ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜɪᴅᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ ʏᴏᴜʀ sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ, ɪᴛ's ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏᴡɴ.

[vampiracy]

ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ Sʏʟᴀʀ.

If he's honest, he doesn't exactly like being an errand boy for the nest. He knows that it's best to stay in the fold instead of break out of it, and his sire is quick to breathe down his neck if he's gone too long. That's why he's back in town, and picking up duties that he's neglected for a few months. He won't keep his seat if he keeps on that way, and he's determined not to lose his standing.

He has plans, and falling through the ranks is not going to get him there.

So when the topic of paying a new contract was raised, he offered to nail down the dirty details. If he's honest he's curious about this meta human they've hired to clean up messes left behind. The pirate honestly would rather his kind not leave a mess to be cleaned, but that's not a battle he's like to win today.

He helps himself into the shop, glancing around with at least a vague curiosity before he tings a bell hoping for attention. The man that answers seems rather ordinary, and Killian gives a smile that has too much teeth to be particularly warm. "Looking for the fellow that owns this place," he says, tone friendly enough.

ᴛʜᴇ Jᴏʟʟʏ Rᴏɢᴇʀ, ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟ.

He's done a lot of running around since he's arrived back from his travels. He's invited a few of his friends round to his bar to check in with them, with a back room open for only those that have been specifically welcomed.

That doesn't mean that the place is closed to everyone else, though; it's a popular enough pub, and the prices are fairly low for a person that wants to get pissed and doesn't care too much about how fancy the drinks they're taking happen to be.

He's usually in the back, but, on occasion he can be found at the pool table. Who says you can't scrub your own patrons? If you manage to beat him, he might even get you a drink.

ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ Tɪɴᴋᴇʀ Bᴇʟʟ.

( it's a bit odd, isn't it, for a vampire to stay in? he supposes that's true enough, and he's out plenty of nights. and days, his ring grants him freedom most can't boast. still, even if he doesn't sleep particularly long hours, tonight he's in on his own, and there's a bit of relief in that.

it seems every time he comes back to London, a timer sets in his feet that demands he leave again. he can't keep picking up and moving where the wind blows, there are things that demand his attention here and he knows that the longer he spends away, the more he'll lose control. his sire is unhappy for how long he's been gone, things are shifting out of place and he'll never stay on top of it if he doesn't stay still.

if he's honest — and he never is, especially not with himself — the emptiness clings, whether he's in London or halfway across the world.

he doesn't expect much of the evening. it's dark and befitting of what he is, now, and he's nursing a bottle to try and get to at least a mild buzz. there might be a furry gray creature nestled on his chest, and since he's alone he'll even run a few doting touches over soft features as the demonic thing purrs with utter contentment. )

I used to be a bloody pirate captain, you know. ( the cat doesn't answer his bitter musings of spending his nights petting a cat and watching terrible television considering his epic past, she just tucks her face into her paws and purrs more. if the cat is meant to be frightened of him, either for his villainous past or his current state of undead, she must have missed that memo. he pretends he doesn't dote on the cat, but when he's alone, it's hard not to.

she'll go home soon enough, he's not sure when; just that when she does the place will seem even more vacant than usual. it's like he's forgotten how to make a place feel like home. then again, did he ever really know how to do that? )

Comments

[emotioneater]

It looks like there was no reason to make up a story. Hook has provided him with a handy excuse right there. "Somethin' like that. Girl I went to see switched blood replenisher with toxin when I wasn't looking." He neglects to mention the fact the only reason she had to drink it to begin with because he had been out of control and threatening to drain her dry. The devil's in the details after all.

Cooper continues as the second beer arrives. "I won't hold it against her. There's not too many willin' t'let a vampire feed off of them these days." Sure, Islington always had a few hanger-ons that skulked around the clan, but there was hardly enough to sustain a whole nest of vampires.

[vampiracy]

It was a better story than the truth. The pirate was not the most open about his fae leanings, it was a dangerous occupation to be too open about some things—most of his kind would snack on a fairy if they got the chance, even to their own detriment, and he didn't need to lose standing for the wrong opinions. Still, the house rules of the Jolly Roger demanded no violence against fae, which was a wide indication in and of itself. The vampires that found themselves in his pub needed to follow his rules or drink elsewhere.

Hook frowns over his rum, not quite sure how to take the story. If he'd trusted the girl and she'd switched it around on him, it was a bit more complicated than trying to feed on a stranger and just biting the wrong one. "Have you been losing control?" There was a bit of concern there, because if he got too sloppy it could be bad for all vampires, not just Cooper himself. Killian was a strong proponent of feeding, not killing. "If she was a feeder you'd think she'd know toxin is a bit bad for business."

