Retail Therapy (Panzer)

[Kyon Girard]

Abstinence was a bitch. It wasn't from sex, or drugs, or alcohol for Kyon, it was the hunting. She'd gone at least 3 weeks now without killing anyone because her "boss" had ordered her not to. She could have easily ignored him and gone ahead with what she wanted, but then she would have lost all work, and she really needed that money for her very expensive tastes. At least she was still getting paid, surprisingly. The reason she'd had to stop her murders was because she had messed one up last week; there had been a witness and she hadn't caught them before they'd gone in blab to the authorities. Now she, and Izan by extension, were at risk. However, her boss knew some very influential people and would get the whole thing smoothed. In the mean time, he didn't want to deal with anymore trouble, so Kyon wasn't allowed to go crazy murderous on anyone until he signaled the all clear.

For the first week, it hadn't been too bad. She paid off a few people to donate blood to her so she could keep her strength up. But after the beginning of the second week, she had grown moody and a slight bit twitchy, So that she didn't accidentally kill the people that gave blood to her, she resorted to animals to curb part of her hunger before finding someone willing to let her feed from the. This made her feel a bit undignified, yet she supposed that if it kept her out of trouble and no one ever found out about it then she could stand it until everything was sorted.

This third weekend, the woman had finally decided that she would do something different with all this pent up energy, mostly because her neighbors in the apartment were getting upset Plus, she needed to replace some of the furniture in her apartment, most pressingly her bed frame and couch. Though she soon found out that neither of these could be brought home right away, because well, it was the evening and most stores were closing, but she could have them delivered in 24 hours. She almost threw a fit the first time she heard this, yet she held it in very well considering how hungry she was.

Now she had moved on to some of the boutiques that were still open this late, and most of them were vampires, a happy surprise. Already she had bought some black leather boots, a necklace with a diamond pendant, and a short, blue dress, which she was currently wearing. She felt her her spirits lift a bit each time a new item came into her possession and she could now smile when she talked to people and even crack a joke or two, but it didn't help with the hunger; every time she got near a human her teeth would bare and she had to pinch herself to keep from running after them.

At the moment, there were thankfully no humans about, just her, two other vampires and a wolf, since it was late and the shop was about to close. She finished picking up and stacking a few items of clothing on her arm (a skirt, shorts, dress pants, jeans, four shirts, and a jacket) before going up top the counter to pay for all of it. She and the cashier exchanged a few casual words and she was then on her way out of the door, carrying two bags on her left arm. This seemed a sufficient amount of things to occupy her for a few days, perhaps she would go show some of it off at a bar later. Not tonight though, she had to get home to put all this away and then go out to find someone to feed off of. Though she plans changed a bit when she got a call. It was her superior, telling her that she was now free to 'go about her usual escapades', as he put it. She had quickly thanked him, almost laughing in her relief, before hanging up and heading toward her car so that she could store her purchases away.

Kyon would pick someone up and take them home, it always worked perfectly that way. They'd have to use the floor though... Oh, fucking tease! She stopped dead in her tracks, turning to stare after a man who had just walked past. Human, young, strong; he smelled amazing. Screw the car, she could hold onto her stuff and follow after him. Seduction was no longer so much in her head, she was just hungry and she didn't need to trick someone into coming with her willing to get her way, she just needed somewhere quiet. After a fair amount of distance separated them, she followed him quietly as she could with her heels on, trying to stay natural looking, making sure not to stare at the back of his head.

[Panzer Xenos]

It was a rare sort of night indeed, seeing as how Panzer wasn't drunk yet. He'd actually bypassed any and all establishments that looked like they might serve alcoholic beverages. After what he awoke to in his bed that morning, there was not an icicles chance in hell that he was getting drunk. That left him extremely bored, unfortunately. Izan hadn't had much work for him lately. The city was unnaturally calm.

He knew what that meant. Undoubtedly there was a whole lot of trouble approaching. He could feel it like a coming storm, alighting along his skin like a low current of electricity. It made him restless. He'd almost decided to just stay home and play some Civilization, but the memory - the bit he could remember, anyways - of the night before settled over the apartment like a bad smell. He had needed out.

