Author's Note : …apparently if it's 'Philipino' that's Americanized from the 1900s-1940s, and 'Filipino' for everything else. Otherwise it's 'Filipino' for how the Spanish termed the natives of the Philippines back in the 1500s, 'Philippinos' by the same Spanish in the 1700s, and/or 'Pilipino' for the people and 'Filipino' for the language more recently. Or 'Pinoy'. Or… yeah.
How about I just apologize unreservedly if I misuse the spelling like the idiot I'm apparently am? Because I'm very, very confused on how to properly spell everything. As usual.
Update rate is only probably going to pick up from here, I've got the dreaded doctor appointments looming, mostly just vaccinations and general blood testing to go with a physical to measure how much mobility I've lost in my leg since the last time we checked… but I did finish the stupidly important crap I was doing in RL so. Yeah. I make no promises when the next chapter will be up.
Russian Roulette : Second Chamber
Chapter 38
(Tuesday the 1st of December, 1970. Wo Hop To Triad's Compound, Wan Chai District, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.)
It took several tries, but eventually Tyr managed to get in range of a phone line Sonya knew the number for. "So, theoretically, there's a new baby Sky in China. How much of what I owe you would be canceled out if I put you in touch with the head of the Wo Hop To Triads as the Sky I recommend to advise the new one?"
"An… interesting proposal. May I amend it slightly?"
'Not enough' then, or he was still too busy with his headquarters or the Vongola situation. Vexing. Sonya pulled her pipe stem from between her teeth with a smokey sigh. "With?"
She petted Alek's silky head when he pushed it under her left hand, while the master assassin made the 'polite' excuses for why he'd rather amend the proposal by her into something more suited for his tastes. In fact, with her on the floor to make the phone call, her dog felt he had more than enough time to crawl into her lap for more pettings before the Mafioso figured he was safe enough asking for a change.
Oddly, he didn't really seem to mind her pipe smoke. Maybe because it was just dried tobacco, imported by her Lackey when she bitched maybe once or twice about the chemically treated stuff she had been forced into using.
"-I would consider it a personal favor if you would pass on the opportunity to Octavia Vongola instead."
Both of her eyebrows rose up, even if the man couldn't see it.
Sonya was not much a fan of Vongola. Tyr had to know that damn well given she had chewed Don Vongola out not too recently. However much she really like getting this favor she owed solved, asking for her to deal with someone she did not have good relationships with was rather pressing it.
"The Lady Vongola could use a distraction, with the caveat that her influences are firmly European in nature to your foundling." He explained, somewhat unnecessarily since the details did not change the situation. "I do not have the time to travel so far, nor can be located near a landline often enough, to be the one to assist."
…interesting, but not entirely something she could agree to without actual thought beforehand. Making her own polite noise, the thief kept petting her dog as she thought.
Possibly, if she dug her heels in it might poke Tyr into accepting his limitations and giving Nuan some advice without any involvement from Vongola's main house. Equally so, he might decide he really didn't have the free time to give the girl any Sky-centric tips and she'd still owe the man a favor.
Then again, she really didn't like Vongola getting stuck into the situations she was in. She started it admittedly, giving Tyr of all people a call about this.
"So long as everyone is informed and aware my mother is in contact with the girl as well, I guess so." Sonya gave in with, because without Tyr then the only one who had time and the available schedule to help Nuan would be her. They all already knew full well Sonya wasn't really much help as it was, no more than she had the help when she popped with her own Flames. "You wouldn't happen to have her number, would you?"
"As a matter of fact, I would indeed."
"I'll pass on the possible change to Zhōng, then. Duyi Zhōng's the 'Mountain Master', the boss, of the Wo Hop To Triads. He gets to decide, after all."
"Then as I may not hear about the situation again, I appreciate the thought." Tyr offered as his farewell, the tiny click in her ear likely the man hanging up on her.
"Tyr suggests the retired head of Vongola, the Eighth Sky, since he's busy."
"I guessed." The same man she spoke of speaking with to the assassin responded dryly, doing something with three separate ledger books at his low desk as she used the phoneline in his office and satisfied her nicotine addiction. "I know her reputation, mostly due to her antics in World War Two. I take it you have at least met the woman?"
"She's… opinionated." Which was unhelpful coming from her, Sonya at least had that much self-awareness. Examining her mostly burned out pipe, she put it down for the use of both hands on her dog's fur. "I've had more business with her son, which… I don't like him. Which likely bleeds into how I treat his mother, and she had 'aims' for me I didn't want on principle. But she did bring the Italian syndicates through World War Two successfully… Tyr's one of hers she let work for her son. She's at least a woman that gets shit done, regardless of what might be said about her or what's in her way."
Zhōng went back to his numbers for a little while, so she petted her lap rug of fur while he plotted.
It was only a suggestion, up until she called Lady Octavia about Nuan's situation. While Sonya really appreciated her debt to the assassin getting paid off for this whole effort… it could possibly not happen that way and she'd still need to pay the man back. If it didn't happen it'd be hard to feel slighted, nothing had been promised beyond just seeing what Tyr thought of the offer as it was.
Scratching Alek behind his fluffy ears earned her an ecstatic pet, as per usual. She really didn't pet him often enough, but he was just appreciative every moment of downtime she could spend on him. Half the time she didn't pet him due to him thinking she absolutely must be licked for paying attention to him, but half due to her being distracted by her other vices.
Pressing his snout down to keep from getting half her face plastered with odd-smelling doggy drool, Sonya very nearly missed the man she was 'advising' putting his pen down again. Alek snuck in a lick to her neck before she managed to maneuver the dog off her again and sit upright.
The older man laced his fingers together over his work, giving her a look over them. "I could entreat a more local example for information…"
"It might even be a better idea." She agreed dryly, keeping Alek's head down by continuing to scrub his ears as gently as she could manage. Which wasn't nearly hard enough for her dog, going by how hard he pressed up into her fingers. "If, of course, you can manage to mitigate the local Skies from fucking around with Nuan's head for short or long-term political reasons of their own."
Italy was a touch far from China for an Italian Sky to plot for, not that she'd put it beyond Daniella Vongola to attempt it. Sheer distance would limit a lot of what the old warhorse might try, especially if Zhōng judiciously inquired around to whatever Triad Skies there were for more practical suggestions occasionally.
