Business in Verden [Nathan]

[Oliver]

10th Searing, 4622

"Oh stop being grumpy!"

"You know I hate social gatherings..." He grumbled out to his lover, although he had came in support for his lover's career prospects. He rolled his eyes as he dressed himself in formal Loric attire; it was quite similar to Griscian style clothing, only it appeared to be more suitable for the winter climates that lingered. He sighed and looked in the mirror, before Eric drove a comb straight through his hair and hugged him from behind, whilst staring at the mirror "A handsome reflection you have there..." He teased, before kissing his cheek. Oliver smiled and then he frowned, knowing how much social events gave him anxiety, including the one's that his sister ran back in Grisic in hopes to find him a perfect wife. It turned out that was off the tables already when tragedy struck.

He sighed, knowing that he must keep true to a promise that he made his lover "You know I'm only doing this for you, Eric... Not for noone else." He said, turning to him, before Eric had smiled back at him, nodding "I... I err..." He paused for a moment as he grabbed Eric for a moment and pulled him onto his lap "You need to start opening up more, darling." He said as he nuzzled along his neck playfully, sliding his hands around Eric's waist in a teasing fashion, before he booped him on his nose "I know what you're doing and it's working but... Lions need to have their moments of respite."

"I know it's nerves, Eric... You'll be fine."

"It's you I'm worried about, you might fall and crumple into a mess. I know you're a stuttering blob when it comes to average conversation, I guess you've never been comfortable around people though."

"Sounds about right, you've hit the nail on the head." Oliver smiled, gazing into his lover's eyes one more time "Let's get going and get this over with so I can rest assured, you might need a coffin after tonight..."

Moments later, they arrived at what appeared to be an social occasion, where the nobility gathered around for drinks. However, there appeared to be talk of the recent strange events that occurred over the past couple of weeks. A strange blackness in the sky, followed by the waves of black tendrils that came from it. Some people from the Omen believed it was an ominous sign, whilst other people may have suggested that there may be some kind of intervention of darker forces. Either way, Oliver wasn't too anxious, although it did stir up alot of fuss at the party, for which he chose to remain quiet and only spoke when asked to.

He covorted around with Eric; wrapping his arm around his to ensure that they were deeply close with each other. He eventually stopped to the fountain of wine glasses, before Eric would take two carefully from the stand "Allow me, I know you have clumsy hands yourself."

"Yes, judging by the perfect alignment of dominos... Only it seemed dominos was well played with bookshelves. We should do that sometime."

"Yes with pillar ruins, what a splendid idea; the next thing is one of us gets trapped and we are left sleeping with the fishes one day."

Oliver chuckled at Eric's misplaced wit, but he did have a point, a weirdly odd one too.

[Nathan Wolfgang]

It had been raining hard that afternoon. Everything changed since that thing appeared in Nivenhain.

“Your sister’s been looking for you.” Arronax said as he poured a glass of coffee and handed it to Nathan.

Nathan took a long drag and flicked his half-burnt cigarette out the balcony. “That social gathering, huh? With all that’s happening in the capital, shouldn’t we focus on preparing for the worst-case scenario?” he took out another cigarette. He glanced at Arronax before turning his gaze back to the estate grounds. Arronax nodded silently and took the empty seat beside Nathan.

“She could take care of it-“

CLANK

The door to the balcony swung open. “Speak of the devil,” Nathan sighed.

“There you are, brother.” Anya exclaimed, huffing and puffing after looking around the estate for him.

“Isn’t social gathering your area of expertise?”

“And isn’t the head of House Wolfgang you?” She fired back.

“Fair point” Nathan scooted over and lightly pat the space beside him. “Sit, have a cup of coffee, and-“

“We don’t have time to-“

“It’s Old Joe’s signature coffee.”

“Ah-” Anya pouted as she sat beside him and grabbed a cup. “One cup”

Arronax poured a cup for Anya. After that, he excused himself to prepare to travel to the gathering place. The two sat quietly, sipping their coffee while gazing at the downpour.

“It’s time you make an appearance in high society, you know.” She exclaimed, breaking the silence

“Why should-“

“Your acting more like a crime boss instead of a Lord from a noble house.” She punched his shoulder lightly.

“It’s Verden, everyone must have the mindset of a crime boss to survive, besides we aren’t rich enough to have our own private army like those rich friends of yours.” He paused and took another sip. “Received any reply yet from the others?”

Anya shook her head. “Nope, none yet, guess they don’t want to be affiliated with a declining noble House.”

“My Lord, all is ready.” Arronax interrupted the two.

