Everybody Talks Back

[Peyton Riley]

(February 8. Open to Wesker and Peyton.)

"Alright, Daddy, see ya. I'll hold down the fort 'til Johnny gets here."

Peyton gave a plastic smile to her father and a red tipped finger-nailed wave of her hand as she clutched her purse tightly to her stomach. She knew full well that Johnny Sabatino, her finacee was not going to show up but how could she disappoint her father by telling him otherwise. As he left her smile folded, pushing back her golden blond locks and letting out an annoyed groan. She shifted her ruby heels on the hardwood floor and turned towards the club.

It was an old fashioned club; something that looked like it was out of the 20's. The marble banisters and stairs which led down onto the dance floor. An old fashioned shiny wooden stage where instruments lay without players. A bar where a man in a white jacket and black tie was serving dry martini's and gin. It was Peyton's favorite bar. Everything was in the past and everyone in Gotham liked to come there to have some fun from gangsters to elite to entertainers.

Peyton was aware everyone in the club had seen her arrive with her father. Sean Reilly was known far and wide as the leader of the Irish Mob in Gotham, at least among these patrons.

She sighed, taking a seat at a silver round table close to the stage and away from the speakers. She removed her plush fur coat and waved a waiter over. "What'll ya have Miss Reilly?"

"Just get me a sloe gin fizz, Mike." The waiter buzzed off and Peyton sighed, rubbing her arm unconsciously.

[Wesker/Scarface]

In a corner of the club, with a clear, but unobtrusive view of the front door, Arnold Wesker sat. He nervously twirled the half-empty glass of scotch in one hand. The other hand supported Scarface. In stark contrast to Wesker's nervous demeanor, the puppet appeared calm, and almost confrontational, wooden eyes flicking right to left, seeming to take everything in.

Scarface's eyes narrowed as Peyton entered the club. Sean Riley was instantly recognized, and Scarface had insisted that Wesker find out everything he could about the Irish Mob Boss's connections, including family.

"Here's our chance, Dummy. Dat's da boss's daughter," Scarface said, nudging Wesker as he spoke.

Arnold flinched a bit as the puppet's elbow thumped against his ribs. He looked around nervously, then spotted Peyton at the bar. To him, she looked tired, and not in the mood for a conversation.

"I don't think now is the best-" Arnold began, his protest quelled when Scarface turned to glower at him.

"Dummy, you don't do da thinkin', I do da thinkin'. Now go play nice with da dame," Scarface growled.

Arnold gulped, tugged at his shirt collar, then slowly stood up, lifting Scarface carefully as he did so. He headed towards a seat at the bar next to Peyton, straightening his tie as he did so. He settled carefully onto the bar stool, balancing Scarface on his lap. "Um, single malt scotch, please."

While he waited for his drink, he glanced nervously over at Peyton, then at Scarface, then back at Peyton. "Um, you look like you've had a rough day."

[Peyton Riley]

Drink delivered, Peyton handed the bartender her shiny black credit card to open a tap. Blonde female pushed her hair back over her shoulder and lifted the glass to her painted lips. Her head raised towards the nervous voice which had addressed her. Her crystal blue eyes blinked a few times before looking towards the male and taking him in. She had to blink a couple of times, lips parted in confusion. There stood a man, fairly attractive but nervous and jittery looking. He was smartly dressed but looked a tad out of place in this collection of hardened criminals. But clearly something else caught her eye.

A smartly dressed ventriloquist's dummy was sitting on his lap. She peered at the dummy, then at the young man. She swirled the thin straw in her gin and gave the young man a smile. "Everyone's got rough days in Gotham,," she said, nodding at the dummy, "So, what's your story? You the entertainment for tonight?"

[Wesker/Scarface]

Arnold had nervously taken his seat, fingers fidgeting with his tie as he watched Peyton look at him, and blink. He relaxed a bit as she spoke, and smiled. A smile crossed his own face until...

"So, what's your story? You the entertainment for tonight?"

He glanced down at Scarface, afraid that the puppet might take offense at the question. And, indeed, Scarface's eyes were narrowing at the remark.

"What? Oh, no! That's not... I mean, we're looking for work-" he said quickly, trying to forestall an angry outburst from Scarface.

"Shaddup, Dummy. No, we ain't tonight's entertainment. We're here to get a job in the business. The 'family' business," Scarface explained calmly, keeping his voice down, looking straight at Peyton. "And we's ready ta do whatever it takes to prove ourselves."

[Peyton Riley]

Peyton smiled, amused by the man's nervousness. She crossed her legs over each other, revealing the slit which made its way up the dress. She wasn't trying to be seductive; she did it unconsciously in fact. She tossed her hair over the side of her pale shoulder as he continued, raising the glass to her lips. But a voice from the dummy stopped her. Her pearl blue eyes widened.

"Shaddup, Dummy. No, we ain't tonight's entertainment. We're here to get a job in the business. The 'family' business. And we's ready ta do whatever it takes to prove ourselves."

She covered her mouth to hide an amused giggle. He was asking for a job through the little wooden puppet before him. She looked at Wesker's face, not at Scarface's. Obviously the puppet wasn't speaking.

"The 'family' business, huh?" She purred, "Well, do you come separately or do we get the accessory as well?"