That was up to him, though. Sonya was trying to wash her hands of the situation, however much the girl in question helped her coddle her pet. Not that she didn't plan on keeping up with her later. It was just she kind of had plans for the rest of this month, involving her godson and a whole lot of sleeping… if only she could politely leave without murdering her connections here.
Zhōng was still thinking, likely because it was still a big risk. Tyr was one thing, he wasn't known for being politically active beyond Italy's shores and had enough of a reputation as just a damn good assassin behind him for even someone as remote from his hunting grounds as the master of the Wo Hop To Triads to be aware of his lack of political aspirations. Daniella Vongola was a political animal, and there were more rumors about how the old woman worked buried in the not too recent past than Sonya would ever be able to dig up again.
…was the Varia international yet, or had that development not happened?
She didn't recall if anyone mentioned Varia recruiting habits to her or not. In this lifetime, at least.
Alek gave her a soulful stare, begging without begging for more pets. Of course the moment she designed to notice his antics his tail betrayed him, starting to lazily wag as he earned more of her attention. He gave up any pretense once she returned to fondling his ears, tail whipping about in apparent glee and nosing under both of her hands for even more.
He still had massive fucking paws, and she needed to get his nails trimmed again… just judging from the scratches he was leaving behind on her wrists. Other than his still oversized paws, her dog was getting to be even more of an unmanageable lapful. There was more of Alek at six months old than there was at two months, mostly lean muscle under his fluff made for a solidly built dog.
She wondered how Marco grew into his oversized head.
"…Miss Sonya, may I ask you to make the call?"
Sonya obediently stopped petting her pet and plucked up the receiver, plugging in the numbers dotted around her left wrist to connect to Daniella Vongola's private line.
Hopefully the old woman would be too surprised at being nominated by her to really try manipulating the thief into anything too annoying to deal with.
Tyr had better highly appreciate this.
(ooo000ooo)
(Tuesday the 1st of December, 1970 continued. Wo Hop To Triad's Compound, Wan Chai District, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.)
"Will I see you again?"
"Probably. It seems like I'm here for some significant amount of time once every year." Fong pretended wounded innocence when Sonya shot him a glare, which made young Miss Sky Nuan weakly smirk into hands and the ends of her very long but proper sleeves.
Again, these fucking Mao Jackets were fucking hell on fashion and comfort. Which was the point, admittedly, but it made any public appearance a chancy prospect for those that didn't strictly follow the rules every second of every day when the police forces carried around rulers to measure how much of a wrist was exposed or how long one's hair was.
Not that anyone really wanted the newfound Sky very far from the Triad's main stronghold, but the girl had insisted in a very new and strange way to be allowed to join the group to the port the Russian would be using to get back to Mafia Land.
As a burgeoning initial attempt to wield her Flames, it was incredibly petty. Sonya was, however misplaced it was, proud.
Using her influence to obey the rules of polite society was a trend she really hoped Nuan kept up with, instead of using her Harmonious influences to smother her own boredom and those around her by consequence like one specific Italian grandmother she could name.
The result of the little, once previously stolen, Sky accompanying her rescuer to the port and the ship she had chartered a ride upon were bodyguards. Overkill or not, Fong was still just one man supposedly escorting his associate off his syndicate's turf so Duyi sent along several more men to keep his niece un-accosted.
Sonya was deriving entirely too much amusement in ignoring Liqin's obvious confusion over why she was letting that stalker keep stalking her. He tried to point it out, much to Fong's rather bewildered surprise she wasn't remotely bothered.
She knew who it was, or rather suspected. Possibly it was entirely due to Nuan's rescue, and therefore entirely something she'd invited by helping the useless hunk of overly trained muscles she called an associate in the first place. Otherwise it'd be the other one, but she had a pending meeting with that one in Mafia Land because he went through the proper channels and everything.
Therefore… she should probably hurry the whole 'leave taking' thing a bit. Just to minimize the casualty count.
"Your uncle has my mother's number, if you absolutely require me or advice or just want someone sane to talk to… there's a chance you might be able to find me with one or two calls." Sonya allowed rather dryly to the girl, tugging Alek away from the probably fishy-smelling barrel left on the docks for who knew how long. Her dog was more curious than obedient today, he strained against his collar and leash to keep sniffing at it even if that was starting to affect his breathing. "Fong's sister lives with me, so he might be able to help too if everything else fails. Worse comes to worse, I check in with my Lackey occasionally so that's an option if you don't mind a delay until I respond."
Nuan gave her a polite little bow, a wry smirk on her face. "I know. I just can't help but feel… a bit abandoned."
"You are being abandoned, don't shy away from the reality of the situation just because you might like someone doing such." Bluntly admitted the thief, poking the Sky back upright gingerly. "I'm leaving half due to reasons of my own, and half because you feel too safe with both me and Fong around. You need the space to grow into yourself."
"And because you're not staying."
"I don't belong to the same organization you and Fong do, there's several reasons why I am only temporary. One bit of which is I'm entirely incompatible to you." If there was any reason to be deeply thankful she found Cherep when she did, the fact she didn't have to worry about having her entire life hijacked by just any one Sky was a big one. She only just settled in Italy, thank you. "The ship will be leaving shortly, so anything you can think of to ask before I'm out of range?"
"On a dock in the middle of the harbor?" Nuan countered archly, politely stepping to one side so her bodyguards could haul Sonya's luggage to the landing area for her. "No, thank you. I've asked all I wanted to ask already."
"Smart girl."
"They're calling for the last passengers to board." Fong, rather uselessly, pointed out from behind her left shoulder as if she couldn't clearly see that herself.
He had the gall to appear innocent again when she shot him a sour glare.
"Well now Fong's decided to try his hand at being useful for the day, we might as well end this here." Ignoring the mildly annoyed stare from the man in question, and the fact her dog wasn't quite done sniffing the fishy barrel so she was more dragging him than walking the poor animal, Sonya made for the ship. "Hopefully I won't see you any time soon, Princess."
Nuan smirked a little smug thing, shooting her still main bodyguard a sneaky look before waving her off.
Slipping the ferryman enough euros with her ticket to get him to ignore her stalker, possibly to the point of letting the idiot on if they were that stupid, Sonya stalked up the gangway with an extremely reluctant canine followed by the last few trickles of passengers heading the same way.
