Hair of the Dog [open]

[Jinx]

[Happening roughly at the same time as events here]

The tavern was depressingly quiet. Jinx, it's esteemed proprietor, sat at a table by the bar, both feet booted up to the knee and propped up on the table in front of her. She flexed her toes against the leather and leaned back in the chair, the wood creaking, her head dangling back while she sucked slowly at rolled tobacco. Not something she indulged in often, but it reminded her of the Isles, and watching the smoke curl around the room at least gave her something to do. She puffed her cheeks and blew rings which hung fragile in the stale air before collapsing as they drifted towards the bar and Xeno, her current bartender. She watched him as he polished glasses that were already clean, a small wiry man dwarfed behind the solid wood of the bar, and idly wondered if she should make a trip down to The Den to take another stab at stealing Alko away to come work for her. She knew it was a lost cause, he would never leave, but it she enjoyed sparring with him in the various languages they both shared.

The mid afternoon light bravely tried to shine through the old glass windows, casting irregular patterns across the floor. Shadows danced as people walked past outside, the din of conversation muffled against the walls of the building, and felt the rumble of passing wagons vibrating through the floorboards, but the door remained closed. Jinx sighed, and let her head loll to look out over her tavern, to the multitude of empty tables, and the small group of women gathered in the corner lazily playing cards. She allowed six women to rent some of her rooms upstairs, where they could entertain clients in relative safety. In exchange, she took a small cut of their profits and any information on possible "business" opportunities. She kept them safe, and they kept her supplied with tips on whose coin purse or personal fortune needed a bit of lightening. Currently, five of them were mimicking her chair sprawl, but in various states of semi dress, while they played a child's card game to pass the time. Jinx wondered where the sixth was, and then wondered where her bouncer was. And then made a mental note to dock some of the bouncers pay, later.

Jinx tapped the tobacco, letting the ashes fall to the floor as the heat burned closer to her fingers, and again she considered making the trip down to the thieves hideout. She didn't often frequent the place, since her tavern usually kept her busy, but the summer heat had momentarily dried up business. In fact, it had been entirely too long since she had pulled any lucrative "jobs". The odd swiping of some useless fools coin purse didn't much count. By this point in her career that was child's play. She needed a big heist to get her blood pumping again. But she'd heard the stirring of unrest, the whispers that the Red Jackal was vulnerable and might soon be overthrown. She'd briefly considered making her own play for power, but it was too risky. Jinx had learned to be a patient woman, and the rewards should always outweigh the risk. As it was, she knew if wandered down all she would hear would be the musings of political intrigue. Eventually, someone would come in who would fill her in on the details. No sense in making the long trip when she was already so comfortable.

She took a deep breath, feeling the stays of her dress pull against her rib cage and the hilt of the dagger tucked into the back press against her spine. As she let it out a sigh in a rush of air, the air became momentarily brighter as her door swung open.

[visualspice]

Hair of the Dog, yeah, this was the place. He got a new mark to check out, and heard from a resource from another resource from over hearing it within a crowd, that the woman Niassus Bramwell worked in this such establishment. She fit a common description of many whores turned assassins, and was beginning to have quite the hefty bounty growing on her head. She did well to hide herself in such a place as this, as Jarrett's eyes swept across the room towards where he noticed the lazy, drifting smoke of tobacco.

The tobacco belonged to a woman, and although it wasn't the woman he was looking for, (for this woman had completely red hair and matched a description of not having that tan of skin); but found himself interested none the less, his own cigar, hanging half gone at his lips as he took her in.  Dark hair, dark skin... a few ribbons of vibrant reds locks of hair woven throughout her own... interesting. He almost thought she might be half, Essyrni, but the streaks spoke of another lineage entirely.
He blew a nonchalant line of smoke away, to his left, before glancing back at her, then moving past.

He could tell she was armed by just looking at her, and then to the others in the room; he could calculate out what sort of weapons they had all the same. Either way, he'd have to look for the woman with red hair, then think of a way to get near to her. So far, none of the ladies here met that description. Perhaps she was working.

Taking a seat in the back, he got cozy in a chair and flicked the collecting ash from his cigar aside before drawing in a deep drag. Maybe he'd take a nap here while he waited?

----------------

OOC: Hope you're ok with me joining! (I Know I PMed you but yeah XD Just hope this intro works X3 )

Tossing in my character, Jarrett L'isson since like, he's just that cool B|

[Jinx]

Jinx watched as a man sauntered into her bar. He filled the doorway and quickly sized up the room. The way he carried himself screamed danger, but that wasn't unusual in this particular establishment. She watched as his eyes scanned the room once, twice. He blew out a resigned cloud of smoke and settled at a table far from the bar. The room darkened again as the door swung slowly shut. The ladies in the corner had perked up when the door swung open, but they deflated in unison when it was obvious he wasn't interested, and returned to their card game.

