at the highest peak. mourn & shiv

Of course the candidate list had been passed around ages back. Nothing really ever slipped through the cracks in Nine, least of all through the elite. Mourn hadn't been surprised, Shiv Irvine was always sticking her nose where it didn't belong so it was only a matter of time until she went for Mayor.

He was waiting for her to show up at his door any day. Most candidates did eventually come for an Adroxis to stand behind them, cheer them on. Something about the Adroxis name seemed to really rile people up, instil some District pride.

Or perhaps just district fear.

"Oh, yes, send her in," Mourn waved at his assistant, a young man who he'd employed for other means but had taken a liking to. He was a hard worker and his many piercings and brooding expression did the trick of staving off the masses.

"Shiv Irvine," Mourn said with a smile, "Looking sharp as ever, where have you been hiding yourself?" He gestured for her to sit and leaned against his desk with his arms crossed. "Talon must be so happy that you're following in her footsteps, but what a shadow to live under, goodness."

The game with Shiv had always been the same, prod and push just enough, never too far because a friendship was more beneficial for the both of them.

"Give me a reason to back you," he said, getting straight to the point and spread his arms wide in front of him, as if to say, the floor is yours.

She didn't fall to his first round of ammunition, not that the artillery had been that heavy. Mourn knew that whoever took Nine on needed to be strong. The district was often in some sort of ruin due to the last dredges of a rebellion that had never quite died, not in Nine at least. There was still evidence of last year's riots in every bullet hole in the buildings that lined the town square.

"Well you've got the confidence I suppose," he said calmly, "But we both know that you're going to need more than that, Nine is unruly, you show the slightest weakness and all hell will break loose."

Of course, Mourn knew that he was part of that hell. Yes, his factory employed a lot of people, yes his family name belonged to a Victor, but like everything else in Nine the Adroxis family had an underbelly and he was at the head of it. If Shiv showed weakness, he would be one of the first to go for her throat.

"It's true that no one else is running but that can change," he said. He stood straight then and moved to a cabinet against the wall behind his desk to take out a couple of wine glasses and a bottle of red.

"So I'll ask you again, why should I back you."

Mourn turned around and smiled at her then, easy and soulless all at once.

But it wasn't so much a question, as it was a demand.

He'd wanted less pretty words, more bite. It wasn't so much a question of what she could do for the district, it was how she could do it. If she didn't have claws, even if she won, she'd lose. The gangs would walk all over her, grind their heels for good measure, it was just fact.

Mourn had hit a nerve though, he noticed it in the way she rolled her eyes and the way she'd seemed to tense up with her answer. That meant he'd won a point, not that they seemed to be counting.

Mourn poured them both a glass of wine and held one out in a silent offering. Whether she took it or not was up to her of course, but it would be the polite thing to do. They both had to play these games, both had to settle into them as if it were a choice. Mourn had wanted to be an artist, twenty years ago he'd been ready to run away with the girl he loved.

Times change, want matters little, there's too much focus on need.

"You've got a point there," he agreed but her platform hardly mattered if she couldn't back it, "My workers will back you if I do, they're rather loyal you see."

Christ, it was a pretty game at least, chiselled tongues and draped with finery, the words they spoke sashayed careful laps around the room. "Although I could say no, I suppose," he said idly, "That could be interesting, I'm sure I know someone who'd love to run for mayor if you've got no opposition, what's a game without stakes right?"

He stared at her, a challenge in his gaze.

Mourn was no pawn and though he'd seen Shiv do great things he wouldn't attach his name to the meek.