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

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler

Asad had left Elizabeth to get some rest, he needed to wash up and gather a few things, both for himself, and for Elizabeth.

It had felt like days since he last slept, thankfully he had always been very good at dealing with tiredness, however it was getting to a point were he'd need some shut eye soon or he'd start to flag.

'I'm not leaving her alone in that place, I'll hunker down in the chair if I have to.'

What was left of Elizabeth's blood swirled down the drain, the Major propped himself up against the wall by his hands, the hot water pouring over the back of his head and neck. The girl was strong, stronger than he thought, she deserved more respect than what she was getting, and if there was anything Asad admired, it was an indomitable underdog. Pushing himself away from the wall, the Major leaned his head back, mouth open as he gargled the water that poured unto his mouth, before spitting it over the drain.

At the moment, she was useless however, there was nothing she could do, she had already took a bullet for him, it was time he repaid the debt. He'd track down Monroe, find out what the held Lombardi had planned, and maybe with bit of skill, and a little bit of luck, he'd get Elizabeth out of this place. Reaching for the shower panel, Asad turned down the temperature, clenching his jaw and tensing the muscles in his back as the freezing water bit at him. After his shower, the Major packed himself a small bag of essentials, dressing in something a lot more casual, jeans, a white long sleeved linen shirt, and his boots.

Leaving the barracks, he made his way to Elizabeth's apartment to pick up the diary, as well as a few other things he thought she might be thankful to have. Dropping the bag of items on the couch, Asad walked over to the glass walls that overlooked the city. It was just starting to get light. Shoving his hands into his pockets, the man pulled out a pack of cigarettes he had bought from an all day and night store. He had smoked on and off since he joined the military, mostly down to either stress or being surrounded by others who also smoked.

This was a case of the former.

Typically alcohol was Asad's vice of choice, but he couldn't afford to have his mind dulled, not with so much riding on the line. Using an old battered Zippo lighter, Asad lit the cigarette, taking a deep drag before placing his hands in his pockets. Looking out over the city, the man furrowed his brow. His dad would be waking up around about now, he was always an early riser. Asad felt a pang of guilt, if he went through with this, what would happen to his parents, what if he and the girl made it out, but Basilio somehow survived, would they be at risk? Would they pay for his 'betrayal'? There were so many loose ends that needed tying up, he just just hoped nobody he cared for was hurt in the process.

Closing his eyes, a throaty chuckle escaped the man's lips, the cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. "I need to find out what a fox looks like." Puffing smoke from his nostrils, the Major picked up the bags on the sofa before heading back to the hospital.

 

[Terratina.]

"Why you gotta be like that? How 'bout we just actually talk, y'know? Instead of making moves and trying to get everybody's pants down..."

Sweet succor denied, he was brushed aside like an irritating speck of dust. How hurtful. Not to mention that 'Jesse' kinda wanted in on crazy, and possibly sex-filled, party shenanigans. Oh, and the sudden entrance of everyone's favourite thirteen-year-old certainly slew the possibly of anything happening. Could the day get any worse? Astor rubbed his head, maybe a nice chat was what he needed? Perhaps Gale's mystical Traveler ways had led her to that decision? Or the boy was full of shit and making up shit just to make the day seem better? Well, it hardly mattered; unhappiness was such an undesirable thing. Then it suddenly hit him: a quiet little chat together would be the perfect way to get some alone time with her! But her little friend was rather tenacious....

"Of course." 'Jesse' replied, "I wouldn't mind a quiet little chat, there's been enough chaos for me today anyway."

***​

Bryan was rudely awoken by the buzzing of the alarm clock on the coffee table. Opening one bloodshot eye, he brought his fist down on the snooze button hard enough to crack the glass over the display. The clock fell silent.

It was no use, though. The headache was on him. Rolling off of Tsubaki's sofa, he straightened up and shambled into the kitchenette. Digging out food and cooking utensils, he set about frying eggs and bacon. While that was cooking and making the apartment smell delicious, he emptied a can of food into Juncat's dish and poured some orange juice, adding a tot of vodka to his own. Then he started making coffee, pouring out two cups.

Putting Jun's food and drink on a tray, he carried it to the guest room and worked the door handle with his elbow. "Rise and shine, Moony, breakfast's on." Unable to remember much of the previous night, he registered mild disappointment that Jun appeared to be alone in the bedroom.

Bryan's words were met with a groan. Jun grimaced and raised his arm to his eyes as the open door let more light in. He felt awful. The taste in his mouth alone was enough to dissuade Jun from drinking heavily, or just drinking, ever again. The small little sips taken in the awkward lulls of conversation were deadly, and had they downed a bunch of shots as well? It wasn't clear. Nothing was clear in the haze the hangover brought. Nevertheless, Jun rose with zombie-like speed and sat down on the bed.

Bryan had to suppress a snigger at Jun's state as he set the breakfast tray on his lap. "Take it from an old pro, get that food down ya, and you'll feel better in no time," he said. Dragging a chair over, he sat down and speared some of the bacon with a fork and began feeding Jun.

'Feel better in no time?' That was what the doctors and nurses always said, and now Bryan was doing the same. If as being fed like a baby wasn't enough. Although Jun couldn't deny the greasy, crispy goodness being fed to him. A small comfort.

"So," said Bryan. "What actually happened last night? I don't remember shit."

Jun shook his head, his own recollection was hazy. He searched through his mind, trying to power through the wall of pain which blocked the way. It was way too early in the morning for an interrogation.

"We were in The White Lion, there were two girls..." He began, thinking it best to establish the basic facts and getting to the others later, if they didn't continue to evade his grasp.

"Oh yeah," Bryan replied. "What were their names again?"

Jun took a moment to let the half-remembered moment trickle down. S-something and the other had a name that began with... L? Sally, Samantha, Sarah, Sarah! That was it. The other girl's name soon followed.

"Sarah and Lisa?" Jun replied.

"Oh yeah," Bryan said, as he cut up the fried egg. "So how'd you get on with those two then, mate?"

"Fine." Jun muttered, not entirely content with the job of recounting everything about last night to Bryan. Best to get it done with, anyway.

"So, asked Bryan, taking a sip of coffee as Jun chewed his food. "I'm gonna be blunt. Did they screw ya?"

Jun mulled it over.

If something like that did happen last night, surely he would've remembered it? Yet there was nothing but the clink of glasses and meaningless chatter and... Well, it wouldn't be good to mention that. Everything was pointing to the negative. He swallowed the chewed food then sighed, lying wasn't worth it.

"No." He stated.

Fair enough," Bryan replied, as he finished feeding Jun. Straightening up, he turned for the door. "You'll get 'em next time. Let me know if you need anything, right? I'll leave the door open."

"Right." Jun responded. It was a small mercy that the conversation was ending then and there.

***​

"What do you think?"

Maria blinked, it was like a goddamn rainforest in there! So much green! At least there was the answer to the question of Ruffles's supplier. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that a huge amount of effort had been poured into the project. In order to other looking like an idiot standing there with her mouth agape, her reply was quick.

"Impressive. Very impressive." Maria said as she put her hands on her hips.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Did you sleep well?"

