Against All Odds (WIP) (PAGE TWO)
(back to page 1: http://luv-bowie-luver.livejournal.com/58339.html)
***
Unfinished. Unedited. Rough Draft.
***
UPDATED: February 18th, 2015, 8.44AM (my time)
***
By the time it was well after dark the next night, Monte awoke, sitting up and stretching but he was keen to snooze a little longer and shifted noisily in the armchair and dozed off again. John slowly blinked awake, murmuring something obscure and pulling the blankets up over himself warmly as he also went back to sleep. Neither of them were in any great hurry to step out into the cold, wintry night and the room was toasty warm, since John had lit the fire sometime during the night when he’d woken up and put a blanket over the shivering Monte, so it was a solid two more hours before either of them got the inkling that they had rested up enough.
Monte was up like a shot, scrambling out of the armchair and cursing softly under his breath about being late for work. This amused John, since he got the feeling that Monte was hardly ever there anyway and even if he was, the owner probably would never have noticed his absence in the first place.
“What’s so funny?” Monte asked John, pulling on his pants hurriedly and then his shirt.
“You are,” John stretched lazily and purred as he arched his back and sighed in content.
“I wasn’t trying to be,” Monte furrowed his brow. John laughed quietly, shaking his head and looking Monte over with half closed eyes.
“Perhaps you’re in the wrong profession then,” John teased him playfully, slowly brightening up in anticipation of breakfast, “you should be a comedian.”
“Funny,” Monte wasn’t smiling, “are you getting up now or will I see you later?”
“You can’t go out like that,” John told Monte firmly.
“Why not?” Monte asked, rushing to put his shoes on.
“Well,” John threw back the covers and Monte let his gaze linger on John’s muscular frame for a moment, “your shirt is inside out.. and your pants are on back to front.”
Monte paused what he was doing and looked down at himself, lifting his brows in surprise.
“So they are,” Monte noted and then he laughed and stood up, “guess I’d better start over then!”
John watched him with affection in his eyes, it’d been so long since he felt this way about anybody, it actually frightened him and that was making him on edge because John wasn’t afraid of anything. Having friends and family made him vulnerable, caring about whether a human lived or died gave his enemies something to sink their fangs into and use against him. John clawed discreetly at his sheets, could he really afford to fall for someone as danger prone as Monte?
“You’re so lazy, do you know that?” Monte wondered, buttoning up his shirt. John was still sitting on the bed, scruffily scratching his head and yawning with half closed eyes.
“I’m just about ready to go out the door and you’re still in your birthday suit,” Monte added, less than patiently. He grabbed up a small bottle of pills, stuffing them into his back pocket and John looked curiously up at him now.
“What’re those?” John wondered, groping around for his pants and pulling them on.
“Cat laxatives,” Monte answered him shortly. John lifted a brow, he hadn’t smelled a cat around here anywhere.
“You have a cat?” John stood up, putting on his shirt.
“No,” Monte smiled at him, “just people I really don’t like.”
John took a full minute to realize just exactly what Monte was getting at and then he laughed loudly, startling Monte and setting his heart racing.
“God,” Monte breathed, putting his hand over his chest, “warn me next time!”
John growled amusedly and snapped his fangs, which had suddenly appeared because of the fright Monte had just received, the thunderous sound of his heart racing was enough to get them on the lookout for possible prey. Monte smiled nervously, he found the growls and snaps a bit less intimidating now that he was getting used to them. John noticed the smile and the blush that had crept into Monte’s cheeks and he felt a purr of content coming on, but he bit it back because he still wasn’t sure he wanted to get too involved with Monte, although something told John it really wasn’t up to him anymore. There was a bond between them that John could not explain, Monte seemed to be less aware of it but John was much more alert and sensitive to shifts in mood and emotions than a human ever could hope to be. Monte glanced at his wristwatch and went for the door, John slowly followed after him but he was keen to get a bite to eat first and so John was out the door first.
“Monte,” John looked over his shoulder, “your bar is this way.”
“I know,” Monte kept walking in the opposite direction.
