Snippet #2815748

Eli didn’t usually come to these things. People knowing his face made his job much harder to do, and he usually didn’t have much to contribute anyway. But his father had given him some spin about wanting to present a unified front or something. Besides, apparently it was peace talks. As much as Eli desperately wanted peace, wanted to be able to walk around the city without being watched and without having to fear for his life if he took a wrong turn, he wasn’t convinced it was going to work out all that well. But he didn’t want to argue either, so just did as his father told him.

He resisted the temptation to just shove his hands in his pockets and mimicked his brother’s stance as the Maiones approached. They never seemed to have the same finesse that the Hunts liked to display, instead trying to come across as intimidating by looking like every pop culture gang ever, down to the girl’s ridiculous and over the top studded jacket. One of them even had a bandana over his face. Eli’s eyes skimmed over each of them in term, reading them. The younger members of the family seemed to be unimpressed and not likely to co-operate. He wasn’t convinced any of them were really here for peace.

His eyes flicked back to the man with the bandana again. There was something almost familiar about him, a feeling that made Eli uneasy. The man seemed off, like something had rattled him though, and Eli wondered if they could use that to their advantage. He made a mental note to watch him particularly closely throughout the meeting. His own father stepped forward and began to speak, saying how both sides were suffering heavy losses and how a peace treaty would benefit them both. Eli watched the other family carefully, reading every reaction.