Who: Nikolai Luzhin vor & Integra Hellsing ladyhellsing What: Dry cleaning When: Friday, July 17, afternoon Where: Golden Cleaners Rating: Audience Discretion is Advised Warnings: Nikolai is a professional cleaner trained by the Vory V Zakone. Integra is simply quite unpleasant. Neither of them are nice nor do they like new people. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
~*~
Work was work inside a household maintained by a Vor. Nikolai was not too good for anything which suited those he served as his service was his own choice, no one else's, certainly not. He was no one's slave. Servitude could lead to great things for him. His soul was benefitted by the simplicity of life as Kenya Rosewater's bodyguard. So far? No one had tried to kill her even once.
Nikolai couldn't have asked for a better posting.
He could have asked her to find a faster dry cleaner.
"Hurry up and wait. Always the same shit, new day."
Muttering to himself in Russian, Nikolai made an unamused face at the couple behind the counter. His suit was pristine, his black sunglasses blocking his eyes from those who would dare look at him. He crossed his arms over his chest, uncaring the tattoos upon his knuckles became more prominently visible from the action.
Americans did not understand Vor markings. They were only afraid because he gave off a feeling which stated firmly 'Stay back.' in the universal language of the body. He did not care if he instilled fear in them. All he cared was they not get close enough to wrinkle his suit or molest him with their filth. All Americans seemed to have some air of distatefulness to them. He could tolerate those who tried to respect the lifestyle of his people. Those were the ones who made some effort at the very least. It was the ones who represented the attitude of entitlement who most upset him, made him remember what it was to show someone their place in society beside himself.
His frown deepened as he heard loud voices coming from the front, a woman stood between him and the person at the counter. Nikolai would no more encroach on her space than he would like her to step into his own.
Leaning down slightly, he asked her in a low tone, "Can you hear what fuss is being made up there? Do I need to have words with them on manners?"
~*~
Integra didn’t own many items that needed dry cleaning. She was slowly acquiring more, of course, as the Dreams took their toll and the personality began to bleed over into her. She was not feeling quite right these days, as if something was missing and it was driving her nuts. It was Friday, all she wanted to do was get back to the gym and workout with her trainers. She wanted to lose herself in the work, not be standing in line at the dry cleaners.
Usually they were much faster than this.
The twitch of her fingers at her hip was the only sign of her growing annoyance. She had been of short temper since the last round of Dreams and she was tired of trying to figure it out. The more she was idle, the more she thought about them and really, it was not something she wished to dwell on. Although it seemed the OC had other plans. She’d worked hard to make her life hers, and not just a shadow of her Father’s. Although it was times like this she missed home - Father would have sent someone else out to pick up the dry cleaning. She refused to be that lazy here, but part of her missed it.
A cold smile curled her lips upwards as the man behind her spoke to her in a low voice. Sliding her eyes to the side to look at him, she replied in the same quiet tone. “Seems they cannot find the woman’s expensive coat, but she doesn’t have a slip, and she’s berating the owner.” A slight sigh. “She could use a lesson in manners.” she said after a moment.
“Ten to one she brought it to another cleaner’s and forgot which.”
~*~
Nikolai let out an indelicate snort. He could only imagine what the woman ahead was saying if such was the case as explained him by the blonde. She had a good sense of humor. He could tell from her voice. There was no betting on her idea for him. Betting was never done among his kind unless they were ensuring their outcome. Vor made promises, not bets. It was the way of things for his kind.
"Not willing to take a sucker bet. Nor any bet at all. My guess? She is lying for money. Her shoes. Look at them. Not very nice for a woman making such a racket over a professional-clean-only coat, hhm?"
He couldn't see the woman's face, but he could tell her fingers trembled. It could have been a sign of anger or nervousness. More likely? Drugs. Nikolai knew the signs of the withdrawal. Drugs could be used to maintain control in situations where nothing else would work. There was always a use for them if a man had a need. His brother by right, Kirill, worked with many who kept their women docile with drugs. The girls might not have signed up for the addiction, but they obeyed it well enough.
Obeying was all they wanted out of them until they were no longer useful.
Everything else was details.
~*~
Integra smiled a bit. “Fair enough.” she replied with a smile. She wouldn’t take the bet either. Not really. She looked back at the woman. “Cheap shoes..” she huffed out a breath, Integra rarely skimped when it came to her clothes - even if she didn’t spend a lot they always looked good. All of it. Integra had found cheap shoes hurt more than good ones.
She canted her head a little bit. “I wonder who she owes or what she’s doing.” she mused as she shook her head. Drugs were a likely suspect as well, but she wasn’t sure why if it was drugs, the coat hadn’t been pawned off already. She didn’t have much experience in that area, though, so she wasn’t sure.
Integra wasn’t prone to signs of annoyance but she was growing tired of waiting. Her lips pursed a bit. “Honestly, this is too much time.” she licked her lips before shaking her head again. She stepped up to the woman and laid a hand on her shoulder, gentle like. “You’re being tiresome, you didn’t bring in any coat. Enough with this.” she turned her around and pushed her towards the door.
~*~
A frantic look was on the woman's face as she was being ushered out. Hectic spots of color marred her complexion and there was an obvious hollowness beneath her eyes which signified whatever she needed? She needed it soon. There was a tainted quality to her, but Nikolai did not mind. He was not a man who shied away from those who lived inside the outer realms of the law or the farthest reaches of what was considered 'polite society.'
