the shoulder.  "Do not be bottling up your anger too much Selena.  You will get stomach ulcers, then bleed and die."  He muttered through the cigarette, giving her a second reassuring pat before heading out for the smoking area.  He did a half turn, walking backwards, as he preemptively pulled his lighter out.  "Let me know if you need to talk to me about anything else."

"I... fine." Maybe Selena seemed soft on him for not getting upset over his sleeping during work hours, but his job wasn't like the others. Not what he did for the Wandenreich, his work hours during the day were a bit shifted. She had adapted his schedule to make up for that... If only he'd actually SLEEP IN THE ROOMS.

She was focusing on how to make a new reminder for the man, not even paying as much attention to Lada as she should while tapping at her tablet, when Adam had a rare outburst. Frowning as he locked the door, that would look rather odd but he was the King and CEO, she just took a seat and set her tablet down. "I apologize, my King. It was harsh of me to take out my rescheduling anger on them."

A half smile formed on her face as he commented, looking up as she shook her head. "It is obvious you've seen the error of your ways. Such a group of characters, A King of Fools and miscreants... Who deserved it."

Adam winced a bit at the word "King" being said but then smiled and took a long drink from his cup before setting it down. "I think everyone here is already used to these outbursts so there is little need to apologize. You conducted yourself professionally enough after she insulted you so don't worry about it." Adam said with a hand wave.

"Oh and by the way, there is no need to be so formal. I hear "Sir" and "your grace" more often then I can count in the average day so unless we are in a group function like our meeting later, Adam is fine." He then closes the bottle and puts it away.

"I suppose you might be right in that regard" Adam chuckles before looking at his phone.

"I got the e-mail in regards to our string of auction houses and I think you're right. We should probably be pressing them for more capital but I'd like to start donating a portion of ours to a preservation of the arts charity. Say maybe... 1% while increasing our cut by 3% which would make that an even 15% if I'm not mistaken." Adam jots something down on his note pad.

"Other then that I don't think I have anything that shouldn't be adressed to the group as a whole. Do you have anything for me this evening? Oh and what did we have to change around to make room for this change in plans?" Adam asked in complete business mode firing off questions and reports that make up the normal part of their routien(sp?),

"How rude."

Lada said to herself more than anyone else as she smoothed her clothes after she was shoved from the room. So what if she was a little crass, was that any reason to perform acts of physical violence? Maybe. She didn't really give a shit. Until she was needed for something she was going to go find something to do.

"You remind me this everyday, and yet it never seems to stick. I wonder why, my King." Selena's tone was flat even as she almost made a joke. Waving off the compliment, she turned her tablet and continued to tap away at it. "Of course, Lada and I have a well arranged work around for such things. Its almost like a waltz by now, knowing all the steps and what the other will respond with. It is the same with Jack. They both know how to bother me and yet still be efficient enough to not bother with."

She merely sniffed slightly at the comment about being right, shifting her glasses up. Selena had to sigh but she waved her hand across the screen. "I expected you would want that to do that, so I have a list of charities with checks done on them as well as a few local places in need of some monetary assistance. Ones you can visit and make a bigger impression on in a shorter amount of time."

With her swipe the list was sent to Adam, while she set the tablet down and laid her cheek on her hand. Lowering her glasses, she rubbed at her eyes. "I admit I was tired and was hoping for a nap. As for you, you have a meeting with another local small company that you gave approval for weeks ago to meet with you. Their business plan was day cares for office workers, it seems we could profit from it quite easily. However, it was pushed back due to issues on both ends. Today is the last day they can hope to meet with you, since this sort of overhaul in office work requires your approval and I really would feel best if you met with them."

"I met with them when they requested, it would improve office moral and make commuting easier for many. Also the company was started by a distant cousin, so any special emergencies would be accounted for as well." Selena had no need to say what kind of special emergencies, nor did she have to. Because of the family aspect, she felt it best for the King to give final approval.

"Also, you had a marriage meeting. I can't continue to stand in for you, some of the families are getting peeved and assuming you are involved with another woman already. Particularly me." Selena scoffed and then glared, her glasses flashing in a menacing way. "If you don't start going to more than a few, those sorts of rumors are going to gain a foothold My King. I do not wish this."

Adam once again scoffed and rolled his eyes at the king comment. "At least don't do it with anyone else around. Not everyone here is a Quincy." She never actually did but if she was going to joke about it, well then fuck it, she was going to get the reminder.

"Yes the last COO could not quite handle it. You on the other hand have not only managed it but some how turned it to your advantage. If you don't mind if i toot my own horn for a moment, I think I chose most wisely." Adam said with a laugh before taking a small sip. "You know what the funny thing is? The COO position is usually held by a Grandmaster. If it hadn't been for my rather unorthodox approach to who I chose for those positions, I bet this decision would have looked awfully strange. Instead I think our people are just happy that things are running smoothly again."

