Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Boog]

Richard was at a table in the corner of the room already, not being an individual prone to the whole "sleeping" experience, and was already drinking breakfast (it had took some convincing, but eventually the young llama girl believed him when he said that as an undead he needed the alcohol to keep himself preserved. It was even almost true; he needed something to preserve himself, but not in cheap beer format and not first thing in the morning).
"You're assuming we're not already in danger," he pointed out to Stygian, "I'm guessing some of us were recognized. Wouldn't be the first time it'd have happened to me anyway."

[Cogidubnus]

 As Cog carefully poured out a little bit more of his drink, he quirked an eyebrow and brought the steaming liquid to his lips. "A club?" he said, his voice incredulous. "Not that I don't like a little revelry, mind..." he said, turning. "But dancing seems a bit...pointless. Considering."
He shrugged. "As far as dancing, I know a few steps. I don't usually get much call for it." he said, sitting down again.
He sat there calmly, greeting the panthress as she came down the stairs and recommending the coffee to her, and listening to the comments Richard made. He nodded, with a sour expression. He sipped his drink.
"I do have one question, though." he said, turning and pointing to Edge. "I am confused as to why we haven't killed him yet."

[Stygian]

Stygian quirked an eyebrow, and shot Cog a look that was so hard to read that it could have done for the research stuff for a degree paper.
   "Don't let the caffeine make you jumpy. He's no threat, and he can help us get to the 'guy' behind all of this. I hope you didn't suppose I was just keeping him around for decoration," he said. His tone was only a hint of scathing. "If you wish to kill him, then go right ahead. I won't help though. And you pay the expenses." Calmly, he finished his coffee, and walked back to have another cup, this one a latte, and make himself a sandwich and get a slice of blueberry pie. He settled at a table, sighed pleasedly and ate. If they were going to think this wasn't serious and go badger each other instead of behaving, he wasn't going to be part of it, because frankly he didn't need to.

[Cogidubnus]

Cog bowed to the bat. "Nothing of the sort, sir. I'm as calm as can be. Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to sound cold." he said, with a nod to Edge. The vulpine disguise was off-putting, for a moment, but his smell was still unmistakable. "But it's bad form to leave enemies alive. They tend to stab you when you aren't looking. Or bring friends to do it for them." he said, his expression nonplussed.
"And as far as I know, he tried to kill us both last night. That seems to speak for itself, to me." he said, bringing his mug to his lips. "And I'm sure that you have your reasons for keeping him alive. Hence, why, haven't we killed him yet. Seems a reasonable question to me." he said, with only a hint of a grin. "Unless you know something else?" he said, taking a long gulp.

[Gareeku]

"Eventually, he needs to die." a voice suddenly said in a low yet blunt tone. If the others looked, they would find that Gareeku was looking straight at them, his eyes not being taken off of them even after he first spoke. "He is too much of a danger. He cannot be trusted."

Getting up, the wolf then made his way over to where Cogidubnus and Stygian were, taking a seat at their table.
"He will prove useful, yes." Gareeku continued, looking from Stygian to Cogidubnus as he spoke. "But as I said, once his usefulness has expired, he should be eliminated. I am sure you both remember what he was doing last night. Namely, aiding in the effort to kill us. Who is to say that he won't try it again? As I have said, he cannot be trusted."

[Stygian]

"Ah, yes. What an excellent suggestion. Really. And I don't suppose that a bit of regular honor and dignity play in either?" Stygian said, bitterly, while chewing down roast beef slices. "Not to mention that saying something like that in his vincinity isn't the best move either." He sighed, and turned a bit, leaning on the arm of his chair and looking over at the others.
   "Look, we don't need to. Besides, I've promised to teach him a lesson in exchange for his aid. I haven't said I will keep him safe, so I can't hinder you from breaking a thing or two, but if you're about to try and really kill him, then I'm afraid that I will have to step in." Neither his face nor his tone changed, but he knew that things wouldn't come to that. However changed, Gareeku was still a reasonable man. Or so he thought.
   "Trust isn't an issue. Not in a situation like this. Neccessity is. He can only get out of this unscathed by going along with us, on our terms. I think he can see that much. And if he had tricks up his sleeve, I'm sure that he'd have used them during the night."
   In truth, he wasn't sure at all. But he didn't care. Nor did he care much if he had to get between Edge and Gareeku, or if one just decided to walk out of there outright. They were not the main issue. He could easily do without either of them. But he had promised though.

