Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 15:52:23 GMT
There was a part of Thatcher that liked the idea of being able to make Amirah squirm by having to explain herself but it was a hesitant kind of enthusiasm. This wasn't like her, she didn't ask for favours or rely on anyone but herself, they were very much alike in those ways, but now here she was at his home needing his help for all intents and purposes and he had the chance to be the better person. It wasn't really in Thatcher's nature anymore to be the better person, he was a bastard so much of the time, the kind of man who took what he wanted and didn't apologise for anything he said or did and even though he had helped a human tonight he had gone on to leave her wounded and alone in an alley when he could have just as easily seen to it that she got home. No, Thatcher Ward wasn't a good man anymore. But he could be tonight. The question was whether or not he would take the chance.
Thatcher downed half of the measure in the glass before he rocked off the door frame supporting his weight and strode back into the room, each easy step that of a predator confident in his own territory. His eyes were on hers when she finished and he held her gaze without wavering. He picked up on that unspoken question easily but didn't address it plainly. "How much time do you have?" She had said soon, very soon in fact, but to a werewolf time didn't have the same meaning as it did for a human. She could mean two days or two weeks, perhaps even longer. "I know this city like the back of my hand but there's a lot to tell, a lot to learn."
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 18:42:00 GMT
To some extent she knew this could be more dangerous than the actual task of getting her sister back. Amirah had a certain reputation to maintain; she wasn't the stuff of stories told to pups like Thatcher was, but people who lived and worked in the seedy underside of the human and supernatural worlds know who she was, they knew that she could catch, kill or torture anyone they wanted for the right price. Getting into her personal business with anyone threatened that, and that threatened her ability to do her real job behind the scenes. Amirah couldn't have that. There was little choice here though; she needed to seize this chance while it was in front of her.
"A week. Two, maybe." Amirah shifted her weight from one foot to another, but maintained eye contact. "The intelligence fluctuates. My source is not as reliable as I would like, but it's the best that I can do. This month is as solid as the timeline gets." It wasn't nearly as good as she would have liked in terms of knowing when she would have to be ready to strike but Oshiro was a business man with well guarded plans, it had taken her years to track the bastard down to begin with, to even find out that he had Surayya in his possession; that wasn't surprising, the money he must have paid for a ninth generation pure-blooded female werewolf of five centuries at the time of purchase must have been astronomical. Amirah would gladly make him swallow every single dollar of it as retribution. In fact she would gladly exact a number of very special tortures on him. Reigning in her anger which was threatening to burst out of her like a solar flare as her mind tripped back to her sister over ad over like a skipping record she ground her teeth a little and took a couple of steps towards Thatcher. "I will pay you whatever you want. If you want information I can get it for you, if you want someone's head on a plate I'll get that for you too," she paused. "This is not important to me, Thatcher. It's vital."
So much for not showing her cards all at once.
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 19:20:57 GMT
Within the month at most. That didn't give them a lot of time -- if, that was, Thatcher agreed to help her and it was a matter he would have to consider carefully -- but if he was able to narrow down Amirah's needs then he shouldn't have a problem gathering everything she needed in terms of information. Los Angeles was a big place, it was constantly growing, there were always new people coming and going and power was always shifting. Amirah had a lot to learn in a small amount of time but she had come to the right person. What information Thatcher didn't personally possess could be easily gathered from trusted sources, those like Elena Torres; Thatcher had dealt with her before on more than one occasion and he had never been given any reason to doubt her. The informant wouldn't need to know who he was seeking answers for someone else.
Thatcher believed instantly that it wasn't just a simple matter for Amirah but something so much more than that. This was a favour she wouldn't have asked of just anyone and on one level he wasn't at all sure how to accept what he was being told. There had always been a sort of respect between them, they recognised the power and determination the other held and wielded but they were just as likely to exchange blows as they were to openly acknowledge anything positive. Their relationship, whatever it was, had always been complicated.
