Mafioso Ya-Yas (X, open)

[Jane]

The tavern that X took her too didn't look like a tavern. Tables and chairs were placed in an outdoor section that extended onto the sidewalk and without the bar counter, located conspicuously alongside the furniture, there was nothing that distinguished it from an ordinary cafe. During the walk across the square she discreetly took in details about the man, though appeared to be amusing herself childishly by tottering along the very edge of the curb, arms by her sides and raised slightly to help with balance.

She guessed he was, from the way he carried himself, ex military. There could be all kinds of armament concealed by that black suit, an exceptionally deadly man behind those mysterious tinted glasses. Jane ensured she was able to palm the blade that had fallen from her boot earlier, now in her pocket, at any opportunity just in case he had violent intentions, and was going out of her way to act like a ditz in hope that X wouldn't classify her as a threat. Perhaps Jane was being overly cautious, but she could not afford to be caught flat-footed when there were people all over the continent that wanted her dead or imprisoned.

"Birra." She sighed appreciatively at the bottles of liquor behind the bartender, arranged immaculately on glass shelves. Out of all the Italian words and phrases she had learned, about a fourth of them were correlated with alcohol. She had come prepared. No doubt their beer could not contend with her favorite German lagers, but she would make do with what was available.

[Xenophon Xiuhcoatl]

X didn't bother paying attention to the people watching the tall Russian man with the German woman teetering at his side. He walked briskly and affirmatively, as if striding to another covert assassination.

He could feel her staring at him as he walked, and he gave a few backwards glances, since he was always cautious with everyone he met. And although Jane appeared to be mostly harmless, Xenophon had a curious inkling to know where she could've gotten all those burns from. And what happened to the girl's eye?

X glanced at her briefly while she balanced herself on the brick curb. Perhaps she'd share the story of the ordeal after a few drinks. And maybe then she'd stop following him around.


There was a limit in Xenophon's mind that dictated how much he'd let this woman run up his tab at the tavern. She definitely wasn't shy with spending another person's money. Jane actually wasn't shy at all. During the time she first spoke to him in the museum and on the walk to the bar, her girlish chattering overshadowed the few sentences he cared to mumble. Why was she drawn to him?

He drew his shoulders up and glanced at her, this time letting his glasses slide down his nose for a moment so he could look at her without the yellowish tint. X scowled, and glared at the bartender after Jane ordered her drink.

"I'll have zhe same," he grumbled, and took a swig of his beer so he wouldn't have to look at his evening companion.

[Jane]

Admittedly her behavior was suspicious, but her only motive was to kill time. And get free booze. A good day no matter how you sliced it. The only flaw in her plan, so far, was X's abrasive personality. He would have to be lured out of that hard outer shell. She was good at that. Jane prodded his arm with her elbow. "Don't be so unpleasant." She was confident that she could hold her liquor far better than him, or anyone for that matter, and that his tongue would be the first to loosen. He wouldn't be so moody for no reason.

She raised the glass and drank with gusto that belied her feminine wiles, plunking it down after a few gulps. Jane turned her head to look at X, tapping her bottom lip with her finger thoughtfully, and then flashed her most charming smile. "What is a man like you doing so far away from his motherland?"

[Xenophon Xiuhcoatl]

Giving a cold wavering glance at the woman as if she had just said something offensive, Xenophon paused to think about what he should say that answered the question adequately enough so that she might not pursue, while still saying nothing about his real objectives.

He looked at his mug of Italian ale, "I'm 'ere on bizhness"--accenting a little at the end of the word. The man took a drink and mentally scolded himself for the statement.

Was that really the best thing I could say? He narrowed his eyes.

Xenophon lifted his glass and downed almost all of it in about two seconds. Setting his mug down silently, he got the idea to steer the conversation elsewhere. Talking about himself was never something he was good at.

Actually, he wasn't much of a talker at all really.

"Needs... wodka." He leaned back and looked at her directly, tilting his head so that she could see his dark eyes above his yellow-tinted glasses. "And you?"