[Benny/Mike] - not what you expected
Who:
Beniamino
Mike
When: August 18th, Thursday. After this post.
Where: Inanna's
Rating & Warnings: PG. Mike!
Mike follows a lead!
Being silent wasn't so hard after all. It had been as simply as shutting his mouth after his little encounter with Hollis and walking away. After he'd added mint and cinnamon to his wound he'd picked up his ledger and written and while. Easy, easy, easy. Even being back on the floor level of Inanna's hadn't phased him. Some patrons were curious at his sudden vow of silence, others amused. Some teased him with gold pieces if he would speak (and more if he would stay quiet for the entire day) or tried to surprise him by grabbing him around the waist or pinching his ass. On the whole it got him a lot of attention, a fair amount of money, and there were no Jais or Hollis Bercators around to try and ruin his day.
In short: life was good.
There was someone else around to ruin his day, though.
Mike had rolled up her Cancellarius cloak and tucked it away. Even though she stood a high chance of being recognized anyway, at least this way it was less of a scene to cause. Not that she minded causing scenes, but this was one she'd have to explain, and explaining was a pain in the ass.
She found Inanna's easily, and just as easily got pointed to Benny by asking about "the one who isn't talking for a day." She planned to question the other whores after this, but how could she pass up the chance to fuck with some kid first?
She waited until he wasn't looking and approached from behind, looming over him. A burly woman dressed in combat leathers with a sword at her hip, Mike was an intimidating sight even without the looming. "How's that day of silence going for you, kid?"
A wave of quiet muttering went through the whorehouse when Mike appeared, but Benny paid it no mind. Like any other establishment that mixed seedy and noble types, everytime the door opened was bound to attract turning heads and murmuring lips. The sudden voice from behind him did startle him, though, the bottle spout he was pouring from skidding away from a patron's cup. His eyes jerked upward to take in the short blonde hair and sharp features while his mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. Who was this.. woman? Yes, he'd seen the breasts. Why was she dressed like she was about to go to war? His vow of silence made questions like these inconvenient.
Benny shrugged and nodded, a signal that it was all right. He'd never seen her before in his life. What did it matter to her?
"It's Mike," she said, smiling like a shark and holding a hand out to him. "We talked."
Mike, Mike, who had he talked to named Mike? On the-- oh. On the ledgers. The expectation of who would have shown up and the reality of the muscled woman in front of him made his eyes widen.
A squeak of surprise wasn't talking, but it was the first noise he'd made in a few hours. A hand went to his mouth while the other reached for hers. Where in Cita's name had she come from, and what in Cita's name did she want?
Mike took a certain amount of glee in his reaction, which was obvious by the way her smile widened. She still looked like a fucking shark about it, though.
She shook his hand, her grip hard enough to leave an ache. All part of the intimidation factor. "C'mere, kid," she said, putting a hand around his shoulders to lead him off to a quiet corner of the room. There, she pulled a gold piece out of her pocket and flipped it down the backs of her fingers like a waterfall - a trick she'd learned from her brothers ages ago. "I have a couple questions for you. Let's try to make this easy, huh? Simple yes or no, you don't even have to talk."
His hand was going to fall off. Or it felt like it, anyway. The next affront to his person came with the grip to his shoulders - it made him wince when it came close to his wound. Benny's eyes were everywhere as they walked, glancing to Essa and Ophelia and Alexander. Did they know this person? Was Jai only sending minions in his place now? Was he about to die? All of these were likely.
The gold piece was only a minor distraction from his anxiety at knowing it was likely Mike could rip his balls off as well as his head from his neck. He forced his eyes away from focusing on her large fingers and focused instead on the gold piece. Exhaling loudly, he nodded.
She smiled again, no teeth this time, but somehow it still managed to look intimidating. She flipped the coin again, rolling it back and forth as she spoke. "One of my friends asked you about a person named Jai. You said he'd hired you before. That true?"
His skin colour did not allow for many obvious changes, but he felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh fuck." The words didn't come out of his mouth, but his lips still formed them. One of her friends was a Cancellarius? Cita loved all kinds of women, it seemed like. What a goddamn player.
Benny nodded again, frowning.
Man, she needed to mess with whores more often. His reactions were priceless. She didn't even try to hide the amusement on her face. "Is he a regular at this place? Of yours?"