"Let's wait until this is all over before we work out what you might owe me, huh?" Thatcher downed the rest of his drink and set the glass down on the table not far from where his water bottle rested. Though he had been quiet for a couple of minutes, a lengthy pause in any conversation, it seemed he had made up his mind. It would have been easy to assume he simply liked the idea of Amirah being in his debt but truthfully that wasn't the whole of it. That wasn't even the half of it.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 19:44:16 GMT
Having been nomadic for centuries Amirah knew a little bit about a lot of places, and a lot about several cities across the globe but truthfully her work had rarely brought her to the City of Angels; there were no siblings, offspring or anyone else of any significance here. Even Surayya would only be in the city for a short period of time while her master did his dirty work. It sickened the blonde to think about her tall, willowy and graceful sister being shackled to some sloppy business man, to be dragged across the world on a whim, because he wanted to have his lapdog with him while he conducted his dealings. He'd probably lock her in his hotel room like a common whore while he was out, truss her to his arm when they went out for dinner-- oh, it probably made him feel incredible having that woman at his side, with a waterfall of glossy black hair and her perfect, heart-shaped face, those big brown eyes staring at him in conditioned adulation. They were sick bastards, these vampires with their pretty werewolf pets.
Amirah twitched slightly, her hackles rising. It was impossible to keep her thoughts in check when she was discussing the situation with Thatcher, even if she wasn't giving any details they were there in her head and they made her pulse thud harder in her throat. When she got close like this, close to one of her blood family it got increasingly harder to stay focused, the indignity of what had been done to them sent her senses into overdrive, she found herself grinding her teeth, snapping her knuckles and pacing more and more. In Thatcher's apartment she remained still though, as still as she could manage.
"Is that a yes?" She asked, dropping a hand from her hip where it balled up, as if she could pack all her anger into that one fist and keep it out of her voice. If she could just contain it, save it up for Oshiro. "If not I have a lot of work to do and not much time, Thatcher. Do not tease me with this."
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 20:11:57 GMT
The ghost of a smile that crept onto Thatcher's face was anything but amused. His hand left the rim of the glass at last and he strode across the room with a slow purposefulness that was almost threatening. Thatcher had no idea what it was that was going on in Amirah's life or why it was what -- or rather who -- she pursued was so important but he wasn't the type to tease or taunt without good reason. Amirah was essentially challenging him, at least in his own mind that was already clouded by frustration and pent-up aggression that had not yet been sated by violence or bloodshed earlier that very same night. The she-wolf standing only a few feet in front of him might not have strictly worded it as a challenge but he took it as one all the same.
"Obviously I wasn't clear, so yes, Amirah." His voice was low, close to a growl. "That was a yes." It would have been easy for him to take it back, dangle his help in front of her only to take it back but that would have been childish, immature, and for all his faults Thatcher was neither of those things, at least not when he could help it. Amirah might provoke him and tempt him towards such negative traits but he had no intention of teasing her with this if it was so important. Still, he wasn't going to allow himself to be led along like an obedient dog. If he was going to be involved with this he was going to be a partner, not an employee or merely a means to an end.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 20:38:33 GMT
Challenging was Amirah's default setting. It wasn't like she actively tried to be that way, it was just how she was, how she had needed to become in order to survive her life, the world she lived in and the things she had to do. Still she noted the way he practically prowled towards her and tried to bridle her attitude slightly without success. That smile, while faint, was irritating as hell in the moment he wore it. Her head tilted ever so slightly, a sharp but subtle jerk of motion. It was a relief to know that she would have the help that she needed, it made the goal seem that little bit more attainable but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a pulse of anger towards Thatcher for the way he'd accepted. This was hard enough for her as it was, but he had to be an asshole about it, typical Thatcher.
"Good." she said, eyes narrowing, her chin lifting slightly to a cocky and defiant angle that said she wasn't cowed by the threads of a growl she heard fraying the edges of his voice. "I will be in contact with you."
Abstractly she knew she was the one pushing here: she had come into Thatcher's home, the heart of his territory and she had come with demands and she hadn't been polite or gracious or even that patient about it. Amirah was vinegar, not honey. She got things through her sour disposition, the abruptness of her words and the blade of her favourite knife, and as much as that was just her way she was also a wolf and with wolves that sort of attitude carried with it consequences, body language, signals that even the most attentive human could never hope to pick up.
