Benigno "Beni" Flores

give yourself permission to become who you already know you are

[beni-flores]

lucasxholt​:

New Target

Luke had been tailing Beni for the better part of week now. The man’s folder had passed along the detectives desk, and although it wasn’t his usual case it was still up to him to deal with it. A few of the supernatural higher ups had tasked him with working the cases that involved the supernatural to make sure they stayed hushed, and that’s exactly what Luke planned on doing. Idly flipping through the file he could tell the person was a pro, at least, not enough of a pro to not scam a supernatural run business.

It wasn’t high on his priority list of cases, considering the chaos of the last few months with the vampire murders. At least it got him out of the office for a while and a break from spinning his wheels on a few other cases he was working on. Growing bored of staying in the car, Luke decided it was time to meet Beni face to face, get a feel for him before he wasted any more time on him. Climbing out of his undercover squad car, Luke had parked just enough away to close the distance and not so gently bump into him. “Whoa, sorry, buddy. Didn’t see you there,” he added, catching the man’s phone in his hand as he spoke. “Is there a fire? Where you going in such a hurry?”

“No shit you didn’t see me,” Beni grumbled, flinching as he straightened himself back up, only to realize the stranger had his phone. “You need a pair of damn glasses.”  He gave the man a once over-- handsome, sure, but his taste in clothing was fucking deplorable. “A full makeover, honestly-- and to mind your own business.” He sighed, gaze darting to his phone in the stranger’s palm once again. He might have been more happy it was in one piece, had he not been knocked into in the first place. It was definitely not his fault. “Phone,” he all but demanded, holding out his palm expectantly. 

[beni-flores]

kitsunexkang​:

“You’d be surprised by what some of these celebrities get up to,” Kang laughed as he took Beni’s teasing in stride. 

“Yeah, let’s do it. We can make a night of it after my shift one of these days,” he grinned and pulled out his phone, unlocking it and handing it over to the other man. “Give yourself a missed call with my phone and we can arrange for me to show you a night at the Rubicund.”

“You really think?” He had an idea of what they might get up to, but was curious none the less, considering his lack of knowledge about the place. Beni gladly accepted the phone when prompted, entering his number and giving himself a call. The moment he hung up he handed the phone back, eager to set a date already. “Hey thanks man-- I’m looking forward to it. For real-- always nice to make a new friend in this city, you know?”

[beni-flores]

mercyedwards​:

Her eyes lingered on her phone for a few moments before he caught her attention again. “Something like that, better to be positive about the world you’re in otherwise it gets very depressing,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I’m a nurse at the Sanitorium,” she answered. “What is it that you do?”

“A nurse in a sanatorium? Hm.. Sounds wild. Bet you have some interesting stories to share,” Beni mused aloud with a grin, although he doubted the woman could do much for him with that kind of job. An interesting profession no doubt, but the people being treated were likely far from high society. “I work in business, mostly mergers and acquisitions. Boring, really,” he excused-- although his idea of mergers and acquisitions was far from textbook, considering his history as a scam artist. 

[psmith73]

Manny Jacinto & Henri (via Dianne Doan IG stories)

[beni-flores]

mercyedwards​:

“I think we can have the best intentions but sometimes life just gets in the way,” she replied with a shrug. Her friend had a busy job so she was bound to get distracted once in a while, Mercy wouldn’t hold it against them. “Oh, no… I suppose I hadn’t thought about that,” she said, frowning. Absently, she pulled her phone from her purse and quickly sent a text to check in on them. “Well now I’m worried.”

Beni chuckled, commenting, “I guess you’re a glass half full individual aren’t you?” Optimistic and not worried typically  by the looks of it. “What do you do for a living, if you don’t mind me asking?”

[beni-flores]

adaire-westwood​:

Adaire was impressed since not many people nowadays would take the time to read the classics. “ I know most of the classics by heart, they never get out of fashion. The Westwood Theatre is going to present tragedies next season, you should come and see if we can change your opinion.”

“An invite directly from you, Sir? Well, I’d be insane to turn down such an offer,” Beni responded with a well practiced, charming smile. “Perhaps we can chat again then,” he added confidently.

[beni-flores]

New Target

Beni could feel eyes on him, but couldn’t see them, having small moments all morning where he felt himself looking over his shoulder. It was unnerving to say the least. Perhaps he was just getting more paranoid, or at least that was the excuse he fed himself at times. Those thoughts were usually followed by reassurances that there was no reason to be paranoid, considering he’d hardly done anything wrong. Any and all scams.. acts of fraud? Entirely justified. Life simply was filled with winners and losers.. Haves and have nots... And he was most certainly one of the former, not latter. 

Reassured that it was all in his head, Beni continued on, glancing down at his phone on occasion as he headed on foot for his next destination. His pace was brisk, and unfortunately for him, not enough attention was geared towards his surroundings. The device went flying moments later much to his misfortune, shoulder colliding heavily with another figure in his way.

@lucasxholt

[beni-flores]

theleastfavoriteson​:

Eiji paused for a good, long time, looking at the other guy with slightly narrowed eyes. He wasn’t usually a suspicious person, nor was he normally one to turn down attention, even if the flirting wasn’t necessarily the best. Still, there was something… and no, whatever warning bell that’d been ringing stopped, and his expression relaxed into a casual, easy lopsided smile. “Only if you want, Beni, but you really don’t have to. No offense was taken, just questioning your game.”

“Ouch,” Beni retorted with a laugh. “You know some people like the cheesy lines. it’s only cringe-worthy if you’re not self-aware,” he explained. “Anyways-- at very least for the sake of my pride, let me buy you that drink?” He flagged down the closest bartender when one looked his way. “That will buy me what? Two more minutes of your time? Three if I’m lucky and we order something they aren’t familiar with?” He flashed a charming smile as he spoke, determined to get the other man to like him.

