Hitting the Road

[Hugh Everwood]

Jesse left his place for where he told Bea to come pick him up from, standing and waiting at the corner that some might be getting the wrong idea if he were doing that in some other part of town. As it was, he was simply busying himself around on his phone while waiting for the Ventrue.

Didn't know what car he should be looking for, but he did occasionally look up to check if someone was trying to catch his attention.

Right kind of attention, anyway.

When he did see a car and recognize the driver, he pushed away from his spot and pocketed his phone again. Getting inside when the car slowed down, giving Bea a smile while his Beast felt anything but companionable at the presence of a Beast just like itself, rather wanting to greet the other by tearing something off and bash her head in.

Would be impolite, that, and the Beast settled for growling in disappointment eventually.

"Howdy," he said as he buckled up. Safety first and all. "Found your way all right, I see."

Hope this works! Also, -1 Blood for Blush of Life!

[Bea]

A dark blue Volkswagen sedan rolled up to the corner that Jesse had been waiting at, the engine purring surprisingly quietly in the late nate air.

Overall, it wasn't much to look at. Modern, and well built, but nothing beyond an economy car. That is, until Jesse heard the locks pop open, and he swung open the door to climb inside. Then, the true nature of the car was revealed. Plush leather, expensive wood, a top of the line sound system, and all manner of glowing displays across the dashboard. Not that Jesse was necessarily someone that gave half a fuck about wealth, but the disparity between the inside and what lay outside was something to note.

"And without satellites," Bea replied, once Jesse got his seatbelt on. "So, any particular direction, or shall I just put it back in drive and get down to brass tax?"

[Hugh Everwood]

Jesse didn't much care about wealth of others, never been the overly jealous type to begrudge people for what they had — he did find the difference from inside to outside worth a whistle, letting that speak for itself that he very well noticed the dichotomy before turning his undivided attention back to the Daeva.

A chuckle left him at her choice of words.

"Sure a guy would have gone got lost without, refusing to ask for the way," he joked, settling against the plush leather looking over the display inside the car after saying, "just driving around's fine with me, figure we cut the chase and get right down to business." Might as well lay it out quick and save them both the time beating around the bush.

They were as private as private can be in her car.

When the car was moving again, he glanced sideways with a grin. "So what did you want to talk about with me? Could take a guess and think it might be about joining the Movement, but a fella could always be wrong." The fingers of his right hand drummed lightly against his thigh once, figuring he might just start them off about getting down to mentioned business.

[Bea]

"You're perceptive, so I won't play games with you," Bea replied, with a silent 'about this,' added as her own private afterthought.

"I do want to entice you into joining. But Covenant or no Covenant, I'd like to be able to count on you as an ally. You're perceptive, like I said, and you're also someone that's interested in living, if you'll excuse the term, an interesting life. So do I. As with all things, though, its easier to survive when you have someone watching your back. Or, at least the same bottom line."

That said, Bea put the car into gear and began to drive.

[Hugh Everwood]

Jesse made an amused noise, nodding his head in agreement. Didn't take much to know just what she wanted to meet him about.

Did make him think if William didn't go and tell her he already declined it before, but since they were talking he wouldn't be going to interrupt her any. Besides, William did go and ask him in a kine bar about joining the Movement. Not exactly best kind of PR, that was.

His fingers drummed lightly against his thigh again as he listened, then chuckled. "Got plenty interest in living and not dying of boredom, you got that right. Befitting our kind, it'd probably be torporing away my ennui and hoping to wake up in more interesting times." Never understood Kindred going to do that willingly. Didn't seem like it made much sense, sleeping instead of going out and trying to actually get some more entertainment out of being awake.

Still, didn't expect the second part of what this was about. Surprises like that were worth his time, alright. "Angling for a partnership of sort. The type where I'll scratch your back and you'll scratch mine." Jesse clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "Well, you got my attention. Just what might watching your back entail?"

Important question, that. New as Bea was, he didn't rightly know just what he might get himself into. Which, admittingly, wasn't all bad either.

[Bea]

Bea put the car into a slow turn, taking them not towards Downtown, but rather towards the freeway. In a few minutes, they'd be leaving the city limits and drifting off into the dark that surrounded the glittering lights of Sacramento.

"Watching my back won't entail any risks that you're not already aware of," Bea supplied as she slowly, carefully guided the vehicle through the city. "But, for the interest of telling you more about what I offer, I will tell you this: I work in the import/export industry. Specifically, I import and export things that people use to kill other people. My job pays very well, as you might imagine, and I have a lot of friends in that industry, so there's not much that I can't provide when it comes to tools and accessories."

She stopped talking for a moment to glance at Jesse, studying his face for a brief moment before turning her eyes back to the road.

"I'd appreciate it if you would keep that information to yourself, however," she said next, more to impress upon him the 'level of trust' she was showing than because she was worried he might blab.

"What of you?" she asked, then. "Do you have any revivals that might come crawling out of the dust? Any overbearing sires? Jilted coterie members?"

