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

[Fappy]

"Hey, Bennie. Wassup?"

"Just checking in," Bennie said. He took a cursory glance around the engine room before stepping deeper into Ruffles' domain. "Anything you need from me? I can get one of the newbies to melt down more pipes for you. Plumbing's going to be fucked for half the ship at this rate, but I reckon staying in the air is more important than sharing bathrooms." He chuckled.

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Tsubaki got an early start that morning. Considering all the guests they would be having in the tower come noon, she'd have to get any personal matters squared away asap. She'd be working late tonight for sure.

After a quick shower, the veteran soldier slipped into her uniform and got geared up before heading out. Her first stop this morning was the barracks. According to the nurses, Bryan had been released early.

Tsubaki giggled as a thought occurred to her.

They probably just wanted to get rid of him.

It was a short trip to the old foxhole. As soon as she stepped into the door, Tsubaki's nostrils flared, "What on earth is that smell?" she muttered before plugging her nose. Spotting Bryan, her expression lit up. "Hey, how are you feeling, Bryan?"

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Elizabeth could hear the front door of her apartment opening just as she was stepping into the bathroom. It was probably Asad.

He can wait.

The shower was scorching hot, but that's how the young noble liked it. Looking up at the shower head, she closed her eyes and let the water beat down on her face and chest. She had learned to appreciate such simple pleasures ever since her capture by Dio's men. Reading, sleeping and showering were about the only things she'd been allowed to do for over a week now. Though Asad had spent a fair amount of time with her, she'd hardly seen Dio at all.

Not that I'm complaining.

There was no doubt she'd be seeing a lot of him today, unfortunately. If he wouldn't be present for all the gift giving, surely someone close to him would. If given the chance, now would be the perfect time to look for outside help, something Dio couldn't abide. All eyes would be on her these next few days.

It made her nauseous just thinking about it.

Her long shower finally done, Elizabeth stepped out into her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her. Sticking her head through the door, she spotted Asad waiting for her in the living room. "I'm almost done," she promised him before closing and locking the door.

She would slip into something simple for breakfast and return to get ready to receive visitors afterwards.

Despite her despair, she hadn't been able to shake one juvenile thought from her mind all morning.

I wonder if someone will give me something cool...

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Pixie spent an hour that morning getting herself ready for the day. The shower was brief, but the disguise she'd put together took far longer. The Gentleman may have been the master of such things, but Pixie's skills were not to be overlooked. She just happened to work slower.

She wore a long, blonde wig over her natural red hair, and covered up most of her freckles and the scarring around her left eye. She'd be wearing a pair of tinted aviators to hide her dead eye, of course. Understandably, that was always the hardest part about going incognito. Very few people are blind in one eye, after all.

She would just try to avoid dark rooms today. Her eyesight was bad enough as it was.

Dressing in faded jeans, sneakers and a zip-up red hoodie, the only notable Pixie-like qualities remaining were her button nose and rock-hard glutes.

It was still kind of early, even after putting together the disguise, so she decided to pass the time cleaning her sidearm. Bringing Mr. Monroe with her would draw far too much attention, so she'd be sticking with her 9mm Beretta for now. She was pretty damn fast when it came to firearm maintenance, however, so hopefully she wouldn't be waiting on the others long.

Lazy fucks...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Up since dawn, Lilith hadn't left the watchtower all morning. Taking a long drag of her cigarette, the girl sighed as smoke crept from her lips and nostrils. Lilith was at odds, Bennie had kept channels open like he said, but they had yet to hear anything from Frostfall.

She was getting restless.

Over the past four days, the woman had tried to keep her mind on other things, exercising, practising on the range, but this down time was killing her. As terrible as her time in Feroxi was, at least she was doing something.

Opting not to turn away the seventh person that attempted to relieve her of duty, Lilith left the watchtower and headed towards Sprout's room. The boy usually had good insight into this kind of stuff, or at least he could cheer her up. Leaning against the wall next to his door, Lilith lit up another cigarette before knocking. "Time to wake up, you lazy twat." The girl chuckled. "You get to see the newbs hold guns today, should be hilarious."

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

"I'm almost done,"

Asad silently nodded as the girl returned to the bathroom. It didn't take long for Elizabeth to return to her curt tone with him. The night he had spent at her bedside, he had left in the early hours of the morning, before she awoke. She hadn't mentioned that night since. Probably forgotten.

'Or embarrassed.'

Tsubaki had briefed him about the party, about how the pair of them were 'guests' rather than there on duty. Asad didn't buy it, and it certainly wouldn't stop him from keeping an eye on the girl, especially if she got anywhere near the booze. He'd be running interference on that front, for sure, hopefully he wouldn't have to though. Even she had the good sense to not get ploughed at an event such as this.


"Whenever you're ready." The Major muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"You're mother doesn't need to know."

"What does that matter?!"

He could feel her breath on his neck.

"You're mine," she purred.

"Stop that! I---"

Sprout practically fell out of bed when he heard the knock at his door.

"Time to wake up, you lazy twat."

It was just a dream...

"You get to see the newbs hold guns today, should be hilarious."

After taking a moment to gather himself, he sighed. "You can come in," he said.

Entering Sprout's room, Lilith closed the door behind, crossing her arms over her chest as she took in the boy's sleepy expression.

"You gotta stop sleeping in so late."

"Yeah," Sprout agreed. "Bennie's been going easy on me, I reckon. That won' last long though." He chuckled. After rubbing his eyes awake, he took in Lilith's somewhat disheveled appearance.

"You been doin' okay, Lily?" he said before rolling out of bed.

Shrugging her shoulders, the girl raised a lip as she held the cigarette between her teeth. "Honestly? I'm just really bored." She made her way over to the boy's bed and began straightening the covers as he got dressed.

"I hear ya'," he said with a nod. "All this prep an' we don' even have a gig lined up yet. I don' doubt Bennie feels a lil' directionless right now. I mean, in terms of leadership, I'm 'is only real resource an' I am jus' tellin' 'im what I've picked up from Ma'." Sprout threw a t-shirt on, a frown on his face. "Ma' always had Cranston there to advice her. Shit..."

He looked to Lilith. "You think he's still alive?" he asked. There was very little hope in his tone.

