TRP: Finch and Larkin (Pots on the Stove)

[SETTING: Day 386, Azriel's townhouse.]

The kitchen lights -- visible through the sheer drapes, though nothing else was -- were on when Larkin got to Azriel's house, that evening, which was unusual. He didn't cook much, and spent most of his time at home either in the sitting room or in his own bedroom and study.

JEN

Larkin didn't think much of it, since it could be he was making some tea before bed or his odd housemate was having a sandwich. Still, she made a point of being quiet when she unlocked the door and slipped in, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

IZZY

Low voices came from the kitchen, and shadows moved across the floor, cast into the sitting room by the light. The voices seemed familiar, but were too quiet to be immediately placed.

JEN

Larkin shuffled her feet a little as she neared the kitchen. If Azriel was having guests over she didn't want to startle them.

IZZY

There was a brief flurry of movement when she made noise, and a clearing of someone's throat.

When she rounded the corner, she saw a group of people all circling the kitchen table -- Azriel, of course, but also his older brother Gabriel, as well as Finch and Jonn. Azriel was as composed as ever, in expression, at least -- he did look like they had been there for a while, and his hair was a little ruffled, and his vest unbuttoned, and his sleeves cuffed up. Finch looked as out of place and pissed off as usual, too, and Gabriel was an unreadable brick wall.

Jonn looked slightly nervous. He edged closer to Finch like he wanted to hide.

"Ah." Azriel stared at her for a moment. "Goodness. It's that late, is it."

JEN

Larkin tilted her head at the congregation. She'd not known there was a meeting and she doubted this was a casual visit.

"The hell's going on?" She asked more confused than anything else.

IZZY

"Bit of a business meeting." Azriel waved a hand. "Gabriel's in town to help with, ah --." He glanced at Finch, squinting. "What would you call it?"

Finch scowled. "Restructuring."

"That," Azriel agreed.

"I wanted some fucking input about the Masked Militia," Finch grumbled. "For the Redbirds. We need to change some shit up, that's all."

JEN

She tilted her head to the other side, unsure if she should be annoyed at not having been notified or glad a seemingly exhausting discussion had gone down without her. Still, though, it was her gang, too, so she needed to know.

"How so?" She asked, leaning sideways against the doorframe.

IZZY

Azriel beckoned her over. The table was scattered with notepads -- Finch's scrawl, Azriel's looping, elegant writing, a great deal of precise lettering that was likely Gabriel's -- as well as partially full glasses of water for each of them, empty tea cups, and a few empty beer bottles by Gabriel's spot.

Finch explained. "I was thinking about how fuckin' bullshit it is, competing with other shitty gangs, and all." He looked tired. If they'd been here a while, it was a long time since he'd been in his bunker. "So I thought about how the Masked Militia just are the fucking cops in Moorland. Sounds like a good fucking racket."

"It is," Azriel agreed.

JEN

"So what about the church?" Larkin asked as she walked over to give the notes a look. They'd certainly considered that factor.

IZZY

"Back home," Gabriel said -- deadpan, as usual -- "we just married into the guard and took it over from the top down."

"Father's family," Azriel said quickly. "Right. He's the head of the guard, so it was a simple matter of underfunding, undertraining, shifting resources around ..."

Finch interrupted, annoyed. "Yeah, that's not gonna fucking work in Skyport. Forget about marriage shit." He jabbed a finger down at the mess of paper in front of him. "But here's the thing, we can train a bunch of fucking assassins, and take some motherfuckers out. Weaken the church."

"Gabriel's offering to help," Azriel put in. "He and Father have trained many of Moorland's best assassins." He slid his chair back and patted his lap at Larkin, offering her a seat.

JEN

She didn't take it but went to stand beside him, bending to give Azriel a kiss es she did, then hung an arm around his shoulders. "Alright, fantastic I guess." She paused, giving them all a look. "Just wondering why I didn't get the invitation. And why you're being fucking weird."

IZZY

He waved it off. "We're not being weird. It was all a bit impromptu, because I didn't know Gabriel was coming, that's all. I thought it would be better to not bother you."

"Yeah," Gabriel said flatly.

JEN

Larkin made a face. "Now you gotta catch me up, though. Doesn't sound very fucking efficient..." She grabbed a random paper off the table and looked it over.

IZZY

"Mm, fair enough," he admitted.

