Fable - Ask Carrying the Same Sin

A roleplay which may be open to join but you must ask the creator first
Bastian shrugged his shoulders. "Don't much care for the why, if I'm honest."

It wasn't that he was heartless. The killing of innocents was...well it was always unpleasant in a way. But it was also a way of the world, at least his world. He'd seen plenty of brutality over the years, there was no denying that. It didn't phase him that she'd killed the girl, nor the reason she was here.

She could have told him that she killed the Captain just because she didn't like him and he wouldn't have thought any less of her.

"I just want to live." He told her with a shrug.

That had always been his objective. He didn't care about anything else. His life had been a mess of beatings and murder, but he still liked being alive. The taste of fine and not so fine liquors. The caress of a woman. The thrill of a win that was well deserved. The sensations of it all were what he wanted, what he would keep going for.

Bastian glanced down at the book in his hand for a moment, frowning at her.

"Tell you what." He told her. "Why don't I hang onto it for a little bit until our new...friendship settles a bit."

He wouldn't destroy it, but she wanted the book and he wasn't about to hand over his only bargaining chip. Mostly cause he still wasn't sure she wasn't gonna cut his throat after.
 
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Layla frowned at him. She couldn't really blame him. She wouldn't trust herself, just like she didn't trust him.

"Well, can you at least move so I can get to my desk. I will show you to your cabin once I figure out who we are meeting and where we are heading."

If this little shipment and the big ship weren't going to keep her pockets lined for a while, she would've just returned to port. She needed the money though. She needed a nice long vacation for reasons. Drinking, gambling, fucking reasons. The most important reasons.
 
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"Fair enough." Bastian said, though as he walked he gave her a wide berth.

There was no way in fuck he was going to get stabbed after all this.

As soon as Layla had taken her position behind the desk the Anirian frowned. He reached up with his free hand, pressing against the bone of his nose. Teeth snapped together, and then with a quiet crack he reset the bone in his nose.

A grunt of pain escaped him as he did so, but it was all the noise he made. "Not too shabby of a ship."

Bastian idly commented, glancing around the Captains Cabin. "Even if it's decorated with no taste."
 
"Luckily I cannot be blamed for the terrible taste," Layla looked through the stacks of papers on the desk as she spoke. It wasn't hard to find what she was looking for. She pulled the paper out and read it over. They were delivering the weapons to Elerrin. Easy enough.

She put the paper back into the stack and then turned back around. "Looks like you are stuck with me for two days at least...and that's if we don't hit any trouble."

She studied him with a sneer and then made an effort to smooth her features out. She was playing nice. "Come on, I'll show you to your cabin."

She walked towards the door slowly and opened it. He could see that she hadn't grabbed her dagger again and she wasn't going to stab him. Yet. Layla walked down the corridor and opened the door to what had been her room.

"Your room. I will get my stuff out before sundown."

The room was much smaller than the not very big captains cabin.
 
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Bastian followed along with Layla, carefully watching and mapping the corridors in his head. He wanted to be sure that in an emergency he knew where he had to go. "Where are we headed?"

He asked.

"What port, I mean." He very much doubted that it would be anything Anirian, but that didn't really worry him. Eventually he would be able to get back home and tell whatever story he pleased...he just had to get back home.

In his estimation it would probably be somewhere in Cortos, probably one of the further isles rather than the mainland. Those tended to sway more towards dealing with Pirates and the like. "Not Amol-Kalit, I hope."

Bastian jested as she opened the door and offered him the small room.

"It'll do." He joked, more space than he'd had on the other ship. There he just had a hammock.
 
"Elerrin," she replied simply to Del. "Have you been there?" Layla had not. She had been many places but Elerrin was not one of them. Perhaps she could use his knowledge if he had. Make use of the stowaway that she had been saddled with.

"Also, I was serious earlier, the men left on this ship will not harass you if I tell them not to. You won't be confined to the room at least," her voice had lost some of the edge it had previously held. She would let him live for now. He seemed to be playing nice like he had said he would so she would too. An extra set of hands was always welcome after all.

Layla at least had a countdown to when she could start her vacation. Two days.
 
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He frowned for a moment when he heard the name, lips thinning for just a brief few seconds. Bastian hadn't traveled much, never had the money for it, but a few times some of the bosses had seen fit to send him abroad. Elerrin had been one of the destinations.

"Once." He said with a shrug, poking around the small room for a brief moment. "For a job."

Elerrin was an interesting town. Not like Cerak or Teth, at least from he had understood. He'd never been to either of those places. The city was...legitimate had a government and everything, it's just...well they dealt with pirates freely.

The city taxed crime like it did anything else, offered safe harbor to those who offered up the coin. Anyone that didn't? Well they'd find themselves swiftly thrown into the nearest dungeon by the Watch, a group of men and women who were...shockingly brutal for a police force.

Flipping the book under his arm Bastian shrugged. "I wasn't worried."

He offered her a wink.
 
Layla shot him a look. Of course he wasn't worried, he had her logbook. She needed that book at some point or she would just take the loss and kill him. No, no killing him, she admonished herself.

