A New Rose In Bloom (Chyril 27, Early MT)

[Grey Wolf]

Red was the color she wore most of the time and it has been that color that earned the lithe assassin her name, though were one to look at her now, not a hint of red was to be seen. He flaming red locks were cut short and bleached nearly white, the girl looking like a young girl barely turned sixteen as she stood in the door. A simple cloth shirt hung loosely around her torso, and barefoot as she was, the overwashed breeches reached barely past her knees. Not wishing to be seen coming into Ashari's home, she used the same entrance Ketch used when Ash first saw him, padding silently down the stairs and following the faint sounds to the kitchen. "Ashari, you there?" She called in a hushed whisper, not wishing to wake Wrinks whom she passed on her way there, but giving Tom's ally ample warning so as not to spook her.

[Ashari]

"I'm not sure what happened," she began. "But I know it wasn't an accident - too much coincidence for two places that fall into the same category by the masses could be torched in as many days and not be somehow connected, yes?" Here she returned to her food, deciding it best to drop the subject of the Banner and the Guild in favor of Aerin's assignment.

The redhead was quick to prove herself, taking the opportunity to display how she might go about seducing the poor fellow without any words necessary. Ashari's eyes rolled dramatically, but a grin was plastered across her face. Aerin was going to make an excellent student.

Meanwhile, in the upper portion of the house, Red was making her way through the chaos of Ashari's bedroom where she passed a dresser turned desk (covered in instruments of writing and beauty) as well as the pieces of numerous dresses hung off of hooks and tossed over any available surface.

Ash's ears, now atuned to the conversation at hand, missed any of the stealthy assassin's movements in the upper floor, but she caught the rough sound of her voice and drew silent taking in a sudden breath and listening. "Kitchen," she announced - for she didn't have the same fear of waking Wrinks as Red did.

The youth rose from her seat and prepared, though she expected Red to arrive. When she finally did step into the kitchen Ash couldn't help her gasp. "Your hair!" Her voice held the shock of how very young Red looked, and for the first time she actually wondered exactly how old the deadly swordhand was. Gray eyes shot over to Aerin, knowing her student's appreciation of the female form - she wondered what her pupil might think of Tom's blade.

"Would you like something to eat?" For now, she almost ignored Aerin, chosing to give her attention to Red instead. She had every intention of allowing her student to atleast finish her breakfast. "If not, let us withdraw to the office, where we can speak in private," Ash wrapped her fingers around the grilled muffin. "Aerin, please clean up when you're done - we'll talk more about your assignment later." With hand held aloft she was prepared to direct Red into the other room where they might sit on the divan and discuss that very topic - Aerin's assignment. She hoped that the woman had come up with someone on her own and that they need not question her further about those who were at the Banner.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

The redhead reverted to eating her meal normally and shot Ashari a questioning look when the new woman whispered Ashari’s name and then peeked into the room. A wry smile flashed in Ashari’s direction for a flicker and then turned to Red, becoming less wry and more sincere. Another student?, Aerin guessed, being damn near a master of assumption. She was about to greet the girl when Ashari beat her to the punch, squeaking about the girl’s hair which, evidently, looked different than when the two had first met. “I think it looks adorable…” Aerin replied with a broader smile, with a sincere tone of appreciation for the unique beauty of the color and cut with no undertones of ‘…bet it would look really cute on a pillow.’

Thinking that Red was a student had put Aerin on her best behavior in a flash and she tried to put off the same airs that she would later show Paige, Trevyn, and Yelena of the model student of ladylike decorum and tact, keeping quiet as Ashari made the offer and then gave Aerin her instructions. “Yes, Mistress.” Aerin replied with a simple nod of her head, glancing at her plate. “I am nearly finished now and may take some up to Cicero.” She stated gathering just one more apricot slice from the serving plate before picking up the plate of untouched food, her feet pointing her toward the office. Ashari had made an offer for Red to eat in almost the same breath as adjourning to the office and so Aerin naturally assumed that her actions were correct.

After delivering the food (and drink on a second trip if Ashari didn’t take it first), Aerin would let Ashari know that she would be in her room if needed for a mark or so and then off to run errands in town. She would then tell Red that it was a pleasure meeting her and retire upstairs with her plate of food to see what the ‘Caesar’ thought of the sweetened fruits.

OOC: Fin~ for Aerin, as this segues nicely into her other threads.

