tampered | Log: Ongoing

Log: Ongoing

When; September 9th, night
Rating; PG for language
Characters; Anita

blind_shot
Summary; Sands and Anita talk business
Log;

Anita finished gearing up for her evening. For most women, this would be a coat of makeup and overdone hair, but for her, it meant settling her Browning in its customary spot in her shoulder holster. She’d found a place that had some clothes for someone her size, and the boots she’d spied there were beyond hope. Three inch heels, ending just over the knees and enough room in the top to slide the knife she’d brought with her into the top.

Really, what more could a girl ask for?

Oh, yeah. Another knife to match that one.

Finally done, she went to the lobby to await the agent.

She’d never been overly fond of dealing with agents, but she’d learned how to deal with them. This one, though, didn’t seem like he’d be as easy to freak out as most were.

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Sands likes to pretend he's not sightless when he can. Still, he enjoys the surprise (though he mourns not being able to see it). He enters in his usual black clothes and sunglasses- adding his white cane.
Walking through the doors to the lobby, no one could mistake him for anything other then blind.

An eyebrow rose when she saw the man enter the lobby. She'd heard he was blind, but she thought that he might be using it as a ruse to keep people off balance. She was wrong.

Moving as quietly as she can, she moves beside the man and clears her throat.

"I'm assuming you're my date for the night?"

Sands, at this time, has five guns on him with five extra clips. Two in plain sight criss crossed at his hips gunslinger style. And a slight bulge in his jacket suggests two shoulder holsters. He has no intention of using any of them. He just doesn't leave his apartment not fully armed.

Whether he heard her or not- it doesn't show.
"Sneaking up on a man in heels must have been a real challenge." He turns to her holding out a crooked arm for her to take.
"Though it's more for my benefit, I enjoy the image."
He gives her his best smile- it looks like he's desperately trying to sell something that will hurt her. He thinks his smile is charming.

Her eyes scan him, mentally locating each weapon, plus figuring how quickly he could get to them. Most people would be intimidated, but she understands. A hand slides up to run an absent finger over her Browning.

She's impressed.

"I hate heels, but Jean-Claude likes them. How'd you know I was wearing heels, anyway?"

She slides her arm through his, making sure to keep enough polite distance between them.

"The sound of the heel is sharper. The wood has to balance more weight the higher they are."
It sounds good but the truth is that every man knows the sound of heels. Period.

The distance helps when being lead anyway so he takes her out the doors (holding it open for her) and walks down the street.
"So. You're tiny. Itty bitty even. What's up with that?"

"Yeah, that would be thanks to my mother, along with the hair and eyes. My dad was all pale and blue eyed and shit. All I got from him was the skin tone."

As they walk, her eyes never stop moving. They take in everything around them, from the people the pass to the names of the shops.

"Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't handle myself. A few too many made the mistake of underestimating me back in St. Louis. They won't make it again."

Sands uses his own looks to fool enemies. Even without being small he gives off a very vulnerable image. Now he uses his blindness to do that.
"If anything I'm sure it's a positive. So is being a woman. They don't look at you to carry a gun. I'm sure a lot of people died with shock on their face."

Smelling a cloud of sugar and caffeine and knowing they were nearby because he was counting steps- they come to a small place Sands never found out the name of. It's The Juliet Cafe. He hasn't found a really great restaurant yet. Lucky for the cook.
Leading her inside he trusts her to find them a seat.
"I've decided the only way to get real food here is to cook it yourself."

She laughs. "I don't carry a gun all the time." Yes, it's a lie, but it's more for his benefit than her own. "But you're right, they did. Now I have a reputation for being dangerous."

She looks around the cafe with a small smile, finding a seat off in a nice quiet corner. Apparently, he's waiting on her to take him to a seat, so she does so.

She leans back in her seat and stares off to one side, as if she's bored.

"So you cook, do you? I can't see it."

"Me either." Luckily he can't see the bored look. Sands hates being ignored in a very big way.
"Do you have experience in the exciting field of personal protection?"
Right to business he goes. Sheldon is not a romantic.

"Just my own, usually, or those under me. Nothing professional, though, just a burning desire for survival. Long story short is, I'm not some huge, hulking guy, or some blonde with huge tits, but I'm a good shot, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve that makes me hard to kill, even though you can't really die here."

Her elbows end up propped up on the table, with her cheeks cupped in her hands.

"Why do you need a bodyguard, anyway?"

A burning desire to live isn't that great in a bodyguard. They tend to move out of the way in danger. Anita is looking like a poor substitute to his favorite muscle, Ran.
"You die. You rise again- but people die here. And I like them. It makes me feel important."

