morally-dubious-goods:
Carmen sat in the dark with this man, the small bag in the breast pocket of her jacket practically burning a hole through the leather. She’d made shady deals in the past – every deal she made was a shady deal, really – but never before was someone so bold as to hold her payment hostage.
She’d already wasted the ingredients, and he knows it. An overwhelming part of her is just petty enough to dump the entire contents of the bag directly into the river, never to be seen again, never to be used – but she’d spent twelve goddamn fucking hours tracking down the right, insanely specific components to this spell bag.
Lay down with dogs and you’re bound to get fleas. Carmen was the same underhanded, self-serving son of a bitch that he was, but how rarely was that sort of behavior ever turned against her. She just peered at him through the rear-view, not even bothering to make genuine eye contact with him – not yet.
“So there’s a caveat to our little agreement, is there?” She kept her voice barely above a whisper. “You have no idea who you’re talking to.” Blood red lips curled up at the edges, eyes bright even in the dark. “I’ll do anything to get my payment.”
His own head turned towards the sound of her voice. “I’m just saying, a little tit for tat, no pun intended, is worth it here. I know things too… like how bad you need the payment. Like what it’s used for. And I have this nagging feeling that if you don’t get it, things will go very, very bad for you…” He trafficked in some of the lesser known things that lesser known being liked. It was dangerous, sure, but then again, he had some of the best under his thrall now. And they took good care of him and what he needed.
This girl, also, would be very useful in that aspect. He licked his lips and patted his pocket. “If you’re willing to do ‘anything’ to get your payment, then I’m sure we can work out something mutually beneficial,” Oscar promised the girl. “Find us a dark alley and we can get started.”
Man of Infinite Muses Original 