The treasurer of the Diamonds Gang always liked paying a visit to his Ace, Miss Isabella herself. It wasn't like they went for long stretches without seeing one another or anything — considering the work he did for the gang, it made sense to keep him close to those higher up in the ranks. Especially when he didn't have any real power of the gang itself, rather, just made sure it kept functioning as an organization that could last them for years to come. Oh, and to hide all their dirty money before the Military could find it. That was something he was really good at.
But that's besides the point. He saw Isabella fairly regularly, but it wasn't always at her office. Often times they merely conducted business together at one of the casinos, especially when Remus wanted to bring up the people that were digging themselves deeper and deeper into debt. While the man didn't mind taking care of the dirtier side of the business, he always wanted to make sure Isabella knew what he was up to. Which meant that visiting her office — their direct headquarters — was always something special for the man. Especially because...
Remus's face lights up as he spots his two favourite animals just down the hall. He's wandering through the private areas of the largest casino the Diamonds owned, alone — he knows the way by now, even if the first few months required him getting there via a valet. But he'd long since memorized the winding hallways, leaving him on his own to find his way to Isabella's office. Which meant he got greeted personally by her little 'security team' — aka, two of her dogs.
The two of them that were previously just sitting outside the office door — sitting tall and taking their job of guarding seriously — were now bounding happily in his direction. Their tails were swinging back and forth and just about knocking them off their feet by the momentum of their hips. Remus laughs joyfully as he drops to his knees, letting the dogs jump all over him as soon as they reach where he was standing.
"Who's a good boy and girl!? You are! Yes you are!" Remus's voice rises an octave as he talks to the two dogs in his best baby voice possible. "I'm here to see your mommy, you gonna take me to her?" he questions the animals, and one of them lets out a bark before it dashes back in the direction of Isabella's office. Sometimes they were a little too smart.
Remus continues to give them pets and kisses as he reaches the closed door, and knocks on it politely to announce himself to his Ace.
There were white marble floors and soft white couches in her office, a large empty fish tank off to one side, and a comfy old dog curled up right next to her desk in the coziest of dog beds. Since she would be spending long hours there dealing with people, she wanted the space to feel like home, and it was certainly more comfortable than what the former Ace had. Though it seemed a very comfortable place, there was still business to be transacted, most of which ended well, but plenty of lives slipped away over this very topic.
Bella sat quietly, focused on the stack of papers in front of her when a knock pulled her attention to the door, causing her to narrow her eyes slightly. What were those damn dogs doing? Obviously not their job. Her dogs notified her when anyone came down the hall, hoping that she would never be caught off guard, but this time they failed miserably. There was a knock and a half-hearted bark soon followed, as though the dog was aware that it was supposed to do something regardless of how late it was.
She had a feeling it was Remi; her dogs barked and snapped at most people but not him, perhaps because he treated them like babies instead of being the killing machines she expected them to be. After a sigh, she determined it wouldn't do any good to scold him for it when the dogs were just as much at fault for falling for his silly baby voice.
"Come in Remi.", She said as she tried to straighten the papers on her desk, glancing over at him when he entered. " You know petting them and treating them like babies kind of defeats the purpose of having them, right? They aren't supposed to be pets." That was a lie if she ever told one, those dogs were treated damn near like royalty at her home but when it was time to work it was time to work.
“So what do we have going on today? Something exciting I hope.”
Remus continues to shower the dogs with praise and love as he waits for permission to enter the room, and as soon as he hears the lovely voice of his boss ring out from behind the doors, he swiftly opens them and invites himself in. It's a spectacle as he enters, with a dramatic flourish and a wide grin on his face, braids cascading down his shoulders with gold interwoven in his own golden locks. The dogs woof happily at him as he enters, but they're trained enough not to follow him inside — at least they know enough to stay at their posts until given the order to come.
The man chuckles at Isabella's attempt at a reprimand — even if she was serious, they both knew he wasn't about to take it to heart. Besides, it felt almost criminal not to love on such good pups! Ironic, perhaps, considering what they did on a daily basis already was pretty criminal. Quick, almost dance-like strides take the man across the room, before he places both hands on the desk and promptly pulls himself to sit on top of the lacquered desk, legs hanging off the edge as he leans back slightly to focus his gaze on his boss. He makes sure not to sit on any important paperwork.