"Honey-" Sands turns his face to the waitress that stepped up. He heard her head straight for their table and she's wearing shoes with cheap rubber soles. Sands would know a waitress anywhere.
"I'd just love one of those vanilla things I hear about."
His voice takes on a very slight southern tone and becomes thicker. He smiles at her in a quick white trash grin.

Most other people- he would order for them. It's a power play. Anita he leaves alone. Women with guns never respond well that that.

The redheaded server turns to Anita with pen poised. "And you?"

"Coffee, please." With a smile, she sends the waitress on her way and turns her attention back to Sands. "So you're wanting someone to keep an eye on you while your current bodyguard is on vacation. I didn't know there were any good vacation spots around here."

She can smell a lie and knows he's withholding information, but it's not important.

"I'm not one to protect others unless I have a valid interest in them, like I did some of Jean-Claude's kiss or the pack, and it's never for money."

An eyebrow cocks at the phrase 'Jean-Claude's Kiss'. He just doesn't know shit about vampires.

"Right." If he really wanted to do this he would give her a valid reason. For instance 'protect me or you'll never see your little dog again'. Luckily for him (because it would have worked out very badly) he has other options.

"Too bad. You were first in mind. I guess I'll just go down my list." Or just try to stay out of trouble until Ran is better. As if that would happen.
"In fact- I insisted on hiring another party rather then go with my ex-henchmen, who is a vampire and a serious pain in my ass. Greed is too smart... Goddamn her. You know the correct thing to do would be let me have her little friend who thought it the honorable thing to do. And it is- I think. I may not practice but I know it when it's offering to work for free."

His rant is interrupted by the soft soles of the waitress again. He gives her another smile when she puts down their drinks and says thank you.

"So. It's unfortunate you're not interested. I'll have to be satisfied with selling you bullets."

"Vampires are always a pain in the ass. It doesn't matter what world or time they come from." She accepts the coffee with a smile and a nod to the waitress, then sips at it for a moment.

"Someone thought it was honorable to take over when her friend went on vacation? I just don't buy it."

Another sip, as she watches him over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Why do I have the feeling that the price you charge me for my ammo just went up?"

"So why are you dating one?"

Anita seems to be stuck on the fact that the things he's telling her doesn't fit. Seeing that she's not going to just let it go he gives her a little just to get her moving again.
"That's probably because I'm lying about her being on vacation. But as I said- I know honor when I bump into it. And what happened to my bodyguard is her business. I never told her friends, much less strangers. What happened to her is a very personal thing. Especially for a warrior. So lets just call it a vacation, huh?"

Sands laughs at that. She's right about that.
"I like you. You can see it coming. No hard feelings, Blake. The price was lower in an attempt to woo you over to my side."
Sands pushes his own drink over with long fingers. How she reacts to the next 11 minutes will determine how cheap she gets ammo.
"You really must try this. It's the best thing I've tasted in the city."

"Why? Well, for one, he's a persistent bastard. Two, I'm almost comfortable around him and for me, that's something unusual. I'm not apt to share the other reasons and I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear them."

She decides to let the conversation about his bodyguard slide, eyes watching as he pushes his drink closer.

"I haven't tasted much here, yet. I might have to save the best for last."

"Persistence does help. The girl I'm after now- my goal has been to just wear her down so she's too fed up to say no. It's working out."

He leaves the drink in the middle of the table hoping she changes her mind.
"I think you should try it. Honestly the best non alcoholic drink I've found anywhere. In fact, it's too good. It's so good that when I'm finished, I'll pay my check, walk straight into the kitchen and shoot our waitress who was kind enough to make it for me. Because that's what I do. I restore the balance to this city. And that is what I would like from you right now. Help keep the balance by pulling the trigger. Keep these vampires in line."

Her lips curl up into a slight smile along the rim of her coffee cup.

"Wouldn't that be pointless? After all, she'll come back if what I'm hearing is true. And if she made it so good, wouldn't it be a shame if she never wanted to serve you again because she's afraid of you?"

The coffee finished, she leans back in her chair, one hand casually draping along her waist.

"I'm a big fan of balance and all, but no one's done anything to warrant me shooting them. Not yet, anyway."

Sands frowns. That didn't go at all the way he planed it.
"You're really bumming me out, Anita."
What he means is that what she said was perfectly logical and his favorite sport is officially ruined. He sits there in silence with a defined pout.
"Okay. Be right back."

Because she sat there and so casually (and rightly) dismissed his sport, Sands is going to throw one hell of a fit. He slides out of his seat, taking the waitress by her arm and pulling her down the hall to the restrooms. After about two minutes there's the sound of a gunshot and Sands comes out to melt into the now panicked cafe crowed going for the door. It's complete chaos and he's not even happy about it. On the way past their table he grabs Anita's wrist and yanks her up against him, moving her toward the exit.

