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1. His plans for London mostly went like this: try to avoid dying, and don't make any unnecessary enemies. Simple, straightforward, and unfortunately, harder than one might hope considering Millicent's recent edicts. Let's kill humans, let's kill werewolves, let's piss off half the known factions. The vampires back home didn't exactly value lives, and certainly most of them wouldn't care about humans or werewolves, but at least they valued subtlety.

His concern, of course, was that when those other factions got angry they wouldn't target the one who had made the edict, but rather, the ones that were far more accessible and easier to kill. Namely the newer vampires, like himself. Not that he was going to hole away and hide. Instead, he was going to head out and go drinking. After all, if all of this led to an all out war, Thomas might as well enjoy things before they got worse. Besides, maybe hitting the bars he'd learn something useful. Or meet a delectable new friend. Having relocated, he did need to rebuild a network of people he could rely on for a bite, after all.

That was his excuse, at least, for going to the bar, throwing back cheap alcohol (why pay more when nothing tasted right, after all), and flirting with anyone who caught his eye.

2. After dining on a nice young lady that night, Thomas noticed she seemed a bit woozy, like maybe he'd had too much to drink. Or maybe she had, since he did notice her drinking a glass of wine before she'd gone with him. Either way, he was not letting her walk home on her own. That was why he currently was walking around the dark streets of London, a woman leaning heavily against him, quietly directing him to her apartment.

An apartment where, apparently, the entrance that she needed was around the side of the building, toward the back. Well, in that case he was particularly glad he didn't let her walk back on her own, he thought as she directed them into the dark, secluded area. This certainly didn't seem like the best area for a woman who couldn't even walk straight. He focused on their surroundings more, taking advantage of the fact that he could see just fine in this lack of light to keep an eye out for potential dangers.

3. The downside to needing to operate at night, of course, was the fact that most businesses were only open during the day. This meant that Thomas had to wake up as soon as the sun set sometimes, and rush out to get any errands done that he needed to get done, unless he wanted to use the last few minutes of darkness in the morning. That, however, left the risk of the sun rising while he was out, which was far too dangerous.

Which, of course, left him with a very impatient cashier at the local beauty supply store as he decided just what product would be the best to take care of his gorgeous, perfect locks.

"Come on, we close in five minutes," he heard her snap, and so he grabbed both bottles he was looking at.

Slowly sauntering out of the aisle, one bottle in each hand, Thomas made eye contact with the woman, a slow, apologetic smile creeping across his features. "I'm sorry," he said, "You didn't have my usual brand, and I wasn't sure what to go with. Although I suppose with hair as lovely as yours, I should have just come to you for advice in the first place."

Because flattery and flirtation were the way to get out of every problem...including getting a few more minutes to make shopping decisions.

4. Choose Your Own Adventure

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"Yeah," he agreed. "I just moved over here from Chicago. Still getting to know the people over here."

He looked over at her a moment, considering her. "So where are you from, then? Russia?" He was guessing with the accent. "Are you staying here, or just visiting?"

"You're not wrong." Her accent isn't overwhelming, but it is distinct. She can hide it with an effort, but for now she doesn't see much reason to bother.

In some ways it's useful to signal herself as an outsider.

"Volgograd originally," she elaborates. Though it had been called Stalingrad still when she was born, and she hadn't lived there in decades. "I moved to London a couple of months ago."

"Huh. Never heard of it." He'd heard of Stalingrad from history class, but it never occurred to him that the name of the city would have changed once there was no more Stalin. "My name's Thomas, by the way. I've been staying in Islington."

Thomas paused, taking a swig of his drink.

"And you?"

"You probably have. It was Stalingrad up until the sixties. The name was scrubbed off when politics changed." Natasha's willing to give a short lesson; that's about the extent she'll go with it, unless he shows a real interest. Even then, there's not much more to say.

She sips her own drink, pausing before she answers his question. Half of why she explained the history was to buy time, considering how she wanted to answer.

Finally she answers with a shrug. "I'm not. Got tired of nest politics. New city, fresh start? Seemed like a good chance to stay out of them this time around."

"Oh. Right. I suppose I have, then." It was rather well known, then, though that was the extent of his interest. To him, the second part of what she said was far more interesting. It told him that she was a vampire, for one thing.

"I haven't really been around enough to have much to do with politics, so I typically just ignore them."

It helped that he didn't have the sort of skill set that would get him sucked in. He wasn't ruthless, nor was he a particularly skilled fighter, nor was he interested in the political stratagems and going ons. Although he had to admit, as of late the politics he saw around him were enough to make him worry.

"Smarter not to get involved, but ignoring them could get you in trouble." Natasha had thought she was ignoring them for a long time, but she had just the kind of skill set that seemed to get her involved whether she intended it or not.

She shrugs, though. Being young helped some.

"How long, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Thirteen years."

Long enough that he wasn't completely oblivious to what was what, but very close to being a newborn by vampire standards. He'd spent more of his life as a human than as a vampire. It was funny, though, that as a human if he'd spent thirteen years doing something he'd have felt like he had a lot of experience. Now it felt like nothing when he heard other vampires mention the centuries they'd been around.