Keeping her eyes on the bed as she made it, Lilith's face softened. "I hope so. Until we know for sure, that's all we can do." Finishing up, she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Just... hope."

"This life is hard, there's no doubt about that," Sprout said, matter-of-factly. After changing into jeans, he walked over to Lilith and sat beside her. He offered the woman a weak grin before taking her hand in his own. "We're still alive though. We still 'ave each other. S'pose we jus' gotta count ar' blessin's."

Rolling her eyes, Lilith nudged the boy with her shoulder. "God, now you're even starting to talk like her." She teased. "What? You both read the same romance novels or somethin'?"

"Ma' readin' romance novels?!" Sprout asked with a laugh. "If she reads that shit she probably jus' skips to the smut." He rolled his eyes. "But ya' know, she's rubbed off on you too. Probably more'n you'd wanna admit."

"Hopefully only the good stuff." Lilith took a long drag, blowing the smoke from the corner of her mouth. Maybe she did take after Pixie in a lot of respects, but she couldn't quite pin any of them down. "How'd you reckon she's holding up?"

Sprout shrugged. "I dunno," he admitted. "We spoke fer a minute two days ago. She was... happy to hear from me, so that's good, I guess." He pursed his lips, looking at the door, straight ahead. "She jus' needs time ta' process everythin' that's happened. I'm worried though, Lily. I'm worried about that lady, Contessa. Ma's vulnerable right now, ya' know? I hope she doesn' get manipulated by her."

"She'll be fine." Lilith smiled as she wrapped an arm around the boy. "She's a sly old fox, even if it looks like she might be gettin' played, you know as well as I do that there's a thousand different things going on in that head of her's." Lilith reassured the boy, but in all honesty, she wasn't sure about Meredith herself.

"Yeah, yer right," Sprout agreed. "I'm worried about her, sure, but I reckon she'll be okay. The Austin business shook 'er up, but she's gone off the deep end like this before. She's always come back." He sighed. "Enough about Ma'. She'll be fine." He forced a grin and looked at her. "How 'bout the new blood? Let's gossip!"

"About what? You know I ain't one for that sort of thing." The girl frowned. Amy had been at the top of her priority list, she hadn't really been paying attention to any of the new kids.

Sprout shrugged. "I dunno. I reckon we got a few new boners around. Any you thinkin' 'bout jumpin' on?"

His grin was menacing.

Unamused, Lilith narrowed her eyes , the cigarette hanging loosely from her lips as she sighed through her nose. "The bones I jump are none of your concern." She slapped him playfully around the back of the head. "Besides, I ain't no cradle robber."

"They ain't all kids, ya' know," he corrected her. Holding a hand out, he gestured for a cigarette. "There are like, what, two or three new guys that're older than you, right? Early twenties at least, if I recall Bennie correctly."

"There are?" Lilith sounded genuinely surprised as she pulled the pack of smoke from her pocket, handing one to the boy. She really had been out of it the past few days. "Not like it matters anyway." She shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't exactly been pining for anything lately."

"Hey," he said, softly, "you really okay, Lily?" He took a drag from the cigarette after Lilith lit it for him.


"Hm?" The girl perked up slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine, just worried. About Florian, about Elizabeth, Cranston, and Merry." She smiled sadly. "And I'm just sitting here, doing nothing, you know?"

Sprout nodded. He knew exactly how she felt. "Ya' know," he started, "it took me a long time ta' fully realize the danger everyone was gettin' themselves into 'round here. I was a lil' kid after all, an' I guess I figured this kind of life was normal back then. These past few years though? Up until very recently, I felt that way all the time. Constantly bein' shielded. Constantly bein' kept away from the fightin'. I felt... helpless. Worthless." He rested his hand on Lilith's shoulder. "We're not wastin' time right now though, Lily. We're recoverin' from a near fatal blow an' things ar' gonna be slow fer awhile, but I reckon yer one of the most important people we've got left. Bennie knows it, I know it an' Ma' knows it."

"I don't know about that." Lilith averted her eyes shyly. Was she important? How could she? She wasn't doing anything, she was struggling to find thing to whittle away the hours. "I just wish there was a more active part I could be playing."

"The only ones doin' anythin' truly active ar' Ma', Aesop n' Cam, an' that shit ain't even official Maiden business. Jus' wait a lil' longer, Lily. Bennie's expectin' ta' hear from Wilkes-Vines any day now."

"And then we do what? More dirty work?" Lilith scoffed, "Great." She rolled her eyes as she bit on her cigarette. "What will we be doing this time?"

"What do you expect us to do, Lily?" Sprout asked. "We're bandits. Ar' werk's always been dirty. It ain't everyday we go 'round savin' damsels, ya' know. Liz was an exception." He pursed his lips. "We're criminals."

"You don't think I know that?" Lilith snapped at the boy. "But at least we did what we wanted to do, made the scores we wanted to make." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Not lapdogs for some noble ****."

"We're in debt, Lily," Sprout shot back. "An' right now Ma's puttin' her ass on the line ta' get us out of it. Bennie too. You think he wants ta' work with those scum bags? Of course not, but we gotta do house cleanin' before we get back in the game." He took a another drag and looked away from Lilith. "Otherwise we're gonna have another Austin situation all over again."

"Don't make out Merry as being all selfless and shit, 'cos she ain't" Lilith muttered "Remember why we're debt in first place?"

Sprout scowled. "What, the heist?!" he said. "What did she do in that scenario that's any different than what we normally do? The money was fer the Maiden, not her!"

"I'm just saying, everyone's making a huge deal about being 'stretched too thin' lately." She shrugged her shoulders. "If people had that attitude to begin with, then the Maiden wouldn't have been left with a damn skeleton crew and Austin wouldn't have gotten the ship in the first place, then we wouldn't be in debt, and we wouldn't be dealing with scum bags like Payton."

Sprout gave Lilith a stern, almost disappointed look. Then, suddenly, he got up and snubbed the half-finished cigarette on his nightstand. "Maybe Ma' had a reason ta' think she was a bad leader, afterall," he mumbled. "Clearly, she wasn' the only one who thought that way."