"You break my heart, Bella! I would never dream of ignoring such cute dogs. Besides, showing them a bit of love isn't enough to take out years of training you spent on them. I saw them bite the ass of that attempted thief last week," he laughs with a soft tinkle in his voice, winking at his boss as he does so. As she continues the conversation, the man lets out a small hum as he begins to examine his finely-manicured nails.
"Well, nothing out of the ordinary I'm afraid," he begins speaking in an almost bored tone, leading her on to believe there was nothing special about him meeting with her.
"Just came from a meeting with Mr. Tribone. You know the one, right? Comes in here after dark every day, loses a couple thousand each time and begs to be given an extension on his repayment? Had a fun little chat with him earlier," Remus continues speaking, a twinkle in his eye now as he suddenly pushes a hand into the inside of his suit jacket to pull something out and throw it on the desk in front of Isabella. A fat wad of cash.
Ah Mr. Tribone, a true pain in her ass. How could a man who thought so highly of himself be so unlucky? The mere thought of him asking for yet another extension made her want to roll her eyes back into her skull. What an absolute clown. After Remi finished his sentence, she half expected him to extend Mr. Tribone's term, but was pleasantly surprised when a wad of cash fell onto her desk. ” Well then, that was a nice little plot twist.”, she laughed as she grabbed up the cash and began counting it. ” Have I told you how much I adore you lately?”, she said as she finished up counting offering up a smile.
” Give me all the details~! Was there much of a struggle or did he just hand it over?”, she asked fully invested in the story now. Despite how innocent she seemed, she lived for moments when people were put in their place, which just happened to be right under her feet. ” Did you get to use your kitty claws?”, she asked as she tossed down the money into the bottom of the drawer, certain that no one would think it a good idea to wander into her office without her.
Within a few seconds of pushing the drawer shut she was right on top of her desk, crawling across to plop herself next to him paperwork be damned. ” Let me know next time you go collect and I will tag along~ We can let the dogs have fun with it.”, she says tag along like she isn’t the one in charge of this entire organization. Bella was very hands-on when it came to operations, probably more than she needed to be at times but she enjoyed it. The blood and gore that came with her dogs ripping into someone gave her a twisted sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that no regular job would ever be able to grant.
CONTENT WARNINGS Gruesome details of torture hinted at
He can see the soured expression on his boss' face when he mentions Mr. Tribone's name, but it quickly turns to one of delight when he produces the cash and plops it down on the desk in front of her. The sight of her grin fills his heart with warmth — for whatever reason, he always likes seeing her smile. It brings about a grin on his own face, especially with her comment about adoring him once she was finishing with counting it all up.
"You have, but I never get tired of hearing it," he teases her with a soft croon in his voice, batting his eyelashes playfully at her — from a stranger's perspective, it might have looked as thought he was flirting with her. Truth be told, he just liked being himself around Isabella. He laughs as she suddenly asks him for all the details about his encounter with Mr. Tribone, as well as a question she was clearly dying to know — whether or not he used his claws during the little... Transaction. Remus took dark glee in the fact that he was known for using a rather unusual weapon during his business negotiations. Known enough for Isabella to specifically ask about it, at least. And he was happy to give her the answer.
"Sadly there's not much to say. He was quick to prattle on with his usual excuses, but surprisingly he was also quick to hand over the money after I gave him an earful, as you call them," he tells the story with a grin, his eyes leaving his boss' face only long enough to look down at his nails. "Mr. Tribone was lucky that blood was the only thing to get on my kitty claws, if you know what I mean. I heard if you go deep enough, you can get a little bit of brain matter as well. I almost wish he put up more of a fight." Remus concludes the sordid tale with a laugh and a grin, joking as though the story wasn't as dark as it actually was.
The drawer slams shut as he concludes his story, and Remus shuffles to the side to give Isabella room to sit as she suddenly climbs over the desk to join him. He laughs at her comment, and though he's tempted to throw an arm around her shoulders and pull her close in solidarity, Remus knows about Isabella's need for space. He grants it to her.
