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kaine

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For a significant period of time now, Ilithyia has been slowly moving within the ranks of the men she has decided to take under her employ. They have not always understood her, though since their initial meeting there has always been a sense of respect, one she has cultivated carefully over time, and she finds she's quite satisfied with the way things are going when several of her men end up dead.

For a time, she is furious. It doesn't fade, simply turns into something else, something she will find a use for in time. There are still men who trust her, those who will keep her safe, but many of those she had come to rely on to fund her lifestyle are gone.

She is not well pleased to once more be working for the respect and power she knows she deserves.

It is on the street with Albinius that she finds herself coming upon Kaine at the same moment a man from a rival gang she knows little of approaches her. She appraises him, sensing danger, though she suspects there is little to be done on the street in the middle of the day.

"Kaine," she calls, greeting her friend. "Would you care to join me?" Perhaps the man approaching will take the presence of another as suggestion not to come closer or make any trouble.

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I've had a lot to think about lately. I made a mess of things while I was crazy and, granted I was crazy at the time, but I still made a huge mess of things with some of the gangs in the city and I need to fix things. That means I need to get some sort of inside angle with them, a way to pinpoint the weak spots in the organization and shore them up. It's not how I usually work but I've been shown how it's a good way to work.

Coincidentally, I see Ilithyia while I'm thinking about the Lobos. I know she's involved with them and while she's not a necessarily a key player I don't doubt that she's got plans. She's too intelligent and fearless to not have some sort of plan.

Right now she just seems to be a mother out with her kid. Say what you will about her but she's crazy about Albinius. I can forgive someone a lot if they shower that much devotion on their kid.

"Sure, I'd love to," I tell her. I don't have anything else to do. "How are you and Albinius?"

"You find us both well. Gratitude," Ilithyia answers, linking her arm through Kaine's and glancing toward the man who has begun to approach them. As she joins Kaine, he seems to pause, thinking better of what he may be planning and she smiles faintly, returning her attention to Kaine.

"There is a man nearby who desires to do me harm, I suspect," she tells him, still smiling. "It is lucky that I've run into you this evening. How have you been?"

"Lucky for him then, maybe this way he won't make the mistake of trying to hurt you," I say. Ilithyia doesn't fuck around. If she thought that guy was going to hurt her I imagine he would have ended up bleeding out on the ground before he knew what was going on. She's mentioned to me before about how dangerous she is and now that I know her better I don't doubt it.

"I've been alright. Looking for work. Working at the docks is boring and doesn't pay enough and fighting isn't very steady. How about you? Any more people from home show up?"

"With my son I would prefer to avoid confrontation," Ilithyia says simply. "Your presence implies added strength and..." She pauses, looking toward the man who has paused as well, then turns away. "It seems to have worked, though I am pleased to see you otherwise."

At his question, she smiles faintly and shakes her head. "No other Romans have come to Darrow." On this matter, she is undecided how she feels about such a thing. Were another people from home to arrive in Darrow there would be another issue, another obstacle. "What kind of work it is you're looking to find?"

"Sorry you haven't had any friends show up."

I take note of the guy, promising myself later to find out what his deal is and why he would want to hurt Ilithyia. I mean, besides the usual reasons someone might want to hurt Ilithyia. I like her well enough but that doesn't mean I don't see why someone wouldn't want to strangle her at times. That's part of her charm, or something.

"I don't know. Not much I'm qualified for other than lifting heavy things or hurting people. I'll do whichever pays more at this point."

She's quiet for a moment as they walk, considering what Kaine has said. In his carrier, Albinius makes a few soft noises and she passes her hand over his head absently, thinking of the men she has lost the care of in recent weeks. Kaine is a man she already trusts and she has coin to pay him well enough. She has seen him fight and knows well what strength he possesses.

"Would you work for me?" she asks curiously, her gown whispering over pavement as they walk. "I can pay."

"I hope that you don't mean to babysit," I tell her. I am really, really not qualified for that sort of thing and never will be. I would just web the kid up in the corner and leave them there. I'm pretty sure that's not what she's talking about though. If she's offering me an in with the gang, well that's exactly what I'm looking for.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I do not require you to care for my child," she answers, casting amused glance in Kaine's direction. "Many of the men who were in my employ in a manner of speaking were recently killed," she says, making no effort to choose her words carefully. Kaine can accept what she says or he will not, there is little reason to hide who she is.

