Pistolwhipping (open)

[Sareph]

January 16, 2012

Along the roads of London, as always, was the red-headed woman most people avoided. Her foul attitude was showing on her sleeves, and her sleeves were rolled up. Dead-set on something, she stormed the streets with intent. Someone clearly had annoyed her, but that was never hard to tell, truly. When Sareph was silent, that was when shit hit the fan.

A small pocket knife was in her 'purse' and nothing much else, but a shady man a few steps ahead was ducking through the crowd. He knew he'd done wrong and he was trying to hide. Sareph was no fool and as soon as he left the mini-mart, she slipped into step behind him. The fucker would pay for ripping her off with the lousy piece of shit something-or-other she bought. It wasn't about the item, it was more about the fact she'd been cheated and Sareph wasn't taking it well.

Night shaded the world above. It gave her cloaked friend some leverage, but not a whole lot. She ducked into an alley and pulled her knife out. The way it glinted gave her a thrill.. or it may have been drugs she probably had in her. A dull ache pulsed in her head as she tried to recollect her morning, but no pieces were there. Clearly she'd fucked herself up if she couldn't remember taking anything. Anyhow,, her blade was drawn and soon the man was tugged into the alley. "You lying FUCKER." She swore in his face, nearly spitting with each word. "I can't believe you'd fucking cheat me."

"H-Hey S-Sara... d-don't b-be mad- I couldn't g-give the actual stuff to yo-you.. Boss and all." The man in her hands trembled with sweat on his brow.

"Izzat so? Maybe ya need to fear someone more than just him, hm?" She shook him roughly and pulled the blade to his cheek, and slammed him roughly to the wall. "Scream and I cut the veins out of your fat-ass veins." The man whimpered. "Look you're squealin like a pig." It was odd how thrilled her voice seemed, before it dropped back to a hushed whisper. "Now. Ya better get me my money back before I gut you with this knife and leave your innards for these dogfolk strays." Her head nodded towards the alley.

"Ye-yes. I understand.."

He was released and scurried down the alley. Sareph simply chortled to herself and replaced the knife into her bag. "What a pussy."

[Ceri Priddy]

The night always called to its dark wanderers, summoning them to their deeds and desires.  Whether it was a lap dance, or a drink, or maybe it was something harsher... it didn't matter.  Such things lived in the realm of the night.  And Ceri was no exception this day.  This rare day where she didn't have her actual steady paying job (that some would argue the reputability of, but like she gave any fucks).  Currently, in a rather dark section and far into an alleyway there she was with a "customer" as we shall say, partaking in her "other" (and less legal) line of work.  She panted and straightened up from the crate she had been leaning on, perfect golden curls bouncing as she adjusted her skirt.  The condom went flying into one of the trashcans nearby as she faced the man with a finger beneath his chin. "Now, wasn't that worth it sugar?"  She purred to him, the moonlight twisting those handsome features as he pressed her against the wall, lips smearing against her own again.  She felt when his hand slipped her an extra bill down the low cut front of her shirt, a low chuckle rumbling in her head and in her throat.  "Yer damn right lass.  I'll have ter find you again."  He whispered lowly in her ear, a hand running along the side of her body. She slid one hand up his chest while the other took the bill from her shirt and folded it up more to hide it where the rest of her money was.  

They both immediately turned at the crashing of a body hitting metal, her blue eyes narrowing as she watched the terrified man go.  Her customer quickly kissed her cheek as he zipped up his pants, striding off in a different direction while she gave him a quick smile until he left.  Then.... her expression fell away to an almost disinterested expression.  However, she was rather interested in why the man had run away so, white heels clicking on the pavement as she strode down where he had come from.  She recognized his face, which meant she had a very good idea of whom had scared the piss, literally, out of him.  And sure enough, there Sareph stood with a hand in her purse and a glassyness to her eyes, a frown creasing over those perfectly pretty features.  "What the hell are you doing?" She hissed at her, striding up so she stood in front of her now and up since Sareph was so much taller than her even with her high heels on. "And what are you on now?" Her voice dropped as she gripped her chin in her hands that was surprisingly strong, examining her friends features to identify. Not pot, her eyes weren't bloodshot.

