I'VE BEEN A RAMBLER ALL MY LIFE (NOV CATCH-ALL)

[reticence]

A. COME AWAY, O HUMAN CHILD - CLOSED TO LANCELOT & RINGER
As soon as there is placed a bounty on a rogue fae kidnapping children into the Other Realm, Faolan knows several things for certain. One, that they must be stopped no matter what the cost, because children are innocents, and having had his own childhood taken from him, knowing others who have had their own taken from them as well, the sooner this is put an end to the less people there will be out there developing complexes around such things. For another, he knows that he's bound to get support when he asks around for help. He's certainly not going to be the only one after the reward, with a bounty like that placed on it. But it's not just the money he's after.

So he manages to rope a few people in to aid him on this. Ringer, from Hillingdon, who like him bristles when she hears that it's children who are being affected. And Lancelot, of course, for who better to aid in such an affair than a man who was once stolen away by the fae to the Other Realm when he was a child himself. He calls them individually, arranges for them to meet him in a cafe near where the latest child went missing, and lets them know that there will be company besides just himself on the job. He does not give names, figuring introductions can be made in the cafe itself.

He orders a coffee while he waits for them. He'd look suspicious not to, and to be honest even in the most dire of situations Faolan would rarely turn down a coffee. Sitting in the back of the establishment, his back against the wall so that he can watch who might be entering and approaching him, he sips at it and flicks through his mobile, making certain he'd told both of them the right time and place.

B. UNDER COVER WORK - SEMI-OPEN TO THE SHADOW COVEN
Faolan has been doing his best despite his new rise in the ranks back at Hillingdon to maintain his anonymity as 'Dubhan' as he does work for Kenzi, but everything has him more on edge now. As Leader of the Hillingdon Clan, even there he's still been keeping it a secret for the most part, his involvement with the Night Council as a Guardian, and here he has to keep double the secrets, not only the involvement with the Night Council (obviously), but also any and all mention of involvement with Hillingdon. As asking around about a 'Dubhan' there is going to bring an investigator up with next to nothing, but conveniently might lead straight into the fact that he's been lying to Kenzi about who he is and what he does for a living this whole time.

So he does his best to keep his mouth shut and keep his head down. Whenever she needs him, he's there. Whenever there's the need for someone to look imposing, Faolan steps up to the job. or rather, 'Dubhan' does. Looks imposing where and when he's needed, makes sure that Kenzi and her friends make their way home safe more than a few nights and generally plays his role of dutiful bodyguard. No one need know that he's there to collect information on them at the same time. It'll be his little secret.

C. HILLINGDON HOUSE - SEMI-OPEN TO HILLINGDON
Faolan doesn't really understand what he's done right (or wrong, for that matter) to find himself in this position. It's true, he's been with Hillingdon Clan for close to 10 years now. But he'd never imagined himself its top ranking officer. He knows that it has something to do with the fact that he's been doing good work for a good while and that he's finally being recognized for it. But honestly, isn't there someone higher than him? Someone more deserving of the job? Someone who isn't, say, spying on the clan for the Night Council? Not that he had much of a choice one way or the other, but that is neither here nor there.

He tries to make himself available for those within the clan itself to meet with, however. Most of his undercover work is done at nights, so the majority of his days are spent at Hillingdon House. He recognizes that there is a distinct lack of leadership here in the Hillingdon Clan, and that there has been for some time now. The best solution of course is not to blunder in and start installing himself willy-nilly. No, another approach must be made. So Faolan makes himself available. For the most senior members and the newest. He doesn't know that he's the best choice for this position. But he's willing to give it a try...

D. THE COFFEE FIX - OPEN TO ALL
Of course, Faolan's day would hardly be complete with at least one visit to some coffee shop or another. If he were to stop and think about exactly how much caffeine he put in his body on any given day he would probably wonder how he had any blood left running through his veins at all. And god help the day where someone tells him to give it up or cut back on the stuff.

He sits at a table in the back of the store with a pastry in front of him and a coffee gripped between both of his hands, soaking in the warmth of it. It's early still, he doesn't have any specific plans for the day other than to eventually get into Hillingdon and to answer his call from Kenzi if and when one comes that evening. Which means it's the perfect time to stop and take a breath and enjoy a good cup of coffee.

Comments

B

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy didn't need a bodyguard. She was 100% certain about that. But, apparently, after a full day with Fagin, she needed someone to make sure she got home alright. Not to mention, there was unrest in Lewisham, and sometimes you needed more than just yourself.

