venice ♔ to remove the stain of my love

[romanticidal]

♬ My Confession - Josh Groban

WHO || Rafael Giovanni, Kat, Gar, Buffy, Myri [closed]
WHAT || Invited to the home of the talented singer, the Knights attempt to learn more about his connection to NOVA Records.
WHERE || Rafael's villa, an hour outside Venice, Italy
WHEN || July 6, evening.
HOW || Actionspam, NO TAG ORDER

With Dumage MIA and not responding to her phone, the girls quickly got ready for an evening at the home of the exceptionally talented singer who had dragged them in front of the audience at Notturno. Gar looks nice, if subtly so, in a mid-length red dress and simple make-up (11 Disguise check which is what I use for people prettyifying up). Kat's own attempts to do her make-up when left unaided in the bathroom left her coming out looking like Rocky Raccoon, unhappily smeared in blush and metallic eyeshadows (crit fail :( ), but after the other girls helped salvage her (15), she looks really pretty, though still not wearing anything remotely close to a dress. Ever.

The girls take a ride outside of town, driving through Veneto at breakneck speeds, because someone let Kat drive (check 17). What should be an hour's journey takes them half that time, and they pull up to the impressive sight of a dual story white and red villa that all but screams luxury.

Comments

[slay]

[ With a disguise check of 14, Buffy shows up looking a little more put together, but still riding the border of formal vs informal. She barely takes note of Kat's bad driving because it pretty much matches her own bad driving style. She climbs out of the car casually, hesitating with the door open. ]

And here I thought Hollywood-living was an exclusively American kind of tack.

[shootfirst]

What I don't get is if this guy's so loaded, and has all those screaming fans, how come we've never heard of him?

[witchwoman]

[Thank god for Buffy. Myri's disguise check was only a 6, which isn't terribly surprising. She's not exactly one for hanging out with nobility back home.

BUT THANKFULLY Buffy is a bad ass and swoops in to save the day with a ridiculous check of 21 to turn Myri from drab to fab. She even manages to find a dress that Myri is fairly comfortable in, since it seems to have heavy shadow world influences.

Once out of the car, Myri just... stares at the giant house.]

Perhaps the distance between each place has something to do with it?

[rationalizes]

I imagine that's a question we might ask him. [ a glance at kat ] Perhaps a bit more... tactfully. [ she closes her door, and then squares her shoulders. ] Shall we?

[slay]

I was actually imagining that it's because we don't speak Italian. [ she shuts the car door on her side and starts to head for the front of the house. ]

[shootfirst]

Well, we've heard of like ... Liberace. He's Italian, right? [ she trips up the steps two at a time, and rings the doorbell, leaning with folded arms against the pillar to the side of the porch. ]

[rationalizes]

Actually, Liberace was born in Wisconsi-- [ AND THE DOOR OPENS SUDDENLY, cutting her off ]

[inevitablekungfumoves]

[ and on the threshold stands this asian man, with his tiny little sunglasses. he calmly regards them all with a look of pleasant calm, pulling the door open to reveal the opulent main hallway. he offers a polite bow of his head. ]

Welcome. Mr. Giovanni expects you.

[witchwoman]

[Myri blinks in surprise as the door suddenly opens, but puts on a smile and nods her head, offering a quiet 'Thank you' as she steps inside and takes a look around. She's not shy about her awe. Even with all the wonderful things she's seen, she's still not used to such extravagance.]

[slay]

Glad he didn't forget. [ she sizes up the obvious security guard as she steps past him and inside the house, judgy and uncomfortable, but then turns to scan the main hallway instead as she goes inside. she whistles low. ]

[inevitablekungfumoves]

[ The guard or butler or whoever he is leads them through the lobby to an archway at the end of the hallway, past what looks like expensive artwork hanging on the walls. He's silent as he moves, almost eerily so. At the archway he stops, turning on a dime and gesturing for them to enter what appears to be a bright dining room. ]

[romanticidal]

[ as they enter, rafael rises, one hand on his blue striped tie and smiles. ]

Wonderful! Wonderful! You made it. Come in! Have a seat. Si prega di!