"I may need your knowledge then since it is a new place to me. I just have a name and meeting spot," she shrugged.

A few moments of silence passed before the assassin spoke again. "Are you any use on ships?" She finally asked with a sheepish grin, "I may have killed two of the crew and could use you..." She trailed off.

She hated to ever admit she needed assistance, especially to a stranger who wanted to kill her.
 
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He considered the words for a few moments. Was he willing to help her when they reached the city? A part of him wanted to say, but he would need a way back home. Not like Vel Anir would come send out a rescue ship for him.

A bit of gold was stashed away on his person, as it always was, but it wouldn't be enough to get back home. Particularly not from where they were going. "Sure."

Bastian offered with a shrug. "Not like I have anything better to do."

An honest truth. He'd have normally scammed his way off the island anyway, and perhaps there was an angle to play here. If not? Well, there was always a job to do. Someone's throat to slit. No shortage of that.

"No not really." Bastian answered her honestly. "I'm not much of a sailor."

Never had been. "But I have hands, and muscles."

That was usually enough.
 
Layla nodded. It would be enough indeed.

The two days passed without any fanfare. Layla took care of running the damn ship that she now hated with a passion and Bastian did whatever he was doing. She didn't see much of him and it didn't bother her much. As far as she was concerned, they were both alive and that is what mattered. He still had her logbook though.

Once the ship was docked, she went to get Bastian. She needed him to find the shop called Enchanted Wonders. Stupid name.

Layla knocked on the door of her old cabin.
 
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Bastian was lounging on the bed, reading some atrocious book that one of the sailors had handed him the day before.

Quite happily he had spent the last two days talking to and befriending every sailor on the ship that would give him the time of day. It was something that he was rather good at, particularly in these sorts of circles. Bastian fit in better pirates than he did Anirian Sailors.

So, he'd managed to acquiant himself with near anyone, and made an actual friend or three. At least by his own measure.

"Come in." He called out to Layla, flipping another page in the book.
 
Layla pushed open the door to find Bastian comfortable on the bed. She chuckled softly at the book in his hand. She had been given the same one on her original trip with this crew. It was probably the worst book she had ever attempted to read.

"I came to get you so we can go find this shop and get this shit off my ship but I do not want to disturb from that riveting novel." Amusement lit her features which caused her normally stern look to fade away slightly. She did know how to smile and let loose. It was possible.

"Anyways, we are docked and I would like you to accompany me. We are looking for Toran at Enchanted Wonders." She didn't know where the shop was but she also wanted to have Bastian as backup. There were still a lot of men who did not like dealing with women and would try to take advantage of them. It was one of the precise reasons she was an assassin and not a merchant.
 
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Bastian closed the book, and then literally tossed it to the side.

There was no way in the seven hells that he was ever going to finish the damned thing, particularly not now. "Right."

He said as he pulled himself up and out of the cot.

"That's in Cutters Corner." A pleasantly named district of the city, so called because...well Bastian had absolutely no idea why it was called that. The Corner was actually quite a nice district, more than a few shops and even some cafes.

The etymology of such places was kind of beyond him. "Better get going then."

Bastian said as he scooped up the rucksack he had won from one of the sailors in a game of cards.
 
Layla laughed out loud when he tossed the book aside. "It is quite possibly the worst book I have ever tried to read in my life," she said once she was done laughing. "Yet Stefan keeps giving it to every new person. I think it is a right of passage at this point."

She moved out into the corridor and waited for Bastian to join her. Once they had departed the ship, she let her stowaway take the lead. She walked along side him hoping that he was being honest about where they were going and he was not about to try to ambush her. It isn't like she had anything on her person anyways.

"Um...Del..." She did not want to ask this question. She did not like showing weakness, but this was not her area of expertise at all. Not even a little bit. "Do you have any experience with this shit?"
 
Bastian was actually rather glad to be off that ship.

He had joined the navy in the first place to get out of Vel Anir and away from the authorities. Now that the revolution had struck he'd figured there'd be a discharge of some sort. Of course that hadn't come, the military being stretched thinner than ever.

Truth was though, he didn't belong at sea. He was a city boy, and always would be at the end of the day. So as they walked through the marbled streets of the island town he couldn't help but smile slightly. "Experience with what?"

He bandied, lulling his head to look at Layla.

"Finding weird little shops?" He'd done his fair share of that, he supposed.
 
Layla was hoping he could figure out what she meant because she didn't want to say what she had to. "That too, but I meant with negotiating. I am not a trader or merchant or..." anything that deals with products. It would be much easier if they were friends and he knew what she was and what she did.

"There was no agreed sale price or anything in the paperwork and I don't even know what the weapons would go for..." Layla trailed off. She hated admitting weakness and that she needed help from anyone. Especially a man. Dabria had drilled it into her head that that only person she could ever count on was herself.
 
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"Oh." Bastian said, acting as though he was just now realizing what she had actually been on about. A smile twerked the side of his lips for just a brief moment, though not long enough to linger.

