Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

He could hardly help that grin that found his lips, in spite of everything, at Abby's assurance that pressing the doorbell had been hard and on that basis only he surely deserved an impromptu round of applause. It was so ridiculous and yet, well, it was pretty damn adorable really. Abby was like.....his own personal sun. The Little Bear eternally bright and enthusiastic and apparently determined to meet just about any event head on and with no small amount of delight. It was a shame he hadn't met her earlier really. Then again, the person he'd been earlier was hardly the one he was now. Maybe it really was better he'd met her later on. Those thoughts for now were brushed aside, Arlo attempting to straighten his shirt just a little in anticipation of that door opening. That impending silence only seeming to grow until the vampire lifted his hand to press at that buzzer once more- only to be met with that same lack of response. His bright blue gaze blinked several times. Arlo hardly having prepared for what to do in the event no one was actually home. Could he break into his own house? Was that a crime? It wasn't really was it? Abbey's insistence that it was mostly probably alright saw his shoulders shrug at last, the vampire andering over to those flower pots to fish the spare key out from amongst them. That key having rested in that very place for as long as he could remember. It fit near effortlessly into that lock, the door softly unlatching before parting to admit the pair into that softly lit hallway. Arlo managed that crooked grin once more at that mention off his parents having gone to dinner or a movie. That dull, heavy ache in his chest gnawed at him with a depth of emotion he hadn't truly anticipated he might feel and yet one he refused to let show all the same.

"Yeah, that's probably it."

He offered softly, Arlo attempting to keep his voice light all the same as they wandered deeper into that family home with its dated decor and picture frames decorating the mantlepiece. His Father's chair was in the same place it always had been, the kitchen table draped in a table cloth he remembered his mother hand stitching herself one christmas. It probably still had the stains from his sister spilling pumpkin pie on it one thanksgiving. God it had been a long time since he'd thought of that- or any of this really. Those very memories long since forgotten threatening to tug at him all the same. That sensation almost bittersweet as he pressed further into the house with Abigail in tow. A genuine smile finding his lips all the same at the sight of the staircase. Arlo more than willing to inform his girlfriend off his once brilliant abilities to slide down that railing and race out the front door- much to his Father's utter horror. Abby almost appearing impressed with that skill as Arlo chuckled, his feet easily mounting that staircase in the same moment.

"I was a lot smaller than, i could just about wrap all my limbs around it to keep me on. Don't reckon I'd try now though. I'd probably break it- I remember it being bigger."

Then again, maybe he'd just gotten taller since the last time he'd ever really looked at it. The pair reached the landing at the top of the stairs a few moments later, Arlo leading the way to one of the four bedrooms that rested at the top, his hand reached out to push open the door to that childhood room he had entirely anticipated would be there. The vampire all but halted mid stride at the sight of that....nursery? Great. He was in the wrong house. Either that or his parents had damn well moved and not told him. Although, the key had been in the same place hadn't it? If the house had new owners then surely they wouldn't have stored the spare key there too right? That baffled look upon his features near perfectly matched Abigail's own, his lips parting to suggest that maybe he'd somehow gotten the wrong room when the sound of someone coming seemed to register within his mind- Arlo near instinctively reaching for Abby then to tug her closer towards him- just before Addison started screaming.

The sound was ear-piercing. His own, overly sensitive vampiric ears threatening to near bleed with the sound. Arlo shouting back for her to cut it out only for that equally as distressing silence to cut the air between them. This....was not how he had wanted it to go and yet Arlo was nothing if not determined to make the best of most things in his life, the Crusnik attempting those introductions only to be all but cut off by the news of not only his sisters marriage but the knowledge he had a niece he was only now meeting for the first time. He had hardly known about that wedding, let alone been invited. That very news turning rapidly within his thoughts, his gaze briefly cutting back toward the baby in the crib. A baby no one had told him about. Couldn't they have called? Texted even? If they didn't want him to be part of their lives that was fine....he suppose but couldn't he have at least been told? That sudden, sharply worded insinuation of both Abby's role as a 'groupie' and his own....performance in the bedroom readily seemed to see the vampire round upon his sister once more. Arlo content to draw the line at having his sister go after Abby in turn. His own temper beginning to mount, if only a little. Whatever words he was about to offer, however, were cut short by Abby's own insistence they were just here to get his things.

