[The Slag Heap Fire] The rat race of Sunberth (Open)

[Shai]

Shai smiled at Tikon. “Only if you stand really still. None of the shadows around here are cooperating.” There were too many people for the Symenestra to really hide which was unfortunate and kept her off balance. But the metaphorical shade the Isur could provide would keep her just as safe from the scum in the crowds. As Bob ordered the strange structures removed from the wagon Shai took stock of the shady characters he had assembled. It was a strange bunch in most places and maybe even strange here. Additionally she had initially missed one of the bunch, the man on the wagon made five. As Tikon moved away to help unload said wagon Shai felt distinctly exposed. To compensate for her unease Shai inched closer to Bob, even though he was a greasy little rat who was probably useless in a fight the thief just felt safer having a potential decoy within arm’s reach. Besides a woman alone in a crowd drew attention, a woman with a man was just your average Sunberth harlot. Although it was never a line she’d admit to the little sleaze ball it was a solid tactic and she had no problem using it so long as Bob didn’t notice her doing so.

Keeping close to Bob Shai turned her to attention to Zandelia. Not for the first time Shai admired her, the scar added character in the spider’s opinion. Besides the biggest reason Shai like Zandelia so much was she would make for an excellent surrogate if Shai was ever so inclined to take a husband. She had strong features that would make for a lovely child. There was an adage that the humans use they say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, the truth was you caught the most flies with a web of deceit and comfortable lies. But until such a time as a surrogate was necessary the woman was very useful to have in a pinch. Finishing that line of thought she brought her mind back to reality and realized Bob was beating the rats again, was it some sort of maneuver to appease the crowd while the arena was set up? These humans had the most bizarre sports.

She was just about to question Bob for an elaboration of this venture when he offered it himself. “Yes it was quite a task to get here and an explanation would be appreciated. I am not sure I fully understood the first time you explained it.”

[Antar]

Sighing loudly, Noth hiked himself up to look over at the bunch pulling the planking and other cut pieces from the wagon. "Look it's very easy to set that up. Base boards on the side form the ten foot square of the arena, then put the fence posts into the slots and secure the with the nuts and bolts at the joists. After that, it's just a matter of aligning the cages with the trapdoors on each side and letting the animals out. Pretty simple in construction. It just comes together like a jigsaw puzzle."

Sighing and casting a weary glance at Bob, Noth forced himself up and off the wagon to help direct the process to each person helping unload the wagon. His eyes didn't miss any of the others in the crowd, and the newest woman to meet his interest seemed to hover slightly behind Tikon and Bob. A woman with elongated arms and legs , and a waist line and figure that belied the slight difference in bone structure. Smiling slightly, he recognized her for what she was, he had actually hunted some of her kind before. Symenestra. So long as she didn't try to bite him, he would not presume to stick her in the back of the neck with a blade, or feather her from afar with an arrow.

That was just professional courtesy after all, if the woman did notice his eye upon her and met his gaze, he might give a simple nod to her before going about supervising the rest of the setup. 'Good lord, he knew Bob might actually hurt himself if he ever picked up a hammer.'

Sighing once again as he was put upon by things, Antar slowly began to sort out the mess taking things one step at a time as the rat arena slowly began taking shape... he'd be right there willing and able to lend a hand, or a bit of direction to those that needed it.

[Zandelia]

Zandelia had made her way to the site of what she surmised was to become Bob’s stage, built expressly for the acceptance of other people’s coin it was safe to assume, without much difficulty. Her employ as a missive runner had assured she had been able to not only pick the most acceptably safe route but that she had made exceedingly good time too, making her entrance into the gather throng with time to spare watching Tikon, Antar and others putting a wooden structure together. She was curious as to what it could possibly be, not to mention why Bob would need such a large ring for the sport of rat faighting, however she decided it best not to make comment. It was Bob’s show after all and whatever he thought he needed was no business of hers. Instead she merely gazed upon its unfolding majesty, rough and wooden as it was.

No, my role this evening has been mostly fulfilled. I gathered the crowd and stirred up the betters for him and he shall make good coin out of my effort too she noted to herself as she saw more than a few members of the gangs of Sunberth roaming through the crowd, being given wisely wide berths indeed.

