He had moved one of his firms to the sleepy town of Bitter Springs. It was a town where humans and supernaturals seem to coexist with one another. It was quite fascinating to him, seeing as in Europe their was more violence between the gifted and mortals. He actually found the place quite peaceful considering how many hunters their were.

He had been in town for a few days now, not really finding anyone to interesting. He had heard their were a few rather interesting vampires here, but he didn't bother to try and reach out to them. He found that trying to reach out could not always been a blessing and did like to be on his own for now in a strange place.

He had dismissed everyone from the meeting and headed home to his mansion, changing into more comfortable cloths and was in need of a drink. Getting into his car, he headed to the local pub called The Grill. It seem to be one of the most social spots that Bitter Springs offered. The drive wasn't to long and it was actually nice to sight see, usually he was in such a hurry all the time that he never looked around while driving.

The smells of humans and supernaturals was quite overwhelming here, he had to cover his nose for a moment before casually walking in and sat down at the bar, ordering a scotch on the rocks. He turned around in his bar stool, glancing around at all the mortals and immortals that were either dancing with one another or socializing.

outfit

Arya couldn't for the life of her figure out how someone managed to misplace a jet. Still, one of the new people at work had managed just that. The blonde had spent most of the day dodging Marcus until she could get to the root of the problem and figure out exactly where the company plane had wound up when she realized it wasn't at the hangar where it was supposed to be. They had called from maintenance, alerting her to the problem when they couldn't do their routine control of the aircraft and she couldn't leave until she found the damn thing.

After spending hours digging through papers and flight plans, Arya had finally gotten to the bottom of everything and found the person responsible for losing the plane to begin with. Without consulting Marcus, she dragged the culprit to her maker and had the plane returned to where it was supposed to be. When she could finally call it a day, they had one employee less and their plane back.

When she got home, Arya realized the house was too quiet for her taste that evening, she was too worked up still from running around like an idiot all day. So, she showered off all the scents of the office and dressed in something more "age appropriate" than her usual expensive clothing or suits, after all, she was supposed to be 21. And from Seattle. At least that's what her current license said. Luckily, when she arrived at the grill, one of the bartenders she had compelled to ignore the inconsistencies with her license and accent as well as remember her order was working. When she walked up to the bar, she found herself with a glass of chilled white wine in her hands before she even got to place an order and it made her smile as well as tip the guy.

Looking around, Arya tried to see if she could see any familiar faces, instead her eyes landed on a stranger. She'd made it her business to at least know the faces of most of the vampires in town since she was on the council and all, but she couldn't remember seeing this one around before. Bringing her glass with her, she sat down on the empty seat next to the guy. "I can't recall seeing you around here before, either you are far out of your element or you're new in town," she said with a chuckle. It was obvious from the way she was speaking that she'd learned to speak English in the old world, but she didn't mind. She hadn't made an effort to change her accent as she always did think of London as her second home anyway.

His blue eyes landed on a rather attractive female who was human. He had half a mind to take her hope with him. She was dancing in a rather sensual way, giving a clear opening for him. He was about to stand up when a females voice tore his attention away and looked into the face of another attractive woman, but this one was a vampire. He gave her a smile at the accent."I'm new around here, you're Arya aren't you?" He asked.

He had seen Arya before, normally at parties. He never tried approaching her, mainly because he always socialised with much older vampires. He took a sip of his drink, giving her a rather attractive smile.

Arya was enjoying her wine when the stranger replied to her question with another question. So the stranger wasn't a stranger after all, they must have been to some of the same parties over the years, how else would he know her by name? "Well that depends on whether or not you are a friend of Marcus." She replied before drinking more of her wine. If he was an enemy of Marcus's, she would just walk away. He didn't need to like the man, but she wouldn't outright betray her maker by being friendly towards his enemies.

Being on a small town council wasn't anything like the vampire councils or how they deal with things. She actually found that she missed it a lot more than she'd ever thought she would. Maybe it was just because she didn't have anyone in town who understood what it was like. Most of the vampires she'd come across so far were young, most of them had no idea how things still worked in the old world. She only had Marcus to talk to about those things and that didn't really work anymore either.

"What brings you to town? Business or pleasure?" She was curious, and she wasn't going to try to hide it either. She would figure out exactly who he was eventually anyway, as well as how he knew who she was. After all, Arya wasn't one to forget a face, so she must have been preoccupied when they'd been in the same places if she couldn't remember his face or name.

He gave her a smile and ordered another drink."I have done Adobe business with Marcus, we have a mutual respect I guess you can call it, but we aren't friends." He said. He had talked with Marcus only a few times and that was over business. He did know that Marcus had sired another fledging who was quite the looker, but that was everyone's else opinion, he never found males to be attractive.

"Business mainly, but I plan on staying here for awhile." He said, taking a stop of his drink once more."It's ok if you don't remember or recognized me, I never really spoke to alot of people but I did host alot of parties." He said.

So in a way, he was a business associate. Even if he had done business with Marcus and not her directly, she'd been involved with Marcus's company ever since it absorbed her own, because it was easier to work with the man than against him after all. Especially considering she owed him everything. "As long as you're not enemies, it's fine by me," she chuckled. For some reason, she had a feeling Marcus wouldn't like it if he learned she'd been conversing with one of his business friends, didn't matter if he was with Damien or not, he was still protective. It was adorable and highly annoying at the same time.

Finishing up her wine, Arya offered the bartender a flirtatious smile when he brought her another glass. She'd done good with that one, that was for sure. "I do love a good party, though I can't say there have been too many good ones in town so far," she was in a good mood though. It was saying something that there hadn't been many good parties since she came to town, considering she'd been there on and off again since it's inception. There was no deeper society as far as she'd come across in the states, so she went to Europe every once and again to feel at home.

