"Keep your hands where I can see them whore!" Lu Xun growled as he limped into the small kitchen, Jiang Wei knelt down in the alcove digging for food amongst the old tins and bags the Nei family had left behind when they had moved out in such a hurry.
"Hot as you are gold eyes, I'm more interested in finding my cookies." The boy murmured back, picking up another unlabeled tin and shaking it close to is ear.
"You do realise you won't find cookies in a tin, don't you?" Xun cockily remarked, picking up the kettle and giving it a shake, it frustrated him so that there was no hot water to make tea, and all Zhang He bought was fizzy cola and milkshake powder. Odd man. He sighed and rested back on the kitchen unit, his short nails scraping near inaudibly along the cheap plastic laminate on the front intending to resemble wood panels, the pain in his side still unmerciful, but He had him so doped up on over-the-counter pain medication it was more of an annoyance now than a threat.
"Ok, you caught me!" Jiang purred, sly look on his face. "I just wanted to nose through the food, what's wrong with that huh? I'm hungry?" He grabbed at another unmarked can and shook it near his ear. "More tinned peaches…? how old were these people?"
"Do you mind!! These people are MY family!" Liao faux barked, smiling at Jiang over his shoulder as he sat at the small table with He. Ning and Yan were crashed out on the old Sofa, Yan stroking Bruce and Ning keeping a watchful eye over his furry friend.
"For such a big guy you sure are gentle!" Ning smiled, watching Bruce scuttle around Yan's shoulders and nip at him playfully with his needle sharp little teeth.
"I….like… animals.." Yan purred, hand wrestling with the beast as it got over excited and initiated it's war dance on the dismembered cushions.
"OOooh, so THAT'S why you hang out with Hooky-Mc. Hooker!" Ning smirked, turning to eye Jiang Wei down playfully. "He's the biggest Animal I know!"
"You give me 50 and I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Wei purred suggestively, which made Ning jump.
"Do you have to do that grizzled whore act in the house? SOME OF US like women!" Xun grumbled, finally giving in to the frustration and leaving the kitchen, to perhaps find greener pasture in the barely partitioned living room, he hobbled over to the worn sofa and lowered himself slowly onto it, as much scared of falling through it than the avoidance of pain, he pushed in next to Ning, who leaned over to give him a friendly hug.
"You alright there buddy?" He said as softly and sincerely as though he was saying it to a lover, which always made Xun smirk.
"Ning, did you get castrated while I was in the kitchen? Grow some balls and act like a man!" He sniggered, surprising a yelp as Bruce leapt on him, eager to explore the big shiny eyed new play thing that had just lowered itself into his territory.
"Bruce is excitable today…. Did you give him sugar again?"
"Nah, Yan's just been fondling him, looks like old grumbles has magic hands!" Ning cackled.
"I wish I could get in on that action… that's one lucky ferret.." Jiang grumbled under his breath mostly inaudibly behind the clattering of cans as he continued to dig.
"You know Liao.." Xun decided to break up the awkwardness before it started. "There are a lot of interesting papers strewn around upstairs, a good few photos too, it may be worth taking a look, might find something of use up there."
Liao smiled to Xun's suggestion, raising himself slightly from the small table, bending slightly over, his back clicking softly. He relaxed into a more comfortable position, before standing.
"That's a great idea Xun, I'll go have a paw through while you guys mill over what to do here"
"Its not like we haven't got the funds" Ning yawned, leaning slightly into Xun, more as a comfort than anything else. They had been best friends for a long time, and that was how it was staying. "We have all of Ce's money, I know Quan can't access it without this card, and I happen to know Ce's PIN.." the Fence purred, flicking the card in his hands.
"But its not the money, it's the front.,… we need somewhere to act as our base, preferably somewhere not in our ex boss' territories" Zhang He yawned, planting his feet on the table and leaning back on his chair as he popped another marshmallow into his mouth, the legs of the chair creaking against the old laminate floor.
"Are you insane? The only neutral territory in the whole city is Hefei street, and it borders on the lands of every boss in the area!" Ning said with such a sudden passion that Xun had to move away fro fear the man would start talking with his hands and accidentally hit his wounded side.
"We can't stay here long, these houses get demolished in a few weeks" Liao sighed, turning to look up at the peeling wallpaper. All is memories of childhood were going to be torn down for new flats. It wasn't an easy thing to come to terms with.
"What's so special about Hefei street that no gang has had the balls to take it yet?" Jiang called from the kitchen, his seductive emphasis on the word 'balls' made everyone uncomfortable.
"It….. Nei…. Territory" Yan grumbled, moving aside on the damp cushions to give Xun more room to sit down, so his well meaning but over protective friend didn't crush him.
"Yeah, it was the street where the Nei HQ was, wasn't it?" Ning uncouthly picked his teeth and wiped it on the sofa, making Xun back into Yan a little.
Liao sighed. "Well… whatever it was, you'll have it think it over, I'm going to go collect up these papers and see if there's anything of interest.." He started to walk out, when Yan rose to his feet, stretching a little, his mask shining in the sunlight streaking through the blinds.
"I….Help.." He announced, and receiving no complaint from Liao, followed him to help him collect papers, leaving He Ning Wei and Xun to chat, and the ferret to get in the way.
Cao Pi stood straight at his father's desk, waiting for the man to finish his paperwork before they spoke. He held a flat whip, like a riding crop in his right hand, poised ready, should the westerner attached to the dog leash in his left hand give him any trouble, but there seemed to be no danger of that, the once proud Zhao Yun a beaten mess, clinging tenaciously to Pi's heel with pure admiration and lust in those green eyes.
