"You know," Yin observes as they approach the place, "if you get plastered enough, I can get drunk off your blood."

"If you get drunk enough, I can intoxicate you however you want," Alou is quick to reply. The door guard nods when Alou waves at him, and some low, stripping-appropriate music pours out of the doors as they open. "Now, you'll need to talk to Havoc yourself. Spiders generally don't grant favors just because."

Troix follows happily along. She's been in strip clubs before, usually to heckle the poor strippers when her mother was shopping or something.

"Noted. It's mercifully practical this time, and bribery is handy, anyway."

Alou leads the way, past softly lit gyration stations where women pretend to make love to polls so that people who don't have a 'Chinaman's chance against an African in a Curly Hair Contest' of getting to touch them can look for a price. There are male dancers too, kept separate from the ladies, but Alou leads them downstairs, past the lapdance booths and into the back room of the underground bar. Inside, a stately looking spider about the size of a cocker spaniel is doing some paperwork, dipping his foreleg into a bottle of ink to write.

"Heya Havoc," Alou greets him, "I brought..."

"Yin, right?" The spider blinks its eyes at her. "What can I do for you?"

Normally this is the part where she flirts a bit. But between her mood and the fact that her boobs lose so much power against non-humanoid spiders, she just gets right to it. "I'm hoping arrange clandestine, prompt transportation back to Tarantella."

"Can do, sister. Did your court martial go through?" Havoc scrawls his name on a page. "I was pretty liberal with the persuasion against it, but damned to hell if you don't have more enemies than an anime hero type."

Yin smiles at him, grateful they hadn't had to push this into something irksome. "Thank you for both...and yeah. Dishonorable discharge. I need to wear less clothes and pick up bigger eyes somewhere to get the alternative ending. You know, cataclysm I save the world from and prove myself everyone who ever doubted this shy little schoolgirl's will, thus earning a favorable judgement and a legally questionable love affair in the nick of time." Smirks.

"That might be the most creative come-on I've ever heard." Havoc pokes the page. "I hate paperwork. You'd think having eight pens would make it go faster. Have you ever danced before, Yin?"

Yin raises an eyebrow. "I'm a vampiric female spy with a fantastic body. Of course I have. Though learning what prompted the question may also explain what does or doesn't have to be stuffed up spinnerettes."

"Careful now, Yin. Just because I like your style doesn't mean I won't douse your face in webbing and videotape it." Taps another page. "I ask because I can't help you for free. Now, I paid off ten different officials to put aside your court martial - why do you suppose it took so long to go through? - because Alou over there told me that Troix is fond of you. Also, I had him work the pole because it amused me. I think you might actually draw."

Yin sighs inwardly. What's left of her pride and what's left of her reputation mutually cringe at the thought. It had taken forever to live down the softcore porn gig. But she does owe him, and from what Eleven knows about his operations, he's a pretty good guy. "I can pay you the equivalent of a good night's draw, in cash."

"I've got cash. What I need is proof that you're willing to do something you don't necessarily want to do. How can I trust you if you just buy me off?" Havoc steps back a little, forelegs raised in spider-don't fuck with me-position.

Yin sighs quietly. Weighs the various options and obligations. Finally folds her arms. The expression lurking behind her practiced neutrality is something approaching tired and defeated. "When?"

"Whenever you feel up to it. Bring that Arux guy. Put him in the front row, call it a gift." Havoc steps off off the desk, landing with a quiet thump before crawling up a book case. "Let's see... fake I.D., fake passport, fake concealed carry license, fake boobs, we've got it all here. You need all but the last two." He tugs a folder out and hands it to her. "There's the documentation you'll need. Someone gets to cross the big water on my hovercraft."

Yin smiles just faintly, and takes it. "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. Just make sure you don't try to stiff me on our agreement, eh? And... who's that behind you?" Havoc crawls back up to his desk, pointing at Troix with a foreleg. "You've got some kinda buggerfly there."

