tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When: July 13th
Rating: probably PG-13 for language
Characters: Richard [

browning_baby]
Summary: Richard and Anita go on a date

Richard was soon realizing that perhaps the weirdest thing about this entire City was the lack of a wallet. He couldn't remember the last time he had walked around with out one or without needing one. No need for cash, credit cards, ID, anything like that. It was a slightly unsettling experience, not needing all of those things. It made everything feel very unreal, like there was no going back to normalcy.

He supposed it was just as well, the City seemed just normal enough on the surface that he could almost forget it was some other universe. Of course, paying for things with rocks or leaves seemed to dispel that notion rather quickly. Even so, he hadn't hesitated in shelling out a few rocks and one leaf for a few outfits of clothing. His current outfit of slacks, white dress shirt, and jacket had come out of such a purchase.

It was a bit fancier than he was used to wearing but Anita said she was going to dress nicely so he thought the least he could do was do the same. Normally he would have no problem "dressing down" so she felt more comfortable but if she wanted to go all out, he wasn't going to stop her. There was no denying Anita looked good no matter what she was in (and especially when she was in nothing at all) but there was something special about her dressing up.

The walk to her building hadn't taken long though so he had no more time for contemplations of that nature. Tonight was going to be about enjoying each other's company. No werewolf or vampire stuff unless she wanted to talk about it. It was just being with each other. Just a normal date between two less than ordinary people.

Taking a deep breath Richard raised his arm and knocked on the door.

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Anita was just pulling a boot on when a knock sounded at the door. Yes, she was dressed nice, and for her, that meant a short leather skirt and a deep red silk halter. No, she couldn't wear her holsters with the outfit, and yes, it showed off a decent number of her scars, but she mostly liked the way the outfit looked. Besides, she didn't think Richard would mind to scars too badly. He'd seen most of them anyway.

The boot now on and pulled to her knee, she answered the door, smiling up at Richard after a good long look.

"You dress up nice, Mr. Zeeman."

Richard didn't even try to hide the approving look he gave Anita. For one, it probably would have been impossible and two, she had mentioned earlier that she liked to know when someone was interested. There was a small twinge of primal lust that came from his beast that was always there when he saw Anita like this. Normally he was in perfect control of it, but every once in a while something like that would sneak in, especially when the two sides of his nature were in one accord.

"As do you Miss Blake," he replied, giving her a broad smile back. His eyes didn't miss the scars on her body, but he saw them in the same way he did the color of her eyes or hair. They were just a part of Anita.

"I especially like the skirt and the boots," he added, offering her his hand.

His hand felt warm to hers, but it was natural for her skin to be cool now. She took it and glanced down at the boots. They were a little scuffed from wear, but they were her nicest pair she'd acquired in the City. "Thanks. I picked them up a few weeks after I got here... got tired of doing the whole jeans and tennies thing all the time."

They were out the door, her following his lead for once. It was nice to just be normal with him; no pack or vamp business in the middle of their time.

"Different is good," Richard agreed, resisting the urge to eye Anita once more, taking in the way her skirt showed just the right amount of curves and her top hugged her chest in all the right places. Definitely a good change from jeans and tennis shoes.

"There was a nice little cafe I saw when we were walking the other day," he said as they strolled along. For some reason, this felt very right to Richard. Like it should be. Himself and Anita together. I didn't matter what else they were or what they had to deal with, when he was with her he knew it was right.

"I even picked up a few extra rocks so we can get some nice wine," he quipped. "I'm not sparing any expense for you."

A chuckle fell from her lips as they walked hand in hand. "Hey, at least with rocks, you don't gotta worry about getting mugged." Everything felt normal and right and she remembered how easily she fell in love with him and why.

"There's really a lot of good places around here. Dunno how it works, but they covered all the bases and everything. If it wasn't the whole not leaving thing, it'd be a great place."

"Do they have restaurants from the other worlds?" Richard asked. "I've seen Italian and Chinese and a few others, but I know there's people who are here that are not from earth, so are their types of food here too?"

At her comment about not leaving Richard furrowed his brow in thought. He really hadn't though about the 'not leaving' aspect of this place much. There was still so much else to take in but... she was right. He had Anita, there was no pack... and he couldn't get back. If he couldn't get back, then he didn't have to feel guilty about leaving the pack to Marcus, right?

A sudden stab of shame hit Richard at that thought, at that entire line of thinking. Was he really so selfish that he would feel that way? No, he knew he would do what he had to in order to protect the pack, but they weren't here and dwelling on it would not help.