"This isn't necessary," Nancy said, a few steps into her walk with Dubhan. She'd had him meet her a bit away from the den, knowing full-well she wouldn't even be working after a full day with Fagin- if anything, she'd be drinking until she passed out. Wearing a pull-over and jeans, Nancy looked like absolutely any other girl tonight.

"But, thank you. All the same."

[reticence]

Faolan shakes his head. "It's not a problem," he says, before continuing, honestly. "If you want to look at it this way, you're giving me a reason to get paid for my job. Making me earn my keep somehow. Even if it is as unnecessary as you say."

He glances behind him, taking the look of her in. This is the streetwalker that Lancelot said he knew, isn't it? She doesn't look like much of a streetwalker, dressed like she is. Faolan's been accosted by enough of them to know. Then again, everyone's got to make a living somehow. He knows that all too well as well. "It's Nancy, yeah?" Might as well take the opportunity to get to know her, then.

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy gave him a once-over. "Alright, yeah. You've got a good point." Like the customers she'd had that just wanted to talk. She still charged 'em. Apparently a lot of johns just wanted someone to talk to. And she was very, very good at listening. Better at sex, but she wasn't the one paying here.

"That's me." She gives him a tight smile. "And you're the infamous Dubhan. I've been meaning to see more of Kenzi, but-" she gestures vaguely. "We've both been busy." she had a lot on her plate, and was working most nights, even with the cold weather. Which meant she couldn't really see Kenzi that often. "You any good at being a body guard?"

[reticence]

He raises his eyebrows slightly at that. "Infamous?" he asks, glancing back at her curiously. "Who's been telling stories about me, then, to have gained a reputation like that, I wonder?"

He keeps walking, shaking his head slightly as he does, before answering her question. "I wouldn't have volunteered myself for the job if I didn't think myself capable," he says wryly, before glancing sideways at her and then giving her a better response. "I've done more than a few similar jobs. Never lost anyone yet."

[stauncherhearted]

"she may have been exaggerating. I've just heard your name, is all." Nancy offers a small smile.

"Kenzi only hires the best." while Nancy was all curves, Kenzi was essentially a stick, both the girls at similar heights. it put them both at a disadvantage when it came to navigating the circles they ran with. and magic could only do so much.

"but it's good to know. let's not have me be the first, shall we?"

[reticence]

Faolan quirks her a smirk. "I'll see what I can do," he retorts, sticking his hands in his pockets. He may be on the short side, standing a full 5'6" tall, and only human -- if she's got the ability to sense things like that, she'll know. But he's (secretly) armed, he knows how to handle himself in a fight, and he's been a hunter for nearly a decade now. Size doesn't particularly matter when you know what you're doing. And when you've got a gun. And magic is a lot easier to handle when you've got a gun like Faolan's. He hopes he'll never have to draw it on assignment here, though. It's rather...unique. A good way to recognize him later.

"So where are we headed then?" he asks. He knows that he's escorting her home, after all. He's just not sure how far that might mean. If he's going to have to head out to the other side of the city before he gets to go home himself, he'd at least like to know as much ahead of time.

[stauncherhearted]

"That's what I like to hear." She reaches into her purse, pulling out a flask. Without any ado, she opens it, and drinks straight from the spout, the juniper and pine scent of gin filling the air.

"I'm in Bexley," she tells him. "So not too far." Thankfully. She would have really hated to have had put someone far out. Given the circumstances, though, a long, quiet walk by herself was what she'd really wanted.

[reticence]

Ah, and there it is. Lancelot had said that she drank, but Faolan is only meeting her here and now. And less than five minutes into the conversation, the flask is out. Although he supposes he can't blame her, considering her line of work. He'd probably be driven to drink as well. He had resorted to selling himself in different ways when things had gotten desperate, but he understood, oh yes he understood.

"Not too far, no," he agrees. Though it is further from home, and even further from Hillingdon. Guess he'll be sleeping at his own flat for a change tonight. He glances sideways at her, uncertain how welcome his presence is. Though it must be necessary, which begs the question... "So why tonight?" he asks aloud. "Not that I mind, of course. But what's happened that I'm walking you home tonight, and I haven't before. What should I be on the look out for, here?"

