[indent][color=e2b13c]Don Remo Lattanzi[/color], [color=7893E7]Julia Kray[/color], [color=FFCE00]Xiang Min Purnama[/color]
Co-Written between Thayr, Silver Carrot, Kumbaris[/indent][hr]
He smiled as she made her way over, not stopping for any sort of invitation before seating herself down in a free seat at the table. The Don hadn’t brought quite so many as to take a whole table, and some hadn’t seated themselves, though made men's eyes drilled into the woman as she did so. They knew who the lady was, generally speaking. Associates of Black Maria, and more specifically Regia Maria, were told to carry themselves a certain way, talk a certain way, and she didn’t fit the profile at all. Of course, meeting with an associate would never have been done by the Don himself, so that pointed the way from such a possibility easily enough. He stared, too, smiling thinly as she spoke.

A pause passed, Remo motioning with a casual enough gesture, and those men seated stood, took a few steps away. He didn’t need them for the conversation, that was true enough. Only his Capo remained seated, hands hidden under the table.

[color=e2b13c]“It has, it has. I’d always hoped we would find ourselves in a situation like this. [i]Talking like this[/i]. It would mean someone has finally won, or at least won enough. And…thank you. The promotion has been most interesting.”[/color]

He studied her again, taking a sip of his wine. It wasn’t great, but also wasn’t odious. The smile remained on Remo’s lips as he considered her. [color=e2b13c]“How’s the real world, [i]ragazza[/i]? Good?”[/color]

Julia’s smile was strained. She wasn’t just pissed off because he’d stated that them talking like this was a sign he’d won their blood feud. She was even more pissed off because he was absolutely right. He was the winner. He is even more powerful now than he was then. Julia may be much better off after reaping the rewards of her deal than she ever had been, but she no longer had power within E-street hierarchy, and was short two limbs. Even so, she was a strong believer in respect, even among once-enemies, so she answered cordially.

[color=7893E7]"Considering the Spire as the real world is still novel to me. Compared to prison, it’s….very quiet at night,"[/color] was her hesitant, bizarre answer. Trying to make small talk with Remo was seemingly a challenge to her.

Meanwhile, Xiang Min was silently observing the situation as it unfolded. The Don and Julia meet each other, seemingly sizing themselves up, before sitting down and talking, the CEO silently commands her gauntlets to be on standby mode, in case anything were ever to happen that demands her intervention, but she doesn’t think Julia nor the Black Maria Mafioso are stupid enough to start a conflict in the Spire out of all places.

Still, while she has dealt with her fair share of gangsters, she hasn’t dealt with one with this much prestige and position. She’s dealt with some mercenaries and E-Street thugs that rivals hired to kill her, and she tended to be on the winning end of that situation. She was a little bit surprised though when some Black Maria gangsters left the tables in Vivian’s, she never even thought that there were more Black Maria gangsters here, the muscle near the man in the White Coat is still sitting there however, unmoving and a rock, most likely insurance in case things go south.

The blonde-haired woman could only give Julia Kray a nod as she stood by. [color=FFCE00][i]So, a bunch of gangsters, and a muscle right next to the head. Would need a distraction to keep the other gangsters occupied while I gun for the Muscle, a uppercut with my gun firing should knock him out for good, and at that point, the rest of the gangsters should be easy pickings. Hopefully the old man wouldn’t choose to fight himself, but if it’s necessary, a sharp knock on the head could KO him for the moment while we do a fiery escape.[/i][/color] Xiang Min thought as her mind wracked over potential exit strategies for the current situation.

Normally she would have Mingfan and some SDS personnel assisting in this situation, but she doesn’t have time to call for assistance should things go south, and she doesn’t want to take her attention off just to call for help.

[color=e2b13c]”I imagine so. Bars aren't good for souls. It breaks them down too much…and what is left is bleeding.”[/color] He paused, considering, contemplating, taking a sip of his wine. There sat a former foe who could fight no longer, knew it, and though he understood and knew that the feeling one should feel was elation, the Don struggled to grasp at that emotion. No, instead he just saw a broken, broken woman who lacked strength. In a way, there was pity to be found in that image. In a way, there was pride. [i]He[/i] had done this and no other, no other could claim it as their war to be won. No, Remo couldn't crow over the victory like a child, but he could at least quietly appreciate it.

His gaze wandered a shade to the distance, to the woman standing some ways away in fine Spire clothing. The way she was studying his bodyguards and the Don clicked in the man's mind, a careful enough study for issues and threats. A thought sent and received over his link and he knew one of his men had already tensed, ready, waiting to put a bullet in the woman's skull. An issue or another would be stupid, but so would not taking precautions. He made a point to look long enough before looking again at Julia. [color=e2b13c]”The Spire isn't quite real either, that is true, but I am glad you are making not quite real friends in it.”[/color]

Julia’s jaw clenched and the muscles in her neck visibly tightened. She was staring at the table in front of her. She could not listen to what he was saying. Especially not him being the one saying it. She had made friends. A lot of them. Some of them died by his command. Other deaths were her own fault. She couldn’t think of any retort that wouldn’t get guns drawn on her, and not make her look pathetic. She had to resist both the urge to jump over this table and snap his neck, and had to hold back tears.

