Have a feeling you ain't. [ Or, at the very least, she hasn't experienced much trouble outside of her cushy lifestyle. Samatoki isn't all brains, but he knows how to think like a criminal. Is one, of course, but he knows how to think like the scumbags who would go beyond the hotel, look at her life, the people she knows. Follow the connection of her father and Lalonde.
She shouldn't have told him who her father was in the first place, anyways. Shouldn't tell a stranger that kind of information on first meeting. But he clicks his tongue softly and gets in after her, cracking the window and settling back as he shuts the door. ]
Ammunition is ammunition, girl. [ Father, hotel, sister - the more that a person has to use against them, the easier it would be to take her and prove that they had her, that they'd put thought into the taking. ]
[ fantasy's over. the comfortable seat beneath her, the belt across her lap: they both feel like restraints now, and that careless air she'd carried all the way to the seat vanishes with her smile.
that was an unmistakable threat, and roxy immediately berates herself for being so trusting of a mobster. she survived their first meeting but now her life was on the line again, and she was the one who had invited the predator into her den. adrenaline seeps metallic at the back of her mouth, and as the taxi drives off she turns her eyes to the passing buildings. how stupid was she? just because they both saw something they couldn't explain, she thought they could work together? what a sap, he was probably in on it the whole time.
the only solace she can take from this is that when her body is found, the receptionist will have samatoki's name and description.
silence falls in the back of the ride, the tension heavy like a blanket of lead that'll no doubt splinter in her skeleton. ]
Samatoki knows it is, too, as he sits back and keeps his eyes ahead, on the driver and through the windshield at the city through that range. She didn't ask to get dragged into a dangerous game with a mobster, but that's just how life is: it's never fair, and there's certainly not sunshine and daisies around every corner. The tension is palpable, almost cloying, beneath the cigarette smoke, but he doesn't say anything to break it completely when they've got some random John sitting up front and driving the cab. Not any of his business.
But what's to happen if she trusts the wrong mobster? Too trusting, too friendly, despite all the obvious ways she knows caution and stealth, even from one exchange.
His head tips back as he exhales smoke again, letting the window whisk it out before he brings his cigarette to his mouth again, covering it, voice finally cutting through like a knife. It's just for the two of them, and it's probably paltry comfort.
But. ]
Made a deal last time, didn't we? You're going home just fine after this, Roxy - I don't break promises, and I ain't interested in making your family miss you. [ Because it's not the people that die that really suffer. No, for as much as Samatoki isn't about to chase down death for himself - he's going to survive, he's going to spite a world that obviously wants him dead and gone - he thinks about his mother, and how it was a release from the hell she was already living.
And he thinks about how it'd hit him and Nemu, and how it still does, their mother's picture on a mantle. ] You can believe me, or you can go back home now. Up to you.
[ it was very, very cruel, and worse than that, roxy feels not only her trust but her confidence waver. true, she understands that she can't trust this samatoki farther than she can throw him, but she wanted to at least be able to trust that he wouldn't sell her out while they were both in over their heads. all she wants to do is get her sister to safety. after that, samatoki and his gang can do whatever the hell they want.
maybe she's been influenced by too many fantasy novels, but she thought for sure that heels like him had some sort of code of honor they stuck to. ]
Just to scare me? Is that what gets you off, seein a gal like me get all hot and bothered by a threat?
[ A scoff, and Samatoki reaches up to tap his cigarette ash out the window. ]
You go around telling any thug your name? Where your old man works and what he owns? [ Another drag off it, holding it before exhaling out of the side of his mouth away from her - he's halfway down the cigarette, getting ready for another considering this bullshit. She doesn't need to trust him, not for long, and then they can go their different ways. But he's not about to leave her for the wolves, because she can't do this again. She can't risk herself, her sister, if it's the wrong guy she's talking to. ] You got a hell of a lot of moxie, bearcat, but it was real luck we ran into each other and it wasn't some bimbo you met that night. Even one of mine.
Ain't a threat from me. [ Shifting, he reaches to pull out his cigarettes again, lit one dangling loosely from his mouth and eyes down, red of them almost hidden by long lashes. He'll let her be mad. ] It's a warning for the future. You're already looking to get real deep in trouble with whatever the hell this is - stay out of it once you're out of it.
