Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

It was ridiculous, really, how much that simple idea that maybe Abby could come to represent that idea of family for him seemed strike the younger vampire. Sebastian, he suspected, hadn't exactly meant for the notion to strike him as much as it did and yet the more Arlo considered that very idea the more he kinda....liked it. He had been close to his own family, once, years ago. Before he 'died', before he became involved in that music and everything that went along with it. The reality of it was that he hadn't really been close to them since his childhood and early teenage years. It was his fault. All of it. Yet, if that trip back home had proven anything it was that his parents, his sister, his biological family wanted nothing to do with him anymore. So why keep trying? He had needed them once. He didn't need them anymore and they didn't need him- they'd hadn't needed him for years. Sometimes things just don't work out and dwelling on what he could hardly change wasn't about to make it better. Maybe instead of letting those feelings, those emotions, whatever they were about his family turn around inside him like a damn knot he couldn't get rid off he should simply appreciate that new family he'd found with Abby. Early and new though it was. The idea of it sounded....nice. Seb was right. Truthfully the Englishman was right a lot and yet Arlo saw no need to inform him of that anytime soon. Still, he liked the idea. Maybe more than he was willing to admit. Sebastian insistence that philosophy came from the era he'd been born in earning the elder vampire that curious look.

"Was your era really shitty or something?"

History, it seemed, was as much Arlo's strong point as languages had been. That 'moment' of sorts between the pair undoubtedly ruined by the Crusnik's habit of speaking his mind and whatever thought seemed to find it first. Impulsiveness and eternal weakness Arlo never had grown out of. If it had taken Seb that much philosophy to get through that era then it must have been a pretty bad era right? Arlo never truly having stopped to consider just what era Sebastian had been born in. Probably black and white television in the very least. Arlo shifted lightly on that fence then, his fingers still gripping that wood just in case Sebastian felt the need to shove him off again. The younger vampire shifting that conversation back to Abigail once more and those very...tendencies he'd started to notice. Hell, he'd once made fun of most vampires for those territorial arguments and possessive actions that had all but dominated them. He'd near convinced himself he was different whether by species or personality and yet all it had taken was one girl. One very hot girl. To turn him into that very snarling creature he'd desperately tried not to be. The sheer intensity of it terrifying even to him. His own lack of Maker resulting in nearly no one else to pose those questions too. Arlo hardly having anticipated that laughter from the englishman's lips. Sebastian making every effort to explain those behaviours as normal.

Great. He was going to spend the rest of his life snarling and hissing at things. No wonder nobody liked vampires. God this was so much harder than anyone knew. Still, Seb seemed so in control, at least most of the time. If Seb could do it then he could too right? Any further thoughts on his behaviour abruptly ended at Sebastian's insistence those more aggressive tendencies only usually surfaced once a vampire had found 'the one'. 'The One' what? That panic of sorts seemed to grip him with near the same force as that worry about his possessiveness had only moments ago. He'd heard that term used before, who hadn't? It meant the one you wanted to marry. The 'it' girl. The deal breaker. God marriage sounded so...so.....adult. Then again he was almost forty wasn't he? He should have been married like ten years ago, maybe five. So why did it terrify him so much? He'd only just started dating Abby, he hadn't even thought about marrying her! Yet.....maybe he should have. That very realisation seeming to dawn on him all at once. Abby was already different to every other girl he'd ever dated. She was already better. She already meant more. Maybe that....vampiric part of himself had simply realised what the rest of him was only just now beginning to understand. Maybe she really was the one he wanted to 'commit to' as Sebastian put it.

