Azrael

Only Fools Walk Where Angels Fear To Tread

Raven's concerns over the mayor and his presence, or rather, lack thereof, prompted Azrael's gaze to shift back to the young woman who sat beside him as she lifted several pages from the notebook sitting in front of her. He understood, he supposed, why she seemed concerned over the lack of the mayor's presence and yet some matters were simply....outside of Dareios jurisdiction. They required neither his presence nor his consent. He had a deal of power to be sure, he was the mayor after all, yet the Hunter Council had existed for far longer and indeed held far more true....power then a mere mayor ever would. Still, it would hardly....appease Raven to hear the very truth of the matter. Azrael instead attempted to reassure her they hardly needed the mayor's authority only for the young woman to insist she was sure he would want to be involved. A near soft sigh hummed from within the dark hunter then as his golden gaze shifted to his companion once more. His head merely offered a gentle shake.

"If this was something the Council decided to do- you wouldn't read about it in the Press."

The Council would certainly never allow mass panic. They had more than enough resources, and money, to assure no major newspaper reported on any such things. The Council cleanup crew, even for merely their local division, was rather exceptional at their jobs when they needed to be. Azrael, however, was nothing short of determined to prevent any such things before they went that far. The murmurs of those around them began to settle as that meeting came close to beginning. Raven, beside him, seemed to straighten in her chair a little. The young woman was determined to make a good impression. Blake, at last, seemed to make his way into the meeting. The Hunter, despite looking nothing short of youthful, had long since tired of his job handling 'local' matters. Azrael was certain Blake was by far the least enthusiastic being the Council had ever employed and yet his lack of action and distinct slowness would be nothing short of a blessing to their own argument. If Blake could get out of doing something, he surely would. It was merely a shame that Eli had chosen to present that counter argument. Eli was nothing short of...charismatic when he chose to be. The other Hunter was as enthusiastic as Blake was...bored. God how he hated that guy and his...hair gel.

Eli, much as Azrael had expected, opened up that argument strongly. The other man addressing the room as if every person within it was some close, personal friend. Those arguments he presented were not....entirely inaccurate and yet several of the other man's key points were no more than extravagant reaches. Any species, of any kind, was at risk of banding together to attempt some sort of take over. Weres had done it before, so had Fae and yet vampires were by far the most notorious for that sort of action. By that same argument was the Hunter Council not merely a group of Hunters who had assumed control on some level? Eli continued on as Raven seemed to shift just slightly beside him. The Hunters mention of breeding prompted Raven's hand to rest upon her stomach, the gesture hidden to the rest of the table and yet even Azrael was inclined to consider that perhaps he shouldn't have asked a pregnant Were to speak on behalf of her people. Eli had, undoubtedly, targeted that very barb towards raven all the same. The Hunters' words prompted a soft huff from Azrael as he let the other Hunter continue all the same. It was only once Eli's arguments became a little more...extravagant that Azrael chose to speak. His own voice rose above Eli's then, much to the other Hunters disdain, yet that politeness remained- for now at least. Azrael given the metaphorical floor as he spoke. The Hunter attempting to put some reason into that argument, some logic perhaps, a logic he was certain would be supported by Raven herself. The young woman was the only actual Were present! After all, who better to speak of her own species then Raven herself?

All eyes seemed to turn to Raven then as Azrael directed that attention towards her. He could nearly feel that anxiety within her and yet unlike Tetradore, unlike Frost, unlike any of her hot-headed male counterparts Azrael had chosen Raven for the very notion that she was...calm- and sensible. And didn't owe thousands of dollars in parking fines. Raven took a steadying breath before reaching to push some of her hair from her eyes and beginning to speak. Raven's words, as Azrael had expected, were calm, confident and sensible. The young woman lay out those arguments logically and with the knowledge only an actual Were could truly present. Her words, in those moments, supported his own. Those arguments he had made further aligned with her knowledge. Raven glanced towards him in the aftermath of her speech, his own head nodded in agreement that she had indeed done well. That, surely, would be enough to give the Council pause. At least the sensible ones among them. Eli, for his part, had taken to scowling at them both from across the room. Azrael took up that conversation once more.

"As you can see the threat is nearly non-existent. The Were population will maintain and control itself, the larger populations don't live in the city as it is. As Raven said, a giant pack in the city isn't even feasible and Nightshade and Chimera have the controlling hand. Neither of their Alpha's have given us terribly much difficulty over the years and the Chimera Alpha works for us in a separate division beneath Alexander."

Several murmurs of agreement echoed around the room as Eli only scowled all the more potently. A Were Pack was responsible for the deaths of your entire family, Alekai. Have you forgotten that? It was, this time, Azrael's own turn to scowl. The death of his family was hardly an event he had ever forgotten. Much less ever would. Those words of irritation turned readily within his mind and yet outright anger would hardly achieve anything here and now.

"Of course I haven't forgotten, Eli. But Raven was hardly responsible for that, nor was any other Were in this bloody city."

The sudden clearing of Blake's throat seemed to bring attention back to the elder Hunter who continued to look nothing short of bored as his pen tapped at his paper. I think I have enough to go on, Clara, did you want to add anything or shall we take a break while I consider? Clara's head shook, the woman apparently content to remain seated. Fine, I will consider this manner and return in a moment. Blake moved to rise from his chair, his notepad with its scrawled handwriting taken with him as he stepped from the room. Those hunters began to talk amongst one another once more. Azrael lent closer to Raven.

"I think it's going well....maybe."

Well, it wasn't going totally terribly. Clara rose from her seat then to make her way towards Raven and Azrael, the young woman, it seemed, was determined to....make an effort as she held her hand out to Raven. It's nice to meet you. I haven't really spoken with many Weres before. When is your baby due?. Clara, in the least, was making an effort to be polite in the wake of that pending judgement.