Don't Play A Player [Midnight] [Archive]

[DragonSong]

Jynx nodded. Soon enough they were at the door and she threw her new partner a wink before slipping inside, making her way across the noisy, crowded common room to the bar. "The innkeep here?" she asked the man who was scrubbing out a mug.

"That'd be me," he said, leaning over the bar with a grin that said he smelled a customer. "What can a do for you? Need a room?"

She widened her eyes and let her lower lip quiver. "It's my husband, sir," she said, voice wavering, "He hasn't been commin' home on time these past few nights, and I'm afraid-" She swallowed dramatically and forced her eyes to tear up. "I followed him, sir, I know it ain't right but- but I just can't stand the thought of- Did he come in here? Finely dressed, a few inches taller than me, dark hair and eyes?"

The innkeeper's mouth twisted in sympathy. If she played it right, she could make people look past her scar and only see a scared young woman. "Oh... I'm afraid he did come in, miss." He glanced around and leaned closer, lowering his voice. "I'm not supposed to tell ya things like this, but...he's in room eleven, took one of my barmaids up there with him." He gave her a pitying look. "I'm truly sorry, miss."

She nodded, taking a breath to "steel herself" and murmuring her thanks, letting a single tear drip down her cheek.

Then she turned and made her way back out of the inn. Once she was out of earshot, hidden in shadow, she called, "Kira?"

[Nightmare]

During the time Jynx had been in the tavern there wasn't much activity. One man left the tavern a bit too drunk and Kira swiped everything in his pockets, but it only ended up being a few copper and silver pieces. After a little bit she got bored and jumped through the shadows towards a nearby window so she could watch what was going on. It was hard to tell exactly what was happening since she couldn't hear them but she felt more comfortable keeping an eye on Jynx than just waiting outside blindly.

When Jynx began to walk back towards the door, Kira moved her way back to where she had originally positioned herself at the entrance. Upon her name being called, she let the shadows around her fade away, revealing herself to Jynx. "How'd it go?"

[DragonSong]

Jynx smirked. "He's upstairs. Room eleven. Apparently he's got a woman with him." She looked her younger companion up and down. "Ready to do some shadow hopping?"

[Nightmare]

Kira nodded. "Room eleven, got it. I'll wait for you outside the door."

With that, the shadows swirled around her again and she disappeared from sight, dancing her way through the darkness to the door of the room where Jynx's employer was.

[DragonSong]

Jynx took the more conventional root, slipping back into the tavern and making her way as stealthy as possible across the taproom to the stairs. It wouldn't do to have the innkeeper see her after she'd walked out like that.

Up the stairs she went, then down the hall, sliding one of the knives from her hip and holding it at the ready. Nine...ten...eleven. She paused a few feet away from the door. "Kira?"

[Nightmare]

Once again, Kira let the shadows around her fade as she brought herself back into view. Whispering so that no one on the other side of the door would hear her, she said, "I'm ready. What's the plan?"

[DragonSong]

"Can you jump into the shadows in the room? Or does the door have to be open?" Jynx asked. She could work with either, but if the girl could get in there first damn it would be fun.

[Nightmare]

"It shouldn't be a problem." Kira said with a confident nod. "Unless there's some sort of charm on the door."

[DragonSong]

"Alright." Jynx nodded. "Then you head in first. Move around, make some noise, scare them a bit, you know? When you're ready for me, knock on the door and I'll come in."

[Nightmare]

"Sounds good." Kira said. She looked through the small crack between the door and the wall and disappeared into the shadows, jumping through into the room. Inside the room she could see the man and the woman. They appeared to have just started as the man was still clothed and the woman only had her top off.

Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed the copper coins she had gotten from the man earlier and dropped one on the ground. The man and woman both seemed to have ignored it, so she dropped another one. This time it got their attention and they began looking around the room to see what was happening.

She danced through the shadows some more until she was next to the bed. This time she through a coin at the head of the man while he was looking the other way. With an "Ouch!" he quickly turned around, but Kira had already moved to another location. She was next to the dresser now and reached out to tip it over, resulting in a loud crash. The man and woman both jumped and the woman screamed in fear.

