Arlo James

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

Country music! Ha! He should have known she would be the type. She looked exactly like the sort of girl who would listen to that sort of music. He supposed, really, he didn't totally dislike it and yet it was hardly his style by any means. It so often lacked...drums or the sort of chorus you really wanted to sing along too. Country music was more for....driving. When you wanted to be a safe, sensible driver. Alright, maybe he found it a little boring and yet he was willing enough to admit it still had its place in the musical world. Besides, country music was a far more welcome topic then his own band, at least for now. He knew she would know exactly who he was if he mentioned that name and with that would come the inevitable questions of just what had happened the night that old band, the one that had made him famous- broke up. It was the question everyone always asked, the one the media had splashed across its pages for weeks if only because they seemed unable to get enough of the idea of another young man, another young musician, meeting his fate. That story had been wrong all the same, his becoming a vampire hadn't broken up that band- but it sure as hell had been the first nail in the coffin- so to speak.

Still, the stories of the night that had happened had hung around for years. It was the first thing interviewers ever asked him, the thing that had all but destroyed his family. Hell, they still didn't speak to him. It had been easier to just disappear- and so he had. Then again he hadn't expected his old band mates to screw him over either. God there was so much to be fixed there. His only hope for any retribution so resting on ten year old paperwork he was yet to find and Sebastian's skills as a lawyer. Once the media got a hold of that lawsuit god knew what would happen. For now it was simply just....better to assure Carolina she had been to young to know his music, even if she hadn't been. That grin so hardly faltering from his lips. Arlo the veritable master of simply pretending everything was alright. After all, he'd been doing it for years.

"Country sure as hell ain't my type, Chicka. I mean every song is about a girl or a truck. That's it."

That near toothy grin was flashed towards her once more before that conversation shifted towards his own species, or subspecies really. He was still a vampire after all, just a different breed of one. Those sanguine vampires, the normal kind, by far the most common within that city. Hell, outside himself and Chizue (the only psychic vampire he'd ever met) he didn't know anyone who wasn't sanguine. Although Sebastian really was debatable. Arlo remaining eternally convinced his friend was a crossbreed in the very least, some mix of sanguine and incubus vampire that stopped him going to far either way but still gave him the assets of both species. He'd seen women cross over the street to throw themselves at Sebastian- good looking or not that was hardly a normal reaction. Hell, it wasn't even just woman that did that. Not for Seb. Lucky bastard. Any further consideration off his friends species was brushed aside for the moment, Arlo commenting instead on the damn hypocrisy of it all. Vampires were so eternally keen to bite everyone else and yet when he wanted a meal suddenly they wanted to murder him. His very species on the brink of extinction. Carolina, in the least, seeming to resonate with that tale. Her voice taking on an almost bitter edge that prompted that query on whether or not she was alright. Arlo hardly convinced by her answer. Then again, he supposed he wasn't about to tell some stranger every facet of his life either.

"Hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere, eh? You'll be alright."

It was the simplest thing he could say without prying further. Arlo attempting, somehow, to make her feel at least a little better about....her life he supposed, or whatever it was that had seen her end up in a kinda shitty apartment in the cheapest side of town. The man momentarily distracted from his self-proclaimed quest to ease her distress by that picture within the newspaper, one he held towards his new companion with clear intrigue. Arlo hardly surprised by the reaction that picture of Seb and Dorian seemed to induce. All women did that. All of them. Some guys had all the luck. Arlo eyes rolling almost playful at that near tease that followed her insistence she was hardly surprised he got beaten up. That soft laughter from her seeming to ease whatever tension had existed only moments ago. Arlo taking that opportunity to crash out on her couch to find some more on that story. After all, he sure as hell knew that Seb had a wikipedia page, the last time he'd read from it Seb himself had been with him...well....sort of. Seb had been pretty high that night.

It was hard to....read Carolina in those moments that followed. The woman clearly had some...feeling over Sebastian though what that feeling was he hadn't a clue. Women were not his greatest strength. At least, working out exactly what they wanted wasn't. A part of the vampire finding himself almost concerned she was some sort of ex-lover. Not that he truly believed Seb had lovers. Seb had one-night stands- or had, until Dorian changed that game. At least that was his understanding of the story. Still, maybe Carolina was one of those one-night stands he'd never called back or something? Arlo almost reluctant to admit to his own relationship with the englishman if only because he hardly desired to somehow distress the girl more. That comment on the sheer amount of money that royal pair controlled seeming to see at least a slight return to the womans bitterness once more and yet he could hardly blame her there. He damn well knew how that felt. Arlo distracted in that moment by the consideration on whether they even paid tax. Did Kings and Prince have to do that? He was going to have to ask. Carolina suddenly commenting on...amnesty clauses and whether or not that money was made in the US, Arlo blinking at her almost blankly.

"Babe, you just used more financial words then I know in that one sentence."

This- was probably at least one of the reasons Arlo was so terrible with money. That simper finding his lips all the same at that admittance off his own inadequacy before attempting to guess just where she was from. Wyoming. Had to be. That seemed really country. Carolina insisting she had been more of the sweet tea and porch swings kinda country. Oh. Why anyone would live that for this he hardly knew. His features frowning slightly once more at her insistence she didn't get much news in Chicago. The city. Chicago. One eye rising upward in that clear look of disbelief.

"Alright then."

She wasn't going to tell him about it tonight, that much was sure, but hey, he could work on her next time right? That query as she lent against the window off just how he new Seb and Dorian saw him pause slightly once more. Arlo considering just how much of that relationship he should admit too. Seb hadn't said he shouldn't admit to knowing him just....not knowing where he lived. Arlo lifting one hand to run through his hair then before affording the woman that story of exactly how he'd met Seb and then Dorian later on. That ready chuckle falling from his own lips at her insistence he was the King of the Unconventional.

"I keep the people wanting more."

Still, he felt at least a little bad for having to be the one to break that news about Seb being married. Well, him and the newspaper both, even despite her insistence it wasn't his fault. Arlo, at last, querying exactly what they had been as Carolina's own fingers lifted to run through her hair. The woman admitting that she and Seb hadn't been anything really. Surprise clearly lacing his own features then as she continued, admitting instead to that clear chemistry between them as he frowned.

"Seb has-"

He caught those words quite before they could actually escape. Arlo very near about to tell the woman he was mostly sure Seb had chemistry with everyone, the man was walking chemistry, it was how he hunted. It was how he fed. Even Arlo had told him he loved him once. Yet, somehow, this didn't seem quite the right time to tell her that. Besides, what did he know? Maybe they really did have a genuine chemistry? Even if Arlo hardly found himself fully convinced of it. Still, it wasn't his business. The man quick to restructure that sentence.

"Seb has a lot going on, he's a pretty busy guy, he's probably so used to people asking him about that wedding he just thought you knew."

It was an awkward excuse, even he knew that and yet some things were probably better not explored. Arlo at last rolling forward and onto his feet as he eased himself from the couch. One hand held out toward the young woman then with that grin back in place.

"I should probably get out of your apartment for the night. Abby will worry if I don't call her back, but hey, I only live downstairs so if you need help lifting heavy things or scaring people away just let me know. I'm pretty good at both. It was nice to meet you, Carolina."

He meant it too. It was nice to meet her. Arlo almost certain he'd run into her again.