Her other hand took her arm and checked it, finding no immediate fresh needle marks. Not meth then. Those blue eyes turned to ice as her gaze settled on her nostrils, then Sareph's eyes as she let go surprisingly gently. "Seren. You know I hate it when you do this. Do you want to risk getting yourself caught again?" Ceri folded her arms over her ample chest, a foot tapping impatiently at her. She was quiet for a moment and sighed heavily with a small shake of her head. "You've gotta be more careful, ok?"

[Blank Edwards]

Well, safe to say that had been one of the most awkward funerals he'd been to. And for a boy soon to turn 21 he wished he didn't already have a top three.

Uncle's body hadn't been recovered but he had it on reliable sources that the old man had indeed gone down and that what was left probably wouldn't fit into a jam jar let alone a casket. He'd excused himself as early as possible, claiming not to be old enough to drink. Distressingly, a bulk of the mourners believed him. All he'd heard from everyone, even through the service (hell, ESPECIALLY during the service) was when was he going to pull his finger out and get back in the fight. He wanted to point out he'd already clocked in more time than most of them. Mid-thirties? When did you start early twenties? I spent my first birthday in Inferis, would you mind f*cking off? He hated this suit as well, looping a finger around the black tie's knot he loosened it and pressed a hand to his eye-patch. He wasn't really sure what to feel.

He'd lost his father figure, and he was a shit ton more upset than he was when his ACTUAL father had died, and the will reading was tomorrow so he couldn't just leave and... and he'd stormed out of the funeral as soon as he could just for those idiots asking what they probably should.

Why wasn't he fighting?

Was that all he was? Just a soldier to kill demons?

He hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking and glanced up at the two women having a discussion. He'd not seen Sareph threatening the earlier gentleman (embarrassingly, not because he was lacking in attention, but because they were on his right hand side and he was always forgetting even as an adult which way to turn his head). Blank didn't have the most expressive of faces but the slightly raised eyebrow probably showed his curiosity. A red haired woman who seemed to be in a ferociously bad mood and a young girl talking to her in... something? European something? He really wished he knew more about this world, being able to recognize a demon on sight was handy, and it was also handy that a fair few in the necropolis knew to avoid old 'Devil-Eye', but when he had no idea what language a human was talking he felt somewhat useless.

Still, spent condom + extremely attractive woman + threatening woman = ...
"...welcome to the big city, Edwards" Blank thought to himself mildly, as he shrugged, deciding not to get involved. Still, he'd stared for a while, hopefully they wouldn't take that the wrong way.

[Sareph]

"What the hell are you doing?"

-FUCK.  Sareph's dazed eyes recollected upon the form of her best friend.  This was the one person in the world that Sareph would heel to.  Her head ached heavily which caused her hand to slip and drop the purse.  "And what are you on now?"  Eyes were boring into her own.  And thus Ceri was examining Sareph's body.  A hand touched her arm which made Sareph shirk.  For some reason touch made her ache.

The reaction was slow, but she the red haired lass shrugged to her question.  Hell if Sareph knew.  She didn't even know who she'd been with last. "Seren. You know I hate it when you do this. Do you want to risk getting yourself caught again?" Shit, stab me with the knife.  It wasn't like she'd expected to see Ceri until she was sober.  In fact, that was the plan.  Sareph DID know how Ceri hated it, but an addiction was something that couldn't be resisted to her.  Temptation was always easy to cave into.  She NEEDED it.  To feel calm, to keep herself in control despite never actually having control.  And do use her actual name-  that was something only Ceri's voice ever muttered anymore.

