Eve lounged on top of a sterile metal table, lithe body sprawled sideways with her head cradled by a hand propped against the surface. She idly sucked on a lollipop as her emerald eyes stare blankly at an inconspicuous messenger bag in front of her. Today was supposed to be market day but one of the runners turned out to have been unfortunately nabbed by an Infected. Thus, they were now a runner short, unless she borrowed one of the newbies.
This wasn't at all a bad idea, if not for the fact that she prefereed all her runners be her personal pets. Eve barely cared for the little insects but since their performance would reflect on her leadership, she did get out of her way to make sure they perform well. Concocting designer drugs for them to be dependent on had ensured their loyalty to her, and so far this management method never failed. She has to be cautious about introducing an "outsider".
Still, as it cannot be helped, she had one of the pets call for a newbie. When he arrived, she hardly moved from her position but her long lashes flutter as she viewed him from head to toe and back. Eve didn't like that he looked like he never had a lick of the candies but she supposed that was because he was still new to the gang.
After pulling out the lolli with a salacious pop, she licked her lower lip provocatively then smiled sweetly. "How's your memory like?"
Eve pushed herself up to sit, tucked her thumb and index into her bosom, and pulled out a small slip of paper and a sealed bag. "Here are the names and addresses of where those candies should go to. And this is a little sample. Want to taste?"
Drug running was pretty simply to do. Pick it up from a Jabberwockies contact, run it from point A to point B without getting caught by the po-po, and get the money. It was quick, easy, and a great way for the young man to earn money that he could bring back to his family. He was perhaps a little optimistic about the whole thing, but considering the newest drug runner had yet to really be introduced to the darker side of the gang, he didn't see any harm in it. As far as he knew, Zander also hadn't even met anyone really far up in the hierarchy yet. It was all just low or high cards that could give him his information and send him on his way.
That's why today didn't seem any different for Zander. He knew he was meeting up with a contact named Eve, but that was about all. They didn't really tell him much, and even though his naive curiosity made him want to know more, the smarter part of him knew it was best not to worry about such things. Besides, it was just a side job while he took care of his family during the day. Zander shook such thoughts out of his head as he was lead to his contact, his light hazel eyes dancing across the figure that lay atop a metal table. He wrinkles his nose a bit at that.
That didn't look comfortable at all.
Was it supposed to just be a power pose?
"Yo," Zander greets Eve as he approaches her, informal as all hell. Something tells him he shouldn't approach her directly, so he doesn't, simply tucks his hands into the pockets of his pants and stays put where he is. He watches her as she begins to talk, and he immediately grins at her question on how sharp he was.
"Sharp as a whistle, slick as a tack I reckon!" he replies with a gleeful grin on his face, even if the answer doesn't make much sense. He watches as she pulls out a piece of paper and a baggie, and he immediately takes a couple steps forward so that he can reach out and take them from her. He looks over the names and addresses, and he's fairly confident he knows exactly where to take the goods. But his attention returns to the woman when she mentions something about a sample, and whether or not he'd like to try anything. Zander screws up his face slightly in response; is she trying to trick him into getting in trouble with someone?
"Naw, I ain't never touch the stuff. Wouldn't want to get into trouble with nobody," he replies, lifting the bag slightly to look into it. "Besides, it looks like dried cum or something... Or like that dandruff I get sometimes!" he comments aloud, making a face. Yeah, that didn't seem appetizing.
She noted the cautious stance the young man took despite the casual greeting, and idly wondered if Atlas was rubbing off on her.
Did she look scary? Mean? Unwelcoming?
Eve thought of her makeup and outfit and knew it was nothing of that sort. She then fought the urge to frown as she listened to him answer her question.He was definitely too green and appeared to be a little slow. She guessed she couldn't really fault him in that because hardly anyone ever did have the resources to properly eat much less develop their brains. In the apocalyptic world they live in, either you were unfortunately average bound to be stunted or lucky to be born a genius. Thankfully, she was born with a lot of luck.
She liked that she could read him quite easily though. Unlike Atlas the chalk jerk. Eve was considering whether or not she should entice him to be hooked to drugs like most of her pets were, when he dished out a surprising comment that made her burst into laughter.Genuine, teary eyed laughter.
Despite all her efforts to be always in control of what she shows on her face, Eve couldn't help the blush that crept up from her neck to her cheeks as she did her best to regain her composure.
"Oohhh my," she whistled as she fanned her hand over her warm face. "That was a first... I don't remember having ever laughed like that." the earlier grin on her face turned into a gentle smile as she gazed at the young man with curious seafoam eyes.
"You're funny, I like you. And because you made me laugh, I'd go easy on you today." she winked at the runner and took the sample bag off his hands. "I was supposed to make you memorize everything on that bit of paper and have it discarded before you go, but I'm giving you a pass."
She then hopped off the table, leaned forward and popped her lollipop into his mouth. "I'm Eve. You?" She asked, having decided his was a name worth knowing. He wasn't as adorable as her pets, thus was still unworthy of a sparkly nickname, but he at least deserves to be ranked a little above the common insects.
Of all the reactions the woman could have had towards his response, he wasn't really expecting her to laugh. It wasn't an unwelcome response though. It was pleasant, and joyful — it reminded him that she was human just like him, even if she had a different position than him in the gang. A boyish grin spreads across his face as he grins at her, almost tempted to laugh along with her. She matches his grin with one of her own as soon as she's done speaking, and he rather likes that. It felt good to know there were people in the gang with a sense of humour — those were the kinds of people that Zander tended to hang around with. Crude as he was, he still liked to make people laugh where he could.