What right did Cita give her to march in and ask her personal questions? This was embarassing and out of his usual moral code. Benny started to work up the nerve to give her an elaborate hand gesture instead of an answer.. then suddenly thought better of it and shook a flat hand from side to side. So-so. Jai was there when he wanted to be, a habit Benny hoped he broke with the knife in his shoulder.
Every right, Benny. Being one of Cita's soldiers was like that.
She nodded to acknowledge his gesture. So Jai came around, but wasn't what you'd call a regular. Still that meant people here would know about him. "I don't know if you know this, but Jai's the frontman for a gang that deals in information. That's useful for me, see, 'cause I need information that he's got. But I need a little help finding him to ask for it, you got me? You didn't tell my friend much, but I'm sure you can point me to someone who would."
She paused, giving him a just-between-you-and-me sort of half-smile. "It's okay. You can literally point."
Why was his life like this? It had been grand, not ten minutes ago. Then Mike had showed up and things had gone to shit. He had to remind himself to look surprised at her words, eyes wide and brows raised. A gang boss in Shiri's house? Of course that would never happen! He'd seen the wanted posters in the market place and snorted at the horrible artistry. Some of them even looked like him. Little they did know that Jai was a psychopathic Other with split personalities and a sore lack of guilt.
Instead of pointing to anyone, he only shrugged.
"No?" Her eyebrows rose, a mocking response. "All these lovely folks here and he only ever comes for you? He must really like you, sugarpie. That's too bad, I was all set to leave you alone and let you go back to playing mute, but if you're the only one who can tell me what I want to know, well." She shrugged, let it hang there.
He could not shake his head fast enough. No, no, this is exactly what he hadn't wanted. He didn't want a Cancellarius' attention. He didn't want Jai's attention. He wanted them to get back to their normal lives and leave him alone. What was all that about drama, Jai had said? The Whisper had him beat in spades.
Benny huffed a sigh and pointed towards Ophelia, then Gomer, then crossed his arms.
Mike smiled broadly and gave his shoulder a comforting pat. (The uninjured one, not that she was aware.) "Thanks, babe. You're a doll. I knew I could count on you." She flipped the coin at him and turned to go bother the two girls he'd pointed out. Hopefully they'd have a little more to say.
Beniamino
Mike
When: August 18th, Thursday. After this post.
Where: Inanna's
Rating & Warnings: PG. Mike!
Mike follows a lead!
Being silent wasn't so hard after all. It had been as simply as shutting his mouth after his little encounter with Hollis and walking away. After he'd added mint and cinnamon to his wound he'd picked up his ledger and written and while. Easy, easy, easy. Even being back on the floor level of Inanna's hadn't phased him. Some patrons were curious at his sudden vow of silence, others amused. Some teased him with gold pieces if he would speak (and more if he would stay quiet for the entire day) or tried to surprise him by grabbing him around the waist or pinching his ass. On the whole it got him a lot of attention, a fair amount of money, and there were no Jais or Hollis Bercators around to try and ruin his day.
In short: life was good.
There was someone else around to ruin his day, though.
Mike had rolled up her Cancellarius cloak and tucked it away. Even though she stood a high chance of being recognized anyway, at least this way it was less of a scene to cause. Not that she minded causing scenes, but this was one she'd have to explain, and explaining was a pain in the ass.
She found Inanna's easily, and just as easily got pointed to Benny by asking about "the one who isn't talking for a day." She planned to question the other whores after this, but how could she pass up the chance to fuck with some kid first?
She waited until he wasn't looking and approached from behind, looming over him. A burly woman dressed in combat leathers with a sword at her hip, Mike was an intimidating sight even without the looming. "How's that day of silence going for you, kid?"
A wave of quiet muttering went through the whorehouse when Mike appeared, but Benny paid it no mind. Like any other establishment that mixed seedy and noble types, everytime the door opened was bound to attract turning heads and murmuring lips. The sudden voice from behind him did startle him, though, the bottle spout he was pouring from skidding away from a patron's cup. His eyes jerked upward to take in the short blonde hair and sharp features while his mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. Who was this.. woman? Yes, he'd seen the breasts. Why was she dressed like she was about to go to war? His vow of silence made questions like these inconvenient.
Benny shrugged and nodded, a signal that it was all right. He'd never seen her before in his life. What did it matter to her?
"It's Mike," she said, smiling like a shark and holding a hand out to him. "We talked."
