Saturday 26th April ~ 11:30 ish pm, Signature club

Arianna sat at the bar, absentmindedly twirling the miniature wand stick in her empty cocktail glass in front of her.  She was wearing a white, short dress nipped in at the waist, a sharp contrast to the long black curls of hair that fell down her back and the black jet necklace that held a small silver runic charm at its end.

She glanced up at the barman and smiled a little as he moved to swap her empty glass for a full one, protesting as she reached for her purse.

"No, this ones on me. A welcome to the team. Excuse me. " He told her with a wink, torn away from further chatting by another customer further down the bar.

The outside of the glass was misted, a layer of ice encrusting the outside. A purple smoke curled upwards from the dark blue liquid and as  she swirled the glass it released the, not unduly unpleasant smell, of lotus berries and pepperup potion. She shuddered slightly as she took a sip, the cold liquid making its way down her body.

Just this one more, for the road, and then she would go home,  she told herself. A small celebration for getting through her first session without too much drama, calamity or boredom. She had always been a little wary of taking on a regular job, avoiding anything restricting or repetitive, but with this job she had fallen on her feet. It was irregular enough to keep her interested, regular enough to aid her cashflow and busy enough to gain enough information for a number of jobs. It was often the right ind of people that never noticed the "help" listening in, an ideal disguise.
   

Having filched enough to get him through for the day. Simon had made himself presentable before heading out for a night of entertainment. It had been a couple days since the full moon and he was finally feeling like he bounced back fully. So what better way to celebrate then inebriation and the usual ill fated decisions.

Wearing his black boots, jeans, a black dress shirt with a casual dark jacket to tie in the ensemble. Of course his usual black leather gloves as always covering his skin to keep from burning himself with an accidental graze of silver. Simon was all about simple when it came to his nightwear. Besides who knew if he would remember all the articles by the end of the night into the morning. Never wear something for a night out that you don't mind parting with.

Apparating to Signature, Simon wandered in for a drink. The night could very well start there and end else where. Having it up in the aire was part of the fun. He had no actual plans, so when he sauntered up the bar Simon using his black leather gloves forked over a silver piece, out of another dark pouch he kept in his coat pocket, to start off the night with a fire whiskey.

His blue eyes scanned the place when the drink came to his hand. Simon damn near gagged when his eyes fell on someone he recognized. Smirking a bit he wandered towards the lass with the long dark hair and leaned forward, "Well what do we have here?" The question hung in the aire waiting to be plucked and shot down from the female in the eye-catching short dress.

Simon's Outfit

She hadn't noticed Simon approach, her attention caught by a rather silly young woman on her left, bragging to her female companion of the worth of a rather pricely looking pendant necklace parading around her neck. Arianna had already reached the point of contemplating how much of a shame it would be if that necklace should come loose and fall off, as well as the many ways that this calamity might occur, when something, or rather someone, drew her attention away.

"Well what do we have here?"

She glanced up, irritation evident in every crease mark in her forehead. 

"Excuse me.....oh, it's you. " She said bluntly, her tone cool, expression mellowing into one of nothing in particular but her eyes, her eyes sparkled, though with anger or playfulness was anyone's guess. She glanced around her, as if looking for something.

"Where's your little sidekick? I heard you two went everywhere together nowadays? " She asked him innocently, holding his gaze for a moment, a not so innocent smile on her lips. She took another sip from her cocktail and almost choked as she inhaled rather a large mouthful of fizz. 
 

"Such an icy reception from such an attractive and fiery young lady, tsk tsk  'oh it's you' come on now with all our history you have to admit that is pretty bloody cold...love..." Simon hissed menacingly before downing his drink. Whistling he ordered another and slid onto a chair next to his former flame. They barely spoke after their split, but when they finally got to their comfortable current position.

Simon had tried to call on her previous, but he was under the belief that she had miss placed his letters. Either way, she couldn't avoid him at that very moment. So he was of course taking that fact to it's extent and capitalizing on every opportunity.

"Where's your little sidekick? I heard you two went everywhere together nowadays? " He let out a wolf whistle, for lack of a better description. "Hmm I think that speaks of bitterness. Perhaps that is why we never worked out yah?" Simon looked at the drink before him and enjoyed the burn as it hit his lips and ran down his throat. There was little he liked more than the feel of his throat on fire from strong liquor. 