[Hugh Everwood]

An arms dealer, sounded like. Never could have too many 'friends' who could get you something to blow up some place if necessary. Not that he needed that.

Yet. Was still new in this town, never knew what the future held and all. Part of the fun.

"My lips are sealed." He grinned sideways at her, miming locking his mouth and throwing the key away. Not sure who would care among their kind what she did. Could come in handy some time if they got a falling out at some time, but Jesse rather not get any enemies. Yet.

"Watching my back ain't going to cause you no trouble beyond what might be lurking in this city. Could always go after you as well, so there's that. No idea where my sire's this time of the year, still around and kicking but we ain't much in contact." He shrugged, glancing out of the window to his right and watched the streets outside for a while. "Was a project, I guess. Sure you know the type, something to pass time before tiring of it and letting it go out into the wilds again to see just what might happen. Got a postcard some odd years ago or so." Jesse made a dismissive noise and looked back at her profile, snorting. "Doubt you're all too interested in that. Ain't going to be a problem, always was more the shadow you'd expect of a Mekhet."

"As for anyone else, shouldn't be no problem there either. Unless someone's holding a grudge I don't know nothing about, but usually don't avoid dealing with these things." He wasn't much a fan of having to look over his shoulder every night for pointy things. "Doesn't sound like a bad deal for us. Wouldn't be averse to this partnership." He clicked his tongue, adding, "Working on building contacts in the city, mostly folks on the streets yet. Might not be interesting to you, bet you know as well as I do that money can loosen most lips. Figured it's worth mentioning anyway — for the interest of getting to know each other more."

Didn't really sound like a bad idea — call him jaded, but he was still wondering if there was something he was missing.

"Don't sound like a bad deal," he commented, curiously asking, "so we would be doing this on a friendly basis of helping each other out if possible or we going to count favors owed?" Either wasn't a deal breaker, really — but these things were important to know.

[Bea]

Bea did like the idea of a partner that was willing to keep his ear to the street. That meant she'd be able to keep her own ears off the concrete.

As for his other question, though, Bea couldn't help but smile.

"Interesting that you bring that up, the idea of a partnership based off of an economy of favors. In some ways, I think that's how they all work. I mean, if you had a friend that never helped you, they might not stay a friend for long. All relationships depend upon a give and take. Still, I don't think it's necessarily healthy to keep some sort of ledger to track favors owed. I imagine simply helping each other, and discussing any problems, will take care of any book keeping in a more organic fashion. My question, though, is whether you're willing to publicly announce such a partnership. There advantages, and disadvantages, to proclaiming a coterie."

[Hugh Everwood]

Jesse listened and chuckled a moment later, nodding his head in agreement.

"Got no problem with friendly give and take and working together. Knew me some folks who liked gathering favors and holding them over your head, just making sure what kind of partnership we're going with here." Fingers drummed against the denim of his jeans again, thoughtful about the coterie business.

Working together with others wasn't anything new to him. Might be more of a loner every now and then, but teamwork got its advantages. Having a partner — coterie or otherwise — was plenty useful.

Never knew how long they would go and last anyway.

"Nah, got no problem with announcing nothing," he shrugged, "if you want and go make it an official thing." A moment of silence between them, maybe just for dramatic value. "Alright, don't think it'll do either of us any bad if we go and have us a partnership, so you can count me interested and in. Got anything more you want to talk about our partnership or finally want to get that Movement speech off your chest?"

[Bea]

The Phaeton merged lanes and began to accelerate onto the Freeway, joining the shallow flood of lights heading northward out of the city.

"If you have problem announcing it," Bea replied, "then I think we should make an announcement at the next gathering. I think it would be worthwhile to let everyone know that if you fuck with one us, you're fucking with the other. I don't intend to make enemies, mind you, but from what I've seen in this city so far, the only reason why people don't shove is because they expect you'll move at a glance."

Or, that was how it seemed to Bea, now. Particularly when it came to a certain office of the Domain. Curious as to his perceptions, though, Bea risked a glance at Jesse out of the corner of her eye before she returned her gaze to the road.

"Which, I know sounds like the typical opening to a Movement recruiting speech, but that's not my spiel. My spiel is this. Whenever you walk into a room, I can feel how badly you'd like to part my skin. That means you've either: a) seen some shit, or, b) walked without a heartbeat for a lot longer than I have. Which means that if you were going to catch a religious bug, you'd probably have done it by now. Same for the Dragons. Secret occult societies demand a level of obsession that you don't just wake up with some night. Now, given that you're not a part of any of those three organizations, that really only leaves you two other options. Well, one, actually, since you don't strike me as someone eager to be someone else's bitch."

She risked another glance at Jesse, but more directly, and for some seconds longer.

"I mean, you're obviously not someone adverse to working with others, or to taking risks. You're also someone that's hungry for something more than what you have. Which means you'd make a good fit."

Bea shrugged, as if to say that she was unconcerned if her thought differently, and then returned her eyes to the road.