Stop! Party Time! (Miyu's Party)

Her brow rose and she shook her head.

"Good luck with that."

"Eh, good reason to visit Germany. Possibly Poland, Rumania and Russia too."

She smiled.

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Are you sure you have time to meddle in the affairs of the heart of our Sheriff?"

Victor smiled and held up his cell phone. "First, I do my homework, and send inquiries to contacts anywhere those stupid things might have been abandoned, captured or stuck in a museum, as well as track down archival material. I'm inordinately fond of the 21st century in some ways..."

He looked back over to the two redheaded women doing unseemingly things. "Other things... I'm having a difficult time with."

Her brow rose.

"Such as? What is it that troubles you?"

"The fact that I have yet to reconcile any number of cultural conceptions and ideals with the modern day. I am aware of the problem, and until I take the time to reconcile them, I simply note that it is a different era, and that I have no business passing judgement on how consenting adults feel like touching each other, particularly among our kind."

"I still drive an eighty year old car for crying out loud. Change is... hard."

So sayeth the man with the latest electronic gadgets

She sat down her now-empty glass of whiskey and took her hands in his. She would refill her glass soon, but this was something that needed to be addressed. Which is why she turned his body to face hers.

"Nothing has changed, Victor, other than the attitude of people. This," she said, indicating Oriella and Griselda dancing so close that they could have been in the throes of orgasm by now, "This has always gone on. This is not new, this isn't even knew to this century. And even the admiration of such is not new to this century. Somewhere along the way, it became unacceptable to look at these things in public and now they are once again accepted."

She turned her head to watch the two women. "Look at them, though. See how they seem to be enjoying each other? They way they stare into each others' eyes while they move? The shape of hip, the smooth skin of the calf and thigh where it shows, the swell of breasts and good heavens, the full lips that look like they are just begging to be kissed - likely by the dance partner in front of them. Look at that, look at the perfection and the beauty of what those two women are sharing and then look at me, honestly and tell me that it's bad or wrong."

Victor looked, and looked through the context Victoria described.

"Not much different than Miyu and I a few minutes ago is it?"

He refilled both glasses again and looked a bit longer.

"Removing taboos on common behavior that causes nobody any harm is a good thing. Grisedla is going to have an existential crisis over this isn't she? And Jamie...Jamie will be beside himself. Miyu will observe and state that it is not her business nor her problem. I am here reexamining old prejudices and cultural programming and discarding much of it in light of superior data..."

Victoria laughed, picking up her now-full glass and took another sip.

"No, it's no different than you a Miyu a moment ago. A faster tempo, a different beat to the music. That's the only difference." She watched the two women a few more moments and then smiled.

"Jamie's religion tells him that such things are wrong. But they are not. I see the beauty in this as in all things. Miyu, her religion will tell her the same thing but, I think, she can see the beauty in it as well, due to her Toreador blood." She took another sip and leaned back, continuing to watch the lovely dancers. "Perspective matters, Victor. Setting aside what used to be a cultural norm is not that difficult when you see things as they truly are. No, Griselda will not have a crisis over this because she knows that she has done nothing worthy of disgust and has done nothing wrong. To her, currently, she is enjoying a dance with a skilled partner. Oriella is a ballet dancer, did you know that?" She smiled again. "At any rate, there will be no crisis from Griselda unless she ends up acting upon the desires in her heart, those that tell her that Oriella is begging for kisses, touches - or her own longing to be kissed, touched, caressed. Likely, she will leave this party, find her boy, and let him work all of this tension and energy out of her - and she will have nothing to apologize for tomorrow."

Victor listened and said nothing for a moment. "I think Miyu will see the beauty, and may even develop a broader understanding of what God really cares about in such matters. I am starting to think the taboos are not of God in this case. But what do I know? Miyu is the one with a direct line. Sometimes my computer talks to me, and I talk back. That's as close as I get to God. "

He sipped his drink and smiled. "I think I am a bit superior to who I was last night now."

