Strictly Business(Dev)

[Iris]

The bar was busy tonight, but luckily for Iris, she wasn't working tonight. Well, she technically was but she wasn't the bartender tonight. This was her other job; the one she was more valued for. Tonight, she had information to pass on to the council. She didn't have details, but she knew something suspicious was going down in their city. And things seemed as though they were about to hit the fan, and soon.

Which is why she was sitting alone in the bar, in the back corner, alone. She tried her best not to attract attention to herself, because waving away those who just wanted a piece of her would get in the way of what she was really here to do. And this was one of those few things that she prioritized as more important than a good lay. Her wardrobe tonight consisted of a black, Victorian era dress that didn't reveal a lot of skin, yet still brought out her beauty. Her black heels, however, were more modern. The vampire loved older fashions, but today's style had it's own flair. She just loved modern shoes...

She sat at the table, sipping at a bloody martini as the fingers of her left hand drummed anxiously on the table. She was anxious. Ready to get this over with. She had no idea which council-member would be seeing her, but they would know where to find her. She really hoped it wasn't a younger one, but if it was, she'd be okay as long as they didn't get cocky about their position; she really hated that.

Iris looked at her watch for the thousandth time, sighing out of her nose. Her contact wasn't late; in fact she was early. But when it came to her work, her true work, Iris was one to be considered an overachiever. She took great pride in her finding and relaying of information.

Picking up her martini glass again, she brought it to her red-painted lips to take another sip as she kept her brown eyes glued to the door.

Tag: Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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As he'd been the member of the Council designated "least busy" on this particular night (as he often was, having little to do other than feed his pets and occasionally place a few bets), Devyn had been assigned the duty of receiving information from Iris. Really, he wasn't sure anyone had wanted him to do it, as he was easily the most distracted and forgetful member of the Council, but everyone else had been doing something important, or at least something where they couldn't back out at the last minute. Not that he minded any. If he ended up forgetting, chances were their informant would end up bumping into someone else on the street later who would be able to ask what he'd missed.

He hoped that wouldn't be necessary, and he had a good feeling that it wouldn't be--at least not tonight. After messing around with his spiders for a bit, Devyn was in a very chipper mood as he headed off to Twisted Sisters'. He'd taken along a notepad and a fully-inked pen, and had made sure to bring along lined paper so he could write on the lines and wouldn't end up doodling in the middle of his notes. He'd attached the notepad to a clip that hooked onto one of his belt loops and fastened with a few twists of a screw-like apparatus, which would make it difficult to lose and even more difficult to steal. He'd gotten used to taking precautions, even if it was unlikely that anyone would try to take anything from him. Still, he felt good about tonight.

"Yes, Harry, I do feel lucky," he said to himself cheerily as he walked through the door of the bar, "and I'm not a punk." His eyes searched the interior for the informant, and having seen her, he scrambled over to the corner. He knew Iris wasn't as fond of him as she might have been of, say, Areus, but... when you were the only one available...

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, sliding himself with a small amount of grace into the seat across from her. "Everyone else was busy." Then, he fiddled with the clip on his belt loop, pulling out the notepad and his pen. "But at least I've come prepared. Again, very sorry. You can, uh... you can start whenever you're ready." He wasn't always the best about the protocol for these sorts of situations, but Dev hoped that Iris wouldn't mind.

At least, he hoped she wouldn't mind enough to walk out of the door without saying anything to him.

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words || 432 ||
notes || dev cannot stop apologizing ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || nervous ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

Iris continued glancing at her watch, just ready to get this over with. Finally the contact showed up, and she should have figured that they'd send one of the young guns to do the dirty work, but to her, it really didn't matter. After all, this was an important business matter, and as long as he didn't try to throw his weight around, everything would be just fine.

"Quite alright, Councilman," she answered, unable to remember the man's name; it was so hard keeping up with so many names. The older vampire swore the council should just invest in those "HELLO, MY NAME IS____" stickers to make her life easier. "Being prepared is quite important," she replied, "Especially when it involves information."

She gave a giggle, taking one last sip of her martini. "No need to apologize. Anyway, the matter at hand..." She leaned in a little, lowering her voice just in case someone might be listening. She was sure no one was, but one still couldn't be too careful, all things considered.

