It'll have to do, I guess...(Open)

[moriarty]

"Pete's." Now, Dominic Moriarty had been in probably twenty-five bars named "Pete's" in his lifetime, and, because he never was one to expect radical change in pattern, the thirsty gunslinger expected this particular iteration of "Pete's" to be the same low key, wooded floors, jukebox, rock n' roll, and fist-fights kind of establishment he'd come to enjoy some twenty-odd times before. Unfortunately, he was about to be proven very wrong. As he approached the doors of "Pete's," he heard the familiar yet, nauseating sound of muffled, thumping bass. "Damn..." he muttered. Moriarty considered his options, and decided quickly that a drink now in an unpleasant environment beat driving around looking for another bar to suit his liking. "It'll have to do, I guess." he muttered, and, like a good soldier, mustered up some courage to push open the unnecessarily heavy doors that clubs always seem to have.

As Moriarty went to open the doors, they suddenly burst open in front of him, propelled by a motley crew of extremely intoxicated teenage girls, laughing and giggling in typical drunk teenage girl fashion. Moriarty, who'd nearly been knocked down, regained his footing, and slowly walked around the group, muttering, "This is why I hate these places..." He shared a sympathetic look with the bouncer at the door, who appeared to feel the same way. "I don't know how you do it, mate," Moriarty said, a look of mock disbelief on his face, before finally walking in.

The club was crowded, filled with about one hundred clones of the girls that nearly took him out at the door, along with your usual club menagerie of stereotypes. Moriarty scanned the room before finally locating the bar in the middle of the floor. "Jackpot.' he said, with a sigh of relief. As he approached the bar, the song playing ended and switched over to another generic dance song that, for all intents and purposes, sounded identical to the last. He waved to the bartender as he sat down. "Gimme a Macallan on the rocks, please!" he yelled to the bartender. A few seconds passed, and the glass of scotch-whiskey slid down the bar toward him. Moriarty lifted the glass to his lips, and let the warmth of the alcohol fill him, and felt the anxiety leave him instantly. The bartender stood in front of him, with an outstretched hand, waiting to be payed. Moriarty chuckled. "Ya may as well hold yer horses, boyo," he told the bartender, his Scots-Irish accent sounding particularly thick, "I'm gonna be here for a while, then." With that, Moriarty downed the last of his drink and held the glass outstretched toward the bartender. Moriarty chuckled again, as he began to light a cigarette. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad night after all.

[KYON ADELE GIRARD]

The day had been good, so she figured that the night would be even better. Her boss, Clint (who still didn’t have a last name as far as she knew), had given her quite an assignment and she’d pulled it off effortlessly. Three people were dead and nobody would ever find out why, despite their living room being covered in their own blood. Ooh, she did love it when she was allowed to do that, that was, mess up somebody’s home and dismember them in the process. She’d love to be there when the police showed up, trying to figure what the burn marks all over the bodies and the furniture were. But, then she’d be blowing her cover and that was everything to her. She would just have to follow the news reports like everyone else then. Good thing she was getting paid to stay away from the crime scene.

To her, there was little else that could top homicide for her, but ‘playing’ a little that night would balance it out. The best playmates she’d ever found were always at one club in particular, and that was where she headed. It was early in the evening and she walking down the sidewalk toward Pete’s. There weren’t many people out here yet, but she liked to scope out the crowd as it entered the club, so she always got there early. The bouncer was still waiting outside, looking bored and staring off into the distance, that was until he saw Kyon walking up to. He smiled to her, nodded, and let her through, since she’d been her so many times that she was on first name basis with all of the bouncers that worked there.

