Afterparty

[toooldforlosing]

Raylan survived an entire night of being trotted around the party as Hasi's escort without doing anything embarassing, or getting attacked because he was mistaken for someone else. On the whole, he considered this a win.

The truth was, in his work, he'd occasionally been to a fancy party, but always as the outsider. It was work. Boys from Harlan county did not get invited to that sort of party as a guest. It didn't bother him, but it left him feeling a little displaced. (Of course, with some of the people he'd met and seen at the Xanadu affair, he could have been bright green and no one would have batted an eye. It did make a bit of difference.)

Even so, he was glad enough that it was over. He'd had... quite a bit to drink, though his steps were steady enough. Hasi probably knows him well enough by now to tell he's feeling the alcohol a bit, but he's still in control. Maybe glad he's not driving home, but more or less fine. Even though he's quiet, he's relaxed, and with no idea of packing it in just yet.

"I'd ask your place or mine, but frankly, you don't want to see mine. Hell, I don't want to see mine."

Comments

[toooldforlosing]

"That is quite an offer. You don't feel like the situation is getting too lop-sided in my favor?"

[norea]

She considers that with great thoughtfulness, tapping fingertips against his hip.

"Good point, but I'm sure you can make it up to me."

[toooldforlosing]

"You have all kinds of confidence in me, huh?" He smiled. "You have anything in particular in mind?"

[norea]

Hasibe sidles up closer again (because of course she has many things in mind) to murmur a few suggestions. There's no real reason to do this when they're alone, but it's more fun this way.

"How's that for confidence?"

[toooldforlosing]

"Ain't half bad," he murmured. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

Sleep was for the weak anyway.

[norea]

"You have a knack for never doing that," she tells him, "at least where I'm concerned."

Which may not be what he's used to, given his recent escapades with women, but Hasibe's kind of a weird experience herself.

[toooldforlosing]

It does occur to them that maybe they do so well because of complimentary insanities.

"Well, don't jinx it."

[norea]

"Are you getting superstitious on me, Raylan?" Says the witch. She steals his glass and sets it on the bedside table, moving to slide above him; he might object, she doesn't know, but she figures he can always drink it later.

[toooldforlosing]

"What, you never held your breath when you drove through a tunnel?"

...alright, that came out a little more risque than he originally intended.

"Am I gonna get that back later?"

[norea]

"Of course. You can have it right now, if you think you can concentrate on two things at once." She should probably keep her mouth away from his neck, and she should definitely avoid leaving a mark, but...shoulds don't stop Hasi often enough.

"Anyway, I always hold my breath through tunnels- and going past graveyards, too. The longer they go, the more fun it is, and the better it is when you finally get to breathe. You know what I mean?"

This efficiently sums up a lot of Hasi's attitude toward life.

[toooldforlosing]

"Mm," he says, partly in response to her question, and partly in response to what she's doing to his neck. "Didn't always get my wishes though. Or is it just supposed to keep bad luck away, I never remember."

[norea]

"Maybe I can grant your wishes," she suggests, "if it's that. I have no idea, either, I don't believe in luck."

Besides, biting his collarbones is distracting.

[toooldforlosing]

"Really? But what about all your..." He gestured vaguely, as if to indicate 'magic and other oddities.'

[norea]

"Well, fate and luck are very different things. Nothing is coincidence." She sounds so sage, working her way down his torso with her mouth. "Not bothering with the drink, huh?"

[toooldforlosing]

"It'll keep," he pointed out, more clearly distracted by her efforts now.

[norea]

She answers that with a smile, and a lot less talking. Significantly later, she's finally asleep- curled up in bed, peaceful (for now). It takes a lot to really let Hasi relax enough to sleep deeply, but alcohol, sex, and a long night of dancing and entertaining socially will do it, so she's genuinely not inclined to stir at normal household sounds like the floors creaking.

Or, unfortunately, abnormal sounds, like strangers quietly and discreetly making their way down to the top floor of the flat, via the rooftop garden. (It's always been an area of vulnerability, and this isn't the first time it's been exploited.)

