Two Bad People Walk Into A Bar... Who: Ren and Marissa/Aoife When: June 23rd -- late evening Where: Anywhere But Here & Dog-Ink/Ren's place
Aoife smiled sweetly as she entered the smoky, crowded room. This was really more her style. She could fit in with the crowd at a coffee shop, but why would she want to when life was so much easier here? She wasn't in this business because it was easy, she reminded herself, and with the world looking the way it suddenly did, she needed to expand her horizons. Still, you could get a lot done at a bar like this. Human scum and supernatural scum flocked together. She wasn't intending on getting in a fight tonight, but just in case, and because her host was a lightweight, her first step was to go get herself a beer. She could nurse it as long as she wanted without attracting attention, and if someone wanted to buy her drinks later, it'd be a good prop.
Her attempted subtlety from earlier in the evening was well over. She'd changed into a top so loose and low cut that it stayed put on luck and a prayer, but still with long sleeves in which to conceal silver jewelry. Her tight jeans and black heels kept her standing very straight, which was half the idea. She was there to turn heads. It was how these little recon missions worked. Marissa was alternately fuming, crying, and going dead silent somewhere back there. Pain in the ass. She steadfastly ignored her host as she scanned the room, leaving lipstick prints on the beer bottle as her dark eyes searched for any odd behavior she might be able to pin on a supernatural something.
Ren had gone through a hell-hole of a work day. Fuck, make that work week. All he could think of was getting shit-faced at a bar, and hopefully he'd have better luck than the night he'd taken home Artemis... or she'd taken him home. Whatever had happened, it hadn't been what he'd wanted in the end. He didn't need another repeat of that. He'd driven himself tonight, which wasn't something he did often, but if he was going to try to take someone home with him, he needed to be prepared. As Ren entered the bar he brushed past a woman standing in his way, hardly even pausing as he headed to the bar. "Gimme a Rolling Rock," he spat, the words leaving him like he was throwing them up. The bar tender rolled his eyes and brought out a bottle, setting it down for the face he saw more than once every week. It was getting a little pathetic, but Ren couldn't imagine himself caring any less.
"Well, if you like drinking carbonated donkey piss," Aoife said cheerily, annoyed at being brushed aside but with the perfect excuse to approach her first shady-looking guy tonight. Certainly, the bar was full of them, but all she'd gotten so far were a few looks. Sometimes she thought she was overdoing it. Her stolen body might not be to her taste for fighting, but Marissa looked almost too sweet for this kind of place, no matter how low the cut of her shirt and however much makeup Aoife plastered on. "Aren't you a goddamn gentleman." It was freeing to be able to curse the way she preferred. And she really only needed him to pay attention to her long enough for her to test him a bit. Then she'd probably move on. How often was she right on her first try, after all? She leaned backwards against the bar, propped on her elbows with her Guinness dangling from her fingers, raising an eyebrow at him. That was one thing she could say for Marissa. She had that eyebrow thing down.
"Maybe I do like drinking carbonated piss," Ren said, turning back to the other woman with a definite sneer on his face. He was feeling foul right now, dangerous, on edge. He'd never been a particularly patient man, but he had his moments from time to time. Right now wasn't one of those moments, and as he grabbed up his beer to take another long drink, he stepped toward her with meaning in every movement. "Hell yeah, I'm the best goddamn gentleman you'll find in this shit hole. I might even take you home if you ask real nice." He grinned at her, his gaunt features accentuated by the expression and the baring of large teeth.
"Is that so?" She found that she rather respected that approach. Even the guys in places like this usually weren't quite that up front. Or at least they didn't offer a change of location when they were. She took a theatrically big swig from her bottle, smiling up at him. She reached up and set her hand on his shoulder. "Well, you look like you might be able to handle me." With a practiced flip, she let her loose sleeve slip down, revealing the rather heavy silver bracelet hanging loosely around her wrist. It was a little on the godawful side, a chunky and indelicate thing. She only noticed that because it annoyed her whiny little passenger.
