The Beauty in the Ugly

[Aiden]

The summer heat of the central southern states didn't deter the man from wearing a black leather jacket as he strode up from the street to the run down hotel front. His blond hair was in complete disarray, but he made no attempt to fix it; the wind that had kicked up would simply destroy any progress he made. Damn U.S., the Motherland was so much nicer this time of year. But the United States had one of the biggest supernatural problems, so he moved his enterprise to where he could help...and where he could find the best take.

He pushed the door open, stepping inside the air conditioned building and removing the sunglasses that shielded his eyes. He glanced around the room, a small lobby. It was as run down as the exterior, with stained wallpaper peeling in some spots on one wall, and a faded plaster on the rest. Not really a homey feeling, but he supposed that people didn't make a hotel home, at least not most of the time.

Overall, the place felt dirty, dingy, so he made a note to himself to take up board at another hotel in the city during this escapade. He slowly approached the desk where a woman was sitting, distracted by something he couldn't quite see. He placed his hands on the counter, after having tucked his sunglasses onto his shirt collar.

"Afternoon, I'm looking for Jefferson," he said, his British cockney accent rolling off thick.

"Ol' Jeffy is on medical leave, injured himself a few weeks back," the woman replied, looking up at the man.

"I assume you're part of Jefferson's lot, then, the one I've been 'earing 'bout. Its not Jeff I need anyway. I'm lookin' to get a few hands to help me with a job is what. And before you tell me I'm a loon, I've been left, right, and center looking for this spit of a building to find some decent 'unters, so if you'd allow me two of your own, I'd greatly appreciate it, alright?" he said.

"We aren't for hire, sorry. Strangers are welcome to room, but right now we're a little busy with Jeff--"

"Aw, who cares if Jeffy's all lurgy? All I need is two of yeh--"

"I've never even heard of you."

"Well, you, miss, can call me Declan. Jefferson don't know me, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

[Victoria]

Victoria eyed the man before him suspiciously, but with a certain interest. Man looked decently rich, and she was getting a bit bored at the hotel. She wasn't sure what he wanted with two people though and wasn't planning on jumping the gun without a little more information. Ever since Jefferson's little arm incident, the faction had been busy trying to get their bearings without him and helping the guy out in whatever way they could. But she was no housewife, or maid for that matter. Hell, she hated staying cooped up inside the Super. Hotel was more like a motel if you asked her. Why, if she were on her ship, she wouldn't have to be doing any of this stuff. Overseas life? Much better than land.

Speaking of overseas, "Declan" didn't look like he was from the United States. Probably European. Curious, Victoria leaned across the counter to get a better look at him. "Say, where are you from anyway, mate?" She knew she had a bit of an English accent, so she hoped he'd feel a sort of mutual connection and tell her. True, the accent was convoluted from so much travel and the language of a sailor, but she had been raised by a British father straight from the port of Tilbury. Undoubtedly English.

Still, she was never really good at spotting accents. You were either a sailor, or you weren't. This man, Declan, didn't have the spotting image of a sailor, but he looked as if he could've been on a ship at some point.

"That's a nice pair of sunglasses you've got," she said, still ostentatiously leaning across the surface. After looking at them for a few seconds, she went around the desk, preferring to speak with him directly. "My fellow Declan, I do believe you've got me utterly confused. Why ever do you need two humble hotel employees?" she said, giving him a feigned innocent face. "Looking for a little love? For the right pay, you can get yourself quite the deal, though I'm not sure Sim would too well to it," she said, half to herself. "Or could it be that you have...other business here?"

Folding her arms, she looked him square in the eye. If he was a hunter, he'd pick up on the "other business" line. "Naturally, anything can be settled with the right pay. Only reason I work for Jefferson is because he gives me food and shelter in this rubbish waste of land. Not anything like the comforts of a ship, but it serves its purpose. You want help? Then tell me, what's in it for me?"

[Aiden]

It didn't appear that this woman was going to let him in so easily. Probably a good thing, in the end, if she were a hunter. Practice got you to Carnegie, right? Still, it was bothersome, all the poor Brit wanted to do was be on his way as quickly as possible. It didn't seem she was budging, though, so he stood there, hands still on the table, leather jacket clinging snuggly around his arms.

"Should've guessed," Declan mumbled when she asked about his accent, a common waste of time for him there in the States. "I'm not from anywhere, or rather, I'm from everywhere. States, Britain, Indonesia, even had a tour of Japan once. If you're really nit-picky, you can say I'm from Tottenham."

