GraveRobber

He was right, she needed sleep and she was praying it would come. After a moment of scattered thoughts, she looked at him. “Yea, I am pretty tired.” she paused, not wanting to seem nosy but her curiosity always took over. “Harvest?” She smiled slightly when he assured her safety, even though he seemed gruff he had been nothing but kind to her and she was thankful.

“ Jasinna.. kinda unusual, but it’s pretty.. I guess I’ll call you Jas though, if you don’t mind that is ? As to mine.. well now, that’s a thing I’ll take to the grave, but you can call me GraveRobber.. uh, I guess Graves for short... and don’t mention it...” he almost spluttered when she called him a “beautiful soul”

“ Hmmph.. dunno that I even have a soul.. or not one worth shit, but I guess I’ll take that as a compliment. Night then.. Jas.”

After she closed the door he shook his head and snorted at the idea of his ‘lovely’ soul all haloed up, knocking at the pearly gates.. nope, still can’t see it. He lay down, threw his coat over himself for warmth, and was in minutes fast asleep, a slight smile still on his face. 

The night passed without event, but as dawn rose, and an errant shaft of light flickered through the blinds and across his face, Graves started awake, groaned and sat up shivering. It was just a bad memory, but it got to him every time.. the memory of light across his eyes and then registering pain...holy fuck the pain... then the needle jabbed in his arm and the cool numbing bliss spreading. 

“Well now, what a surprise…" Kenz whirled around to face the owner of the hot breath on her ear, the heavy strands of acid-tripped rainbow falling on her shoulder which she flicked off with a look of mild disgust. She had been about ready to knock him between the eyes—should have, in retrospect, the guy was a smug asshole with very little going for him in the moment—but the fist and the adrenaline-addled maneuver died out fast. She didn’t need more fighting tonight, or more running. It would only lead to bad things for her. When you were as tiny and frankly unimposing as she was,you had to learn to pick your battles more wisely than most. She could skin him alive with her sharp tongue, boil his ego in scathing sarcasm, but there was no point in it tonight.

He had watched her run. She already looked like a coward. She crossed her arms, tracking him with pale eyes as he came around to face her. The words were of a tune she knew by heart, one she was usually singing when some jackass newbie thought they were tough enough to take her advice and toss it. She rolled her eyes and looked away in a huff as he spun on about pride and idiocy until the monologue took a sudden turn for the interesting: "…can I buy you a drink? Looks like you might be in need of one.”

"Just one, stud?" she asked, looking back at him with a tight and meaningless smile. “I could always use a drink—but don’t think you’re getting any more than that outta me, or you’re gonna be awfully disappointed." She didn’t need this guy hitting on her or trying to roofie her, but there was one thing her father had gotten right, it was his schooldays advise to the tiny and weak little K, all alone in a new school where nobody wanted her. "Find the biggest, scariest kid on the playground and make ‘em your best friend. No one’ll mess with ya’ then." In the underworld, they didn’t get much bigger or scarier than this chump—he cast a shadow ten feet long and six weeks deep. And here she was, flirting with danger, blowing him off, then giving him some tight-lipped half come-on.

“ Just one stud ?”

He quirked an eybrow at that and tilting his head as if appraising her, a slight frown creasing his forehead. His grin widened a tad further. “ Hmm.. let’s see how you do with one, and we’ll take it from there okay? Don’t want to have to be haulin’ your ass home from here now do I ? “  

When she qualified her acceptance with a warning he held up a hand as if to say “ not me sugar”

“ Hey.. now hold on there girly... gettin’ a mite ahead of ourselves aren’t we? Don’t worry I ain’t gonna hit on you. Just.. passin’ the time, as you might say and you don’t seem to have anythin’ better to do by the looks of it, so here we are, both at a lose end. Might as well enjoy the downtime is what I propose.. nothin’ more.”

He turned his head and followed her glance to the back of the room.

“ Yeah I usually sit near the exit in case I have to make one fast.. I’m kinda well-known here, can’t exactly blend in, during a raid, this place just buys me a little time off the street is all. Shit goes down and it’s fight or flight for me, and those who up and run away, may live to fight another day... that’s my philosophy. However if they was a-comin they’d be here by now I reckon, so let’s get us that drink, and you can sit wherever you like.” 

GraveRobber followed Kenzi to her chosen table and hailed a waitress. “ A beer, cold, leave it in the bottle sugar, if you please.. and what’ll you have ? Hell I don’t even know your name now do I ?” He laughed at that and the waitress snickered.“ Well.. whatever the lady wants.”  

When the waitress had gone he leaned on an elbow and looked at her sharply, that slight smile never far from his lips, as he spoke. “ So what’s a girl like you doin’ hangin’ with those Z-heads.. ‘scuse me for sayin’ but you seem like a whole other type of trouble to me.”