(Untitled)

[nevertrustcrows]

Lichtenstein has a cigarette in hand, for a change. A very rare indulgence, but one he is enjoying thoroughly. He takes some time to enjoy it by himself before he even considers talking to people. Eventually he taps his cigarette on the ashtray, exhales slowly, gets momentarily distracted by the diffusion of smoke, and then goes to ask his question

Comments

[tastes_of_honey]

::People smoking nearby always make Schuldig want to smoke. It's a telepath thing.::

People do. I sure as hell do. It's entertaining, and sometimes it makes you feel better about how your own life is going.

If you're working with someone you need to be able to trust in at least a few things about them. In some cases it's that you can trust them not to have your back or not to stay with you in hard times. It's always better to know things like that in advance.

[tastes_of_honey]

Quiet is unnatural to me. Just ask my team leader. ::angelic smile::

[nevertrustcrows]

"Mm, I believe it, and pity him. It must be a task in itself hoping noise and commotion won't follow you."

[tastes_of_honey]

He'd like people to think so. I just believe in giving others a taste of how I experience the world.

[nevertrustcrows]

"Why?"

[tastes_of_honey]

Because people judge me out of ignorance, so I'm gonna bust their ignorance and make it cry. Besides, I'm talkative, and talking to people is more fun than talking to myself.

I have fun annoying people too.

[nevertrustcrows]

"People judge everyone out of ignorance..." He can't say he doesn't like this talk of 'busting' ignorance, though. "If you annoy people, isn't it hard to continue talking to them?"

[tastes_of_honey]

I find ways. It hones my skills! My profession isn't all about physicality and brute force.

[nevertrustcrows]

"Because annoying people just enough so that they don't hit you has to be one of a hitman's primary skills." Just a tad skeptical sounding, yes.

[tastes_of_honey]

I'm not just a hitman. You ever heard of "psy ops"? Mind games against the enemy.

[nevertrustcrows]

"It's the first time I've ever heard the term. Do people offer contracts just for that?"

[tastes_of_honey]

Some of them. Death may take care of some problems but can sometimes cause a lot of unpredictable disarray. If you take out the head of an organization, a lot of someones are going to want to take over. That kind of chaos could work for you or against you. If the candidates are fairly equal, then that's a long drawn out war and it's great. If somebody replaces the head quickly, it's not so good, and the person who replaces the target may turn out to be even worse, which means you have to take out a contract on the new guy, which means more money for me but the client might not appreciate how costly this can get. By contrast, demoralize the current head guy or mess with his head and he can be a lot less of a threat

[nevertrustcrows]

"Mm, I can see your point." It's tricky in that while Lichtenstein completely disapproves of the whole business, he's in not really in a place to protest. It's not like practicing necromancy is much better than 'making enemies suffer'. Still, it bothers him that he doesn't feel like he could criticise if he wanted to.

"Are there enough clients and enough work to keep a steady, well paying job with it?"

[tastes_of_honey]

::Hitmen rarely get hired by decent human beings.::

Ja. We work globally, so we travel where the work is. We've also made such a big reputation for ourselves that we don't come cheap. Brad has invested our money well too.

[nevertrustcrows]

"What about competition then? I hear it can get pretty fierce between traders. I can imagine it would be a little different for you. Unless your reputation is completely unrivalled."

[tastes_of_honey]

We get upstarts trying to take us out now and then, but we're used to people trying to kill us. Brad thinks it keeps us sharp. ::smile::

If they're really good, they might even survive the attempt to kill us. Doesn't happen often.