He gave her a cold smile as he raised his hand, its many tattoos warning silently it would be in her better interest to do as she was told. Waving her a farewell, Nikolai did not bother to speak to her as she left. The shudder which came over her upon exiting the building was enough to let him know she had received and understood his message. Some things were best said without words in his experience.
Usually those were the kinds of things which kept a man at the top of a pile rather than buried at the foot of it.
"Good work there. Should I tip you? I think maybe place owes you for taking care of their disturbance."
Nikolai stepped into the woman's space enough to lower himself along with his voice, "Heroin. Lucky for you those types know where to stand. Be careful which kind of junkie you escort, da? They act crazy sometimes from their poison. Dangerous."
~*~
Integra watched the exchange impassively. Before she smiled a small bit and leaned her head towards the man once again speaking to her. Blue eyes looked up through lashes at him, cold behind them. “I am sure that is unnecessary.” she said after a moment about the tip. She was amused at the idea though, the hint of a smile was what gave that one away.
Integra didn’t even flinch, though, letting him invade her space without hesitation or fear. Integra didn’t fear anyone - and certainly not on looks.
“I have no fear of junkies, Sir. I am more than I appear.” she shrugged gently. “I do appreciate your words though.” Not so much his concern as the words. Besides, if she got herself into trouble and couldn’t manage to free herself, Alucard would show up to do so. Not that she’d tell anyone that one. He was her ace in the hole. Even here. “I wouldn’t have known, though, had you not said anything. I’m afraid I have had little experience with them as a whole.”
People who robbed? Sure once in awhile. Muggers? Meh. But junkies? Not really.
Not that she knew of anyways.
~*~
"Are we not all more than we appear? Well. Perhaps not so much for my case, but I come from a different world. One I would not suggest becoming more familiar with if I were to make a suggestion to you which would not be considered outside my bounds."
He knew his place. He'd chosen it. Nikolai exercised his rights as a Vor to stand where he chose in any battle.
Luckily for those he stood beside, his loyalty was unflinching. He would never betray those he cared for unless they sought to ruin his chances of taking power higher than his own through Kirill. That man was his man and his business. It was not for anyone else to make suggestions or censor him on. There would be no compassion from him if he were thwarted in his goal to become one half of the pairing of thunder-and-lightning for Kirill.
Nikolai had sacrificed much to be where he was in life.
Those sacrifices would not be made in vain.
Nodding toward the counter, he murmured, "I think they have your order ready. You may get it free this time. They did not seem to know how to handle the woman so well as you."
~*~
“I am sure even you hide something that is not publically visible.” she smiled at his warning. She had only recently learned of her father’s more illicit business and was contemplating how to get into the business and help her father. She owed him a lot. And she felt more strongly that she should take interest in the family business.
Integra’s eyes glittered as she stepped up to the counter and retrieved her suit from the cleaners, who in fact gave it to her free with plenty of gratitude her way. She slipped back towards the man, wondering what kind of life he led and where he had truly come from.
Integra was spoiled, in some ways, and had been raised rich and happy until she saw her mother killed in front of her. Then she had lost some of that innocence and had gotten into training. Which turned into moving to Orange County and then an MMA career.
“Thank you for the entertainment, truly a good afternoon.”
***
A part of Nikolai wanted to lash out at the woman to tell her he hid nothing. Vor were above hiding. They were real men. Men who expressed themselves as they saw fit while adhering to laws which other men were too weak to follow. There was no room in his life for hiding nor would he ever see fit to make room for such as it was disrespectful for his people, his chosen family, his beloveds.
This woman knew nothing of him however which meant she had not meant the disrespect he felt at her words.
Their worlds were too different in ways she could not be expected to understand.
Nodding, Nikolai smirked slightly, "You are to be very welcomed to be entertained any time we see one another in the future. If you are very lucky lady, you will never learn more of me than meets the eyes. I am not so much a good man to know."
She was tough. He could tell she lived a life not of leisure.
Tough women and Vor were the same as comparing apples with oranges. Both could be considered fruits, yet they shared nothing more than that. He hoped this woman saw more amusing things than drug addicts seeking to scam dry cleaners. She had the look of someone who could use amusement in her life. What did he know though? It was not as if Nikolai lived a life of laughter and leisure.
He was a weapon of war, nothing more, nothing less.
~*~
Integra would have lashed out back - she could channel her dream self rather effectively if it was required. Sometimes it came out when she least expected it. The blonde was a spitfire and she wouldn’t be backed into a corner, verbally or physically if something happened.
“I consider myself rather lucky, but don’t say such things, you merely arouse curiosity which can be a dangerous emotion.” she said with a grin before she tucked the bag over her arm and moved to go past him, looking up at him and grinning a bit. This was the most entertainment she’d had all day.
Integra was something else entirely, and she was beginning to learn how to handle Alucard. And if he turned into what he was in her dreams? She’d need all of her tricks.
“I do hope your day is smoother.” she smiled warmly, then slipped into the street towards her car. She was replying the event in her mind and found herself more amused than she probably should have been. A laugh as she slipped into the car and headed home. It was an interesting day, that was for sure.