Ren was immediately entertained by the idea that this lady was not only not afraid of him, but instead interested in him. It was somewhat refreshing, considering if he wanted to get laid he had to find someone as wasted as he was on most nights. He supposed if he made it a habit to shower and look nice from time to time, he'd probably have better luck... oh, and then there was that whole being an ass thing he needed to try and cut back on. Or not. "You got no idea the kinda things I can handle," he answered, his grin staying firm in place until the sudden shimmer of silver caught his eyes. He pulled back from the hand and grabbed it, making a show out of it like he'd wanted to guide her out the door. "C'mon then, woman. Let's get outta here and you can show me what you're bringin' to the table."
Oh, she'd seen that. Well, he was breathing a little too much to be a vampire. Which was good. Vampires were a lot trickier and she just wasn't so well trained when it came to the bloodsuckers. She took vampires almost entirely because she was being paid to. She wobbled a little in her heels when he pulled away so quickly, but it was really worth it. So he was something. Seemed unpleasant, so she might be able to take him out and have nobody notice. He was also strong, though, and she wasn't well armed. And maybe for all his wonderfully pleasant personality he knew more of them. Some of them ran in packs or herds or whatever they were called. "Table, huh? Eh, I've done less comfortable. Whatever's your kink, sexy." And now to keep him talking as long as she could. She'd been lucky tonight.
And was going to continue to be lucky so long as she went home with Ren, or so he liked to think. He glanced over his shoulder at her and took her outside, shocked to find she didn't seem to be putting up too much of a fight. Maybe she hid being drunk better than he did. Speaking of beer, he finished his off, wiped his mouth and tossed the bottle to the pavement like it was yesterday's news. "You ready to try and take me on?" he asked her, fingers hitting his chest as he gestured toward his car off a little ways. Ren tugged his keys out of his pocket and dangled them a moment, laughing lecherously. Why the fuck bother with being smooth when the woman you were courting was so willingly dumping herself into your lap?
Aoife would have been very amused to hear him use the term "courting." She took a moment to relish Marissa's revulsion, buried in the back of her head. At least she'd know exactly where he lived and whatever might be gleaned from that information. "Oh, I'm ready. Let's see if you are." She had a feeling she could make this as rough as she wanted and he wouldn't protest. Aoife made a bet with herself, just for entertainment's sake, that she could give him a black eye and make sure he didn't care. She gulped down the rest of the beer quickly. One wouldn't hurt, and it might serve to make him a bit more attractive. She dropped the bottle in her purse, not from any desire not to litter, but because it was a favorite improvised weapon of hers. There was a knife in there, too, but nothing wrong with backup for her backup plan.
Ren shook his head as he walked them to his car, all too easily getting the door unlocked to climb in. "I don't live that far away, so you won't have to wait that long." He grinned, turned the radio on and began to pull out of the parking lot. "So I guess I should find out your name if I'm taking you home with me." He looked to his momentary companion and laughed a little. "My name's Ren." The radio belted out bad eighties rock, and if he'd been paying more attention to it he might have changed it. For the moment though, there was something far more interesting for him to focus on.
"Marissa." She gave him a simpering smile. God, that was annoying. Who told this little brat what music was? Aoife didn't have distinct tastes, but she knew what she didn't like. "Ren. Is that short for something?" She practically had to yell to be heard over the annoying radio. Pain in the ass. Shouldn't were ears be sharp enough to be bothered by this kind of thing? She idly wondered what he was. Something mangy, she was willing to bet. A scruffy dog or an ugly cat. Maybe something exotic, but equally unimpressive. She buckled in, not really trusting his driving, and glanced around the car for any interesting details, pictures, paperwork, or anything with a name on it. Though she mainly expected to see trash.
