-1-
“Oh fuck, Oh fuck, Oh fuck...!” Minnow Dory moaned.
The pain in her wrist was real, but even she would admit she was turning her reaction up for show. She sucked on her teeth and heaved out her chest for extra emphasis, turning her moans of pain into something bordering orgasmic.
“And…that’s all there is,” Pretty Boy smirked.
He releases her arm and lifts the pen. Minnow curls in on herself in the booth seat as she examines the small black vertical line he’d inked on her wrist.
“Son of a bitch!,” she hissed putting her throbbing wrist in her mouth. “Shit. How does a light hurt so fucking bad ?”
“High powered directional laser, baby.” Pretty Boy smiled. “Hurts like a bitch, but virtually no healing time and the ink never fades.”
She suddenly had a little more respect for Pretty Boy. His entire body had been tattooed to look like
his skeleton was on the outside. He always wore only an open leather vest and shorts to
show off the ink. She imagined the ink extended everywhere, but he'd never given her the chance to find out.
The art on his body was intricate and precise. Inside the anatomical heart he had the names of the people he loved in script so tiny only he knew what it said. If he ever got shot or had a broken bone he added hairline fractures to the tattooed bones.
“Get back to work. Playtime’s over, baby girl,” El calls to her sternly.
El was laid across the seat of the other side of the booth. His head cradled in Pretty Boy’s lap. The tattoo artist had been finishing up work on the ink on El’s neck work when Minnow sauntered over and asked for a taste of the laser.
It was the middle of the day, but the Luxor was still completely empty. Minnow peeled herself out of the booth and went back to packaging the liquor and wine for delivery.
This job had turned out a lot harder and less fun than she had hoped. For the first time she hoped Persephone didn’t die in that life preservation tank and came back to help out.
Finding a bottle of nearly empty peach liqueur, Minnow brewed some black tea and poured in the liqueur before putting it over ice.
“You need a break. I made some tea!” Minnow called clinking the glasses together.
Pretty Boy looked down at El.
“5 minutes,” El conceded with a nod.
El couldn’t drink or eat without pain until an hour after the ink so he stayed in the booth while Pretty Boy took a seat at the bar. He choked backed a gulp of tea.
“Ah, you spiked it ?,” he said, coughing. "This shit is sweet."
“Free liquor is free liquor,” she sang quietly, shifting her eyes towards El.
Pretty Boy smiled. The inked skull and teeth around his mouth moving naturally in his face.
“What’s Sara Grace up to these day ? I haven’t seen her and I
wanna see how my tats survived kid number two.”
“Do you still ink at Phoenix Arcade ?,” she asked, sidestepping the Sara question.
“Yeah,” he shrugged.
“You ink Miollner, right ?”
Pretty Boy shakes the ice cubes in his glass.
“You know I’m not supposed to talk about the cartels to each other. I’m a free agent and I walk a finite line.”
“Technically...I'm not a cartel member,” she said.
“You work here. You will be,” he said gesturing to the entire Luxor and taking a slow drink.
“God," Minnow sighed. "I can’t believe you ink those gawdy red tattoos on those bitches backs. Do they pay you in blowjobs or something ?”
“Nah, that’s not me,” he says. “Those back tats aren't ink. That's bloodwork. I’m not into that shit, you can kill someone easy. I do basic shit for them; kill marks, hammers, death scythes...stars.”
“Look, I need to know the next time you are going to be working on a group of Mjollner," Minnow says. "It’s important.”
Pretty Boy swallows the ice cubes and makes the empty glass dance between his fingers.
“You taking them out ?,” he asked in a low voice.
Minnow smiled.
“I’m going to give you plausible deniability," she said.
“Sara and Rayne trained you good.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they pay you first.”
-----
-2-
“I’m too old for this shit,” El scoffed as Minnow took his hand and led him through the gaming booths and simulation stalls.
