Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ben leaned back casually against the wall behind him, while crossing his arms against his chest. He listened to Chance as he spoke like his usual self, though there was something different, perhaps darker about the way the man spoke. He shot a look of short lived amusement at Damian as he uttered a joke about whipping up some lost souls for Chance. His smirk disappeared once he turned back to Chance.

"The Agency is prosperous as it always has been under my leadership, at least for the time being. These new wars, however, are a blessing for the Agency, but also a problem that requires immediate attention..." He reached into a pouch at his waist, taking out a garlic clove and popping it into his mouth. It was a habit he had recently acquired.

"...A problem, that men like Damian can solve." He raised an eyebrow at Damian as he finished, before turning back to Chance. "Damian is one of the best Thieves in Aes. I've been watching him for almost half a year now, and he is very resourceful in his trade."

He paused, and popped another garlic clove into his mouth, contemplating. Chance's lack of specifics didn't escape Ben.

"So. Let's hear what you have been up to, and what you will be up to in the near future." After a moment, his eyes fell on Damian. He paused.

"Unless this is a conversation best had in private?" He turned his head to Chance as he spoke, giving Chance the opportunity to be more direct.

Damian chuckled at Ben's words, how Flattering. Half a year of surveillance and Damian had not once suspected. It looked like Ben was damn good at his job too. He waved his hand in the air "Oh you, Flattery will get you no where!" He looked over to Chance who continued to stare him down. Information was dangerous. Knowing too much got you killed, too little and you were disposable. Damian always tried to keep a fair balance. When Ben asked if the matter should be discussed in private Damian shrugged. He didn't care either way. However they were in him residence and it would make him a bad host if he left them them. The more Ben spoke the better Damian liked him. Chance seemed to be a different story. The thief returned his cold stare with an equally nonchalant one. He watched Chance smoked his pipe unintentionally entering the little staring contest.

Upon Eerie Notes Rises the Dawn; -- Eyes finally broke the lock they had held on Damian as Ben spoke to the effect of his question. Eyes shifted meticulously between the two men, while his right hand held the long brass opium pipe aloft and near his mouth, which occasionally took a drag from it. The eyes of his guardians never left Chance, as if waiting for some yet unknown signal to leap into action, the slick rifles laying across their laps at the ready. Ben was quick to break from his own cocoon of deception, like a demonic entity breaking through a giant egg to be unleashed upon the new day.

When Ben had reached the door, Chance's eyes finally fell back to Damian, offering a sympathetic, if not a little creepy squint. "Too bad, Old Top." Words were laced with the last inhale of the potent smoke before he put a lid on the small device, snuffing it out. He rose up from the couch like a spider unfurling from it's web, seeming to grow with every movement of his spindly body. Pipe was slipped into his robes before his shemagh was lifted from around his neck and wrapped about the area beneath his eyes but leaving his shaved head exposed as he made his exit.

Stepping into the hall before Ben, he took the moment to offer only a passing nod toward the elevator before giving pause to wait for the man to finish up with his newest recruit. The two swarthy figures creeping down the hallway, one taking the stairs down and the other calling their automated elevation machine to reach the lobby. When all was well and the two were on the way, Chance finally began to speak - his voice made deeper by the folded clothe over his mouth, but still crystal clear.

"It's good to see you again. I wasn't sure about what happened after that mess." Words were spoken casually, and with an air of matter of factness, but the sidelong glance he gave to the man showed he was genuine. With pleasantries out of the way and enough distance from the room he began his real commentary. "Are you familiar with the moniker - Draak?" About that time the familiar tone of the elevator arriving rang out, and in he walked, along with his little friend.

To the uninformed the name would only inspire the same reaction one might get for telling a bad ghost story around the fire. But to those with their fingers on the pulse knew it to be a real figure, and by all accounts a real pain in the a** within the demilitarized zones of the occurring conflict. Between misinformation and wild exaggeration, the character and his regime were as ghosts - their legends still fresh on the tongues of those trapped within the hell of war.

Ben stopped at the doorway, and turned to Damian after Chance left the room with his men.

"I'm putting a lot of faith in you, Damian, by asking you to be a part of this." He paused, and raised his hand to his mask. "..Don't make me regret it, alright?" He pulled down the mask slightly so his eyes were vaguely visible, and winked at the Thief, before putting it back up, causing his voice to be muffled once again.

"Wait for my message. Until then, enjoy yourself. The Frisky Falcon has a pretty decent selection of fine beverages." He chuckled, though the statement was obviously a hint that Ben knew Damian would probably catch on to.

And with that, he exited the room, leaving the Thief by himself once again.

