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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 7, 2010 14:27:23 GMT -7
Temper was riding high right now, Liam was nearly frothing at the mouth as he threw a tantrum so hard that he was starting to feel faint, flinging the contents of a table top against the floor with a clatter. Honestly, his last run hadn't gone so well, a gash on his forehead was bleeding profusely, leaving small crimson drops on the floor as the blood streamed down his face.
"Mother FUCKER!" he all but howled as he tried to get himself under control, slamming his fists down on the now clean table, doing it again, and again until he finally ran out of steam, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath. "Where the hell IS EVERYBODY?"
Again, his mood high-balled and he finally just flipped the table with a snarl as he began to pace the backroom. Another failed attempt to get anything done, the only thing he had managed was to nearly get himself killed. And why? Because there was no one here. No one to radio to get information. No other assassins to have his back. Nothing.
Finally shaking with rage, the soldier just shuddered, trying to keep his seething hatred from bubbling over, all the while he kept humming and mumbling to himself. "Its alright, its okay, just a setback, next time will be better...nothing permanent, next time...next time...." of course, it wasn't exactly the most settling thing for the young man.
He -wanted- to plan something a bit more permanent.
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 7, 2010 23:52:57 GMT -7
She knew she was supposed to be at HQ today, but since when did anyone in Atrum actually do what they were told unless their was an emergency? She'd walked around Blackwater for a while, simply enjoying the scenery. There were very few - if any - supernatural creatures in the Blackwater Frontier which was what made it such a good place to host the Atrum Venator headquarters. There was no suspicion here and when you walked into the bar they recognised you immediately, if you were a stranger you were merely treated horribly, given bad drinks and eventually you left. It was only those few that were treated with any sort of respect.
Hot coffee was held in a takeaway cup as she walked into the room. Immediately she stopped. The man in the room was throwing the worst - and most entertaining temper - she had ever seen, she leant against the doorway watching him. She also noted the blood on his head, really he should get that looked at. It was obvious he was angry, even from here she could see him shaking, hear him muttering to himself. "I hope you intend to clean that up Mr Langly, cause i sure as hell am not." Nessa walked further into the room, sipping on the coffee non-chalantly while she looked pointedly around the now destroyed room before looking back up to him with something of a grin on her lips.
"Now, was there something that you wanted?" She enforced polite interest into her voice although the taunting smirk was still upon her lips. She fully expected him to yell at her, breifly she wondered how that would go down. Nessa walked in, avoiding the table to lounge against the far wall. She was supposed to have been on duty, as Communications expert it was expected she be where she was supposed to be. But she'd been bored lately.
You're such a bitch, you know that?
Yeah.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 8, 2010 10:10:40 GMT -7
"I hope you intend to clean that up Mr Langly, cause i sure as hell am not."
Liam turned slowly as his bloodshot eyes locked onto the Communications expert, to say they looked a bit wild would have been an understatement, but still he managed some thin coat of civility as Nessarose tried her best to seem like some sort of keen bitch. "I think its a marked improvement Ms. Allens, I cleaned you off a spot so you can actually do your job." he almost looked liked he was sneering at the woman as he pulled his lips back in an almost smile.
"Besides," he gestured at the mess around him. "I really just...moved it around." If she wanted to be like that, two could play at that game, and he knew that he was just smarter than the so-called and laughable head of intelligence...in fact he was pretty much certain he was smarter than most -everyone- who played at being hunters around here. Mostly because...he never played.
Finally simmering down some, the short, scarred man wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve and then started to dig around for the first aid kit. "So...Ms. Allens, I suppose there was something important for you to attend to..." There was another message hanging there: ...For why you weren't doing what you were supposed to. "...I mean, fortunately, no one died, but I certainly could have used a little help while I was on the field today..." He grumbled as he found the first aid kid, and without a moments hesitation, he pulled out the materials to sew up the gash in his head.