Declan ran a finger down the side of Victoria's face, because honestly a little love wouldn't hurt at the moment. A long journey there, and a long journey to wherever he'd go next. Keeping down time busy with some action that didn't involve hunting always was of interest, paid or not. But now wasn't the time. "Listen, little birdie. When I mentioned 'Jefferson's lot,' you and I both know what I was talkin' about. So why don't we quit the charades because we're on a bit of a schedule."

This girl, she would go places. Ask for your take up front, make sure that job was worth getting into. If she knew how to hunt decently, he might just decide to take her specifically and ask for one more. But he didn't plan on splittin' up treasure, not that he could split it up anymore. Time to craft a little lie. "What's in it for you is the chance to escape death should it come early, and you act fast enough...well, 'ave someone you trust well enough act fast enough. Nice little trinket is showing up at an exhibit in Dallas we've got to make, only a couple more days, see."

With Victoria away from the desk, he decided to lean against it. "Now, can I please have one more sodding hunter so we can get moving?"

[Victoria]

She blankly stared at Declan with his response to her question over his accent, which then formed into a smile. "Completely fine by me, I'm not nit-picky at all. I'm a woman of the seas, so I understand that sentiment," she said.

Never looking away from his eyes, she didn't flinch when he ran his finger along her face. Potential paying customer. That was all she had to tell herself to keep her from snapping at him. Captain V was not to be approached so blatantly without permission. But the man didn't seem half bad. She just wouldn't go so far as to trust him.

Victoria raised her eyebrows at him after his demands were presented. Okay, so he was a hunter. A hunter on a search of treasure. Stealing from an exhibit? This most certainly sparked her interest. But it wasn't like bringing down a boat or robbing a port shop. This was a museum, she assumed, and what he was planning on stealing was an artifact. Top-level security. Easily covered with a radar jammer and a nearly undetectable ship, but that didn't quite work with a museum.

A "trinket" that gives you the chance to escape death, eh? Already that sounded like it would fetch for a hefty price on the black market. And if it was really that useful, she'd just keep it herself instead of selling it. Of course, other than details of the object, there were a couple of issues to be addressed.

"Alright. Sounds like a reasonable pay for a job," she said. "Believe me, Declan...I'm not one for the exchange of pleasantries, but I'm not some damned blind bloke who just goes charging into situations blindly," she asserted. "What exactly would we be up against? I do value my life."

Turning around, she began to pace the room slowly. "And this trinket. Reasonable pay as it is, I must insist that the loot be split evenly. I do know the tendencies to keep everything for oneself in the event of theft. I'll help you get the trinket, but when you've used it, and it had better be immediately as I'm assuming there's no other reason you would want it now, it belongs to me. Try to flake out on the deal and you will have the wrath of Captain Victoria following your trail."

Stopping, she walked over to him, leaning in so her lips were positioned right next to his ear. "Also," she whispered, "that's the last time you get to call me birdie."

Victoria went around the desk and began dialing her Sim's, Adrian's and Chase's rooms. "Hey, you lazy dogs get your asses down here, pretty please," she said into the phone in an almost sing-song voice. "Not sure where the land lovers are, but one of 'em will be down here soon enough."

[Aiden]

"Ah, the seas," Declan said, moderately uninterested. The seas were wet, salty, and highly boring. Nothing to do for miles except stare into a mass of blue liquid for hours. Yeah, not Declan's idea of fun, he'd much rather take a plane over the ocean from one land mass to the next. He wasn't looking for her origin, all he really needed to know was her name, and that was it; any more, and you made useless attachments that got you into trouble. He was a solo hunter for a reason.

"Well, don't you have stones," Declan said quietly. He strode over to the small plastic barrel of water that stood in the corner of the room, filling a paper cup and quickly downing it. "You think I'd lead you in blind as a bat? Rubbish," he said, a little ticked. "I know what I'm doin', alright? And I'd prefer to talk about this when cronie number two gets here."

Declan's face remained straight as Victoria attempted to work this deal. She was making the deal without knowing what the take was, something that could be a fatal mistake, but he wasn't about to point that out. For now all he needed were two helpers, to get in and out. Whatever it took to get this job going.

"Alright, birdie, you've got yourself a deal. Oh, tell your mates to bring their own guns, yeah?"