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The moment that the others were out of earshot, Benedetto turned to his ‘captain’ with a smile on his face. “You speak Perrench to me again and I’ll rip your tongue out.” He kept his tone somewhere between light, like he might be joking, and serious, like he definitely wasn’t, just to mess with this guy. Making people uncomfortable was one of Benedetto’s favourite pastimes and he’d might as well have some kind of fun on this stupid mission. 

As they walked Desmond was wondering why his companion was unusually quiet, as the moment Benedetto spoke, Desmond knew he was going to have an interesting time. He let out a laugh as he said, [color=gold]“O-ho~, I’ll keep that in mind~”[/color]. Desmond kept up his jovial voice and an air of light nature, but inside he is keeping up a guard in anticipation. He’s unsure how much of a loose cannon the man he decided to work with is, but Desmond is not one to wish to get stabbed in the back while he is in a brothel. Desmond used his off hand to gesture to La Fleur Rouge and said, [color=gold]”Since that’s settled, let’s be off!”[/color]

Benny grinned, showing - as usual - a few too many teeth. “Good,” he replied. “Good, we have an understanding. Now, let’s see if we have to kill ourselves any frogs tonight.” His tone made little effort to hide the fact that he was hoping for it and he shot a fork of lightning at a nearby bird that had been chirping incessantly for the past few minutes, frying it into a tiny roasted turkey. Then, he walked along in silence for a blessed moment, Edmund or whatever his name mercifully quiet for once lest he end up like the bird. A thought occurred to Benny. “But not the prostitutes,” he amended. He furrowed his brow. “They’re just doing their jobs, and they’ll be our best source of information.” Presently, the doors of La Fleur Rouge drew near, as well as the handful of surreptitiously rough figures that stood outside. “I don’t speak their greasy tongue,” Benny advised his ‘captain’. “It’s all you, bud.”

As they walked, Desmond was anticipating what could be the many words that’d spill from this idiot's mouth, as it seemed he had a hankering for some blood. As when they walked Desmond saw Benedetto’s many ‘quirks’, the killing of birds who seemed to chirp for a little too long seemed to be but a small one. Desmond felt a weight come onto him as he realized he was going to be working with a psychopath, but some of it came off of his shoulders when he heard his bloodthirsty ‘crewmate’ had some morals toward the prostitutes, at least. Desmond was still worried about him dropping some kind of hell onto them because of his blatant hatred for those around him. Yet he seemed to have some mind to him as he told Desmond he was going to be unable to speak here. Which was a boon to Desmond, as Benedetto’s hatred might have made it too hard for them to even get a bit of information. Desmond looked over to his crazy partner and said, [color=gold]”Oh that’s more than fine to me. What’s a language you know? Don’t want the worker to need to draw ideas to work with her”[/color]. 

Benny was barely listening to whatever Edmund was saying. Something about workers and drawing. The real fun would be inside. It was definitely the Perrench. Damned grenouilles could never stop preying on Revidian ships, and that had been the Maria Nera’s game as of late. Thing was, the Nera wasn’t a Perrench ship. Benedetto was actually kind of interested in how that’d resolve itself… so long as he didn’t have to do any of the work figuring it out.

Of course, he had other motives for being here, but Edmund didn’t have to know those. Nobody did, and he’d kill them if they tried to find out: even the high-ranking Volti. His RAS was higher than just about any of theirs anyways. The two youths stopped at the door and Benny simply flashed his coins, a grin, and a wiggled eyebrow. His partner could try to talk his way in. Body language spoke louder, though. Already he could see the well-stocked bar inside, the Perrench and Miattan pirates lounging about on divans and sofas, the scantily-clad women playing lutes, harpsichords, and other instruments. They bounced from one man’s lap to another until they found likely prey and then they sucked him dry… in more than one way. Smart, he thought, and cruel.

Benedetto wanted to fuck them, no money paid, and end their little game. He could kill any of these frilly Perrenchmen and take the women by force. That’d leave the world with another bastard, though. That’d leave the world with another him. He came back to his senses. He had a job to do. He let Desmond do his, getting through the front door, and then leaned in. “We should split up and gather intel separately. We’ll cover more ground that way.” It wasn’t a suggestion, the way that he said it. He was going to do what he was going to do regardless. 

Desmond let out a slight laugh as he heard Benedetto’s response to his question as they stepped in. Desmond took point as he was the talker for them to get in, as once they made it in, his partner ‘suggested’ they split up. It was less of a suggestion as he already began walking away before Desmond could even say otherwise, yet he didn’t mind, them being away from each other could make it much easier for him to do his own thing. Desmond began looking around and started going his own way, trying to pick out his own prey, trying to find a mistress of the night that might have been here for some time.

There were a handful of women who remained uncoupled, though one of these could be counted among the number of the pirates. She was rather drunk and sour-looking. Another was a good deal older and rather striking for her age, but seemed mostly to be a musician unless a particularly good opportunity arose. There was a third of particularly exotic extraction working the bar, doing all sorts of tricks with pouring drinks and lighting alcohol on fire. It was clear that she had a touch of the Gift about her. Fourth and final was a petite striking beauty with black hair and blue eyes. She sat alone on a barstool, sipping demurely from a tall glass. There was something tense about her, and it was hard to place exactly what. Presently, she glanced his way and locked eyes with him, her gaze intense and… perhaps evaluative before she remembered to smile coyly, flick her hair over her shoulder, and bat her eyelashes before returning to her drink. 

Desmond looked to each of the women here, some seemed to have had more than their fill of alcohol, while others almost played with it to entertain those watching. But one seemed to almost have magic coming from her, her presence seemed serene yet the moment Desmond locked eyes with her, it was intense. Which told Desmond everything he needed. As he sauntered on over, he took a quick gander at others around her, hoping to take in his surroundings before he sat down. Desmond sat down and looked towards the young woman with ebony hair and entrancing azure eyes and said, [color=gold]"Why hello there~, who might you be?"[/color]

The woman smiled at him. “Was wondering when you’d come over,” she cooed, her voice rising and falling with an accent that was distinctly not that of a native Perrench-speaker. She twirled some of that hair that he seemed to be fascinated with. “I could tell just from looking at you that you weren’t one of the usual sorts we see around here.” She paused. Her voice lowered and her eyes sparkled. “New people… interest me.” 

Desmond listened to the woman she seemed to be interesting, her tongue seemed to carry an accent that was from another land rather than the normal rolling that the Perrench is known for. Desmond was fascinated by her, almost as much as she seems fascinated by him. Desmond had a smile curl as he looked her in the eyes and said, [color=gold]”O-ho~, it seems I’m not the only one [i]interested[/i]”[/color]. Desmond looked at this woman with a grin and leaned in further and spoke only for her to hear, [color=gold]”How about we get [i]acquainted[/i]?”[/color]

[center][b]{To be continued}[/b][/center]