"There are others now, men in rival gangs as it's been explained to me, who are looking to use such act to make further statement," she continues. "I am not as entirely safe I would like."

I wince at the mention of the bed men because that is totally my bad. When I was sick and crazy I attacked the Lobos and made a mess of things. Now there's a really ugly power struggle between them and other gangs that could get a lot of people hurt. And it's all my fault. This is exactly the sort of in I need to help fix the problem I created.

"So a bodyguard and enforcer then? I could do that."

I'm not going to insult her by asking if she has enough money. Besides, to be honest I'd do this for free but that would look suspicious.

Though the deaths of some has been something of a setback, there are yet others who have embraced Ilithyia's presence within their ranks. "You would see yourself greatly rewarded for my safety," she says with a faint, knowing smile. "There may be those who wish harm upon me, but there are others still who recognize the unique power I possess and who desire to keep me alive."

By the time that changes -- as she is sure it must -- she will have moved on and any of these men who wish harm upon her will find themselves swiftly removed from situation.

I scratch my jaw thoughtfully, like I'm thinking it over, before I realize that I'm probably not fooling Ilithyia. Not a lot gets by her and the fewer lies I have to sell the better. Plus, getting actually paid would be nice.

"Who the hell am I kidding, that sounds a hell of a lot better than any other job I might get. Plus, you're not half bad. Would kinda hate it if anything happened to you."

Ilithyia smiles as they walk. Though often humour is different in Darrow than it would have been in Rome, she's come to learn the ways in which people speak and she understands what Kaine's words truly mean. "And you would be willing to do anything I might require?" she asks. She may not ask things of Kaine that she would ask another, but she does need to be certain she will be safe.

"I'd really rather not kill anyone," I say. I've been trying to stay away from that lately and I know that the Bats would really disapprove if I killed someone and since they're the brains behind this I should probably stick to that philosophy. Plus, killing is bad and all that.

"You cut a guy's hand off and he just takes it personally. Doesn't involve anyone outside of the gang. Kill a guy and then you've got to get rid of the body or the cops get involved and it's just a mess."

Not for the first time, Ilithyia finds herself missing Meg. She is unaware of how the other woman -- though she'd been more than just a woman, truly -- had disposed of the body in her home that day, but she knows such skill is not easily found.

"Agreed," she says, because there are men who will kill should she require it.

Well, that went a lot easier than expected. Not that I'm complaining or anything but that's about the easiest job interview I've ever had. Only job interview actually but I'm sure it was easy by any standards.

"So besides walking around with you, what else are we going to do?"

"Tonight or now that you are under my employ?" she asks, amused smile curving lips. "I would require presence at meetings to lend physical strength to arguments against men who might otherwise find me weak." She is anything but weak, but even armed, she is aware she holds little chance against several men of larger size.

"Both I guess," I say, giving a bit of a chuckle. I don't have a lot else to do and Ilithyia is one of the people in this place that doesn't annoy the hell out of me. Plus I'm sure I can learn some information from her that will be useful.

"But alright, I can show up for meetings, that shouldn't be too hard. Anyone you want to get out of the way and make an example with first?"

Briefly, her gaze is drawn toward the man who yet lingers. He keeps distance and is waiting for best moment to strike, but she wonders if example might be better made with an audience. "Do you think he would have come alone?" she asks, using her chin to nod toward the man who's been following them.

"He would have, but when he saw you're with someone he probably would have called for back up," I say. "Or to double check his orders at least."

At least that's what he should have done and I imagine they wouldn't have sent an idiot to come after Ilithyia. He'll either come after us himself or he's gotten backup. If he recognized me as one of the fighters he might have requested back up.

A display of strength is what she requires here and so she pauses as they walk, turning in the direction of the man who has been sent for her. She looks at him steadily, weighing her options, letting him know she's weighing her options.

"I would very much like if you were to break his jaw," she says, letting her voice carry. "As this is only first attempt at intimidation, I won't have you take off a limb yet."

"Works for me."

Breaking a jaw is a really good way to put someone out of commission for a while without risking any sort of life threatening injury. I'm pretty sure that isn't always going to be what Ilithyia requests of me so I should take these sort of commands gladly when I get them.

