a victory song

Baby: Are you wearing the pretty dress you left out on your bed? The sparkly one? I'm looking for you!

Baby: It's been...a night. I need female company. I need my best friend.

Ana: Almost every other female is also in four inch heels.

Ana: yes!! i keep getting pulled away from the dessert table :/

Baby: Here as in, right in this very ballroom. Preferably within hugging distance.

Baby: Please? I need you.

Ana: yee. where r u??

Ana: why are you so small? i can't find you.

//closed @akansuya47

Charles walked around the room socializing to people around. He met many of them in other formal parties, and he was also talking to some of the NYPD as he was trying to maintain a good relations with them, albeit with the intention of knowing more information about the diamonds. Upon doing small talks and smiling at other guests, Charles noticed a familiar girl lunging herself at the sweets section, with one cupcake at her left hand as she bites another with her right hand. Chuckling, he decided to go approach her.

“You seem to be quite enjoying yourself here.” Charles said, appearing suddenly out of nowhere as he grabs for a cupcake himself. “Guess I have to try these as well.”

Ana really liked parties. She loved the gathering of people and she loved getting an excuse to dress up better than normal. Figuring out what to wear that she just felt good about herself and let herself relax for the night. Even if she was amongst the elite of New York, people that were running the crime syndicate where one mishap could be the true formal start of the war, but Ana didn’t care. There were people dressed up, animals to pet, and most importantly, food to eat. 

She may have walked blended in with the small group she came with, but Ana beelined it to the dessert table the moment she saw it. The clunk of her heels against the marble floor was nothing compared to the music and mingling that was happening and she was just another face in the crowd. There were some faces in passing she recognized, enough where if she did bump into them, it wouldn’t be a quick apology, but Ana had tunnel vision for the sugar. With one hand already swiping a cupcake off the platter and another grabbing from another, Ana didn’t care if she was the first. Sugar before dinner was fine. 

ANA KANSUYA ☆ A STAR IS BORN

     This girl didn’t look like she fit in with the Italians. But – Taika hadn’t told her about anyone she’d had on the inside. That got Monica to thinking; why would someone - anyone - who wasn’t explicitly Italian choose the Italians to work for? It’s not like they paid better than anybody else in the city. And they, like everybody else, were wary of outsiders. The only reason Monica was associating with them was to get information to pass back to El Capo. If she was in any other situation, she would’ve stayed as far from the Italians as possible. Far too loud, far too self-absorbed, not people that Monica wanted to spend time around.

     She watched as the girl adjusted the box in her arms, moving a little closer in response. “Do you want help with that…?” she offered, brow furrowing. At the first question, she nodded. “Yeah - that’s me. Well… yeah. Monica Williams, hi.” The second question threw her off - what was she being asked? “Um – dressing room.” She figured that was a better way to keep from making a fool of herself. “Unless you want help with that and getting it to the front.”

“No, no. I’m good. It’s just when, like, you become aware of the weight, it gets heavier? It’s not that bad.” Ana adjusted her hand one more time, finding a better hold that didn’t hurt yet and flashed the girl a small smile. The other girl was new and lost and, even though it was years ago, Ana still remembered how that felt. There was a dancer or two that she remembered being friendly enough to help, but because Ana was front of the house, not so much the entertainment, they tended to keep to one another. Especially when Ana started going back into Luca’s office more often, most of the girls turned their back. They were nice enough, cordial for coworkers and solidarity as females in a male gaze dominated job, but that was it.

Occasionally, Dimitri did have it in him to wonder what he had done to make Ana despite him with such a feverish intensity; it might have been the complete clash in their social structures. He came from a world so different from her own; the Russian Bratva had been born and bred in him, and deep down, Dimitri knew that made him different from normal New Yorkers. But while Ana Kansuya might have resented and despised Dimitri for facets of his upbringing that he simply could not help, he had chosen long ago to give into the friction between them rather than oppose or reject it. He cared very little whether people liked or disliked him, and he supposed Ana could be added to the list.

If only they hadn’t slept together. It made things unbearably awkward from time to time, whenever they ran into each other.