"You know that's not what I meant." Lilith shook her head. "Look, I'm just..." Lilith paused, clenching her jaw before sighing, a sad smile curling her lips. "Sorry." She locked eyes with Sprout. "I'm just restless, nothing's been going right for us lately, and it's nobody's fault, especially not Meredith's. I'm just sick of sitting on my arse all day feeling like I could be something more."

Sprout frowned at her. "Well maybe you should stop beatin' yerself up about it so much an' take some initiative," he told her. "There's plenty'a werk ta' be doin' 'round here. Ruffles an' that lil' redhead 'ave been pullin' all nighters since we left Yuteni."

"Of course they have, fuckin' gear heads are crazy." The woman chuckled. "I'm no good at that sort of thing, I'd only get in the way." She averted her eyes. "Not much demand for these at the moment." Lilith pointed at her eyes. Perking up slightly as she smiled. "I guess weapons training the newbs should be fun."


"Not as fun as hand-to-hand," Sprout said with a mischievous grin. "I've been kickin' everyone's asses fer days now. That shit never gets old."

"Wait what? When was that? Nobody called me down to kick some ar-I mean help!" Lilith cursed herself. "I really need to fuckin' start paying attention to the roster." She pouted.

Sprout nodded. "I reckon ya' do. Whelp, I'm gonna head down ta' the mess hall an' get some food in me before I'm given any work ta' do. You have breakfast already?"

"I had breakfast hours ago, you lazy bastard." Lilith grinned as she got to her feet. Biting her bottom lip, she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said, you know I don't think of your mother that way."

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know," he admitted. "I jus' feel like I'm her only advocate sometimes, I guess. Especially these days."

"I know, I know, everyone is just stressed out. I've got her back when it counts, you know that." She smiled. "Look, forget about it." She tapped Sprout gently on the cheek. "I jus' gotta find something to do with myself before training starts."

"Okay," Sprout said, simply. "Try not to think too much, Lily." He laughed. "Ma' does the same thin'."

Lilith sighed as she tapped a knuckle against her skull. "We can't help it, our big sexy brains don't switch off easily."


"Damn straight," he said with a wink. "I wouldn' 'ave it any other way, Lily."

As they both left Sprout's room, Lilith stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Well, i suppose I best be off to do...er." She laughed nervously. "Somethin'."

"Sounds good," Sprout chirped. "I've got some newbies to beat up in a few hours if ya' wanna help out."

"You kidding?" The woman grinned. "I can't wait."

 

[Terratina.]

Astor hummed as he got dressed. Today, he was thankfully not hangover or spread across someone else's floor like a human rug or being annoyed by stuffy butlers. However, that still didn't make today a good day. For one, the dream - or what Astor could remember of the dream - was pretty weird: a ball filled with beauties which on closer inspection had tails and hooves and, even in one case, udders. All dancing and prancing to The Blue Danube Waltz. Alas, if only he had dreamed an alluring siren instead of a herd of chimeras and gorgons! But more importantly, over the past four days there had been a disturbing occurrence: the beautiful maidens of the Iron Maiden seemed to be down in the dumps, which mean hardly any fun for him. And so, Astor made it of his missions to bring smiles to their faces. But that had to wait, for his arch nemesis Sprout would be there during training and Astor had to show the noble-eater's son what exactly he could do!

***​

Was there really any point in waking up when the day was full of absolutely nothing? Jun sighed as he rolled around inside the hospital bed, full of apathy. The only relief was the lack of Bryan, however seeing him leave only made Jun even more impatient. It was quite comical, really, that a bullet wound meant less time in hospital than broken hands. But then again, getting out of the hospital would only mean a change of scenery, but with fewer nurses and more stubborn stumbling about. Eventually, he got up and stretched, starting off his daily routine. Now it was just a case of looking forward to that shower after a bit of exercise. Well, there wasn't really much to look forward to. Admitively, (not that Jun would even say it out loud) they did give good head rubs; still didn't make up for the violation of privacy, though. He did miss that.

***​

It was almost too easy. With most of the injured needing nothing but rest, Maria was more than happy to get some herself. However, there were always worries and concerns at the back of her mind. That night, she twisted and turned in her bed. Stress was definitely a good dredger of the dark things within people's minds...

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Maria knocked on the door, there was no answer. No matter, with a quick turn of the doorknob, she found out the door was open anyway. That's the mark of a safe town: open doors and no cares. On the other hand, the old Sherrif was pretty strict and always had a six-bore handy. Nevertheless, that didn't matter to Maria - boys were definitely more important! And the house she had just entered belonged to, well, a boy and his parents. Thankfully, Vicente's parents were away for the weekend.

Having crossed the threshold, there was no going back...

She crept along the corridor, he was probably still asleep - teenagers and their lazy mornings. However, Maria swore that she could footsteps and whispers. A frown began to form on her face as she continued forward, why was it so quiet? Nevertheless, Maria wasn't phased by the silence or the whispers. Messing around with someone else's body on the operation table was probably more stressful than walking through an almost empty house. She never knew where her father got her strength from.

And then she found the reason behind the silence and the whispers, there lay Vicente, fast asleep with a bra on his face.

Spoiler: Sassy Guitar

Well, that was soon remedied with a forceful slap accompanied with a some nagging, "What's this?!"

"I, er..." Vicente began, trying to figure out what the crazy girl was talking about. As soon as his big brown eyes fully opened and the bra came into view, it was obvious. He then shouted, "Wait! It's not what it looks like"

"Then what is this?" Maria replied, picking up the bra, "A blindfold?"

"My cousin's, actually." Vicente grinned sheepishly, "She came over last night and needed somewhere to stay."

"Mierda!" Maria spat, "Unless... fucking cousin-fucker."

She stormed out then and there, slapping him again on the way out. The poor boy didn't even have a chance. For Maria, that was a weekend ruined. He was the lucky recipient of her first kiss. Awkward small talk, flirting and dealing with a plague of butterflies in her stomach... All for a cheating bastard like him! At least Maria would always have that little hidey-hole of hers, right? Not to mention the fact that a non-existent relationship was infinitely easier to hide from her father...

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"What did I ever see in him?" Maria asked herself as she woke up. Of course the answer was: she was a little teenage brat all too eager to 'experiment' at the time, much to the chagrin of her father. He always had mumbled something about her mother having a similar stubborn streak. Maria stretched and gave the memory a wistful smile.