[stauncherhearted]

"d'you want some?" absentmindedly she held out the flask. "it's gin. bottomless, near. at least it holds more than it looks." she offers him the silver flask. "least I can do."

ah yes. questions. she rolled her shoulders forward tying to think of the best way to explain. "It was a long day, with the man that raised me." he'd been awful as always. sickly sweet, touching her shoulders and hair with a leer and a 'my dear' playing the concerned father figure. he worried, he said, wanted her home more. "I owed him money." and he'd taken it gladly. it wouldn't go to the boys, he'd hoard it away, like he did with everything, like that awful creature from The Lord of the Rings. she'd caught him stroking trinkets before, talking to them. she always thought he cared more for jewels and such than her or any of his boys. and they wouldn't know until it was far too late.

"Kenzi doesn't like me walking alone, after a day like that." she needed a long shower.

[reticence]

"Thanks," he says, taking the flask from her because it's the friendly thing to do. He'll only take a sip, he's not about to start drinking on a job, but as a gesture goes he figures it will go better than refusing it.

And he listens as she explains her situation, though he can't help but raise his eyebrows slightly as he does. "The man that raised you?" he has to ask, as he hands the flask back to her in turn.

[stauncherhearted]

"thanks." she took the flask back and started to drink again. for a tiny girl, she could put it away.

"yeah. we're not as close as he thinks we are." there's nothing but bitterness in her voice. "a right bastard, is what he is. more than my father." despite her surname. he was no father to her.

[reticence]

Ah. Faolan doesn't miss that bitterness in her voice. He would probably have to be deaf or oblivious to miss that bitterness, for that matter. He chances a glance sideways at her, something of a question in the look on his face. Want to talk about it? He's walking her home, after all, and it obviously bothers her. It's the least that a decent person would do. And Faolan may be spying and he may be interested in learning more information about her. But he's a decent person besides that as well.

"I'm sorry," he says, for lack of anything else to say, but leaving the invitation there, open for her.

[stauncherhearted]

"not your fault," she tells him. "it's just the way he is. I should be thankful, he says. I don't have a damned thing to be grateful for, where he's involved." she loves the boys, though, and would do anything for any of them. but Fagin- the world would be better without the old fae. he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.

but he was still the closest to family she had, as he was always quick to remind her.

"you don't want to hear about my problems."

[reticence]

Faolan shrugs slightly. "I don't mind," he says, honestly. "It's better than fixating on my own," he adds, with something of a smile as he does. His own problems are... Complicated. Perhaps just as complicated as hers. Perhaps more so, considering the fact that he's undercover at the moment, while also rising to take a position of authority in Hillingdon at the same time. To say that he's walking a slippery slope is... Putting it mildly, to be sure.

"I won't force you to talk about it," he says, after a moment. "It's just that I'm here, if you need someone to vent at. And you're probably a better conversationalist than anyone would accuse me of being. Better for both of us if you didn't leave it up to me, I think."

[stauncherhearted]

"Well that's good," she says mildly, taking another drink. "Because it's none of mine really to share. Family drama, work drama." Nancy gestures vaguely to the air around them. "Nothing out of the usual."

It probably was good, to find a confidante who had no real role in all of it. But she didn't know Dubhan, apart from this lovely walk, and while Kenzi must have trusted him, she really didn't tell anybody much of anything about her private life. Even Kenzi didn't know just how awful Fagin was, and she certainly didn't want her to ever find out.

[reticence]

Faolan shrugs slightly. "Suit yourself," he says, his own response equally as mild. "The offer'll remain open to you, if you care to take me up on it. We've still got a bit of a way to go."

Which left them wanting for conversation, of course. Unless they were to keep going in awkward silence. Awkward for Faolan perhaps because he isn't much of a talker and even if he was, he couldn't say too much here and now, undercover as he is. "You and Kenzi must be close, for her to lend her bodyguard out like this," he posits.

[stauncherhearted]

There was, at least for Nancy, comfortable silence for a few moments before he asks his question. She gives him a look, but, well, she can't blame him for being curious. "Yeah. Best friends for a while now." Just don't ask how they met because that's something that's never been discussed, whoops.

"She's more like a sister, honestly, at the end of the day. Instead of so many brothers, it's a nice change of pace." Not that the boys were biologically her brothers or anything. But she adored them all as if they were. And it was an easier word to use for people that weren't familiar with her exact living situation.

So, most people.

[reticence]

No, she can't blame him for being curious. After all, he's Kenzi's bodyguard, and yet here he is, walking her home.

