He manifested in the distance, a lone man walking with a hard conviction. His heavy coat was substituted for an open leather jacket over a haggard white shirt, his untamed hair was uncovered, but as in their prior meeting a guitar case slumped over his shoulder by its black strap.
His eyes were staring directly ahead, inexplicable and static.
Lilith, as promised, is standing on the stoop of the Gohl apartments, adorned just as she had been last he saw her - barefoot and in her sari. It's almost as if nothing has changed at all.
She greets him with her usual smile, gesturing to the doors of the building as he draws in closer.
"Would you like to come inside, or is this exchange purely professional, as well?"
His eyes narrowed in their caved in sockets, a wry "Huh..." of dry humor composing his only reply to the nature of the transaction. She failed to grasp his need for sterilizing her personality, or mocked that distancing sentiment. He thought it would be this way, but this had to be done sooner than later.
Toshi pushed passed the gaunt woman and through the doors. The task could be instant, or tedious and in the latter situation he preferred the indoors to occupying the street as creature bait.
"There are no children. I didn't think you'd appreciate their company; don't worry."
She leads him to her apartment, holding the door ajar for him. The kettle was warm with water, though she wasn't entirely certain he intended to stay much longer than to get what he wanted and leave cuff-free. The apartment was sparsely furnished, with just the bare necessities and little to nothing in terms of personal effects whatsoever. She hadn't been here long enough to ascertain much.
He wouldn't need to be told twice. Formality had once dominated as an everyday concept yet now the ideology was irrelevant - he did not even consider removing his shoes. Toshi drunkenly paced the apartment as if in pursuit of something and consecutively, like he had abandoned his hunt, the man slumped into a chair and rolls his heavy gaze to the floor.
"You're heatin' water," he observed, mouthing off to the boards. His head tilted, the cuff swaying as he touched his eyebrow. "Hospitality, eh?" His tongue paused at the roof of his mouth. "It's funny, ya know... you haven't asked me for anythin' in return. Do you think you're Mother Teresa?"
She moved to the stove, turning off the burner and removing the kettle, pouring the water into awaiting cups. Hospitality? Yes, she was hospitable to her guests, whatever their nature may be. He was no exception.
Angling her head to observe him, she laughs softly before returning to the tea. "Perhaps you lack something worth asking for in return," she mused, picking up the porcelain mug and padding towards him, a slight smile on her lips as she extended the liquid towards him, gesturing for him to take it with the hand not occupied by the cuff.
"Or maybe I have no intention of holding you in my debt."
She reaches for his bound wrist, removing one of her earrings with her free hand. The soft chime of bells attached accompanies the motion as she uses the earpiece to begin working at the locking mechanism. "And as far as I recall, Mother Teresa was not in the business of picking the locks off handcuffs."
His teeth divulged the gaping hole in their otherwise accurate row as the man's jaws parted to expel wiry laughter. "You're a cruel woman!" He had near forgotten the fairer species were capable of wit after enduring the idiotic chatter of a country girl, bound to him by circumstance in his home reality. He mentioned Teresa on impulse yet it revealed her own plane may have not differed too vastly if the thin woman bore knowledge of that pseudo saint.
Toshiya uncoiled a fist and drawn his fingers about the cup. "...That's rich comin' from a chick without a pair of shoes." He tiredly lofted his wrist, suspending it in the air in preparation for lock picking. "She would if she could. Free partisans, killers and lunatics 'cause they all need sympathy. Ha ha ha." His bag strap cascaded his arm and fell to the floor with his guitar case as the man propped his knuckles on a hollow cheek. "C'mon, why are ya really doin' this? What's your angle? You can tell I'm dangerous, it's in my eyes."
Lilith continues to work at the lock as they idly converse.
"Why is it so difficult for you to grasp such a simple concept, Toshiya?" Her tone held the slightest hint of amusement, the soft clicking of the metal in her fingers testing at and probing the inner chambers of the lock the only background noise afforded by their surroundings. "You haven't given me a reason to be anything other than friendly to you. Even dangerous men are capable of forming allies and, beyond that, friendships with those around them, particularly in situations such as this, in which those friendships may end up mutually beneficial."
The lock clicked open; she withdrew her earring as the silver bracelet fell away from his wrist and into her hand. She dangled it, offering it as if he intended to keep it as a souvenir.
"Why?" he reiterated, his gaze piercing past her shoulder to stare blankly into the middle distance. "It ain't about material or service trade. Humans are governed by 'taste'; they'll seek company that can accommodate or affirm their convictions. And lookin' at what ya do here..." His unbound limb lofted and passed a lethargic gesture about the room recently occupied by her acquaintances, "your principles contradict mine
( ... )
A minute degree of a shadow passed over her face. That seemed entirely too true - a fact she was all too aware of. A constant voice in the base of her skull, a promise that one day, she and Toshiya would, inevitably, be pitted against one another by circumstance. She knew it. He knew it.
Her brows creased, slightly - regret, and pity, despite the question he'd posed.
"I'm not unused to warring with those I care for. If you intend to harm someone I love, then you're right... we will find each other at odds. But that changes little at present, does it?"
