The music wafted up over the balcony, and into Euthalia’s ears. Although her eyes were closed, she could see the performance in her mind. Not the hapless humans playing the music, no, but the notes they caused. It painted a picture in her mind, and made her forget everything for simply an infinitesimal moment in time. Her curled hair was piled atop her head in a way that had scarcely been seen since the Victorian Era, but it suited her some how. She was a china doll, a relic from an age past.

But not, ironically, that age.

Her small shoed feet were dangling a foot of the ground, but her hands were placed decorously in her lap. A fine white circle of a face was cocked slightly to the side, and there was the faintest expression of concentration between the brows. The balcony had been leant to her this evening, as a gesture of… goodwill by a business associate. Cheveyo stood in the shadows behind her, out of sight but never fully out of mind.

Tonight, she didn’t look particularly fearsome or awe inspiring. She simply looked like a little girl who’d dressed herself to match her dolls, sitting far to still to be any sort of “normal” child. Indeed, only the strange expression on her face was any indication that she was not as she seemed.

There was no pretending tonight. She’d be what she was, to anyone who came looking for her.

Dmitri wasn't looking for anyone and he totally uninterested in the music that played, yet his head was tilted to one side, with confusion on his brow. People actually enjoyed this? He was a warrior and despised stuff that was meaningless and remembered a time long ago where he had been with Chi and she had tried to make him like this sort of thing. Well she had failed, miserably for that matter.

He could sense an older vampire and his senses told him that it was one that enjoyed gore then same way that he did, yet his nose couldn't quite pinpoint said person, until he caught the look of someone in the upper balconies.

The only thought that went through his mind, was something along the lines of holy shit. Euthalia was here, she liked this sort of thing? Who would have known? He returned to listening to the music and tilted his head to one side. Well perhaps there was some appeal to it, though his lay with the sound of the drums signalling the start of battle. He momentarily wondered if she knew that one of her coven was here and blew the thought away, what did she care if he was here. He nothing but one of her followers, he meant nothing to her.

He frowned and abruptly got up, leaving he wasn't going to stay here, he had tried and did not like it, he'd have to find something else that Angelia and him would both like, it was that simple.

Euthalia was aware. While she didn’t count it as one of her gifts, she could sort of… feel when one of her own was in the vicinity. It required no scent upon the air, and no visual glance at the person. It was a tingle at the back of her mind, a slight pressure upon her brain that signaled that they were hers, and no one else's. She'd once inquired as to the nature of this particular ability, but had found no answers that had satisfied her.

Caribbean eyes open, and looked down upon the crowd, one eye raised slightly. It was the only facial feature that gave any sense of vitality to her countenance, and even that was slight. She was still in the way few creatures can manage, until you were sure that she would snap out at you faster than you could see.

Perhaps even more odd was the complete neutrality on her face. If you made a move to insult her, the response would be anger. If you made a move to compliment her, the response would be cordiality. It was completely up to her surroundings.

She saw a Tarepha she did not know exiting the concert hall, and that perfect eyebrow rose just a little higher. Sliding off, she smoothed down her dress. Standing with her back straight and her head high, she seemed more like the Grand Duchesses of old than a small little girl. She looked at Cheveyo.

"We're going."

The voice was soft, barely a whisper against the cascade of the music, but it hung upon the air like a feather in the wind. Unlike a feather, however, it was heavy and thick, thrumming with a power that any mortal would have found hard to explain away.

Turning, she exited her balcony and began to descend the steps.

Dmitri had left and once he stepped into the entrance of the concert hall, he paused and his eyes glanced towards the stairs that led to the balcony. Fuck. The word echoed in his mind and he didn't whether to be pleased she had followed him out or to be pissed off or to simply be scared. Perhaps fear would have been the right thing to show, though Dmitri wasn't a man easily intimidated, though he did respect age and leadership, something that Euthalia had of.

Well if she was coming down, which clearly seemed to be the case, he might as well wait. Respect was something that she deserved from at least one of her followers and he might as well give it, it was perhaps time that he meant her anyhow. He wouldn't be staying at the coven anymore. Nope he was moving out, but she was still his leader.

Dmitri wasn't going to wait standing though as soon as was close he would stand, but for the moment he leaned against one of the walls and simple stared at the stairs, what would happen, was something that he was extremely curious.

Her porcelain skin was a damn that held back any emotion, diverting it deep inside where it would cause fewer problems. Even as she descended the stairs, it was impossible to tell even what she was thinking. There was no acceptance or scorn; no pride or insecurity. In her own way, she seemed simply to be the way that a tree or a rock was. She didn't evaluate her own existence, simply lived it.

As she reached the last few steps, her steps became slower. One foot would emerge from under her dress, and touch the lower step puprosefully. Brown curled bounced on the top of her head - a head that was still cocked slightly to the side. Even though she would not evaluate her own existence, that did not mean she wouldn't evaluate his.

When Euthalia reached the bottom, she simply clasped her hands in front of her and regarded him even more closely, saying nothing for a few moments.

"You're Tarepha," she said, without preamble. Her words were soft, but heavy. A delicate eyebrow rose, giving her the faintest sardonic air. "I take it that the entertainment was not to your tastes?"

Dmitri watched and knew that she could be stoic, though her anger was a thing to fear. He watched her cautiously and saw had everthing she seemed to do was deliberate and with thought, though right now Dmitri couldn't determine what she thought and that puzzled him. He was usually quite good at reading people.

He felt Eutahlia's eyes on him and he gave a bow, he knew where respect was deserved and to rule a coven with unruly Tarepha could be hard. She knew what he was and he acknowledged her with a small nod. When she mentionned the entertainment, a soft growl escaped his throat, though it wasn't directed at her. "I'm a warrior my lady, I have trouble with sitting still for long periods of time. I'm often told that I am like a child. I'm more of a fighter than anything."