"Very well..." Florian snickered as Lilith's lips lightly brushed his neck. "Good thing I'm supposed to like the cold, because someone kept stealing the covers." He grabbed the leg Lilith had draped over him, running a hand up her thigh and pinching her ass. Just because. "We should have done this years ago." Florian smiled smugly, leaning against Lilith. He was still holding onto her leg and doing the only thing a man could do when holding onto the limb of a beautiful woman, playing air guitar on it. Florian leaned in to kiss Lilith again, he was still high on the sheer amount of pleasure and release of last night and the joy of waking up next to her like this. How long had it even been since he'd seen a naked woman, that wasn't an awkward moment with Pixie on her nudist days? Florian found his eyes wandering down to stare at Lil's breasts, he wouldn't be looking away in a hurry, not even while he was strumming out 'Smoke on the Water' on her thigh.

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

"I knew you wouldn't die!"

"I knew I wouldn't die too!"

Gale cried as she got a big chestful of Allie. True, she had just been thinking about minding her personal space but Gale had never been too proud to use double standards to her advantage. So what if her cleavage became the burrow for a pair of teeny fox cubs? There were worse fates.

"And you didn't blow us all up!" Pushing Allie's face out of her boobage. "Today is a good day!"

Jesse wasn't getting totally put off by the unfolding gal time though. "I wouldn't mind a quiet little chat, there's been enough chaos for me today anyway."

"Sure." Gale gave a little lopsided smile and nodded his way. She could at least give the guy a chance.

 

[Fappy]

Five days from today in Drasnia, that's when they'd hit the ship. After spending several hours analyzing the data, Bennie was certain it was their best option. Of course, he'd want a second pair of eyes to look over the data before he'd commit to it. Probably Whiskey's.

Leaning back in his seat, Bennie wiped some sweat off his brow and sighed heavily. He was feeling antsy. He'd planned plenty of scores on his own, but usually he was working alone or with a small group of mercenaries. This was different though. These were inexperienced kids and he was responsible for their safety.

This must have been what Cranston felt like back then...

Spoiler: Dance, Dance Baby

Forcing himself onto his feet, Bennie trudged out of his room and into the hall. He could hear the rhythmic thumping of dance music as it echoed down the hollow corridors of the Maiden. Despite himself, he followed its sweet siren song.

Bennie stood at the entrance to the mess hall, the heavy bass shaking his heart, and watched his new Maidens as they danced and drank and laughed together. It was more nostalgic than he'd anticipated. At times like this, Pixie would have been the center of attention. Maybe she'd be fully clothed, maybe not, but everyone in the room would be waiting their turn to grind up against her, even when she and Bennie were an item. Pixie was just like that. A little spitfire of a woman whose mere presence electrified the atmosphere.

He missed her so much.

Bennie couldn't help but smile at Sprout's awkward helplessness. Despite acting like a badass, it was clear he still had no idea what it meant to follow in his mother's footsteps. There he was, standing with his hands around Amy's hips as she writhed and gyrated against his pelvis, completely lost as to what to do.

Then there was Brock, partying with two young women on either side of him. Upon closer inspection, Bennie recognized them as the two girls he'd found on Austin's ship. They hadn't adjusted too well to their new home, but now... they looked genuinely happy. In fact, almost everyone did.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all, Amy.

Pouring himself some (likely spiked) punch, Bennie made his way over to Whiskey, who had been dancing innocently with her small daughter. Grinning, the big man looked to the little girl. "Mind if I steal your mom for a minute?" he asked her. His sunglasses off for once, Bennie very obviously gave the woman the once-over.

He couldn't remember the last time he danced.

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

Taking a breather, Sprout forced himself away from Amy's cute, little booty and went to get a drink. She was amazing and the Sprout had absolutely no hope of keeping up with her. Not that he even knew how to keep up in the first place. This was his mother's natural habitat, but he had to admit, he was intimidated. For all his talk, Sprout really didn't have a clue about this stuff. His previously simple concept of sexuality was expanding at an accelerated rate, and he was having a hard time processing it all.

Come on Sprout, stop beenin' such a god damn pansy. Yer Ma'd know what ta' do in this situation.

Sprout immediately regretted that thought.

Too busy scolding himself to notice her, Sprout bumped into the little redhead on his way over to the punch bowl. Looking down at Allie, Sprout winced. "Oh, sorry kid," he muttered. "I didn' see ya' there."

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

Asad had gone downstairs to wash up, leaving Elizabeth to watch the sun rise alone. He had drawn back the curtains just like she asked.

The shy fireball peaked its head over the horizon, basking the sterile room in its warm, orange light. Despite what had happened earlier, Elizabeth could still appreciate the simple beauty of such phenomenon. The sun was so far removed. It was infinitely powerful, and bowed to no one. It rose and fell across the sky, and would continue to do so regardless as to what happened on the surface of the Rock. It was free.

She envied it.

Though utterly drained, the wounded noble couldn't go back to sleep. In fact, she felt even more alert after the nurse administered a second dose of pain killers. Her wound was throbbing, but it didn't actually hurt that much anymore.

She'd already forgotten how it felt.

She'd survived being shot and stabbed; something few other nobles could boast about. Usually they had servants to take their injuries for them. When she thought about it, Elizabeth could hardly even call herself a noble anymore. It wasn't just because of her ideology, either.

A noble was defined by their power. Their ability to manipulate and control others. To live above them. Right now, Elizabeth was little more than a slave, whose influence only stretched as far as Asad's willpower allowed. Having the Major may have been something, but it wasn't enough. If she didn't escape this tower, she'd end up just like her sister sooner or later.

Elizabeth didn't have the strength to torture herself over such thing, however. No, her thoughts quickly found themselves somewhere else. Somewhere warmer.

She missed them gravely: her family, Josephine, Eddie, Cranston, Lilith, Sprout and Maria. For those that yet lived, she wondered where they were; what they were doing. She wondered if she'd ever see them again. Something told her she would. Something told her that she'd escape this tower and that she would avenge the fallen and reunite with those that remained. After all, she had learned a valuable lesson.

She learned, finally, that she could trust others again. After all those sacrifices made in her defense, Elizabeth had become obsessed with the idea of saving herself. She didn't want anymore people to die on her behalf. That mentality hadn't gotten her very far, however. Despite her strength, she would not survive this alone.

Asad was willing to help her and he was more than capable. He would survive this and he would remain at her side long after it was all over. She had to believe that.

Her distant, emotionless frown turned into a sad smile as the sun creeped higher over the horizon.

We can beat them, Asad. Together, we can beat anyone.

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

It was beyond late now. Tsubaki wasn't sure how long they'd spent together on that rooftop, but she had savored every minute of it. In her drunken stupor, she'd apparently poured her heart out to Merry, though she honestly couldn't remember all that was said. Still, Merry's smile was genuine and sweet, which told her that whatever she had said, it had struck a cord in her friend.

The two of them walked in the dark, together now, and finally stopped near the front gate of the tower. "Well, I aught to be heading back now," Merry told her. "I got a long day tomorrow and I am digging a hole deeper, and deeper the longer I stay out."

Tsubaki pouted. "Sad day," she said. "Well, I had a great time. Thanks for... well, listening to me and everything. I'm sure it got pretty annoying. Especially when... you know, in the bathroom."

Merry laughed and pulled the girl in for a hug. "Don't mention it sweetheart," she said. "You listened to me too. I really needed that. You're a good kid, Tsubaki."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Tsubaki concluded sadly.

Pixie kissed her on the cheek. "Goodbye for now," she corrected with a wink. "Now quit moping and get some sleep, okay? You've got work in the morning."

Tsubaki blushed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Good bye, Merry," she whispered sheepishly.

"Goodbye, Tsubaki."

After taking a few steps towards the checkpoint, Merry called out to the retreating soldier. "Hey Tsubaki, in that dream of yours... do you ever take that dive?"

