RP:Uma's Done
Part of the Laugh Now, Cry Later Arc
Summary: Hudson and Meri meet and catch up on the boardwalk. They take care to avoid certain sensitive personal subjects, but on the matter of work and control of Cenril they are quick to collaborate. Hudson tells Meri that Uma's political capital seems spent at long last, and that he's going to covertly support a challenge by Valrae. Meri pledges to assist with whatever is necessary.
A Bench on the Boardwalk, Cenril
It’s the dead of winter but Hudson is sitting by himself on a bench overlooking the ocean on the Central boardwalk. Milo is several paces away, smoking a cigarette and talking with Christopher, a newly made guy in the organization. There’s not much to see on the beach, on a day like today. Just some kids playing catch in their heavy coats and old trash left being twisted around by the wind. Maybe it was recent, or perhaps it was leftover from the season, trash that never quite got cleaned up, had been buried but only just now tugged loose. Hudson’s got one hand in the pocket of his wool coat, a coffee mug in the other. A coffee mug with no coffee, it would seem, he discovers when he tries for one more sip. He looks up at his guys, calling out to them, “Hey! Get me a refill? And try to do something about the trash, blowing over there?” He indicates with a wave of his free hand.
Christopher wastes little time in jogging over, taking the mug. “What do you mean, boss, the trash?"
"The trash, on the beach." Hudson points.
"What do you mean, it's our job to pick up the trash people leave on the beach, boss?"
"Ey, Christopher!" calls out Milo, in a tone of warning. "Come on," he jerks his head toward the beach. The youngster doesn't need to be told twice. Hudson lifts his chin as the two set off to what was asked, leaving him alone.
Dead of winter or not, Meri’s presence along the boardwalk of Cenril was not uncommon. The two-story black stone building that she has turned into her gallery space was within clear sight of the boardwalk. The blonde steps out of her gallery, leaving her shop in the care of the help that she has finally gotten around to hiring. Whatever errands Meri is about to embark on has her moving in the direction of the boardwalk that Cenril is currently occupying. For the start of this venture, Meri is mildly distracted with her own thoughts and keeps her gaze fixed on the ocean ahead of her until a chilled breeze causes her to shift her gaze down to her jacket, buttoning it up to keep the cold at bay. This gust of wind is the same one that causes the trash to blow and it is at that moment that Hudson’s familiar voice is heard. Meri’s blue eyes are angled in the direction of the mobster, taking note of him, Milo and Christopher. Admittedly Meri’s gaze lingers on Christopher, she had never seen this face before, yet she was not shocked. It had been awhile since she and Hudson had much in the way of dealings with one another.
Meri was never one to ignore her long-time comrades; a detour is taken and it leads her to claim a seat immediately next to Hudson. He was not left alone for long. “Hudson,” Meri states, a half-smile pulling at her lips as she greets her fellow werewolf. “How’s it going?”
If Milo happens to look her way, she’d greet him with a wink. She’d always liked the guy, he was a bit of a goof in her opinion. Christopher though, would be greeted with a tempered nod. If the two that had gone off to collect that trash paid her no mind, it would not ruffle Meri’s feathers. Either way, she’d ask, “Who is the new guy? Been with you long?”
There’s a little bit of hustle and bustle on the boardwalk but even so Hudson hears the sound of Meri’s approach and turns to flash her an easy grin. “Meri,” he says, and there’s a matching smile there in his tone. “Just taking it all in,” he answers her, moving slightly and giving her some space on the bench. He gestures at the sea. “You know, hoping to catch a glimpse of a mermaid, tourist stuff,” he jokes.
Or “jokes,” rather. There were rumors around Cenril, very much substantiated rumors, that for a time a mysterious woman, had been staying in his suite at the hotel. This so-called supermodel hadn’t had much of an understanding for social mores, she had been an eerie girl, an almost violently beautiful girl, a ferocious sight in her fur coats and pearls. She had always ordered steak tartare, she liked her meat raw. It was unclear what the relationship between her and Hudson was. It was said she was a mermaid, a stunning curiosity that made an unhappy man feel less lonely, and that rumor had suited him just fine. And one day the girl had disappeared.
In any event, they’re talking about Christopher. “The new guy, Christopher,” says Hudson, indicating the boy and Milo. “Milo’s cousin. Been with us a bit, just got promoted so he’s doing the tough stuff now. Picking up trash on the beach.” His mouth twists in a grin. “How are you?” he asks Meri. “I didn’t get a chance to really catch up with you at the ball - the uh, I forget what it was for. You know the one. I left early, those things tire me out.” He used to like to party, with Alvina. It was different, going stag. “How’s Fleur? In school and all that?”
