Finding Importance ::Arthur::

[Erin Flynn]

Erin never much cared for the Breig Caverns even though she often found herself wandering them in her free time. What could be so enticing about the place where you conducted business? She frowned slightly at herself as she let her feet take her through the caves she'd become so familiar with. If she were anyone else she would quickly become lost, but she'd tread these paths so many times that it would take an effort to get lost. She came to enjoy her directional genius even in stark caverns when all she had to light her way was a small torch. As she drew nearer to the core of the caverns they became more delicately supported, and soon the floors were paved with deep red brick. It wouldn't be long until she made it to the building.

As Erin let her mind wander she began to remember what she needed to do. Liam called upon her earlier in the day and seemed to hint at needing her for a specific mission. She still wasn't sure what he needed, but her curiosity wasn't strong enough to send her here earlier in the day. Traveling to HQ included a ferry ride that she wasn't too fond of and a walk that she was even less fond of. It was days like this that Erin considering moving to Eydis Island. She shook her thoughts from her head as she took in a deep breath. Liam relied on her for much, that was the bottom line, so perhaps moving would be the best option.

The paths became even nicer as the cavern opened up into the best lit area. In this vast expanse was the headquarter building. It was a carefully constructed building made of red brick and it must have taken the longest time to create in the cavern's heart. She frowned at it and put a hand to her hip as she considered how quiet it felt today. It was relatively quiet every day, but no one was about today. Erin wrinkled her nose and stood in confusion.

[Arthur Godfrey]

Of all the things that could have happened today, this was possibly the worst. Almost nobody was here today, and the only people that were happened to be the preachy "Cigarettes kill" type of people. Yes, cigarettes kill, but then, so does just about everything else these days, and Arthur didn't mind one bit. He knew he was going to die at some point anyway, and for the time being, he'd rather have a smoke than chew on some goddamn toothpick. Fuckin' quitters. You wouldn't think that people bent on taking over the goddamn world would be so uppity about this kind of shit.

Arthur knew he could probably get something from Daddy Dearest, but he didn't like the idea of asking him. Besides that, it would probably be a cigar or some shit. Fuckin' gross. If he wanted to smoke a shit-stick, he'd smoke a shit-stick. Not a fuckin' cigar.

With a sigh, Arthur headed toward the exit. He had his sunglasses on, yes. Inside the building, yes. The sun far from his vision, yes. The florescent lights were making his already bad headache worse, though, and it helped. Fuckin' hangovers. Fuck. The hot little Styrofoam cup in his hand was enough to keep him until he could get a pack, but only just barely.

So he pushed the door to the outside world open, and he stumbled out, tripping over his own feet. He caught himself, and somehow kept his Joe in the cup. Smooth, smooth operator, that Arthur was. Upon regaining himself, he took notice of Erin Flynn, standing not to far from where he was. Through his glasses, he couldn't see her all that well, so he took them off and stuck them in the breast pocket of his button up. He smiled the best he could, what with a headache like his, and he waved at her.

[Erin Flynn]

With a singular glance at Arthur, Erin came up with one solid impression of his day thus far. She smiled back slightly, more amused that anything else and said warmly, but sternly, "Someone's got quite the hangover I'm assuming." Arthur always got that look on his face, the one where it's clear he's trying to ignore a headache while cursing excessively, either inwardly or outwardly. Erin came to understand Arthur well over the years. She wondered how long it had been since she met him, but quickly shoved away those thoughts to occupy her head with more important matters. With Arthur in the mood he was in, which was clearly sour beyond that half smile that seemed rather forced, Erin thought that it may be best to keep an eye on him. For Liam. She frowned at herself inwardly. Arthur was a value to her, though she didn't fully understand why yet.