Mike, Mike, who had he talked to named Mike? On the-- oh. On the ledgers. The expectation of who would have shown up and the reality of the muscled woman in front of him made his eyes widen.
A squeak of surprise wasn't talking, but it was the first noise he'd made in a few hours. A hand went to his mouth while the other reached for hers. Where in Cita's name had she come from, and what in Cita's name did she want?
Mike took a certain amount of glee in his reaction, which was obvious by the way her smile widened. She still looked like a fucking shark about it, though.
She shook his hand, her grip hard enough to leave an ache. All part of the intimidation factor. "C'mere, kid," she said, putting a hand around his shoulders to lead him off to a quiet corner of the room. There, she pulled a gold piece out of her pocket and flipped it down the backs of her fingers like a waterfall - a trick she'd learned from her brothers ages ago. "I have a couple questions for you. Let's try to make this easy, huh? Simple yes or no, you don't even have to talk."
His hand was going to fall off. Or it felt like it, anyway. The next affront to his person came with the grip to his shoulders - it made him wince when it came close to his wound. Benny's eyes were everywhere as they walked, glancing to Essa and Ophelia and Alexander. Did they know this person? Was Jai only sending minions in his place now? Was he about to die? All of these were likely.
The gold piece was only a minor distraction from his anxiety at knowing it was likely Mike could rip his balls off as well as his head from his neck. He forced his eyes away from focusing on her large fingers and focused instead on the gold piece. Exhaling loudly, he nodded.
She smiled again, no teeth this time, but somehow it still managed to look intimidating. She flipped the coin again, rolling it back and forth as she spoke. "One of my friends asked you about a person named Jai. You said he'd hired you before. That true?"
His skin colour did not allow for many obvious changes, but he felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh fuck." The words didn't come out of his mouth, but his lips still formed them. One of her friends was a Cancellarius? Cita loved all kinds of women, it seemed like. What a goddamn player.
Benny nodded again, frowning.
Man, she needed to mess with whores more often. His reactions were priceless. She didn't even try to hide the amusement on her face. "Is he a regular at this place? Of yours?"
What right did Cita give her to march in and ask her personal questions? This was embarassing and out of his usual moral code. Benny started to work up the nerve to give her an elaborate hand gesture instead of an answer.. then suddenly thought better of it and shook a flat hand from side to side. So-so. Jai was there when he wanted to be, a habit Benny hoped he broke with the knife in his shoulder.
Every right, Benny. Being one of Cita's soldiers was like that.
She nodded to acknowledge his gesture. So Jai came around, but wasn't what you'd call a regular. Still that meant people here would know about him. "I don't know if you know this, but Jai's the frontman for a gang that deals in information. That's useful for me, see, 'cause I need information that he's got. But I need a little help finding him to ask for it, you got me? You didn't tell my friend much, but I'm sure you can point me to someone who would."
She paused, giving him a just-between-you-and-me sort of half-smile. "It's okay. You can literally point."
Why was his life like this? It had been grand, not ten minutes ago. Then Mike had showed up and things had gone to shit. He had to remind himself to look surprised at her words, eyes wide and brows raised. A gang boss in Shiri's house? Of course that would never happen! He'd seen the wanted posters in the market place and snorted at the horrible artistry. Some of them even looked like him. Little they did know that Jai was a psychopathic Other with split personalities and a sore lack of guilt.
Instead of pointing to anyone, he only shrugged.
"No?" Her eyebrows rose, a mocking response. "All these lovely folks here and he only ever comes for you? He must really like you, sugarpie. That's too bad, I was all set to leave you alone and let you go back to playing mute, but if you're the only one who can tell me what I want to know, well." She shrugged, let it hang there.
He could not shake his head fast enough. No, no, this is exactly what he hadn't wanted. He didn't want a Cancellarius' attention. He didn't want Jai's attention. He wanted them to get back to their normal lives and leave him alone. What was all that about drama, Jai had said? The Whisper had him beat in spades.
Benny huffed a sigh and pointed towards Ophelia, then Gomer, then crossed his arms.
Mike smiled broadly and gave his shoulder a comforting pat. (The uninjured one, not that she was aware.) "Thanks, babe. You're a doll. I knew I could count on you." She flipped the coin at him and turned to go bother the two girls he'd pointed out. Hopefully they'd have a little more to say.