The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

Planning Ahead

Bile shifted his fingers through one another while he reached a hand for his plate of chips beside the terrace at Hideaway Towers, Lust's finest plateau of glass tunnels, walkways and skylights. Admittedly, the pale green and scarred flesh of the tiger shark was noticeable against the clashing purples and golds of Lust's coastal flare, but blending in was not one of Bile's concerns. The clicking heels of his client, however, were. Bile turned, removing his stained scarlet shades, sliding the pair into his suit pocket while stretching his watermelon-sized shoulders across the balcony railing. Somewhere below, a display of fashion and certain "products" were being recommended to the bypassers and tourists. 

Bile flicked a cigar into his razor blade teeth, striking the edge while scratching his nails along the railing. Hearts wafted into the air around the client as she fixed herself against the railing. Unlike Bile's casual setting, the client spoke first, eyes glazed tight against her phone with the cords of pearl gold headphones dragging along the outside edge of her sleeveless vest. "You better have something good to offer me that isn't cash, loan shark," she grumbled. Bile flexed a smile, licking the corners of his gums while he gestured a trimmed hand to the Lustful fashioner. "Vestress, please. I'm not here for another one of your shady tricks." Vestress swished gears, tucking her phone away while she huffed and faced Bile. "So what?" she asked, eyes wide with irritated expectation. 

Bile kicked forward, shifting in his resting post. Silence overtook the tiger shark, causing Vestress to feel something like fear or, even more foul, guilt. It was a ploy she was well accustomed to, but she let herself trip over it every single time. At last, Bile spoke. "The Crimson Stripe's made a deal with my guys. And he wants to know if there's anyone else who would be interested in a cut of the deal." Vestress pushed in, keeping her heart-shaped jewels cloaked beneath her deep chocolate hair. "That's pretty generous for someone who flips his victims inside out. What's his play?" Bile turned, rapping his knuckles against one another in irritated frustration. "I don't know. But I don't like it." Vestress chuckled, causing the tiger shark to turn in puzzled surprise. "What?" he asked.

Vestress swung her legs over the railing, extending cargo net across her legs and the lower half of her torso beneath a vibrant lime and teal crop top. "Makes no difference to me. The Stripe has never bothered anyone in Lust, and I don't think that's a coincidence." Bile raised his eyes in intrigue. 'Never bothers Lust? That is VERY interesting,' Bile told himself. Clearing his throat, the tiger shark demon pushed forward with his plan. "Regardless of where he's been or who he's killed, the Stripe's still powerless. And especially after all that jazz of those Overlords getting into a fight and that ballsy strawberry guy leaving, I see no reason why the Stripe shouldn't be concerned with his own mortality." Vestress nodded, flipping away from the railing with her heels on the ground, clicking toward the bodyguard-statured demon. 

Her glamorously violet-red nails clicked across Bile's chest while her eyes sparkled with heart-shaped wonder and mystique. "I suppose I could...'move things around' if that's what you're into," she whispered, a long, snaking tongue twisting from her mouth, nearing the corners of Bile's mouth when the tiger shark planted his hands on the succubi's shoulders. "Enough." Vestress backed up, tangling her fingers in the cord of her headphones, still spewing pop rock in the midst of the conversation. Bile cleared his throat, closing his eyes before continuing. "I'm not asking for a one-night stand. You should know me better than that." Vestress crossed her arms, laughing. "You? Turning down an offer from these hips?" she grinned, gesturing to her slim, hourglass physique. 

Bile turned in a malicious comedic intent, glasses fixing themselves on his face once more. "If I wanted to see an hourglass physique, I'd go buy one from a store instead of wasting that sand staring at you." Vestress felt the heart-shaped corners of her eyes darkening in disgust, then exploding with humor as the two Demons broke out laughing and laughing, patting each other and chuckling as they returned to the railing overlooking the sandy shoreline in the distance. Vestress sighed, collapsing over the shiny white rail in contented relaxation. "Boy, you haven't changed one bit. I wish Bubzy were back to give you more free time." Bile laughed a great, rumbling laugh, his teeth flashing in the lights from above. "You think Mammon doesn't give me enough free range as is, that old sucker?" 

Vestress smiled, removing her headphones and switching off her phone. "I suppose so." Silence overtook the conversation before Bile turned, extending his hand with a stack of papers. Vestress took the card, papers and folder, inspecting the contents. "What's all this?" she asked. Bile nodded, crossing his arms. "I'll explain." Vestress nodded, opening the folder and digging through the compartments. Bile's rough, coarse voice guided the conversation. "In that folder you'll find three things: a checking card, a script, and some papers regarding a train ticket to Gluttony." Vestress raised her curved eyelashes at the mention of a train. "They have Metro through Gluttony?" Bile nodded, stroking the lip of his driver's cap. 

"They do now. And you'll be one of the first aboard with that pass." Vestress nodded, crossing her trimmed, jewel-studded, fabric-wrapped arms. "'Kay. So what's the rest for?" Bile stepped away from the railing, walking away from the conversation as quickly as Vestress had been the one to start it. "You'll figure it out. You're one of the few Demons who isn't completely braindead. But don't share that stuff with anyone else, you understand?" Vestress watched as her old flame and still relevantly flirtatious partner left Hideaway Towers. The shoulders of her warm beige coat dropped ever so slightly as Vestress scoffed, her eyes flashing in the warm, coastal sunlight. "You got my vote, sunshine."