Rose didn't usually eat at fancy places unless she had to endure a business meeting, or was trying to get on a target's good side. It was rare that she did it for something she actually cared about. Stepping into the restaurant, named the Thil Ath Scient, she spotted her sister immediately. The place was full of people, but she knew her sister, and had plenty of experience spotting people in a crowd. She walked over, giving Ella a toothy grin.
"So they just let anyone in here now, huh?" Rose said.
"Because clearly, the Thil Ath Scient is known to vet its clientele and only let the most upstanding of citizens in," Ella shot back as she got up from the table for a hug.
Rose hugged her back, then made a show of looking around at the restaurant and nodding thoughtfully as Ella sat back down. "Fair point," Rose said as she sat across from her. "Well, little miss upstanding citizen," - Ella raised a middle finger in her direction - "How have your business ventures been going?"
"Right into business, huh? Not even any small talk?" Ella raised an eyebrow.
Rose shrugged in response. "Hey, it's what I'm used to. If you feel like talking about the weather or something, go right ahead."
Ella rolled her eyes. "My 'business' is good, for the most part. A do-gooder has been trying to get me arrested, which is part of why I wanted to meet with you," she said, looking a little embarrassed.
"Aww, my little sis needs my help?" Rose said, grinning.
Ella raised another middle finger at Rose. "Go fuck yourself," she said, but she couldn't help but grin back. "Seventeen minutes difference and I get to hear about it for the rest of my life."
"You bet you do," Rose said. "Not my fault you're a sore loser."
"Maybe I'll find someone else to kill this guy for me," Ella said, looking mock thoughtful. "Someone less full of themselves, perhaps."
Rose scoffed and gave Ella a middle finger of her own. "As if you know anyone who could do it as well as I can."
Ella smirked. "You don't know who I know."
Rose chuckled, but was interrupted by the server taking their orders. Once he was gone, Ella took out a piece of paper and handed it to Rose. Written on it was a name and the address of an apartment block.
"That's the information I have. I figured the amazing Rose Keres could figure out the details."
"Fuck off," Rose said, still smiling. "Yeah, I can work with this. Any specific time frame?"
Ella groaned. "The sooner the better. The guy's been a pain in my ass."
"And how about payment?" Rose raised an eyebrow and grinned.
"How about I pay for dinner tonight and do my best not to punch your smug face."
"As if you could land a punch on me," Rose taunted. Ella gave her another middle finger. "Yeah, I'll do it. My schedule is pretty darn tight, I'll see if I can squeeze it in in the next few months. Maybe."
Ella rolled her eyes. "Thanks, you smug bastard." Rose just grinned in response as she put the paper away. Ella gestured at Rose's left ear, which had a decent chunk taken out of it. "That's new."
Rose flicked her ear and shrugged. "Some guy bit it during a fight. I think it adds to my fierce and imposing figure, wouldn't you say?"
Ella laughed. "Sure. How much does something like that hurt?"
"Didn't even feel it at the time. Lumina helps with that. Stung like a bitch afterwards, though," Rose flicked her ear again, grimacing a bit. "Mostly just made it hard to see. Apparently ears get a lot of blood flow."
"You know, I tried lumina once. Mainly just gave me a headache."
"Yeah, well, not everyone's a huge wimp," Rose said. Ella raised her eyebrows and Rose laughed. "Some people do just get headaches. Try sunglasses."
Ella shrugged. "I don't see the appeal, honestly."
"You're also not running around and killing people. If you're just sitting around in an office or something, It's probably not going to be as interesting."
"Well, next time I'm running around and killing people, maybe I'll give it a shot," Ella grinned.
Rose rolled her eyes and smiled. The waiter returned with their meals, pausing the conversation for a moment before leaving.
"You know, you'd think an assassin would know which parts of the body get good blood flow," Ella said, smirking a little.
"Yeah, well, I can't say I'm usually going for the ears when I'm in a fight. Do you know what kind of position that puts you in?" Rose chewed for a moment. "The guy bit my ear and the next thing he knew, his throat was missing."
"What about from behind?"
"If you're behind someone, you grab them and put your knife to their throat. Maybe kick them in the balls if they don't know you're there. What kind of advantage would going for the ears give you?"
"Well, you'd know how much ears bleed, for one thing," Ella teased.
