Arlo James

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

He probably shouldn't tease Sebastian about his accent and yet really, hearing the man say those more British phrases on those occasions he seemed to slip was more then amusing. Arlo chuckling softly at the other vampires assurance he was British before that shift to music saw his own attention return to Abby. The woman seeming all too keen to encourage Sebastian and himself to play together sometime, an idea the young vampire hardly found he minded. He'd never been in a ballroom. Hell, wasn't that a place for fancy dancing? Why did Sebastian even have a ballroom in here? Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised, the house was damn huge. How many rooms did it have? Sebastian's invitation for Abby to sit in on that jam session saw him flash her a ready grin. Arlo hardly opposed to that idea in the least. After all, playing music for girls was one thing he could do reasonably well in life. In comparison to all the other things he was mostly sure he was mediocre at- at best. In all that time he'd known Abby he hadn't exactly asked her where she'd come from, at least, he'd have remembered it if she had told him she came from this apparently non-musical land. Arlo as curious of that answer as Dorian was. Nepal? Where the hell was Nepal? Or even this Langtang place for that matter? Maybe it was outside Detroit, he was sure he'd heard off a place with a similar name there before although he didn't remember any sort of mountains being there- or cheese for that matter. Let alone Full-Time Pandas. Still, geography had never been his best subject. Why bother? That's what GPS devices were for right? Still, maybe he'd look this one up.

"Huh, I never knew you came from a place like that Ab's."

Any further thoughts of what this land of mountains and Panda's and cheese was like was pushed to the back of his mind as he followed that Fae King into the dining room then. Arlo's gaze widening nearly as much as Abby's own at that....everything, God, it was like one of those really fancy restaurants. Arlo suddenly distinctly more aware off his lack of shoes. Not that it was his fault. That door guy had taken them. Was this how Seb and Dorian ate every night? Then again maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. Dorian was a King after all and Sebastian was about to be the....whatever you were when you married a King. His gaze at last fell onto that table setting, Arlo readily pointing out the number of knives and forks sitting at each plate, that confusion finding his features again before Dorian announced you were supposed to use a different fork for each course. Why in the hell anyone would want to do that he hardly knew. Didn't that just make way more washing up? Although really, he supposed, Seb and Dorian probably didn't wash things themselves. That simple admittance that he didn't think he even owned three forks in total prompting that sudden declaration from Abby, Arlo blinking in clear surprise as the woman all but rounded on Sebastian with that assurance they needed to get him forks before he was queried on his ownership of bowls and spoons in turn.

"Ummm....."

Dorian, it seemed, found this cutlery questioning to be equally as important. The King addressing him then as Arlo glanced between the Fae and his own Little Bear. Dorian promptly announcing if he didn't have any cutlery then Sebastian would surely get them for him. Arlo's palms turning outward in that near universal gestures of innocence as that nearly amused grin found his lips all the same.

"Christ, I didn't realise this was the Cutlery Inquisition guys. I'll get some, don't worry. I've got at least one bowl, I know that for sure, don't stress babe."

Sebastian's efforts to quell that spoon-based rebellion a moment later managed to tug that chuckle from Arlo at last. The vampire readily promising Abby and his own fiance that he'd manage to find Arlo his own set of dishes and cutlery to go with it. The Panda and the Fae, seemingly satisfied, returning to their own conversation. Truth be told he hadn't exactly considered those things. After all, he didn't need them, didn't use them and really he tended to forget other people did. Now that he thought about it he couldn't really believe that he hadn't thought about it before. What the hell had he been intending to do if Abby ever wanted to eat something at his place? Make a bowl out of the packaging? His own head shook slightly all the same as his attention returned to Sebastian, his head gesturing lightly toward Dorina and Abigail.

"They're little but their bossy, eh?"

There was little save for that easy humour and gentle affection within those words all the same, Arlo offering that simple tease at the very idea that two vampires had so easily been coerced into shopping for homewares by their other halves. Not that Arlo truly anticipated Sebastian might actually buy him dishes. Really he just needed the ther vampire to show him where the hell you went to buy that kinda thing in the first place. At least he could afford them now. That was a step in the right direction wasn't it? It was those very thoughts of Abby however that continued to linger on the younger man's mind then, His own voice distinctly lowered as he remained beside his companion, his gaze glancing down that table to assure neither Dorian or Abby herself were truly paying any attention, the pair seeming readily engaged in whatever it was they were talking about in turn. Arlo taking that singular opportunity to seek out Sebastian's assistance once more. After all, Seb, to his mind, seemed to have mastered this relationship thing. After all, the man was getting married. That was like the final level of relationships and while hardly one Arlo himself was by any means ready for he was hardly going to waste the opportunity to at least have the other mans help.

The simple query as to whether he had even told Abigail she was pretty tonight readily saw his eyes widen. God, how had he forgotten to do even that!? It was so bloody basic and he hadn't even managed it. He'd fallen over a curb he'd been so distracted by her and yet he hadn't actually told the woman, out loud, just how utterly...perfect she looked tonight. Arlo almost groaning at that admittance he'd forgotten before asking whether or not he should do it now or....at least when she'd finished talking to Dorian. Sebastian's subtle assurance that if he didn't do it that Seb would himself readily seeing Arlo scowl. He was mostly sure Seb was kidding....mostly and yet maybe it was better not to risk it all the same.