“My role is whatever is required of me Bob darling, though I must say I have my limits, even for one as conniving as yourself. I’ll keep my eye open and my ears to the ground. I will be roaming the crowd and acquiring things of interest for myself,” she stated the non-negotiable part of her terms outright as she knew he would understand.

“As for whatever else you might need of me feel free to ask, I shall do my best for you. I draw the line at being a shield for you though, they’d just cut my legs apart” she grinned at him with good humour.

She had good reason to be joyful and celebrant too, having drawn enough members of those she wished to lure to hopefully mean she would walk away from this event with more information than she knew what to even do with. If she had her way she might even steal a few things should the opportunity arise, though she would doubt that she could do anything with grace in the jostling mass that was forming. She spied Shai, however, and whilst the woman was liable to steal coin more than information she was a possibility that Zandelia might be able to use in some way. Not the she would send the slight Symenestran into battle as she would be liable to be crushed in seconds. No, fringe work was her forte this evening.

And Tikon as well, my I’m beginning to think we’ve created our own loose guild if it keep up like this she mused to herself in an amused manner, still grateful for the presence of the Isurian powerhouse with his long sword. At the very least it wouldn’t be her fighting to protect Bob this time. Not that he needed protecting, the snake masquerading as a mouse that he was.

“Hey Antar, Bob says to hurry up as he’s tired of waiting” she threw out to the mercenary she had begun to get to know, just to see the reaction. She was not a cruel woman, but she could never resist the urge to tease someone if it meant having something fun to watch.

She cackled out loud at the response, Bob shaking his head and waving his arms as he shot a dark look at her as Antar shook his head and continued about his work – absorbed as always in the minutea. She was beginning to understand that philosophy though she would never come close to adopting it as an everyday mannerism. She liked to plan what was necessary and enjoy the rest as something uniquely adventurous.

“Bob, just tell me what to do and I’ll leave you alone to go get it done. As long as I’m paid well for my services you could ask me to sleep with any pretty woman here for all I care” she finished with a small grin and the knowledge that she would see that more as recreation than a chore.

[Bob Barton]

Bob needed the day to turn out just right. What was right to him would be that he actually makes off with a lot of coins in return for a dead rat or two. Bob didn't even need to pay for those rats but by no means they were free either. In Sunberth there were two different types of currencies. One was undoubtedly mizas and the other was a person's life. Many people in this treacherous city would be very thankful to the gods if they got to keep the latter while losing all their money. Joining them to be thankful was Bob, who was able to escape the rat menace with his life along with Antar last season and had these two wonderful specimens of vicious survival to show for it. He would be a lot more thankful if the rats got him more mizas instead usual idealogy with money in Sunberth which was stated earlier.

No one in the bunch could be expected to have the unique mental faculties that Bob had which was why when he was getting everything getting set up, he had to tell them his grand vision. Most of them but Antar who helped to make the fences and would already know where to fit everything. Giving the occasional remark to his assistants like "No Zen, that fence belongs on the other side. See how curvy it is?" and "great Tikon. Remember that the gap there is where the rat would be coming from later" With his instruction he hopes that things will be a lot more easier for them at least for now. Bob would not want them skipping out when the hard parts really came. When everything was done, Bob did the finishing touches of throwing a slab of meat into the middle of the ring which will be used to lure the rats...as well with another surprise.

So they gathered to talk about the plan which most were dying to hear. Bob could not blame them for that because he just loved to listen to his own voice when reciting a well thought up plan. To start off and keep everyone in high spirits he answered Zenai's amusing statement with a joke which to those that knew Bob well, might possibly become a reality if given a chance. "That is an excellent idea Zen! I am so happy that you are finally taking the initiative. I trust that once we acquire the rats, chariots and costumes you will help? You did volunteer already you know?" Zenai it seems has given Bob an idea which was levels beyond this one, and Bob will never give his friend a chance to back out of it should it come to being. Everyone else should know better than to say anything about as well unless they wanted to fall into the trap.