“You’d rather me bleed out than extract the wound yourself?” he asked with a cock of his head, his brows furrowed together in mild bemusement and concern. He knew it was awkward running into people you’d once been intimate with, and he knew that their personalities were far too strikingly different to ever mesh well properly together, but it was still interesting to watch the way Ana reacted to him; almost as though Dimitri were poisonous–a sort of ailment she couldn’t escape, no matter how fervently she tried. “I thought I was perfectly clear in what I meant; my apologies if you missed the class on ‘metaphors’ in eighth grade, but perhaps I could teach it to you one afternoon.” Deciding that sounded too much like asking to run into her again, Dimitri amended his statement. “Of course, you could always use context clues for inference. I’ll leave the extended metaphors out of the conversation for now, but really, Ana, do try to keep up. And how would you know how special I am? Despite our little hump and dump, you don’t seem to know enough about me to make such a statement.”

“My entire demeanor is based on the fact that I have little time for irritants, and yet you continue to find yourself stepping into my path–why is that, little Kansuya?” he demanded, taking a step towards her smoothly. People were milling about them on the street, a few casting wary glances in their directions as Dimitri narrowed his gaze in the younger woman’s direction. “Just what about me unraveled you so thoroughly that even the mere thought of my existence has you wanting to crawl out of your skin?”

If her brain and her heart could just stop for a minute. Stop comparing every man she’s ever met to him, maybe Ana could not hate Dimitri for anything other than the fact that he was associated, no, the prince of the Russian Mafia. That was just the cherry on top of it all, that Ana, a girl affiliated with the Italian Mafia, slept with someone from the Russians. Even if Ana’s ties were small at best, the Italians had been nothing but welcoming to her, providing her protection from whatever skeletons and ghosts that haunted her from her past. It wasn’t even a concrete threat, but Ana could rely on the mafia to help her as she helped in whatever way she could.

And of course, she slept with one of the enemies as a thank you. There were a few time in her life Ana wished she was a lot smarter than she was.

But there were so many little things and one big thing that made Ana hate Dimitri, and there was nothing he could do about it, not that Ana would want him to do it. “Are you really asking that?” she said, her eyebrows cocking. “You don’t get to lecture me on grammar if you’re asking me if I would hypothetically help you versus let you suffer.”

Charles laughed at her reaction, it’s wasn’t surprising though since he literally just came out of nowhere. “Eazy, Anna Karenina.” He tapped his hand on her shoulder before paying in the counter. “I would have invited you to my other favorite coffee shop, I think you and Evie would get along quite well, or not. I’m not sure, but I’d sign up for a cat fight.” Charles added nonchalant before heading to his seat. 

“Well, that’s great the you’re great.” He replied, obnoxious in the sarcasm behind her words. “My week hasn’t been great.” Charles added. He was too comfortable around her. “I passed out while working in the NYPD’s office. Some crazy chick handcuffed me to the chair. I would say it was a pretty great fetish except nothing in my body can stand up, and definitely not my ‘friend’ down there.”  Charles hated that day. It was the first time in his life the he was completely overwhelmed by exhaustion. “I suggest you don’t tire yourself too much or you might get handcuffed in situations that doesn’t call for it.” He exclaimed, drinking from his cup of coffee. 

Charles nodded when he mentioned Peter. He would have thought they knew each other, both of them would have made a great couple. Not the he was interested in match making, but Peter really needs to get over that girl he had been talking about. It’s beginning to hit Charles’ nerves, and besides, Ana seems like a good fit for him. “Too bad, I was just about to ask permission on setting you up with him.” Charles joked, halfheartedly. “I do have a friend named Peter though. He seemed pretty concerned when he saw your name on my phone. I thought perhaps, you may know each other.” Charles answered truthfully before proceeding to his next topic. “You got my number right? You can call me if they try to pull on some stunts. At least breaking skulls could be part of my resume.” 

Ana put her palm to her chest, waiting for it to slow down from the sudden scare. “Are you what? A matchmaker of some sorts?” she asked out of genuine curiosity. First a mention of another friend, then being a ‘good fit’ for another. Not that Ana was against meeting friends of friends, the girl had a small yearning to know more people, to actually expand her circle to people outside of work. Yet considering her interactions were pretty much limited to a handful of people, Ana wasn’t doing very well.