For several moments still the younger man was simply content to stare out across that field, those thoughts turning rapidly within his mind. Several conversations replayed. It was too soon, surely, to be thinking about those things and yet some part of him liked that idea all the same. The idea of having Abby for just himself to way Sebastian had Dorian. Hmm. Maybe it was worth thinking about. His gaze shifted back towards Seb then, Arlo determined to have him promise he wasn't about to go telling Abby any of what they'd talked about. You didn't go telling a girl she might be the one. That would only freak her out right? The Englishman insisting he would hardly dream of it before offering that story off his own less than, well, gentlemanly moment with Dorian. That snort of laughter erupting from from Arlo's own lips then. Still, whether or not Dorian knew just how possessive Sebastian was capable of being was....important somehow. Arlo frowning slightly at that explanation that relationships were different now from the way they had been- from the way Dorian and he were. The younger vampire offering that shrug off his own shoulders.

"Well whatever you having going on it works. You guys are one of the stronger couples I know. Your probably right though, maybe Ab's and I just need some more time. Hey, how long did it take you to realise Dorian was 'the one'? When did you know?"
It was a surprisingly....serious question from the often light-hearted vampire and yet who else did he have to ask? Besides he...trusted Sebastian enough to ask that very question. They'd known each other a fairly long time now right? Friends were allowed to ask that sort of stuff weren't they? In the least it was good to know he might, one day, want to murder less people.Even if only because Abby showed no interest in them. Time. Yeah. They just needed a little of that. Arlo eased himself away from that fence then, his socked feet landing softly back on that manicured grass with the suggestion to show Seb those papers he'd gone to the trouble of getting. The elder vampire hardly saying anything on that sudden change of topic as he agreed to look over them, Arlo waiting only so long as it took Seb to fall into step beside him as they made their way back towards the house before announcing that very conversation he'd had with Abby on the drive home about Sebastian himself. The Englishman affording him a near dubious look and yet Arlo was mostly sure he needed to hear about this. Not that, he supposed, many people took theories from vampires wearing socks in the garden all that seriously. He really needed his shoes back.

"Just hear me out, bud."

He could tell already that Seb hardly believed him, Arlo's blue gaze remaining on his companion then as they wandered along that little path and back toward the main house. Arlo pausing only long enough to consider just how to word that very theory of sorts.

"You know how there's different types of vampires right? The regular kind- Sanguine, Crusniks like me, although im starting to think i might be the last one left, vampires like Chizue, the chick who sung at your wedding- a psychic vampire and then succubus and incubus, yeah?"

He paused again, waiting for Sebastian to show at least some knowledge of those vampire subspecies he was certain the englishman knew existed.

"Well, it's not like there's much research in this area or anything bud, but im like ninety percent sure your an incubus hybrid. Not a full incubus because I'm pretty sure if you were Dorian wouldn't be in the condition he is. I mean, I dunno how often you guys do it but if you were stealing energy from him along with blood every time you had it on with him he wouldn't look the way he does. Hey- im not done yet, you can't tell me i'm wrong until i've finished."

His raised that hand easily upward in an effort to cut off that protest he was entirely sure Sebastian had been about to offer him, Arlo stepping gingerly around a low hanging rose lest he accidentally damage it somehow and owe Italy a billion dollars for a ruined rare plant.

"I don't know all of your powers but every single one I've seen you use is geared towards making people want to be with you right? In the very least they want to hang around you, in the most they want to rip your clothes off. I googled. Every single power you have is an Incubus power, or a version off it. Which is where your Maker comes in. I don't know anything about him or her but I'm a Crusnik because Patrick, my Maker, was one. I inherited it from him. Which means you inherited what you are from your Maker except I'm willing to bet your Maker is.....I dunno how to word this right.....broken? Abby would explain this part better, something about genes not reaching their full expression, I dunno. Basically though something stopped your Maker from being a full incubus- or succubus and when they made you they they only passed on a handful of those genes- because thats all they could pass on. So your like three quarters Incubus and one quarter Sanguine. It's a good combination really, you get all the perks without energy draining anyone you sleep with. Seriously bud, you don't get the powers you have without being an Incubus. Abby agrees and she's pretty smart. So we decided you were a hybrid."

Arlo, clearly, had decided what Sebastian's species was whether Sebastian agreed or not. The younger vampire glancing toward his friend then as they reached those back steps. The man near curious to hear Seb's opinion on that very theory.