Tusbaki turned her head and shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted, "I always wake up before I decide."

And with that, the two girls went their separate ways.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Mind if I steal your mom for a minute?"

Millie scrunched up her face. It was clear she wasn't really a fan of the idea. Whiskey crouched down beside her.

"Hey baby, what's wrong?"

Millie blushed a little. "Um... what do I do 'til you get back?"

"Well you could get a drink. And I'm sure someone will dance with you if you ask nicely. Brock uh..." she watched him, flirting with the two ex-Austinite girls he was with. "Looks kinda busy. But Amy loved spending time with you, and Talahassee looks bored. You could try cheer him up."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"Well I'll be back soon, Mil. It's just a quick dance. Besides, it'd be selfish of me to keep you to myself for the entire night. You put this shindig together, after all."

"Okay, mom."

Straightening up, Whiskey turned back to Bennie. "Alright, let's do this." As they moved away from her daughter, she smiled and said, "let's keep it clean, huh, big guy? My kid's watching."

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

"Impressive. Very impressive."

"I'm glad you think so," Ruffles said, grinning with a touch of pride. "I was hoping you could look after it for me while I'm gone. I can't exactly ask Allie to do it, she's thirteen."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Lilith pulled an unimpressed face as Florian recited classical music, using her appendages as instrumental stand ins. "I have made a terrible mistake." The girl said with a straight face as she grabbed Florian by the chin, brushing her lips gently against his. "This is the part where I make a joke about you playing other things like instruments, isn't it." She said matter of factly. "Well I'm not doing it, you're smug enough as it is." She smiled warmly as she wrapped her arms around the man's neck, resting her cheek against his.

"Thank you for last night, Florian." She mumbled gently into his ear as she nuzzled him. "I can't tell you how much fun I had." She sighed happily. "The only way this could be any more perfect was if I had some breakfast." She pushed away from the man playfully, putting her hands behind her head as she lay back on the pillow. "Maybe eggs?" She pursed her lips, shrugging her shoulders. "Just off the top of my head."


----------------------------

Allie was having a blast. Good music, okay food, terrible drinks. She got the feeling that alcohol was the beverage of choice, and as such, was the drink anyone actually brought to the party. Allie had to do with some crappy sodas, but hey, it was better than nothing! As the young girl headed over to the refreshments table, someone nudged into her.

"Oh, sorry kid, I didn' see ya' there."

"Who are ye calling 'kid'? You're only two years older than me, Sproot." Allie placed her hands on her hips, raising her chin to look up at the boy, she puffed up her chest. "It's a good job we're at a party, my otherwise assassin like reflexes are dulled, you coulda been a dead man."

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Thank you for last night, Florian. I can't tell you how much fun I had."

"Pretty sure I should be the one thanking you." Florian relinquished control of his new leg guitar so that he could wrap his harms around Lilith's waist. Lord she felt amazing.

"The only way this could be any more perfect was if I had some breakfast."

"Mhmm." He pulled her closer, brushing his lips against hers and getting warmed up for an early morning round. Only to find Lilith pushing him away and reclining like a lady of leisure.

"Maybe eggs? Just off the top of my head."

"Oh!" Florian pushed himself back, looking Lilith up and down in a look of pretend shock, he was still smiling like an idiot though. "Now the truth is out. Now it all makes sense."

The alarm sounded off again with a shrill flurry of beeps, demanding that Florian give it his full attention and tear his eyes away from Lilith's magnificent chest. ["Oh fuck off."] He grumbled as he turned away to smack the thing off.

"I'll see what I can do." He crawled back towards Lilith, giving her another kiss. "Good thing bandits like to sleep in." He copped another cheeky feel rolling off the bed and going in search of underwear.

It was a little bit later and Florian was going about the breakfast making business, happily humming away to himself as he played chef in nothing but his underpants. His other clothed were still basically wrecked. He was still finding it hard to care though. If possible he'd prefer if the two of them could just never put clothes on again. He'd spent so long covering himself up as much as he could in the sweltering heat of the maiden. It was nice to just feel the air on his skin in comfort.

"We are now almost out of eggs. Your greed know no bounds." He called though to Lilith as he finished things up. Eggs, toast and juice, so what if he was feeling a little lazy about the actual cooking. "IT's weird... thinking that we're going straight back to business after this now. Beating guys up doesn't seem as fun as it did before, not if we could just do this again." Florian caught himself there, toast half way to his mouth. "I mean... if you want to do this again, obviously." He mumbled off, blushing slightly.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler

Lilith's eyes lingered on Florian's rear as he slipped into some underwear and left the room. Groaning slightly, the girl bit her bottom lip as she lifted up the covers and looked down at her nakedness. "Good work guys." She mumbled with a grin on her face. "Especially you." she turned slightly, gently slapping her rear. "He really likes you."

Rolling out of bed, she got to her feet, wavering slightly. 'Oh shit, I forgot how to use my legs!' She almost giggled as she sat back on the bed. "Oh wow." She whispered to herself, eyes wide as she ran her hands through her messy hair. Eventually Lilith managed to to regain control of her lower extremities and slipped into some underwear and a vest. Heading into the bathroom, splashing cold water over her face, the girl looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't think I'll ever stop smiling like this." She mumbled to herself." Nodding solemnly she looked herself dead in the eye. "Nobody must know, Frostfall was terrible, the booze was terrible, everything was expensive, and I totally didn't hitch a ride to Poundtown on the fucktruck with Florian." She stared at herself for a few moments before the tell-tale smile curled her lips once again. "Shit."

"We are now almost out of eggs. Your greed know no bounds.

Drying up as she heard Florian call call out, Lilith headed for the kitchen, yawning loudly as she stretched her arms above her head.

"It's weird... thinking that we're going straight back to business after this now. Beating guys up doesn't seem as fun as it did before, not if we could just do this again."

Lilith sat down across from him on the small dining room table, taking a sip of juice as she looked down at her meal. She didn't remember liking eggs all that much until Florian came into her life.

"I mean... if you want to do this again, obviously."

Tilting her head slightly, Lilith reached across the table and placed her hand on top of his. "Why wouldn't I?" She asked as she lifted her fork to her mouth. "I mean, it's not like anyone else is gonna make me breakfast." She winked as a small smirk curled her lips. "God these are amazing." She groaned, squeezing Florian's hand. "I'll have to pay you back for these later." She said matter of factly, looking up at the man with a mischievous grin in her eye.

Florian had gotten his answer.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Almost everyone seemed to have got well into the party spirit, and Amy herself felt electrified, as she rang rings around Axel in the middle of the dance floor. Tonight, she'd swapped out her usual, cool blue colour scheme for a scarlet and yellow salsa dress, short of leg and low cut at the front, with many layers of flowing silk cascading from her waist down to below her knees at the back, turning every movement of her hips (laid bare by slashes in the sides of the dress) into a shimmering display of colour. Sleeves stretching from her fingers to her elbows, lethal heels, a ruby necklace, and a band of burnished red metal around her crown, that glowed under the lights like a blade fresh from a forge, were the finishing touches to the outfit. More bright red jewels were woven into her flowing, golden hair, and she had employed every ounce of her flair into her make-up. Starting just above her nostrils, two parallel lines of red ascended, thickening gradually, before covering her eyelids and the space up to her eyebrows, before tapering like a raptor's wings out towards her temples. More red covered her top lip, before stretching from the bottom down to her chin. The whole ensemble was opulent in the extreme; but, as she moved to the bass with an animalistic, a vixen's hunger in her eyes the whole while, Amy sold every ounce of it.

