the cat's meow

[Kira]

If not for the speakeasy below the floor, Ritva Nikula might have felt incredibly silly sitting in a place of business that called itself “Pancake Love”. She supposed she looked a little high-class for the establishment, but then again, she thought she was a bit too high-class for the world at large. Glancing down at the blue dress that fell just inches below her knees, a vaguely sensual smile crossed her lips. Behind the smile lay a mind whirling with memories of the previous weekend and thoughts of profit margins and devious possibilities.

The smile traveled to her eyes, making them twinkle in a deceiving way. To see Ritva was to see a fair-haired innocent, to know her was a different matter entirely. Pulling a compact mirror from her bag, she popped it open and inspected her reflection. The finger waves in her cropped hair were holding well, but her lips had slipped from a shocking red to something only slightly eyebrow-raising. Re-applying her lipstick, she was reminded of the previous weekend, in which the fates of a rival moonshine-making family had been decided.

The smile grew a touch less seductive, and far more venomous as she recalled the delectable sounds of shattering bone and the stains she still wasn’t able to get off of her favorite baseball bat. It had been so nice of her brothers to include her on the little business outing. They didn’t often let her deal so closely with their competitors. Of course, the number of competitors did seem to keep dwindling. She quirked her lips knowingly, happy to think that there was one less rival in the world of hooch for her family to contend with.

Returning the compact mirror to her bag, the blond traded it for a cigarette. Waving a waitress over, she requested a coffee and a piece of toast, before returning to her ciggy and lighting up. Ritva breathed in the smoke, holding it in her lungs and expelling it after a moment. The smoke curled up and away, spiraling towards the ceiling.

Blue eyes looked at the entrance expectantly. Now that Ritva’s appearance was back in place and she had a cigarette in hand she was ready for anything. A stray thought reminded her of the small pistol strapped to her thigh, making the sensual smirk return in full force. Admittedly, she would much rather have had her baseball bat laying across her lap, but a couple of lead bullets would do just as well in an emergency. Not that she expected there to be one. She had planned her day to contain pleasurable social outings, but a Nikula was always ready for action.

[ollie]

luca loved the bloodstains on his body when he beat a man dead. he liked blood almost as much as pancakes. he loved the specific diner, even though he didn’t quite love the speakeasy beneath it. while he had worked for the owner, in the last month he’d been screwed over in his work and had taken down half of his scouts. he still dressed handsomely, having self-employed himself and begun a new gang with his sister and aiding a moonshine family (specifically their daughter). he smiled at the idea of said daughter, and now began his way towards his favorite diner. he hadn’t had their fantastic breakfasts in weeks, and it was beginning to grow on him.

he walked with leisure, dressed in his favorite pair of pinstripe navy pants and silver waistcoat, matching striped tie blowing in the wind. he entered the diner with a grin, having spotted ritva already when he was outside. his stride didn’t change when he sat beside her in the booth, the back of said booth to the front, “to give privacy to their customers.” he grinned, eyes skimming her legs and dress, pushing up the sleeves of his shirt. he wrapped an arm around her, the hand of said arm brushing her knee though the other pushed up her skirt, hand finding the gun within seconds.

despite the fact that they worked together, so to speak, luca had no problem with bedding ritva regularly. he especially liked taking her along to kill: he’d found she could turn frisky in a second, and it could last for hours. while some people tended to balk at the idea of approaching ritva, who held her nose so high in the air it was in another atmosphere, luca was fearless and lustful. one hand scooped under the crook of her knee, pulling it over his lap, which pushed up her skirt even further. “i haven’t seen you in days. come home with me tonight, doll,” he breathed in her ear, pinching the skin beside the gun with a reckless grin.

as without qualms as he had been his whole life, luca leaned in and stole a kiss, a quick but carnal one. something like a growl came from the back of his throat, and he half-grinned, flashing a sharp canine. “i get an edge from you, bearcat,” he purred, voice husky with desire. damn, he’d missed her.

[Kira]

Watching Luca approach her, a faint thrill raced up Ritva’s spine. She’d always liked consorting with criminals and playing with the lower parts of society. They were dangerous and deadly, but it was such a nice ego boost for her to realize she was far more of a threat than just about any other scoundrel she had met. Luca, however, she regarded as an equal. Having expressed the sentiment quite some time ago, her atypical partnership with him had blossomed to include mutually pleasurable night jobs. The kind of jobs that made Ritva’s toes curl.

As he wrapped an arm around her, she pursed her lips disapprovingly, the only hint to her actual feelings being the barest of pink flushes that rose to her cheeks and the twitching corners of her mouth as they tried to move into an easy smile. Giving in, Ritva allowed a self-satisfied smirk as she reached for his tie. She paused as she felt his hands run over the pistol at her thigh, eyes turning upward to pass him a knowing look.

As she took the tie in her hands, the blond recalled a rather vivid episode from her memories: she’d once used a tie rather similar to this one to strangle someone. Blinking away the pleasant memory, there were far more pleasant happenings in the present, Ritva loosened the tied and splayed her hand across Luca’s chest. She’d have to tell him the story some time, she figured he would like it. Feeling him pulling her closer to him, Ritva bit her lip against the smile that was stubbornly trying to make it on her lips. Her teeth were a stark contrast to the blood red of her lips, emphasizing the growing color of her cheeks.

“I haven’t seen you in days. Come home with me tonight, doll.”

