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?"

Lex Luthor.

[mightyfallen]

It's not terribly unusual for Jack to just invite someone to something – out of the blue, even someone he doesn't know quite as well as most people might think necessary before calling them up and asking if they're free and have a clean suit, and if not he'll send something over – and by the way, there's a charity function tonight he's sure you'd be interested in. His social fearlessness doesn't fit with a merely comfortably rich, up-and-coming politician because he's spent so much more time higher up the food chain, a prince who could never afford to establish even the basic bonds that would make a spontaneous invitation more socially acceptable. Jack Benjamin doesn't make friends, he pretends he already has them.

The upside of that philosophy is, he's generous with his time without expectation of reciprocation. Or, in Lex's case, without expectation of reciprocation from him. As an IF representative in the newest cohort, it's in his own best interest to show his fellow party members how personally invested he is in ensuring new arrivals settle in well. More than that, Lex in particular struck him as someone who might go somewhere, and Jack is always interested in potential. He's here as much to get a read on the other man as to introduce him to the party.

The venue itself is large, bright, and lavishly decorated, a benefit for a suitably inarguable but squarely IF cause (proceeds benefit the Xenian children's wing of the local hospital). There will be food, drinks, and sometime later a series of speeches for which Jack intends to be conveniently absent, but until then there are plenty of important indies with whom to mingle.

He waits near the door for Lex, dressed to his usual best – grey suit, black tie, a classic cut that's maybe not as adventurous as he'd wear in other contexts, but it's sharp enough. Now he just needs company.

Adrian Veidt.

[mightyfallen]

Jack isn't the type to spend a Sukkardi evening alone. Before multiversal cities started snatching him up, he had a longstanding tradition of spending the Sabbath sleeping off his exploits from the night before, enduring a few hours with his family, and escaping as soon as the sun went down to engorge himself on Shiloh's nightlife. Even when he was unhappiest (especially when he was unhappiest), he could find distraction in the company of near-strangers, particularly with the help of sufficient amounts of alcohol and very bad ideas.

His political aspirations have inclined him to tone that down in Baedal. But the instinct is still there, to draw people and idle pleasures to him to salve his wounds, even if said wounds aren't so gaping anymore. Self-indulgent as that may be, he has enough awareness not to be tedious about it.

Tonight, he's hoping for equal parts self-indulgence and productivity. Adrian certainly falls under the categories of near-stranger and acceptable company, but he's also honestly curious about the other man, in the way that hints of power and capability always draw his attention. Potential allies or potential threats, he likes to get to know both equally – though the latter possibility is one reason he's invited Mr. Veidt out separately from Mr. Luthor. (Perhaps not the only reason.)

The restaurant he chooses is no Shiloh nightclub; though still somewhat relentlessly modern, as his tastes tend to run, the atmosphere is quieter and the two-person tables allow for a degree of privacy Jack appreciates. Not so much as to be overly intimate, but enough he doesn't have to consider his audience with every nuance of body language. He arrives early, dressed in a well-tailored maroon dress shirt and black suit jacket (sans tie), and stakes out a place near the bar to wait for his guest.