Match of the Millennium

Description: Lyraelle, Demon Queen of Darkness heads over to The Gold Lounge to see it's host, Velvet Blue. But why...?

[VELVET BLUE]
The club has seen some repairs since Mitsuru and her 'guests' reign of terror, so the Gold Lounge has actually gotten somewhat back to looking normal... whatever 'normal' passes for at this place, of course. Well, the tablecloths, curtains and carpeting has been swapped out and cleaned in places, the very tall and svelte bunny lady cigarette girl/waitress click-clacks around in her usual retro-inspired outfit, along with shiny black lacquered stiletto heels--people are smoking, having drinks, a few decidedly non-human couples of varying genders are slow-dancing before the at the moment vacant stage. For anyone just walking in they might see it a bit livelier here, at least right now--the terror of Kyra's invasion has been driven back, a bit--and a lot of the makai beasts have been cleared out of this area. Seems like much more smoother sailing... for now.

[LYRAELLE]
Sitting together on chair surrounding one of the tables are a trio of darkstalkers - one squat and pink, one spindly and green, and one wiry and yellow with a goatee and ram's horns. They're a little bit off-tone for the place - they look more like they'd fit in at a demonic Cheers than a vintage lounge - but they certainly fit in better here than any other club in the city.

"Alrighty, now. Dodge, you got any Tens?" the pinkish demon asks the yellow one.

Remaining gruffly silent, the yellow ram-demon shakes his head.

"Ah, come on, Dodge. It's more fun when you say 'Go Fish,'" the pink imp says as he reaches for the pile of cards in the middle of the table, moments before the surface rattles as a door slams shut.

"Hello, minions~"

All three of the imps cringe with clenched teeth at the melodic sing-song cutting across the noise of the lounge. In sashays the pink-haired hell-maiden - better known to internet surfers as 'Demon Queen Lyraelle' than amongst the darkstalker community as 'Lady Lyraelle,' but fairly striking even amongst a room crowded with creatures of the night between her skimpy attire, bat-like wings, and a face that's launched a thousand ship fics - let alone her spaded tail and horns. She makes her way across the floor with a syrupy-sweet smile on her lips, her own leather high-heels announcing each step, until she's looming over the three seated imps. Once she's made it, she bends down far to place her elbows on the table, putting her face at just about eye level with her minions (and her tail end at just about eye level with the rest of the room).

"I'm surprised you three never told me about this place. The atmosphere is fantastic~" the succubus coos, beaming beguilingly and causing all three imps to squirm and eye each other shiftily.

"Y-your majesty, we didn't think you'd be, um..." the green imp warbles.

"...interested? In a club that caters to darkstalkers?" Lyraelle asks, eyes wide and innocent as she tilts her head and looks at the green imp.

"I-I mean, if word got out that /you/ were a darkstalker..." the green imp stammers, his voice steadily going up in pitch.

"Relax... I'm not mad at you," the demoness assures the trio, propping herself up a little so that her gaze can wander over their heads and search the rest of the establishment. "For that, I'd have to care just a little bit more than I do what the three of you do on your coffee breaks. Now, which one of you wants to tell me where the owner is...?"

She closes the fingers of her right hand into a gentle purple-clad fist to rest her chin on as her expression becomes shiftless and casual.

[VELVET BLUE]
"Owner is a strong word, I much prefer caretaker, or guardian," appearing a few tables away is none other than Velvet, aka Velvet Blue, or just Velvet to his fans and friends. The long dark-haired and spaded tail-bearing darkstalker is a well known performance artist, cabaret and drag performer around these parts, their elongated bat-like ears pricking as they pick up on the new guests.

"My ears are burning, however, to what do I owe this owner, Queen...?" Velvet has of course heard of Lyraelle before, and seen her face--they're a much more public persona than Velvet, who likes to keep somewhat on the downlow to continue their... vigilante-esque pursuits.

The darkstalker performer is dressed in a snug-looking black long-sleeved turtleneck, over a cut-off pair of jean shorts and what look like black tights, over which quite flashy long lavender heeled boots are pulled up. He click-clacks up around Lyraelle, apparently enchanted with her presence, though the skimpy look might not have been his first choice.

