Secret Meaning and Hidden Thoughts (Luci)

[Bellamy]

Bellamy heaved a sigh as he sat at the bar, nursing his fifth tumbler of what he called gasoline. He looked around, where was she? They had set the meeting for here, and judging by the watch on his wrist, now was the time. He looked around the bar and sighed again. Oh how he wished for cell phones and texting in this world, like he'd had in the old world. Instead he was forced to wait for her, staring at each drunken face in the small tavern she'd built.


He'd wandered alone in the wastes for years, trying to find somewhere he belonged. Then he'd found Exophora, and here... He'd belonged alright, he'd belonged to Morbus, the tyrant. Having been caught just outside the gate, and putting up one hell of a fight, Bellamy was taken into custody and made into a guard. Oh how he hated it, Bellamy had tried everything to escape the tyrant. But he was always found. Then... Then the Undertaker came, and he whispered in Bellamy's ear about things only someone who'd met Morbus could know. 


Two years after being captured and held prisoner, Bellamy had his way out. He'd bargained with the Undertaker, and given the strange man the one thing he had, that was his secret though, not even the woman he waited for knew what he'd given to the Voodoo King, and now, a new chapter of his life was beginning. So he sat, he drank and he waited patiently for that strong woman to finally make her entrance. 

[Lucinda]

She was cleaning the small back room, wiping down the table in fact, when she's checked her pocket watch - wound every morning at nine o'clock like it was the most important thing in the world - and realized she was late. "Fuck," she spat, throwing the rag down on the table before slipping into her private washroom.

A little dirt and grime was expected here in Exophora, but as Lucinda wiped her face with a little clean water (her only indulgence), she thought. Yes, her skin was her most complimented feature, but then, wasn't that sometimes a bad thing? Who knew if someone was a skin-stealing murderer?

Finally, she slipped out of the back room, fingers sliding over her ponytail band, and moved behind the bar. "Sorry I'm late," she said smoothly to Bellamy. "Trying to get the back room ready for...well, you know." She slipped out from behind the counter then, seating herself on a stool. "The bulletin board could probably use a recruitment ad," she murmured. "It's not like we hide ourselves, is it?"

[Bellamy]

Bellamy looked at Luci, a smirk on his face. Yeah, she was gorgeous, he was proud to call her... what exactly was she to him? His second, yes, but to him; she was someone he counted on. He scratched his grimy face a moment.

"Yeah, probably could. Morbus knows we are here, at least... He knows who the rebels are, I don't think he's caught on to me though." Bellamy glanced around and then looked at Luci again. "We need to get more people in here, Luci, soon." He mumbled, patting down his pockets for a pack of cigarettes. He had his vices, smoking was one yes, he made sure the herbs he used were watched closely and contained. He pulled out one of the hand rolled cigarettes from the battered silver case and stuck it to his lips, once there he used a match to light it.

"He's making some moves, the Tyrant... Though I can't be sure as to what. Our people within the walls haven't been made aware, only the rumor is... The rumor is that he's going to strike within our walls. Here possibly." He was whispering around that cigarette now, leaned close to her ear. His blue eyes scanned her neck and he smiled.

[Lucinda]

Luci reached under the bar, grabbing a bottle of vodka she'd gotten in trade about six weeks ago and had been holding onto. "He wouldn't dare hit the Phoenix," she said, untwisting the cap and taking a tiny sip. "Brings in too much revenue, and rumors from outside. Plus, we're right on the edge of town. When they come, we're the warning system for this edge."



Bars in the Old West had been the best source of gossip and news from the world beyond the towns. Well, it'd gone back to that when the world went to shit. Especially if said bar was the first place travelers from east of town came to. Strangers, merchants, and such all came to the Killing Phoenix if they were heading west. So Luci's location was ideal and yet not. When the baggers came, the Phoenix was their first point of attack on the eastern edge of town. That was why Luci directed a strict on-grounds no-attack policy despite the fact that she let her patrons wear their weapons. If baggers came, everyone had to be a unit.



"How many have we got on the inside?" she whispered right back, letting one hand brush against his arm as she drummed her fingertips lightly on the neck of her vodka bottle. She'd share if he asked. She just didn't know if he would, given that gasoline he drank.



She wondered sometimes what they really were to each other. Yeah, she was his second in command, and sometimes had to be the face, but on a personal level? Were they friends? Something else? She had no goddamn clue.