It was then she jumped back to the door and knocked twice.

[DragonSong]

Jynx was ready. The moment she heard the knock she murmured, "Dionish, come to me," drawing her knife sharply across her palm and flinging it out toward the door.

A few drops of blood struck the wood and the door creaked inward. Her stomach twisted and she clenched her teeth against the discomfort of the summoning as a demon crawled its way onto their plane.

It was a nasty thing, looking most like some cross between some sort of lizard and a dog with the gripping hands of a primate, rusty orange and brown in color. It growled, leaping into the room and making right for the bed, knocking the man onto the bed and sending the woman screeching for safety.

Jynx sauntered in, popping her hip and smiling brightly. "Well, here you are!" she exclaimed, "I've been looking all over for you." She gestured to the shadows meaningfully. "I see Dionish has introduced himself, but have you met my other demon."

She hoped Kira would take the hint.

[Nightmare]

The demon took Kira a little bit by surprise, simpy because she wasn't expecting it to come from Jynx. She couldn't help but stare at it until she heard the hint to come out of the shadows that Jynx gave her.

The shadows around her swirled and expanded outwards as they always did when she deactivated the spell, slowly causing Kira to come into view a little bit at a time. The woman screamed again, causing Kira to let out a laugh. "What's the matter? Did you see a ghost?"

[DragonSong]

"Ah, there you are, Kira," Jynx said airily. She faced her employer, smirking.

She knew that he knew that only a ridiculously powerful demonlord- at least in her class- would be able to summon and control two demons for any length of time. While she might have been able to pull it off for real, it made things much simpler to have Kira pose as a high-class humanoid.

Plus, this was more fun.

The woman seemed to have fainted. Jynx shook her head, tutting. Dionish rasped out a demon's chuckle and the man on the bed shuddered.

"Wh-what do you want?" he squeaked.

She shrugged. "Just what you promised me. Payment."

He shook his head. "I- I don't have the money!"

She sighed. "Don't play a player." To Kira, she said brightly, "Mind checking that claim for me?"

[Nightmare]

Kira shrugged, grin growing on her face. "I suppose I can. Though I only have one hand to do it with."

Her fingers brushed along the edge of her wristblade as she talked. The shadows swirled around her as she jumped to the man's side, reaching into his pockets one by one. She didn't find anything. "Nothing. We could search the room but I think he should tell us."

[DragonSong]

"Well, you heard the lady," Jynx said, eyeing the man expectantly. "Cough it up."

He glowered at her in silence. She snapped her fingers and Dionish growled. "Did I mention he's poisonous?" she said sweetly.

"My bag, under the bed," her now ex-employer squeaked out.

Jynx grinned. "Thank you kindly." She quirked an eyebrow at Kira. "Mind grabbing that?"

[Nightmare]

"My pleasure." Kira said as reached under the bed and brought out the bag, dropping it on the bed between the man and Jynx. "All yours."

She assumed Jynx would want to count the money herself, after all.

[DragonSong]

Jynx expertly fished the coins out of the bag, letting them clink into her palm. Her payment and then some.

She pocketed the money with a smile. "Next time you send someone on a suicide job, show up to pay them anyway," she said easily. "Dionish, keep him down for a minute." She jerked her head at Kira.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

[Nightmare]

Before she left the man's side, she took her wrist blade and ran it down his cheek for about two inches. It wasn't a horribly bad cut, but it would likely leave a scar. She then leaned in and whispered to the man, "Remember me."

Hopefully Jynx wouldn't think she took it to far. It was a ritual of hers, something she did to all of the targets she wasn't assigned to kill. She believed that you should always follow your rituals.

She wiped the blood off of her blade and then followed Jynx out of the room.

[DragonSong]

Jynx raised her eyebrows slightly, but didn't say anything until they were out of the tavern. "A little intense back there," she commented once they were a safe distance away. Her tone wasn't condemning, more observational.

[Nightmare]

"It's something I do to everyone I don't kill." Kira said with a shrug. "It normally works better when I fade back into the shadows afterwards. People act as if they had just seen a ghost. Sometimes they even faint."