"Alright prince Arthur," She started, calling him the nickname she'd given him since they first met, "What's your plan for the day?" If it was in her power she'd keep an eye on him and come back to speak with Liam when the time was right. Liam was sure to understand that matters with his son came first over this. He didn't seem too urgent when she had spoken with him earlier anyway and she always had her cell on her. The cell that was almost always used for speaking with Liam only. Erin understood in time how Liam viewed his son, and while it was often cruel, she never spoke against him because of what she could do for him. Liam found her important. Liam payed attention to her. She scowled inwardly at her dependence before trying to smooth her appearance for Arthur.

[Arthur Godfrey]

Ha. Only Erin could do that. That thing, where she knows just what he's been up too, and just what to say. Ha. She was cool like that, and he smiled pretty genuinely this time. It wasn't that he hadn't been happy to see her, or anything like that earlier, but man. Fuckin' hangovers.

"Late, late night. Fun night though. From what I can remember, at least." Arthur's voice came out a little quieter than he'd wanted, a little raspier, but he was fairly sure she heard him. He took a swig of his coffee and grimaced. Black. Black as night. Fuckin' gross. He walked a bit closer to her.

"For now, I don't know. I need some smokes like crazy, but I'm not feeling like heading out quite yet. " Not anymore, at least. He brought a hand up and rubbed his head, and he cursed. Ugh. He took another sip of his coffee, but he dumped it out after that.

Casually, he looked her up and down. She looked good, as always. He wouldn't say anything about it, but he couldn't help but look. Besides, as long as he had his shades on... Wait. Shit. Well, with luck, she didn't take notice of it.

"How about you?"

[Erin Flynn]

Not feeling like heading out yet. Erin pondered his words. When Arthur got a craving for smokes it was often hard to prevent him from getting what he wanted. God forbid you were one of those 'Preachy assholes' as he always said, that would try to tell him how bad it was for him. She smiled to herself. As he drew nearer she try to come up with a good excuse to tail him. The two had such a volatile relationship, mostly because neither seemed to trust each other. They skirted around issues of deep importance often so delicately. "My plans?" She raised her eyebrow, coming to the realization that Arthur took a moment to observe her up and down. "Well..." She extended the word, acting as if she had to really think about it.

"I didn't have much in terms of planning for the day honestly," She lied smoothly, "I figured I'd come here and see if anything could take up my time. Poor young me, all bored and lonely." Erin was almost positive that Arthur would take extra notice of the word lonely, but she also knew that he might see right through her. He had a way of cutting through her bullshit sometimes and figuring her out as if she were a book. She was hoping that today wasn't one of those times. It would be best if she could get through this day without any massive trip-ups, but something about Arthur caught her every time. To a certain extent she was almost upset with how he was treated. Well, almost anyway.

[Arthur Godfrey]

Damn it all. Damn it all to hell. Arthur knew what she was doing. He knew it very well, but with how he was feeling, maybe he could just go along with it. He didn't know what he was going to do. Fuckin' hell. Lonely. She was... confusing.

With a chuckle, Arthur looked around, almost nervous. It was very quiet outside the building. He could hear it when he shifted his weight, the way his shoes kind of scratched at the ground. He was at a loss for words. He crumpled the Styrofoam cup in his hand and crammed it in his jacket pocket.

"Well, I can fix the bored and lonely, but I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for being young." Arthur said after a small period of silence. He was going to play along, and just see where this went. It could be fun, after all.

[Erin Flynn]

Erin disliked her sudden wave of doubt. What the hell am I doing? She had to ask herself a few times. Arthur. She hated everything that surrounded her assignments on him. With the way he seemed to cut through to the core of her she couldn't help but wonder if he realized fully what she was assigned to do. She hoped not. If anything Erin wanted to spare him the pain of that much. Spare him. She felt her anger at herself rising again. How dare she get soft at a time like this. Liam had such big plans and Erin was important. Arthur was important. Her head reeled as she muttered softly, "How about we get you some smokes?" Her voice came out more timid than she had intended and she almost immediately regretted it.

