For the Love of Evil

[Syntaphar]

As Frankie moved on, Dario took a second to pick up the man on the ground and drag him back into the stairwell. Hoping she wasn't watching, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and his ID. With those safely in his jacket, he walked back out to meet Frankie, closing the door behind him. After meeting her, he dashed a bit ahead through the blank hallway, clearly a building afterthought, and pressed his ear against the door into the building proper. He said back to Frankie "I hear voices again. But a hell of a lot of them. That could be a very bad thing, but if we play it right, it's a very good thing."

He clicked open the door in the same careful way he did earlier, and cracked it, the light from inside strong enough even to cast clear lines on the hallway wall. He opened the door fully to expose a rather large office building floor, people either too hard at work or too distracted by their own thoughts to notice them. "Rule one, Frankie, always act like you own the place, no one will bother you."

With that, he slipped his glove back on and began walking through the building in long strides, nodding with a smirk to anyone that looked at him funny.

[Skylar]

She stuffed her hands deep inside her pocket, hiding away the padlock in her hand. She knew this routine, ah how he underestimated her because of the company he found her in. No worry though, she was starting to enjoy herself a bit more now then she was with Xavier.

As she followed Dario, her back straightened, her shoulders were back, and her nose was so far in the air that it wasn't even funny. Save for the blood soaked pant leg, no one would know the difference if she should be there or not.

A woman, not far away stood from her chair and looked at her cautiously, curiously... “'Cuse me miss, but...you're....bleeding...” Frankie stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. Turning toward the woman, not a hint of a smile on her face could be seen. “You don't say? What's your name? You see, I don't recall asking you for help, I have help already.” She noted Dario with a slight nod. “Get back to whatever it is you were doing, ok?” Authority was written all over her face, and secretly she choked back a laugh.

Turning away from the woman, she elbowed Dario.”Come on, we haven't got all day” Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at him...begging him to move faster...

[Syntaphar]

Dario watched as the woman spoke to Frankie with her innocuous comment. He was about to answer for her when Frankie handled it herself, albeit with a bit more standoffish an attitude than he wanted. He could almost feel the suspicion rise imperceptibly in the room. It wasn't bad enough to have him think she was an amateur though. Who was this girl, and how did she end up with Gottheit? He looked at Frankie slyly when she elbowed him and responded calmly and almost jocularly: "Yeah, no kidding we don't have all day. We can't afford to get stopped on every little hang-up."

He smiled and kept walking until the concerned woman was just out of earshot. At that point he said under his breath, barely concealing his laughter at the situation and his exhilaration at the risk: "You just can't help yourself can you? We were gonna get out of here nice and slowly, but noooooo, we have to snap at and threaten the job security of everyone who works here. Besides, that's not how you threaten someone's job security. This is."

With that, and with the elevator nearing, he slipped over to an unoccupied but clearly used desk and dropped the wallet of the man he strangled into a drawer. He also deposited the weapon he used for it. A shame, but he had more garrotes back at the hotel, and the supplies to make even more. He made sure to keep the ID though, at least til they got out. If he knew office workers right, the confused desk jockey would find the goods, bring them to the front desk in confusion and be the prime suspect in an attempted murder case. Dario smiled at his ability to get off scot-free in anything he did as he pushed the call elevator button.

[Skylar]

“Help myself? You're not the only that's going to enjoy this. Come hell or high water, I'm going to have the night I was promised.” She looked up at him, the fakest of smiles curling her lips upward peeling them back of flawlessly aligned pearly whites.

Before she could say another word, Dario was inside a cubical. She stopped only long enough to see him toss the stuff into a drawer. He was good. But why would someone like him want to kill Xavier? She didn't have time to dwell on it now.

With the ding of the elevator the doors opened and she moved in front of him to climb aboard. She didn't push any buttons, unsure of what he planned on doing from here. But she assumed the main floor would be there next stop, then hopefully out the front door.

[Syntaphar]

Dario opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. What exactly did she mean by "the night she was promised"? Whatever she meant by it, it was ruined by Dario, wasn't it? Shame wasn't exactly the word for what he was feeling, as whatever happened tonight was just an unfortunate circumstance of the job he needed to do. Looking at Frankie though, he was pretty impressed at how well she was taking the wounds, the sneaking around, the jumping off buildings. Maybe it was just distracting her. He walked into the elevator and pressed the main floor button. Once the doors closed he raised an eyebrow to Frankie and said: "The night you were promised, eh? Alright, soon as we get out of here, I'll check the travel guide for a fancy restaurant, and we can take a mulligan on your night, what do you say?"

