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[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

Who: Rakath and ?????
What: Rakath receives another business offer in light of recent events
When: Sometime after Rakath dumps off Ray and before the Star Market
Where: Agrabah
Status: COMPLETE

About a day or so after Rakath's newer declaration of purpose came to light, he'd been contacted by an individual from Agrabah. Said individual was hesitant to provide details on their identity aside from that they were in Agrabah and apparently one of the Refugees had taken something important from them. Rak would need to be seen in person to receive the details on the deal and solidify the specific terms of the contract. The person was especially insistent on this matter and thankfully provided Rakath a name, though he (apparently) insisted that "Abyssmal" was just an alias. A location of meeting was also provided.

The place in question was, nicely put, a teeming den of thieves squirreled away in the Agrabah slums. Here all manner of thug and scum would congregate and enjoy their spoilers, brag of their tales, or recruit muscle for their cause. The guard rarely ventured here as a confrontation in this place would prove to be too damaging for either side. This also made it the perfect place to conduct shady business outside the watchful eye of the Sultan; in fact Jafar had frequented this place while in disguise while he had served as the royal Vizer.

The tavern was infested with bad smells and worse lighting when Rakath had arrived. Only a few patrons would dare look up and sneer at him openly before quickly looking away before eye contact could be achieved. He could feel eyes upon him from the many dark corners of the room, sizing him up. The sensation was short lived, being a den of thieves, it was understood that ultimately, you didn't pay no mind to the business of others here and they didn't pay no mind to yours. A troll of a man presided over the bar, well over six feet tall and with a large scraggly black beard.

Of those in the bar, only this man willfully attracted Rakath's attention. "You're looking for someone." Spoken like a demand, his voice easily cut through the ever-present murmurs and whispers that rattled throughout the room.

Comments

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

Rakath looked around for a moment, this was one of those dives, like the ones he frequented on other worlds. It is where you get work if you're not being hired by the government to do their work. "Some Abyssmal guy said to meet him here, he got a regular spot at this place?" Rakath grinned behind his mask, his eyes hidden by his goggles.

He had a few tricks in case this sort of meet-up was a trap. However, given the name of the person he was meeting, he had a pretty good idea what he was looking into. He also had a few snacks for himself in his pockets. Since he also knew eating the food at a place like this is... never recommended.

Hopefully he could get a job without any sand. This sand was getting annoying for his outfits.

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

At the word "Abyssmal", a few snickers and snorts could be heard throughout the darkness. A quick look in their direction would shut them up right away, however.

"Yeah." the barman grunted. With a jerk of the head, he indicated a corridor obscured by a hanging white drapery toward the back of the room. "Third on the right." Beyond the first drapery were further rooms "closed" by other hanging cloths thick enough to obscure what lay within. The presence of such rooms in a place like this was only natural and usually the preferred meeting place of some of the more discrete "higher class" clientele.

The room beyond the third drapery on the right is tiny and as badly-lit as the rest of the bar. A low-to-the ground table took up most of the space, a handful of filthy pillows surrounding it. Smack in the center was a candle stuffed in an old bottle, melted wax crusted onto the sides and base. At the other end of the table was a seemingly familiar face, at least if Rakath's ever seen the Aladdin cartoon.

He was short and portly with a very pale face, fuzz of a black beard clinging around his mouth and chin. On his head was a pink and red turban. He sat there on the opposite end of the room, a grin plastered upon his face.

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Rakath flicked a gold coin to the barman and headed back to the rooms.

Since Rakath did know exactly what he was getting into Abyssmal and Agrabah did paint the scene pretty well. So the room he ended up in didn't surprise him at all, nor the person sitting at the table. Rakath leaned against the wall, not removing his mask or his goggles, "You sent for me?"

TWEEST?!

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

"Well." He began, sounding slightly odd. In fact, something just seemed strange about the man. His nose looked odd, maybe a little too red.

The cloth covering the entrance was quickly pushed aside as Aya slid in, a pistol not unlike the ones used by Blathier held in her hand, pointed at Rak's head. "I sure did, Rakath." Aya purred before quickly following up with. "Why don't you sit down so we can discuss business like civilized human beings. I won't bite. Or kill you. Promise."

Aya looked a little different right now-she had worn her old green cloak in, the same cloak that was a gift from Flora over two years ago. There was a new scar along the side of her neck, obviously inflicted by a sword or some other kind of sharp edge. Most noticeably, there was an eyepatch over her left eye.