[color=7893E7]”You’re better than making remarks like that. Or, you used to be.”[/color] was her eventual, quiet, serious response. Her mouth was dry. The look in her eyes when she raised her head to meet his gaze again would be a familiar one. Hate. A flame betraying her explosive, violent nature. So, the fire hadn’t entirely gone out after all.

He watched the immediate reactions, the hate, the movement. Clearly enough, there was something to be had there as she bore holes down into the table, and as the woman spoke Remo let out a long, long breath. There was flint there in that voice, flint and the taut wire about the neck. The Don's eyes didn't leave from her as he watched the performance, calculating over it.

[color=e2b13c]”I'm sorry - you misunderstand me. New friends is what I mean. New friends like the one you have over there. Your old friends…”[/color] He paused, letting the words hang as he considered the next well. There wasn’t any more pity to be found there, that was for certain. She still had a fight in her, a fire in her, not quite fully beaten down and away. [color=e2b13c]”They were good people. They really were. Honest enough, skilled enough. Worthy opponents to the end.”[/color]

Xiang Min continued studying her opponents, from their clothes, their weapons, everything. The situation was so tense that one could pull out a knife and cut the tension wide open, one wrong move from [i]either[/i] of them could spell disaster, and Xiang Min was pretty sure everyone knew it.

And so the woman, already assessing her threats, decided to do something unexpected, her weapons were still kept on standby, but she relaxed her body, outstretched her arms forwards and then upwards, and just continued watching the conversation unfold with her hands, her arms grabbing her tea and then drinking it. A silent nod towards the Mafiosi that she meant no harm, but a message that, if they did anything. Xiang Min would protect her erstwhile Gym Partner from whatever aggression they would inflict upon her.

[color=FFCE00][i]I could only hope the Black Maria received my message.[/i][/color] Xiang Min thought, silently drinking her tea as she still watched Julia and Remo talk in the distance.

Julia sighed, her anger dissipating as she realises that he’s trying to cheer her up. This was a weird situation. She didn’t want to fight. She wasn’t prepared for the consequences. But every second in front of this man was a test of her self-restraint. And she definitely didn’t want to bury the hatchet and become friends. Hearing him overcorrect and start praising her friends brought out a single snort of laughter from her, though she still wasn’t smiling.

[color=7893E7]”They were punks. Gangsters. Kids who shot other kids. I appreciate you calling them skilled and worthy, though.”[/color]

There was a thoughtful look in her eyes. All the bloodshed on the streets of Metro City and now look at them both; Old, alive ,rich and talking peacefully over drinks in the Spire. She didn’t know whether to give credit to the blood she spilled to get her this far, or wonder what it was all for.

[color=e2b13c]”If they weren't skilled, my men wouldn't have died to them. If they weren't honest, I would have bought them. It is just the truth. You were the same. There's a reason you have chrome instead of a suit.”[/color] He frowned, then, tapping briefly against the table. A number of thoughts came and went, though none of them were solid enough to wholly grasp. Some part of him still wanted to relish in the victory, other parts of him wanted to talk more candidly in one way or another. A question still tickled at the man's curiosity since she'd mentioned such people. [color=e2b13c]”Do you visit them?”[/color]

Julia looked down at her arm. She could have gotten something shiny and fashionable, but she wasn’t an heir. It would in some way have felt like a betrayal of herself. Maybe that’s what he meant by honest. E street would lie, cheat and steal, but they knew who they were. They knew that they were street scum given value by pledging loyalty to Heir benefactors. That’s why they had a strong sense of respect, and lived by the mantra of ‘E street for life’.

She looked back up when she was asked if she visited her old friends. She shook her head with a deflated face. [color=7893E7]”From time to time. The new blood don’t want me to work for them, but they still respect me. It’s a strange position. E street members never stop being E street.”[/color]

Remo snorted, that thin smile finally reaching up to twinkle in his eyes. The [i]ragazza[/i] still didn't understand, didn't always reach his full meaning about the facts, about life, about all of it. He spoke of the living, new friends, and she thought he spoke of the dead. He spoke of the dead, friends made and lost during that feud, and she thought he spoke of the living. The girl was right, though, right about all of it. E Street never did stop being what they were, enforcers given meaning by what they offered up to those in the high towers who wouldn't know loyalty or sacrifice or decision if it was choking them awake. They were enforcers who didn't grasp that whole picture, built from the decisions of those before, their blood and skill, who saw only the next day. That new blood, if they were smart, wouldn't waste someone with experience…but they weren't smart because, E Street never changing, never [i]learning[/i], didn't know. They saw her failures against the whirlwind Remo had once unleashed that so many had been torn by, not the successes she had born which forced his hand to create such monsters. They were, in short…E Street. It amused him, that grand joke.

[color=e2b13c]”Maybe so, maybe so. Maybe one day you'll find something that better fits you, here, now. Maybe one day a seat will welcome you with open arms. I hope you'll find it.”[/color] A glance at a watch, then, casual as may be in the motion. That brief frown visited the Don's face as he looked back up. He spoke as he rose, fixing his coat as Iacopo strode off to pay the bill. [color=e2b13c]”I hope every visit might be as pleasant as this one, but I must cut it short. Other business to attend to. If you are ever in the neighbourhood…please, I'm sure the Star can find a table for you. Good night, Julia.”[/color]