"Can we finally talk about plans now?" Kit asked impatiently. Sixto wiped a bit of grease from his mouth with a cloth then leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied. Ash sat opposite him at the small table, legs crossed casually beneath her long, white dress. Her white eyes betrayed no anxiety, though Kit knew she had been busy most of the day trying to figure out how to rescue Ilya. Sixto had returned to the safe house even later than Ash had, but he had insisted on eating before talking strategy. Good as his word, he had taken his time relishing his sausage, bread, and pickled radish. Kit, meanwhile, had spent the day in the safe house and was the only one of the three who hadn't been busy.
Actually, Kit had been plenty busy—Jessica had made sure of that—it had just been a different kind of 'busy.'
Feeling anxious, guilty, and useless, Kit sat on the edge of the bed, fretting and wishing her colleagues would just tell her what they had been put to already.
"If the hamsters in your head run in circles any louder, I'm going to start hearing them in
my
head," Sixto said.
"Well if you could eat a little faster, I wouldn't be sitting here wondering," Kit retorted sharply. "Or just talk while eating—how hard is that?"
"I've spent the whole day doing things I detest," Six calmly rejoined. "I owed it to myself to enjoy at least one meal." His tone was grating and insufferable to Kit, who was on the verge of snapping at him when Ash wisely intervened.
"Well, I'm glad you take time for self care," Ash said to Sixto. "We all know if we want to help others we have to take care of ourselves first." She gave Kit a meaningful look. Kit looked back, her gaze quickly melting from irritable to helpless, nervous wreck.
"But now you've had your meal," Ash continued, trying not to let Kit's look pluck her heartstrings
too
hard, "maybe it's time to talk shop."
"Fair enough," Six replied. "Ash, why don't you go first?"
E: Ingrid, do I sense Sixto is avoiding talking about what he's been up to all day?
I: Great question, Emma. Roll an insight check for me.
E: With pleasure! [Rolls]. 21!
I: Feel free to make a deception check if you'd like, Silus.
S: Also with pleasure! [Rolls]. Oof, dirty 20. You just beat me!
E: Hah! Take that!
I: Silus, is Sixto avoiding talking about what kept him busy all day?
S: You bet your britches he is!
E: Good to know...
Ash looked Sixto in the eye for a moment, then conceded. "If you wish. There isn't that much to tell, in all honesty. I mostly spent the day catching up with old friends. I decided that infiltrating the Syndicate is our only hope of finding out where they're holding Ilya, and the sooner we do that the better. So I asked around for places where Syndicate people like to hang out, thinking I'd try and get myself recruited." Ash paused to inspect her immaculate fingernails, which she painted white to contrast with her charcoal skin.
"And?" Kit prompted. "What did you find?" Ash looked over at her worried friend, unable to resist drawing out her reply just to tease her. Once Kit was literally squirming in discomfort—which frankly didn't take long—Ash answered.
"I discovered a large number of them like to congregate at a bar in Underside."
"Oh, that's great!" Kit exclaimed, eager for good news. Sixto, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow and gave Ash a pointed look, which Kit noticed.
"Don't throw shade, you scoundrel," Ash said, responding to Six's silent criticism. "You probably know as much about what goes on at
Forbidden
as I do. Don't act like a saint, it doesn't look good on you."
Now Sixto raised both eyebrows and smiled a bit. "And
that's
about the biggest reaction I've ever gotten out of you, Ashara," he said, clearly impressed. "Sensitive about these particular pleasures, are we?"
"You would be, too," Ash rejoined, "if you had lived the bulk of your adult life on the fringe of polite society." Her words carried the weight of personal experience, but her tone was measured and calm.
"Why?" Kit asked, a naivete in her tone that made Sixto stifle a chuckle and Ash nearly wince. "What's
Forbidden
?"
In the silence that followed, Ash chose her words carefully while Sixto let her do the explaining, clearly enjoying the moment. Kit looked back and forth between her friends, upset that she alone didn't know. "Look, I'm not from here," she said in frustration. "What is
Forbidden
and how does it help us find Ilya?"
Finally, Ash spoke. "It's a bar, love." When Kit bristled at being spoken to like a child, Ash got to the point. "It's a BDSM club. One of a few in the city. A bunch of Syndicate enforcers hang out there when they're off duty."
"Oh." Kit stared at Ash, processing this revelation. Ash looked back, carefully reading her reaction. Sixto watched the interplay, and ate bread crumbs off his plate like popcorn. "But I..." Kit began, clearly distracted. "What does this have to do with finding Ilya?"
"I'm going to go there tonight and see if I can catch their attention, make a good impression. Maybe they'll like me enough to offer me a job in their organization."