When he was sure he had everyone's attention, he turned around to see if there was anyone else who might be watching. Once he was sure it was only them he would open his hand in front to reveal a vial for a few moments before tucking it away at wherever he normally hid his strange toys. In a low voice in case he would be overheard he told them that "this my friends, is a vial of Dark Tongue." Bob would wait for a few moments for them to guess what he just showed them was poison if they were able to ascertain it from the ominous black liquid. "Please don't ask me how I got it, but I will tell you what I am going to use it on..." which is no one guessed by now were the rats.

"I have already tested it on one of the animals a few days ago" since no one would notice it when there was something off with a dog not due for anything. It was a learning experience for Bob too because he experienced the poison first hand himself. "I dabbed one dose on my sword and cut the dog with it...moments later the ferocious brute was reduced into a whimpering mass of pusiness when it realized that it could no longer attack like it wanted to" until of course Bob cut his own hand when he tried to wipe off the poison and was weakened as well. It was just as bad as when he was on the pulp, only this time Bob was actually aware that he could barely even make it back to his bed or carry his sword back with him.

What did all of this have to do with the rat races now? Simple. "I have put another dose on a collection of tiny little prickly things which now are sticking out from that slab of meat over there" pointing back to the ring which they just erected. This time, Bob made sure to use thick work gloves just in case he might prick himself again while he applied the poison over the bundle in his hands. A show of weakness in this crowd would not be a good thing. Everyone would be pretty curious about where he was going with this and Bob wanted to see their reactions but he had to ask first whether "are you guys just excited as I am with how things are going to do down?"

It was enough of playing a show right now, he should save the rest for the act and then he explained to them that "two people will be in charge of opening the cages when I give the signal" looking at Zenai and Antar who he thought were the most reliable of the bunch and hoped that they will take that as a cue that they should volunteer themselves. But Bob would take whoever he could because "all they would have to do is open the cages" which sounded pretty simple. If that was it then the games will all be to luck. Nope, Bob was going to try and rig the games today because "at my signal which will be the guy I extend my arm towards later" giving an example when he extended his arm to Shai, "that rat is the one who has to come out later. Just make a little scene of the cages having something wrong and delay a little bit until the other rat is nearly at the meat." Hopefully the two working on that part will remember that and do the job well. Its not THAT hard.

The hard part he was sure of was his and the pretty ladies which joined him. Now able to speak loudly again with the shady part over, Bob put his hand on Zandelia's and Shai's shoulders to pull them a little bit closer and told them "You both have very important jobs too." As soon as Bob finished saying that he pulled his hand off his "darling" but until Shai shook off his it will remain on her. "You only need to collect the mizas from the spectators and those who want to be part of the pot. I know you want more Zandelia" for her unhealthy interest in information "and I am sure you can pick out those among all the loudmouthed drunks and desperate gamblers."

Done with all the explanations, Bob clapped his hands together to wake up anyone who may have fallen asleep. "Remember friends, we are all here to have fun..." and he knew that fun to most of them had a hint of violence in it. "Just hang around, mingle but if there are any troubles I hope you guys would help for our collective interests." Speaking of interests, there was the issue of mizas. "Each of us will have a cut of the money the girls will collect after we have the disgusting work of paying off the winners. I hope that even if we are all Berth scum we would be honest with one another to continue this sort of profitable arrangements as I have helped you all in the past" like Antar, Zenai, Zandelia, Shai, but Tikon? Bob still had no clue.

"Take your places everyone, the games are about to begin" he announced with a grin before heading over to whatever makeshift stage he was going to use.

OOCPoison price will be credited in this thread. Sorry guys it was very long and I really hope I did not miss anything.

[Zenai]

The arena was coming together slowly but surely and Zenai was quite impressed of the effort that has gone into this little rat race. For one, getting rats couldn’t be easy and getting them to “race” would be akin to getting a bear to dance. Secondly, there’s the arena; the level of detail that has gone to construction couldn’t be just some guy slapping things together. The pieces did indeed fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle but of course, Zenai had to be guided for some of the not-so-obvious pieces. Then finally, the crowd of drunks who were persuaded to leave the taverns and whore houses to witness something trivial. Zenai credited that effort to the woman who called her Zandelia. Yes, it was all coming together and his curiosity has urged to stay on to watch how this all end. Knowing Bob, it has to bring out the profits.

