ex-pat expeditions (open)

[cabins]

Fuel for Thought


The final bell had rung for the weekend, and good lord if there wasn’t anything that was going to stop Laura from a cup of coffee for her way home. Some genius had decided the optimal place for a Starbucks was across the street from her school, and Laura couldn’t have been happier. Given that it was a primary school, she didn’t have to really risk running into any students, more so their parents. Still, it was a a sacrifice she was willing to make, and most parents weren’t getting coffee after picking up their kid, anyway.


She pushes her way into the crowded cafe where a line was already starting to form with others that had the same craving for an afternoon coffee to start their Friday off right. Already knowing what she wants, she’s lost in her phone when she feels someone brush up against her, pushing into the spot ahead of her.

“Excuse me,” she begins, tapping them on the shoulder. “I believe the line starts behind me.”


Which Way?

Despite having been in London for a few months now, there was one thing that always managed to confuse Laura. The Tube. She should have been able to figure it out- DC had metro transit, and she’d lived in upstate New York most of her life. But being a politician, she’d never had to worry about getting anywhere, someone would drive her. So her knowledge of how to navigate the underground system was severely lacking.

Which is how she’s found herself on some track, looking up at the sign telling her the next train would arrive in 7 minutes. It had been at 7 minute for the last 10. She wasn’t even sure this one was headed in the right direction- but the color was right. Circle line. So… where was the train?


She sighs, and starts peering down the hallway toward the other side of the track where a train just exited in the opposite direction.

Wait.

“…was that the Circle going toward Monument?” Honestly, it sounds like gibberish to her.


Fun Den (For Ghoul)

"...Fun Ghoul, did I hear you say?" Laura isn't about to judge the youth for his colorful name, but it gets a slight eyebrow raise. She'd been in London for a few months, getting to know the city, but now it was time to truly get to know her pack. She thought she'd start with a tour of the den and was promptly put in contact with a Mr. Fun Ghoul. Something something Americans something, she figured.

Fine by her. she figured the younger man would be honest with her about the tour, and she liked being around younger people. probably why she was a teacher.

She extends a hand to her guide. "Laura Roslin- you can just call me Laura. I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to give me a tour. Would you like something to drink before we start? Coffee?" She had something of an addiction.


What's your rush? (For Joss)

the sun has set about an hour ago, but Laura was still out. She'd had a few errands to run before returning to her small flat for a glass of wine and a smoke before grading homework. Best way to do it, maybe with some trashy Housewives tv show on in the background.

really, that's all she was thinking about as she made her way through the neighborhood, purse over one shoulder, bags in hand. She should have been paying better attention to her surroundings, but all she was really thinking about was just how comfortable her slippers we're going to be when she walked through her front door.

write your own! or grab me for a starter.

Comments

[ghoulaid]

Oh, he gets coffee-picks? Excellent. He knows just the place. It's not too far from here, and not too far from the den, for that matter. He'll lead her right to it.

Hearing she's alone is a bit of a surprise. It shows on his face, which might be a little rude, but he doesn't mean anything malicious by it. "Really?" Huh. If anything, he'd be impressed by her... dating history. If you've got to pick one person to go after, it might as well be the guy running the country. Aim for the fucking stars, Laura.

"Are you gonna live in the den, then? You can, but you don't have to. It might actually drive you kinda fuckin' crazy if you're used to bein' by yourself."

[cabins]

Laura nods, her lips a little tight. "Yes. I'm afraid so." She'll give you a break this time, Ghoul.

Oh, she'll aim for the stars. And rule them all.

"I don't think so- I need some peace and quiet when I grade papers, I'm sure you understand." She smiles again. She follows him toward the coffee shop.

[ghoulaid]

Grading papers. He truly can't think of a worse way to spend his evenings, so he ends up cringing in sympathy... although it doesn't seem like she's even bothered by homework hell.

It's called a career, Ghoul. Try one sometime.

"What classes do you teach? And are they, like... regular students?" Human students, he means. It's not that he has a strong opinion about who she teaches either way- even if her interacting with humans did bother him, it'd make him a huge hypocrite considering he was bitten and not born the way he is now. But it's just a part of the getting-to-know-you game.

As they make their coffee pit-stop, he'll even hold the door open for her whenever they enter the building. Because, shockingly, he can be nice and polite too. She'd better not tell anybody.

[cabins]

So polite, Laura muses as she moves into the coffee shop.

"I teach... well, the American equivalent is third-graders." English school. Weird. "I haven't been in the classroom actively teaching for some time, so it's nice to get back to my roots." Don't worry- Laura was bitten, too. "They're in a local school, so they're not like us." Best way to put it, she figured.

"I was considering applying for a position with Redbright... But I thought I'd wait a bit, get a feel for the climate I'm coming into." She'd heard a lot of shakeups were currently going on.

[ghoulaid]

Oh, kids. Little kids. Yeah, if Ghoul had to wrangle dozens of literal children every day, he wouldn't want to come home to a bunch of den chaos, either. She made a good call there.