She cheerfully enough gave a wave when Nuan glanced back, leaning over the railing Alek immediately stuck his fool neck through to see what there was to see… of the dockside they just left, the little dumbass. Leaving her back to the decking but her ears metaphorically pricked for anything out of place in passengers jostling for seating room in the dim cabin this craft could barely boast of, she spent three minutes packing her pipe and otherwise not 'obviously' paying attention.
Might as well give her 'stalker' a little help, there weren't a whole lot of places to hide on a wooden spit hitched to a bigger wooden spit over some murky port water.
Starting the new bowl of tobacco as the passenger liner made it's ponderous way out of port, she ignored the side-eyeing from the ferry crew and the slowly sharpening attention of the criminal ranks taking passage on the same ship as she watched the scenery go by them.
The thing was, those that frequented Mafia Land were either one of two types or a mix of both. Well connected, or particularly prolific, criminals. Once you got to Mafia Land, most didn't move interests off of it and you ended up working with only other well connected or particularly prolific individuals who could make it there too.
It was less than likely half of the ferry's passenger list were the well-connected types. Frankly the number was probably more like less than a fifth, most of these people were probably the ones that earned their places in Mafia Land the hard way.
Which would mean they'd be very, very pissy about someone just being handed the opportunity.
After a very nice, deep inhale of burning plant matter… Sonya sharply whistled to get Alek to dart backwards even as she twisted to avoid the machete attempting to follow and now disembowel her. "…so lovely to finally meet you. Care to explain why you've been following me all last month?"
Not remotely daunted, the woman immediately turned her swing into a slightly clumsy kick. Likely trying to get space to use her oversized knives… but she ended up tripping over Alek's back. Planting her heel on the wrist closest to her, she kicked the blade out of her other hand uncaring if she snapped the joint or any assorted bones.
"Now, now… so violent. And after I did you a favor, too."
"Favor?" Echoed her… captive, derisively. "You think ruining my life is a favor there, little rice cake?"
"I've not the foggiest what you're on about… and no. I meant paying your ferry fee." The thief crouched down, grinning around the stem of her pipe. "This is a Mafia Land servicing ferry, little birdy. That you just tried to sneak on."
If you knew Mafia Land existed, which wasn't entirely something she could count on… one then probably knew unauthorized passengers were often just murdered and tossed overboard when they happened. Getting a ticket so the ferryman didn't debate on keelhauling you was the trick, and all the ferrymen she had ever seen or made use of the services of were all the older types resistant to bullshitting.
This woman wasn't that well connected, confused for sure but 'Mafia Land' did spark a bit of recognition in her dark eyes.
"I didn't get you a ticket, just paid for you to sneak on the boat without showing one." Sonya helpfully clarified since she had to for her to understand her new situation fully. "The first ticket stub check is probably when we pass the last island chain in this part of the South China Seas… so you've got about thirty-five miles to explain yourself or risk the crew and passengers murdering you so they can get to where they're going already."
"I'll take my chances." Snarled the older, probably Vietnamese or Filipino woman, kicking off into a backwards summersault to get back on her own feet and force Sonya off her wrist. She was favoring her right hand, so that kick probably did do some serious damage to force her to show it in front of all these unknowns. "But if this IS a Mafia Land ferry, they won't mind if I just kill you first."
"Probably not… but you've long since lost the opportunity of surprise." She pointed out fairly, which did not deserve an ugly look for. "Look, you've already tried and failed the subtle way… just tell me what I fucking did so we can all go back to our lives already."
"Pretty confident for an unarmed thief."
"Didn't need one to put you on your ass." Sonya observed, returning to her pipe to prevent it burning out on her. "So… who are you and why are you trying to kill me today?"
"Not a rare occurrence? Shocking." Using the thin red rope that attached her waist to her overly cumbersome heavy blades, the woman pulled her weapon back to her hands in what she probably thought was a threatening manner. "Destina Catubig. And you are?"
"…you don't even know who you're killing?"
"Won't matter."
"And now I'm bored." Sonya blocked the heavy-handed attempt to bisect her head with a Bec de Corbin, puncturing the blade entirely with a pick-end. A quick twist broke the less robust metal down the spine, separating the thicker backing of those machetes from their sharper and more importantly thinner blades. Miss Destina wasn't so arrogant with the pole weapon being held in her face. "Explain, now. I've put up with more than enough of your shit-"
"Oh for fuck's sake." Throwing up her hands, the Asian lady settled for glaring more it a fit of pique. "Seriously? Anything else you want to out-do me in? Save any puppies Fong once raised, are you also a master martial artist too?"
…what?
"This is about Fong?"
"You were WITH HIM that night! Don't even try, I know you were there. A weasel-nosed little rice cake, who fucking saved my life while you both ruined it at the same time. Fuck you, fuck whatever corner of the world you crawled out of, fuck everything."
"But… but Fong's useless." Sonya sputtered, a bit more than entirely confused. Bewildered might've covered it.
"I know that now." Destina snapped irritably, ripping off the little rope that connected her to her now ruined weapon. "He's still pretty."
"And useless." She repeated inanely, a little stuck on the fact this was all due to that unhelpful lout. "Seriously, unless you have someone to beat up in front of you… Fong's fucking useless."
"…I never said he was a smart one." Muttered the other woman venomously, crossing her arms in front of her defensively. "Besides, he can burn people alive. He doesn't need to be smart. Our kids will get their brains from me."
The Russian was starting to see the problem. "Did you ever ask him if he wanted kids?"
Fong had been avoiding this woman entirely, even when she hadn't been aware they were spying on her. If the Storm had knocked her out nice and early, say the first one he took out?
She would've had more than enough time to recover and then take cover from the firestorm he later unleashed to burn down that entire warehouse district if she had been rendered unconscious 'gently' rather than via force. Which meant she probably didn't know what was said or done to piss a Storm off to the point of weather-wizardry, or why Fong would unintentionally murder everyone nearby without a damn care as he had.
Destina refused to answer her entirely legitimate question, which told the thief entirely too much of the Chinese Storm's problems with women.
More to the current situation, his problem with fangirls.
Worse, she saved the fangirl's life.