The Phoenix Arcade was always dark to better immerse players into the game. Occasional streams of pixelated light flashed across the room as groups cheered and jeered each other. The clients were mostly women these days, with most of the boys and men either in the draft or hiding from it.
“You said I could pick lunch today,” she reminded him. “I like their pizza.”
“I said I would make you lunch,” he corrected her. “Your lucky the cook didn't come in to open the kitchen today.”
She guided him out of the arcade and into the well-lit café in the back. The cafe was empty and she steered away from the booth she usually shared with Jean to a two person table in the corner. El stares up at the menu board floating above the cafe.
“So are we splitting a pizza--”
“Baby Rias was kidnapped,” she interrupts.
“What are you talking about ?,”
“I was there. After the christening. Rayne will kill me if he finds out I told you, but I have to...It was awful.”
“What the fuck ? Who took him ?”
“The same people that killed your staff. Probably. The Mjollner are taking this to a whole new level.” she said. “That’s why I’m telling you. You have a stake in this.”
El bangs the table and leans forward on his elbows. Minnow has to remind herself not to find his anger attractive--not that it works.
“Is this why Gray’s been MIA ?,” El asks.
“That I really can't tell you that," Minnow admits. "Let's just say he’s on secret mission. But I’m pretty sure he’s going to fuck it up. But until that happens I say we get some good old fashioned revenge.”
“What does Rayne say ?”
“Rayne and Sara are too emotional. They’re too scared, you should see them," Minnow sighs. "The Mjollner think they can pick on us and nothing will happen. We have to fight back. And by we I mean you and I.”
“Are you crazy ?," El scoffs. "If we did do something the Mjollner could find out and take it out on baby Rias.”
“Not if we don’t broadcast that we did it," she counters.
She reached into her purse to pull out a small perfume bottle.
“I took some of the solder solution your of your distillery,” she says.
The solution was a private recipe that he used to make the Hotel Rose Noir, It contained high levels of arsenic and if it wasn't mixed with alcohol it was basically a death serum.
“So, what ? You want me to strong arm a Mjollner and make them drink it ?,” El asked.
“No,” she said. “We’re just going to put it in their drinks.”
“How ?,”
“You’ll see,” she said in a sing-song voice and she saw an excited glint in his eye.
Moments later, Pretty Boy walked out of a backroom, a heavy backpack pulled over his shoulder. He only acknowledged El and Minnow with a nod of his head before walking out into the arcade.
“Follow me,” Minnow said. “Take the solder.”
He follows as Minnow walks towards the lone blonde waitress in the café with her arms wide open. The waitress has a cosmetic hologram over her face that was supposed to blend seamlessly, but looked pixelated and washed her features out.
“Beth!,” Minnow said taking the waitress in a hug. “Long time no see, your face looks…..um, great!”
The girl hugs Minnow slowly.
“Is it fucked up ?,” she asks.
“I think it’s crooked,” Minnow says touching her syndicate." Here, use my mirror.”
With the waitress’s back turned Minnow turns to El and gestures to the vodka shots on the counter. Without a moment of hesitation El pours a generous amount of solder solution into each one.
“I think it’s good,” Minnow says. “Oh, also we want a jalepeno and shrimp pizza by the way.”
“Right.” the waitress says wearily taking the tray to the room in the back.
When she is out of sight El slaps her arm.
“Let's go, baby girl. We can’t stick around for a fucking pizza." he whispers harshly.
“You said I could pick lunch!” Minnow protests.
“Minnow--”
“What ?,"she smiles. "It’s not going to kill them right away. Besides it will be suspicious if we just leave”
They sit back down and she noticed El grinning for the first time in a while.
“Admit it. You're having fun, bootlegger,” she says.
“I like taking from them what they took from me," he admits. "I just wish their was something I could do to bring Rias back.”
“That’s Alan Gray’s job.” Minnow sighs.
"So then what are we doing ?,"
"Causing a little mayhem."
A/N
Yes. Yes Pretty Boy is modeled after Zombie Boy.