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 21:27:37 GMT
In his own way of course Thatcher had been challenging Amirah, challenging her to continue to hold on him whilst employing his help and yet knowing full well that he would want some details. She was holding her own, standing her ground and Thatcher respected that. He had been testing her, almost, seeing how she would respond and just how much -- if at all -- she had changed over the years they had been pursuing their own chosen paths. She hadn't changed. For that he was inwardly glad and he held back a smile with ease. Thatcher couldn't do anything straightforwardly, the easy way was for those who were lazy or cowardly; he had to dive in while the opportunities were there and seize them aggressively. It was how he had survived, how he had built such a solid and widespread reputation. There were vampires -- as well as wolves and humans -- who knew his name and feared him for that alone and that was how he liked it. Amirah did not fear him and in a way that was a relief; she could keep up with him and that was refreshing in a world where so many wanted to kill him or flee from him in terror.
He had moved close enough to her for his head to tilt downward so his eyes could remain on hers, looking down on her in a way without it being openly disrespectful. He wasn't happy about the secrecy but didn't everyone have their secrets? On any other night he would have let her keep those mysteries without plucking at what were obviously already frayed nerves but not tonight. He understood secrecy, after all he wore his wedding ring on the wrong hand in order to keep others from knowing he had loved and lost, but if he was going to help Amirah and potentially risk his life in doing so then she would have to give him something. Even if it wasn't right here, right now, she would have to offer him something.
"You mean you'll break into my apartment again and help yourself to the contents of my kitchen," he returned firmly, knowing she wouldn't deny what she had done because Amirah, quite simply, crossed lines without even seeing them drawn in the sand to begin with. That was what she did, that was who she was. "I won't follow blindly on whatever this is, Amirah," he told her, finally deciding that it was best to clamp down on the issue right there and then. There was no use dancing around it and letting it drag out. "If I'm part of this then I have to know what this is." There would be resistance, there would be tension, crackling and electric like a storm brewing, and maybe part of him wanted that. That didn't change the fact that he believed he was in the right.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 21:46:42 GMT
By now it was quite possible that Amirah could have at least tried to learn and adapt when it came to people's boundaries, but she didn't have the time or inclination to do so; she had never been educated on what was and was not okay and so she did whatever the hell she felt like most of the time and if people were pissed off after the fact she wasn't all that bothered. When they had come across one another in the past she hadn't bothered with things like please and thank you, with knocking to enter a room or other social niceties and he was right, that hadn't changed now. He hadn't changed either, she thought. Having had a little longer now to study him she recognised his movement as the same and everything else about him more or less; more angry, perhaps, and less bound together maybe. It was a bad night, after all, she had gathered that much art least from the state he'd returned to his apartment in. Amirah found that reassuring too, it was good to know that some things didn't change in the world, that there could be constants, even if those constants were unstable, matter crushing black-holes.
To anyone else the blatant invasion of personal space like his proximity might have cause them to step back, or to ask Thatcher to back off but just as she had little sense when it came to the boundaries of others her own were blurred too; here was a she-wolf who didn't bother to hold down a territory and didn't spend time with people long enough to build a rapport or to draw sticky little lines around things like touching too close, or staring too long. So she glared insolently up at him, the leather in her fist creaking slightly as her fingers flexed, holding onto the ball of rage, keeping it down by her side.
"It's personal," Amirah said stiffly, the tension in her neck and shoulders clenching tighter. It was too hard to explain. It hurt to try and bring the words to the surface so while he pushed for more information she pushed back as though physically stung. "That is what this is."
