undergrounds | [open] FAE HUNT

17TH // BROMLEY

The reports come his way in the morning. Losing fae to the vampires is... Unfortunate, but not unexpected. Not with Harris in charge. This is different however, and an urgent call has him making his way down to one of the community centres long before he'd think about leaving the house under usual terms.

Having a couple of fae tell you all about the night they had, being caught by vampires, watching another die, one with bites on their neck, etc. etc. It puts a real damper on your day. At first, he chalks it up to general vampire cruelty and plans to phone in a bounty to Hillingdon, but they just keep coming. Fae with burns from iron cuffs, missing fae, dead. It's like something just happened overnight.

He can be found more than once over the course of the evening, having a hushed conversation in the corner of a bar that looks like it could easily come to blows if not for the way Eames excuses himself abruptly and none too friendly.

Maybe you're curious, maybe he bumps you as he leaves looking fully like he intends to kill someone. Or maybe you just have a weak spot for men with clenched jaws nursing drinks alone at the bar. Either way, he's about.

18TH ONWARDS

It takes a couple days, and even then it's slow to start, but sure enough security starts tightening up around the two Fae boroughs. Anyone with a particularly keen eye for patterns and a lot of free time will notice the patrols and any vampire who enters the area might notice how it feels like they're being followed. Not just watched, like they usually would be.

A week in, it wouldn't be entirely incorrect to assume every other fae is carrying a stake, but that's not the only change in faeville. Eames is powerfully unhappy with this, and he's really not too pleased to speak to anyone who isn't a fae. He doesn't think the handful of vampires he's friendly with are involved, but he doesn't care to see them, and in his estimation humans are a bunch of useless hypocrites. Any conversations are strictly business.

Despite the danger, he's totally unafraid to wander into vampire territory, (though by the 25th he's constantly flanked by a burly looking pair at the behest of another Lord,) and some might say he's actively looking for a fight. There's more than a few scuffles if one fancied joining the fray. Vampires he sees getting a little too close to a fae, or maybe they try to round on him instead.

It wouldn't be silly to assume he's looking out for his people, but really he's just looking to vent some of his frustrations at the source.

29TH/30TH

There may be plans to deal with Harris, but that doesn't put Eames any more at ease in the interim. They're being hunted by vampires, and they're increasingly at danger of the whims of witches as Samhain approaches. It's not exactly a great time to be a fae in London.

He's not been in the mood for sex (shocking, isn't it,) drinking is at a minimum, and he can't exactly fight his way across the city just because he's in a shitty mood. Much as he'd love to. Doesn't leave many outlets to keep his mood even, but there's always a spot of fun to be had with a game of cards.

They're not as numerous as they used to be, (ah, the good old days,) but there's still plenty of back room gambling dens around London if you know where to look. And maybe it's a little unfair to hang out in the ones not frequented by magical types, but on the other hand Eames doesn't give a fuck. He needs to unwind a little, relax himself before the big night that hopefully won't be a huge fucking disaster. If that means clearing a bunch of mortals out, then so be it.

Go ahead, confront him about it. He'd love the fight.

ETC;

Wildcard! PM or Plurk me if you want something more specific.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's not your ability to handle yourself that's in question right now," Arthur says, keeping pace behind Eames.

"Well, Arthur, clearly it is." Eames says, rounding on him this time, because he wouldn't be so persistent if not for the inconvenience that Eames' death would be.

"But how about we compromise then," the way he says it isn't an offer, it's more like a statement of fact. This is what he'll be doing tonight. "I go home, have a drink or ten, and forget about this whole... Inconvenience." Reasonable, right, "then I return tomorrow and do what I came here for without you getting up my ass about it."

Arthur clenches his jaw and stares Eames down, unafraid. He knows Eames has magic and he's physically stronger than Arthur could ever be, but he's always had a habit of acting overconfident as a defense mechanism.

"You're a Lord now, it's not okay to act like this," he says, completely ignoring Eames 'compromise.'

