[i]A short, but very sweet collab by Leidenschaft & [@Kingslee][/i]

Redding took a couple of puffs off his cigarillo, sighing the smoke out across the bartop. Showing weakness and fear was a death sentence, and weak men and cowards never got far anywhere, especially not in the world he was put into. If he'd learned one thing running with his brothers, that was it. So, it was with hot blood when he found his hand going to his .38 tucked in his pants every time the swinging doors flapped open. It wasn't long that the person he was waiting for was the one in the doorway. He let the smoke out through his nose before he answered Joel's greeting. “Funny thing, that,” He puffed a couple more times and took a sip of his whiskey, “A drugged up raider queen with a flamethrower tried to roast me last night.”

He sighed, “Which brings us to the reason why you're here. I can't count on Ramirez for this, he watches my house and my girls as it is, but he isn't like you or me. I took to earning caps rather than busting them, you hear? But you and I both know what I came from.” Redding puffed on his cigarillo and sniffed, “I need to see Mancini about business. I'm going to give you two-hundred and seventy caps in advance to stand next to me and look dangerous. Whatever Mancini wants me to do, you'll get half my pay to stick around long enough for us to nab a Fiend wherever they're hiding out these days and figure out why they want me dead so bad.” 

“The Fiends are gunning for me, but busting into the Desperado like that? You and I both know Heartless Teresa and her Fiends wouldn't risk getting on the Families' tempers without good reason.” He growled, puffing on his cigarillo for a couple seconds, “I can only assume you don't know about any bounties on me. I haven't woken up with my throat slit, so I figured.” He shrugged.

Joel remained quiet and listened. When Ryan placed his Nuka Cola down in front of him he dug into a pouch on the front of his vest and took out a handful of caps, sliding what he owed over with a nod of gratitude. He took sips as Redding talked and smirked when he mentioned that he had been attacked by the very same woman. Well, probably. New Reno was a fucked up town but they typically didn’t get two flamer wielding psychopaths in one night. He wandered whether the mob bosses would be pissed at Redding for being in one of their places when all that shit went down. They would want somebody to blame, he just hoped it wouldn’t be him personally. Or Redding for that matter, at least until their business was concluded.

With Redding having finished his offer Joel thought about it for a few seconds. Almost three hundred caps to just stand there, that was a no brainer. Going after a fiend? That could get very messy, especially if they had to torture whoever they grabbed. Fucking chems those lunatics were on sometimes made them near impervious to pain. Still, worse comes to worst they’d just have to tie the asshole up for a bit and wait for withdrawal symptoms to start kicking in. They’d tell them anything if they waved some jet in their face at that point. Whatever Mancini wanted them to do would probably be worth while. Man was rich enough to pay well. The kicker was why he would want Redding in the first place. He’s obviously tough as nails but why wouldn’t he hire one of the more active mercs? It was common knowledge that Redding mostly stuck to pimping these days. It was curious. Either way, should turn out more than worth it.

“Alright, I’m in. You have any idea why Mancini asked for you for this job though?”

"Who knows." Redding shrugged, taking another sip of whiskey and another couple puffs, setting the cigarillo down on the ashtray, "I've got a reputation, sure, but going around and being a cleaner isn't something I've done in a while. I'm hoping it's not that kind of business, really, I've got danger looking for me and I'm not too keen on the idea of meeting it in the middle."

Redding snorted without much humor and shook his head, pushing himself out of the bar stool with a grunt at the aching spot that was his body. Tossing a few caps to Ryan, he nodded to Brian and the two took their leave. Redding knew there was a professional respect between the two of them, he never tried to become friends with the man though. In his line of work, freelancing, the man you were slapping backs and shaking hands with could be the man you were stabbing in an alleyway or shooting in the back of the head at a bar the next day. Thankfully, Redding and Joel never seemed to take jobs that put them on opposite sides. One, because Redding liked Joel, and two- a great, big two- was because Redding had seen first hand what Joel was capable of. Redding had quick hands and knew his way around a knife, enough to get him a reputation and the name Cutter in his and his brothers' brief stints as raiders out in the wastes before Fernley, sticking up travelers and raiding caravans. But Joel, the man was something else. When he wasn't looking friendly, there was something in his eyes, the same thing he saw when he used to look in the mirror couple years ago.

Redding looked sidelong at the man at his side, happy that he was on his side, at least as long as the caps came his way. But that was cleaning, Redding knew, "So, uh, how's business these days?"

Walking through the streets of New Reno had always been something of a treacherous affair for Joel. When he was a youngster he would always be terrified that someone would rob him and take what little caps he’d made working. That did happen a few times but he was lucky enough not to be shot or stabbed during them like a lot others. Maybe because back then it was so obvious he wasn’t a threat. His manner screamed victim. Nowadays he was on edge because at any moment someone could run up on him and gun him down for any number of reasons. Too many enemies. Too many possibilities. A friend or relative of someone he’d killed. A family or gang he’d been hired to work against. Or maybe just someone who’d been hired by one of the former people just like him. For that reason his eyes scanned the streets and every time he went around a corner he readied himself to pull one of his guns or knives.

He shrugged his shoulders in response to Redding’s question. “Same as it ever was I reckon. This life doesn’t seem to change much, the people just get replaced as they fall.”

Redding picked at a callus on his palm, a soft exhale from his nose at the truth of Joel's observation, "Ain't that the truth."

They walked by a man in the gutter who almost looked dead. Redding wouldn't have been surprised if he was, but then he stirred, opening bloodshot eyes and a sigh escaped a pair of lips that peeled away from each other, immediately starting to bleed. Redding shook his head, looking forward once more and going back to scanning the streets. There wasn't much cover here and he lamented the meager five rounds the cylinder of his .38 held. A brace of five speedloaders was hidden on a leather shoulder holster under his coat, lending at least some semblance of comfort. "That's why I got out of it. All the good that fucking did with the business at the Desperado." He sighed, "Sometimes I miss it, though. Someone hands you a sack of caps, you squeeze off a round in the back of someone's head and you get the other half of the pay. Of course, dealing involves less itchy trigger fingers, and my girls working at the Golden Globe and escorting tourists on the side is some extra."

A few minutes of walking and small conversation had them at the other side of the street from Mancini's. A hulking man at the door in a fitted suit stood, arms crossed. Redding rolled his jaw, not trusting many people after last night, Mancini and a shitload of his armed guards not anywhere on the very short list of people he did trust. "Alright. Anyone even breathes in a way you think is suspect, we're getting out by any means."

With that, Redding took the first step off the curb and into the road, crossing to the front door and staring up at the big door-man. He had his best thuggish face on, just like his old days running in North Vegas and Fernley. "It's Redding. Here to see Mancini."