Franklin's flight and subsequent drive from the airport had been less than eventful, a bore really. As much as he appreciated the efforts made by the attendants in first class, the whole flight had been sub-par. Yet another tick in the "PRO" column for why he should be purchasing his own private conveyances. Traveling among humans had become and easy thing for him, given several hundreds of years living among them in plain sight and being accepted. He easily mimicked their mannerisms and slanged speech, just to ensure there was no reason for extra attention drawn to him. Despite being acclimatized to the human race, they still annoyed him more than any other species on this planet. Waiting in the airport first class lounge he had a veritable slew, a gaggle, of young women pawing at him. Despite how attractive they were, the reeked of sickly sweet perfumes and desperation. He was thankful to the airport security, that it only took a single glance to have them escorted out of the lounge and back to wait with the rest of the humans.
The gates of Vitae were not nearly as imposing as Franklin would have liked -they certainly did not compare to other colonies he had visited in his many years: Borseti included, before or after it's fall. He had hoped Skye had positioned herself better. They were nothing more than bits of scrap sheet metal welded atop a set of rolling iron barred gates; while no doubt defend-able, if this were the wild west and the worse thing you'd have to worry about is a pack of roaming bandits, not a pack of werewolves! Knowing she would refuse to leave, she was uncannily stubborn on a good day, he had at least believed she had put her defiance into a place that was even slightly worthy. Why am I not surprised....Honestly, I should have expected worse....
Exiting his rental he straightened his waistcoat, buttoning his jacket closed before he started to approach.
"State your buisness." Came a voice from above. Typically the older male human would have been difficult to see in the low light of the early evening but Franklin could pick him out of the shadows perfectly. He smiled slowly, pleasantly even, before answering. his English thickly accented. "I have been invited to meet with your council to discuss a partnership." He paused, seeing the man was unconvinced. "More specifically, one Councilmen William Hendrix." He watched as the man surveyed him and the road behind before retrieving a cell phone from his pocket.
Bart did not like the look of the professional that stood in the dusty road before Vitae. Something felt off, but Bart always had a great dislike for the white collared class. He typed out his message and sent it to Hendrix.
There is a man at the gates claiming to have an appointment with you.
Simple and direct, Bart looked once more at the man in the road, waiting for the Councilmen's reply.Ashley regarded William once more surprised. "To be honest I was coming to talk to Mac about that," She said, rather insecure. "Things ... got out of hand, and then other things happened. Turns out I need the fiery hunter more than I'd care to admit." She gave a shrug but smiled. "Won't bother you if I'm back?" She asked, genuinely honest. "I'm pretty sure this couch has a bed in it somewhere, if it'll make your uncomfortable, but really she can't sleep indoors alone. She hasn't in years, not unless she's tanked or, in the case of last night, Hypnos coma." She laughed a little. "I left last night to piss her off, didn't count on Hypnos coming to help her. Should have thought that through, I was the only one that suffered for it."
Mackenzie was delighted to not only see Elijah enjoying the food delivered, but knew exactly what it was. She had paused, perfectly still as she listened to the nurse's squeaky shoes pad past the door, not entirely certain what she would have done if the nurse had stepped into the room; but she would have thought of something. Dark eyes flicked to Elijah and a devilish smiled crossed her lips. "Oh you know very well who I've been drinking with, and I'm afraid the bottle of whiskey hidden in that house has been decimated." She set the plate of food on the table next to his bed, returning the cover; at least there he could pick at it as he pleased throughout the night.
She leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. "You'll be happy to know Ashley caught us out, I thought poor Will was going to die of embarrassment. I had no idea a grown man could blush that deeply, but leave it to Ash to figure it out. She really has no shame; it's lucky you're laid up in here, if the two of you were together on this, Will would have crawled under a rock."
Safton