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 21:57:22 GMT
The response had been expected but that didn't make it any less grating. Yes, it was personal, he could tell that much just by looking at her, the tight lines of her body and the grim set of her jaw with that fierce light in her eyes and while it held the faintest edge of familiarity it was more intense than anything he had ever seen before. She had had a hard time asking for his help but she'd known he wouldn't make it easy on her, she'd known he would ask questions and make this difficult for her if only because he could and because, quite simply, he was an asshole. Thatcher had become hard and immovable over the years he'd been forced out into the world alone and empty-handed save for his father's sword after being held captive by those who would have seen him broken down into nothing. Some might have called it a defence mechanism and perhaps it was but it was also so deeply ingrained in his personality now that there was no longer any chance of him reverting to the man he had been before everything he'd loved and cherished had been torn away from him.
"Is there a risk involved?" he asked her directly, asking so many questions with just one. Would he become a target of some kind by getting involved in this? Was there a possibility he could be killed? Was what she hoped to do really achievable? Would she play the game and offer him anything in return for his help? Thatcher's shoulders felt tight and his chest hot, he wasn't in the mood for all the pushing with no give.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 22:12:36 GMT
Thatcher knew that approaching him and asking for help had been hard and she knew that he knew that, which was driving a flush of anger through her, irrational though it might have been. Amirah had known that something similar to this would happen if she came here, but she'd done it anyway and now she had to live with the consequences and deal with the whiplash of her decision. In the near future she might have to be dealing with real whiplash on top of that. It came down to pride, as so many things did for her; she had to push her pride out of the way and do what was necessary no matter now angry or uncomfortable it made her, because Surayya's life was more important than her arrogant need to stay detached, it was more important than holding her ground here with Thatcher even but that was a struggle she couldn't give her, her wolfen instincts ran hot through her veins, molten lava that swirled through her green eyes.
"All you have to do," Amirah said slowly, as though she were talking to a small child, "is help me monitor the ports and give me the information I need on the underbelly of this city. There is no risk to your life if you do that and stay out of my way otherwise." There would be risk outside of the information gathering, she knew that. There was always risk when she got this close; risk that she would die, risk that she wouldn't die but that information on her whereabouts would get back to Marek, risk that she was just get captured, plain and simple. "This is my fight. I will take care of the clean up. No one will know you had anything to do with this if you just do as you are told."
Amirah's lips twitched into an arrogant smirk, her tongue between her teeth; she could only resist pushing back for so long.
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 22:24:35 GMT
It wasn't just a hint of a growl then but a full-bodied one that rattled in his throat, the aggression of his wolf rising to the surface in a low burn. On a normal day Amirah's condescension and arrogance might have amused him or at least triggered a fast paced exchange but not tonight. Tonight he was too tightly wound and the temptation to lash out physically and show her just what he thought of her attitude when she was asking for his help. She was the one who had invited herself into his apartment, the one place in this big bad city that was his own, she was the one who needed the information he could provide. He didn't have to tolerate the way she was talking to him. He might have been looking down on her in the literal sense, but she was going one step further and doing it figuratively. That was worse.
"Don't fuck with me, Mirah," he growled hotly, those first few words coming out sharply through gritted teeth. "You were the one who came to me asking for help. Either you want it or you don't but don't pull this shit with me. I have enough on my plate without adding your problems to mine." Either she wanted his help or she didn't but he wasn't going to take any crap from her. He wanted to make that clear.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 26, 2011 22:37:14 GMT
Amirah's lips peeled back over her teeth, her canines sharp. "Don't you fuck with me, Thatcher. Yes, I was the one who came to you. You were the one who started asking questions," Amirah snapped back. "This is personal, and that is all you need to know about it. If you have trouble dealing with that-- if you have too much on your plate killing baby vampires night after night then fine, tell me I am wasting my time and I will be on my way." She paused, growling. "I can do this without you if I have to." After all she had been doing this on her own for centuries now, she would find a way if she absolutely had to, she always tried to find a way.
In the back of her mind there was a voice telling her to be reasonable, that she was losing her grip on her temper and she really did need Thatcher's help for this if she wanted to increase her chances of success to acceptable levels, but it wasn't like flicking a switch, she couldn't change who she was and how she worked over night.