He nods in understanding, putting a pause on the conversation until they've got their drinks all settled. Ghoul ends up with some ridiculous combination of absolute bullshit that probably clocks in at around 600 calories, but it's breakfast, okay. It's fine.

He stands to the side until Laura's set and ready to go. Once they're outside again, he breaks the unfortunate news to her. "Sooo, I don't know what you've heard yet, but the climate you're gonna get is kinda..." He pauses, carefully searching for the right word to describe the current state of affairs. "Super-fucked?" Good enough.

[cabins]

She isn't going to say anything. She orders a simple americano, to make up for his... concoction.

At least he has not only a young man's metabolism, but that of a werewolf.

Laura pays, and falls in line with Ghoul once outside. She'll let him lead the way.

What comes next is not actually the answer she was expecting, and it catches her off-guard. This earns Ghoul a warm laugh. "That bad, huh? Alright, give me the low-down. I want to hear it from your perspective."

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul just smiles and shrugs. Hey, she wanted honesty. "There's... a lot, but first thing's first, 'cause we don't need you gettin' messed up." He points in the direction of vampire territory while they walk. "Over that way's Islington Nest ground. You only really gotta worry about, like... Hackney, Newham, and Greenwhatever, I think, 'cause those are the only spots that touch ours. We don't get along, so don't fuckin' go in their space unless you're in a group that's about to wreck their shit." He can't really imagine her doing something like that, but hell, they just met. He doesn't know what her hobbies are. Maybe she sometimes needs to burn off some anger after grading really ignorant test answers.

"I mean, you might not get killed if you're caught trespassing, so there's that. We ain't supposed to be that forgiving, though. You're supposed to kill any vampires you find over here, but if you don't wanna do that then you better not say so. Katherine won't wanna hear it."

[cabins]

Wow. Wow, she was walking in to some seriously frakked up shit, to be honest. It sounded like a huge mess, but, still par for the corse.

"So the vampires aren't any better here than they were in DC?" She's going to assume so. "But don't worry. I have no intentions of befriending the vampires, or even wandering into their territories, if I can help it."

[ghoulaid]

Haha. Hahahah. Bless her heart. The vampires aren't even the worst part.

"Dunno, I'm from the other side of the country." The honest-to-god other side of the country. LA is about as far from DC as you can get, and most of the vampires he'd met there weren't so bad. Some of them aren't that bad here either in his opinion, but that's not information he cares to supply. She can form her own opinions on them in time.

"Since we got them covered, I guess next is the witches. We're kinda teamed up with Daybreak right now. You've heard of Samantha, right?"

[cabins]

"I see." She takes a drink.

Samantha Okeke, yes, she knew the name alright. She'd heard all about the recent goings on in London. It didn't pay to be in politics and not keeping up with the rest of the world. She doesn't need to reveal that. "Yes- she's the new Mother, am I correct?" She glances at him over the top of her glasses.

"She's the one that supports fae familiars, right?"

[ghoulaid]

"Yep."

She's right on both counts, but he doesn't specify any further. That yep is all he says about her. It's a far cry from his usual tendency to run his mouth, yet somehow he manages to make that one word sound hateful. Still- he's trying so, so hard to keep his mouth shut, even going so far as to chew on his straw in aggravation.

God, he can't stand her.

[cabins]

She can hear the hatred in his words, and she nods. So he clearly hates the woman. Good to know.

So Laura nods, hoping to pry a bit further. "There must be a good reason for that." It was almost a question. "We have to be getting something out of it, right?" There's a slight tilt in one of her eyebrows.

[ghoulaid]

There isn't a good reason for anything Samantha-related. The end of his straw is thoroughly chomped and mangled by the time he pulls it out of his mouth to speak. "We're supposed to be gettin' something out of it, but that's not workin' out." Daybreak should be helping them push back the vampires. Maybe if they'd assisted East End in gaining some ground, he wouldn't be quite so bitter. But, no.

Samantha had to be a sociopath and a narcissist.

"Been kinda one-sided so far. I think she's pissed 'cause her pushes with us haven't gone too well. Probably blames us for her shit failing," he explains irritably. "But Katherine's desperate enough to keep at it, so be ready for that. Den's up ahead, by the way. You can see it from here." He nods forward- it's the huge, old red-brick mill. The one that has even more bricks surrounding the premises in the form of a high wall. Most people wouldn't consider it a very friendly looking place, but most people aren't wolves, either.

[cabins]

She sighs. "Lovely." It's not lovely. Not at all. They should be getting something for their efforts, especially if the reports of them having previously been slaughtered for pelts were true.

"That's more than likely her fault rather than ours." She had faith in her pack, as new as she was to it.

Laura looks up to see the den. "It's beautiful." Perhaps not the right word, but she liked it. The idea of all of them having this communal space to use and live in if they needed. It truly was a den. She liked it.

Already, though, she was starting to think about Katherine, and meeting with her.