"I'm sure it was....of utmost importance." he gestured with the needle in his hand for a second before looking into the remains of a broken mirror and sticking it into his flesh. "I had...been...radioing for....hours..." His voice was clipped a bit as he spoke and worked, eventually, finished, he snipped off the remaining string to look at the woman.
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 8, 2010 20:25:32 GMT -7
For a moment there was silence as their eyes locked, her cocky grin still played upon her lips as she relaxed against one of the untouched surfaces. She knew that there was not much he could do; he could yell, scream, flip tables, maybe even swing a few punches. But Atrum could not do without her, did Nessa feel bad for leaving her post? Yeah, a little, not that she would ever admit to this.
I think its a marked improvement Ms. Allens, I cleaned you off a spot so you can actually do your job.
He's got spunk.
Did you really just say spunk? But yes, its refreshing.
She offered him a non-chalant smile and dipped her head in thanks. Although she was struggling to hide her laughter. After the week she had had, running from werewolves, attempting to save her ass and meeting vampires in parks she had needed a break, of course she had taken it at an inconveiniant time but when was not an inconveiniant time these days. They were down on members, everyone was pulling double shifts at headquarters as well as recruiting. It wasn't easy.
As he got the first aid kit, she watched him stitch himself up. In this situation, many others would search for a lie as to why they weren't where they were supposed to be. Nessa was unlike others, she didn't lie and the fact was that this little confrontation would blow over easily, they always did. Yeah there was swearing and bitching, but they needed each other. The alliance wouldn't break because of such a petty reason. "I was out getting coffee." Nessa shrugged, pointedly ignoring the fact that there was both instant coffee and a coffee machine situated in the back room. She found a cloth and dampened it, walking over to Liam she handed it to him. He'd stictched himself up, the cloth was for the blood drying on his face.
I had...been...radioing for....hours...
You are so dead.
Nope.
Slowly, as if suprised she walked over to the radio, nodding as she did so. She glanced back at him. "So you have." Then she turned around facing him completely. "Sorry. So, what happened?"
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 8, 2010 22:36:27 GMT -7
Maybe he should have stayed mad, but at least the woman had admitted that she had been out, and she hadn't been doing her job. The honesty was appreciated, by this point a poorly made excuse would have thrown him off the deep end.
"Coffee...I see." Liam nodded, as he took the offered rag to wipe the blood off his face. "Don't suppose you have any left?" Hey, he was not beyond trying to guilt trip Nessarose out of a cup of coffee. Especially if it had whipped cream and sprinkles on it. Hell if he got his ass kicked for a beverage, he sure as hell should have a share in that shit.
But as it was, he wasn't going to fight about it, or try to force the situation, the thuggish looking young man licked his lips and finally started to put the first aid materials away, rather gingerly for the fit he had shown just moments before. Apparently there were no hard feelings...at least given the fact they were allies.
"Sorry. So, what happened?"
"I'm 5'3" and a hundred pounds soaking wet on a good day..." he hummed as he started to pick things up from where he tossed them aside. "I ran into a gang in the city...one of said members was a dog. I'll let you paint yourself a picture...and I'll give you a hint: it wasn't pretty." However, he didn't look too bad himself, a gash here and there, maybe a bruise...so who ended up looking worse?
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 8, 2010 22:58:07 GMT -7
She laughed when he inquired as to whether she had any coffee left and helf the cup out to him; it was still half full and deliciously warm. It wasn't the crap coffee that Atrum stocked - why they insisted on buying cheap coffee she never knew - it was the stuff made by the local coffee shop, she'd die for the stuff. It certainly gave you a kick, that was for sure. "Yeah, you can have it," she laughed slightly, apologies were done at it seemed he had calmed down. Nessa had said sorry; which was as close as anyone would get to having her admit she had been in the wrong. It was best not to push her to lament, it never worked.
I'm 5'3" and a hundred pounds soaking wet on a good day... I ran into a gang in the city...one of said members was a dog. I'll let you paint yourself a picture...and I'll give you a hint: it wasn't pretty.