"Abis Mal" shifted, pushing a hand back over his head to remove the turban. A lone antenna popped up bearing the weight of a small orange puffball. "This better come out of my fur." the navigational moogle from the Dagda complained as he rubbed at the black paint on his chin.

Re: TWEEST?!

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

Rakath didn't think twice before extending white claws out of his gloves. He looked between her, the moogle, the table, "Well, the main reason I wasn't sitting down is these places are... less than clean. However if you promised to bite a little I'd gladly sit down!" Rakath smiled, her chance to attack him was at entering the room. The energy claws faded, and he moved to the table, and pulled a blanket to sit on over the ragged old pillows.

"Now then, you yell at me for my antics, and then hire me for a job," Rakath looked around for any signs he might have to destroy this dive to escape. "I'm a little confused. To be certain."

Re: TWEEST?!

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

"As you should be." Aya said, sounding slightly disdainful. She nodded to the moogle who hopped off the pillow and scuttled out of the room. Judging by the footsteps, he didn't go very far and was probably standing guard by the room entrance.

The room, of course, had no windows. Why would it? It's a place where all manner of shady deals occurred!

"If you didn't expect that first reaction, you clearly don't know me very well." Aya sniffed, "Of course I'd be mad. Of course I'd yell and swear and threaten to kill you. It's what I always do. People don't know or hear the quiet moments of thought afterwards, Rakath. I spent a lot of time in that desert and after reading your replies, I had a lot to think about. Needless to say, you've changed, but I see you for what you are."

A tool. Aya thought quietly to herself. She pulled something out from her back pocket-a scroll of paper, and tossed it on the table in front of Rak. "I've got a job for you." she said as she took a seat on the pillow closest to the entrance.

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Interesting," Rakath eyed the paper a moment before picking it up, "This is when I usually give a speech about my abilities, selling myself for the job... but, I'm pretty sure you know what I can do."

"I haven't changed at all, you guys give me too much credit." Rakath yawned, "I worked with the refs because my boss and I agreed that the universe ending was bad for business. Now then," Rakath took off his mask and goggles, "What's the gig?"

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

"You're a completely different person than the one I knew that fought beside me roughly a year ago." Aya intoned, sounding just slightly disappointed. A finger traced the band holding the eyepatch to her face.

Then she leaned forward. "You are going to take a job for Calum." It sounded like a statement of fact. "If you haven't already at least. Because of your knowledge of the Refugees and your demonstrated willingness to act against them for the right price, he should keep you rather close at hand." Aya gestured at the roll of paper, unfurled it presented a contract.

"I want you to keep an eye on him for me and report all of his activities back to me. I want to know of every job he sends you on and every move he makes."

On the paper were words saying just as much, though other clauses were added:

- Rakath would not alert Calum to being spied upon in any way, shape or form. If asked, he would deny it outright.
- Rakath would not alert Calum to the presence of this contract.
- Rakath would not tell ANYONE about this contract, it must remain secret.
- Rakath would pass the information on to Aya and only Aya.
- Rakath would report the information as soon as possible with no deliberate lagging on his part.
- The contract would end when Calum had ceased being a threat to the known universe.
- With the consent of both parties, terms of this contract may be renegotiated.

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Two jobs for the price of one, I like it, but..." Rakath scanned the document, "There are a few provisions on the contract that need to be made." He did enjoy the fun this would be a job to take a job, doing good by doing bad. Good classy stuff in the guise of something that the other refugees will detest.

"For starters, I will give you information, but to report immediately is ill-advised. I'll report regularly, but I might use very odd contact methods. To keep this contract, and mostly me, safe. The most common will be me leaving notes for you with Ryuu. She's out of hero game, but I trust her without a second thought." Rakath pulled a piece of paper out and ran his finger over it. Where his finger moved across letters appeared, slowly the document went from blank to being complete with more rules for this job.

- Rakath does NOT kill.
- Rakath will not put children into harm for a job.
- Rakath will not jeopardize his other jobs for this.
- Rakath expects additional funds for materials used in the process of working.
- Rakath will pass information to Aya by means he deems safe and secure.
- Aya will be expected to help Rakath escape if somehow the Refugees capture Rakath, subtly of course.
- Aya will not use the Sands of Time to spy on Rakath.
- Rakath expects 1/3 of his pay up front, 1/3 when he is under Calum's employ, and the final 1/3 when the job is complete.
- Should Aya be killed or unable to continue her end of the contract, the job will be passed to someone Aya and Rakath both trust. This clause is important for long term jobs.