Her partner, however, while clearly enjoying the show, was having a hard time keeping up. Amy resolved to make it up to him later with something slower, where he could take the lead. Even then, Axel eventually had to ditch her in search of a drink (or possibly a cold shower) and Amy was left alone, pouting slightly. It was at that moment when she saw Bennie, seemingly initiating another chat-up session with his new flame.

'Typical! He's on my case about Axel, but he wastes no time pretending Pixie was never here for himself.'

At first, Amy had simply hoped that Bennie would stay well away from all of this, rather than give her another lecture. Now though, it was Amy who was inclined to drag him away somewhere quieter to have a word (she still hadn't had the chance to convey her displeasure about Bennie's use of Sandra). She was about to do just that, before she noticed Millie, now stranded on her own near the punch, and felt a pang of sympathy.

It would seem they'd both been ditched.

"Hey girl!" Amy called over the music as she made her way through the crowd. "How d'you like your party?"

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

It was Sandra, dressed elegantly in green, who spotted Talahassee skulking in a corner, after her current parter (she didn't quite know his name) had to make an emergency exit on account of having too much to drink. Making her way towards him, out of his line of sight, she tapped the bandit on his left shoulder, before appearing swiftly at his right.

"Not quite your scene?" she asked, with a slightly cheeky smile.

 

[Dogmatic99]

Florian shuffled antsily in his chair, feeling his heartbeat quicken just that little bit more at Lilith's words and the look she was giving him right now. They really should have done this sooner. In that moment Florian made a silent promise to make up for all this lost time. If God could be kind then they'd be able to finish things here, leave on a high note and get back to the maiden where they could make up for lost time, and then some. And the way Florian saw it, god owed him a little break round about now. Well for now he could enjoy being in Lil's scantily clad company without torturing himself with repression. After all, life was all about enjoying the little moments.

*A few hours and short shopping trip later*

The club was much busier than it had any right to be at midday but with the sudden unofficial change in regime the usual dens of scum and villainy had found themselves with a severely heightened status. Their owners, along with businessmen with sketchier standards, had been more than happy to take in the extra chances to line their pockets and flaunt their new status.

Erik had sent Alexei on ahead for them to help out with the negotiations, being a business owner himself now. The young barman spotted them easily enough, recognising Lilith from the brawl the other day and thanks to the... creative choice of clothes Lilith had gotten for Florian to replace his soaked ones. He'd laid off his usual eyeliner and makeup, just to make things a little easier with the fat ass in charge of this place. They were meeting a Boomhower mogal who was trying to move into the northern rackets so at least he he wouldn't recognise Florian. With any luck they'd be walking away with a lot of fresh funds at their back.

"We shouldn't be getting any trouble on this one, but a lookout never hurts." Florian said, turning to Lilith. "Keep us posted of any action on the floor." He tapped at his own earpiece, the same ones they'd used in their ambush. "And... y'know, be careful." He smiled a little awkwardly, uncertain of how he should handle things like this now they'd been, well, intimate. Mixing romance and business was fresh ground for him.

With a polite cough from Alexie the two of them disappeared down the back, leaving Lilith to stalk the club floor solo. Nightclubs always looked off during the day but this one had taken it to a whole new level. Apparently it was trying to morph into a gambling den and a black market bazaar. Groups of people gathered around, making deals, arguing and exchanging tons of money or cards or bags of things. Mostly in a language Lilith couldn't understand but it was very clear that none of this was kosher. But what did these people care? There was no one left to stop them any more. They could cut loose.
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The party was really hitting its stride right about now. Everybody was finding somebody and letting it all flow out in some way or another. It was a lot more techno than the parties Gale was used to back home. Usually some folks would have broken out the instruments, started up a good old song, sure there'd be booze but there's be a lot more passing around, a lot more stories going around, a lot more talking. This was all beats and grinding.

Not that gale was opposed to the occasional grinding. Just that seeing so many maidens all crammed into a room together like this suddenly reminded her of how few of them she actually knew. How many people here could she name? How many had she spoken to? awful lot of stranger round here.

'Come on girl, home is where you lay your head, no home sickness for wanderers, remember?'

But Gale had always been an emotional creature and besides this music was crappy. Maybe she'd just get out of here, not like anybody was waiting up on her. After one more cup of punch, that stuff was frickin' ambrosia.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"And... y'know, be careful."

"Aye, aye." Lilith smiled, casually saluting before the Florian and Alexe left the club floor. Glancing around the place, Lilith clicked her tongue as she began sauntering around. Peeking over a few shoulders at the blackjack tables, fighting an itch in the back of her mind, the girl pulled herself away. She was on the job after all. 'Is it too early to be drinking?' The answer to that question was always a resounding no. One wouldn't hurt.

Making her way over to the bar, she ordered a scotch on the rocks. Turning around, she leaned her back against the bar, reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her smokes and lighter. Lilith was on the look out for trouble, but in all honesty, she wasn't entirely sure what would be trouble in this place, clearly everything was illegal, despite her not understanding a thing anyone said. Places like this, they always had that same atmosphere, regardless of the language barrier. Lighting a smoke, she took a deep drag, the cigarette hanging loosely from her lips as she blew smoke from her nostrils. Handing the barman some carbon, Lilith took a sip from her drink, nodding her head approvingly. The good thing about black markets, was that the drinks were always good. Cradling the glass in her hand, she placed her arms on the bar, her hand hanging over the edge. Looking right at home, the girl happily puffed away and sipped her whiskey. Hopefully Florian would wrap this up quickly and they could go back to the apartment, the hint of a smirk curled the corner of Lilith's mouth. Gripping the cigarette between her teeth, Lilith brushed her hair from her eyes, her mind wandering as she thought of less professional things she'd rather be doing with the man.

 

[Fappy]

"It's a good job we're at a party, my otherwise assassin like reflexes are dulled, you coulda been a dead man."

"Is that so?" Sprout asked with a wry grin. When she first came aboard the Iron Maiden, Sprout couldn't stand Allie. She was small, loud and her accent was incomprehensible. Every time she opened her mouth it was like nails on a chalkboard.

Then again, she did have a natural disadvantage. Save for Millie, Allie was the youngest kid in the crew. It was no surprise that he'd find her annoying.

I wonder if they felt the same way 'bout me back then.

It wasn't too long ago that he'd been in her shoes. Sprout knew the feeling better than anyone.

Maybe he could afford to be a bit nicer to her.

"Yer cute when you act tough," the boy teased as he patted Allie's fluffy, red head. "I'll probably be shit-faced before too long, but if anyone gives ya' a hard time you can come find me, okay? I'll learn them one good fer ya'!" He flexed his bicep, kissed it and winked at her.

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

"Not quite your scene?"

Amused by her antics, Tallahassee offered a small smirk. "Well, ya' know, some of us are a bit old fer this scene," he replied, sinking deeper into the wall. "I like dancin'. I like booze. I like fuckin'. I ain't dead after all, but I ain't like Brock. I don' get riled up by teenage pussy. I've got some standards." He was looking at his meat-headed friend in the corner of his eye as he spoke.

"We used ta' get up to some crazy shit back in the day, but I reckon that's behind me now," he nodded in Bennie's direction. "I'm sure he feels the same way. I mean, these folks picked me up when I was nineteen, right after this whole rodeo got started. We were all lonely, lost kids jus' lookin' fer some love. As you can imagine, thin's got pretty weird."