"And as if no surprise, we even seem to shop at the same store," he grins as he poses by her side to her 'associates' at the table near her, hands on his hips.

"Well, I'm Velvet, mi casa es su casa, and all that, by all means~" he gestures to the club around them, though he doesn't seem eager to cut the meeting short, either.

[LYRAELLE]
A smile plays on Lyraelle's lips, her pointed ears pricking at the sound of the voice behind her. She allows the club's owner to approach before she finally turns around and straightens up, resting her hands and hips back against the table as she assumes a relaxed pose. Her tail winds back and forth in the air over the card pile, and the three minions sit back from it as though it were a cobra.

"Guardian, hmm? It's admirable of you to put responsibility over authority," the succubus says with a friendly smile. "It's nice to see that you recognize me - but please, you can just call me Lady Darkheart. I'm hardly the ruler of Southtown; there's no need to call me Queen unless you mean it."

Tilting her pink-maned head to one side, Lyraelle looks down at Velvet's boots, eliciting a wide smile and a clap of her hands.

"Great taste in footwear!~" she compliments the club owner. It's entirely sincere; especially given that it reflects on herself by proxy. Her eyes flit to the other darkstalker's tail, the similarly spaded tip of her own twisting and 'looking' toward its contemporary as well.

"We could practically be cousins, even! Forget about the title, we should be on a first name basis - you can just call me Lyraelle."

She offers a winsome smile, softer than before. "It looks like things are going smoothly here, even with all the trouble going on," she remarks. "To tell you the truth, I've never seen a place like this."

[VELVET BLUE]
"Fair enough, I don't know any princesses anyway, just queens--Lady Darkheart it is," he nods a little. "Great minds do think alike--boots like these really commands a scene, which is why we wear them, I think..." he clucks his tongue, heels clicking as he walks around Lyra, checking to see if she's looking to be seated, and taking care of that himself, if it looks like she does.

"We seems to be of... similar blood, as well--in truth, it's not uncommon for makai residents to have features like these," his tail sways nearer to hers and stops to compare, peering down at it with yellow, cat-like eyes.

"Well, what brings you to my club, miss Lyraelle? I hear you've been getting a lot of attention out there lately," he'd pull out a chair for her at a separate table for her, dragging a chair out for himself and kicking back in it, crossing those long purple booted legs.

"It's been trying times, unfortunately, for both humans and our kind, this place was hit by werewolves a few weeks ago, if you can believe it--as were most places, unfortunately--there were a rash of deaths and violence when they first broke out," but broke out... of what? and who brought them here?

"I have reason to believe the recent gang violence is related," his tail curls alongside him in the chair, lilting about.

[LYRAELLE]
"I like attention," Lyraelle openly admits vis-a-vis the footwear as she slides into the seat offered to her, sitting a little sideways to give her wings room to breathe and resting an elbow on the table. "Both my livelihood and my ego depend on it." She leans back, draping one leg over the other. "Not that I'd need an ulterior motive to give a few naughty demons a good taste of my authority," she adds, the corner of her lips quirking in a bit of a smirk.

"Honestly, curiousity brought me here. I'm a bit new to this... do you use 'darkstalker' for us, or is that a faux pas?" she wonders, twirling a finger around to indicate the denizens of the room along with herself and Velvet. "I know a bit about my own bloodline, but this whole look - and everything that came with it - hasn't always been me, even if it should have been."

She looks around the room again before settling her green eyes on Velvet. "It's disgraceful, isn't it? Turning them loose on their own kind. If I had an army of wolves and bull-men, I certainly wouldn't send them out on a suicide mission like that. Terrorism never did anyone any good, did it?"

A look of distaste crosses Lyraelle's face, before her eyes light up. "Do you serve drinks? I could murder a cocktail," she says.

[VELVET BLUE]
"I prefer to think of it as more of... 'making a statement', on my end, but to each their own," Velvet flags down the very tall, mocha-skinned and bunny-eared waitress for a few drinks. "Would you like anything? could get you a glass of wine, or a soda if you're looking to stay sober--mm, also I think we have beer," he makes eye contact with the waitress to make sure this is possible, a short exchange does indeed seem it's possible.

