The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Fappy]

"God damn its been not even three weeks and more shit's happened now than in the past eleven months I've with you guys. Jesus."

Cameron shrugged, "That's just how it goes sometimes. We'll get past this though. We always have."

"She's lucky to have someone like you around, Cam."

"Yeah, right," Cameron scoffed. "That woman doesn't need me. She just needs a big dick and a whole lot'a lovin'!" She laughed, slapping her knee.

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"I'd wager that silver haired snake has something to do with it, though it may be that the Maidens were trying to escape, or possibly both."

Mila put her hands on her hips, "I am not clear on the details myself, but that doesn't really matter right now. I need to get you two off base before the Colonel shows up. I imagine new intel has come to light if he doesn't need you anymore."

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"When am I ever not?"

Tsubaki offered him an unimpressed look, before clenching her jaw and wordlessly replying.

'I'll be fine.'

"I'll ah... I dunno, I'll be on Jun's best behaviour! Really up my game."

"I'd like to see that," She rolled her eyes. "Follow Jun's example and keep your mouth shut. I don---" Tsubaki's words died in her throat when the door suddenly opened.

It was him.

"Commander." He stated warmly, a solemn frown painted on his face. Like her men beside her, Tsubaki did her best to sit up straight and salute. She could only hold it for a moment before she clutched her side in pain and doubled over. "Tsubaki!" He shouted, rushing to her side. "No need to push yourself for my sake, Tsubaki."

He grabbed her hand in his own and rubbed her knuckles with his thumb, tenderly. Tsubaki was so taken with his concern that she'd completely ignored how inappropriate his behavior was. Especially in front of her men, "No, Sir. It is habit more than anything else." Her voice cracked as she chuckled. "Saluting you is as natural as saying hello to a friend."

"Well, we are friends, Tsubaki." He assured her.

Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, lost in his... sharp gaze, before nodding her head in compliance. After he stood up straight next to her men, Tsubaki spoke, "Have you heard?"

"Yes," Dio nodded. "The mission was a failure."

Tsubaki bowed her head, "I apologize. It was my fault, I---"

"Who was it?"

Tsubaki looked confused, "Excuse me?"

"Who did this to you?" He pointed to her chest.

"Um," She clutched the end of the blanket as she fought to remember. "It happened so fast, I... No, I know who it was. It was the old man. It was 'The Cook'."

As he turned to face her squad, Dio's imposing stature cast a shadow on all three of them. He scowled, "You find this man and you bring him to me. We will have justice for your commander. Do not fail me in this."

Tsubaki furrowed her brow, "M'Lord, am I not to lead them?"

Rubbing his jaw in thought for a moment, he turned back around and locked eyes with her, "No, I'm sorry, but with your injuries that would be impossible. Spend this time to rest up and regain your strength. Chimera squad suffered several casualties. Ortega will be taking your men under his wing while you are on paid leave."

"M'Lord, I can still fi---"

"This is not up for debate, Tsubaki." Stepping forward, he rested a hand on her shoulder. "Get better soon. That's an order."

Tsubaki simply nodded, returning his faint smile.

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Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably at the edge of the bed as she overheard Sandringham's men discuss her fate. Once they had appeared in the room, Sprout ushered her over and had her sit behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he whispered, "Don' worry, Liz, yer not goin' anywhere you don' wanna." She simply nodded in response, her eyes now glued to the half-dead man at the front of the room.

Cranston was about to ask Sandringham about his idea when he noticed Lilith beckoning him, "Just one moment." He assured him as he walked over to where Lilith was standing. "What is it? He doesn't have much time."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"What is it? He doesn't have much time."

"Exactly," Lilith muttered to the man in hushed tones, her eyes locking with his. "Are they gonna be a problem?" She whispered, as her eyes shifted to the back of one of Sandringham's men. "I'm exhausted, but I can't sleep if I think I'm gonna wake up with a knife in my back." She nodded towards Elizabeth. "Promise me they won't touch the girl."

The woman was clearly concerned, despite how much she tried to hide it.


================================================

Asad tried his utmost to appear professional, and for all intents and purposes, that's exactly how he came across. The commander was going to need rest, that was a given, so it was no surprise that they'd be moved under someone else's command, at least until Tsubaki had recovered.

What did surprise him was Basilio's general attitude towards the commander. He wasn't sure if he was genuinely concerned or not, but that he had to ask himself that worried him even more.

