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Zhavi · **12-22-2014, 01:04 PM**

The city was ill-fitting.

Zhi moved away from Melodia, her limbs leaden and hesitant. It looked familiar enough, as she circled its spires and skulked over its rooftops, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't the same. Somehow, in her absence, something had changed, something important, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

Well, the price on her head didn't help.

The fact that most of her contacts were avoiding her didn't help, either.

Truth was, she saw no reason for Thatcher to help her. She had wanted Flit out of her hair for a little while, so she could think without his expecting little eyes pinned on her. She knew what she had to do, really. Had known. Yet, she'd been independent for so long that the thought of it made her retch.

The city had never really been hers. It owned her. It always had.

She was still in a bad mood by the time she circled around to find Flit, ready to tell him who they were going to visit and cringing internally at its necessity. All the same, she did things in a certain order, so as she dropped down beside him the one word that passed her lips was "talk."

Melodia · **12-22-2014, 01:49 PM**

Ruru flinched slightly at her sudden apprearance but regained his composure. He heard the word "talk" and his frown had said it all.

"She wants to talk to you. Face to face. In person." He paced closely around her. "Says she needs to know more details. She was very adamant about seeing you and not the messenger." He scoffed at the last.

"And that man that's with her all the time...Johnathan....he's lucky I didn't gut him right there. He did nothing but insult you threatened to report us to the Jackets. He's a a problem. I can deal with him if you want. "

He was seething talking about and looked back at her waiting for a reply.

Zhavi · **12-23-2014, 08:35 PM**

Zhi gave Flit a look like he'd just gone and pissed on her boots. Her tail lashed side-to-side behind her. "What rat gone an' bit yer tail, then? Ye'll do no such, an' ye can go take a dip in th' harbor if ye so much as think o' liftin' a blade while yer dealin' fer me coz ye got some fly in yer ear." Her mouth twisted up in a sneer, baring a fang at him.

The reprimand was second nature; her mind was elsewhere.

"What's Thatcher's movements, o' late? What's she gettin' to?" Suspicion colored her tone.

Melodia · **12-24-2014, 08:33 AM**

The words stung, hit hard and while his face had been hard of late, it softened a bit at the scolding. He turned as if contemplating something and frowned. He'd only been trying to defend her. To support her. And here, he'd gotten into trouble for even suggesting it.

He mumbled, "I was just saying. Course I'm not going to kill him." Grumbling he closed his eye and shook his head.

"Look...regardless, I don't fully trust them, particularly him. She seemed too keen on knowing what you want to do, and while I get that, he seemed more interested in burning you. Meaning we can't work with them if we need to be looking over our shoulders every day. He will bring that Jacket in if he feels he can leverage that against you."

He turned and shrugged at you, trying to sound tough and dismissive.

"But it's your call. Whatever you want to do."

Melodia · **12-24-2014, 08:44 AM**

Elsewhere

"Well o' all th' damned luck." She'd been peering into the well lit Wench as the night air had made it easy to stay out of sight and yet easily able to watch the comings and goings inside.

And there was that Lalafell she'd run into a while back. Sitting at the table with the redhead and her boy.

"What're ye two talkin' about tha's so bloody important?" She could see the tnese body language, especially from the little man and she smirked, whispering to herself. "They pissin' ye off too? They're good at tha'. She's a damn pro." She took a cautious look over her shoulder and then back as she saw the Lalafell clearly angry walk off.

"Hmmm where ye headed lit'le one?" She clacked her teeth softly and smiled as she had someone new she needed to keep an eye on. "Th' net's tightenin' runner....sooner'r later yer gonna slip." She kept watching Grace and her man at the table while hugging the shadows.

Zhavi · **12-29-2014, 12:54 AM**

Zhi rolled her eyes and spat between them. "Either her, or one o' me lesser known contacts. Either way it's fire."

His words made her decision, made so carefully over the past bell, much less certain. She knew full well Winters had no love of her, and she could even understand why, but the lure of Thatcher's soft hand at dealing was hard to deny. If it wasn't for Winters. . .she had confidence she could handle Thatcher, given enough time to be clever. He wouldn't be so likely to let things lie, and she could just imagine what would happen if he decided to go in for a quiet tip-off.

She licked her lips. "There's a man I met, while back. A killer. Far as I could tell he was part o' some network, an' one I ain't too familiar-like wi'. Thinkin' o' trackin' his lot down an' seein' what shakes loose."

She looked at Flit, eyes serious, not asking for his opinion but still looking for it anyway.

Melodia · **12-29-2014, 08:51 AM**

A network of killers? Some man tied to them? He'd heard rumors of a syndicate or something beneath the shadows of Limsa but he couldn't be sure, even with his own contracts he'd taken on as he'd never had any contact. He wasn't sure if this was who she was-

Ye think too much, ye know? She teased...always teasing. He winced a bit and bit into his bottom lip to stifle a reply. That wouldn't make Zhi any more comfortable if he started talking to visions.

Yer a cold one aren't ye? A vision? He felt her hands on his shoulders and he fought to regain his senses. I'm the reason ye aren't dead or lyin' in a gutter somewhere, Flit an' ye call me a vision?