She smiled at that.

"That is true nobility," she said and sipped her drink. "If the old teachings are true, God is love. Then would that not mean that what is being shared with those two women right now is but a manifestation of God? It is humans, Victor, who try to say what is right and what is wrong. If it is of God, then it is what comes naturally. It is the emotions that God gives to us. If it is of God, then the touches would feel good, even blissful - and they would not feel as such if God did not wish for them to."

"I was thinking along those lines myself" he said as he finally gave up, drained his drink and replaced it with rum.

"I met a werewolf once who didn't hate our kind, rather she said we exist and have a place in the world just as much as anything else. If two persons of the same sex feel a mutual attraction, how can that be evil? We have the power to look and see if there is evil, yet I imagine if you or I were to examine their auras we would see a lot of joy and happiness, but no evil. I think you are right, this is as much a manifestation of God as anything I have seen Miyu do."

She sipped at her glass again, quirking a brow at his choice to switch to rum.

"Both of those women are very happy, healthy individuals. They harm no one, even their lovers, in this. They are attracted to each other and that is a good thing - they should be. They are sisters, in a way, being both Tremere. Any interference from anyone to what they feel would be wrong, as I do not necessarily believe that either of them want to rip the clothes off of the other and go at it right here in front of everyone. I think there is an intimacy between them right now that is something to be envied by anyone watching and cherished by the two sharing it."

"I never developed a taste for whiskey as a mortal" he explained "But grew to like the blackstrap rums of the Caribbean. I blame summers working as a deckhand aboard my father's ship."

"As for the women..." he frowned "How can they both be tremere if Griselda is...?" Victor was confused. "You are right, they are happy, healthy and as full of passion on the dance floor as I was recently. How can that be denied or seen as wrong? Perhaps the world would be a better place without those silly taboos."

She smiled at him.

"She is both Tzimisce and Tremere. Both Clans accept her as their own. She is, quite honestly, a very special individual." She tilted her head and watched the two women as they danced, nice and slow and grinding against one another. "The world would be a better place without those taboos. Too bad humans came along and messed it all up."

"Genetic throwback?" he frowned trying to fathom not only the rather peculiar relation between the two clans, but the origin story of the Tremere.

"We are born from humans. I always wondered at the story of Cain. He sinned, God put a mark on him, but God also forbade anyone else to harm him, lest they receive an even greater punishment. And then the curse of Cain was transmitted to others. God had to know this, and must have had a plan. Eternal beings with the imperfections of mortals, I'm hard pressed to believe there is not a greater purpose for us."

She tilted her head and smiled.

"I do not try to fathom the mind or the workings of God, Victor. I simply point out logic when I come across it. If God is love, then those two women are currently an embodiment of God. What they share is of and for, God. As for the story of Caine, I'm sure there is some sort of lesson and plan to the whole thing, but I could not tell you what it is. Perhaps the whole of us, the Kindred, are meant to learn something and perhaps we are not quite so damned as the story would have us believe. If we are all damned souls, then why do the rare few like Miyu, exist? How can they, if we are all damned?"

"Your logic is sound I believe, love comes in a number of forms and should be celebrated. And those like Miyu who exist, to say nothing of the Assamites... No, I don't think we are as damned as they say. Damned beings do not celebrate love, nor are they permitted to live. People like Miyu see to that."

He drained his glass and smiled. "This was most enlightening, but if you'll excuse me I should go back to Miyu for a time at least."

She nodded and raised her glass to him.

"Glad to be of service, Mister Steele. And I look forward to working with you in the future."

Victor bowed his head politely. "And I as well. Thank you."

He went back over to Miyu and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Poor Jamie must be having a hard time with this"

She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Probably. But there's nothing wrong with it. He can just leave."

"True" he smiled.

She smiled and shrugged.

"At least they seem to be having fun."

"That is the goal of a party, is it not?"

She laughed softly.

"Generally, yes."