Fantastic Zenai rolled his eyes. Bob is actually going to use Zenai’s much-more-retarded idea to “enhance” the rat race. It’s going to be rats riding chariots pulled by other rats. “Yes, Bob; I will help out with the rat chariots but do note that I’m no carpenter and much more useful guarding bodies.” Zenai decided to roll with it otherwise Zenai wouldn’t be making profits out of his own idea. He’s not about to let Bob just take his idea and roll in the mizas that’s going to be made. Zenai needed the little extra income; living adequately was good and all but sometimes, Zenai feels like taking a day-off just to spoil himself and those extra mizas would really help out.

Zenai’s heart skipped a beat when Bob whipped out a black concoction within a vial. Dark Tongue; from the name itself, Zenai could guess that it’s some sort of poison. How lethal is something Bob already explained. Still, Zenai wouldn’t want that sort of thing streaming through his blood vessels. Luckily, he had his own set of gloves. Being trained in the knightly ways, Zenai was taught to fight with honor and that means no poisons but this was Sunberth, anything goes and it’s not like a Syliran Knight would come out from a corner and be a referee for every fight in Sunberth. Zenai considered applying poisons to his own blade. It could enhance his combat prowess by weakening his foe thus making them easy pickings for Zenai. However, Zenai thought otherwise since he has little experience with poisons and not want to get himself killed; perhaps when he has a chance to learn about poisons in a safer environment. Maybe reading a book about poisons in the library, he would consider it.

It seems Bob wanted Zenai to open the cages. Simple enough of a task and one Zenai could easily achieve. Then Bob explained the rest of the plan to them. A rigged race, eh? It was an interesting notion and achievable in such an environment. At the present, Zenai didn’t mind cheating the crowd since they deserve it one way or another. Another reason for Zenai’s lack of honor in this respect is because he used to go to the gambling casinos and dens for a spot of entertainment. Luckily, he knew when to stop as he almost lost all of mizas in those gambling games. He doesn’t know why but it seems Fate has destined that Zenai shall win no games. Petch that! This was Sunberth and anything goes. Zenai may be trained in the ways of an honorable knight but he still had weaknesses that Zenai confess he has and one of those weaknesses was to win and have lots of mizas to spend.

Having explained his devious plans to all of the, Bob asked them to take their places. Antar and Zenai went over to the rat cages; Zenai taking position over one and Antar would most probably take the other. Zenai checked over the cage; it was big and there was a relatively big rat inside it. Of course, that was the obvious. What he was looking for was the mechanism to open the cage. After a few seconds of inspection and thinking how it works, Zenai finally found it and it looks simple enough to open. The rat spit and squeaked viciously at Zenai. “Oh, quiet down, you. Just get going with your little running and all of this would be over.” Wonderful; it seems that Zenai has caught whatever has infected Bob and now, Zenai is talking to rats.

While they all are still getting into positions, Zenai took the opportunity to survey the crowd. Now with the arena done and rats in place, the crowd is judging which rat is the better rat. They seem to be judging by the size of the rat itself as well as tail length, fur color and other characteristics. It was silly to judge a rat’s worth by its appearance but then again, some do give off certain appearance if they’re strong in some way. Zenai then was intrigued himself as to what makes a good rat. Perhaps it’s the muscles in his leg. Stamina is important but unless you have seen them run until they were tired, you wouldn’t know how much stamina they have.

Zenai turned his attention his comrades-in-business. Antar was at his cage, observing his own rat. Zenai wished his rat would beat Antar’s rat. Zandelia and Shai were the lucky ladies to collect and taking bets on the rat race. The crowd, mostly men, and having their beer-goggles on whistled and wooed the women as if there was a sideshow going on while the rat races were on. Surely, Bob wouldn’t allow for that nor would the two women. Tikon? Zenai wasn’t exactly sure what Bob had in mind for the Isur but it must be important enough that Bob forgotten to mention Tikon and his task in this race. Zenai made sure he was in position as well to open the cages and to sabotage when Bob gives him the signal. Bob better be doing this right otherwise Zenai would toss the midget into raging crowd.

