|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Helene nods at Nicole. "Yes, the Smith and Wesson is a rather nice weapon. As for what my parents named me, I haven't the slightest idea. They kinda abandoned me when I was a kid. The guy who raised me, well, the first one anyway, called me Helene, and the last guy's last name was Jameson. So I just sorta...adopted the names."
When Kristen approaches, all excited and then suddenly not excited, Helene stares. "Uh, hello. I'm Helene. Nice to meet you, I guess."
Okay. Alistair took a deep, long swig of his drink, swallowed it, and grinned at Helene. "Oh, was it deep understanding and friendship you came into my shop looking for, Helene?" There was a twinkle in his eyes as he followed the conversation along, highly amused. The Brit's ring finger was bare, Nicole would note, and he replied to her, "You're among friends, for certain. You should come by the shop, if you're of a mind. The range is really quite something, I like to think. You can try some of the bigger hardware. Rifles, you know."
Cheeky, cheeky.
He let the ladies talk, their conversation washing over him as he kept on drinking, until another arrived. The third woman that approached earned a stunning smile as she offered her hand, and he shook it. "Alistair. Hi. I was just about to order a round. Would you care for one?"
2 successes for loosening everyone up, charm style
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nicole took in Kristen's approach to Alistair and mentally kicked herself. Kristen couldn't have a socially nice moment. She had to approach the situation like a bull. Nicole fought the urge to upbraid her sister and instead forced herself to focus on Alistair. It was much nicer to focus on him.
"That sounds like a good time, Alistair. It's a date."
Nicole smiles brightly. She wondered if it was time to move up from the .22 Takedown. Perhaps she could bring it by Alistair's range.
"Oh, Kris." Nicole smiles as she stands, placing her hand on her sister's back. "Helene, this is my sister. She's recently moved to town."
Perhaps that could excuse her sister.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Helene sticks out her tongue at Alistair at his question. "I'll take a drink too."
She grins at Kristen. "Ah, that explains the sudden change of emotions. Either that, or she's bipolar. Which wouldn't surprise me, really. A lot of people are bipolar."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A woman at the bar, a few seats down from Alistair suddenly let out a sharp bark of a laugh and turned in her seat to face the assembled hunters. Talya Shoshani, you see, didn't like the Fourth of July. She liked what it symbolized, sure, she loved the celebration of freedom from oppression, and she wanted to participate hearily, but she hated the day itself. For most of the day, and for many days proceeding and after, sharp cracks and loud bangs echoed around the city. It made her nervous and jumpy. It reminded her of a blinding flash of light, the stink of smoke and blood, and a piece of metal almost cutting her right leg off. It reminded her of exchanging hails of bullets and of watching little puffs of red appear behind the heads of falling bodies. She hated it.
Her cousin had laughed when she said the holiday made her nervous. He'd jokingly said that his family's dogs were usually sedated for the day and having no better idea, and wanting to do more than hide inside her apartment, Tal had decided to find a nice loud place, filled with nice loud people, and sedate herself. It was probably a horrible idea.
"Ha! Smith and Wesson makes shit. They're like...Walmart quality," she blathered, pausing to let her inebriated brain make an appropriate comparison. "Almost as bad as Jennings. Or Taurus. You might as well buy from an Arab."
She actually blinked, surprised she'd said it. At least she hadn't said something more racist. Maybe the alcohol was a horrible idea. It still hadn't dawned on her that the smith and wesson wasn't the topic of conversation.
She blinked again. "Oh. 'Lo Nicole. Kris. How's the apartments?"
Sam joined Ester at the bar. He was dressed in a grey three-piece suit, with a white shirt and a black tie. It was more formal than most, but Sam wore it like it was completely casual and natural. "Do you, uh, have any root beer?" Sam winced as he said it, but he was the designated driver, after all. He needed his mind clear if he intended to get home in one piece. Riding a motorcycle in the city was dangerous enough without added difficulties.
He turned to the other Hunters already getting themselves acquainted. It's a regular frenzy in there. I can't tell if Al is the chum or a diver safely in a cage. Sam chuckled a bit at the thought. Sam caught Alistair's eye and gave him a friendly nod, the universal sign of distant male solidarity.
Ester sighed taking a sip of her Whisky; her nerves soothing a bit form the ride. Sam was a good driver, better than a lot of professionals she worked with. That didn’t change the fact that Ester didn’t care for motorcycles. Noticing Sam come un it was still amazing that he could ride a bike like that and still look so perfect. It was almost supernatural, though last she had checked he was 100% human. Not that non-human bothers me, well until they start killing people.
She gave Sam a sympathetic smile. "Tell them your DD they’ll probably give it to you for free, at least that’s what a lot of bars out east do. I never said you had to drive by the way, I just said I wasn’t, and that if you wanted me to come so bad you had to bring me. You could have just called a cab"
She gave Sam a wink as she wandered nearer to the gaggle of women fawning over the handsome brit. He was rather stunning, but she had come with Sam, and Ester didn’t fawn.
“Ester Lawson, I’m new in town, just moved into the apartments on Graves Street.” She offered a hand to Alistair.
Al gave the girls around him a thumbs up, getting set to call for the next round. But before he could, his attention was diverted by someone calling his product shit. He basically missed Samael's nod, so intently was he peering at Tal in that instant. Ester shook him out of it. He flashed her a smile, one less charming and enticing what with her pretty male companion being right there with her.
"Alistair Smith." He smiled at her and shook her hand. "Welcome to the area, Ester. It's a pleasure to meet you." He produced a business card. Why not produce a business card? It was thirty-nine cent advertising. He offered it to her. What was the harm? "I run Accurate Arms over on [[ADDRESS]]*. I've just recently arrived too."
And with that, he looked over at Tal. He was curious - did she really know her guns? "You sound like a lady with... refined tastes in firearms, miss. Why don't you come by the store and have a go at the new H&K Mark .23? It's the finest in German engineering, with perfect weight and all of the accessories any gun aficionado could ever want."
He smiled winsomely at the Israeli. Talk smack about his affordable product, he'd sell you on the top dollar stuff instead...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listening in on Alistair's sale pitch, Nicole smiled. It would be nice to have a gun range in the area. Things had been slow in Santee for the last couple of months, but she had a feeling that things were changing. She'd seen Jay at the grocery store wearing a cast. Chrissy had been a little cool about it when she'd asked, though. Nicole expected to get a little static for dropping out of the hunt for awhile, but the rent didn't pay itself. When Kristen had left last year and left her with a two bedroom to pay for, she'd had to take on more jobs.
"The apartment's O.K." Nicole replied, turning to Tal. "I was thinking of throwing a Block party sometime. Would you be up for it?"
Nicole glances to the new person, standing from her bar stool.
"Hi Ester, I'm Nicole. I live near Graves at the Arbors on Magnolia Park Drive. "
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Helene grins at Tal, opting not to respond to the drunk woman. She was sure there was some sort of gun-company rivalry going on there, and was completely clueless about it. She nodded to Ester. "Hey there, I'm Helene."
She turns to Nicole. "Magnolia Park Drive? That's a nice area. How do you afford it?"
Members who have read this thread : 3You do not have permission to view the list of names.
Draft this Post