Things were blissfully simple back then.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Roughly four days had passed since the scuffle down at the marketplace. The robber was currently sitting in a holding cell whilst his fate was being decided. As for Viola, she had been spending the time working at the gun shop, to help lighten the workload; plus it meant that she had access to the workshop so she could perform so much needed maintenance work, along with a bit of modification.

For starters, she replaced the reloading mechanism with a newer model, which allowed for a smoother, more natural reload. Despite her rifle being solidly built and not prone to jamming all that often, it was simple for it to be disassembled so that she could tinker with it. Next was an adjustment of the sights, as part of it was a little out of alignment; this required completely removing and disassembling the sight itself, and then carefully moving the frames back into position. After that was done, Viola decided to given the wooden stock and fore-grip a fresh coat of varnish, as it had become faded over the years.

All in all, it may have appeared to be a simple job, but it did take a half a day for all the work to be completed. After it was over, Viola decided that she head to the local bar and enjoy a nice drink; she figured that she deserved it, and perhaps pay respects to a dear friend, he deserved it after all.

It was a short walk to the Goodsprings bar; a place that her father used to go to after a long days work, enjoying a glass of scotch on the rocks. Upon entering, she saw that it was busier than usual, but luckily there was still a seat up at the counter.

"Hey Viola, what'll you be having today?" Asked the bartender Harrison as he approached.

"Think I'll go for a scotch on the rocks today, time to see if what my old man was saying about it is true."

"And what did he say?"

"That it was the best damn drink ever. Say, what's with all the new faces, don't remember the bar being this crowded."

"A lot of new faces from out of town, said they left their homes after some large scale Bandit attack. From what I can gather from all this chatter, is that those who've left had split up and gone in different directions." Replied Harrison as he placed the drink in front of Viola, accepting the small amount of carbon in exchange. Viola then took a single sip, savoring the taste before letting it drop.

"The old man was right, this is good scotch." She continued making small talk with Harrison for a while, until a shabbily dressed gentleman entered the bar, carrying a large container trunk behind, as he sat at the bar-stool next to Viola, obviously looking nervous about something.

"Hail friend, what brings you to Wolf's Creek?"

"Just passing through Miss, figured I'd stop for a drink and perhaps something to eat."

"Well you picked as good a place as any I suppose. So where you come from?"

"Yuteni."

"Woah, you've certainly traveled far friend. Aren't you a little far from home?"

"I have no home to go to you see. Yuteni was attacked roughly a week ago by a Bandit owned airship. Town was nearly leveled flat, what with all the artillery and high explosives they were using. Loads of people died, but not just from the bombs; but from ravenous hordes of children, like locusts they were."

"Children you say? Sounds like the work of Father Austin. How come you survived?"

"I got lucky, suffice to say if it weren't for the Wilkes-Vines and the Maidens fighting off Austin, I'd wager that I'd be a corpse by now."

"Impressive, I knew Austin had a large army of followers, but I guess that and his twisted ideology wasn't enough to save his hide. So how come you aren't back there then rebuilding your life?"

"Let's just say I don't trust Wilkes-Vines to simply leave Yuteni alone after what they done. I'd wager that they be up to something."

"Interesting." Viola thought allowed as she continued her drink.

 

[Dogmatic99]

The solid metal lassy that Gale called home for now was rumbling away like a leviathan among kitty cats as her engine purred, content with the care being given her. Gale couldn't say for sure but there was an air of restlessness about the rest of the group. They were getting sick of being cooped up in the ship's bowels so much and gale couldn't say she blamed them. Training and routine could only see you so far, the winds were calling and she was loathe not to answer them.

Hopefully they'd get to do some actual bandit stuff soon. Though that might involve shooting people to death, something Gale was also pretty loathe to do. Acts of violence were never a welcome thing in the caravan. Folks on the inside had to look out for each other and the chief was always quick to crack down on possible fights. Violence from the outside was the real threat and one that had given gale her share of sleepless nights.

'Nut up lass. You knew what you were getting yourself into here.' This was the path her guide was leading her down and she wouldn't falter. Now if only her guide could get out of bed they could sort things out. Sprout had been weirder than usual since the card night where Gale had sworn off the crunk for the fifth time ever.

So today she'd sort out where they stood with each other. She'd seen him handle the other new bloods easy enough, all in the name of 'training' and had heard what other maidens had to say about him. Enough that Gale was sure she had a good starting track on him. So she waited in the usual training spot, doing stretches and getting ready to be the first major challenger of the day. She wasn't a stranger to having to handle herself, she could hold her own in a fight, right?

Well only one way to find out. So she kicked off her shoes from within the flowing realm of her long skirt and got to doing the leg stretches. If anyone could help her win a dust up it was the gams.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Anything you need from me? I can get one of the newbies to melt down more pipes for you. Plumbing's going to be fucked for half the ship at this rate, but I reckon staying in the air is more important than sharing bathrooms."

"Nah, you gave me more than enough material to work with already," said Ruffles. "Hell, we ain't been in danger of falling outta the sky for a while now." He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Just feel like I should make sure everything's as good as I can make it before I skip out on you guys."

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

Bryan blinked at the sudden bright orange tinge on his vision as he heard the door slam behind Tsubaki. He shook himself. He hadn't had a drink in... a long time. He thought sobriety was making his synesthesia more sensitive.

"What on earth is that smell?"

He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hey, how are you feeling, Bryan?"

"Bored. As. Fuck." He replied. "I've spent half o' today drumming on stuff to see what color it makes. He pointed over Tsubaki's head to the door. "Orange." The wall. "Some shade o' manky green." The mattress beneath him. "Mauve."

Sitting up, he slotted the sword he'd been sharpening back into its side of the sheath. "It'd be nice if I got some fancy-arse new assignment," he said. "I mean I'm not completely invalid. I can open doors for myself."

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

"I keep telling you," said Whiskey, catching the boy's arm and turning his wrist so he flopped like a fish trying to stop her from hurting him. "Stop telegraphing your attacks."

"But if I don't swing, it'll be weak as shit!"

"Maybe," said Whiskey, letting go of the boy's arm. Then suddenly she stepped up even closer. "But maybe not." Then she slammed her palm into his sternum, sending him skidding onto his back.

