as written by Krysis and Script
The jail was comfortable enough now that it was nearly empty. There was room for a hundred prisoners, so each of the formerly powerful people had their own cell. The lack of guards might make some of them bold, but not Cebrián Arce. The fallen Presidente laid on his cot and bemoaned his fate from the moment he had woken up.
With a dramatic sigh and shaking his hands at the ceiling, Arce spoke with the ringing tones of a man that believed he was always in the spotlight. "How could it have come to this? All I wanted was to give them a reason to be proud of our island. Why were they not happy to have a tank?"
Self-centered as he was, Cebrián did not wait for an answer before he changed the subject, "Perhaps Carmina will bring us breakfast sometime soon. Surely my beloved cook has not forgotten me so quickly! I should not count on my butler, because Julio hates me. He was probably the one that locked us out of the silver closet and cost us valuable time. I do not know why I kept him on as butler, except as sentiment for how much Hillary liked him. You never met my first wife, did you, Kaito?"
The cells all had solid side walls, but merely bars along the 'front', which faced a wide hallway. There were windows, high, small, and also barred. With glass to keep the weather out, they faced inward on the same courtyard that was meant for exercise. Even early in the morning, heat was starting to pour in from outside and hint at how miserably hot and humid the cells were going to be in the afternoon.
____
"Never," Kaito replied. The losenyu bodyguard was crouched, catlike, in his cell, listening to the lapping of waves in the distance. His jacket and shirt were discarded to the side of the chamber to keep the heat at bay, leaving his heavily tattooed upper half visible. A variety of traditional losenyu symbols were inscribed upon him, ranging from a dragon twined around his right arm in an intricate sleeve, to the profile of a tiger upon his neck and upper chest.
He was rapidly growing tired of listening to the former Presidente's lamentations - whilst he was plenty used to the man's eccentricities, up until this point he'd been being paid for putting up with them. He somehow doubted that, in his current predicament, Cebrián's money would keep flowing as freely as his words.
Since the man would no doubt immediately launch into another rant upon Kaito's brief reply, he remained silent for a time, before interrupting him. "How likely would you say they are to try and execute us?" he inquired. Whilst he doubted that Arce was exactly 'in tune' with the islanders, as made evident by their revolution, Kaito himself had never bothered to learn much in the way of local customs, nor to get to know any of the island's people. He reasoned that the former Presidente would at least be able to guess at their fate better than he could.
Plus, whether it was likely or not, it would be amusing to watch the man squirm over the idea.
____
The expected rant turned out to be a softer thing, as the foolish man has since convinced himself that he actually loved his first wife. He has forgotten that he had celebrated her death by getting roaring drunk with his mistress of the time. So he was gladly telling of the charms of his deceased wives, Hillary the foreign wealthy cancer victim, and Desideria, the mistress that betrayed him and was killed by one of the bodyguards.
That interruption stopped him cold though, and Arce sat up to stare in the direction of Kaito, though a wall was between them.
"Execute? Us? Impossible! The people love me!" Cebrián Arce's ego knew few limits, so he honestly believed he was adored. After all, the people Had elected him so many times, and he was unaware of how the elections had been rigged.
Reduced from his usual regalia to a simple white t-shirt and khaki pants, the former presidente looked rather shrunken and small. Even his mustache was not as grand seeming as it once was. In his head, he was still as impressive as the statues that had been torn down the night before.
After a moment he admitted, "Maybe I am not as beloved as I have been lead to believe, but why bother to put us in jail if they are going to execute us? When the tempers cool and their blood no longer boils, I think my people will be rational about this."
____
"Boiled blood may cool, but spilled blood stays spilled," Kaito noted. "The families of the recently dead are unlikely to be rational. I guess we'll just have to see whether the rest listen to them."
He flopped backwards into a seated position, stretching out lazily. "Who knows? I might even still be here when they make up their minds."
The jail cell was of questionable quality, as far as he could tell. Clearly designed to hold rather more mundane criminals than he, he didn't doubt that he could improvise an escape if it came to it. It was just a matter of whether there was more money to be made here.
____
At about that time, there was a bit of a ruckus at the front of the jail. A woman's voice, a very familiar voice, was demanding something. Though the distance was too great for words, the tone was easily read.
A quieter male demurral was almost drowned out as Cebrián jumped from his cot and pushed against the bars so he could reach as far as he could towards the voice of his wife.
"Soledad! Here! Here! I am here!" The ex-presidente cried out with glad confidence, sure that the woman he now loved would rescue them. After all, she had hired Kaito and the others to protect him. Surely that meant that she really cared for his safety... right?
When there was no answer, Arce sank to his knees, still leaning against the bars. "Soledad?" He asked plaintively, "She is my hope. Why would she abandon me?", in his usual, selfish and dramatic way.
____
"Give her a fucking chance," Kaito rolled his eyes. "Why would she be here, and not on the next boat to anywhere-fucking-else, if she'd abandoned you? I know that's where I'd be if I were her. Can't imagine the people love her much more than they love you."
Still, it would be good if Soledad did manage to get through to talk to them. He really needed to ask her whether the money was going to keep coming, or if Arce ending up in prison counted as failing in his duties. As far as he was concerned, the fact that only the presidente's pride had been bruised was achievement enough, considering the number of islanders he'd had to gut before they decided to transition from an attempted lynching to a citizen's arrest. It wasn't even as though he hadn't given them fair warning.
Kaito took a breath and tried to tune Cebrian out, straining his ears to listen to the conversation outside. The Tiger enhanced his senses to a limited degree, so picking up on the words was well within his reach.