At this Adam shook his head with a smile and checked his watch, something that he did almost by reflex. He then took a a look at the places and nodded knowingly. Then with an almost stoic expression he said "Please arrange my schedule to accommodate a visit in these two places on the day after tomorrow"

This was actually a little unusual for Adam as he preferred to deal with this sooner then later but tomorrow was a big day for him and unlike every other day of the week, he had nothing scheduled. Tomorrow was the day his family was killed. "Yes, after our board meeting I'll meet with them but i'd like Kostya there with me. I don't need him to do anything but having someone who looks more cutthroat then I am will put them on edge which should give us a better negotiating avenue. Remember this, you don't need to be the bad guy on things as long as you know someone who can be."

"Well maybe I wish that they would." Adam said with almost look of sincerity before he smiled. "I have an idea, how about you marry this woman. I hear she has a solid upbringing. Comes from a 'noble line' whatever the hell that means nowadays and I hear she isn't opposed to threesomes if her brother is to be believed. I'll even bless you both. Can't get a better deal then that huh?"

"That is what Mr Dumont is for." A quirk at the corner of her lip disappeared at The King's next words, nodding her head. "I do appreciate you taking the risk and hiring me straight out of school, especially with my age. Maybe with time I will reach Grandmaster, but for now... Kostya and Jack aren't suited to this job and I am. Times change and we adapt. In matters of the spiritual, I follow their orders implicitly."

Writing into the schedule as she spoke, Selena quickly reorganized the schedule two days hence. She then sent a quick message to Kostya's phone, not an urgent one but with the information to be in the meeting room at the assigned time. "Of course Sire. I shall note it. Kostya has been informed he needs to be here for the meeting. Or at least his phone was, I shall speak with him after I leave here just to be sure."

"If you wish to satisfy the ones seeking your hand with that then, you would have to send a marriage offer to the head of my family with a written up contract." Selena finally let a smile show fully, a smirk. "Considering I am the head, I can assure you unless ordered the response would be no. Also, your idea wouldn't he half bad, but wouldn't it be best to cut out the middle woman in that situation? They want children, so I would assume I'd have to have relations with her brother a bit, so what use is marrying me to her? It also doesn't solve your lack of an heir either or her lack of a contract that will bring children into the world. Most of the older families seem to look down on conception help and prefer the old fashioned ways."

"Right I chose them for their loyalty and work they've done in the war, not neccesarily their ability to run a company" Adam said with a chuckle.

"True, something about tradition is comforting in times of struggle but frankly I couldn't care less what they want. We must go through a marriage proposal on average at least 3 times a week and we've been doing this for almost six months now. It is an exhausting matter... you know what. Spread a rumor that I am seeing someone right now. Spread a couple names, a few from good houses and a few from bad houses. In a month or two I'll deny these rumors flat out but if nothing else it will buy me some time of not having to worry about this." Adam then looked at his watch again.

"I'm going to go get changed into something more work appropriate. Let's call the board meeting for about 25 minutes from now which should give me enough time to handle the childcare meeting after it. In the mean time handle the now twice spurrned family and get yourself some rest." With that Adam got up to go to the door but did so slowly in case there was something else to talk about.

A long sigh, filled with exasperation and annoyance filled the air. The glasses glare appeared as Selena grumbled, already starting on the rumors by collecting names. "Can't you just have an illegitimate child, Sire? That would be the best solution for now."

She didn't mean it to be answered, but she was at least thinking it and wanted him to know that. As Adam went to leave the room, Selena scurried to stand and gave a bow. "Very good Mr Dumont. I shall do as you command."

Taking her tablet, she followed him out of the room and headed off to do her job, this time soothing more annoyed people.

Kostya enjoyed a clean breath of the fresh crisp air outside on the balcony before lighting up his cigarette. He took a deep breath before blowing the smoke out over the city. "Eh?" he looked back over at the other Quincy, before extending his lighter for Jack to take. "Da, once Lada gets involved, these meetings tend to get very loud. Very obnoxious." He took another puff of the cigarette. "Is not really our kind of scene, ya?"

"Not at all." Jack muttered in agreement through the cigarette he was holding in his mouth, taking the offered lighter from Kostya's hand and proceeding to light up, tossing the object back towards the other Quincy. Inhaling very casually and then exhaling the smoke afterwards, he walked forward and leaned his arms on the railing of the balcony, holding the cigarette lazily in one of his hands as he looked out into the city. They were up rather high, so the only view really was other office buildings and the like and the occasional monument in the distance. Still, the ever so slightly audible noise of city life from down below was a nice white noise of sorts to the Quincy.

"I think its a dominance thing. You know how catty some women can get." He remarked with a chuckle as he took another hit. "I don't think she is comfortable with the fact that our COO is younger than everybody else. Maybe makes her feel old or something." He chuckled again as he spoke through the smoke he exhaled into the night sky.