this wasn’t the dragon’s area of expertise. clean and quick kills without excessive use of force tended to be ren’s go to, but they lacked a dramatic flair when it came to intimidation tactics. they’d already scoured the hostage’s scroll for something that might have been incriminating, leading them to the new target’s location. they’d found nothing, and so the only other option had been to wring him of information. brows furrowed as ren rolled their eyes at mercury, the true agitation in their posture revealed as the hému clan member strode up to the culprit with smoke - like grace. the unsheathing of the daggers at their belt was instantaneous, quick as lightning, blade thrown down and impaled through the metacarpals of their victim. their expression between mask and wispy black hair was unperturbed by the pitched screaming, as they were sure mercury would have taken out any straggling security detail. for extra measure, the dragon twisted the knife some, making sure it was good and lodged into the wood beneath his arm. when free they made quick signs with their hand, hoping mercury could get the gist of it by body language alone.
gaze drifted from the person of interest to watch ren approach, but mercury stayed where he was, casually leaned over the back of the chair. keen grey eyes followed fellow assassin’s swift movements without a flinch, and a half smirk played on mercury’s masked lips as blade point sunk between bone and tendon. his eyebrows pulled together in faux concern, and he tsked in the man’s ear as he screamed. ‘quiet now ... i expect things are gonna get a lot worse, so save your voice.’ wrapping a gloved hand around their culprit’s throat, he left it resting there as ren twisted the knife, and mercury held the stranger relatively still as he writhed in pain. still focused on his partner and the way their frustration clawed at the surface, mercury sighed and stood up. the hastened hand signs were enough to tip quicksilver off to the idea that it was his turn, and he patted the suspect’s shoulder as he walked around the chair to face him. taking a moment to keep contact with dragon’s narrowed eyes, mercury hoped they would stand down and allow him free reign.
‘so,' he began, relaxing onto one leg and crossing his arms, 'you are welcome to make this easier on yourself and give me the whereabouts i'm looking for, by all means, but the difficult route sure is more fun.' eyes shone with taunting excitement, and he glanced over at ren for a moment. 'for me, at least.' stepping closer to the main in question, mercury crouched down in front of him and placed one hand on the handle of the knife embedded in his skin. waiting for a moment, to give adequate time for a reply, mercury cocked an eyebrow. stubborn suspect gave no outward response. with a shrug, mercury took hold of the dagger and sliced clean through the hand, severing sinew and flesh to pull the blade out through third and fourth finger. the cut was clean, and the shrieking noise that echoed off the walls around them made mercury's eyes crinkle with a smile. as if just looking for a place to put it, mercury embedded the majority of the blade into the decoy’s thigh, ignoring the way the man shook and screamed. 'again,' he started, voice pleasant and calm, 'do you have something you'd like to tell me? you have a hell of a lot of untouched body space, and i can be here all day.'
