"So, what's this then," Rogier growled with his arms folded. "Licking your chops for what eh?" Thrud froze while Octavian put on his best smile.
"Ah, there you are friend, we were jus-"
"Aw shove it, I ain't your friend, and neither are you!" Rogier glared at Thrud.
"It ain't like that Rogier, hand- I mean Octavian here was just offering us a better deal." Thrud explained quickly.
"Was he about to say handsome," Rogier thought. "Is Thrud into men?" In any case Rogier pushed the thought away and instead turned his attention towards demanding a better explanation. And so, despite his anger and bravado, Rogier was completely won over by the new plan after hearing it. Although he tried to hide his excitement, both Thrud and Octavian could tell he was immediately into it.
"Still, that's a big ask, and I'd rather cut you loose to the wolves here than have two entire governments baring down on my neck." Rogier tossed with a wave of his hand.
"Well then how about this, I will personally come with you to secure some documents. I can tell which ones are high value and which aren't." Octavian said smoothly.
"And what makes you think I'll trust you to pick the right ones?" Rogier retorted.
"I trust him." Thrud blurted, followed by a hearty belch.
"And pray tell why the fuck you would after just meeting him?" Rogier frowned.
"Well, I… uh… just do you know? Call it a hunch." Thrud shrugged.
He wanted to get to the bottom of why Thrud was acting so strange immediately. He figured it could not have been the drink as he has never seen Thrud act out over it, especially with another man. He began to question that maybe there were some things he just did not know about his treacherous little brother. But more so, he began to suspect Octavian had something to do with it. If he were obviously a woman or intersex, there would be no question that he was a Siren and that his old pal was just enchanted. He then began to run the possibility of Octavian being a male siren, or at least hiding his true sex. To him the latter was more likely, but then again Rogier always considered the least possible to actually be the most possible.
"Is that right…" Rogier looked over to Octavian who was still smiling.
He wanted to knock that smile off his face but as it stands, he was admittedly a bit stuck. Whatever he did to Thrud has him head over heels and asking personal questions will most likely result in either lies or half-truths. He thought about just playing along till he can get the rest of his boys involved but that would end in too big a mess. So, for now, he settled on completely tagging along. His crew currently outnumbers theirs and he figured if the worst came, then he at least gets to shoot Octavian's smug face off.
"Fine," Rogier huffed, holding his hand out to shake. "It's a deal then."
"Excellent," Octavian replied, happily taking his hand to shake. "You won't be disappointed."
"Hopefully not again." Rogier sneered, glaring again at Thrud as he pulled his hand away. To which Thrud could only purse his lips and look away.
"So, I guess we all need to hop aboard the train, aye?" Rogier said to Octavian, who nodded in response.
"Well luckily for you, me and my boys have easy access on and off the train. So, we better get to it before more law enforcement arrives." Rogier said simply.
"I'm guessing you already phoned them in after luring me to the saloon." Octavian asked with a raised brow.
"Perhaps," Rogier shrugged. "But whether I did or not doesn't matter now. We need to get both your crew and mine on that train, and since we only secured four cart hand uniforms, we need an alternative plan." That got Octavian's attention.
"And tell me, "friend", how did you get your hands on those uniforms?" Octavian asked dangerously.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Rogier mocked, smiling wide.
"Yeah, I would." Octavian frowned, rising to his feet. Rogier shifted his hand to his holster causing Thrud to immediately stand in between them.
"Take it easy, both of you! You're making a scene." Thrud whispered anxiously. Rogier scanned his eyes from side to side and noticed that they were indeed garnering one too many glances. He then quickly threw his arms out wide and lurched forward to give Octavian a hug.
"I knew you still had it in you, you stubborn bastard," He laughed aloud. "But don't you think we are a bit too old to be playing draw?" Catching the hint, Octavian immediately smiled back.
"Never too old for a classic." Octavian hugged back before they both sat down. Thrud gave an exaggerated eye roll before sitting down himself. And with that, everybody around them went back to minding their own business. Which meant that the façade could drop again as Octavian returned to glaring at Rogier. To which Thrud, again, had to interject.
"Hey, hey, the man we pinned is fine. We ain't kill him."
"But what did you do to him." Octavian turned his glare to Thrud, which to him seemed more red-hot.
"Relax, just a bit of arm twisting," Rogier waved. "You know not every one of you louts needs to be tortured right? Hell, I've heard of a few that would gladly spill the beans over some fresh red tea and a few leaflets." Octavian folded his arms but leaned back in his chair defeated. Rogier guessed he must already be aware of the slew of rats in their group.
"Be that as it may, I want him released before we do anything." Octavian demanded with his arms still folded.
"Easy enough," Rogier shrugged. "We ain't got no more use for him. But back to the matter at hand, we need to hurry and get moving. I need to notify my guys asap and so do you."
"Then what? How do we get aboard the train?" Octavian questioned.
"How else," Rogier waved again with a cock of his head and wicked smile. "Just a wee bit more arm twisting of course. And maybe a few bribes here and there."
"That doesn't sound easy."
"Of course it doesn't to non-professionals." Rogier smiled smugly. Octavian snorted in response but did not retort.
"Fine then, let's get a move on." Octavian relented as he stood.
"Gladly." Rogier responded with his smile still plastered. However, that smile quickly dropped as the double doors to the saloon swung wide open.
"Shit!" Rogier whispered as he quickly sat back down.
"What?" Octavian asked, sitting down as well and looking around. Even Thrud was noticeably more shaken than usual.
"Remember when I said, I would rather cut you loose to the wolves here?"
"Yeah?" Octavian responded, looking visibly worried now.
"Well…," Rogier gulped hard. "Looks like the big bad wolf has just found us."