Arlo James

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

It was a weird feeling. Something like....affection, maybe. Yeah. That's what it was. It caught him off guard and yet that feeling was near all the same as Abby simply announced that the drive back to his home and home town was simply.....okay. The woman hardly seeming bothered by the prospect in any sense. The girl as bright and excitable as she always was even if Arlo was mostly sure that would only last until he got home and she saw, well, everything. He was hardly worried about his parents not liking her, hell, all their energy had been put into not liking him. They couldn't possible have enough hate to hate on Abby too. Maybe he'd have to prepare her for it all the same- if she really did want to come. Maybe he'd be able to convince her to just wait in the car while he ran in to his childhood home although that seemed...unlikely. God, maybe it would just be better if he went alone and yet....he couldn't quite bring himself to tell her not to come. Was it wrong that he wanted her company? That same feeling off affection stirring within him now at the thought of having her along....even if this was a trip he had desperately little desire to take. Her suggestion that he should let her know when he intended to go so she could get that time off work and school was met with a nod, Arlo keeping that grin on his even if it didn't quite reach his eyes like it normally did. The vampire oblivious to Dorian's own simple observation of just that.

"I'll give you plenty of warning, I promise, babe."

It would take him at least, god, at least a week to even talk himself into it let alone actually commit to that drive. Should he call them first? That hadn't gone well the last time. Maybe he'd just...show up. Not that his presence really seemed like the sort of surprise they'd want. His head shook, Arlo shoving those thoughts away for now as his attention returned to that conversation at large and Dorian's assurance they really could stay at the palace. The simple delight Abigail seemed to find in that readily seeing that genuine smile find his features all over again. The girl practically squealing her delight before declaring Dorian to be the best. He was going to have to watch this Fae King- between Sebastian and his ability to just make women adore him and Dorian's ridiculous levels of charm there wasn't going to be any women left for anyone else. That thought turning with nothing short of amusement in his own mind. How ironic really, that the two best potential womanisers he knew- preferred each other. It was probably lucky really. Arlo mostly sure he couldn't hold a candle to the pair even on a good day. Still ,anyone who made Abby grin like that couldn't be all bad. His own comment about those servants meant entirely as a joke, Dorian apparently failing to pick up on it, providing him with that entirely serious answer that of course they would have a full staff. Arlo blinking slightly in response. Did he have to pay these staff or did Dorian do that? What sort of things did staff even do for you? How many was there? How big was this wing they were staying in? He'd never been in a wing before. Was that just like a big room like a penthouse suite in a hotel? Should he ask? Nah, maybe not, he'd look more useless then he probably already had with the whole cutlery thing that half the damn table had taken offense too. Not that he minded really. They had been right. He did need cutlery if Abby was going to come around more often although a part of him felt mildly guilty for roping Seb into shopping for it for him.

It was only once that bachelor party was sorted to some extent that Arlo turned his attention towards that meal placed before them. He couldn't remember the last 'human' meal he'd eaten- it had been so long ago. Arlo having lost any and all interest in it despite Patricks assurance that he would, one day, have some desire for it again. In the very least some food would smell appealing and it would hardly make him gag to consider eating it. Even his Maker though, hadn't considered combining blood with those meals as some effort to coax him. Arlo almost eagerly watching those plates as they were laid on the table, the idea of waiting for everyone at the table to be served before he started clearly lost upon him. That simple desire for Sebastian's blood overruling that basic etiquette. Arlo, in the least, had progressed beyond that newborn vampiric desire for blood on a constant basis. He could ignore those pangs, he could make himself wait, he could choose his victims or even go a few days without that bloody meal and yet- he was still surely a long way off from that level of control Sebastian possessed. The presence of that blood before him simply too much for him to ignore. Arlo having a tendency to forget the world around him, even if only for a few moments, with those first few bites. That lack of any other vampires of his kind at the table at least ensuring that food aggression he was equally prone too remained decidedly absent. Damon the last vampire to have been on the receiving end of that. Arlo still sure he'd deserved it. Mostly.

It was only once those initial bites off his meal had been taken that Arlo turned towards Abby once more, that soft query off just why she had been yelling out Sebastian's name a few minutes ago seeming to prompt that almost nervous stuttering from the girl. His Little Bear declaring it was because she needed to remind Dorian who he was marrying. Arlo merely allowing one eye to lift upward in some look of dubiousness before his shoulders simply shrugged. That was a damn weird thing to do and yet maybe it was a Were thing or a Fae thing. Maybe Dorian just had a really bad memory. Arlo decidedly unconcerned with it in that moment, although maybe he'd ask again later tonight. Dorian's mention of those gardens around his palace easily drawing Abby's attention once more, the girl seeming delighted all over again. He hardly minded gardens really, they were a bit boring he supposed, although not like....offensively boring, just a little dull really. Arlo half inclined to wonder how many gardens Sebastian had been dragged around by Dorian in the years they'd been together. Still, he knew why the man did it. For the same reason he'd do it for Abby over and over- even if only as her best friend. It made her happy. Her being happy having a way of just.....making him happy too. No matter what it was she wanted to do. Her sudden query on whether or not he'd come with her seeing that lopsided grin flash once more as he nodded.