Now Euthalia raised both of her eyebrows, seemingly taken aback and curious at the same time. They were on her face, but they seemed to float above her skin, like badly applied makeup under harsh lighting. Anyone skilled at being able to read emotions on others' faces would be able to pick up upon it. They would see that they were being presented with a facade.

The expression settled itself into something more real. A soft smile, barely visible settled on her lips. A cold humour shone through her eyes. "Funny," she said, just as softly, and almost sardonically, "I'm almost never told I behave like a child." Standing quite a bit shorter than he, with a body five sizes too small, her meaning was evident.

"I suppose, though," she continued, "that all kinds are needed in the world, and, indeed, within... covens, for example." Her smile was small, but almost angelic on her six year old face.

Dmitri saw the expression on her face and wanted to roll his eyes but held back. He still couldn't read her and that started to bother him less. He knew it was a facade and that didn't bother him, not at all, he had been lied to, though she was a leader and deserved respect.

Out of respect for her, he kneeled on the floor. He wouldn't be respectful to tower over her, she was a leader and despite what she may look like she was a good one. "You have responsabilities that make one age." She looked like an angel, yet he knew that she wasn't. She put the image of a saint but she wasn't even close to that.

"Indeed, my lady. All are needed, or the world wouldn't be complete. It is that simple." He paused then mused. "Perhaps not that simple, but simple enough."

It was a good thing that he hadn't rolled his eyes, because Euthalia would have called him on it. Or, more accurately, she would have done something that would have made him call out from one of the stone rooms deep beneath her club. Imprudence did not sit well with her. It had to be stamped out wherever it was found. The coven depended on working like a well-oiled machine. It couldn't do that if they didn't trust her judgement.

She was harsh - some might say cruel - but in her own way, she was fair.

Frowning slightly as he kneeled in front of her, she took the opportunity to observe his eyes. It was obvious that she was searching for something, but whatever it was, it was a mystery.

"I have seen eras come and go, and that is what has made me age. My responsibilities have nothing to do with it. I was older than my sire at a century, despite the physical thing I live in." She flexed her small fingers, as if to accentuate her point.

"Simple?" she asked thoughtfully. "Do you really think so? The patterns of civilization are easy to decipher, true enough, as are the things that happen to motivate you. It has been my experience, however, that every so often, someone will do something terribly unexpected that will lead to one's very great consternation."

Dmitri would never do something that would put him in trouble. There was one thing that he didn't want to fall upon and that was Euthalia's anger. He had heard that it was not a pretty sight and he wasn't about to venture into that part of her being.

She was fair, she didn't punish those that didn't deserve it, that much was true, but her punishement was often excessive, but he wasn't about tp say that and get in trouble, they were having a pleasant conversation, well more or less.

Dmitri listened to her, if there was one thing that he was good at, it was listening to his elders and his leader. She in this case was both and he would listen. Hlady has all the e bowed his head. "I bow my head to your wisdom, you know a lot more than I do. I am still young compared to you and I was taught to respect my elders."

He respected her a lot. "Again you are right, I suppose that I don't think as much as I should be. My lady is very right." He wasn't trying to flatter, he simply felt that way. she was right and he was simply stating the obvious.

Euthalia liked to think that there was a certain poetic justice in everything she did. Every action had a point. That included the bloodletting of certain coven members when they disobeyed her. That did not, mean, however, that she simply punished every sign of disrespect with pain and death, but when she felt the situation warranted it, that's what she did. It was to make an example.

She had downgraded. In the past, whenever someone had served their purpose and become a liability, they'd been killed. No second chances. No excuses. No paths to redemption. Simply that utter blackness that comes when the soul exits the body.

Unless you were religious, and believed all that propoganda about an afterlife.

"The first step in intelligent thought is observation. That's all that wisdom is - seeing the world as it is." Euthalia smiled. "However pathetic and disgusting it might be."

Dmitri actually thought about that. "Then perhaps I should observe more and act less. I always act too much. I suppose that that is what makes me, me. I follow orders, I do not make them. I was raised to act, not to think, though I like to think that I got better at it." He was still at eye level with Euthalia. He hadn't moved from his place, it was respect not patronization.

He would never patronize her, she was above him, in every way and sense. If Chi had taught him one thing it was to respect women and despite Euthalia's physically young age she was a woman on the inside. "The world is a sad place and it does depress me at times."

"There is a time for action, and there is a time for thought. Obedience is a virtue, but so is discretion. You must learn to measure what you need, as opposed to what your first response would be." Euthalia shrugged. "I was not always as I am now. It required discipline and patience. And time. Lots of time."

That was the awful truth of her existence. Euthalia really was a woman trapped within a child. She often catered to people in their misconceptions that she was the child she appeared to be, but not as much lately. She needed to be herself every once in a while.

"I never become depressed with the world. To be depressed with it, I would have to have some idealized version of it in my mind, and I do not. It is what it is - as vile as that might be."

Dmitri agreed with her. Obedience had to be learned as well as discretion, she was right. "You are right again, my lady. It is simply hard to forego almost a milenia of habits. I have been used to reacting, not thinking. Though I try to think more and more, it seems to be having effects. Every now and then I will react before thinking it through."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't suppose any of my private life has any interest to you. My life isn't particularly interesting or informative. Had two personnalities, now I have only one." It was actually that. He had had two personalities and after he had discovered love, it had smushed into one. It was truly that simple.

"To find it vile, it means that you have seen the world as it is and you have gone through what I'm going through, finding the world depressing, but I could be wrong." Dmitri was discovering that the world wasn't all that bad, not yet.