#KeepLewishamWeird

[falsify]

Happy end-of-July everyone. The weekend of the 30th/31st will see a lot of Fae in the Lewisham area, and whilst it's a great place to get some clothes, stationary, and weird hipster decorations for your home all on the same trip... There aren't many Fae in need of that stuff. It doesn't take long for them to get in position, not bothering to wait for it to get dark before they start attacking vampire-run establishments. All at once. It's very much a coordinated attack. Come the second day, before they abscond, those with a lot of battle experience might notice something odd. It's almost like the fae aren't actually trying to take the area. They're certainly suffering some losses, but their goal seems to be just taking out as many vampires as possible before they vanish back into the Other Realm. But that's ludicrous right? Why bother with all those theatrics?

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[freelife]

She gives him a good, solid shake. She could smell him from outside, but now, here, she can practically taste him. Good thing the addictive properties of fae blood are not something she wants to have any sort of anything with. Her work is too important to her to let blood lust get in the way of it.

"Well, I hope you don't aim to prove me wrong." She slides into the chair, letting the waiter help her to the table.

"It's been some time, hasn't it?" Her smile is friendly as she looks across the table at him. It was likely at some event or another, they all tended to blend together if you weren't there to assassinate anyone.

[falsify]

Eames laughs softly as he takes his seat opposite her. He certainly isn't intending to prove her wrong, but who knows how this'll go. It's a touchy topic, Eames is well aware.

"I think it was before mobile phones," he says with a thoughtful wrinkle of his brow, as though he couldn't tell here exactly when and where they last saw eachother if pressed. Most things within half a century he can usually remember to the detail; it's a useful skill, but also largely unimportant right now. "What's brought you back anyway?"

[freelife]

"Quite likely." There, they'd acknowledged it had been a while, and that they'd previously known each other. Moving on.

"London's always been my city, I like to stop in from time to time, make sure she's alright. Protect the people. Obviously with the latest shake-ups, I made the right decision." Even if she'd been a catalyst to bring them about. She'd had no way of knowing it would lead to this. But she couldn't help but feel that she should have known.

That's why, this time, things were going to be planned.

[falsify]

Eames nods in understanding, that's something he gets. Despite his wanderlust, London is his home, and can't just up and leave her in this sorry state.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually." He puts an elbow on the table, leaning forward a little, "how are things inside Islington?"

[freelife]

Evie gives a bitter sort of chuckle, and shakes her head.

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" She can appreciate it, honestly. There's often far too much small talk and beating around the bush. "I made the right call in coming back- the nest is humming with activity. The recent upset has been... polarizing, to say the least. I cannot say my morals align with the current shift."

[falsify]

Eames doesn't believe in beating around the bush if he doesn't have to, in a lot of ways it's nice to just get straight to the point instead of having to butter someone up or talk circles around them.

"You and the rest of London." He sighs and takes a sip of his wine, like he's imparting some terrible news. It's great news for him honsetly, but for the vampires? Not so much. "You're on track to lose your Night Council seat at this rate."

[freelife]

Evie heaves a heavy sigh. "You don't say-" her tone is as dry as her wine.

"I'm not surprised. Raymond is determined to return us to some romanticized glory days. Unfortunately for him, there are more than a few of us who disagree with his methods." No names. Not yet.

[falsify]

Well that's reassuring, at least. He doesn't expect her to hand over any names, and truthfully it may be better if he doesn't have them even if she does agree to work with him on this. Eames just hopes they hold enough clout within the nest to make it work.

He leans back in his seat, "I think it's safe to say it's in everyone's best interests if he was removed from power. Except Raymond himself, maybe."

[freelife]

"Maybe." But the smallest of nods indicates that she believes Eames is completely correct.

"It must be done carefully- creating another power vacuum must be avoided at all costs." She didn't need to tell him that, but it was better to cover her bases.

[falsify]

"Oh, instead of the fucking mess that taking out Millicent was?" He maintains killing her without a replacement in mind was a ridiculously stupid idea; you'd think someone involved would've at least seen a gangster movie or something.

Eames picks up a menu to actually think about what he wants to eat, nothing like politics to work up an appetite. "Anyone you can think of to take his place?"