He shrugged. "Now I'm thirty-one an' I'm standin' here lookin' at all these kids an' jus' thinkin', 'I hope they don' turn out like we did'," he said.

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

"... let's keep it clean, huh, big guy? My kid's watching."

Bennie laughed. "I'm a Carmine," he told her. "I know how to treat a woman right." Taking her by the hand, the big man led her to the center of the dance floor. Together, they began dancing to the trance-y beats booming out from the Maiden's loudspeakers. At first they simply danced side-by-side. Bennie's moves were easily the most impressive of all the other men on the ship.

This should have come as no surprise to those that knew him.

Despite his size, he was graceful, smooth and full of energy. The only constant Whiskey could keep a bead on was his purely white grin as he spun this way and that in a blur of black and grey. Eventually he took her by the hand and spun her around, something she was not at all prepared for. His arms crossed over her chest now, he pulled her into an embrace and looked down to meet her gaze. "Let me know if you need me to slow down," he said with a smug grin.

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

Tsubaki was wiped out.

Staggering into her apartment, the young soldier dropped her high-heels on the ground by the door and tossed her keys onto the love seat. She would have flopped right onto the sofa had an unconscious Irishman not been there already. Tsubaki smiled sadly. He really was a good guy. Why had she been such a ***** to him for so long?

Grabbing a blanket from atop the back of the love seat, Tsubaki covered him up and bent over to give him a warm peck on the cheek. "My Brybry," she cooed in a hushed tone. He didn't stir. Satisfied with her good deed for the day, the Commander stumbled into her bedroom and crawled under the covers. She wiggled out of her red dress and pulled the down-feather comforter tightly around her mostly-naked body for warmth.

She'd had a wonderful night. Merry was like no one she'd ever met in her life.

Tsubaki couldn't help grinning like an idiot as she nuzzled her pillow, memories of the day swirling around haphazardly in her mind. She just felt so... happy.

Then Jun Jr. showed up and everything was perfect.

After settling down in a nice warm spot on Tsubaki's hip, the small kitten fell fast asleep. The exhausted soldier wasn't too far behind.

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

Completely sober now, Pixie took extra care to avoid detection while retreating back to the safe house. She may have been recognized at some point that day and she couldn't risk leading any spies back home. Once back, Pixie swiftly crossed the dark, vacant living room and stepped into her bedroom. Cameron was noticeably absent. Perhaps she was spending the night with Aesop again?

Amused by the notion, Pixie wore a cheeky grin as she slipping out of her dress. She stopped before it was halfway down her back. "What is it?" she asked, no bothering to turn towards the door.

Carlos was there. "We need to talk, Meredith," he said.

"Yeah," Pixie said simply. She pursed her lips and looked towards the bathroom. "I'm gonna get cleaned up. We'll talk in a bit, okay?"

"Sure."

Once he was gone, Pixie locked the door and finished peeling off her cloths. She hated dresses. They always squeezed her in all the wrong ways. Though she'd always felt flying across the room in the nude was far more enjoyable than it had any right being, she wasn't really of the right mind to appreciate the act.

Her shower was brief and cold, and in no time at all she was stepping into the dark living room in nothing but a loose-fitting, grey tanktop and bright blue booty shorts. After quickly rubbing her hair dry, she tossed the towel back into the bedroom and plopped down onto the sofa.

Hugging her shins, Pixie rested her chin on her knees and looked to Carlos who was sitting in a chair nearby, smoking a cigarette. He held up the box. "You want one?" he asked her. Pixie nodded and caught the box when he tossed it to her. After flicking one out, she put it between her lips and lit it.

She took one deep drag and leaned her head back before blowing the smoke up into the air.

Thank God fer nicotine.

This was going to be a heavy conversation.

 

[Dogmatic99]

Spoiler: Hive of scum and club techno

Lilith took a long drag of her cigarette as she looked down at her cards. It had been an hour or so since Florian had left her to keep watch, and in classical Lilith fashion, she contrived a logical explanation as to way she should be playing cards instead. Something to do with blending in or something, social camouflage, whatever.

Arm draped over the back of her chair, one leg crossed of the other, Lilith nonchalantly glanced up at the others at the poker table. The game had attracted quite a crowd, Lilith was living up to her nickname, having won the last several hands. The bright light above the table struggled to even cut through the thick haze of cigarette and cigar smoke that clouded the game. Placing her cards face down on the table, Lilith slowly raised her glass of scotch to her lips as a small smile curled her lips. "Come on boys, I haven't got all day."

The collected players all looked down to their cards and back to Lilith, grumbling to themselves under their breath. It didn't help that most could feel the judging eyes of various unsavory characters watching them get their frozen asses handed to them by some fresh faced little girl from some farm dome or wherever they thought Lilith was from.

Eventually they bit the bullet, made their bets and called them in kind. The chips got shoved into the pot and... their hands were crap, compared to Lil's at least.

Turning over her winning cards, Lilith chuckled as she leaned forward and began pulling the heap of chips towards her. "For moi?" The girl's grin widened. "Man, this is great, everything is so much cheaper here, it's like I'm winning twice!" One of the brutes growled at her, a clearly unimpressed expression creasing his brow. "Don't be like that." The girl pouted. "I'm just having a lucky day is all, I'm sure someone else will win the next hand for sure." Lilith smirked as she leaned back in her chair. "You blokes in, or what?"

"This is bullshit!" One of them spat, making himself all too easy for Lilith to understand. "Nobody's that lucky or that good! Cyka is cheating."

That riled a few of them up plenty. the crowd around them began to talk among themselves as suspicious looks got thrown Lil's way. True or not the losers were more than happy to grab a chance to get their lost carbon back. Various remarks and insults got thrown around the place as everyone started talking over each other, a few of them in words Lilith could understand.

"Check her pockets!" People were closing in as more of them rose from their seats, looking at Lilith like they meant to cause the kind of trouble she was more than used to. Her lead accuser was still at their chair on the far end of the table, egging on the larger players.

'Oh bollocks.' Over the years, Lilith had grown attuned to the attitude of a gambling crowd, even if she didn't understand everything that was being said, she knew things were going very sour, very fast. "Gentlemen, let's not be too hasty here!" Lilith chuckled nervously as she held up her hands innocently. "Surely civilised men such as yourselves don't believe me capable of cheating!" She shook her head incredulously. "You'd have to have a death wish to cheat in place like this!" She didn't put much faith in her words diffusing the situation, however.

That didn't seem to be the way of things as the nearest bruiser started getting physical and the runt in a tatty suit who started this whole mess started motioning for others at the back of the room to get involved. these ones looked like they'd come prepared to get rough with people, each one wearing their weapons plainly on their person.

"Whoa there, big guy!" Jumping to her feet, Lilith shoved away the bear of a man. "Keep your cuntin' hands to yourself, I haven't done nothin' wrong!" She growled. Talking nicely wasn't going to work it seemed.

'Time for plan B'

"How the fuck could I cheat? we're surrounded by people!" Looking around the table, the girl sneered. "You!" She thrusted out her hand, pointing at the scrawny gangster who started the accusations. "You've lost the most so far, of course you'd fucking accuse me of cheating, I didn't realise hardened criminals were such bad fucking losers." Clenching her jaw, Lilith glanced around as the crowd became even more unsettled. "It makes fucking sense don't it?" She narrowed her eyes as she glanced at one of the men who seemed unaffiliated with the men who had accused her. The man averted his eyes, hunkering down in his chair slightly. Clearly he wanted nothing to do with the situation. "Tch, fine then." The girl scoffed, clearly she wasn't going to make any allies here.