"Gave Ky the night off figured she had enough shite to deal with tending after me for a while. It was time for her to get out," he rolled his eyes at her assumption that Ky was his sidekick. His close mate yes, one might say his only if they knew him at all. But sidekick seemed demeaning to say the least.

"Such an icy reception from such an attractive and fiery young lady, tsk tsk  'oh it's you' come on now with all our history you have to admit that is pretty bloody cold...love..."

Arianna raised an eyebrow  and looked up at him, paused for a moment as a few different responses danced on her tongue. 

"Knowing all our history, you were expecting a parade? " She asked him. It was not her best line.

Her words didnt warm yet, though when his second drink arrived she moved to place her own coins on the table and asked the barman for a another for herself, non alcoholic this time. Her head was beginning to feel a little fuzzy.   

"I don't think bitterness comes into it. " She told him, a little defensively, ignoring the comment about their relationship. That was something she didnt intend to debate now.   

The bitterness comment had smarted a little and actually didnt quite touch the mark. Jealously would have come a little closer.

She hadn't realised how much she had enjoyed working with her former partner, Nicholas, nor how much she had relied him until he was no longer there. It just wasn't the same and no-where near as gratifying gloating to yourself.  She would never have relayed that to the man beside her now, though they had once been close.

She didnt really even begrudge him someone to rely on. He needed looking after time to time.  She certainly didnt wish she was that someone. It could never have been her, not for any length of time at any rate; they would probably have killed each other.  She just wanted what they had back again.

 "Gave Ky the night off figured she had enough shite to deal with tending after me for a while. It was time for her to get out,"

"Tending you, she probably needed it. " She told him, a small smile appeared from nowhere for a second, before fading away. Some of the ice began to melt. She made eye contact when she spoke next. 

"She's done good job. You're looking much less horrendous then you might. "

Simon gave her a shrug, "A parade... a welcoming party. Something anything better than the cold shoulder." Allowing his eyes to dance over her frame, his cool blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

Licking his lips a bit Simon smiled, "History is never quite over. It's ever evolving." He ran his right gloved hand through his short brown tuft of hair, "As I am ever changing so are you. So you can't just label it all as past anymore..."

Simon tilted his head to get a better look at her, "If it's not bitterness, then what might it be? I mean what could trouble you about my little arrangement with the Russian." Kyrene was more like family to him, if he had family. She was the closest thing at any rate. The only person to truly give a shit about him, and it didn't seem to end with just a bump in the road.

Never had he expected Arianna to be there for the long haul. She wasn't the type to watch over a weakened werewolf. Generally he was stronger, quicker, and what he lacked in smarts gained in charisma. His charisma was partly what reeled her in to him in the first place, but his haphazard behavior tended to push away even the best of his mates away.

"Are you saying I don't look as down and out as I usually do? Because if that's the case we can thank her solely on keeping me intact," he winked at her. "Ky wants to keep me around, I hardly know why...." No he figured he knew why, but he had been wrong before.

"A parade... a welcoming party. Something anything better than the cold shoulder."

Arianna rolled her eyes,

"Next time, I'll remember the Fillibusters." She replied, in smooth tones.
She looked more amused than irritated now. She found he could do that to you, when he wanted. One minute you wanted to curse him to oblivion; the next you were struggling to remember what the exact problem had been. Arianna was not easily swayed, but even now, still, he managed to do that to her. 

"As I am ever changing so are you. So you can't just label it all as past anymore.

She looked at him curiously for a moment, head tilted slightly to one side.

"You see, you seem just the same to me. " She added, with a small smile.

"And change....change is always overrated. If its not broken, don't try and fix it." She added, catching sight of a stray copy of the prophet left on the bar. One of the headlines caught her eye. She paused for a moment, just aware of the man next to her, mind firing on all possible cylinders. She would need some help...could she trust him?
   
"Are you saying I don't look as down and out as I usually do? Because if that's the case we can thank her solely on keeping me intact," he winked at her. "Ky wants to keep me around, I hardly know why...."

"Hmm?" She responded, her attention slowly drawing back.

"Oh yes, well, thats something to drink to anyway." She answered, bringing her gaze back to him. She hesistated for a few seconds and then deciding, raised her glass slightly. 