[emotioneater]

"I have not." Cooper's voice goes frosty as Hook hits a little too close to home. He's not sure if the other vampire believes the lie or not. Cooper has always had trouble with self-control, ever since his early days being stuck on his own with no sire to show him the ropes. He's gotten better with age, but it's a problem that's never fully gone away. Being at the mercy of his bloodlust like he's been the past couple of weeks is his worst nightmare come to life.

"It was my fault, really. I snuck up on her 'n she panicked." That was the truth, at least, if it was seen from a certain point of view. Nancy had done what she needed to do to keep from being killed. Cooper could hardly blame her for that. God only knew who else he would have bitten had she not stopped him in his tracks, giving him a chance to dry out.

[vampiracy]

The pirate manages not to react much, nothing beyond a slight narrowing of eyes. He doesn't seem terribly impressed by the vigor, though. The sharp reprimand makes him think he might have angled closer to the problem, and if that's the case, then it's certainly a problem. Killian leaned back in his chair, knocking the back the rest of his drink.

He doesn't think the rest of the story makes any more sense. A vampire would move too fast for anyone to slip a dose of toxin before it was too late, even a young one. "I don't much care how it happened, but if you're losing control, it's a problem." They may have hired on someone to clean up after their messes, but Killian doesn't see the point in leaving bodies around London when they don't have to. "Do you have it under control, or not?"

[emotioneater]

Cooper shoots the older vampire a glare. It's an adult expression that looks slightly off in such a young face. Killian's hit a nerve with that question. There's something hard and steely in his voice. "The minute I don't have it under control, you can be the first one to shove a stake inta my heart."

[vampiracy]

It's eerie, isn't it? Grown, aged expressions on faces that appeared so young. Hook had his fare share of those, even though he'd died a great deal later than Cooper had.

"If I wanted a stake in your heart, I assure you I wouldn't wait around for a good reason." He's cutthroat enough, after all. "The whole idea is to skip that part. I may not want you dead, but hunters that catch wind of a sloppy vampire will." It's gruff and rude but there is an attempt to protect him underneath it. Protect him, protect the nest, it's one and the same, isn't it?

[emotioneater]

Cooper gives a bitter-sounding laugh. This sounds all too familiar to him. Hadn't he been arguing the same thing with hunters just a few weeks ago? "That's how I got inta this whole mess in the first place." The story comes out before he can help it. "I was trying t'help a newborn that was out of control. Hunters were on his trail, so was I. One thing leads to another 'n somehow I ended up feeding off a hunter who turned out to be a fae. Oops."

He tosses back his beer. "And to top it all off, the little shit up and ran off again. Well, I'm not chasin' him down again. He's on his own now."

[vampiracy]

Hook leans back, expression a little complicated at that revelation. He doesn't like the idea of fae being fed on. Mostly stemming with his fondness for exactly one of them. He's a particular man but even he can't take too much offense when it wasn't intentional — and protecting one of their own at that. Can he?

"You're off it now?" His eyes narrow a little, head calculating exactly how he wanted to deal with the rest of it. "What's his name, this newborn of yours. Surely somebody can bloody track him down." The Nest could deal with their own problems, hunters did not need be involved.

[emotioneater]

"I've been dried out for a few days." He had Nancy to thank for that. She'd taken him in. If it hadn't been for her, he'd still be out there rampaging and Hook might be figuring out how best to put him down instead. "Still feel like a car ran over me, but I'll live."

"His name's Erik Treacle. Mid-twenties, dark hair 'n eyes. Good luck trackin' him down. Took me a devil of a time just to find him in the first place." That either speaks to the newborn's skills or Cooper's lack of them. He prefers to think of it as being the former.

[vampiracy]

"Mind that you stay that way. The way you feel now? It'll only ever get worse." Killian had never fed on a fae to really understand what it felt like, but he'd seen more than enough of their kind that suffered from a fae blood addiction. They'd never be the same, likely Cooper wouldn't ever be either, but there was no such thing as being satisfied when it came to fae blood.

"I'll see what I can do." Or, what he can get someone else to do. He has his seat and there is some delegation in that, thankfully. "Take a few more drinks and take the rest of it slow." Trying to feed too much on a human to compensate really wasn't going to help, either. Apparently the old curmudgeon had advice that wasn't deprecating in him somewhere.