"Ahh, those are subordinates of yours? I've seen them in here before, I think, this is where you gathered you'd find them?" Velvet leans across the table a little, elbows planted against it, with his hands supporting his chin.

"I admit the shows we put on here can be amusing for all races, especially mine," he winks, before getting back to more 'serious' matters.

"Werewolves are easy to make, is part of the problem--whole lycanthropy curse thing, and the bull men, well.. I don't know what to tell you there," he gestures to the waitress before she leaves. "Something with an umbrella for our special guest, please?" he makes a sheepish grinning pleading face to the rather stoic bunny lady, who seems to acknowledge the request subtly, heels clicking as she strides off.

"I can't say I appreciate any of it, no--the Spire is still in the city and that means things haven't quieted down, I guess some people must think this is the 'new normal', but I have a feeling whoever is behind the gangs was behind the monsters, too."

[LYRAELLE]
"Anything sweet, really," Lyraelle says with a tip of her head and a smile that flits between Velvet and the bunny-eared waitress. "And, on that note, you can send whatever tab they're running my way," she adds, tilting her horns toward the trio of imps sitting at the next table. The minions seem mollified by their mistress' magnanimous gesture, and return to their card game.

"I knew they'd been coming around this part of town a lot. It's good to know there's somewhere they can be unsupervised without worrying about some kids trying to pull their 'masks' off," she says, propping up an arm on the back of her chair languidly. "Or demon hunters, for that matter." She lets out a little sniff at the prospect.

"I hadn't thought about the 'easy-to-make' angle. Keeping them in line would be the hard part, I suppose," the demoness muses, tapping her fingers lightly on the tabletop one at a time.

"I'm not sure whether she's behind the gangs or not. I know I gave one gang a thrashing, and as far as I can tell, they were just opportunists," Lyraelle remarks. Her eyes turn directly to Velvet. "The Spire is that Jedah guy's, isn't it? Between him and the Dragon, being a demon in public definitely isn't trending. I won't be able to out myself anytime soon - at least, not without spending some more time looking good for the cameras."

[VELVET BLUE]
Within a few moments, the mocha-bunny waitress returns with a very tall glass that's pink and transparent, with lemon slices in it, she sets the tray down on the rounded wooden table before passing the drink off to Lyraelle.

"I'll make note of that, I assume you're good for it," Velvet grins, his fanged canines visible over his lower lip for a moment, before sitting back in the chair. "Demon-hunters..? I ran into one very recently, though she wasn't nearly as unpleasant as Bulleta," Velvet cringes a little and makes a sheepish face as he tugs at the high turtleneck collar.

"I had to do a saturday night fight show with her once, it was... well, invasive, fairly painful, sort of like the dentist's--but with a combat knife," he gestures. "Glad it wasn't for real, is all I can say," he picks up his own drink, a smirnoff malt beverage of some sort, with ice. Meanwhile, Lyra's tastes of Vodka, peach schnapps, and cranberry and orange juice.

"Correct, that's Jedah of Clan Dohma's spire, the city has it kind of fenced off so normies can't just walk up to it... but I hate it being there, it's a constant reminder of what he did to Metro, not even being subtle about trying to mock us," he tips his glass back and takes a large pull from it, trying to quell the moment of inner fire.

"Looking good for the cameras, huh? I've... never really done that, for an audience, of course, but.." Velvet seems a little intrigued, at that.

[LYRAELLE]
The presentation of the pink beverage pleases Lyraelle as it's placed in front of her and pushed closer; the effect is evidenced in her expression. "This looks nice," she says, plucking the drink up between two purple-clad fingers and her thumb and turning it to examine the contents. "What is it?" she wonders, without waiting for an answer to try a sip. "Delicious," she praises the beverage, toasting Velvet and the serving girl with the glass.

"I'm sure that I'm good for it," the succubus assures her host, dipping two fingers deep into the cleavage at the low-cut front of her leotard and plucking out a couple of bills of legal tender of substantial value, setting them down on the table. "Can't carry a wallet in this outfit," she says with an insincerely apologetic smile. "And I presume you prefer cash to debit."

