Negotiation talks are ... necessary evils.

[Guest]

Now, why was he here again?

Oh, right. He was here in the damned White House on direct orders to establish himself as a diplomatic agent of Esparia, and well . . . that was good and all, but now he needed to apparently speak to the great Dietrich Von Vermont. This, of course, had many troubles to him. Why on earth was he being sent to speak to the 'Master of Creta' on President Allende's behalf?

Did Vasco REALLY not have the time in his schedule to go and see Dietrich in perso-Oh.

That's right. He was an 'item' owned by Vasco, and thus when he was sent out, he essentially was fulfilling Vasco's will. Perfect! The most idiotic excuse invented from the man himself to try to keep his responsibilities to a minimum and shovel them off to his subordinates and, in this case, slaves.

'O mio Dio, what have I gotten myself into this time?'

It was silly, that was it. He was presently waiting for an audience with the powerful leader of Creta, in god knows where in this labyrinthine or byzantine residence and just felt silly. Absolutely, ridiculously silly. The garish costume of his was essentially going to behave as though it were glued onto his face, since if Vasco were to ever find out that he would remove this whole setup, he'd most likely lose what little pay he got for the job in the first place (Minimum wage laws were a blessing, at times), most likely be left out on the streets for an unspecified amount of time and/or get shot at a bit.

Still, it was amusing to see a man robed in red and black, a skull in place of a face . . . a little so outlandish that the gracious men who had led him to this point seemed a bit unnerved. Well, either unnerved that he was keeping a serious demeanor despite the absurdity of it all (implying he was either a good actor or a REALLY crazy person, and it might be just a bit of both in reality) or simply holding back their laughter until they were out of earshot to let it out due to the absurdity of it all.

[Guest]

”Lord Dietrich, sir?”

Dietrich paused, looking up at the royal guard before him. As far as they Guard was concerned, he was green. It showed in his composure. Nervous, unsure of what exactly to do…

”Yes?”

”There’s a, uh… uh-“

”Where’s Sullivan?”

”S-Sullivan’s off today, Lord Dietrich, sir…”

Dietrich scowled. With Vivian gone, and Blingworthy and Ito on duty elsewhere, Sullivan’s absence was… unnerving. Perhaps he should get Crevetz working more around the White House. ”Then take a deep breath and spit it out.” Looking back down, he finishes reading over some papers, quickly signing the bottom.

”The Esparian Ambassador is here to see you, Lord Dietrich, sir,” the soldier eventually says.

”Ambassador?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Descending the stairs, Dietrich nods at Ranza, taking the outlandish outfit in stride, not losing a beat. ”Ambassador, a pleasure to see you,” he says, offering his hand out. ”A shame I couldn’t talk to Vasco himself, but I presume he’s busy?” That, or perhaps he’s in one of his more childish moods. Dealing with Gelemorte tended to do that to him. ”I’ll presume you’re here for… an important matter?” Motioning to the stairs, he adds, ”We can always discuss it privately, if you’d prefer.”

[Guest]

The sound of footsteps, as the Cretan King and Prime Minister descends the stairs to come and see him. Yeah, that was much quicker than he expected, so he had to put the damn hat back on and angle it just right. Fortunately, he wasn't carrying the staff today, instead he just had an aluminum attaché case with ... stuff inside.

”Ambassador, a pleasure to see you,”

"Prime Minister." He responds in a pleasant voice, face still impassive underneath the concealing mask that gave off a grotesque grin for him. There weren't very many words that came to mind, since this was (1) the first time he met with such a powerful political leader and (2) the first time he had done any form of negotiating with Cretans. A bit of surprise that Dietrich was managing to speak Esparian without any noticeable accent from his native Cretan, but that was to be saved for another time as he also added these words when he took the offered hand. "It is an honor, sir." He did indeed, speak truth while he shook hands with the Cretan master. This was about the point his mind was reminding him that Dietrich seemed to be taking the garish costume without much complaint ... meaning he was used to Vasco's antics?

”A shame I couldn’t talk to Vasco himself, but I presume he’s busy?”

"Indeed. The ma- President could not find time to make this meeting. He's too busy planning for the 'One Hundredth War'." A pause, as though Dietrich was mulling over that information. Ranza had caught himself from calling Vasco 'Master,' unfortunate part of his job contract that made it oddly specific when he could call Vasco both 'President' and 'Master' and this situation was for the former.

”I’ll presume you’re here for… an important matter?” Well, that was certainly to the point. The stories from the other diplomatic agents were true, the Cretan King was a punctual and professional man.

”We can always discuss it privately, if you’d prefer.”

"Yes. The matter is the ... agreement ... President Allende made with you concerning the very war drawing close. He sent me to confirm and determine a time for the whole exchange. So, a private discussion, behind closed doors, would be greatly appreciated."

No doubt, now, this conversation would be on a temporary hold as the two ascended the steps. Ranza, following Dietrich, as he led the way to wherever it is they would hammer out the specifics of the deal. Either way, this day would prove to be ... interesting.

[Shula Brighton]

{BUMP}

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