05-29-2018, 09:07 PM
“This one is far too bold.” One of the three men spoke up. He was an exceptionally older man, whose age showed clearly through a weathered voice, wrinkled face, bent nose, and silver gray hair. Though, with how he emphatically waved his arms as he spoke, and often times stood up to pace at every pause given in the conversation the three were in, she was convinced he never saw himself as a day over sixty.
The other two that sat at the small table in the darkened room, watching through the viewscreen as Jaixe conversed with the holographic “Inkeeper” maintained their silent ponderance of the deal just offered them.
“He’s bluffing, he can’t take an entire apartment building of thugs and hired guns on his own! He needed the Empire to even take on Jackie! Do you know what he brought? An entire platoon of Stormtroopers! A platoon!” He continued, standing quickly and slamming his fist on the table,
“How can he expect to take on half the underworld on his own when he can’t even take on Jackie without help?”
The second figure held up his hand, a sign the elder took to reseat himself.
“It isn’t wise to be so active at your age, Three.” The second man spoke calmly, his voice akin to silk against the almost eternally winded elder’s. His features were hidden behind a black mask, however, and only his eyes peered through, their emerald green piercing those he witnessed.
“Tch.” The elder responded, vainly attempting to stifle his heavy breathing.
A moment passed before the second man looked at the first, sitting at the head of the table. She was beautiful in her young age, with a slender, curvaceous form, form-fitting dress, and soft, deep blue eyes. Those same eyes looked back at the second man, as she held her hands folded in front of her, hiding a soft smile.
“Tell me, two, do you think the same of this creature?” She asked of him in a soft, almost singsong voice.
The second man nodded, his eyes losing some of their sharpness as she spoke to him. He hummed for a mere moment, but he likely already had an answer prepared for her before she even asked. He simply put on a game to hear her voice, or so she figured.
“A Prime is always more than just capable, it wouldn’t be wise or prudent to underestimate him. And while I loathe the overconfident types, he also seems the type to have more than one card to play,” He started, turning back to the viewscreen at Jaixe, who waited patiently, staring down the Innkeeper with a cool gaze that seemed to penetrate through the screen and into each and every one of them. She found them strangely alluring, personally, but it was hard to say what the others thought.
“Truthfully, leaving him empty-handed may be the more dangerous path to take. Though, accepting his awfully brazen proposition is hardly my idea of a fair trade, given the risks. Still, the choice is yours, One. You seem rather taken with the man, after all.”
She dropped her hands and simply smiled at him at the last comment, offering no response or rebuttal. Many men often fascinated her, though most for but a few moments at a time. Jackie was once one of those men, but that flame burned out long before his fate caught up with him. Truly troublesome, that one… Though, maybe this Jaixe will prove to be less brawn and more prudence.
---
“You play a dangerous game, Mr. Furiael,” The Inkeeper finally spoke up, her face softening and her frown subtly transforming into an almost devilish grin. It wasn’t a face, or really the kind of response that Jaixe expected.
“And you play it boldly, but with at least a touch of intellect. You are much like Jackie and his brother were when they were in this office, offering a similar proposal. However, they failed to commit, as well as meet their obligations to me. Now you, the one that killed them, are saying that you can fill in their role?”
Jaixe hummed, that wasn’t an outright refusal, but it wasn’t acceptance either. Perhaps he overplayed his hand?
“I would prefer if you did not compare me to a dead man and his broken sibling. If they failed, it was simply because they either chose not to oblige, or were too incompetent to meet your standards, much less save themselves from death and destitution. They betrayed your freely given trust. I did not ask for your trust, however, and I care little for it. I would ask for your resources in exchange for my services. Be that a onetime occurrence or a long-lasting relationship, that choice is yours to make.”
Jaixe responded with a steely resolve, and truthfully, he was insulted to be compared to that brute and his dimwitted brother, as well as being tested in this way. This Inkeeper seemed conflicted with herself, and that took irritated him. She lacked decisiveness, and instead applied too much caution.
“You must be new, to not understand that the game here is played best when you both trust and suspect those closest to you. Ah well, it must be rather symbolic that the old tyrant would be replaced with brash new talent. Very well, Mr. Furiael, you may have what you need…” The Inkeeper stood up quickly, gazing over to the two guards, the hologram flickering as she did so. Her grin turned into a smile, and her hologram flickered again, more noticeably this time.
“If you so want to prove yourself, Heartless, then we shall see if you can topple this fortress so easily,” She spoke sharply to Jaixe, as the lights flickered and shut off, quickly followed by her hologram dissipating. At the same moment, Jaixe heard the two simultaneous thuds hit the ground behind him.