Her expression is sympathetic at Velvet's recounting of his exploits with the hunters in his past. "That's so gross. Almost as bad as an actual dentist trip," she says, huffing lightly. "And I know! It's like a giant monument to his ego! Or, you know, something else." A vaguely lewd gesture accompanies the comment.

The Demon Quenn also flares with a bit of inner fire - not at Jedah's mockery, but at the fact that she doesn't have a giant phallic fortress in the middle of Southtown of her own - but she too quells it silently with a sip of her drink.

"Oh! If you ever did want to be on stream, I could always take you as a guest on my channel - or help you set one up, if you didn't want to collab. We could probably keep the location anonymous, too," the succubus celebre says as viewership figures flash before her green eyes. Snapping herself out of it a bit, she adds, "Speaking of location - how did you come into this place? I'm... considering real estate at the moment."

She puts on a slightly cagey smile as she asks makes the vague statement.

[VELVET BLUE]
"Glad you like it," Velvet nods with a little smile, he does like to play host when he gets the opportunity to--and thankfully he's gotten off some of the staff's shitlist by now. "Ah sex on the beach, I believe, I thought you'd like it... the drink, that is," he gives her a little 'gotcha' grin and wink. "Anyhoo~" he continues.

"Mmhmm, clearly overcompensating for something--though for someone that is supposedly as old as Jedah is supposed to be I'm not even sure they're interested in... that," House Dohma had been destroyed hundreds if not thousands of years ago by the Patriarch of Makai itself, or so the story went. It was an old tale.

"Hmm... never actually thought about doing the streaming thing, though I have wondered about doing a makeup tutorial or the like... I wonder if I could get away with coming on your stream though, if you wanted me on," Velvet tilts his head curiously. "I doubt I'd have as big a presence as you on such a stream... but I think we could arrange something like that, if you're looking to arrange a partnership of sorts..." Velvet laces his dark long-nailed fingers together, apparently intrigued by this idea. "Mmm, this place? I sort of fell into helping run it, it was just a barroom for dark ones before, but when I and several others showed up, we expanded it into a jazz lounge like you see here, with a speakeasy theme to it, the enchantment on the door to disguise the warehouse exterior door is just for here--though if you wanted something like that, well--it could be discussed."

[LYRAELLE]
One of the succubus' eyebrows rises a little at the revelation of the cocktail that she's drinking. "Mmm. I must give off a vibe," she says, before grinning back at Velvet and taking a long draw from her glass while she listens. Her tail flicks idly behind her, though it seems to occasionally come to attention whenever another patron of the establishment nears it.

"I'm up for doing anything on stream, as long as it doesn't get my account banned," Lyraelle says with a wink. "It'll be fun!" She shifts and leans forward against the table on her elbows, her wings lifting up behind her as she props her cheek on her hand.

"So, if this place isn't associated with Jedah, and it's obviously not protected by the Dragon... do you actually have someone above you, or are you the one on top around here? I mean..." She holds her empty palm up, wrist bending slightly. "You'd need protection, one way or another, wouldn't you?"

"Hey, Green. Got a Queen?" Red asks at the next table.

"U-um..." the green imp seems deeply troubled by the question, his spindly fingers quaking against his lips as he peeks over his shoulder at Lyraelle.

The demoness notices, her eyes drifting lazily past Velvet to the green minion and his hand of cards.

"He's got one Queen, and she can tell the difference between treason and cards. Go Fish, Red."

The minions go back to their game, the green one amongst them looking particularly relieved.

"Sorry for the interruption, but I'm not a total sadist," Lyraelle apologizes to her host with a placid smile. "And besides, he smells like fish when he sweats."

[VELVET BLUE]
"I promise it wasn't a succubus joke~" Velvet smiles a little, holding up his glass to his lips, watching the streaming starlet succubi enjoy her drink with those yellow cat's eyes of his. "I see she's hungry," he idly comments, noting her tail, and how it flicks about whenever someone draws near. "I do hope someone has been keeping themselves fed," he snickers a little.

"That's the reason for the ward on the door, m'lady, if just any normie could walk in here we'd have dark hunters and protection merchants /both/ in here, I suppose I could have the entrance move about sometime, too--however, there /was/ an incident in here with a few makai beasts a few weeks ago, like I said..." he thinks about it. "I usually do the protecting for this place, but there are times I'm out trying to clean up the streets, so..." he thinks maybe cooperation could be good, it appears.