This wasn't fun anymore. "Right… well."
"That's it?"
Sonya critically inspected the woman, matching 'Destina' up to 'Miss Octopus-hands' from Tuguegarao City just in case Fong ever asks her about the situation. "It's not going to matter in about half an hour. Unless you can get someone to bribe the right crewmember for your full passage to Mafia Land, the ferryman's going to kill you."
"And you, you are going to let this happen?"
"Do I have a reason to stop it?" She asked curiously… because she didn't. She'd attempt to save someone once, but if they specifically sought out yet another lethal situation it was apparently a touch too much for her to bother with.
As the other woman stalked off in a snit, the thief cautiously went back to smoking. Alek rubbed up against her leg now the tense part was long over with, panting slightly, and she scratched him behind the ears a couple times while pondering if she really cared about the other woman's fate or not.
…she really didn't so far, at least. Maybe Destina would make herself interesting, or maybe she'd die.
Either way, Sonya figured she had done more than enough already.
(Tuesday the 8th of December, 1970. De Mort Castle, Moneglia, Province of Genoa, Liguria, Italian Republic.)
After a lengthy stopover in Mafia Land to pick up and review the business proposal and getting through meeting several people from Hawk's bodyguard trainer and the master of her own guildhall, it was very late when Sonya finally made it home. Beyond just a week late, it was either near or past midnight when she finally paid the taxi driver and got left on her own curbside. Even Alek was too tired to race around, though from his body language she assumed he did vaguely recognize 'home' as such.
While her pet plodded along in her wake as they went up the main lane to the castle proper, she got a tiny bit distracted.
Most of the lights in Verde's home were out like all the other homes in the castle's front lawn… but two. One in the living room, and one in an upstairs hallway.
The likelihood Verde was still awake was high.
Alek was rather confused when she made a sudden turn, but gamely followed her anyways with his doggy bag still hanging from his jaws. It took her less than three seconds to pick the lock, but the front door's deadbolt stuck halfway. Mildly impressed with whatever alteration Adrik made to cause that, Sonya used her Mafia Land charge card to force it back and open.
By the time she got it and her dog inside with their luggage, a half-dressed Adrik was blearily glaring at her from the hallway staircase. "Give me a fucking heart-attack…"
"Anna wouldn't have let anything get this far without giving you a heads up." She rather needlessly reminded her head of security tartly, tossing the business proposal and related contracts to the coffee table dominated by other papers scribbled on in childish hands. "He's downstairs still, isn't he?"
Rubbing the palm of his hand against his surgery scars, specifically the one where a bullet was extracted out of his lung, the former con artist security specialist snorted. "Is it any day ending in a 'y'? Then obviously. If you can send him to bed after you're done with him, I'd appreciate it."
"Go back to bed and close your door. If Alek thinks he can… he'll try to crowd you out of your own bed."
Grumbling some rather creative curses in German under his breath, the man did so… but not before she got a good look at the back of his throat as he yawned.
"Charming." Of course, since Adrik had to yawn now her dog had to yawn and drop his bag of toys all over the wooden floors. "Oh go sleep on the couch."
Alek gave her a grumpy stare, unimpressed with her suggestion. He did slink off, more to the kitchen than the couch sitting before them so she figured he had at least a plan for the night.
Or he'd try to steal Verde's bed before she could get the man up however many levels.
Below Verde's ground floor level was three laboratories, stacked on top of each other. The first seemed to hold Peter McScruffy's dimly smoldering glassblowing equipment and a whole wall of books on bare metal shelving, not all of them textbooks on any connected topic and not all of them either wire-bound notebooks or rough leather-bound volumes. The second lab level held a wealth of electrical cables and other industrial appliances she didn't recognize offhand, including the internet prototype she still intended to maybe nudge her pet scientist into making into a criminal-only world wide web.
The third and last level held… some very strange and only half piecemeal contraptions. Some tanks full of murky liquids, exactly three microscopes, an entire wall of metal tables lined up end-to-end with four folding metal chairs available, three desk lamps still lit scattered on them, the wall above the tables filled with all sorts of tool sets, an entire stack of petri dishes precariously perched on the edge of a deep sink standing bare on a far wall, and one bony Lightning-natured scientist still scrutinizing one microscope and jolting down something on the pad of paper by his right hand.
Verde hadn't heard her, or her letting herself in. He did react when she got within arm's reach, entirely too late. "Cute, but if I had a gun you'd still be dead the moment I opened the door."
The man tiredly squinted up at her, leaning back in the metal chair to help see her without putting a crick in his neck. "…I did not realize you had returned."
"Only just. Since you're up… I've got a business proposal for you and Scruffy upstairs. Did you eat today? Or rather yesterday? Like… at all?"
He jerked his thumb down his row of tables, where there was a serving tray with crumb-littered dishes she vaguely recognized from Cesare's side of the kitchen. "Adrik took it upon himself to correct his oversight with some rather patronizing intensity, unfortunately. Although I do appreciate the direction his concern arises from, and thus have not refuted his well-intentioned if ill-thought out expression of his guilt."
"…violates lab-safety, from what little I recall of science labs. Seriously. I'll talk to him… if you'd rather be pulled out rather than eat in here."
"It is of little trouble to restrict tinkering with biological samples to only the hours after a meal, the benefits of personally delivered meals outweigh the possible compromising risks. If he so insists." Verde dismissed tiredly, slumping backwards tiredly into his seat even more as he eyed his microscope. "To a point, admittedly. When the normally rigorous protocols for preventing cross-contamination becomes a risk I will put a stop to the situation… myself…? Sonya?"
"It doesn't sound as if you're going to stop, so I changed my mind. I'm sleeping here." Unfortunately, the man still had a rather bony frame which meant his lap wasn't all that comfortable. There was only just enough room for her between him and his working surface, and so far underground she was well aware her toes were going to freeze the moment she forgot to keep herself warm. "Wake me when you're ready for bed."
Verde, the consummate gentleman he had slowly become when it came to her invading his personal space, held still until she was settled then gingerly experimented with reaching his equipment around her before giving it up as a bad job. "Did you not seek me out for a business proposal?"
"I want company, but I'm tired too." She informed his Adam's apple, musing on if she should mention he missed a few spots when he last shaved. "My bed's too big, and it'd just be me and Alek if I went there… then again, you are still awake too."
