Night's Omen

The little bar that called itself the 'Hole in the Wall' really had no idea just how dangerous most of its clientèle actually was.  Maybe it was because of Batten's deal with the owner about his 'security team' answering calls regarding trouble in the place, but hunters tended to hang out there even on their off-time.  Abby was no different, though she definitely fit in better than most of the other hunters. 

Really, who would think she was dangerous upon looking at her?  Wearing a pair of tight black pants that flared at the bottom over heeled boots (the flare allowing easier access to a knife strapped to her calf), and a tight tank, it was hard to even believe she was armed.  She had at LEAST one other weapon on her, though.  That didn't include what she'd hidden in the coat sitting two feet from her, draped over a chair.  Who would think she was dangerous?

Probably nobody, but watching her play darts while she waited on company was a little scary.  Her aim was just too good, and she was currently trying to pull off a perfect game.  This was what happened when she got bored.

How sad.

Mike had developed quite the fondness for the Hole In the Wall. It had his favorite beer (Newcastle Brown Ale) ice cold and on tap all the time. He also enjoyed the fact he could jack free wi-fi from a business next door that left it on all night, so that meant that Mike could enjoy the web from his phone in his favorite bar. As he was reading his e-mail, he stepped square in front of a dart board. The next thing he felt was pain.

Mike reached up in shock to find a dart lodged in his head. WTF?!?! That shit is fucking painful! Who threw that...his mind was racing. Was it a counter hit by a vamp, was it a person just targeting random hunters? Oh, shit no...it was a Hunter, a Crimson hunter named Abigale to be exact. Mike had just crossed her board, been hit by her dart and probably messed up her perfect game. Whoops..sorry, he thought as the blood ran down the side of his head.

"Hey you uhhh wanna help me get this thing out? Sorry about your game. Oh and I'm Mike from Frost, I know you're Crimson, but we've never met before"

No fucking way.

Not only had some idiot wandered in front of the dart board staring at his phone and messed up her game, but he'd caused her to accidentally put a hole in his head!  She didn't know if she wanted to be angry or concerned more, and settled for a mix of the two.  This would be interesting.

"Oh.  My.  God.  Are you okay?  Holy Hell, I didn't know you were going to walk there!" she gushed, rushing forward to look at the wound quickly, trying to decide if it would be bad to pull it out.  She was thinking he'd be okay, but from the sounds of things, he didn't need any MORE brain damage.  "What the hell is wrong with you, walking in front of dart boards like that?!"

She pulled on the thing, realizing from his ability to remember his name and guild that he couldn't be THAT badly hurt, and she wasn't gentle about it.  "Now do you hunt if you don't pay attention to what goes on around you?  That would be a great announcement in the guilds!  'Frost hunter survives vamp raid, but falls to bar games'."

The girl rolled her eyes, letting some of her steam dissipate, and finally stuck her hand out to shake.  "I'm Abby, and yes, I'm in Crimson.  You owe me a game of darts."

Mike reached up and pulled the dart out. Ow, that fucking hurt. It also was typically bleeding freely like head wounds tend to do. He gathered some bar napkins and pressed them to his head. Wow, Abby was about like Frank had described her, and Mike couldn't decide if he thought she was a bitch or if she was actually right. It was an honest mistake, he wasn't paying attention he had wandered in front of her board. But the crack about him being a bad hunter did irk him. He was in fucking Frost, he didn't hide behind a rifle scope or something 600 yards aways and shoot people, he did it man to man.

"Well, we can't all hide behind guns to make our kills....I just didn't happen to be paying attention that time. It was an honest mistake, lighten up..you would think I would be more pissed off then you considering I'm the one that got hit here. Anyway, you want something to drink while I pay for the make up game for you?"

If he'd told her that he thought she was a bitch, she might have REALLY gone into bitch-mode on him.  Really, she wasn't being THAT bad, and she'd actually been trying to put a humorous outlook on the whole thing while making fun of him for being stupid.  She spent time with guys, and she'd never had one get all bent like a girl over it before.

First time for everything?

"Whoa, wait a second.  Lighten up?  Honey, you might wanna lighten up if you're gonna take all that to heart," she told him, giving him a funny look, though her eyes inevitably went back to the head wound.  She DID feel bad, regardless of what he thought, but if he was going to bitch at her about her hunting tactics, she was going to smash him in the same spot with something harder than a dart, and see what he thought of Crimson, then. 