It took them quite a while to arrive at the gathering. Arronax remained with the other drivers and Billy’s men. They have been quite cautious since Billy’s rivals know that Billy’s affiliated with House Wolfgang.

“Ah, Lady Anya, glad you could make it.” A noblewoman greets her. “The pleasure’s mine Lady Cadwell.”

“You must be her brother right? Please to meet you.” A nobleman greeted Nathan. “Yes, please to meet you too.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Nathan slipped away tactfully and made his way toward the fountain of wine. An oasis in the desert, he grinned, eyeing the fountain of wine.

“Sleeping with the fishes doesn’t sound so bad.” Nathan commented as he grabbed a glass of wine.

“How are you finding the city so far?” he asked them when he noticed that their clothing styles were not a common sight in Verden.

[Oliver]

Eric smiled at the man who initially thought of the saying, although it appeared that Eric was looking to initiate a business plan of some sort with a fellow friend who seemed to have not been present at the party; he looked around and sighed, before Oliver tapped him in the shoulder again, acknowledging the man who had just spoken to him "Oh? Well, if you put it that way, I suppose there's solace in finding out that the world isn't your problem anymore." He said, before Oliver shrugged, seemingly quiet as Eric had spoken. He began to watch the patrons of the party, taking in a cultural recognition of Lorien's stature; he may have been there for two years, but it seemed that Oliver was inexperienced in the way social occasions were handled.

Thank god, this isn't Daravin; I would refuse to wear a pantyhose and walk around with the feeling that my bollocks are crushed, not to mention the high soprano voices they have; I'm surprised if many of Daravin's mages were eunuchs. He thought as he smiled, nodding at Nathan before Eric seemed to have forgotten greetings. Oliver just remained quiet, not because of the fear of embarrassing Eric, but more of the fact that he detested social occasions like this.

"Oh, I'm sorry to be rude, I'm Eric, this is my husband Oliver."

"Pleasure." He pulled his hand out ready for a firm handshake.

"I'm sorry, he and I are new to Verden, business orientated if you will, Oliver works as an Archivist at the University of Gothenburg, it also appears that he's travelled around alot recently."

"Yes, although I prefer not to discuss that, Eric... You know how I feel about it all." Oliver nudged nervously as he tilted his head towards Nathan "So, what about you? What do you do around these parts?" He asked the Celebrant.

[Nathan Wolfgang]

“Yes, at least your problems and worries became someone else’s,” Nathan replied. Observing both men, Nathan concluded that they weren’t much of a fan of social gatherings like him. Especially noble social gatherings. If it weren’t for the crumbling state of House Wolfgang, he would never attend social gatherings with fellow celebrants. He’d rather let his sister handle this side of the business, but if he didn’t participate in this one, his sister would keep on pestering him. Besides, social gatherings with this many celebrants in attendance would be the safest place in Verden.


“I’m Nathan. A pleasure to meet you, Eric and Oliver.” He smiled as he shook Eric’s hand. He then turns to Oliver for a handshake.

“Business huh? Well, Verden’s an interesting city for business ventures. As long as you got connections and protections. It’s truly a different change of scenery from Gothenburg, right?” He chuckled.

An archivist, huh? What sort of business would they be looking to do in Verden? Unless they secretly smuggled illegal stuff for the underworld, a fence or an appraiser for some celebrants. Perhaps they were employed by House Galbrecht? Verden’s only historical heritage as it used to be the manufacturing place of Hollows. Nothing much to archive, right? Nathan thought to himself.

“Well, I’m a businessman myself, in a way. But right now I’m just the plus one for my sister.”

Should I tell them that I’m a celebrant as well? No harm in trying, right? Having friends at the University of Gothenburg would be beneficial, too, in a way. He pondered.

“So what kind of business ventures are you looking into? I might be of help since I’ve been born and raised in this beautiful city.” Nathan asked with a hint of sarcasm as he said Verden’s a beautiful city. It’s beautiful, alright, but not for the faint of heart.

A person came up to the group and greeted Nathan. “Ah, Lord Wolfgang? A pleasure to meet you. Lady Anya’s told me a lot about you. Lord Cadwell’s a good friend of mine too. We were thinking of heading smoking lounge to enjoy some cigars.”

Nathan smiled and nodded at the man. “Pleasure to meet you too. As much as I would like to join you and Lord Cadwell, I would have to politely decline as I’ve got plans with my childhood friends.” He looked at Eric and Oliver before turning back to look at the man.

“Ah, what a pity, next time then.” The man nodded and left.

Turning back to Eric and Oliver. “Well, sorry for that. Do you guys have other plans this evening? As an apology for earlier, I would like to invite you to our estate for a cup of coffee.”