" Here's to Kyrene....may she continue to keep you intact, at least for a little longer because, well...." She lowered her voice..."I might have a very interesting proposition for you."

Looking at her he could tell she was warming to him being near her. It was a pleasant sign and he was thankful that he could sway her in the right direction. Why go on disliking someone when you could embrace them, repeatedly. A yes a good time indeed.

"No I am very different can you not tell? Maybe you just haven't been around me enough lately, which is not entirely my fault." No it wasn't not hardly. Arianna wasn't one to be around him much since the split.

They were together at one point but Simon was a bit of a handful. There wasn't a chance in them getting along like they once did, or he figured there wasn't. "No change is not a bad thing. Hell I like to change at least once a month for sport." Rolling his eyes he nudged her lightly.

Ordering up pint Simon allowed himself to get distracted. There were a lot of people outside of the building wearing different sorts of jewelry or carrying things he could get a good deal for. If he decided to get more business drummed up that night he could make a killing the next day in Knockturn Alley. At least enough to feed him and Ky for the week.

Simon raised his glass to her with a smile and brought it to his lips. Taking a sip he leaned in.

"I might have a very interesting proposition for you."

"What did you have in mind?" It could have been anything, they hadn't talked in a while he had no idea what she was up to. Though judging from her face it was going to be interesting.

"No I am very different can you not tell? Maybe you just haven't been around me enough lately, which is not entirely my fault."

"Perhaps not. " She conceeded.

"Though you were probably better for it. " She added with a grim smile.

In part, she had actively shyed away from contact with any former friends or associates that were connected in anyway to the greyer areas of business.  Following the arrest of Nicholas,  she might have been monitored. Keeping clear of suspicion seemed better for everyone, not that she needed to worry. As it became clear over time,  her everchanging appearance at "work" had saved her from suspicion...so far. Her mistake that day had affected him only.

If she was honest with herself, not a trait she relied much upon, that was not the only reason she had avoided Simon. She had never been that good at dealing with emotion or awkwardness, not when it mattered. Her motto should really have ended:  "if it is broken, drop it and run in the opposite direction."

"No change is not a bad thing. Hell I like to change at least once a month for sport."

She smirked at that.

"Well, something to break the monotony I s'pose." She admitted...it was the closest she had come to admitting to herself that change was what she was desperately missing.

She had once thrived on it, a new identity, a new disguise, a new plan, a new place....nothing had stayed the same for long. Two years on the relative straight and narrow, well.... almost... staying in the same (and her real) persona was easier, less stressful perhaps in someways,  but in truth mind numbingly boring. Petty theft only spiced things a little, what she needed was a proper job....a job with an aim and a meaning and the one she now had in mind was about as proper as they came.

And who should be sitting beside her as the brain wave struck?   

It was likely that if Simon refused, she would leave the idea to dwindle. It needed more than just her, she didnt have many criminal contacts, not anymore and not people she could trust. She would simply go back to piano playing, grabbing minor criminal opportunities to simply break the monotony. It could be said that she was at a floogate in her life and fate, amusingly, had handed Simon the powder.

"What did you have in mind?"

"What do you know about Simeon McIntyre? " She asked him, not answering his question directly. 

 

"Better for it? Hardly," he teased back draining his beverage with little effort. It was going to be a hard hitting night. The morning had been one of the most interesting by far. A job offer of sorts had come his way, and it was the night of celebrations. Though he wasn't getting paid just yet, it was hopeful.

For the first time in years he had hope of having a semi normal life. Perhaps even getting enough money someday to have a real flat instead of the rundown one he shared with Ky. A real place they could lay their heads, it would be nice.

The offer from Covi had been running through his head all afternoon. So bumping into Arianna that night only made it that more interesting. Signs were pointing at him to  get back in control of his life. Not that he had lost it completely, but to gain a little more financial freedom wouldn't be the worst thing to have happen that year not by a long shot.

Simon had figured he knew why she didn't want to see him that much. They hadn't exactly ended on the best of terms. Not that he had been blameless in that, it was just how the situation went. Simon wasn't coping well and he took it out on Arianna much to her displeasure, they fought and the two found it was easier to be separate. He had needed someone to be there to tend to him a little more after a rough night and Arianna needed time out on her own. Enter Kyrene who had been a caring influence neither expected. Simon was starting to flourish under her care and he had grown fond of her because of it.