Besides, the pack was not his only priority. Looking down at Anita he was reminded that it wasn't even his biggest priority. There was no pack here, but there was Anita, and that's all he really needed.

"Yeah, too bad this isn't just a vacation spot. Don't need any money, meet all sorts of crazy people. It would be a big hit."

She shrugged; an unladylike habit, but Anita wasn't exactly a normal woman, and she certainly wasn't a lady. "Not too sure. If it sounds too exotic, I stay away from it. There's a few really fantastic coffee shops here, not to mention a little dive with amazing burgers, but the rest. Eh."

She was still allowing him to lead her, her hand tucked neatly into his.

"So. How's everyone?" She knew, but she just wanted to hear about it from him.

"Burgers are good," Richard said. "You can't beat meat, cheese, and a bun. Maybe we could do that next time."

Richard almost winced at the mention of "next time." It was all too easy to forget that this Anita was not the one he had left, one that he had an understanding with.

"Everyone is... okay," he told her. "As well as could be expected. Everything seems to be this giant, ticking time bomb though. You never know when it's going to explode but... there are good things too."

"Life's just that way, sometimes."

Her voice is quiet as she thought back to so many things that were her own personal time bombs.

"... look. We're it here. No vamps we know, no pack or pard. Just us."

Richard wanted to point out that with Anita, life seemed to always be that way. Honestly though, he had little room to complain. For all he had to deal with, she had it all ten fold. He sometimes wondered why she bothered to be with him at all when it would seem far more simpler to go with someone else. Still, he wasn't going to question his good fortune in that aspect.

"I know we are," Richard said, giving her a broad grin and squeezing her hand. "Just us. I like that, I like that a lot. Not that you aren't worth all those other things, but if I can get just us I'll take it."

She fell silent, knowing how others from their home could just drop in. If it happened, it would complicate things, but for now, she wasn't going to dwell on that.

Too much, anyway.

"I'll take it, too."

Richard new better than to be upset or put off by any of of her pensive moods or anything like that. It was just a part of who she was and something he could take in stride. Besides, she never borrowed trouble, everything she was concerned about was a valid worry.

"So would it be dangerous territory for me to ask what you've been up to these last few months?" Richard asked casually. He did want to know what Anita had been doing all this time, but there was just... dangerous territory there. "Or is your life as severely lacking in the mundane as it was back home?"

She paused in her steps at his questions. He always had a way of phrasing things, didn't he?

"It's still pretty lacking, you know? Just... stuff. Here and there."

She didn't want to tell him about everything that had happened to her in the city. She also didn't want anyone else telling him, either.

"You know, somehow I doubted that it would be mundane for you anywhere," he told her with a chuckle. He could smell how uneasy she was about the question, but Richard didn't let it phase him.

"I'm.... happy for you though," he added. "I know you wouldn't like it any other way. If you were stuck in this place and it was all white picket fences and such you'd think you were in hell Anita."

Mundane definitively wasn't something she did. Ever. "That'd be hell, alright. Drive me right over the bend..." Her stomach growled softly, telling her that it wasn't very appreciative of how slow they were going. She merely chuckled, but had the grace to look at least a little embarrassed.

"C'mon," he said, squeezing her hand. "Let's go get some food. I promise, if things get too mundane then we'll find some space alien here to take us up in his ship."

Richard gave Anita a boyish grin and squeezed her hand. He was joking about the alien thing... well, he was half joking about it anyways. He had seen a couple of giant robots around that looked like they would be really interesting. Tugging on her hand, they began walking again.

"Or maybe we could find a ninja..." he said, suddenly excited. It was a bit childish, but what guy didn't love ninjas. "Do you know any of the ninjas here? I really want to meet one..."

She followed his lead with a chuckle she just couldn't hold in. "Afraid not, sweetheart. I've pretty much kept to myself around here. Haven't had the chance to meet any of the ninja."

Really, he was like a big kid sometimes.

"No ninjas?" Richard asked, trying not to sulk a little bit. What kid hadn't grown up pretending to be a ninja? Too bad there wasn't a ninja vaccine you could try and accidentally get infected by.

"I guess I'll have to meet some on my own," he added with a shrug. It was about time he started meeting people on his own anyways, besides those that Anita already knew. True, he had talked a lot with Alucard and they had agreed to be friends, but that conversation had only started because of his connection to Anita.

"Ah, here is the place, Cafe Juliet," Richard said.

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