I Can Be Your Cure I'm Givin' If You're Asking

So, why not celebrate a job well done?

A flash of blue in the crowd below caught his attention.

There was a man in a blue waistcoat trying to squeeze through the mass of people. He greatly stood out because he was dressed far more formally than anyone else in the club. He had short black hair and a trim beard, and honestly? If it weren’t for the large scar across the one side of his face, Kano wouldn’t have recognised him.

It had been a long time since he’d last seen Kuai Liang, after all.

The question was what he was doing here. Kano had heard through the grapevine that Kuai Liang had become the newest leader of The Lin Kuei. Kinda impressive all things considered. But still, if those rumours were true, and Kuai Liang was now in charge of The Lin Kuei, it probably was a bad thing that he was here. Especially given their last meeting, Kano gave Kuai Liang that scar.

“Ey, Jarek,” he called over his shoulder, and the man in question strolled over to the balcony to see what Kano wanted. “We’ve got a visitor.”

He pointed to Kuai Liang, and Jarek’s eyes widened. “Holy fuck, last time I saw him he was taking his clothes off for cash.”

“Go get him. I wanna know what he’s doin’ here,” Kano ordered, and Jarek nodded in acknowledgement before turning away.

He watched as Jarek and a couple of his other men made their way over to Kuai Liang. They paused to talk for a while, before the two men circled round to grab both Kuai Liang’s arms and pull him across the room. Kano watched as they disappeared towards the stairs. Pushing himself away from the balcony, he walked more into his private room, knowing it’d be a better place to see Kuai Liang.

The door to the room opened, and Kuai Liang was unceremoniously pushed through. He stumbled slightly, but quickly found his balance, standing up straight and brushing himself down like he was dirty. Kano took a second to take in his appearance. He wasn’t the skinny twink that Kano remembered. He’d bulked out a little in terms of his body, and had lost some of the baby fat on his face. The beard was what really helped age him however.

He looked good, Kano had to admit. He was always a pretty boy and Kano had always low-key wanted to fuck his brains out. But like this? Man. It was a shame the guy wasn’t fucking for money anymore because Kano would have paid double for it.

“G’day Kuai Liang, long time no see,” he greeted casually, like they were old friends and that Kano didn’t brutally attack the man the last time they met. “Hear your leadin’ the Lin Kuei these days. Doin’ pretty good for yourself for a prostitute.”

“I was a stripper,” Kuai Liang corrected, tucking a few strands of hair behind his ear like he was pretending to not care. The fact he’d even refuted it told Kano that he did though.

“Same difference,” Kano replied with a shrug. “I bet if you were given enough money, you’d still have been on your knees right?” Kano smirked when he watched Kuai Liang’s face turning red. “Still. I gotta ask what the fuck you’re doin’ here? Given our history, I figure this’d be the last place you’d wanna be.”

Kuai Liang took a deep breath and looked Kano dead in the eye as he said “I have a proposition for you.”

“Some habits die hard, eh?” He joked, enjoying the way Kuai’s eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth.

“Will you just shut up and listen to me for five seconds?” Kuai growled, and Kano actually chuckled. If it were anyone else, he’d have fucking murdered them for telling him to shut up. He was willing to hear Kuai out, however. “I understand you have come into possession of The Red Dragon’s latest shipment of items.”

“Oh. I see.” Kano slowly began to walk over to Kuai. “You hear I’ve managed to get a good payout and you want a cut of it.” Once close enough he grabbed Kuai’s chin. The man didn’t even flinch at the act. “Yeah. Sorry. Finders keepers, and I don’t fuckin’ share whats rightfully mine.”

“Well, technically it’s rightfully Daegon’s,” Kuai sarcastically replied, and… yeah okay. Kano supposed he’d got him there. “And I’m not here for a cut. More to warn you that you might have a storm coming your way.”

Kano made a pth sound. “Yeah right. I can deal with Daegon’s temper tantrums, thanks.”