So he'd decided to work off the excess energy. He'd arrived at his usual gym only to find that it had been closed for a staff party or some such. This did little to improve his mood, and he had set off randomly into the city. Unfortunately, he'd somehow ended up in the West End, and the streets were packed with humans and the supernatural. He pushed through the crowd as passively as was possible for him.

Needless to say, he got quite a few angry shoves and idle threats spat at him. He grit his teeth and continued walking, sure that he'd come to a more peaceful part of the city eventually. So much for relaxing.

[Kyon Girard]

Did humans do that on purpose? That would be, walk all alone into secluded parts of cities. Kyon had to be sure that they all knew better than to do that, because they tended to get tense and paranoid when they found themselves with no one around late at night. And still, they couldn’t seem to help it, walking into a back alley or the sort. Not that this was a problem to the vampire at all, in fact, she quite appreciated; it made her job much simpler half of the time. And even then, she could let her victims scream a little because it was unlikely that anyone else would come by and if they did, it was unlikely they would help.

She hadn’t thought the man she had started to follow would be so foolish as to follow the pattern she was used to, but fewer and fewer people surrounded them, and it wasn’t just the time of night that was driving people away. Nature was starting to take over this part of town and things were looking run down, as was happening in most other cities in the vicinity. These were the perfect sort of places for a ‘snack’, mostly for the reason that bodies could be hidden so easily.

However, Kyon wasn’t willing to risk leaving any sort of evidence around here of a killing, not even blood spatter. She would like to be able to get the man home, but she couldn’t imagine that she could bear to put on her charms when her belly rumbled so fiercely and her head pounded. She could perhaps stand two seconds of deception to get him somewhere even more private, yet after that, she’d go crazy on this poor bastard. This was an appealing thought indeed and it was all she could do not to launch herself at the man’s back and bite his neck.

After a few more minutes, people passing by became very infrequent and she slowly came to a stop, staring after the human, mouth almost watering as her eyes lighted on his neck. Shaking her head, trying to stay convincingly mortal for a short while longer, she jogged up behind the man to tap him softly on the shoulder. Once he had turned around, she backed up a step or two and smiled up at him, making sure not to show her canines which were already starting to elongate in anticipation. “Excuse me sir,” she said, feinting breathlessness, “I’m sort of lost and…” She shrugged softly, frowning, and pulled her bags tighter to her person. “Well, I’m not too comfortable down here. Do you think you could help me find my way?” Her way, where? That would be for him to decide.

[Panzer Xenos]

Rather sooner than he had thought would happen, Panzer found the bodies on the streets thinning out. He was probably treading into what most people would consider shady territory. Rather than be worried, his lip curled in a sneer. Let someone pick a fight with him when he was so full of restless energy. He could use the entertainment. Besides, he had a small arsenal of weapons on him that would probably get him several years in prison considering how strict the gun laws were in London. He had thought America was bad, but it seemed Americans were nothing more than a bunch of gun-loving rednecks in comparison to the prim and proper British.

With so few people on the streets, he found himself hypervigilant, adrenaline coursing through his body as he picked up on possible threats quicker than he normally would have. The man who shuffled into the alleyway, crooking a finger subtly, was given a glare as Panzer flipped him the bird and continued on his way. A group of young adults partying it up in a balcony overhead, almost dousing Panzer in beer as they catcalled him and yelled insults. Had they been closer to the ground, Panzer would have delighted in getting into some hand to hand combat, but he couldn't be bothered with the effort. They wouldn't have been worthy opponents anyways.

And then, among it all, was the clack clack of someone's high heels accompanied by the distinct sound of clothing bags that high end clothing stores usually carried. What a woman would be doing in this part of town was anyone's guess, but Panzer couldn't help but find it strange. Of course, with vampires running a good deal of the city, some of the best stores weren't open until the sun went down. Far be it for him to stereotype either, as he knew several women who could take care of themselves. When the steps of the women sped up, Panzer readied himself for a confrontation, his muscles tensing as he prepared to possibly get physical.

So the tap on his shoulder wasn't completely unexpected, but he still turned rather fast, his eyes taking in the woman behind him - well, before him, now - before he crossed his arms and arched a brow. The motion put his hand sufficiently close enough to his inner holster that he may draw his gun. When he finally saw the woman, he chided himself for his paranoia, but kept his hand where it was. "I doubt I'll be much assistance, considering I have no idea where I am, either." He allowed his gaze to travel up and down her form, both for study and, well... it'd been a while since he'd been in company of such... beauty.

