bday + catch-all for january!

[specifiercity]

JAN 08/OPEN

Arthur isn't the kind of person who makes a point of celebrating their own birthday. At 31 it's difficult to get too excited unless you're looking for an excuse to party, which Arthur most definitely is not. He treats himself to one of those expensive breakfast sandwiches and a gourmet coffee before he goes about business as usual for the rest of the day, though he has to hit pause on his work at Hillingdon a few times throughout the day as he accepts the routine phone calls from close friends and family congratulating him on making it another year, despite the fact that most of them don't even know what a high-risk life he leads.

In the evening he treats himself a little more, stopping into a few bars on the way home to buy himself a drink and check in with some friends and contacts alike, though he avoids any business-related discussion as he gets progressively intoxicated.

JANUARY/OPEN

The rest of the month finds Arthur doing a fair amount of recon on the state of Islington. He spends a fair amount of time in bars populated primarily by vampires, or by the kind of people who know what's happening in the Nest. He'd like to know how the election is going to go before it happens, but mostly he wants to know how each of the candidates could change the landscape in London. He's much more open to doing small jobs in exchange for information but he plays his cards close to the chest as always. If it's relevant he'll share with his fellow Hillingdon clanmates but for the time being he sees no need for action on their part.

Otherwise it's business as usual. His day job is slow this time of year, but it'll pick up soon, so he's using this time to stay on top of the goings-on in the Underground.

[This post also serves as an open post for Arthur for the month of January! If you have anything you want to do with him just hit me up and I can write up a starter! Otherwise you can use anything above to get something going!]

Comments

[specifiercity]

"I could say the same to you," he says, having at least a vague idea on her feelings about the Nest. He suspects she's looking for information just like he is, though maybe more out of self-preservation whereas he does so in the interest of business.

[outstandingbalance]

"Have to go where the action is, I suppose." Her answer admits that she figures they're here for about the same reasons. "With everything that's been happening lately, it's hard not to be interested."

[specifiercity]

Arthur cracks a smile, letting out a soft laugh before he takes a sip of his drink. "Interested is a funny word for it. There are things going on that could throw off the balance in London for years. Any balance that was already here, anyway."

He wouldn't call the way Sylvia runs things very balanced, but it was better than what Harris did.

[outstandingbalance]

"I'd call that a very good reason to be interested." Natasha's interest in surviving is long standing and deeply seated. And with Harris out of control, Natasha might consider herself cautiously optimistic. "Regimes fall everyday. We just have to make the best wee can of it."

[specifiercity]

Arthur nods thoughtfully. Maybe it's because he's mortal, or an American, but he still sees each individual fight as its own challenge rather than one of a series. It isn't every day the leader of a major supernatural faction in London goes down like this, but Arthur isn't about to counter Natasha's point.

"Still, you'd think they'd be chattier about it," he says with a surreptitious glance around the bar. "I guess vampires are just as uninterested in their own politics as humans are."

[outstandingbalance]

"Sometimes, it's safer to be uninterested. Goes with what I was saying before." And as far superior as Jean-Claude is to Harris, he's still made no bones when it comes to supporting him. Anyone who didn't would find themselves unsafe in London.

"And right now, after everything that's happened? I think there's an attitude that now's a good time to keep heads down. There's been enough upheaval for now. I'm sure there's plenty of dissatisfaction under the surface... but nothing that can't wait until the scrutiny dies down. Both from within and without."

[specifiercity]

"That makes my line of work unpredictable," Arthur says wryly, raising an eyebrow at her. He's not talking about his day job.

"I'm not a fan of things being unpredictable."

[outstandingbalance]

"I sympathize with that, but it's not that unpredictable. At least you know no one's looking to stir up shit." Or they can assume it, within reason.

[specifiercity]

"I think if someone wanted to undermine Jean-Claude, now would be the perfect time to stir up shit," he says, keeping his voice safely low. "I'm sure that would shake the Council's confidence in his ability to keep Islington under control."

It's all just speculation, so he doesn't worry about sharing his thoughts with Natasha on this matter. If she works with Redbright he assumes she wants some kind of harmony and stability here; it's not like a vampire separatist would work at the school.

[outstandingbalance]

"Maybe. But how many vampires have died lately? How did the last guy who thought vampires should be at the top of the pile end up?" Natasha shakes her head. "Maybe it's wishful thinking, but honestly... anyone smart enough to have lived this long is going to be smart enough to be patient."

