Crimson Nights: Embrace life through death. (All Welcome)

[Vertrouwen]

He was finishing another healthy swig. releasing his first love, he set the bottle on the bar with a solid, "Around ..." that gave a sort of menacing cue. It wasn't a lie, perse'. He had been quite a few places. But no matter how far he went, no matter what dimension he traversed, he would always consider the CN to be his home. And even if this was just some run of the mill re-invention of a place that once was, it had promise.

"What about you?" He turned on his stool and kept one hand on the tequila and the other, he offered for a shake. "How fares the great and mighty Slayer?"

[xX_The Illusionist_Xx]

Slayer gripped his hand firmly and shook before taking another swig of absinthe. He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts.

"Oh you know, same ol s**t. After Lost Nights closed it's doors for good i just became a drifter of sorts. Did some work in a few towns i came across, romanced the local women.." he grinned pausing for another drink. "That's really been it man, i seriously haven't really been doing much. What about you?"

[Kinchi The Shatteredstar]

The sound of a deep howl in the distance was only echoed by a deeper laugh as a man appeared at the door to the CN, arms folded over his chest. Barreled and pushing out against the fabric of his uniform as his fingers closed in along his forearm and into a fist for the other hand. His blue eyes shifting to gold, as the silver hair that lined his scalp stood on end. He looked to most like a freshly cut, cleanly shaven war veteran, though one thing set him out amongst his uniform. His ears, each coated with piercings, as well as a black tattoo that slid into the collar of his blouse. The black scrawl of tribal markings that was somewhat new to his appearance, though he was always changing.

His lips parted into a smile, as he let out a breath, then drew it back in. Taking in not only the scent of the place but all those within it. His voice coming in to existence as he exhaled once more into the words. "Honey's I'm back!"

The sound of bass trembling beneath the words as his arms dropped to his side and he walked inside, his heavy steel-toed boots rapping with thunder upon the ground. No matter what material, it always made the same 'thud' sound. Then his eyes shifted back to blue and he found himself wandering in the direction of a dark corner, in to which he also brought a chair and sat. Watching all those about the room, and awaiting any others to arrive. It was what he once did, and what he did now. How sweet history could be when it repeated itself.

[SnowStorm]

The CN. Only... not. It was new and shiny. Completely new, revamped and, holy gods, moved. New building, new wood, new steel, new smells. Yet, particles of dust still managed to drift through the air, refuse from some passerby's ever shedding skin, dandruff, flakes of s**t from the s**t that this s**t hole was made up of. Didnt matter. Dust was dust. And dust found its way into her nose, making it wrinkle slightly. She stood just inside the door, looking about the room, her eyebrow lifting at the new shininess of it, the 'new car' type smell, the lack of the ever hovering fog of blood that she had known in the old CN. She sighed, her hand lifting, fingers running through her hair.
The motion seemed to remind her of her own state of being. Her hair was scraggly and uncut, hanging to her shoulders, the silverish stands marred with black and brown streaks of mud, blood and... what looked like tar. Her lip curled as she pulled her hand away from her own hair. "I need a ******** bath...."
She stepped into the building, leaving boot prints on the floor, scuffs of dirt and mud left by her own shoes. She bee-lined for the bar, slipping behind it. Her fingers ran over bottles, hunting for one in particular. Each step left a defined mark on the floor. She didn't wear her usual black pants, but tan toned khaki's, with pockets at the knees and calves. An empty gun holster was strapped to her hip, the dark material matching another at her right knee, which housed a rather large hunting knife instead of the pistol it was designed for. A thick belt held them around her waist, another knife was sheathed just behind her hip, the blade disappearing into the pants.
Above the pants she wore a black... or what used to be black, tank top, stains and tears marking it in many places. Over the tank she wore a large jacket, the material just as beat up as the rest of her. A large tear went up the outside of her left arm, showing the thick bracers she wore underneath. She had on fingerless gloves, her nails glinting from her bare and calloused finger, pointed as always. The jacket was several sizes too large for her. Hanging down over her hands when she didn't push them up.
Between points of the collar her neck flashed, the usual collar missing from her skin. Her hand lifted to it, fingers brushing over the bare flesh for a moment, as if she missed the usual cling of the leather. Streaks of dirt and blood clung to her skin, as well as her hair. It looked as if she'd stepped out of a war zone. Not that the CN couldn't be called one as well.
Her eyes glinted, just as sharp as they had been the last time she'd visited the bar, though her sclera was slightly blood shot. Her eyes flicked over the bottles, her lips parted slightly as she read the labels, still hunting for the particular one she wanted.

