[Moofius]

That explained why the theater was so rich. Although it could be explained by pure talent and all that but really, criminal activities must have made it much easier. As Karkaine spoke, Cynder watched. When the others back was turned, Cynder used his fingers to get the small amount of food left on his plate in his mouth. He was listening, sure, but there was always some attention on his enemy, and the task at hand.

Licking his fingers to get rid of the evidence his full attention could be returned to what he'd just been told. So Karkaine got his killing fix. Well that was... good? To most stable people, probably not. To Cynder... He kind of wanted a piece of the action. But first, dishes.

He stood up, grabbing his dishes and carrying them back to the kitchen, or kitchen area. It was smaller then most kitchens but it had everything a regular kitchen would have... Maybe even more.
"So... If I know all this... Am I a junior member now?" he asked, chuckling. Of course he'd be more than fine with that. If that's what Karkaine wanted or needed of him, he would be it. He'd be an actor too, if that's what Karkaine wanted. Though Cynder was more "behind the scenes" for that.

"Would I be your fifteenth? Considering I've given myself to you?" He couldn't, even then, say something so mooshy and soft as saying considering I've given my heart to you. It was too sappy for him so just himself would have to do. He set his plate down on the counter, returning to the table to get his glass of water. He was pretty good with his hands... but not good enough to want to try balancing breakable dishes. He happened to respect Karkaine's things... Well, unless they were fighting. But he was in a completely different mind set when they fought. He gave Karkaine a quick kiss on the cheek when he got back with his glass, now empty. Water was something he could really enjoy without question. Like kissing Karkaine. Simple, sweet and so natural. Something that could be very difficult to taint.

-Post Recorded Up To This Point-

[ToxicShadow]

Cynder's horrid eating habits had gone unnoticed what with Karkaine's back turned, tending to washing his just dirtied dishes. Karkaine obviously held the need to keep things organized. With such a busy schedule as his, he held no other choice in the matter. If things weren't tended to upon the moment they needed to be, then things piled up. This way, he avoided that, at least as much as possible.

"If you hold no intention of leaving, then yes," he spoke with a sort of pleasant tone to his voice, almost like he was...happy. Of course, he wouldn't speak and say that at least one of his heart's chords was pulled. The other male's words weren't even the same that he'd used to describe Ziede's affection for Suicide, but they were...enough. He couldn't expect Cynder to admit something like that, just knowing the type of guy Cynder was. He was too tough, a quiet, solitary type.

He paused, setting the cleaned plate aside, to turn and look Cynder in the eyes. "Does that upset you? To be dragged into this unsuspecting?" He was already a fighter, was a mafia so very different? Sure, things were done differently, and preformed with more stealth, but it had the same criminal status and results. Karkaine's own branch specialized in killing- for the sake of his temporary sanity. If it was wished, the gray male could be his partner in more ways than one. "Don't heed that declining means your death." It was harsh. A simple "yes" or "no" could mean rather you lived or died. While the mafia leader wouldn't like having to kill this man before him.... sometimes, things were necessary. It would be a difficult choice, a fight between two loved things, but it was best if it could be avoided. Still, he wanted to know the truth. Good Lord, he was becoming more emotionally attached then he intended to ever be with anyone.

[Moofius]

Cynder just smiled and shrugged.  A smile didn't mean he was staying, nor did it mean he was going.  A smile for Cynder was just a way to drag out the answer, to drag out his fate.  He'd already decided, he'd decided long ago.  Okay not long ago., he'd only just found out.  But he'd already decided what Karkaine meant to him long ago.  He'd decided this mafia thing just as soon as he understood what this all meant.

"You do realize,"  his voice was taunting, "if I said no to your offer I would just kick yer butt and leave, right?"  his arms were crossed and he had a smirk on his face.  This was another challenge in it's own way.  Really though he was trying to get to a point, an answer.  Knowing Karkaine he would be patient... Unless he went and did the unexpected... which was, in away, expected.  Karkaine was... Hard to read at best.

"None of this upsets me.  It takes a lot more then some mafia to upset me, if anything it excites me.  I'm in, you probably already knew that," he waved it off.  None of this bothered him in the slightest.  Actually this was rather well plotted out.  He was locked down in the basement, he'd come here alone.  If he'd declined the offer and lost to Karkaine nobody would be the wiser.  Though he knew this wasn't planned.  Karkaine couldn't, no matter how amazing, have planned Cynder's surprise appearance.
"I'm use to crude, very basic fight-to-the-death things.  You dance around the subject so I need it laid out in... well, layman's terms.  I'm in and loyal till the end.  I'm here up until the time you don't need me anymore.  Though I might need to know the rules."
He'd never been part of an organization, nothing like the mafia.  He could mess up some how and that could be bad for him and now who he was working for.

[ToxicShadow]

Patience was a virtue. A virtue that, thankfully, Karkaine was clinging onto at this moment. Really, because Karkaine was expected to do the unexpected, the unexpected thing would be to do the expected. All such a very complicated knot. Still, a skeptical, if not evil, laugh passed this lips. "You have great determination, but you cannot beat I with that alone." Yep, he went there, and used a bit of formal English while he was at it.
Just as soon as he had laughed, his expression went, abruptly, blank. He resorted back to using the indifferent mask that Cynder had first met him with.