'Fucking snake.'

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Promise me they won't touch the girl."

"Nobody's touching anyone." Sandringham replied across the room, as loud as his voice would allow, regretting it almost immediately. He sucked in air with sharp, shallow breaths. Thankfully, no-one raised their voice in decent.

"We have larger concerns now." he continued "Those troops belonged to two of Basilio's most accomplished Special Ops squadrons. One had orders to apprehend Lady Elizabeth, while the other's objective was eliminating us. We've been compromised, and I think I know by who, but that's not important right now.

I'm sure Cranston's explained, there's nothing we can do until the lock down is lifted, but even then, I don't rate our chances of just walking out of here. Every checkpoint will be watching for us, and we know longer have the resources to dupe or overpower them. We'll need to split up, my men drawing attention away from you and giving you a window to leave the city; but even then, it's worthless if we'd only be drawing away the forces that are after my people in the first place."

Sandringham paused, looking uneasily at Cranston.

"As far as the enemy knows, you're responsible for the Maidens here. We can use that. If you come with me, and we feed our location to Basilio's forces, they'll believe that the rest of the Maidens and Lady Elizabeth are with us as well. That's the only way I can see of drawing everyone off to our position, giving the others a window to escape. We only need to be in the open long enough to get everyone on our tail, and then we'll go to ground again, for as long as it takes."

He meant that last part, as far as the rest of them were concerned at least. However, as he slid down to a sitting position up against the wall, he tilted his head and whispered to the doctor.

"Just do what you need to do to keep me functional for the next couple of days. Let me worry about the rest."

 

[ProtoChimp]

"Yeah, right," Cameron scoffed. "That woman doesn't need me. She just needs a big dick and a whole lot'a lovin'!"

Aesop laughed out loud before sitting up and commenting, "If that's the case Amy must have a pretty big dick we don't know about."

 

[The Funslinger]

"You find this man and you bring him to me. We will have justice for your commander. Do not fail me in this."

Yeah, like I wasn't gonna fucken go outta my way to take that fucker anyway... Bryan thought irritably. Although Dio had his back to him, Bryan just looked out the window, stone faced. He didn't like the way the man had his hands all over Tsubaki. It was surprisingly intimate, and that was the simple explanation, of course. He supposed he knew his own feelings, after all. But that aside, there was something he couldn't put his finger on that set him on edge.

Still... The Cook. Bryan knew the man's reputation well. He'd heard horror stories as far back as his thieving days, even more so when he'd been in the arena. Whispers, just one subject among many, but it was one of the things that had stuck with him. Hell, he'd even heard a few things off of Beard. And for Beard to mention something like that without being specifically asked...

It didn't matter. As long as he had his swords and he could get close enough, Bryan didn't care what kind of fighter the Cook was.

============================================================

"That woman doesn't need me. She just needs a big dick and a whole lot'a lovin'!"

"That," said Whiskey, "is the recipe to a satisfying life right there."

"If that's the case Amy must have a pretty big dick we don't know about."

Ruffles laughed, but then lapsed into thoughtful silence. "Something's bugging me about Amy," he said. "I can't put my finger on it. I mean she's a nice girl and all, but something isn't right there, with her and Pixie..."

 

[ProtoChimp]

"I can't put my finger on it. I mean she's a nice girl and all, but something isn't right there, with her and Pixie..."

"I can't see anything," answered Aesop, "then again, I've never actually been in a relationship other than mindless drunk fucking, apologies for the bluntness, so I wouldn't know. Is she any different than she was with Bennie?"

He really wanted to ask for the spliff back, but asking it from Cameron in her state was not a polite, nor gentlemanly thing to do. Then again the only thing he knew about being a Gentleman was from the psychotic Gents and that one comic about the people in fruity clothing, which he un-ironically thought was so very stylish.

 

[Terratina.]

Well, that was a little different from what Jun was expecting from Lord Basilio.

It was somewhat of a relief that the reality was far from the soldier's expectations, though there was little comfort to be had from that. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the ruler of Feroxi remind everyone in the room as to who was in charge and who exactly owned Tsubaki. Of course, that little show's purpose was just to demonstrate that she belonged to him.

Perfectly normal.

Regardless, they now had the matter of The Cook to worry about. Dead? No problem. Alive? Well, that was going to be difficult.

***​

"Just do what you need to do to keep me functional for the next couple of days. Let me worry about the rest."