"I pay a little bit of attention." Enough to know when bloodfest had been happening that it was happening, and enough to know about the full moon werewolf hunt thing. "Just not a lot."

Edited 2016-05-22 11:20 (UTC)

Most vampires still considered Natasha young, and she had decades on him. For a lot of them, anything under a century might as well be a child.

But Natasha wasn't so old for thirteen years to sound like nothing.

"In that case, maybe it's for the best. Keep you're head down. Stay out of trouble."

She frowns as she says it. What's happening now counts as trouble.

Thomas caught her expression, and a questioning look crossed his features.

"What? Is something wrong?"

That gets him a snort. "Depends what you mean by wrong?" Because there's plenty wrong. Not much of it for discussing in public with a stranger, though. "Not anything that has to do with you, though."

"I don't know," he admitted. "You just looked like something was bothering you. Wasn't sure if it was something I should be worried about."

Of course, if it was nothing that affected him in any way...

"But if it's nothing that concerns me, that's fine." He wasn't going to pry, after all.

She studies his face, considering his answer. It was rare to see people back off that easily. While she didn't mind that he respected her when she said it didn't concern him, it was rare to see someone let a question go that easily. Unless he wasn't interested.

A curiosity starts in her and she leans closer, elbows resting on the bar.

"Can I ask you something?" she says, her gaze level on him. "What do you make of things here? Your first impression."

Thomas hesitated, considering her question. When he did answer, his voice was low. He met her gaze for a moment, but his eyes ended up settling on his beer instead.

"It seems...a lot messier than I'm used to. Like shit's about to hit the fan. With a lot of the stuff going on...there's probably going to be some backlash, and I'm not looking forward to it."

"I'd be shocked if there's not. Not from the council from the look of things, but they're not the only ones who might take action." And whoever does might be a lot more desperate than the council would be.

Not for the first time, Natasha finds herself thinking that she should keep her head down, not get involved, most certainly not get in the middle of things. No one here would actually have her back in that kind of situation.

"Not how things are handled in Chicago?"

Thomas shook his head. "No, they're generally more...subtle. Not that there isn't a fair amount of violence and bloodshed, of course, and betrayal, and in fighting...but there is, at least, some effort to be discreet."

Sure, they might decide to kill someone they weren't supposed to, but they didn't just say the rules don't count for any vampire in the name of a 'celebration'.

Natasha nods once at that, as much in acknowledgement as agreement. She couldn't say it was what she was used to, but neither was this.

"That's smarter," she says. "At least you're not making you're own problems that way." Her lips twitch toward a smile then. "Don't say I said so, though."

He returned a small smile in return. "I won't."

He looked at his beer a moment, thinking about things. "So you mentioned you weren't in a nest. Are you on your own, then?"

It seemed...lonely, to say the least. He may not like or trust everyone in the nest, and he might not like the current turmoil, but he did appreciate the fact that being part of one meant he didn't have to deal with things on his own.

"Depends what you mean by on my own." Natasha swirls her drink, then takes a long swallow before she says more—because it is lonely, whether or not she's actually on her own. She's never been so without her own kind.

Maybe that was why she kept finding excuses to talk to them.

"I have a job at the Redbright institute. It's something." Pays the bills. Means that she might not be entirely on her own if push comes to shove.

"Well, I didn't really mean a job, exactly." He meant more...someone having your back. But then, he never heard of the Redbright Institute. "So what is that, anyway? Some sort of college?"

One of the things he didn't know, because he wasn't around here that long as of yet.

"That's what I have at the moment." She knows it's not what he meant, and she regrets not having that security. At the same time, having a nest to watch your back doesn't mean not having to watch your back—it just means knowing where the knife will come from.

"It's a school, though. For special kids."

"What?" His brow furrowed as he thought about that. Since they were vampires, talking about having others have your back, he figured she didn't mean what most people would mean when they said that. Which was why his mind went to the only place it could go in that situation.

"You mean like the C-Dudes?"

Because naturally, comic books were the natural place for his mind to go.

"C-dudes?" Natasha echoes him, not following his mind. "Mostly it's for young people with gifts. If that's what you call them, then sure."

"It's a comic book reference. There's a comic book I read as a kid that it reminded me of." He realized, belatedly, that she might not get a comic book reference if she was...well, an ancient (compared to him) vampire that didn't keep up on pop culture references. "But yes, that's what I meant."

Her brows draw together. She might not be an ancient, but comic books had never featured highly in her cultural exposure. Things a girl misses out on because of communism, she supposes.

She doesn't really pretend that she follows even now.

"It hasn't been a bad gig so far. I'd like to think I've made a couple of friends."

"Friends are always good to have."

And if they were people with powers, who were in the know on the supernatural, then maybe she couldn't really be considered 'on her own'.

Then, grinning, he added, "I always try to get friendly with the locals wherever I go."

Okay, not the same thing, really, since that usually ended in him sampling their blood as well.