[ the look she turns on him. is more than annoyed now; it's angry. ]
Are you pullin my leg here? [ her voice snaps, the cigarette in her fingers forgotten about, slowly burning down to the filter. ] I trusted you but I'm not some quivering waif looking to trust any bad mac who walks my path! [ she is absolutely steaming now, but she's trying her best to control her breathing so she doesn't completely lose it on samatoki. he might have promised not to kill her while they talk, but that doesn't include crimes of passion.
and anger is the most passionate crime of all. ] 'F you think I'm just gonna go crawlin around the underbelly after I get my sister back, then you're as stupid as you are handsome. All I want's Rose back, and you can take a walk off the docks for all I care after this is done.
[ Eyebrow ticking up, though whether it's amusement or something more incredulous is hard to decipher as he focuses on plucking out a new cigarette. He's sure that they're making an interesting pair of passengers for their cabbie, but he doesn't much care; has learned that plenty of them will turn a blind eye for a little extra cash and would rather keep their heads down than butt into something. But he doesn't give away their plans, what they saw, who he specifically works for - Roxy's father, either.
That's bit him in the ass one too many times.
Cigarette now down to the filter, Samatoki lets her anger stew in the backseat with him, around him, the kind of cold calmness that comes with clinical experience. ]
You say you're gonna get right back home once you get your sister out of this mess, then good. Stick to it. [ Reaching, he rolls down the window a little further to toss his burnt down cigarette out, replacing it between his lips with the unlit one. ] Go out, party, do whatever it is you glitzy rich kids do to get your rocks off. Pretty thing like you, I'm sure you've got a whole circle of people that'd miss you if you stayed in the thick of this bushwa.
[ As the car starts to reach their destination, he straightens up, replacing his cigarette pack and taking a look at the meter. He withdraws a billfold, plucking some cash out of it that's more than enough to cover everything and then some extra for silence. ]
But too many girls go missing, and it don't matter what side of town they're from. Don't wanna see your name in the papers for that.
[ every word out of his mouth makes her more and more angry, and her eyes narrow as she glares at him, waiting until they're both out of the taxi before she'll continue the conversation. a quick "thanks, mac" for the ride, and she hops out, taking another quick drag from her cigarette and turning on samatoki. ]
For your information, I work forty hours a week. I'm not a dewdropper livin on my father's money. I have a house, yeah, but that's all he's ever given me. [ she points her finger right on samatoki's chest and gets into his face, that fiery streak on full display now. ] I gotta work to upkeep it, pay it off, pay for food and whatever else Rose wants to bring home.
[ she takes a breath, another drag, and exhales through her nose. as she evens out her temper and her heart stops hammering between her ears, she realizes something, but roxy won't let him off the hook so easily so she pulls that anger back up by her heel straps and flicks her cigarette into a nearby trashcan. ]
And if you wanted to get all protective big brother on me, you don't have to be such a pill.
[ and with that, she's turning on her mary janes and storming down the path and into the park. ]
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no subject
She shouldn't have told him who her father was in the first place, anyways. Shouldn't tell a stranger that kind of information on first meeting. But he clicks his tongue softly and gets in after her, cracking the window and settling back as he shuts the door. ]
Ammunition is ammunition, girl. [ Father, hotel, sister - the more that a person has to use against them, the easier it would be to take her and prove that they had her, that they'd put thought into the taking. ]
no subject
that was an unmistakable threat, and roxy immediately berates herself for being so trusting of a mobster. she survived their first meeting but now her life was on the line again, and she was the one who had invited the predator into her den. adrenaline seeps metallic at the back of her mouth, and as the taxi drives off she turns her eyes to the passing buildings. how stupid was she? just because they both saw something they couldn't explain, she thought they could work together? what a sap, he was probably in on it the whole time.
the only solace she can take from this is that when her body is found, the receptionist will have samatoki's name and description.
silence falls in the back of the ride, the tension heavy like a blanket of lead that'll no doubt splinter in her skeleton. ]
no subject
Samatoki knows it is, too, as he sits back and keeps his eyes ahead, on the driver and through the windshield at the city through that range. She didn't ask to get dragged into a dangerous game with a mobster, but that's just how life is: it's never fair, and there's certainly not sunshine and daisies around every corner. The tension is palpable, almost cloying, beneath the cigarette smoke, but he doesn't say anything to break it completely when they've got some random John sitting up front and driving the cab. Not any of his business.
But what's to happen if she trusts the wrong mobster? Too trusting, too friendly, despite all the obvious ways she knows caution and stealth, even from one exchange.
