Thread: The Lady and the Wolf - Penitency x Praxis

She watched him pace about the interior, half-lidded eyes flickering back and forth as he went. He was an interesting creature. She'd always had a difficult time attributing their type to herself. Their mannerisms, so brutish with seldom a hint of grace reminded her of films she'd seen as a child of long extinct animals on now gone African plains. He would have been the third she'd been assigned to. The first two had died in action -both instances in some part her fault. Due more to her negligence and lack of commitment to the work. And whether it was her lack of professionalism, her basic disinterest in the work itself or just bad luck, she'd been assigned to him. His record of infallibility, when it came to murder at least, had counteracted Rachel's perceived ineptitude thus far. He does have a certain appeal, though. Like a grizzly-bear in khaki. No. I was cold. She answered casually, offering him a toothy, insincere grin. What's the matter, honey? Bad day at the office? Did the bad guys not walk into your bullets? She had affected a saccharine tone in her voice, one that he would had recognized by now as condescension. He ignored her and began to disrobe. It would have been untrue to say she'd never taken a peek. Lord knew he wasn't shy. And that hadn't been the first time she'd seen him fling any and every article of clothing off as if in a race when he returned from a mission. It was the scars that most often commanded her attention though. The criss-crossing and hash-marked story they told was something she couldn't keep herself from being curious about. It seemed so strange to her that someone, even someone like him , would entertain their existence. When others would spend fortunes to assure no such blemishes ever occurred at all. He would eat you whole She smirked at the mere idea of it, still watching him with a bridled intrigue that neither confirmed nor betrayed the girls inner monlogue. Wearing an expression of equal parts biological need and...something else. Contempt? It wasn't so dissimilar from the look she often wore when considering the lower colonies or, shudder to think, the Blight. A vestigial dislike of what she and those like her considered to be the epitome of Darwin's law. Tacitly averting her eyes when he went to drop his jeans she instead turned her attention to one of the several monitors. The plotter was still deciding the hovercraft's best course and she was faced with the dreaded realization that they were about as far into the Blight as she'd ever been. About as far anywhere she'd ever been from her Skytop loft high above what used to be the Northern Californian coast. She much preferred the luxury it provided in her off hours. Even the cramped, greasy hallways of the dispatch yard -their destination, seemed like a haven compared to the barren, scorched plains that threatened to blur out their craft like it had done virtually everything else. When was the last time you saw Daddy at one of those fundraisers they do for them? She called back when she heard the shower shut off. Never. She answered for him, still facing toward the craft's HUD. He only thinks it's a great idea that I'm out here.. learning , because he can't remember what this place is like down here. The bustle of the dispatch yard was a refreshing change of pace from the quiet interior of the hovercraft. Ethan and Rachel had never properly taken the time to get to know one another, nor had the topic ever been broached. The two had sat in virtual silence, him cleaning some complicated looking piece of weaponry and her lazily flipping through page after page of a small, black tablet. They'd made brief eye contact when they felt the grab of the tractor line and their craft was lifted skyward. He stepped down onto the steel grating of the landing platform first, mindlessly offering his large hand up to her as she descended. And with as little thought as he'd made the offer she accepted, her small digits gripping tentatively as she took the last step. She adjusted the collar on her flight-suit and turned wordlessly to him, craning up to meet his gaze. Good work, Officer Gray. Her voice was crisp, enunciating the formality over the roar of engines as they powered on. The wind this high up was nearly as bad as it had been in the Blight and she struggled to keep her wild mane from whipping about her face. I'll push for a better assignment next time. He handed her a small chip containing the recorded details of the mission which she tucked into a hip pocket. Hey! She called when he turned to leave. Good boy. Get'cher self a treat. She grinned viciously, tossing a small, metallic coin in his direction. Synthetic gold most likely. More a symbol of it's worth. Hard credit. Especially valuable in the city hubs that would readily trade city currency for government credit. Virtually useless to her considering the lifestyle she lead. This had never stopped her from keeping them on hand and peppering them out when she felt especially generous. If that was, in fact, what brought on the seemingly random acts of philanthropy. Or was she paying toward something? Some never mentioned favor paid for in advance. If so, she'd never let on. This, too, had never stopped Ethan from taking them.