A Thorn in the Side

rei-sekiro:

Previous Reply / @nebula1984

The Seeker’s gaze narrowed as the Elezen walked away from him. He craned his neck, trying to see what he was doing. When the man threw something his way, Rei flinched noticeably, only to be draped in a heavy blanket. He blinked his surprise away, frowning. He was not expecting that. He may or may not have muttered a quiet thank you in Hingan under his breath. 

“I thought I was being rather polite,” he shrugged, “I talk the way I talk because I’m bored…” he was smiling again, “I get kidnapped a lot, for some reason. Also almost killed and getting into random fights…I’m used to dealing with people like you.” He tried to adjust himself in a way to get the blanket closer to him. He was still shivering but not nearly as bad as before. “I like talking about myself, especially since someone like you shouldn’t be messing with me to begin with. In fact, you should be bragging to others you had the honor of meeting me!” He sneered at the Elezen.

His ears flicked at the sound of cursing. The Seeker politely bowed his head again a the man figured things out for himself. “Belong to? No, no… I am the adopted son of one,” he corrected, “Imagine angering the leader of a multi-content wide operation just so you can get paid a little extra pocket change. Scary, isn’t it?” he canted his head slightly, still testing the chains as though something would change this time around.

Rei flinched slightly as the Elezen punched the wall and stormed out. He sat silently, figuring that the man wasn’t returning, only to be proven wrong. “A deal?” he raised an eyebrow, “What’s in it for me? I can get away from you any time I want to,” he frowned, “Just so you know, I don’t kill innocent people,” he went silent for a moment, “Are you asking me to pay you off? Because that’s not very fair to me either…”

He was silent for a long moment, and even closed his eyes to think. It would be a good few minutes before he said anything else, “Right now my father thinks I am out on personal business. The Sekiro-Kai won’t expect me back for another week regardless. For now, they won’t be suspicious since I rarely check in. Too much of a hassle,” he shrugged, “You are lucky I don’t kill children. Or spouses. Or idiots,” he was looking at the Elezen for the last point, grinning widely. The truth was he really only killed other criminals, so this man had nothing to worry about. But Yuuta wasn’t that nice. 

“What are you interested in? Protection? Money? Secrecy?” he listed them off, “Do the Sky Pirates know you have me, because I’m sure they won’t be happy that you’re changing your mind on this deal either…”

Alex wanted to punch that smile off Rei’s face. The boy’s mouth really made him think long and hard about changing his deal on the Sky Pirates like this. But he wasn’t about to bring this sort of trouble down on Sanagi.

“I was interested in the price the pirates were paying. But…” He made a disgusted face at Rei. “What I ain’t interested in is tangling with some kind of crime lord. Been there, done that.” A huff as he rolled his eyes. “All I want is you not bothering people I care about, dumbass.”

Alex just spun the keyring around his finger as he kept his distance from Rei. “It ain’t no honor meeting a stuck up brat like youh. I used to be a power in the underground of Ishgard. I worked with the Carver himself as his Jackal. I ain’t washed up. I walked away for something better.” Not that he was going to mention he had walked away from being a criminal for the sake of a girl. Well two girls technically though one was ‘family’ in a sense. But Aeri could take care of herself if someone came after her. Sanagi was the one he was really worried about. “No if I had to gauge… We’re about even in terms of skill. But I have the years of experience you don’t quite have. As far as the sky pirates… They don’t know I have you. Yet. I ain’t as dumb as you seem to think I might be.”

A Thorn in the Side

Previous Post (Reply to Ask) / @rei-sekiro

Alex leaned against the rickety wooden table in the main room of the small hideout. It was an old unused hideout that once belonged to his mentor. A little closer to the sky pirates that wanted their hands on this one.
He had debated on how long to give the captive in the other room before he went in to check on the boy.

A pretty boy. A silent snarl as Alex sharpened one of his knives a little harder. Now he wanted to know what the men wanted with someone like that. Especially when it had been far too easy to get this one to let his guard down. Just enough to slip something into Rei’s food.

Better to get this over with.

Finally giving a sigh as he pushed away from the table to go to the other room. Finding his captive awake as he walked over. A swift kick to the miqo’te’s stomach for the insult. A simple threat to bruise the boy’s face.

“Knife ears. Pointy ears. Though my personal favorite is still Mongrel. Insults ain’t getting you anywhere, pretty boy.” As if Alex had any room to talk. At
thirty-two he still had that pretty boy face. Even despite the scar and
tattoo. A pair of dark sunglasses resting on top of his head. “
Ain’t
no bounty hunter either. I’m a
mercenary. I should gut you just for insulting my hunting skills. After
all I found you now didn’t I? You made it far too easy though.”

Alex kicked Rei’s shin as he
sneered down at the miqo’te. Crouching down to be at a better level to
taunt his prey. Old habits died hard and he couldn’t resist teasing the smart-mouthed brat. “Poor little pretty boy. There are some nice sky pirates
with a price on your head. Who did you piss off to get such a nice gil
reward for your return? At least they never said you couldn’t be
bruised. Just that they wanted you alive.”