"Of course, I would never want to rob you and your pooches of some fun! I— oh dear me, Bella, your hair is positively limp!" he places a hand against his chest in mock horror. "Would you allow me the honour of braiding your hair? You'd look so cute with one tucked on either side of your ears," he commented with eyes looking sorrowfully at her hair. It wasn't meant to be an insult, even if it could be taken as one — he simply wishes for his boss to look as beautiful as he thought her to be.
A sudden snort left her when he batted his eyelashes at her sending her into a fit of giggles, ” Remi please! You know I can’t handle it when you bat your eyelashes at me like that. Gets me all hot and bothered.” , she said through the laughter teasing him as she normally did. She was beyond excited to hear all about his experience taking care of Mr. Tribone, his stories never disappointed that was for sure. If nothing else Remi knew how to tell a good story, the dramatics, the pauses in just the right places, his body language, all of it, she could sit and listen to him talk all day long and never get bored.
The disappointment was obvious on her face at first when she was informed there wasn’t much to say, half expecting it to be just a good talking to and that was it. She instantly perked up when he continued a big smile reappearing back on her face, a laugh soon following. ” I was really starting to think you just talked to him! Really had me going.” She wished Remi would have plucked this man’s entire brain out, it probably wouldn’t have been hard seeing how stupid Mr. Tribone seemed to be. ” Maybe the next one will put up a good fight for you~ I’d love to see those cute little claws in action.” There was always a next one, it never failed, someone would fall behind on payments and she would send someone to collect, collect money, their life, whatever she could get first.
Her hair was limp….? What did that even mean? It looked the way it always did… She brought her hand up and ran her fingers through her hair laughing at his over-the-top reaction. His personality was one of the many reasons she absolutely adored Remi, he was who he was and there was no containing him to a nice, conformed box, if you tried it would likely slice its way out and laugh at you in the process. He offered to braid her hair and she couldn’t help but beam at the thought of having him brain her hair. ” Of course you can! How could I ever have the audacity to refuse a Quiller hairstyle? I mean look at your hair, I would be stupid to say no.” , She enjoyed feeding his ego especially when it was about his appearance. Remi had the rare honor of being one of the few people she didn’t mind touching her, it didn’t cause her skin to crawl, it didn’t send her into fight or flight mode, it was just as it should. She turned on the desk some so she was positioned with her back to him so he could have easy access to her apparently limp hair. ”Work your magic~”
He laughs at Isabella's comment about wanting to see his claws in action next time — hopefully against someone that would force his hand into using them — and he nods along with the sentiment. It was no secret that Remus rather enjoyed his unconventional weapon, and the way in which it struck fear into the hearts of those that saw him using them. They were rather gruesome and intimate, almost more so than using a simple blade, but maybe that's why he enjoyed them so much. While not necessarily one that was capable of getting close to another human being, emotionally, he still always did enjoy being in the company of others.
Blood relations or not — friendly, or not.
He grins at Isabella's initial confusion over his comment about her having flat hair, but as he assumed, she quickly caught on and found no insult where there wasn't one to begin with. He clasps his hands together with glee as she agrees to let him braid her hair, and he gives her a moment to shuffle her position around to give him better access before he leans in and begins to smooth his fingers through her silky locks. She always did have the most gorgeous hair, but the poor thing simply didn't understand how to get proper volume! That was okay though — that's what Remus was there for. To make sure his Ace always looked her best.
"Well thank you for the compliment, you gorgeous thing!" he gasps in appreciation of her praising his hairstyle, his hand flicking his hair back over his shoulder for a moment before returning back to her scalp. "Unfortunately we don't have the time right now to give you a full Quiller look. This takes me a couple hours, at minimum, to do! But hey, when you're rich and have nothing better to do, why not spend it on making yourself up, hm?" He laughs as if what he said was some kind of inside joke, and as another person used to the wealth of the Inner Citadel, he was certain she would understand what he meant.
"You really do have such gorgeous hair, Bella. I'd love a night to just do you up like a doll — I'm just afraid you'd end up ruining it with some dirt bag's blood!" he says dramatically, continuing to comb his fingers through her hair for a bit before, finally, he starts to braid. Remus starts along the left side of her head, winding only minimal amounts of hair together to give the appearance of several small braids.
Posted 08-09-2021, 03:52 PM
Cross My Heart
