Thingy

[Zuka]

Looking back on things Jaya would have never guessed she would have ended up here. A thief rarely ever got to where she was, they were considered lesser by most criminals and the Triads had not been quiet in their distaste for her but, that was all behind her now. She went from being a small time desert thief with no home to on the verge of being the queen of her very own crime empire and she owed all of that to one man.

One poor, misguided young man.

Kenji had been the perfect pawn, so easily manipulated to do her bidding. Still holding on to those long buried feelings that all she had to do was throw in the right amount of intrigue and danger and add just enough sugar coated words and tears and he was hers. Jaya would admit that it took a bit longer than she would have liked, Kenji had always been a stubborn one but in the end he had done everything according to her plan…Well, almost.

Lao was not dead as she had planned but he was close enough and she could settle for that, it hadn’t changed her plans much and she was nothing in not adaptable.

Jaya was even out celebrating her victory. After some time had passed and things had settled down she was placed in a position of power while Lao recovered she decided to treat herself and had found her way to one of the Terra’s private clubs. She was dressed to the nines in her own way. Jaya had simple, refined taste..a small side effect of her poor upbringing.

When she arrived at the club a table had been waiting for her and she was escorted to it as the muscle that had come along with her scattered throughout the club. They were worried that what happened to Lao would happen again and precautions had been taken to avoid that and Jaya did not protest. Even if she knew she had nothing to worry about she was sure that eventually Kenji would be done licking his wounds and would find his way to her and she could honestly say that she had no idea how he would react.

But, that was a problem for another time. Jaya wanted to enjoy her evening and once a bottle of the most expensive liquor had been brought she indulged herself and did just that.

Jaya had finished her first glass when she felt a hand grasp around hers as her glass was refilled and immediately she knew who was behind her. Jaya watched as he poured himself a glass and sat across from her and listened as he spoke. A small smirk crossing her lips as she took a sip to wait for him to finish what he had to say. As their glasses clinked she set hers back down on the table and sat back slightly to relax more

”I admit, things did not go exactly to plan but I’d hardly say I missed.” things had turned out quite well for her in the end and they were far from finished.

[Kenji]

Kenji set down the flute and briefly pulled out the pocket watch again as he looked at it for a minute and then snapped it shut as he returned his focus back to her as he gave a smile that had no warmth as he continued " I'm sorry, perhaps I should have been more clear what I meant by that. See here's the thing, the one advantage, the only advantage you had was that I didn't realize what game you were playing or hell even that you were playing a game. As much as I hate to admit it, I honestly trusted you again so I  went into the game with blinders on."

He picked up the flute again and took another sip "If you had played this differently you might have still had me fooled but you missed so, blinders are off now Jaya. You are in luck though because I've got bigger  things to worry about then your." He paused "Petty ambitions and I honestly don't want to have to worry about dealing with whatever traps your going to try to throw my way in the future, so I'm here to give you a one time offer."

"A truce of sorts. You go your way and I go mine. I don't interfere with whatever power play you've got going next with the Terra Triads and you don't speak my name and The Ghost in the same sentence."

He held up his palm as he said " Now that's a lot to process I understand but don't worry you don't have to answer right away. I'll give you five minutes to consider." He said as he tilted the flute back sipped again before placing it back on the table "After that, things are going to get considerably less polite."

[Zuka]

Jaya listened to Kenji 'lay things out' for her. Listened to him explain how she had messed up blah blah blah. All she heard was a bruised ego and pride talking. He had let her get in close again and she had stomped on his heart once more..at least, that was how he felt she was sure.

Poor Kenji, so senestive.

"Who said it was all a game?" Jaya said casually. She didn't expect him to believe that and she didn't blame him but that wasn't entirely far from the truth. While she waited for that to sink in Jaya leaned forward and picked up the small lotus in the center of the table, sitting back and taking the figurine with her, gently rolling it in her fingers. "I know you never would have agreed to do what I needed unless I was in some kind of danger and I made you fall for me again...You're stubborn that way." She continued to roll the figurine through her fingers while she looked across the table at him "You always did have that white knight complex about you."

Jaya stopped fiddling with the lotus and clasped it firmly in her hand "Its not like I could just ask you to kill someone for me, your many things but a killer.." she waved her hand slightly in the air "not unless its necessary and I needed it to be necessary but, fine. I got what I needed, if you want to end it there then so be it. " She picked up her glass with her free hand and took another sip. His little 'truce' attempt was a little pathetic. Jaya knew that the only reason that he came here tonight was to make himself feel better because like it or not, no matter what he thinks he might have on her she had much more on him. His claims about her fight for power had no backing, he had no proof without revealing himself and she could easily play it off..and its not like shes the first to ever kill off a leader in the Triad to claim power. Besides, people would forget about her indisgression a lot quicker if they knew the true identity of Republic Cities Ghost. If word of his identity ever got out all the Triads in the city would be bringing the hammer down on top of him so who really had the power here?

"But, you could sit and take a look at the opportunity that I have presented to you." Jaya could use him, Kenji would do good at her side and with his help she would be in power much faster than if she went at it alone of course, she didn't expect him to just roll over and accept what she was offering. No, first they had to do the same old dance but she was patient.

[Kenji]

Kenji paused.

Sat back in his chair and sipped his drink.
 
He then tapped his hands on the table,while keeping his face impassive, his eyes slightly narrowed. He knew that even though he hadn't said anything, his body language screamed out his anger and wounded pride.

Which was exactly what he wanted her to think.

Everything he had done so far from the moment he had walked in had been theater for her. She had expected him to come back at some point. She had expected him to be angry and standoffish She had even probably expected him to try salvage some of his pride by trying to play it off like he still had some power even though he lost. Because back when they were still...whatever they were, that's exactly what he would have done.

But time had changed him. For instance, he know  knew that despite what she'd said  as long as she had this over him she would use him again, either through subtle or more overt means, she would keep using him as a pawn. The only way to get her to stop was to make her stop.

 For now though he had to give her what she expected, what she believed was going to come next. He wanted her confident in power over him. He wanted her to believe that he was desperate to get out of her grasp. He wanted her to believe she had all the power. Because when he took it all away from her, she would understand exactly the person she was dealing with now.

The sweetest part of all this? She had handed him the key to victory and she didn't even know it.

However, he still had about 4 minutes left so for now the show, as they say had to go on.

He leaned in his chair and spoke low, his words crisp as he responded to her " Triads bored me then Jaya, and they bore me now. Tell me, why would I even consider working with you after this?"

[Zuka]

Jaya took her time sipping at her drink, swilling the liquid around the the glass and enjoying its taste while she waited. She had heard his question but she wasn't ready to answer it yet, this was supposed to be a celebration and here he was dragging that down and frankly she was getting bored. Taking one last sip Jaya set her glass down and leaned toward Kenji "Dance with me"

She was going to enjoy this night and if he wanted to continue talking and making their 'truce' then he was going to have to humor her. Besides, people were less likely to listen to a couples words as they were dancing.


(meh)

[Kenji]

At her request to dance with her, Kenji paused for a minute and then took her hand and lead her to the dance floor. The lounge singer was on break so the band played a number all instrumental and strings. Kenji danced with her as the music around them swirled. Kenji looked at her and said "It's been sometime since I've seen you dance."


They continued to dance as Kenji continued " You know when you left the first time, there was a part of me, you know the non angry part, that wondered if you really felt anything for me. If it was real. Of course now that I'm a bit wiser I have a theory,newly formed."


" I think you did love me,but that wasn't enough. You just couldn't be in a place where you might be at a disadvantage. So you did what you did best, you calculated the risk and when that risk was to great, you cut and ran. Honestly the part I'm most embarrassed about was how long it took me to realize that."


Realizing that time was up Kenji finally relaxed a little as they continued to dance and for the first time tonight smiled the first real smile as he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear " I have a little confession to make, the first of many no doubt, but you know that whole five minute clock thing I did earlier? That was nothing, it was just an angry, flashy display to keep you engaged and to make sure I could stay here for the next five minutes."


"Becuase there's no way I was going to miss the show."



Then as if he planned it himself, a phone began to ring. A waiter picked it up and answered it, the waiters eyes quickly got wider as he wrote down a furious message and then slammed the phone down. However before he could go, the phone rang again, and again and again. Eventually the ringing stopped and the waiter began delivering a flurry of messages to patrons.
Kenji kept dancing and gestured around him for a minute speaking so only Jaya could hear him.


" It's been a bad nigh for the Tera Triad...well for some of them. You see," He gestured to one of the patrons " He just had his highest earning chop shop raided by the police." he gestured to another " His guy in the Earth Kingdom ambassadors office just got found out and arrested for corruption charges." He gestured to a third who was sitting next to a much younger woman " His wife just found out that he was here tonight.... with his mistress." He turned a final time and said " and his shipment of Cao, that was being shipped in has suddenly disappeared, but that's what happens when you don't give The Red Monsoons their cut for smuggling it in. He really should be more careful where he leaves his money drops."



