♗the aficionado♗

publicly —- she APPEARED on the ruins of her estate, her heart guided to what she had lost only to find it had been riddled with snakes. the second time was for a private venture, one of valiance and privacy though it took little time for her to recognize that she was not alone. still she was finding old pieces of her home, burned edges of photographs, her children’s things long sought out for her memory but— as she looked up, she saw the living VISAGE of an old friend and a subtle, nearly displaced smile appeared on her lips,  ❛  it’s what happens when you leave the snakes in a pit without charmers. ❜ she reasons, a wave of her hand to display the wreckage.  ❛  what you are doing here —— it doesn’t go unnoticed, cortez. ❜

Seeing Naomi return at the Cobra’s initiation brought a warmness to Cortez’ heart that he would never voice but would make sure was known. However, it also brought unease. Now she was back, the real war began and he knew that it would not finish with every one of them coming out as survivors. He also knew that for a lot of what needed to be done, the law would not be working in their favor. Turning, and seeing her again, a warm smile came to the lawyers lips. “You have known me long enough to know I do not do this to be noticed,” he chuckled gently. It was nice to see his old friend in the daylight, with no loud music masking their conversation. “You look well, Naomi... But how are you? Really? Putting the gang aside and talking to me as your friend -- how are you?”

 ❝ i  guess  we  can’t  expect  a  gang  that  relied  on  backstabbers  to  have  common  decency. ❞  she  sighed,  looking  around.  it  made  her  heart  ache  a  little,  to  see  the  mansion  in  such  a  state.  before  his  death,  it  had  been  a  place  of  such  prosperity,  reeking  of  wealth  and  power.  now  it  looked  like  a  college  dorm  on  a  sunday  morning.  ❝ what’s  that  old  saying??  about  the  thug  life  choosing  you??  that’s  my  reason  for  being  sucked  into  this  mess. ❞  the  corners  of  her  mouth  turned  up  into  a  smile,  knowing  how  ridiculously  cheesy  that  was.  but  she  figured  both  cortez  and  herself  could  use  a  laidback  conversation.  ❝ yeah…  i  was  outside  for  most  of  the  night. ❞  zazie  tried  to  not  let  her  facial  expression  give  anything  away.  the  last  thing  she  wanted  was  to  let  cortez  down,  and  she  wasn’t  sure  how  he  would  feel  about  her  spending  the   night  with  a  cobra.  ❝ but  what  about  you??  did  you  party??  do  a  keg  stand,  get  a  little  wild?? ❞

Cortez gave a half-nod in agreement with her statement about backstabbers. “Snakes, eh?” He smiled at her before resting the litter picker against a half burnt down wall. Chuckling, the lawyer shook his head and almost rolled his eyes at the young girl. “I am surprised you quick mouth doesn’t get you in more trouble, Zazzie,” he joked with gentle smiles. “It is unlike you to be on the outside of a party, though given the circumstances I am quite relieved you were,” he commented before scoffing and shaking his head. “Yes, actually - that is exactly what I was doing,” he sarcastically quipped. “Did you not know I hold the longest keg stand record in Valdez?” 

❝ But there’s no honour among thieves. ❞ He reminds him, having bared witness to it with his own eyes—as well as living up to it once or twice ( okay, maybe it was more than that ) but that was all just semantics. None of that was the lawyer’s concern. He gave a bleak snort of laughter, no God he had ever prayed to growing up has ever given a damn about him. What makes Cortez believe any different? They were a band of sinners, no matter how you looked at it. There was no saving their souls now. Roman had poured a bottle of scotch on their dead kings grave, that was as far as remembering and honouring their fallen leader as he went. He wasn’t a man of many attachments, the people he considered a friend could be counted on one hand while his enemies would require more than they shared between them. ❝ It’s honourable what you’re trying to do, but it’s fuitile. Soon enough these walls will be spray painted, bonfires will be lit in the gardens and bricks hurled through the windows.❞

“No, I fear you are right there, Roman,” Cortez smiled gently as he suppressed the sigh he wished to exhale. “Sometimes futile measures are exactly the kind that needs to be taken to remind those around us that even though our name may be savage, we need not act and react like animals,” he replied with a smile still on his face. “Maybe they will be vandalized in the coming months, but as of now, it is just litter and that is something I can do something about.”

