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#1 I ACCIDENTALLY A WHOLE BRIBE (FOR COOPER / early june)
Ghoul is not usually the type to take an interest in playing legislative games, but after this recent shitshow of an election, he's decided to shake things up. The entire Council is apparently corrupt or crazy or selfish or unpredictable in one way or another- and you know what? That's fine. If the Council members are so quick to take bribes, then he'll find a motherfucker to take a bribe.

That's where Cooper comes in. Not because Ghoul thinks he's the most corrupt, but because he's the only one he's ever met at all. Cooper seems pretty okay for a vampire, and Ghoul figures it's easier to start on familiar ground.

Which is how Cooper ends up with a determined looking Ghoul starting off their meeting with, "I wanna get a law changed."

#2 THE SLOWEST SUFFERING (FOR LILLIAN / early june)
The talk with Cooper had gone all right, but this wasn't where he expected the conversation to lead him. He'd assumed the bribery thing would be a one-and-done deal, but no. Now he has to write up some sort of bullshit formal proposal, and it feels like every word he manages to jot down sucks a little bit of the life force out of him.

It's awful. There are even books (fucking books!) spread out on the table in front of him, because he thought a quiet, cozy picnic area in a park would be a nice place to think.

It's not helping much, actually. After a while, he abandons the small notebook he'd been scribbling in and directs all of his attention to his phone screen. The shit he's scrolling through has nothing to do with his project, but hey. It's fine. He deserves a break.

#3 FULL MOON: DURING/AFTER (OPEN TO EAST END PACK / june 9th/10th)
And all too quickly, that time of the month has come around again. This time, he's prepared. He remains in the den for the duration, spending the night in the basement with some of the others. Keeping an eye on things with the newer members, being a nuisance towards older ones- the usual, really.

Once morning rolls around, he drags himself upstairs to recover. Face-down on a squishy sofa in one of the common areas is where he stays for most of the day, sore and half asleep.

#4 HILLINGDON HOUSE CALL (OPEN TO HILLINGDON & HILLINGDON ALLIES - feel free to reply as though he's made it inside the building and is wandering around, as well! / mid june)
Ghoul has a ghost to check in with.

He ends up finding Hillingdon House without much trouble. The place isn't as big as he'd imagined it to be (that's what he gets for looking at it from the front), and it seems pretty normal. Still, he ends up stuck outside of it, staring with a pensive look on his face. What the hell does he do with it? Knock on the door like some kind of jackass? Just waltz on in there? Where a bunch of hunters are?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cooper's sitting in his office, the chair he has pointedly positioned a little higher than the one on the other side of the desk. He can't say he wasn't surprised to hear a werewolf wanted to meet with him and discuss something. When he figured out just which werewolf it was, he made sure to take the necessary precautions.

That meant there was a very large box of tissues currently sitting on the desk. He wasn't looking to get sneezed on again, thank you very much. He sits back in his chair, hands behind his head. Though he of course looks no older than seventeen, this is one of those moments where the teenage persona is cast aside, revealing the old vampire inside. Well, this was going to be an interesting day and no mistake.

Cooper's been looking to find a way to throw his weight around politically, and depending on what this little wolf wanted, this might be the perfect opportunity. "Oh? 'N what kind of law were you thinkin' of changing?"

Ghoul all but flings himself down in to the chair, and of course, he makes no attempt to sit like the adult he's supposed to be. What he does is more like sprawling- leaning heavily to one side, resting most of his weight against the arm of the chair while his legs just stretch wherever the hell they want. It doesn't even look comfortable, but it doesn't seem to bother Ghoul in the least.

"Killing a witch, no matter the provocation, is punishable by death." Number seven, motherfucker. He's got the thing memorized. "I wanna know what it's gonna take to delete it." That's not the technical term for it, but that's the gist of what he wants. It probably sounds like a joke, but he is in fact very serious. He even pins Cooper with a steely stare to show just how Very Serious he is about this.

The effect is ruined by a few rapid blinks and some slight eye-squinting, though. He's been trying to breathe as little as possible while inside the office, which is kind of distressing since breathing is pretty important for werewolves. The smell is overpowering in an enclosed space like this, and it seems for a moment that he's about to lose it- there's some sniffling and his nose wrinkles up, but he rubs a hand over it and all is well again.

See, it's fine. Total control.