Then he narrowed his eyes as a face welled up in his memory. "Wait a minute... have I seen you somewhere before?" Her face was vivid in his mind, and he had no doubt it was due to his photographic memory, but he also had no idea what context the memory was in. Had he passed by her on the street before? Seen her at work? Drunkenly hit on her at a bar?

[Kyon Girard]

"I doubt I'll be much assistance, considering I have no idea where I am, either."

Kyon let out a soft “Oh,” of disappointment and clung onto her bags tighter, as if she were fearful of being in this part of town. She knew she would be able to find her own way back, but she didn’t want to let on that she knew and so she couldn’t ask him to go to her car with him. She would probably end up dragging him all the way there anyway, being far too eager. However, she wasn’t going to let him just walk away, she wanted that blood that she could smell even now. Perhaps she could risk taking him the alley then; she wouldn’t be linked to it anyway…

"Wait a minute... have I seen you somewhere before?"

Shit… This could be a problem. Kyon had a strict rule that she never killed anyone who even had the slightest inkling of who she was since it was all too easy for other people to have heard about her from her acquaintances (assuming that she was right in thinking that she always made quite the impression on people). So, this man was out then, despite her inability to remember who he might be. For a moment, she stared at him silently, studying his face and taking in his scent. There was some strange scent to his blood, very distinctive. Of course!

“You work at Izan,” she said with comprehension, smiling, “I guess I haven’t seen you around there much. I mean, I do only work part time.” If you had worked for any length of time at the organization, you knew what ‘part time’ meant. Their assassins were paid only by commission so that they weren’t kept on the regular paycheck and therefore easy to trace, so they only came into the actual office every week or so to consult with the boss and collect a bit of money, though most of that was wired straight to an account. “Kyon,” she said politely, holding out a hand for him to shake. But before he could reply, she had yanked her hand back and turned to stare after a woman that had just walked past. Her mouth had filled with drool at the smell of that human and she was reminded too strongly of how hungry she was.

“Hold these,” she told the man quietly, pushing the bags into his hands, glancing around, and then dashing after the woman. Not caring if the human she’d left her things with set them all on the ground and walked away, she moved up fast behind this other human, who was turn out to be very unfortunate. The woman stopped and turned in time, tipped off by the sound of Kyon’s heels, to yelp shortly before her windpipe was crushed. The vampire wasted no time in shoving her victim around the corner of the nearest alleyway and going to town on the human’s neck. After a minute she was incredibly full and content and a sort of relief had settled over her. That had not been a usual kill for her (it was far too fast) yet the effects of it would last for quite a while and she would ensure that her next outing yielded something more satisfying.

Before heading back onto the sidewalk, Kyon dragged the corpse further into the shadows, concealing her transgression, for now. Now she could wonder if that man was still in the same place and starting back toward where the two had been, she could see that he was. What had held him in place? A need to keep her bags for her, curiosity? She stood close by him, smiling hazily over at him, not bothering to wipe the blood from her chin; what if she wanted to save it for later? “Thank you,” she muttered, taking her items back from him and holding them safely to her body.

[Panzer Xenos]

The disappointment on the woman's face made Panzer half-wish he had lied and just taken her for a stroll through the city until one of the many taxi cabs drove by. Then he'd be able to play the gentlemen and offer her a ride home along with the money to do so. Hell, perhaps she'd allow him to accompany her. He could do worse.

Her silence became a little disconcerting, though her words were even more so. Oh, great, a coworker. And from the way her nostrils were flaring, not a human one. Well that killed his hypothetical boner. It was an unspoken rule that you didn't stick your dick in crazy, and vampires had the nasty habit of not having it all together upstairs. He nodded at her, now itching to get away. He didn't make a move to shake her offered hand, keeping his hand safely by his holster. Just because she worked for the same people he did, didn't make her a friend. "Sorry I couldn't help you out mo-"

He was cut off and suddenly found the clothing bags being shoved into his arms. He tried to grab hold of them halfheartedly, not even flinching as the bags fell to the ground, some of their contents falling out. He watched as the woman flew after another woman, and his brow twitched. He might work for vampires, but he hardly approved of their methods. They just paid well.

