That Guy

Talea sucked in her breath when his skin brushed against hers, and a slight bit of color raised to her cheeks. "I'd figured you weren't going to be dumb enough to fall for my act. A pity really." She reached for the glass of rum to wet her sudden dry lips. This man was good, and she knew there was a lot more below the surface. "My name is Talea...." She paused for a brief moment, there was no need for him to know her full name. " Just Talea. I'm just your everyday woman with a fancy knife collection." Talea tilted her head knowing he would know better, there was no reason to put on another charade.
Her voice came out as a whisper, "I'm the type that use to hunt your precious little pet. However, I grow tired of hunting dogs. I came here in search of a new game." The sentence itself just rolled off her tongue. She shifted slightly from one leg to the other. Pondering what this man known as Todd really was. He sounded ancient to her, a young antique right before her eyes. One hand reached up to twirl one strand of red hair between her fingertips.
"What do you want Todd?" The words just blurted out with no remorse. There had to be a reason other than a pleasant conversation. She continually let her thoughts invade her mind. Over analyzing every bit of detail, and it was a terrible habit. She dropped her hand from her hair to lift her glass once again.
 
Todd blinks, and proceeds to laugh in her face. What did he want? What did he want!? Nobody had asked that in a very long time. He supposed the last person to ask him that had been that stupid dog Talbot all those years ago, when he left the Agency at the End of Human Kindness. His last words to Todd were, 'What do you want, Todd? You better figure it the fuck out.' The blonde continued laughing for some time. The question had been absurd when Talbot asked it, and it was absurd when the girl asked it. He had answer, he supposed, though it wasn't a very good answer, or an answer that she would appreciate. He looked at her with those big blue eyes, laughing fading to a smile.

"Wot do I want? Wot I want is simply everythin', mah dear." He rested his elbows on the counter, propping his face up, "I 'ppose I am a function of desire itself, so I guess I am wot I want." He laughs again, "Tho' I 'ppose that ain't the answer yeh were lookin' for. " He gestures with his hand, "By all mean, 'unt mah precious pet. All I'm sayin, is it won't do yeh much good in the long run. I'll still be 'ere, drinkin from this bottle of rum, waitin' for one of those fancy throwing knives yeh got stuffed in yer bodice to 'it me in the gut." He opens his hands in a distinctive don't-blame-me gesture, "Lemme answer yer question better. What I want is to keep livin'. For me to enjamb, to endstop, to die, meself, people who have to up on me purpose. So I want my purpose to still be relevant. " He grins, "Don't we all want that, on some level?"
 
Talea raised her brow inquisitively at him, "I suppose so, but I believe you find me foolish Todd. Nor should you worry. I wouldn't waste my precious knives on you. Besides I don't think blood would fall from that body just ash." She couldn't help but smile back in his face before taking another sip of rum. She placed the glass back onto the counter without making a sound, "Despite your sarcastic manner you are truly interesting individual." Her words held sincerity in it's depths. Talea didn't stare him in the eyes, nor did she try to. Just a few glances at his eyebrows, before her gaze drifted idly around the room. Still he confused her, and usually she could read anyone. Was her natural ability fleeting her, or was it his aged wisdom over powering.
Talea fell silent under her wondering mind, unsure how to go from here. Beneath it all she felt outsmarted by a so called poet that he claimed to be. Her left hand came up to her face, and one finger rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to know?" She simply asked trying not to let him see how he got to her. Something about him crawled beneath her skin, and my god it annoyed her like no other.
 
Todd drained the cup of rum. He looked at her, leaning over the bar again, but this time, he showed no sign of moving. He was there, in her face, with his sweet breath, and light blue eyes. He was not really trying to make her think anything or do anything - for once the master coercer was not interested in manipulation. He was only interested in the truth. His smile cocked to the side slightly - becoming more of a smirk. Todd knew that he made her skin crawl. It wasn't surprising. The very mention of his true name could render an entire party flat and silent. Hie face went surprisingly serious, and it fit his face better than that Cheshire grin that seemed to be a permanent fixture. His expression was more of interest - less than mocking. His face was surprisingly mutable, shifting from expressions easily.

"Wot I want is the truth, princess," He reached out to hold her chin in his hand. The smile started flooding back on his face, " Who yeh workin' for? Surely not Maverick, he woulda sent somebody else. Besides, Maverick's always bein' pushed around by the Boss, so... Yeh're not from him. Besides, if yeh were, yeh'd know me." He tapped her chin with his thumb, "So yeh're simply just a werewolf 'unter? I'd like to know before I git tangled in all of this."
 