"Who's next?" she asked as the boy picked himself up and shuffled back to sit with the others. Whiskey wasn't sure how old he was. No younger than fifteen, no older than eighteen at a push. That was fairly typical of the new wave of Maidens, it seemed.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The Gentleman stood in one of the many reception rooms of Lady Contessa Lombardi's many reception rooms. He was even more immaculately dressed than ever, during his short stay in Paradiso, he'd patronised several of The Rock's finest tailors. While being surrounded by such luxury had been... comfortable, after recent events, no small part of the smile on The Gentleman's pace was due to the fact that he would soon be leaving. Even considering the unwelcome tag-along, The Gentleman would be grateful for the opportunity to stretch his legs (he was getting bored of seeing his burnished reflection everywhere he looked) even if it didn't involve yet another undertaking of unprecedented ambition.

He would be meeting Owain here, whom had been recovered from the safe house where The Gentleman had stored him and his sister, three days ago. The last he'd heard, Owain was perfectly healthy, considering the circumstances, and the Lombardi's expert physicians were debating whether his toe was salvageable. Severa had still been unconscious. However, she was alive and stable. Despite himself, The Gentleman was a little glad. He pitied Severa more than anything, no matter how disgusting he found her actions. In any case, no matter how bloody his past was, The Gentleman despised senseless killing. He would have killed Severa, purposefully and with no regrets, had his hand been forced, but it would have been a serious failing on his part to have caused her death inadvertently.

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Once she'd got herself washed and dressed, Amy made her way down to the mess hall for a coffee and a bite to eat. She wouldn't take too long about it. She wanted to be on time for shooting practice. Not that it was necessary (she doubted Bennie could teach her anything about how to handle a gun that she hadn't learned from The Gentleman already), and she certainly didn't genuinely care for showing support for Bennie himself. However, it was a good opportunity to gauge the community she was in now. She'd been doing her best to get to know as many of the new Maidens as she could over the past few days, but she still felt her progress was inadequate. Besides, being late, or appearing in any way above it, might be interpreted as rocking the boat, which was the last thing Amy wanted to do right now. She had no interest with playing tit-for-tat with Bennie. No-one was going to win that fight, and right now the best way to protect her position on the ship was to demonstrate her practical worth to The Maiden's.

It wouldn't hurt if she got the chance to have a few quiet words with a certain someone either.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Spoiler: FUCK ALL Y'ALL!!!

Aesop's spirits hadn't been so high in a long time! Alcohol may have made up for his lack of game, but either he was getting better or weed would become his new... he cut off that thought before it went any further.

Its amazing how simply having sex made him feel better. At first he was a little worried he sucked or had made things awkward when she almost immediately started bunking with Pixie, but for once his mind played rationale and told him, 'Dude. Bandits fuck. Its what they-we do.

"Oh yeah. Thanks brain."

'No problem.'

After a mental self five he set about taking it easy the next four days, playing cook for everyone and making a decent meal out of what little they had (of which most of it bacon, obviously), reading through his backlog of comics too 'faggy' for sprout to read and shooting the shit with his fellow maidens, avoiding that other guy as much as he could-who thankfully returned the favour.

Aesop stretched and yawned as he got out of bed, a surprising lack of nightmares recently. Wonderful. Aesop had a remarkably quick shower. He usually washed in a basin anyway. He still had a towel wrapped around him as he saw Pixie's disguise.

"Awww Pixie," Aesop said with mock disappointment, "we already have a hot blonde. With a sexy brunette in the other room, you round it off with the red hair. There's like a thing going y'know."
===================================================
Four days and they still hadn't left. Most had but there was still a force here, a force larger than any police still alive. They certainly had a hell of a lot of volunteers but barely any willing to rebuild the numbers of the police, more had probably joined the bloody Iron Maiden! At least Aesop wouldn't be lonely, being around his own people for once, others who abandoned Yuteni when it needed them; needed people to rebuild what had been lost.

But oh how lucky she was having the gracious Wilkes Vines around to save the city. Her bitterness and paranoid may have been undeserved, but she didn't care to consider that they had pure intentions. When one of the most powerful organisations on the planet has an open invitation to a city wide playground, Alex thought she'd be stupid if she wasn't suspicious.

Yet, all of these worries she could understand, the one she couldn't was her son. He had barely said a word to her or Isabel. Alex was forced to spend most of her time working which broke her heart to think of her son without his mother, after what he had gone though. Was he unable to open up? Or did he just not want to?

 

[Fappy]

"Awww Pixie, we already have a hot blonde. With a sexy brunette in the other room, you round it off with the red hair. There's like a thing going y'know."

Pixie turned her head to look at him and cocked an eyebrow. "An' you don' think there ain't a million bandits with bushy beards out there?" she asked, sarcastically. "Sexist prick." She muttered. Pulling back the slide, she locked it in place and examined the exposed chamber. She'd somehow managed to get some blood inside her pistol during the last battle. It appeared to be completely gone now.

Satisfied with her weapon, Pixie loaded it, stood up and slipped it into her waistband. "Carlos," Pixie called out, "food ready?"

"Aye," Carlos replied from the small kitchen in the adjoining room, "just a few strips of bacon, like you asked."

"Go wake up sleepin' beauty," Pixie told Aesop before heading into the kitchen. "Keep ar' stomachs wantin' fer today. We may end up with a fight on ar' hands. Don' reckon I trust Contessa."

Carlos nodded in agreement before dumping the bacon off the skillet and onto a plate. "Nor should you," he warned. "She wants you to kill Dio, that much I believe. I don't, however, think it ends there. She always has an angle."

"You would know, wouldn' you," Pixie said before plucking a piece of bacon of the plate and biting it in half. "I can trust you though, right Carlos?" She looked him right in the eye as she spoke. Her suspicion was evident.

Carlos pursed his lips and took a piece of bacon for himself. "You shouldn't trust anyone, Pixie," he said, plainly.

Pixie didn't say anything in response. She simply kept her eye on him and continued eating.

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

When she finally emerged from her bedroom, Elizabeth was glowing. Her slim, silk white dress was low-cut enough to display her modest cleavage, while the back was almost completely exposed. The extravagant dress ended just above the ankle and was accompanied by white high heels and an assortment of silver jewelry.