Jeez, how old is this kid? It isn't often Cooper feels the full weight of his age, but every so often, he's reminded that he was born before electricity was even a thing. He sits back, as much to be out of sneezing range as anything else. His face doesn't show much of what he's thinking, but he does give out a low whistle.

Before Cooper decides one way or the other, he's going to have to point out the pros and the cons of trying to get such a measure that is sure to shake up the laws. "Talk about shootin' for the moon. You realize how many witches there are on the Council? And how many of those who aren't are still pro-witch?"

If Cooper decided to go for the measure, he could already tell how the others would vote. Samantha and Vrinak would never vote for the measure. Yasmine would if he got a word with her in private, for he knew how she resented the witches. Cesare was the real wildcard. He'd been nominated by witches for the election, so he might vote that way. Or he might see a way to take the witches out of power and go that way instead. But first Ghoul had to convince him why he should stick his neck out. Cooper wasn't going to get it lopped off for anything less than a good reason.

"Yeah, I know." And judging by the face he makes, he does realize how lofty of a goal he's set. "But I think this is the best chance we got. The fae thing's gone over pretty bad, ain't it?" True, there are many witches who embraced the change. Fae familiars were hideously fashionable for a hot minute, and possibly still are- but there are just as many people out there, witches and non-witches alike, who are unhappy with how things have been developing.

"If it's gonna happen, it's probably only gonna happen now when they need to smooth shit over. It'd be a hell of a gesture of good will, y'know? People'd probably fawn all over 'em and everything." Ghoul rolls his eyes. It's likely the best angle they've got, though. It would be such a brave, generous decision. Showing everyone that they're all in this together, that they're all equally valuable by repealing the law that makes it seem like a witch's life is more important than anyone else's.

Maybe if the witches are made to think that they're doing this as a favor for themselves, it'll go over more smoothly. Then again, maybe not. Regardless of how it goes, he thinks even the suggestion will be a nice slap in the face for Samantha. Especially after Richmond.

"It's kinda a tough order, but I think it can happen. Or at least get real close, if you really push at it... It'd be a real big favor to me, so," he shrugs. "You do me one, and I'll do you one." A trade sounds pretty fair, doesn't it? And less illegal than outright saying he's buying his vote...

"Yeah, but what happens with the fae and what happens with the witches are two separate things. You try 'n tie them together and things are gonna get a lot more complicated." Besides, there was already talk in the works of another vote on summoning magic coming up. He was going to need to think long and hard on how to clean up the mess he's made.

"You've thought about this right smart." It wasn't a bad angle to approach things from. Better than he would have suspected a werewolf who looked like a dumb puppy being capable of. "Now, I can get the ball rollin', see who I can get on my side. I can guarantee at least one of the Council members will vote for me."

At one point in his life, Cooper might have been outraged and scandalized at the thought of being bribed. But that was before he got into politics in London. This was how things were done here, and if the werewolves were offering, he was going to take them up on it. "See, the thing is, I've been workin' awful hard here, slaving away, tryin' t'make things better for the supernatural community at large. But does Cooper get any thanks? Noooo, he gets kidnapped by angry fae and tortured for days on end instead. So what I want is a nice vacation. I'd love to take my girlfriend t'France. She's never been." He winks at Ghoul to make his meaning clear.

This bribery thing is easier than he thought it'd be.

This is kind of awesome. Ghoul can so fucking do politics. (No, he can't.) He grins and answers with just a nod, first. They've got a baseline worked out, it all sounds good, Cooper even seems to have a plan of attack already forming. But then he catches Ghoul off guard- because watching a kiddie-faced vampire whine about his bureaucratic life is extremely ridiculous. He snorts out a laugh, until the words actually sink in a second later. Then he just looks dumbfounded.

"You got kidnapped?" And tortured? "The fuck?"

Cooper raises an eyebrow at the young werewolf. It's moments like this that make it clear he's an old man that's merely trapped inside a young body. The old vampire always had his finger on the pulse of the city, making sure he knew at least all of the major events, even if he wasn't directly participating in the. He was surprised Ghoul hadn't heard it through the grapevine yet.

"Pick up a newspaper once in a while, kiddo." It wasn't precisely a condescending tone. More like he was just incredulous. "They had everything in there about my bein' kidnapped 'n then returned a while back. Wasn't no picnic either. Those little fairies can be quite nasty when they have a mind t'be."