Thank you, fuck you (Open)

[Jane]

Jane had just arrived in Italy from France on behest of her most recent employer, a major international crime family. She considered the offer carefully, reluctant to accept. She knew any jobs the Liberatores had in mind would attract more attention than she was used to. Not only that but now she had Interpol to worry about. Be that as it may the paycheck was too substantial to refuse, and this up and coming bomber has been known to enjoy large amounts of money.

Assimilating the way of life in a foreign country did not prove to be a challenge. It never was, but no matter where she was Jane always endured weird looks. There were the people who stared when they thought she didn't notice, then there was those who avoided looking at her entirely, and of course the few that just pointed and snickered. Fortunately she was too excited to begin her new duties to notice or even care. She had stopped by a restaurant and spent several minutes anxiously and despondently poking at a salad with the tines of a thin fork, or rather a trident, since it only had three prongs. This minor inconsistency ultimately had no correlation with her decision to leave. Jane simply did not feel up to being fed like a horse and couldn't even eat with the feeling of anticipation.

She ended up just wandering idly around the town, and in spite of all of the must-see landmarks she had found the Angeccio Art Museum. According the sign near the entrance, the "art" it was currently showing was...less than socially acceptable. This didn't deter a curious Jane, who stood in front of a perfectly square canvas on an off-white wall. On it was a nude, faceless woman who's arms were tied behind her back, palms touching, in what was labeled the reverse prayer posture. The rest of the exhibit was similarly abnormal. As far as she could tell there were only a few people there, not including herself. Someone of consequence spotting her here was unlikely, but it didn't feel like a place one should stay at for very long. The slight grim allure of the attractions and a wistful desire to be as flexible as the men and women depicted encouraged her to linger, against her better judgment.

[Xenophon Xiuhcoatl]

It had just been a few days since he had arrived in Italy, and he already wanted to go back to his country. Oh of course the cities were beautiful, and the food was great, but there was still something rustic and traditional that he preferred in his homeland. X assumed these feelings would surface if he remained gone for too long. Perhaps this meant that he should try to see more of the world.

And he was now trying to do so by paying the art museum a visit. Xenophon didn't usually spend his time appreciating art, but his list of things to do in Italy was dwindling until he received a call from the Liberatore household with a request for one of his services.

He managed to stroll into one especially quaint exhibit, and found his eyes dancing from one painting and sculpture to the next. When his gaze finally subdued, Xenophon's line of sight had an interesting woman in the perspective horizon. She was blonde, bold-looking, and appeared especially intrigued by the exhibit. He scanned her curvy body slowly, taking in all the details of her burns and scars.

Superficial, but probably from second and third degree sources.

X lowered his gaze, hoping she didn't catch him staring at her.

[Jane]

The woman was too preoccupied curiously attempting to replicate an over-arm tie position to notice that she was being stared at. Her attention was completely diverted when something stuck in her right boot fell out and clattered on the floor, worked loose with all of the walking she had done. She muttered a few unladylike oaths in her native tongue and bent forward at the waist to retrieve the dropped object, thus unknowingly giving X a nice view of her backside, sans panty line.

Jane clasped the object in her fist as she straightened, and only after a quick look around did she notice the room's other occupant. She gave him a once-over, noting he was tall and dark and the type you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley. She couldn't just judge him by his appearance though, that wasn't how she operated. She was willing to make exceptions if her life was in danger, but no one would try anything in broad daylight, would they? Without any thought of him having possibly caught a glance at the opposite end of her form-fitting trousers, she smiled and wondered if he was a local. Those Italian phrases she memorized on the plane might come in handy. She said, with an extremely poor and unconvincing accent, "Ciao, signore."

[Xenophon Xiuhcoatl]

His eyes couldn't help but linger a little too long on Jane's firm backside when she bent over. Xenophon looked away again, though he may as well have kept staring, given that his eyes were obscured by his glasses.

X's attention was directed at an abstract painting when he heard the woman speak. At him.

The Russian man looked over at her smiling at him. She had a warm but feisty-looking grin, and a small part of him wanted to return it. But alas, X wasn't the smiling type. He did however, try to make his frown less apparent and nodded in her direction.

"Ciao signora. Pardon me, boot, I am not a lwocal. My Eetalian ees less zhan sateesfactwory." He winced internally at his own accent.

And for the third time today, I will scare off another beautiful woman because when I speak, the entire world thinks I'm a Communist. Splendid. Perhaps I'll just leave now.

Then without another word, Xenophon turned on the ball of his foot and made his way for the exit.

[Jane]

Jane blinked at his retreating form, and waited only a few seconds before jogging to catch up and began following the man. She trotted by his side, keeping a respectful distance of three feet, but didn't know how long she could resist invading someone's personal space. He was foreign. That alone made him an oddity, and therefore a source of intrigue. There wasn't anything better to do. He could at least occupy some of her time until she was contacted by her new employer. And so she continued to tail the strange man with his strange accent and his strange glasses, which she couldn't see through no matter how hard she stared.

She felt her face bathed in sunlight when they exited the building. Smiling mischievously and twisting a lock of yellow hair around one finger, she looked up at X. "Where are you going in such a hurry? I wasn't done talking, and you just walk away. That's rude." An accent, distinctly Germanic but muted from time spent abroad, colored her speech. "I think you're going to have to buy me a drink before I can forgive you for being so callous."

[Xenophon Xiuhcoatl]

Well, she was different.

Xenophon couldn't understand why she was following him. What is she doing? Multiple times he had tried speeding up his walking pace to try and lose her, but she would just increase her own stride so that she was the same distance from him. What did she want?

He looked down at her and lifted an arched brow when she spoke to him. She didn't seem to be Italian. Nonetheless, he couldn't associate with her, unless he wanted to kill her afterwards.

X's eyes darted towards her again.

I could.

"You vould nwot like asswociating veeth me, devchonka. However... I may buy you a dreenk, but no mwore eef you eensist."

If she wouldn't leave now, then Xenophon may inevitably have no other choice than to exterminate her if she probes too much. But no matter how many times he'd killed before, X would still see it as a sad waste. She was attractive, in a bold, hardened way.


((Continue in another thread where they go to a bar?))

[Jane]

((Sure. Also, pathetically short post is pathetic and short.))

Jane looked neutral as she listened for an answer. Making this suggestion was a leap of faith. He was just as likely to blow her off and leave her rejected and bored and alone on the streets of Italy than buy her alcohol, but she was confident. That was one of her defining characteristics. Unyielding confidence. She waited and waited, her mouth a grim slash and then...Success. She pulled her lips over even white teeth in a wide smile, skipping up right beside X and beaming up at him with her crinkle-nosed grin. "I do eensist." She mocked, and giggled, thoroughly enjoying his accent that hung thick on every word. "Lead the way, Ivan."