She helped him pick up the things he had knocked to the ground in his little hissy fit, she lifted up the table, feeling a twinge from her shoulders as she did so. Setting it upright she attempted to place the things he had thrown off it back on. Damned if she could remember where they were; she simply stacked them anywhere. "And you made it out with a cut? Nice effort still." The words were offered in a slightly humerous way although they were intended as a compliment. The assasains in Atrum were among the best, it was not every human that could take on a dog and win, she couldn't do it. Not against the experienced ones. "Had my own dog run in, strange at that." It was odd, the things they talked about. Wolf run ins, daily kills. They even kept a tally for members to keep track of how many they killed. There had to be slight humor to the aggression, otherwise the job would be more exhausting than already it was.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 8, 2010 23:31:22 GMT -7
Though he wasn't one to smile he at least tried to do it for the sake of normalcy, but didn't look right...crooked, and a bit like he was snarling at the woman. Liam just wasn't very good looking, or maybe that whole wives' tale about bad piercings numbing your face was true. He did seem to change them weekly.
"Thanks." he wasn't so rude he wouldn't show appreciation for her offering the coffee, and he certainly did take it, even though he didn't think much about her having drank from the cup first, he just started chugging the thing. It was good, especially compared to the swill he was getting used to. Though it was done before he could even savor it , he placed the empty cup down and adjusted his glasses. "...that was good, mocha?"
But he didn't and couldn't really deal with small talk, especially when he was asked about business. "I got thrown into a wall, but I managed to do a little damage...nothing lasting, those things are nearly indestructible if you don't remove the damn head..." he was short, he had hit more than a bit low. "I took an arm, which I think I'll call revenge on those bastards."
Liam sighed and rubbed at his arm, just thinking about it made him shiver, then again, he only had his self to blame when it didn't work right, he had used it as a club after he had it torn off...and he was proud of that reputation for being utterly insane. "You ran into some mutts?" There was concern in his voice for just a moment, "What happened?"
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 9, 2010 0:02:11 GMT -7
She could not help but raise her eyebrows at the grimace that crossed his face; it was a crooked smile but it looked somewhat pained. Nessa wasn't one to take offence to people that easily, it simply didn't matter to her whether they liked her or not. They kept each other alive despite any hostilities they may share; that was the only thing that was required here. Sure friendship made the loyalty all the more sturdy, yet it was not a requirement.
Good, otherwise you'd be thrown out of here.
Probably.
"Yeah mocha, make a good one here. Not tainted by dogs i suspect." Yeah, Nes was a cynical one when it came to werewolves, she hated them with every particle in her body and it seemed that once they found her, they knew it. They fucked up her life and she intended to give them the same treatment in any way she could.
As he talked she stopped picking things up to look at him; he took an arm? A savage emotion played momentarily in her eyes before she quenched it, merely nodding along with his story. She was not repulsed, she was proud that Atrum could even take an arm; as they got stronger they would get better. Supernaturals were already beginning to think that something strange was happening in the human world, not that they knew what it was. Yet they suspected, soon that suspicion would turn into something more and then? It would turn into fear.
"Got his name? I can track him down, see where he hangs out. Make him easier to find later." Nes was offering to do her job, not an entirely strange idea yet it was almost as if she was trying to make up for her mistake. She did realise that it could have gotten much worse for him; especially with a gang and not an individual mutt. Stalking was her job and it was what she was good at, she left the mutt hunting to the assasains like Liam. "Ran into three of 'em at Winsor. Two of them started fighting each other the third thought it'd be fun to play. Not much damage really." There was almost a snarl in her voice, she shook her head and laughed. Oh she would get that wolf back one day.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 9, 2010 0:20:53 GMT -7
"Its good." Liam's lip twitched a little as she talked about it being tainted by werewolves, he hated, them of course, but he couldn't bring himself to hate them so much that they couldn't be used for manual labor. Hell, they wouldn't be so bad if they were domesticated, neutered, micro-chipped and treated with the same sort of respect that fighting dogs were around these parts. Which was to say...kept on a short leash and given a one strike rule. "No doubt its more or less safe."
