An Uneasy Peace, Part II

[madimpossibledreamer]

This was supposed to be a single part before Desmond decided he wanted to scout everywhere. To be fair, he did learn a lot more than I was planning by just looking around—like, for instance, more about Orochi, so he definitely wasn’t wasting his time.

Main Points:
Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Desmond continues to poke around London and find some familiar things and some things that really aren't.
Word Count: 1406
Rating: Teen

 

         There’s ads everywhere; one about some guy from the Orochi Group, which Desmond remembers hearing aren’t trustworthy, a ton for the Morninglight, which isn’t suspicious at all, and some about Bingo!Cola, which also is obviously completely aboveboard, why would you even ask. Still, it’s good to know the face of one of, well. Potentially one of his enemies. Samuel Chandra. Apparently a businessman, and well-known in this world, making the Orochi Group some massive corporation, which is never good when earning trust on Desmond’s side. If he squints with Eagle Vision, he thinks he might see a little red tinge around the man’s face, but given that he’s never heard about that before, he can’t be sure he’s not imagining things. The creepy little girl said his ‘gift of seeing had strengthened’, so maybe, but he’s not going to lean too hard either way unless it happens again.
         It also turns out that Shaun was not, in fact, lying to him, and fish & chips in London just tastes better. It’s kind of a surprise, given that Desmond is a little used to Shaun just saying the Brits do everything better and hadn’t really paid attention, given that he was pretty sure Shaun just liked to grouse for fun. And...well, he starts to get the idea that there probably actually is something shady about Bingo!Cola, because it’s everywhere. They have it in a vending machine, but the guy at the counter is selling it, too. They even, the man—cook and owner and cashier, he’s told—informs him cheerfully, have the Cherry, Vanilla, and Diet versions in the vending machine if he’s interested.
         He declines and just takes the Londinium Mint, which turns out to be a mint-flavored carbonated soda. It’s a little odd, but it doesn’t really bother him, trying new things, even though he’s not that hard to please and half the time just kept asking for burgers to watch Shaun go off on another rant about taste. He likes it, he decides, though he probably wouldn’t go out of his way to get it.
         The man then says something about how it’s nice everyone gets along in Ealdwic, even though it’s London, which is apparently the funniest thing the woman behind him in line has heard all year, since she starts giggling and clapping her hands. Desmond thanks the guy and ducks out. It’s possible he’s referring to the Templar, Illuminati, and Dragon, because oddly everyone seems to come and hang out here, and they’re not even trying to slit each other’s throats. The guy’s right, for sure, but. Again. Weird. The closest comparison he can think of off the top of his head is Maria, and even then there had been some pretty decent attempts at fatal stabbing on both sides before they’d even gotten to that point. He can’t even imagine, say, his dad and Vidic sitting down and not trying to kill, maim, or capture each other, even if there was some other organization telling them not to.
         He becomes a regular at the Horned God, which is nice and normal. He even takes a turn behind the counter once; apparently because half their serving staff is notoriously unreliable. He spots a Templar tattoo on one of them, Melissa, and he’s pretty sure he knows why they keep disappearing. Not that he knows exactly what they’re doing, but. Well. They’ve practically got an army here; they’re probably using it somehow, and there has to be a reason they’re recruiting people that have been visited by the bees.
         The Horned God has an outdoor area with a bike and tables and lights and a waitress whose job is mostly to just stand out there. It’s an interesting setup and for some reason Desmond has the image of people sitting at the picnic tables staring at each other on either side having a drinking contest. It actually has an upstairs, too, with a dance floor. Not that he really goes to do much more than people-watch, but one of the nights when he’s a little tipsy Shaun goads him into it, unaware that he doesn’t really have too much in the way of self-consciousness, so that backfires. Rebecca finds that hilarious, but she’d always been easily amused, and he has a blast trying to out-dance her. Not that he does, he’s just making it up, but still. It’s fun.
         It’s also right next to a brewery, which might explain the selection. Anywhere that serves alcohol has pretty much all brands he’s never heard of, but he approves of the variety and the taste. It might just be that the beers are local, so he wouldn’t recognize those. (The wines and the rest, though? That’s a bit more of a puzzle.)
         This little section of London has not one, but two theatres, as Shaun would spell it, and when in London, Desmond guesses, though one of them is a movie theatre (still weird that that exists) and one of them is a really fancy looking actual play theatre with red and gold and paintings on the wall that look genuine. Ezio’s eye’s telling him that, again, although it’s possible he wouldn’t notice fakes there, given that he was mostly working with or looking at the real deal, courtesy of Leonardo or himself. Apparently some of the plays (or, sometimes, concerts) are put on by bored Bees (the human ones, not the glowing ones that look like insects but may or may not actually be insects), which seems odd. Sure, having a creative outlet did help Ezio a little, but still.
         Desmond declines to rent out the theatre and just wanders around for a bit. The concessions are almost entirely alcohol, but Desmond approves of the way the bartenders, plural, go about their jobs, so, you know. They’re not quite as approachable as the two in the Horned God (though the fairy outfit there is...a little weird, but apparently it’s a choice and not some sketchy policy, so who’s he to judge), but they’re close. Surprising, since ‘higher class’ establishments tend to be a little more...selective, should he say.
         Also apparently they sell smokes, but they’re mostly herbs, or so he’s told. They seem pretty sure he’d be interested. It’s a little weird. Apparently the theatre actually has a smoking section or something? It does kind of fit the old timey atmosphere, he supposes, but still. Weird.
         Also, the balconies are just begging to be used in an Assassination; you could pretty much just stealth a kill up there if you’re good enough and they’re placed pretty well for an air assassination, not that Desmond actually has any targets he wants to kill just yet. Except for maybe that Chandra guy. He’s not sure on that front, but until he is, he’ll just keep collecting information instead. He kind of wants to kill Geary, but he’s pretty sure that would start a war and he definitely doesn’t want to do that. Yet, anyway. Mostly his instincts keep telling him that she’s a threat and needs to be eliminated, which. They’re right about the first part, but he’s not sure about the second, partly because he has no idea what kind of effects that would cause or if she’d be replaced by someone even worse. And also theatre assassinations remind him uncomfortably of Haytham, so maybe not.
         Pretty close to the theatre, there’s a park. Apparently the Morninglight guys set up a tent in front, but doesn’t go to them just yet. He probably should at some point to try to figure out what they’re planning; Shaun’s instincts are rarely wrong, but still. He wants to make sure he’s ready before he tries something like that. Even if all he can do is mostly mental preparation at this point. He does have the Hidden Blades in case they decide to just abduct him, but they’re probably playing things pretty straight if they’re not seen universally as a cult, so they probably wouldn’t try force in the middle of the street when the entire section of London is practically crawling with cops in shouting range.
         Occasionally some trains run by, rattling overhead. He’ll take more of a look later, but he doesn’t want to be late for meeting Shaun and Rebecca for two reasons: one, he doesn’t want them to worry about him, and two, he really doesn’t want them to decide he’s untrustworthy or something.