Sighing, he kicked one of the bags off of his foot. This was what he got when he tried to stay sober. Pretty soon he was just going to stop caring. While he refused to hold the stupid bags, he would at least put forth the minimal effort and stand nearby to watch them. Of course, if anyone actually tried to take them, he doubted he'd put up a fight. After all, that was what Kyon deserved for trusting a stranger.

Upon her return, Panzer was idly leaning against the alley wall, watching a rat dig into another rats corpse, its gnawing teeth making quick work of its dead brethren. "Enjoy yourself?" Panzer asked lazily, barely acknowledging the blood on her chin. One didn't work for the vampire mafia if a little - or a lot - of blood bothered you. "I do hope you at least made a half effort to hide the body, and to search for valuables."

[Kyon Girard]

Setting down her bags at her feet, not caring if the bottoms got dirty, she pulled out a shirt and brushed off a smudge of grime that had gotten onto it when the man had dropped her things.

"Enjoy yourself?"

Kyon smiled softly and set the shirt back into its respective bag. How was she going to play it now? Her usual crazy, innocent, or as normal as she could? Normal would be fun, she could see how far she could get him to trust her, because she got the sense that he didn’t like vampires much, despite working for them. “Well, I feel much better,” she shrugged, suggesting that she didn’t enjoy killing so much as finding a necessity in it. She lifted a hand now to her chin, glancing down as she wiped the blood from it, contemplating licking it from her palm but instead opting for wiping it off on one of the dark bags that leaned against her calf.

"I do hope you at least made a half effort to hide the body, and to search for valuables."

Again, the woman shrugged and then she nodded slightly. “She was a vagrant.” This was only half the truth, as she suspected the woman had been very poor, but not without a home or family, though her clothes wouldn’t have suggested that, or the lack of showering she obviously did. And Kyon was playing normal; normal vampires drank from hobos because nobody cared if they died and it was a form of population control. The body had not been hidden however, not really, she’d only left it tucked behind a dumpster. Ooh, she could call her clean up boy (well, old man) Grayson to sort it all out and he would be glad to do it; she hadn’t given him a job in a month.

Turning away slightly from the man, she pulled out her cell phone that she had tucked into her bra and brought up her contacts. She sent Grayson a quick text with the street address and that he should be there in an hour before she switched off the phone, so that he wouldn’t call her, and pressed it back down the front of her dress (since she wasn’t carrying a purse, it really was the only place she could keep it). Now she could pay attention to her coworker again, completely. He was alright looking, she supposed, he had a nice hair color, and he sure did smell nice, though she was almost as tall as him with her heels on. Easier to reach his neck then… No, no, she wasn’t going to be doing anymore of that tonight. Normal.

“I don’t think I caught your name,” she smiled, running her fingers through her hair to push her bangs off to the side, “And it’s Girard, by the way. Kyon Girard.” She had to show that she trusted him at least a bit, reveal little bits of information about herself, then maybe he would stop looking at her like she had made some obscene comment about gingers.

[Panzer Xenos]

Panzer rolled his eyes at the vampire. The whole damned species were egotistical know-it-all's. he had very little patience for their games, but working for Izan had taught him to fake it pretty fucking good. He watched silently as Kyon went about her business with the cellphone, assuming that his words had sparked some sort of action. If not, what was one more body in a city where bodies where a normal occurrence. The cause of death would redoubtably be severe trauma to the neck by means of vampire teeth, but actually pinpointing which vampire always seemed to be more work than it was worth. Panzer knew, he'd had to hunt down a few in his time at Izan. Being a weapons dealer meant he sometimes had to use his own product. Ah well, it was good for business. Showed that his wares were effective and good enough for their sellers to personally use.

He couldn't help but arch a brow as the vampire gave forth her full name. Trusting little devil, wasn't she? Panzer crossed his arms and tossed his bangs out of his eyes, narrowing his gaze. What game was the little minx playing? He doubted he was on the menu, what with being a coworker and all, but Izan assassins had a nasty tendency of being batshit insane. More so than normal vampires.

