#//K'IN WHERE DID YOUR PRIDE GO

[sovereignxfae]

Brilliant..they did brilliantly.

He seemed proud. He sounded proud. The praise washed over them. Slowly at first, he'd only spoken one word. They can't let it get to them so quickly.

What would that say about them? A lot, that's what.

They chanced a look at him when he starts spewing more compliments. It was nice. He seemed to be generalizing them but it hits them in quick succession. They stare at him as he speaks, it's captivating the way he works the words.

They fight a smile when he calls him smart. It's strange. They know but hearing from someone else—someone in a higher authority..feels different.

He stands and K'in breaks out of their trance and back steps to their seat. Not sitting yet but feeling around for their jacket. It seems like the meeting has ended.

Their father taps their shoulder with his cigarette box before leaving and makes guess that he is dismissing them but when they look up they saw his eyes leave them.

They watch everyone file out and stands there with their own thoughts. Filled with 'should they?' and 'could they?'. Before they made the decision themself, K'in is slipping on their jacket and following through the door behind everyone else.

Everyone seems to be in groups. K'in looks around for him, hands in plush pockets of their jacket as they duck behind mild arguments and a little more rowdy playing.

They slip past their father with a haste. He seems to be speaking to a locksmith, whatever could he be wanting to put away now?

They spot him after that. He's by himself. It seems strange, they thought he'd be surrounded by many. Though they guess it's a good thing. Privacy. For what? They don't know but they like the thought of it.

So they make their way to him, "Astra?" Just his name. Nothing else came to mind to say so they let his name fall from their tongue.

sovereignxfae​

K’in watches as he moves towards his things. A big breath is taken and released, their hands are shaking a bit. They’re happy not to be holding anything or else it may be obvious, if no one noticed yet. They glance at their father; he seems content where this is going. 

That’s good. 

The heir takes the chance to admire–,no, observe Astra. Not admire, observe. Of course. 

They take in his back profile and they wonder if his shoulders are heavy. They want to know if there’s an invisible effort he’s putting in to the even-ness of his shoulders, whether or not he ever crashes under the weight of the power he holds. 

Astra has such a sincere aura of every agony he could bring. Like every bad thing in it’s purest form. The thought is as scary as it is intriguing. K’in finds themself wanting to know what it feels like; from his mouth. It might come out arrogant, passive or just plain narcissistic but they want to know. 

Walking around, knowing that you’ve earned your keep and basking in everyone’s envy and awe like a holy light. They want to know what that’s like. 

They watched him get up and turn back to them. Eyes meet and he smiles, they turn away from him quickly and survey the room. Suddenly embarrassed, they seek refuge in scanning through the other criminal leaders. Their ears itch but they ignore it in favour of rubbing their nose as Astra sets up his things. 

Most of them are staring at Astra though they can’t tell which is out of annoyance, manners or otherwise. Frankly, they don’t truly care. Others take glances at them or pretend to take extra interest in the drinks in their hand. Those facts soothe them some, hopefully no one noticed their gaping enough to be bothered by it. 

When he speaks, K’in flinches, just a small thing. They know he was close but didn’t think he’d reached them so quickly. The soft tone confused them though. K’in blinked a few times before processing his words. From going across the room to seemingly only meet them and a few others, the change was palpable but welcomed. 

“Ah?” K’in side eyed the map trying to give names to the territories when Astra urged them. They look at him and are immediately swallowed by his gaze. They break the eye contact before it was truly made and stared at the red lines, sight a bit blurry. 

“Oh-yes!” They poke their palm and then fished their pencil from behind their ear, “Well the target space is large enough to fit at least two groups if we’re going by the largest getting the advantage here.” 

Their pencil makes a light outline of said territory. Just a reminder to themself of what they are discussing so they don’t go off track again. “If we’re following that line of thought; it would leave The Cleaners and Astoria to come up with an agreement and share the grounds.”

They speak clearly enough that everyone could hear the news. Their eyes scan through the map as they speak to make sure they aren’t missing anything. The words are said plainly, as if read from a textbook, and the room fills with murmurs. They pay the noise no mind-detached from the news. It doesn’t change much for them in the long run anyway, right?

They trace over the map once more and grind their teeth. The spot they’re fighting over was set before a very busy and near center of the black market. Many go in and out of there on a regular basis but with the area being-presumably-owned by two of the highest ranks of groups not just anyone could pass scot free. 

They say as such while biting away at the end of their pencil, “You could charge whoever passes. I doubt that you, as in Astra and my father, would care who goes in as long as payment is received.” 

They nod to themself when they’ve done a final sweep of the map. 

“I’ll leave the negotiations up to you and my father as well as the money conversation.” The detached tone is thawing and they come back to themself. No longer in planning mode they blink a few times. K’in turn to their father, he seems pleased. Small, smug smile on his lips as he swirls his drink. 

They turn to Astra soon after and whisper, “Was that good? No, I mean-was it what you were looking for?”

The heir hopes it is. They don’t think they could handle making another fool of themself. 

Leading his prey wherever he wanted them to stand – that was his favorite little game. Giving them hints, using his silver tongue, until they would believe that it was their idea and their own words. That they came up with it. He loved it more than he could ever express it – because that was his unbreakable power. He was deceiving but he looked honest. He was manipulating but he looked harmless. And K’in was falling right into his trap, eager to please whoever was giving them the slightest attention.

He sipped on his drink and waited for them to expose their supposedly well thought plan. For them, it was a rite of passage. They thought they were entering the big league, eager to prove their intelligence and their skills. For him, he wanted all the leaders around the table to perceive a risk. That the Astoria were quivering on their fragile legs, the weight of their survival carried by someone who was too naïve to rule. There were secret codes in the mafia – never overstep, never over speak, never follow someone you didn’t know.

K’in did everything they shouldn’t in the most scholastically way. It was beautiful.  

Astra put his glass down and observed the rest of the leaders with a small smirk curling the corner of his lips. Now that they were done listening, he needed to strike before the tempest would rage. He gave a firm nod and straightened himself back up. “Brilliant.” He said with a large smile, voice loud enough to cover the growing hubbub, his tone full of promises, full of compliments. Oh, he knew how his students loved to hear those words – they were always looking exactly like K’in right now.

“I must say that the Astorias have a bright future right in front of them. Their heir is definitely a smart one. We couldn’t expect a better solution for this piece of territory. And no one around this table would like to start a gang war, right?” He emphasized his words on purpose, breaking for good those grumbles and other low insults coming from the rest of the audience. No one could defy the idea presented by K’in Astoria. They would have to bend the knee once more and accept those unfair conditions. And Astra, on his side, would make sure that K’in kept earning more power. Because the more they had it, and the more he was winning through their ascent.

Astra stood back up, finished his glass of whiskey with a single gulp and put it back down onto the coffee table. “Now gentlemen, before we let our accountants and other unskilled workers settle the deal and prepare the documents, I suggest we shall take a cigarette break outside.” He eyed K’in for a second before he caught his coat. Like a moth attracted by the light, he hoped they would make the mistake of coming to talk to him… But privately.