OP marines - Vengeance bis

"Let's be honest here, if I were to take you to some sort of romantic trip, this wouldn't definitely be the case," Donovan sighed as he looked around the inn they were currently sitting in. The were on their new undercover mission, trying to investigate about marines that might have been corrupted. Since the HQ wasn't sure, they needed to investigate.

Yvonne chuckled, looking around. Granted, the inn they were currently staying in wasn't really that great, but what can you do. "Hey, I am not complaining. It's still nicer than the place we were staying at during our first rendezvous", she flashed a smile at him. Her attention returned briefly to the papers she was holding, that contained the scarce infos they had on the people they were supposed to look for. Three Captains, which were staying at that island since a very long time. What convinced the high spheres to investigate about them was the weird fact that, even with their presence, the rate of criminality was... surprisingly high. Not even decreasing one bit. And that's what someone, namely the Fleet Admiral Akainu, would call very suspicious. 'Discretion', he had said. "We're supposed to be discrete anyways. So no five star hotel for us", she sighed.

"I'll take you to a five start hotel when we get back," Donovan promised her as he took her hand in his, to lay a kiss on her knuckles. "... Or maybe a three-star hotel. I'm not a rich guy either."

Yvonne smiled kindly, letting him kiss her hand. "Don't worry your pretty head over that. If there is a thing I don't lack it is money. I can take you everywhere you want. You just need to ask~", she smiled playfully at him. "But if you really want to do something to woo me, what about buying me a drink at the inn's bar? Maybe we will even be lucky and find our men", she looked at the paper one last time before folding it and putting it away in a pocket.

Donovan sighed. "Alright," he said, before he pecked her lip, and then took her to sit at a table in the bar. In the meanwhile, he asked her what she wanted to drink, and went to the bar to fetch them a glass each, while looking around.

Yvonne sat down quietly at the table. She looked around cautiously, still not spotting any Marine officials for the moment. She waited for Donovan to come back, her back as straight as ever, hands folded on her lap.

Donovan came back to her with the drinks, and laid them carefully on the table, before he sat in front of her. "Nothing interesting ?"

Yvonne sighed and shook her head. "Unfortunately not. I only see civilians and simple soldiers. Maybe a couple pirates, but I'm not that sure of it."

"You missed a couple of people, Yvonne, my dear~" A clear, acute voice came from Donovan's back. Two women were standing there; one was wearing black, heavy and rich clothes, and had a cheeky smile on her red lips, the other looked bored and played distractly with her blonde pigtails. Yvonne's eyes widened.
"Do you mind if we take a seat?" The women sat at the two remaining seats, without waiting for an answer. Yvonne seemed speechless, but she managed to stutter. "Donovan, these are two... friends of mine."

Donovan looked a bit uncomfortable, and leant towards Yvonne. "Remember that we are not supposed to be who we are there," he whispered, warning her. Those friends probably didn't mean any harm, by their mere presence might blow their cover up. If somebody heard the name of Yvonne too much, that might give them a hint of who they were.

Yvonne nodded at Donovan with a reassuring smile and merely made a small gesture to the woman dressed in black. She nodded back at her. "Understood. No names. Like the good old times~" She got a wide, dreamy smile on her face, then stretched a hand towards Donovan. "It's a pleasure. My name is Roxanne. That over there is my daughter, Sophia~" The younger girl couldn't honestly look less related to Roxanne. She glanced at Donovan with a bored look, nodded at him and went back looking at her own hands. "Four people sitting together and chatting look way less suspicious than two", she muttered in a very low voice.

Donovan shrugged, and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lucius, Alicia's fiancé," he told her with a peculiar look, that said 'I am not Lucius, just as she is not Alicia and we are not fiancés. Keep playing along.'

Roxanne's expression could just be described as delighted. "Aaaahh, Ali! You didn't tell me your fiancé was such a fine looking man! Isn't he a bit young for you, hm?", she asked, bumping Yvonne lightly with her elbow. Yvonne smiled calmly. "He is not that young, Roxi." She smiled at Donovan. "Do not trust her compliments, dear. You don't want to be her next fiancé, trust me."

"Who knows," Donovan answered with a playful grin. "So. What brings you here ?" He did give Yvonne a mischievous smile, since, well... he was the closest he could be to being her fiancé at the moment, actually.

Yvonne returned his smile, a sly glint in her eyes. Their closeness was everything but fake.
Roxanne grinned. "Business, sweetheart, business~ thinking about buying this inn. I just inherited some money and I really needed distraction, you see...", her smile wavered and her lower lip trembled. Sophia rolled her eyes, then looked at Donovan. "Mom's husband died a week ago", she stated. Yvonne just sighed. "Oh, dear. Another?"

"...Another ?" Donovan couldn't help but arch a brow at that question from Yvonne. Was that lady some sort of praying mantis or something ? Marrying men one after the other, as if some sort of curse had them die almost immediatly ?

Yvonne sighed again, looking at Donovan apologetically. "It seems that every time Roxi gets married, her husband dies for some reason." She looked at her friend. "How, this time?" The other woman bit her lip. "A shipwreck. I'm starting to think that I really am a jar of misfortune..."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Donovan said sincerely. And immediatly felt bad for being relieved that he was not dating that woman.

Roxanne waved her hand lightly. "Thank you. One would think that, after seven husbands, one would be used to this, but...", she sighed, and took a sip of her drunk. Then smiled. "You seem a pretty nice guy~ Ali's been lucky!"
But 'Ali' didn't answer. Her eyes were looking to the opposite side of the room, her mouth in a thin line, her hands closed in tight fists on the table.

"Eh, thanks," Donovan said with a proud smile as he looked at Yvonne. "...Is something wrong, hun ?" he asked her, actually worried

Yvonne bit her lower lip, hard. But Donovan's question startled her enough to make her snap back to her table. She looked at her hands and she noticed how hard they were clenching, her knuckles white. She swiftly hid them in her lap, an uncertain smile on her lips. "I'm... I'm ok", she said.
Roxanne looked at her with a concerned expression, glancing in the direction she had been glancing to.

Donovan discretly looked into the direction of the officers, then sighed softly, relieved. "It'll be over soon, don't worry," he told Yvonne with a soft voice, as he laid a hand on hers.

"I'm sure it will", Yvonne said with a definitive tone. A bit cold too, maybe. Roxi hummed softly, not really convinced. She shrugged anyways. "If you're looking for informations on our three friends there, we can provide, in private. We have LOTS. As an affirmed business woman with connections with garbage, I know every time someone breathes the wrong way around here~", she said not without pride, in a low voice.

"... Let's go to our room, then. You'll tell us about this," Donovan said as he stood up, trying to get his arm entangled with Yvonne's to guide her.

Yvonne stiffened a bit, but then accepted the arm. She wasn't really holding onto it though, and her smile seemed weirdly off place. She looked back one last time, then let Donovan guide her, Roxanne and Sophia following them.

Donovan took her slowly to their room. "What's wrong ?" he insisted in a whisper, not convinced at all by Yvonne's pretense.