In need of a little...something ((open))
Kat perched on the tall stool at the bar, her fingers tracing through the sweat on her drink as she watched the masses dance. It was not exactly what she'd expected when she'd been given the name of this place when asking about fulfillment of some darker needs.
Still, she'd not seen the entirety of the place, and she did not feel as silly in the ridiculous skirt and corset she'd chosen for the evening, as there were girls in much more...disrespectful attire. It was not easy to find what she was looking for and the outfit, and six inch black heels she'd paired it with helped set the tone. Well she hoped it did. She usually turned to Peter when such needs arose, and she wasn't about to ask him to fly to America just for that, nor was she going to ask anyone at The Domicile. The Mercs looked at her as a bit of candy anyway and she did not think it would be wise to offer them reason to.
So she was here, and so far there was nothing even approaching acceptable that had bothered to come say hello. One thing she did notice, was that she would not be able to sit here un-harassed much longer and joining the masses on the floor would be necessary. Michael and Magdalene were all but Fred Astair and Ginger Rodgers-ing it in her head.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kitty, who seemed to have tired of her mobsters and moved on to something else. Interesting. Val wasn't sure what she thought of the woman's style either, too much flash for her taste, not enough good solid ass kicking.
Not that Val thought about that long. No, instead, she jumped the table and stood right in between the two men, one of who had been her target first. Now she was all for Tai sharing, but this lug had to learn manner, he was hers until she was done with him. Val barley reached his chest, but that was OK. She slammed her heel, stiletto and all, into his instep. He let out a satisfying yelp and turned his attention back to her.
She ducked behind the guy Tai had shared with her, kidney punched him and sent him stumbling towards the lug. Given the way the shared target could be shoved around Val guessed him human. Poor thing was getting more than he bargained for probably. Well you pays your money and you takes your chances she reasoned and didn't bother to waste any more sympathy on him.
Sweeping the leg out from under the human, before he got re-involved with the lug, Val grabbed a tray from a passing server and slammed that into his head. He obligingly fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Just you and me now."Â?
She grinned at the goon. It was almost a shame she was having so much fun. She did love to watch Tai work and from the little bits, she could see he was doing a damned fine job. It was down right pretty.
He worked hard to pin her to the ground, and she just kept slipping from his grasp. After the fifth time, he snarled at her and she grinned. The brawl continued on around them, but she'd lost focus for anything but tall and lanky. This was almost as much fun as what she'd set out to find.
He came at her again, and she slipped from his grasp, sending him headlong into the bar. It was the third time he'd done the same thing and she giggled. He stood, shook his head and charged her again. Someone grabbed her from behind, and held her still as he finally made full contact. It was Kat's turn to go flying, with lanky attached, the two of them landing, with him on top, at Akio's feet.
She grinned up at him. "Little help?"
Taking advantage of the other man's flexibility Tai maneuvered him into a series of spins and managed to lock him into a hold he finally couldn't escape. Tai finished him off with a few well-placed breaks, knowing they would mend but effectively ending the fight. And just as well, as Kat and a tallish vampire suddenly flew threw the air and landed at his feet.
Tai raised an eyebrow at Kat's plea for help and considered for a moment. Finally he gave her a short nod. Spinning backwards he hooked his heel and knee around he taller vampire's jaw and wrenched him off of Kat. The man recovered well but Tai was back on him in a flash, driving him away from Kat and keeping him busy with a series of impossibly quick kicks.
He fell to his knees clutching the injured area and apparently wasn't looking to get up. Val didn't go after him further. That wasn't how you did things in a bar fight. Val, however, knew better than to turn her back on him. That never went well.
Apparently, Kitty had gotten in over her head. With a smile she watched Tai help her out. It was very neighborly of him. Smart too, you didn't want to set the whole place off. Lord, you'd never get that under control.
The point was that she had to get them repaired at all, or shop for new ones. Neither of which were really in her budget at the moment. Barefoot, she wove her way past two men who were fighting each other, and made it to where Akio was kicking the crap out of Tall and Lanky.
She watched for a moment, pissed and really wanting to help the vampire on his way to being ashes come morning. Of course killing a guy might rank up there on things not to do if she wanted to not get noticed by the powers that be. Still.
She was a street fighter, bar brawls and martial arts were, while not unheard of, not part of her normal dealings. What with thieves tending to stick to the shadows, and all that. So she had no idea to get back in on the damned shoe breaker.
Tai bowed to his opponent and then turned to Kat, who was watching the end of the show. No one else was interested in their tiny brawl by this point; it wasn't entirely uncommon here so it hadn't really warranted that much attention.
"Not bad," he said with a slight smile. He still wasn't the chatty sort but he approved of Kat's readiness to jump into the fray at the start of the fight.
As his bloodlust wound down he looked around for a likely donor, knowing he'd want to snack before they left. As he did he spotted Val across the room stepping over someone on the ground. He reached for Kat's arm and headed over toward Val.
Crossing and uncrossing her legs she held held out one leg, foot neatly pointed showing off her calf.
"Look. I finally managed to do this with out breaking a heel."Â?
She said with a bright fangy grin. She was quite pleased with keeping her shoes intact. This was a new pair after all.
"Thanks. Same goes." Tucking her shoes over two fingers of one hand, she let him take her over to Moira. They slid into a booth and she sigh softly.
"I don't seem to possess your luck." She held up the broken shoe briefly before tucking it back away. "I don't suppose either of you saw the heel?"
A soft chuckle accompanied her words, before she fell silent again.
