The city is at war - Private with DeadEyes

Sure, they had another gang on their doorstep, but that was no reason for this drastic a reaction, not unless Lexy had heard the details about what the Jian-Long Dragons did to competitors overseas. Darius guessed that it was also the element of losing control in her own territory that heightened the reaction, she seemed like the controlling, perfectionist type, why else would she work so hard at what she did?

He caught the rather helpless look he got from David, and tried to give a similar one back. He had been in cars on long drives with his father, and nobody was more volatile than him. Sure, Darius was uneasy about the reaction, and the series of events in general, but this was far better than being found out to have had connections to the rival gang. He would have to wait before he struck out on his own to get more information, but he was planning it already, as he couldn't very well get David involved in a reconnaissance mission without revealing who exactly he was.

On the bright side, food was a good idea, and he even had money to pay for it! Stolen money. From dead men. But money all the same.

This was... posh. But Darius supposed if they had the money for it, why not? He chuckled at the half-joke, surely it couldn't be that bad, if she was drinking at a breakneck pace how long could it be before she passed out? "I don't mind driving if you want a drink and can still give directions." he replied, genuine in his offer. He had been staring out of the window long enough to vaguely get his bearings, and he would have to get used to driving around this unfamiliar city soon enough. For now, though, he would need help with exact directions.

A sidewards glance towards their leader proved his thought true, she was drinking at a pace that would put anyone else under the table in a half hour, somehow he suspected Lexy could handle a fair bit more alcohol than the average person. Taking a seat at the table, the other's words reached him and he smiled in response, his nerves had been rattled by the events today and he didn't have the mental energy to be playing the stoic. He may as well have some fun and lighten his mood. Propping his elbows on the table, and resting his head on his hands, he responded. "Likewise. I have one work-related question, and then I'll shut up about it if that's what you want." he said, his voice holding a strangely genuine tone. "What do you know about the Jian-Long Dragons? I take it Lexy knows them, if her reaction is anything to go by, but what do you know?" he asked. It would be plausible to say that he knew the gang, and had had run-ins with them back home in Korea, but they didn't need to know the extent of his experience with them. He needed to know what they knew, he had to know if they were underestimating the Dragons. If they were, this gang wouldn't last long.

They knew a fair amount, but not enough. David seemed to have no idea about the assassinations, at least. But Darius did promise not to say any more about it, and seeming to know too much about the enemy could bring him under scrutiny if they suspected him of being a spy. So he would play along with it for now. He sighed and tried to think of anything relevant, anything that he had done that was considered normal. "I don't read much English. I speak it, but I can't read it. Any books I read are Korean or Japanese. I used to read these, uh, crime thriller books and then laugh with my sister about how wrong it was. We grew up in a shit part of town when we moved to Korea, it's how I first got mixed up in all of... this." he explained, with a vague gesture to get across that he meant the criminal lifestyle generally rather than any specific situation that had landed him here. "But really, I've moved around a lot, my family doesn't talk to me anymore, and I'm just a criminal with awful luck and good aim. I don't see what's so interesting about me." he said.

There was a lot to say in the vague subjects of conversation that David had listed, and Darius had almost started saying too much, talking about what life was like when he lived in Japan. How his mother used to take him to the shop across from their apartment block to buy the newest edition of his favourite manga, how his father had then burned the manga and said it was a foolish interest and that he needed to be learning how to fight, he distinctly remembered that he cried that night, a boy of twelve with the only joy of his day destroyed. That was the cycle throughout most of his childhood, his mother would do something nice and his father would destroy whatever it was and rub salt in the wound. He doubted that David wanted to hear about that, Darius wasn't looking for pity.

There weren't a lot of people he was close to, there weren't many people who would be this insistent with him. He didn't know how to navigate it, in truth. Always so focused on work when he was with the Dragons, he had maybe two people he could really call friends, another who was... more than just a friend. That was back then, where he didn't have to watch what he said. Part of him just wanted to come clean about everything that had happened, it would be easier, something in the back of his mind told him. He was also acutely aware that he would be killed as soon as he admitted who he was, maybe not by David, there seemed to be something genuine there, but he got the impression that Lexy would in a heartbeat. It was like walking on a tightrope every time he spoke.

"Okay, what do you want to know? Specifics, if you don't mind. Easier to answer that way." Darius replied, after a moment of consideration. It was easier to answer things one question at a time, rather than allowing himself to ramble on about anything that came to mind as interesting.