That was, unless they spat into it, which he could just imagine one of these days either the mutts, or the leeches finding some way to make a biological weapon out of their horrid tainted fluids, it made him utterly ill just to think about it.
Though he looked like he was working out some feelings with his odd expressions, he had nothing but...tolerance for the woman in front of him. They were comrades in arms, and he would never say they were friends by any means, but he wouldn't be so uncouth to treat an ally poorly...even if she left him dangling in the wind.
"Got his name? I can track him down, see where he hangs out. Make him easier to find later."
"I'll admit, we didn't exchange niceties after I came after him with a hatchet." It almost sounded like he was disappointed in himself as he ran his fingers through his greasy purple hair. "Though they had colors, a brown wolf skull on a red banner...I'm not sure, they were all wearing it." Liam gave up what information he could, but he had no names, nothing of import. "They were in Mayfair..."
Again, Liam felt his feelings churn, and he wanted to break something, choke it or stab himself, something to keep things from boiling over, his breath started to choke out raggedly as he tried to get control of himself again.
"Ran into three of 'em at Winsor. Two of them started fighting each other the third thought it'd be fun to play. Not much damage really."
"Winsor where they're sniffing around now? Sonuva..." he all but winced thinking about it. "I suppose I could head out there soonish...any one I should look for?"
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 10, 2010 4:32:10 GMT -7
It was not suprising that he did not get the wolf's name; they didn't usually exchange niceties either before, during or after a fight. She gave him a reassuring smile and wrote down the information that he gave her; Brown Wolf Skull, Red Banner, Mayfair. They were scribbled down as he said them and she nodded along. Giving the words a double check to make sure that she had all the information. Many of the wolf groups not assosciated with the Government wandered around with the banners that tied them into a group or 'pack' formation. Nessarose resisted the urge to snicker, it must have been built into their mindset. "The banner will be enough, i'll get information for you," gingerly, she pulled out her laptop from the satchel around her shoulder. It rarely left her side, even then she constantly fretted over it. Setting it upon the - now cleared - table, she gave him an ironic look before turning it on.
Winsor where they're sniffing around now? Sonuva...I suppose I could head out there soonish...any one I should look for?
Aww, Liam's gonna help you out, after what you've done he really shouldn't.
Fuck off.
She glanced up at his words, drawing a chair in to the table as she did so. "I didn't see the male in his mutt form; brown hair, curly, green eyes, tall. The woman with him had short blonde hair; platinum blonde; with dark eyes. The third wolf, she had brown hair and called herself AJ." She rattled off the details with ease, glancing up at him as she did so. It was his job to go after aggressive wolves, as it had been hers to stay here and man the HQ. But ... "Maybe its best you wait a while, with the head injury." There was never too much caution when a head injury was involved and it was no use his getting more hurt than he already was.
She sat down at the table, frowned momentarily before her fingers moved swiftly over the keys. The internet was always a good place to start, often the wolves had recruiting pages and those that didn't usually had a mention. Her eyes were narrowed casually. "Should have it in a sec'," yeah, Nes was good at her job when she did it.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 10, 2010 18:07:11 GMT -7
Liam grabbed a chair, pulling it up to sit next to Nessarose as she booted up her computer. "I sort of wish I could have gotten more...maybe I should have brought the arm home...DNA testing..." It was actually very hard to tell if he was joking, or just being that crazy.
Either were actually likely, given the young man's precarious mental condition and history.
"I didn't see the male in his mutt form; brown hair, curly, green eyes, tall. The woman with him had short blonde hair; platinum blonde; with dark eyes. The third wolf, she had brown hair and called herself AJ. Maybe its best you wait a while, with the head injury."