[Wesker/Scarface]

Arnold got even more nervous when Peyton addressed him instead of Scarface. Sweating a bit, he nervously straightened his tie, and took a sip of his scotch, looking everywhere but at Peyton. Meanwhile, Scarface's eyes had narrowed and his teeth clenched together as he looked up at Peyton.

"I'd da one ya should be talkin' to, sweetheart. Not Dummy. He's not da boss, and I ain't no accessory, see? I'm da brains here," he growled.

Wesker gulped, and rubbed his forehead with a handkerchief, blotting the sweat off his brow. "He's right. I'm not the one to talk to," he muttered, still not looking at her. The thought of facing Scarface's anger scared him.

[Peyton Riley]

Peyton's eyes narrowed. This HAD to be a gimmick. The doll sitting on his lap was speaking as if he was the brains. Was he just too nervous to speak to her? Female's eyebrow raised as she tossed her hair to the side again. She gave an amused smile. "You're adorable," she said, addressing Wesker. She tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips and staring at the doll.

"Alright, Pinocchio," she said, fiddling in her purse, "Let's here what you have to say." She pulled a cigarette out of her purse. Unlike New York, you could still smoke in Gotham restaurants and bars. She held the pack towards him.

"Y'got a light, handsome?"

[Wesker/Scarface]

Arnold felt his face flushing as she called him adorable. If he wasn't so scared of what Scarface might say, or do, he'd likely be on his way outside right now to get some fresh air. Then he flinched as she addressed Scarface as Pinocchio. The last person who'd done so had been left dead in a dumpster. Of course, the guy hadn't been the daughter of one of Gotham's most powerful Mob Families, either. Hoping to forestall an angry outburst, he hurriedly reached around in his pockets for a lighter, hand shaking as he accepted a cigarette, and lit the lighter, holding the flame out for Peyton.

"Alright, foist thing's foist. You call me Scarface, not Pinocchio. I ain't some singin' puppet. Now, here's what we'se got to offer," Scarface said, keeping his tone civil. As he spoke, Wesker pulled out a folded sheaf of newspaper clippings from inside his coat, holding them out to Peyton, cigarette unlit in his front coat pocket. The clippings were news coverage of various crimes, from various robberies, to a number of low-level Mob contracts on various marks. None of the cases had any leads. Or suspects."Dese are some of our credentials. Whatever you need, we can deliver. Youse want somethin', we can acquire it. Youse want someone rubbed out, just say da word. Bang. It's done. You got a beef wit' some clown, we can 'persuade' whoever it is to realize da error of their ways," Scarface stated, eyes fixed on Peyton.

[Peyton Riley]

"Thanks." Peyton was intrigued, amused. The blonde female lifted her head softly as she heard the puppet speak. He was very expressive, very nasty it seemed. She pressed the cigarette to her lips, lowering her hand and snatching up the newspaper clippings. The smoke billowed above her head as she stared, reading the papers before her. She let out a couple of amused 'hmms' and 'interesting.'

She turned up her pearl blue orbs towards the male before her. She kept her eyes on him but it seemed her voice was trained on the puppet. "Alright, Mr. Scarface," she purred, "You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention." She felt silly, talking to the puppet. But if the nervous male before her didn't want to talk then she was alright with that.

She took another puff on the cigarette. "So you want to work for my Father," she said, eyes narrowing, "Why? You sound more like you should be runnin' with the Sabatinos, not the Rileys."

[Wesker/Scarface]

While Wesker wavered between looking at his drink, and glancing at Peyton out of the corner of his eye, Scarface leaned back, regarding her calmly. Truth was, he and Wesker had sorted through all of the gossip, rumors, and small talk regarding the relationship between the Rileys and the Sabatinos. They'd learned that Peyton had been engaged to Johnny. And they'd learned, via some 'persuasion' of a low-level Sabatino mook, that Johnny was as likely to be found plastered on the floor of a bar as he was to actually do something productive.

"I considered de Sabatinos, but I wasn't impressed wit de way dey do business," he said, choosing his words carefully. He wasn't completely sure, yet, how Peyton felt about her fiance, worthless though he was. "And facts is facts. We stands a better chance of gettin da respect we deserves workin for da Rileys."

Scarface figured that the Sabatinos would favor Italians over non-Italians. And, one thing he'd purposefully left out was, old as he was, Sean Riley wouldn't be alive for too much longer, in all likelihood. And when he either retired, or passed on, there'd be plenty of opportunities for advancement.

[Peyton Riley]

"I considered de Sabatinos, but I wasn't impressed wit de way dey do business. And facts is facts. We stands a better chance of gettin da respect we deserves workin for da Rileys."

"Mhm." She took another drag on her cigarette. What he said was true; Johnny was two shots of scotch away from being a drunkard and drunks didn't do business well. It was why her Irish father had stopped drinking a bit ago. That and his doctor told him to. With a little prodding from Peyton herself, Daddy had quit drinking and now had diet cokes and ginger ales with meetings. It was seen as a little sad, an Irishman who never touched the creature during a meeting, but Peyton was happy her father was trying to get healthy.

She returned her thoughts to the puppet. Her eyes glanced back up at the nervous man holding the mob boss dummy. "What's your story?" She purred, "You just the man pulling the strings so to speak? Or do you get in on the action?"