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” Ana started, staring somewhat blankly at the man. She only moved to take her coffee, trying her best to process all the information, even if it was something that should have gone in one ear and out the other. “I have absolutely no plans that ever involve me and handcuffs, for your information, or the NYPD really. Did you at least get some sleep afterward? What was keeping you up?”

“I always get the final say, Strawberry, that’s how this whole thing works,” Luca managed with a flourish of his hands, leaning back into his chair and eyeing both the young woman before him and the layout of the store unit spread before him with a critical eye. Ana was more intelligent, perhaps, than many gave her credit for; if there was anyone in the business whose opinion he wanted on the matter at present, it was her. Sometimes, he found it helped to get the unbiased opinion of an outsider–someone who understood your business, but didn’t exactly live within it.

“Is that what you’re suggesting? I turn into a Bond villain for the sake of aesthetics?” Luca said with a scoff, reaching for the blueprints and smoothing them out. The room would be shaped in a basic rectangular fashion, with a built-in closet, stairs that would lead from whatever hole-in-the-wall they chose to build the space into, and an array of trip switches and disguised technology to give the lair the appearance of a quaint office space. “I’ve seen Casino Royale, kid, I think I’ll pass. Mads Mikkelsen was the better man, but let himself be bested by Daniel fucking Craig.”

Ana’s lips curled into a small smile. Very small, only because she did not want Luca to see her amusement, even if it felt like his hand flourish just added sparkles into her eyes. Luca D’amore was a proud, amazing man that Ana came to respect. There are a lot of things, though, that she did question about his personality, but he wouldn’t be the Luca D’amore without his over sexuality and masculinity. He knew who he was and made people respect him for it. And Ana felt like she learned more about confidence from him than from anyone else. What she once thought was confidence, the thing that kept her head held high when she walked the halls of her high school, was nothing compared to what has been fostered and grown under his unknown tutelage.

The underboss smiled, sharklike as he placed a twenty on the bar and took his drink, sauntering to the back while The Inferno’s clientele kept their eyes glued to the stage. A new set had only just begun, so there was some time yet before the bartender would be needed. “I figured you could use something new, just to keep you sharp.“ He mused aloud, checking to see if anyone was watching before slipping into the room. Even if someone had seen him, this was Italian turf. They could all rightly fuck off if they had an issue with him conducting his business with whoever he pleased.

He moved away a few empties in the back before reaching into his jacket again, pulling out a handgun and a few spent shells. Marcus placed them on a few boxes of liquor, leaning back so that the bartender could have a chance to properly examine them. “I want you to tell me everything you can about these things and their maker. Ain’t nothing that Luca or myself are bringing in for sure.” It wasn’t a model that he was familiar with, at least, but his usual cargo mostly consisted of other types of illicit things. Women, drugs, contraband, Marcus usually left the weapons deals to the other suppliers. But if these incidents had caught his attention, there was no telling what would happen if they reached Dante. “Someone’s been going around taking out our guys. No big names yet, but enough to warrant some intel gathering. This was found out in the alley near one of the bodies. Figured you might be able to help us establish a bit of a story here.”

A sharklike smile from him, a wide happy smile from Ana, especially upon seeing the bill that was placed down. Not that Luca did not pay her well, but when it came to tips, at least that was a handful of cash in her hand and at the ready. No need for waiting for that direct deposit to hit (which was eaten up by her rent, anyway).

Guns were her thing. Ana never meant to make it her thing, but it’s what really kept a roof over her head and a warm blanket to sleep under. It took her two years just to touch one of the weapons up, even if she could tell you step by step how to take it apart and put it together, and it only felt very recently that Ana was comfortable to hold one in her hands. The first shots she ever heard in real life seem like a distant nightmare now as the girl forcibly exposed herself to horrible weapons that littered the criminal underground. It was learning about the enemy, and the enemy was a 29.6 oz gun that she was holding in her hand.

With his order placed, James sat back against the stool and craned his head towards one of the flat screen televisions mounted up on the wall, drumming his fingers against the bartop as he watched the World Cup from the monitor. The captions had been turned on, thank the Lord above, and James was in the middle of narrowing his eyes slightly to catch whatever the broadcaster was attempting to say when he felt the presence of someone beside him. Blinking, James glanced over at a young woman who had the air of one who felt extraordinarily out of place in her surroundings.