"Stop looking at me you disgusting whore" Cao Pi demanded in a flat tone, giving the man splayed at his side a smack with the crop, instantly driving those fixated eyes to the floor in obedience.
"Yes master…" Yun croaked quietly, the betrayed tinge of elation in his voice nearly made Pi smirk arrogantly, though not quite.
"I underestimated you son.." Cao Cao mused with an amused chuckled from behind the papers he was aligning, fingers tracing the edges softly, as he lowered them, his level and dark gaze meeting his son's. "I thought it would take you at least a week to tame the boy enough to taste your heels.."
"Do not put this down to me father" Pi spat with an almost angry tone, hand, still clutching the leash whipping down to grab his captive by the chin, forcing him to look up at his father. "It was easy…. All I had to do is show him how a real man works…. He's only ever known the touch of that Pussy Liu Bei after all…" With each pause he moved his hand, tracing with a malevolent elegance up Yun's jaw line, until he reached his hair, and held his head up with a sharp tug of a fistful of the brown strands. "All he needed to learn obedience is a little…." He tugged the hair hard enough to tear. "Dominance" He purred the word with a cold commanding sneer that sent shiver's down Yun's spine.
"I'm glad you are enjoying him." Cao said, not making eye contact with his son, stapling some sheets. "When do you envision you will grow bored of him?" He asked, glancing up.
"I don't…" Pi purred, leaning over to bite his captive's shoulder.
"Jesus fruit cup, how long does it take you to look at a few tins of food?" Gan Ning called, playing with Bruce, who kept hopping from His to Xun's shoulders, trying to scamper down to lick the blood off Xun's bandages, but every time he got close Ning pulled him back and deposited him back on his shoulder, much to Bruce's obvious distaste.
"I'm trying to figure out what's in each of the unlabeled ones…" Wei grunted to being called fruit cap once again, piling up another tin that contained tinned fruit.
"Why?" Lu Xun asked, batting the Ferret away, who was, once again going for the bandages. "Its not as if we're going to eat them!"
"Its just something to do" The ex-prostitute admitted, yawning loudly as he settled down onto his bottom, splaying his legs a little to stretch. "I'm pretty bored"
"Well" Zhang He shook his newspaper a little, pretending he was actually reading it, and not just looking at the pictures and trying to make up a story from them. "You're going to be very bored for a whole lot longer if we don't come up with something, we need to get out of here and get on our feet… as soon as our respective nemesis' find out where we are, we won't last long unless we have cover…. Cover is strength, why do you think there are so many rats in the city"
"Yeah? Well there's a Rat in our kitchen right now" Ning teased, pointing childishly at Jiang Wei, who grunted unhappily, but all of them looked up as Yan and Liao walked in, each carrying a heavy dusty box full of papers. They had managed to collect up everything they'd found. The dumped the boxes on the table next to He, a heavy plume of dust bellowing from the bottom as he did so, making the long haired man jump up and cough, half glaring as he covered his mouth.
"Woah… this was all strewn in the house?" He asked, eyes watering slightly from the dust. Liao nodded, stepping back and wiping his brow, that had become sodden with a light mist of sweat, the airborne dust particles landing there and on his facial hair, making him look like an antique.
"It was a lot of work, but we got it all… That box has all the bills, subscription letters, bank balances… everything that doesn't concern me yet" Liao said, tapping the box, another small plume of dust erupting from his fingers.
"And the other one is the good stuff right?" Ning said, pushing from the seat quickly to move over and have a look, getting up so quickly that he made the bad cushions of the sofa back, and flung Xun a little, who glared angrily.
"You ass.." Xun grunted.
"Newspaper clippings, photographs and books, and a couple of handwritten letters from and to Nei Yi himself.." Liao smiled, pulling a big framed photo out of the box, the glass shattered many years ago, the faded newspaper cut out in the frame had a young Nei Yi smiling, at the opening of his Casino on Hefei street.
"That…..It!" Yan tapped the broken glass. "That…. building I…. tell you… about"
"Yeah, that was the old Nei Front, the Nei Casino" Ning smiled, leaning over for a better look, teetering a little on the balls of his feet.Liao smiled.
"I remember it…. Its been closed ever since Yi died…. " Liao sighed softly, stroking aside the broken glass, the beautiful old photo moth eaten and ripped. "Its still there… just how it was all those years ago…" He sighed."No one would dare break in, it was Nei Yi's haunt! Even after he did it remained as some grim museum" He said, himself getting a good look, the logo on top sticking in his head. He used to walk past that old casino, and he would never forget the coiled 'N' logo.
The moment of silent contemplation was destroyed when Jiang Wei screeched from the kitchen, making every head in the room turn, even little Bruce's."What is it Wei?" Xun asked, only showing minimal concern for the attention seeking hooker.Wei's breath was rapid, but he looked more embarrassed than anything.
"Sorry, I shook this can close to my ear and there's something solid inside, I didn't expect it.." He blushed, pushing himself up to bring the can over.
"That's a can safe" He smirked, pointing. "They have a plastic capped bottom so you can keep valuables in them, if anyone breaks in they're not expected to look in a can after all"
"Go on whore, open it, now you have our attention" Ning smirked, watching as the boy moved to the table and sighed.
"Here goes.."
With only slight difficulty Wei popped open the can,. And a small ring of keys hit the table, the logo instantly caught everyone's eyes as they stared, and there were a lot of double takes.
"That… Casino… logo… on key!" Yan proclaimed, pointing.
Everyone for a moment exchanged glances.
Liao broke the silence with a chuckle.
"You think…. Just maybe….."