It was tradition for the betrothed to wear white like this when celebrating the eve of their marriage, as it was a symbol of purity. Of virginity. It just so happened she was, in fact, just that.

At this point, however, Elizabeth would be hard pressed to call herself pure. This world made no concessions for such people.

Strength was all the Rock understood.

"How do I look?" She asked Asad with a toothy grin. "It isn't too revealing is it?"

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

"Just feel like I should make sure everything's as good as I can make it before I skip out on you guys."

Bennie put his hands on his hips and frowned. "Hey, man," he said, "don't say stuff like that. I know why you're doing it and it's a good thing. You're one of the few Maidens to ever have a living family outside of the crew and we've always understood that. Pixie too. In fact, you know, maybe she was a little jealous of them." He laughed. "They're important to you. I get that. You got to do what you got to do. Just make sure that kid knows what's up before you go." He laughed. "I don't want to be picking bits of burning red hair out of a turbine anytime soon."

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

"I mean I'm not completely invalid. I can open doors for myself."

She shrugged. "Well, it isn't official but I do have something for you if you're up for it." She paced to the other side of the room, her arms crossed over her chest. "I took a look at Jun's charts. The doctor says his hands will keep him out of the game for a few more months at least. Worst than that, he won't really be able to use them at all for another month at least. So, I was wondering if..." She laughed nervously. Why was it so hard to ask him to do this? Was it because it was a favor as opposed to an order.

Or maybe it was simply that she was talking to him as a friend rather than a subordinate.

It was a weird feeling.

"Could you, um, take care of Jun for awhile?" she asked. "Not here, of course!" She added quickly. "My apartment. There's an extra bedroom he can stay in and you can crash on the couch if you don't want to make the trek back here every night." She broke eye contact. "I just... you know... I want to get him out of that room..."

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

Sprout was starving. He had a bad habit of sleeping in too late and eating breakfast at lunch time, but thankfully Lilith had saved him from his fate. That didn't change the fact that he was a growing boy, however. He was always hungry.

Upon arriving in the mess hall he couldn't help but notice Amy brewing herself coffee. Of course she was here. She was everywhere! Neither of them had spoken more than a few words to each other since... that night. He wanted to, but he didn't know what to say.

Jus' get yer god damn bagel.

Avoiding eye contact, Sprout quickly grabbed a bagel, spread some butter on it and scurried to the corner of the room.

Maybe she wouldn't notice him back there.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Of course, Amy noticed Sprout the moment he walked into the room. She'd developed a keen sense of atmosphere, and right now, he was giving off so much of it, she practically had to filter it through her teeth instead of breathing it in. Furtively, she glanced over to see him hurrying away to a dark alcove some distance from her, and suppressed a sigh. Axel was by no means her first experience of a timid mark, but the boy was more wary than a stray cat. She was still committed to her plan of having him approach her. This wasn't going to work any other way (you couldn't just run at the stray cat, arms outstretched), however, what did a girl have to do to entice a perpetually horny sixteen year-old? It was a farce!

After she'd got her coffee, and some toast, Amy crossed the room. She did not make eye contact with Sprout, but neither did she make a show of looking away. She sat down, again putting no more emphasis on any movement than was necessary, at an empty table some ten to twelve feet away from where Sprout was, angled perpendicular to him, and sipped her coffee slowly.

It was a respectable distance, nowhere near close enough for her to be encroaching, uninvited, on Axel's privacy. However, it was also close enough that neither could convincingly pretend to have not noticed the other, make even more potent by the fact that there was no-one occupying the space between them. What's more, she had trapped him. In putting himself in the corner, Sprout had opened himself up to the compromising position of now not being able to leave without walking right past her.

Acting like she was aware of none of this, Amy took a dainty bite out of her toast, topped with a sweet sheen of raspberry jam, which prompted a subtle licking of the lips. All that remained in the balance, was which of the two of them had a higher tolerance for excruciating awkwardness, a battle which Amy suspected was a foregone conclusion.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

After Viola finished her drink, she decided that it was best if she headed home. Along the way, she had thought about what the man had said about the situation in Yuteni, and that got her thinking; what was she going to do after her week long vacation was over? She couldn't just head back to Feroxi, too many bad memories there, plus there wasn't much there that she could actually do right now.

Then there was the part of her that said retire, that you've had a good run, and now was the time to take the slow road. But Viola dismissed that almost immediately, as she felt that she had too much energy left and much more she could do for the Rock.

Her thoughts then drifted back to Yuteni, as judging from the man's description, was a place that needed help the most right now. Something about a ruined city being left in the hands of a mafioso family just rubbed her the wrong way. Of course, she'd have to tell her mother about where it is she'd be going in the next few days. There is always the chance that Evelyn would try and talk her out of it, but that was a risk she was willing to take. After another ten or so minutes of walking, Viola arrived back home, and she could tell that her mother was cooking due to the curtains on the window being open. Whatever was she was making, it looked good.

"Hey mom, I'm home!" Viola called out as she entered the house, hanging up her hat and coat along the way.

"Good to hear your back Viola. I'm just in the kitchen cooking dinner, why don't you come on in, should be ready soon."

"Okay." Viola made her way into the kitchen, where the smell of cooking was very much enticing. Based on what she could figured out, a lot of herbs went into the making of this dish.

"What'cha cooking there mom?" She asked after sitting down at the dinner table.

"Spaghetti Bolognese. Trying out a new recipe after a customer recommended it to me down at the shop. Man could he not stop talking, and to think, all he came in for was the prices for some of our revolvers."

"Sounded like an interesting gentleman, though he probably like the sound of his own voice I wager."

"Oh I agree with you. So how goes the work on your rifle?" Evelyn meanwhile was busy plating up the meal.

"Finished. I put the second coat of varnish on the rifle a little while ago, so I just got to let it dry. Should be done tomorrow morning."

"Oh good. Ya know, I was mighty impressed always those years ago when you brought that rifle out for the first time. I was mighty proud of you that day, no doubt your father would have been proud as well."

"Yeah, I guess he would be...." Viola remarked, staying silent for a few seconds before changing the subject.

