[Sodium_noir] Hell is Other People - Bradley, Sinclair, and Scoland

[Eric]

Allen Bradley, Marguerite Sinclair, Mara Ravenclaw, Christine McAbee, Sandra Scoland
A Pair of Mortals, a Vampire, a Mage, and a Bastet
Sinclair Mansion
1 – 3 AM
  
[Sandra]
“Let me commend you on a fabulous celebration Lady Sinclair,” she says.  “This place is magnificent.”  Sandra plays interceptor for Christine as she looks to gain the attention of the Hostess and the gentleman accompanying her.
  
[Christine]
Christine watches Sandra shimmer into action with profound gratitude. She manages to catch Mara's eye as Sandra smilingly snares the small group's attention. Need to talk, her own eyes signal.
  
[Lady Marguerite Sinclair]
"Why thank you .. Miss Scoland isn't it?" Lady Marguerite chirrups. "I am glad you like my little hovel, the place is so old it will soon be in one of the Museums displays I don't doubt. If i seel it maybe I'll need to talk to you and not a realtor!" She laughs and pats Sandra's hand.
  
"Oh ... so warm, just like my little tiddles paws. Squleching around in the garden all night long and yet she never gets cold. I expect such warm blood is a blessing when digging through drafty corridors and the like?"
  
[Mara]
“You look like you need a cup of coffee.” Mara says.  “Do you want to try to track one down?”  Hopefully, the now irascible Christine would interpret that as their more common “do we need to talk in private?” rather than as an attack “you look like shit”.
 
  [Bradley]
The air around the small group about the stair suddenly grew very prickly.  “I believe I saw the espresso near the Monet,” Bradley said, reading the look in Christine’s eyes and casually throwing out a direction before she could answer.  Some would call it dirty pool, others a tactical redeployment.  Bradley thought of it more as diffusing a potential land mine before it could go off.
 
  Leaving Mara and Christine to their own devices, he subtly moved back and to the side, including Sandra in his and Lady Sinclair’s conversation and resigning himself to small talk.  “It really is an enchanting place.  I always find something new every time I come to one of these little get-togethers.”  Bradley paused and snatched a glass of champagne from a passing server before directing his next question to Lady Sinclair.  “Didn’t you mention something about changing the landscaping near the back patio?”
   
  [Sandra]
  Sandra notes out of the corner of her eye that Christine and this Mara Ravenclaw are off and running to discuss whatever it was they needed to discuss. With a courteous nod to the departing ladies, Sandra once again focuses her full attention on Lady Sinclair and the gentleman with her. 
   
  There were certain 'rules of engagement' when it came to social functions that Sandra had learned over the years. One was to get the other person talking by leading with a common ground statement regarding the event or location. The next is to follow up asking a related open-ended question. It made for a great ice breakers. 
   
  "So I take it you've attended these functions before, Mr. ....?" she says leading the man to introduce himself.
   
  ~ Taggity Bradley and Lady Sinclair :-)

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