"Functional I can do." The doctor nodded solemnly as she cut away what she could of the hazard suit, revealing bits of the burned flesh. There wasn't much she could do without the facilities of a burn ward and it wasn't like the agent or the rest were going to one any soon. Sandringham needed to be wrapped up like a mummy. However, all Maria could for now was make sure that the plasma burns were clean, she didn't have nearly enough bandages for that.

'At least I hope I can...' She thought as she slightly frowned.

 

[Fappy]

Cranston crossed his arms and stood in front of Lilith as Sandringham explained his plan.

"... That's the only way I can see of drawing everyone off to our position, giving the others a window to escape. We only need to be in the open long enough to get everyone on our tail, and then we'll go to ground again, for as long as it takes."

He nodded, "Sounds like a reasonable plan. We'll need to hammer out the specifics, but I believe I can trust Lilith to lead them to safety."

"But, didn' you say we had ta' stick ta'gether?!" Sprout butted in.

"We would if we could, but this may be our only shot, Sprout," Looking to Sandringham, Cranston shifted gears. "Tell me... why your squad? What does Basilio want? He usually isn't this blatantly aggressive when the Gentleman is involved."

Elizabeth shuffled out from behind Sprout and stood by Maria's side as she went to work, "I-is there anything I can do to help?"

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"... Is she any different than she was with Bennie?"

Cameron nodded, "I'd say so, yeah. I mean, she seems a lot more protective of her than she was with Bennie. I don't remember her ever really needing to support Bennie in any up-front way, but with Amy... it's like she mothering the poor girl or something. I don't know." She looked to Ruffles. "I agree, it's kinda weird. Think it will last?"

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It wasn't long afterwards that Dio took his leave. Clearly, he was disappointed in how everything had turned out, but it didn't seem he'd be taking it out on Tsubaki. That was a relief. Lord Basilio had been known to get violent when things went south. Many in the court and the higher-ups in the military considered him "Irritable". "Unstable", even. Tsubaki didn't think so. She just figured that's how he dealt with his problems.

She could really use an outlet herself.

An uneasy silence filled the room for awhile after Dio's departure. Eventually, Tsubaki spoke, "You know, you all don't need to wait around for me. Go get some rest. It's been a long day." She thought for a moment before adding, "Oh, also... could one of you do me a... personal favor?" She blushed as she looked between Asad and Bryan.

Jun was irrelevant.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Oh, also... could one of you do me a... personal favor?"

Bryan shrugged. "I ain't got nothing better to do, Tsubaki."

==================================================

"I agree, it's kinda weird. Think it will last?"

"I don't know, Cam," said Ruffles. "I'm not that smart on relationships. I just know something isn't right. I don't wanna say something's wrong exactly, but only 'cause I've no idea what their situation's really like... fuck..." he leaned over and took the joint from Cameron, taking a long drag before passing it to Aesop, who had been eyeing the thing like a man in a desert would stare at an oasis.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"But, didn' you say we had ta' stick ta'gether?!"

Sprout was right. Lilith wasn't sure they could make it out of the city without Cranston their to help them. Sitting on the edge of the boy's bed, she gently ruffled his hair. "It's okay, we can do it." She whispered reassuringly, a warm smile on her face. "And he'll be fine." She nodded at Cranston. "He knows how to take care of himself."

=========================

"Oh, also... could one of you do me a... personal favor?"

Asad grinned. "Clear out your liquour cabinet? That's okay, me and Bryan can do that no problem, we're just happy to help."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"I am not clear on the details myself, but that doesn't really matter right now. I need to get you two off base before the Colonel shows up. I imagine new intel has come to light if he doesn't need you anymore." Spoke Mila with her hands placed firmly on her hips, like she meant business.

"It's not as if we had much more to give anyway; though this does raise a good and hopefully valid question, what if we happen to stumble across something that may be useful to you?" Asked Viola as she focused on getting her firearms back in their holsters.

"Well." Mila shrugged. "We'd hope you would come to us with the intel. I don't imagine we'll have the resources to keep tabs on you until this whole thing blows over, in any case."

Not being known to think much before he spoke, Hannibal offered, "What if we helped somehow?" Why he was asking he didn't know. Security perhaps? More opportunities to go sleuthing?

"The best you two could do at this point is lay low. This city's going to be turned upside down before this is over."

A bolt of fear shot through him, just like earlier in the day. "What if the Gundersons come after me again? What if those men weren't alone?"