For the first time since they met, his teeth bared in a full, nearly demonic grin. It would be hard to tell the sincerity of his offer. At that time, the elevator door would open, revealing a brand new floor. Dario looked at Frankie one last time, and if it were possible to convey the idea of sticking your tongue out at someone without actually doing it, Dario had managed to find the expression that did it. He would ask an ambiguous question before moving. "Well, shall we?"

[Skylar]

She started at him for a moment, trying to decide what angle he was playing from, and oddly enough she couldn't put her finger on it. So she simply decided she would play, too.

“What kind of lady would I be to refuse? On that note, what kinda gentleman would you be to not steal me some clean clothes and allow me to wash up before hand?” Right right side of her mouth perked ever so slightly as she walked passed him onto the new floor.

She was limping slightly as before she stopped to allow him to lead the way, her hands still buried deep in her pockets. There was a shit eating grin on her face as she got lost in her thoughts. It was funny that Xavier had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he had met her on her arrival, but this man...this man had opened a whole new can of worms.

[Syntaphar]

Dario was surprised he didn't get yelled at for his playful suggestion. Hell, he was surprised that he didn't get slapped. But, in the nature of competition, he started to formulate an answer for her, to raise the stakes. Meanwhile, he walked in the opposite direction of the main lobby. He figured someone would recognize him through there, or specifically not recognize him. Then there would be a problem. There was also the fact that a building had basically collapsed just outside. He didn't hear a crash at any point, really, but he figured they would still be looking out for anything strange in the region. All the more reason not to go where people were. He turned to Frankie with the same smile. "Well, Frankie, I have enough money to pay for the clothes. Would it just make it more special for you, if I were to steal them?"

Dario brought the two of them to a loading dock in the back. He didn't know where he was going exactly, he just started walking away from the entrance and to the side, and eventually got there. He opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when no alarm sounded. They were free for now. He turned to her. "So, I have a place a few blocks from here where you can clean up. Trash the place all you like, it's comped by my boss. Sound good?"

[Skylar]

What a player. Fortunately for him, she liked to play, too. She held her tongue while the walked out of the building and around the corner. Leaning against the wall, she brushed a few stray hairs from her face. God damn she felt like hell, probably looked it, too.

“You know, Dario..” she had a way of saying his name with a certain emphasis, that was half sexy, and half smart ass “I hadn't really thought about it until you put it that way. Are you willing to take the risk of getting caught to steal me some clothes?” She raised a brow, and ran her tongue across her lips, only to smile.

“I'm not interested in trashing anything but these horrible clothes. But cleaning up my dear...that sounds spectacular.” Finally she pulled her hands from her pockets, and took his arm with her hand. Maybe it was her intent to make him a tad uncomfortable, or perhaps her leg was starting to hurt a bit more then before now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She however, would give him no hint on either.

[Syntaphar]

Dario grinned back at her. "I think I would be willing to take that sort of risk, Frankie. However, I'm afraid stealing clothes for you would be no risk at all, so I'm sorry, but you wouldn't get to see me take that risk." His playful arrogance was tinged with a hint of real pride. He figured that with all of his training, all of his background, it would be reasonably trivial to acquire a few outfits. He'd only failed assignments three times before, and none of them were theft jobs. Once was on purpose, and one was now, which he still planned to fix. Neither was as bad as the second time he failed though. He nervously rubbed at his borrowed arms only to realize that while he was thinking, Frankie had put a hand on them.

He jumped slightly and looked down, then looked up almost quizzically at the woman walking with him, before finally curling his mouth up into a smile. He made no effort to move her hand. For all he knew, it was just because she was hurting. He led her on a nearly straight route with slight detours to check for pursuants back to the hotel he was staying in for the job. It wasn't perfect, but it was discreet and in a nice part of town. More importantly, he was keeping all the valuables he owned in there that he wasn't carrying with him, along with several pounds of candy he'd bought earlier that day. the same candy he just then remembered he could make a fireball out of. The door opened with a defiant creak and he went inside.

[Skylar]

She forced a pouted expression at his words, as if it hurt her feelings he wasn't willing to steal clothes for her. In reality, she could care less, so long as she had fresh clothes to put on.

She held tightly to his arm, even as they approached the hotel. It was a nice, clean part of the city, though truthfully this was one of the nicest ones she had ever been in. The people were even nice, for the most part, that however could be because she was with their hero as soon as she had gotten off the ship. But yeah....

“Are you gonna stand out here lollygagging all day, or are you gonna invite a lady in?” She couldn't wait to get her pants off, and pick the rest of the glass from her leg. She could still feel it in there everything she moved, her pants leg dragging across the fine slivers embedded in her flesh. Not only was it an annoying feeling...it fucking hurt....