"Listen," Finch said. "Lark. Hey. Did you talk to that fucking pirate? The one Haeth used to know, or whatever the fuck? We could use shit like that. Allies outside the city. None of the other little shithead gangs have the connections we've got --" he gestured at Azriel, nearly smacking him in the face, and Azriel leaned back and frowned -- "in Moorland and shit."

JEN

"Nah, I didn't get the chance yet," Larkin admitted. "I let one of her daughters know we're interested, though, and she came to me so that means they want to buddy up, too."

IZZY

He pointed at her emphatically. "Yeah, yeah. See. That's the shit I've got in mind. She came to you. Because of the fucking Graverunners." He was still scowling, but in an almost excited way, somehow. "Because you're out there making a name, and shit."

JEN

"Are you alright?" Larkin asked with half a grin. She hadn't seen Finch this hyped about something in... years.

IZZY

"I'm fucking great," he snapped. He poked at his own temple. "I got goddamn ideas and shit, Lark. Here's what I'm thinking. You go out --" he gestured again, making Azriel lean back again and hastily grab at his glass to get it out of the way -- "doing that adventuring bullshit, and you make connections. Like this pirate bitch. Like this fucker."

"Hey, now," Azriel objected.

Finch ignored him. "Be the face. The Basha. Build up a fucking brand and send those customers back to me, and I --" he jabbed at the table, at his notes -- "build a fucking army. We get your weird fuckin' pal Raef, and Gabriel --" another gesture; Gabriel didn't flinch -- "to train up fucking assassins. Not from the fucking dregs in Skyport, whoever the shit we can scrape off the street and poach off other gangs, but the good shit. From everywhere. That you bring in."

He looked intense. Jonn was grinning at him and fidgeting in place, shooting Larkin happy glances.

JEN

Larkin looked at him for a long moment, eyebrows raised, mulling this over.

"Man, you got that shit figured out, huh?" She said, not being able to hold back a grin. Was good to see him like that. Some fucking life in that boy.

IZZY

"Yeah, I fucking do."

"We all worked on it together," Azriel protested.

JEN

Larkin snorted and kissed the top of Azriel's head. "I mean it sure fucking looks like." She tossed the paper back onto the table. "You gotta give me a couple more details but yeah, I like it."

IZZY

Gabriel played idly with a bottle. "Solidifying current alliances comes first."

"Yes, yes." Azriel waved that off quickly. "Well, you're already here, aren't you. I'm sure there's no rush."

Gabriel turned his bottle up and stared Azriel down. Azriel ignored him and looked up to Larkin instead.

"I suggest you talk to this pirate woman. I'll continue to handle my mother -- she, ah. She'll come around." Then, sourly, he added, "Theoretically, we should reach out to the Sanguines in Sienna Springs. They aren't run by Wyn anymore, at least."

JEN

"I'll talk to Tricksy," Larkin said. She idly ran fingers through his hair. "Sienna Springs is overrun by kobolds, though. Was there recently and didn't see any Sanguines."

IZZY

Azriel gave an interested hmm, leaning into Larkin's hand. "Well, even if they're missing leadership or a guild, the thieves and suchlike that used to work there must be somewhere. Likely we can still bolster our numbers with them."

JEN

"Guess so," Larkin said. Then she frowned. "Don't know if we want 'em, though. Sounds like a prime chance to get a rat problem." She looked to Finch for input.

IZZY

Finch snorted. "Oh, don't you fucking worry about rats. I can handle rats. Got it all worked out." He tapped the table again again emphatically. Jonn was grinning at him, all delighted. "New fuckers -- especially unknown fuckers -- they get fucking quarantined. They get tested. I give'em a chance to sell us out, but it's a fucking fake chance, and if they do it --."

He sliced a thumb across his throat savagely.

"They'll fucking learn to be loyal."

JEN

Larkin gave a throaty laugh. This was... fucking great. Not just the plan, Finch's enthusiasm infected her right away. Good old days, only now they made their own rules. She couldn't help herself. Larkin left Azriel's chair and went to stand between Finch and Jonn's to put an arm around each of their necks. "Hell, yeah," she said. "I love this. All of this." She cast Gabriel a look, too, nodding approval.

"So what's our ultimate goal do you figure? Take down the Church? Replace the city watch? Control the government?"

IZZY

"You fucking know it," Finch said fiercely.

Jonn, meanwhile, squirmed in place happily, while Gabriel gave a nod of acknowledgement and turned his beer up again, and Azriel looked on with a faintly smug fondness.