Meri keeps her studious gaze fixed on Christopher as Hudson gives her the details of his latest man. Milo’s cousin, that seems harmless enough. Mio had been with Hudson for years now, his family was probably trustworthy right? Meri accepts all of this information about Christopher and then steers the conversation on to the other topics brought up. Under different circumstances, Meri probably would not have made it known if she had heard any rumors or not. Alvina has a friend and she cared for her feelings, yet the two were separated and so whom Hudson spends his free time with now is not something that Meri can get irate over on Alvina’s behalf. Instead the blonde lets her blue-eyes scan the ocean for signs of a mermaid, “Are you searching for any mermaid? Or just one mermaid in particular? I have heard you have kept some interesting company as of late.”
Meri did not expect any real answer to this question, if she were Hudson she’d probably dismiss Meri’s teasing for what they were. Which is why Meri goes in to speak of Fleur and the ball last. “Ah, aren’t those balls really all for the same reason? We just slap different titles on them. People just want to get dressed up and show off their fancy outfits….” Meri had at least managed to be festive for the event but the fancy dress was not something she was often seen in. “As for Fleur, she’s good. Growing, as they do. It’s taken me a while to decide, but I think we will not be enrolling her in public schools. Her education has been a bit more unconventional so far, which…I don’t know, hopefully it is not a bad thing in the long run. But you know how people can be toward witches…mix in the fact that she is a lycan and…It’s just challenging to find a trustworthy situation.” Meri gives a slight wrinkle of her nose as she admits this, a flash of that parental guilt. Was she doing the right thing? Meri avoids asking about Hudson’s children. Instead, she goes to say, “What’s new in the business world? I know things felt a bit…tense…for a while, after…the whole court thing.” Meri was hinting at Alvina biting Meri. “But you know if you ever need my help with anything, I’m still down, right?”
Well, he and Meri go back, as the saying goes, so when Hudson hears a certain edge in her voice he’s not surprised. It seems to him to be a real cutting remark disguised as playfulness. He throws her a sidelong glance. “It wasn’t like the tabloids made it seem, but she’s gone now,” he means the mermaid in the rumor, the one Meri has obviously heard of. He has to laugh as Meri calls the balls for what they are. Any excuse to get dolled up. That was life though, wasn’t it?
His amusement quiets moments later, when the conversation shifts to Fleur. “Alvina and I went private for our kids, I’m sure she mentioned,” he says, in a tone that suggests he shares her views about the public system failing to provide for the special needs of werewolves. “What else is all the money for, if not buying what your family needs, anyway.” Meri will hear no rebuke from him on choosing to school her child in the best way she sees fit.
Hudson’s grateful that Meri doesn’t turn the question back on him, though. He hasn’t seen his children in longer than he’d like to admit. The awareness sits like a dull ache in his chest. Had been hard looking Harper in the eye, when he’d left.
Meri asks about business. “Yeah they did,” he agrees. “And I know. To be honest, still a little tense,” he admits. “All the criticism in the papers,” he clarifies, “about the zombie virus outbreak and how the Mayor is mishandling it.” He takes a breath, and in the moment he looks tired. “You know Valrae is behind all that, the press I mean? As if Uma isn’t doing everything she can, hell if I know how to magically contain things, but it’s a lot more complicated than it looks.” Of course it could also be the case that reasonable people could agree to disagree on the right approach, and the body toll that was permissible in these cases. “I’m inclined to give her what she wants. Uma’s done, I think.” Meri does not dwell on the gossip that the tabloids have been saying about Hudson and his mermaid for long. Hudson has explained that she was gone anyway. The conversation was moving on anyway. The suggestion of private school is met with a bit of a shrug, it wasn’t a bad idea. “I guess that is something that I would have to talk to Magik about.” Yes, Magik, no mention of Callum is made. The fact that Meri has gone through her own divorce makes it all the easier to understand why Hudson might keep the company of a pretty mermaid, even if there was some exaggeration to the rumors. “He’s particular about his home, appreciates his privacy, we’d probably have to hire someone to take her too and from school given the lifestyles that he and I both lead.”
Meri is more than happy to let the subject drift from children. Both parties seem to have their own share of guilt to deal with when it comes to them, they just had very different reasons for feeling that guilt. “I suppose to an extent I can understand that there is criticism. I mean…” Meri makes a vague motion to her shop just a bit further down the boardwalk, “My own business is close to where the outbreak happened. And, I honestly…I have no idea what is or is not being done about it. I didn’t really know that Valrae was the one who was behind most of the criticism, though I did notice in the most recent addition of the paper that she was running for Mayor. I was surprised to see that. I thought the two of you were back on good terms…? I mean, we both worked so hard to get her resurrected.” This current political conflict has Meri’s blue-eyed gaze shifting away from Hudson and toward the sky. She was not aware of the full extent of the fall out with Candice Snow. Her death was not a detail Meri knew of, let alone that the woman’s own daughter met her end in the fallout. The blonde could recall how dirty things had gotten just to get Uma elected. “I thought Valrae and Uma also were close…This is all a turn I did not expect.” Meri frowns. “I suppose that if Uma is not interested in continuing her work in politics, well…It is what it is. I am not sure I really like the thought of having to drag Valrae like we did with the previous Mayor… Hudson doesn’t have a comment on Meri’s current partner, he goes with the reasonable assumption that her and Callum have gone their separate ways and Magik is now co-parenting with her. It all sounds vaguely familiar to him, perhaps he’d been told it by Milo, too. “Spring for a carriage driver, you won’t regret it,” are Hudson’s parting words about the topic of commuting to school, or anywhere in general. Hudson of course had gotten into the habit of sparing no expense.
