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Benny knew his luck would run out eventually. Everyone's does, that's what makes it luck and not the standard, but- well, he was hoping he would have a bigger grace period than this. More time to prepare, warning to get away, something that would keep him from staring into these damned reflective eyes.
Especially anything to keep this stand off from happening in his own casino, in his own room .
A black-clawed hand reaches out of the shadow, gripping the doorframe, and the shine in those eyes ebs away as the courier leans into the light. Messy fangs pick up the glint, though, keeping Benny's spine straight and the hair on the back of his neck on end. "You're slow." The voice is raspy, taunting, and cool- it's the kind of tone that Benny shoots for when threatening people, but for the first time he realizes how pathetic his attempt really is.
The courier- Sixer, Benny knows the legends sweeping through the desert- slowly steps around him, drawing close enough that he backs away, further into the center of the room, farther from the door. When he reaches for Maria, his only saving grace, there's a low growl and a sudden rattle from behind him. Sixer barks out something- literally barks, what the fuck, oh god- and the growl stops when Benny pulls his hand away from his hip.
It's hard to hide the way his knees go weak when a goddamn nightstalker weaves past him, between Sixer's legs to sit in a mockery of the King's mutt. "Scared of Peaches? Well, you have enough thoughts for that, good for you."
"Hey, listen- buddy, pal, I'm sure we can work something out. It wasn't personal, you know, I've got nothing against, urk, cannibals! Uh, is that what y'all like to be called, I don't know, I'll call you whatever you like, baby, no worries! I'm easy." Benny hates the way his mouth runs without him, and tries to rein himself in, going for a composed smile and landing somewhere a mile west. "Peaches, sweet name for a sweet pup, did you pick that? I knew you had good taste-"
He's cut off by claws at his throat, just barely pricking against the skin. Benny swallows heavily, staring up into glowing amber eyes. "You like to talk, mm. But you are correct. I do have good taste." Maria gets pulled out of her holster on his hip, and Sixer glances at her briefly. "This is what you were doing the shot with, yes?"
"Y-yeah, babe, that's her. It. My gun. Name's Maria, lovely piece, I-"
"Well, then, I owe her some thank you." What ? Sixer smiles at her, thumbing over the intricate art. "Thank you for you, Maria." The goddamn eyes flick back to Benny's face, shimmering green, and the smile grows, showing off the hooked fangs. "I was made to do things. Not doing the things was not allowed… Thing in my head, it made me say yes, yes, yes." Benny gapes slightly, and one of the claws taps on his pulse. "Maria breaks this thing. Now I can do no . No is very useful."
Maybe he's not going to die tonight. Benny manages something closer to a smile, even if he does despair when Sixer tosses Maria lightly onto his bed. "Hey, anything to help a pal, even if it's an accident. Ring-a-ding, huh?" The smile falters when he's shaken lightly, Sixer's eyes narrowing and shifting towards something much more red than green.
"I know you did not mean for this, Benny Gecko. You meant for me to be in the hole and for Peaches to be alone. You meant to take from me, I know this." The courier bares his fangs more fully, and Benny isn't ashamed to whimper quietly when he sees something golden glinting there.
"Yeah- hey, I'll own up to it, sure. Listen, House, the cat what set you on this delivery, he let the other five die, you know? I didn't go after the other ones. Had a bit of an ace figure out which one was you. I don't think it mattered much to him if you were the one alive to get it to him. Bet if one of his securitrons was there, it would have taken the Chip off us both and left you in that hole." Something flickers across that venomous smile, and Benny takes it as power to keep going. "See, you're a smart cookie. Smarter than people say you are. They all act like you're just some rabid animal, no thoughts up in there, but you know when something smells bad, don't you? And, baby, this reeked from the start."
"...Talk more. What is smelling." The claws have lifted from his throat, but the fingers remain, lightly massaging into the tender flesh.
"Now we're getting somewhere, yeah? House, he lives in his ivory penthouse, handing out these little party favors. Here, you can live in my Strip. Here, you can run my casinos. But we both know better, don't we? He's gonna run the whole town like a machine," and isn't that interesting, the way Sixer's eyes twitch at that, "And take all the wild outta the wasteland. You think he would put up with a rogue element after getting what he wants? I wanted the Chip to even the playing field. Like, Freeside? Fucking Westside? They don't gotta live in houses of cards, baby, not with the resources that whackjob has, but has anything got close to better? Nah.
"And you, you show up after being half dead and fix half the shit he hasn't bothered. I heard about you and Primm- putting that sheriff there was genius, he owes you AND he knows how to handle shit without those pesky rules getting in the way- and who hasn't heard about the power rolling in from Helios, huh? I mighta fucked up putting you in that dirt nap, but you rose and showed the Mojave what's what." Benny's sweating by the end, all too aware of the drops sliding down his spine, and Sixer hasn't blinked, how is he not blinking, how much of a snake is he?
The hand suddenly pulls away from his throat, and he's so startled by the relief that he doesn't have time to stop it from darting inside his jacket, and Benny jerks back when Sixer's claws open the sewed-in compartment holding the Chip. He stares at the glinting metal, then up at Sixer, who finally smiles instead of just showing his teeth. "So. This is what will make things the more better? This one piece of shine? House said so, too."
Benny didn't know his heart could hit the floor that fast.
Sixer tilts the Chip in the yellow light, admiring the carved in details. Then his eyes slide past it to Benny's, and the smile spreads wider. "I am smart. But you make the plans, yes? It would have worked were I not bad at dying. It is a hard thing to plan for, your prey surviving. I will hold this… Chip, Benny Gecko. But you know how to use it, and I do not. Fixing this territory will be better with it? Tell me how to be using it."
It's hard to calm down his pounding pulse enough to process what's being said, but Benny finally gets the sense that he might come out of this alive. "You wanna work with me, baby? Now that I can do. Always worked better with backup, s'why I got Swank keeping an eye downstairs. Ring-a-fuckin'-ding. I got hookups, I got connections, I even know where that li'l kitten is meant to be-"
"I do need to make things even, first. It will not be correct for you to take of me and for me not to take of you." The rattle comes back, and Benny twitches at the way Sixer's pupils have gone narrow.
"Hey, easy peasy, I got caps, I got rooms, I got- Whatever you want, really, whatever you need, handsome."
"Whatever I want?" His pupils have narrowed further, to thin slits.
"Whatever you want, baby, I keep my promises." Benny puts his hand out to shake on a good deal.
When Sixer strikes, Benny's not sure why he's so startled. Pain tears through his left arm, just above the wrist, the agony somehow so crystal clear he feels like he could count each tooth in his skin. The courier's jaw clenches further, and he hears the fangs meet, hears a tear.
He only has time for one thought before the world goes pitch black and the floor rushes up to meet him.
How in god's name did I forget he's a cannibal?