Her arm was released and Sareph shifted like a scolded teen while her lips were turned into a scowl. "You've gotta be more careful, ok?"  Sareph tensed and dropped her head in defeat with a nod.  "Yeah... sorry, Ceri."  Her body shifted again and she dared look at her friend almost like an overgrown puppy, however her eyes hardened when she saw something past her.

Shifting, she pushed Ceri gently behind her taller figure.  There was a man.  "You."  the ache in her head was heavier as Sareph snarled in anger.  "How much have you seen?!"  Was this sicko some sort of stalker?  "Speak or I'll-FUCK" There was the stabbing pain behind her eye, making Sareph step back a bit from the pain.  Note to self.  Whatever was tried- NEVER AGAIN.  

[Ceri Priddy]

Oooo was she not happy. This had to be.... what.. the 3rd time she'd caught that this month alone? She didn't even want to count over the years that they'd known each other! It would be like trying to count the amount of times that they'd been to the emergency room because of Sareph and her various shenanigans. Obviously, out of anyone, Ceri was more than happy to take her, but still! She knew she could get rather hard on her, however, so for now she just sort of frowned a bit at her. Somehow it was rather easy to hide just how much she disliked it, and moreso when they were out in public like this. And, well, depending on what Sareph was high ON made it depend just how much might get through. Generally her presence, and disappointment, cut through like a knife through warmed butter. The fact she also used her real name was also a rather big tip-off as well.

"Yeah... sorry, Ceri." The cute blonde sighed and shook her head one last time, falling still when she saw how Sareph looked up and stared so intently at something. And then she saw how the expression changed. She immediately turned about, "You." "Sarah-" Why did she even try to interject? She knew better, she knew what her best friend was like when she was high and angry. "How much have you seen?!" "Thats enough--" She reached a hand forward, "Speak or I'll-FUCK" Ceri pursed her lips as Sareph slowed and stopped, touching her shoulder with a hand as she now focused her attention on the man. She smiled apologetically to him, Lilith chuckling in the back of her mind as the charm came back on. "Sorry about her, she can be a bit..." She paused for the word, tilting her head slightly as her tongue touched those perfect lips of hers. "Touchy." She finished with a brighter smile, stepping in between Sareph and the man. "I'm sure he was just passing by. Isn't that right mister....?" She leaned a little bit towards him, golden curls bouncing about her shoulder as those sapphire eyes slid over him. Please let him play along. Please let him not trigger anymore anger from Sareph....

[Blank Edwards]

It'd be nice to say Blank kept his cool and with his hands up, admitted he was intruding and left. Usually he would and Ceri would get her wish if not for Sareph's unfortunate choice of words. If she'd asked how much he'd heard, tasted, smelt, well Blank would have admitted not much and left but how much had he seen? Well, about half what anyone else would have thanks, maybe a quarter of yours assuming your now seeing double, crackhead. As if to show Karma DID exist, Sareph seemed to pause as if in pain at something and Blank found himself with a twitch at the corner of his mouth as the blonde girl came to help her friend and play peacemaker.

Blank could acknowledge she was pretty, he actually felt somewhat taken in by her charms (admittedly dampened by logic and memory, he DID remember what he'd thought earlier and he had clocked the used rubber by the trash) but still he was pretty steaming with the drug adled woman who seemed to have taken the piss out of his eye. The blonde was calming him down well but the mental stress of Uncle's funeral was still weighing him down and he knew starting a fight with a random drug addict wouldn't help. Keeping his head cool, Blank took a step back and nodded somewhat to Ceri, as if to say he was accepting her request while still keeping his eye on Sareph. Just another altercation in London, two random strangers bumped into him and once was high as a kite and tried to threaten him.

They did make an interesting duo though. Blank had no idea what language they had been speaking but they seemed to be good friends. Somehow... he felt jealous. Keeping his one eye still on Sareph, Blank started to leave. He was keeping his cool, barely, the words of the charming young woman managing to keep him from flipping out and averting disaster. He wondered if London was always like this...