[Gareeku]

Listening to Stygian's reply to what he said, Gareeku looked him in the eyes, a look of grim seriousness on his face as he remained silent for a few seconds, before a small smirk made itself apparent on his lips.
"Honour?" the wolf replied, raising an eyebrow slightly as he spoke. "I never thought you were one for that. Honour is not an issue. Watching our backs in a situation such as this is."

Gazing at the empty glass which was previously filled with water for a second before turning back to Stygian, the small smirk disappeared from the wolf's face.
"I will hold you to that comment." Gareeku continued, referring to Stygian's comment that he would not hinder him from "breaking a thing or two". "Should he step out of line, I will be the first to put him back in his place."

[Aisha deCabre]

Bypassing greetings made by the others as she made her way through the restaurant's bar, Aisha took Cogi's suggestion on the coffee and poured some for herself along with grabbing a plate of pancakes with plenty of syrup and a side of bacon.  She kept her hearing however upon the conversations had on the table behind her, where once again a discussion was started around Stygian about their captive, the apparent black fox standing nearby.

She added nothing yet, but her eyes narrowed at the differences in arguments.  She much agreed with Gareeku, for even though she hadn't really seen or spoken to their new party member, the past involvement was still enough of a reason to not place much trust in him.  But Stygian had a point as well...would he have done something the night before, if his intentions weren't so straight?  She highly doubted it, with all of them outnumbering him...and with the risk of facing such dangerous powers as she knew her comrades had.

"Hmh," she hummed and took her plate to the table next to them, taking a chair where she could be near the conversation without really being in the middle of it.  "I would think that it's a little early in this fiasco to be talking of treachery, anyway," Aisha pointed out calmly and dug into her food.  Caution was a trait of hers, but so was focusing on present situations rather than too far ahead.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog raised an eyebrow at the wolf. "Come now, good sir. If we aren't going to kill him, then treating him with dignity isn't beyond reason. He's a foe or he's not, after all."
He leaned forward and put his head in his hand, speaking to Stygian. "If you feel he is indeed, an ally, then, so be it. You would know as well as I the risks involved. You understand why we are a bit paranoid, however. These things rarely turn out well."
He stared into Stygian's eyes. With his shades, it probably lost some of it's effect. "But, I imagine you know what you're doing."

[Sunblink]

Saffron sunrays streamed into the room in dazzling columns, slightly tinged with tangerine from the afterglow of the sunrise, flashing in dazed dazzles over Keaton's prone, slack face. For one who was so vicious and vindictive, the jackal was quite docile-looking as she slept--or did the Cubi, dreamless equivilent of somnolence. Her awakening was announced with a heralding, cheerless groan, Keaton's ears and head-wings snapping slowly back to life as she stirred and battled for clarity amidst her drowsiness.

Last night had occurred very uneventfully, spent playing with the marble which was currently stored in Keaton's pocket, up until she grew bored of that and decided to go to sleep--with the clothes that she wore yesterday still on. As a traveler in every sense of the word, Keaton wasn't entirely used to slumbering in something as comfortable as pajamas, unless she shapeshifted into them. Not being in the state of mind to do so last night, Keaton had instead just opted to sleep atop the luxuriant covers of the bed in her rather unconventional clothing.

"Motherf--" Keaton hissed between her teeth, sitting upright, her hair an askew bird's nest atop her head, her eyes half-lidded and lazy.

It didn't take long for her to prepare her hair and get her shoes on so she could trudge downstairs where the rest of the group was, her footsteps echoing loudly. Stretching her arms languidly over her head, Keaton adjusted the belt keeping her mace strapped to her back and ambled to where her companions were. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion so Keaton didn't interrupt, remaining on the sidelines so she could subtly spy on them.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

That one did make Stygian's expression change though. And this time, there was a slight bit of amusement that trickled into it.
   "Ally?" he said, on the verge of smirking. "You're oversimplifying things, mister. Grossly." He didn't smirk, true, but the way he held his mouth just slightly open, as if just about to speak, and his gaze straight at Cog, as if those glasses didn't exist at all...
   "I know what I am doing. Oh yes. And you have reason to be paranoid too," he murred, picking up his fork and breaking off a bit of blueberry pie, stabbing it without looking and bringing it up to his lips. "But why are you treating this as if it were difficult?"
   Gently, he put the piece of pie in his mouth, and closed it, chewing slowly, keeping his gaze right on Cog. That was, until Keaton entered.
   "Good morning, sweets. Slept well?" he smiled at her, quite pleased.

