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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 22:59:07 GMT -5
It was only due to quick reflexes that the wall of wine Peishei was thrown into didn't crash on to their heads, as the pirate whipped around and proceeded to stick out two arms and a leg to steady the teetering jugs. "Watch what you're doing, you geezer!" Peishei yelled back, matching decibel for decibel. "Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?! You could've knocked down the entire wall back there! Then what would you have done? It would've killed us all!"
Kamlong winced, raising a hand to cover an ear.
"I saw somebody blocking the light from the other room in the slit under the door so I went outside to catch the rat!" Peishei countered, throwing a finger in the general's direction. "How much didya hear, you asshole?" the pirate sneered, sidestepping the Owner to stalk towards Kamlong. The old man turned as well, giving Kamlong a grim frown. 'Pirate' was a dangerous title to throw around, especially in times like these when any hint of risk sent the people, and more importantly the government, into paranoid panic.
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:07:10 GMT -5
Seeing that the focus of the rather deafening and violent argument had somehow turned in his direction, Kamlong glanced at both of the strangers before settling on the one talking to him. Well, he wasn't going to let himself get in trouble for something that didn't warrant that sort of action, certainly. "Well, about everything, but you were loud enough for the everyone outside the door to hear, you know."
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:11:57 GMT -5
"Yeah," the pirate said with a dismissive nod. "But every pig out there is piss-ass drunk, too," Peishei reminded. "They won't remember a word they hear in the morning! If you're sober enough to stand straight, you're sober enough to spill everything you hear to some official for some cheap cash. Don't talk to me like I don't know how it works, jerk." With a sudden movement, Peishei lashed out and pushed the other man into the door he was standing in front of. It only rattled a little, thankfully.
"Besides, even if they could still tell it, everyone out there has heard this before, and I haven't had a problem. This place runs on returning customers. Who knows what a newcomer like you is here for? You neither talk or dress like a sailor. What do you want in a place like this, Rat?"
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:18:29 GMT -5
"If you're worried about being told on you can stop," Kamlong responded, not quite appreciating the violent nature of this pirate, but being in no position to return the blow. He had been eavesdropping, if one boiled the facts down, even if there were no ill intentions behind it. "I don't have the time to go squealing on people like you," he added, a little disgruntled and only realizing later that the statement might add to the fellow's ire more than ease any suspicions.
"Sorry for eavesdropping," he amended quickly. "Are you really a pirate, however?"
The pirate raised a hand as if to throw a punch anyway, before the Owner caught the fist and forced it down to his side. "Stop picking fights you maggot," he yelled, directly into the pirate's ear, and Kamlong figured that at such a close proximity that had to have caused some permanent damage. "Don't be an idiot and throw punches at someone armed, you dolt. If he says he's not gonna squeal then just take his word for now. He knows that if he's lyin' he'll have to deal with both of us anyway."
Kamlong knew well enough that was a warning.
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:21:20 GMT -5
Peishei frowned at the hindered arm before tearing it petulantly out of the Owner's grasp. It remained unraised, however, so the old man's words had some effect, at least. "Why do you want to know?" Peishei countered, crossing arms over chest. "If you're not going to squeal, what's that information to you?"
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:24:18 GMT -5
Perhaps his luck wasn't that rotten after all. Kamlong smiled. An ordinary sailor wouldn't suffice, but surely a pirate would take the risk - if not for the sake of the risk, then for the sake of the pay, even at the stake of the law hounding at their heels. "I need someone to take me to Japan," he said, figuring to-the-point was better in this case. Their patiences didn't look very promising.
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:27:07 GMT -5
"Are you an idiot?" Peishei responded, face settling into an expression of incredulity. "Do you live under some rock? Don't you know about the big talk of war going on? You're asking to be sailed into an enemy country, you know?!"
The Owner frowned, staying silent for the most part, but his eyes were calculating and his mouth set into a stern line.
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:36:14 GMT -5
"I am well aware of that," Kamlong said with a nod. This was a hurdle he had expected, but he had never actually been able to plan out a way to sell the idea. He couldn't very well just tell the pirate everything on their agenda. Even if he wasn't going to sell out the sailor, there was no guarantee the deal extended both ways, and information about the Japanese prince actually still alive and well in China was worth a pretty penny indeed.