[savemyself]

[ he's not, however, alone at the table. Another familiar face sits at the end of it, and she makes no move to rise, or smile, or look welcoming in the least. She wears a gorgeous black dress, hair swept up elegantly. ]

Buffy & Raf's Excellent Adventures

[romanticidal]

[ And Raf hits the garage door open, revving the car and then pulling it out onto the drive. There's a flash of movement from the barn, and as soon as he spots it, he accelerates, heading out the winding path around the villa in the direction of the road. ]

[slay]

[ buffy climbs in, pulling her seatbelt tight as he pulls out onto the drive. she jerks a little at the sudden acceleration and she presses herself back against the leather, glancing over at him with raised eyebrows. ]

So. Traffic laws, Not so much a concern here. [ there was amusement rather than judgment in the way she said it at least, but mostly she just hopes the others aren't holding the bailing against her. ]

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ Troublemaker - Weezer

The grin he shoots her is downright conspiratorial, and as they hit the road, his foot lowers further onto the accelerator and the speedometer continues to rise steadily as he casually leans an arm across his rolled down window ledge. ]

There are so many more important things to worry about than speeding tickets, no?

[slay]

You have no idea. [ she breaths it out like an exhale, and her smile broadens as she rolls her own window down, glancing out of it so the night air can ... slap her in the face and send her hair everywhere. whatever. this is fiction, so it's nice instead of annoying somehow. ] And here I thought you were all straight lace-y guy. Good to know the bright orange brings out the rebellious side.

[romanticidal]

[ He seems to find her comment incredibly funny. ] Ahh yes, well. I try to behave for Isabella's sake. She does not like it when my laces are... not so straight. [ He smirks, but then seems to go a bit thoughtful, rolling his head back and forth as he considers. ]

But it is the only way to feel alive, I think.

[slay]

[ that gets a smirk out of her and a half-chuckle, because ooh isabella doesn't like it. it's cute. funny, possibly a little whipped, but cute. she gives a nod. ] Gotta get your thrills somewhere, I guess. If it's the autobahn's first cousin, then so be it. [ she glances back over at him. ]

You know, [ her tone is wry, cornering. ] You never did say if she's your girlfriend. But, at this point, I'm starting to think manager's the more plausible option.

[romanticidal]

[ Out of the corner of his eye, he glances her way for half a second, letting that hang there before nodding. ] Si, actually. How could you tell?

[slay]

[ there was a short, brief moment of staring at him with disbelief because REALLY DID HE THINK IT WAS SUBTLE but she just purses her lips into a line and shakes her head like idk man good question. ]

Just ... lucky guess. [ her aggressive rage-boner for everything you do??? ] Should I have avoided guessing? [ he does seem all dodgy, and she doesn't wanna make the car ride the most awkward ride to end all rides. ]

[romanticidal]

[ He laughs again. ] No, no. I can see how you might have gotten the wrong impression but... Isabella is my manager and my family, you could say. We are all we have in this world - and Hiro, certamente, but still. She takes her job very seriously.

[slay]

I get the serious. [ for one, hella obvious. for another ... it's because she cares about him, that much is clear, and that's why girlfriend was definitely among the considerations. ]

Explains why she got all uncomfortable about the Nova stuff. Sorry for being all pushy gal earlier. We were just, you know. Excited. I mean, you're it. You're him. You're ... the guy. We got a little out of hand.

[romanticidal]

[ He looks at her once more, for longer this time, as if studying something. Apparently, he is utterly unconcerned with facing forward as he drives at insane speeds down the road. Luckily, there's not a lot in the way of... other cars out here. ]

"The guy." [ There seems to be a hint of amusement there mixed with something else, that's almost, but not quite, a little more cynical than anything he's expressed so far. His eyes still spark with humor, though. ]

It is flattering, really. As I said, I did not think I had so many fans in America. It has been some time since I visited.

[slay]

[ it's okay by buffy standards this is a perfectly safe driving practice so she looks comfortable. besides then she gets to ~stare into his eyes.~ which are good eyes to have. ]

Maybe you should think about visiting again sometime. You know, your English is really good and all, and you might be surprised. [ or not. because they're not even really fans. but it's easy to act fan. ] Or, you might be wildly disappointed, in which case at least you'll come home being totally grateful to live here instead of the home of Starbucks.