"Yeah. Say hi, Troix."

"Hiya Uncle Havoc!" Troix waves cheerfully, looking away from the globe she'd been playing with.

"Troix?" The spider backs up a step, forelegs up. "Nuh uh. I know they grow up fast, but gahd!"

"We've got a lot to figure out about as quickly as possible, yes," Yin acknowledges. "But on the plus side, Troix's healthier than she's ever been, as far as we can tell at a glance." Smiles a bit at the girl.

"And I have boobs! Wanna see?"

Havoc blinks. "That's, uh, quite alright. Okay, then... the, uh, hovercraft is at port under the tavern. Alou knows the code to the doors, so get on out of here so you can come back and shake your ass later."

This finally earns a small but non-fake smile. Yin nods. "Thanks Havoc. I won't forget the engagement. So...ready for a run on a hovercraft, Troix?"

"I was born ready!" Troix grins. "Actually, I was born wet and naked and squealing. But, also ready!"

The pole dancer-to-be looks to Alou as she turns to leave. "I need to grab a few things from home. I'm not exactly dressed to be inconspicuous, for one. Also, we can try to get something for Troix so she's not doing as the Romans do."

"She's not gonna be incognito with those things on her back, hon," Havoc puts in. "Tell you what. I'll watch her, you two go home, and we'll have cocoa. Or something."

Yin pauses, considering this. It's certainly up to Alou, however..."hey, Troix, can you do me a favor? Give me your biggest, best smile." So I can see your teeth.

Troix beams, and bares a set of almost-perfectly white, perfectly unspectacular teeth. She also strikes a rock star pose on Havoc's desk.

Yin grins slightly, her own fangs glittering. "Gorgeous, dear." The little person in her head sighs with relief. Not vampiric. Yay. That's a whole mess of complications that didn't need to be dealt with. Looks to Alou. Still his daughter and his call.

"Troix, would you like to stay with Havoc?" Alou asks this quietly, wondering what Yin's thinking.

"Sure!" Troix pats Havoc gently -- he is, like most fullblood Spider sentients, practically unsquishable. "We'll have fun."

"I'm sure." Yin smiles a bit. "Mmkay, Troix. Behave unless it's too fun not to." She winks. "See you soon!"

"Bye Yin! Bye Alou!"  Troix waves, smiling at the both of them. "Hey Havoc," she says to the spider, "do you have any mineral water? I'm craving it for some reason."

"Maybe... why? You're not feeling bad, are you?"

"Nah. Just thirsty." She sticks out her tongue at him. Blinks. "Hey. Thith wathnd theha bethore." She wags her tongue, and the smallish incisors on either side of the tubular tip. "Weird."

Outside, Yin sighs quietly. "I cannot say," she notes after a few moments, "how relieved I am that she wasn't sporting fangs. The light sensitivity is bothersome, but learning to be a vampire is way more than she needs to deal with right now."

"I can imagine," Aou nods. "There's no telling what happened to her in that freaking cocoon. Today just sucks out fucking loud."

"Seconded. "I'd third it if I had a voice in my head." Sighs quietly, and just doesn't say much on her way back to her own house. Looks up at it strangely. There's no telling how long it will remain hers, really, with things as they are. Does she want to stay here if she isn't able to get reinstated? Which would be more infuriting...to be within spitting distance of her life's work and banished from it, or to be separated from her whole life? From her home, and from Arux?

She's quiet as she unlocks the door. "I'll get out of this suit as quickly as I can. Should give you plenty of time to gather whatever you need."

"Sure you don't need me to help you out of that monstrosity?" Alou looks at her, perfectly serious.

Yin considers that. "It would help," she admits. "Thanks." She's wearing the appropriate padding under it, anyway, essentially long underwear.

"Don't worry, you're safe from me." Alou nods a bit, and heads over to help her out of the cumbersome formal armor. "I don't think I'll be interested in women for a while yet."

