Arlo James

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

He had been so certain about his theory on Sebastian's species that he had, largely, failed to consider the possibility that he might actually be wrong. After all, it wasn't like he had a lot of theories to begin with- not on anything. This one of the few times he'd ever actually tried to consider anything from a science point of view. Still, it made sense, at least mostly. At least until Sebastian insisted that his Maker was the furthest thing from a succubus you could get, even going so far as to suggest she was still a virgin. That singular piece of information seeming to seize Arlo's attention almost readily. After all, Sebastian was at least decently old which meant his Maker, logically, had to be older than him. How the hell did a woman go through life never once managing to find anyone she might want to fool around with? Did she just not....associate with people at all? Then again she had made Sebastian right? She obviously didn't just live in a house that she never left. Had she made Sebastian for....company? It obviously hadn't worked out if Sebastian was here. In fact, Seb almost never mentioned his Maker at all. Arlo, largely, content enough to leave the topic alone on most occasions. After all, it was like an unspoken rule that you really didn't ask about Makers and yet that ready curiosity had found the younger vampires features all the same. Seb's Maker would have to be two hundred, if not more. Christ that was a long time to just.....not get any.

His own line of thought was briefly interrupted by Sebastian's insistence she was atypical in her own way, the elder vampire pausing before suddenly announcing his Maker was a child, that very notion alone seeing both Arlo's eyes raise in clear surprise. Well. That explained the no sex thing then. That very train of thought suddenly overtaken by a new one, Arlo's features frowning slightly then. Who the hell would make a child vampire? He found being a vampire hard enough as an adult. The Crusnik almost feeling....sorry for the girl. A sudden realization of sorts seeming to dawn on him then. A child vampire. Christ. An almost sheepish look seeming to find him then as he glanced back toward Seb, one hand lifting to rub at the back off his neck.

"She's not like....yay high and blonde is she?"

His hand lifted to around about the height Anna-Marie had been. Arlo almost hoping Sebastian would insist she had black hair or something and yet- how many child vampires could this city really have? The Crusnik remembering his own run in with just that very child all those months ago. A child he largely suspected might very well have been Sebastian's maker. Hell, maybe he felt more sorry for Seb. She'd been...a piece of work to be sure. Then again he could hardly blame her for being mad. He had pissed her off when he'd bitten her and yet her blood had lacked the allure Sebastian's did. Maybe he'd have to think on that later. He could damn near feel Sebastian's gaze on him still. Arlo attempting that casual shrug all the same, some part of that gesture almost bordering on...placating, some instinctive part of himself determined not to upset Sebastian in any fashion. After all, some vampires could be a little....protective over their Maker's, even when they outrightly disliked them. Maybe he was the apex predator here and yet Sebastian was still older. Arlo hardly desiring a punch to the head. The younger vampire quick with those words then

"I think I might have met her once is all. We didn't....er....really get on. She tried to throw me into a wall."

She could take care of herself in the least, that much was for sure. Arlo readily making an attempt to change that subject back to women in general all the same with that assurance they continued to baffle him with just how long they seemed to be capable off lasting without any sex at all. A skill he was sure applied to women alone. Sebastian seeming entirely assured this was purely because they'd lacked good sex to begin with. Right cocky bastard. Arlo snorting in amusement as that chuckle easily fell from his lips.

"Sure, mate."

He responded good-naturedly, easily following Seb up those back steps and into that lavish home that still seemed to astound him every time he stepped into it. Then again, that house really did suit Seb. It was....fancy, but confident. Much like the vampire himself. Hell, Seb had more confidence than almost any guy Arlo had ever known. That thought was easily pushed aside for now all the same, the Crusnik equally willing to let that declaration of Seb's hybrid status rest for now. His attention now upon that table before them and that vast collection of paperwork Abby and himself had managed to excavate from his parents house. Several of those songs scrawled on loose leafs or cereal boxes or old napkins. Seb moved to settle himself in the nearest chair, Arlo content to lean against the back of the one beside it as the other vampire began to search through that collection of paper. His question left unanswered for several long moments as Sebastian searched. Just what the other vampire was trying to find remained to be seen, Arlo remaining quiet just in case he somehow threw off his companions concentration before Seb at last lent back in that chair to declare they had enough to prove copyright protection. That had to be good right? That very question caught on Arlo's lips before Sebastian launched into that explanation of money and statutory and infringement and copyright offices and something about a form that had a fee. Arlo left staring near blankly at his companion then.

"You just said at least four words im mostly sure I've never even heard before, bud. Your like...smart. So let me get this straight though. I can sue for money damage that means I have to somehow work out how much money exactly they ripped me off for all those years ago and all the years up until now or I can sue for stat...statue...whatever damage which sounds way easier but the most I can get from that is thirty thousand dollars? They owe me way more then that! In the meantime I have to fill out like a million forms that I somehow have to pay a fee to fill out? Christ."

This was....a lot. Way more then he had truly anticipated and yet maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. Isn't this why people got lawyers in the first place? To handle all of this? His gaze shifted briefly from those piles of papers to Seb and back again. Arlo reaching to pick up one of those pages, turning it over within his hands. He remembered this song. Hell, he remembered writing it. It had been their first ever single. He couldn't have been more than seventeen.

"If I take this statue thing to court, how much will it cost? I mean, how much does it cost to make all of this happen? I've got some money behind me now but it's not exactly unlimited and I can't....exactly risk losing everything again ya know? And if your the lawyer whose going to do all this....lawyering for me, I don't want you to do it for free or anything. You might be kinda out of my price range here, bud. The smart ones always are."

That easy grin found his lips again, those words meant entirely as a compliment. Seb clearly knew what he was doing. Arlo pretty damn sure that Seb was, well, a good lawyer. The kind of lawyer he probably couldn't actually afford and yet hell, maybe he had a cheaper college or something. Arlo willing enough to swallow that pride and admit that he didn't exactly have unlimited funds to throw around all the same. The younger vampire turned back to those scattered papers all the same.

"I can help put these together though, watch the expert work, bud."

Arlo had already seen at least two or three of those songs that went together. The vampire reaching to pile a piece of paper and two napkins with one another, that cereal box pushed to the side to make room for several more of those papers to be spread out and examined.

"See this one here? I wrote this one afternoon on my back verandah. Chase, he was the drummer- the one who turned out to be sleeping with my girlfriend at the time- told me it would never get anywhere and you know what? Number one in fourteen countries. He wouldn't know a good song if it smacked him between his fucking eyes. Decent drummer though."

His own shoulders lifted in that shrug again. Arlo, it seemed, largely having achieved a state of disinterest in his previous band mate and that feud that had, once, been the source of more than a little stress. He gestured for Seb to pass him another piece of paper then, leaving the other vampire to work on putting together what went with that box is he added more to his own pile.

"You know, I reckon that- ARGH!"

That very cry of alarm saw Arlo scramble back in near the same moment, the Crusniks legs catching on that dining room chair he stood behind only to tangle with it and send both man and chair toppling to the floor with a decidedly loud -thud-. Arlo momentarily left blinking up toward Sebastian then in clear surprise at just how he had ended up on the floor before hurriedly attempting to right himself and scramble to his feet. His hand gesturing behind Sebastian then and toward that living room.

"There's a man in your living room! He just....I don't know, he just appeared! Like...five seconds ago just....bam! He was right there I swear to God, right there near that, I dunno what that is, that decorative vase thing. Where did he go? He had a box or something in his hands. I think you might have just been robbed."

There had been someone there....hadn't there?