It was probably their closeness that caused much of the rumors to be spread. Not that Simon really gave a damn what people thought in the first place, he knew the truth that was good enough for him.

The question she asked knocked him out of his deep self involved thought. "Simeon McIntyre?" He tried to wrack his brain for the information she asked of him. That's when it hit him, "Wealthy bloke, a bit on the eccentric side. Lives mostly alone and the paper seems to keep tabs on him like local sport scores." He tried to remember the things that man had done. If anything he was a criminal masquerading as a benefactor. People had been selling their artifacts or getting them stolen during the war just to make enough scratch to survive. "Made money off others suffering before and now tries to make up for it giving money to charities and causes... why do you ask?" Know your mark it was a fun game for Simon.

"Wealthy bloke, a bit on the eccentric side. Lives mostly alone and the paper seems to keep tabs on him like local sport scores.Made money off others suffering before and now tries to make up for it giving money to charities and causes... why do you ask?"

"Interesting...." She replied, taking another small lady like sip of her drink. 

"I've heard a few whispers myself... " She continued, in her most innocent of voices.

"....that he is also rather speciest....avoids employing werewolves, doesn't trust goblin's at all....in fact he even refuses to use Gringrotts. " She added, glancing slyly at Simon.

"Prefers to use his own vaults. Though I suppose as he rarely lets anyone into his home its as safe there as anywhere. " She continued, as though the information was really of little interest her. In truth little of anything Arianna said meant nothing.

She was still holding the newspaper in one hand and she glanced back down at the page, as if reading it for the first time.

"Ah...wonderful...another charity function. " She said as if changing the topic of conversation completely, her tone flippant.

"In aid of St. Mungo's apparently, next month."

"Do you feel like going to a party Mr Reid?" She asked him. There was a sparkle of life in her eyes that had not been there before, as she slid the paper towards him.

"For old times sake...." She added with a smile.  "It might even be fun. "

Simon listened to the music. His mind had been so focused on the night life he almost missed what she was discussing with him. His attention fell back onto her and away from the women dancing.

What could he say, once a dog always a dog. In more ways than just one.

"....that he is also rather speciest....avoids employing werewolves, doesn't trust goblin's at all....in fact he even refuses to use Gringrotts. "

His eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry what," the anger was radiating within him again. This was like the morning tea he had with Covi. There was a growing annoyance for the man he hardly knew, and it wasn't going to be pretty. "Sounds like a real class act..." Arianna knew that was a hot button topic for Simon. It was most likely what caused her to bring it to his attention.

The rich were always so, and the poor had to climb, claw and drag their way to the top. Not to mention when they were down they were kicked further by those with privilege made him sick. Though he knew that was how he was back in the day, when he was wealthy. He learned so much since then.

"Do you feel like going to a party Mr Reid?"

A grin crossed his lips, "Are you asking me to escort you to a charity Ms. Trenford? I thought you'd never ask," considering he really didn't think she would. Though she had left him intrigued to say the least. Coughing a little he laughed, "You know I have always been fond of helping the little people of St. Mungo's."

If Arianna had noticed his inattention, she hadn't shown it, though her next words brought it sharply back...

"I'm sorry what, sounds like a real class act..."

She could hear the anger in his voice, though rather than looking anxious she looked rather amused. She had been expecting it.

"Are you asking me to escort you to a charity Ms. Trenford? I thought you'd never ask,"

This response seemed to amuse her more.

"I'm sure you didn't." She answered smoothly, allowing herself a wry smile as she remembered the last time they had spoken. Her, very vocal, response of the time had contained some very strong words...over, never and dead body had been mentioned once or twice.

"Neither did I." She responded, a small lopsided smirk in position as she glanced back up at Simon.

"But when opportunity presents..." She added nonchalantly, with a small shrug.

"You know I have always been fond of helping the little people of St. Mungo's."

"Well that's what I thought. A cause you would believe in." She continued, downing the remains of her glass.

"And well, after all this preparation....we must make sure Mr. McIntyre gets the evening he deserves. "

She did smile then, white teeth flashing. What sparkled and danced in her eyes was much darker than happiness or humour.