|| The Sweet Sting ||

[Wolfbane]

The city of New Tomi always seemed to come alive at night, blinking and breathing plumes of gray-black smog like some massive steel animal in the dark. Wolfbane, sitting quietly in the back seat of a black car, observed the thing in motion from behind darkened windows. The blood of the city pumped itself out into the streets: a mass of people pushing and shoving past one another, their hoods pulled low or their umbrellas opened above their heads to keep off the slightly acidic rainfall, thousands of insects crawling in search of their next meal. Here he was, cruising past it all in the blink of an eye.

Seamlessly, the nondescript vehicle curved past one street and pulled itself between buildings, causing the lights of the working world to disappear. Bane leaned back into the stiff comfort of the leather seats and pulled his hand from underneath his chin where it’d rested moments before, trying to maintain an aura of calm despite the sweat beginning to bead around his neckline. This far inside the belly of the beast and he felt out of his element, exposed even though they were slipping down into the dungeons of an unmarked parking garage. He saw nothing, heard nothing from the quiet figure at the wheel, just stared out between the headrests and watched the low beams drift across concrete shapes in the dark until they finally came to a slow stop.

The car shifted audibly to park and the driver slipped out, prying open the door he’d been leaning on moments before with a wordless invitation to get out, to which he complied in the same fashion. He could see a dimly lit door, closed off and made of heavy gray steel, positioned underneath the flickering bulb of a blue-white fluorescent and flanked on either side by men much larger than himself. All business, he looked them over. The lumps underneath their slick, black jackets weren’t all muscle. They stared back, unamused.

The buzz of the light and the sound of his dress shoes clicking against the sleek pavement filled up the empty space, and he listened as the soft pull of rubber tires faded to nothing behind him. He reached for a pocket inside of his own overcoat- both men jerked into motion and he held out an empty hand palm-side up to stop them from overreacting - pulling out a sleek, blank card. The two brutes looked at one another and then one, clean-shaven with a nasty snarl, reached out to pluck the card from between Bane’s fingers. He withdrew and held the thing up to the light, causing hidden letters to appear like magic over the surface of the thin paper.

“Don’t touch anything.” He grunted at Bane, reaching to swipe his palm over an invisible scanner built into the door. The heavy frame clicked and whirred, swinging open for Wolfbane to pass through.

“Can I have the card back?” Bane asked, getting a brusque laugh out of the other guard and a scowl from the one who just put the slip of paper into his own lapel pocket.

“Fuck off.” He snarled at Bane, who shrugged and slipped into the hallway.

Inside the lengthy corridor the walls were lined with expensive decor and the floors were carpeted in thick, plush material. As he walked the distance, Bane thought it was an odd choice to offset the mood by using ultraviolet light, but his thoughts were cut short when he stopped at the end of the hallway and saw nothing to his right or his left. He waited, confused, considered turning back before the wall itself shimmered and slid back to reveal the sleek metal door of an unopened elevator.

“Clever.” He murmured as the thing opened, not so surprised by the attendee waiting for him inside.

She was a tall woman, pleasantly slender but not soft. Her hair was cut into a severe black bob, her eyes the color of silver moons. She smirked at him, sweeping her palm in a gesture that was just as erotic as it was professional, and then clicked a button on a recessed panel when he came to join her in the lift.

“I’ll need your weapon, please.” She purred at him, hand outstretched. For what it was worth, Bane played dumb.

“You can search me if you like.” He grinned back, shrugging. For a moment she considered him coldly, then she curled her fingers toward her palm and shook her head no. “Shame.” He sighed, flicking his wrist to reveal a small but deadly sharp knife from inside his sleeve.

He handed the thing over and the lift came to a rest, his guide turning back to the door unopened, and Bane wondered how she knew that was all he’d brought. The thought made him shiver. Quietly, the door slid apart to reveal a room littered by opulence, decorated in a style that oozed class and wealth so far above his status he felt dizzy just trying to absorb it. He was afraid the sole of his shoes might stain the fur carpet just by association, but that didn’t stop him from following the black-haired lady out into the open where a large desk took center focus.

The rest of the room disappeared. His breath caught in his throat and he thought nothing of the bobbed girl or the way she slid comfortably into one of the guest chairs. All Bane could do was stand beside her, one hand coming to rest on top of the seat while the other slipped itself comfortingly into his jacket pocket as he waited for the audience that’d been years in the making.

@[Straia]