"Didn't doubt you...and, understood." Yin sighs quietly, and sets to unbuckling the various pieces one at a time, setting them carefully aside. Can't help but reminisce a little at each piece as it comes off. The first time she'd put first put each on. "I wonder," she observes quietly about halfway through, "when I'll be putting this on again."

Alou helps quietly until she says that, pondering the meaning of things. "If I were you..." pauses. "I would just concentrate on the future, Yin. You know?" He's not saying it'll never happen, but he's certainly thinking it.

Pause. "Yeah." She's quiet a moment. "And...Ellen."

"Ellen?" Alou carefully sets down a piece of armor. "Is that your given name, then...?"

She nods slowly as she removes her second greave. "Ellen Belikov." Stands back up to unbuckle her breastplate.

He moves to help her, carefully figuring the clasps of the thing. "It's a good name. You can go a long way with that name."

The corners of her mouth twitch towards a smile. Doesn't make it, she's done pretending for the day. But starts. "I appreciate your going out of your way to exagerrate it, anyway." Slips the breastplate off. Still decent underneath, cld in solid, off-white silk. Breathes out. "They'll cut off my horns if an appeal isn't filed within a year, or if it's rejected." Her expression doesn't change.

"C'mon, Ellen." Alou smiles at her a little bit, making certain to use her real name as naturally as possible. "Haven't you ever wanted to be just a normal woman? WIth normal concerns and a normal agenda?"

"Honestly?" Yin smirks a strange sort of smile. "Not often. I couldn't think of anything duller. Besides. Horns or no, I have no intention of having a normal agenda. Working under you really is meant to be 'until mission completion,' in my mind. After that...we'll see. Depends on the appeal process, I guess. But I'll find something." She's spent a lot of years burying wishes for kids and normalcy under too much excitement to worry about it.

"Kaz'll be able to help you. No matter what, the guy's always got something smart to say." Alou smiles a little bit, as if he knows something that Yin doesn't. "Y'know, Kaz isn't a Spider, either. Well, not a member of my species, anyway." He heads for the door, so that she can change and to pick up a few things of his. "You'll like him."

"We didn't really get to talk last time, no." She smirks a bit. Finishes putting up her armor, and packs just a few things. One change of clothes, a flask of blood, some spy toys, and of course, her make-up. "You ready?"

"Just about!" Alou emerges from the stairwell a second later, a trunk full of things for Troix under his arm, and a case with some Spiderspy stuff under the other. "I don't foresee any trouble getting into Tarantella. There's a cavern that leads there from the channel outside of customs."

She nods. "I wasn't worried. An entrance you're bound to have made a time or two, and all."

"Right! So," Alou holds open the door for her, after opening it with his left foot. " Shall we head back to Havoc's?"

"Sounds good." Pokes the house's security system, and then heads on outside. Waits for Alou, and then starts back to the strip club.

"... just like that. Troix I swear, if I ever catch you even thinking about dancing in a club like this, I'll bitch slap you eight times."

Troix nods, grinning her pearly whites at Havoc. "Course not. I'm still a kid! I think. Oooh! Hiya Yin!" At the sight of the returning vampiress Troix skitters for an enthusiastic hug.

Yin's lips have to twitch towards a smile, and she's happy to oblige. "Hey there, kiddo. Still feeling good?"

"I feel great! I can do this." Once she's through hugging Yin, Troix scampers over to Havoc's oak desk, beams, and lifts up one side of it. "See?"

Yin--Ellen--blinks. Twice. "Er. That's very impressive, yes." Smirks. "You do realize you dont' get to arm-wrestle me any more, right?" Grins.

"Aww..." Troix puts it down, and mock-coughs. "Well, we'll just have to do other stuff. Do we get to go on the boat now?"

"Nah. I thought Alou and I could go and we could stick you in an all-boys' summer school for awhile. I know one that guarantees pop-quizzes every day! Unless you had other ideas, of course."