[beni-flores]

calistaemmanuel​:

“Good for you,” her head bobbed in a nod, a hint of disdain curling at the corners of her smile at the way he spoke. “I would wish you luck, but it seems you don’t need that.” There was something equally slimy and slippery about him and Calista didn’t like it one bit. “Anyway, I should go. I have a meeting with a… sort of investor myself. I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

Beni quirked an eyebrow, biting his tongue and holding back a comment about coincidences. He knew when someone was looking for an excuse to bail-- he had done it a million times, although typically more smoothly. “You wouldn’t,” he agreed, any politeness leaving his tone. “Take care.”

[beni-flores]

kitsunexkang​:

“Oh, yeah. Lots of people like that come to the Rubicund all the time. Especially the high society types.” They had been pointed out to Kang a number of times and they always spent so much money when they were there. And a number of them were the wealthier supernaturals too. He rattled off the names of a few celebrities who came by, some of whom had access to Level Four. 

“Why? Are you hoping for a celebrity sighting of your own?” Kang chuckled. He did not know what the human’s obsession with celebrities was all about, but he supposed that he idolised some of the older spirits in the city and it was probably the same thing.

“High society-- what, are you suggesting you serve celebrities, Kang?” He grinned, playing it off as teasing as he added, “I’m not going to ask you to get me an autography if that’s what you’re worried about. Relax. Just sounds pretty cool, you know?” And beneficial. Befriending Kang was now a priority, wondering just how many influential people the dancer knew without realizing just how influential they were. Sure, there was always a chance Kang was exaggerating to some degree, but the odds of the situation playing in Beni’s favor were high enough to entertain his interest. “Would you mind showing me around some time perhaps? Like before or after you get off a shift?”

[beni-flores]

mercyedwards​:

“Of course,” she chuckled. It was a very positive attitude to have and the deity had to admire it. “Well, Beni, I was here to meet a friend but I’m starting to think she forgot about it,” she said, glancing down at the watch on her wrist. “So I suppose I’m here making new friends now.” 

“Doesn’t sound like much of a friend to ditch you spur of the moment,” Beni mused aloud, eyeing the woman curiously for a moment. “Not worried she might be in an accident or something, huh?”

[beni-flores]

calistaemmanuel​:

“Alright then, Beni.” Puffing her cheeks out in thought her gaze found the cloudy sky before it settled back on him. “I want to say neither. Which might just allude to it being the ego.” It was the brain. Flattery made her curious. It was a currency; to be used when people wanted something and rarely came from a genuine place. Though Calista was certain they had never officially met before, there was a hint of familiarity to his features when the light hit them a certain way. “What is it you do for a living, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“My family admittedly hails from money, so I’ve never had much pressure regarding what I do for a living,” Beni excused. “But I have a few startups I’ve helped sponsor.. I’m an investor.”

[beni-flores]

kitsunexkang​:

“Oh, you know. Humans and their crazy drunken parties,” Kang replied, only vaguely catching on how the way he phrased that might be odd but he hoped the other man did not notice. “You can really see the true nature of humanity in places like the Rubicund…” he laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Beni gave the other man an odd look for a moment, wondering why he was referring to people as humans. “Yeah, sure... I think most folks say that about bars in general,” he responded back. “Ever serve or dance for any notable clientele? You know-- like celebrities or something?” 

[beni-flores]

littledokkaebi​:

“Well, I have been told I am very charming.” She pretended to be offended by his words, hand to her non beating heart. “I suppose it is a nice ice breaking, though cheesy. What a way to start a conversation.” Haneul chuckled, “I am enjoying one of my rare nights off, Beni. I work at the Mind’s Eye and am performing there more often than not.. Have you ever been?”

“Mind’s Eye? Can’t say I have,” Beni responded, not sure he’d even ever heard of the place. Because of that, he doubted it was anything worth knowing-- any place worth checking out he typically already had heard of, even if he hadn’t gone to it before. “You’re an entertainer at it though? What’s your talent?”

[beni-flores]

adaire-westwood​:

“ I will try not to judge your preferences if that would make it easier for you.” Adaire reassured the other man. While the elf did state that he would try nothing guarantees that he would actually manage to hide his reaction. After all, he was known for walking the lines of a judgmental asshole every once in a while.“ Let me rephrase the question then: what´s your favorite classic tragedy?”

Beni fumbled for a moment, not expecting classic tragedy to be the genre picked. He was pretty confident none of the shows he’d seen recently qualified. Classic tragedies were something you studied in school-- not something Beni wasted time seeing, even if paid for. “Classic? The Illaid, I guess? I’ll be honest-- tragedies aren’t my thing. Most of my experience with them is from reading, not actually seeing them performed.“

[beni-flores]

mercyedwards​:

It was almost charming so she could laugh off the pun around her name. “I guess I was named this for a reason so I can extend that kindness to you,” she agreed. “And what do you normally try and break the ice for?” Mercy can’t imagine he didn’t have a friend who was waiting for him so why bother talking to her.

“To get to know people, of course,” Beni answered smoothly. Aside from well known individuals he could research online, you never knew who could benefit you  after all. “So Mercy-- what brings you out tonight?”

[beni-flores]

kitsunexkang​:

“I dance there, actually,” Kang grinned. The fox spirit was not much of an alcohol person which made bartending an entirely moot profession for him. “That sometimes involves serving the drinks too. The things that people get up to in that club though…” he chuckled because being up on stage each night allowed him a pretty unique vantage point too.

“You dance?” Beni’s gaze racked over the other man with a look of understanding and appreciation. “I can see it. Serving drinks, hm? Guess you might see quite a lot then.” Exactly the type of person he wanted to befriend in the club. “What kinds of things do people get up to in that place?”