Those that could understand her properly started looking over at her lead accuser, smirks and jeers started popping among the crowd as the spectators enjoyed the show unfolding in front of them. Others at the table hunkered down, huffing and puffing as they resigned themselves to this cluster fuck. Then someone started yelling over all the others, something in northern that to Lil sounded like he was talking at a hundred words a minute. It took a second to realise that he was pointing at the ear piece that, from a certain angle, poked out from behind her hair.

Then things started to go a little crazy.

Lilith felt someone behind her move her hair, before she could even respond, the ear piece Florian had given her had been tossed onto the poker table. 'FUCK!' The girl's eyes widened as everything got very claustrophobic all of a sudden. "I can explain that!" She held out her arms. "My friend is here on business, I was on watch!" Lilith swept her arm wide. "There's like five guys there with the same fucking mic!" She shouted as the crowd parted slightly to reveal the confused looking men. A couple of them shrugging their shoulders. The huge bruiser leered over her as he took a step forward, cracking his knuckles. Lilith's expression hardened, her stance shifting as she pushed aside her coat to reveal her revolver. "One more step, tough guy." The girl sneered. The huge man chuckled as he glanced over at his scrawny boss for approval. The man nodded, muttering something unintelligible.

"Not so fast!" Lilith called out, shaking her head as the bruiser took another step towards her. "I... I..." She bit her bottom lip as she struggled to think of how she could get out of the ever more dire situation she found herself in.

'Plan C!'

"My... my honour has been called into question!" The girl proclaimed clearly as she thrust out a hand towards the skinny lead man. "I...er..." She fumbled around in her coat pocket. "God I hope this works." She mumbled to herself as a nervous chuckle escaped her lips. Tossing one of her gloves onto the poker table, the woman laughed triumphantly "Aha! That's right tough guy, me and you, let's do this, right now!" She could take him, she could easily take him, the man didn't look like he had a shred of muscle on him!

The circle went quiet for a moment. All of them looking at Lilith as she went on her strange, half understandable tirade. If they didn't understand her before then the glove sealed it. The only thing that broke the awkwardness of it all was an unseen watcher going, "OoooOOOooohhh!" Then everyone else joined in as they looked at the rat of a gangster as his mind raced for what to do next. He looked to what must have been his men and then started to call over their heads to someone unseen. No one bothered to translate for Lilith what was being said.

The room went quiet again except for the sound of footsteps coming over from the far side of the room. The crowd parted around the wannabe don as a pair of bandits, each one at least a head taller than their employer moved to flank the table.

One of them was a classic bandit, tanned from the suns with skin like old leather and a shaved head. He had a goatee that was threatening to become a real beard and a long scar running over his left eye. He hadn't bothered with an eye patch, leaving the mangled white marble on show for all to see.

The other seemed shorter at a glance until Lilith realised he was just slouching worse than Sprout. He had a wild, tangled mess of dark grey hair and bloodshot eyes. he may have been the second palest person in the room after Lilith herself.

Everyone started backing away like their lives depended on it now and the two of them started bickering among themselves like old housewives, letting any air of menace they'd had before drop. Their boss seemed to be trying to reign them in but they were having none of it as the three just talked over each other in classic Frostfall fashion. Though in his defense the pale really just offered nods and grunts. It took Lilith a moment to realise what they were doing between gruff comments. The two of them were playing rock, paper, scissors. They kept getting draws for the first three times until the albino cut up scar faces paper.

After some grumbles and jeers scar face gave up on his protests and stepped forward, casually placing a hand under the table and flipping it to the side. "I don't like to hurt pretty things." He said, casually dropping his coat to the floor. "But this is just business now, so we just go to first blood, okay? Then we can be friends."

'Ah shit.' Lilith had forgotten that duels could be delegated to someone else. She had been lucky in that regard at least, no way did she like the idea of fighting the bruiser.

"So how we doing this?" Lilith muttered as she lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag, ignoring the man's poor attempt at flirting.

"Bleach!" Her opponent yelled. At that signal the albino squatted down like some animal ready to pounce and pulled a sheathed machete from behind his back. With surprising precision he slid it across the floor where it came to a halt at Lilith's feet. Scar hand drawn his own hefty combat knife and was swirling it through the air in front of him. "When you are ready."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler

Florian had all but zoned out over the course of the meeting. Alexei was there to deal with the technical side of things, he was there to be menacing and drop some nasty looks to make sure the stetson wearing fatso they were dealing with knew they meant business. Easier said than done thanks to the bright tropical shirt Lilith had gotten him to replace the one she'd murdered in a fit of passion.

Now there was a memory he'd happily drift off into. No such luck though as the sound from the club floor slowly grew louder, forcing it's way out of the background. What was going on down there?

Florian excused himself and took a few paces away from the meeting to the far side of the office. "Everything okay down there, Lil?" He whispered into his comm. No answer. "Lil?"

He made his way out onto the pseudo balcony overlooking the dance floor. ["Oh sweet Christ!"] Florian gawked as the fight unfolded in front of him. How long had she been on her own!?

Lilith learned very quickly that 'first blood' actually meant 'first blood with whatever weapon had been selected for the duel because reasons'. Panting, as the scarred man circled around her, Lilith spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground before wiping her busted lip on her bare arm; She had removed her coat, scarf, and shirt, down to her vest.

"Good punch." The girl mumbled, a small smile curling her lips. As the man made a full circle around her, Lilith rushed forward, deflecting a high slash from Scar Face with her own blade, quickly tossing the knife into her left hand she buried her right fist into the man's gut as he recoiled from the deflection. Following through, Lilith kicked the man's left leg from underneath him, bringing him down on one knee, his face becoming well acquainted with her knee as he was sent sprawling backwards over the dance floor.

A huge grin on her face, Lilith twirled the large blade in her hand with a flourish. "Picking a knife fight, huh? Just who the hell do you think I am?!" The girl cried as cheers erupted around her. Flicking her thumb across her nose, she held the knife out in front of her, pointing it at her recovering adversary. "I was taught by the best, cyka!"

["What the hell is even happening?"] Muttered Florian as he paced the balcony trying to get a better view of things. Who would even bother to try and start a fight like this here of all places?

The crowd had all but scattered to the edge of the room and cheered for each fighter to fuck the other up even more. Lilith seemed to be getting the upper hand. 'Finish it. End it and get out, don't let him get up.' Florian continued to fret. But she let him get up anyway, going by Lilith's battle-cry it sounded like she was quickly finding an appreciation for the duellist culture. Now was a bad time though, as Florian noticed the mess of grey and that was circling the fight like a hungry cat.

'Couldn't be.' It had to be. Even from here Florian could recognise the mad bandit. But did that make the dark brute Lil was fighting... ["Oh shit."] Lil had let him get up and Florian caught a glimpse of the tell-tale scar and the blur of white that was once the man's eye.

"Lil, you need to get out of there, that's White Eye, do NOT let him recover! Cut him and get out!" Was this stupid ear piece even working?

On the floor Lilith had found herself on the back foot. White Eye wasn't holding back now, launching a flurry of attacks with more speed than someone of his size would have been expected to posses. No more cocky grins or back talk now, he was the picture of neutrality, with all his focus pinned on cutting up Lilith.

Lilith ducked and weaved around Scar Face's quick strikes, staying light on her feet as she momentarily skipped out of the man's reach. "Why do I always end up fighting guys with one eye?" the girl chuckled breathlessly. As the scarred man closed the gap once again, stabbing his blade towards Lilith, the woman deflected several blows with the edge of her own knife, the crowd growing increasingly louder with every attack the girl parried.