It's amazing how Arthur has this skill for pissing him off, for picking the worst things to say at the worst possible times. Eames' lips twitch in a smile that doesn't meet his eyes, and he breathes a short laugh, astonished that this is what Arthur would choose to say to him right now.

"Let me be clear with you, mm? Crystal fucking clear." He drops his voice as he steps closer to Arthur, low and full of barely restrained venom, "you do not get to tell me what is and isn't okay."

Arthur doesn't move. "Someone has to," he says, his volume matching Eames'.

"Well unless you happen to have been crowned Unseelie King since the last time we spoke--" Eames backs up a step, turning again to go home because Arthur has thoroughly ruined this for him tonight. He's angry, yes, but not in the right way anymore. "You don't need to burden yourself with that responsibility."

Arthur hesitates a moment before he follows.

"You know, I'm not trying to piss you off," he says, still sounding annoyed despite what he's saying. He doesn't actually get off on making Eames mad - he really believes what he's saying and he's worried that Eames is being reckless.

"In that case it's amazing how good you are at it."

Is there an equivalent to soulmates, where instead of complimenting you perfectly they instead are just perfectly suited to driving you up the fucking wall? Maybe that's what Arthur is.

Arthur sighs as he continues to follow him. He's not sure how to get his point across, or whether his point is important at all.

"Is it so crazy that I might just not want you to die?"

"We've already established it'd be inconvenient for you," Eames replies quickly. It's not like he's hurt by it, but he's hardly concerned with what might make Arthur's life difficult down the line right now.

"You know what I mean," Arthur says sharply, looking up and down the street as he follows Eames. He has his gun on him, loaded with wooden bullets, but he has to be on guard when he's in vampire territory.

Arthur might be mollified a little if he cares to realise Eames is walking toward the nearest tube station, but then it may go back the other way when Eames scoffs at his statement.

"No, Arthur, I'm afraid I don't." He says tiredly, and annoyed, dragging a hand through his hair, "or am I supposed to believe we're friends now?"

"Aren't we?" he says, for once wondering why the idea of friendship is so taboo. He doesn't consider Eames a friend. He considers him many things other than friend, but maybe all those things add up to something like a friend, and either way Arthur doesn't want him to die on more than just a political level. Surely, it would be bad in this climate for the Lord of Autumn to die, but more than that Arthur would prefer that Eames didn't die.

Eames actually stops at that and turns to look at Arthur, completely baffled as to how to reply to that. He's certainly never thought about it, because whether or not you consider someone a friend isn't typically a complicated question. He supposes he'd be a little upset if Arthur died, but he'd also be a bit upset if Judi Dench died and he's never even met her.

"I don't know," Eames sighs, thoroughly exhausted like he always seems to be after dealing with Arthur, "but it's also not a question I really have the luxury of considering right now."

Arthur frowns at him, just as confused but feeling frustrated by this whole situation. If Eames could just read his mind maybe he'd understand that he's not as much of an ass as he comes off like sometimes. Or a lot of the time.

"It's not supposed to be a hard question," he says.

"And yet," Eames says, exasperated. He wouldn't want to be having this talk at the best of times, but right now he really doesn't have the time or the energy for it.

He shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips, looking away in similar exasperation. It's a dumb conversation that two grown men shouldn't have to have, and he's already done with it, so he's not going to press.

"Are you going home?" he asks sharply, after a moment.

Why the tone though. Eames raises an eyebrow, swallowing the urge to be contrary, and sighs.

"Yeah." There. Congrats Arthur, you harangued him into leaving.

Arthur hesitates, but he nods. He feels kind of bad for this entire interaction but he knows he wouldn't have just been able to let Eames walk by without saying something so he doesn't waste time regretting it.

"Right. I'll leave you alone, then."

He's turning to walk away.

Oh well. He looks really mad at that, but he also doesn't especially want to deal with Arthur any longer, so. He huffs an annoyed sigh and turns to go back where he was going.

[open] FAE HUNT

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject