Tricks of the Trade (Kenji)

[Kenji]

So he waited, whistling and keeping himself busy for about seven minutes when he decided that it should be enough time. With that he stretched and got ready to get into character. He already knew that he couldn't get in the way Zuka had suggested, so he wasn't. Instead he had a different plan, one that required some....theatrics to his entrance if this was going to work. He took a deep breath and  held out his hand as  he held against the wall and pieces of it formed into an earthen glove.

He then shook his hand as the glove fell off but remained intact. He clenched his hand  and formed it into a fist as the glove did the same. Then he raised his hand and the glove lifted up before coming eye level to him, and with a simple flick of his fingers it whirled around to face him. Kenji paused for a moment.

Nothing sold your story like a fresh wound, but still didn't make it any easier. He closed his eyes and quickly flicked his hand towards himself.

A minute or two later he came  half staggering out of the alley a nice gash and a rapidly forming bruise on his face. As he began to move quicker as he beelined toward the party breaking out into a full on sprint as he got towards the gate, pushing his way past the fashionably late with urgency, glaring at anyone that gave him up as he got the front and looked at the guard up and down before snapping " You do know your being robbed right?"

...and suddenly he was surrounded by several larger guards that came out of the stonework literally

Earthbending guards.  he noted before rolling his eyes by saying " Not by me you idiots."

Now they were starting to take offense, he saw them bristle as he hurriedly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a badge

" Detective Hong. Omashu Police. "

He stashed the badge back in his pocket before any of them could look to closely at it as he continued " Surely you've heard of the high end robberies that have been going down in this district? The Heist of the Golden Platypus Bear? The Hu-Ten Mansion Robbery?" he waited as the recognition dawned on their. They were some off his more headline grabbing crimes here, and good at grabbing people attention. " We've gotten a tip that this is the next target. I had my eyes on the thief, before they...." he paused and pressed on his temple near his wound for effect " never mind.  the point is they're here."

"No they're not." the guard in charge said rather quickly " anyone that gets in here is on the guest list."

"Really?" Kenji said taking a step forward his tone sharp.

"Really." the guard said as the distance closed between them, the anger palpable. " let me see your badge again."

Kenji held it for awhile before he glanced away and playing like he was calming himself down as he then said " Look, I'm not saying you don't know how to do your jobs, it's that if I'm right, we can stop a major theft before it happens, but fine, I'm going."

He turned around and started walking away, he only made a few steps before suddenly one of the guards said " Well there was one that was on the list...but she was just some society girl..."

Kenji whirled around quickly and picked up the sentence " About," he held up his hand "this tall, well dressed, atttiude about a mile long? That's her."

"Wait she's the thief?"

"How else do you think she's gotten away with it? Even we were looking for a man up until a couple nights ago when we got the tip. It makes sense though? No one would suspect some society girl of having robbed them blind. I was hot on her trail before she gave the slip and then knocked me for a loop" he said pointing to his wound

As Kenji wrapped up he saw the look of dread pass over their face as he had to resist the urge to smirk as he had shifted their fear. Now instead of being afraid of letting the wrong person in, they were now afraid they already had and were about to be robbed blind. Kenji then moved in closer and said in a low whisper " Look if we have a chance to salvage this. You two," he gestured to two guards " stay outside and make sure you verify everyone that is coming through that door. The rest of you come with me, and maybe we can find and detain her before she steals anything."

Having no better idea they followed his lead as he walked inside with the rest of the guards

" What are we looking for?" the head guard asked

" I have some experience with these types of robberies, so she'll probably try to create a distraction soon to create a commtion that will distract everyone while she makes the grab. A party like this it's likely a two man job, so we have guards at the door  to prevent the accomplish from infiltrating. Meanwhile we'll  spread out and try to find her and detain her before the distraction goes down ad everything goes into a panic.  Remember she may look like a society girl but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty so approach with caution. Signal me if you find her." Kenji said giving a brief nod as they nodded in return and spread out amongst the party guests.

As the gaurds began moving amongst the guests as subtley as possible Kenji had to once again resist the urge to smile and stayed in character as he tow descended into the main party.

Time to have some fun.

[Zuka]

While Zuka was feigning interest in her new friends conversation topics she was using that time to scan the room around her, taking in all that she could and trying to figure out this plan she was supposed to come up with on the spot. She was quickly starting to realize that this was a mistake and that she was in over her head. Yes, she could think on the fly but her plans were usually less refined and more snatch and run types. Zuka could fight her way out of situations but trying to outwit her way of things was not her strong point and yet here she was.

She had a very distinct feeling that she was going to jail tonight or that she was going to be laughed out of the Triad once they got word of what had happened.

Zuka kept up her act thou, interjecting into the conversation when it was appropriate and laughing when she was supposed to. The woman she had come in with was trying far too hard to rub elbows with her, wanting to jump at the chance to make such a influential friend but maybe she could use that to her advantage. Her brown eyes scanned the room, trying to locate just where these eggs were being showcased when she noticed some people move through the crowd and her eyes narrowed slightly. She had been to enough of these parties to know security when she saw it, they were always so disinterested in what was going on around them, the didn't stop to converse with anyone or really speak at all. Them being stationed throughout was going to be trouble for her she could already tell.

"Why don't we go get a good look at this so called treasure Zuka suggested to her new friend see if its really all its worth to be. The woman eagerly agreeed and excused herself from her date before linking arms with Zuka and leading her off.

It was time to put up or shut up.

(meh)

[Kenji]

Kenji moved into the main party his eyes sweeping over the area, though keeping to the edges. He heard the chatter amongst the high society, the clinking of glasses. People were milling about, but all and all they seemed to be having a good time. Everything, seemed to be running smoothly.

In short it couldn't be worse.

As a thief the medium of his art thrived in chaos, when things were going to plan people noticed those that weren't moving accordingly. That was how lesser thieves got caught. No in order to do what he did you needed chaos around you and order in your own head. He had started with the guards but that was only going to last so long. So that meant he had two problems to solve,one was definitely going to be easier than the other. However as he noted the thick and no doubt expensive curtains drawn at the windows he let a small smile escape him

Now was the part of the evening that was going to need some audience participation.

 So for now he acted as he was supposed, scanning the crowd making his way through, occasionally flashing his badge if someone question who he was and making curt but simple explanations. He briefly passed a server and lifted up a glass of what ever they were serving with a nod and then moved toward one of the curtains and back out of the crowd taking a sip,briefly nodding his head. It was quite exquisite, too bad it had other purposes tonight. He then moved the glass behind him as he turned back over to the crowd discreetly dumping the rest of it onto  the tail of the curtain. he then returned the empty glass to his side and placed it back on a tray the net time a server returned into his radius.

The first problem solved he then moved onto his next as he scanned the room in search of his next participant. He finally found her after a few minutes. She was being accompanied by some other high society girl but they were moving toward the eggs and where they were displayed. He waited until they were in viewing distance and then he pulled a small box of matches and lit one, dropping it by the curtain, which when assisted with the alcohol caught fire as it started spreading, he quickly moved toward a nearby guard at a brisk pace as someone shouted behind him

Fire!

Suddenly everyone was looking moving, and panicing, as he got to the guard and turned and said " That's the distraction i was talking about! Get some of your men to put out the fire, and the rest go and get her, she right by the valuables!" as he pointed right at his unknowing participant, Zuka. For a brief minute he caught her eye and winked before he reverted back into character

"Let's go!" he said as he and a few of the other guards began pushing past the moving crowd heading toward the prize and Zuka

He was having a wonderful time....

[Zuka]

In Zuka's mind she had her own plan set and was working on putting it into motion completely unaware that Kenji has his own working against her. She led her oblivious participant over to where the eggs were showcased and vaguely listened as the woman dragged on and on about how her family had tried to purchased the eggs before but things got complicated and tied up in legal matters or something, Zuka wasn't really paying attention nor did she really care.

As the two women admired the treasures Zuka's new friend spotted one of the drink carrying waiters and walked off to go grab them both a drink, before she left she handed Zuka her small clutch and went to go flag down the tray. With her friend finally gone Zuka took a moment to let out a breath, she had almost forgotten how hard it was to talk to these people. It felt like your head inflated with air each time as most of these people just talked for the sake of talking and hearing their own voice. A few minutes later the other woman was coming back and Zuka put on her smile once more and was just about to take the glass that was offered to her when she heard someone yell 'fire!'

Heads all around the room stopped what they were doing and turned in the direction of the smoke and panic began to spread across the party. Zuka was panicking too but in a different way. She knew that fire wasn't accidental and she knew that this was probably going to be trouble for her and spotting Kenji give her a wink did not ease that feeling.

Not one bit.

Now Zuka's mind was going, he had used her. She was his patsy! He had planned on her taking the fall for him....Oooooo that little snake. If she ever saw him again after this she would kill him and that wasn't even a exaggeration. In the few seconds between his wink and him giving orders to get her Zuka made one last move that she hoped would at least save her a little, she still had the other womans purse in her hand along with hers. The two purses were similar in size and color and could easily get mistaken only..hers had the added benefit of holding a few things she had planned on using tonight. Quickly Zuka switched purses and handed hers off to the other woman while looking as confused as the other party goers.

When she heard the words "Let's go!" Zuka took a deep breath and told herself to remember to keep it together. If this went south for her she knew she could get out of it, it would require contacting her family but if she had to bite the bullet to keep herself out of jail so she could kill Kenji later..then so be it.

As the men started to approach her Zuka looked around confused, hoping she conveyed that convincingly enough. Doubtful thou because right now she was pissed.

(meh)

[Kenji]

Oh she was pissed he could see her try to hide it under a mask of confusion but eh could feel it burning down on him as he closed in. He could see the wheels spinning in her head as he kept his look of determination on his face. He'd deal with whatever she thought was going on later.

As he and the guards closed in Kenji layed eyes on the "eggs" placed on intricate metal holders on a equally well sculpted pedestal. They were getting close enough he could reach out and touch them. However that part came a little later, right now he needed....he paused as he saw some other society girl that seemed to be by Zuka, probably someone Zuka had roped in for own plans. She would do perfectly. He just had to set the toss, and hope that Zuka could push past whatever anger she felt and see the opening when he gave it to her. So he  paused once they got close enough forming a perimeter  as the guards formed up in a half circle around him. The crowds mood was quickly going from panic to confusion as  Kenji stepped forward holding out his badge and speaking aloud

" Excuse me ladies and gentlemen , my apologies for interrupting your evening,however you have thief in your midst, one who was atempting  to steal these precious items right from right under your nose." he held a  beat to build up dramatic tension as he then turned and looked zuka right in the eye as he said " Isn't that right Zana?" Now everyone's eyes were on her as he stepped forward further " Thought you gave me the slip back there, didn't you?" he said gesturing to the wound on his head " Well we'll see who has the last laugh..."

By now her former friend was starting to mvoe away and distance herself from Zuka, however despite her feet moving away her eyes were still loccked on Zuka. It was then Kenji stepped forward once more, this time however his foot hit the ground a bit harder sending a small ripple through the ground, small enough it would have only been felt by Zuka and her "friend" as the society girl suddenly lost her footing and fell backward toward the pedestal. As she hit the pedestal the eggs tipped, and then Kenji  discreetly moved his hand upward causing the metal to fly upward, sending the eggs in an upward arc over peoples heads.

He rushed to the side as if to save the eggs. He did a flying leap towards them....all the while hoping that Zuka had seen that with everyone focused on his little show, there was no one paying attention to her or the very obvious hole in the perimeter now hat he had left it there.

[Zuka]

Zuka did not know what to say and she was sure that if she said anything it would be twisted against her so instead she kept on with her innocent and confused look. Even as he stepped forward and began speaking to her, even as he used her name. He had to use her name didn't he? Of course he did, he couldn't have made one up? No, of course he couldn't. It was hard enough that people knew her as a Triad runner but now they were going to know her as a jewel thief and if there was one thing high society people didn't mess around with it was people that tried to take from them. Her name would be burned faster than a firecracker at a festival and then she would be without nothing and forced back to square one.

All because of him.

It was amazing how fast her mind worked when she was angry, Zuka had ranted and planned out her revenge in the time it took him to close the distance between them and speak her name. He pointed out some kind of head wound that Zuka knew she didn't give him but given the chance she would give him one and then some.

Spineless weasel mole. No good, good for nothing, lying, cheating, filthy, dirt pushing sonofa-

Her inner rant stopped when she felt the slight shift in the earth below her foot and saw her own patsy start to trip into the pedestal did it all come together. So, he was going to use her for his own plan and then give her a out? You would have thought that maybe that would have been something he should have told her from the get go? What was the point of telling her to come up with her own plan if he was just going to do this from the start? Sadly Zuka knew that answer already. This was a test right? This was to see how she could handle the pressure and he was laying on the pressure and even if she was angry at him she was not going to ruin her small chance to get away because of it.

When Kenji took the dive to save the stones the people around the trio were now too occupied with the happenings and spread out enough, giving Zuka the chance she needed to slip back into the crowd. She would have to move quick before their interest was back on her and thankfully most people were still running around thanks to the small fire and trying to evacuate the building. She slipped herself into a group of people, moving toward the middle so she would be harder to see by anyone at the door and pushing herself toward the outer ring once they were outside.

Now that she was outside she still had to make it to their meeting place, if he was even going to show up there. For all she knew he would take the things and run while having himself a nice laugh or maybe he would lead the cops to her and pick her up there. Both of those seemed like something Kenji would do but...Test. Everything was a test.

The outside courtyard was buzzing with party goers and Zuka moved through them with relative ease, keeping her head down and moving back toward the street. Thankfully moving in a crowd was something she knew how to do and she was able to move past the vicinity and out into the city. Now that she was nearly home free Zuka kept walking, she was not going to stop in case the security or worse..the cops were coming after her. Good thing she decided to wear sensible shoes under her dress because if she had to run it would be much easier to do in flat shoes rather than heels. A police siren went off in the distance and Zuka nearly jumped out of her skin. That was it, they were coming for her now, it was all but over. She stopped walking a moment and listened, trying to guage just how far it was from her and how much time she had but thankfully it sounded to be a few blocks away and heading toward the direction of the party and she let out the largest sigh of relief.

Having a little more motivation in her step Zuka made it back to their predetermined meeting place. The building was one of the Vipers safe houses that was hardly ever used so Zuka knew they wouldn't be bothered. The would be fugitive slipped inside the building and stopped at the foot of the stairwell to gather the skirt of her dress up and she knotted it at her side. It had cost her too much money to let it get ruined by trying to fumble her way through here in the dark.

Now that she was inside and in the designated spot Zuka waited, turning on a small lamp while she waited. Letting her anger at how the night turned out to simmer for now, something told her that it would be best to save that for later.

[Kenji]

As Kenji landed he kept his hands close to his chest as he got up and everyone looked at him before he opened his hands to reveal the still intact stones as the remaining crowd broke out into light applause. He waved it off, playing the part of the modest cop putting them back on their fallen pedestal when suddenly someone noticed:

"Hey she's gone!"

There were murmurers of shock across the room as Kenji threw on a worried face and followed the other guards as they rushed out only to see that there was no one in sight. The guards turned to him:

"Should we go after her?"

Kenji shook his head and said " No, you guys stay and here and call it in so they can get statements from everybody." he then turned too the and flashed a smile " The important thing is that we stopped her from making off with those jewels, you did a good job tonight. Now it's up to me to finish it." he then turned and made his way out amid yells of encouragement. He kept up the charade until he got back to the fountain. Then he finally relaxed. He heard a siren from a distance as knew the cops were on their way as he took the badge he and flipped it into the water of the fountain for the officer that he had swiped the badge from to find it tomorrow.

He then made his way to the safehouse in which they were supposed to meet. It took him a little while to get there as he finally arrived. He made a brief detour inside the building  before heading up the stairs and into the room. Once he was inside he very pointedly ignored the glare that Zuka was throwing him as he spotted a place to sit as he sat down in the surprisingly comfortable chair and then put down, what he had made the detour for. Two small glasses. He then pulled out a flask from his inside pocket and poured into both glasses as he then turned to her and said " I hear you like Torch. Can't say its my cup of tea, but I figured, why not?" he said as the lifted up his glass and finally turned to her with a half smile as he took a sip  casually as h said " So...what have we learned tonight?"

[Zuka]

Zuka found herself glancing at the clock every few minutes, he was taking much longer than he should have and she was starting to get nervous. He had left her, took off with the eggs and was probably half way to Ba Sing Se by now and Zuka was left to figure out how to smooth this all over on her own. She was starting to get a headache from all this and it was because of him. Zuka didn’t want to stick around here much longer in case he might have sold her out but she also wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but only for a few more minutes. Any longer and she was gone.

His ears must have been ringing because a few moments later he was strolling through the door of the safehouse. Zuka had been on guard when he walked in, ready for a fight should it have been the cops and she relaxed her fighting stance once she saw who it was. Even if all she wanted to do was walk over there and sucker punch him she knew she had to wait, at least see what his explanation for all of that was.

She watched him like a eaglehawk and if looks could kill he would have died the most painful death imaginable. Now that he was here and had sat himself down she kept her gaze on him and watched as he set two glasses down and pulled out a flask. If he thought a drink of her favorite liquor was going to smooth over what had just happened he had another thing coming and she left her glass where it was, untouched.

So far Zuka was rather proud of herself that she hadn’t lunged and tried to attack him yet but at his comment about what she learned she was regretting her self control. ”How about that you are the biggest asshole in Omashu” She snapped, crossing her arms tightly to herself to keep them from flying out and trying to strike.

[Kenji]

At her words he merely smiled and took another leisurely sip of his drink and chuckeld " and here i was hoping to have a pleasant after-heist chat, but if you want to do it your way, then fine." With that he put the glass down and his smile faded as his voice hardened " Unlike you, I've learned plenty. For one that my initial appraisal of your upbringing was off. After all you were right, you can't fake that kind of mannerisms. No, I'm betting if i were to cut you, you'd bleed blue, if you catch my meaning. Now i know your not Earth Kingdom or else I'd have seen your face before, and given your choice of drink..." he angled his head toward the glass " my moneys on Fire Nation."

"Whats the matter, parents didn't have a summer house on Ember Island that you could run away to so you decided to come here instead?" he held up his hand " You what I don't care, becuase you should go back to whatever estate you came from, because you have no criminal aptitude. Seriously, did the Rat Vipers teach you...anything? Pretty face aside, I don't think you've got much else going for you in this  world. You would have gotten caught tonight, but luckily for you I had an exit strategy for both of us, though trust me, I'm debating the wisdom of that right now."

He paused for a minute " Now if your waiting for an apology for hurting your feelings, you'll be waiting a long time. If your angry at me for not telling you my own plan, well then grow up princess." he said adding the end for an extra knife twist " It's not a test if you know it's coming, besides you make a better outside patsy than a partner at this point. Knowledge of the plan before hand is reserved for people I trust and let's face it that's not you. Trust like respect is earned."

"Now you are reasonably smart, and luckily for you,crime is something that can be taught. Also I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in your offer from earlier, but you need to check your ego at the door," he said holding his hands up " because I know you think we play the same game," he then closed his hands and rotated them until his clenched fists were palm-side up facing her " but in reality," he then opened his fists to reveal The Dragons Egg and the Serpents Egg now resting in his hands " Your not even on the same board as me right now."

He placed the stones on the table by the glasses and then the smile returned to his face and the friendly tone returned to his voice as he took a swig from the glass and finished his thoughts " Now the way I see it you have three options." he held up a finger as he motioned to the stones  " You can get these two your bosses and get me money and continue on learning from them, in which case hope you enjoy the inside of a jail cell." he held up a second finger " You can run back to wherever you came from like the little princess you were." He held up a third finger " Or you could act like a grown woman and have a seat and tell me what you've learned. If you use some of that civility that you seem to have and avoid pissing me off anymore then I'll actually  teach you how to be a better class of criminal.

[Zuka]

There were a few things that could send Zuka into a full out rage and so far Kenji had did all of them. His theory about her although right was purely circumstantial and he had no real proof so he could think what he wanted. She had her own theories about him but Zuka was going to keep those to herself for now because it wouldn’t get them anywhere expect a fight and as much as she wanted to meet her fist with his face she wanted to learn more.

He talked about how she should just run back home to her estate and how she just ran away because she didn’t get her way or something, Zuka’s rage had blocked him out but that is what she had gotten from it. What did he know? He didn’t know what it had been like, a guilded cage was still a cage. He kept picking apart her performance tonight which was starting to get out of hand and then…then came the nickname.

Princess.

Princess. He called her princess, Zuka hated that name she hated it, she hated being called it and she had gotten into a lot of trouble when she was younger by beating up a boy who had called her that once. Zuka was seething with anger and she was sure that if she was actually a firebender that steam would be coming out of her ears. It took all of her self control to not comment back or just flat out attack him and she swallowed back the rage and clenched her hands, glad that they were hidden thanks to her arms being crossed because that would probably just add more fuel to his fire.

She needed to do something thou, had to move, had to distract herself or else this was just going to fester and get worse. Stepping forward Zuka grabbed the glass he had poured for her and drank the Torch down, the burning feeling was a nice distraction and helped a little.

" You can run back to wherever you came from like the little princess you were." " Or you could act like a grown woman and have a seat and tell me what you've learned. If you use some of that civility that you seem to have and avoid pissing me off anymore then I'll actually teach you how to be a better class of criminal.

What little good the liquor did it was in vain as he continued. Ooooooooooooooo he was such a cocky asshole and he just had to rub it all in didn’t he?

Again Zuka took a few silent calming breaths and sat herself down, eyeing the his flask because she was sure more than that little glass was going to be needed to get her through this. ”What do you want me to say? That I learned that nothing goes to plan? That you have to improvise? Because I think I got the message.

[Kenji]

”What do you want me to say? That I learned that nothing goes to plan? That you have to improvise? Because I think I got the message."

Kenji groaned loudly as he finished off his glass and then poured himself another from his flask as he said " Oh spirits, this is going to be a long night if I have to walk you through this whole conversation." he then calmly tossed her the flask as he said " I don't want you to say anything. There is no perfect answer that you can recite here. Besides I figured that those particular things were fairly obvious when I posed a s a cop crashed the party, created a distraction, and switched out the gems during the scuffle." he paused " Oh that's right, you weren't there for that...I switched out the gems for some very convincing glass replicas." he shrugged "I know a guy." as if that was any explanation.

However he rounded back to his point as he said " You know what I want from you? I want to use that brain of yours an answer the question that has been your task from the beginning,possibly the most important question you'll answer tonight. You want to show me what you've really learned? Then tell me, if i hadn't crashed in, how would you have stolen them?"

[Zuka]

Her hand reached out and caught the flask as he tossed it and Zuka did not waste time in unscrewing the top and taking a swig, she savored the taste for a moment before pouring herself another glass as setting the flask aside while he finished. Oh, so it was her turn now? He wanted to know about her plan? Well he would have if he would have just let her do it like they had talked about. Funny thing about it too was that their plans had been so similar.

Since he wanted her to show him then she would show him. Setting her glass down Zuka stood and walked to a small end table next to a couch and picked up a bowl before heading toward the kitchen. Once in the kitchen she filled the bowl with water and made her way back to where she had been sitting. Getting herself settled Zuka took the bowl of water and moved her hands around it, about half the water steaming out and following the movement of her hands.

Having her water Zuka went to work and she began crafting a egg of ice, sculpting and guiding the water until she had a small ice replica of the eggs that were to be stolen. With that done she looked up at him "My purse had colored dye and water, it's not glass but it would have done the job long enough for us to get away. Which is why I had my friend with me to take the fall should something go south." But, they'll never know if it would have worked or not would they? Having showed him what her plan had been Zuka sat back and crossed her arms once more, she had worked nearly that whole time spent getting ready on getting the ice just right and all that time went to waste. Zuka looked at him and waited for what she was sure the come the 'wow, what a horrible idea' or the laugh or something. She was sure that she could come up with the most fool proof plan and he would still find something wrong with it or a way to pick it apart and make fun.

[Kenji]

He listened as she outlined her plan and once she was done he paused and gave a thoughtful "hmmmm."
He shrugged his shoulders and said " It's not a bad plan. It has few glaring "we're going to prison" flaws in it, but the basics are there and it had more complexity then the smash and grab answers that I've heard from a few of your Triad compatriots in the past. If i had to give it a rating I'd give it about a 5 out of ten." he chuckled lightly as he downed a healthy amount from his glass before asking the thousand yuan question “ So why do want to learn what I do anyway?”

(bah short)

[Zuka]

He reacted better than she thought he would she would give him that but he still managed to put that Kenji level of assholeness on it and it annoyed her a little. Zuka had a feeling that if this relationship continued that she would constantly be having to try to impress him on some level or be the butt of his jokes. Something she should be used to by now with her chosen line of work but Kenji had a special way of making things that much worse.

Zuka sipped on her drink slowly now, the last thing either of them needed was to have both of them slightly inebriated because she was sure she would be more vocal with her opinion on things, not to mention to liquor was too good to go to waste. It had been a while since she had last had Torch. Zuka and her little gang of rebels back home used to steel bottles from their parents homes, someone even stole one or two from a store and they would all sneak off to their little secret place and have a party; drink, fight, get into all kinds of teenage messes. It was a good time and she wanted to savor that flavor and reminisce a little. Besides, Torch was best enjoyed slow (something they had learned the hard way back when. Chugging the stuff was possible but not really advised but when you are young you take what you can get and dont care about the finer things)

She was deep in her thoughts about her home when he asked his question and didn't even have to think about it before she answered. "Working for the Rat Vipers is just so I can get my feet wet. I have higher aspirations than what they can offer and being a lackey for the rest of my life is not something I want. Also, knowing what you know seems useful." Zuka took another small drink from her glass as she finished. She knew the vipers were not the be all end all when it came to Triads in this world but everyone had to start somewhere and they had been willing to take her. Beggars really can't be choosers, or at least that was what she told herself.

[Kenji]

He listened to her answer and chuckled " Heh, I can respect that."

He fell silent for a bit and just sipped on his drink for a bit before turning to her and saying " Okay, so here's the deal. Once you deliver the eggs to the Triad and get my money, you will inform whoever your handler in the Triads is, that for the foreseeable future you'll be working for me. " he raised a finger " and before you get all huffy, I do indeed mean working for me not with me, we are not partners here, not yet. Any jobs we pull while you are under my tutelage I will receive 70% of the cut, non negotiable, though I assure that your 30% of the take will be more than you'll make running for the Triads, because I don't work cheap" he paused and smirked "...and no tonight does not count as you being under my tutelage so please make sure all the money I''m owed for the eggs gets to me."

He paused for a moment before continuing " We'll alternate days, so one day I'll teach you and the next you'll teach me, every seventh day we'll break and do our own things, so that way we avoid killing each other. After all what you asking to learn is going to take patience, effort, and time,of which I'd say you have two of. So it's going to be a lot of work before it gets fun." he took another nip from the glass before turning to her and saying " Now your free to walk at any time,and I fully expect you to, but who knows? I could be wrong."

He stuck out his hand for her to shake "Any questions? Or do we have a deal?"