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 Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:28 pm
There were, by far, much better places Evan could have been working. For example, a place that did not cater to drunkards. Or a place that paid for air conditioning unites to be fixed as soon as possible so he wasn't frying in the kitchen.
In the actual bar it seemed comfortable enough, but something must have gotten jammed or—oh, Evan didn't know, but someone needed to take care of it because he was dying back here over the stove. He'd taken off his jacket, and rolled up his sleeves—something he hated doing.
He'd opened the back door to get some of the cool autumn air to filter in.
Tonight had been a busy night and he had gotten order after order, and even when the cooking had died down a bit, there was the cleaning. He was bustling around, trying to get that under control even as he tended to the occasional order that filtered in.
Usually he loved cooking, but in these conditions he just wanted to be away from the stove and all its heat.
Only two more hours and then he could go home.
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Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:40 am
Cavansite was hungry. Hungry and tired and just wanted to stuff her face and get some sleep. And maybe drink a little. Sometimes she did like to drink, at least a little. She was a pretty terrible lightweight, but with the air getting as chilly as it was getting…maybe something to warm her insides would be a good idea.
There was a pretty popular bar nearby and she made her way towards it, keeping to the rooftops. Here was the real dilemma in this situation…should she power down and go in the front…or go in as she was now or…Aha!
A grin grew on the lieutenants’ face as she saw that a back door of the bar was propped open. Well. If it was an open door, clearly she was allowed in. And if she was inside, how hard would it be to take some food and some booze…and maybe even a starseed to boost this lethargy she was feeling? Oh hell yes.
Silently, Cavansite hopped down from the rooftop and slipped into the open door. Oh it was warm inside. She did like the warmth very much…and it looked like there was only one other person in the kitchen.
This would be too easy.
“Well, well, well. And what are you doing here, and so….alone?”
Clearly he was working…but she just wanted to be as creepy as she could be. That was her style.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:51 am
Evan did not immediately register that someone was speaking to him, but when the words finally clicked into his brain it sent a cold shiver down his spine. His hands were plunged into a sink half full of soapy water and dishes and the most dangerous things he had to defend himself was a plate and a sponge.
The clothes were odd and immediately put a rock in his stomach, but he swallowed his fears and looked up at her. Maybe she was just some late night rebel? …There were kitchen knives half a foot to his right and Evan might not have known much, but he knew how to wield a knife.
…Well, while cooking. He'd never actually stabbed someone before, but the thought made him even more anxious about this whole meeting.
"…Working," he replied after a second. "I think the better question is what are you doing here? This is private property and you're intruding. If you're here for the bar, use the front door. Kitchen is off limits to patrons."
He talked a good talk, but Evan was barely over five feet and was skinny as hell. He wasn't very imposing—especially not when he was so visibly unnerved by his unexpected company.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:23 pm
“Mmm, yeah I’ll bet.” Cavansite took a few steps towards Evan, keeping her gait slow and relaxed. “Working, hm? And don’t you worry about keeping the door open? Anyone or anything could walk in here…and that would be so terrible, and the smells coming from here are just so…so nice.”
She had come up right beside him, reaching out and placing a hand on his chest, tracing a little design. “You know…I think you might be wise to give me some food, and some booze. Something nice and fancy and expensive. I suppose…you could call me a robber, and this is me robbing you.”
The lieutenant’s hand slid easily into Evan’s chest, fingers gently running over the gem that resided inside.
“…And if you refuse, I’ll kill you. And better than that even, I’ll eat your soul. Seriously.” Her eyes stayed locked on his face, and the grin never left her lips. This poor guy was going to have nightmares from this...and that thought made her ever so happy.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:29 pm
Evan had already prepared a snappy response and was ready to shoot it out at her, but her hand in his chest changed everything. It was uncomfortable, but not painful, and he felt violated in a way he didn't know was possible. His blood ran cold and his stomach had to be filled with rocks; he stopped breathing, afraid that even a single breath would upset his insides enough to destroy him.
He had watched her and she seemed harmless, but he was staring down at his chest—at her hand inside his chest. And it didn't hurt. He should be dead—you don't get someone's hand inside your chest and not die. But there was no blood—only an electric shock from somewhere deep in his chest that throbbed down to his toes.
She was one of those people he knew he was supposed to watch out for.
Worse than the youma.
Hyperborea had told him that there was a fate worse than death, and he was standing right in front of it.
For a moment, he was quiet, until his throat started to burn. When he tried to speak it came out scratchy and timid. "I can't cook with your hand in my chest. Please take it out. I'll get you whatever you want. Please."
Evan would beg if it meant mercy.
It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
He just hoped that this time it did something.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:09 pm
“You want me to take my hand out?” Her fingers still gently caressed the smooth surface of his starseed and she really just wanted to yank it out and…well. And take it home. “Are you sure you don’t want to just see it? It’s such a funny thing how fragile a soul is…all of the stories always make it seem like this big, powerful thing…and the cartoons always make it look kind of like a ghost…but the funny thing is…”
Cavansite grinned, tugging the starseed right out of Evan’s chest, holding up the small, glowing gem. “See? They’re nothing more than a glorified diamond made out of something that is much weaker than carbon…isn’t that just the most interesting thing you’ve ever learned?”
With a laugh, she put the starseed back where it belonged and removed her hand. “And I have heard that they taste good, so if you don’t want me having a crunchy bite for dessert, you’ll get started right now on that dinner I asked for. And the booze. Don’t forget that. The most expensive bottle you have here.”
The lieutenant leaned against the counter, watching the younger male with a hungry expression.
It was fun to be the predator. It was even more fun to watch her prey squirm.
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:22 pm
Evan thought the thing she pulled from his chest was ugly, and a part of him hurt to think that this thing that was supposed to be so valuable and beautiful and his was ugly.
He was relieved when she put it back in his chest just so he didn't have to look at it—but his relief ended there. His life was spared, but she had made an incredibly show of making sure he knew just how little a reassurance that was. She could have taken it at any time and right now he didn't really have the option to do much about it.
His hands were trembling and his eyes immediately went to the ground. His mind was racing and yet he wasn't capable of forming a single coherent thought. He did, however, manage to nod.
He was lightheaded and cold and wanted to find a corner and curl up in it, but his body was on automatic. He was fumbling—in his own kitchen, he was fumbling. He didn't want to talk to her and just wanted to do what she wanted and be gone, but what if he made the wrong meal? What if she was allergic? What if she killed him because she didn't like what he decided to make her?
It wasn't until he reached into the refrigerator and went to pull out some eggs and dropped the whole carton on the floor that he blurted—as soon as they made impact—"What do you want to eat?"
He felt stupid for such a clumsy mistake, but his hair was in his eyes, and now his eyes were burning with the warm p***k of unwanted, unshed tears. His heart was pounding in his chest and every pulse hurt, but at least he was alive.
For now.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 6:07 pm
Cavansite snorted when the eggs fell to the ground. “Wow. If those are your kitchen skills, maybe you’d be better off just letting me eat your starseed instead.”
This guy was a mess. Of course, she supposed that anyone would be a mess if they had their soul ripped from their chest and had the threat of some strange woman eating it…but heck. This wasn’t a time to fall apart, he should be working so much harder to impress her. To make her want to spare his life. Instead there he was making a fool of himself.
“Oh I don’t know. Just make me your best dish from this dump, I suppose. I’m hungry enough to eat anything, just don’t screw it up and you might live to see tomorrow, little cookie.”
The lieutenant leaned against the counter, her arms crossed, this was really just…too much to watch. “Make it quick though. I don’t want to be standing around here all night.”
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 6:43 pm
Evan stared at the mess of eggs and just shook harder. "I can cook!" he said defensively, but it wasn't much of an argument. What was the best thing here? Hell, he didn't know. Maybe he'd get lucky and make something she was allergic to.
…But then if it wasn't good enough and didn't kill her she'd just be right after him. He was half tempted to get a steak and see how quickly he could prepare it, but he didn't like working with the grill as much as he liked the kitchen, and he already had some food at least mostly prepared. If she was truly hungry maybe a quick meal would mellow her out. He had some chicken wings still relatively fresh—he had been planning on taking some home for his dinner but they weren't much used to him if he was dead.
Hastily he moved around the kitchen, leaving the spilled eggs where they were. He prepared a platter rapidly—faster than he ever had before, despite the emotions that threatened to sabotage his efforts. He plated the meal with more delicacy than he had any other meal (except maybe his one year anniversary with Zack but he hoped this would-be-murderer would appreciate the efforts a little more than he had).
He presented the wings with every type of sauce they had and swallowed. "…I can make you a sundae if you want. Or anything else if you want. Most of the alcohol is out in the bar. I only have a few bottles."
He set the plate down near her, afraid to get too close, and skittered off to another corner of the room to fish through a cabinet. He didn't know much about alcohol—he knew next to nothing, in fact; he didn't drink—and hoped he had picked a good one. "—Here. It's not chilled, do you want like, a glass of ice or something?"
Evan did not look her in the eyes and made sure to keep moving, hoping she could appreciate the fact that he was at least trying.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 6:59 pm
Ohhh. Hot wings, hm? Cavansite grabbed one and took a bite, nodding as she chewed it. It wasn’t bad, that was for sure…and the idea of having a sundae too…well. She never said no to ice cream. Maybe not killing this guy was a good idea…in fact, maybe she would add this to her list of places to get a nice quick…free meal. Oh, maybe the next time Gently was going to come over she could pick up dinner here first…there were just so many ideas she could try…why hadn’t she thought of threatening civilians into doing her bidding before? It was such a good idea…and they couldn’t fight back!
Her eyes flashed and she nodded at Evan. “Yes, make me a sundae, and I’ll just take the drink to go, thanks.” She took a look at the bottle and nodded. “This will do…bring me a soda while you’re at it. I think you might get to live through the night, isn’t that swell?” She thought it was pretty swell…and she knew he’d be just jumping for joy when she told him that he’d be doing this often…or maybe she wouldn’t tell him…maybe she would just…show up one day again.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:22 pm
Evan's mind was racing but he nodded adamantly and hastened across the kitchen to get her request. He felt incredibly stupid for not bothering to ask what type of soda, so he grabbed his favorite soda, from his secret, private stash and returned it to her. In hindsight, it might have been best to ask what she wanted, but she was handling the rest of this well enough that he hoped she didn't have some extreme hatred against his favorite beverage.
Twice in the process of bringing her a soda and returning the fridge to make her a sundae he stumbled over his own feet; he didn't fall but his body just wasn't working as well as it should have been. His adrenaline was through the roof and he was lightheaded enough that he could pass out—and of all the times he wanted Zack there at the bar, he wasn't.
He built the sundae in a Styrofoam to-go cup; it wasn't a staple on menu but he had the ingredients around and it wasn't difficult to whip up. He spooned most of the vanilla ice cream into the cup and doused it in chocolate (that he heated rapidly in the microwave while he prepared the rest). A copious amount of Reddi-Wip and three cherries and he was back at her side presenting it a well.
"There," he said, obviously hoping for approval. He kept side-eying the door but he didn't have faith enough in his ability to run away. He'd just be making her mad. His hand slipped into his pocket and he was fumbling with his phone like that was going to save him, and even though he knew there wasn't a god—he'd prayed enough to know there was no one listening—he was still praying she'd just leave and he'd be done with her.
"You can just take the plate, I don't care. You don't have to bring anything back."
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:41 pm
Ohh, not one, not two, but three cherries on the sundae. Clearly this kid didn’t want to die tonight, which was good, because after eating, she was quite sure that she would only kill him when his usefulness ended. “No, get me a to-go container and a bag and I’ll be out of your hair, cookie.”
Her eyes fell on the soda and she nodded in approval. “Dr. Pepper is always such a fine choice in drinks. You have good taste if you knew that I liked this.” When the bag and to-go box were put in front of her, Cavansite carefully packed the wings in the box and put the box, and the two drinks into the bag before grabbing the cup holding the sundae and giving a wave.
“Well. I have everything I want. For tonight at least. I’ll see you around, Kid. I think, or well, rather. I know you should get used to this. I’ll be back.”
And with that, the lieutenant left through the still open door and jumped up onto the roof. How fun was this going to be? And what a relief on her wallet not to have to buy food as often.
That kid was fun to pick on, and she hoped that she saw him again soon…and she hoped he had nightmares...well, she was pretty sure that he would, at any rate.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:02 pm
Evan was absolutely still for almost five minutes before someone ringing loudly for an order shook him out of his stupor. He felt like he'd just run a mile, and though there was no damage to his chest, it hurt. Or maybe that was just in his mind. Nothing really made sense anymore. He didn't cry at work, but it didn't stop him from shuffling around, sniffling.
As soon as she had gone, he'd locked up the backdoor and closed all the windows, and even if it was hot as hell, he would rather it stay that way than risk anyone else sneaking in. Her words kept playing in his head and he didn't know what to do.
She'd be back.
Which meant he'd have to do this all over again. And he was pretty sure that unless he covered the cost of at least the alcohol, he'd get in trouble. Or fired. But then, if he got fired, maybe he'd never see her again, and…
…This job was the only way he could even think to support himself, and until he got a better position there was no way he could quit. And Zack would be furious with him…
This was just not a good night.
Only an hour and a half and he could go home.
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