He glanced behind him before determining the young woman was alone and half-listened as she sheepishly went about ordering herself a round of fish and chips. He glanced sidelong at the girl when she directed her attention towards him, clearly uncomfortable and annoyed with the presence of someone else in the bar; he listened, his head cocked slightly, as she explained that she was being ogled by strange men. James took a quick sweep of the bar, and then scooted one chair closer to where the girl sat; if the poor kid wanted a friend or a protective presence around while she ordered a meal in peace, then it was really the least he could do.

“No need to pay for my food, I happen to be great company, though,” he teased with a wink as the bartender brought his beer over. James reached for the frosted mug and took a sip, licking the froth from his lips before gesturing to her with a nod of his head and forcing a laugh, loud enough for others nearby. “For fook’s sake, Annie, I was wonderin’ when yeh’d get here! You almost missed the sodding game!”

“That convincing enough for you?” James whispered conspiratorially, taking another sip from his drink.

“Jamie!” Ana feigned excitement, but it was hard hiding the mild confusion in her eyes and hope that was an okay name to use. She didn’t know where or how she managed to pick it, the name just coming to her. “Even if I did, I’d be hearing about it from you for days so would it be that bad if I missed it.” Ana glanced up at the tv, at least hoping she could at least tell what sport was being broadcasted.

She eased into her seat, just going with it at this point. There was nothing that told Ana to come here. There was nothing keeping her here. There was absolutely no reason why Ana found herself in some random Irish Pub with some stranger she basically begged to keep her company other than the fact that she did not want to be alone.

It would be more pathetic if Ana didn’t already come to terms with how alone she has been for most of her life.

Roan jumped a bit and did a double take. “Christ alive, Ana, ya really need to warn me before you go and muck with yer hair.” As the initial surprise wore off, he shook his head an snorted, trying to hide a grin by looking down at the floor for a moment. “Hey hey, gimme a break, this place doesn’t exactly have the greatest lighting, y’know.” Despite the teasing, it was good to see her again. Roan was nothing if not consistent—he always got a little too invested in anyone he trained. Especially girls. Good lord, when was he going to get over that chivalrous bullshit and just learn to leave well enough alone? But it was ingrained in him. He looked out for the women in his life: his mother, his sister, Natasha until that went south, all the women in the various mobs he’d worked for. That protective streak wasn’t going to fade any time soon, as far as he could tell. What was more, Ana had always felt like a kindred spirit in many ways, with that little glint in the corner of her eyes that was only visible to those who had been kicked in the teeth by life.

So rather than razz her, Roan just poured out a couple glasses of water and placed one in front of her. “Nope, my secret is that I just don’t look,” he answered with a little eyebrow raise, sipping from the other glass. “And I don’t drink on the job. Done that way too many times before. Trying to break up bar fights while drunk doesn’t go well. So, what’ve you been up to, kiddo? Staying out of trouble, I hope?”

“If you were as apart of the twenty-first century as the rest of us, this wouldn’t have been a surprise to you.” Ana wouldn’t say she was addicted to social media, but she did enjoy living on it. Scrolling through her phone, posting pictures of the food she gets to indulge in every day, and the occasional selfie or dance video. It made the world feel less small and her life not so alone. But, of course, the people she would be the closest to would rather be updated in person. Not that good face to face interaction with a kind friend wasn’t needed. It was just wanting to make the trek. “No, but if a bar did, then it wouldn’t be a bar. There wouldn’t be strangers hooking up, one clearly out of the other’s league because the darkness hides the imperfections and lets people be mysterious. It also lets you skimp on some of the good stuff and make people think water is vodka,” she joked, fucking with everything he’s ever taught her.

     “I’m not more of a Matty anyways – it’s Matt or Matteo. That’s it.” He had never gone by Matty in his life, and it was irritating when someone consistently ignored his requests to go by anything but Matty. He figured that this was what having a sister felt like, except for with less love and affection. If Ana disappeared the next day, he’d notice, but would he care? Not particularly, especially if Luca told him that everything was alright. “Well, he might choose to show up while we’re gone. And I don’t want my ass torn apart by a man who’s got my weight and a half on me.”