[Sareph]

Sobering up was the least fun part of anything. She had to go from feeling good then like shit all in a second's notice. Her eyes darkened more, with patience drained. However her addiction left her rather tame. Her head rested on Ceri's shoulder a moment in a way that made her seem like she was about to pass out.

The rush was beginning to fade to the point where Sareph could barely breathe. Her chest constricted. Addictions were a sad thing. People had serious problems and in fact, her own father had been the source of it. Every child had their trigger with Sareph, it could be anything. She could barely hear anything now. The words were like throbbing drums on her ears. Dark red-brown eyes stared hazily at the man; still with threat, but not enough so to be considered anything other than just that. Her red bangs fell over her eyes.

Like a wise man, he backed down and away. Sareph groaned and nuzzled into her best friend's shoulder. "Maya... can we go home, please?" The pain in her voice was obvious. Her drug problem was deeper than her own mind could reach: so long practiced that she couldn't bleed it out like some people. It didn't stop Sareph from glaring at the man. Back the fuck up. Don't touch my friend. Indeed, she was overprotective as always. When she was sober she hid it better. Maya was her life. Not in a lover's way, no. Sareph loved Maya like a sister in a way. The only person in the world able to tolerate Sareph long enough to know her. Still, she wasn't apologizing. No way.

[Ceri Priddy]

Ceri made a frowny face as he basically ignored her and turned to go, sighing lightly as she straightened up and instead turned around to face Sareph. Fine. If he was going to be like that, and he didn't see anything, then no fucks were given about him. As her friends head came down on her shoulder she ran those delicate fingers through her soft hair, smiling softly in a way that only appeared around her best friend. "You are both such lost children." Lilith chuckled inside her head, "Its adorable." Ceri chose not to comment, her brows furrowing as she could see how coming down off the drugs were affecting her friend. It was time to not be in the streets or out in the open about people. Considering the boy had turned to leave she worried no further about it, making a mental note about his appearance just in case they should ever encounter him again. These things could be important in the future after all. You never knew who might show up there.

"Maya... can we go home, please?" Ceri nodded once as she turned towards the street and held up an arm to signal a cab. "Of course Sara. Of course." She whispered to her quietly, kissing the side of her head as one drove up beside them. She helped Sareph into the car, minding her head and legs in the cramped space before giving the man their address. As he drove off, she continued to let her best friend rest her head on her shoulder, her fingers still trailing through her hair. She chuckled quietly as she stroked her head, "What am I going to do with you..." It was not meant as a corrective statement, just one of endearment. They had already been through so much together, and tonight was just another one of those nights in the days of their lives.

[EXIT THREAD WITH SAREPH]

[Blank Edwards]

Blank's leaving was temporarily halted as he turned to look at the two girls, Sarah and Maya... huh. He didn't really know what to make of them as he watched them go. He felt like there was something about them but his instincts were dulled by being out of the game so long, he turned his head and continued to walk but for some reason he kept seeing it in his head. That tiny blonde girl trying to carry the big red-head woman, was that... how they lived? He stopped at a corner, resting his head against the brick's of a wall as he tried to get the image out of his mind. The two of them... they were really living like this. That was how the two of them spent their days.

It was probably stupid, feeling sorry for them like this but he felt... kinship? It was stupid, why was he feeling like that? Because they were outsiders like him? Because they were alone. Hell, if that was true he was worse off because his only ally was dead now and he'd just been to his funeral! Blank stopped as he felt an odd sensation dripping down his face. He didn't cry. As far as he knew he never cried but suddenly he felt tears falling, awkwardly given his situation, but they were still falling. He held the back of his hand to his face as he felt his usually dormant emotions speaking up.

He thought about it the whole way home... how he'd walked away from the two who needed his help. He didn't know why he cared... but it was his first steps back towards the path of the Hunter.

((Thread End))

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