"So, I am the alternate plan?"
…this line of questioning sounded a little off. "You're an opportunity I didn't expect, but now want. Hope you don't mind spending the night down here."
"Sonya, this is not comfortable as well as too cold to rest within."
Yeah, well… it was soothing that stupid low-level itch she had to do something ever since Tatiana left. "Should've thought of that sooner, I'm comfortable."
Verde had the gall to snort at her, rather unwisely given how close she was now. "Get up, lazy woman. Since you have seen fit to interrupt my work, we may as well relocate to the rooms specifically kept for rest."
…her toes were already trying to freeze, but after a slight adjustment for the Lightning's poky-frame the rest of her was really comfortable. "Not good enough."
"…indeed?" The complete asshole stuck ice-cold fingers against the back of her thighs, and even through her thin linen slacks she could feel exactly how cold her toes probably were now. Even if she only just glared up at him in return, he looked so smug with himself as she failed to suppress the shiver. "As hot as you might run internally, I suspect you cannot in fact out-produce the refrigeration units keeping my samples from decomposition. Without visible sign of such, admittedly… not that I wish to be proven wrong at this time. Regardless, I will continue to assault you with cold extremities unless we move upstairs."
"You… are a dick." She grumbled, reluctantly sliding off him only for the promise of horizontal time covered in preferably thick comforters or even a thin wool blanket if she really had to. "Why are all the men I know assholes?"
"An… interesting complaint." Leaving his notebook and pen abandoned on the metal table, the scientist only slid out the slide he had been studying from the tray in his microscope's base and waltzed over to a metal closet affair she hadn't noticed in the darker end of the vaulted underground laboratory. Two clinks of glass in the dim light the interior of the cabinet gave off and the man was back, roughly pushing up his glasses to sit higher on the bridge of his nose before giving her a somewhat flourishing gesture to the same staircase she had come down not too long ago. "Yes, I do in fact have male genitalia to coincide with the gender I am identified and described by. And while I cannot speak for the other 'men' you know of, I can at least inform you I merely give back what you deem prudent to share."
…did Verde just call her an asshole?
A tiny bit impressed, because if he had than that insult had been smooth as fuck, as well as mostly amused she just shook her head and led the way. "You are a piece of work."
"An agreeable observation, many hands went into crafting me into the man I am today."
He pulled a completely innocent 'polite attention' expression when she glanced over a shoulder. "Yeah? Don't quite your day-job, Gilles. They apparently only gave you one real skill to go with a silver tongue."
(ooo000ooo)
(Tuesday the 8th of December, 1970 continued. Verde's home, De Mort Castle, Moneglia, Province of Genoa, Liguria, Italian Republic.)
"How do you like your eggs in the morning, Sonya?"
"Scrambled." This, for whatever reason, amused the hell out of Adrik has he made breakfast in the rather tiny ass kitchen this building Verde had made for himself. Sonya was not sure why her dietary preference were worth a snicker, nor did she rightly care at the moment as she took a seat on the sofa with her paperwork.
After checking to be sure her dog had escaped in the middle of the night, hence why he didn't try to crowd Sonya and Verde out of the man's bed, she instead started in on the whole reason she needed to visit the gangly Frenchman in the first place.
She had trained up Alek damn well by this point, if her dog wanted out there was little anyone or anything could realistically do to stop him. As the fluffy idiot hadn't gotten himself killed in the middle of Hong Kong, Sonya was confident her dog would be perfectly fine running around an Italian village in the middle of nowhere.
He'd come back to be fed, the greedy bottomless pit, or to be fawned over. Until then there wasn't much of a point to do anything but let Usov and Anna know to watch out for her pet.
In the meantime, she could show Verde the stone-selling boutique idea Bjǫrn had put together into an actual business plan and what the Lightning would be responsible for with his cut of the proceeds if interested. After a moment of looking a bit constipated at his housemate's inane question, the man did change the subject into something she was more interested in.
"I understand giving Peter the bulk of the proceeds, as he is slotted to produce and control the quality of the items in question… my concern is if he becomes ill or otherwise incapacitated and I substitute production through my own work or an intermediary such as a future lab assistant?"
"I'll have my Lackey amend the proposal then, that's a really good point." Eventually they'd also have to hand over production to whomever Scruffy wanted to succeed him in the job, or if they had to expand the production line eventually…
…while it would be easier to let the business go independent when she tired of owning it, there would be adjusting the paperwork for the changes it would then need
There was a rather annoyed harrumph, Sonya looked up only to get a memo pad of paper shoved under her nose. "There are more than enough surfaces to take note upon, your skin is not one such acceptable medium. The ink from any ballpoint affair is toxic."
Paper also made for neater notes without the risk of smearing. "Anything else you want to point out?"
"I am satisfied with royalties due for successful formulas computations as well as bonuses for clarifying new compositions for different grades within the selected categories, five percent of all sales is more than adequate given the prices you intend to market them as. Pending renegotiations if and when the price rises due to demand, of course."
She paused before jolting that down too. "…of course."
Damn her propensity for smart minions. She'd still get thirty percent gross, since she was the one that would be running the store and solving any logistical problems… but still annoying Verde was business-smart enough to account for possible fluctuations in the market for a rare piece of equipment suddenly getting a completely manufactured supply to meet the demand.
Although, renegotiations when demand rises would also mean a renegotiation when it fell too. Like after that first bump in hype when sales fell as everyone got what they wanted.
While she listed that down Verde's front door was thrown open, banging off the wall and very nearly nailing Shamal in the forehead as he dashed in still dressed in his pajamas. "Mamma! Why are you here?"
"Paperwork." The massive tri-colored beast hot on his heels she took to be a half-grown Marco, her own leaner Alek chased his brother in before the door fully shut to explain how her brat knew where she was.
Probably smelled his brother and wanted a new tussle.
Alek proudly jumped up on Verde's couch, excited and happy all over without much of a damn cause. He ducked his snout under her right arm, wiggling into her lap and knocking the scientist's notepad to the floor because he was apparently very excited. The man who owned the home sighed, scooping up both the paperwork and the pad of lined paper he gave her to save them from doggy interference. "Are you certain you wish to eat breakfast here instead up in your own dining room?"