[Syntaphar]

He looked at her pouting expression. He responded with a smile and said "What's the nasty look for? I didn't say I wouldn't do it. I just said, you wouldn't get to see me take a risk for you in that particular way, because there's no risk to be had. " Content with his answer for now, he made a grandiose gesture into his little section of the hotel, inviting her in. The wing he was in was nicely designed, but not ostentatious. Quality and discreetness, two things he'd always strived for. His room itself was not particularly fancy either, just some functional furniture and a few tasteful paintings.

He quickly moved over to the bed and checked beneath it, happy to see that his box was still there and that the organization that hired him hadn't sent a new assassin yet. He sat down on the bed and laid across it the wrong direction, also happy to rest for a second. He then sat up, a contented smile on his face, and started pulling a series of weapons out of his coat, long knives, small knives, a pipe, garrotes, blackjacks. they offered comfort, but darn if they weren't heavy.

[Skylar]

Bowing to him after his dramatic gesture, she entered the hotel. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was nice, really nice. She was used to staying in a hole in the wall somewhere that costs next to nothing to stay at.

It took what seemed only seconds and they were in his room. Everything one might need for a few days stay, or in this case....two. “Any monsters under there?” She raised a brow at his strange behavior, but left it at that as he laid across the bed.

She, on the other hand, was kicking her boots off and unbuttoning her pants. By the time he had sat up and started...disarming himself, her pants were a pile on the floor and she was in nothing more then her panties and a tank top.

She slid the chair closer to the bed, and took a seat in it, propping her foot on the bed and inspecting her leg. With a sigh of disgust, she pulled the first piece out with a small gasp. “Damn.” Looking up at him, stray hairs dangling in her eyes, she smiled slightly and held the sliver up toward him. “Ya got something I can put these little bastards in?”

[Syntaphar]

After hearing Frankie's comment, he looked back and smiled. None more dangerous and confusing than the ones above it, he thought to himself. He figured he wouldn't say it. He looked over sympathetically as she pulled the shards from herself, and when she questioned him, he nodded and pulled an ashtray from the nearby end table across the bed. He didn't smoke, and probably wouldn't care if there was glass in the ashtray even if he did. He was trying as hard as he could to avert his eyes for the moment, but looked towards her every once in a while and smiled uneasily, as though delivering his condolences for her legs.

At that point, he removed his leather jacket, leaving a standard wifebeater beneath it, and some not so standard arms. If Frankie saw his hand before, she would see that his condition indeed took his arms too, which horribly mismatched his skin tone. And that's not even mentioning the razorwire that strung its way through him. He removed his gloves and began pulling the wire out as if it were a loose thread, his tongue sticking out in concentration. He didn't want to cause too much damage, so he wouldn't have to replace them again. The red-tinted wires he pulled out he laid next to him in neat lines, making sure not to touch them with anything but his arms or hands. He looked back up at Frankie with a sardonic smile. "There are worse things to have stuck in you than glass."

[Skylar]

She dropped the shard of glass into the ashtray, nodding slightly to him. “Thanks.” As she continued, she realized there was more in there then she had thought, and she also realized Dario tossing glances her way. She was unsure of his reasoning for such, be it that he felt sorry for her, or he just wanted to look at her in her half naked state. Either way didn't really matter she supposed....

Her hands began to shake lightly as one by one she continued pulling the glass from her leg. It was her turn now though. As he removed his jacket, her eyes began to stray from her task at hand, to him. There was something odd about his arms, she had noticed his hands earlier.

Now, her full attention was on Dario as he pulled what looked like razor wire from his arms? Who was this man? What was he? What was more is, he didn't even seem to flint from any sort of pain, and she knew that couldn't feel good, no matter how fucked up one was. It was only his words that broke her from her daze like stare, her eyes snapping immediately to his.

“Depends on what your idea of worse is.” She smiled and laughed quietly to herself, turning her attention back to her leg.

[Syntaphar]

Dario nodded at her thanks and continued pulling strands of wire out. There were always a few he missed or a few that broke at some point. He heard her response and chuckled. He was fairly certain this was worse than the glass. If he had feeling in his arms at all, he was certain he'd be in a living hell right now from deep tissue lacerations and the like. He decided to wax almost darkly poetic. "I guess my idea of worse is having something buried deep inside of you all day, tearing you apart in ways you don't really want to think about. And the whole time, you wonder what's worse: That it doesn't hurt like you thought it would or that you wanted it there in the first place. But that's just me."

He smiled at his disturbing little monologue and continued his task so she could continue hers. He hated rethreading himself, but he also hated having the wire in. It was inconvenient and hurt most things he touched. He didn't really want to think about it too much anyway, so he just finished by reassuring Frankie. "It actually doesn't hurt in the least. Long story. So, what brings you around this town? You seemed a bit confused out here, figure you don't know it all that great yet.