She didn't think anything when he moved. She didn't even blink when he took the waitress with him. In her mind, he's trying to scare her into complying with him, but she's not that easy.

When the gunshot rings out, she knows better. Already on her feet, she's shocked slightly when he appears in the crowd, pulling on her wrist. With a frown, she moves with him out of the cafe, but once outside, instinct takes over.

Using slightly unnatural strength, she pushes him against the wall of the cafe, the Browning tucked neatly under his chin.

"There was no reason to do that. She was innocent," she hisses.

Oops. Sands realizes his mistake on not just getting the fuck out of Dodge. She's a hero type. And stronger then him.
"The last woman that had me like this- I put a bullet in her.
...And honestly, it's turning me on.
But you'll come back. Just like she will. You said so yourself."
Before he's done talking he has a gun pressed against her stomach.

"You don't know that. You don't know anything about her. What if I told you that in her own world she drowned her two small children in a bathtub. Her husband ate it a week later rather then hear all the gorey details in court. She was trying to get pregnant again with the manager. Imagine if you will, an infant murdered over and over again by it's mother. Born into Purgatory."
Sands could be making that up. But chances are just as good that he's not.

The gun never wavers from its perch, even though she feels her nerves twitch. "Try me. I've healed worse. I don't care what your reasons were. It was wrong. I don't care if she sliced them up and served them to everyone that ate at the cafe the last few days. You didn't have the right to do that. It isn't your job to balance everything."

Right now, she's missing the comforting weight of her Firestar, which she left behind. She was growing lazy since she'd come here...

"But it's your job to shoot me for doing it? There's a real flaw in your logic." Sands wasn't bullshitting about being turned on by the position. She admitted to being part Mexican and right now his body is seriously confusing her with Aljerez. His hips rub against her unconsciously. He's now out of touch with reality in a dangerous way.

"Look into my eyes and kill me."

Her hand twitches as his hips slide against her, but she doesn't allow it to move any more than a minor shudder.

"Never been asked to kill someone before."

Even though she's lying again, her free hand reaches up and yanks his sunglasses off, only to go wide eyed at what she sees.

Unconsciously, she moves back several steps, taking the gun with her.

"Holy shit..."

When she moves away the spell is broken so suddenly it leaves him feeling weak. He sags against the wall with the gun hanging loosely at his side. Sheldon looks completely broken down and exhausted but it's more of a pause in him. His mind is sort of rewinding itself after the confusion. His own reaction to Anita surprised him. It wasn't just the things she had in common with Aljerez because Ran has some of those as well.
It's as if the woman radiates a weird and violent lust.

"No one is innocent here, Anita. Take your shot or let me go.

"Ain't gonna shoot you," she mutters, feeling something warm slide down her spine. From the inside.

"You're right. No one is, but that's still no reason to go around shooting indiscriminately."

The marks flare up for a moment, concern radiating in her mind for an instant before she grits her teeth and tamps it down.

"I don't know what the fuck that was... are you... are you alright?"

He believes her and holsters his gun, nodding as she lectures him on his shooting practices.
"I'll have you know I'm very choosy when murdering people." He's ready to make the appropriate noises in order for her to let him get back home to Rangiku. Until she admits to feeling something odd between them.

His brow furrows as he holds out his hand for the sunglasses she took off him.
"It's probably some city thing. You learn to just go with the flow here. It felt a lot better then the last prank."

Sands thought it was just him. The fact she experienced it as well keeps him from laughing it off. Otherwise her question about him being okay would send him into fits of giggles when she was holding a gun to him less then three minutes before.
"I'm fine. Don't I look it?"
Sands gives her a half smile to put her at ease.

She moves to hand him his sunglasses, making sure they were in his hand before she let go. The Browning disappers back into its place, her security blanket back in place.

"Glad you enjoyed it so much."

She would never admit the odd warmth wsa still nestled under her skin.

The glasses are polished on his shirt and put back on. He takes the folded white cane out from his vest.
"What man doesn't hope his date will shove him against an ally wall in a sudden moment of passion?"

"You really know how to give a guy a thrill, I'll give you that. Contact me if you need anything. The price wont go up."
The cane unfolds with a series of clicks and he leaves into the lit sidewalk wondering how much he's going to tell Rangiku about his attempt to find a temporary replacement.
On his way home Sands sings Lust For Life to himself with a smile. Something he thought dead has stirred and he's on a natural high.

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Log: Ongoing

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