Mila smirked, "They won't. Listen kid." She knelt down before him. Aware of his fear, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Those pussies stepped on the wrong rattlesnake. Their higher-ups know they were hit by Basilio spec ops. There ain't a bandit in the world stupid enough to come after you now."

"Well see about that, the Gundersons looked pretty determined to take Hannibal in, dead or alive. Guess we'll have to keep on our toes just in case." Viola remarked as she listened in on the exchange. "Still, I'd imagine that given how the entire dome will be under lock-down shortly, with guards on every entryway and atop every square inch of wall, it'll be difficult for either the Maidens or Sandringham to get out undetected, but it doesn't mean they aren't going to try."

"Oh, they will." Mila soon got back to her feet. "They have no other choice. They're cornered now. The only place for them to go is... through us."

"Ah, what a noble thing it must be for you, to stand tall in the face of adversity. I guess this about wraps things up, unless you Hannibal have something you'd wish to add, I think we should let Miss Mila here show us the way out." Hannibal meanwhile just stayed silent at the side before nodding in compliance.

Mila simply frowned and watched them turn to leave, "Keep your heads low."

"As you wish." The three of them soon left the weapons range and turned left down a corridor, watching as soldiers came rushing past them without stopping. Mila lead them through several corridors and large open areas that seemed to act as hub for the various sections; operations, logistics, medical, dormitories, stuff like that. Eventually though they reached the motor-pool entrance they came in through.

"I guess this must be where we part ways. I must say I've enjoyed my time given the circumstances." Viola said with a smile as she offered a friendly handshake to Mila.

Mila returned the handshake and looked to Hannibal, "Take care of her, kid." She allowed herself a subtle smirk before turning on her heel and disappearing down the nearest hall.

Hannibal gave her an awkward look before looking down. "Thanks, um, you too Mila." He then turned to Viola and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Right now? I reckon we should just head back to the hotel, it's been a long day." Responded Viola as they began walking back. "Maybe get something to eat along the way, who knows." She then shrugged her shoulders in uncertainty as to what they had planned, you could say they had a free evening.

"Yeah, well uh, hold onto your gun I guess." Replied Hannibal, yet another bad attempt at humour. Viola chuckled slightly at the humour.

"You know you're a good kid Hannibal. Don't ever lose that."

 

[Terratina.]

"I-is there anything I can do to help?"

"Maybe go out there and buy me a burn ward, with staff and everything." Maria quipped as she concentrated on Sandringham, lightly tapping the charred parts of the burn with a scapel. The question of escharotomy played on her mind. To do so was to risk severe bleeding, infection, damage to neurovascular structures or inadequate decompression - decompression being the whole point of escharotomy. There was no doubt there was eschar, or was that just burnt plastic? It had been a long time since she'd last treated burns, and they weren't as nearly as severe as the one in front of me - people usually died before too long, something which also pressed on Maria's mind. But, if she could treat a punctured lung...

She furrowed her brow before adding, "On second thought, see if there is any mechanical bits and bobs in the bag for me - y'know, rubber and the like."

***​

Seeing that he wasn't needed, Jun exited the infirmary without a word.

 

[Fappy]

"I ain't got nothing better to do, Tsubaki."

"Clear out your liquour cabinet? That's okay, me and Bryan can do that no problem, we're just happy to help."

Tsubaki had been so preoccupied being embarrassed that she hadn't the mind to roll her eyes at Asad's comment like she normally would, "Uh," She chuckled quietly, "You see, um, remember that kitten from the market? Well, I have been taking care of it. Could one of you look after it while I'm laid up here? And, uh... this goes without saying, but, just keep this between us. Okay?"

She couldn't let any one else know of her... weakness.

"Heaven forbid we act like people from time to time."

She turned her head away from the two men as a subtle smile curled at the ends of Tsubaki's lips.

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"I don't wanna say something's wrong exactly, but only 'cause I've no idea what their situation's really like... fuck..."

Cameron shrugged, "One thing's clear: Bennie's still got a hard-on for the Captain. I'm sure that complicates things." She winced and shook her head. "Dammit, I'm such an idiot. Why'd I have to go and fuck him, anyway? I'm sure that just confused him more." She sighed. "Last thing I want to do is get caught in the middle of that train wreck."

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"On second thought, see if there is any mechanical bits and bobs in the bag for me - y'know, rubber and the like."

