ARJUN IQBAL

"Then you two should get a long fine just don't tell her you're friends with me, trust me." He didn't want his personal realtionship with the woman to sour things for Arjun should he wish to poke his head into that space. He would probably get on with her and their taste in finer things would match up well.

Arjun gave a small nod, moving on from their initial subject while he finished tidying the last of the disarray. Much better, he thought, casting a smile over his shoulder as Elliot agreed to his offer for a drink. The deity wasn't sure why, but something about the prospect of sharing a drink with him, made him feel a rare, genuine sense of ease.

Elio felt his cheeks warm and he smiled softly for a moment, but the anxiety and a certain sadness never left his gaze even as Arjun neared. “I tried to heal Matthew…” He motioned for Arjun to hold back any immediate reaction as he continued, knowing the other deity was less than fond of the fallen one. “He was shot by a member of Artemis. The bullet wound that is leaving him severely impaired for the time being,” he explained softly, knowing quite few knew the truth yet— although he presumed Matthew could only hide matters for so long before more elders and of course council found out.

Matthew. Now why did Elio feel the need to ruin the lovely exchange they were having? The deity was right to raise his hand, for Arjun had been about to let his anger and frustration get the better of him. Instead, he was forced to listen..and listen he did, taking a slow, grounding breath.

The gallery had been closed for a while and Mira was still trying to put together a display for the last several hours. It was almost perfect, but something just wasn't quite right. For the twelth time that night, he took all the paintings down from the wall and reassembled them in a different fashion. They looked almost the same as the last time he'd placed them meticulously on that same wall, but they were slightly better this time. He glanced at the clock on the opposite wall and realized he'd been there for much longer than the allowed time he was given to complete this task. Mira would have to message his boss and let him know that he'd put in some overtime. He decided the display looked good enough and decided to call it a night. Yawning and stretching his arms, Mira walked through the gallery and down the hall until he came to the curator's office. He didn't realize Arjun was still there, but smiled politely. "I got caught up trying to find the right arrangement for the new collection. I couldn't make it look right." He remembered the thought that crossed his mind from earlier about having to inform his superior about overtime. Now he wouldn't have to. "I hope I'm not inconveniencing you at all by being here so late. I was just on my way out."

Arjun didn't stand. He remained in his chair, watching Miral with curiosity as he leaned against the door frame, his tired expression corroborating the story he was just being told. "Inconveniencing me? Gods, no." the deity huffed, allowing a rare smile to make an appearance. "I would never fault a man for trying to find the perfect arrangement for a display. We've all been there before ..some of us more often than we'd like to admit."

"Then you'd best make it more obvious," Ayumu responded with a quirk of their eyebrow as their hand reached out to gently pluck Arjun's loose robe between their fingers.

Arjun tilted his head and let out a soft huff in response to the spirit's late admission, finding it rather insulting. "It is always about business with you, isn't it?" And yet he didn't pull back. Not even as Ayumu’s fingers caught the silk of his robe. Instead, he leaned into the touch, his own hand coming up to rest lightly atop the spirit's wrist..not to pull them away, but to encourage further exploration. "Very well." he smirked, "But if I am not satisfied by the end of this, I expect a full refund.."

"That might be for the best. She's a bit... intense. I'm sure she's a pleasure to anyone that isn't a cop or a lawyer." He was after all the second in that category and worse so he had a rather stringent moral code. Something Ms. Zaman seemed to lack based on the evidence he'd been given. "She actually might like you however you're not going to throw her in jail or anything."

"See, I usually find people like her interesting. They add a little bit of spice to a world that is otherwise predictable." Mostly, predictable, the deity thought, observing the man as he entered the suite. The disarray everywhere was obvious. Bed sheets, articles of clothing, shoes, and..some other items clearly used for pleasure. Because of that, Arjun made haste on clearing the space, smiling over the shoulder when he listened to Elliot's insinuation. "Well, would you like to? Surely it can't be so bad. I won't tell if you don't."

"Yeah. Or I think there was something on the roof, whichever works for you." He stepped just inside the room when Arjun prompted him, shutting the door quietly like he was scared of it making too much noise. "I just didn't want to intrude."

Arjun released a soft breath, choosing not to add to the stress Chris was obviously already feeling. Instead, he moved across the room toward the dresser, giving him some time to simply exist in the silence without being interrogated.

"Don't look so surprised, Elio. I have always cared about you." Maybe more than he was able to let on, considering he did not understand those feelings most of the time. Arjun had a taste of the alcohol, allowing its bitterness to ground him as he watched the other deity finally let the weight of his posture collapse..and speak. "I am aware that there are things we are not permitted to heal," the art curator corrected softly, "of the limitations to our invovlement. The difference is subtle, but it is there. We are architects, Elio, not erasers. We can build around the wreckage, we can gild the scars, but we cannot pretend the collapse never happened."