JEN

"Alright. Fill me in then, I wanna know all of it." She let go of them and went to get herself a chair. She placed it next to Azriel so she could wrap his arm around her waist while she leaned in to listen to Finch talk.

IZZY

- - -

Finch was enthusiastic and snappy. The apparent hours they'd been sitting around the table had paid off -- he seemed to have an answer for just about everything, shuffling his papers around now and then or jotting down new cryptic notes when the explanations made him think of some new detail. Jonn watched him and listened excitedly, grinning, occasionally glancing at Larkin like, look, see?

After a little while, Azriel kissed Larkin's cheek and pulled away to start clearing the messy table. Jonn hopped up to help him, shooting Finch another look to check on him, but satisfied that he was fine and occupied, helped Azriel carry off the dishes and trash. When he brought Finch back a fresh glass of water, Finch spared him a thanks.

Gabriel was quiet through this, his boots kicked up in the corner of the table, and once Azriel came back from the kitchen (Jonn still clinking dishes as he washed them), he quietly offered to show Gabriel to a room. Gabe fixed him with a stare for a moment, then shrugged and dropped his boots to the floor. He lifted a hand at Larkin and Finch before stalking upstairs after Azriel, muttering something about their mother before getting too far away to hear.

By this point Finch was on to talking about alliances. He gestured vaguely after the Melaines. "Anyway, you have that shit locked down, right?" He lowered his voice a bit. "I mean, I fucking hate that fancy bastard, but he's useful, and he's loyal to you, right? I don't have to worry about that?"

JEN

"Hey, now." Larkin swatted Finch with the back of her hand. "That fancy bastard is still my boyfriend. Love of my life, light in my sky and shit." She made a face, not angry but... surprisingly hurt that every single one her loved ones seemed to have it out for Azriel. Wasn't like he'd done anything to deserve it.

IZZY

Finch scowled. Granted, his face just usually kind of looked like that. "He's not like us, that's all I'm fuckin' saying. He's fucking spoiled and he just got to inherit his fucking criminal empire. He doesn't know shit about ground-up work." Grudgingly, he admitted, "The connections are good, though. I just don't get why he's slumming it in Skyport, that's the fucking thing." He tapped the table, over a schematic of a break-in target. "I can't fucking plan for him."

JEN

"He's been trained to be that way," Larkin said flatly. "It's a tool. He can work the streets like any of us. Also-" She patted a hand to her chest. "Didn't I fucking inherit, too?"

IZZY

He scoffed. "Yeah, you didn't grow up --" he gestured -- "fucking eating crumpets off silver platters, or whatever the fuck. You earned this shit, Lark."

JEN

"No. He grew up getting handed out by his mother as a performance monkey and fucking concubine. He's earned his crumpets and silver platters."

IZZY

Finch made a disgusted face. "All right, Mask. Fuck. It's just --" another vague gesture -- "he's not the fucking same as us. I don't trust his goddamn motivations."

JEN

Larkin sighed. She shook her head slowly, eyes on the table. Wasn't gonna do anything to argue. Finch just liked to hate people- or at least he hated liking them. "Well, I do," she said. "Do you trust my judgement?"

IZZY

He grumbled a bit. "I mean, if I didn't I wouldn't be working with him at all." Grudgingly, again, he went in, "And he has been fucking useful. Him and Jonn were talking about more prostitution shit. That high class ... escort shit, or whatever. We can probably make bank on that."

JEN

"Yeah." She tapped her nails on the table, still not quite satisfied but unwilling to get into more of a discussion. "Look, I don't expect the both of you to become best fucking friends, I'm just asking you not to treat him like an enemy. Can you do that? Keep an open mind?"

IZZY

Finch scowled, or kept scowling but more fiercely. "Yeah, yeah, fucking fine. Open mind," he muttered.

JEN

Larkin patted his back appreciatively, then shoved her fingers into his locs, tousling them.

IZZY

He grumbled and batted his hands at her kind of pathetically, ducking his head like birds were attacking him. "Fuckin' -- get off me. Jackass."

JEN

"Y'know, I really like seeing you like this." Larkin gestured. "All... excited 'n... clear in the head. Really. Makes me happy."

IZZY

"Pffft." He ducked his head again and started fidgeting with the papers, sorting and stacking them, or maybe just trying to look busy. He chewed on his words for a beat and still only came up with, "Yeah. Well. Whatever."