"I suggest Good ol' Donny for that last one," Rakath added as he handed her his list of additions, "Some of them are standard, others are specific for this job and this employer. You understand." Rakath grinned and played with his knife handle in his hand. A nervous habit he's picked up from this line of work.

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

And really, Aya didn't care if the other Refugees would hate him for it. An amused look crossed her face at the mention of Ryuu. "Funny that you would trust her, what with her having been a student of Maleficent. Then again, you two were friends before the whole mess started, weren't you?"

Aya stood and walked over to behind Rakath, mostly so she could see the added provisions better. Her eyes scanned them carefully. Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at the Sands of Time clause, apparently not even the least bit bothered by the one above it. "No, change that one. I will only guarantee that I won't spy on you with the Sands of Time for the duration of this contract. I am not robbing myself the ability to keep an eye on you for further "jobs" aimed in my direction afterward."

Afterward she wouldn't be paying him anymore, which lead to: "One further addition. Should I still be alive by the completion of this job, you will receive a bonus equal to half of the cost of this job."

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Who she studied under has nothing to do with this," Ryuu, unlike the others, was his friend. Rakath trusted her, she was also on his short list of people he won't take a job against, however she could probably also handle him in a fight if he took a job against her.

"Of course, these rules are for the contract, I didn't think you wouldn't wanna spy on me later on. I mean, I will be for hire," Rakath ran his finger over the rule to add the 'for the duration of the contract' to it. He giggled, "and I was worried this job would be weird and have trust issues, its the same trust issues I got with anyone that hires me."

"Ah, a reason to keep you alive besides your cheery personality, very well," Rakath put that on at the end. Smiling at it, this should be quite the fun job... well, jobs. Fun jobs. "Think that covers everything."

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

Aya knew where she stood with the other Refugees, Rak included, anyway. None of them really considered her much of a friend. An "ally" at best, save for Ryan, Zero and MAYBE Brandon. "I wanted it to be absolutely clear, is all."

Reading over the rules again, Aya nodded, then rolled her eyes. "No, Rakath, trust issues have no place in important business like this." She'd learned her lesson anyway, the only thing she could really trust him to do was follow the contract to the letter. Even then that bothered her since he was just as likely to find a way around the contract and screw her over if needed. She'd have to be careful, but more importantly, Rak didn't have to know she was being careful.

Fighting back a scowl at what she perceived as sarcasm, she tapped a finger to the paper. "Seems so. Then we're in agreement?"

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Well, I suppose that's an agreement," Rakath shrugged, "Unless you got a few loopholes to close on me." Rakath's been playing this contract game long enough. He also wanted her to know that he knew that she was worried about loopholes. Because if he was her hiring him, he would worry that a guy that looks for loopy logic like himself would look for loopy logic to use to his advantage. Right?

"If you think this is enough rules on the contract, I'm ready to sign if you are."

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

"Mmmnope." she said nonchalantly, again disinterested in letting Rakath know that it was on her mind. She knew it was a dangerous thing to do to just let it go at this point but she'd done plenty of dangerous things the world she knew had been destroyed. Besides, what's to say she wouldn't look for loopholes of her own? "Seems good to me. Let's sign this bad boy."

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

Rakath didn't feel the need to add any words. Either she trusted him to not screw her over, or... well, this was reckless so it could just be Aya being Aya.

Rakath put his name down on the document. Or rather, the name everyone knew of him. No other name was his anymore. For the last year that name was lost, no reason to dig it up now or any other day.

- Rakath Talyn -

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

Aya put her name down too. It wasn't her real name but that didn't matter, the one she'd used here had gained its own significance.

- Aya -

"Well. I guess that's that." She said, folding her arms and eyeing Rak. "So, you gonna go or am I going to have to go chasing after you to keep up appearances?"

[rakathtalyn.livejournal.com]

"Yeah yeah," Rakath got up, "Granted, you being in a dive like this would bring up suspicions. Maybe they'll think its some weird love-hate sex thing." With that line, Rakath blasted a large spiritual gale into the building. Using the cover of all the cloth, pillows, everything light enough flying around to escape.

The purple haired man jetted out of the dive, the damage he caused from his escape caused a barfight in the front. Rakath knows how to make a diversion.

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

"Oh Rakath." Aya sighed as she beheld the destruction around her. The moogle that had been standing outside picked himself up off the floor. "I guess some things never change."

The moogle gave Aya a questioning look.

"Oh, you know how it goes. Keep your friends close..." Aya smiled a little as she left through the back.