Ben made his way to the elevator calmly, beside Chance. He turned his masked face to the side slightly, as Chance spoke. "It's good to see you too. I am glad you are still alive, though it's hardly a surprise." He chuckled after he spoke, the air of causality seeming to spread from Chance to himself.

Ben had not, however, expected the next set of muffled words that escaped his comrades mouth. Under his mask, his face hardened at the name, and his silence was broken by the ding of the elevator as it opened. The two of them stepped inside, and Ben was silent for a moment, contemplating.

As the elevator doors began to close, Ben turned his masked face to Chance once again. "Yeah, though I'm surprised to hear the name from you." The assassin refrained from saying more, partly because he was curious as to what Chance would say next.

Ben looked at Chance curiously, neither expecting those last few words, nor surprised by them. If there was anyone that was capable of the things they were speaking of, it would definitely be his friend Chance.

He cocked his head, now more intrigued than he was a moment ago. "Oh? Do tell." Underneath his mask, a smile played at the corner of his mouth, heedless of Chance's sudden growth of imposition. Chance never ceased to surprise him. What this would mean for Ben, would be determined by the next set of words from Chances mouth.

Ben nodded silently as he accompanied Chance, listening to him as he explained the 'squabble' that took place last night. Ben, of course, was well aware of the incident, for one of his agent's was almost caught in the cross fire of it. He had placed several Agent's within the Aes ranks, who had been reporting any change of plans directly to Ben. One just so happened to be in one of those patrols.

He glanced over at Chance after he spoke of setting up shop, and followed him out into the lobby, ignoring the odd looks thrown in their direction. Of course, Ben couldn't blame them, a huge man who's features were hidden under wrapped cloth walking with a smaller, lengthier man masked in full assassin gear was definitely an odd and somewhat threatening sight. As if on cue, the Agent he had in the lobby walked up to them, holding up a black cloak and stepping to the side, so that Ben wouldn't have to break his pace as he passed him. Ben casually reached out and grabbed the cloak without acknowledging his Agent, and slipped it over his black leather armor that housed a multitude of daggers and weapons just as they exited the lobby.

The now cloaked figure of Ben walked next to Chance out in the open, though this time he got less stares than in the lobby. Without glancing at Chance, he replied to his first question.

"I hate beating around the bush." His voice was muffled and blunt, though it harbored no ill will. Behind his mask, he grinned slightly.

"If I had any contracts on 'Draak', I would have placed contact poison that slowly eats through cloth on you when I hugged you earlier." His slight grin grew at his own words, though Ben's demeanor and word play would have made it clear that Chance was still a friend and ally, though it was annoying that Chance happened to be 'Draak', one of the few individuals that Ben had trouble getting eyes on.

"So lets get to the point. What is my old friend planning with all this?" Ben had always been a straightforward individual, and he was very curious to know what it was that Chance was up to. Being a friend to the most notorious crime lord in Thesaurum meant that excitement would be a common emotion.

Ben followed Chance into the tent, smirking at his friends comment. Truth was, the anticipation was what killed his sense of theatricality. He watched with admiration at the concise actions of all his men, as they moved and brought out all sorts of documents, information, and maps and laid them out before himself and Chance. It was like an orchestra moving in unison, directed only by Chances entrance. He glanced around at all the men, then at Chance, a wondrous look of admiration still on his face, though it was hidden underneath his mask.

Glancing down at all the carefully gathered information before him, Ben stared at the sheets that involved the coordinates of the Council Members. He read, slightly awed by what he was seeing. He had to admit, the only other organization he had ever knew to be capable of this level of discipline, organization, and quality of careful planning was his own creation, the Agency.

He looked over at Chance from behind his mask, eyebrow raised at the thought of what implications such an action would mean for the faction of Lucidus. It was an interesting thought, one that he had to admit that he had never thought of.

"I have to hand it to you, you definitely don't think small." He emitted a chuckle, turning his attention back to the maps and documents before him. 'Such organization, such careful execution of long thought out plans....' He smiled at the corner of his mouth, as his eyes went back to the information pertaining to the Council. '...Brilliant.'

"See, this is just another reason why you and I get along so well." He stood, glancing around at all the silent men around the table once again. These men were just as disciplined and organized as his own Agency members. The thought of kidnapping a floating faction was ridiculous at first thought, though when examining the information before him, Ben had realized that i could be done. To what ends though?

"So. Where does this put us? What will such leverage be used for?" He was curious as to where his friend was going with this, but he felt that old familiar twitch in his knife hand, and he remembered that he had eventually planned to rid the faction of the Council and its corruption.