JEN

Larkin watched him, smirking, let him simmer in the awkward silence for a bit before saying, "hey, are you gonna explode if I hug you?"

IZZY

"Pffft," he said again, eloquently, and hesitated a beat, and then pushed up to actually hug her first -- kind of awkwardly, but firmly.

JEN

She hugged him back, now laughing a little. Good. This was fucking good. She squeezed a bit tighter, then let go. "We're gonna kick some ass," she said. "Make all the shit worth something."

IZZY

Finch nodded, half angrily, determined. "Yeah, we fucking are. Listen. Uh." He scattered out the papers he'd just been sorting, glaring at them until he found a scrap of water damaged paper with a loopy handwriting Larkin didn't quite recognize on it. "There's this new contact. Jonn found her. I wanted you to talk to her tomorrow. She's this merchant, smuggler type, travels all over the fuckin' continent. You up for it?"

JEN

"Sure, why not." She leaned over a bit to get a glance at the paper.

IZZY

Soren Sapphira, the paper read. Traveling General Merchant.

"Jonn bought that fuckin' weird blanket from her," Finch said. "The heavy one. Did you see that shit? He got one for himself and one for fuckin' Goro, I guess."

JEN

Larkin snorted. "The fuck kinda name is that." Then she frowned. "Feel like I know a dude named Soren. Eh, whatever. Guess it's not real anyway."

IZZY

He waved it off. "Yeah, sounds fake as shit. Anyway, she smuggles drugs and shit in those blankets, I guess. Jonn talked to her some but she was cagey as fuck and wanted to talk to someone with some authority." He grimaced. "And that ain't fuckin' me. I don't do talking. So."

JEN

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. So where do I find her?"

IZZY

"This fucking inn out on the edge of town, by the north gate. Ehh." He squinted and flipped the paper over, reading, "The Bent Horseshoe."

JEN

"The hell? Are you making these names up?" Larkin sounded like she was only half joking.

IZZY

"I fucking wish," he grumbled.

JEN

Larkin waited a beat but nothing else came. "Yeah... alright. I suppose Jonn will tell me what she looks like. What does she smuggle? Don't forget we made that other deal with those cooks up north." Larkin had sent Spades to see it through and it'd gone smoothly. She'd rather keep a good contact than risk it by buying from the competition.

IZZY

"Yeah, yeah." He waved it off. "Nah, apparently she deals in this shit they make way up north, in Iceport and in the mountains. Eh, can't fucking remember what it's called. It's like --" he rubbed his fingers and thumb together -- "fucking rock candy, but it gets you high. I don't fucking know."

JEN

"Ice?" Not very fucking creative but then again, these names never were. Nailed the description, though; and it was to supposed to knock you out cold pretty fast, too.

IZZY

Finch shrugged and looked disgruntled. "Fuckin' maybe. Mask. Ice."

JEN

"Well, guess I'm gonna look into prices a bit and see what deal I can get with her."

IZZY

He nodded. "Sounds good." Then he craned his neck to the side to peer off into the kitchen, where Jonn was still washing dishes, by the sounds of things. "Fuck, I'm ready to get out of here. Why does that little motherfucker have to be a considerate house guest, or whatever the fuck."

JEN

Larkin snorted, then she offered him her arm. "May I have the honor, m'lady?"

IZZY

He glared at her, holding a grin back into a grimace. "Fuck you."

JEN

She wagged her eyebrows at him. "I take that as a polite decline."

IZZY

He poked her in the arm and zapped her.

JEN

"Ow! Motherfucker!"

IZZY

He snickered at her. "Never gets old."

Jonn poked his head around the doorway, eyes narrowed, looked between them, and retreated again.

JEN

"Heh." Larkin pointed after him. "He's got a good eye on you, huh? Your mother hen?"

IZZY

Finch swatted at her, electricity sparking around his fingers again. "Hey. Fuck you. You're the one who got his attention."

JEN

Larkin clucked. She didn't know what point she was making but it was funny as hell.

IZZY

He shoved at her face, not zapping her this time. "Dick."

JEN

"Love you, too."

IZZY

"Fuck off."

JEN

"Hmm." Larkin glanced at the door, thinking about doing exactly that. Azriel had to be in bed already. "Alright. See you tomorrow."

IZZY

He grumbled. "Yeah, fuckin' whatever. See you then." He glanced towards the kitchen again, then leaned in to give Larkin a quick hug and hurriedly backed off, ambling towards the kitchen and already bitching at Jonn about how it was time to get out.