"Of course, you recognize who they are, don't you Jaya? They're the leaders top four lieutenants, effectively your competition on you way to the top. They are having very bad nights, but not you, nope your untouched, footloose and fancy free. Now their mad, right now sure, but soon enough they'll calm down and wonder...why your untouched?"


He then spun her out and then pulled her back in as he smirked and said " You see the problem with being the woman with all the angles Jaya, is that it hard for anyone even the rest of the Triad to believe that this isn't all, somehow, part of your plan."



He was starting to show his hand, but he knew she wasn't out yet, but Kenji was still confident, he still had his ace in the hole, the one flaw in her con that she ran on him that she wouldn't see coming. However, he had to let say her piece, it was only polite.

[Zuka]

Jaya was surprised he had agreed, she figured being so close to her like that would irk him and that he would make more of a fuss about it than he had but as he took her hand and led her to the floor Jaya stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder and stepped with him.

"It's been sometime since I've seen you dance."

She remembered that night well, things had started getting too familiar and she found her walls getting thinner and thinner. That night she had opened up to him more than she had ever with anyone else and it was after that night that Jaya knew she had to leave him. It took some planning and some doing but eventually she had carried through with her plan and after that she had never looked back. Of course, Kenji was never one to just leave things be and even if she hadn’t done it on purpose he had still found his way to her and here they were again only this time there was more to lose and Jaya would leave him dying in a ditch if it meant she gained from it. She also knew Kenji knew that, his heart may be his weakness but he was not a fool.

”I’m breathless to hear it” Jaya replied when he said he had a theory on why she left him in her dust. She continued to dance with him, keeping her face pleasant as they did so not as to draw attention. As he explained his thought on why Jaya shrugged a little ”you always were slow when it came to matters of the heart. “ He wasn’t wrong though.

As he smiled and came closer Jayas eyes flashed with a bit of concern but it was gone as quick as it came.

That wasn’t good.

"Because there's no way I was going to miss the show."

Jaya looked over Kenjis shoulder in a glare and watched as the waiters became to scramble answering the phones and delivering messages and she could see the stages of loss, anger and realization cross the other Terra’s faces as they processed what happened to their shipments or their informants. Kenji didn’t need to explain further, she knew that this was going to come back to her and make her seem like she had planned it all, it was only a matter of time.

As she was spun and pulled back Jaya looked Kenji in the eye as he finished his last bit and she gave a slight laugh. ”Always too clever for your own good’ he had given her a setback but it was something that would have had to of been done eventually. Like he said, they were her competition and would have had to be dealt with sooner or later, all this did was move up her time table. Difficult but not impossible. Jaya had those that were loyal to her and if she called on them they would act. She didn’t like being played though, Jaya had been working on this since the first time she entered the Terra Triad, it has always been her end goal and now that she was so close to making that happen she didn’t like things being thrown into her plan.

”A minor setback, all you’ve done is move up the time table.” Jaya knew that wasn’t it, she had taught Kenji to always have a contingency plan and she knew he had more but if he laid it all out now or not was yet to be seen. Jaya had to maintain her composure because if he sensed even the slightest bit that he had gotten to her then she had lost what edge she had.

[Kenji]

His smile was a razor on his face as he said “ About that time table, any chance that it’s good enough that you can do it in two days, because that’s all you have until the cops that are on the Terra’s payroll find the info that someone planted in the about a informant, in the gang's ranks” he said nodding to her “ You to be specific.” he laughed “ It’s all fake of course, but it looks real enough to fool the casual observer, and definitely real enough to fool a Triad. Couple that with what's already happened and well that’s pretty bad, after all the Triad tolerates a lot of things, but a rat? That they can not allow.”



He continued to dance with her as he said “ Now I know what you're thinking, all you have to do is spill my secret and I’m finished.” he smirked as he reminisced “ They’ll come for me of course, and they’ll find a suit, not my suit of course,but something close enough. Then after I let them beat on me for a bit, I’ll tell them a story.”



The music kicked up again as he said softly “ A story of an old flame coming to me and claiming to be in trouble with Terra Triad. How I offered to help her and how she said that dressing up like the Ghost would be enough to scare the Triad and help her escape. How I trusted her and did it because I cared for her.” he paused and said “ You see, this con you had going Jaya, you had to make it real enough for me to believe you and yet you couldn’t tell any of your lackeys exactly what they were doing or else you’d waste the one advantage you had, my secret. It’s because of that, that when the Triad questions them, suddenly your moves seem less like you're plotting to help the Triad with new leadership and more like you were plotting to take down the Triad from within.”