Darius' face lit up when he heard the question about tattoos, that one was easy. The other two... Well, he could jump that hurdle when he got to it, right? "They can be whatever you want. If you regret it later, and then can't change it. Well, that's life. I have... too many? Well, back home, any tattoos are considered 'too many' for most people. I have a few, all of them have meaning." he replied, a look of consideration on his face for a moment, before he reached up and took his scarf off. Then, leaning over so that David could see the side of his neck, and pulling his shirt and jacket to the side slightly to reveal one of multiple tattoos. Placed where his neck meets his shoulder, was a viper, inked in green and black with orange eyes, it carried on along his collarbone and went under his shirt. "I think they mean something different here, but back home they're a symbol of power. They might be small, but they can still kill things many times bigger than them." he explained, moving the shirt back and putting the scarf back on. "The others are less visible, you don't get to see them." he said, with an air of finality.

Onto the other questions then, hopefully David would be satisfied enough with that answer that he wouldn't press too hard on the other two. "Me and my sister were close, yeah. Our father didn't want us to be, I think he liked me better and didn't want me hanging around with a kid he didn't like, even if it was his own kid. We're not close any more. I told her I was going to distance myself from the family, and she thought that was a betrayal given all that they'd done for me." he said with a shrug, "I don't care much, it's her choice to side with them." he decided. It still hurt that his sister would call him a traitor even after all that their father did to alienate her, but that was her decision and she was strong-willed enough that Darius couldn't sway her from her course.

The answer for the last question was more complicated, a few key details would have to be omitted. "Your gang was the first I ran into after coming over here. I worked a couple of arms deal jobs as a middleman, and heard through one of your vendors that you wanted someone with my skills. Plus, who wouldn't want to throw a bet in with the most powerful gang in the area?" he explained. The only thing left out? Why he chose to come over to this city in the first place. He had seen his sister's notes and knew his father well enough to guess his plans, so he chose to run and warn them in any way he could. Not that he could do that right now, they had to trust him first. "How about you? Why'd you join the gang? You must have been here a while, you're high ranking after all." he asked. David had said he would answer questions as well, and Darius only now realised how little he actually knew about the other.

It amused him the rather childish reaction, but he was completely serious and he supposed that he owed the other a better explanation than a simple refusal. "I'm not taking my shirt off. That's not happening." he replied, then paying attention to what David had to say about how he found the group, he had asked after all, so he needed to listen. There was a similarity between them, then, they both seemed to have bad fathers. There was a sense of kinship in knowing that, not that Darius would express it. "A runaway. Not something I would have guessed." he responded to the story, though aside from the comment, didn't offer much in the way of explanation. Street kids and runaways tended to be hotheaded and impulsive, generally plucky, from what Darius had known, David seemed calmer than that but maybe that was down to him following Lexy's orders.

"It's hardly boring. I mean, you went out of your way to attack someone just because of wounded pride? Seems a bit much. But I suppose it worked out in the end, right?" he said. Of course, the story of this particular gang could be over very soon, if he didn't do what he came here to, so everything hadn't worked out just yet. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on the thought, however, and took a moment to consider a question. "Hey, where would you say is the best place to live in the city?" he asked, he needed to get to know the city, what better way than to ask someone who worked around it?

( bump? )

( It's fine!! I get that real life gets in the way sometimes. I have my first real academic essay coming up, so idk how that's gonna affect my activity here tbh. )

That smile could not mean anything good, Darius was sure of that much. "I would have expected you to have family in the business before you. You're good at what you do, saying that you learned it in a few years. Well, it's rare to find that. Usually people who are good grow up with crime. Runaways tend to think being with a gang is all fun and games, when they lose that sense of 'this is a get rich quick ticket' they bail. From what I've seen anyway." He responded. Perhaps it was the culture he grew up in, with its immense value on the bond of family, but those not born into criminal families were never there completely. It was idealised, and when that turned out badly, they ran back to what was familiar. Those born into crime had no choice but to be good at what they did, there was no alternative.

He used to have a penthouse suite in Seoul, it overlooked the whole city, a stunning view that he almost wished he could go back to. Darius was starting to fear that there was nothing like that here, not that it mattered, he could live on base until he found something he liked enough to sell some of his guns for. "I think I'll stay at base for a while, until I can figure something out. If it annoys me too much, I'll be sure to ask about the couch." he replied. "Any other pressing questions?" he asked, wanting to continue the conversation, but also trying to be mindful of Lexy's state. He didn't know if she was unpredictable when drunk, and it's better to be over-vigilant that to end up cleaning up other peoples' mess.