However, he didn't feel like trusting her much back. To most of Izan he was simply 'Ares', and what good was an alias if he gave his real name out to everyone he met? He snorted. "You can call me Ares."

Pushing away from the wall, he looked up and down the alley, and then upwards; one never knew where spies might be in this crazy city. Alley's had the nasty habit of having fire escapes that made for convenient eavesdropping hideouts. From what he could see it was clear, but his eyesight was only that of a humans. He started walked back out of the alley. "Since you probably know where the fuck we are, how about walking me back to..."

He closed his eyes and brought up a street sign in his memory, fairly sure it was close to where he had entered West End. He gave it to her and then continued walking, not overly caring if she followed, or led, or accompanied him at all. He got lost on his own, he could get un-lost just as easily.

[Kyon Girard]

Kyon didn’t appreciate at all that she hadn’t been given a real name. "You can call me Ares." She felt that the alias was a bit of a waste since she could find out to easily what his real name was, his address, phone number, anything she wanted, and she was sure that he knew it too. And still, he wouldn’t even give her a first name. Well, she wasn’t getting anywhere with him then, she would just have to try to be even more normal, which might be hard.

She watched him for a moment as he moved off the wall and looking around. "Since you probably know where the fuck we are, how about walking me back to..." Honestly, she had no idea where they were but she had a knack for finding her way around and she could probably retrace her steps pretty well, which would at least bring her back into the city. The street he gave her was familiar, so once she had her bearings of the city back she could get him there.

“No need for curses,” she muttered, half-jokingly. Of course she didn’t mind the swearing at all, it was practically a form of communication for her, but since she was trying to be polite, it was good to call him out on it. The woman moved up to Ares’ side, walking next to him, but not looking at him, instead staring at the ground and focusing on not stepping into anything and tripping in her heels. When she finally looked back up, it looked as if they had moved even farther away from the city, it was so much quieter, and yet she was sure they had walked the right way. “Oh….” she muttered, trotting in front of the human and turning around a corner. Just like that, the city was back, still quiet, but she now knew exactly where they were. “This way,” she smiled. glancing back to Ares and moving on again.

It occurred to her that she had parked around here, but it was not in plain view as she usually liked to hide it in the back of building or something so that it wouldn’t get stolen or vandalized. She could put her things away then. Yet if this man had also parked around here, then he would definitely leave her and she would lose quite an interesting friend. As usual though, she had an idea.

There was a parking lot near by, not too far out of the way of the path she was heading down to the street. “I need to put my things away,” she told Ares, looking to him, “my car’s just in here.” She moved away from him, expecting him to follow or at least wait since she was thinking he might still be lost. She pulled out her keys and walked purposefully down a few lines of cars there were right there. When she came into sight of the second empty spot, she groaned and hurried over, saying “Shit! Not again…” Lifting her free hand to her forehead in dismay, she moved between the lines and kicked at a continently placed piece of glass. “My insurance is gonna kill me,” she muttered, running her hand down her face, gritting her teeth. She stood in place for a moment, muttering to herself, glancing around as if her car would magically appear. But eventually she turned back around to move over to the man, pulling out her phone again as she did. She started dialing then stopped and tucked her phone away, mumbling, “I’ll deal with that tomorrow, I can’t right now…”

With a deep sigh, she looked up to Ares, a forced smile curling her lips then dropping from her face. “I guess I’ll show you the rest of the way then.” Again, she tried to smile, but it came out a bit pained so she gave up with a shake of her head and moved on out of the lot, making her way toward his destination.

[Panzer Xenos]

He didn't even bother commenting on her reprimand for his dirty mouth, though the amused thought of how she would react to his Tourette's crossed his mind. Not that he cared. He already knew she didn't like that he had given her his work name instead of his birth name. His true identity wasn't a secret by any means, but while working, and around coworkers, he preferred that his alias be used. He did have a normal life outside work, however dull and mundane it may be. And full of drunken trysts. Good fucking god, maybe hitting the bar wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. He could use some alcohol to mute those nagging voices in his head that liked to make him relive the worst times of his life.