[Zandelia]

Zandelia snorted at Bob’s plans as he lay them out, simple yet effective and thoroughly placing him at the centre of attention for the crowd, leaving the men to be the protectors and the women to be the distracting collectors of the funds. If she were not making quite so much money out of the enterprise she might have wondered if that reflected upon his view of herself and Shai – that was before she took into consideration he had seen her kill a number of people in a very short space of time. In a way he was entrusting the core of the event to their hands, money being what made the whole thing worthwhile after all. No, he held confidence in their abilities of course. Still, she could not help but wonder if there was not a part of him that merely wanted her away from him just in case. At times she knew he looked at her in a calculating way, she just wished she knew what it was exactly that he was calculating at those times.

“Fine, fine Bob. I’ll collect the damned bets but they had best not petching touch me or there’ll be more than rat blood spilt today” she spoke out loud as she turned t look at Shai, nodded and set about touring her half of the throng for bets and business.

Least I’ll hopefully be able to find some pieces of useful information. Has to be something of worth in this damnable crowd she thought to herself as she pulled her hood away from her head and let her face be seen by all.

“Come on then, come on and all! Bets, place your bets. Which rat will pirate the winnings for you? Choose a rodent! Pick a pet!” she called out to the crowd as they began to press in on her lithe form and demand their tabs and more.

“Easy now! Can’t do everyone at once. Orderly mass! COME ON! If you’re not betting then get out of the way!” she shouted.

It was all too easy to do once the attention was upon her and they all knew why she was there, news spreading fast in a mass such as they were. Coin switched hands quickly, a flood of gold secreted everywhere about her person to the point she quickly began to run out of places to out them that were safe. She handed out small piece of paper with their bets upon them, odds and all included. The odds did not matter so much as the rat, seeing as it was essentially a fifty-fifty bet. They would on average win 1.5 of what they bet as far as she could tell, however considering half of them would lose it would still lave the enterprise far ahead in profit after paying out winnings to them all. She had to stop after about ten minutes, assuring they would have their turn as she turned back, the sheer weight of gold about her all but bone crushing, and slunk back to Bob to hand it all over.

“This is a fucking nightmare! There’s more gold here than sense and enough of them to start a riot if they were smart. I damn well hope you’re good at crowd pleasing shorty or we’ll have a massacre on our hands I don’t doubt” she whispered to Bob as she quarter filled once of the medium sized containers they had for the money.

That done she returned reluctantly to the crowd, her services requiring she collect every single bet before the fight was to begin. It was tiring, time consuming and sweaty work. All told she had to make four trips, each time filling the container more and more until it almost was overflowing. She had been groped, tickled, threatened and bruised but had come out thoroughly on top. Those whom had groped her had been given a few punches – gang members and all – and the bruises were mostly from the pressing of coins into her body. Threats she had handled in her customary way, of course. The first one to be thrown at her had felt the tip of her spring blade and the edge of her dagger before scurrying away into the shadows, humiliated and chastised. After that none had dared to threaten again, mostly due to the fact Sunberthians had a knack for survival she thought.

“Right, that’s as much as I could get and a damned miracle there’s that much in the whole of Sunberth. Shai will probably have equalled that, so either which way we’re on the up and up my friends,” she finished as she leant her sweaty form against the ring that had been erected, “let’s just make sure we damned well stay there eh?” she finished as she took a long draught of fresh, cool water.

No information yet, but then not much chance to get some either. I’ll have to wait for the fight to begin perhaps, they will be distracted and forgetful of caution then she thought to herself and scanned the crowd for her best targets.

[Antar]

Noth sighed wearily and pitched a look at Barton as if this was all a waste of his time. Well not completely a waste, he had been having some fun hammering a few pieces of the ring together with a hammer when they didn't line up properly before twisting in the bolts and nuts to hold the contraption together.

Bob's little project had been a challenge in his mind, and one he took to with a vigor to create. But now that it was actually in use the actual fight with the rats was almost secondary to him. The project for him at least was over and done with, and in this crowd he didn't have time to go malarkey off snitching pockets from any pedestrian goers. He had to watch his horse and wagon. Any foolish git who tried to snatch them today would be liable to end up dead. Moreover, he swore if he caught even a hint of Darik's face in the crowd he'd end up putting an arrow through him.

