give me a kiss.

The night air always seemed to stink of sweat, rain, and bad intentions. Perhaps there were those which would categorize Slade’s own work within that category, but he had never considered himself anything more than a businessman. This was his office, and the blood on his blade was a job well done. The whole world was going to hell, but Wilsons were survivors. Hell, Slade had been surviving for far longer than he should have at this point. But it was simply proof that he was the best at what he did. Cut rate assassins didn’t tend to make it very long, and Slade was no stranger to the concept. If it weren’t for his healing factor, he would have been taken out long ago. 

He had changed out of his uniform and stowed it before taking to the ground. It wouldn’t really be worth it to have some do-gooder hero type decide to tail him because they thought they could get a piece of Deathstroke. Sometimes, Slade entertained such things. Right now, though, he wouldn’t say he was in the mood. His job had gone well and the money was in his account. That was enough for him. 

Hands in his pockets, Slade walked as if he were nothing but a regular guy–granted he was built like a brick shithouse and 6 foot 5, but as regular as he had the capacity to look. The eyepatch and silver hair wasn’t exactly commonplace. Still, he tried not to look annoyed as the woman came around the van to ask for help. Looking behind her at the job, he shrugged. Free drink was fine, he supposed. And it wasn’t like it would be difficult to do.

“Alright,” he answered simply. Slade wasn’t a charitable man by nature but, contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t actually an emotionless sociopath either. He could help her. “Just tell me where you want shit.”

Straight to it, she could appreciate that. Tanya led him the short distance to the back of the van; this was probably something that she could get done on her own somehow, maybe by way of the Darkforce or some kind of dolly, but the effort just wasn’t there right now and she never shied away from talking to anyone. It was a win/win in her mind.

“Just through this door,” she gestured to the alley exit door; everything was already measured, so the table should fit just fine, “ and you can leave it by the bathrooms. Short walk.” Not that he needed the reassurance; he looked like he could handle the whole thing by himself. The familiarity of his appearance was under question as she stepped aside to give him room to remove the table from its confines within the van.

“Do you even need my help?” Tanya jokingly asked as she gave him a quick once over; there were only so many people who looked like that. She counted two.

Illyana was still having a difficult time believing that the gorgeous Earth had become a collection of less than a handful of cities that still functioned. She had disappeared to Limbo for a few months and came back to a mess she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to fix. Still, the world was far too beautiful to give up on and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She had been walking along the streets of one of the few cities still standing when someone called her over. Her brow rose at the offer and she approached the woman. “I can’t say no to a drink,” Illyana responded, her Russian accent thick. Being an X-Men barely paid to begin with–with the world having gone to shit, she had even less money to operate with. Luckily, she could escape to Limbo to deal with most of her needs but a regular drink sounded nice.

As she approached the woman, her eyes began glowing and her Eldritch armour sprouted from her arm, encasing one of them. She didn’t exactly have super strength otherwise. She approached the pool table and gripped onto one end. “So how far are we moving this?”

The accent was a surprise, but not unheard of - the arm on the other hand. This wasn’t her first rodeo dealing with a super or really anyone who could run laps around the average Joe, but for them to just ‘whip it out’, as it were, especially to a stranger in the middle of the supposed apocalypse, surprised her. She smiled approvingly when the armor finished its thing, hopeful that this would be a piece of cake.

“Damn, you don’t play around,” Tanya commented. She tilted her head towards the alley door to the tiny bar, just a few feet from the van. “Just in there. I’ll get the other end once you’re out of the van.” If blondie even needed her, that is - that arm was no joke.

Most people tended to ignore John when he was walking around. Hell, most people tried to ignore him even if they were right in front of him. So when this woman suddenly came up to him when he was walking around, he raised an eyebrow and observed her for a moment, taking a long, slow drag on his cigarette. “Wow, you must be really desperate ta ask a wanker like me fer help.” She certainly did not look like a damsel in distress, so he doubted she needed him for any sort of fight. But if she thought he looked right for the job, whatever it was had to be some sort of dirty work.

Still, a free drink would not go amiss. “There’s an openin’ line I ain’t heard yet,” he said with a chuckle, blowing out smoke, “But then there ain’t much I wouldn’t do fer a free drink either. Ok luv, I’ll bite. What d'you need?”

The accent was a small surprise but it was the term of endearment he so lovingly pinned to his lapel that earned him a smile. “People aren’t exactly rushin’ to give me a hand,” she returned with a shoulder shrug; she wasn’t disappointed by it, it was just the way that things were. “Don’t exactly blame them, either, but hey, see me complainin’? Managed to grab someone.”

That one earned him a scoff, but a smirk followed shortly. “I’ll have to remember that for the next time, then. I,” Tanya started and started off towards the back of the van, where the doors sat open and the pool table inside, “need you on the other end of this monster.” She stared at the tabled, both hands now pressed to her hips. “I would’ve totally tried to figure out how to shimmy it by myself but.. that thing weighs like, a fuckin’ ton.”

The alley stunk of days old booze and piss — which were indistinguishable to Tanya as she unloaded the small, windowless black van. Every now and then she disappeared into the back door with an armful of boxes and goods for her upcoming dive bar. The space for rent was small, but doable — though it needed to function as an actual bar, Tanya had her sights set on getting together a new B.A.D Girls team; or at least, a team that wanted to make money during the end of the world. 

A difficult endeavor, she was sure, but Tanya held fast and continued to carry — and sometimes dragged — boxes between van and bar. The large, metal sarcophagus emptied out, little by little, until all that was left were a couple of lamps and a pool table. Now, she didn’t have to lift a finger when the van was loaded up, but now that the movers were long and gone, Tanya stared at the pool table with an air of frustration and her hands pressed to her hips.

Her focus slipped to the scattered passerby just beyond the van and in that second, her eyes lit up when she spotted someone with potential. With an offer of batted eyelashes and a coy smile, Tanya slinked over to the stranger before they could hurry out of view. 

“D’ya have a second to give a girl a hand? There’s a free drink in it for ya if you say yes,” she trilled; the beg in her gaze was obvious. While she could probably manage on her own — she didn’t really want to.

THE BASICS

Sexuality: Bisexual Birthday: November 1st Height: 5′ 4″ Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Affiliations: B.A.D. Girls Inc., Serpent Society Powers: Darkforce manipulation, hypnosis, aquatic breathing