[Cogidubnus]

"Difficult? I don't think so." Cog said, finishing the last of his second cup. "He's either friend or foe. In the case of the latter, well, we've discussed our options. If not, well, we've discussed that too. Standard, simple fare. Pie, as it were" he said, giving that same half-grin.
"Anyway, that answers my question. He's alive because he is useful. Fair enough. Good for him, I suppose." he said. He raised an eyebrow. "I'd have taken you more for a raspberry than a blueberry, though."
He rose and again filled his up with coffee. Apparently the stuff barely even touched him.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel, freshly showered, dressed in a nice dress and with her snow leopard illusion firmly in place, undid the web of wards and alarms she had spread around the room to make sure her sleep was secure. Moments later she was crossing the dining room. She was in time to hear the name of the club and the subsequent argument over Edge. She grabbed a couple pancakes, tossed some fruit on top then began searching. After a moment she found a small bowl with what looked like dirty sugar in it. She sprinkled a spoonful over her food. The establishment being run by a dragon she had found a dragon treat, finely ground quartz. She returned to the table and began eating, listening quietly to the banter back and forth.

[Tezkat]

Stygian's new feral bat "familiar" followed him down to the restaurant. It perched on the edge of a glass of grape fizzy drink, which it sucked through a straw while he ate. It grew increasingly alarmed as the conversation turned towards Edge.

+ + +

For his part, Edge displayed mild amusement at the topic of the conversation. He finished his breakfast while his new "teammates" discussed his fate in front of him. He dabbed at his mouth with his napkin and folded it onto the table.

"If I might clear up a few misconceptions..." The fox stood. "My name is Edge. I have no particular affiliation with the people responsible for the... uh.. property damage beyond, perhaps, sharing the same target. I followed Stygian here to collect the price on his head--something the distinguished bounty hunters here can understand, I'm sure."

He cocked his head and folded his hands comfortably behind his back.

"At any rate, he and I have come to an agreement. Having fulfilled my obligations towards the man who arranged our meeting, I have no reason to kill any of you." He cast a sideways glance at Gareeku. "Not yet, anyway."

[Gareeku]

Listening to Edge speak, Gareeku's eyes locked onto him as he said the last part of his comments.
"I would like to see you try." the wolf replied, staring straight at him with a look of grim seriousness on his face.

[Stygian]

Turned back toward the table, Stygian made a short sound, half of a sniff and half a snarl, and turned his pointed ears back. He took word, his voice the slightest bit deeper and coarser for the moment.
   "Cease! Both of you," he growled, and looked sideways at them, his eyes black again for a second. "That goes for you in particular, Edge. I'm aware your sense of humor is... unique... But I won't take childishness and teasing." He returned to his meal, his face smoothing out. He gave no hints whatsoever that he was actually pondering upsetting the cubi for an effect. "You had better stay away from that sort of behavior altogether, if you wish to learn. That will be the first part of your lesson."
   Slipping the last piece of pie between his lips and chewing it down, he stood, taking his plate and cup and walking over to the counter again. The wolf might have been set on downing more coffee, but even if he could, Stygian preferred tea for a finish.

[Aisha deCabre]

Keeping to her own still rather than entering the conversation, Aisha seemed to be the only one who noticed that Keaton entered the restaurant, and she spared a quick nod to the jackal succubus while eating her pancakes.  The coffee cup had been emptied already.  While Aisha wasn't one for that kind of drink, she did feel some energy returning to her body alongside the filling breakfast.

But she couldn't help but return to glancing at the table while the others still spoke about the ebon fox, and what could be done about him, though she found it quite unwise as well to be doing so with the man right in the room.  And on cue, he came towards the tables.