The combination of his voice at her ear and the pinch made her jump. Ritva pulled back slightly, angling her body so that she could look him in the eye. “Only if you’re very good.” She purred. Before she could continue, his lips were on hers and the purr grew a little louder, a little more pleased. Breaking away, Ritva flashed him a lascivious look and pushed herself closer to him in response to his words.

It was at that moment that an admonishing throat clearing reminded Ritva that she had ordered a small breakfast not too long ago. Turning her gaze on the waitress who carried the coffee and toast Ritva had asked for, Ritva gestured toward the table. The waitress set the food down and gave a final withering look before turning on her heel and scampering back into the kitchen.

Ritva looked back at Luca before ever so slowly returning to her previous place in the booth in a manner a bit more sensuous than entirely necessary. Reaching for the sugar, she dumped a liberal amount into her coffee. Swirling the white powder into the drink, her blue eyes returned to him, “So, how have you been?”

[ollie]

luca glanced up at the waitress, loathing the woman for making ritva pull away from him. as she began to walk away, he turned around, grabbing the back of her dress and pulling her over, grinning seductively. “doll, i’d like a plate of pancakes and coffee. don’t keep me waiting too long,” he said, eyes flashing both dangerously and invitingly, before letting the waitress go. she went on, blushing brightly. he turned back, watching ritva dump a liberal amount of sugar in her coffee. he crinkled his nose, propping his head on his fist, elbow up on the edge of the table.

“so, how have you been?”

as her blue eyes shifted to him, luca looked over the woman ritva so desperately wanted to be portrayed as. someone hard, heartless, a ruthless killer. she wanted so desperately to be higher than all the other criminals, but he saw the way she blushed for him, the way he affected her. he loved that: that he was her vice, the thing that made her weak kneed in ways others couldn’t. so intentionally sensual just for him, even though she tried to pass it off as natural and unintentional. but he saw it, and that was her appeal. she boosted his ego, and he made her feel like a hard earned criminal. yet, he knew there was more to it, more feeling than just desiring her for an ego boost.

he reached over and grabbed a piece of toast, taking a bite. chewing, he shrugged, as if the amount of men he’d killed over the weekend was but a number normal to every civilian man. but still, luca refused to take ritva along when he took zenda. his sprees with zenda were entirely different with his sprees with ritva—with ritva, he was softer, and wanted her to desire him more than respect him. but with zenda… there was no search for respect at all: instead, they were ruthless, hacking off heads and shooting straight between the eyes, well-trained in the ways of death. and when lore came… no one that came in their way was ever seen again.

“i went to work with zenda and lore. got a good paycheck; i could stop working for a few months if i wanted, but i’ve got a few more jobs this week with them,” he said, glancing at her. he had explained to her the significance of a day with lore and zenda—that he didn’t find her able to do it yet. she still thought about the people she killed—luca hardly remembered their name, sometimes he forgot he had anything to do with their sudden disappearance. it scared some people, but he’d been raised in this life, been trained how to deal the hand of death.

as the waitress returned, there was recognition in her eyes. most of the waitresses worked in the speakeasy as well, and the way she eyed him, it was obvious he was as talked about now as he had been before. he smiled, uninterested, as she set down his coffee and pancakes, pouring a bit of cream in before taking a gracious gulp. “i’ve got a job tonight. interested in coming? zenda doesn’t want to,” he said, which implied that lore wasn’t even remotely interested in this spree. some moonshine dealers that were aspiring to start a speakeasy—the fools.

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[Kira]

By the time Ritva was done pouring sugar into her coffee, the sugar bowl had been severely depleted. It wasn’t that she didn’t like coffee, merely that she liked seeing the faces of surprise and disgust appear on those around her as the amount of sugar passed from sweet to sickeningly so. Maybe it was a tad childish, but the discomfort of others made her happy so she didn’t see much of a reason to stop. After all, she didn’t have a problem drinking it. Thinking this, Ritva took a sip, rolling the liquid slowly around her mouth.

Content with her diabetic nightmare, the blond focused her attention on her toast and the selection of jams on the table. She chose boysenberry, more for the similarity of the word boysen to poison than for actual taste preference. Ritva was a strong proponent of finding joy in the little things, and if she wanted to make references to death-causing agents when preparing her toast, then she would, and she’d enjoy it.

“I went to work with Zenda and Lore. Got a good paycheck; I could stop working for a few months if I wanted, but I’ve got a few more jobs this week with them.”

Nodding along to show she was listening, she took a bite of her toast. When Luca had first barred her from his jobs with Zenda and Lore she had been a bit put-off, especially by his reasoning. Ritva liked thinking about the people whose heads she’d bashed in. Yes, their faces were etched in her memory, but she liked seeing their agony, their shock, and their fear again and again. She liked how she could see the soft sparkle of mortality light up in their eyes, and she loved when their eyes lost that sparkle and went dull and blank.

The screams rang like symphonies in her ears and the smell of blood was preferable to even the finest of Parisian perfumes. Luca may have dealt death, but Ritva reveled in it. It was just a difference in tactic, and once she had realized that, well, she figured that going on a job with Zenda or Lore would likely be boring to her. She liked to savor murder, and they liked to quicken it.

“I’ve got a job tonight. Interested in coming? Zenda doesn’t want to.”

That made Ritva look up from her toast. She looked at him, and leered. “Interested? Of course I am, darling.” Underneath the table she hooked her foot around his and moved closer. “You don’t even have to ask.” A tinkling laugh like breaking glass escaped her as she imagined what he had in store for them. Oodles of fun, no doubt.