Thankfully, the information was enough to keep him from prattling on too much about bringing home war trophies, instead, the ugly little man seemed almost confused that the hacker would care enough that he had been injured, "I'm certain I'm fine. However, I think any of those mutts should be easy enough to find...green is a rare eye color, as is blond for hair...too bad AJ is no doubt a nick name, or we'd be in business."
He sat back a little, not wanting to crowd the poor girl as she browsed the internet, even though he was a bit more attentive to what she was doing than her herself. "No rush...I guess." If he couldn't go out now, he had the luxury of waiting.
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 15, 2010 16:46:11 GMT -7
She raised her eyebrows at his comment and spared him the barest of glances before shaking her head and chuckling to herself. She never knew when people were joking or not, she knew sarcasm but Liam had spoke with such deadpan seriousness that she had no idea what to think. Her social skills weren't the best, but she wasn't employed for those, if she was then she would be the head of Public Relations rather than Communication and Technology. She didn't have to be polite, she only had to get the job done. An irony that she was glad the boss hadn't been around here to see.
Fingers moved over the keys in a flurry of movements, some of the pages she opened were information, some were simply pages of coding. She wanted to find out who'd written it, when and from what location. It was easy, her eyes narrowed as they always did when she concentrated, it half looked as though she was scowling at the computer screen. This too, was a possibility although not one that seemed plausible at the moment. She knew he'd shifted back to give her space and for this she was glad, she was never truely comfortablel with people around, even when they were human. Too many bad memories, bad experiences. Too much to erase.
There. She stopped typing, allowing the information to rest on the screen before she nodded, saved it to a file on the laptop and opened it from there. No point getting viruses from unknown sources. "Nox noctis Vigilo," she chuckled softly to herself, glancing at Liam to see whether he understood the irony of the Latin. 'Night Watchers, thats what your wolves call themselves, see the banner? Is that it? Wolf on red, seems to be." Nes nodded to herself while she spoke, summarizing the data. They would be easy to find, they were based around Mayfair and it even gave the name of a pub that they were frequent at. She shook her head in a dumbfounded way; how anyone could be so stupid as to give their haunts away, she'd never know.
Well we can't all be as smart as you.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 18, 2010 14:57:43 GMT -7
There wasn't really much to do but wait, so Liam tried his best to be patient while Nessarose dug up whatever she could find on her databases, it could have been only a couple of minutes, but to him it felt like it was taking forever. He leaned back in his chair, idly pulling at the stitches on his forehead.
"Nox noctis Vigilo."
The joke certainly wasn't lost on him, and he chuckled darkly in response, finally getting all the legs of his chair on the floor. "Really?" he shook his head, leaning in a bit closer to get a better look at the picture the hacker was showing him. So it was. So it was. "God, their name is somehow cheesier than ours...how the hell did they manage that?" Liam couldn't help but make a crack at the 'Dark Hunter' thing...really, were they that obvious? Now there was a group of 'Night Watchers', it was just all too rich for him.
"Here's hoping they didn't name themselves that because they know about us and decided to be adorably ironic..." he cringed a little, certainly not pleased by the idea of being so well known. But he was pretty sure he was just making mountains out of molehills, or something like that. "Anyways...here's hoping I can find enough manpower to investigate later...I wouldn't relish having to do this on my own...one guy, a pack of werewolves, you can see why I'm a bit leery..."
For the first time in a long while he actually looked at the woman, but like everything he looked at her with a dead stare, either he was trying to gauge her feelings on the matter, or...maybe he didn't even care, it was generally hard to tell.
