Luxurious Anarchy (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 11: Lie, Cheat, Steal

"Well, if running up a series of unreasonable demands is what got us out of that warehouse alive, I'm sorry to say I'm happy to have wasted the council's time then," Jayce said, drinking down the rest of his coffee. "Some of what she asked for was very specific though, and wouldn't have done a lone, mad bomber any good."

Mel nodded, humming thoughtfully as she stirred her tea, "You're thinking of the demands for an infrastructure budget, aren't you?"

Vi, who had barely shed a drop of blood or a tear as she finished digging out the porcelain bits out of her thumb, cocked one eyebrow, "That's what's on your mind? Not her demand for control of half of the commercial docking?"

Caitlyn shook her head, "No, really that would just be acknowledging docks already adjacent or built into the undercity as belonging to the undercity. Her proposal to expand Founder's Bridge, but to knock down other points of access between the cities is curious. You'd think she'd want more bridges, more unguarded ways to go where she pleases."

Cassandra sniffed, cup and saucer in hand though she made no move to drink what remained of her tea. "Frankly," she said with a sigh, "As much as I bristle at her behavior and her inability to see a good deal when it's presented to her, it takes real moxie to push for the undercities' independence, the same as Silco had. She won't get it, the terrorist brat, nerve and cheek are rarely combined with any wit." The older Kiramman set her saucer aside and looked over her shoulder, toward the divide in the cliffs, where past a bronze guard railing was a steep drop into the dim streets of the undercity. "I've met with Viktor, your associate Jayce, and I marvel at his intellect. I do not care for the undercity, for its barely contained anarchy and filth. But I wonder how many other diamonds in the rough are down there."

"Huh," chirped Vi, "and here I thought you just hated all us fissure folk."

The elbow Caitlyn shoved into her soulmate's ribs was not a gentle one, and Cassandra gave her not-quite-daughter-in-law a withering look, which rather quickly fell apart into a somewhat sheepish expression. "No, it's only fair you have that impression. Our house has been cold to you, even though you warm my daughter's heart. I do not hate the people of the undercity, I hate the lawlessness and refuse that pollute its streets. It is why I voted on the treaty with Silco. An organized criminal is, at the very least, organized. From there, it would be a much shorter leap to something much like a functional government, a proper lawful one."

Jayce let out a low chuckle, "The comparison of government and criminal organization is one I've heard joked about a few times, though less so since I joined the council." Jayce picked up his cup before he remembered it was empty. Setting it aside with a frown, he grumbled, "Each of us has looked at or heard her demands, and all of us can think of at least one demand that makes us uncomfortable for no other reason than how canny it's worded or how narrow it is in scope. I can't help but feel like Jinx, somehow, is pulling a fast one on us all, and I don't much care for the feeling."

Silence blanketed the table as his friends, lover, and co-councilor respectively, all brooded. No one could refute that something about the situation was off, like the ticking of a clock that was just a fraction of a second too fast, or tines of a fork that were ever so slightly misaligned. Not so bad as to be immediately identifiable, but a lurking suspicion in the back of one's mind that something was not quite right.

Further contemplation was stopped when their lunches arrived. Delicately assembled finger sandwiches, elegant salads, and a giant porterhouse steak slathered in some sort of tangy-smelling gravy. Everyone shot an incredulous stare at Vi when the table wobbled as it was set down in front of her.

Vi tucked her napkin into her shirt collar like a bib, chuckling "What? If they didn't want people ordering it, they wouldn't have put it on the menu. Now, as they say in Demacia, bone apple tea!"