"I've gotten...wind of some suspicious activity. Some of the outsiders who come in here have seemed...cockier than usual. Like they're up to something. I've overheard one--a shifter--on the phone, mentioning a kidnapping and sending this city into violence. Targeting the council. I ran this by my sources, but they know about as much as I do. But, I do have this feeling that things are about to hit the proverbial fan." She spoke calmly, giving as much as she could without sounding overly paranoid. This was well grounded information, after all. Well, sort of.

"I know. This sounds crazy, but I felt it necessary to warn the council, just in case something of this magnitude does happen. We'll need to be prepared, in any case." She finished her martini, folding her arms on the table, waiting for what the councilman had to say.

Tag: Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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Devyn listened intently, writing down a few words as notes about once a sentence--simple things like "cocky outsiders," "up to something," "shifter," "mentions of kidnapping," "sending city into violence," and "Council a target." He looked down at his notes when he was finished, running through them to make sure he'd gotten all the important parts, then let the information sink in.

"Yes," the Eleventh Moon replied, his voice low. "Thank you very much for your time. I, er, I feel it might be prudent to warn anyone I can... immediately." He whipped out his phone, diving into the first contact on his list, and started texting frantically. "I'm very sorry. This is incredibly rude of me. I just--I think I might be able to get to someone before something really goes down. So if you'll hold on for a moment. Please. Sorry." He tried to make it as fast as he could, and he quickly shoved the phone back in his pocket when he was finished. "Anyway. Yes. This is good information. I'll bring it up with everyone as soon as I can--hopefully the contact I've just sent it to will be able to spread the news a bit faster than I can, and everyone will be more able to protect themselves."

Dev took a deep breath, giving the notebook another once-over. "This is good. I'm glad, uh, I'm glad we have you on our side, to be frank. You're very good at what you do. Um. If there's anything else, you know, lesser but still something you wanted us to know, now would probably be a good time to let me know. If not, that's also fine. I'm just trying to make sure everything else is in good working order." He shivered. "I think I need to make a call once we're done here. Keep getting this nagging feeling."

Nervous as he was, Devyn stared at the notebook and waited to see if Iris had anything else to tell him. After all, if she did, he wouldn't want to miss it.

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words || 342 ||
notes || dev's gonna do something dumb probably ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || nervous ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

Iris nodded. "That's all I could get, between the suspect and my sources, I'm sorry to say," Iris responded. "She spoke of meeting with friends and having parties, but she had this...tone," the older vampire continued. "She was giving me just enough information without giving me enough information. Baiting the hook to make me bite my nails. Smart as she may be...well, let's just say I've been doing this a long time."

She nodded. "Quite alright, honey. This could be a very serious matter, and it needs to be handled promptly, wouldn't you say?" Though she hated to admit it, Iris too had this uneasy, nagging sort of feeling. "Like I said, however, this is all I have to give you. I wish it was more, but the little meat-sack gave me quite the run for my money, though I hate to admit..." She gave a disgruntled sigh at this. Iris sorely missed the days where all she had to do was flash a little fang--and maybe a little skin--and people would practically throw information at her. But with recent events, things got a little trickier, not that she minded a challenge.

Her eyes darted around the bar, almost...paranoid. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she surveyed the area. Her area. This was her turf, and these lesser species were trying to invade that? Oh, no way in hell.

"You go make that call, but stay close," she said, a sort of protective instinct kicking in. Sure, she didn't always appreciate the young bucks asserting their authority over her, but they were still council. And it was her duty to protect them, even if she usually did it via info.

"Maybe it would be wise, if I escorted you home when you get done. After all, we don't know exactly what it is in the works, and you are a councilman. We should all be on our guard here."

Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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Devyn took a few long, deep breaths to make sure he stayed calm, then nodded his agreement. "Okay. Shouldn't take long." He took a few steps away from Iris, still easily within a visible range but not so close it would be obvious he was trying to stay close to her. With slightly trembling fingers, he poked Rafael's contact on the touchscreen and waited for the call to go through. Unfortunately, Raf must've been elsewhere at the time--maybe in the bathroom, or... something. As such, Dev found it prudent to leave a quick message in a hurried, quiet voice and get back to Iris.