With a roar, Scar Face slashed at Lilith's side with a powerful swing, the girl managed to block the attack, but the awkward angle forced the weapon from her hand, sending it skittering across the dance floor. Barely giving the audience time to react at this turn of events, Scar Face thrust his blade towards the girl's face. Sidestepping the attack, Lilith palmed the man's arm away from her, using the same hand she delivered a fierce backhand across the man's face. Scar Face cried out in frustration, taking a few steps back as he cupped his one good eye. The crowd cheered even louder, the noise was deafening.

Quickly brushing her hair from her face as she panted, Lilith glanced over at her knife on the opposite side of the dance floor. Scar Face had the same idea, glancing at the blade too, as he took a few steps to the side, he placed himself between it and Lilith. "So it's gonna be like that, is it?" The girl chuckled breathlessly, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her wrist. Straightening her back, she hopped in place, shaking her hands loosely by her side before resuming her stance.

"Come and get me, ****." Lilith smirked as she winked cheekily at Scar Face. Silently the man charged towards her, stopping short as he swung his blade at her mercilessly. What was a first blood scenario, was very much a fight for her life at this stage, any one of the man's attacks could very quickly put her in the ground if they connected. Moving backwards slowly as she evaded the man's attacks, she frantically looked for an opening. Scar Face was getting tired too, and began overextending, until one of his attacks went wider than he could have intended. Not wasting the opportunity, Lilith stepped under the attack, grabbing hold of the man's wrist she thrust her knee into his gut, and then again, and again, until he relinquished his grip on the knife. As it began tumbling from his fingers, Lilith used her free hand to snatch the blade as it fell.

Releasing the man, she quickly hopped backwards, slashing the knife upwards across Scar's Face's cheek. A tiny knick in comparison to the one across his eye, but enough to make his name even more fitting.


White Eye recovered from his knock back and readied himself to charge in again, ready to wreck her shit up and just overpower this girl and show her who was boss. That was, until he got cut off by his grey haired friend as he called out to him. The fight stopped as the two of them exchanged words in front of the audience and White eye reached up to his face. He looked down at his hand as it came away with blood on his fingers.

He said something to his friend who chuckled back at him, holding his hand up and making the universal sign for small with his fingers. White eye slowly turned his head as he looked at Lilith in disbelief. "Ha." He laughed calmly, and then again and again as the momentum built up and it seemed like he was about to bust a rib, all his anger from the moment was gone. even grey seemed to be lending Lilith a light round of applause.

"The kid's alright!" White eye cheered over to Lilith. His boss seemed to deflate as everyone stopped caring what he thought. White Eye scooped up some of the discarded carbon from the ground and waved for Lilith to join him and Grey. "Come on! Drinks on me!"

Above them, Florian was resting his head on the safety rail, letting out a massive sigh of relief. ["Oh thank god."] She was okay. That's what was important. He hadn't noticed yet that Lil wasn't getting out of there.

Still unsure whether it was safe to let her guard down, Lilith glanced around her as several people patted her on the back. "I won?" A wide smile formed on the girl's face as Scar Face gestured for her to follow him to the bar. "Florian was right." The girl's eyes widened in awe as Scar Face slammed a bottle of hooch down in front of her. "Duels are the best thing ever!"

 

[Terratina.]

"I was hoping you could look after it for me while I'm gone. I can't exactly ask Allie to do it, she's thirteen."

"Sure, but I can't say I'm much of a gardener." Maria laughed, afterwards, she tapped her nose, "I can keep it a secret, though, that I can do."

***​

The party had started before any meaningful conversations could get off the ground, a shame. At least the Maidens didn't even bother with a façade of respectability and cut straight the chase. This was supposed to be his natural habit, where he could show off his moves and get the girls. However, there was a punch bowler hogger on the loose! Walking up the her with all of the swagger in the world, he tapped Gale's shoulder.

"Not feeling it?" He smirked, "C'mon, how much punch have you guzzled?"

 

[Fappy]

The dim moonlight bathed the room in an eerie blue glow. Pixie watched as the smoke hung in the air, lingering in a shaft of light shining through the window. She'd nearly finished her first cigarette before either of them made a peep. "It was me," Carlos finally said, ending the awkward silence. "After the heist I contacted Contessa and told her where you were taking the money."

"I already figured that much out," Pixie admitted, still looking at the ceiling.

Slouched forward in his chair, Carlos parted his hands and shrugged. "Why am I still alive?" he asked.

"Is that what ya' want?"

Carlos didn't respond to that.

Pixie leaned forward and snubbed out the butt of her cigarette before lighting a second one. With one arm draped over the back of the sofa, she took a drag and scratched her forehead with the back of her thumb. "Tell me about it, Carlos," she told him. "I wanna understand this hell I've put you through."

The thief scowled. "Proud of your work?" he accused.

"I don' blame you fer thinkin' that way."

"You're a woman who gets off on violence," Carlos said. "For you, killing offers a kind of ecstasy nothing can match. Taking the life of another in your hands and extinguishing it... it reminds you that you're not weak. It makes you forget, if just for a moment, about that powerless little girl you once were. Try as you might, no amount of fucking can compete with that kind of catharsis." Pixie could see the pain in his eyes as he continued. "I did something terrible to you. I would be a fool to think I could escape your retribution, but I never imagined how slow my death would be. Tell me there's at least a small part of you yet remaining that enjoys all this. Please... tell me that all of this wasn't in vain."

Pixie was finding it difficult to keep her eye on Carlos'. "Carlos," she whispered, "you still love me, don't you?"

"Fuck you, Pixie!" Carlos sneered. "Stop fucking playing games with me! Either kill me or let me go!"

Pixie shook her head. "Killin' ya' now would make these last ten years utterly meaningless," she explained. "It's kinda fucked up ta' let you live as a husk of yerself fer all this time only ta' end it before you can reconcile what happened."

"There will be no reconciliation for either of us, Meredith," Carlos claimed. "We're both too far gone for that now."

Spoiler: Reconciliation

'Coming up here reminds me that I am fighting for men and women just like me. Human beings who fuck up. They fuck up so much, and they don't deserve forgiveness, but you know, I think they do...'

'There are so many people I can't forgive, no matter how hard I try. Whether they deserve it or not is not for me, or anyone else to decide. In the end, the only one whose judgement really counts is your own.'

"Why did you rat us out to Contessa?" Pixie asked, seemingly changing the subject.

Carlos' expression softened. "I..." he trailed off, unsure of how to answer. "I thought I was protecting you. Contessa is the most dangerous woman in the world. She would have come after you had I not acted."

"You fuckin' idiot," Pixie muttered before taking another drag. "Why do you still fuckin' care? Why the fuck do you still want to protect me, after everythin' I've done to you?!" Now Pixie was the one getting flustered.

"Because I fucking have to!" Carlos spat. "Leaving me alive all these years... making me relive the guilt and the pain every time I see my own body... what else do you expect me to do?! I'm a child a prayer, Meredith! I am beseeching my God with everything I have to end the pain! If I can't be forgiven, why can't I at least find peace in death?!"

"You can, Carlos," she replied. "All this time, what was stoppin' you from blowin' yer own brains out?!"

Carlos bowed his head in utter defeat. "I can't do that," he admitted. "I can't end it without clearing my conscience. You need to be the one to do it."

