undergrounds | Springtime Shenanigans

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Springtime Shenanigans

[A - Late May]

It's a well known fact that there's a criminal at large. One Sirius Black has been on the run for a year now, and no one seems any closer to catching this dangerous criminal. Surprisingly he hasn't resumed his criminal dealings, which is to say there's been no murders attributed to him (okay, he's a suspect in a few but only because someone needs to be seen doing something). But needless to say, he's still at large and there are warrants issued for his arrest, as well as flyers and posters around with the information on who to contact if you see him.

Those, however, seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate and it's hard to say how. Some have seen a hooded individual tearing off the posters, possibly someone going after the reward? Others have a stranger story, of a large black dog ripping them down. Needless to say, the conflict has reached something of a stalemate.

For his part, Sirius has a large pile of posters that he's trying to decide whether to burn them or recycle them.

(ooc: Sirius can be encountered as a human, dog, or in the process of making this decision.)

[B - Early June]

The Vampire defence classes sound interesting, and useful. Most of his encounters with vampires lately have been amiable or ended with him escaping by the skin of his teeth. As a result, he probably should have some better strategies, just in case. However, he can't exactly waltz into those classes, since that would likely just end badly. Very badly, the more he thinks about it. Mostly for him.

Obviously the only answer is to sneak in. But how? The dog disguise usually works, but he's not confident this time given the location. Someone's bound to notice him.

"What are my options here?" he mutters to himself, trying to make it seem like he's just out for a walk.

[C - Wildcard]

Got another idea? Go for it! Want something specific? Let me know and I can set up a thread!

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Faolan has understood that there are reasons why Sirius hasn't been entirely forthcoming with the details about himself, and that those reasons might have something shady about them besides. Considering his own circumstances, he's more or less turned a blind eye to the whole thing. And he's been grateful that, to his credit, Sirius has kept his faith in him as a leader as well.

He hasn't been paying attention to the posters. The photograph on them wasn't the best and besides these days he has so many other things to do with his time that he can't even imagine adding bounty hunting into the mix, despite the fact that that was largely what he used to do to pay the bills. But the wheels start turning as he spots a figure tearing them down with a certain determined dedication about the whole thing. And so he stands back and observes for a moment, until he realizes he recognizes that man. And then the wheels start turning faster.

"That's certainly an interesting hobby you've picked up," he comments, stepping forward from where he'd been partially hidden before.

For his part, Sirius thought he was being discreet about the whole thing. It isn't really until he's caught that he realizes that he might be losing his touch, or that there are people out there who are better than him at being sneaky. Either way it comes as a surprise to be confronted so suddenly, though not outright, which gives Sirius time to come up with some excuses.

"Something to do, yeah," he replies, innocently. He didn't say they were going to be good excuses. "I mean, they're kind of old." And a really terrible picture of him.

To his credit, Sirius had been discreet about the whole thing. But this is what Faolan is good at. Spying. Seeing what others might not. Creeping about in shadows. Even without any supernatural abilities aiding him in doing so -- this was how he used to make his livelihood. And just because he's been promoted doesn't mean that he's let the talents slip.

"Mmm," Faolan says, making a noise of agreement and glancing to the posters in question, the connections starting to click. That's...Sirius in the picture, isn't it? He looks back at the other man as he steps up beside him, raising an eyebrow as he does. "You certainly couldn't have any other reasons for taking those down?" he asks, with a direct look.

"Of course not," Sirius replied, breezily, but feeling that old familiar feeling start to creep up on him again. That old fight or flight reaction, and he really didn't want to fly again. Not from the little life he'd managed to build for himself in the Hillingdon Clan again. He still needed them, for a number of reasons.

"Just figured I'd help out."

Faolan makes another little 'hmm' noise in response to the other man's words, and to the casual nonchalance that Sirius is offering him, but he's known the other man long enough to be able to recognize how uncomfortable he is with the situation. And Faolan isn't trying to make him feel as such. He just wants to understand.

He steps closer to Sirius himself, so that he might speak quietly with him, lowering his voice as he continues to say, "Would you care to tell me why that's your photo on those posters, then?" He gives him a very direct look, but keeps his casual posture. His hands in his pockets, hoping that he doesn't seem much of a threat to the other man. Given his (lack of) height and his slight build, he hopes that at least that much won't be too intimidating.

Well shit.

He can't exactly laugh it off as a prank now, or some other elaborate scheme. Not with the way he's been acting (and why hadn't he thought of it in the first place? What is wrong with him?). And short of flat out running, he can't really see any way out but the truth.

"I've...uh....well, I've got a bit of a history. Not a bad one, but the posters play into it."

Faolan quirks his eyebrows slightly at that explanation. With wanted posters up about the city, saying that he's 'got a bit of a history' is a bit of an understatement, he thinks. But he doesn't push. Not too hard at least.

"Would you tell me about it?" he asks, glancing back at the other man. It makes sense now of course. The hours Sirius had kept at Hillingdon, the way he'd been cautious of getting back in in general. He cocks his head at the other man. "We can go back to my office, if you'd like."