"It's the day after her work's done, it's a being lazy day." Shamal answered for her, following her dog up on the couch and giving her a hug around the neck and a kiss to her cheek. "I'm happy you're back."
Since she now had nothing important in front of her, except for a pen she could toss into her purse on the coffee table, she grabbed her godson and pulled him over to sandwich Alek between them. As per usual when her dog was squished, he decided to lick a face in revenge… and his face was closer than hers.
Alek had either forgotten, or learned to deal with, his wariness of the boy as a puppy. Which she was glad to see, honestly.
Shamal hadn't expected it, probably because he remembered a lot better how wary her dog had been to him as a puppy. He ended up gagging on a mouthful of dog slobber and tongue, attempting to squirm away from her grip and instead ending up on the floor… only to be leapt upon by his own dog for another round of doggy kisses because Marco felt left out apparently.
Not to be left out of any rousing fun, her dog immediately descended to join in the 'lick the boy' efforts.
Verde slowly slid his coffee table away from the pile of boy and canines on his floor. "Should I see if I can locate Peter before Adrik is done making breakfast?"
"No." She knew she had to go mingle with all her fucking dependents eventually, Sonya just didn't want to yet. She had the company she wanted right here. "Nothing's going to be started until the contracts are amended to account for your points and reviewed yet again anyways. Which might take until next year. There's no point in bothering him before he's ready to be up for the day."
"Mamma, save me!"
Grabbing a flailing hand, she helped him extract himself from the dogs and pulled him into her lap for 'safety'. "Hey brat, I'm home."
Shamal looked only moderately appeased by her rescue, trying to scrape off the worst of the drool all over his face with his bare hands only to smear it all over his little flannel pants. "You don't say, mamma. Alek raided Cesare's side of the kitchen for the roast we were supposed to have tonight… then left the refrigerator open. He'd like a word, when you've got a moment."
"…tomorrow."
"There's been other changes around here too." The Mist pointed out, perfectly content in her arms even if he was now unfortunately just under half her own size and still growing. "Mrs. Zinaida got more honey than she expected with the crate-hives, so there's twelve barrels of her mead brewing in the stables. Anna finished putting up your sewing room in the one connected to mine. Mrs. Ruslana's hired a couple people-"
"Tomorrow." Sonya insisted blandly, knowing she really did have to get on charting all the changes and investigating anything remotely out of acceptable bounds of the term 'coincidence'… as well as talk to Cesare about the differences between being able to pick up and leave an area when the heat got on him and when you had to behave yourself to avoid it. "Today I'm just going… to do nothing but sit still."
And… perhaps take a nap or three. She was still tired… but Verde's internal clock seemed to always wake him at six in the morning on the dot no matter how late he went to bed. He hadn't seemed to mind her demanding another two hours of lazily dozing on his chest, but she knew full well any Lightning would be bored to hell with nothing to do for two hours much less someone as methodically high concept orientated as him.
The fact Verde was still hanging around for half an hour past that making polite conversation… well. She really appreciated the consideration to her weird people-itch, but she had probably eaten enough of his time as it stood.
"What do you want to do today, brat?"
"I thought you wanted to sit? We put in the benches in the library… well, half of them that Hawk wanted to put in there."
"I can sit in multiple places." Shamal ignored her picking his dog-drool slimed bangs back into order, giving her question some serious thought.
Alek nipped at her thigh for attention, looking wounded and left out as he rested his snout next to her on the couch cushions to make himself appear more pitiable. Marco just panted cheerfully behind him as his tail wagged, sniffing at her purse and waiting for something interesting to happen again so he could join in.
Apparently, the bonds of being littermates transcended not seeing each other for months at a time. She hadn't exactly worried, Alek had seen and interacted with handfuls of other dogs around the world and Marco was genially natured from birth. It was just one more thing she didn't have to worry about ticked off, that she hadn't made worse by leaving Italy with her dog.
"Sonya?"
"We'll get out of your way after breakfast." She informed Verde dryly, straightening up slightly only to not spill her breakfast all over Shamal's head when Adrik started bringing plates out. "And since I'm apparently treating the whole castle to dinner somewhere because Alek got the munchies, want to do dinner in town?"
Both dogs, now there was food available, perked up and put on their best behavior. Of course Marco hadn't been in the best position to sit his fluffy ass down, he ended up trying to sit on Alek's back which both dogs decided necessitated a full out tussle over.
Verde appeared rather bemused at the roughhousing animals in his living room but nodded somewhat absently to her suggestion before getting up with his plate of breakfast and wandering back off to his labs.
"…is that rude?" Shamal inquired from her lap, accepting half her toast to munch on while Adrik stole Verde's spot to eat himself.
"What metric are you judging rudeness by? Lightnings are by nature curt, besides Verde's also entirely too old and set in his way to relearn behavioral patterns if he doesn't have to." The man really didn't have to be polite, he already did exactly what she wanted and kept her company overnight. "Kind of like how no one should give me a handshake, or why no one trusts a Mist they don't know offering a hand. We're just… not inclined to certain behaviors, and we really can't judge others for not conforming if we don't."
Brat still looked skeptical, so she blew a raspberry against his cheek.
"I didn't find it rude. I did interrupt him last night and he was probably in the middle of something when he stopped to entertain me. Eventually his attention span was going to wander."
"Is that what you kids are calling it these days?" Adrik inquired curiously, around a mouthful of whatever grated potato-mess he had on his place. "Funny…"
"You're not all that much older than me, jackass." When he merely wiggled his eyebrows at her in lieu of answering, she took another quick bite of the scrambled egg and sausage mess the man was passing off as breakfast. "What's your plan, anyways? It's been most of a year. You going to stay here, or what?"
"…oh yeah." Digging his fork in his food bowl, her head of security scratched at his early-morning stubble. "Boss lady said she might have a way to fix my lung, but it's undergoing medical testing before human trials… in maybe as much as six months to a year from now they might be ready for me. Which is great and all… but I'm just not going to hold my breath. Much as I can't right now. So, either I got back to Nicolai and Ziven to do whatever they plan on doing next… or figure out what else a functionally crippled crook can be put to here or in Moscow. Assuming I'm not going to be kicked out halfway through March when your year of my service is up."