The red themed male listened while keeping his poker face much of the time. It broke down again, only when Cynder was finished with all he had to say.
"Don't expect me not to need you anytime soon." While the words were spoken in a possessive manner, as if the other male was something to be owned, that was not the real reason behind the words. It seemed they both well acknowledged that they wanted, perhaps even now needed, the other's company. "Now that you're in, you're my tool to use. Understood?" What Karkaine would say, would go. If he requested something be done, it better damn well get done. "The rules are simple, once you acknowledge that. Most importantly, don't give us away. An outsider dare learn of us? Death is the punishment. No exceptions." That last part was a small lie. If they could be brought into the mafia and seen as both worthy and trustworthy enough for it- that was an option, and the only other.
Even the family members close to any members of the mafia had undergone a time of meeting with Karkaine. Only then, after he deemed them well to trust, were they free to go about their lives. Plus, their lives were often offered a protection by the mafia. Strange. Karkaine had more of a heart then he often let on, at least when it came to those select few in his little unit.

He continued on with instruction in a semi-harsh voice, his darker tones coming out now that he was speaking business. "Listen to the orders you are given. You answer to me, and me alone. I won't have you as anyone else's toy. Only on certain occasion, may you need to answer to the one named Strages, and that is only when something need be collaborated and I am not available." Yes, Cynder being in his particular position as Karkaine's new lover, he was granted more freedom than what most new members were allotted.
"Do not follow the orders of Aros, Riddler, Kezarec or any other, unless I have given the say so. Do disagree with them if they try to command you. If fight breaks out, understand that I don't accept killing one another. Serious injuries are also not permitted among members." - less it was an issue in which he and his organization were greatly not involved. He knew full well that Aros and Kezarec often got into it, but they had a history and issues outside of the mafia.
"In the case of self defense, do what you must- preferably outside of killing, less their offense be deemed worthy of death." So many things fell under Karkaine's jurisdiction, it was difficult to see what was deemed as acceptable in some cases. "You, being a natural killer, will work especially under the branch dealing in that. Every member is placed where their skills are."
His tails flicked from time to time as he laid everything out.
"Most everything else comes naturally in staying in the environment. I trust you'll pick up how it all works in just being around. Mind, we are like your new family. We watch each other's backs."

......
There was a notable pause after that, where the mafia leader shed that label for a moment of intimacy. He stepped forward, a hand placed on the side of Cynder's face. His voice was more on the quiet side when he spoke, "When not under command, our relationship shall remain as it is now." Cynder would always be permitted to pick his fights with Karkaine without the punishment normally insured by the mafia's rules. He could rant and complain and throw all the snide remarks he wanted. Everything would still be as it was- Karkaine didn't want that to change.

[85]

[Moofius]

When Karkaine moved into business, into his more tense side, so did Cynder. His face fell to an emotionless blank but Cynder would never be as composed as his partner. His tails flicked angrily behind him, his claws catching on the sleeve of his shirt and her ground his teeth together. The Mafia was far from relaxed; which was good, for the Mafia. For Cynder who was rather aloof it was not so much good as bad. First he wasn't allowed to do as he pleased. He would be Karkaine's special little lap dog.
"What is it Master? Fetch your slippers Master? Right away Master!"

Very un-Cynder.

And he'd have to remember names. Feh, he didn't know Karkaine's name originally, just his face. He would have come to the theater not knowing his name save for the fact that the poster he'd found with Karkaine's mug on it also has his name in a beautiful crimson ink
-or blood-
and a flowing, upper-class font. Strages. Sounded like "strange's" but without the "N".It was... Strange. Aros that name meant... something. He couldn't quite put his paw (er, finger) on it though. Again, awful with names. Well that was good, at least then he would only be fetching Karkaine's slippers. Would he really settle for that? Yes. Why? Because he liked Karkaine way too much. If Karkaine did abuse his Mafia Boss powers...? Suck it up, Pretty Boy, you're the one agreeing to the terms and conditions.

Then there was this family thing. Yah, Mafia, family... He wasn't a family guy. Moofius had said he was part of their little family but he viewed that as bull crud. Would this be much different? Well with everyone being a little off their rocker, or atleast without a lot of moral values, it should be alright. But family? And he'd have to look at for them? He didn't look out for anyone but himself so even this last, off handed bit of information might take some time to adjust to.

So of course he glared, which was VERY Cynder like. He glared at his new boss, trying really hard to digest all these rules, all this... structure. His life had been pretty blah blah blah up to this exact, pinnacle, moment in time. You sleep, wake up, fight your next opponent, eat, sleep. Not "fulfilling" but good, easy. Okay, so it hadn't been good either but the fighting had been good when it had been tough. This was just a new challenge. Sounded like more fun and more his style then the cutlery challenge and the button challenge. Ugh... structure. Karkaine thrived on it and Cynder abhorred it. This would be interesting. At least there were no formalities like calling him "king pin" while addressing him or something ridiculously pompous.

Cynder became flustered, having not noted the change in Karkaine in that period of silence as he chewed on these rules. He hadn't expected the touch, the softer words. They had him blushing and almost adverting his gaze. But then he reminded himself that he wasn't some virgin school girl and to cut the crap.
"So what, is there like a safety word for when we're not 'under command'?" he managed in a half-way rude tone. The other half of the tone was flustered. Much as he'd rather hide those more "feminine" feelings he had an awful poker face; an awful poker ANYTHING. Cynder's rule of thumb: Don't Play Poker.

"You know with all the forced submission while we work there's no WAY I'll be letting you beat me ever again while we're not 'under command'."
Basically: "I've been letting you win but that's going to change,"

-Post Recorded Up To This Point-