[freelife]

Evie takes a careful measure not to wince when Eames mentions what a botch job it was. The truth was, however, she agreed with him. She'd acted rashly and aided Alex. If she hadn't stepped in, they would have one dead wolf on their hands. But she'd taken the gamble.

And now all of London was paying dearly for it.

"Yes." To answer both his questions. But there was no use for names, either. She wasn't sold on her candidate, but she was happy to know she wasn't alone. "A few have been floated around."

[falsify]

Might as well get straight to it.

"What are your feelings on Jean-Claude?" He might as well be asking for her opinion on a starter, the way he says it without looking up from his menu. JC isn't Eames' ideal, but he's not a madness-addled insanonaut like Harris, which is an improvement. And he has the charisma to keep a bunch of vampires in line.

His political acumen is yet to be seen, but a total lack of it would only be a good thing from where Eames is sat.

[freelife]

Evie closes her eyes for a moment, and uses it to enjoy the flavors of her wine. She waits until she's set the glass down before she actually answers him. "I've heard his name floating around, yes."

But he wants to know what her feelings are. "And the likeliest candidate." Natasha was behind the idea, as well.

[falsify]

"That's not an answer," he replies smoothly, with a lightly chiding tone. It tells him he's not alone in thinking Jean-Claude wouldn't make a terrible choice for leader — which only strengthens the man's standing — but it's not exactly an opinion. Not much of one anyway.

"What do you think about him?"

[freelife]

She gives Eames a peek at a smile. "So it isn't," she tells him.

"I like him well enough. He's been around long enough that he's seen this sort of thing happen. And he's the type to learn from mistakes."

[falsify]

Good, good. Eames nods in apparent acceptance of Evie's estimation. She's good at reading people, so he'll trust that she's right about this.

"Think he has what it takes to lead the nest?" Eames asks, point blank. Not have other people suggested him, do they think he's good for it. He's not buying other people dinner tonight, after all.

[freelife]

Did he? Evie is reminded of her interactions with him before, of how concerned he was about his human dancer. He'd hired two assassins to go in and try to find her. Most would have written her off as a loss. But not JC.

His past, perhaps, made him all the more reasonable.

"Yes." She said after a moment. "I do."

[falsify]

"Good," Eames leans back in his seat, "because I've already spoken to him about it."

Totally casual about it as he glances up around the room, "do you know what you want, by the way?"

[freelife]

"Oh." Well. That changes things slightly. "An associate and I were wondering if that was the best choice of plans, plausible deniability, but. I haven't survived this long without being able to adapt to circumstances." She hadn't made a decision either way.

"I do, thank you." Because she, too, can be casual. They're not two supernatural creatures sitting in broad daylight discussing a political coup. No way.

[falsify]

Eames smiles at a nearby waiter to let them know the table's ready to order. And maybe get another bottle of wine while he's at it. Let's go all out.

"Well I can tell you he's amenable," Eames says with a vague gesture, "but I'll have to leave the logistics of it to someone else."

Like a master assassin inside the vest with a keen eye and quick mind, for example.

[freelife]

Jumping right to it, then.

"There's a lot more to it, before we can even get to that part. But I assure you, that will be well in-hand." So yes, a master assassin inside the vest with a keen eye and a quick mind and a hidden blade.

[falsify]

"Of course," it's not a simple ask, but it's also not as complex as it could be. Not for Eames at least. He tips his glass toward Evie with a smirk, glad he could count on her not to be a fucking idiot about things. "But, knowing there's at least one person inside the nest who sees sense will make things easier going forward."

[freelife]

Evie allows a dash of pride to show across her features, her brow high, her smile a bit more full. If there was one thing she was good at, it was dealing with problems.

Even if she was a fucking idiot about Millicent. She was going to carry that with her for a very, very long time. Add her up there with Jack the Ripper and the time Jacob nearly destroyed the Bank of England.

"At least," she confirms, and raises her glass towards him. "Cheers, Eames."

[falsify]

The way she says at least makes him want to ask questions, find out who all else in the Nest thinks Raymond needs to be shut down, though one suspects it's a lot more than Raymond thinks it is. It's best to leave that side of things to Evie though, let her handle the work on the inside.

Eames raises his own glass, clinking them together lightly, "cheers."