The lighter was filed away inside the cigarette box, where a hollow befell the absence of a half dozen factory-rolled vices. Their bleached filters all boasted the same trademark newsprint, Marlboro. She tucked the pack within one of the snug straps of her slip, leaving it to jut from her collar like a casual replacement for pockets.
"I was actually just finding it difficult to sleep.." Maybe her answer was simple, and a little too easy to be believed. She hesitated for a moment, tapping her thumbnail to send smoldering ashes to the floor, where she ran their coal black smear into the carpet with the ball of her foot. It was a conscious drop in attention as she listened to the absence of life from around them.
"Sometimes taking a walk can help. Or it can lead to many other reasons to stay awake." The warm chocolate of her eyes was almost off-putting when they rose again, they were so inherently kind. One of these things is not like the other.
"Tell me, Mr. Glass, what talents do you have?" The question really might have seemed to have come out of left field. It was no secret to Vaughn, although it would likely be news to this new fish, that almost everyone who moved into Bellum could do something better than the rest.