He stayed half a step behind her and slightly to her side, his thumbs hooked in his belt loops, putting his hands in a position that he could get to either his Glock or one of his concealed knives. The latter was especially illegal, but also disposable and replaceable. Besides, the police in London were denser than most, or else Panzer just had a knack for talking his way out of trouble. Heh, probably the latter.

When they turned the corner and the normal city life appeared, he relaxed the tiniest bit. This vampire made him nervous, but then, most did. Her behavior as they approached closer to the general area of 'safe' civilization put him back on edge though. He didn't want to follow her to the vehicle, but if it got him out of this part of town sooner than later, he'd put up with the vampire for a while longer.

The parking lot was deserted, and Panzer lagged behind, eyes scanning the area. Kyon rushed ahead, but he could care less if she got ambushed. She'd probably survive a few bullet wounds. His chances weren't so lucky. What was he doing? He really shouldn't be hanging around this vampire outside of work. He was about to turn around and walk out, intent on thinking with his top head for a change of pace, when her dismayed cry sounded throughout the parking lot. Tensing up, he turned around and observed as she paced the area. Panzer rolled his eyes.

"I somehow doubt it's hiding underneath a fucking car, lady," He scoffed. His brow knitted when he saw her take out her cell, as though about to phone someone, and then change her mind and put it back. Last time he'd checked, it had been turned off. So either she had turned it on again when he wasn't paying attention - and god, he'd been paying too much attention - or this was a sham.

Her smile and offer to walk him the rest of the way was met with a distrustful leer, but he nodded anyways and took up his position behind her again. Soon as he saw an area that was familiar to him, he was ditching the broad and hitting the nearest bar. With his luck it'd be a vampire establishment, but if he ended up taking anyone home, at least he could just open the curtain in the morning and let the sun clean up his stupid drunken mistake for him. The thought brightened his mood a little.

[Kyon Girard]

Kyon resisted the strong urge to growl and grit her teeth at the man's snide comment, not wanting to show the crazy that this would reveal. No, she had enough self control at the moment to keep a cool head. And this was turning out to be very good practice for her. She may have already let slip (well, shoved the fact right in his face) that she was a vampire, but it didn't mean that this wouldn't come in handy for tricking other people into thinking that she was some harmless, lonely, female human. Perhaps she could even pull of harmless, lonely, female vampire, but at the moment, Ares wasn't buying it. This did hurt her pride a little, that she was becoming so unrefined and clever with herself, yet it wasn't much of a surprise when she had been so hungry lately.

Surprisingly, she managed not to lose it when her offer of leading him the rest of the way was greeted by a distasteful frown and she walked on ahead with a soft sway in her step, the bags hitting her hip every time she lifted her leg. She decided that she would lead the man on a bit of a detour, around a few corners that would take them the long way to his destination, so that she could think of what she wanted to do with. She wished she knew what section of the organization he worked in so that she determine how threatening he could be, but alas no one would ever tell her who anyone else was in Izan and she didn't ask, so everyone, except a few other assassins and those that gave her orders, were complete nonentities in her mind.

After a couple more minutes of walking, Kyon slowed down a little, forcing Ares to walk up by her side because otherwise he would have stopped, and she smiled over at him. Until now, both her hands had been resting low on her stomach but her right hand had wandered on her collar, running her fingers softly over the skin and barely registering how much the bags on her arm should have weighed her down. She shot the man another smile then trotted ahead of him again, heels clicking loudly on the pavement. A minute or so passed and she realized that they were nearing the human's destination, though it had been in a very round-about way. She slowed her steps, almost coming to a stop. There had to be some way to make this encounter memorable, as she would want to remember this man, he was quite the odd fellow.

Halting her steps completely, Kyon dropped her arms straight by her side, letting the bags fall to her feet. A quick glance around told her that was no one but a hobo or two around and so she swiftly yanked up the skirt of her dress, pulling a small dagger out of the garter she wore. That was one of the two things she never left her home without: her cell phone and her knife. She now swung around to face Ares, holding the blade straight out in front of her, her reach of her arm bringing it quite close to the man's neck. "You're probably right in thinking I'm a little crazy," she smiled sweetly, twisting the blade as if imagining that it was already stuck in his windpipe.

