(ง'̀-‘́)ง (ง'̀-‘́)ง

“….. Hello? You planning on just staring at it till it starts moving again? Cause you’ve got a long wait, my friend. That stag’s been thoroughly dead since I killed it this morning. Tell you what, you throw in another ten, I’ll butcher it for you myself, if you don’t want to deal with that much on your own.”

Avery was staring at the stag's clouded eyes when the hunter started going on about it, making it seem as if Avery was somehow phased by the sight of it. "This isn't my first time seeing a stag up close, kid. I can butcher it myself. How much for the whole thing?"

“Use your legs! Don’t forget to move them. They won’t take it easy on you on the field.”

Sansoria reeked, but Avery’s curiosity was relentless. She had to go see what their knights and such were up to. She had no ties to the military of either kingdom, which allowed her to practically remain unnoticed as she moved from one to the other. She was an alpha and a pack leader, but most didn’t know she even existed outside of her own kingdom. 

Didn’t she know that asking questions as direct as that would never warrant the kind of response she wants? Additionally, while she was now in possession of his firearm, she was still very much in his territory - and anyone skilled in his field, or likewise, would know to map out everything. Where furniture was placed, how it looked, what routes to take and where all of the exits were. There was an advantage being in the sitting area of his one-bedroom suite - plenty of furniture to use and disarm her so he could secure his weapon. Roman doubted that she would leave, and given her question and how expertly skilled she was at handling his gun, she worked a similar field as him. Leaving would expose her just as much as it would expose him. They both had something to lose in this situation, that much Roman was able to predict immediately.

Avery wanted to scoff at his words, every single one of them. She was not confused or scared. Okay, maybe she was, but that didn’t matter. “I’m the one with the gun; I’m the one that asks the questions.” She knew this dance already and didn’t care to take part in it. 

“All very good points. Boardwalk it is.”

“I believe it’s this way,” she said, turning towards where she hope to god was the exit to this hell. “The name’s Avery, by the way. Figured we should at least be on a first name basis if we’re going to be drinking together.”

“Oh? It seems that you speak my language. Quelle suprise. But of course, I am more than willing to help a fellow damsel in distress. It is a fine line between being sun-kissed and sun-damaged, and it would be such a shame if such fair skin was ruined. It is a blessing and a curse for women like us, is it not?”

She chuckled as she took the sunscreen from the woman and put some in her palm. “I couldn’t have said that better myself.” At the question, she smiled. “I travel for work pretty often, so I’ve picked up on bits and pieces of other languages.” Avery actually spoke French fluently, along with Italian, Spanish, German, and Russian. They were necessities in her line of work. “Where are you from then? Your accent is beautiful.”

Take A Bullet | Roman & Avery

The night hadn’t ended how Avery was expecting. Instead of getting intimate or even attempting to, she and the stranger ended up getting drunk off their asses before the poker game even ended. It turned out they both were of equal skill and luck, which led the game to stretch into the wee hours of the night. She couldn’t remember when she passed out or if Roman still awake when she did, but those were details that didn’t matter once she woke. The sky was still dark, and it was miracle from god above because the headache she had covered her entire skull and made her head throb. She was still in her underwear, and as her eyes were finally able to focus, she saw Roman was still in just his boxers. He was sprawled out on the couch while she was in a nearby chair. 

“I wouldn’t know–” She said as she looked around, turning her head all around them in search of the nearest one. “I think the closest would be in either Boardwalk or…the Springs? And we’re currently in neither.”

“Well...we should go to Boardwalk. I imagine there will be at least a few less children our way, and they’re bound to have a bar over there. Plus I don’t have to worry about digging for my ticket for proof of admittance or whatever at the Springs, since the Boardwalk is free.”

“At least now you know to never trust anyone with any of your personal belongings,” Natalie said casually though she didn’t understand what kind of withdrawal this woman was going through - if at all, but it seemed she was. Whatever the case, Natalie didn’t want to get involved or pry too much. Some things were best left unspoken to better enjoy the existing moment. At least she managed to find likeminded company. 

“Alright, so where’s the nearest bar?” She glanced around but all she could see where parents dragging children by leashes and vendors trying to show off their goods over the crowd. There had to be some sort of tavern or refreshment bar around here somewhere. “This is my first time in this part of the park.”

This certainly wasn’t the first time he’s played any kind of game with the word ‘strip’ in front of it, and it wouldn’t be his last. So forfeiting an exact one-hundred dollar bill was no loss to him and he assumed it was the same to her given how readily she did the same, though the amount was broken up into smaller bills. However, the last time he agreed to play this game, five others ended up dead at the end of his silencer - and the wired money he’d gotten before the kills was well worth the game because by the end of it, at least three of them were clad in nothing but their bare skin. “Here it is, little lady.”

Now that they both were holding a hundred dollars each in their hands like complete morons, they had to get the rest of what they needed for the game. She glanced around and spotted a gift shop. The tiny building was probably swarming with greasy-fingered children rubbing their hands on everything within their reach. Ugh. The things she did to potentially get laid. “I’m going to go buy a deck of cards, and then we can finally get this thing started,” she said before turning and walking towards the shop.

“Trust me, I’ve already gone insane.” Then she nodded understandably, “What’s stopping you from leaving? Your assistant isn’t anywhere around and…there are water parks here. Nowhere near the real thing of Florida beaches but it’s close enough in a place like this.” Natalie shrugged, imagining spending time on the coast - that might’ve been better. Renting a beach house, taking her great danes with her to run along the shore. Somewhere in the background, a child let out an ear-piercing scream, one that would make Natalie’s ears bleed if she had sensitive hearing at all, and she visibly cringed. “I really thought I had the willpower to not drink while on vacation,” She sighed eventually, “Why don’t you come with me to one of the bars?” At least there was an age restriction there. She could only imagine the sorry sight of people like her being there. It’s pitiful.

Avery was a bit of a lone wolf. She was used to doing things on her own, but when it came down to it, she always had some sort of support system behind her. Growing up, she had her parents, her friends, and her teachers. It then became just her friends and fellow gang members, and it eventually became just herself, but she had old friends and acquaintances to rely on for work and to spread her name about. In the agency, she had her assistant, their superiors, the tech guys, the secretaries, the HR boys, other spies, and her extraction team. She had never truly been alone, and yet, in the most magical place on earth, she felt like she was. Her assistant and her had never gotten along on a personal level, and there was no one that would want to spend ten days with Avery. She was sure her assistant had left her not because she felt obligated to give her space, but because she simply didn’t want to be around her. And now here she was chatting away with some stranger while children screamed and cried in the background. She felt so out of place, but it seemed this woman did as well. That was at least a little reassuring; there was a glimmer of hope that she maybe wasn’t completely alone.

“Not until you lay down a hundred dollars. This suit won’t come off that easily.” Roman winked.

Avery shook her head slightly but pulled her wallet out of her purse all the same. She nodded her head towards him as she pulled out 5 $20 bills. “And what about you, good sir? Where’s your down-payment?” If this guy was joking and just took her money and ran, she wouldn’t give a shit. A hundred dollars was just a drop in the bucket of what she had, and, even if he just ran off, it would probably be worth the entertainment this was already providing her.