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 26, 2011 22:55:52 GMT
"If you could do it on your own you wouldn't be here." He spat the words out to keep himself from striking her. His anger was so close to boiling over that it was a real physical effort as well as mental now and it was only a matter of time before he snapped. Thatcher hadn't been able to be close to people for centuries and this was one of the reasons why; he was so easily frustrated and riled and he just couldn't bear it. He had lost too much to get attached to anything and while Amirah was an acquaintance, someone who had come in and out of his life sporadically over the years she was still familiar. Deep down he did want to help her, he wasn't completely rotten to the core, but he wanted her to trust him. He was being unreasonable as well, especially after she had told him the matter was personal and he continued to push, but he wanted to believe she could trust him as much as she was asking whether he could be trusted to help her.
Pacing might have made him feel a little better, the physical movement a small release for his anger, but instead he remained still, stood his ground in the most literal sense because he refused to back down; after the night he had had and the frustrations that had come with it he needed to stand his ground and claim some kind of victory even if it was cruel in a way. Amirah had her reasons for saying the matter was private and personal and that was that and yet he continued to challenge her. Some people would say that made him a terrible person. Honestly, Thatcher wouldn't have been able to deny that.
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Amirah
Rogue Werewolf
Bounty Hunter
Sure fatal doses, malcontent through osmosis.
Posts: 53
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Post by Amirah on Mar 27, 2011 16:17:06 GMT
And there it was. Thatcher taped into exactly what it was that frustrated her about this whole situation; she couldn't do this alone. That wasn't strictly correct, she could do it alone but it would be half-assing it, it wouldn't be pulling out all the stops to get to Surayya in time and she would hate herself for it when she inevitably failed. Amirah didn't want any more familial blood on her hands and each dead sibling was down to her, it was her fault when she couldn't save them. She didn't turn it inward exactly, she knew that Marek was ultimately to blame but still, she held herself accountable when she couldn't pull them free of his clutches. Thatcher's words were like a smack to the face.
If you could do it on your own you wouldn't be here. Pride told her to storm out (and break something along the way) but her heart told her to stay, not for herself but for her sister. Wouldn't she do anything for Sura? Wouldn't she massacre an army for her sister? Wouldn't she cross the globe fifty times for her? Of course. So why couldn't she just damn well admit that she needed help this time? The wolf rose within her, angry and fuelled by emotions so strong that she felt like they were worn as banners on her sleeve. Resentment. Terror. Desperation. All right there for anyone to pluck at and unravel. Shit, she hated that about herself sometimes. The sheer level of control emotions held over her.
Amirah shoved her palms against him with a growl, driving past him. "You stubborn bastard," she snarled, spinning around to face him before she got very afar. He was enjoying this, she could tell. "Why do you care what this is about, there won't be any fall out for you."
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Thatcher
Rogue Werewolf
Vampire Hunter
Whatever pain may come, today this ends.
Posts: 90
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Post by Thatcher on Mar 27, 2011 17:43:11 GMT
It was having some level of control over Amirah that Thatcher was enjoying more than anything. They had been butting heads for so long that any victory was to be seized and not wasted, no matter how small, and regardless how petty and insufferable it made him seem in the moment, in his own way he was reminding Amirah that he wasn't someone she could bully or push around as she saw fit. Just because she needed his help that didn't mean he was going to roll over and play by her rules. No, Thatcher had his own rules, his own set of strict guidelines and he would be damned if he sacrificed all of that now just because she wanted him to. It might have served her needs and purposes but it certainly didn't do anything for him.
"And you can guarantee that, can you?" he challenged, voice hard and serious. "You can stand there right now with your head held so damned high and swear on your life that there won't be any risk to me if I drop everything and help you with this, follow along blindly with no clue what I'm getting myself into? Tell me something." He stepped closer to her again, refusing to let her have that space and that distance like this was her domain and she had all the control. "If our positions were reversed, would you really be able to agree to what you're asking me to agree to? You're asking a lot of me and offering very little in return." Before she could mention it herself he went on to add, "And I'm not talking about money or favours in the future either. I want to know what I'm getting myself into by agreeing to this, Amirah, and I think I have a right to that information."
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