It pissed her off that Arthur sometimes had the ability to bring out her weakness. Erin hated weakness. She could crush little children's hopes and dreams and wouldn't falter but damned Arthur. Damn him. While cursing inwardly Erin strove to keep her remotely emotionless fate, though she obviously was failing. "Sound good to you?" She struggled for a smile, but couldn't find one.

[Arthur Godfrey]

Complicated shit, that's what this was. Complicated and difficult to deal with. Sometimes, Arthur didn't know. There was something up with her, he could tell that much, but he couldn't place quite what it was. And to push things Arthur couldn't quite place, there was something he felt for her. It wasn't so easy to place as being attracted to her, or even wanting to be with her for the night. There was something else, and it pissed him off. Nothing was as irritating as uncertainty. But hey, this kind of thought was way to soggy for Arthur to be dealing with. Smokes. That's what he needed. Fuckin' smokes.

"Smokes. Yeah, we should get those." He couldn't keep his voice from faltering. "So, yeah." He said, attempting to regain his cool. He cleared his throat. Wait, that was lame. Straightened himself, put his sunglasses back on. Adjusted his coat. Ugh. Girls.

[Erin Flynn]

Erin could feel a tension building. Not like the normal tension between them, but rather something different. Something that made them both equally uneasy. Boys. Uhg. She clenched her fists and focused on the bite of her nails in her palms to keep her level-headed for the time. "Come on, let's head out then," She smiled slightly and began to make her way out. The way through the caverns would take a while. An uncomfortable while, no doubt. Erin spoke to herself silently, thinking that if she reassured herself enough perhaps things could make their way back to the tension filled fun that they always had together.

She figured that as they walked they'd have to take a stab at talking or else it would only get worse. If it got worse she wasn't sure she could handle it for most of the day. Arthur was normally such a smooth person. So confident and somehow he always got his way with his words. She knew that when she was around him they both acted a bit outside of their norm. There was something attractive about the way the Arthur seemed to hold himself, no doubt a large portion of that was based just on his looks. Erin scolded herself silently and made a stab at conversation. "With all of your late late night partying you must not be too terribly busy lately. What have you been doing besides being a blackout drunk?"

[Arthur Godfrey]

Arthur put his hands in his pockets as they walked. How long was this walk going to be, exactly? It would probably be a thousand times longer than it normally was. Yeah, Arthur knew how that shit worked. Ha, ha, ha ha. Father Time was just so funny like that. He didn't take his eyes off of her for a second as they moved.

She seemed just as uncomfortable as he was, but he was hoping that he didn't look it. That's not how he's supposed to look. Arthur was always supposed to look as cool as an ice cube in lemonade, in fucking Antarctica.

"Oh, you know. This, that. Nothing to special." Smooth. Real smooth. " Papa Bear hasn't actually had that much for me to do recently." He said 'papa bear' with an edge. It was somewhere between snark and hate. You know, that very thin line between the two. "It's a little strange, actually." He began to think about what it was that his father might be doing up in his office chair, and what exactly he might have in store for him, but the thoughts were fleeting. "What about you?" He asked, "You have got to have some kind of a life outside the business."

Ha. The business.

[Erin Flynn]

She hadn't had much of a life. It almost hurt Erin to think about it, but she truly had made her life all about her... career. If you could have the audacity to call it that. Though she did take a few courses in college, there was nothing too overwhelming there and she only had class every wednesday. "I guess I study," She muttered bitterly, hoping it didn't sound as resentful out loud as it did in her mind. "I tend to take some classes. You know, college and whatnot." She sighed inwardly.

"I guess any other time I get when I'm not sore I spend at the gym. Boxing mostly," Erin wondered if that would change how people viewed her. Fighting, being a cruel unforgiving bitch, tended to be her life. She didn't know if she'd like it any other way. Sending a quick glance to Arthur she noticed he still showed a bit of his discomfort outwardly. She couldn't blame him. She probably looked the same way to his eyes, if not worse. Probably worse actually. Erin didn't handle emotional or tough personal situations well. Ever. Erin was one for taking it to her fists, not talking it out like a pussy. She frowned. Like a pussy. Jesus she was becoming a man. She shook her head slightly and focused back on the path ahead. Not even close to being 1/4th of the way out. For the love of God, how long was this going to take?