[specifiercity]

"You're probably right," Arthur says, giving in with a sigh. "I am cautiously optimistic, but that's emphasis on the caution."

[outstandingbalance]

"You can't put too much emphasis on caution, I suppose." Not entirely true. It's possible to miss opportunities being too cautious. But in this case, she'll err toward caution on every side.

It's a bias.

"It's hard to call myself optimistic, but I do know what I want to see happen."

[specifiercity]

Arthur's surprised to hear her so forthcoming about having an opinion at all, given how strongly she feels about caution. Maybe it's benign enough that she feels comfortable sharing it freely, but Arthur may as well use it as an opportunity to move things in... a more interesting direction.

"Really? I'd love to hear what you think, if you wanna get out of here. Doesn't seem like this place welcomes political banter."

He does actually want to hear her opinion on the whole thing but moving this to a more private setting can't hurt in other areas.

[outstandingbalance]

"Did you have somewhere else in mind?" Natasha leans a little closer as she asks, knowing her body language is enough to signal that she's open to leaving with him. To share information, or otherwise.

[specifiercity]

Arthur tilts his head and looks down at his drink like he's just coming up with this idea. "There's better booze at my place," he says.

Smooth.

[outstandingbalance]

Very smooth. But the evening is still young, and that's a place Natasha's been interested in ending up. So why not.

"That sounds like an invitation," she observes. Considering what she is, it's rather pointed. "I'd like that."

[specifiercity]

"Good," he says with a smile. "It's only a few stops away, but you can finish your drink."

[outstandingbalance]

"That's very kind of you." She returns his smile, chin raised slightly, before she tosses back the rest of her drink in two swallows. He's right; it's not all that good.

[specifiercity]

Nice. Arthur smiles into his drink as he drains it, and then he stands up from the bar decisively, digging into his pocket for his phone. "I'll call a cab," he tells her, throwing his jacket over his arm as he dials.

True to his word, it doesn't take long to get to his apartment. It's a nice place for a single guy with a decent income, and as he opens the door he says, "come on in," just to make sure that's covered.

"I should warn you, there's a lot of silver in here," he says, both as a genuine warning and a little bit of vampire hunter humour. He's not going to mention the stakes and the guns and the silver-tipped knives unless he has to.

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha comes in without any hesitation, as though it's normal, as though she wasn't waiting for the invitation. Just a normal woman coming home with a normal man. She could almost laugh. "I'll make sure not to poke through your things."

She'd expect the same from him, really. And she's good to her words, glancing around the room before inclining her head toward his sofa. "So we were saying, before we left the bar? Politics? Or was this all a ploy to get me back to your place?"

[specifiercity]

He holds his hand out, wordlessly inviting her to sit down before he pops into the kitchen to grab a couple glasses.

"It was probably a little bit of both," he says, grabbing a bottle of liquor from a cabinet in his living room - a decent bottle of whiskey - and pours some in each glass.

[outstandingbalance]

Her brows rise faintly in approval. "I can respect that," she says, smoothing her skirt over her knees as she sits. "No reason to limit ourselves to just the one thing, and politics can't fill the whole night."

They absolutely could, if they wanted them to. But they wouldn't be the most exciting option.

[specifiercity]

He smirks and leans back against the couch, still all too aware that she's a little dangerous but feeling the twinge of alcohol in his brain dulling any guard he has up.

"You said you knew what you wanted to happen," he says.

[outstandingbalance]

"I did say that, didn't I?" She gives a thoughtful look, theatrical enough to be playful. "It's really not that complicated—or exciting. I want the new leadership in the nest to play nice, self-police, compromise. Unlike the past two people in charge here, I think there's a chance of that actually happening now."

She figures why she'd want that would be obvious. A vampire outside the nest, she'll benefit the most from vampires not painting targets on their own back. She also benefits if they're not closing ranks among themselves and giving her the choice between toeing the faction line and joining up, or becoming an enemy herself.

"Maybe that's asking for too much, though."

[specifiercity]

"Maybe," he agrees, looking away thoughtfully. He takes a deep breath before he goes on, obviously taking this topic seriously. He's interested in what she has to say; she has a unique perspective on it, but so does he.

"I just think it's hard to self-police without a little outside help. In my experience, at least... when immortals spend too much time with other immortals, they can forget the value of mortal life. I think they need a little outside influence just to keep them honest."