October 25th, 2014
The usual jumble of activity in the marketplace had subsided, only a few unwise souls lingering around the sidewalks lit up by the faint glow of the street lights. Antonia was one of them. A sleek black motorcycle was parked at the curb and she was sitting on a nearby bench. She wore black leather pants, a black leather jacket, matching black boots and her dark locks were as wild as ever, the cause in the form of a helmet sitting beside her. She was hunched forward, sucking on a cigarette that she ashed on the ground occasionally in front of her. She was enjoying the fresh air. Every now and then her head would sweep the streets, side to side. It was difficult to keep everything in her gaze considering her right eye, while healing, was still black and blue and partially swollen shut paired with a few bruises along her cheek and temple.
Ketch entered the Marketplace from an alley tucked between two southward facing buildings on the outskirts, hands shoved into the pockets of well-worn jeans, a leather bomber jacket that had seen a better lifetime 10 years ago brushing aside the moderate chill. The comparative quiet of the square bothered him little, and though it might be considered unwise for some denizens to chase the shadows down the alleyways of Rhy'din, he was no stranger to the city or the vast array of threats it harbored. His gait was sure-footed and light, maybe even a little careless haughtiness in the way he jangled some change in his pocket. The car he'd abandoned last night was still in the same place, and he was slowly on his way back towards it to test his luck again when the dark figure of Antonia and the curl of smoke rising from her cigarette caught his attention. He squinted a moment before cutting a path in her direction, moving slowly enough so as not to present himself as an immediate threat to her space or person.
Considering the sort of person she was and the sort of town this was, someone new on the street instantly had Antonia?s attention. Her one good pale blue eye fixed on the figure making his way towards the car but when he began cutting a path towards her that's when she shifted in her seat just a little, shoulders rolling and and the lazy sprawl of her legs tightened to place both feet flat on the ground. "Can I help you?" No need to beat around the bush, she wasn't the sort. Her tone wasn't rude or inviting, it held no heat or interest. It was flat, same as her unreadable expression aimed up at him through a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Ketch stopped a good seven paces away. His head tipped to the side as he studied her, recognition blooming when the shiner mottling her right eye caught a passing beam of light. Whether it was because he sported similar often enough to think the better of asking or because he assumed that she might be the type that collected bruises like blue ribbons as others he knew in passing did, he made no comment even if his eyes lingered where the the bruising transitioned into unmarked skin. "Not unless you're good with cars." His thumb hiked in the general direction of the Inn. "I left a loaner dead on the curb last night. I think you were in the Inn, but you left with a quickness,? A pause as eyes lingered upon the orange ember studding the dark figure in front of him. ?If you're feeling generous, I'd take one of those cigarettes off of your hands." Mouth formed a noncommittal smile, brow quirked slightly. The tension running along Antonia?s body did not suggest a generous frame of mind, but he often played the odds even when they didn't seem to be in his favor, willing to live with the results either way. Kept life interesting, if not challenging.
She had left too quickly the night before and had been too focused on getting to her room to recognize him but she was studying him now, openly and without hesitation. Head to toe. Until he mentioned his car and her gaze ticked that way. "Better with bikes but I'm not incompetent." She looked back at him when she said the word. Always making friends. She continued to stare at him unmoving for some time like she might just ignore his request and him entirely. But eventually she straightened in her seat then rose to her feet entirely. Her jacket was unzipped and she reached into it, searching briefly before coming back out with a pack and red plastic lighter. Stepping forward they were extended to him. "You really want me to look at your car, princess?" The damsel in distress that he was.
The usual jumble of activity in the marketplace had subsided, only a few unwise souls lingering around the sidewalks lit up by the faint glow of the street lights. Antonia was one of them. A sleek black motorcycle was parked at the curb and she was sitting on a nearby bench. She wore black leather pants, a black leather jacket, matching black boots and her dark locks were as wild as ever, the cause in the form of a helmet sitting beside her. She was hunched forward, sucking on a cigarette that she ashed on the ground occasionally in front of her. She was enjoying the fresh air. Every now and then her head would sweep the streets, side to side. It was difficult to keep everything in her gaze considering her right eye, while healing, was still black and blue and partially swollen shut paired with a few bruises along her cheek and temple.
Ketch entered the Marketplace from an alley tucked between two southward facing buildings on the outskirts, hands shoved into the pockets of well-worn jeans, a leather bomber jacket that had seen a better lifetime 10 years ago brushing aside the moderate chill. The comparative quiet of the square bothered him little, and though it might be considered unwise for some denizens to chase the shadows down the alleyways of Rhy'din, he was no stranger to the city or the vast array of threats it harbored. His gait was sure-footed and light, maybe even a little careless haughtiness in the way he jangled some change in his pocket. The car he'd abandoned last night was still in the same place, and he was slowly on his way back towards it to test his luck again when the dark figure of Antonia and the curl of smoke rising from her cigarette caught his attention. He squinted a moment before cutting a path in her direction, moving slowly enough so as not to present himself as an immediate threat to her space or person.
Considering the sort of person she was and the sort of town this was, someone new on the street instantly had Antonia?s attention. Her one good pale blue eye fixed on the figure making his way towards the car but when he began cutting a path towards her that's when she shifted in her seat just a little, shoulders rolling and and the lazy sprawl of her legs tightened to place both feet flat on the ground. "Can I help you?" No need to beat around the bush, she wasn't the sort. Her tone wasn't rude or inviting, it held no heat or interest. It was flat, same as her unreadable expression aimed up at him through a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Ketch stopped a good seven paces away. His head tipped to the side as he studied her, recognition blooming when the shiner mottling her right eye caught a passing beam of light. Whether it was because he sported similar often enough to think the better of asking or because he assumed that she might be the type that collected bruises like blue ribbons as others he knew in passing did, he made no comment even if his eyes lingered where the the bruising transitioned into unmarked skin. "Not unless you're good with cars." His thumb hiked in the general direction of the Inn. "I left a loaner dead on the curb last night. I think you were in the Inn, but you left with a quickness,? A pause as eyes lingered upon the orange ember studding the dark figure in front of him. ?If you're feeling generous, I'd take one of those cigarettes off of your hands." Mouth formed a noncommittal smile, brow quirked slightly. The tension running along Antonia?s body did not suggest a generous frame of mind, but he often played the odds even when they didn't seem to be in his favor, willing to live with the results either way. Kept life interesting, if not challenging.
She had left too quickly the night before and had been too focused on getting to her room to recognize him but she was studying him now, openly and without hesitation. Head to toe. Until he mentioned his car and her gaze ticked that way. "Better with bikes but I'm not incompetent." She looked back at him when she said the word. Always making friends. She continued to stare at him unmoving for some time like she might just ignore his request and him entirely. But eventually she straightened in her seat then rose to her feet entirely. Her jacket was unzipped and she reached into it, searching briefly before coming back out with a pack and red plastic lighter. Stepping forward they were extended to him. "You really want me to look at your car, princess?" The damsel in distress that he was.