Erin allowed herself to think of the situation with Arthur a little more. It didn't help illuminate the issue so much as it made things even more cloudy for her. Arthur was such an enigma. Damn that boy.

[Arthur Godfrey]

Arthur smiled. Boxing, now that was a way to work out. It didn’t really surprise him, not the least bit. She didn’t look like she could throw a punch, but he held no doubt that she could. She was cool like that. She was cool. Cool. Shit, wait. There he went again, being all weird about things. She was cool? What the hell does that even mean?

Classes. She took classes. Alright, what about it? He took classes too. Common interest? Could you call that an interest?

Arthur stopped himself. This was really not cool. He didn’t realize it until afterward, but he had physically stopped, too. It was only for half a second, tops, but it was weird enough. How far were they? Damn it. Not far enough. Long, stupid long way.

”Do you do that by choice? I mean, not really go anywhere but the gym, class, and work? Or is it that you don’t really have anything else to do?” Arthur asked, wondering what exactly was going through her head.

[Erin Flynn]

"By choice?" She repeated, "No. It's not by choice actually. As pathetic as it sounds, I've nothing more to do really. There's nothing that is interesting to me quite often. I'm a... business woman." As Erin spoke it she regretted it. Though her words were not many there was a great deal of interest behind them. Her business was to lie. To deceive. To be things other than what she was. Would Arthur understand that? She hoped not. "To be honest, I don't make friends well," She hoped that her change to something sounding more personal would save her, "But I think you could guess that."

There was a storm raging. Not outside, because Erin wouldn't be able to tell that for a while longer, but the storm was within her head. It was always a constant battle with who she appeared to be and who she really was. Sometimes even she didn't know who she was. Arthur. He knew more about her than anyone else she'd let into her life. Even Liam didn't know certain things. Though that was mostly because he didn't have interest in her as a whole. Did Arthur?

[Hotaru Tomoe]

Being outside didn't bring Hotaru and nostalgic feelings as she had the slightest sliver of hope it might. On her way back towards the twisted man who held the leash attached to her collar, Hotaru had much time to think. She didn't enjoy that. Thinking led to questioning. Questioning led to pain. There wasn't much in the world that Hotaru took any joy from so her main goals became just to avoid pain. Liam promised to reward her if she served him well. Hotaru wondered briefly what serving him well really entailed before she banished her thoughts.

The sounds of soft, uncomfortable chatter helped Hotaru stay out of her own mind. She couldn't make out the words but she could understand how the speakers felt just from their tones of voice. Hotaru thought she recognized Arthur. She'd only met him once, if you could call it a meeting, and that was when the young man had happened across Liam speaking with her just after she woke for the first time. The first time that was a clear crisp memory that is.

Arthur didn't seem much like his father to Hotaru, though she couldn't place why. She didn't much care in the end, so that issue too left her head before she thought on it too much. The other voice Hotaru came to know well. The voice belonged to a woman that Hotaru had heard often but never seen. The woman visited often with Liam when Hotaru was being held indoors like a punished pet. She must have been valuable to visit Liam so much. Hotaru was valuable too. She was a pet. As Hotaru reared a corner she came face to face with those she heard. Both seemed uncomfortable. She flashed an emotionless look and said unfeelingly, "Hello."

[Arthur Godfrey]

Arthur was startled. Yeah, he was distracted that entire conversation, but he still should have at least been able to hear this chick a little bit. He didn't hear a damn thing. This wasn't good for him. He didn't like what was going on.

"Uh..." He couldn't muster much more than that. He recognized her, but he couldn't quite place where from. Obviously, she had something to do with U.R, but he wasn't sure what. Where the hell had he seen her before?[/size]