To be thus is nothing; (Bromley territory claim)

[occultdisciple]

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
March 18th

Bromley. A beautiful borough that belonged in the hands of those mortal or formerly mortal. The fae? Were intruders. They had their own realm; there was no need for them to claim territory in this one.

So, the vampires were going to take it back.

The first day, it's a simple ebb into the territory. Beginning to push back against the fae. To try and drive them back into the Other Realm.


And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
March 19th

By the second day, the fae have responded. Hard and brutal. There are battles to be fought outside the sight of humanity. But there's power sparking, and some of it spills over.

Coward continues to fight, yes, and to lead his forces, but he also has to focus his efforts on keeping things at bay.


Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
March 20th

The battle is lost. Coward knows that.

Rather than risk too many of his forces on a battle that isn't able to be won, he orders the withdrawal. And oversees it personally, much as he's loathe to do so. It's frustrating, but it's what must be done.


No son of mine succeeding.
Aftermath

Coward is not proud of his failure, but he also can show Millicent the effort. These things happen, and he knows about it. He has his office open at Scotland Yard, his time available to the supernatural and human for all sorts of matters.

That he'll have to discuss about Bromley... he knows. But he's waiting for it.

Comments

[falsify]

"Still, it's impressive. We'll have them pushed back by sunrise thanks to you and yours." Eames steps up closer to Arthur, next to him now. Close enough, at least, that he can drop his voice enough there's no chance of being overheard. "I feel I should find a way to... Show my gratitude."

[specifiercity]

Arthur tilts his head at Eames, raising an eyebrow. It throws him off a little bit, Eames being so forward, but at least his reaction is smooth. "Is that all it takes to get you into bed? Mobilizing a house of hunters into action?"

[falsify]

Well he's sober and receptive, that's good. He wasn't worried, but sometimes it's hard to tell with Arthur. Either way, Eames laughs softly, "what can I say? Maybe I just appreciate the little things."

[specifiercity]

Arthur laughs - yes, he actually laughs - and gives Eames an inquisitive look. It's a soft, charmed smile, because he's operating on a high of adrenaline and the thought of retiring for a bit with Eames is certainly appealing. However -

"The fight's not even over yet. You sure you want to take a break?"

[falsify]

"A break?" Eames shakes his head as though he's offended by the comment, "Arthur, I'm not taking you for coffee here."

[specifiercity]

Well, that's promising. Arthur sighs, looking around as if he's actually thinking it over and not just trying not to look too eager. After a moment, he nods. "Yeah," he says, "is your place closer?"

[falsify]

"It is," Eames says nonchalantly and starts in the direction of his flat. Entirely casual as he steps around the bodies and casts a glance at one of them as he goes, "nice shooting, by the way."

[specifiercity]

"I've had some practice," Arthur says, off-handed. It's almost like he's being cocky, following Eames down the street, though he's still keeping an ear out for any vampires that may be lurking nearby.

[falsify]

He looks at Arthur with a smirk, voice still low and smooth. "Mm, it definitely shows."

Is he still talking about shooting vampires? It's anyone's guess.

[specifiercity]

Arthur takes a look at Eames, up and down, the corners of his lips tugging up into a smirk. Eames has never been this forward with him. Both times Arthur has had to bring it up, almost convince Eames that he wants it, but this time it's easy and all he has to do is just follow along. It's nice and a bit exciting.

"You can't do some magic thing to get us there quicker?"

[falsify]

"I could take us through Faery, but then I'm risking some other fae spiriting you away to do all sorts to you." He raises his eyebrows at Arthur as if to impart what a dangerous thing this is - which, admittedly, would probably be more believable if he wasn't still smirking - and he shrugs a shoulder, "can't have that now, can we?"

[specifiercity]

Arthur doesn't look deterred. He's curious about Faery, but not at the expense of coming back to the mortal realm, which is somewhat possible. "Then let's get somewhere relatively safe," he says, "and then we'll call a cab."

[falsify]

Eames nods and glances around, taking stock of where they are in relation to the rest of the borough and what's nearby except houses. (Suburbs, man. The worst.) After a moment he holsters his gun and tips his head in a direction, "there's a cab office near the station."