John paused, watching him but Monte did not look back and John figured he’d go off for a meal and then come back and see what he was really up to. It bothered John that Monte was so carefree and confident that he just wandered off on his own, it was like finding a half grown kitten on the streets, you knew it had survived this long by itself, it didn’t need you then and it didn’t need you now but you still wanted to take it home and care for it so it didn’t get hit by a car or eaten by dogs. Torn between hunger and watching over his friend, John went against his concerns and had to obey his stomach, Monte could take care of himself, he was pretty sure of that. Monte looked at his watch again, he was going to be late.
“Damn,” he muttered, it was not a good start to his night. A door to his left opened up and a woman popped out of it, she saw him and smiled brightly, showing her teeth.
“Hello Monte!” she greeted him cheerfully, “you’re just in time, come on.. Nobody’s even here yet!”
A stroke of luck, Monte was certain they’d told him 8pm.
“Hello Lisa,” Monte grinned back, following her inside.
“Ugh, it’s Lilah!” she scolded him, “I’ve only told you a hundred times.. “
“Sorry,” Monte rubbed the back of his neck, “I know a lot of people.”
“Yeah I bet,” Lilah frowned at him, “I hope you’re keeping out of trouble.”
“I’m here,” Monte told her firmly.
“Yeah, you are,” Lilah sat down at a table, “which means you’re not keeping out of trouble at all.”
Monte sat down beside her and glanced around, it looked like a bar except it was empty because it had been officially closed down years ago and was now only used for underhanded meetings with some very undesirable people.
Lilah couldn’t help but notice Monte was hard, but this was normal for first thing in the morning, or in his case, first thing at night. It was just a natural occurrence to wake up with a boner, it’d settle itself down eventually but Lilah simply smiled at him, leaning closer and lowering her voice.
“Is that for me, baby?” she asked him with a soft giggle.
“Is what for you?” Monte was lost without proper context. Lilah got closer to him and gently gave his erection a firm squeeze, causing Monte to grunt and part his thighs to make room for more growth.
“You’re either really pleased to see me,” Lilah cooed at him, “or your gun is a lot bigger than I remember it.”
“Why, uhm, why are those the only two options?” Monte wondered.
“Well what else could it be?” Lilah asked him, frowning, “you’re not thinking of some other woman, are you??”
“No!” Monte replied quickly, “oh no, babe, of course not, only.. Well, you did kick me out love.. “
Lilah sat back and gave a sigh, she wasn’t the first to date him and then kick him out and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be the last.
“You’re just too dangerous, Monte,” she reminded herself now, but god he was so cute!
“You love danger, or why would you be here?” Monte argued back.
“I like a little bit of a thrill,” Lilah admitted, “but you? For fuck’s sake, Monte, they try to kill you every other night!”
Monte leaned back, looking smug.
“They haven’t managed to do it so far,” he boasted.
“I swear you’ve got more luck than a four leaf clover, Monte,” Lilah sighed, shaking her head, “more charms than a box of cereal and more lives than a cat, but all of that’s going to run out sooner or later, you know.. Then where will you be?”
“Probably Mexico,” Monte replied, as the door opened and they turned to see who had come in.
“Well, well,” smiled a toothy grin, “if it isn’t Monte, ‘ello Lilah.. “
“Ugh,” Lilah rolled her eyes, “not you again.. Why are you smiling, Monte? It’s only Boris.”
“He’s just solved my little problem,” Monte responded with a quick glance down at his subdued crotch, “one look at those horrible, yellow teeth and that was it.”
Lilah giggled softly, shaking her head, she did really miss him and his amusing antics but she valued her life over a relationship with him, so it’d have to remain a distant fantasy. Boris wandered over to the old kiosk to grab himself a stale bag of crisps, he was the sort of scavenger who wouldn’t leave a half eaten burger in the trash if he saw it there, he’d just dust off the dirt and gulp it down in one.
“What’s this all about anyway?” Lilah asked Boris, “do you know anything?”
“Apparently there’s a killer in town,” Boris revealed eagerly, eyes lit up, “he’s taken down three of Carlos’ boys and a couple of Dante’s too.”
“So what does Fowler want to see us for?” Lilah wondered.