"That's the stereotypical phrase for something like this, right?" He answered with a shrug and a sigh. On the one hand he felt too old by human years to keep running into things like this, but on the other he was young by supernatural standards. "It's a connection I made through Rosu, but it was about a personal blood order." He wasn't quite sure what to make of Arjun's smile, but at least the deity hadn't given him any reason to be overly worried. "Uh sure. There was the place downstairs?" Anywhere except the damn hallway.

"Right." Arjun nodded, allowing said awkwardness to pass. They had already addressed it, and he would much rather hear about who Chris was getting his blood from, and whether it was a regular thing. Arjun had not been out there for a while, so he had no idea how bad things had got, particularly for his kind. "The bar?" The deity frowned, glancing over his shoulder for a moment. It wa loud there, and the lighting felt offensive but ..he'd settled for what made Chris comfortable. "Sure. I just need to get changed first. Would you mind coming in while I do that?"

"Nothing at all," Ayumu responded breezily. They had been conducting their illicit businesses on this island for a long enough time by now and doing things as humans in the criminal underworld would do. It would be unfair if they were persecuted for it while the humans were not.

Nothing at all. Of course the spirit would say that. What did not feel as predictable was his next response, his own lips stretching into a matching smile. This was different. It was fun. Perhaps even a little dangerous, considering his reputation, but in that moment, Iqbal couldn't resist. "And if I am? What then?" he added.

Arjun surrendered the impulse to touch Auggie, noting the flicker of discomfort it stirred in him, and simply watched as he reentered the room. Admiring him from a distance held its own quiet satisfaction, after all. Closing the door, Arjun moved to the phone to place their coffee order. And cake. Why not? "Messy, sure, but I do find it interesting. How are the magic lessons going? Elijah is a good teacher. Has he taught you something useful?" The deity turned, undoing his robe. He felt like wearing some clothes..again. Something more..casual, to enjoy the witch's company, so he stepped to the wardrobe as he waited for an answer.

"I wasn't either." He gave a soft smile a little lazier than usual, "I was upstairs having my least favorite arguments with Mab. I was heading out but I saw you and wanted to at least say Hi."

Arjun felt the heat in his cheeks intensify the moment he realized what the spirit was staring at. It was one thing to be seen in a state of undress by a lover, sure, but not someone you hadn't seen in such a long time..and you found attractive. "I must admit, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting miss Zaman yet, but I'm guessing 'pleasure' is not the right word here?" He huffed a small, dry laugh, his fingers tightening instinctively around said robe. The other's proposal felt surprisingly easy to accept and soon, the art curator was opening the door to his suite, his head coming down with a nod. "Please. Come in," he offered, gesturing toward the sitting area inside. "I'll clean up the disarray while you get comfortable. C-can I offer you a drink?"

"Of course," Arjun smiled over his shoulder, or somehting that felt like one, anyway. There was no hiding from the Elio, just like there was no hiding from him. He could feel it. That low, humming of exhaustion radiating from the sofa... heavy, like his own feelings. Now, could he get him to open up about it? That was hard to say. Pouring the two glasses instead of just the one, Iqbal moved back toward the seating area and passed one of the glasses to Elio. Then, he settled into the chair in front of him and brought the rim of his glass to his lips. "You're tired." the deity whispered, "I can feel it. So why don't we answer my question first? I know helping others..that's your thing, but I'd like to do that for you, too, if you'll let me."

"Please don't patronize me." Chris grimaced with a small shake of his head and pushed off the wall. Apparently Arjun didn't feel like being benevolent today. "Sorry. I was trying to stay out of your way, but I think I just made everything worse." Should have just kept walking down the hall, but he'd stopped long enough that it would be awkward either way. He had to drag his eyes up to meet Arjun's, pretty sure that he would be blushing if he'd had fresh blood in him.

The vampire's first words came as a surprise, if such a thing was even possible after the one he'd already given him by being there in the first place. Still, Arjun did not move, leaning against that door with an effortless grace that made the narrow corridor feel even smaller. "'Fancy seeing me here'? Sure, we will go with that." the deity tilted his head, his dark eyes narrowing as he caught but a hint of Chris’s discomfort..and the heat of a blush that wasn't physically there. Now that was more like it...more like Chris, he thought, smiling. "Could I trouble you with a drink? I imagine Rosu is the reason you're here. One of their field trips." Arjun said with an exhale. "Come on. You don't want to make things more awkward than they already are, do you?"