"Alright. That's done. Um. That might be a good idea--though, do you mind if we don't go to my home?" His eyes darted around, trying to see if there was anyone that might be listening, but his less-than-acute senses failed to give him anything useful. Just that a soiled napkin was still on the table two seats over. They must've just left. He wondered who they were. He hadn't recalled taking note of the face of whoever was sitting there. Had there been more than one? Devyn shook his head, trying to get himself back on track. "Right. That's probably a good idea regardless of where we go. I'll, um. I'll tell you where I'd like to go when we get out. For confidentiality's sake." He may not have been the best at common sense, but he knew the bar could be filled with people trying to listen in on what he was saying, and with lives on the line he couldn't afford not to think this through. "Alright, Dev, take it slow. Nice and easy," he mumbled to himself. "Think of... think of what Raf would do. Raf would... Raf would probably try to get out as soon as possible without being conspicuous." Nodding to himself as though he needed confirmation, Devyn looked at Iris and smiled.

"This isn't the best situation we could be in, but I also doubt it's the worst. We'll get it handled. Thank you very much for your help and knowledge, and I would love to have your company en route to another location." Pulling out his wallet, he flipped through and withdrew seven crisp hundred dollar bills, folding them in half and holding them out to Iris. "This is from me personally as thanks for your help. Get yourself something nice."

Devyn liked to think he was doing pretty well at this whole "being inconspicuous" thing for once.

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words || 417 ||
notes || i don't know if iris does this for pay or charity but either way she's coming out of this with $700 more than she probably expected ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || cheerily on edge ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

Iris nodded, watching as he...didn't go very far at all. Oh well, distance wasn't that important; she'd just said he could go elsewhere just in case it involved council stuff that she wasn't meant to hear. She had to admit, he was one of the goofier council members. But then again, she hadn't met all of them personally, she was just familiar with the ones that stayed around New York.

Smiling, she nodded. "Good idea," she answered, "Can't be too careful, after all." She stood up, also surveying the area. She hadn't noticed anything that sent off any red flags at the moment, however. Unlike Devyn, whom she noticed had been breathing a little heavier and acting more paranoid, Iris had it somewhat more held together. After all, this was what she did. Often, only half of her job was collecting and relaying information. It sometimes involved taking action, as it did now. "Just follow my lead," she whispered, linking her arm in his and leading him toward the door.

This was something Iris did occasionally; it wasn't all the time, but it wasn't a rare occurrence, either. So, to regulars and her coworkers, this was perfectly natural in appearance.

She gave a nod once they got outside. "Yes. It's a skill I have, and as a fellow vampire, I feel it my duty to the coun..." It was at that moment he took out a wad of bills and put it into her hand. "...cil..." Holy crap that was a good bit of money!

"I...Thank you," she answered, still surprised; she never asked for money from the council. Others, she charged; moreso if they weren't vampires, and then she didn't give out sensitive information. Sometimes, yes, the council did give her a tip. But it was never as much as Devyn had just handed her.

Part of her was confused though; usually a large tip like this meant one of two things. It meant either he wanted in her pants, or it was to compensate for the fact that she'd never get into his. Either way, she was going to get some decent shopping done with that money. She was due for some new outfits, after all.

"So, where are we going, darling?" she asked in the same tone of voice she used every day. She showed respect to the council, but she was still herself; no need to kiss ass about it, right? They were vampires just like her. They just held a lot more power than she had.

Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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Devyn was surprised at the sudden arm-linkage, but he figured Iris knew what she was doing and as such bent his arm as well, rather than having it hang down at his side like a wet noodle. When they'd made it outside, the Eleventh Moon breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't quite so on-edge now that they were outside, though he probably should have been. He didn't see anyone around, at least, but then again, his eyesight was far from good.

"It's no problem, really," he said, shoving his wallet back into his pocket. "I've got quite a lot of money, and I prefer to make certain that the people that provide me with a service that I appreciate get what I feel they deserve. You should see me at restaurants. I once paid for one young girl's education, at least in part. She'd have had to drop out of college if she couldn't get the money. It was only a few thousand, but it still gave her a boost to get a degree. And she was an excellent waitress." As little as it happened, Devyn loved it when his luck managed to help others.

"Right. So. I'd like to go to Rafael's apartment complex. I think that's where he'd be, I'm getting a pretty good feeling. If we see him on the way I'd like to stop and talk with him. I hope Aleena's with him, but I've had an equally difficult time getting ahold of either one of them, and I hope at least one of them is there." With his luck, at least one of them should be, but he wasn't certain. It would certainly be most convenient if they were both sitting safely at home on the couch with their phones off, but he somehow doubted that was the case. Regardless, that was the plan. "So. Let's be off. Time is of the essence, unfortunately."

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words || 320 ||
notes || none ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || decent, but rushed ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

Iris could tell the arm-link was awkward for him, but she was relieved he helped put up the front. After all, her walking out with someone not arm in arm or otherwise appearing to be on their way to have a quick tryst would seem suspicious. But, this was Iris's cross, and she would gladly bear it.