"Edge, huh?" Aisha quirked an eyebrow after hearing him speak, and hearing Gareeku's retort as well as Stygian's scold.  Her own expression was still rather neutral, and like the others, bordering on suspicion...but unlike some, not bordering on hate; not without reason.  "Well, hopefully we can make sure that there never is a reason to kill anyone here."

She smirked and turned back to her food, but cast a quick glance in Stygian's direction beforehand.  "Besides.  Just because we are gathered on this side doesn't mean that sides aren't divided."

[Cogidubnus]

Cog turned to the fox. "He speaks!" he said, leaning against the counter. "Yet, you do not inspire confidence with your words. Well, not a lot of confidence, anyway..."
He took yet another sip of coffee, sighing as he drank. "I'm sure you are a pragmatic man, sir. Understand, in this circumstance, we are as well, and as a bounty hunter, you surely understand that when killing someone, you better do it right the first time. Leaving people who mean you ill alive is seldom good advice."
He raised and eyebrow. "On the other hand, if as you say, you have no reason to kill us, I suppose one can't ask anything more. One is safe from random pedestrians for the same reason, after all. Still."
He narrowed an eye. "I'd be very, very careful to make sure you never have a reason to kill us." he said, letting his other hand rest across his sword hilt, his voice as calm as could be. Pushing off the counter, he approached the vulpine and offered his hand. "That being said, my name is Cogidubnus. Pleasure to meet you."

[Boog]

The resident dead man let a rattling sigh escape between his teeth; this sort of crap was why he didn't think much of adventurers. Yes, let's bicker more. Brilliant! Just when this was dying down, somebody always has to throw in another threat. For cynical, practical Richard the response to all of this was practically a reflex.
"Yes, he should avoid having a reason to kill us. Mebbe at least one person in the whole room should stop giving him more reasons. Threatening people scares them and begets more threats, and our welcome here is strained without hacking each other apart this early in the morning."

[Stygian]

"Well. Your brain doesn't seem so dead after all," Stygian said to richard, and sipped his tea, his tone back to the normal low murr. "A lot of bickering for nothing. I'm really quite amazed that people aren't on my back for this yet," he continued, and made a short chuckle. It was his responsibility after all. Not that he liked it, since he was the one who was at the centre of it all at the moment. He had always hated being the leader. That would change, however.
   "Look..." he began, and set his tea down on a table, "...can we get past this and on to more important matters?" He leaned forward on the back of a chair and looked around at them all. "Assuming you're all actually coming along, we're going to be walking right into a trap and probably spring it as well. I hope you realize that we need to prepare for this?" The question mark at the end of that sentence was rather emphasized, mostly by his slightly raised brow.

[Gareeku]

"Well pardon me for watching my back." the wolf snapped, shooting Richard a threatening look. "We barely know him. Hell, only last night he was trying to kill us."

Looking at Edge, Gareeku paused for a second before continuing. "As if you hadn't guess already, I don't trust you." the wolf said. "However, I will not argue any further, but I will be keeping an eye on you."

[Boog]

"Only last night, other people here were also about to kill Somber, who's now on your side, you yourself look like you're about to kill someone in general usually, and from what I've heard mentioned you don't always get along with that little ray of sunshine sipping tea over there," Richard jerked his head at aforementioned ray of sunshine, "Rather than watching your back, stop making people wanna put knives in it. Catch more flies with honey, all that."

[Gareeku]

"In case you hadn't noticed, Somber has not made an attempt on any of our lives. Edge, on ther hand, did so last night in the battle." Gareeku replied. "You do not know me, so don't tell me how to act."

[Sunblink]

Noticing that Stygian had realized her presence, Keaton openly approached, hands in her pockets and a surprisingly casual, noncommital smirk on her face. She had repaired her glasses last night, as they were perched once more on the bridge of her nose, linked to the piercings on her right ear. "Morning Stygian," she said, stretching her neck from side to side.  "I slept alright. If you can call what Cubi do sleeping, that is..."

With a slightly miffed expression Keaton watched the comments pass back and forth between those assembled at the table. The topic was specifically centered on Edge, whose presence absolutely astounded her. Where the heck did this guy come from, and why did he seem of such importance? It was after a while that Keaton pieced together the puzzle, realizing that he was among those who had assaulted them last night, especially after Gareeku spoke last.