But Faolan is going to find out the truth here.

On the one hand, the office affords a slightly more private venue for this kind of conversation. On the other, it also limits his escape plans if that becomes a necessity. He does trust Faolan, probably more than he should, and has supported him. Would that count for something? He hoped so.

"Alright." He glances back at the pile. "Can I torch those first, though?"

Otherwise they were just going to sit there, oddly.

Faolan flicks him something of a smile, before nodding with a shrug. "I'm not going to hold you back from it," he replies. Innocent until proven guilty, isn't that how it's supposed to work? Just because there are posters of him, Faolan's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

After all, Sirius had stood by him when few others had done so. And that did count for something in Faolan's books, certainly it did.

"Thanks, won't take long."

Paper went up fast after all, especially with a dose of butane that he'd worked out of a lighter. He probably could have just used the latter, but that would just ruin the fun of striking of the match. However, it was one of the rare times he listened to that little voice in the back of his head, and so knew the location of the nearest fire extinguisher in case of an emergency.

Not that there is any need and soon the posters are simply a pile of innocent ashes in a small pit.

"I'll let these cool, and deal with them after."

He's not excited about this conversation, but might as well get it overwith.

Faolan watches the other man work, watching him burn the wanted posters of himself and wonders what he would do in such a situation. Then again he probably already knows who he'd turn to for help. The question to be answered he supposes is whether or not it would be given to him. Especially if he truly was guilty of a crime.

"When you're ready," he reassures the other man. Letting him know that he's not rushing him, nor is he forgetting that he's going to make him explain, one way or another.

The flames die down shortly, and it doesn't look like anything is going to catch fire. At least not immediately. Unfortunately, it means that Sirius now has to face the reality in front of him, and there's no more distractions he can involve himself with. There is always the running option, but Sirius has found he can never really bring himself to use it. He takes a breath.

"Alright, lead the way." he says, before he can lose the nerve.

Faolan gives him the time, letting the fire burn down until it's obvious that they're not going to be committing any acts of arson. Well, any further acts, he supposes. Still, he waits until Sirius gives him the cue himself before nodding over his shoulder and indicating that he follow him back to Hillingdon House.

"Come on, then," he says. They make the journey in relative silence. Sirius is probably milling over what to say and Faolan really isn't the sort for small talk when he knows it's not really going to be appreciated anyway. He makes sure that he's lead the other man up through the House to his office before closing the door behind him and indicating that he sit. "Please," he says again. He'd offer some sort of refreshment or another, but he doesn't think that would be appreciated either.

No, at this point Sirius just feels nervous and that's not going to go away until he knows the outcome of this conversation. It's the anticipation that's getting to him, really.

He sits, awkwardly, his eyes darting around the room. It seems to be more of a nervous habit than him actually looking for an escape.

"So, where do we start?"

At least there's not a head in the room this time.

No, no heads. At least none but the two attached to the pair of them. Faolan shrugs slightly at the question, uncertain where to ask the other man to begin himself. It's not like he knows exactly what's going on. All he knows is that Sirius' picture was on those wanted posters and suddenly a lot of the other man's erratic behavior is starting to make a lot more sense.

"Where would you like?" he replies. "I'm not going to lie to you and say that it doesn't look a little suspicious, all things considered. But I want to hear your side of the story. What were those posters all about?"

In some ways, Sirius feels he's acted reasonably. In others, retrospect would tell him he's been more than a little suspicious.

"Well, you see, the truth of the matter is, in the eyes of the law I might not be considered all that innocent."

Which, was probably stating the obvious.

"A little over a year ago, I might have broken out of prison."

Faolan nods slowly, rolling over the thought in his head as he does.

"I'd rather suspected as much by the appearance of those posters," he says, mildly. "I suppose you could say that I'm a bit more interested in why you were in prison in the first place." And whether or not Sirius felt that he deserved the sentence, for that matter.

"Ah yes, that little detail."

One that he is still less than fond of thinking about.

"Framed for murder." With emphasis placed on the framed bit. He figures it would be best just to get it out in the open before going into the details.

Faolan cocks his head at him. He doesn't miss the emphasis on the 'framed' part, but even a guilty man could emphasize his innocence. He needs the full story.

"Tell me about it," he says. "What really happened, then?"

"About twelve years ago, a close friend of mine was murdered. I had been out at the time with some other friends. When news of the murder reached us, I couldn't believe it so I went to go and check. I guess whoever framed me knew I would, and there was enough evidence planted to convict. me. Not that I was in any state to defend myself."

He had kind of lost it at the end, when he realized the situation and that there was nothing he could do.

"Of course, while I was in prison, I heard of information that might be useful to me, so I broke out. Which pretty much brings us to now."

Faolan follows the story carefully, trying to parse what pieces of it might have been biased verses what is truth. Whether Sirius is lying to him or whether he really was framed for the crime that he's apparently now wanted for. Along with breaking out of prison, apparently.