"Are you unwilling, then?" he asked.
Peishei's face remained unbelieving, before the disbelief faded, and a hint of interest flashed in the pirate's eyes. "You really want to get killed that badly? I guess I won't be a good saint and stop you then. You're going to pay, of course? For risking my neck, as well as the fee?"
The Owner frowned. "What do you think you're say-"
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:41:35 GMT -5
"Shut up, old man!" snapped the pirate, with such ferocity that it stunned even the Owner into a brief silence. "I want to see how much this jerk thinks a pirate's neck is worth. If he can back up all the hot air he's blowing, I could very well retire," Peishei said, eyeing the general while speaking in an obvious and direct challenge. "So, what do you say?"
"I can't believe the extent of your idiocy!" the Owner roared, fed up with the situation, before he stomped out. "Just go get yourself killed already! I'm tired of dealing with you!" he said finally, before slamming the door behind him so hard that the wine rattled.
"Is that alright with you?" Kamlong said, looking at the abused door. "Letting him go like that?"
"Eh, he'll get over it," Peishei muttered. "He always does. Just answer the goddamn question and get on with it."
Kamlong said nothing, gauging the pirate's face for a moment before holding out his hand. "What?" Peishei asked, staring at the upturned palm.
"Give me your palm. It's customary not to do this kind of business aloud. Or do pirates not know that?" Kamlong answered, smirking.
"Shut your mouth," Peishei hissed, slapping the back of his hand on top of Kamlong's with such force that the skin stung. The general wrote a number there, one character at a time. Peishei was not completely literate, but he recognized those symbols - simple numbers, and the last one was 'gold'. These were symbols every pirate knew by sight and experience. "What," asked the pirate when Kamlong was finished. "Is that all?"
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:44:51 GMT -5
Kamlong had expected as much. "Don't be conceited," he answered, letting his hand drop. "Men have sold their souls for less. For a bag of rice, for a handful of change, certainly you've seen it done also." A cynical side of him supplied the fact that men gave their lives for the name of honor alone, less tangible than even a penny, but it was a sentiment quickly squashed. He felt somewhat guilty for even thinking it, and attributed the renegade thought to lack of sleep and stress.
"You know as well as I do that as a pirate you'll be having tougher times surviving anyway," he added, "since the embargo will take its toll on any sea business, legal or not. This large a sum will be hard to come by, but if you take it you'll be better off than most if war is approaching."
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:47:11 GMT -5
Peishei frowned. "What if I refuse?"
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:52:18 GMT -5
"Then you refuse," Kamlong shrugged. "And I will take my business and search elsewhere." He stood up as if to do so, before a particularly devious thought occured. "I could also go and inform the officials about you. Even if you escaped by then, your friend, the Owner, might be arrested for being your accomplice."
He drew his shortest blade and lifted it to the pirate's neck even before Peishei finished drawing back his fist for a blow. "Why you good-for-nothing son of a bi-"
"Would a secret for a secret make it any fairer?" Kamlong asked rhetorically, calmly. "I am a general of the imperial army, and I am humbly beseeching your aid. If I lower my blade and you turn on me, I would still not go down easily, I assure you. Passage to Japan is of utmost importance to the welfare of this country, and even if that doesn't matter to you, it does to me."
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:54:13 GMT -5
"Asshole, don't talk like you're giving me a choice," hissed Peishei. Peishei knew enough of men to be able to see through their boasts most of the time, but any fool could see that the hilt of the blade near the pirate's neck neck was too fancy to be standard fare, and to have three of them tied at one's waist was not only safety in numbers. Reaching up and shoving the dagger away, Peishei frowned. "When are you planning to make your stupid suicide trip?"
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Post by Sze Kamlong on Jan 15, 2007 23:57:38 GMT -5
"As soon as possible," answered Kamlong, sheathing the blade with a smile. "Can I trust your word?"
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Post by Cheng Peishei on Jan 15, 2007 23:58:03 GMT -5
"Hypocritical of you to ask that, isn't it?" Peishei shot back. "Coming from a liar himself."
"If I saying I'm going to sail you to die, then I will. I've got my own honor and reputation, and I carry out my promises, unlike some people." Peishei smirked. "In fact, I might not mind so much, helping you on your way to getting killed."
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