She would've opened her mouth with some sort of indignant protest, but everyone else seemed to have said their piece as to Edge staying in their party. They would be keeping their eye on them, and so would Keaton.

Keaton folded her arms behind her head. She subtly began to harvest the emotions in the room, having no need for breakfast of any tangible sort, absorbing them into her like a sponge. Agitation was starting to stem around Gareeku and Richard--not her favorite cuisine, but it would suffice, as there hardly wouldn't be any suffering or humiliation any time soon.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tezkat]

Edge raised an eyebrow but shrugged off the new hostility. He took the offered hand with a firm but not overpowering grasp. He nodded in appreciation to his new drinking buddy.

"Thank you. Look, the person I came here to kill also happens to be the one who recruited me into your little group in the first place. And I'll be quite happy to overlook the good sir Cogidubnus ambushing me during our little duel... so long as he doesn't make a habit of it." He winked at Cog.

"I'm not asking any of you to trust me... or even like me. I know as well as you do that those are rare and precious commodities in this business. A little professionalism shouldn't be out of the question, however. After all, we will be working together if you plan to join me and the little ray of sunshine at the club today."

He smirked at Stygian.

"In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I'm going to be the bait..."

[Stygian]

Eyeing Edge sideways, thinking more about what his latest statement and gestures might have really meant, Stygian hummed, and then faced the 'vulpine's' smirk with a slightly boorish look.
   "Actually, there's no need for that. I do think you can tag along though. More attractive prey," he said, his eyes level. "And besides, I don't think you'd want to be stuck with these people if they might cut you apart a bit for moving suddenly," he continued, and gave the others a short look over that while not special in any way still made its point. "Still, before we can say anything, we need to see the place in question." With that, he turned back, and got his tea, finishing it.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha finished her food, continuing to listen to the conversation with a roll of her eyes, more to the side of amusement than anything when it got to the middle.  Men certainly like to continue a banter.  However she still stayed involved with little more to add, as every point had been said and just about every side had been accounted for.

When all was said and done, she let her fork fall onto the empty porcelain plate with a metallic clatter and turned around in her chair, regarding the others with a smirk.  "Good plan.  At least it's agreeable to focus on the journey at hand rather than casting suspicion on each other," she finished with a slight narrowing of the eyes to prove her point, then stood up from her seat, leaving the plate and a tip for the waitress.  "And as for the walking into a trap thing you pointed out before," she glanced at the bat, "I'm sure we still want to come.  Some of us are good at traps, whether dodging them or setting them."

With that, she nodded to the others, then to Edge.  "I'm Aisha, by the way.  Friendly company or not, it's still polite to know names.  If everyone will excuse me, I'll be getting prepared to start this thing."  The panthress then turned and started walking out of the restaurant, heading back to her room on the thought that her adventuring clothes had been brought back.

[Tezkat]

Edge smiled and nodded to Aisha as she left. He turned back to Stygian.

"Regardless of how attractive I might be or how deadly the company, I am scheduled to meet with a certain callous businessman this morning. I like to tie up loose ends. And seeing as how I'm already familiar with the place..."

The black fox shrugged. The tiny vampire perched near Stygian's teacup looked up at him, lost its balance on the rim of the glass, and fell flat onto the table. The fox sighed.

"I'm at your disposal until you leave. I doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere until then."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel silently ate her breakfast as the group argued. She preferred using the carrot to the stick and didn't understand what they hoped to accomplish by threatening one another. But she was a businessperson, not an adventurer. Probably just their way of establishing a pecking order. Finished, she placed her silverware across her plate and quietly asked, "Do you have any particular preparations in mind, Ignatz? You know the most about the situation."

[Stygian]

Stygian turned, and tilted his head a bit at the feline, raising an eyebrow. What did he think they were talking about?
   "Don't flatter yourself. The names were of import. You personally, are..." he began, but stopped, shutting his mouth. He kept his gaze on Edge for a bit. Then, he turned away and shook his head.
   Mel adressed him, and he looked back at her. Her question was, thankfully, as sensible and pertinent as he would have expected from her, and for a moment he was relieved that she and Aisha were around.
   "Not any particular, save us getting our things in order and scouting out the club in question. But for now it seems we won't be going anywhere at all. Where's Somber? I believe you fixed her yesterday, Mel. She did go to bed, yes?"