 zazie  had  come  back  to  the  mansion  to  pick  up  the  jacket  that  she  had  left  outside,  a  trip  that  she  hoped  would  take  no  more  than  five  minutes.  upon  seeing  cortez,  she  changed  her  mind.  she  kept  the  jacket  clutched  in  her  hand,  swinging  her  arms  as  she  approached  her  him. ❝ tell  me  about  it.  but  i’m  sure  that’s  exactly  why  they  did  it.  a  slap  in  the  face  to  those  who  remained  loyal. ❞  she  continued  up  the  steps,  the  heels  she  was  wearing  scraping   on  the  dirt.  she  stopped  just  short  of  her  friend’s  side. ❝ are  you  here  on  cleaning  duty?? ❞  leave   it to  cortez  to  take  time  out  of  his  day  to  fix  the  litter  problem  of  a  dead  man’s  home. ❝ i’ve  always  said  you  have  too  much  dignity  for  a  town  like  this. ❞

Cortez smiled as he turned around to see it was the young operative approaching him. The two had known each other for a number of years now and both had seen one another grow. “Oh, I have no doubt about that. In fact, I would place everything I have on a bet that they chose here for that reason,” he allowed himself a small scoff, something he did not usually do. “If I don’t do it, it will only get worse,” he smiled gently. “And I’ve always said you have too much legitimate potential to be getting involved with all of this gang life, yet we are both still here year after year my friend,” he said warmly. “How are you, Z?” Cortez asked. “I did not see you here last night - though I imagine you most likely wanted it that way, no?” 

❝ Did you expect any different from a group of criminals? ❞ His gaze sweeps across the littered ground, empty glass bottles, cigarette buds and scrunched up red plastic cups were the only evidence of there ever being a party hosted here. He lifted his gaze to the dark haired man, raising a quizzical brow at the litter picker in his hand. ❝ Is that your way of giving back to the community? I don’t think cleaning up one little rager is going to cleanse a town of its sins. ❞ He should know, he was left to fend for himself in the barrel of this godforesaken town when he was just ten years old. Sin was all the people who dwelled in the barrel knew. 

“There can be respect among thieves, I have seen it myself,” Cortez replied gently as he took in a lung full of air and then slowly exhaled it. Chuckling morbidly as Roman rose his brow, the lawyer shook his head. “No - it would take much more than this to even scratch the surface of this small town’s sins. I fear even God has given up on us here,” he gave the arms dealer a small smile before shaking his head once more. “Unlike those who chose to become snakes, I have not forgotten everything the man who owned these ruins did for our family - for me. He took me in when I had nothing - this,” he lifted the picker. “This is me continuing to show my respect for a great man and a family that after all these years, I now call my own.”. 

“ his name is DAGGER. “ a very fitting name. “ and if you hurt him i will break your hand. understood ?? “

Cortez let out a hearty laugh as he dropped down into a squat and ruffled the dog's ears. “And aren’t you a beautiful boy,” he spoke to the dog with a smile beaming on his face. It was a little-known secret that the lawyer had a huge soft spot for animals - especially dogs. “As if anyone could hurt such a creature,” Cortez spoke up to the Operative. “I take it I do not want to ask where it was you acquired him,” he rose a brow at her playfully before returning his attention to Dagger. 

CORTEZ attended the event out of curiosity alone. He wished to see the truth of the rumors himself. He spent the event going around and gaining all the intelligence he could as well as catching up with recent events and feuds. He only spent an hour or two there and then returned home where he noted down all conversations he overheard as well as a list of names of Savages who were there. 

❛  you don’t choose to identify as a cobra for you’re intelligence ❜ she states, a simple comment, after all, if it WALKS like a duck; or however the saying goes. taking a beat, mariko looked to the man that joined her and let out a sigh, one knee pulled closer to her chest as she surveyed the mockery of a celebration.  ❛  you’re a lawyer, there’s got to be someone who can stake claim to this land, crush this cute little party, huh? ❜   

❛  i’ve had a lot of time to think. ❜  it was true — naomi caito did not lay low and weep over her husband’s DEATH, but prepared herself for the rising of her family once more. perhaps there wouldn’t be space enough for two leaders of this so called savage gang, but with her connections, her knowledge, they would thrive. together, the pair sought their gaze out towards the partying cobras, BRANDED now, drunk and foolish. squeezing her compatriot’s arm, she let out a dry bout of laughter,  ❛  our work will never end, cortez ———– but at least now our enemy has marked themselves for DEATH. ❜

“I know you will have a plan A through to plan Z, Naomi. And I know you know I will be by your side no matter how many of them we must go through,” Cortez glanced at her before reverting his dark eyes back to the crowds as a small silence fell between them and they both gathered their thoughts on the sights that beheld them. At her laugh, a large smile came across his features and a chuckle escaped the back of his throat. “No, we will be working and plotting until our end ---- I have confidence our end will be long after theirs,” he smiled to her. 