The jail was comfortable enough now that it was nearly empty. There was room for a hundred prisoners, so each of the formerly powerful people had their own cell. The lack of guards might make some of them bold, but not Cebrián Arce. The fallen Presidente laid on his cot and bemoaned his fate from the moment he had woken up.
With a dramatic sigh and shaking his hands at the ceiling, Arce spoke with the ringing tones of a man that believed he was always in the spotlight. "How could it have come to this? All I wanted was to give them a reason to be proud of our island. Why were they not happy to have a tank?"
Self-centered as he was, Cebrián did not wait for an answer before he changed the subject, "Perhaps Carmina will bring us breakfast sometime soon. Surely my beloved cook has not forgotten me so quickly! I should not count on my butler, because Julio hates me. He was probably the one that locked us out of the silver closet and cost us valuable time. I do not know why I kept him on as butler, except as sentiment for how much Hillary liked him. You never met my first wife, did you, Kaito?"
The cells all had solid side walls, but merely bars along the 'front', which faced a wide hallway. There were windows, high, small, and also barred. With glass to keep the weather out, they faced inward on the same courtyard that was meant for exercise. Even early in the morning, heat was starting to pour in from outside and hint at how miserably hot and humid the cells were going to be in the afternoon.
____
"Never," Kaito replied. The losenyu bodyguard was crouched, catlike, in his cell, listening to the lapping of waves in the distance. His jacket and shirt were discarded to the side of the chamber to keep the heat at bay, leaving his heavily tattooed upper half visible. A variety of traditional losenyu symbols were inscribed upon him, ranging from a dragon twined around his right arm in an intricate sleeve, to the profile of a tiger upon his neck and upper chest.
He was rapidly growing tired of listening to the former Presidente's lamentations - whilst he was plenty used to the man's eccentricities, up until this point he'd been being paid for putting up with them. He somehow doubted that, in his current predicament, Cebrián's money would keep flowing as freely as his words.
Since the man would no doubt immediately launch into another rant upon Kaito's brief reply, he remained silent for a time, before interrupting him. "How likely would you say they are to try and execute us?" he inquired. Whilst he doubted that Arce was exactly 'in tune' with the islanders, as made evident by their revolution, Kaito himself had never bothered to learn much in the way of local customs, nor to get to know any of the island's people. He reasoned that the former Presidente would at least be able to guess at their fate better than he could.
Plus, whether it was likely or not, it would be amusing to watch the man squirm over the idea.
____
The expected rant turned out to be a softer thing, as the foolish man has since convinced himself that he actually loved his first wife. He has forgotten that he had celebrated her death by getting roaring drunk with his mistress of the time. So he was gladly telling of the charms of his deceased wives, Hillary the foreign wealthy cancer victim, and Desideria, the mistress that betrayed him and was killed by one of the bodyguards.
That interruption stopped him cold though, and Arce sat up to stare in the direction of Kaito, though a wall was between them.
"Execute? Us? Impossible! The people love me!" Cebrián Arce's ego knew few limits, so he honestly believed he was adored. After all, the people Had elected him so many times, and he was unaware of how the elections had been rigged.
Reduced from his usual regalia to a simple white t-shirt and khaki pants, the former presidente looked rather shrunken and small. Even his mustache was not as grand seeming as it once was. In his head, he was still as impressive as the statues that had been torn down the night before.
After a moment he admitted, "Maybe I am not as beloved as I have been lead to believe, but why bother to put us in jail if they are going to execute us? When the tempers cool and their blood no longer boils, I think my people will be rational about this."
____
"Boiled blood may cool, but spilled blood stays spilled," Kaito noted. "The families of the recently dead are unlikely to be rational. I guess we'll just have to see whether the rest listen to them."
He flopped backwards into a seated position, stretching out lazily. "Who knows? I might even still be here when they make up their minds."
The jail cell was of questionable quality, as far as he could tell. Clearly designed to hold rather more mundane criminals than he, he didn't doubt that he could improvise an escape if it came to it. It was just a matter of whether there was more money to be made here.
____
At about that time, there was a bit of a ruckus at the front of the jail. A woman's voice, a very familiar voice, was demanding something. Though the distance was too great for words, the tone was easily read.
A quieter male demurral was almost drowned out as Cebrián jumped from his cot and pushed against the bars so he could reach as far as he could towards the voice of his wife.
"Soledad! Here! Here! I am here!" The ex-presidente cried out with glad confidence, sure that the woman he now loved would rescue them. After all, she had hired Kaito and the others to protect him. Surely that meant that she really cared for his safety... right?
When there was no answer, Arce sank to his knees, still leaning against the bars. "Soledad?" He asked plaintively, "She is my hope. Why would she abandon me?", in his usual, selfish and dramatic way.
____
"Give her a fucking chance," Kaito rolled his eyes. "Why would she be here, and not on the next boat to anywhere-fucking-else, if she'd abandoned you? I know that's where I'd be if I were her. Can't imagine the people love her much more than they love you."
Still, it would be good if Soledad did manage to get through to talk to them. He really needed to ask her whether the money was going to keep coming, or if Arce ending up in prison counted as failing in his duties. As far as he was concerned, the fact that only the presidente's pride had been bruised was achievement enough, considering the number of islanders he'd had to gut before they decided to transition from an attempted lynching to a citizen's arrest. It wasn't even as though he hadn't given them fair warning.
Kaito took a breath and tried to tune Cebrian out, straining his ears to listen to the conversation outside. The Tiger enhanced his senses to a limited degree, so picking up on the words was well within his reach.
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