<hr/><div class="floatleft">(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v622/Jagwaar/Sloane6_zps63e694fc.jpg)</div><br/><strong>Name:</strong>Deacon Sloane<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Unknown<br/><strong>Date:</strong>January 9th, 1874<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>Evening<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Back Room<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Miss Greene, Mr. Lee<br/><hr/><br/>“That they do not,” Sloane agreed amicably, over another sip of whiskey.  Fuck it; he’d made it to fifty in a profession that saw most men dead before they reached the age of thirty.  He’d earned a little comfort in his retirement and he certainly didn’t give a rat’s ass for the Chinaman’s - or anyone else’s – opinion of him.  Lee could scrunch up his beady eyed yellow face and discount him all he wanted.  There was no competition between their clientele and never would be.  It was for the better if the man thought Sloane wasn’t a threat.<br/><br/>But Greene now … ohhhh, she was another matter.  And how Sloane<em>did </em>like to work her up.  She was so fetching when the color rose to flush her cheeks and whenever he managed to crack that vaunted veneer of smug, self-righteous superiority and self-importance.  It was even more amusing to see her mild annoyance turn into a full on fit of bluster, watching her shift and posture in her chair, skirts and lace shifting around her like the ruffled feathers of a prize fighting rooster that had seen a rival.  Sloane could barely keep the smile from spreading across his face as she pretended she was offended enough to leave.  Now<em>that </em>was well worth the bitter walk across town in the cold.<br/><br/>“Oh for fuck’s sake ‘Belle, sit your goddamn ass back down and stop acting like I pissed in your tea,” Sloane drawled, draining his cup and reaching for the open bottle to refill it again.  “It’s just me and Lee here, not the fucking town council, so there’s no need to stand on propriety - and we all know that none of us care about extending any goddamn thing to the other similar businesses in town.  We all make our living by being unique in our own way, which is why we’ve survived for so long.”  Setting the bottle down, he turned his palm over and gestured at Greene’s seat, indicating she should settle back into it.<br/><br/>“I haven’t missed a thing.  Charity is a noble idea my dear but Black Jack is not a man that will take kindly to such a gesture.  Men rarely do.  More importantly, he won’t respect it,” Sloane began, eyeing Greene over laced fingers. “It’ll just weaken our position and make us vulnerable to him and his men as well as Findlay and his greed. What he<em>will </em>respect, is coming to a mutually beneficial agreement.”  Pausing, he took another long swallow of whiskey that went down fine and easy on the back of his throat.<br/><br/>“My stake in these affairs is just as high as anyone sitting at this table, as you rightly know, or else I wouldn’t be sitting here in the first place,” Sloane drawled, cradling his cup against his chest with one hand.  “So stop acting as if I’m not invested in the matter at hand.  The cold, coy bitch act only works for so long, and you and I know each other far too well to play games when it comes to serious business matters.”<br/><br/>Leaning back in his chair, Sloane drained his cup again and set it down on the table.  “Now, you’re not the only one with information, and I’m sure that Lee here is sitting on his own goldmine of celestial wisdom.”  Hands resting on the arms of his chair, he gestured generously towards the Chinaman with one hand.  “The Morongo’s full of miners every goddamn day of the week.  Sweetrock, independent, young, old.  New in town and seasoned veterans.  They win big, they talk.  They lose, they talk.  They get their dicks wet, they talk even more - and my god, if they don’t say the most<em>interesting </em>things. There’s a reason Black Jack’s here and you might say, we share some common interests, the four of us.”  Deacon pulled up one corner of his mouth in a wry smile.<br/><br/>“We have<em>far </em>more to offer here than mere charity,” he said.<br/>