[ghoulaid]

"Right?" Okay, maybe Ghoul and another wolf or two had made things a slightly difficult. Maybe they'd broken some salt circles or not gone in as ruthlessly as they should have, but the witches could have been a lot better prepared than what they were. Most of them are pretty terrible at wrangling fae, and the wolves can't be blamed for that.

Not that it'll stop Samantha, probably.

Ugh, he's got to stop thinking about her. Shit's going to ruin his whole day. Good thing the den is near. "But, uh, yeah, it's a pretty nice place. The wall thing goes all the way around," and he motions towards it with his free hand as they approach. "It's in pretty good shape still and there's only two gates, this big main one up here and a back one." It's the main gate that he brings her to, punching in a keycode that'll open it so he can wave her on through.

There's also a Beware of Dog sign posted nearby, because of course there is. "Security's actually pretty serious and there's alarms and stuff inside so we know if somebody's tryin' to bust in. Good so far?"

[cabins]

The sign is cute, she'll give them that.

"And do you live here?" She asks curiously. Her voice is soft as they step in to the large expanse. Everything seems to echo, from her footsteps to voices from some unknown source.

[ghoulaid]

The lot is big, and eerily empty. It looks pretty abandoned despite a number of people continuously coming and going. All the neat stuff is inside.

"Yeah, sometimes. I'm around regular enough to have my own space." He spends about equal amounts of time here and at Party's apartment. The change in scenery is nice, and Party has a lot of things that he likes to use without asking. Why have a best friend if you can't claim their stuff whenever you want? "There's a bunch of guest rooms for anybody who's stoppin' in. Nobody's gotta stay here, but a lot of 'em do off and on just 'cause." Especially around full moons. Obviously.

[cabins]

Another nod as she takes the area in. Looks like it'd be quite secure, against those that want to get in, and on full moons, those that want to get out.

"And I'm told they have secured areas for the full moon?" She wants to be sure she has a place to go. Currently she's been chaining herself in her apartment, and she'd rather not have to ruin her upholstery.

[ghoulaid]

"For sure. C'mere, I'll show you." Ghoul leads her inside and then immediately down. The basement is basically their nightmare-looking Fort Knox, but it's clean and it serves its purpose. He walks her in a tour around it, showing her the main open area as well as the isolation cells- for those extra wild ones.

He casts a glance over at her after pointing those out. "D'you have a lot of control issues?"

[cabins]

Useful. She takes all of it in.

"No, but- I must tell you, Ghoul, I'm rather new at all of this." She gestures. "It's only been a few months." It's not something she's necessarily proud of. Though, her grasp of the supernatural world was far more advanced than that of someone who'd only been part of it for a few months.

[ghoulaid]

Oh. "No shit?" Huh. He never would've pegged her as a newbie. Although he doesn't really know what to look out for... He supposes it's a good thing she's only killed someone recently, anyway.

"Well, that's fine. Everybody's pretty helpful around here so if you need anything, just like, ask whoever you like the look of." This being in a pack thing has been pretty fucking cool so far, but he doesn't want to sound like a total nerd about it. Instead of doing something embarrassing like that, he motions for her to follow and heads back upstairs.

"The good news is that we are s'posed to be friends with a bunch of witches, like I said, so if y'want one of those wolf potions you can probably get it pretty easy. Can't really say for sure though, I've never tried it."

[cabins]

"No shit," she repeats, albeit wryly.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. I've heard things about the English attitudes towards Americans, so I'm happy to know it's not true." No one liked Americans, as per the stereotype.

Ah. Yes, the witches. She nods. "That's good." That's really close to home. Ghoul doesn't mean anything by it.

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul just laughs. "No, you'll get some attitude too. But you're pack, they ain't gonna mean it to hurt your feelings." Being an American might net her some playful grief, but the witch thing, on the other hand...

Well, it's a good thing Ghoul doesn't know about that. He doesn't have the nicest things to say about witches lately, and even though she's an ex-one with no ties to Samantha, he'd probably have an unkind comment or two for her.

Yeah, yeah, hypocrisy, whatever.

[cabins]

Laura holds up a hand in protest. "And my feelings don't get hurt easy." If they did, she'd never have survived DC.

"How long has the pack owned this building?" She asks, inspecting some of the cement walls.

[ghoulaid]

"Good, you're gonna need that." Kind of a cryptic comment... But it'll for sure come in handy whenever she gets to speak to Samantha. Shit, Ghoul hopes he'll have the opportunity to see that. Of course, the joke could be on him. Maybe they'll end up getting along, but he hopes not.

He clears his throat, bringing himself back to the present instead of imaging a battle between Laura and Samantha, and makes an unsure sound. "I dunno, actually. A long time, though." Some number of decades? And it looks it in places, too. Some areas are clean and lived in, and others look like a demolition job in progress. He gestures to one such area, explaining, "Sometimes us newer ones'll hang out in the quieter places and mess around." The only way to get used to hyped up speed and strength is to use it, after all. "But we fix up the broke stuff afterwards. Mostly."