[Grey Wolf]

Red chuckled at the surprise in Ashari's voice, tossing her short hair in an overemphasized manner, before placing her hand upon hip and making a mockery of seductive pose by thrusting the knee forward. She flashed a grin at Aerin and threw the red-head a wink, adding a simple "Why, thank you. I did my best with little I had on hand." Things were moving once more and Red could no longer remain hidden as she had for the past month or so, and this look provided her with a perfect disguise to go around the city. So far, only three people knew of her new look and could link her true identity to it, Chris, Ashari and Bortis. "Some food would be nice." The lithe assassin took the hint and did not discuss anything in front of Aerin, consigning herself to idle chatter and silence, until she was alone with the olive-skinned mage.

Munching on a muffin, the former red-head glanced about the room before finally uttering. "I did some research. Your girl was seen with some of Mike's men the other day. Tiny Joe and that blabber-mouth Jemmy. If they remember her, she would have little trouble luring either to some secluded spot and I think Jemmy would be easier pray. Tiny is too stupid for his own good and would likely fuck up anything you instruct him to do. Jemmy is no wiser, but he is a crafty little bugger. If your girl goes, she should seek him. He's usually at the Mermaid before Gravetide and is a light drinker. A few drinks and he'll be plastered." Then with a mischievous grin Red added. "Oh, and make sure your girl wears something with a low cut. Jemmy has a thing for breasts. He gets an eyeful and he's hooked. That's why he hangs around Mermaid. Barmaids there are slutty and wear skimpy dresses. He can ogle all he wants."

[Ashari]

"Well, your best is what I expect," she said with a grin in response to the assassin's hand on hip and not-so-subtle attitude. Aerin, she expected, would be quite impressed. Chit-chat was unecessary as the student was also quick on picking up hints and stowed herself away to the office.

Red's tips were invaluable. "Alright," she began and sat herself comfortably. "And as for a word or phrase that Michael is fond of saying? I was thinking it could be when Michael says his name, but there's the chance of someone else saying it first. I don't need him to go off on someone aside from the rat bastard. I've not really spoken to him, Michael that is, so I'm not sure if he's got some sort of phrase he's fond of or something he always calls girls... anything that's particular to him would be best." Ashari took a bite of her own muffin and was pleasantly surprised by Red's comfort in her home.

"So, are you going by another name to fit your new hairstyle?" One of Ash's chiseled brows raised. "Such as Blondie?" She grinned and gave a friendly snicker. "You know, those bright locks are rather trendy at court. You better watch out that some nobleman doesn't catch a look at you and snatch you right off the street."

[Grey Wolf]

Red was ready for the questions, though her reply was delayed by the muffin-munching effort of some magnitude. "There are two phrases you could use. Maybe you could have him jump at both of those? One is you lazy bum, and the other would be fucking cunt, though the second is used mostly when Mike is annoyed. Knowing Jemmy and how useless he is, it is likely Mike will use the first one to address him when they meet." She took another bite. "Others are not likely to use that on the little weasel since he always has some backup to express his distaste at name calling."

"And you can call be Babbette. Babe for short. It's not very similar to my previous nickname and I think it is slutty enough to go with my new look." She grinned around the muffin and nearly choked on some crumbs when she burst into laughter at the comment about some nobleman snatching her off the street. "Yeah, he best be careful then. He'll need a lot of candies if he wants to get his hands into my cookie-jar." She winked and leaned back in the chair, devouring the rest of the muffin with less haste.

[Ashari]

"Lazy bum it is," Ash agreed. "Here's hoping it works. I'd wish for a more refined tool, something that's meant for killing, such as a swordhand or assassin such as yourself, but they tend to be more intelligent and are less likely to be so easily swayed by Aerin's assets." Here, she smiled. "And she does have some, so I'm sure Jemmy will be immediately enthralled. If things don't go according to plan there's always other ways of handling things, more personally."

Ash's eyes widened. "Babe!" She giggled. "No, no, you must let me call you Babs, hehehehe," she covered her mouth with a hand to supress some of the mirth. "Any fella coming after you isn't going to know what hit him."

A thought struck the brunette, and as it did, her expression changed and she snapped her fingers. "Actually - random - but, I was at Mike's little seafood funhouse dining with a friend and low-and-behold the charmer was eating a bit of lunch there as well. He had a few of his thugs with him, none I recognized - they're each a copy of a copy of a copy as far as I'm concerned - but there was something of interest, a young man with a wolf who came to join him. When he did, Michael sent his goons off to another table and had a private conversation with him. I'd keep an eye out for him, and maybe you could pull a bit of that blonde aside to listen, too," she suggested with a smile. "If you hear anything, let me know... I don't think he'd be too difficult to find," Ashari gave a brief description of Langredoc so that Red might have an easier time both locating and identifying him. "But he kept looking at me, and it was unnerving. Were I in different company I would've mindcrafted him, but I was far too concerned with the conversation at hand and didn't want to draw unecessary attention from any magick users in the building."