Since there was little else to do this early in the evening, she moved up to the bar and ordered herself a simple beer, just to keep herself occupied. For an hour or so, she chatted with the bartender, draining her bottle very slowly the entire time, and eventually, more people began to fill up the building. The man she’d been talking to was pulled away to attend to his other customers, but she didn’t mind at all; plenty of other people were available. Kyon quickly attached herself to a male that was not wholly unattractive, though she knew that she could do better. While she waited for the dance floor to begin to fill up and for the night to deepen, she entertained the man, dancing with him, talking, letting him buy her drinks. Yet as soon as she found a far better suitor, she brushed him off and focused her attentions on this new man.

Now this was better! The music was loud and fast and the air was humid with hot breath and sweat. It was perfect, and exhilarating, just the sort of thing to make sure she found the right victim and brought them home without anyone noticing. But first, she needed another drink. “I’m getting some more!” Kyon shouted at the man, waving her bottle in his face. “Alright hon!” he laughed back, yanking her in and pressing his lips to hers. She giggled as he pulled away then stumbled out of the center of the dance floor to the bar. Her demeanor suddenly changed as she approached the counter. She’d only had three beers, and that wasn’t even close enough to get her falling all over herself, though that was what she wanted most of these people to think. And it was the only way that she was going to get another drink.

Grinning, Kyon slid up the bar and waited for the tender to come around. “’Nother one!” she called to him, waving her bottle at him. He gave her a nod and reached under the counter to pull out another drink for her, placing it on the counter and taking the empty bottle from her. “Thanks!” she yelled at him again as he walked away to service one of the man other people milling around the bar. Kyon started to turn back toward the dance floor, wondering where she’d left her company, but she noticed the man she was standing next to and her eyes got stuck on him. He was certainly more interesting looking than the other male she’d been dancing with. “Hi,” she greeted him, speaking loud enough so that she could be heard over the music, “you look like you’re in the wrong place.” The way he was dressed and the fact that he was just sitting at the bar made it seem like he’d just stumbled in here without knowing what he was doing, not that she was trying to insult him for this, it was just interesting to note.

[moriarty]

Moriarty rolled his eyes as the music changed to yet another predictable dance tune. He took another sip of scotch and a long drag on his cigarette, getting more and more irate with the environment then he'd initially thought he would. He called the bartender over to pay his tab and leave, when a voice caught his attention. "Hi!" a female voice crowed. He looked up to see a girl, a rather attractive one at that, next to him. Is she talking to me? "You look like you're in the wrong place!" Yep, she's talking to me, alright. He gave the girl another glance. His assessment? She was a fox. Perhaps this night would turn out alright after all.

He stood up and leaned in so she could hear him better. "Aye." he said with a chuckle. "Can't find a decent bar anywhere in this town!" As he stood, he was careful not to let his jacket ride up too high, in fear of the bar patrons seeing his concealed .45 handgun. Granted, he was licensed by the Department of Defense to carry, but it always freaked people out when the say a drunk ma with a gun. He placed his spent cigarette in the ash tray on the bar and held out a hand to the girl, in a cordial fashion. "Name's Moriarty, and you are?"

[KYON ADELE GIRARD]

Kyon’s eyes brightened slightly at hearing the man’s accent, so thick that she could tell what it was even over the yelling of the crowd and the music. He was actually more interesting that he looked to be. She wasn’t even going to find the other man she’d been with earlier to tell him she was leaving, he wasn’t worth it. "Can't find a decent bar anywhere in this town!" The woman chuckled appreciatively at this, standing straight as he stood up himself so it wasn’t so awkward for them to talk.

"Name's Moriarty, and you are?"

“Kyon!” she replied, taking his hand in hers and shaking it. It was always a plus to meet someone who also had a strange name, it made for a strange personality, usually, especially in Kyon’s case. Sometimes, she wished that her mother had given her a more normal, American name, but she could always give people false names to cover her tracks and if she did use her real name, it could bring up interesting conversation. Though, not right now, since the two of them could barely hear one and another.

“Why don’t we get out of here?” she asked him, leaning in so she wouldn’t start losing her voice. “I know somewhere better; we could actually be able to hear each other.” Without waiting to see if he thought this was a good idea, she took a soft hold of his fingers and pulled him around so they could start moving toward the door. He’d looked like he was about to leave when she started talking to him anyway, so why not take him somewhere else that he might actually enjoy? And she’d be there with him to make it even better.

“Hey!” She turned her head toward the direction of the voice and caught the eyes of the bartender, who was glaring at her. Right, she’d forgotten to pay. “Sorry!” she called to him, walking up to the bar, taking out her wallet and tossing a few bills onto the bar. The man gave her slight look before grabbing up the money and moving off. Kyon shrugged and moved back to Moriarty, taking up his hand again and dragging him through the crowd. Once the two of them were outside, she took a deep breath and looked up to the man. “Much better,” she sighed, grinning at him.

[moriarty]

Kyon...now that's an interesting name. He held her hand firm, yet soft, as not to come off as a brute. He thought hard about that name...why did it sound so familiar? "Hmm..." His thought process was interrupted by Kyon's voice. "Why don't we get out of here?" she asked him, her voice straining over the loud music. Moriarty began to nod in agreement. He'd had enough of this joint. One more song soaked in auto-tune, and he'd start going postal. "Somewhere better ya say?" his lips curling to a smile, "Well that sounds ace, Ms. Kyon." He gave the bartender a "Hell yeah," look as she led him toward the door.

For a moment, Moriarty began to have reservations. Yes, she was totally hot, and yeah, she had a rad exotic name, and yes, she did exhibit all the signs of Moriarty's kinda lass, but this all seemed...too easy. Normally, he had to tell girls at least one or two war stories before they were dragging him elsewhere. He swiftly recalled a hit he did in Moscow, back in late 2007. The one that began with him meeting his informant, a lovely young girl, not much older than the one that currently had him by the hand, in a nightclub, not unlike this one. His informant ended up being a double crosser, working for the mafia syndicate who's leader Moriarty was sent to kill. Two bullet wounds and six dead bodies later, the hit was done, but it was messy. Hence his distaste for nightclubs. Moriarty shook the thought from his mind. The girl he was with now seemed perfectly normal, and he chalked it up to paranoia. Still, he was glad he had his .45...

Once they got outside, and the fresh air hit him, he heaved a sigh of relief. Kyon smiled at him. "Much better." she said. She had a lovely, almost intoxicating smile. "Much better, indeed," he said with a laugh, "So where exactly did you have in mind, then?"

[KYON ADELE GIRARD]

"So where exactly did you have in mind, then?"

Before replying, Kyon led him a little further down the sidewalk so that there wasn’t so much background noise. “Just a small bar,” she told him with a shrug, “it’s warm, and quite enough. Way quieter than that place at least.” She said this with a soft laugh, gesturing at the club, then took up is arm in hers and started moving along the sidewalk again. “It’s not that far either,” she said, “guess they needed somewhere for everyone that couldn’t get in, or for everyone that wanted to leave.”

Kyon really was loving how easy this was turning out to be. This man, Moriarty, was going along with her with no question whatsoever and she’d barely had to do any convincing. Perhaps she was just lucky to find someone that wasn’t enjoying themselves to begin with, and it probably helped that she’d decided to wear a short, backless dress today, though she liked to think that her personality helped as well. She was so sweet and engaging, who wouldn’t want to be around her? She had just left two other men back in the club, so that had to mean something.

“I hope you don’t think I’m up to something because I was so quick to leave with you like this,” she said, glancing up to him and lightly biting her lip, “it’s just that I was in that club for long enough but I wasn’t going to go somewhere else alone.” They had walked far enough now that the sound of the nightclub’s music was completely gone and up ahead the welcoming orange light of another building greeted them. “You should just be glad I saved you,” she chuckled softly, leaning into him for a moment. She let go of him to go through the door of bar and held it open while he followed after. “This is better, isn’t it?” she asked him, looking around the room for a moment. It was a small bar and there weren’t too many people there even though it was the perfect time of night to be out.

[moriarty]

Moriarty followed the girl down the block, not really thinking much of it. He'd all put put his paranoia in the back of his mind. Hell, worse case scenario, she was a hitman, bounty hunter maybe. Either way, he'd kill her, AND find a badass bar in the process. It seemed like a win-win to him. He had just started to put his mind at ease, when she uttered, "“I hope you don’t think I’m up to something because I was so quick to leave with you like this..." Shit. And as he walked with her, her arm in his, he knew for certain one of two things. One, she was going to try to kill him tonight. Two, that she had used a very poor choice of words. Even with the idea of that threat looming, he couldn't help but still feel that primal attraction. The way she smiled, the way she lightly bit her lip, hell, her looks alone were killer; he couldn't help but feel...drawn to her.

They arrived at the front door of the bar, and Kyon had been saying something that honestly, Moriarty wasn't paying attention to, as he was too concerned with how quickly he figured he could get to his gun. "...You should just be glad I saved you." she said to him, snapping him back to reality. God, there was that smile again. When she talked to him, it was like he just forgot everything. "Indeed I should," he said, "In fact, I think I owe you. Lemme buy you a drink, eh?" In the bottom of his heart, Moriarty really hoped that she was just a normal girl.

The bar was perfect. Moriarty's idea of heaven. It was no bigger than one room, a pool table in the back, various neon signs advertising a menagerie of different beer brands, and the room was thick with the smell of booze and cigarette smoke. Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" began to emanate from the jukebox as they sat down at the bar. "Aye, lass, you were right. This place is my kinda dive." he said, nodding his head. He ordered a round from the bartender, and looked back at Kyon. "So tell me, miss," he began, whilst lightin a smoke, "How'd I get so lucky as to have your acquaintance this evening?"

[KYON ADELE GIRARD]

Okay, maybe Kyon shouldn’t have said what she had about being up to something. He was probably expecting her to pull out a knife and second now and try to slit his throat. And she would have been if she didn’t think things through so well. The knife thing would be coming later, much, much later, maybe not even tonight if she could get back to his house. No, she would let him stay paranoid for the time being and slowly, she’d get him to relax around her and start to let his guard down. As far as he needed to be concerned, she was just a normal, stupid girl who had everything going for her in the way of looks and less going on in her head. She was the perfect kind of girl for him and she’d even found him the perfect bar.

"In fact, I think I owe you. Lemme buy you a drink, eh?"

Kyon gave him an abashed little half smile. “I’d love that,” she told him, softly bumping her elbow into his side as she followed him up the bar. By now, the bartender was already staring at her and she had to be very careful about getting onto a bar stool so that her skirt wouldn’t ride up too high and catch the attention of everyone in the building. She was supposed to be there just for Moriarty and she wanted to seem like she had a bit of decency. Not that this was helped when she was finally settled in her seat, since she hadn’t planned on sitting down much and the hem of her dress was pulled way past her mid-thigh. Oh well, it was something for him to look at in the least.

"How'd I get so lucky as to have your acquaintance this evening?"

Picking up one of the drinks that the tender had placed on the bar, Kyon looked up at the man’s eyes and smiled, not at all bothered by his cigarette, since she smoked every so often anyway. “I thought I already told you,” she said smoothly, “I was bored and you seemed interesting.” She took a slow drink of her beer then set the bottle down on her lap, ignoring that this would leave a nice damp spot on her skirt. “So, are you interesting?” she teased, clasping her hands around her drink, “there’s got to be something to say about that amazing accent of yours.”

[moriarty]

This girl was beginning to be too much for Moriarty to handle...in a good way. Everything about her, her voice, her figure, her actions; they all just oozed sex. He did his best to keep a level head on his shoulders, constantly reminding himself of the fact that she may try to disembowel him at some point. Still, it'd been a town or two since he'd had a good romp...

"So, are you interesting?"

Her words seamed to coo and tease him with every syllable. He smiled, and finished his second beer as the jukebox began to play The Stooges, "Down on the Street." "Hmm..." he pondered, taking a long drag on his smoke. "Well, the accent just comes with the Scots-Irish heritage, and I guess you could call me interesting." He pulled out his Department of Defense I.D. "Y'know these things are good for a lifetime? Guess that's cause most blokes that 'ave 'em wind up dead before age thirty. Got this while working for the CIA's Special Activities Division back in '06." He casually left it on the table as he continued with his verbal self portrait. "Yeah, 'spose I done it all. Was in the Army for a bit, then hoped over and worked with Blackwater. The CIA picked me up for some contracting work a few years ago, but since then, I've been working uh...'under the radar,' if you will." He called for a second beer. "I've killed blokes in twenty-three countries, and I'm wanted in ten of them. I've been shot fourteen times, stabbed seven times, well, technically eight if you count being stuck with a fork, and counting. I like fast cars, loud music, scotch whiskey...and you." He paused for dramatic effect. "So...what's your story?" He had to admit, though he had done all of the things he'd just mentioned, he made it sound theatrical on purpose. This would have one of two effects. Either she was a hired gun, and this would hopefully scare her off (he always hated to shoot women), or she was an average lass, and it would hopefully impress her all the way to her bed. As he asked Kyon about herself, he noticed a rather scruffy, junkie looking kid, eyeing him, and more intently, Ms. Kyon with a look of desire, from the back of the room. Note to self: Keep an eye on that kid.

[KYON ADELE GIRARD]

As Moriarty began to explain just how interesting he was, Kyon leaned forward slightly as if enthralled by what he had to say, and slowly ran a finger up and down the neck of her beer bottle, feeling the smooth glass and condensation under her skin. She laughed softly at being told that his accent had come with his heritage then looked down at the I.D. that he pulled out of his pocket, turning her eyes from his and back to the badge, as if intrigued by the story behind it, which he’d tell her in full detail of course. While he highlighted all of the awesome things he’d done in his short life, she carefully took the I.D. in her hands, glancing between it and his face as he spoke, a soft grin playing on her lips. He was really quite good at this, making himself seem like the sexiest badass alive, and she would have bought it if she didn’t think that she would be considered even more of a badass, especially with her being a dainty woman and all.

Her mouth had dropped into an awed little ‘o’ as he’d talked, but it broke when he mentioned that he liked ”...fast cars, loud music, scotch whiskey...and [her]." “Oh,” she sighed, a sound of slight disbelief, though she was still grinning like some smitten school girl.

"So...what's your story?"

His eyes shifted off of her for a moment after he asked this, though she was sure he was just trying to stare down some man behind her that was ogling at her ass. Pervert.

“I’m afraid I’m not quite as interesting,” she admitted, smiling a bit apologetically, “for one, I’ve lived here for my entire life.” That was truthful enough, though she’d left the state, and the country, more than a few times for errands that her boss gave her. And of course, those trips had been ‘all expenses paid’ sort of deals. She placed his I.D. back on the bar so he could put it away and then took a sip of her beer before continuing. “I supposed the most abnormal thing about me is that I grew up in a foster home,” she shrugged softly, as if this were no big deal to her, though it had really shaped her entire life. “these days, I’m just your run-of-the-mill secretary.” She shrugged again and gave him a sweet little smile. “You’d think life would be more exciting with vampires running about, but not for me.”

Kyon then glanced down at her lap, picking up her bottle and placing it on the bar, and wiped at the wet spot on her dress. She grabbed up her bottle again, figuring that she could do nothing for the damp spot at the moment, and shifted her eyes back to Moriarty’s. “Coming here with you is the most excitement I’ve had all week,” she giggled, shifting slightly in her seat to face him more directly.