undergrounds | HOUNSLOW TERRITORY CLAIM

He gives the pan another stir before lifting his eyes to study Faolan once more, eyebrows quirking a little at the outburst and somewhat unsolicited advice.

"The fact that he has sent me things does not automatically make us friends, Faolan. I'm not so materialistic as that. How hungry are you?"

A topic that isn't vampires or food or flowers -- perhaps if Lancelot can plate up some food Faolan will calm down a little and stop focusing on them. He can hope, anyway.

Nightingale can sense the presence of another there with him as Sirius approaches. Another non-human, that is. Of course, this is not cause for immediate alarm. He does work at a school for the supernaturally gifted, after all. It does mean that when he looks up in the direction of the feeling itself, however, he knows that that is not a dog he sees.

"You're welcome to join me," he calls out, before quirking something of a smirk at him and continuing, "I promise I won't bite."

Faolan is hesitant to text the other man, although he has his contact information. He figures he might as well check the house to see if he can find him in person first, and he's rewarded with his efforts when he locates the other man in the pseudo-office that he's created for himself.

"Hey," Faolan says, after he'd poked his head into the room and spotted the other man. "Do you have a moment?"

There's always that initial instinct to run that Sirius has to ignore. They've allied with Redbright, he has to remind himself, so if someone notices him, he doesn't have to run right away. Instead he trots over, allowing his tail to wag slightly. His nose twitches, catching the scent of magic and figures the man must be a witch or something. Or maybe it's just bleed over from where they are. He's not really in a position to inquire.

He pauses in front of Nightingale, looking up and giving another wag of his tail, as if to say hello.

She hesitates, but there's a very real reason to answer his question. They're working together, and if she's any judge then it's asked in good faith. Natasha is on this team, and they're working together.

"I think it sends a strong message, and it's a good time for that. I think it'll make people think twice before they side with Islington, and right now that's important. It's a good move for Hillingdon—it's a big get, and even bigger when you figure you got it without a fight or making any new enemies." She figures Harris wasn't going to be on their good side anyway. She meets his eyes, tilting her head a little. "Hard not to worry a little that Redbright is taking one hand off the wheel, but sometimes that's the price you pay."

"Well if you do, give me a call," Natasha says. Her tone isn't pushy or demanding, more inviting—she has the feeling Daryl would convince himself not to if she gave him an out.

"I think after this is over we could all use some fresh air."

Faolan may or may not have colored slightly at the mention of Lancelot in the context of 'you boyfriend'. He's not about to speak up and try and correct the other man one way or another -- maybe he was just making fun of him. Maybe he really meant it. If he did, he doesn't need to know that he's only his boyfriend insofar as Faolan has affections for him and he would like to date him, if Lancelot's 'thinking about it' ever came to a positive answer. But that is neither here nor there.

He doesn't speak up to say that as far as he can do, he cannot act against the Night Council's direct order on anything or else suffer consequences far greater than anyone else within the clan. Instead, he responds to the other man's last point.

"Land," he repeats. "The only land bordering on our own is that of the Redbright Institute. I hope you're not suggesting that we go to war against them...?" God even knows what kind of a can of worms attacking the Redbright Institute might open up, with the monopoly that Sylvia Redbright holds over most of the supernatural city, Faolan thinks to himself. Bitterly.

Faolan glances around the room at the others but judging by their expressions Sirius seems to be acting as something of a spokesman for all of them so he looks back at the other man.

"Hounslow is the only territory where we will not be walling ourselves into a sea of Redbright territory," Faolan notes. "It is why I would suggest that, above others. It is a better statement that we are branching out to further our own power and resources, and not surrounding ourselves with the Institute on all sides." It also means the potential for further growth, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, Faolan thinks to himself.

It's true, Faolan thinks after a moment. The vampire has stabbed him before, among other things, so he supposes it's hardly a good start for a friendship for anyone. Even someone as kind and forgiving as Lancelot himself.

The abrupt question does what Lancelot wants it to, as Faolan looks suddenly at the pan that the other man is stirring and shrugs slightly before admitting, somewhat abashedly, "I... It will probably be the first and only real meal I have today, if I'm being honest," he admits. He's been busy. When he gets busy, he loses track of time and puts things off until he has no choice in the matter. It's how he had lost track of time the night Lancelot had been kidnapped. And how he, frequently, finds himself staring 5 o'clock in the face wondering whether he's had anything to eat but coffee all day.

He probably should have introduced Annie first off, but Faolan is still slightly new to this whole 'faction leader' business, and as such he's still learning the do's and don'ts of the whole thing.

"Busy," he responds, as politely as he can. She poured her tea from the same source, and unless she's laced his cup he supposes it's safe enough, so he hazards a sip as well. "We are hunters, after all, and what with the present situation..."

He lowers his cup back down to his lap. "It is what I would like to discuss with you, today." He glances aside at Annie, realizing his first mistake and correcting it as smoothly as he can. "This is Annie. Anything that is discussed here may be done so in front of her. I have brought her here with me today to bear witness to our negotiations. Given the recent unease after the reveal of my other position, I thought it only fair to them. I hope you do not mind." He has not exactly given her a choice in the matter after all.