Hide behind guns?  Whatever.  "Listen, you obviously don't know what Crimson is all about if you're going to say stupid shit like that.  I may like guns, but I'm just as good with a knife, and I like it up close and personal.  Let's get you a drink so you stop getting offended," she agreed, grabbing his arm and heading towards the bar.  No sense in giving him a chance to get annoyed again.  Better to liquor him up and see if he's still as defensive.

Mike grinned when she started getting upset about his little jab at Crimson. While he DID think Frost was the most bad ass, he certainly respected Crimson, and besides he wasn't about to talk that same shit to Frank...he would have ended up being all BRB Broken Face. But this chick didn't seem like an unstable ex marine that would kick his ass at the drop of a hat due to an insult.

"Yeah a drink sounds like what I need right now, little alcohol to kill the pain! I was just kidding you about Crimson anyway..you know Frank Laun? Yeah, he's a good friend of mine and if I would have made that crack to him he would have beat my ass, I respect what you guys do, and hell you probably get hurt a hell of a lot less than we do...well..than I do...so next game, you just gonna play with yourself or you want somebody to play with you?"

OH SH-- Hope she doesn't take that little accidental innuendo too seriously and get pissed. Mike was blushing hardcore, hoping she couldn't tell. Why did he have to be so damn socially awkward?

Good, at least he was willing to withdraw the stupid from his earlier comments, though she rolled her eyes once more when he mentioned Frank.  So he wouldn't make that comment to Frank?  Why?  Because he was big and had a beard?  "You know, if you wouldn't say it to Frank, you really shouldn't say it to me.  I can be just as dangerous," she warned him, but he wouldn't get it for awhile.

She'd fix that later.

For now, she smirked and called out a drink order to the bartender, just in time for the guy to hear Mike's comment.  Good God, did this guy EVER get his foot out of his mouth?

Aware of the innuendo, she shot a comment right back without hesitation, willing to let him take it how he wanted.  "You can play, but I'm still going to kick your ass."

Truth.

He smirked at her comment about Frank. Yeeeeah..big and a beard that was it. Never mind the Medal of Honor and the fact he had killed more people than Mike cared to know, plus Mike had seen and heard a couple of stories about that big fucking machete that Frank carried around, so it was more of a healthy respect.

"I'm quite sure you can be or you wouldn't be in this line of work. But by the same token, you don't know what I'm capable of either. But nah, I'm joking about Frank, he and I go way back, but he really can be a scary dude...he has a pretty violent past. Oh, and you better not count your chickens before they hatch..I just spent the last 4 years in England, all those limeys do in their pubs is get drunk and play darts..I might surprise you."

Mike grabbed the drinks and headed back over to the table by the dart board. He wasn't a complete pushover even if he couldn't really charm his way out of a paper bag.

If he really thought that some military stuff impressed Abby, he was insane.  Sure, she respected it, but she wasn't going to fear a man just because he'd been in the military.  She found hunters impressive as their skill in HER field improved, and Frank was working on that.

She raised an eyebrow at his remarks about darts, not really sure if she believed him, but she returned to the high table and the chair with her coat on it, took a seat, and gestured for him to go ahead and show her what he could do with that dartboard.  Muscle where the mouth is, basically.  If he lost, she was going to tease him incessantly, just for the hell of it.

"Go ahead then, hotshot.  Let's see what those boys across the pond taught you."

Those boys across the pond had taught Mike alot. They had taught him how to properly drink, and how to play some serious darts. His incessant video game playing helped that out too since  he gained very impressive hand/eye coordination. He grabbed the darts and stepped up...BULLSEYE

"How about that? Kinda shocking that I'm just as good at throwing them as I am catching them huh?"

She wasn't at all impressed by the drinking scene.  Regan was hardly straight-edge but she certainly wasn't one to drink any more than one or two beers.  However, she was attracted to the social aspects of bars and various other hangouts, and that was what constantly brought her back to Hole in the Wall.