Ren glanced over to her briefly, his blue eyes sharpened slightly. "Nope," he told her, shaking his head a few times sternly. "Just Ren." He finally did realize what was playing on the radio and moved to switch it, only half paying attention to the road as he attempted to find something more tolerable. "Fucking DJs," he grumbled to himself, eyes flickering from the road to the stereo and back again. Scattered on the floor of his car were empty cigarette packs, lighters, crumpled papers, clothing that smelled just as disgusting as they looked... Being clean wasn't a strong suit of his, not by a long-shot. In the back seat the same things were all over the seat and the floor, a blanket accompanying them, obviously laid overtop of something else as it was crumpled and unnatural looking. "Wanna smoke?" he asked, reaching out with his pack.
She might take a glance back in the car once he was asleep. She'd need a strong stomach, but fortunately she was training Marissa to have one. "Yeah, sure." She'd smoked constantly in her own life, and though there was a lot more to know about cancer and shit nowadays, she didn't care. She didn't intend to be in this body particularly long. She was going to need a long, extra hot shower after this one anyway, so why not try a protective layer of tobacco ash first? She lit the smoke with one of the keepsakes she'd lifted from Marissa's life, a small cigarette lighter with Celtic knot patterns, a gift from her first girlfriend. Messing with Marissa was half the fun she had these days. She leaned over to hold the flame up for Ren, too. "You live on your own, or is there a roommate to be chased out?"
"Oh hell no," Ren said, shaking his head with a snort. He leaned in to let her light his cigarette, deeply amused by all of this. "I live on my own above my shop. You don't gotta worry about anyone being nosy or anything. I don't even own a fucking animal to bother with. Just you and me tonight, baby." He let out a long breath of smoke and cracked the window, just to get a fresh flow of air going as they drove toward Dog-Ink. It wouldn't take them more than ten minutes, but it seemed like more than he wanted to endure. He was antsy, shifting his weight, pushing up with his left foot to get comfortable again, tugging at his seatbelt, tapping the steering wheel.
Good. He'd be wired and antsy when they got back. Sure, she could probably shut him up with a handjob right now, but then he'd be sleepy and even stupider, if that were possible, by the time they got back. His shop. Might be interesting. Plenty to poke around in after she got him to sleep. She went through the cigarette quickly as she thought. This was going to be a particularly icky endeavor. Marissa probably wouldn't cooperate, but he seemed easy to please. Maybe she should urge another beer on him, but that might be a bit awkward. She'd just keep her eyes open. "What kind of shop?" Just making conversation. Banal conversation to leave him just as antsy as he already was, but no worse.
Ren smirked as he drove, tapping his foot along to the music on the radio. It wasn't as bad as before -- at least, not to him. He liked classic rock stations. "I run a tattoo shop. Tattoos and piercings..." He glanced to her before looking back to the road, his hand moving automatically to turn on the indicator light. "Gotta few employees, mostly new right now... had a bit of an upheaval as far as staff goes, so we're all in the process of bonding, I guess." He laughed, thinking about how fucking awkward the shop felt right now. It was downright miserable, and he refused to accept that somewhere down in him he felt guilty.
"Ah, that sucks." What had he done, eaten his previous employees? Though she found the thought amusing, she was by no means kidding. Did his new employees know they were working for a were-something? Worth checking out. If nothing else she could get a couple names from his books. "Cool thing to own, though." She was being honest there. Marissa had a bunch of stupid tattoos, little runes and dragons and idiotic shit like that. Aoife hadn't had any in her own body, but she'd always vaguely wanted one. "And sleep above." It'd be convenient to have needles and bottles of chemicals and whatever else went into such a business just lying around.
"Yeah, it definitely has it's perks... though it's tough to pretend I'm not around to answer my phone when my employees can just walk upstairs to find me." Ren rolled his eyes, pulling the car down another road. They were almost there, damn it... almost there. "Maybe if you come back sometime during the day, I could hook you up with a tattoo or a piercing. Something sexy... suiting." He didn't know what else to talk about and this just seemed appropriate.