He nods slightly, although he has to wonder if the girls aren't all best friends, in some way or another. He's heard Kenzi refer to Abigail as a best friend before as well. Maybe it's a girl thing. Maybe it's part of the whole sisterhood of witches business. Faolan doesn't really have much experience with either, truth be told. Although once upon a time, in another life, he'd known what it was like to have siblings. But that time was gone now.

"It's good," he says. "To have someone looking out for you, like that."

[stauncherhearted]

"She's the first that really has, no questions asked," Nancy admits. Her walls are down more than they should be, after her evening with Fagin. But the company was nice, and sometimes you did want to talk.

"I don't know what I'd do without her. She's got a big heart- you're working for one of the good ones, I want you to know, Dubhan." Kenzi may have been a dark witch, but her heart was as bright as they came.

[reticence]

Faolan glances over at her again, his gaze lingering, assessing, trying to make what he can out of a statement like that (but really he's got nothing to go on more than that). "I'll keep that in mind," he says at last.

Kenzi hasn't really been especially caring towards him, yet. She hasn't really been especially anything, really. The position is rather everything he expected a bodyguard job to be, which is to say that he's called in when he's needed and he isn't when he's not, and so he's finding out less than no doubt Sylvia would like. But he's finding out what he needs. There's a bond between them, that's obvious to tell. A bond between all of them, no doubt. Whatever Sylvia expects of them, assumes they are -- Faolan's almost certain that this isn't it.

[stauncherhearted]

They're just three girls, young and scared, looking for some place that they could really call home. Nancy had that, but her entire world was poisoned by the patriarch of her gang. Kenzi's home life was bad enough that she'd run to London from Canada. And Abigail? She could safely assume that being a Widdowson, her life was very, very complicated.

Was it so bad to have a place where you could belong? A place that you could be protected? Nancy hadn't had that, with Fagin. He kept them alive, but he didn't protect them. Kenzi had been hurt, Abby likely as well. And right now, all Sylvia Redbright was doing was proving to them that there wasn't any sort of safety in the world. That girls like them were always going to be hunted and hurt. That they could only count on each other.

If Redbright wanted them to go to her open arms, fear and violence was certainly not the way to do it.

"Alright," Nancy finally says and takes another drink of her flask. "Shouldn't be too far now."

[reticence]

If Faolan had been privy to her thoughts, they would have confirmed what he'd assumed about all of them. That they were young and scared. Vulnerable. That they had found each other because that's what they needed. But he wouldn't disagree with her either. Unlike some, Faolan is not enamored with Sylvia Redbright, President of the Night Council, Mother of All Witches, and Chancellor of the Redbright Academy. Sure, he believes she's a smart and capable woman -- she has to be, to have gotten this far. Achieved this much. But it's a monopoly. He sees that. He's not allowed to act against the Night Council, and he doesn't know whether that extends to speaking his mind about what he thinks of Sylvia or not, but he would agree that they're right not to trust her outright.

Not knowing what she's thinking of course, he merely nods, before glancing sideways at her flask, raising his eyebrows at it slightly. "Are you gonna be alright once you get back?" he asks.

[stauncherhearted]

Faolan, you're awful at your job, and we all love you for it.

Do not judge the flask- you'd drink as heavily as she did if you had her life.

"Yeah, I should be." She'd just drink and pass-out like she often had to do, nights like this. "I'll probably take a long soak in the tub, cool down after everything." Ruminate on it, was more like it. "You don't need to worry." Nancy offers what she hopes is an encouraging smile.

[reticence]

He drinks heavily enough with his own life, thank you very much. He's not judging the flask, although he is wondering whether he should be concerned, here. (He is very much a do as I say, not as I do sort of a man, all things considered.)

It's encouraging enough. It's better than what he does when he gets into a mood. Which is to say that he pours himself a drink and starts ruminating as he leans on the safety railing on his window and stares out his window. Sometimes he catches his neighbors going at it and makes his mood even worse. Just depends on his luck, he supposes.

"Good," he says, keeping that assessing look on her for a little while longer. "The last thing I need is to get in trouble with my boss because her best friend got it into her head to get rid of me too soon." Which is of course Faolan for, 'If you'd like me to stay, or wait until someone else shows up, I can do that too, you know.'

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy nearly laughs. "No, no, I'll be alright. Promise." She flashes him her best smile to try to assuage his fears. She wasn't suicidal, and tended to take decent enough care of herself when drunk, even if she often was drunk.

"I just don't want to inconvenience you anymore than I sure I already have."