Sonya chewed apart a chunk of sausage that was crumbled into her scrambled eggs slowly, as she ordered her thoughts. She had an idea, but if Adrik went for it or not would probably be only a matter of a convincing enough argument and the right phrasing. The man, who grew from the scrawny as hell hyper boy that used to run around Moscow with her sister, was no one's fool and eyed her suspiciously.
"Why do I suddenly feel like one of Verde's lab rats?"
Shamal perked up, not quite swallowing before he spoke which meant Alek and Marco got showered in half-chewed bread chunks… much to their delight. "Does Verde really have lab-rats down there?"
"Pff, of course not kid. He claims the wee beasties are 'unscientific' substitutes for studying human biology, something about some long-dead French scientist who learned a shit-ton about thermal regulation and anesthesia effects… by basically torturing animals to learn it so it's not kindly looked upon these days. If Verde's testing something for how dangerous it'll be, he'll use himself rather than get a box of mice."
"…I beg your pardon?"
"Samples, not by… dousing himself with whatever." Adrik shrugged that off, then snuck another bite of his food. "Hair and blood, he's got other methods to test how caustic something is… he'll do an occasional allergy test here or there, if you saw pinpricks in his arms that's what that is. No, he's not using drugs."
She blinked slowly. "Huh. And he had the gall to bitch about my medical experimentation."
He paused for a full second, even if he lived with a Lightning-natured scientist type who probably got impatient with long lulls in any conversation. "Wait… should I be concerned…?"
"No." Sonya put her plate down, on the back of the couch outside of doggy-reach, and changed the subject. "Verde made that ARPANET copy, didn't he? Given how fast both photography and telecommunications caught on, something that can transmit information from one side of a country to another instantly… I mean more than just voice like maybe documents and pictures, is bound to become widespread. Law enforcement is probably going to jump on it to make our lives even harder, someone might want to get on a criminal-only information network. As a matter of fact, if you take that damn thing to Mafia Land, I'd bet heavily someone that controls the island might want to invest in it's development."
"I think Verde lost interest in it." Pointed out Adrik thoughtfully, lowering his food almost unwisely but rescuing it from Marco's lunge before the dog could even finish posing to pounce. "And since he did make it, without me the asshole, if I don't slide a cut his way you're likely to visit and make me uncomfortable. Is there a reason you're setting up your minions to have their own income?"
"Aside the fact it's fucking expensive to have 'people'? If you all have your own damn money, you can buy whatever the fuck you want instead of having to justify it to Maximillian or me or Bjǫrn. For a couple people I can't let them go, Scruffy for one, but a lot of you all are just here for security needs rather than because what you know makes you a target." That might include Adrik, given that he lived with Verde for any amount of time and others would assume the Lightning had to be fond of the man. Which was true from all appearances, but said man was more than smart enough to realize himself if there were people targeting Verde for anything then he had to be a little cautious to not get caught up with them. "If I give you all enough other things to do, you won't bother me about being 'underappreciated' or 'feeling neglected' or 'I need a raise'."
"…has that ever been a complaint?"
"No, and now it's not ever going to be." Peter got listless a few times in Moscow because she forgot about him, Galina had no troubles whatsoever in pointing it out to her repeatedly until she got the general idea. People needed something to do, and some just couldn't make themselves busy. "Likely when technology advances the ARPANET system will be refined into something different able to handle more and more data… but if you really want I can 'invest' in that for you. Verde likely will as well if you ask him about it… and possibly Mafia Land itself would like a private, personal, network for their own use. Any number of outfits, legal or not, would love ways to keep in contact with their agents across a widespread network frame stretching from one corner of the world to another."
"Well… that is exactly what ARPANET is all about…" Adrik got lost in his head more than he paid attention to her, probably thinking over what he knew of the project and her… 'assumptions'.
That was fine with her, now she just had a handful of 'minion-types' left to bother herself with. Hawk for one, she didn't have a remote clue what the man wanted to do with his life aside annoy the fuck out of her.
Sonya knew for a fact ARPANET wasn't the only wide-spread attempt at information networking, there was another system in the works to be set up in France she learned about during Verde's egg-head shindig. From this beginning, rather limited half-step forward getting only a couple letters transmitted from one coast of the US to another that it was, the internet was only a few more developmental hurdles away.
Alek gratefully accepted a couple bites of her over seasoned egg scramble, although he looked still so pitiful and hungry because she still had several bites of sausage left on her plate. He did lick her fingers clean anyways, even if that meant Shamal had the opening to steal the meat off her plate to supplement his own merger breakfast.
"Yeah, you're so hungry… that's why you ate Cesare's roast. Don't think I don't know, fluffy-butt." As much as it amused her godson, her dog pretended her words had nothing to do with him. Even if they were addressed directly to him.
Her dog did look utterly wounded, heart and soul, that she gave Marco a couple bites of her eggs just to be fair to the animals.
"Did you decide what you wanted to do today, brat?"
"You do remember I have school today, right?" Shamal returned dryly, popping the last bit of her toast in his mouth even if he already had half of it. "Maybe after school we can take the dogs up the mountain and I can show you what Tyr and his people did to it?"
"…ho? They did something to the mountain?"
"They dug things out… I don't think Tyr is aware Usov and I can monitor what he's doing that far away."
"Seems to be mostly hideouts and a few underground storage units." Adrik chipped in rather confidently, which made sense as he did ensure this place was secure enough for her. "Think the man plans on stashing anyone and anything the police are looking for in them while he lets them search his actual building. Not a bad plan, really… but we were here first, so we knew he altered something in the mountainside. Also, kid… you've got about fifteen minutes to get dressed and join the other kids for Hawk to take you all to school."
Rolling his eyes, the young Mist slid off the couch and got upright. A wave of his hands, and his little pajamas turned into some shorts and a little tee shirt then he pulled a little bookbag she didn't recall buying for him from thin air. "And I'm ready. You were saying?"
The man rolled his eyes, grabbing Sonya's mostly empty plate from her to stack on his own and take back to the kitchen. "Get going then, kid. You're still running out of time."
Sonya collared him before he could run off on her, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "We'll talk over the last few months later, maybe on that walk with the dogs. Have a good day at school or whatever it is you want to do."
Brat shot her a look.
