Topic: Sticks and Stones

That Noble Outlaw

Date: 2010-03-22 14:16 EST
Zane sat on the couch in his small apartment, hat resting on his knee with a beer propped up atop the other. Dark eyes were locked onto a small velvet pouch which waited on the coffee table in front of him. He could still smell the accursed Voodoo Man on the item; his sickly sweet scent of spices and incense mixed with the gag inducing smell of rotting flesh clung stubbornly to the item. The gunslinger seemed impartial to the foul odor. In fact, he seemed entirely unaware of his surroundings. The window was opened just a crack, blowing in cold air that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The door was threatening to fly open with the powerful gusts of wind that pummeled against it, since Zane hadn't secured it shut.

A few candles were lit and their flames flickered and swayed, dangerously close to extinguishing or setting something ablaze. The fire hazard along with the other uncomfortable elements went on without interruption as he stared intently at the pouch. After taking a swig of his beer Zane leaned forward, setting it and his hat down on the table so he could snatch up the small velvet vessel. It was pulled shut by a drawstring, the color darker than the faded red of the pouch itself. He pulled to open it and held out his hand, tilting the pouch over to spill the contents into his outstretched palm.

Finger bones, beads, feathers, and what looked like a sharpened rock fell into his grasp. He dropped the pouch and leaned back, fingers brushing the contents curiously as they sat in his hand. The bones and feathers were passed over without pause and eventually spilled onto the table after he grabbed the small stone with his other hand. The item was lifted up to be inspected by a dark eye, it's surface bumpy but smoothly so, the edges sharpened to fine blades. Testing its sharpness, Zane pressed the point into his thumb and watched as a bead of blood pooled up and dripped down.

TwistOfThings

Date: 2010-04-07 09:06 EST
"What's that, 'slinger?" Eve asked from her lazy perch against the frame of the archway that separated living room from kitchen, her accent thick and heavy, shortening the last syllable of his title to fade it out along the breath of a note. She was barefoot; letting the cheap carpeting underneath press its coarse weave against her feet. Faded jeans hugged the long limbs that were her legs and a white wife-beater clung to her torso, ending in a snug fit around the upper half of her thighs. The usual white button-down shirt that still smelled of him was abandoned for one of the first times since she had adopted its use, leaving her arms naked to bear the chilling effects of the wind as it accosted the room. The flames of the candles that were scattered about the room went equally unnoticed, flickering and dazzling as they were, even the half-dozen that threatened to soak up the thirsty parchment of the near-masterpiece that still sat half-finished atop of her easel being left where they burned. As the gunslinger seemed unaware of the uncomfortable or endangering elements surrounding him, Eve also gave them no note.

Not waiting for him to answer, Eve pushed off from her lethargic lean against the wooden panel, making her slow way over toward Zane. Smoke eyes fell from his face down to the pile of rubble and ash that was cupped in his hand, attention instantly drawing to the bead of blood that had formed via stone?s prick, watching it on its gradual descent from digit to weathered palm.