"Met some interesting folks down at Goodsprings today. Bunch of them come all the way from Yuteni of all places. Turns out they faced some mighty big Bandit trouble roughly a week ago. Nearly the whole city got leveled. Luckily some other Bandits and the Wilkes-Vines were there to repel the invaders"

"Oh my stars! I sure hope those that are still there are alright." Responded Evelyn in shock.

"Likewise. Anyway, let's get eating, cause this smells good."

 

[The Funslinger]

"I don't want to be picking bits of burning red hair out of a turbine anytime soon."

"Don't worry about that," Ruffles replied. "The kid's good. Kinda reminds me of me when I was her age. Only, y'know, I could actually speak." Turning around, he started resealing the hatch he'd climbed out of. "When we get money from... whatever the fuck our next job is, remind me to put you onto my guy for sheet metal. I mean come on, Bennie, you can't tear apart the plumbing and not expect consequences down the line!"

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

"I just... you know... I want to get him out of that room..."

"Yeah, I get ya," Bryan replied. "But good luck convincing him. The doctors had a similar idea when they saw he weren't taking help off the nursing staff. Moved me in with him. Technically, it worked, as he started getting the nurses to do shit for him. But I don't reckon he let me so much as pour a cup o' water for him the whole time I were there. Might be I opened the door for him once, but I might o' dreamed that."

 

[Terratina.]

Maria finally got up, shaking off the strange chimera of memory and dream. Nothing like a good ol' splash of cold water for that. Then came the ordeal of the mess hall. Things seemed civil enough and at least someone hadn't taken all of the marmalade, however, Sprout did look a wary little hamster nibbling at his bagel like that. Something had been going on, hadn't there? After getting some coffee that always tasted absolutely mediocre, she sat down next to the Sprout and had a sip of the terrible beverage that was no doubt a result of the Maiden's financial woes before whispering, "You know, hiding in a corner like this just screams 'I want to avoid someone'. So... What's up? I'm guessing it isn't one of the newbies."

***​

The little amount of choice of breakfast dishes never failed to appall the Noble-turned-Maiden; apart from the obvious there was only one on offer and she had been eying Sprout all of people for the last couple of days! He wasn't quite sure of whether that was a symptom or the cause of the slump. But nevermind, now was the time for a winning smile and an eager ear. Honestly, with the noble-eater's son hiding in a corner, it almost felt unfair. With little pomp, Astor took his breakfast over and sat by Amy. His grin grew as his eyes wandered over to her face and then to what she was eating. Afterwards, he started a bit of small talk, "If only life itself was as sweet as those li-- I mean, sweet things we both seem to enjoy, am I correct?"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Asad's eyes widened slightly as the made up Elizabeth revealed herself.

"How do I look? It isn't too revealing is it?"

The girl was a vision of beauty, everything one would expect from breeding such as her's. "Stunning." The man smiled, adjusting his bow tie as he got to his feet. Wearing a suit twice in one week?

'Really moving up in the world.' The man almost rolled his eyes.

Offering his arm to the young woman, the Major beckoned towards the door. "Shall we?"

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

Lilith grunted slightly, the muscles in her arms straining as she did chin-ups. The training room was full of life today, lots of newbs warming up before the planned session. Holding her chin above the bar as long as she could, she exhaled slowly as she lowered herself. Ankles crossed, she repeated the motion, sweat gleaming on her brow as she raised herself over the bar once more.

The woman clenched her jaw as she did several more chin-up before taking a breather. Panting, the woman smiled slightly as she adjusted the drenched bandana around her head. If nothing else, she could at least keep herself fit, there was nothing quite like a good work out session. Her hands on her hips as he breathing steadied, the woman raised an eyebrow as a familiar frizzy redhead moved quickly through the training room, looking more disheveled than usual. She was muttering to herself loudly, flinching at every little movement, her eyes darting every which way.

"Elbow grease, elbow grease, dannae ken were the elbow grease is, I dannae, I dannae..."

"Poor girl." Lilith chuckled. She hoped the kid would be able to handle Ruffle's... unique, teaching style.

The girl's mumblings faded as she made a lap of the hangar and left.

 

[The Funslinger]

The beep of the heart monitor fell on deaf ears as Owain sat in the visitor's chair of Severa's room, next to the bed, holding her hand. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there. He was vaguely aware he should have set off to meet the Gentleman close to an hour ago, but he still hadn't moved.

She looked peaceful, lain in bed with the covers drawn up, breathing deep in her sleep. If Owain hadn't known from personal experience that Severa preferred to sleep on her side, she could just have been napping. The hospital gown covered the bandages on her torso, and in turn, the bandages concealed the burns up her back. But it was too late. Owain had seen them. He'd seen her pale, smooth, flawless skin marred by angry red welts that would never fully disappear. Almost as bad, the angel wing tattooed along the back of her shoulder had been split. That mark representing their irreplaceable connection was permanently damaged.

Still, that has something that had only recently born thinking about. The part of it that made him upset, made him angry, made him almost physically hurt was the sight of her lying there, so defenseless and vulnerable, as though she might never wake. And their dear aunt was dragging him away from her side. The only one in the world that truly understood him, and he was being torn away from her.

Knuckling his eyes at the sting of unexpected tears, Owain finally let go of Severa's hand, and got to his feet. Bending down, he gently brushed a strand of hair back, tucking it behind her ear, and kissed her forehead. Then he turned and left, practically charging out the door to prevent the image of her left alone from dragging him back.

He was barely limping, now, despite being sans little toe on his right foot. Such was the perk of being noble born. He'd been given a potent anesthetic gel that numbed the area where the toe had been, almost completely.

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

Some time later, he arrived, striding into the hall. And there was the Gentleman. The man who had put his Severa into the hospital. Owain had a vivid image of taking one of the many knives still strapped to his person and sticking it in the stupid old man's neck at thirty paces.

His face registered none of this, however. And neither did his voice when he said, "here I am, at last. I apologise for keeping you waiting."

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

"Ten minute breather for me, I reckon," said Whiskey as the latest of her students to spar with her picked herself up from being judo flipped. "Pair up and beat the snot out of each other for a little while. Try to stay size and age appropriate."

Turning around, she wiped the sweat from her brow and retrieved a bottle of water from a cool box in the corner. Chugging half of it, she turned to watch a familiar head of bobbing red frizz disappear out the door. Grinning, she headed over to Lilith.