Across the room, it was as if nothing had ever happened. Tai spotted one of the waitresses, a young woman in her thirties, pretty, with an appetite for kinky and a sex drive that was out of this world. He'd fed from her before, and by the looks she was giving him she wouldn't mind another round.
His bloodlust was cooling off leaving him hungry and slightly grumpy, so as smoothly as he'd sat down Tai was back up. He nodded to Val, indicating where he was headed, and gave Kat a brief little bow. He wasn't going to be gone long... the act of sex wasn't required to experience the euphoria of a bite.
As it was she laughed at Kitty and her predicament, but with a bit of sympathy.
"Honey that heel is -gone-. Trust me I had something similar happen here a while back and I had to have the thing out and out replaced."Â?
It had been a damned nice pair of Prada's too. Val was still a bit sulky about that, even if they had been last seasons.
"I can recommend a good repair place if you want though. You'd never know anything had happened to that pair, he does good work."Â?
She figured, it wasn't as if she had any real hope anyone had seen the thing. It made her wonder how many high heel parts they found when they cleaned this place every morning. "That'd be great. I like this pair, they're actually comfortable."
Proping her elbow on the table she took a few moments to study the woman in front of her. "I suppose I should ask what clan your from, but I'm not sure it matters all that much. I can assume where you are not from based on the last little bit, but I never make assumptions. Too much trouble comes from them."
"I -hate- to waste a good pair of shoes but combat boots just aren't my style."Â?
That wasn't 100% true. Her foot ware had varied greatly when working with the IRA or if she was sniping but it certainly wasn't anything she'd ever chose for every day. Not that it mattered.
Val did hate to give information without getting some to start with. Not even information that just didn't really matter, it wasn't like the clans were top secret. She shrugged off her initial hesitation though.
"Let me guess we come of as Evenhet."Â?
Val said with a grin. She hopped Tai would bring the waitress back with him, she wouldn't mind another drink. Something, anything to do with her hands she was feeling fidgety again.
"Thank you. I prefer a pair of boots, over these things, but biker boots don't say sexy when paired with the skirt and corset."
A soft chuckle escaped her, which turned into a laugh at the woman's next comment. "Not unless the Evenhet have chosen to drop the whole humans are our friends thing."
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "No I figured you owe some form of allegiance to the same people I do. Of course, if I'm wrong and you don't call the Domocile home, I should probably hightail it and hope you forget I exist."
Sizing up Kitty in a different light Val shook her head.
"It is all about attitude and if you want to ear biker boots with a corset you make it look good. Besides it isn't like there is a dress code here."Â?
There were some people here who looked liked they just walked out of an office, some in nothing but leather and chains, corsets, kimonos, anything went really. Most people knew that, at least if they'd been her before. So maybe Kitty hadn't, and if she was new to the House of Pain maybe she was new to the city.
Val just shrugged. The Domicile was as much home as any place. She had rooms there, she had her condo in town and she was pretty sure she owned some property other places. But she didn't attach too much sentiment to any place she lived.
"More or less. But I'm guessing you're new here."Â?
"Well, now Miss. Valentine, you'd be correct in your guessing. I've been in America a little less than two months now. I'm still trying to find everything I need, and this place was suggested to me as a means to my end."
She lifted her head, caught the eye of the bar tender and shortly a waitress was placing a fresh vodka martini in front of her and whatever it was Valentine was drinking set before the red head.
"Oh really? And what brings you out west."Â?
Something about Kitty suggested she was from Europe, so anywhere in North America would be out west.
As to the House of Pain being a means to an end Val just gave her smoky laugh. It was that, and it didn't even always matter what 'the ends' were one could accomplish a hell of a lot here. As she and Tai had proved on more than one occasion.
She shrugged with one shoulder. "So far no luck, but I'm bound to find it eventually. In the mean time I'm rather enjoying the night life here."
She played with the stem of her glass for a moment. "And you, how do you find yourself in Nachton?"
Only five or ten minutes had passed at most, and he returned to their table to discover Val and Kat engaged in polite conversation. He wasn't about to interrupt them so he rejoined them quietly, sliding back in next to Val with a slight smile, looking a bit like that cat that had just eaten the canary.
You couldn't just say something like that to Val and not expect her to comment on it. She was always interested in what someone else found valuable. And it -had- to be good to have drug Kitty across the pond.
Kitty seemed terribly casual about this search too. What could matter so much that she'd have come all the way here looking for it but so little that she could be this relaxed. It was an interesting little puzzle.
She half turned when Tai slid in beside her and gave a half laugh.
"Delicious was she lover?"Â?
What brought her here? Huh? Val had never really thought about it. It had just sort of happened.
"Work I guess. The dealership is near by,"Â? She pointed to the card. "and it was for sale and I was between gigs."Â?
Val just shrugged. It didn't really matter and it had worked out.
She chuckled a bit. "Actually that might benefit me in someways, save me some leg work, but I rather like the traipsing about."
She watched Akio slip back into the booth with what she'd heard called a shit-eating grin. Though she didn't understand what that meant. Mostly he looked like a cat that had snuck into the cream and drank it all.
Huh, well, that was partly how her work worked as well. Things just sort of happened the way they wanted to, and she happily followed along. It wasn't bad work if you could get it and she, so far, had plenty. She inclined her head at Val, in understanding.
"So, I'm guessing since her name wasn't really Moira, and is in fact Valentine, yours isn't Akio either."
A grin curled her lips, as she lifted an eyebrow at the man.