Talea shivered from the feather light tapping of his thumb, "I use to hunt Lycans.....That game grew old a long time ago. Now I'm trying to find a new prey. Something far more useful, and alluring." Her voice spilled out through barely parted lips. It took her a few moments before she could reach up and shackle his wrist with her own hand. His touch was distracting her, and she needed to stay on track. This sarcastic poet could be the very prey she was looking for, and she wouldn't lose her opportunity to find out what he truly was. However, that didn't stop the strange fluttering in her stomach. Talea reluctantly pulled his hand from her face, but she couldn't move her fingers from his wrist. They seemed to be glued to him, and that annoyed her even more.

"I am not tangling you in anything Majeur Todd." She tried to make it sound matter of fact, but it came out as a desperate whisper. Talea couldn't help but curse at herself inside her mind. This wasn't going the way she planned at all. She let her gaze drift over his face until they peered into those blue eyes. Her own green eyes held to much knowledge of her age, and pain seemed to resonate from the depths.
 
Riushu dropped directly in front of her before she could actually reach the churches doors, snickering lightly as he pushed her back down into the street. He instantly jumped upon her, letting his claws lightly scrape down the side of her face. Ribbons of blood quickly began to for and run down off her face and dripped upon the snow. The instant scent of the blood drove him crazy, actually made him shutter a bit in extacy. He loved this part of the process, the terror that poured from his victims before he took the pleasure of taking thier lives from them. Grinning to himself, he let his claw begin to cut through her clothing, and he let it fall to the side. He gazed down at her naked body, and he began to drool. She was gorgeous, everything he expected from her scent. A deep growl began to rumbed deep in his chest before he began digging his claws into her abdomen. Feeling the hot spewing liquid form around his hand he shook once. He made sure to miss the vital organs. He wanted this to be slow. Very very slow. He wanted to enjoy every second of it, and make up for the time that Brian had kept him locked away. He could feel Brian inside him, cringing at the pleasure he sought from what he saw. Riushu knew that he loved it, he knew he loved every second of it, and if things kept going his way, it would just get that much better.
 
Todd smirked at her as shoved his wrist down upon the counter. That was good, he supposed. Kept him from getting distracted. This was a vacation, after all, but Todd couldn't help but work over-time. It was tuck within his very being; his job defined who he was as a human being. Then again, he wasn't human. He had been, once, if he remembered correctly, but that had been a very long time ago. He didn't remember being human. He remembered feeling nothing but how he did now, at this moment, this manipulative moment with this girl infront of him. But only for a moment, and then he shuddered. His hair stood on end. And he smiled. He knew exactly what Brian was up to.

Rape and murder. That's how it always was. It was the oldest game. And that's why he let his wrist go down on the table. "Yer a former 'unter, are yeh? I'm rather fond of lycans, meself. Got a lot in common with the poor blokes. " He smiles at her, his other hand going to the side of her face, to pat her cheek gently, before resting on the bar again, "Yer funny. Yeh make me laugh. Yeh take yerself far too seriously. Life's a joke, luv, and I'm the punchline. As dear Brian is steadily figurin' out."
 
Talea kept her fingers wrapped around his wrist, her thumb idly circling in a feather light caress. She couldn't help the flash of white pearls when he patted her face, "I suppose your right, but I must ask Todd. What are your intentions with Brian and what do you have in common with Lycans?" Talea couldn't help her general curiosity. However, she often wondered if that one day would get her in a life or death situation.

Talea reached out with her free hand to retrieve her glass of rum. This man was intriguing, and she was starting to doubt if she wanted him as prey. What harm could a poet do honestly? She asked herself inside her mind. Before she could dive back into her thoughts, she pushed them aside. Talea just wanted to enjoy herself for the night. Even if a girl was getting ripped to shreds by a hungry dog. She sipped at the rum enjoying the delectable liquid. Even if it set fire from her neck to her stomach.
 
Todd grinned at her. He knew that she didn't have much fear of him. He made her sin crawl, but she was not afraid. That was foolish, all things considered. He had just turned a man into a monster and sent him after a woman to rape and murder her. Then again, Todd supposed that this woman hadn't heard that. He knew he would not become her prey. It was she that he hunted, like every other woman in the world. Though not so actively on Todd's part. Todd didn't have to try. He was amused by her questions, and moved his hand against her touch ever so slightly.