“Because,” Boris looked pointedly at Monte, “the murders all have one little thing in common, innit?”
Lilah glanced at Monte. “How did I know you’d be in the thick of it?” she sighed again. Monte gulped as the door burst open and Fowler walked in, he did not look at all pleased and his three goons hugged his flanks securely.
“Explain,” Fowler snarled at Monte directly, “every time someone tries to have you killed lately, everyone ends up dead except you!”
“Careful boss,” Boris warned Fowler, “we don’t know what’s going on, so you should probably hang back and let us take care of extracting the information out of him.”
“Extracting, that usually means torture, doesn’t it?” Monte stood up and started to back away.
“Don’t even think of running outta here,” Fowler told Monte angrily, “you will tell me right now what the fuck happened or so help me I’ll have every tooth pulled out of your head!”
“Funny you should mention teeth,” Monte spoke calmly with a grin and Lilah choked back a laugh, wishing he didn’t have to say such things when his life was being threatened because it just wasn’t a laughing matter.
“Huh?” Boris glanced up, his mouth stuffed with crisps, “waashhat sh’poshed’ta’mean?”
“You really shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, Boris,” Monte scolded him playfully, “it isn’t polite.”
“What is the meaning of this conversation?!” Fowler barked, “tell me how you managed to not only escape but also kill those men!”
“I’m just buying myself a bit of time, Fowler,” Monte answered him smoothly.
“Time?” Fowler frowned, “time for what?”
Monte glanced at his wristwatch and smiled, looking back up at Fowler smugly and Fowler began to back off and look around worriedly.
“What are you waiting on?” Fowler demanded, “is it a bomb? Have you set up a bomb to explode?”
“Can we leave now, boss?” Boris asked worriedly. Fowler bared his teeth and they all rushed back out of the building, playing it safe.
“You know they’re just going to come for you again sooner or later,” Lilah said with a sigh of relief, “shouldn’t we be running, too?”
“From what?” Monte asked her, not concerned just now because he’d managed to buy himself some time, just as he’d planned. Lilah tilted her head and slowly began to smile, there wasn’t any bomb, the clever little weasel..
****
(to be continued.. )
***
Unfinished. Unedited. Rough Draft.
***
UPDATED: February 18th, 2015, 8.44AM (my time)
***
By the time it was well after dark the next night, Monte awoke, sitting up and stretching but he was keen to snooze a little longer and shifted noisily in the armchair and dozed off again. John slowly blinked awake, murmuring something obscure and pulling the blankets up over himself warmly as he also went back to sleep. Neither of them were in any great hurry to step out into the cold, wintry night and the room was toasty warm, since John had lit the fire sometime during the night when he’d woken up and put a blanket over the shivering Monte, so it was a solid two more hours before either of them got the inkling that they had rested up enough.
Monte was up like a shot, scrambling out of the armchair and cursing softly under his breath about being late for work. This amused John, since he got the feeling that Monte was hardly ever there anyway and even if he was, the owner probably would never have noticed his absence in the first place.
“What’s so funny?” Monte asked John, pulling on his pants hurriedly and then his shirt.
“You are,” John stretched lazily and purred as he arched his back and sighed in content.
“I wasn’t trying to be,” Monte furrowed his brow. John laughed quietly, shaking his head and looking Monte over with half closed eyes.
“Perhaps you’re in the wrong profession then,” John teased him playfully, slowly brightening up in anticipation of breakfast, “you should be a comedian.”
“Funny,” Monte wasn’t smiling, “are you getting up now or will I see you later?”
“You can’t go out like that,” John told Monte firmly.
“Why not?” Monte asked, rushing to put his shoes on.
“Well,” John threw back the covers and Monte let his gaze linger on John’s muscular frame for a moment, “your shirt is inside out.. and your pants are on back to front.”
Monte paused what he was doing and looked down at himself, lifting his brows in surprise.
“So they are,” Monte noted and then he laughed and stood up, “guess I’d better start over then!”
John watched him with affection in his eyes, it’d been so long since he felt this way about anybody, it actually frightened him and that was making him on edge because John wasn’t afraid of anything. Having friends and family made him vulnerable, caring about whether a human lived or died gave his enemies something to sink their fangs into and use against him. John clawed discreetly at his sheets, could he really afford to fall for someone as danger prone as Monte?