Lilith's eyes remained on him, unmoving, a statuesque pillar as he fiddled with the guitar case, as he pocketed the cuff, as he looked up at her once more.
"It isn't necessary for either of us to find out, Toshiya."
Toshi breathed a curt laugh, sniffed and relocated his cup before placing his palm to his knee, leaning in with his damaged visage confronting her conversely even traits. "I get necessities: food, water... I understand those. But what is necessary in this life is just a steppin' stone for what we want."
His limb abruptly cut through the air, his fingers snapped to her wrist. His grip trembled but it was concurrently secure and vicious. The man's tiers compressed to a wiry smile.
"Is that regret I'm seein'? You can't befriend a true assassin."
He yanked on the thin limb, the intention to hurl her to the floor of the apartment.
This was not an entirely unexpected turn of events. Toshiya was a self-professed dangerous man, and he had been right - she was able to see as much in his eyes. He had the look of someone who had suffered, undoubtedly unduly at one point and time, at the hands of someone trusted. Perhaps more than one 'someone.' Events had shaped him into the man she saw before her; she had seen it before. Too many times before.
Cain... Seth...
Abel.
People weren't born inherently evil. She believed that. Nor did she believe that anyone was beyond redemption.
He had misinterpreted the regret in her eyes; she had no regrets, even now as his shaking fingers enclosed around her wrist, for inviting him here or attempting to befriend him. She regretted that they would be forced into a confrontation - now, or later, it didn't matter. It would happen, and she wished it didn't have to.
She made no move to halt his ministrations, body falling backwards to splay across the floor with a soft thud, a quiet exhale slipping past her lips upon impact. It had
( ... )
His eyebrows knitted as the gaunt man spat a perplexed snicker, bitterly disappointed and contemptuous with the absence of retaliation. She looked so brittle, weak, a specie ill-unfit for war. Her lack of power demanded no sympathy, Mon would have surely agreed. She should have been wise to prepare herself for the hardships of reality, after all he eliminated his dependance and fragility and become what he was - though he did not want to become what he was. He felt anger
( ... )
Her lack of retaliation at present may have presented the position of helplessness, but it was a deceptive appearance. Quite the contrary - even without abilities she'd grown accustomed to possessing after so many long decades - perhaps over a century, now - she was not without defenses.
Yet still she made no move to physically disrupt him as his shoe found a home in her stomach, a soft verbal protest finding the air at last. She was forced into an unnaturally painful position of submission, or so it would seem, and it was becoming quickly apparent that this situation would not resolve itself without some measure of resistance on her part.
"Toshiya," she murmured, coughing once before quiet, lilting words continued, "that world isn't just a dream. And what are you contributing to it, with something like this? Do you think becoming just as corrupt as those who've embittered you to the world entitles you? Makes it better? Makes you better
( ... )
action /KICKS IN SOME DOORS 1/213sugarsMarch 18 2010, 21:26:25 UTC
He had been coming to visit. He could never leave her for too long, as if in fear that if he did, he might never see her again. Either over the communicator or over a cup of tea, he'd be seeing her. Today was for the latter. It was rather odd, even as he reached for the communicator at home, he'd stopped. No, maybe it'd be better face to face. Bring something to eat along with him.
It never took him long to get there, he'd memorized the location by this point, more important over all others. He'd even marked down a shortcut to her home. With a wrapped bundle of dried meat and a can of some type of vegetable. May as well make a dinner out of it today.
"Lilith?" He called out from down the stairs, heading up. No answer...? Odd. Was she sleeping? ... The odd sinking feeling in his gut told him otherwise.
He paused outside her door, falling silent as he rested a hand on the doorknob... Then turned and pushed it open.
... The scene laid out was cut from a nightmare. Stepped in before the climax, but her torn clothes, the knee jabbing into her back, the knife and that hand fisted into her hair was almost too much for him. Had it been so many years back, it would have been.
As it was now... The only thing between him and the other mans neck was the simple fact that he feared Lilith might also be harmed.
Abel only saw red. It almost sounded like a growl, welling up from the very center of his chest, like the low rumble of thunder off in the distance as all 6'4" of the man was drawn up, the click of a hammer locking into place as the modified peacemaker was cocked.
"Let go." He'd gone too far. There'd be no reasoning, no diplomatic attempts to get him to back away. All the priest could envision was this mans blood spattered across the wall.
His eyes were staring directly ahead, inexplicable and static.
Reply
She greets him with her usual smile, gesturing to the doors of the building as he draws in closer.
"Would you like to come inside, or is this exchange purely professional, as well?"
Reply
Toshi pushed passed the gaunt woman and through the doors. The task could be instant, or tedious and in the latter situation he preferred the indoors to occupying the street as creature bait.
"There kids 'round here? I don't like brats."
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She leads him to her apartment, holding the door ajar for him. The kettle was warm with water, though she wasn't entirely certain he intended to stay much longer than to get what he wanted and leave cuff-free. The apartment was sparsely furnished, with just the bare necessities and little to nothing in terms of personal effects whatsoever. She hadn't been here long enough to ascertain much.
"Make yourself at home, Toshiya."
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"You're heatin' water," he observed, mouthing off to the boards. His head tilted, the cuff swaying as he touched his eyebrow. "Hospitality, eh?" His tongue paused at the roof of his mouth. "It's funny, ya know... you haven't asked me for anythin' in return. Do you think you're Mother Teresa?"
Reply
Angling her head to observe him, she laughs softly before returning to the tea. "Perhaps you lack something worth asking for in return," she mused, picking up the porcelain mug and padding towards him, a slight smile on her lips as she extended the liquid towards him, gesturing for him to take it with the hand not occupied by the cuff.
"Or maybe I have no intention of holding you in my debt."
She reaches for his bound wrist, removing one of her earrings with her free hand. The soft chime of bells attached accompanies the motion as she uses the earpiece to begin working at the locking mechanism. "And as far as I recall, Mother Teresa was not in the business of picking the locks off handcuffs."
Reply
Toshiya uncoiled a fist and drawn his fingers about the cup. "...That's rich comin' from a chick without a pair of shoes." He tiredly lofted his wrist, suspending it in the air in preparation for lock picking. "She would if she could. Free partisans, killers and lunatics 'cause they all need sympathy. Ha ha ha." His bag strap cascaded his arm and fell to the floor with his guitar case as the man propped his knuckles on a hollow cheek. "C'mon, why are ya really doin' this? What's your angle? You can tell I'm dangerous, it's in my eyes."
Reply
"Why is it so difficult for you to grasp such a simple concept, Toshiya?" Her tone held the slightest hint of amusement, the soft clicking of the metal in her fingers testing at and probing the inner chambers of the lock the only background noise afforded by their surroundings. "You haven't given me a reason to be anything other than friendly to you. Even dangerous men are capable of forming allies and, beyond that, friendships with those around them, particularly in situations such as this, in which those friendships may end up mutually beneficial."
The lock clicked open; she withdrew her earring as the silver bracelet fell away from his wrist and into her hand. She dangled it, offering it as if he intended to keep it as a souvenir.
"Maybe I'd like to be your friend."
Reply
Reply
A minute degree of a shadow passed over her face. That seemed entirely too true - a fact she was all too aware of. A constant voice in the base of her skull, a promise that one day, she and Toshiya would, inevitably, be pitted against one another by circumstance. She knew it. He knew it.
Her brows creased, slightly - regret, and pity, despite the question he'd posed.
"I'm not unused to warring with those I care for. If you intend to harm someone I love, then you're right... we will find each other at odds. But that changes little at present, does it?"
Lilith's eyes remained on him, unmoving, a statuesque pillar as he fiddled with the guitar case, as he pocketed the cuff, as he looked up at her once more.
"It isn't necessary for either of us to find out, Toshiya."
Reply
His limb abruptly cut through the air, his fingers snapped to her wrist. His grip trembled but it was concurrently secure and vicious. The man's tiers compressed to a wiry smile.
"Is that regret I'm seein'? You can't befriend a true assassin."
He yanked on the thin limb, the intention to hurl her to the floor of the apartment.
Reply
Cain... Seth...
Abel.
People weren't born inherently evil. She believed that. Nor did she believe that anyone was beyond redemption.
He had misinterpreted the regret in her eyes; she had no regrets, even now as his shaking fingers enclosed around her wrist, for inviting him here or attempting to befriend him. She regretted that they would be forced into a confrontation - now, or later, it didn't matter. It would happen, and she wished it didn't have to.
She made no move to halt his ministrations, body falling backwards to splay across the floor with a soft thud, a quiet exhale slipping past her lips upon impact. It had ( ... )
Reply
Reply
Yet still she made no move to physically disrupt him as his shoe found a home in her stomach, a soft verbal protest finding the air at last. She was forced into an unnaturally painful position of submission, or so it would seem, and it was becoming quickly apparent that this situation would not resolve itself without some measure of resistance on her part.
"Toshiya," she murmured, coughing once before quiet, lilting words continued, "that world isn't just a dream. And what are you contributing to it, with something like this? Do you think becoming just as corrupt as those who've embittered you to the world entitles you? Makes it better? Makes you better ( ... )
Reply
It never took him long to get there, he'd memorized the location by this point, more important over all others. He'd even marked down a shortcut to her home. With a wrapped bundle of dried meat and a can of some type of vegetable. May as well make a dinner out of it today.
"Lilith?" He called out from down the stairs, heading up. No answer...? Odd. Was she sleeping? ... The odd sinking feeling in his gut told him otherwise.
He paused outside her door, falling silent as he rested a hand on the doorknob... Then turned and pushed it open.
Reply
As it was now... The only thing between him and the other mans neck was the simple fact that he feared Lilith might also be harmed.
Abel only saw red. It almost sounded like a growl, welling up from the very center of his chest, like the low rumble of thunder off in the distance as all 6'4" of the man was drawn up, the click of a hammer locking into place as the modified peacemaker was cocked.
"Let go." He'd gone too far. There'd be no reasoning, no diplomatic attempts to get him to back away. All the priest could envision was this mans blood spattered across the wall.
Reply
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