He wants all the facts he can get, so he feels somewhat guilty but he has to ask, "What sort of evidence? What information did you hear?"

Edited (adding a thought) 2016-07-24 20:13 (UTC)

"Mostly that some of the suspects I had in mind were at large in London, something about a school reunion. By the time I managed to break out they'd apparently buggered off, along with the informant who had had the information passed along to me."

Much to his frustration.

"So I just stuck around here. Better than going back prison."

Faolan sits back in his chair slightly, trying to take it all in. Wanted for murder, and Faolan had let him in. Given him a place to stay. At the time he hadn't known, but now... It would be a lot harder to argue that, given the circumstances. And yet.

"And here you are still," he says. He pauses for a long moment before speaking up once more. "I'm not going to turn you in or anything. If that's what you're worried about. You realize the spot that this puts me in though, I hope." Harboring a wanted man and all.

"I appreciate that," Sirius replies, "And believe me, I'm well aware. It's part of why I've tried to keep a low profile, stay out of trouble."

As best he could, anyway. Trouble was something that always managed to find him, whether he wanted it to or not.

"I am looking for a way to clear my name."

Faolan tilts his head at the other man. Of course he is looking for a way to clear his name, certainly no one would want to go around hiding from the law for any great length of time. Faolan should know, after all. He has been on the wrong end of a bad deal more times than he can count. Luckily for him, though, he has a man on the inside. He's not certain his deal with said person can extend quite as far as clearing a wanted man, however.

"And how do you propose to do that?" he asks, genuinely interested as to whether or not the other man has any sort of a plan.

"Ideally by finding the guy who did tit the guy who framed me, if they're not the same person," Sirius replied. "And possibly tracking down the informant I mentioned earlier. Collecting whatever evidence I can. It's not much of a plan, but it's a start for now."

Though other concerns do tend to distract him.

"Should you really be taking those down?"

Not that Oliver hasn't done more illegal things than taking down wanted posters. He's pretty sure at least some of the people his hacking has helped walk free have committed the crimes they'd been arrested for, and this is far less likely to actually effectively stop anything. Likely, they aren't even actually trying to stop the man's arrest so much as just want easy access to the information.

"I don't see why not. Poster's kind of old, and maybe I'm interested in the bounty."

If he had help, he wouldn't mind trying to collect the bounty on himself. Provided that he could not go back to jail in the process. It was a fun thought to imagine, but given his luck, and some previous encounters, it would probably go badly for him.

"Wait, have you seen him?"

Given how dangerous the guy on the posters is meant to be he should maybe sound a little more worried than excited. He is interested though. Not because of the reward itself so much, but helping catch a dangerous criminal? That sounds pretty cool.

"Once or twice," Sirius replies, doing his best to nonchalantly keep his face hidden. "There's been a couple of sightings, but he's usually gone by the time anyone gets there. He's sneaky."

Not to be blowing his own horn or anything. Except that he totally is.

Oliver huffs a laugh, obviously not quite buying into that.

"If he's so sneaky you wouldn't have seen him more than once. It's kind of a miracle he hasn't been caught yet if he's really that lax."

Mostly he just doesn't believe the guy's actually seen him though. He must be trying to make himself sound more impressive.

"Or maybe I'm just lucky."

It's true that he has had more than his fair share of encounters, including a few that have forced him to lay low. Not that he's going to mention any of that.

"You never know what you can find in this city."

Oliver's lips quirk up a little at that. Like he knows something the other man doesn't but is trying to disguise it.

"You can say that again."

Sirius catches the look and it makes him curious. He figures the guy is human, and can't really smell anything to the contrary. If he were smarter, and listened to the reasonable voices in the back of his head, he would figure that now would be a good time to break off the conversation, bid him farewell and disappear to (hopefully) not be seen again. Or for a while at least.

But leaving well enough alone was not something he'd ever been good at.

"Seen some things?"

"Maybe."

If Oliver were smarter he wouldn't be talking, but it's not like he really plans to tell the guy anything. Everything else about his life is so normal. Any opportunity to hint otherwise, make himself seem more interesting isn't something he likes to turn down.

"Like what?"

There's always the temptation to shift in front of people, scare them. He has gotten away with a werewolf disguise before. But that would just be a bad idea, all things considered.

"Doesn't matter. It's not really my place." He shrugs. It's not like the guy wouldn't just think he was crazy even if he did tell him.

"Besides, I bet it's nowhere near as exciting as being a magnet for dangerous criminals."

He glances over, trying to get a better look beneath the hood. It is kind of weird for the time of year, especially for someone out of their teens.

"I don't know about that. Dangerous criminals don't exactly make for the best company, on account of being dangerous and all."

Sirius draws back into his hood, turning away only slightly.

Well, that is shifty, but maybe he just doesn't like being looked at.

"I guess not. You okay?"

"Perfectly fine," Sirius replied, breezily. "Well, I suppose I best be off."

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Springtime Shenanigans

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