[Panzer Xenos]

Aw, he hurt the vampires feelings. When Kyon turned her back to lead him on, he rolled his eyes. Supposedly immortal, and yet they all acted like children. Ridiculous creatures. At least the walk wasn't a total waste; his view from behind her was quite nice, as long as he kept it in his mind that she was a vampire, and thus not fuckable. His dick tended to forget that sometimes, but luckily he had control over it. Unless he was drunk. Then god help him.

It didn't take him long to realize that she was merely meandering. They'd gone on a pretty winding course through the city, some of which was backtracking down avenues a few streets down where they'd already walked. Her behavior had him on edge. He was thoroughly lost now. Why couldn't cities use numbers for their streets and avenues instead of bloody stupid names?

By the time she dropped back to walk beside him, he had his arms crossed, putting his hands near his weapons. His eyes followed the path her fingers traced over the smooth, pale skin of her throat and chest, his eyes flicking up to take in the smile she flashed him before she trotted ahead. What was she up to? He wondered if she could somehow hear or sense the excess blood pumping through his body. Even he couldn't tell if it was from arousal or the preparation for a possible attack.

He had nearly convinced himself that she was going to jump him - for blood or sex, he hadn't decided yet - when her body language set alarms off in his head. Smoothly, reflexively, he unholstered his gun. His gun was up and aimed at her, the safety off; the knife deflected off the arm of his leather jacket before steadying close to his neck. Fucking vampires! He didn't allow his aim to waver. Her cocky grin and her words made him grunt. The sound was either an acknowledgment or his attempt at a dry laugh. Either way, he wasn't happy.

"What is your fucking deal?" He ground out through gritted teeth. Why were vampires so goddamned confrontational? For fucks sakes, they were on the same side! He was all out of patience for the night. Was his gun one of those that needed to be cocked, he would have done it then, dramatic as a fucking movie. But his would shoot as it was, and if this bitch so much as twitched wrong, he had no problem shooting her. Izan was overflowing with assassins; they wouldn't miss one. Not to mention she had instigated. He knew for a fact that he was more valuable to the company. Let her try something.

[Kyon Girard]

Kyon stared straight at the man, pretty much unblinking, for a short while, taking in his expression. Even with the gun in her face, she was surprisingly calm, she barely registered that it was there. Perhaps she would have been a bit more cautious if she had ever been shot, she was usually fast enough to move out of the way of a bullet, but she figured that it wouldn’t hurt that much and she could probably stand a few shots to the chest. It was only her head that she had to worry about and that’s where he was aiming, though she suspected that she could at least knock his hand out of the way before he could squeeze the trigger and avoid any serious injury. Not that she was planning to get shot…

"What is your fucking deal?"

The woman cocked her head at this question, her knife twisting to follow suit and a lock of hair falling over the bridge of her nose. “I suppose,” she said slowly, smiling. “I’m just bored; I’m looking for a bit of excitement.” She grinned slightly, head tilting back into position as her wrist popped to angle her dagger downward toward his collar. “And I must say you’re doing an excellent job entertaining me.” She moved herself forward slightly, carefully, not wanting that gun to go off in her face, though she was very prepared to smack his arm out of way in case she noticed his trigger finger tense.

It suddenly occurred to her that, depending on who this guy was to Izan, that she could get in trouble for harming him in anyway. She might get suspended (again) or she could get a pay cut, but they wouldn’t let her go (meaning she would have to be assassinated herself), she was important enough to her boss that just playing with a coworker, even scratching him up a bit, wouldn’t get her anymore than a little jail time. This was good to know, since she wasn’t planning on stopping right now, it was too much fun! And it had been forever since she had last found someone truly compelling, like this Ares character. He may not be ideal, she would have preferred a wolf, but he would do. Plus, his blood actually smelled rather delicious, and there was plenty of it; she could see that his cheeks were flushed red, he must be warm…

Slowly dropping her knife from the man’s neck, she took a step to him, closing the distance between them considerably. She now dropped her dagger down to her hip and, since the hem of her dress had folded up and got stuck, she was able to slip the blade back into the garter around her thigh. Kyon stood still now, staring up at him and smiling politely, though her eyes challenged him to do something. She, herself, wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do now, but whatever it was would be impulsive and it probably end up causing him to fire off that gun.