[toooldforlosing]

Raylan, on the other hand, sleeps light, even when he's exhausted. At first, he tells himself that it's just a strange building, that he's not used to all its normal sounds, and that it was so late it was early.

But his gut told him otherwise.

At home, he'd never have his gun(s) so far out of reach, but he'd let his guard down. Between Xanadu and London, it felt like the rules didn't quite apply.

He lay very still and listened.

[norea]

They're making their way carefully through the rooms, looking for something. Due to the design of the steps, Huan can't come upstairs, which is sort of loft-shaped, and has to be led to the terrace via the elevator - he is otherwise strictly bound to the lower floor, and that's fine (good, even, because he's got plenty of room down there, and he likes to have a bit of his own time, as is a breed characteristic), but he's still a guard dog. He barks, once, deep and sharp. It's a warning sound, and it does wake Hasi up, though she stirs slowly.

"...Raylan?" Her voice is hushed and thick mostly from sleep, not anything deliberate; she hasn't twigged to their company just yet.

[toooldforlosing]

Very, very low, he says, "Someone's in the house." At least two someones - he's guessing three.

He should have at least put pants on by now, he thinks, ruefully.

"Up here." This could go very badly if things happen in the wrong order, so he's sorting it mentally before he moves.

[norea]

In situations like this, Hasi is always torn - she killed her own husband, after all, so she's not sure she can consider herself a proper pacifist, but at the same time, she does everything she can (including sometimes letting herself get hurt, a bit) to avoid being violent toward another person. It's not her- here's just no cruelty to her.

But she also gets into trouble constantly, and sometimes attracts it to her, and thus she is confronted with situations like this.

"I should call the police," she murmurs, voice barely audible- but then she hesitates. There are things in this apartment she doesn't necessarily want police to find.

[toooldforlosing]

"By the time they get here, whatever's gonna happen'll be over," he says, calmly, "but it ain't a terrible idea."

Slowly, very quietly, he gets up to grab his pants, and both guns - one for use, one to make sure it's not just lying there like a birthday present. Hey, they might not be armed.

Keep telling yourself that, Raylan.

[norea]

Hasibe wraps her robe around herself, kneeling by the foot of the bed- she catches her lower lip between her teeth, worrying it without realizing what she's doing. Her heart is going pretty quickly, but she's mostly feeling that due to adrenaline; she's never as scared as she ought to be, but at least her senses feel sharper. She can hear their voices on the other side of the wall, muffled, as they go through the spare bedroom next to her master one.

"They're speaking Arabic," she says, very softly, "but I don't think any of them are native speakers. Maybe one."

So that's puzzling. A language in common, perhaps; she'd bet most of them speak English just fine, and probably are English themselves.

[toooldforlosing]

"Right."

Startling them was a recipe for getting shot. On the other hand, he needs them to take him seriously, and quickly, when he's this outnumbered.

"You should probably wait here, for at least a moment or two."

[norea]

She looks like she wants to argue, but there's really not time for that, and while she is a scary little witch in her own right, this is not necessarily a magical encounter; she tries to avoid mixing the two, lest she end up outed and the wrong person learns what she is.

Also, Raylan has a hell of a lot more experience with this kind of thing. She trusts him, and is for an instant really glad he's there, even if this is a complete mess and she has no idea what these people want from her.

So she nods once, a lot more worried about Raylan's well-being than her own.

(Also her dog's- if Huan keeps barking, they might try to shut him up.)

[toooldforlosing]

He flashes her an absent half-smile that he hopes is a little reassuring, then heads out, gun in hand, half raised. He's almost silent in his bare feet, moving toward the sounds of the intruders.

When he gets there, there are three, and he has a brief twist of satisfaction. He raises the gun, and one of them shouts in surprise.

"Easy," he says, in that falsely casual tone he's so good at. "Just thought we'd have a chat about what you're doing here."

And then everything happened both too fast and slow enough Raylan could see a few steps ahead without being able to stop it. One of the men reached for his pocket, and it could be a weapon, legit or improvised. One of the others reached out, as if to stop him, knocking him a moment after Raylan fired.

It was remarkable, the small difference between a shot to wound and a shot to kill.