     He sighed when she moved towards the door - he’d just gotten comfortable, and moving didn’t seem so appealing. But, of course, she was going to complain until he joined her, so Matteo pushed himself off of the counter, walking across the room to join her in the doorway. “After you, Princess.” He genuinely didn’t know where they were going, anyways – he’d never had soup dumplings, and wasn’t really sure what they were in the first place.

“Yes, you are. Matt makes you a typical white boy. Are you a typical white boy? I hope not. I think of you more highly than a typical white fuckboy. Matteo is neither fun nor cute. I guess when I feel like I want to be nice, I’ll call you Matteo.” A quick roll of her eyes. Ana would be a fool to not be afraid of Luca, but she never voiced it as much as Matteo did. She’s been around Luca for too long to think of him as a giant hulking monster anymore. The fear of doing something wrong or not knowing the correct information was still there, but Ana felt confident enough in her role, in her skills. 

There was also the fact she could also just talk to Baby and maybe things would be fixed.

     The slow nights were perhaps the worst of them all. On slow nights, there was nothing for Matteo to do aside from stand around. Luca didn’t need him to run out and get more liquor, or retrieve a high-paying client from the casino to escort him in, or go exchange small bills for larger ones or vice versa. He just got to stand around, do nothing, and slowly but surely wish that he was at home in his bed. 

     Pushing himself up onto the nearby counter, he knew that he shouldn’t be sitting there. In front of clients, he wouldn’t be - Luca would’ve torn his ass apart if he’d done something like that in front of people who were paying for the sights and sounds of the Inferno. But, since the room was practically dead as a doornail, he figured that it wouldn’t be any harm.

    He groaned at the sound of Ana calling him Matty. “How many times have I told you not to call me that…?” He pushed his hands through his hair, closing his eyes. A food run didn’t sound like an awful idea, despite the fact that he didn’t want to admit that Ana had good ideas every so often. “Fine - yeah, sure. Food. But we get back before too long, I don’t want both of us getting ripped apart by Luca.”

“You have? Guess I ignored it. And will continue to do so. You’re more of a Matty anyway.” Ana kept her shit eating grin on. It was just so easy to bother him, to annoy him. Like any kid sister because that was apparently what their relationship was. A weird, crime-ridden, makeshift family with Luca D’amore as the head. “He’s not even here, you don’t have to worry.”

Ana leaned over the counter, head turning to the left and to the right. No one. Absolutely no one. It was a ghost town. Either there was some whole money thing that was happening that Ana was blissfully unaware of or there was some giant ‘closed’ sign on the front door and no one bothered to tell her. Or they did and Ana paid no attention probably because her airpods were in and blasting music to drown out any thoughts in her head.

Her face scrunched up, wanting someone to be here. Anyone really. Which apparently her wish meant that it would be Matteo. 

Charles toyed with his pen as he waited for Ana to arrive.  He left early for work today which is why he had the time to text and catch up. Charles valued his connection with her. She was there in those rare moments in his life that he was anxious if he’d be alive tomorrow. It was a surreal experience. 

Charles looked over at the door whenever someone enters, after a few moments. The woman he had been waiting for enters. Charles immediately stood up and met her on the counter. “What’d you like?” Charles interrupted her, taking his wallet from his pocket. He payed for her, bought slices of cake and a coffee for himself before heading over to the table he sat before. 

“This is a probably weird question, but do you happen to know someone named Peter?” He asked, turning towards her as they sat. “By the way, how’s work? Still with weird dudes swarming around?” He chuckled.

“Shit, fuck.” Ana almost slammed her hands onto the counter. Charles literally appeared out of nowhere and she was thankful that there were no open coffee cups around her. She gave him a look, complete disbelief written all over her face before finishing her order, stepping aside so he could pay. Not that caffeine was needed anymore now that Ana was properly awake, but she still wasn’t going to say now. 

“Hi, Charles. Thank you for scaring the living shit out of me. I’m doing great. How are you?” The sarcasm dripped out of her mouth like it was chocolate. She plopped down onto the seat and tried to figure out what did she do to deserve this. It wasn’t that Charles wasn’t nice, sending a car for her and paying for her coffee, but this budding friendship seemed so out of the ordinary. Ana wasn’t really going to question it but she did have some things to get used to.