"You...what?" she had to ask, her jaw dropping a bit and her eyes growing wider as he explained. He was that generous? Really? Granted, her wardrobe was full of things that were "only" a couple thousand dollars, but that was quite different. "I must say," she said, her lips forming an impressed smile, "I was convinced they stopped making nice guys before I was born. But even still...you are quite the rarity. If you do this for strangers and people you barely know, I'd bet you treat your dates real nice, hm?" Her smile grew a bit as she asked this, tossing in a wink.

Her demeanor changed back to more serious and business-like when the subject changed again. "Sounds like a fair plan to me," she replied, though honestly, she had her doubts about his plan. Granted, it would be convenient if this plan worked. It wasn't a bad one, it just seemed...too easy to her.

"Worst case scenario, I have an apartment not too far, myself. You can let everyone who needs to know what's going on know, but I would feel better if no vampire of any rank or authority was out alone. And since you were the one elected to contact me...well, you're in my care now," she finished with another smile and wink, though she was in fact serious. Hey, she had to lighten the mood somehow, after all. Of course by now she was certain there was going to be no bedding of any kind tonight, but hey, she could still joke around, right?

Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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Laughing at Iris's words, Devyn shook his head. "I'm sure I would treat my dates very nicely," he said, "if I had any." With a shrug, he smiled, accepting her wink. "I'm not really big on the whole sex thing, which is a literal turn-off for most people. And I don't really get asked out a lot anyway. People don't like to look short, and that's, uh, that's a thing I do pretty well. Besides, between the Council and my... pets, of which I have loads, and then what I do for income... I don't have much time left in a lot of days anyway." That wasn't quite true, but, well, she didn't need to know that. "But I do appreciate the compliment. Thank you."

He nodded at her declaration of protection, grinning a bit. "Well, I suppose that's fair, even though I don't... really need it quite so much. I appreciate it, though. But I think Rafael will be there when I'm there. I'll let you know, actually, once I'm up, whether he's there or not. If he and Aleena are both there, I don't plan on going out again at all tonight. If it's one or the other, I'll take that one with me to find the other, and if neither of them are... well, then I'll head back out, because that'd be bad." The reference and the wink both went completely over his head. "Sorry that I'm coming off a bit rushed, I'm just really worried about them. I don't want anything bad to happen because I was slacking off and I had the chance to help, you know? I always feel like I'm not very useful to the Council because I'm not very good at paying attention or remembering things or common sense, and I want to prove that I can be. Even if it's just this once."

Maybe he'd said a bit too much.

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words || 319 ||
notes || none ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || tense ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

"Eh, I'm not too big on dating, myself, but let me know if you ever change your mind about the sex," she replied flashing a coy smile. "To each their own, I guess," her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief, giggling slightly as Devyn finished speaking. A snort escaped her as he explained he didn't have time for dating. "Right," she quipped playfully. "You're so busy. That's why you were elected to rendezvous with yours truly, eh?" Nudging him with her elbow a little, she gave another sly smile; the others, maybe she could buy. But then again, lying to someone who thrived on getting information that usually wasn't freely given wasn't exactly an easy task now, was it?

All jokes aside, she listened, nodding. "I know, you aren't helpless or anything, by any means. I'm just high-strung because of this unknown threat. But that sounds like a plan; if no one's there, I'll still be around and we can plan from there. If at least one is, I'll take that as my job being finished for the night." The woman gave a nod, then looked around, almost as if she was paranoid. She wasn't, but one could never be too careful, especially not at times like these.

Her eyes flashed at his next words. Yes, that sort of hit a button with her, and it somewhat made her mad. "It's perfectly alright to worry," she started, her voice more or less a soft hiss, growing more intense as she continued. "What's not alright is you selling yourself short like that. You're in the council for a reason, they don't just pick at random. There are others who would kill for your spot. Everything has that one thing they're good at. Yours is why you're where you are and I'm just an informant. You're an authority figure, but right now I'm speaking as an elder. No one ever got anywhere by selling themselves short. You'll only ever get as far as you think you will, and don't you forget it." Taking a deep breath, she gave a smile.

"Sorry if I came across as harsh, but you seemed to have needed it. Let's do what we came for, shall we?"