"'Course I will, Chicka. I'd like to see the waterfall thing."

A waterfall in a garden did sound kinda impressive really. How big was that garden? Hopefully it came with a map. Maybe he could google it. Those very thoughts were cut off then by Dorian's sudden inquiry. Arlo glancing toward that Fae then as he asked after those vampiric tendencies for possessiveness and whether or not he was inclined to feel them over Sebastian. Arlo largely oblivious to any importance that question might have had for the Fae or even Seb's sudden stillness across from him. Arlo merely shrugging as he continued eating that meal. The vampire offering the simple truth of it then. Any possessiveness he felt over Seb (and he would admit to some of it) came from the man's blood alone, that very possessiveness rarely triggered if only because he had no one to defend that meal from and yet, really, he was sure any vampire would defend who he was feeding off from any other vampire. That was just...nature. Arlo inclined to offer that assurance that, in the end, he'd be far more inclined to protect Seb from any sort of danger because, hell, the man was his friend. The only one he'd had in a damn long time before Abby. He...valued the other man. He really did. This probably the....first time he'd truly admitted it. His gaze glancing briefly to the other vampire then, flashing him that grin all the same before that admittance that the one he had the real possession issues over was Abby herself. Arlo only just managing to catch his own words. That lasagna shoved hurriedly between his lips to stifle those very words. Maybe he shouldn't exactly admit to that. Not yet. The man quick to change that subject to Fae and Were and whether or not they had Makers. After all, he really did want to know.

He hadn't exactly expected Abby's sudden assurance that he could hardly be the only one of his kind. The girl declaring it simply not possible as Arlo looked near blankly towards her. A genetic mutation? Was that what he was? That didn't sound good at all. He didn't want to be that. Arlo frowning slightly in that consideration before that question on Patrick saw his own head nod.

"Yeah, Patrick was like me. His Maker was like him too. I never met Axel though- I saw a picture of him like, once. He was killed about thirty years after he made Patrick. Patrick was his only...child I suppose you'd call it. Other vampires kinda like killing us. Probably why there isn't so many of us around. Some guy named Roman made Axel but I don't know anything about him other then the name or if Axel had siblings. I was Patricks only one too."

That was the entire history he knew off his own kind in those few sentences. Patrick. Axel. Roman. Patrick never having finished telling him about it before he'd been killed as well. Abby making some effort to explain her own species then and that...disease they had? It seemed a little harsh to refer to it as a disease although he supposed he....understood how people got turned into Were's then. Dorian's query on whether or not Arlo himself would get that virus from drinking her blood seeing his own head tilt.

"I don't think so, right Ab? I mean I've tasted her blood twice and I didn't turn into a panda."

Really he'd never actually....thought about it. Surely if vampires could get that Were-disease thing he'd have heard about it right? Surely Seb had tried Were-blood in his life and not turned into one right? Maybe it was because he was dead? His own attention shifting then to Dorian as he made some effort to explain that Fae...condition. Fae sounded almost similar to vampires really, the way they were turned rather then catching a virus in the very least. Dorian insisting he'd never been informed of the ritual, he himself a born Fae rather than a made one. Arlo frowning slightly once more.

"Shouldn't there be like....tons more Fae then, I mean, if you guys can turn people and you can breed more Fae then why are there like....no Fae left? Aren't Fae and Were attached to their Maker like vampires are? How many did your father make?"

He'd never met a vampire with more then three 'offspring' so to speak. That bond between them often a kinda...intense thing that multiple 'children' made difficult and yet Dorian spoke as if this Father off his had a handful of Fae he'd made. More than most vampires ever did. Wasn't that....difficult? How the hell did he cope!? Arlo suddenly finding he had a lot of questions for Dorian and Abby both in that moment before his attention shifted back toward Seb. The elder vampire making that simple offer then that, on their own species, Sebastian was more then willing to help if he could. Arlo letting that warm grin find him once more.

"Thanks bud, I really do appreciate it. I have some questions actually, I'll ask ya next time."

Maybe when they were alone, Arlo not entirely sure Dorian and Abby wanted to hear about some of the things he wanted to ask. Charles appearing beside him then to fill that wine back up and assure them dessert was on its way. Arlo taking another sip of that drink then.

"Actually I do have a question for now, for you and Dorian. Do I give off some sort of vibe to either of you two? Seriously, you can tell me. Am I like registering on your boy radar or whatever it is? These dudes who like other dudes keep coming up to me. Is it my jeans? I swear to god I didn't know they were unisex when I bought them. Then my roommate thought I was and I..."

He frowned slightly, his attention turned suddely back to Abby then.

"I'm not gay. Like not even a bit. I promise."

As if this was critical for her alone to understand. Critical. The sound of what might have been Dorian near choking on his wine at that statement seeing him glance up once more.

"Don't laugh! It's a serious question!"