“A minute or two and I might.” She grabbed the back of a shirt, pulled someone close and whispered into their ear before sending them off. Now that power was hers, one had to be a little bit generous ― or whatever the notion was. Heels clicking as she walked closer. Small smile. “We are celebrating ourselves. There is no good in winning, if you don’t know how to enjoy it. Why are you here?”

Cortez observed the power the woman in front of her had over her minions, though he wondered if it bothered her that they had once been loyal to another before her. He, for certain, would question the trustworthiness of those ex-savages. “A battle may be won, but I fear the war is only just beginning-- would you not agree?” Cortez replied calmly, not making a threat of war but pointing out that one was most certainly brewing. “I was invited,” he said quickly. “Though if the generosity of a snake is short-lived, I will be surely on my way,” the lawyer challenged, testing the leader of his rivals.

there was a moment of hesitance at the contact to her arm but she softened upon recognition. they were standing in ENEMY TERRITORY now, after all.  ❛  like a phoenix, we will burn them all to the ground. ❜ a stout nod, she knows what she’s saying and how her own children are involved in the traitorous shift that had occurred.  ❛  i’m here. i’m standing. i think i’ve rested enough. and you, cortez?  ❜ slowly, she turned to face him,  ❛  it’s good to see you  ❜

she FLOURISHES in enemy territory. well known for her prowess on the field, put up on a pedestal for her lack of fear in the face of death she carries with her a willingness to stand in the heart of danger and simply smile —————— even if in this case, it was a hapless celebration. she is adorned previously with a coil snake upon her leg, but she keeps such art hidden now as distaste floods at the sight of it. perched upon scaffolding above the celebratory initiation, she sighs, sunbathing upon the ruins of an old regime.  ❛  — i don’t know about you, but for cobras, this thing they are doing is a bit savage — don’t you think? ❜

Cortez barely believed that the Cobra’s would be so bold as to use Caito’s mansion as their initiation ground, yet here he was, stood on the ruins of his late leader. “This is not Savage,” the lawyer replied quietly as he sat down near the other. “This is disrespect and dishonor of the highest order. We would not stoop so low, though I guess they are snakes.”.

⋆ ◦ ° ☾ chadwick boseman + cis-male + he/him — have you met cortez okoro? they are a thirty five year old known around town as the aficionado. they’ve been in the gang life for ten years, and currently work for the savages as a law clerk. they are a heterosexual scorpion, which means they are driven + loyal, as well as stubborn + lonesome. journals scattered across the floor, classical music at 4am, smoking from a pipe in a highend desk chair. × tara. twenty-four. she/her. gmt. ×

here’s a bullet point intro for this sexy ass muse;

tw; murder tw; death, tw; alcoholism

she stands on the SKELETONS of her history, bones of the life that traitors now danced upon. this —– in all of her misgivings, was far from what she imagined her future legacy to become. turning slow, she envisions the room her own children used to play in, laughing and enjoying their lives filled with who knows what and splendor. and now? it was in RUINS,.  she speaks to no one in particular, a far breath away from the reality as it struggled to settle in, but her chin was held high ❛  so THIS is what’s become of my home. ❜

“You look like you need a drink.” A devilish smile dancing on her lip, red dress picked out by King. The leader looked otherwordly, an old snake tattoo coiling around her body, and a new one around her wrist. She wanted to share the pain and pleasure of tonight with her folks. She felt happy, victorious, strong. And for once she looked relaxed, happy in her skin “Let me get you something. Anything. This is a night of celebration.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I do not drink,” Cortez replied with a soft, gentle smile. Even in the face of the number one enemy, even stood on the remains of the mansion of his late friend, his facade never faulted. Cool, calm, collected. “I will take a cigar, however - if you have one, that is,” he requested. “And what exactly is it that you are celebrating?”