“Very well then,” Jaixe smiled, as the two bodies began to smoke and fade, his orange eyes glowing dimly in the darkened room as he gave instructions telepathically to the two Heartless behind him, “Let us play.”
The other two that sat at the small table in the darkened room, watching through the viewscreen as Jaixe conversed with the holographic “Inkeeper” maintained their silent ponderance of the deal just offered them.
“He’s bluffing, he can’t take an entire apartment building of thugs and hired guns on his own! He needed the Empire to even take on Jackie! Do you know what he brought? An entire platoon of Stormtroopers! A platoon!” He continued, standing quickly and slamming his fist on the table,
“How can he expect to take on half the underworld on his own when he can’t even take on Jackie without help?”
The second figure held up his hand, a sign the elder took to reseat himself.
“It isn’t wise to be so active at your age, Three.” The second man spoke calmly, his voice akin to silk against the almost eternally winded elder’s. His features were hidden behind a black mask, however, and only his eyes peered through, their emerald green piercing those he witnessed.
“Tch.” The elder responded, vainly attempting to stifle his heavy breathing.
A moment passed before the second man looked at the first, sitting at the head of the table. She was beautiful in her young age, with a slender, curvaceous form, form-fitting dress, and soft, deep blue eyes. Those same eyes looked back at the second man, as she held her hands folded in front of her, hiding a soft smile.
“Tell me, two, do you think the same of this creature?” She asked of him in a soft, almost singsong voice.
The second man nodded, his eyes losing some of their sharpness as she spoke to him. He hummed for a mere moment, but he likely already had an answer prepared for her before she even asked. He simply put on a game to hear her voice, or so she figured.
“A Prime is always more than just capable, it wouldn’t be wise or prudent to underestimate him. And while I loathe the overconfident types, he also seems the type to have more than one card to play,” He started, turning back to the viewscreen at Jaixe, who waited patiently, staring down the Innkeeper with a cool gaze that seemed to penetrate through the screen and into each and every one of them. She found them strangely alluring, personally, but it was hard to say what the others thought.
“Truthfully, leaving him empty-handed may be the more dangerous path to take. Though, accepting his awfully brazen proposition is hardly my idea of a fair trade, given the risks. Still, the choice is yours, One. You seem rather taken with the man, after all.”
She dropped her hands and simply smiled at him at the last comment, offering no response or rebuttal. Many men often fascinated her, though most for but a few moments at a time. Jackie was once one of those men, but that flame burned out long before his fate caught up with him. Truly troublesome, that one… Though, maybe this Jaixe will prove to be less brawn and more prudence.
---
“You play a dangerous game, Mr. Furiael,” The Inkeeper finally spoke up, her face softening and her frown subtly transforming into an almost devilish grin. It wasn’t a face, or really the kind of response that Jaixe expected.
“And you play it boldly, but with at least a touch of intellect. You are much like Jackie and his brother were when they were in this office, offering a similar proposal. However, they failed to commit, as well as meet their obligations to me. Now you, the one that killed them, are saying that you can fill in their role?”
Jaixe hummed, that wasn’t an outright refusal, but it wasn’t acceptance either. Perhaps he overplayed his hand?
“I would prefer if you did not compare me to a dead man and his broken sibling. If they failed, it was simply because they either chose not to oblige, or were too incompetent to meet your standards, much less save themselves from death and destitution. They betrayed your freely given trust. I did not ask for your trust, however, and I care little for it. I would ask for your resources in exchange for my services. Be that a onetime occurrence or a long-lasting relationship, that choice is yours to make.”
Jaixe responded with a steely resolve, and truthfully, he was insulted to be compared to that brute and his dimwitted brother, as well as being tested in this way. This Inkeeper seemed conflicted with herself, and that took irritated him. She lacked decisiveness, and instead applied too much caution.
“You must be new, to not understand that the game here is played best when you both trust and suspect those closest to you. Ah well, it must be rather symbolic that the old tyrant would be replaced with brash new talent. Very well, Mr. Furiael, you may have what you need…” The Inkeeper stood up quickly, gazing over to the two guards, the hologram flickering as she did so. Her grin turned into a smile, and her hologram flickered again, more noticeably this time.
“If you so want to prove yourself, Heartless, then we shall see if you can topple this fortress so easily,” She spoke sharply to Jaixe, as the lights flickered and shut off, quickly followed by her hologram dissipating. At the same moment, Jaixe heard the two simultaneous thuds hit the ground behind him.
“Very well then,” Jaixe smiled, as the two bodies began to smoke and fade, his orange eyes glowing dimly in the darkened room as he gave instructions telepathically to the two Heartless behind him, “Let us play.”