"I've got a couple already. But more wouldn't hurt." She realized suddenly that she didn't actually know what all of Marissa's tattoos were. Some of them were on her back and Aoife had never really bothered to look. Usually anyone who saw her naked was too busy to notice, but a guy in the business might be intrigued. She hoped he wouldn't ask. Or maybe she should just act vapid about them, like the sort of teenage girl who got "Egg Fuu Yung" tattooed across her lower back in backwards Chinese. Right. She'd just say she liked the designs. "No piercings, though." She kept an eye on the route. She didn't know the area yet and it might save her some navigating.
"Good then," Ren answered, nodding as he pulled his car into the lot behind his tattoo shop. He took her as the type to get random tattoos, for whatever reason. She just seemed like an impulsive sort of woman. He parked the car and turned the engine off, stretching one arm out behind her seat to turn to her. "You sure about the no piercings thing? I'm sure a nice tasteful one would look really good on you... maybe right here." He pointed to his left nostril and smirked bemusedly. "Food for thought, anyway." He climbed out of the car abruptly and closed the door behind him, jingling his keys in his hand as he waited for her to catch up to him. The building was dark aside from a light shining through one of the rooms on the second floor.
"Oh, no real opposition. Just never got it done. Does it hurt much?" That'd be a good reason. Toughen Marissa up a little. But then she'd have to go through all of that disinfecting stuff. Aoife opened the door and slipped out, giving her hair a toss as she stood up and posing a bit as she slammed the door, leaning into the car and smirking at him. "Well, lead the way." Most guys would at least like her to dote a little on the way up, pile on some simpering compliments or hang off their arms. She rather respected this one, even if he was a were, for being so straightforward. No bullshit. Instead she stepped out of her heels, not quite up to clambering up stairs on them with Marissa struggling the way she was, and dangled them from two fingers as she fell into step behind him.
Turning to lead Marissa inside his place, Ren walked like he was the lord of the castle, a cocky posture and smug grin on his face. "It's not that bad. I think a woman like you could handle something easy like a simple piercing." Once they were inside, he locked up behind them and headed through the shop to the stairs to his place. Ren didn't feel the need to stop and show her around; he wanted this sexual encounter more than he wanted to boast or talk about himself, and he was fully intent on getting what he wanted tonight. "Don't mind the mess. I'm a busy man." He shrugged when they reached the top of his stairs. It opened up into a living room with a couch, a television and enough trash on the floor to fill ten garbage bags. There was a hall nearby, and just around the corner a small kitchen area. He headed toward the hall, glancing back over his shoulder to her. "C'mon, this way if you wanna see the best part of the tour..."
"Woman like me, huh? ...Mess just means you've got better things to do than clean up." It was a little rancid, and that was beyond what Aoife approved of, but she really didn't care about clutter. The little apartment, the intrinsically shady business below, the nasty sonofabitch, all warning signs that she took an odd delight in ignoring. A normal woman wouldn't let herself near a place like this. She really rather relished not being normal, in fucking with the way the world was expected to be. The cosmic surprise upset. Oh yeah. She leaned against his shoulder for a moment, smiling with one raised eyebrow. "Best part, huh? Well, why don't we hurry up, and I'll show you what a woman like me can handle." She noted any big dropped things in the hall, just so she wouldn't fall over them sneaking out again later.
Ren took in a deep breath of her when she leaned on him, pausing in the hall with her as his arms snaked around her body. He pulled her snug against him and stepped back toward the bedroom, guiding her after him. There were other faces in the back of his mind, women's voices and concerns and eyes and they all were there to remind him of the choices he made... not that it mattered. In the end, this was who Ren had been born to be, the role he'd been raised to fill, the sickeningly pathetic string of night after night he couldn't seem to shake. What else was there?
"I can't wait to find out," he told her, a growl in his voice as he kicked the door shut behind them.