Kit imagined how her friend might 'impress' a bunch of hardened mafia thugs at a BDSM bar and decided she didn't like it one bit. "What are you going to do?" she practically blurted out, trying to keep her tone neutral and curious but sounding defensive and concerned. Ash gave her a naughty look and cracked a wry smile.
"That, my dear, is a bit above your pay grade at this point."
Kit gave her friend a look that said, "Oh, is that so?" To which Ash replied by breaking into a full-faced smile full of devious intent and delight.
"Oh, get a room, you two!" Sixto moaned. Kit picked up a pillow and threw it at Sixto's head.
"And what have
you
been up to, my prince charming?" Ash asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Sixto leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"You people are infuriating,," Kit stated in frustration.
"Are we?" Sixto replied, feigning innocence. But seeing Kit's exasperation, he decided not to draw it out any longer. "I've been out rekindling old acquaintances."
"Care to elaborate?" Ash prompted.
"Sure. I have lots of, shall we say, unsavory friends in this city. And some of
them
in turn have acquaintances within a certain organization we have an interest in penetrating. I've been working those contacts to see if they could hook me up, make an introduction."
Glancing in Kit's direction, Sixto saw her looking at him in surprise. He quickly looked away, feeling a strange mixture of resentment and shame bubble up. He focused his gaze instead on Ash, whose expression mercifully carried no judgment.
"And were you successful?" she asked.
"I was," Sixto replied with a nod at Ash. "I have... an appointment with some folks tomorrow. If it goes well, I might have access to the syndicate compound soon."
Kit looked from one companion to the other, marveling that they both knew how to access the criminal and social underworld of Tristanfell. On her own, Kit would have had no idea where to even start. In all fairness, Ash and Six were from here Tristanfell, while Kit was not. And in all honesty, despite the significant time they had spent together—and the compromising situations they had seen her in—Kit still knew very little about them. Still, Kit found it startling to suddenly discover that the people you've traveled and broken bread with for weeks were at most only a step or two removed from the kidnappers and murderers they were hiding from.
A silence descended that Sixto found rather uncomfortable. Kit was withdrawn and mute; Ash was, as usual, an indecipherable sphinx, the familiar grin playing at the corners of her lips.
"That's wonderful," Ash said at last. "It seems we now have two irons in the fire."
Studiously keeping his gaze away from Kit, Sixto gave another small nod.
"It's a race, then." Ash grinned at her compatriot.
"Indeed. May the best thug win." Sixto's grin was lopsided and playful, but the gesture didn't reach his eyes.
***************************
"Ok, folks," Ingrid announced. "Since it seems you all have decided to split the party."
"Which always goes super well," Silus intoned sagely. Yuna snorted.
"It's not like we have much choice," Emma said. "Kit can't really leave the safehouse without endangering the rest of the party, and Ash and Sixto's contacts are unrelated to each other."
"I'm not throwing shade," said Ingrid. "Splitting the party is totally up to you, and there are definitely circumstances where it's warranted."
"Somehow that still sounds ominous," Sebastian mumbled, provoking a bark of laughter from Silus. Ingrid smirked wickedly.
"In the interest of time, and since Ash will be the only one involved in the BDSM club scene, how do you all feel about describing overall what happens rather than roleplaying the whole thing in detail?" Ingrid looked around at her friends to gauge their reactions, particularly Emma's.
"That sounds fine," she said in her usual, cheery tone. Everyone else nodded along.
"Alright then," Ingrid replied. "Ashara shows up at
Forbidden
the next evening. What is she wearing, Yuna?"
"Oooh, oooh! I get to choose an outfit?!" Yuna literally bounced up and down on her bean bag chair.
"Within reason," Ingrid responded with a loving roll of her eyes.
"Ok, then let's say Ash goes to a friend's shop and totally custom orders a new outfit. Which I'm happy to pay for," Yuna added after seeing Ingrid's raised eyebrow.
"Ok, tell me what she's buying and I'll tell you if it can be done in time and how much it costs," Ingrid instructed.
"Alright, so it's a high waisted goth dress that laces up below the bust, which is crimson and is made of a separate material than the rest of the dress. The laces and trim are also crimson. The rest of the dress is black, probably cotton. The dress flares out at the hips and isn't particularly long. Oh, and the shoulders are poofy. And it has a black choker with crimson, frilly trim that goes with it."
Yuna's eyes sparkled with excitement as she described the outfit. Ingrid, leaning back against the sofa with an amused expression, waited for a moment. "Is that it?"
"Wait, can I add to it? I was totally holding back because I was worried about going overboard."
"Here we go," Emma murmured