"Meh intentions wit' Brian? Well, they're not 'onourable, I can tell yeh that. I'm on vacation. I neveh came for Brian, but I saw me within 'im, so I said, fuck it, and gave up on my vacation. I simply wanna see him squirm. It's meh job," He shrugged very slightly, "As fer what I 'ave in common with the wolfman, it's pretty simple. Me and the Big Bad Wolf go way back. I think yeh could even say that e's part o' me. The first real modern interpretation o' meh. At least, the one most blokes are familiar with."
 
Talea listened to him intently, nor did she flinch away from his touch. She just stood there peering into his eyes, "Isn't that interesting." Talea managed to mutter the words. This man did have aged knowledge, it made him cocky in her opinion. With a steady sigh she withdrew her hand from his flesh. "Something tells me Todd your the type to seduce women for your own game." She said it as if it were a fact, and nor was she going to be treated as a pawn on a chess board. Talea lifted the glass to her lips, her eyes going a lime green with yellow hues. Her eyes changed color with her mood, and clearly she was not impressed. A hint of annoyance appeared in her expression, how could she be so stupid? He was a mastermind at using people, and she fell right into it. With a tilt of her head she just smiled at him before going completely silent.
 
Todd could help but laugh at her, a long laugh in her face. This girl was charmingly stupid all over again. Colour changing eyes, and a resistance to being treated like a pawn? Todd had heard this story before, it was so cliched. Todd could change parts of himself depending on who he wished to ensnare - they all could. But they didn't. What was the point? They had dominion over all human's darker urges, and thus, were in a way, every human. They chose the form that suited them. Even Cor, the oldest of them all, had a form he preferred above all his over incarnations, and chose that one for his own. Todd was a tall, blonde man with a penchant for sunglasses. He could be anybody who had ever desired. He could have been Talea. He could have been me. He could be you. But he wasn't. He was Todd, with blue eyes and black blood.

"I don't seduce, luv. I take," He refilled his cup of rum. This was his third, but it made no difference. He couldn't feel it. "I take wot I want, and make it mine. Seduction's never been much fun. Fahr too easy." He took a sip of the rum, plucking his black sunglasses from the bar, and placing them back over his blue eyes, "Yer not impressed. Frankly, luv, I'm not 'ere to impress yeh." He grins, "In fact, I could care less aboutcha. Yeh mean absolutely nut'in in the grand scheme of things. I've seen and 'ad women more beautiful then yeh, and less beautiful. I'm not interested in manipulatin' yeh. I'm on vacation."

He took another sip of rum. "Yeh, you're right. I'm older than yeh. I'm older than dirt, as Jewish grandma's say." He smirked, "But I ain't cocky. I'm just right. I'm only right 'cause I've been around longer than the dirt. I will answer any of yer questions and thoughts, and I will not lie. Don't expect to understand the answers though. Might be a bit too much for your shiftin' eye-colour brain to 'andle."
 
Talea couldn't help the laugh that escaped her full lips, "Aren't you a charming rapist of women and the ear." Her voice held no sarcasm or anger. She just found this all amusing, here she was in a new city talking to a ancient. Talea reached over to her glass, and finished the remains of the flaming liquid. "Do not under estimate my intelligence Todd, you would be surprised at a mildly attractive woman's ability." Talea couldn't help, but spit her own words back at him. She understood why he was here, just to enjoy his vacation. Not to mention gather a new pet while he was at it. Shaking her head steadily with a huge smile on her face, "What a day...." She muttered to herself, lifting her right hand she patted his shoulder gently. Swirling the glass between her free fingertips, "I suppose you have all the answers you seek, and I have mine."
 
Todd took off his sunglasses nearly as fast as he had put them back on. He looked at her with those blue eyes. It was pathetic, really. She had gone from being under his thumb into kidding herself that he was hilarious and that this whole situation meant nothing to her. It was a sad attempt at a complete overhaul of her personality to actually give her substance or interest. No. She was flat, boring, and fraying at the edges. Not to say that Todd didn't believe he wasn't. He was boring too - a rehash on an old idea. But at least he stuck with the principle. This girl was mutable. It was revolting. It meant she had no real personality at all.