Devyn Hardwick

[Devyn Hardwick]

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With a nervous laugh, Devyn looked down at his feet. "I mean, I am a bit busy. Less busy than the rest of the Council, but I do still have things I need to do quite frequently. But the point is made." As he halfheartedly kicked a rock, he frowned. "That should work just fine. We're both on edge right now, so I don't blame you. It's a potentially dangerous situation, and the outcome could be disastrous."

Well, more than that, the situation could be lethal if it were approached wrong. Devyn didn't think it would end that way--it seemed incredibly unlikely--but it was, after all, a possibility, and he couldn't ignore the small possibility that one of his two closest friends could presently be in danger.

He bit his lip as she spoke, taking a deep breath. "I, well, I know they chose me for a reason. Sometimes it just isn't quite evident why they did, other than my luck. I'm sure that other people have luck too, so it's a little weird to think about. Anyway. That's not the point." He moved toward the car, nodding at Iris. "It's hard sometimes, I guess. But if it were never difficult, it wouldn't be worth it. So I think it'd be good for us to get on our way, so it's only difficult and not too hard to handle altogether."

Taking a few deep breaths, Devyn refocused on the goal. "Alright. So. We need to go to Raf's. I did need that, thank you." He stretched out his shoulders, cracking his neck, and got next to the passenger side door of Iris' car. "So. That said, let's get going. Wouldn't want to lose any time--every second that we spend here just standing around talking could be a second lost in the long run."

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words || 303 ||
notes || none ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || tense ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Iris]

Iris gave a genuine giggle, but nodded sincerely at his statement. But, considering the present circumstances and the importance of the situation, the usually playful vampire's smile dropped as the true severity of things began to sink in. Yeah, it just got real, and it showed on her face just as plain as day, or well, in the case of the vampires...night.

"You don't need to know the reason; you're special. Something that makes you who you are made them find you fit to aid in the leadership of our kind. It's an honor. Just...enjoy it. Well, take your job seriously of course, but enjoy your time there. Live, learn, have fun. After all, we don't even last forever." Giving the man a pat on the shoulder for reassuring, she headed to her black sports car and pulled the key out of her purse. Pushing the unlock button, she then climbed behind the wheel of the vehicle that...in a sense was much like her: sleek, pretty to look at, but there was a lot of power under the hood.

Nodding, Iris buckled her seat belt before putting the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life and music blasted through the speakers. Then, she put the car in gear and sped down the road, though making a point to stick to side streets and back alleys. New York traffic was not what they needed tonight, even if it wasn't a far drive. However, despite her route of choice, even going as far as cutting through a small park, the vampire's driving was spot on. Fast, but she didn't hit anything or more importantly--anyone.

But when she parallel parked outside the apartments, car, vampire, and pedestrians alike, found themselves without a scratch. "Okay, here we are. Just give me an all good or wait up." With a nod, she leaned back in her seat a little, turning up the music.

Devyn Hardwick

_{Song: I Miss the Misery by Halestorm}

[Devyn Hardwick]

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Devyn nodded with acknowledgement at her statement, smiling a little. "I, er, I appreciate it. You're very kind." Yes, they would eventually die. But when? Devyn's ability to avoid death had so far proved extensive, but he supposed it couldn't possibly last forever. Eventually his sight would fail him and he'd end up with an ash stake in his chest, or would fall into a stray sunbeam, or get his head lopped off. Something like that. It'd be unpleasant, but it had to happen eventually.

His greatest asset, Devyn supposed, was less his predisposition toward relying on luck and more the absence of fear. After all, there wasn't much reason for one to be afraid when one was as lucky as him. Maybe he'd be that one vampire that evaded the inevitable. If it could be anybody, it'd probably be him, he reasoned. Or maybe Raf, challenging Death to a game of chess and constantly winning so he got another life. That seemed equally likely.

No matter the case, whatever was going on, Dev was determined to put a stop to it. It was his job as a Councilman and also his duty as a friend to both Raf and Aleena. He'd kick down any door they put in his way, snap necks if he had to, and do whatever it took to figure out what was going on and get it fixed.

When they pulled up, Devyn nodded to Iris and stepped out. "I'll keep in touch so you stay updated, regardless of the situation." He sprinted toward the doors, then made his way up to the penthouse. He hoped dearly that the pair would be safe and sound, enjoying a night in on the couch or something, but something deep in the pit of his stomach told him that it wouldn't be the case at all.

He'd have to play it by ear, then.

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words || 316 ||
notes || done?? ||
tagged || Iris ||
mood || tense ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||