She took a pull of her tobacco while she considered him. The air was hot in her throat, and uneasy in her lungs. Not interested in the bar, not interested in the ladies, but in here during the mid afternoon lull. She flicked her eyes towards Xeno, her wiry bartender, who was also watching the newcomer. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. He flicked his eyes up towards the rooms and the absent bouncer. Jinx pursed her lips, considering, but finally imperceptibly shook her head no. Making a decision, she stubbed out the smoke, flicked two fingers at Xeno and swung her legs off the table. A bottle and two shot glasses appeared from beneath the bar. Jinx swept them up, feeling the glasses clink in her palm. Her boots rung out against the wood floorboards as she strode towards him, deliberately slowly.

"Welcome to the Hair of the Dog." She stopped in front of his table, and waited till he looked up at her. "You have the look of a man who hasn't yet seen what he's looking for." The glasses hit the table, followed by the thump of the bottle, causing them to bounce and dance. "Why don't we have a drink, and see if we can't remedy that." Jinx grinned like a woman ready to do business.

[visualspice]

In the lighting, or lack there of, his eyes seemed to glow yellow, like a cats before he raised his gaze to hers, staring at her in nonchalance. But now, his eyes appeared a solid, deep green.
His cigar was still pursed between his lips, and when the drinks were brought to him, he glanced over at them idly, then his gaze drifted up to hers again.

He simply nodded and gave her a shrug as he glanced around.
"Nice place." Was all he said, and his eyes met to hers yet again.
"Men often say a drink will let you see. So let us see what can be spoken."
ANd he blew pursed his lips after removing his cigar and let the thick smoke blow through his nostrils before he gestured to a chair, assuming she'd like to sit.

[Jinx]

Jinx dropped her weight into the chair, her skirts billowing out before settling around her ankles. She missed her leathers, but skirts were better for business. Leaning forward with one arm on the table, she slowly poured amber liquid into both shot glasses while she spoke.

"Now, you seem like a man who know what he wants. And what he likes." The bottle made a satisfying thump against the table, and one of the glasses now hung between Jinx's fingers. "You come in here at not our finest hour of the day, I will admit, but don't take one look at the lovely women in residence. They're feeling quite rejected." One of them let out a small squeal as she won her hand at cards, which were promptly reshuffled and dealt again.

Jinx raised the glass in salute before tossing it back in one shot, her throat rippling as she swallowed. The burn slowly spread across her chest before settling comfortably in the bottom of her stomach, like a cat curling up to nap in the sun. The shot glass caught a shaft of light as it spun upside down, slamming down with a tone of finality.

"So I can't help but wonder if what you want you don't currently see. I have some boys that are discreet and clean." She was reasonably sure that was not what he was after, she had a good sense of people, but couldn't help but amuse herself by asking anyway. How he responded might reveal more about himself than he normally would.

[Aeytrious]

The door to Hair of the Dog swung open and Elijah Trebaol, the little thief known as 'Fingers' danced in. It was a rare clean day for him, so Zeina must have gotten someone larger to muscle him into a tub. He skipped in the direction of the working ladies, looking as regal as a little king, and gave them a sweeping bow. "Hello ladies! You are as lovely as always. But I wouldn't mind if you showed a bit more skin." He winked and gave another bow, and the prostitutes all giggled and blew the little mischief maker kisses, the nearest one reaching out to pinch his cheeks. He scanned the bar looking for Jinx, and when he saw her, headed her way. When he saw who she was sitting with he stopped dead in his tracks.

THE Assassin. The only non-Siren assassin in Arca that the Wolves gave leave to conduct business. Some thought it was because he'd been dubbed a Wolf himself, before he ever came to Arca and met the Soot's. Eli knew it had more to do with that bird Owl, that the boss was interested in. Rufus had personally warned Eli to steer clear of Jarrett L'isson. But he was on an errand for Alko, so there was no turning back.

Eli approached the pair calmly, but a little stiff. "Alko is ordering two kegs of Charon's special brew, and he sent this order slip should you decide you would like to order some as well."  He laid the parchment on the table in front of Jinx, after delivering his message, and gave a small bow. "Someone will be by later to collect the order and payment," he then turned and delivered the message he was instructed by Rufus to give to Jarrett should he ever cross his path. "Canis Rufus sends his regards Mr. L'isson, and his hope that he can continue to welcome your presence in the city." Eli turned away then, and all but ran to the exit. Once he was outside, he did run.

[visualspice]

Jarrett knocked back his own drink, but was almost choking on it on her last phrase. Pausing a moment, he composed himself, his cheeks puffed a bit from all of the alcohol held within them before he swallowed it down in one large, burning gulp.

Boys? What sort of game was she trying to pull?  THough he supposed some men swung that way. Jarrett L'isson did not.

THough his face remained mostly unreadable, it was obvious that was not what he had wanted. So when Eli appeared on the scene, Jarrett remained relaxed in silence, sinking back into his chair and returning to nurse on his cigar. He kept his eye on the child, then down to the empty glasses before him before glancing over to Jinx. He hadn't realized he had been staring at her until the young pup turned his attention to him.

