he said leave the politics to mad men.

[mightyfallen]

Who: Jack Benjamin, Nuala, Lex Luthor, and Adrian Veidt.
What: Jack meeting with each of the above, separately.
Where: Sobek Croix, Coin's End, and Spit Hearth, respectively.
When: Backdated to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Givdi, Veerdi, and Sukkardi of last week, while fogspedition was gone.
Notes: In the interests of not spamming the comm, I'll be posting starter-comments to this post for each of the logs that need starting. IF ANYONE ELSE WOULD LIKE A JACK LOG, PLZ PM ME. :D
Warnings: Politicking?

It could be said that Jack is in a bit of a mood. The volunteer he snaps at on Mistdi would say more than that, given the chance, as would the barista who has the misfortune of putting too much cream in his Coardi-morning coffee. Those more familiar with his habits keep an intelligent distance – which he notices sometime Coardi afternoon and decides enough is enough. He has more important things to do than succumb to his own emotions. There's business to attend to, after all.

Comments

Nuala.

[mightyfallen]

The Hellsing Guild Hall is not a place Jack has spent a great deal of time. Though he travels in many of the same circles as Sir Hellsing and is quite familiar with her organization from their shared time in Bete Noire, he has somehow, in the ten months he's been in Baedal, never found occasion to visit.

Now that he's here, he wishes he wasn't. The building is a familiar brand of elaborate windows and imposing masonry, and the interior is no better, dark wood paneling paired with clean white stone. They could put a recessed atrium in the center and a portrait of his father over the mantel and he'd feel right at home.

Today, however, he's here to see a princess, and one doesn't slight royalty. (He should know.) He's on time and dressed to his usual standards of formality, suit and tie. With any luck, the trip will be well worth the trouble.

"Jack Benjamin, here to see Princess Nuala," he informs the receptionist in the lobby. "Will you tell her I've arrived?"

[cailisairgid]

In the methodology of Integra and Nuala's combined matriarchal might, there's always been a certain 'divide and conquer' philosophy; Integra is the iron fist, and Nuala is the velvet glove. It's almost relaxing to settle back into a pattern that was - admittedly - still forming when they first worked together, and Jack slides neatly into that puzzle between them, an unspoken responsibility of Nuala's to handle.

It helps that she's inclined to be fond of him, though she operates on the personal philosophy that her emotions may guide her, now and then, but never dictate a course. The fact that she's genuinely pleased to see him, when he's shown up to her office, is not mutually exclusive from the fact she expects them both to be seeking to (in the ugliest term) exploit an alliance accordingly.

They could be very useful to one another, and if they are working in tandem towards similar goals, so much the better.

"Major Benjamin," she greets him warmly, offering her hand as she rises; the office is much like the rest of the building in style, though perhaps not all Hellsing offices contain a settee and soft chairs around a low table currently featuring a tea service. Her desk, more imposing, is set further back in the room, and behind it there is an ornate wooden case, glass-fronted, that's been unearthed from somewhere to hold the silver hand of the late King Balor. It is, of course, securely locked.

The princess herself is dressed neatly and somewhat formally, out of her gowns but not out of her usual aesthetic. Her mood is thoughtful, pleasant - perhaps a little distant, but she has a great deal on her mind lately and it doesn't prevent her from focusing her attention on her guest. "I am so very glad to have the opportunity to renew our acquaintance," and professional relationship. "Please, do join me."

[mightyfallen]

"Your Highness." His address is no less warm. It's not that he finds Nuala less threatening, per se – he knows matriarchy well enough to understand her grace is no indication of softness. But while perhaps his familiarity with that political style should prove ample warning in itself, her particular finesse inclines him to suspend disbelief willingly, to accept her sincerity as much as her political savvy. Today, perhaps, when there are heavier concerns weighing on the back of his mind, he is more willing than usual. (And he has missed her, in a way.)

"Gladly," he responds to the invitation, taking a seat where indicated. Though he does spare a glance to the room – the furnishings, the glass case in particular – he has no desire to pry just now. They have plenty to discuss as it is. "How have you been settling in?"

[cailisairgid]

As they sit together, Nuala takes the opportunity to study him for a moment - to see how his time here has molded him further from the man she first met, to gauge his mood and to reassure herself that he is well. They weren't quite friends, yet, but neither were they not and the both of them are inclined to a certain method of socializing that simply creates such intimacy as they might like.

There are some people she might never have met any other way but this; Major Benjamin, she sometimes thinks, is not quite one of them.

"As well as one may," she says, and there is tea already, hot as if it's just been poured, that Jack may avail himself of if he wishes. "To once again be welcomed promptly into Sir Hellsing's fold has been very heartening, and in truth I think the work does me worlds of good. And you?"

[mightyfallen]

He will have some tea, thank you, and if there's cream or sugar he'll have both, because he has the eating habits of a terrible spoiled child. (That has to be a good sign.)

"Similarly, as to the work. I've come into some property in West Gidd," he says like becoming fabulously wealthy is something that just happens, naturally and completely by accident. Nuala might understand the sentiment, there. "But where I've been devoting most of my time is in local politics. The Independence Front and I have found some common ground. I intend to represent them in more than just the latest cohort, if things goes well."

And he does truly and honestly seem pleased with that, more than he'd been as Minister of Justice when she last saw him. Rather than being confined by the pre-established necessities of a position, as a mere politician in the making, he has so much more freedom to shape his image as he sees fit. There are confines still, but he has space within them for choices; the difference is critical for him.

[cailisairgid]

The tolerantly fond way Nuala observes his additions of cream and sugar has an air of familiarity to it - she prefers her tea more bitter, usually, but Nuada has a sweet tooth that occasionally sees her reach for the honey pot in times of stress.

"How ideal," she says, of the Independence Front, and her pleasure at how promptly their interests align is genuine simply for an appreciation of Jack's propensity to point himself in a direction she approves of as well as the more pragmatic fact that this serves her so well. "I have a great interest in their politics - I would be very intrigued to hear what you make of the party."

The readily interested and warm way she turns her attention on him has another message, unsaid; she is ready and willing to be persuaded to lend him her support in his burgeoning political career, if it will serve her needs.