[i]Henry Queen-Anne[/i]

"Zume! It seems forever since I last saw you!" The Patriarch of Queen-Anne embraced his long time friend, grinning. Despite the tenseness of the situation, he seemed relaxed. Excessively so. As if this was a simple gathering between several powerful families, rather than a meeting that might just very well send them all spiraling into a costly and bloody war. Especially when AMRO got involved to bring peace back. Which would involve several families being wiped out, rather quickly and violently too. 

"Ah, but Zume, friendships like ours are sealed in blood, brotherly love, and mutually assured destruction." He said pleasantly, hand going up to scratch behind his ear. "We would never betray each other. We both like living too much. Influence grows, but that is the way of things. Some families wax while others wane. I'm sure the tides will turn on me sooner or later."

[i]Folami Adesolas[/i]

"Yes mother, I understand. But what you fail to understand is that the lion that refuses aid is soon torn apart by the pack of Hyenas around it. We have pride, but we don't have our own pride to watch our backs. We don't need to trust them. We just need to feel that we can take them if they do betray us, or we can easily predict and watch."

Folami's eyes had been half-lidded, processing and casting aside the information her small group of insects brought her. Flies, fleas, ladybugs, all those often barely noticed insects were around and amongst the group, receiving information. "Zume and Henry continue to have their tight relationship, while Queen-Anne's children continue to plan to kill him eventually. The black sheep of the Stein is as friendly as his relatives are silent. Laveaus is insulting religion again. Laofengs are arrogantly showing how little they have to fear with their Lost Number around.  Lucas is preparing to enter the fray, it seems something...fuck."

Folami's eyes popped open. "The Delacour family is destroyed."

[i]Willem Stein[/i]

He seemed to be moving around the crowd with ease, chatting here, joking there, or sharing a drink over there. Always touching too. Handshakes and hugs for those few that allowed him, simple 'accidental' brushes of his hand for those many that didn't. Whatever he was around he touched as well. The table, the glasses, the wall. It was odd, but then again, so were all the Steins. This one at least talked to you. He saw the disturbance amongst the Laveau and the Pallidinos (how unsurprising) and drifted over there, smiling. 

"Clair, my dear," He began in a pleasant tone, is german accent onlys lightly noticeable "surely you must realize the futility of this? With such a tight alliance and foundation in the Papal aristocracy, you will never shake Dante's belief. Or provoke him much, I imagine. Though, for an entirely different reason. The various AMRO soldiers here would take quite the offence to a fight breaking out between us, and while you might be eager to be disemboweled with Dante, I find that blood and entrails take simply [i]ages[/i] to get out of my clothes and shoes. Let us play nice, simply for a few days, hmmm?"

[i]Lucas Peralta[/i]

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Lucas stared at the video on his computer screen, the smoked, burning, ruin of the Delacour family headquarters, and sighed. He'd have to tell this to the other families at some point, and they would be none to pleased. Tensions would rise even further, if that was possible. "When the meeting begins, without all their bodyguard and other family members to start something, then I'll do that. Not before." He spoke aloud to himself, before leaving his room on the ship. Granted, they were all technically his room, but it was the one he chose for himself. He fried his laptop with a word before he left. There was no need for it anymore, and he wasn't willing to let the other families have a chance at looking through his private information that easily.

He walked out into the main room where the families were gathered and talking, surveying all of them. [i]I'm insane for deciding that all these maniacs should be held by me.[/i] He gave a slight smile. [i]Or maybe not, given that I've chosen the ground.[/i]