For The Sake Of Tomorrow [Alastair, Arlette..?]

The days after the incident had mostly been a blur for Alastair, picking up the pieces after what the Vandenreich had been through was not exactly a straightforward process. He had lost track of the meetings, the countless briefings and debriefings, but eventually, he found himself making time in his calendar for another essential appointment. There was little doubt in his mind that the Duvalier Group had been amongst the first to learn of the Arrancar invasion, but Alastair had been the one offer to head up relations with them and now was the time to cash in some of that good rapport he had been building up with them.

Some things were better discussed face-to-face, and this would definitely be one of them. He would have usually just called Arlette and they could have worked out the details, but her phone was unavailable so he had left a message with the main line and trusted her to have made the arrangements by the time he touched down in Vastime.

He spent the majority of the flight wondering exactly how to phrase what he wanted. It was easy to ask, on a base level, but there was some degree of corporate finesse that he needed to muster. Arlette might be able to word it a little better when she brought it to Lady Duvalier anyway, he had that safety net at least.

Naturally, Arlette was not the one to pick up Alastair. After all, she'd gone mysteriously missing in the past few days, and given their visitor, Eliane was practically overjoyed to be the one to take up her place in greeting their official Vandenreich liaison. It'd been such a long time since she saw that little lost puppy look he tended to have, she'd really come to miss it.

"Oh, Mr. Eisfluch~! It's so nice to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances, you know."

Her cheer could have been considered infectious, if one didn't know Eliane better. Then again, knowing her too well would also lead one to consider her infectious in a rather different way.

Alastair had grown rather familiar with Arlette over the course of their partnership, enough so that he was more than able to tell her apart from her siblings. Not that he had seen any of them that much, she had likely tried to save him from the experience.

So it was with some small surprise that he saw Eliane waiting for him. Suddenly Arlette's unavailability didn't seem so innocent. And yet, he was in the mouth of the dragon now. To retreat would not forward his goals, to show weakness would only give further support to the idea that the Vandenreich was losing its grip.

"A pleasure, Ms Ovide. Though you are not mistaken, these are troubled times."

He was formal, perhaps a little too brisk, but that was how Alastair always tried to carry himself. It was in no way related to the last time he had been alone in Vastime with Eliane.

"I assume I will be meeting with Lady Duvalier personally, then?"

"Indeed you will, Mr. Eisfluch. She's waiting in the car for you right now. I'm sure she'd have liked to welcome you herself, but you know how dangerous it can be for someone like her to appear in public, even somewhere secure like this."

Eliane spoke with a reserved, consistent cheer that seemed to undercut the fact that she was speaking about the hypothetical assassination of her employer. She wasn't incorrect, however, so she didn't really mind talking about it. She wouldn't get much discipline for something like that.

"Do you have any luggage we'll need to get, or should I take you right to her?"

Either way, she began walking, though it was slowly enough to give Alastair time to answer.

"In the car? I-- am honoured that she would give me such attention."

His surprise was genuine, and he was too slow to mask it from someone as observant as Eliane no doubt was. That she had done so to catch him off kilter was likely not lost on him, and it had certainly worked.

"Just my hand luggage, thank you. I only plan to stay for a single night, that should be plenty of time to conduct our business."

A hand clapped reassuringly on the duffel bag thrown over one shoulder, though he did that as much for his own benefit as hers. He hadn't exactly planned for any accommodation, Arlette was usually good with that, but Claudia probably knew that too. So, after pausing for a half-second, he fell in step with Eliane as they headed for the car.

"Don't think anything of it. I'm sorry to hear that you're only staying a night, but naturally I can't blame you. You probably want to hurry home and make sure that lovely girl of yours is still doing alright, right?"

Eliane's needling was always fairly transparent, if only because she understood perfectly well that she could get away with far worse. As she led the way out into the hot African afternoon, she gestured to a black armored car, opening a door for their guest.

"Here we are."

Alastair's personal life was not one he particularly discussed with Arlette, it was not important to their business. That he assumed Eliane almost definitely meant Sophie certainly drew what could be considered a rise from the usually coolheaded Quincy. Not because he expected that Eliane knew the nuances of his romantic misadventures, and that she was prodding at that, but rather that Sophie was one of the reasons he was here at all. She'd nearly died in the attack, saved only by the intervention of Shiro-- *Ori*hime.

The grip upon his bag tightened, that African sun burning just a little hotter in his vicinity, as he caught himself again regretting his deficiency. If he had been quicker, could he have prevented her from being in harm's way at all? How many more could he have saved?

"I will be sure to give her your best wishes."

For all the heat in the air, his words cut sharp as ice as he threw a particularly pointed stare at Eliane. For all that had happened, he did not care for any jokes at her expense. Then he went to step into the car.

Sitting on one side of the car, looking expectantly at Alastair from the moment he entered, was indeed Claudia Duvalier. Her expression was unreadable, to put things quite lightly, but there was the same small smile she always wore when speaking with him. It was genuine, at least in some capacity; she did find him quite entertaining.

"A pleasure to see you, Mr. Eisfluch, though I am quite sorry it has to be in such tragic circumstances. You know well that the Duvalier Group is here to assist the Vandenreich however you require."

Not for free, of course, but she'd certainly be willing to slash her prices to the point of losing money in a time like this. Short term profits were inconsequential when she could think about the bigger picture.

Alastair's smile grew genuinely more welcoming as he turned to greet Claudia. It was similar to her own in that respect, measured but sincere. It was still an intense encounter, she certainly had an overbearing presence even when contained within such close proximity, but he wanted to give her proper reverence.

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Lady Duvalier. Unfortunately, that is exactly why I am here. The Vandenreich will have to lean on our relations with the Duvalier Group a little more in the wake of this tragedy, I'm afraid. But I hope that will not be too much of a problem?"

His gaze was as firm as he could manage, he didn't want to come off like he was begging for her help. He was, really, because there were not many doors left to turn to. But she didn't need to know that just yet. If anything, he was interested to see what they had to offer him. That might alleviate some of her conerns.

"Mr. Eisfluch, you concern yourself too much with the difficulties of the situation, or if you're relying too much on us at the Duvalier Group. Whatever your people require, I will personally see to it that you have it. The Vandenreich have been quite a blessing in the world, and I have no intention of seeing a tragedy like this pass unaddressed."

Of course, there was plenty that Claudia could get out of this situation, and that was the real reason she made such an offer to him. She had no small suspicion that her missing little bodyguard would have gone toward the City of Lights, and besides, she did enjoy the way the Vandenreich caused tension with the Gotei and Vastime. It might have been subtle, but it kept everyone feeling a little more on edge.

"Simply ask it, and I will ensure the Duvalier Group's resources make it so."