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Post by Nessarose Allens on Jan 20, 2010 17:45:13 GMT -7
There was recognition in his eyes before she spoke the translated name in English. Faintly, she found a growing respect for him; there were very few people who bothered to learn Latin, in fact they all considered it a 'dead language'. That may be so, but when dealing with supernatural creatures who did not grow old, a dead language was something that one needed. So he could at least read Latin, she resisted the urge to nod, it was a check to a box. At least not all of the Atrum assasains were grunts. That was a surprise. A smirk played upon her lips, although her eyes spelled no amusement at the joke, there was obviously little that was funny about a pack of wolves calling themselves 'Night Watchers' they were still wolves, and more than one, which meant they would be harder to kill. But it could be done and indeed, had been done, before.
At his first words she chuckled, it was not often that someone had a name worthy of the title 'Cheesier than Atrum Venator' not that anyone but Atrum members could make the joke, their name was not yet widely reknown. "It's a sad day when somebody beats us in cheesey-ness," her laugh was not a giggle, more of a chuckle, breathy and showing only slight amusement. It had been too long since she actually laughed properly, she feared that she had forgotten how. When Jason was killed, it didn't seem fair to laugh when he could not. It took five seconds when this thought hit her to stop even the chuckle and she turned back to the computer screen; her expression grim. Everyone in Atrum had demons, some were just worse than others.
Anyways...here's hoping I can find enough manpower to investigate later...I wouldn't relish having to do this on my own...one guy, a pack of werewolves, you can see why I'm a bit leery...
Ah look, he's a smart one eh?
Shut up. He can't afford not to be.
It was mildly impressive that he didn't brag about being able to kill an entire Pack singlehandedly, it was interesting that he didn't say he could do it on his own. It was ... good, for in their occupation, that confidence, that idiocy could get someone killed. She glanced at him, watching him, watching her with a dead stare. It made her slightly uncomfortable and - as she always did - she raised an eyebrow and let a lopsided smirk play upon her lips. Non-chalance. It was such an easy thing to fake, even when you felt like shifting awkwardly. "Aye, wouldn't want to do this job on your own. Unless you pick them off one by one, but even a dog would realise what was happening soon enough." Nessa shrugged at her comment, it was never good to underestimate an enemy, especially one that was stronger than any human. However, they needed to be realistic; you could pick off about three minimum, before the rest of the Pack began to get suspicious.
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Post by Liam Langly on Jan 22, 2010 16:35:31 GMT -7
He could just watch it play on her face, and for a moment he was woefully disgusted. Liam knew that Nessarose was surprised he wasn't some troglodyte dragging his knuckles around here. Of course, after an instant he was somewhat pleased. Good. Let her know that he wasn't. He was one of the greatest minds that happened to end up in this god forsaken country.
And that was a fucking acccident.
This uniform should have felt honored by his presence for god's sake. Though he would have never rubbed it in, he just thought it in the back of his mind, his face slack, since well...there was no reason to be smug about it...outwardly, that is.
"It's a sad day when somebody beats us in cheesey-ness,"
"Its obvious that someone will have to do them in, just so we can keep our title of being the dumbest named operation in London." The man smirked, the slight sound of a chuckle in his breath, but there was no laughter, he just wasn't good at making that sound normal. He always managed to make it sound like some sort of mad scientist...and it wasn't like he needed a boost to his reputation for being the local nutter.
But Nessarose was correct about Liam's physical prowess, he had no illusions of grandeur in that department, he was short, and comparatively frail and weak against his opponents in combat...never mind that the beasts kept the city lock and key...if their claws couldn't do short work of him, their grip on the judicial system would. It was just a damn shame really...enough to make a man hold up Guy Fawke's cause and blow up Parliament.
"Aye, wouldn't want to do this job on your own. Unless you pick them off one by one, but even a dog would realise what was happening soon enough."
"I wouldn't dream of it...though I haven't seen many of my colleagues as of yet...so it might be awhile before I can get the ball rolling." Thankfully Liam's face softened up a little from the stoicism he was wearing, whatever test he had been mentally putting the Info-tech leader through, she had apparently passed. "Do you mind printing me a copy of that?" he pointed to the information on the computer monitor, but didn't expect to get what he wanted.
Tech people were just cagey like that in his experience.
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