"Right away," Elizabeth barked as she knelt down and started rummaging through the bag, retrieving anything she thought may be useful. She wanted to be helpful. Useful. She had to be.

All this suffering. Sandringham's potentially fatal injury. It had all been for her.

"He knows how to take care of himself."

Sprout nodded in silence. Their attention now turned to the main conversation in the room, Sprout grabbed hold of Lilith's hand and squeezed. Whatever happened, they were in it together.

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"... with nowhere to put him, that priest will be seeing quite a few of my favourite sides of you soon enough."

Severa giggled, "And maybe some you're not so fond of." She winked at her brother before approaching the priest. "Now, Father, because we have an audience I regret to inform you that I cannot go easy on you lest I get another... mmmm... punishment." She swooned. "The next few moments will be extremely painful. Take note, Father. Pay attention, for the act will be fleeting but the pain will persist. You need to understand how beautiful that concept is."

Leaning forward, she grabbed his throat with one hand and dug her nails into his forearm with the other. Holding his head back in a painfully awkward position, she fell upon him like a vampire, burring her canines into the side of his neck. Blood began to gush out from his flesh and covered her mouth and chin. After several moments of twisting her teeth around she withdrew and began lapping up the flowing blood, "You're delicious, Father."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"You see, um, remember that kitten from the market? Well, I have been taking care of it. Could one of you look after it while I'm laid up here? And, uh... this goes without saying, but, just keep this between us. Okay?"

Asad opened his mouth to speak, but the words failed him. Chucking in disbelief, he crossed his arms over his chest. "A cat?" Asad looked at the woman incredulously, but the expression on her face was genuine. After a few moments, his face softened into a warm smile.

"Sure, we'll look after your kitty. We'll take it in turns, that way, we can both clear out your liquor cabinet in equal measure."


=================================

Lilith smiled as she returned the hand squeeze. At least now they had some time to rest up together.

"This plan." Lilith chimed in. "Once we get out of the city, then where do we go? We still headin' to Carlos' place? I mean, we should be fine once we get clear of the dome, right?" Lilith was trying to convince herself more than anything.

The girl may have conceded that she couldn't escape conflict, but she did want a break every now and then.

 

[Dogmatic99]

And again Florian's world descended into cutting pain and the creeping revulsion of his flesh being violated.

"You're delicious, Father."

'Put yourself in the place of ash and know you are already dead.' The mantra ran through his head again and again. There else he could do but close his eyes and grit his teeth through his own sounds of pain.

================================================================================================

["Have you seen the shit they're doing out there?"]

["Not now, Erik."] Vasa waved him off, having found himself in Lord Boykov's study and started helping himself to the contents. Irena was with him and throwing herself into the various files that Boykov's inner sanctum had horded.

["Yes, Fucking, now! Sergei's bitches are turning the place into a madhouse and my crews can only keep so much order. Reports are coming in telling me that the rest of the dome's losing its mind as well. They need their boss to show that this shit wont stand in his house."]

Not to mention the other pockets of resistance that were still kicking up trouble away from the compound. God only knew what was slipping through the cracks at a time like this.

["You should let them enjoy themselves old boy."] Vasa said softly. ["This was the last great fight of the civil war. Why aren't you enjoying yourself?"]

["I can do that when we're finished."] Erik growled. ["For now we need to make sure people tow the line or this whole place is going to go up in flames."]

His once glorious leader apparently didn't deem that worthy of a response and carried on amusing himself with rare liquor and some of the lesser gadgets the nobles used to amuse themselves with. Erik's hands slowly closed into fists as his already frayed patience continued to be tested. Reading the tension, Irena awkwardly tried to blend in with her administrative background and keep out of things while the two of them boiled over for what felt like the fiftieth time that week.

["This is our chance, Vas!"] Erik caved, breaking their brief silence. ["We actually change things around here, make good some promises. You don't want to end up being just like Boykov, right?"]

["This is how things work now, is it?"] Vasa sighed. ["Kill your predecessor and usher in a new golden age for the frozen wastes that the other domes exiled us to. When did you start living in a story world, Erik? This was never supposed to be our war."]

["But it IS Vas. It is now, all this can't be for nothing, it can't just be another job. This dome might be tough but she needs someone to guide her."] Some of the fire had left Erik's voice now. Politics and grand schemes weren't his forte and he found himself throwing pleading glances at Irena. She only furrowed her brow in worry, keeping quiet as Vasa laughed bitterly.