"Yer pathetic, girl." He grinned, and took another sip, "I don't underestimate yer intelligence. I know fer a factcha ain't got much of anything rottin' around in the 'ead of yers. One day, yeh'll understand, or yeh won't. I can't read the future," He rolled his shoulders, getting the kinks out of his spine, "My only question fer yeh, girl, is what kinda thing are yeh? Yeh surely aren't human. Somethin' lesser, I'm thinkin'. A lemure, maybe, or some petty demi-god's attempt at creatin' a parody of humanity, like meself." He reached under the bar, and pulled out a cloth, wiping down the countertop.

He laughs, "As fer mildly attractive, don't flatter yerself."
 
Talea tilted her head staring him right in the eye, " I am simply human, something you must not be able to understand anymore. Isn't like we can live forever, and gather knowledge from the centuries. Nope just one step higher than a monkey." She smirked at him behind hooded lashes. Talea couldn't help but wonder if she was so uninteresting, why bother talking to her all? Her nose wiggling from side to side as she thought to herself.

Pushing the thought aside, she reached over to stop his hand from wiping the bar. "I have to ask Todd, was the years so cruel to you? That you had to cover up bitterness with humor. I have to give you credit most go to anger instead of laughter." Her voice soft, and had a giggling note in it's depths. Talea withdrew her hand to let it fall lazily to her side.
 
Todd yawned, a typical Todd action. The thing about humans was that they snapped easily, giving away into the downward cycle. Humans were flawed like that, and those flaws they tried to compensate with pride, vanity, and cruelty. These things, though they might not be fair to other humans, kept Todd and his co-workers employed. He understood humans. He would live forever, until there were no more humans. He felt her touch on his hand, and the grin returned to his face.

"Oh luv. I can live forever. And so can yeh," He waggles a finger infront of her face, "The trick is - don't die." He laughs, "As fer my sense of 'umor, its rather black, ain't it? I don't know if its better than the anger. All I know, is that its Ganzer's Syndrome. It's sometimes just neurotic, and sometimes psychotic. 'Appens after exposure to ultra-violence. Yeh get used to it." He blinks at her question, the one about the years being cruel to him. No. Yes. Could he even remember that far back? No, the years had not been cruel to him. He had been cruel to the years.

Todd smiled, and laughed a little at the question, answering it quickly, and with a grin on his face, white teeth glimmering in the gloom, "I'm a person 'ooh one suspects neveh existed, made up of ideas and thoughts of othah people," He ran a hand through his short blonde hair, "Society made meh,"He put on his sunglasses once more, likely to come again for dramatic effect, when he stated the fact, "What am I basically? I am too much to sum up in a single word - I'm Todd. I 'ave no personal demons cause I am all your personal demons," He smirked, 'Well, not all of yours, others have had their effect."

He looked at the ceiling inspecting the cracks and riffs amongst the paint, "I'm what you think of when you see a girl with her skirt ridin' up her legs and you think to yer sad little self, 'i want her', I'm the one that makes yeh take her," He smirked to himself, and then nods at Talea, "Though I don't see yeh as the type to go 'round with wimin." His glasses twinkle, "I could tell yeh my real name, I suppose, but I've always found that 'Todd' suited me best. I've been callled that for thousands of years," He shrugged, "Besides, my real name is inelegant."

Todd glanced at her, "Besides, names have power. 'Least, thas what they always say. I am evreh Marquis De Sade, each of them that touched Lucretia and brought 'bout the Roman Empire, every Nazi who did some 'corrections' on inmates," he pauses, smile fading, "I am the most unreported violent crime, and I'm proud of it," his tone might have indicated otherwise but he kept it confident, his smile remaining on his face, "I am, afterall, Rape." He grinned once more and his last words trailed off into a drawl of utter causality, "You believe whatever the 'ell you want. But at the end of everythin' there will still be me. And there will not be a yeh."
 
Talea flashed those pearls once again, "Mmmm if it was that easy. You can try your hardest to survive, but in the end age will knock you down a flight of stairs." That threat of death didn't scare her at all. She drummed her fingers against the countertop. Her nails tapping softly at the surface, " And no Todd I've never wanted 'wimin', I'd prefer real men." Talea winked over at him playfully.

