undergrounds | HOUNSLOW TERRITORY CLAIM

Faolan's actually surprised by such a greeting from the other man, given the recent history of his entrances. He glances up from where he's been staring at the various reports of vampire attacks spread across the desk before him and shuffles them away, gesturing Daryl inside.

He figures he owes the other man for helping him save Lancelot. Figures he owes him a lot more than just a listening ear. But short of that... He isn't certain what else there is to give, really. Neither of them are particularly affectionate people.

"Yeah, sure," he says, gesturing the other man inside and towards the chair opposite himself. "What's up?"

Daryl entered and quietly shut the door behind him, polite as a properly raised Southern boy should be. Not that Faolan probably had much experience with proper Southern manners. Daryl only really displayed them when he was feeling contrite and there weren't exactly a plethora of Southern boys and girls among London's supernatural community.

He didn't sit down, though. He started to pace the way he usually did. Slower, still a bit agitated, but not in that angry stalking stance that emphasized the feline in his blood. One hand came up to his mouth and he started chewing on his thumb nail, gathering his thoughts.

"We been fence-sitting the last couple months. Had that meeting when the Nest made their new laws, but we ain't done much but keep to our own since then," he started off slowly. "Open season's been declared, sure, but we ain't really done nothing to protect no one. Even our own."

Faolan watches the other man walking back and forth in front of him, unable to help from making the connection with the stalking even if it is less pronounced than the previous few times that Daryl has done so in his office. Something is obviously on Daryl's mind. And for once, it isn't something that he's done wrong.

It's a nice change of pace, so Faolan sits back and quietly waits for Daryl to out his thoughts. Leaning forward over his desk slightly as he does. "There have been a lot of changes to how Islington has been handling their business with the community at large since the last meeting regarding the vampires, it's true," he agrees. Not only open season, but Raymond and the vampires have been cast out of the Night Council. They consider themselves above the law, and that's dangerous, with only the law itself to patrol them.

"They ain't exactly the neighborly type," Daryl agreed, still pacing. Thumb dropping away from his mouth and hands going to his hips. "And that's the biggest problem. They're crossing boundaries and targeting us. Not just the wolves they've always been at the throats of, but us. Our people. And yours."

He nodded at Faolan, chin lifting, "Yer boyfriend wasn't no where near their territory when he was taken. Hell, those of us that got pulled into that pit fighting shit couple months back, none of us was near Nest territory. And we couldn't stop 'em. Even if we tried patrolling outside of our own land, the other groups'd tell us to stop. Put pressure on the Night Council to have us run back to our own with our tails between our legs. And the Night Council don't even care to treat us like we're people, neither. We're just here and another notch in their damn belts."

Daryl stopped, took a breather. He was getting off track.

"Point is, we need ta be able to go out there and meet the vampires where they're comin' at us from. And we can't do that from the other side of the city from them. We need to make the Night Council see we ain't a bunch of pussies they can keep stepping all over. We need more power. We need people to sit up and take notice. Only way to get that in this city? Land."

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.

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."

Faolan raises his eyebrows slightly. He's trying to imagine the potential of Hillingdon standing a chance against Sylvia Redbright and the resources she has at her fingertips. Not only the Institute, of course, but Daybreak and the Council as well and he wouldn't put it against her pulling out all the stops when and where she could.

"We could try a negotiation first," he offers.

Daryl kept that gaze for a few minutes before he let it drop. A hand came up to rub at his chin.

"You think it'd work?"

Faolan shrugs slightly, before commenting, "Well. It couldn't hurt anymore to try that then it could to start off under the assumption that we would need to fight her. At least we could cross it off if it didn't work?"

He frowns. "Sylvia Redbright is the leader of three of the factions within the city. Right now we would only want to address her as the head of the Institute, but she has the other two in her pocket, and I do not doubt that she would pull on whatever outside resources she could to save herself face if she needed to."

They'd better hope that a negotiation works, considering their own power levels at the moment, in other words.

Daryl stood thinking about that before nodding. Sucked in a deep breath. "You willin' to do that?" He was asking more than just if Faolan was willing to reach out for the Clan. He was asking if Faolan was willing to stand up to the woman who controlled the council he'd sworn allegiance to. Was he willing to put that on the line. Was he willing to put Hillingdon first and follow through with it.

Faolan studies the other man's face and tries to determine just exactly what he means by the question. Because he knows that he means more than what there is at face value. A lot of conversations with the other man are like that, after all.

After a long moment, he nods. "I am," he replies. "Whatever you might think of me, whatever the rest of them do as well, I am faction leader here. I need to talk it over with a few people first, maybe bring it to the faction as a whole, but. If the clan decides that it's the direction they want to take, then I will do my best to see it happen."

HOUNSLOW TERRITORY CLAIM

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