"You want to come with? Look him in the eye or something while I do it or should I tell him why it's happening?" I ask. It's fucked up, I know, but there's a certain intimidation factor involved when the person you were going to hurt watches dispassionately as someone breaks your jaw.

"Of course I want to come," she says with a laugh, almost as if she cannot believe such question is being asked. Should she truly wish to establish presence, she understands what is required of her. She stands apart from those in Darrow, in appearance, in words, in the very way she carries herself, and it is this difference she knows makes her memorable.

Should it be associated with strength and cunning, she will become quite difficult to forget. "My face must be associated with act."

I've seen the way she watches the fights and part of me wonders if it isn't pleasure as much as it is business and for a brief moment I wonder if I haven't gotten in bed with more than I can handle. Well, a little too late to think about that now. I sigh and scratch my head for a moment, thinking.

"Alright, just hug me goodbye so he thinks I'm leaving. I'll go subdue him and then you can come deliver the message."

Ilithyia smiles at request and slips arms around Kaine, pressing her cheek against the curve of his shoulder for a moment. "I suspect I will very much like working with you," she says, her voice low for a moment.

There is little she appreciates more than a man willing to do what must be done. Anything that must be done.

Those words really worry me but I just give her a small hug back to keep up appearances. I tell myself this is for the best, that I can help bring some stability back to the gang and I can keep Ilithyia safe while I do it. Plus I get paid so that has to count for something.

I quickly walk out of sight and a few moments later I'm creeping up a back alley where her would-be attacker is waiting. I hear him on the phone, cancelling whatever back up he had planned and once he hangs up the phone I hit him behind the ear, causing him to stumbled. I quickly shove him to the ground, pressing his face into the asphalt as I pin his arms behind his back. I ignore him as he struggles and quickly frisk him.

"Nice of you to bring these," I tell him, pulling out some zip-ties that I use to bind his wrists and ankles. I also relieve him of nearly $800 in cash, a gun and a knife. Stepping out of the alley I wave to Ilithyia before hauling the guy back deeper into the alley.

"My boss wants to have a word with you. If you shout, I'll cut out your tongue."

It's fascinating to watch, as fights always are, though there is much more to this one. Kaine is not simply fighting to win a pool of coin, he is fighting for a reason and Ilithyia smiles as she enters the alley, her gown trailing softly against the asphalt.

"Or perhaps I will relieve you of tongue," she says, smiling down at the man when he opens his mouth to speak. The dagger on its own is not impressive, but when a man is bound and she reveals weapon, it holds certain meaning. He does not attempt to say another word.

"This will serve as warning," she tells him. "Do not send others. I will not be so kind on following occurrences. Do you understand?"

I don't know about this guy but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be in his position. If I had ever doubted it before I know without a doubt that Ilithyia is a ruthless bitch. I have no doubt that she'd cut his tongue out if she thought it necessary. I really hope she doesn't ask me to do that to anyone.

"I'm not-"

I hit him, hard. Hard enough to shatter his jaw and spray blood onto the alley wall. I don't even know what he was going to say but that's not the point. The man tries to scream but he can't and it comes out as just a wailing moan.

"Just nod your head."

The man screams through his jaw but he nods.

The sudden show of violence excites Ilithyia and she finds herself smiling again, knowing the man's jaw has been broken, that speaking and eating and existing will be painful for many months to come. Her hand ghosts out, fingertips trail across the edge of his jaw and though her touch is light, it produces another scream of pain.

"I will not be so kind," she repeats, making sure he's heard her words and that he understands. "I am not a woman you wish to have as enemy."

Then she smiles at Kaine and holds her hand out toward him. "I think message received, yes?"

"I'd say so," I say with a nod. I don't feel bad, either, considering the guy was probably going to kidnap Ilithyia while she was with her kid. Whatever Ilithyia might deserve for getting involved with all this her kid doesn't and maybe it's just because I was there when the kid was born but I feel protective of him.

"Besides, if not I know where he lives and can pay him a personal visit."

"That is very kind of you to offer," Ilithyia says, taking Kaine's arm once more. In his carrier, Albinius kicks his legs, but makes little sound, staring up at Ilithyia and then at Kaine, a smile on his face.

"And you have my gratitude," she adds as they walk away, leaving the man in the alley. "Truly."

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