[Grey Wolf]

“Honey, Mike lacks any such tools. None of his goons are nasty enough to ensure success. Were it not for Fox’ support he never would have ousted old Tom. And even with the support he got he is likely to lose this war. The real problem will remain the man behind him and the reason why he supported the little pup. Thomas must have done something to piss Grey Fox off and I have no clue what it was.” She sighed and frowned for a flicker. “In fact I am pretty certain Tom did nothing to piss the bastard off. So it was someone else posing as Thomas. And with this whole war going on I can’t focus on investigating that particular bit. What’s the word for that. I remember Will using it once. Yeah, conundrum.”

Luckily for Red the newly-made blond was done with the muffin when the name Babs popped up and thus did not choke again. “Oh, there’s one guy who could get lucky and I think you know him, but I ain’t telling who it is.” Mischief lit in the assassin’s eyes, the bit of tease doing well to her frayed nerves. “A man with a wolf? Interesting….. How did Mike sit while they spoke? Leaned back or forward?” She seemed quite interested in that particular bit of information.

OOC: Between you and me, Mike was leaned forward. Just to make it easy.

[Ashari]

OOC: Thanks for the helpful hint! XD

"Well, he sort of leaned toward him, now that I'm thinking about it..." Ash said as she thought about the pair and how they'd interacted with one another. "It was strange. He came in, looked around - sort of like he was looking for someone he didn't recognize... then he went to the bar and then he approached Mike's table," she nodded, comfortable in her assesment of what transpired. "All in all, I'd say him and his pup are worth keeping an eye out for - just in case. He did look more the part of the seasoned sword hand, that's why I say something."

It did began to nag at her what caused Red to ask the question in the first place. "Why?"

[Grey Wolf]

Red tapped her chin with a fingertip at Ashari’s words, lost in thought for a flicker or two before starting back to reality and smiling. “Oh…. Well, our dear Mike has a rather simple body language and I have learned how to read him over the yahren.” She grinned impishly before turning more serious once more. “Him leaning forward means that the man is seen as a bit of a threat, but is still beneath Michael. It is his way of showing dominance to strangers. Showing how he is not afraid and how big he is. He really does behave like a beast at times, using his little brain only to devise nastiness.” She shrugged and explained further. “From all this it is likely that the man with the wolf was a newcomer, and was likely looking for a job. Question here being who it was that sent him to Mike Crane? Future will show how dangerous this warrior is, but until then there is little we could do but keep an eye on him. He could be just another brute looking for cash, or he could be someone planted into Mike’s organization by an ally, or rather an enemy of our enemy in which case we need to see how we can use him to our benefit.” She frowned here and snorted. “Gah, there I go again. I sound like a politician a lot lately, and I bloody well hate politics. I wish I could just find a way to slip into Mike’s bedroom and slit his throat. Be done with it and have some peace. But, noooooo, he watches his back. Bloody upstart pup.”

[Ashari]

The description of Michael was an important one. She described him like a beast - but Ash saw humanity in it. He had it in mind to protect himself from outside influence. Ash felt much the same. The sad thing was, they had opposing ideas of which of them should live. It was a shame to be on either end of the spectrum - one of them would have to die. Not a Mouthie herself, Ash learned matters of vendetta from her grandmother.

"Well, maybe it'll turn out he's working for someone else," she said hopefully. "And maybe that someone has sights for taking his ass out so we don't have to." As much as she stated that it would be better if that was the case, she also very much wanted to be the one to strike the blow to destroy him.

"We'll get him, Red," she replied solemnly and with promise lingering in her tone, even if it wasn't voiced. "We'll figure it out."

OOC: Fin?

[Grey Wolf]

Red shrugged as she was not sure things would work out that well for them. Mike was not killed that easily and she still would prefer if he would die by her hand. Only that way could she be sure he was dead and would not come back to hound them when they least expect it. She smiled cheerlessly and gave Ashari’s hand a squeeze. “Oh, I am sure it will work out. I’m just worried how hard it will be before it does. And how many more will die before it is over. “ She growled and grinned at that. “Listen to me, I sound like an old woman. Damn Mike and his thugs. I wish I had known this before. While he was in reach. Would have made the matters simpler. And would have saved Bill’s life.” She sighed again and then changed the subject to more cheerful things and sat there, chatting with Ashar for a while longer, enjoying the lazy couple of marks.