On the trail
Mar. 15th, 2020 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petty_dabblerGotham.
What a Hell hole. And John knew more than his far share of Hell holes.
Neon light cut through the night as the warlock stood outside a bar in the drizzle. Fucking March, pissing down rain, too cold to be out in long. His fingers ached from chill as he smoked his fag. Smoke coiled up around his head, but that phantom of a halo evaporated in the rain.
That girl, the one he'd read about in the paper. Her mum worked here. John had questions- questions better answered at home. Preferably near the girl's room where her essence was strong. But he'd approach her here. Harmless customer, just asking after her...out of care, like.
Inside, he'd sat at the bar and chatted the bird up. The rumours all over the city were of sex slaves and child murders. Horrible, but John thought cynically, ordinary and boring. Maybe he was barking up the wrong tree.
"Tell me more about her," he said, pretending to offer a sympathetic ear. Eventually he got the mother to go on enough that she started to offer up things like the fact Tae was a virgin.
Bingo.
"Say, could I take you home tonight?" he asked. "See if you're safe?"
He sounded so concerned.
All he really wanted to do was poke around the girl's room.
* * *
John walked out into the morning air after spending the night with the upset mum. Nice thing about crying women- if you could make them come they usually stopped crying for a bit. He had in his pocket a small ziplock with a wad of hair he'd stolen from Tae's brush. He was about to leave when he saw a woman with the most gorgeous eyes coming into the building. He'd seen the bird at the bar last night. He watched her unlock and stepped out of her way.
"Top o' the morning, love," he drawled with a sweet, lazy half smile. He plucked a cigarette from his pocket to light up on the stoop and the ziplock fell by his foot.
What a Hell hole. And John knew more than his far share of Hell holes.
Neon light cut through the night as the warlock stood outside a bar in the drizzle. Fucking March, pissing down rain, too cold to be out in long. His fingers ached from chill as he smoked his fag. Smoke coiled up around his head, but that phantom of a halo evaporated in the rain.
That girl, the one he'd read about in the paper. Her mum worked here. John had questions- questions better answered at home. Preferably near the girl's room where her essence was strong. But he'd approach her here. Harmless customer, just asking after her...out of care, like.
Inside, he'd sat at the bar and chatted the bird up. The rumours all over the city were of sex slaves and child murders. Horrible, but John thought cynically, ordinary and boring. Maybe he was barking up the wrong tree.
"Tell me more about her," he said, pretending to offer a sympathetic ear. Eventually he got the mother to go on enough that she started to offer up things like the fact Tae was a virgin.
Bingo.
"Say, could I take you home tonight?" he asked. "See if you're safe?"
He sounded so concerned.
All he really wanted to do was poke around the girl's room.
* * *
John walked out into the morning air after spending the night with the upset mum. Nice thing about crying women- if you could make them come they usually stopped crying for a bit. He had in his pocket a small ziplock with a wad of hair he'd stolen from Tae's brush. He was about to leave when he saw a woman with the most gorgeous eyes coming into the building. He'd seen the bird at the bar last night. He watched her unlock and stepped out of her way.
"Top o' the morning, love," he drawled with a sweet, lazy half smile. He plucked a cigarette from his pocket to light up on the stoop and the ziplock fell by his foot.