She actually enjoyed they way he spoke, aged poetry is how she saw his words. It had been years since she had spoken, nor seen a ancient. It truly was a pleasure. However, deep down she knew the questions would eventually run out. Then what....? Just part ways, and never speak again more or less. Talea lifted her drumming fingers from the table to rub at the back of her neck. "Oh, Todd what was your favorite era?" One brow raised inquisitively.
 
He thought for a moment, his head tilting to the side. He had been alive so many days, and existed for so long... There had been other Todds, of course. But they had either quit, been killed, or had stopped fulfilling their purpose and had long since ceased to exist. He had been told that one had retired, but he had never been heard from again. He supposed that The Boss had made sure of that. Enjambers were not supposed to retire. They were supposed to live as long as their concept lived. And Todd had lived a very long time, with shadows from all the previous Todds' memories providing him with the life he had never had. He tried to remember what he had been before he was Todd. He had been human? Or perhaps he had never been anything but what he was.

"Y'know I b'en doin' my job since the Victorian fops were persecuted? Previously, my job 'ad been done by other Todds, but this Todd 'as done 'is job since 1880," He smirked a little, and stretched, "There 'ave been many good eras since then. I remembeh goin' to the opera in nineteehn fifteen. Paris opera, mindcha. Not any o' that silly British affair." He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't remembeh the opera. Think it was Don Giovanni. Somethin' funny and Italian. The young opera singeh. She's beautiful, but she cries when she got fucked. They always do." He shrugged his shoulders.

"That's a pretty good memory," He admits. He thought about everything he had ever done, all the wrong he'd ever done, and realized that despite all of that, he regretted very little of it. It had all been fore a reason. There had to be enjambers, because without them, nothing would ever come to an end, and the natural order would be completely upset.
 
Talea tilted her head from side to side, the rum was starting to have its affect. It had been years since she had any drink, let alone this amount. When she realized she might not be able to stop wobbling, she shifted her hip against the wall. "So there were more of you? How interesting, how dreadful. No offense Todd you could drive a woman to the crazy house, or make her fill loved. Most would fear that." Talea lifted both hands to cross them over chest.

The silly British Affair, opera with Don Giovanni. How she wished she could see the changes over the centuries. See the past, and fall into the spiral of the future. She sat there quietly for a moment with a amused smirk on her lips, "Did you ever find love at all over these years? Like with anything or anyone." She couldn't stop the question from slipping out. Had he been alone all these years, and never loved anything. In her mind that would of been terrible.
 
Todd coughed, sputtering slightly on his rum. He laughed again, long and hard. This girl really had no idea what he was, did she? There's was no love within him. he was what he was for a reason. He was not incapable of love, but that had never been part of his life, and he never wanted it to be. He desired, yes, and he got what he desired, but he never loved. The whole point was to not get so attached. Love was a human thing, and to love was no part of Todd. He had never wanted it and it would never be his and that was just fine. The closest thing to him that he loved was Cor. And Cor was his co-worker. They just went together perfectly, like chocolate and wine.

"Nah. Neveh liked love. Love gits in the way o' wuts really important. Not only that, eugh. Spendin' yer entire life wit' just one person. Sounds foul tah me." He shrugs his shoulders, "Besides, there's no love in wut I do, and thas fer the best. I ain't interested in love. Neveh will be. That's one uh the reasons that there ain't other Todds anymore. They stopped bein' 'ooh they were supposed to be. And love gits in the way o' bein' that person. Er that Idea, as the case might be."
 
Talea wiggled her nose curiously before pushing herself off the bar, clearly drunk. "I didn't say a person I mean anything. Clearly you love speaking." She joked, wobbling as she grabbed at her jacket to throw it over her shoulder. Stretching her hands out like a sacrifice, she tried to keep her balance. Wouldn't that be lovely to fall right on her bum. She thought to herself, "Eh I guess love would get in the way if it would stop you from living." Talea took another tiny step. Surely she must of looked like a toddler learning to walk. Unsure where she was going, Talea looked around for the stairs. Her room would be up on the floor above, getting there was going to be a problem.

When she finally located the stairs, "I am afraid Todd I must lay down. Tis was a pleasure, but I need to head to my room. If I don't I'll be sprawled out on your bar before long." With tiny steps she headed towards them. "Good night." She said over her shoulder once making it to the stairs. Up close they intimidated her, surely this was going to be difficult. Leaning forward she put her hands on the third step, the idea of crawling up them seemed easier than walking.
 
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