Arlo's gaze shifted from his sister and back to his girlfriend then, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment- not that he could hardly say he blamed her. A tiny, insufferable part of himself almost inclined to feel...hungry at the sight of her flushed cheeks and yet he was quick to shove that feeling aside. Here and now was hardly the time for a meal. Addison, for her part, merely followed her arms across her chest without returning that greeting Abby had offered.

"His stuff isn't here anymore. We threw it out when he died because that's what you do when people die."
"Bloody hell Addi! Will you stop saying i'm dead? I'm standing right in front of you!"

He wasn't dead! Well....not....completely. Not technically. Although if what Addison said was true then his parents had already had a funeral....of some kind. Had they really told everyone he'd died? God this couldn't get any worse than it already had. It was Arlo's turn to take that breath then, the Crusnik attempting to show as little of his fangs as possible with each syllable, a task that was hardly easy and yet he hardly needed Addison screaming again.

"I must have some stuff somewhere, that's all we want ok? I'll....I'll go if you can just tell me where it is ok?"
"There's some shit in the basement that might be yours."
"C'mon, Ab's."

Basement. At least it gave him somewhere to go. His hand reached out for Abby's once more, Arlo near staunchly refusing to look at his sister as he passed. His throat suddenly feeling as if it had a knot of some kind in it, getting out of that bedroom all of a sudden seeming to take precedence over everything else. Arlo hurriedly leading the way back down stairs and through that door that led down to the basement- his hand flicking on that light switch as he went- flooding that dark, dingy little room with light. Arlo paused only once he'd reached the bottom of those stairs, his fit figure turning back to face Abby then- his Little Bear still standing on the bottom step.

"I'm sorry about.....that, her, my sister I....I didn't think she'd be so....like that. We don't have to come back here ever again after tonight, I promise- let's just see what we can find and go."

That promise was made near as much to himself as it was to Abigail in that moment. Arlo attempting that lopsided grin once more, though it hardly reached his eyes. The vampire heading for that first pile of boxes, one off his old shirts visible at the top. Addison had been right, some of his stuff was down here. That small collecting of boxes containing his clothes and jeans and.....every photograph of him his parents had ever taken. Arlo hardly daring to look at them. Did they hate him this much as to want to pretend he'd never even existed? He couldn't remember the last time his chest felt this....tight. Those emotions somehow feeling all the more potent and yet he continued to bite them back. Arlo refusing to acknowledge that faint sting at the back of his eyes. What had he really been expecting? God he was an idiot. Now he'd probably gone and upset Abby too. Great. He shouldn't have let her come. A soft sound from the WerePanda saw his gaze shift towards her, Abby seeming to have found a more useful box. One filled with ols CD's, album covers, song lists.....and several notebooks.

"Babe! You found 'em! That's just what I was looking for, those notebooks there. Under the CD's. That was our first ever album, that one in your left hand. I'm about sixteen in that photo, I know, I had a dorky haircut. I thought I was cool. See if you can find any loose bits of paper, there should be some more notes in here somewhere."

Well- at least this night wouldn't be a total loss. This had to be the sort of proof Seb needed right? Song lyrics, contracts, dates and times- that sort of thing. Arlo's attention shifted to the box beside the one Abby was going through, the vampire pulling out several more CD's that he placed to the side before at last fishing out that demo CD, those notes scrawled on the side seeing him frown slightly. That whole disc, it seemed, was filled with those early songs. Very early, if the date was anything to go by. Another sound from outside readily saw the vampire pause once more, Arlo's head tilting slightly before he reached suddenly for the nearest empty box.

"That's my parents car, c'mon, lets just throw this stuff in here and head out before they come down. I don't think....seeing them is the best idea. Let's just go."

That Demo CD was tossed into that box along with several other bits of paper before Arlo pushed it gently toward Abby to throw in those notebooks they'd found. The sooner they got out of here the better......