Pixie chuckled quietly and shook her head in disbelief. "You fuckin' idiot," she repeated. "You sold me out so I'd kill you, didn' you?" Carlos didn't reply. "Look, I ain't gonna kill you. I want to, sure, but I also want to forgive you. Thin' is, I don' reckon I can do either of those thin's. I ain't strong enough, Carlos."

"Every fucking day," Carlos muttered. "Every fucking day I live with this guilt tearing me up inside. Do you know what that feels like?!"

"More than you know," Pixie told him.

Carlos sprung to his feet, balling his hands into fists. "If you know, then why don't you just do it?!" he pleaded. "Just fucking end it! Please! I can't keep fucking living like this!"

The former bandito watched curiously as Pixie flicked her cigarette into the ashtray, got to her feet and crossed the gap between them. She stopped directly in front of him. In all the years that had gone by since that fateful day, she'd never come this close to him voluntarily. A profound guilt gripped his heart as he looked at her. She was trembling, not out of despair, but out of fear. After all this time she was still afraid of him.

He was afraid of her too.

"Yer still a coward, jus' like you were back then," Pixie remarked. "Carlos, you wan' my forgiveness, but what about you? How can you forgive me fer what I've done to you?"

Carlos shrugged. "I guess I still haven't either," he admitted.

"I'm sorry," Pixie whispered in a weak voice.

"I don't know..." the thief began with a furrowed brow. "I don't know if I can accept that, Meredith."

Pixie averted her gaze. "That's okay," she said, clearly trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him. "You don' need my forgiveness, Carlos. Frankly, I don' know if I'll ever be strong enough ta' reconcile what you did ta' me, but that don't mean you can' forgive yerself."

Carlos grit his teeth, fighting back the urge to sob. "I'm a worthless fuck-up. Whether or not I can forgive myself is meaningless," he croaked. "I love you, Meredith. I always have and I always will. If you can't forgive me, I'm better off dead."

"I'm so sorry," Pixie reiterated, tears standing in her good eye. "I can' do that, Carlos."

"THEN KILL ME!" Carlos shouted as he reached forward. Pixie's whole body stiffened at his touch. His hand around her throat, Pixie involuntarily grabbed his hand and grit her teeth. Instead of countering his assault in the dozens of ways she knew how, she simply stood there quivering in fear. "DO IT! DO IT, GOD DAMMIT!"

He was desperate now. Short of sexual assault, Carlos was doing whatever he could to facilitate his own death. It may as well have been suicide, but in his current state he clearly couldn't make that distinction. Pixie couldn't move, however. She didn't retaliate or reach for her weapon. Whether from guilt or fear, or a combination of the two, Pixie found herself unable to free herself from his grasp.

As the color began to drain from her face, she kept her eye on Carlos'. He watched in horror as he slowly suffocated the woman he loved, hoping she'd finally strike him down. "F-f-fuck," he stammered as he desperately searched her fearful expression. Then finally, he gave in. Releasing her from his hold, he caught her in his arms as she staggered forward, unable to keep herself on her feet.

He was bawling into her shoulder now. "I'm sorry," he cried. "I'm so fucking sorry." Pixie didn't respond as they dropped to their knees and he continued to cry.

Her hands still trembling, she brought them around the back of his head and pulled him into a weak embrace. As much as she wanted to, Pixie prevented herself from sobbing. She needed to be the strong one for once. "We done some fucked up shit to each other, Carlos," she told him as he continued to sob. "I don' know if I can ever forgive you fer what you did, but I can 'elp you fergive yerself. You an' me ar' gonna kill Dio an' save Cranston, okay? If that doesn' free you from this guilt I'll give you what you wan', an' I'll make it quick."

Carlos sobbed more violently now. "Hey, I wan' you ta' know somethin'" she whispered, forcing his eyes on hers. "I didn' let you suffer all this time 'cause I wanted to. I don' get any pleasure in watchin' you wither away."

"Then why?" Carlos croaked.

Pixie smiled sadly. "I'm a coward too," she told him. "I loved you, an' I couldn' bring myself ta' do what I should'a done from the start. If you fight with me, I'll correct that mistake if you want me to, okay?"

The wounded thief nodded. "Okay, Meredith," he agreed. "Anything for you."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"I'll probably be shit-faced before too long, but if anyone gives ya' a hard time you can come find me, okay? I'll learn them one good fer ya'!"

Allie stuck out her tongue in mock disgust at Sprout's display cringey display of manliness. "I dinnae need your help!" The girl pouted as she put her hands on her hips. Still, it was the thought that counted. "So, nice party huh?" She smirked as she glanced at all the pubescent frolicking. "I err, I heard Blondie, left, shame she isn't here, I would have liked to see her drunk, seems like the type to get a bit handsie." Allie chuckled as she groped the air. "Have you heard anything from her?" The girl's face softened. "Gale was only gone a few hours, and I was worried sick." She laughed nervously as she held her hands behind her back.

 

[The Funslinger]

"How d'you like your party?"

Millie smiled. "It's really cool!" she said. "But... it'd cooler if there were other kids here." Glancing over at the drinks table, Millie saw Allie. Grinning, she tapped Amy on the knee, and said, "her hair is funny!"

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

"Let me know if you need me to slow down."

Whiskey laughed. "Don't get cocky, kid," she said, quoting some old movie. With that, she upped the pace, dancing under the arm Bennie had around her, standing with her back millimeters from his chest before twirling away, wiggling her hips and gyrating provocatively when she was sure the unwanted pair of eyes weren't on her.

"If you go this slow the entire night, I might fall asleep," she quipped.

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

"I can keep it a secret, though, that I can do."

"That's good," replied Ruffles with a chuckle. "If the Maidens knew where this was, I'd get cleaned out every time the shit grew back. And being in a bandit crew means everybody knows how to pick locks." He gestured at the converted wall panel door to make his point.

"Anyway," he said, picking up the electromagnet to guide the door and bolt back into place. "Let's go check out this party I've heard so much about. I might even ask you to dance."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"her hair is funny!"

"Hey now, it's rude to stare." Amy replied, before grinning and winking at Millie. She had to admit, from a distance Allie could be mistaken for a stick of orange candy floss.

"Come on." she said, taking her little partner's hand. "Let's go have some fun."

A few minutes later...

"This game is called Beer Pong." Amy announced to Millie, who was once more riding on her shoulders, as she stood at one end of the table, a flat triangle of glasses laid arranged before her. "Each person takes turns to throw the ball, and tries to get in in the other person's glass." She gestured down the table, to where another Maiden had the same arranegment. "If they do, the other person has to drink that glass. Now, your mom probably wouldn't like me getting you to drink beer, but if you like, you can throw the ball for me."

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

"I don' get riled up by teenage pussy. I've got some standards."

"Sure." Sandra tried not to give away a twinge of disappointment. Perhaps it would be best if she didn't mention her exact age.

"'I hope they don' turn out like we did',"

"Well, I guess it's your job to nut up and stop us all from making the same mistakes." Sandra replied with a cheeky smile "But, for what it's worth, I think we could all do a lot worse. You're the people who came and saved us, after all, even when you had more reasons to just walk away..."

A few moments of silence followed, as Sandra stared awkwardly at her feet.

"Thing's got pretty messed up today, didn't they?" she spoke up "I've been replaying it over and over, trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done, in the moment, to keep things under control. I can't come up with anything, but even so, I feel like such an idiot for just standing there... How long did it take you, before you felt like you had a handle on all this stuff?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Blame the Thread Display Hamsters.