He shrugged and said “ Now me? I’ll just be patsy, a love struck sap that got played by a cold hearted bitch, it’ll be bad for my reputation, and I’ll be hurt, but I’ll survive. You on the other hand will have a price on your head so big, it’ll be a miracle if you're able to get out of the city alive.”



“Of course, I assume you have an exit plan, however word of what you did will spread and there won’t be a city you can stay in that won’t have thugs looking to cash in on that bounty, you’ll be looking over your shoulder forever. Though I suppose if you go deep enough into the Earth kingdom you might be able to dodge it. Like back to that sand swept desert you grew up in, you’ll be back to scraping and scrounging for every coin you make.” he paused and offered her the only way out “ unless you admit defeat here and now, then I’ll make sure those fake documents in the police station never see the lights of day. As I said before Triads bore me and if you admit defeat here and now I’ll let you carry on with your petty ambitions and I’ll even hit a few of your places so you can just be part of the crowd again. Then you can go back to your schemes and leave me alone.”



He let that sink in. he knew her weakness now. Like anyone that spent time being powerless, jaya feared that losing that power and that’s exactly what he had set up. The only move for her to make was to admit defeat and forget about using him, or else he would burn the heart right out of her.



That could have been it, however, after all he had been through he was feeling particularly spiteful and when the music slowed down again, he drew her in close and whispered into her ear as he sank the last dagger.



“ You know if you had left me alone,none of this would have happened. But you couldn’t leave it alone, you had to show me how clever you were. You had to prove that I was nothing to you but a tool. How does it feel to know you put the noose around your own neck?”

[Zuka]

” Though I suppose if you go deep enough into the Earth kingdom you might be able to dodge it. Like back to that sand swept desert you grew up in, you’ll be back to scraping and scrounging for every coin you make.”

Jayas eyes hardened as she continued to look out at her fellow Terras and her grip on his hand tightened at the suggestion. He had beaten her and if she couldn’t admit it then that was her future. Jaya was certain she would be able to get out of Republic City alive and would be able to lay low enough for a while but he was right, sooner or later she would have no place else to go and Jaya made a promise to herself a long time ago that she would never return back to the Si Wong desert.

No, she would rather let herself die before that happened.

As they continued to dance Jaya moved with him but did not release her grip as she thought about her options. Nothing she could do would soften the blow that was to come if she ignored his threat and tired to handle things herself. Jaya would be forced to make moves against the Triad prematurely and that would be a disaster. Those plans weren’t ready yet, alliances weren’t cemented in and she had come too far to let all of that work go to waste now.

”Fine.” She finally spoke as her eyes turned to him ”you win.” Jaya figured she didn’t have to say any more. He had beaten her and this game with him was over.

The song started to slow and Jaya leaned up and put her face next to his and her lips next to his ear. ”You are too clever for your own good Kenji. One day it is going to get you killed.” Sooner or later he would go up against the wrong person and make a mistake, a slip up, a miscalculation and find himself cornered with nowhere to go.

Jaya hoped she would be there to see that happen.

[Kenji]

”You are too clever for your own good Kenji. One day it is going to get you killed.”


Kenji smiled and whispered back  " You maybe right, but it won't be by you." The music began to wind down and with that he gently kissed her on the cheek ending this dance by saying " Goodbye Jaya. " He then stepped away and took his leave, leaving her there in the middle of the dance floor. He kept a calm cool demeanor long after he descended back up the stirs and it was only until he was couple blocks away and letting the cool crisp night air hit him, did he make a moment to sigh in relief.

It had taken a lot to pull this off, he had called in almost his entire bank of favors and may have made some new enemies in the process, but Jaya would never know that because the hardest part about all of this, was Kenji making it seem effortless. It was only an effortless victory that would make her bow out, admit defeat, and he had managed it.

However this was only the first game he suspected, there would be a next time, be it in 6 months or 6 years, whenever she finally had consolidated her power and felt her grip was strong enough,her plan clever enough, she'd come for him. She couldn't leave him be, after all he represented a weakness in her, first in her heart and second in her criminal ambitions, and Jaya couldn't afford to let proof of that weakness remain.

As for Kenji..well Jaya was many things to him, but she was no longer a weakness.

What he had said before was true though, her one advantage had been his blinders when it came to her, but now those were off for good this time, so the next time she came at him, he'd see it coming.

Because for all of the open wounds she had clawed on his heart and his pride, she had taught him one final valuable lesson

The past never stays buried forever.