He was just part of the scenery today, at least as far as he was concerned. He really wanted to do nothing but sit back, drink water , and look towards the burning pit and wonder what it might have once contained. Many a thing had to have been burned over by it and the mystery of what one might find if one could put it out would be tremendous. Perhaps jewels or melted teeth from bodies tossed upon its wretched heap? Who knew , but he'd bet that he might find more in the smoldering heap then those that came to bet on two rats dueling to the death.

So imagine Noth's consternation when Barton asked him to do another task... at least he was at the closest rat gate and within easy reach of his horse. Just to make sure though he tied the reinds to his belt and stood ready to release the little rat. Okay, it wasn't that little... in fact it was quite large. The size of a small dog to be sure, and it's opponent seemed to be of the same size.

There was one simple flaw to Bob's plan though that he figured it best not to mention. If one rat got poisoned, and the other rat killed it and began to feast on its corpse; well... the effects of the poison from the first rat might show up in the second making the crowd suspicious on whether the games were rigged.

But this was Barton's show, not Antar's. He was just here as the help today. So he alligned the cage close to the small door that lead into the arena and prepared to make some easy dough. Or at least get a laugh as everything backfired on them all.

At the annoted time the rogue would raise the gate, and then the rat fight would begin. But he did wonder something small in the back of his mind as the crowds began to gather... would it simply be easier to toss them all on the slag heap and just take their money that way? Well, probably not, he mused. At least if the 'rat races' took off the same betting population might come back to bet again, and still lose more money. Over the long run that might actually acrue more money.

An interesting business scheme if it worked. But he'd be damned if he was the one going to catch any more rats. Not for all the little chariots (which he'd probably have to build anyways) in the world. But who knows? Maybe other peoples of the slums would begin to train their own rats to challenge the victorious one here? Only time would tell. But honestly, the long wait for a petching signal from a height challenged 'ringmaster' of the scene was kinda boring to him. At least the rats might amuse him if they fought each other.

[Shai]

Shai was busy watching the surroundings and had only just realized the wagoner had noticed her for some reason when Bob addressed the women’s part of the plan. Her role in his scheme took her full attention immediately. What the petch? Does he seriously want ME to go out and mingle with these louts? They’re dirty and handsy. She sighed to herself, it would not be a good job but it would be worth the trouble if everything got off without a hitch. She’d do it, grudgingly, but she’d do it. Finally the thief assented although she shook off Bob’s hand as she did. The Symenestra nodded when Bob was done dispensing assignments and went the opposite way around the ring from Zandelia.

Shai stalked over to the crowd, it was close as she ever got to being sullen. The thief barked out her own call to mirror Zandelia’s. “Bets open here! Pick a rat, Pick a price! The only way you are guaranteed to lose is if you do not pick at all!” ugh too many humans packed together, they reek. She began taking the bets. “Keep it orderly assholes, I only have two hands, cannot go any faster if you get pushy! Munchkin get the petch out of the way I know you are not betting.”

The feeling that cupped her read end was expected, she knew one of the drunks would eventually try it. The Symenestra had already prepared for it, and sowhen it happened she whipped around looking agitated. During the quick spin she used her left hand to ease his coin purse from his belt and shove it up her sleeve. As she finished her turn she used her right as a distraction from the tug at his belt; pushing roughly against his shoulder and berating him. “Do not touch the goods you cannot afford! Place your bet but do not bet on your hand remaining attached if it ever touches my rear again!” Shai quickly turned back to the crowd after an angry glare. She continued to take bets and pass out slips but it wasn’t long until she couldn’t carry on without returning the currency to Bob. There was no doubt these people were here to bet and they knew she was the Lady to talk to about making that happen.

The rogue carefully weaved through crowd back towards Bob to drop off the bet money. As she placed the money in the container to complement Zandelia’s pile she gave Bob a quick wink and slid over to him. She leaned over his shoulder and whispered to him. As she spoke, she grabbed his left hand and slid the coin pouch into it. Without waiting for a response Shai turned back to business and headed into the crowd. On the next trip she had no special takers and it was a quick return to pile more bets into the container. Her third saw another moron looking for a five finger discount on some assets. This man also lost his pouch in a similar manner although Shai made a point of it by kicking this man where her boot could do the most damage; he’d tried for two hands that was just greedy. After dumping her third round of coins into the container, Shai brushed past Bob on her way back into the crowd.