Troix tilts her head a little bit. Then then other way. "Yin. You... are crazy. Crazy crazy crazy! Also, I'm not a boy so I can't go!" She sticks her tongue out at Yin, incisors and all.

Yin blinks. "Of course I am, but we've been through this. Troix...could you smile for me again? I forgot which pose you used last time!"

"Tsk tsk, you!" Troix poses her rock star pose again and smiles beautifully. Nope, her teeth are still the same. "How's that?"

"I think I'm losing my mind." Ellen smirks at her. "But at least you've still got the moves. Ready to go?"

"Yup! Bye Havoc!" She pats the spider, who backs up in his forelegs raised position just long enough for her to give him a high five. Five to one. Something. 

"You be careful, all of you. Don't let anything bad happen to this buggerfly!" Havoc waves them off. "And don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!"

Yin waves once over her shoulder. "Right, right, need it intact, I remember."

"It looks good on ya!"

"So Ellen, have you ever driven a hovercraft before?" Alou holds up the ignition codes to the sleek black machine lounging on the docks underneath the pub.

"Once." She nods. "I intentionally put it into the side of a boat that time, so...you drive." Smirks.

"I wanna drive!" Troix hops up to snag the codes, but Alou moves them and pokes her.

"When you're older. Uh... when you have a license. Climb in, both of you, and let's go before they decide to blockade the place."

Yin nods, climbing on board. Offers Troix a hand...though she doesn't really need it, almost certainly.

Troix takes it anyway, and climbs into the unusually spacious craft. It's civillian, after all.

Alou hops into the cockpit and gets the beast moving. A few clicks and beeps later the hovercraft begins its journey towards Tarantella.

"Ellen, are you sure this is what you want?"

She's quiet a moment. "Of course not. But there's still an investigation that needs to be finished, and I can't complete it from here." Looks to Troix. "By the way...the reason he keeps calling me Ellen...I'm not allowed to use 'Yin' anymore, it's part of their way of punishing me." Smiles a bit at Troix. "So it's back to the name my daddy gave me."

"Aww... Arux?"

Yin blinks. "Ahhh...pardon?"

"You know, Havoc said he was your daddy."

Blink. Gonna kick his ass gonna kick his ass. "He said that, hm? He's way off. My daddy has white hair and lives in North America. So...what else did Havoc tell you, anyway?" Amused as hell, regardless.

"Just about how I should never trust a dragon until they've proven willing to make themself look dumb!" She smiles. Alou snickers, but stops himself.

Ellen has to smirk sidelong at Alou, before looking back to Troix. "That makes me trustworthy, I think," she laughs softly. "So. Pretty cool tongue you have going there."

"Isn't it weird?" She waggles it. "I didn't have it before."

"Weird is cool! It looks good on you anyway," Ellen notes. Glances over the side. "This thing can cook right along, can't it?" Unscrews a flask of blood as she looks. She's been too stressed the last week or so to drink anything. One she'll save for emergencies, but the other...lunch!

"Yeah. We'll be therre in a few hours... why don't you two get some sleep?" Alou kicks in the autopilot. "No point in showing up car-weary. Kaz will make fun of us."

"Not a bad idea. I'm way off with a hearing in the morning, anyway. I think they forgot the hearing was for a vampire." Pauses. Considers this. Smirks a little. "On second thought, they probably didn't. What about you, Troix? Sleepy?"

"Nah. I slept in that jeebies. YOu know?" Troix smiles. "But Alou gave me a book."

"Books are good, too." Yin smiles at Troix, and puts away the blood. "Wake me if or when there's a cataclysm, huh?" And she heads below deck, away from that godawful day star.

"mkay!"

In the somewhat low lower area, Yin's grateful to find a human-suitable bed and waists little time in stretching out. so many millions of things on her mind. She doubts she can sleep, but...at least she can relax.

A few minutes later, she's out cold.

---

Only a few hours later, the hovercraft flows into Tarantella.