His eye snapped open. Kink was staring at him, awaiting his reply by her questioning look and he shook his head as if clearing cobwebs. "Sorry...have a bit of a headache is all." The lie was a weak one and he heard her laughter, the mocking one at the pitiful words he'd delivered. She'll never believe ye, not with shite like that rollin' outta yer mouth.

He spoke probably too loud as he tried to silence that voice. "Maybe a good idea...Grace is good, but you need to be more settled before approaching her. Is this man reliable?"

Even as he asked the question, he felt the irony sting and again, from a bit of a distance at least (much to his relief) that mocking laughter.

Ahahahaha!!!

Zhavi · **12-30-2014, 05:39 PM**

Zhi's nostrils flared. She stared him down -- eyes narrowed and lips pressing tight together -- before she muttered "useless," to herself under her breath. Louder, she asked: "Ye drunk?"

Melodia · **12-31-2014, 08:11 AM**

The comment.... "Ye drunk?" snapped him to his sense and he looked at her (both of her....until the other walked away with a snicker) and he shook his head again clearing it.

"Aye....I'm..no..I'm fine. Not drunk. Sorry....bit distracted is all. If you think this man and his network are solid, or less risky to say the least than Grace, then that's the route. Who we talking about, by the way?"

He looked curiously at her as his eye looked about, praying the other was gone for some time at least.

Zhavi · **01-28-2015, 02:54 PM**

Zhi squinted at some point past Flit. "Ain't rememberin' his name. But I got someone in mind who might point us in th'right way. Heard o' Keto'to?"

Melodia · **01-28-2015, 03:14 PM**

He shook his head. Zhi's network ran deep and his was shallow by comparison.

"Can't say that I have....which is a good thing. It's the ones that people hear most about that are on the radar of people we don't want on our tail."

Zhavi · **01-29-2015, 01:25 PM**

"Nn."

Zhi turned away from Flit, dismissive, and reached for a smoke before she could stop herself. Finding nothing, she muttered something under her breath and sighed. It was a heavy sigh, the sort that bespoke exasperation and an approaching bad mood. Well, worse than the one she'd been in.

She glanced at Flit, grunted, and turned on her heel. Anyone else might have thought the meeting was over, but she expected him to follow. Even if he didn't, she wouldn't turn back: her shoulders had stiffened up, and her tail was rigid behind her. Mood covered it, certainly, topped with a dash of pride.

The city sprawled before her as she walked, thumb tucked into her belt and hand perched on her hip. She was rough, befitting the spires she circled and the bridges she took. Dull wood, stained metal, salt-crusted rope: she took it all in as she took the long route to Keto'to's stall, such as it was. Home, whatever that meant. Hers, and that was a damned lie.

The night was young when she finally drifted to a stop amidst a scattered collection of crates. Tucked away in an alley, it looked like it had once been the site of a midden. Bits of trash lay underfoot, faded and worn, trapped against the stone by dirt and small bits of debris. It smelled, though of what was hard to determine -- but the city stank like that on a regular basis, and it wasn't anything particularly offensive.

Zhi leaned up against a wall, heedless of the dark patches that stained its uneven surface. "Keto'to sells things," she said, as if to herself.

Melodia · **01-30-2015, 01:18 PM**

He watched her walk and knew better than to let her walk away without following. That sound had not been the conclusion nor was it agreement with his sentiment. She was quiet.

The other was not. Cackling away in his head. "Keep yer wits about ye Flit, this one's an unknown....an' I don't mean this Keto'to."

His eye twiched and he shook his head slightly to clear the (voice) cobwebs.

When she stopped at the crates he looked about. "Sells things, hmm? Tell me it isn't this trash. And look...what are we doing? I'd like to know what is going on before I invest in this..." He gestured around the crates.

She was sipping a bottle of whiskey to the side and she smirked. That's it...make 'er give ye somethin'....or is that sword there just fer show?" She chuckled and shook her head. She's not t' be trusted ye know." He flashed a glare to her and suddenly she was whsipering in his ear, Did ye ever trust me, Flit? Her voice was teasing and she smiled.

He said in a low voice, "I...don't know."

Zhavi · **01-30-2015, 01:41 PM**

Zhavi's right ear -- closest to Flit -- turned his way. But she was looking the other way, into the shadowed depths of the alley. She scuffed the toe of her shoe against a broken, rotting piece of wood. "Who'd buy it?" Her tone was scornful. "He should be here soon. He's a ragpicker, Keto'to is, an' he only sets up at night. Proper Keeper, even in a city like this." Her scorn was for the daytrippers, and the stranglehold they had over regular business hours. "He sells an' trades, an' it ain't all th'sorts o'things what pass 'twixt hands, fancy?"

Melodia · **01-30-2015, 01:47 PM**

Ruru nodded, understanding her words, at least what he thought she meant.

"Information. Favors, then?" He looked not at her but the general area aboutÂ as he remembered he needed to tell her.

This ought t' be good. She mocked.

"She ran into me when I went to the Wench. The Jacket."

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RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes