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Post by NµKe on Nov 15, 2011 0:03:06 GMT -5
Sawyer yawned.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that just as I am about to kick in the door you know..."
He finished his yawn and smiled in his tiredly goofy fashion. Winston kept looking at him with his disparaging gaze.
"Oh come off it. He's probably drunk to the highest heav-- deepest hell, I mean. If he puts up any sort of fight I'll owe you two guineas."
Winston's eyebrows lifted at the notion. They lifted above their normal station to an arrogant question.
"You're on."
Sawyer rolled his eyes. Winston always seemed to take his 'mock-bets' and those were the ones that he always lost.
"On three."
"No, just kick in the blasted door."
"...fine."
Winston pushed off the wall behind him and kicked in the door, breaking the small lock that was attempting to safeguard the occupant. Winston's cutlass was out, as was his pistol. He swept the room with his gaze.
"Empty?" he muttered to himself. "I thought for sure--"
Sawyer lazily swung the door back to its previously closed position. The bludgeon came flying at him, but, as anticipated, the alcohol had so disabled the man that he seemed to have swung at the Sawyer that was on the far right of the three or four Sawyers that he saw. Sawyer chuckled, tripped him, then slapped him on the back with his walking cane. The man toppled onto his face and swore quite profusely.
This time it was Sawyer's eyebrows that rose.
"I've never actually heard that combination before... doesn't make a pile of sense, but I think I might actually utilize it."
Winston gave Sawyer a lazily reproachful glare. The latter smiled and added, "if... that is... I am ever as totally intoxicated as our chubby friend here."
Winston walked up to the drunk who was nearly asleep or unconscious or simply at the stage of giving up all hope and kicked him so that he lay on his back.
"Listen, Mr. Durnham, I believe it is?"
The man gurgled assent.
"Do you know who we are?" Winston asked with almost a yearning sound in his voice.
The drunk sputtered something that sounded like Powerful Pope...
"Powder & Smoke, yes, close enough. Now, do you know what we do?"
At this the man's eyes somewhat refocused with a strong coloring of fear.
"Kill."
There was little sputtering that accompanied this statement. Of this Winston, and Sawyer, were glad. Winston then leaned in closer to the man despite the repulsion at breath which caused such intense nausea that Winston was nervous he might not keep down the lovely beef stew he had enjoyed not two hours previously. He then said in a very stable, low tone to the man. He spoke slowly so that there was not a chance that he would not be understood, no matter how inebriated the man was.
"This is your one and only warning. Do not drink, nor think of liquor, until your debts are paid in full. If you do touch the bottle before that time, we will know and your death with not be a slow one. You have many connected businessmen that you run tabs with. They used to enjoy your patronage until you decided that paying was no longer one of your life-abilities. Sort this out, Durnham, or we will sort you out. Understood?"
Durnham nodded thankfully. Winston stood up and took a deep breath, enjoying the air that was not a heavily laced with alcohol. He turned to go and was intercepted by Sawyer. Under his breath Sawyer questioned,
"That it, then? We're just going to leave him?"
"He looks genuinely scared."
"Oh... lovely bit of good that will do him in the morning... or the next time he's got a chance of knocking back."
"Have a little faith."
"...in that?" Sawyer gestured to the heap on the floor. Winston simply kept eye contact and raised his eyebrows.
Really? Another attempt at the concealed goodness in every man, Winston? How many times must you be brutally proved wrong? Sawyer thought.
"Fine."
They walked outside and Sawyer shut the door then halted Winston from walking. Sawyer pounded his feet on the floor imitating their footsteps retreating from the door. He then waited.
Laughing was heard from within.
"Oh I understand... Wistful Winston! Play the part... roll the dice... and see who comes out on top. Your mercy... hic!... will be your undoing." More laughing, a few belches and a few very descriptive words involving Winston, his mother, and a few other acquaintances.
Sawyer simply looked at Winston and shrugged.
"They really aren't good underneath, you know. They really aren't."
With that, Sawyer walked back into the room, beat the man unconscious, then gave him a message in scar format to help him remember who'd be 'watching out for him'. It didn't take him too long as he had carved it on many a doorpost and wooden beam. Admittedly, it was a bit different carving into an arm and leg, but the basic concept was the same.
'P & S' on both arms accompanied by 'Powder' on one leg and 'Smoke' on the other.
"Now," Sawyer stated matter-of-factly, "he will not forget to remember us when considering his next drink prior to debt-consolidation and payoff.
Winston simply sighed and walked off, following his partner.
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Post by Galio on Nov 16, 2011 1:44:41 GMT -5
A wide shadow lessened the light in the space. Bold, heavy footsteps resounded down the hall. The entity grew nearer. Vincent was certain who it was, but he never trusted certainty. He and his dagger lay low in the darkness, ready to pounce. The figure rounded the corner.
"Vincent, this cave is going to assume you are a part of it and collapse if you spend anymore time in here." Winston bent forward and squinted. "I'm assuming you are in here."
"Best place to sleep."
"And to avoid humankind."
None save for Winston were permitted entrance into or allowed knowledge of Vincent Hauberk's lair. The small cave would be naught but a small cave to Hauberk if anyone knew. It was his home, his escape, his castle. Only Winston knew.
"How did the warning go?" Vincent growled.
"Oh, perfectly. We were obliged to leave a message on his person, if you take my meaning."
"Sorry to have missed it."
"Well you're not missing this next one. The sun's about to go down, so it is safe for you to unhide yourself from all of those humans... and to show your lungs to some air."
Vincent grabbed Winston's offered hand and rolled up to his feet. He pulled up his chain-male hood and heaved his coat over his shoulders.
"Ready."
Winston smiled. "Well, it's about time."
They emerged from the small, hidden opening of the cave and walked across a wide open field. A small settlement could be seen in the distance before the setting sun, and they moved toward it in no hurry. Before the mission, they were just two old friends walking.
"Nice evening" Vincent said.
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Post by NµKe on Nov 16, 2011 20:30:13 GMT -5
Winston turned his head and simply smiled at Vincent as they walked.
"You know you'd get to enjoy evenings like this more often if you didn't abide in that cave for all of eternity."
Vincent merely kept walking, causing Winston add...
"Not that caves aren't suitable. They are great places to be, it's just that--"
"I know, Winston. But, one could argue that I enjoy this evening more than you do because I don't get it as often."
Winston nodded in agreement almost to himself. Good point.
"So, you wanted me to come on this mission because I'm intimidating?"
"Well... yes, and because three people are more intimidating as well. Also, because we have two targets and I want your honest opinion as to whether we should actually remove them or simply give them a warning that they will never forget."
"What does Sawyer think?"
Winston was quiet. If he even has an opinion it's usually the darker of the options... Not sure what to do about that.
"He's pretty indifferent. But I think if I forced his opinion it'd probably be--"
"Death." Vincent completed for him.
Winston mounted the fence that had been outlining the far side of the field. He paused astride the fence mainly because Vincent did. He truly seemed to be enjoying the evening even, perhaps, more than normal.
"You alright, Vincent?"
Vincent nodded and took in a deep breath of fresh air.
"Winston. The moment you stop taking this beauty in for what it's worth is the moment that you don't deserve the beauty anymore."
They continued on in relative silence till they neared the outskirts of the town. There was a small puff of smoke meandering up through the air near the back of one of the outlying huts.
"That'll be Sawyer." Winston observed.
They rounded the corner and Sawyer looked up, unshocked and unstartled.
"Bit late, eh?"
Winston chuckled and walked to the edge of the building, peering around.
"What have you seen so far?"
Sawyer grimaced and blew out another puff of smoke from his pipe. Before he answered he looked to Vincent, then back to Winston with a questioning look.
"He comin'?"
Winston nodded. "What have you seen?"
Sawyer looked over Vincent once more in an only slightly demeaning way and then spewed his information.
"Recognized the two targets, that girl has quite the artistic hand... wonder how much of--" Winston gave a disapproving look. "--but they had some other chaps with them that seemed quite kindly towards them. Whether they are about to engage in a dealing or whether they are simply out for a night with the group, I'm not sure. Didn't want to head in until you were here."
Winston cracked his knuckles and breathed out into the increasingly chilly evening air.
"Vincent, this actually could turn a bit nastier than expected. If you wish to relax, that's up to you. I know that I stated you were in, but I don't want to force--"
"I'm here already, Winston." Vincent muttered.
Sawyer snorted. Vincent bestowed a less than savory glance.
Winston's eyebrow rose. "If we are going to be possibly battling next to one another, I suggest we all get along."
"I've got no problem with him at all, Captain." Sawyer stated in a comically defensive manner.
Winston looked back to Vincent, who shrugged acceptance.
"Right then... shall we devise a plan then?"
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Post by Galio on Nov 17, 2011 0:45:59 GMT -5
Vincent, leaning against a corner and facing away asked, "What is there to plan? Jump them, scare them, leave them."
Winston chuckled, "I think we should know where they are first."
Sawyer sat up. "The older fellow is in the sub-level pub, and he did not seem to be inclined to leave it any time soon. The female is upstairs. I do believe that there will be others around her as well."
"There is a woman involved?" Vincent questioned.
Sawyer hesitated. "Three men accompany the targets. The two sturdy-built gentlemen are enjoying the revels with our drunken man. The smaller of the men... more akin to a female resides in the upper levels with the girl."
"Again, I question, why are you targeting a woman?" Vincent inquired, sounding more agitated.
Sawyer stood and stepped closer to Vincent. He reached to touch the collar of Vincent's jacket. Vincent reflexively slapped his hand away and immediately Sawyer had a blade at his stomach.
"What do you think you are, peasant?" Sawyer stated in a condescending tone. "Are you sure you even have the backbone to--"
"Backbone? Please don't use foreign words, I'm sure you'll misuse them. Or, was that the location you were planning on carving your initials into me?"
Sawyer didn't blink. Inside he felt a twinge of a hint of betrayal, but he continued steadfastly.
"I didn't know you were desirous of my artistry. Perhaps I'll write my address so that they can send the body after you die in the fetal position, you cowardly..."
"SHUT UP!!!" Winston commanded with enough volume to cause the whole town to duck and shut up. Sawyer knew when Winston meant business and he returned his dagger to his sheathe. Winston also noticed Vincent return some small metallic looking object to his pocket.
Sawyer took a few steps and spat. Vincent stood quiet and looked to his friend.
"Work with me, now. I cannot stand between you two at all times."
Vincent nodded.
Sawyer turned back around. "Oh, with pleasure. So long as we maintain a distance that fleas cannot leap."
Vincent didn't look at Sawyer. "What message do we convey this mission?"
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Post by NµKe on Nov 25, 2011 23:11:13 GMT -5
Winston smiled.
"Alright, so, the old man on the sub-level is our main target. We need to... talk with him. His girl, I believe, is simply a hobby of his, and so we shall leave her alone upstairs."
Sawyer peeked around the corner at the tavern again.
"How do you propose we enter the building and retrieve the elderly chap without raising suspicion?"
Vincent tapped his chin with his forefinger. "Have either of you committed any... well, done any 'quests' in this tavern before? If so, or if even one of the participants have seen you at work before, suspicion will be inevitable."
"Excellent call, Vince." Sawyer stated. "Now shut-up, we're planning here."
Vincent rolled rolled his eyes, sighed, and took up watch at the front corner of the building.
"We could do a "Grandfather Jim..." Sawyer suggested. Winston nodded pensively.
"That's a good idea. Last time it didn't actually work though..."
"We couldn't have expected that."
"...unless we had found out that it was a family reunion before we barged in."
"Well, yes, but--"
"Nevertheless, this should work." Winston concluded. He then assigned roles to his comrades.
"Sawyer, you're the grand-nephew, and Vincent, you're going to be his surly best friend."
Vincent chocked, coughed, and laughed at the same time, which was obviously painful. He then stared at Winston expecting the punch line, which never arrived. He then gave an exasperated look at Sawyer and folded his arms, accepting his fate.
"I will be a normal tavern patron. I'm going in early to observe the circumstances, that way, when you and Vincent enter I can give you the 'walk-away' sign if the situation is not to our advantage. Any questions?"
"Nope." Sawyer stated confidently and began walking to the tavern. Vincent hurried along and whispered to Sawyer...
"So, what's a 'Grandfather Jim'?"
"Oh, you'll see, just follow my lead, and don't say anything unless I give you a glare."
Vincent sighed and muttered to himself about the shocking low chances he was giving this mission. Winston reached the front door and halted Sawyer and Vincent behind him.
"Give me about three minutes."
And with that, the mission began.
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Post by Galio on Nov 27, 2011 3:36:53 GMT -5
Winston clomped down the steps to the sub-level and pushed open the creaky door. He slammed it three times before it relented and actually latched shut.
"Fine establishment" Vincent thought.
Sawyer never regarded Vincent's existence during the waiting period. Vincent didn't notice. It was a very silent three minutes. Without a word, Sawyer began walking to the tavern. Vincent did little to keep up. His walk was relaxed, but he was lanky; his steps reached a step and a half.
Sawyer put a shoulder to the stubborn door and gently shoved it open. The two nonchalantly passed the threshold, and Vincent gripped the doorknob.
Facing the other direction and drying a mug, the barman shouted, "Shut it like you mean it, lad."
Vincent gave a glance and looked at the door. He easily pushed the door to the point it refused to close, and he looked for the problem. After opening and closing it two times, he lifted from the handle, and the door glided shut. He chased Sawyer to a table.
The barman turned around barking, "Do you mean to let in the flies and crawlers... oh." He noticed the door was closed.
Navigating through tables, Vincent said, "It's just a misunderstood door."
The barman smiled and answered, "Aye, that it is. And it's a bloody pain in the..." the mug slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
Sitting at the bar, Winston gave a stop-drawing-attention glare at Vincent. The back of Sawyer's head said the same thing.
Vincent thought about asking Sawyer "What next?" but decided he hated him too much.
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Post by NµKe on Dec 15, 2011 23:38:17 GMT -5
Sawyer let out a big sigh of exasperation at Vincent's obvious inability to perform anything related to stealth. Vincent looked back at Winston to communicate his contempt for Sawyer, but Winston was already scanning the room for the targets.
The room was pretty much a large rectangle save for a few exceptions. The front door entered on the north-eastern corner of the rectangle. The bar was against the western side of the room, giving a good view for Winston (who was at the bar) to turn and see to the south-eastern corner of the room which had a double-doorway sized entry down two or three stairs into a sort of parlor which had a little bit of smoke spilling out of it. The north western side of the room held a set of stairs that immediately turned left after the first few stairs and hugged the flip side of the western side of the room. The stairway obviously went up to a second story level which could be used by patrons and the like. The entire room had a smokey-like atmosphere to it, though the air was very breathable. There were about seven tables with four chairs to a table in the main area of the tavern. Occupants numbered only about eight though, and they were sparsely scattered throughout the room, obviously not drinking companions.
Winston made a few non-verbal communications to Sawyer which indicated that he could not have ascertained the nature of the older man considering he was in the smoking parlor and Winston could not have entered without raising suspicion. Sawyer leaned back to Vincent and muttered.
"Sit tight, cub."
Vincent yawned and leaned back in his chair, attempting comfort, while Sawyer walked to the bar and ordered a non-alcoholic drink which surprised the bartender, but he continued on as if nothing unusual was happening. Sawyer turned to Winston and began...
"Nice evening for a drink, eh?"
The bartender muttered something about a nice evening even if you were too weak for a 'real' drink... Sawyer ignored him.
"'Tis." Winston agreed.
Sawyer moved a little bit closer and they began to chat. Vincent was watching them and so their obvious communication was plain to him, but as he looked around to check the other patrons of their realizations he noticed that none of them were paying any attention to anything other than the levels in their glasses and any remaining bubbles on their beards or their evasive mugs. Hate when there are still a few drops left and you can never seem to get them. Vincent suddenly realized that Sawyer and Winston were beckoning him up to them with their eyes. He moved as nonchalantly as possible.
"I thought that we weren't going to be suspicious once we entered..."
"These guys are too smashed to care or realize. We need to find out what is happening with the lady upstairs, Vincent. Can you go and just find out what is happening?"
Vincent's pulse began to sky-rocket.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Sawyer and Vincent whispered in unison. They looked at each other, both almost cracked a smile, but then both thought the better of it and looked back at Winston. He was smiling.
"Yes. Sawyer and I will attempt a 'Warrant-Jack' to retrieve the older man."
"What's a--"
"Just go deal with the lady, will ya?"
Vincent groaned and walked away towards the stairs. He began climbing it as he heard Sawyer and Winston begin their 'Warrant-Jack' maneuver. Then something happened that he did not expect. As he crossed the threshold of the second floor he turned to see four occupants at a low table. They were all sitting cross-legged and were playing cards and obviously gambling money on the game. These happenings were not the shocking aspect; the shocking aspect was the girl playing with them.
"Serene," was all he could manage to say. The woman froze, mid-deal, and stared at Vincent. The chaps then, after two or three seconds of waiting for her to continue dealing the cards, looked up at Vincent, then back at the lady.
---
Sawyer and Winston stepped into the smoking parlor and stopped to take in the vista of the room. There were the two sturdy-looking gentlemen that they saw enter the establishment earlier, along with the older gentleman who looked quite wise and sagely, yet cunning at the same time.
"May we help you?" the elderly man stated without missing a beat. He definitely still had all of his wits about him. He also had quite efficiently covered up the documents that had been lying on the table in front of them with a handkerchief that Sawyer could have swore did not exist before. That's a move I need to learn... he noted mentally to himself. Winston was already stepping forward and stating in a confident voice.
"I have a warrant for your arrest, good sir."
"Now, if I were truly good, would you be arresting me?"
The two study men chuckled to themselves, obviously quite comfortable with the confidence of the older man.
"Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Winston stated. "Either way, I need to take you down to the police to deal with a matter at hand. Shouldn't take too long, but I need your presence in order to continue."
"What matter is that, Officer--?"
"Dunlop, sir. Officer James Dunlop."
Of course, give them my first name... Sawyer mentally muttered.
"And your badge, uniform, and warrant, sir?"
This turned the tone of the dialogue from playful to business-like, which seemed to also mean a hint of violence, as both sturdy gentlemen stood and began to give the nonverbal communications of impatience and dissatisfaction. Winston began backing up.
"Perhaps we have the wrong individual."
"Yes, perhaps you do." The older man's voice was drenched with self-satisfied power and victory. "Either way, it might be wise to help you to remember not to interrupt a discussion in which you are not invited."
One of the men moved rather quickly to bar the exit for Winston and Sawyer.
"So, we're going to need two fingers between the two of you. It does not matter to me from whom or how they are retrieved, but fingers seem to be the best reminders... or the lack of fingers, I should say."
The large brute that was not guarding the door took a step towards Sawyer with a grin on his face and one of his hands moving towards him as if Sawyer would simply pluck off one of his fingers and hand it over. Sawyer replied by drawing his triple barrel pistol and excommunicating the brute's kneecap from the rest of his body. A howl of terror went up and the entire establishment's tune changed. Winston groaned and drew his cutlass, slicing the other brute's belt and thereby rendering him unable to run or retrieve his dagger. Winston kept his cutlass at the man's throat.
"Now, about that chat we were going to have."
---
Vincent began walking forward though he was still riddled with disbelief.
"Serene, is that you? Forgive my disbelief, but I know what I saw... I thought that you'd have--"
"Who's this, then?" One of the gamblers inquired, rudely interrupting Vincent's reverie.
The woman eyed her gambling opponents and was obviously sizing up the situation when the gunshot went off. Vincent spun, as if the shot had been fired from the stair case and he could witness the whole event. By the time he had turned back around, the table had been flipped, the coins and their respective pouches had disappeared, and two of the opponents had received jaw adjustments that would probably render them speechless if they hadn't already been unconscious. The third opponent had barely dodged and was pulling out a pistol-knife. He thrust it and fired directly at the woman, but Vincent had been swift enough to dive for the man. The bullet had only grazed her left shoulder, but the cut from the bayonet-like attachment was sure to release quite an amount of blood from her shoulder down halfway to her elbow. Vincent pounded the man's senses from his head and turned to the woman.
"What are you doing here?"
For the first time, the woman spoke.
"I wondered when we'd meet again. Forgive me for not seeking you earlier, I had business."
"I understand, Serene. But tell me what your current task is..."
She moved closer to Vincent and simply by her breath and her perfume, Vincent felt intoxicated. He desired so strongly to simply embrace her and draw her close but he resisted as he had so many times before.
"I have missed you... Your... closeness."
"...my closeness?!" Vincent sputtered. He, then, tossed the woman from him as best as he could, considering his new realization that she had drawn a small dagger.
"We've never been... you never... I mean, what are you saying, Serene?"
The woman cursed and stood up, cracking her neck. She then burst out, almost to herself.
"Why can she never have a relationship? It would make getaways SO much easier sometimes." She then uttered a few more curse-words towards this 'Serene' and then shrugged.
"Well, have to escape anyways..."
And with that she tossed a few matches into the alcohol that she had previously dumped onto the nearby bed. The bed erupted into flames and she hopped over the railing to land on the stairs below and continue running down them and into the tavern.
Vincent was dumb-struck... he stood up and walked himself slowly down the stairs recounting the last five minutes over and over in his head. As he reached the bottom he realized that the lady had begun a few more fires in the tavern and had incapacitated the barkeeper and a few of the patrons before the others had fled. She had just finished this task when she turned and saw Vincent and grinned. The grin was half mischievously evil and half a genuine smile of seemingly good-natured-ness, but perhaps Vincent was simply indulging in wishful thinking.
---
The old man was about to begin speaking, considering Sawyer had just cocked back the next lever of his pistol to fire again when the brute being held at neckpoint by Winston was yanked backward and Winston's cutlass was parried aside by a dagger. Two solid kicks then adjusted Winston's perspective. One went directly to his shin, making some horrible cracking noise, and the other landed soundly on the side of his face, making everything fade to black quite swiftly. Sawyer turned, but not fast enough to save Winston; however, his reflexive aim was true and the girl thudded back against the wall with a large and growing wound in her side. She simply stared at Sawyer and cringed with pain. Pangs of guilt throbbed throughout Sawyer's chest, but he kept his aim true and straight on the girl lest she move again. She slid down the wall, leaving a small, but enlarging trail of blood on the wall. A shattering window re-awoke Sawyer's senses and he turned to light streaming into the smoke filled room let in by a broken window and an escaped older fellow.
Vincent entered the room and didn't seem the least bit surprised by Winston, cold on the ground, or the girl slumped up against the wall breathing heavy, slow breaths. He looked up at Sawyer and let out a single chuckle.
"And you're the last one standing?"
Sawyer's face went from battle-ready and somewhat war-stressed to disbelieving and annoyed.
"You carry Winston out to the back, there are stables there that we can use. We need to get him back to headquarters. I'll get this one. I can manage a bandage or two on her while we saddle up. Winston will want to have a chat with her.
The girl attempted to struggle away from Sawyer's grip but he firmly held her face to his and stated...
"You let me help you now, or you die and that's the end. Got it? If I wanted to kill you, I'd employ the strong end of my pistol and leave you in this burning rubble, got it?"
She nodded reluctantly, then went a shade or two paler and passed out.
The ride back to the Powder & Smoke headquarters was a bit of a long one, but for some reason it seemed to bond Sawyer and Vincent in a way that neither of them expected. Out of all the patrons of the tavern and combatants in the room, they were the two that came out victorious and... well... conscious. Though they did not speak, they treated each other with a sort of respectable air which might resemble what you'd show to a foreign dignitary that you couldn't communicate with due to a language barrier. They'd communicate when they needed to, but none of the picking and insulting happened for the rest of the day... and both of them were fine with that.
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Post by Galio on Mar 22, 2013 19:17:30 GMT -5
[[OK, despite the fact that I read you ENTIRE long, long post, I don't exactly remember what we were doing. Or why Vincent was in love with this girl. I'm going to do my best to pick up where we left off, but forgive the rampant discrepancies. Excuse them, actually. I have absolutely no idea where to go with P & S, so I'll do all I can to work around it until you establish something. Also, I don't know how to delete previous posts. (End complaints).]] Vincent always did his best to avoid entering headquarters. Winston was his contact. However, Winston was unconscious. He'd see him cared for before trodding into the night. The night had taken an odd toll on him, and his eyes seemed to move through the back of his head as though he were watching himself move. When they arrived, he ignored whatever Sawyer was saying and clumsily unstrapped Winston from his horse. Sawyer saw to the girl as they were met by some men from inside. They got under Winston's shoulders and took him and his horse inside. The horse was between Vincent and Sawyer and left a still air between them as the voices and clomping of hooves faded inside. Sawyer's voice obliterated the silence. "Well, have a pleasant evening." He bowed in a sort of satirical manner, but it was a bow. Vincent wasn't moved by the gesture, but he did acknowledge it. "Aye. Same to you." He nodded and remounted his horse. The toll of the night lifted as he and his horse left the business of everything and moved under the canopy of starlight. He breathed the cold air deeply through his nose and raised his brow to gaze a moment. His horse seemed to do the same, and Vincent smiled. "Let them struggle and fuss; We'll always have our wild, Donovan." They arrived at Vincent's cave where Vincent saw to Donovan's needs and let him go into the pastures. "Sleep easy, friend." He turned into his cave and crashed.
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Post by NµKe on Mar 26, 2013 6:38:01 GMT -5
[[My word, I totally captured your character and made him love this twin in the past. My bad. The back story on that one was that Vincent worked with Serena on a couple jobs; he fell quite head over heels for her. Because of their professional relationship, he didn't ever divulge the fact that he cared for her even when he had an inkling that she cared for him as well. Fate and circumstances tore them apart until this moment where Vincent thinks that he has found her again when he has simply stumbled across her twin. I'm not sure why I stole your character and slapped that whole story on him. My apologies.
I will also be cutting out quite a bit of the OOC posts that we've been engaging in. We need to confine those to the Molding Table. My bad.]]
Sawyer walked into the Powder & Smoke and promptly pulled out his pipe from his inside pocket. After filling, pounding, and lighting it, he walked into the parlor where Winston had been gently laid on the couch. One of the younger almost-members (his mother still wouldn't allow him to join), Rusty, lowered a piece of meat onto Winston's increasingly blackening eye. Sawyer chuckled. Winston jumped at the cold contact of the raw meat.
"Oi, Rusty! What're you doin--..."
"Back at the headquarter, Winston," Sawyer said with a sigh as if Winston usually ended up unconscious on errands.
Winston sat up and looked at Sawyer.
"Which one hit me?" he demanded.
"Which one didn't?" Sawyer retorted with a chuckle.
"Not true! I had them all accounted for!"
"Alright, alright. It was a broad who popped up out of nowhere. Got you with a piece of wood or something."
"T'was my leg," the woman stated from across the room. She'd been lain down on the ground while another member wrapped her arm to stem the bleeding.
Winston started at her voice. He then looked at Rusty with frustration.
"Told you once, told you a hundred times, Rust. Never place an unconscious member in the same room as a captive. What've he spills all the beans, eh? What then?" Winston said in his lecture-like tone.
"I didn't carry her!" Rusty said raising his hands as if surrendering.
"Don't matter. You should've known."
Rusty grumbled a bit there.
Sawyer chuckled at the whole situation. He walked over to the lady and took a look at her bandages and wounds.
"How are you feeling, madam?" he asked politely.
"What do you care?" she hissed.
"I don't, but I do treat people the way that I wish to be treated. Nevertheless, have a good night. I hope you mend swiftly."
Sawyer took a good puff and walked over to Winston.
"Evening, ol' chap. I'm off to bed. Catch you in the morning, but not too early, eh? I'm hankering for a lazy morn'."
"As you wish, Sawyer."
He walked to the door, but as he was leaving Winston had a question.
"Did you kill Vincent? Or did a miracle transpire whilst I was out?"
Sawyer turned only to smile, bow, and walk out.
---
Arriving at home, he found his father pouring over some book that looked relatively new.
"Whatcha reading, Pops?" he inquired.
"Dog Training Tips! I've never considered the mutts to be of any use, but it says here '...if a retriever is properly trained and bred, the breeder will be rewarded with not only a healthy sum of money, but also the most rewarding of professions.' Hah! I think I've found a different hobby, James!"
Sawyer smiled and gently clapped his father on the shoulder.
"I'm very happy for you. Time for bed?"
"Yes!" Mr. Middleton stated emphatically as he hurried off to change for bed. Sawyer smiled and removed his jacket. He felt a peace in this life. Although the target had not been apprehended today, some good was to be found. Thought he'd never admitted, Sawyer had somewhat waited for this moment of a cease-fire to be formed between him and Vincent. It was a profitable day.
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