RP:In Which Hudson and Meri Drink Sargaso's Beer And Torpedo A Politician's Career

Part of the The Dust Up In Cenril Arc

Summary: Hudson and Meri meet to discuss the opposition intel she's gleaned from poking around in Rynvale regarding Cenril mayoral candidate Sterling Townsend. Turns out Sterling Townsend had a torrid affair and is now having a love child with renowned actress and blond beauty Candice Snow, and that's why he and his family packed up and moved to Cenril suddenly! Hudson has no shame about decimating Townsend's career over a transgression that he'd nearly committed himself. Meri agrees to leak the scoop to the papers, then the two drink all of Sargaso's beers.

Office, Cenrilians For Prosperity

Hudson had gotten a ping from Meri about the lead on Sterling Townsend, and arranged a meet upstairs in a nondescript building that advertises free and cheap office space. Downstairs on the ground floor of the building is a loud bar. Upstairs, there's a common bathroom in the hall, and a group of strange tenants, a few accounting firms but also an establishment called "The Bust Solutions." There's also an office for Cenrilians For Prosperity, and the door's open. The vague smell of herbal smoke emanates from it. Inside there are some desks and some file cabinets. A table with a half-finished game of beer pong. Sarge is the lone employee and he's taking a sick day today, which basically is just another way of saying that he doesn't come to work sometimes because this is a mostly fake job for the sole purpose of creating fake grass roots support for Fitz. The real funding for Fitz comes from Hudson, of course. He's presently seated at one of the desks, his feet up, eating wings.

Meri was used to meeting Hudson in office type locations, typically it was the office within The Office that they found to be the most convenient place to speak. This place was new and so when Meri enters she takes a careful look around to determine the safety of all seating places -- do the couches and chairs look questionable? Are there tigers laying around on them? Not that Tuna's presence has ever really detered Meri from the arm of the couch (when sitting on the desk did not seem like a good option). Thus far it is deemed safer than that other office. Meandering over to the desk Hudson is occupying, Meri comes to a halt just on the other side of the piece of furniture and greets the man with a smooth grin. "Huuudson. Is my timing bad or did you buy us lunch?" It did not seem like Meri was going to wait for an answer, if there was an uneaten wing within reach Meri was going to steal it regardless of Hudson's answer. Maybe if he swats her hand or something his food will be safe, otherwise sharing is caring. If Meri manages to escape with the wing or not, unscathed or not, that did not matter much. Either way she would pull up a chair and sit across from the werewolf. "I think you will like what I have learned."

Hudson takes his feet off the desk in time with Meri's appearance. "Please," he speaks with his mouth full, gestures at the wings, because if he's honest that won't be all he eats in the near future. Perks of being a werewolf: massive appetite, off the hook metabolism. It helps when you're a dad and your kids won't eat their food, you're just like a human vacuum. Don't want all those cheerios? That's fine, daddy'll eat them. He sits up somewhat as Meri installs herself opposite him, and makes an effort at wiping up a wing sauce spill from earlier. He looks all ears, because he is. "Yeeeeees? I'm listening?" he responds, getting up to crouch by a nearby metal ice box. "He's not here, so let's drink Sarge's beers," he says, retrieving two from the six pack contained therein. As presumably Meri begins spilling the details, he goes about opening them, setting them down on the desk before sitting down himself.

"Should we be the best and drink all but one and then leave him an IOU that we never intend to make good on?" It could be worse, she could have suggested they leave no beers. Either way, it will start with one beer. Sorry, Hudson, with wings and beer in front of Meri she is not going to go straight into the story. Meri will first devour the wing she stole for herself and discard the bones in whatever pile Hudson has started for his collection. Late night snacks for when Hudson is wolf'd out? Naw. Hudson should get a puppy to gnaw on these bones though. A bug to put in his wife's ear, clearly. Anyway, Meri licks her fingers clean in a very lady-like fashion, has a swig of beer to wash it down, and then finally, "Alright, well to be fair I should give credit where credit is due and I actually asked my guy to come out and help me with asking some questions. And what Cal learned that there is definitely a growing reason that one Sterling Townsend and his wife have left Rynvale. Honestly the gossip is practically all over town and with how much people go back and forth I am surprised this story has not reached Cenril yet. The reason that Sterling Townsend has left Rynvale so suddenly is because of one Candice Snow."

Hudson chuckles into a wing at this beer snatching caper Meri's proposing. "Done," he says, mouth full. He drinks from his beer, thinking that he should have also gotten quesadillas. Well, live you learn. "Word? I didn't know you had a guy," remarks Hudson, into the bottle mouthpiece. All the better that they hadn't gotten really messed up together that one time. Thanks, mum, for the inadvertent cockblock, truly, thanks for looking out. It's nice to have a female friends you haven't slept with. Meri is basically an endangered species. He eats another wing, lets Meri finish her story before commenting. "Ohhhhh, snap," is what he says. He is also surprised that has not reached Cenril yet. Then again, in Lithrydel things sometimes surprise you. "Candice Snow sounds like a mistress," he remarks, meeting Meri's gaze over his beer. "Keep going..."