“In amongst the wares is an item that was set to be sold to Quan Chi,” Kuai continued, ignoring Kano’s previous statement. Although to be honest, that was a pretty good way to get Kano to shut his mouth and listen. He actually released the other man, letting him speak. “I have it on good authority he’s not exactly happy that it was stolen.”

“Yeah. Well. I can just sell whatever it was to him.” For a greatly exaggerated price of course. If it was that important, Kano wasn’t about to miss the chance to really milk it.

Kuai gave a frustrated sigh, “that’s not going to work out the way you want it to. He’s already paid Daegon for it. He’s not going to pay for it a second time.” Kano opened his mouth to question how he knew that, but Kuai cut him off with “I’ve been watching him for some time now. If you don’t hand it over, he intends to burn this place to the ground.”

Dammit. That did seem pretty in character from what Kano knew of Quan Chi. Man was a bit of an enigma for the most part, but there were definitely whispers regarding what he did to people that crossed him. Still, he wasn’t exactly sure where Kuai was going with this all.

“So. What exactly is this proposition?” Kano questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“The way I see it, we have a common enemy.” Kuai paused for a moment, breathing in deeply. “Two common enemies, counting Daegon.” He took a step backwards, trying to make some space between the two of them. “I have information on both Quan Chi’s plans to retrieve his item and information regarding The Red Dragon’s operations that will interest you. I also offer The Lin Kuei’s assistance in future endeavours where you may need some extra hands.”

“And… What exactly do you want outta it?” Kano questioned, because granted all of that seemed like it’d really benefit him. But it really depended on what Kuai Liang wanted from it.

“I want aid in capturing Quan Chi,” Kuai explained, holding out a hand flat in front of him. “I believe he has information that I require. I figure using the stolen item as leverage would help to catch him out.”

“What information does he have?” Kano crossed his arms across his chest.

“That’s irrelevant-”

“Nah, don’t give me that shit.” Kano jerked his hand up, lightly resting it on Kuai’s neck. Not choking him, but a bit of extra warning not to fuck with him. “If you want me to agree to help you, you gotta tell me what’s so important.”

Kuai closed his eyes and muttered “I believe he knows what fate befell my brother.”

“Ah.” Kano actually let go at that. The disappearance of Song Bi-Han was one of the criminal underworld's biggest mysteries, and from what he understood was the catalyst to Kuai taking over The Lin Kuei. It did make sense he would go to the lengths of teaming up with someone he despised to find the truth.

Kuai Liang cleared his throat before saying “so, what do you say? You help me, and I will help you.”

Kano put his hand under his chin, before grinning slightly. Sure, what Kuai already offered sounded good, he just couldn’t help himself with pushing for more.

“You’re going to have to throw in a lil more to convince me,” Kano replied, watching as Kuai bared his teeth slightly. “I mean, I never got to have a proper taste of you, y’know.”

“What?” Kuai said somewhat flatly. Kano chuckled, reaching a hand forwards and tracing along the scar on Kuai’s face. He barely remembered what actually led him to leaving this mark. Certainly Kuai Liang would remember, an injury like that would be burned into his memories forever. For Kano however? Eh, it was basically just another day of the week.

“Cause y’know, despite the fact you fuckin’ hate my guts I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to rearrange yours.” The spluttering from Kuai Liang was exactly what he was aiming for. “So. You want my help? Give me the info you have, and let me have a few rounds with you.”

Kuai looked like he wanted to murder him, but eventually bit out “fine.” He glanced Kano up and down before adding “but in the grounds you actually get me to orgasm.”

Kano let out a barking laugh before throwing his arm around Kuai’s shoulders.

“Baby, I’ll give you all the fucking orgasms you can handle.”

Maybe he was letting himself in for a world of trouble, but if he could get the upper hand against The Red Dragon and get his dick wet? That might just make whatever trouble awaited worth it.

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