Jarrett's eyes returned to the boy and he raised his brow when the Soot wolves' leader was brought to his attention, but said nothing, the smoke from his cigar swelling up before his face as he expelled a few puffs around the cigar held between his teeth. So the wolves already knew he was here? Interesting..

He never paid much attention to them, all he knew was that they had eyes just about on every corner, pick pocketing and running their own underworld. But not his.

They were of no consequence to him. He simply was here to kill. A job was a job, ad it put quite a number of loaves of bread on the table. So he remained quiet long after Eli had left, smoke drifting up from the end of his cigar now held between his fingers, his eyes staring over towards the vacant corner of the room.

[kleineklementine]

OOC: Feel free to ignore this, Jinx & Spice, or not as you like. I just want to flesh some things out and this seemed like the best place to do it. Hope it's okay!



The Hair of the Dog was a favorite haunt of off-duty Blood Wolves, due to both their collegial relationship with the owner, Jinx, and because it was a bit less conspicuous than the Den's bar. Bruin needed her day off and, entering the bar, paused for a moment to look over the bar before heading for a table in the corner where two other Bloods already sat. She pulled an extra chair up to the table and flopped down into it, uninvited.

"You two been through the training room today?" she asked by way of a greeting.

The other two Bloods, Niklas and Jax, looked up at her. Jax took a long drink of his beer before answering, "Certainly not. I try to avoid it on my days off. Prefer to spend them here." Niklas just watched Bruin, waiting to hear her news.

"Vahn and Timber," Bruin stated, waiting for the look of recognition on both men's faces. Vahn and Timber were two of the louder voices about the Bloods' status in the Guild and more recently, how to change it. Bruin drew her finger across her neck and made a corresponding sound to indicate their fate. "Both of 'em. Left piled on top of each other in the center of the bloody training room."

Surprise registered on both Niklas' and Jax's faces, but not too much surprise. "Well," Jax said after a moment, "you got to hand it to her. When she wants to make a point, she certainly makes it."

Bruin snatched Jax's beer, taking a drink herself. "And Tass has been missing since last night." Tass was another one of the Bloods who had been causing some trouble, or at least suggesting it. "But no sign of her since."

"Hm." Niklas leaned back, looking thoughtful and a little troubled. "Hopefully that will settle things, then. At least for awhile. I can't say I'll miss their harping. Maybe they could get way with it when Carraway was Red Jackal, but it was only a matter of time with Akello."

Jax folded his arms, looking at Niklas. For the moment he'd let Bruin keep his beer. "Maybe. They aren't the only ones rumbling. And I'm not saying that I agree with them - or at least not all of their nonsense - but we do take on bigger risks than the rest of the Wolves. If something goes wrong for a thief, he loses some loot. Something goes wrong for us, we lose our lives."

"And that's what pays for your beer, and everything else," Niklas countered.

Bruin drank some more of Jax's beer, watching the point-counter-point between the two men before giving Jax a serious look. "You better hope neither Vahn nor Timbre thought you had any sympathies with 'em, Jax. What I heard is they did a good deal of chatting before it was over." This led to momentary silence. Nobody had any doubts what 'chatting' meant.

"Nah, 'course that's not what I meant," Jax said, backpedaling a little. "They were idiots, that's for sure. And I think Vahn just had eyes on the Red Jackal position himself for himself. But just look at our lot versus, say, those Shadows. Red Wolf's always keeping them right by his side. And they have that kid running them." Niklas shot Jax a look that said he ought to be careful. "Well, they do. And meanwhile Zahi gets the task of babysitting that maniac Torak. And I heard Rufus told her afterwards that she couldn't touch a darling hair on his head. After he killed and tortured Wolves. That's her job! That's our job. It's just insulting, for all of us. And neither of you can tell me it isn't."

Bruin hid her face in another long drink of beer. She couldn't in good faith counter this.

Niklas frowned and shook his head at Jax's boldness. "I suspect Rufus knows his business," he said, though his tone was a little terse. He didn't entirely disagree with Jax on this one. He'd been tasked himself, after all, with 'orienting' Torak and had been one of the Bloods to first detain him. "And you'd do well to remember who your boss is, Jax," he added pointedly. "You might answer to Akello, but we all work for Rufus."

In attempt to quench the tension beginning to mount, Bruin changed the topic slightly. "Weird about Tass, though, right?" she interjected. "I mean, why keep her and dump Vahn and Timbre? I might have expected Carraway to keep her around for... er... prolonged 'discussion,' but it ain't really Zahi's style, is it? I mean, she was one of us for ages before getting promoted. I don't think she'd just hang on to someone to torture 'em for ages."

"Well, she's got a job to do," Niklas said flatly after a long pause. But his tone was disquieted. They did, all, find this strange.

"Huh," Jax grunted, finally snatching his beer back from Bruin. He frowned down into the empty stein. "Doubt it's the last we'll hear of it all."