“You’re so lazy, do you know that?” Monte wondered, buttoning up his shirt. John was still sitting on the bed, scruffily scratching his head and yawning with half closed eyes.
“I’m just about ready to go out the door and you’re still in your birthday suit,” Monte added, less than patiently. He grabbed up a small bottle of pills, stuffing them into his back pocket and John looked curiously up at him now.
“What’re those?” John wondered, groping around for his pants and pulling them on.
“Cat laxatives,” Monte answered him shortly. John lifted a brow, he hadn’t smelled a cat around here anywhere.
“You have a cat?” John stood up, putting on his shirt.
“No,” Monte smiled at him, “just people I really don’t like.”
John took a full minute to realize just exactly what Monte was getting at and then he laughed loudly, startling Monte and setting his heart racing.
“God,” Monte breathed, putting his hand over his chest, “warn me next time!”
John growled amusedly and snapped his fangs, which had suddenly appeared because of the fright Monte had just received, the thunderous sound of his heart racing was enough to get them on the lookout for possible prey. Monte smiled nervously, he found the growls and snaps a bit less intimidating now that he was getting used to them. John noticed the smile and the blush that had crept into Monte’s cheeks and he felt a purr of content coming on, but he bit it back because he still wasn’t sure he wanted to get too involved with Monte, although something told John it really wasn’t up to him anymore. There was a bond between them that John could not explain, Monte seemed to be less aware of it but John was much more alert and sensitive to shifts in mood and emotions than a human ever could hope to be. Monte glanced at his wristwatch and went for the door, John slowly followed after him but he was keen to get a bite to eat first and so John was out the door first.
“Monte,” John looked over his shoulder, “your bar is this way.”
“I know,” Monte kept walking in the opposite direction.
John paused, watching him but Monte did not look back and John figured he’d go off for a meal and then come back and see what he was really up to. It bothered John that Monte was so carefree and confident that he just wandered off on his own, it was like finding a half grown kitten on the streets, you knew it had survived this long by itself, it didn’t need you then and it didn’t need you now but you still wanted to take it home and care for it so it didn’t get hit by a car or eaten by dogs. Torn between hunger and watching over his friend, John went against his concerns and had to obey his stomach, Monte could take care of himself, he was pretty sure of that. Monte looked at his watch again, he was going to be late.
“Damn,” he muttered, it was not a good start to his night. A door to his left opened up and a woman popped out of it, she saw him and smiled brightly, showing her teeth.
“Hello Monte!” she greeted him cheerfully, “you’re just in time, come on.. Nobody’s even here yet!”
A stroke of luck, Monte was certain they’d told him 8pm.
“Hello Lisa,” Monte grinned back, following her inside.
“Ugh, it’s Lilah!” she scolded him, “I’ve only told you a hundred times.. “
“Sorry,” Monte rubbed the back of his neck, “I know a lot of people.”
“Yeah I bet,” Lilah frowned at him, “I hope you’re keeping out of trouble.”
“I’m here,” Monte told her firmly.
“Yeah, you are,” Lilah sat down at a table, “which means you’re not keeping out of trouble at all.”
Monte sat down beside her and glanced around, it looked like a bar except it was empty because it had been officially closed down years ago and was now only used for underhanded meetings with some very undesirable people.
Lilah couldn’t help but notice Monte was hard, but this was normal for first thing in the morning, or in his case, first thing at night. It was just a natural occurrence to wake up with a boner, it’d settle itself down eventually but Lilah simply smiled at him, leaning closer and lowering her voice.
“Is that for me, baby?” she asked him with a soft giggle.
“Is what for you?” Monte was lost without proper context. Lilah got closer to him and gently gave his erection a firm squeeze, causing Monte to grunt and part his thighs to make room for more growth.
“You’re either really pleased to see me,” Lilah cooed at him, “or your gun is a lot bigger than I remember it.”
“Why, uhm, why are those the only two options?” Monte wondered.
