Radio Silence (Abandoned industrial district)

[Zholdin Gregorovich]

He sat like a marble carving, his eyes shadowed but bright with something primal beneath the calm. The laughter had long died down. Even the crew felt the shift in the air. Dante walked like a man who didn’t fear consequences. His voice dripped with the kind of certainty Zholdin had only ever seen in madmen and warlords.

But when the man’s fingers trailed across Zholdin’s shoulders, lingering too long, something electric snapped through the room. Chairs scraped. Boots thudded. Limon and Mikov were on their feet in an instant, hands reaching for weapons, the rest not far behind despite their collective injuries. The room didn’t breathe.

Zholdin lifted a hand. Just a flick of his fingers. Nothing more. And like dogs to a whistle, the men froze, glanced at one another, then slowly, deliberately, backed down. No orders. No barked commands. Just one movement, and the room obeyed.

Zholdin smirked, but it was the kind that didn’t reach his eyes. “If you really want to suck my dick, you’ll have to ask nicely,” he said. A ripple of uneasy laughter moved through the crew, unsure whether they were meant to laugh or brace for a corpse.

Zholdin stood with the stiffness of a man who’d killed through worse. His leg burned from the venom, but he didn’t limp, refusing to show it now. His hands flexed once at his sides facing Dante full on.

His green was of bared teeth that may as well have shown fangs for all their mirth. 
"Let me tell you something, Dante." His voice curled around the name like it was something he was ready to break. "I don’t run. I don’t kneel. And if I find out there’s something burning inside me that can tear the world apart?”

Arms spreading lightly, like daring a bullet to do its job, he accepted this duel.

"Then light the fucking match.”

[Giovanni]

Giovanni’s lips curved up in a smile at the reaction to his touch. He hadn’t touch Zholdin because he was interested in him. Lust wasn’t involved. Giovanni didn’t care about such things. He had simply wanted to see a reaction. Zholdin himself hadn’t responded much to it, with the exception of a quip, but his crew’s response had been quite amusing. Giovanni had wanted to put the gang leader on edge, but the man was stoic, keeping control of himself. That would be helpful should he prove to be able to wield the god powers.

Giovanni’s face turned to Gyrm as Zholdin continued establishing his dick size. The woman stood, nervousness in her posture. There was a tension there. She wanted to act. Giovanni was sure of that, but she couldn’t - not here. A lioness she may be, but she was surrounded by predators. Giovanni supposed he could understand her frustration. After all, he was the exact reason why her order hunted those like him. He gave her a knowing smile.

Giovanni turned back to Zholdin. ”I would expect no less,” his comment marked with an anticipatory grin. The man wanted to light the match, and Giovanni was happy to oblige, but first he wanted to see if the match would take before he poured some gasoline on the situation.

Giovanni began to remove his coat, revealing a simple grey t-shirt underneath. ”Wielding the power is all about control. It’s there within - a well of power, but it’s not stagnant. It’s furious - a volcano waiting to erupt. To weld the power you must contain it and wrestle it into your control. You control it - not the other way around, and it will fight you for it. You must not run from it and you must not kneel to it,” he said with a smirk. Remember that.”

It was one of the few times in recent memory that Giovanni had been sincere. Gregorovich wasn’t his enemy…yet. Giovanni had no real desire to kill him even though he’d be willing. Hell, he has the potential to be an ally.

Grym was still there, disapproving of the whole ordeal. Strangely, Giovanni didn’t think her an enemy either, despite the fact that she likely wanted to put a bullet through his skull. ”You will not interfere.” He turned to the gopniks. ”And neither will you.” They didn’t seem happy about that.

It was said without emotion and the timbre of command. It was a simple matter of fact statement. Even now he felt his power coursing through him, ready to intervene should they try. He allowed some of his power to come out, and a crackling electric sound came from blue lightning that danced amongst his fingers.

”Lets light the match,” Giovanni said, beginning his approach towards Zholdin.