His head tips back as he exhales smoke again, letting the window whisk it out before he brings his cigarette to his mouth again, covering it, voice finally cutting through like a knife. It's just for the two of them, and it's probably paltry comfort.
But. ]
Made a deal last time, didn't we? You're going home just fine after this, Roxy - I don't break promises, and I ain't interested in making your family miss you. [ Because it's not the people that die that really suffer. No, for as much as Samatoki isn't about to chase down death for himself - he's going to survive, he's going to spite a world that obviously wants him dead and gone - he thinks about his mother, and how it was a release from the hell she was already living.
And he thinks about how it'd hit him and Nemu, and how it still does, their mother's picture on a mantle. ] You can believe me, or you can go back home now. Up to you.
no subject
[ it was very, very cruel, and worse than that, roxy feels not only her trust but her confidence waver. true, she understands that she can't trust this samatoki farther than she can throw him, but she wanted to at least be able to trust that he wouldn't sell her out while they were both in over their heads. all she wants to do is get her sister to safety. after that, samatoki and his gang can do whatever the hell they want.
maybe she's been influenced by too many fantasy novels, but she thought for sure that heels like him had some sort of code of honor they stuck to. ]
Just to scare me? Is that what gets you off, seein a gal like me get all hot and bothered by a threat?
no subject
You go around telling any thug your name? Where your old man works and what he owns? [ Another drag off it, holding it before exhaling out of the side of his mouth away from her - he's halfway down the cigarette, getting ready for another considering this bullshit. She doesn't need to trust him, not for long, and then they can go their different ways. But he's not about to leave her for the wolves, because she can't do this again. She can't risk herself, her sister, if it's the wrong guy she's talking to. ] You got a hell of a lot of moxie, bearcat, but it was real luck we ran into each other and it wasn't some bimbo you met that night. Even one of mine.
Ain't a threat from me. [ Shifting, he reaches to pull out his cigarettes again, lit one dangling loosely from his mouth and eyes down, red of them almost hidden by long lashes. He'll let her be mad. ] It's a warning for the future. You're already looking to get real deep in trouble with whatever the hell this is - stay out of it once you're out of it.
no subject
Are you pullin my leg here? [ her voice snaps, the cigarette in her fingers forgotten about, slowly burning down to the filter. ] I trusted you but I'm not some quivering waif looking to trust any bad mac who walks my path! [ she is absolutely steaming now, but she's trying her best to control her breathing so she doesn't completely lose it on samatoki. he might have promised not to kill her while they talk, but that doesn't include crimes of passion.
and anger is the most passionate crime of all. ] 'F you think I'm just gonna go crawlin around the underbelly after I get my sister back, then you're as stupid as you are handsome. All I want's Rose back, and you can take a walk off the docks for all I care after this is done.
no subject
That's bit him in the ass one too many times.
Cigarette now down to the filter, Samatoki lets her anger stew in the backseat with him, around him, the kind of cold calmness that comes with clinical experience. ]
You say you're gonna get right back home once you get your sister out of this mess, then good. Stick to it. [ Reaching, he rolls down the window a little further to toss his burnt down cigarette out, replacing it between his lips with the unlit one. ] Go out, party, do whatever it is you glitzy rich kids do to get your rocks off. Pretty thing like you, I'm sure you've got a whole circle of people that'd miss you if you stayed in the thick of this bushwa.
[ As the car starts to reach their destination, he straightens up, replacing his cigarette pack and taking a look at the meter. He withdraws a billfold, plucking some cash out of it that's more than enough to cover everything and then some extra for silence. ]
But too many girls go missing, and it don't matter what side of town they're from. Don't wanna see your name in the papers for that.
heh nice
For your information, I work forty hours a week. I'm not a dewdropper livin on my father's money. I have a house, yeah, but that's all he's ever given me. [ she points her finger right on samatoki's chest and gets into his face, that fiery streak on full display now. ] I gotta work to upkeep it, pay it off, pay for food and whatever else Rose wants to bring home.
[ she takes a breath, another drag, and exhales through her nose. as she evens out her temper and her heart stops hammering between her ears, she realizes something, but roxy won't let him off the hook so easily so she pulls that anger back up by her heel straps and flicks her cigarette into a nearby trashcan. ]
And if you wanted to get all protective big brother on me, you don't have to be such a pill.
[ and with that, she's turning on her mary janes and storming down the path and into the park. ]