They cut through a small market square, Bastian pointing towards the left so that they could head down to Cutters Corner. It would be another two blocks before they got there. This city was tightly spaced in, but somehow seemed larger than it was.

"Sure could." He had, of course, perused the log book for the last few days. The Captain, for all that Layla had told him about him, had been surprisingly thorough with everything he'd taken and intended to sell. No mention of price of course, but Bastian knew that well enough. "For two percent, of course."

A fair commission, and more than enough to get him back to Vel Anir when all was said and done.
 
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Layla shot him a look. She couldn't blame the man, she would have said the exact same thing and two percent was not terrible. She stopped and turned to face Bastian. She held out a hand to her unexpected partner. It was the universal way to seal a deal.

"Two percent," she said as she waited for him to shake her hand. "I am also planning on selling that stupid ship. If you want to help me with that, I will keep the same deal. Two percent."

She smiled sweetly and tried to look innocent. She was neither but she was trying here. She didn't mind his company.
 
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Bastian considered for a moment. He had never sold a ship, but he was pretty sure the process was likely all the same as other goods. As long as you could find the other merchant anyway.

After a few seconds he nodded. "Fair enough."

The killer reached out and grasped Layla's hand, shaking it once before he pulled himself free of her. The log book was still in his rucksack, and all of...this was going to have to be taken care of. Yet he figured it would end well enough.

At least with a bit of coin in his pocket.

Maybe even enough to bribe some of the officials back home.

"Come on, shops just around the bend." Bastian said with a jerking nod of his head.
 
Layla was pleased that he accepted her deal. Perhaps he could be useful after all of this was finished. She would probably have to be very convincing in order to get him to agree.

She very much wanted this job to be over already. She needed that vacation and money. Vacation. Money. Those are the words that she would repeat to herself over and over.

She nodded as they came to the front of the shop. It certainly didn't look like it sold enchanted wonders but looks could be deceiving. She automatically looked around before they ducked into the shop.

They would be put off by not meeting the original contact they had made the deal with. Layla and Bastian were not Timms.
 
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Bastian glanced left, right, and then he went into the shop.

There wasn't really much for him to see. If someone was watching them then...well they would be watching them? What were they going to do? Not go inside? There was a fat chance of that, and he doubted that it would do much good anyway.

A bell rang as he pushed open the door. "Hello?"

The inside of the store was dusty, smelled ancient, and was filled to the brim with what to Bastian's eyes looked like complete and utter junk. This was exactly the sort of place a fence would end up in. They tended to be...eccentric.

He frowned for a moment as he peered through the dinge in the air, lips thinning.

"I'm here to to..." How did one put this? "See the value of some of my wares."
 
A portly man came out from the back of the shop and looked at Bastian with an expression of indifference. He looked Bastian up and down before turning his attention to Layla.

"I don't know you so why shouldn't I slit your throats now? I don't need no new sellers or customers." His voice had an edge of finality to it and Layla rolled her eyes.

"Timms sent us with the newest shipment you agreed upon," she spoke up finally.

"Hmmm...Timms...he knows I only deal with him..." The man pulled out a dagger and set it in the counter. "Lets try this again, shall we?"
 
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"Timms dead." Bastian said, slinging his rucksack to the front of him and digging out the log book.

When it came to these sorts of dealings he had learned long ago that trying to lie most often didn't work out in your favor. Better to be honest, and then just twist things how you needed them to go. It was a trick to negotiation.

Without a sense of caution Bastian stepped up to the counter, throwing the book onto the table.

"Killed by a rather swift knife." He shrugged. "Anirians, ya know? Not an easy score."

No Anirian had killed Timms, but Bastian never claimed that was the case. "That's the reason I know you still want these arms."
 
The portly man hmmm'd as he looked Bastian over and then glanced at Layla with a scowl. She was all of a sudden very glad that she had brought the Anirian along. Sometimes a little help was needed.

The man looked through the book and his eyes widened as he went further down the list. The haul had been better than he had thought it would be.

"Did Timms tell you what the deal was?" Layla could tell that the man was hoping Bastian wouldn't know the proper prices for the weapons and he could rip them off.
 
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”Don’t much care what Timms deal was.” Bastian said bluntly.

In a way, they had the upper hand here. Erellin was a city of greed and commerce, there were likely a dozen other merchants who would buy the stolen goods back aboard the ship. Though that would present more challenges, it was always an option. ”I know the value of what we have.”

At least he knew something close to it.

”But.” There was a fine balance to all of this. The push and pull of negotiation. ”There’s no need to start off on a bad foot between us.”

Bastian briefly glanced back towards Layla. ”Right?”

The other man across the table seemed to frown for a moment, and then he dipped his head in a nod. The next few moments was spent in negotiation, eventually settling on a price that was more than fair for both parties. ”Pleasure doing business with you.”

Bastian said with a smile, then caught himself.

”Oh. Know anyone on the hunt for a ship?” He asked almost casually. ”We happen to be selling one.”
 
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