"What are you proposing then? And please dear, there's more queens than that here, with the two of us~" Velvet can't help but make the joke.

[LYRAELLE]
"It wouldn't bother me if it was~" Lyraelle replies, smirking playfully between sips of Sex on the Beach. In fact, her identity as a succubus is one of the Demon Queen's favourite delusions. Her attentions follow Velvet's as the latter's are drawn to her tail. "It's always hungry. Quite the mind of its own, sometimes. Is yours like that?" she wonders, tilting her horns at Velvet's own tail. She doesn't let the curiousity distract her from the question of protection, though.

"I know we've only just met, but I think that we could help each other out, if you're interested..." The succubus' posture grows catlike as she leans further forward, sliding her drink aside and lacing her fingers beneath her chin. "My employees are already customers here, and while I'm keeping my options open for a permanent base of operations, I want to help make sure that people like us - or, well, /almost/ like us - feel like they have an alternative to joining Jedah or risking the hunters - or the Dragon. She may have an army of werewolves and minotaurs, but she's no friend to us."

Lyraelle's eyes shift to one side, narrowing a little, before she leans closer and lowers her voice.

"So, here's what I propose. I'll consider this place under my protection, and keep my peoples' tabs paid - I figure it's good for morale, anyway. That's a free offer... but it would be nice if, in exchange, I could run a recruitment drive here. Not from your own employees, of course," Lyraelle says as she looks up at the bunny-eared cigarette girl, "But out of your patrons."

[VELVET BLUE]
"It's a good look, alas I don't have the curves for it," Velvet ahems a little, partially to clear his throat, but also as a segue. "Do I feed through it? not quite, I'm afraid--though it's very much a part of me," he nods with a little grin.

"Only just met? Jeez, you make it sound like flirting," Velvet's eyes widen a little. "We have a long way to go to try and inspire any sort of rapport or trust with humans, Metro city did a lot of damage, and there's no way we can account for that--nevermind the Gear Uprising, which some probably connect--and this recent tragedy," he gestures around himself, meaning Southtown.

"Yeah? you want to use your security for here? That might be nice--but what kind of recruitment drive is this? Either way, the people that come here will have the ability to choose whether they join anyone, of course," Velvet nods.

[LYRAELLE]
"Well, you work with what you have. I don't think I could pull your look off; it'd be a bit restricting," Lyraelle says, her wings giving a little indicative flutter as she relaxes her posture a little, though she's still dominating her half of the table. "And, sorry if I come across that way, sometimes..." There doesn't seem to be any apology in the succubus' body language or smile, in contradiction of the verbal one. She puts both fists against her cheeks to prop them up, her tail slithering up under her arm to coil around her glass and raise it to her lips for a long sip.

"I'm trying to do what I can to turn the public view around. I know it might not help right now, separating myself in the public opinion - but once my fanbase hit critical mass, I'll tell the truth, and by then, my actions will have spoken for themselves. It's a matter of making sure my gravity pulls public opinion on darkstalkers to me, instead of the other way around," the Demon Queen says, her eyes drifting pensively into her drink as she speaks. When she finishes, she catches herself and raises them up to Velvet.

"By the power of love," she adds with a smile, making a <3 with her fingers in front of herself and tilting her head slightly.

Sitting up and shifting sideways on her seat again, she says, "I am my security, at the moment - other than Zee, but he's still in vetting. Security positions are one of the things I'm looking to hire for, along with various other things - and of course, employment would be paid and voluntary. Otherwise, I'd be just as bad as Jedah or the Dragon, wouldn't I?" She smiles dismissively at the notion before raising her hands to indicate a corner. "I'm just looking to have a... table here, out of the way, for a week or so, and a sign so people notice it. The minions would man it."

She tilts her head over at the trio of imps.

"...My employees, that is."

[VELVET BLUE]
"You do know there are groups--not just the gangs--that would probably very much like to capture and study us, correct? Humans from Illyria who run that library organization... I'm sure you've heard of it, they'd no doubt like to perform some horrific experiments on us, to say the least," Velvet sighs, tipping his glass back a bit, draining more of it till it's nearly gone, before letting it down a bit loudly.