"I'm surprised she doesn't have some kinda stress induced nosebleed yet," she said. "Who knew Ruffles could be such a badass sensei, huh?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"I apologise for keeping you waiting."

"No matter." replied The Gentleman, flipping his pocket watch shut and storing it away, before turning to face Owain. "It will be the last time you do so."

He took a step closer, studying Owain with a cold gaze. He did not smile.

"It doesn't take an expert to see that you're nursing more soreness that just your foot." he said, crisply "We may well be spending a lot of time with no company but each-other for the foreseeable future, and so I feel it would be remiss of me not to at least attempt to bury the hatchet before we depart. With that in mind, I feel you are owed an explanation from me, seeing as you were unconscious at the time...

Yes, Severa resides in her current state as a result of my actions. That much is true. However, what is also true, is that had I not acted in the way I had, she would not currently be lying in just about the most expensive hospital bed in existence. She would be dead. You understand, don't you, these little eccentricities of perspective? I tell you no word of a lie, when I say that far beyond what could be expected of a lower class of scoundrel, when it came to your collective welfare; and, thanks to this, I suspect even Severa is likely to make a greater recovery than Florian ever will, judging by the state of him when I saw him last. Still, I wish the situation had been resolved without such unpleasantness, and I apologise for my part in it."

Unexpectedly, the Gentleman then held out his hand, formally, as a gesture of peace to Owain.

"Even in such desperate times, the best of us always make time for a little civility."

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

"If only life itself was as those li-- I mean, sweet things we both seem to enjoy, am I correct?"

It was a good thing that Amy was well practised enough that none of her frustration and disappointment showed on her face. The little git was beginning to try her patience with his apparent immunity to taking a hint.

Still, she could use this. Perhaps Axel still needed a little push after all. It just had to come courtesy of someone other than her. Before she responded to Jesse, she flashed a momentary, furtive glance over at Axel's table, pleading for rescue.

"Do breakfast condiments usually make for a successful ice-breaker, where you come from?" Amy answered, speaking low enough so that others could only guess their topic of discussion, but even so, making sure to lean on that last clause, hoping that the real meaning behind it hit home.

'I know what you are.'

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Finishing their meal, Viola hiccuped a few times whilst drinking some water, whilst her mother was clearing away the dishes. During the meal though, Evelyn had noticed that her daughter had that look on her face that said she had something to say. So after washing the dishes and letting them dry on the rack, she beckoned Viola into the lounge.

"So, why the long face then Viola?" Evelyn asked as she sat in the tall armchair, her hands resting in her lap.

"It's well two things really that I need to get off my chest. The first is that I haven't told you the whole reason as to why I'm back in town. Whilst taking a break from bounty hunting was a part of it, there was something else to it."

"And what was that other thing then?"

"It's a long story you see, and it involves someone I met, a guy to be exact, named Hannibal. Sweetest thing that there ever was, a little nervous around people, wasn't really fond of others touching him, but I got on well with him, we even became friends in fact; though I kind of saw him as a little brother. Taught him how to fight, how to stand up to people, tried to make him a better person you know. In only a week, I saw some real potential in him to be an upstanding gentleman. Seems as though it wasn't enough..." As Viola spoke, small tears began to form. She didn't want to tell her, but she felt it was the right thing to do.

"What happened?"

"He died mom, went out looking for someone, never came back. I wanted to go with him, but he said I'd attract the wrong sort of attention." At this point, Viola was slowly beginning to cry, which prompted Evelyn to go over and sit down next to her daughter and hold her hand.

"It's okay Viola, let it all out. You've been wanting to do this for a while now haven't you?"

"Yeah." Viola said in a brief moment. "You know what the funny thing is? I was actually going to bring him down here at some-point. Show him around town and all that, even introduce him to you. Think you would have liked him mom."

"Well, judging from your description from him, and how you've been raising him, think I would like him as well. What was the second thing by the way?" By now, Viola had managed to stop crying, wiping away what tears remained.

"I'm gonna be heading to Yuteni when my vacation here is over."

"And for whatever reason would you being going there then? You said it yourself it was mostly ruins. Besides, you've really only just got back."

"I know mom. And as for the why? To help out of course. Whilst I could very easily just stay here for the rest of my day's, just hearing about the troubles there made me realised that there is still calls for help going unanswered, and I intend to do what I can to assist, even if it's only a little." Viola responded, her voice filled with confidence once more.

"I see. You know you're more like your father than I first thought. He always tried to help in whatever way he could. You're quite the hero aren't you? I mean, you were trying to help make this Hannibal into a better person, and for all those Bandits you've been bringing in over the years."

"Me? A hero? Nah mom, I ain't no hero, just someone trying to do the right thing."

"Fair enough I suppose, perhaps the definition of hero, lies somewhere in-between. Whilst I give you permission to go, promise me you'll write home every once in a while, as I do get worried sometimes about what you get up to."

"I promise mom. Cross my heart that I shall write to you whenever it is convenient."

"Good enough then. Now, care for some coffee? You can tell me more about Hannibal then."

"Sure thing."

 

[ProtoChimp]

"An' you don' think there ain't a million bandits with bushy beards out there?"

"None as fly as mine." He replied, stroking his glorious beard.

"Sexist prick."

Aesop chuckled.

"Go wake up sleepin' beauty,"

"Aye aye Ginger." He said as he left, entering Cam's room, still wearing just a towel around his waist, she'd seen everything already.

"Hey Cam?" He said as he lightly shook her shoulder. "C'mon, we have a meeting-that will probably end up in a shootout-to go to."

 

[Terratina.]

"Do breakfast condiments usually make for a successful ice-breaker, where you come from?"

My, my, the woman was all fun and games, except without the fun. That had disappeared in a blink once Astor had gotten a taste of Amy, winning the battle of wills. It was a real shame the other, more feisty, women were absent. Nevertheless, this little game was adequate and somewhat of an inevitability. Easy charm had been his shield for a long time, it wouldn't fail him now. In response, Astor lent back, rested his arms on his head - smirk ever present - and gave a short chuckle.

"It was just to add some flavour to the conversation." 'Jesse' replied, "Or would you prefer to bicker about the prices of... certain goods?"