"So you don't talk to a lot of people, but you remember people's names and faces after so many years?"

He didn't speak to people unless he thought he could get something out of them. With Marcus, the man was a good business asset, so he conversated with him because they had done business together. He smiled at her."I haven't hosted one in awhile, I probably won't host one out here, there aren't alot of vampires here that he would want to socialize with because they were newborn.

"I talk to people but only people that I feel are mature and I can get something worth my while." He said.

Arya could understand not wanting to throw parties in a small town like Bitter Springs, because honestly who would even be on the invite list? She could name two people in town that she would be OK with having at a party she was hosting, and one of them wasn't even speaking to her so it would all be for nothing. There was a reason why she'd thrown the newborns out of her house after all. "Most vampires in town are too young to appreciate a good thing when they have it," she said and had more of her wine. It was actually quite good, the bartender had chosen a good wine for her that evening.

"So, what you're saying is that you think I would have something to offer. Now I'm curious, what exactly do you think I have to offer you that would be worth your while since you're still sitting here, talking to me?" She wasn't offended or anything, actually she was smiling slightly as she was talking as she was amused by this vampire. After all, she barely knew him and they already seemed to have a few things in common. Like not wanting to waste their time on people who weren't worthwhile. Not that she would outright admit that to anyone.

That he could agree with. Their wasnt many vampires here hee would want to get to know. That was probably the only thing he would miss about Europe was the population. Hee cocked an eyebrow at her question before chuckling."Guess just you're company, I do like to be in the company of beautiful women." He answered."Besides, I know I.can.offer you something worth your wild." He added, drinking.his drink casually.

It was weird, but after talking to this guy for a few minutes, Arya wanted to go back home. Not her mansion in town, but back to Europe and her home there. She wouldn't say she had a lot of friends in either place, but it was a place where she could be herself and not try to fit in like she had to in this small town. Then again, she couldn't just up and abandon the town she'd helped build either. She was torn on the matter.

"Oh really?" she asked with a chuckle. What did he think he had to offer that would be worth her while? He couldn't possibly know her well enough to know what she enjoyed unless Marcus had been a blabbermouth, which he rarely was. She finally realized at least one place she recognized him from, though she wasn't about to say anything about the matter as it had been too long ago.

"So the good Lord has an excellent memory for personal preferences as well as names?" she asked innocently and sipped her wine again. There had probably been other parties over the years as well, but she remembered him from the first party they had taken Damien to, the one where she'd bled a man to weaken him for parading his newborn around like meat.

He had seen her many times at parties and get maker, course the one that was most rememerable to him was when Marcus had introduced Damien, it was because Arya had bled out a vampire who was passing a newborn around like a common whore. It was honestly very entertaining to him to watch the blonde teach the vampire a lesson. Normally he didn't like violence at his parties, but only when it was unnecessary.

"I have a feeling you have a knack for pain, what if I was too tell you that I have the ability to inflict pain just by a stare." Hee said.

Not many people knew of his gifts, he rarely tools people, but those he had used it on end up dead, sou their wad no-one that could gossip. "The good traits of a business man I think." He said in a teasing voice.

She hadn't had to face any dire consequences for her actions at the party as someone had backed them up as far as the council went. It was one thing to show off your newborn or do as you pleased with them in the comforts of your own home, but letting others touch your fledgeling against their will was usually frowned upon. Especially when the newborn was so utterly terrified and considering most of them had been very protective and possessive of their fledgelings at the time. These days it seemed vampires couldn't wait to go out on their own or part with their newborns.

His ability did intrigue her, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of learning he was right about her. "I have a knack for hurting people too," she said, thereby neither confirming or denying his statement. They both liked to hurt people it would seem, but she did enjoy being in pain herself as well. She couldn't explain it properly, but something about it made everything so much clearer afterwards, it was like the rain finally stopped and she could think clearly for a while until the veil went back down and she needed it again.

"Oh I'm sure it is, isn't that why my brother was so eager to come work for you Lourroune? You don't mix business with pleasure, and you know how to keep your personal life personal from what I remember."

He smiled at her not denying that claim or admitting to it either. He ordered another drink then."I am aware of that as well." He said with a smirk, taking a sip and couldn't help but to chuckle at her knowing that her brother worked for him. "He is quite smart for being Marcus lover....plus I am not interested in males." He said.

"So would you like to find out about what I can offe" he asked

Anyone who prided themselves on their skills as a negotiator had to know when to ambiguous and when to be perfectly clear about their words. In this case, it served a purpose not to be too honest about herself as she didn't want to lay all the cards on the table without knowing exactly what she was walking into. The way he talked about Damien though made her decide she couldn't really push him away on principal for working with the younger vampire.

"I imagine that must be quite a relief for Damien, given his history." From what she'd experienced, Damien usually wound up stealing people's attention because he came across as fragile and vulnerable. What he was was idealistic, and quite the child at times, but she wouldn't voice her opinion on the matter, it wasn't her place.

Luckily, Lorroune brought the subject back to what they had been talking about earlier, and Arya couldn't help but smile slightly at him. "You don't waste any time at all, do you?" Putting down her glass and what little was left in it on the counter, Arya chuckled again. "I like that, and I'd love to find out what you have to offer."

He knew how the other vampires acted around Damien. He was even interested in having Damien, butnot fire sexual reasons, he had known about the boys elemental power and rumored telepathy, both powers were extremely rare to have and to have them in one body was perfect. He had brought it up with Marcus before and that didn't end to well."There are still people to this day that wantthe boy to themselves, hopefully no one finds out where Marcus has been hiding him." He said.

He put his drink down, putting some money and a tip on the counter."Might want to step outside." He said.