“Well what else could it be?” Lilah asked him, frowning, “you’re not thinking of some other woman, are you??”
“No!” Monte replied quickly, “oh no, babe, of course not, only.. Well, you did kick me out love.. “
Lilah sat back and gave a sigh, she wasn’t the first to date him and then kick him out and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be the last.
“You’re just too dangerous, Monte,” she reminded herself now, but god he was so cute!
“You love danger, or why would you be here?” Monte argued back.
“I like a little bit of a thrill,” Lilah admitted, “but you? For fuck’s sake, Monte, they try to kill you every other night!”
Monte leaned back, looking smug.
“They haven’t managed to do it so far,” he boasted.
“I swear you’ve got more luck than a four leaf clover, Monte,” Lilah sighed, shaking her head, “more charms than a box of cereal and more lives than a cat, but all of that’s going to run out sooner or later, you know.. Then where will you be?”
“Probably Mexico,” Monte replied, as the door opened and they turned to see who had come in.
“Well, well,” smiled a toothy grin, “if it isn’t Monte, ‘ello Lilah.. “
“Ugh,” Lilah rolled her eyes, “not you again.. Why are you smiling, Monte? It’s only Boris.”
“He’s just solved my little problem,” Monte responded with a quick glance down at his subdued crotch, “one look at those horrible, yellow teeth and that was it.”
Lilah giggled softly, shaking her head, she did really miss him and his amusing antics but she valued her life over a relationship with him, so it’d have to remain a distant fantasy. Boris wandered over to the old kiosk to grab himself a stale bag of crisps, he was the sort of scavenger who wouldn’t leave a half eaten burger in the trash if he saw it there, he’d just dust off the dirt and gulp it down in one.
“What’s this all about anyway?” Lilah asked Boris, “do you know anything?”
“Apparently there’s a killer in town,” Boris revealed eagerly, eyes lit up, “he’s taken down three of Carlos’ boys and a couple of Dante’s too.”
“So what does Fowler want to see us for?” Lilah wondered.
“Because,” Boris looked pointedly at Monte, “the murders all have one little thing in common, innit?”
Lilah glanced at Monte. “How did I know you’d be in the thick of it?” she sighed again. Monte gulped as the door burst open and Fowler walked in, he did not look at all pleased and his three goons hugged his flanks securely.
“Explain,” Fowler snarled at Monte directly, “every time someone tries to have you killed lately, everyone ends up dead except you!”
“Careful boss,” Boris warned Fowler, “we don’t know what’s going on, so you should probably hang back and let us take care of extracting the information out of him.”
“Extracting, that usually means torture, doesn’t it?” Monte stood up and started to back away.
“Don’t even think of running outta here,” Fowler told Monte angrily, “you will tell me right now what the fuck happened or so help me I’ll have every tooth pulled out of your head!”
“Funny you should mention teeth,” Monte spoke calmly with a grin and Lilah choked back a laugh, wishing he didn’t have to say such things when his life was being threatened because it just wasn’t a laughing matter.
“Huh?” Boris glanced up, his mouth stuffed with crisps, “waashhat sh’poshed’ta’mean?”
“You really shouldn’t talk with your mouth full, Boris,” Monte scolded him playfully, “it isn’t polite.”
“What is the meaning of this conversation?!” Fowler barked, “tell me how you managed to not only escape but also kill those men!”
“I’m just buying myself a bit of time, Fowler,” Monte answered him smoothly.
“Time?” Fowler frowned, “time for what?”
Monte glanced at his wristwatch and smiled, looking back up at Fowler smugly and Fowler began to back off and look around worriedly.
“What are you waiting on?” Fowler demanded, “is it a bomb? Have you set up a bomb to explode?”
“Can we leave now, boss?” Boris asked worriedly. Fowler bared his teeth and they all rushed back out of the building, playing it safe.
“You know they’re just going to come for you again sooner or later,” Lilah said with a sigh of relief, “shouldn’t we be running, too?”
“From what?” Monte asked her, not concerned just now because he’d managed to buy himself some time, just as he’d planned. Lilah tilted her head and slowly began to smile, there wasn’t any bomb, the clever little weasel..
****
(to be continued.. )