Ah, Hudson. It is a good thing that Meri is not the sort of psion in that gives her the ability to read minds for if she knew what he was thinking right now? Oi. Not that she would be inclined to disagree, no need to sleep with every female friend, dude. Usually it is a good thing to be taken off the endangered species list but Meri would like to stay on it in this context! Even though she is not aware of his thoughts, he still manages to earn himself a rather odd look. Why was everyone so surprised that she actually had a boyfriend? "Uh. Recent developments." And it's left at that, no sense gushing over it, especially when talking about Callum was hardly the reason she was here to begin with. "Yeah. Candice Snow. She is a pretty popular actress out at the Rynvale Theater. Mr. Townsend was definitely a fan." A sly grin pulls at Meri's lips. "And like I said, he had a growing reason to leave. I am pretty sure it is not the fact that he had a mistress that caused him to run off to Cenril, but the fact that he knocked her up. What a field day for the papers that would be...Sterling Townsend, abandoning his pregnant mistress. Just another deadbeat dad." It was not too hard to uncover this information, and as Meri said, Callum had actually learned these details. Still, she will reward herself by finishing off the beer she has with the intention of swiping another, two lost beers does not make an IOU sting.

"Well, cool," comments Hudson, about Meri's boyfriend. He isn't surprised that Meri should have a boyfriend as a general matter, he's just surprised to be hearing about the lad now - he hadn't met a guy at his wedding - but 'recent developments' pretty much covers it. He lifts his eyebrows over another bite of wing as Meri explains that Miss Snow is an actress. "Ohhh," the word's like a realization in word form, but he lets her to go on. He knows exactly who Candice Snow is. He's seen her in theatre productions that he and Alvina have attended. Small blond woman. Very pretty. Alvina had commented and he hadn't, that kind of pretty, like Huds kryptonite, reminds-him-of-Valrae levels of pretty. Hudson knows a little something about pregnant mistresses himself, and he takes a breath and puffs his cheeks out in the exhale. "Daaaamn," he says as Meri wraps it all up. "You did good." He drinks from his beer, visualizing the headline and cringing inwardly because it could easily have been him once upon a time. His headline would've been worse, actually (Wealthy Businessman and Father-To-Be Hudson Landon Lets Pregnant Mistress Rot In Jail). Focus on the plan: elect Fitz. He'll make it right with Val by pardoning her later. "I think Cenrilians For Prosperity will pay very handsomely if this information could leak to a newspaper," says Huds, eyeballing Meri's empty beer before getting up to go to the fridge again.

Meri actually does not know anything about any pregnant mistress of Hudson's, in the sense that she is not fully aware that Valrae was ever Hudson's mistresses. She is definitely not even fully aware that Valrae was a fugitive yet, because come back Valrae! And Valrae was pregnant? Dang, Huds, dang. Obviously she is still not aware of the ramifications of the details that she is telling Hudson. Another sip from the beer as dollar signs practically light up in her blue eyes. "Uh, I think that leaking this to the newspaper is like a total no brainer. Pretty sure you can trust that job to a blonde." Specifically the blonde sitting across from Hudson, duh. "Anonymous tip good enough for you? I am sure that some Cenril reporter would love to sink their teeth into that lead. Consider it done." What else was there to say on that issue? The matter is met with an easy shrug. Unless of course Hudson had someone else in mind for the job, in which case what a damn goldtease. Meri is looking towards Hudson for confirmation of what he wants his next steps to be with this one either way.

In an ideal world nobody except himself, Valrae, and Alvina knows about the Hudsrae situation, much less the Hudsrae miscarriage situation. But unfortunately it's not an ideal world and most people who were close to himself and Alvina during the Valrae incident know about said incident. But they probably don't know about the baby. Probably only the three of them know about the baby, because the baby is sad. In any event, Hudson is seeing the numbers add up in favor of Fitz. Sometimes you gotta be ruthless and crush another man's career even though you're not all that different. This is one of those times. "Anon tip works for me," comments Hudson into a wing, now feeling very satisfied. He lifts his beer bottle to knock it against Meri's. "I got to meet this man of yours, tell him I said thanks, or buy him some beers with what you're going to get paid at least," he comments.

Fortunately for Hudson, Meri is not the sort of woman who is going to sit here and mush and gush at length. Her response comes as she steals one more wing, which she nibbles on in between sips. What she does tell Hudson about Callum is that if he wanted to, he could probably find the guy out in Larket as he is the Royal Botanist, basic information about the guy so that if Hudson -did- really want to meet the man, he would have enough information to facilitate some sort of encoutner without Meri's need to introduce the two. Not that she'd mind, but still, did she really need to? Wings would be devoured, beer would be had, Meri would be sure to leave Sarge that IOU because you know she definitely carries around a sketchbook and charcoal in that satchel of hers, always has. Hudson would be given a fistbump over a hug and the parting words of, "I should see about spreading that word to the papers, hm?"