And, ding ding ding, there was a third winner. But as she snapped around she switched her snatch into a girly slap at the perpetrator. She’d only noticed at the last second this one was a Daggerhand and not nearly drunk enough for her to get away with his mizas. She made an petulant noise and informed him in a huffy voice, that any of her associates would know for terrible acting but being a stranger he’d have no way to know she wasn’t an elevated street whore. “Hands off!” Shai stomped back to the others with the final bets. While she worked on looking upset on the outside in truth she was relieved she’d realized quick enough to stop from getting herself into hot water. Two wasn’t ideal but it would have to do.

[Tikon]

Tikon found Shai’s behavior interesting. It almost seemed that in his absence Shai needed something far sturdier than her to help and anchor her. She needed a strong arm, he had noticed she was indeed delicate looking, even if she wouldn’t admit it outright, actions did indeed speak louder than words. But for her to pick Bob…that was odd. She must not know that that little man was more of a runner than a fighter. And being that he was smaller than her he wouldn’t even provide an adequate meat shield for her; much less fight to do anything to protect her. Bob was a runner, a dodger, a slithery little snake that usually backed down before stepping up for anything. But he was indeed a thinker and a plotter…a schemer something Tikon could indeed appreciate. Even if the man seemed to always be thinking about his bottom line.

It was almost comical as he saw a man make a pass at Shai’s rump…a movement not even he would attempt knowing how Shai was the man was lucky to be walking away at all. The man Shai talked to soon enough found a firm heavy onyx hand on his shoulder gently applying pressure accentuating the words the Isur said next. “Aye, and I be one to tell you that there is no way you can afford this one.” With a shove the man was cleared out of Shai’s immediate area.

The man staggered some and shot Tikon a glare…which the Isur only smiled at tapping the hilt of his bastard sword gently; betting the man to come and make his day. It was clear the man was drunk but at the same time he wasn’t completely stupid. He knew well that taking an Isur on one to one was a horrible day, that fortified onyx arm with silver veins could rearrange his face with a simple swipe. Tikon smiled and nodded recognizing that the man was going to shove off rather than try and approach Shai again.

Shai was indeed working the crowd quite well. She was collecting all kinds of coinage and passing out enough paper tickets to make his head spin. But his attention was turned on the crowd more or less because he knew that he would have to watch them more than Shai. If anything around her changed he would know it immediately, but these humans were relatively unpredictable making them very dangerous. And then there approaching Shai was a man who ‘looked’ like he was planning something. With the way the man walked he was obviously part of some gang…he walked proudly making him a target.

A smile crossed his face when Shai offered him a girly slap. A true funny sight that offered him a sense of comical relief. Shai walked past him to deposit the final bets and the man who Shai just slapped was more than a little peeved and looking for someone to take it out on…that was where he came in. The drunkard pointed at him and spoke a little…barely audible to the Isur. “What you lookin’ at?” Tikon didn’t say anything and instead shrugged.

[Antar]

A small laugh , crept from Antar's lips as he noticed what was happening between Shai and those that were... getting quite handy with themselves. He was never one to cop a feel around a woman , not unless it was on a job, a needed distraction or a way of tormenting them in a role he had to play to complete a job. Then... it was barely tolerable, but only if they knew it was coming first. Though honestly quite a few of his female companions on prior jobs had slapped him at first, and just to be snide he'd kissed them again.

There wasn't much slapping after that, though. They usually tended to respond... in a very welcoming manner by the end of such things. But she was a spider, so it would never happen.

Noth had no love for spiders.

He'd rather crush them under his boot then anything else... especially if they were thieves. He wondered a little what he might do if the spider one day decided to thieve from him and it brought a little smile to his face. Aside from that , it was boring while he waited for the signal to pull up the flap to release the rat out of his cage but when the signal was made... the rat was out and the fight could begin.