"I'm aware Usov withdrew himself from school, I'm not going to pretend a school can hold you if you don't want it to. I do appreciate you're still going, even if the other brats have a different idea for themselves."
"…Mingxia intends to go all the way through university. And Usov's quit school on the condition he keep up with his studies either independently or under a tutor." Shamal pointed out fairly, dumping his little school bag on the couch with her since he didn't really need it at this exact moment. "Then again, both have ideas for what they're going to do with their lives when me and Larion don't."
"You've got time. Knowing what you're going to do by your first decade of life isn't actually all that common." Ruffling his hair, she got up as well since Adrik probably had plans for the day and Verde had wandered off back to work. "I'm going to take the dogs out to the village and just… reacquaint ourselves to Italian streets. I'll be back before you. First, though… I need to go talk to Cesare."
He blinked innocently at her, sliding his bag off the couch again and making for the door at a pretty fast clip. "Right. Have fun with that. Bye mamma, see you after school!"
(ooo000ooo)
(Tuesday the 8th of December, 1970 continued. De Mort Castle, Moneglia, Province of Genoa, Liguria, Italian Republic.)
Cesare did not expect the feather duster that smacked him full in the face. "…I beg-"
The Lovely Bossy Dragoness brandished her weapon of choice another two times at him before tossing the cleaning implement over a shoulder dismissively to clatter against the far wall. "There. Now, if Ruslana asks, I did chastise you for killing whoever the fuck that was she's uncomfortable by. Cesare… most of the people here are civilians. Not syndicate members, not criminals themselves, just… civilians. Yeah, they're not going to freak out over the fact you've kill people and will continue to kill people… unless you kill someone in front of them. Which… you did. Their social graces around criminals were learned on thieves, not assassins or hitmen."
He took his handkerchief out of his back pocket to clean his face from any dust she might've just assaulted him with. "I am aware, may I add. Are you objecting to my…?"
"Eh. Adrik's the one that should be calling if someone's going to die or not, but he's not all that fussed that you killed someone either." The lithe blonde allowed for, hitching a shoulder up as she turned to round the desk that had been provided for the only other office room on the ground floor of her charming castle's ground floor. "The only other issue we now have… is you've probably tipped the police off that there's something going on here. Doesn't matter the only thing is we're not all that appreciative of their spying on us, the fact you removed their mole by murder means they suspect we've got something more than just Flame-able kids running about to be worried by."
"I regret to inform you," Cesare drawled dryly as he sauntered over to her one only chair for any guests across her desk, "that due to your associations you are already a person of interest to the police. Between attending a few Vongola Balls, as Renato's charming piece of arm candy or not, and your associations with Lady Vongola and Master Tyr… you've caused all that yourself."
"Not as a possible criminal connection. The Vongola Famiglia doesn't put in so much effort in their public relations for nothing, Cesare. Until you killed that guy, all I was known as was an unknown Russian author."
"Renato, whatever the man intended, was not a low-profile hitman. He and I are both known individuals to the police due to our occupational hazards in one form or another. Between us, your own connections, and the fact several syndicates likely have made it a point of avoiding 'your' territory… no one was under the illusion you are not in fact as 'murderous' as the rest of us, Lovely Bossy Dragoness." Taking the seat when she merely sighed at his words, the assassin-chef smiled broadly at the woman. "Now, if the polite chatter is over with?"
"…what, exactly, do you want to eat for dinner? Since Alek did eat your roast, I figured I can order out for the night to give you a break."
Cesare pondered the question, weighting and debating with himself which of the various restaurants in the village he wanted to give that kind of social and financial boost to. Then which he should mention the event to offhand, because having them trying to court his good opinion for a recommendation would be something he would never turn down. "You don't mind I killed someone on your property?"
"If I was remotely bothered that you were an assassin, I wouldn't have hired you to feed my people in the first place. And I get you're a lone assassin, you've not had to account for others or long-term in your calculations before. So, we'll teach you." The smile she gave was a little too thin and toothy for his personal comfort. "And that means you'll be helping Usov and Anna 'fix' the situation."
"Sounds fun." Someone not the two of them spoke up, Usov sitting in his own chair that did not exist before that very moment.
If Anna was a ghost-girl that haunted the upper floors and only came out at night, Usov was a little day-loving poltergeist that never shut up. Cesare thought young Shamal was the politest of the three Mist Flame users living here, as he was present in the flesh when you spotted or spoke to him.
"Usov, do you want to explain how my sister can give you a medical exam in Moscow, when you live here?"
"…not particularly?" Attempting something like a winsome smile, which fell flat as it bounced from the boss' unimpressed eyebrow raise, the child coughed once before defaulting to his usual toothy grins. "I would rather discuss my withdrawal of the-"
"I know. I know Verde offered to tutor you. I also know he said you had to get your parents to agree to withdrawing you. Not me. I'm also aware you withdrew yourself anyways. Using me."
The child continued to grin cheerfully. "I am merely refining the situation to the simplest terms."
"You have half a day to talk to your parents before I do." Sonya held up a hand before the child could respond. "Specifically about your schooling situation, what you decided to do about it, Verde's offer, and then that you withdrew yourself. In that order, Usov. I'll let that Mist-shade of yourself back in Moscow slide… since I'm pretty sure it's part of how you can be here and back with the clan at the same time."
"Do you intend to talk to mom about her fears of the KGB?"
Curiously, the blonde was silent a moment more than Cesare expected. When he glanced over, the complete non-expression tipped off more about what she was going to say than her usual polite impatience she wore when dealing with other people. "…that fear isn't entirely unfounded. Even out here."
"…I beg your pardon?"
"I've stumbled across their outposts in France. A tangentially related individual actually shot me in Mafia Land." Clarified the woman blandly without much care as she examined the paperwork Maximillian had been leaving in her office curiously more than interestedly. "They're everywhere from America to Mafia Land, Cesare. There's decent odds they're here too."
Well now, that made more sense. "And I take it the reason you do not mind my murdering people without your head of security's say so?"
"I might just need you to do that in the future, a dead KGB operative is better than a live one around those that can't operate on that level. I've got Mists, I can handle reputation losses or rumored 'stories' about our place… just can't bring people back from the dead." She looked as if she might add something onto that for a second, then refocused on him with a thin attempt at a polite smile. "So… what do you want to do about dinner?"