(yes, you knew it would happen, oh Mr Rex... we have returned. Like zombies, you cant get rid of us... and apparently we travel in packs as well XP)

[Kinchi The Shatteredstar]

"You know you don't want that my puppy.." His voice trailing inside the room, as he moved free of the shadows that had bound him in place. His body in something new, no longer that uniform he had worn but a black duster that trailed just to the tips of his boots. Big black hulking boots, steel toed and full of spikes. His fingers also showing through fingerless gloves, though his knuckles were clearly seen as well. The material so worn and damaged around those areas that they frayed as such. He pushed himself to a stand, pops coming from different joints all over his body though he moved swift and with ease as if he could control all of his surroundings. Just the the point that it looked to one who didn't know any better, that he was floating.

Then his feet "landed" atop the bar, his body coming into the position of a squat, though it looked more like a dog sitting on the bar counter. His nails long just like Snow's own, rapped gently upon the wooden surface, only to lightly dig out an engraving. "Had to christen the place... ya' know?" As he said this he lifted his hand, showing a slightly awkward heart, shattered in two pieces as he smirked to the woman behind the bar.

[SnowStorm]

A light grin touched her lips, showing the white points of fangs between the darker flesh. Her head turned slightly, watching his movements over her shoulder. Her fingers slid down a bottle slowly, before lightly removing it from its shelf. Why had she missed his scent? She didnt know she was able to miss his scent. Oh, well....
She turned then, her boots silent in her turn, the leather soft and worn, used to her motions and movements. She leaned back against the shelves of bottles, looking at him fully, her head tilting slightly as she took in the changes. All the changes. So many changes.
She didnt even want to think about the changes he saw in her. She knew they were many, as were their explanations. Her eyes dropped to the bottle in her hand, rotating it slowly, watching the liquid shift and flow inside it.
"Ah... I dont want this... hmm?" Her voice was rougher, her vocal cords sounding scratched and warn, though she spoke softly, hardly even speaking, just exhaling the words from her lips. Her eyes flashed as she looked back up at him, meeting his eyes, the lines of veins showing like a road map across her whites, all branching inward to the deep, bloody color of her iris's. "And why dont I want this?" She lifted the bottle, making it teeter between her fingers.

[Kinchi The Shatteredstar]

An echoing laughter boomed forth from the man as he looked upon the woman. So many changes had taken hold of her, though more on his behalf. The two scars over his face deeper now so that one cut into his right eye, and gave it a milky glaze. Though it still followed and looked down upon people as if the sight was still there. And in some ways it truly was still there, though in a different form from that which most people see.

Then his legs came to slide off the counter so that she rested between them, his heels locking behind her and pulled her forward looking into her eyes. His eyes a soft blue, his right a bit duller than the other, though each seemed to have seen a million years already. "Because, it always makes you smell of booze, and when we kiss, I get drunk off of it." He had made the joke of something that never happened; the drunk part that is. Usually they were both drinking together.

Then his left hand grasped her chin, the other grasped her hand holding the bottle. Bringing the bottle up he bit off the top and spit it to the side only to force the bottle neck to his lips and swig from the liquor within. His eyes glossing over further before he chugged two more gulps of the liquid. Then a smile grew to his lips and then he took one more sip keeping the juice within his mouth, only to lift her head kissing her.

[SnowStorm]

She couldnt hide the grin that spread over her features as his legs moved around her. The smell of him was stronger, almost like a drug, filling her nasal passages and fogging her head. She didnt need the alcohol, not with him around... but she wouldnt tell him that.
Her eyebrows lifted as he drained near half the bottle, a soft laugh rising from her at his comment. The feeling of his hand on her chin was like a forgotten caress, making her cheeks and neck tingle. How long had it been? Did she even want to think about it? No. No she didnt. So, no, she wouldnt.
He lifted her head, his lips touched hers. Her grin grew, almost enough to break the kiss, before her eyes closed, body leaning forward into his. For a moment she succumbed to the feel of him, but only for a moment. She rid him of his little sip of liquor, breaking the kiss in a chuckle as she leaned back, using his legs to rest her weight against.
Her eyes swept over him, judging and evaluating. She reclaimed the bottle, her head tilting back as she took a gulp herself. Smaller than his, smaller than she used to take them, just enough to wet her lips and scorch her throat.
"Liar... You got drunk off of me... booze or not." She did the same, but that was not the point.

[xX_The Illusionist_Xx]

Slayer walked out of the bathroom having wandered off to explore the new and improved CN. Entering the bar area he noticed two people talking amongst themselves. One face he recognized, the other was a stranger to him. Maybe he'd encountered the man before, honestly he didn't remember though.

"Long time no see Snow." Slayer said making his way towards the two of them, "How have you been?"

[SnowStorm]

Snow looked away from Kinchi, turning towards a new voice that addressed her. She grinned softly, moving toward Slayer. "I've been as well as can be expected..." by that she meant abused, beaten, ill cared for, and always recovering from a fight.
"Just trudging through life... You?" She rested a hip against the bar, leaning into it as she spoke to him. It felt strange talking so easily with him. She took a moment to analize that. Why should it feel strange?
Cause you've spent the last few years avoiding anything moving, dummy...

[Kinchi The Shatteredstar]

A soft laughter wrenched free of Kinchi's form, as he slipped free from the bar to stand; or rather tower behind Snow. One hand grasping the woman's shoulder and tightly clenching there for a moment before releasing the pressure though the hand remained. His nails over-sized and pointed much to the same as the woman's own as he tilted his head like a wondering dog at this man. Sprouts of hair began pushing free of his scalp before his locks were once more on his head, long and silver covering up two rather canine-styled ears in the process. Eyes shifting gold before he smiled, and just simply leaned to the side and down lightly placing a kiss once on Snow's cheek then to her neck. Letting his nostrils flare as he inhaled and backed away from her. Nails scratching along her shoulder as he jumped over the bar, and expertly grabbing a fifth of whiskey before he began back to his chair. Thumb pushing on the cap that sealed the bottle and pushed it fully off with only a second of hesitation. Then the neck was to his lips the liquid draining slowly from the glass container. A burning coming to him and through him as he moved back to his corner blending almost perfectly into the shadows and the background of the room and decor. Then he went silent, before draining the rest of the bronze colored liquid and set it on the table his feet happened to be resting upon. Feet bare and curling as his joints popped before he parted his lips. The residual effect of the booze coming out in a burp, the sound no more than a rush of air, which soon filled into a fireball emitting from his body as he closed his eyes and began rocking back and forth within his chair.

"In the winter... we shall all see, that which we seek. The cold will show us all, that we are who we need to be.

We cannot hope for more than that, but simply hope for less, for if we are to be, then we shall see to it, to be.

May the steam that echoes forth find it's ride true, and forever more keep to only you."

It was a mere mumble, but it was there, a soft lullaby that was stuck within his mind that he had to repeat. He didn't understand why it had come out, it just had, and that was the gist of it, and so he continued his rocking watching his once upon a time pet lover, and this man whom he could only assume he knew.

[SnowStorm]

Snow felt Kinchi stand behind her. Her head turned slightly, as if she waited for him to say something. Her attention zeroed in on him, as if his touch commanded it. She felt like a well trained dog for a moment, only having a care for that single individual who had dominated themselves as alpha in her life, the trainer. She rankled at this thought, for only a moment, his kiss banishing it from her mind.
The weight of his hand vanished from her shoulder and she felt him retreat to his corner. Her eyes didnt return to Slayer, her attention still fixed on Kinchi, listening to the soft burp, then the lullaby that rose from him.
Part of her mind attached to it, starting to pick apart the words, find a meaning to it, a reason for it. She let that part run its course, knowing it needed no coaching to come up with something. Another part rested on the flow of it, trying to keep the beat in her mind. She smiled softly, before her eyes flicked back to Slayer.
Kinchi would be there. He would always be there. In the dark. Waiting.
After all... thats what he did... wasnt it?

[Kinchi The Shatteredstar]

A softer laugh echoed from his diaphragm this time, as he closed his eyes and kicked free of the table. Balancing perfectly on the back to legs of his chair with his hands behind his head, seemingly having no care in the world before he let his voice wrench off his vocals, much like that of a growling undertone.

"I meant to make this permanent when I last left..."

Then a chain, almost ghostly in appearance came from his hand, only seen in the shadows for as soon as it touched light it was no longer there. As if made of darkness, or darkness incarnate. The other end a soft black collar wrapped around Snow's neck, which simply wrapped tight and became a part of her, as he let the chain drop it seemed to spread into a minor black smog that spread over the floor before dispersing under the ventilation of the room.

"You should remember it after all, you only wore it for so long."

Then he snickered a bit to himself and jumped from his chair, landing neatly on the table he'd had his feet on previously before having leaned fully back in his chair. The sounds of bones and ligaments snapping coming to play, before there in the tattered remains of the duster stood a large silver and black wolf. The scars over his eyes prominent now, showing just what had happened. From the center of his forehead and all the way down his neck to his shoulders stood the intentions of what looked to be fatal. Though on him they merely stood as a remembrance of a close call on his life, a fight that took place some time ago.

Then he shook off the clothing and jumped off the table padding through the shadows, as if he were restless. Though the tiredness showed soon after his momentary pacing as he jumped onto one of the lounge couches and looked to Snow with his head cocked to the side, as if inviting her to him after her reunion.

[SnowStorm]

A grin spread across Snow's lips as Kinchi replaced the collar. Of course she remembered it. How the hell could she forget it? It melded into her, the slight tug on her flesh disappearing as the chain faded to nothing. She shook her head slightly, casting a glare at him from across the room.
Slayer seemed to have been distracted, so she let her attention leave him. She crossed her arms as she looked at Kinchi from across the room, her eyes shifting over his coat, over the scars. Her mouth quirked to the side, before she turned, not toward him, but toward the back room.
She felt grimy all over. Dirt, dust and blood seemed to cling to her, at least in her mind. She couldnt remember the last time she'd had more than a tongue bath, and even that was quickly grabbed at that.
She didnt hunt out a bathroom, just a sink and a towel, soaking it enough to work off some of the dirt and blood that clung to her features, shedding the too large for her coat on the floor as the smudges and smears disappeared from her skin.
New scars showed on her arms and shoulders, new nicks and scratches, new bites and tears. Some had the characteristics of bullet holes, which was incredibly new for Snow... she had avoided bullets all her life, finding guns to be a cheap and easy way to make oneself a killer. It was like playing a game on easy then saying you rocked at it... beat it on difficult, then get back to her.

[Vertrouwen]

There wasn't a grand forth coming. Nothing of the sort. Just an alluring feeling dread that suddenly fell across the room. From the floor, the shadows themselves began to move and weave. With the blink of an eye, the shadows had taken a defined shape. Black, almost pitch mist rose form the floorboards. Slithering across the floor toward the woman who was washing herself.

IN a matter of a few seconds at most, the mist had risen to the full height of a very tall man. If man is what it could be called. It produced a tendril of black smoke that gently licked the shoulder of the woman and in that instant it took an ethereal form. Sorla's hand tracing a scar as he leaned closer and softly whispered, "This one looks new."

He wasn't overly dressed. In fact he wore something quite modern and drastically different from his usual garb. Jeans. Blue jeans, to be exact. A pair of black work boots, clean. His upper body was covered by a white tank top. Nothing fancy. His hair was still long. Still black. Still slicked back. His body was the same. He was a power house of muscle built into the lithe form of speed. He was a fighter. And yet, his touch was something all together different.

His fingertip traced her scar. His touch, like ice. Cold as death. As hard as the steel beams in the construction yards. But it was also remarkably gentle. Incredibly soft. Like liquid metal, his touch was a flamboyant mix of everything he embodied. Life, and death.

"And this one ..." His finger moved to another. His breath closer yet as he moved to her ear. His whisper, as frozen as his icy finger. "Did it hurt?" Was he antagonizing her? Maybe. If it came to a fight, what better place to be. What better way to see if this truly was going to be the next evolution of a place he had long ago made his home. But no. Alas as it was, he was not trying to goad the woman into a brawl. He was simply asking a question. How she decided to take it, well that was her prerogative. Not his.