Her black stilettos clicked against the floor as she traipsed into the little bar, her freshly manicured hands swaying at her sides.  Her acid washed jeans harbored a holster up by her right hip, concealing her Glock under the fabric of her maternity styled shirt.  Long, wavy blonde hair was pulled up into a tight bun at the top of her head and by the looks of things, she appeared to be perfectly ready for a night on the town.  Her appearance coupled with her an unimpressive height of 5'1", she certainly didn't appear to be a hunter.

She caught sight of a familiar female and a semi-familiar male near the dart board.  She smiled.  Striding over, she ended up behind the Frost hunter, her finely preened eyebrows raising curiously.  "Nice shootin', Tex.  You hit a bullseye every time or were you just lucky?"

Her eyes slid to Abby, her smile becoming a little less sharp around the edges as she raised her hand to wave with her fingers.  The little shifter was certainly pleased to run into fellow hunters, even despite her teasing.  That was just the crow in her talking.

Tex? Mike turned around to see the tiny hunter behind him. Well, at least it wasn't a total stranger coming to pick on him after his little accident. In fact, even Abigail had stopped ragging on him for a minute. But this was certainly a strange turn of events. Mike with two women...in a bar? It was only a matter of time before he said something stupid.

"Tex huh? Well I'm from Lousyanna so I guess you're close enough. And if you think this is impressive you should see me shoot skeet.....OH SHIT, I mean uhhh you know clay pigeons..uh yeah...so uhhh yeah...ummm you want a drink or something from the bar over there?"

Yeah, that golden moment of normalcy passed quick enough. But maybe he could escape over to the bar for a few minutes and let them laugh that off. If they didn't just think he was a complete douche bag and leave that is.

Abby knew the sound of stilettos when she heard them, and it wasn't like it was a common sound there at the Hole in the Wall, so she naturally turned to see who it was.  She just grinned, not wanting to interrupt Mike's verbal diarrhea, and waved back for an instant. 

Regan was just too cute.

Abby would definitely laugh this off with Regan while Mike was at the bar, but she had no doubt that Regan would laugh even harder.  The crow half of her was a total riot!  Really, Tex?  Haha.

"Regan!  My favorite girl!" she beamed by way of really greeting Regan once Mike had gone to get a drink and recover from his embarrassment, rushing forward to hug the shorter woman.  "I'm so glad you stopped by.  Do you realize this guy's already taken a dart to the skull?"

Regan openly stared at Mike when he stumbled over his words.  What was that he just said?  Shooting skeet?  "Wow, Louisiana.  Both feet, I'm impressed.  How do you manage to talk around them?  Years of practice?"  She smiled at him, an action that could have been deemed 'sweet' if it were coming from any other sarcastic little blonde woman.

"I'm fine, though, thank you.  You don't want to put alcohol in my system.  I'm packing iron."  Naturally, she said this in a low enough tone so that only Mike and maybe Abby could hear it.  She then waggled her eyebrows suggestively, although this particular suggestion may not have been one that Mike was looking for.

Abby mentioned Mike's little disaster and Regan laughed.  "Oh, so maybe that explains it!  You got the sense knocked right out of you!"  She clapped her hands together, as if to convey her joy at finding this out.  How happy!  "Poor man," she said more solemnly this time, sliding her eyes back to Abby curiously.  "Did you do that to him, Abby, you terrible woman?"  This was said with a grin as she shook her head in mock 'tsking'.

Man, this was getting rough. Mike was pretty used to being laughed at...but having not one but TWO attractive women laughing at him in PUBLIC was fucking bad. He just kinda ha ha'ed with them and buried his face in his beer. His only real solace in the situation was the fact that he was actually beating Abigail in darts at the moment.  He really should have known better than to use the word skeet...at home in Louisiana everybody knew what you meant if you said it, but thanks to that shitty rap music...some people around here didn't know what it meant. Oh well, guns are safe topic, talk about guns.

"Packing iron? I should be calling you Tex! Or maybe Annie Oakley. Yeah...Abigail nailed me in the head, but it was my fault for paying more attention to my phone than to my surroundings. Great hunting skills right? But back to your piece, what are you packing?"

There that wasn't so bad, nothing stupid managed to find its way out of his mouth this time. He hoped Frank was having fun doing whatever the hell it was he had ditched Mike to go do, because these chicks were vicious!