["A tough dome! That's the kind of thing people say around here isn't it? A Hardy land breeds a hardy people. They'll say anything to make being trapped in the most hellish part of this dump of a rock more bearable, anything to hide their weakness. But this land isn't hardy, it's fucking toxic."] Slowly enough Vasa turned, offering Erik a heavy eyed, icy stare. ["Frostfall needs and wants no one, Erik. All she breeds is death... better to embrace and enjoy what few years you might have left."]

That seemed to kill off any grand speeches Erik might have been nursing. Vasa limped his way further into the inner sanctum in search of solitude, leaving Erik and Irena in an awkward silence. ["Fuck that!."] Erik snapped, storming out of the room and heading to rejoin his crew. Someone had to do something around this place.

This all left Irena alone with the paperwork and the duty of sorting out other peoples schemes. But apparently they were all losing interest in scheming. "God, save me from crazy old men."

 

[The Funslinger]

"You see, um, remember that kitten from the market? Well, I have been taking care of it. Could one of you look after it while I'm laid up here? And, uh... this goes without saying, but, just keep this between us. Okay?"

Bryan laughed. "I wondered about the little fur ball, actually. I'm alright with that. Used to hang out with the cats when I was on the streets as a kid."

"Sure, we'll look after your kitty. We'll take it in turns, that way, we can both clear out your liquor cabinet in equal measure."

"What liquor cabinet?" Bryan asked, smirking. "This is Tsubaki. I doubt she's got enough booze in her place for me to Irish up a coffee!"

========================================================

"Last thing I want to do is get caught in the middle of that train wreck."

"Ain't your fault," said Ruffles. "He's still, y'know, aware. So it's on him who he hops into bed with. Besides," he gave Whiskey a sly grin. "Bennie gets into all the girl's pants sooner or later."

Whiskey put up her palms. "Hey, woah, I just got here!"

 

[Fappy]

Tsubaki noted their surprise and attempted to hide her beat red face.

"Sure, we'll look after your kitty. We'll take it in turns, that way, we can both clear out your liquor cabinet in equal measure."

This time she rolled her eyes.

"What liquor cabinet? This is Tsubaki. I doubt she's got enough booze in her place for me to Irish up a coffee!"

"As a matter of fact, I do have some alcohol," She corrected them. "Some vintage wine. A gift from Lord Basilio." She furrowed her brow and looked past them. "You can have it. I'll never drink it."

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Hey, woah, I just got here!"

Cameron shrugged, "I ain't gunna lie, cowgirl," She laughed. "He's a pretty good lay. Now I know why Pixie kept him to herself all these years."

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

While the priest reeled from the pain of the her sudden assault, Severa wiped the blood from her lips with her wrist and straddled him in his seat. Stretching her arms across his shoulders, she brought her lips close to his and whispered, "Father, tell me: what was your gravest sin? What have you done in your life that keeps you awake at night? This kind of conversation should come naturally to you. Tell me, Father, and I will forgive you for your sins." She giggled, insidiously.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"I mean, we should be fine once we get clear of the dome, right?"

"With a little luck, you should be long gone before the Basilio forces realise you've given them the slip." Sandringham said, grunting as the doctor prodded around his raw, smarting flesh. "Even then though, the wild is never a place you want to let your guard down for even a second. I thought being bandits you wouldn't need reminding... Anyway, you'll be on your own as soon as you leave the city, so stay vigilant."

 

[The Funslinger]

"You can have it. I'll never drink it."

Bryan noticed the thousand yard stare Tsubaki got as she said this, but there wasn't much he could say. Instead, he cracked the best smile he could. "Oh, score!"

=========================================================

"He's a pretty good lay. Now I know why Pixie kept him to herself all these years."

"Careful," said Whiskey, laughing. "People never live up to expectation when ya talk 'em up like that."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Father, tell me: what was your gravest sin? What have you done in your life that keeps you awake at night? This kind of conversation should come naturally to you. Tell me, Father, and I will forgive you for your sins."

Oh, how many times had Cameron tried a line like this on him after a few too many drinks? After the mauling he'd been given the early days of his time with the maidens and lighthearted sexual assaults that made up his hazing seemed like such pleasant distant days. Maybe he should have taken Cam up on that offer, what would have been the worst that could have happened?

"Can we just play Russian roulette or something? I don't have all day." Florian sighed, still wincing a little at the fresh wound.