Rose rolled her eyes again. "Okay, smart-ass. Maybe next time I'll go for the ears and get myself killed, just for you."
"Ah, but I would be so sad if I didn't get to experience your witty banter and gory details over a nice, overpriced meal," Ella grinned.
"Without people like you telling me to kill people, I wouldn't have any gory details to share."
"We both know that's a lie."
Rose grinned. "Probably," she said before pausing to eat for a moment. "Hard to imagine what we'd be up to if it wasn't this."
"Probably something incredibly boring. Maybe nuns or something if dad had gotten his way," Ella grimaced. "God, can you imagine?"
Rose groaned. "I don't think I want to. I almost wish I let that fucker live, just so we could see the look on his face when he learned what we do."
Ella laughed and Rose smiled. "Probably would have gone the same way mom did."
"Nah, he was too stubborn. Typical, making us do all the work," Rose grinned.
Ella grinned back and took a moment to eat. "We really do have the loveliest conversation topics, don't we?"
Rose barked a laugh. "What, you don't think every pair of twins meets up to discuss murdering people and dead parents?"
"Something tells me we might be a bit of an outlier in that regard," Ella chuckled.
The pair ate in silence for a moment. It wasn't often that they met, so they would remain relatively unassociated from each other, but it was always a rare moment of simple happiness for Rose. Ella might be the only person she trusted completely, and it was always a breath of fresh air to be able to drop all pretenses and have a normal conversation. For both of them, it was a break from the beaurocracy of their lives.
"So, are you gonna get your other ear torn? Go for symmetry?" Ella shot Rose a playful smile.
"I was thinking about losing an eye. I bet I'd look fierce with an eyepatch." Rose looked mock thoughtful. "No depth perception would be tough, though."
"Maybe you could lose a foot, too. Go for full pirate."
"You think I could train a parrot to lead me to a target?"
Ella laughed. "I actually met a guy who kept a parrot with him at almost all times a while back. If the parrot didn't like someone, he didn't like them either."
Rose raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Can't say I've seen that one before. I have met a woman who had a lot of snakes she cared about very deeply, though."
Ella gave Rose an incredulous grin. "Oh my god, you've met her too? We've been her supplier for a while, but I've only met her a few times in person."
"Well, who don't you supply, at this point? Seems like you're the only reason the wealthy in this city can go through a week without withdrawals."
Ella rolled her eyes. "I wish. That'd make life a hell of a lot easier."
"You'll get there someday, I'm sure." Rose took a moment to chew the last of her food. "Ever thought about how we basically keep each other in business?"
"Oh?"
"You give 'em drugs, which makes them trigger happy and, sometimes, just completely insane. Always feeling like everyone's an enemy. Always needing to crush their enemies. They pay me to do the crushing, which makes all their other enemies even more stressed. So they go to you for something to calm their nerves."
Ella grinned. "I think they'd be at each other's throats, substances or not."
"Certainly doesn't hurt, though."
"It also doesn't hurt that you enjoy your fair share of illicit substances."
It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes and grin. "You barely even deal lumina."
"Maybe I'll branch out a bit. Get even my sister under my thumb." Ella smirked at Rose and Rose raised her eyebrows.
"Someone would probably pay me to kill you if you got too ambitious."
"Awe, you wouldn't kill your dear sister though, would you?"
Rose shot Ella a smirk of her own. "Depends how much they pay me." Ella gave Rose a look of mock hurt as she finished her own food. "Hey, I could give you some warning so you at least get a chance to defend yourself."
"Oh, thank you kindly. Might be a mistake though, since I could win a fight against you so easily."
Rose laughed, and the conversation paused another moment as the waiter came by again and Ella paid. Once he had gone, Rose moved to stand up.
"Typical Sarah, leaving right when the bill has to be paid." Ella grinned and stood up as well.
"You know me so well," Rose chuckled as they hugged.
"I'm glad we could meet again. Take care of yourself, alright?"
"You too. I'll take care of this guy for you soon enough." Rose grinned. "And hey, if you end up in prison, maybe I'll visit on the weekends."
"Oh, thank you ever so much," Ella smiled. "Try not to get your other ear bitten off.`"
Rose gave Ella a grin and a middle finger. "I'll do my best, you smug bastard."