"Don't you bloody dare."

Alright. He had to tell her that. He could do that right? Since when had it gotten this hard? He'd had girlfriends before, he'd gone on dates before and yet somehow, this time, it was different. It made him...anxious even if he wasn't entirely sure why. Arlo hardly seeing any need to keep those very insecurities over the entire affair from Sebastian, let alone his troubles with that 'Friend-Zone' he'd somehow landed himself so firmly in without even trying. Why was it so easy to be friends and so much more terrifying to push it beyond that? After all, what if she said no? God, maybe he shouldn't think about that now all the same. Seb readily declaring the best way to get out of the Friend Zone was just to tell her. To take her on a few dates. Show her what it was like to be with him. Hell, that was the part he was afraid off. Being with him had never been good for anyone, not even him. He was hardly the same person he'd been as a human and yet it didn't excuse the things he'd done and she was so....good. That distress surely clear in that singular moment as he regarded his companion again.

"Do you ever worry that your....I dunno.....not good enough for them sometimes?"

His hand gestured loosely towards Dorian and Abby then. Hell, maybe it was just him. Maybe Seb never thought about that at all. If this house was anything to go by the Seb was damn well good enough for a King. He'd only known Seb for an hour before even he had realised the other vampire was, well, a pretty decent sort of guy. Arlo mostly sure he was the same, mostly and yet Abby had been in his life as a human for barely a week before Mi had beaten her up with a fucking broom. A week- and she'd been hurt. That incident having stayed with the vampire far more than he ever let on and yet, Arlo easily shook his head, pushing those thoughts away for now.

"Sorry, bud. Some thoughts just get to me sometimes you know? Maybe tonight on the way home I can talk to her and be forward and all that. Just ask her out on a date right? Like a real one. I can do that. I can- wait, what?"

That sudden mention that Seb was willing to bet a grand on the fact Abby was a virgin readily seemed to see Arlo stop. His own thoughts shifting dramatically once more as he eyed the woman again, as if searching for something Seb could see that gave away that very status of sorts. That look of....impressed surprise clear on his features.

"Can you seriously tell she's a virgin? I mean I always suspected it just from some of the things she said but I never....asked or anything and you've never even spoken to her. How did you know? God, I've never been with a virgin before and they always remember the first time too. Have you been with one?"

He was hardly bad at it. Hell, he thought he was pretty damn good really and yet still, still, first times were kinda a big deal. Maybe he was getting a little ahead of himself here with those sorts of thoughts and yet really those sorts of thoughts had occupied at least ninety percent off his mind since he'd seen her in that red dress tonight. A part of Arlo inclined to ask Seb exactly what he did with virgins before the sudden appearance of that salad saw the man pause. Arlo glancing down at that bowl placed before him now as he took another sip of that wine. Dinner was a salad? Although Dorian had said something about courses hadn't he? Maybe this was just the first one.

"Hey, Your Highness, which fork do I want?"

Since Dorian had seemed so determined to explain those forks Arlo was at least willing to attempt to make use of them. Dorian looking away from Abigail then to point out the fork he required as Arlo plucked it from the table. The vampire oblivious to his incorrect use of that title. For a salad it smelled....pretty damn good really. Better then any salad he'd actually ever smelled before. What was in this thing? His fork tilted one of those lettuce leafs, the man eyeing it curiously before glancing upward to make sure Abby was enjoying her own. Was the dressing on his....darker than everyone else's? Huh. He hadn't eaten a salad in years. Truthfully he'd never really liked them and yet he was hardly going to not eat what the King of Italy served him. The fork was stabbed into that first lettuce leaf then, Arlo lifting it easily to his lips, his venom so abruptly starting to run until he could taste it in his mouth. What in the hell? That had never happened before. That near baffled look momentarily crossed his lips before he finally slipped that salad into his mouth. That dressing so barely having touched his tongue before that realisation seemed to strike him. Arlo sure he would know that utterly divine taste anywhere. There was nothing else like it in this world. His eyes widening readily as he turned toward Sebastian.

"Did you....make this salad?"

Well, Seb had 'made' it, in a way, Arlo was sure. The vampire readily turning back to that bowl.. The very reason for that flow of venom abundantly clear then, that vampiric part of him having reacted to that salad well before his mind had contemplated it. Arlo stabbed his fork back into that salad with more eagerness then he had ever eaten any 'mortal' food meal in his life. That entire bowl polished off in a matter of mere minutes, the rest of the table so barely halfway through their own meals as Arlo contemplated whether or not licking a bowl was acceptable. Probably not in front of royalty. Arlo covertly attempting to run his fork through what was left of the dressing at the bottom and lift it back to his lips several times over. The vampire glancing towards Abby once more with that ready grin.

"I...forgot I liked salad this much. How's yours?"

That was maybe the best salad he had ever had. Was there more of it? He'd have to come over for dinner more often. Aro letting his tongue slide across his fangs behind his lips to make sure he got every single drop of that liquid. Hell, he felt better already. He hadn't even known he was hungry.

"Hey, Abby?"

Those words were far quieter than the ones that had come before them, that murmur off his voice aimed at the young woman alone as he lent easily closer to her, that lopsided grin still in place.

"I....just wanted to tell you that you look really lovely tonight. I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier, I should have. I mean, I fell over that street curb cause I was looking at you."