- Smile -
___That offer of hers stunned Smile in his attack; ten million was a lot of money, more than he ever thought he'd have offered. His flinch, though, allowed Esmeralda to roll under his attack and counter with a swipe to his leg, slashing his pants and cutting his flesh. "Guh!" The hunter groaned at his new wound, stepping forward and quickly twisting around to face Lady Tempus again. His leg stung from the gash; it surely wasn't the first time he'd be injured, but it still never was too pleasing to get injured while engaging someone in a battle. Smile could feel his own heartbeat in his leg, his warm blood dripping from the fresh cut and soaking his pants little by little. Smile took a defensive position seeing as he would probably limp more than anything if he tried to charge once more; he would have to wait until his leg would feel numb before attempting an offensive move.
"Well, isn't that smart... We're bleeding in a mansion possibly full of vampires. Surely, this won't attract them like bloody meat in a pond full of sharks."
"Shut up. No one asked you for your opinion. I'm kinda busy here." Grey muttered to himself, clamping his teeth together, his voice muffled by his cartoony mask.
"Well, let’s just hope she's the only one around. That way, she might just be the only one who'll want to lick the blood off of your leg... Wait, I didn't-"
"Doesn't sound too bad, actually." the man grinned, still whispering to himself.
"I didn't mean to make it sound dirty, pervert." his inner self sighed, once more disheartened at its alter ego.
___Smile's legs were placed at shoulder length, left foot a good two feet in front of his right. His weight was mostly on the uninjured left limb, the other still hurting from the previous blow. The male human brought his sword in front of himself and brought his free hand to the hilt, right hand above the left one. His grin dropped as he felt another pulse from his wound; this would most likely be a little annoying for some time, but he'd have to deal with the pain for now. The masked mercenary squinted his eyes at the vampire lady. "So... Ten million bucks, eh? Ya serious there? That would surely make me a pretty good lookin' check, but y'know… Something's still botherin' me..." it seemed that the said queen of vampires was truly serious about a deal. A new smile formed to the corner of his lips, his eyelids relaxing as an eyebrow rose in a playful manner; Smile felt like playing a little and see just how much he could bargain out of the beauty, money or not. "I have a reputation to keep. Retirin' sounds mighty good, but when I really think ‘bout it, it sounds a lil' too dull if ya ask me. I mean, the heck am I gonna do when reitred? Gettin' myself some nice vacation on the beach, feet in the sand and sippin' on a Pina Colada sounds good, but it gets old after a week or two. I love my job, y'know. Well, not the huntin' vampires-only thing. I hunt just about anythin', serious! It just so happens that this particular job was vamp huntin', ya know. Anyway, yeah... Huh... Right! Reputation. Yeah, I need to keep it good an' stuff if I wanna be hired some more after this. If I just drop the job, that probably won't sit well with th' boss and well, my reputation's gonna take a hit. Get what I mean?" His hidden smile slowly grew wider into a full grin. The man's head inclined, Smile's eyes moved from Esmeralda's to her toes and back to her irises, taking only a short time to observe the female's features once more. "Besides, sealing a deal with ya right now would mean that I'd hafta leave, right? I wouldn't want that. I'd rather stay a lil' longer an' spend more time with a lovely woman like ya. Blood sucker or not, you're pretty damn good eye candy, but ya know that already." Smile playfully winked at the woman. It seemed like he had made it a habit to flirt and compliment his opponents when they were of the opposite gender. It either would annoy his rival more, which amused him, or the opposing lady would warm up to him and who knows, maybe he could get a date!
"Don't get your hopes up too high. It's not going to happen."
"Hey! C'mon! It did happen once before didn't it?!"
- ... -