Annie practically grimaces as she attempts to return Lance's smile. She remembers him, but that's more than enough for her. She wasn't exactly on her best that night. The way he's looking at her does help, however. Maybe he doesn't hold it against her- she hadn't realized he was the Lancelot she was trying to find until she'd seen photos at his home. That hadn't changed her mind about trying to find him, though. She reminds herself to tell him she thought he had the most well-behaved dog in existence, if they get a moment after the meeting is over.

She feels as if a small weight has been lifted from her shoulders, when Faolan introduces her, explains why she's there. Though, she realizes too late, she should be standing, not drinking tea. But here she is, sinking into the couch. So she's just going to stay quiet from here on out. Let Faolan and Redbright talk.

She nods at Annie when Faolan introduces her. It's true, the situation has left her with no choice but to not mind, since he didn't tell her that he was inviting another guest. But putting that aside for a moment...

"Negotiations," she repeats, raising an eyebrow. "This must be serious." Her tone is light but her words are not, and she looks between Faolan and Annie with a slight frown creasing her brow. "My understanding was that we are here to talk about Islington. Am I mistaken?"

Arthur thinks over what she says for a moment but his expression remains frustratingly neutral.

"It's only one borough," he finally says, "and Hillingdon has the manpower to keep it. Maybe it's better for you to have a smaller focus, have to cover less ground, especially if Islington makes a dumb move like attacking you."

"Of course," Arthur says, gently closing his laptop so it won't be a distraction. It still feels rare for Faolan to approach him like this - it's always been Arthur storming into Faolan's workspace to make a point about this or that. Arthur's curious to know where this is going.

Natasha can respect that neutrality. It's a professional sort of presentation that's very different from their previous interactions, but suits the situation. Hopefully a sign he won't take any disagreement personally.

"It is," she admits. "But a sharp departure from politics as they've been since I arrived. It'll be interesting to see how they settle."

Redbright can technically tell Faolan to do whatever she wants him to, Arthur thinks to himself, but he keeps that thought private since he doesn't want to reveal just how uncomfortable he still is with that arrangement. He trusts Faolan to do right by the clan, but Arthur has no idea the extent to which he's controlled by his oath as a Guardian. But he digresses.

"This world is always interesting," he says, cracking a genuine smile in her direction. "Honestly, that's part of why I like this so much. Before, when we weren't making any moves, it felt like we were just on the outside looking in. This just shows that we're involved, we can affect things."

"I don't think you're alone in feeling that way," she says. Maybe not from Hillingdon, but she's heard it before. The werewolves she's known in particular seem to chafe at their power too influence what was happening.

Up until Alex killed Millicent, at least.

"Mind if I ask how you'd like to affect things?"

Why would anyone put Sirius in a position of authority, really? He's just asking questions, more to satisfy his own curiosity and peace of mind rather than fulfill any sort of agenda. Well, hopefully he's asking the right questions.

"Makes sense to me," Sirius replied, after a moment's consideration. "Are we sure they'll go for it?"

Arthur raises his eyebrow a touch, just hinting at how bold he thinks that question is. His conversations with Faolan have always been behind locked doors, as if they were planning to stage a revolution, but their ideas have never been as extreme as all that.

"We just want to make London safer, for everyone," he finally says after a beat of hesitation. "The best way to do that changes all the time."

Sometimes seeing how people respond to a question is more useful than the actual answer. Natasha hardly expected details, or that he'd open up to her. She notes his hesitation, the fact that he does have goals, and nods noncommittally.

"You're right about that." A beat herself and she adds, "It's a good goal."

He's not at all surprised, in all honesty he didn't really need to ask -- but it was both polite and it worked as hoped, distracting Faolan from his line of inquiry. He tips a last few things into the pan for a few seconds of frying before turning off the heat and beginning to plate up some of it for them.

"There's plenty more," he adds, "if you decide you're still hungry. You mentioned you'd like to talk about something, though...?"

Lancelot sets down a plate for Faolan and jogs an eyebrow questioningly, leaving it up to him if he'd prefer to defer whatever that topic is until after he's eaten or launch into it now.

"Thanks," he says dryly. In theory, making London safer is objectively a good goal, but in practice it's as messy and ugly as any other political campaign. Everyone has a different opinion on how it should be done. He decides to change the subject quickly.

"So, how long have you been working for the school?"

"Yeah. I'd like that," he admitted quietly before lifting his head and watching the road she was leading them down. Went silent again. Coffee first, then try to figure out what else to say.

He met Faolan's eyes and took a deep breath, then nodded, "If that's what it takes. You got a better idea for gettin' what we need, you tell me."

Of course it's serious, Lancelot thinks silently to himself, if Faolan isn't barging in uninvited and growling at people then he's taking something seriously.

This, however, is already going about how he expected. The other advantage of where he's standing is Sylvia can't see him, but Faolan can. So he gives him a slight nod of encouragement. Go on, it'll be fine. Hopefully.

HOUNSLOW TERRITORY CLAIM

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SORRY somehow i marked this as read :x

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