What else is all the money for, if not buying what your family needs, anyway. That’s what he’d said. There had to be the reason all of it was worth it, right?
Hudson glances down the boardwalk, his mouth quirking into the ghost of a smile as Meri talks about the political situation between himself, Uma, and Valrae. “Well, the good news, Meri, is that we are on good terms,” he says simply, a chuckle in his gaze as he meets hers. “I told Val to run. Like I said, Uma’s done. Maybe through fault of her own, if you ask me through no fault of her own, I mean, reasonable people can disagree about the human cost to handling what’s happening, and it's just been going on for too long at this point. Absent a miracle generally an outbreak like this is just politically toxic and Cenril needs a fresh face and they’ll rally behind Valrae. Uma will run, because I told her to, and she will lose, and then she will graciously concede to Valrae and assist with the transition.” He doesn’t mention that Valrae had been critical of Uma prior to him telling her to run. That seems a minor detail now. Something else would be at the forefront of the conversation, unspoken. In his mind’s eye, Hudson sees his wife’s slender fingers, her beautiful hands, around the neck of Candice Snow’s young daughter, Aubree. He hadn’t witnessed it directly but the knowledge of it was like Lady Macbeth’s blood stain on her hands, a stain that she couldn’t rinse out, that rather had transferred to everything she touched, including their marriage. Alvina had done what needed doing, but it had broken something in her, between them. It had become something they as parents couldn’t discuss, not ever, for it was so utterly unfathomable …
How could she have done it? It was unforgivable. How could he have let her do it? How could he not have protected her, how could he have put her in the position to begin with?
Whose hands were really the bloody ones?
Hudson draws a careful breath. “You mentioned, you would help, though, if needed?”
Meri bobs her head in an absent-minded nod at the mention of hiring a driver, it was a valid point. The tattooed woman doesn’t see the need to speak on it, all she would do is repeat that she’d talk to Magik about it. Then again, Fleur was her own daughter so maybe she should just start making these decisions sans Magik. The thought was irrelevant to their current discussion and it is pushed toward the back of her mind. Meri instead focuses on Valrae’s election.
There was part of Meri that was slightly remiss to hear that this was the course of action that was being taken. Hudson and Uma had their hand in Cenril’s dealing for so long, yet if there was going to be any sort of replacement…? At least it was one that Hudson was backing. Heck, even Meri could get behind supporting Valrae in her endeavors.
By the time that Hudson’s explanation has finished, Meri’s has focused her line of sight back on Hudson’s face. It has been a long time since Meri and Hudson have talked in any sort of deep manner, but her intuition is telling her that there is something weighing on Hudson’s mind. Maybe it was his expression, or perhaps that careful breath he drew. Yet, Meri can’t figure out how to ask. Part of her assumes that it is not her business, another part assumes that it is because of the topic at hand. Who really -wanted- to give up political control of a city like Cenril?
“Yup,” Meri confirms in response to Hudson’s questions, “If you have thoughts? I’m here for them. Otherwise?” Meri motions to the business she owns just down the way, “You know where I am. I s’pose one way or another I should drop in and let Val know of my support in her election though. It’s been awhile since she and I have spoken, so it’d be good to do one way or another.”
There's a careful pause hanging there in the air, and for a brief moment Hudson wonders if the weight he carries in his heart is so obvious to everyone else.
Can't think that way.
Meri confirms she's happy to help, and goes a step further to say she'd plan to drop in on Val. "I think she'd like that," he says. Hudson offers Meri a roguish smile that is more typical to himself and that conveys a warmth he doesn't really feel in this moment, in the sudden chill of his past. After Meri leaves, he won't be able to help himself, he'll trace over the contours of the jagged memory of the dissolution of his marriage, a cutting exercise that that ends only when he decides to blot it out with something else.
Milo and Christopher have returned bearing coffee, and that's probably Meri's cue to be on her way. "Well," Hudson exhales, "In that case, I'll be in touch. It was nice seeing you." He means it. "Really." When both Milo and Christopher return with that coffee bearing coffee, Meri takes the cue for what it is. Hudson was a busy man and she had she had put off her own errands for long enough. It was time they part ways. As she rises from her seat next to Hudson, Milo and Christopher are given a cheeky smirk and a teasing, “Boys. Didn’t bring any coffee for me? I thought we were all friends here.” She wasn’t going to linger around long enough to hear there response. Instead she offers Hudson a nod of agreement, “We’ll be in touch.” And then off the blonde goes.