"I think your idea is sound up until the whole 'revealing yourself' bit, at least until we can gain some sort of protection, even from the government," he looks up at her again, he had grown a little sullen realizing what she had intended.

"I don't want anything to happen to you or any of these people, but if you want to hire some dark ones, well..." he thinks about it a long while, leaning back and crossing his legs, ignoring her for a moment so he can prop an elbow against his knee and lean over, chin supported by his palm as he looks down, mulling it over.

"I can't really stop anyone from wanting a job, as long as you can promise me they'll be safe--what do you need, someone to do skits with you? maybe rub lotion on you... something?" he leans back up again, grinning a little slyly.

[LYRAELLE]
"I do know that there are plenty of unpleasant things that people want to capture us for," Lyraelle says, her tone becoming a bit pleasant sugary as she sits back and strums her fingers along her nearly-drained cocktail. "And if they try to do that to me, they'll get a bit more than they bargained for. That's part of the beauty of being a public persona, though - it would make it a lot harder to have me quietly disappear. And by that point, I intend to have my position a bit more fortified."

In contrast to the talk of vigilance and security, Lyraelle loops her arms behind her neck, adopting a more relaxed posture. "I guarantee that if there are any risks involved, they'll know about them up front. As for what they'd be doing?" She quirks her lips thoughtfully. "Aside from security, I'll need... well, anything from eyes, ears and entertainers to labourers, lawyers and librarians, sooner or later - well, more accountants and researchers than librarians, but that wouldn't have sounded as good, would it?"

She draws in a slow breath through her nostrils before sighing hazily. "Not that massages would be a bad thing..."

[VELVET BLUE]
"I'm sure you're in need of them, with boots like that, I can relate~" Velvet nods a little, getting through his drink as well. "Well, my dear Lyraelle, Demon Queen of darkness, I think I might be amenable to your proposition, so long as none of these fine people don't come to harm... that goes for humans too, mind," Velvet gives her another look, before moving to get up from his chair.

"And I think I'll hold you to that offer to join you on stream sometime, if you'd still be interested in that, god knows I've never tried it," he smiles, tail lashing about behind him.

"I must get suited up and go out on a patrol soon, but I think we have an agreement then, if everything is in order...?" he held out a hand for her to shake on it, one with long dark lacquered nails, but looked about as large as one might expect for a male. A bit leathery in places, too--apparently he'd been through a lot.

[LYRAELLE]
Lyraelle's lips curve upward at the edges as Velvet addresses her by title - even if it's likely only a reference to her public persona. She slides up from her seat, slurps up her sandy-sexy beverage, and slips her gloved hand into Velvet's, offering a warm squeeze that's far more delicate than one might expect from someone seen on camera getting clipped by a flying freight van and surviving.

"Happy to do business~" the demoness says with a delighted expression, her own tail snaking around and attempting to mimic the sealing of the deal by looping with Velvet's and shaking it if it's permitted to do so. Either way, she'll step in slightly closer, her green eyes locking on Velvet's with interest.

"Patrol, hmm? Are you going hunting for monsters and miscreants?" Her head tilts, expression one of faux-innocence before she smiles sweetly. "If you are... I wouldn't mind coming along for the mischief, as long as I wouldn't be stepping on your toes."

[VELVET BLUE]
"Ooh--yours is as prehensile as mine, I see," Velvet looked down and back, shocked a little actually, out of the serious moment just now--his eyes widening and his cheeks blushing just a little. His tail was apparently sensitive somehow.

"Both," in response to her question, he shrugs a little. "Syndicate presence is still pretty strong around here, I try to make sure they aren't able to put a boot too hard down on the people, and I've had to work harder lately due to all the monsters, well... you know," his tail and hand gives her a firm shake back, before de-coupling.

"If you like, your men can stay here and watch the door for me," he nods, moving to the back room to get suited up and get his coat on--plus his wakizashi.

"Meet you there."

Log created on 19:50:59 05/10/2020 by Velvet Blue, and last modified on 23:10:08 05/11/2020.