The woman comments about how he was funny and that she planned to go easy on him for it, and he responds with a wink of his own, a thumbs up, and: "I appreciate it!" Of course, he doesn't really know what she would do if she wanted to go hard on him but... He also doesn't have the capacity to think of that either. To him, everyone's been so friendly in the gang thus far that he didn't feel any immediate threat from any of them.
Still, she leans forward suddenly and snatches the bag back out of his hands, and he appears to pout slightly, wondering if he'd done something to annoy her. Didn't she just say that was his? Well, then again, he'd already declined to have some of it so maybe it was for the best! His dark gaze looks back down at the piece of paper in his hands as she tells him she was planning to have him memorize the names and addresses, and instinctively Zander already begins to do so. Even though she clearly is choosing to let him keep it.
He returns his attention to her when he suddenly sees movement out of the corner of his eye. He has only a split second to realize she's hopped off the table for a lollipop is suddenly shoved in his mouth. He's not expecting it, and the sudden movement makes it just about choke him.
Zander hacks and gags before he pulls the lollipop from his mouth, making a slight face at the taste of it — he'd never been one for sweets. But maybe that was simply because he grew up mostly without them. But it felt rude to throw it away, so he simply holds it between two lithe fingers, hazel eyes turning to match the woman's gaze with his own. Eve. Short and simple, it was a nice name for a nice woman.
"Oh, I'm Zander! But you can call me whatever you want really, I don't fucking care," he laughs, as if it's some kind of inside joke for him. "I mean, most of the guys have just been callin' me The Newbie, and it works for me. S'long as I get paid, I do whatcha need and get called whatcha want." As if he couldn't get anymore embarrassing, he lifts both hands and gives her a 'finger guns' pose — at least, as much as he can with a lollipop in one hand and the piece of paper in the other.
"So what am I running today?" he questions her, curious.
The grin on her face grows with amusment as she watched him gag over the lollipops she put into his mouth. It was real candy, not a drug, something which would be considered rare outside of the Inner Citadel. Yet here he was, choking on it, in what appeared to be disgust.
"I can call you anything, you sure? No take backs?" her eyes glimmered a little at the thought. She found it was rare for anyone to just allow anyone that privilege. Somehow, people who were born and raised in the Slums had the burning need to be identified separately from the muck and had an unhealthy obsession about being recognized. Eve even admits she felt a semblance of that.
After the other affirmed he wouldn't change his mind about her calling him names, she couldn't help giggle and pat Zander's arm excitedly. "I'll call you Candy." Eve winked at the other then laughed heartily. It was the second time she did so and she found it fun to laugh. Even the fingerguns he made, which she'd ordinarily find stupid and annoying on others, was funny.
"The usual, rancor, a temporary glimpse at death defying ecstacy and some coccaine." She informed the other with a smile. The venom of the Infected was a staple product but it didn't make it any less enticing to their customers. "You have to be careful though, the vials are fragile. And they're the most expensive stuff we have. If you break any, you'd have to pay." With a blink of an eye, the grin on her face drops and she hums lowly as she stepped forward to run her fingers over his chest.
Then without warning, she jumped and snapped at him, almost but not quite catching the skin on his neck between her teeth. Before he could react, Eve plucked the sweet from his fingers and popped it back into her mouth, disregarding the fact that it had just been in the other's, then stepped back in another fit of giggles. "Probably will cost you a limb or two if Atlas was feeling merciful. Your literal neck if he wasn't."
She tipped her head a little to the side as she critically eyed the other once more. "Should I come with you? You look like a fun person to be around~ Might as well enjoy your company while you still live~" she hummed pensively as she thought of how long it would take before Atlas found something wrong with this one and discarded him.
"Candy?" Zander repeats the name the woman gives him, wrinkling his nose slightly to show that of all the names she could have chosen, that was definitely the weirdest to him. "Don't think I would taste any good, but whatever floats your boat," he continues with a shrug of his shoulders. He'd already given her the right to call him whatever she wants, and if she wants to call him Candy... Sure, can't argue with that.
He'd been called worse things before.
He falls silent as Eve begins to explain to him what exactly he'd be running, and while it doesn't show anywhere on his face, he can't help but internally cringe at having to handle rancor. Cocaine? Sure. Heroin? Let him at it. At the end of the day, it didn't matter to him what he was carrying so long as he got paid. But rancor was definitely on his life of least favourite things to handle. There was something... Unsavoury about the idea of using Infected venom for shits and giggles, even moreso when it was Infected that got his old man killed back in the day. But he wasn't about to complain about it. A job was a job, and he was good at what he did.
Eve suddenly reaches forward to touch his chest and Zander instinctively takes a step back, just in time to avoid her suddenly lunging forward like some kind of dog. Eye blow wide and he lets out a 'Woah!' as his hands fly up in defense, realizing only at the last second she'd snatched back the lollipop from his mouth and stuck it back in her mouth.
"Yo, you're crazy man," are the first words out of his mouth; blunt, with no filter. It's not really meant as an insult, but he shakes his head, not really understanding the words she was trying to use as a 'threat' to him. Naive in the world of the underground, Zander didn't really know much about what could happen if he messed up. Good thing he never did, right?
"I suppose you can," Zander answered Eve's question with a shrug, the threat of 'while you're still here' once more flying over his head. "D'you think you can even keep up? I'm pretty fast with my deliveries, that's what got you guys to like me so much," he continues, puffing up his chest a bit as he toots his own horn. Zander wasn't exactly somehow who was modest, and it showed. The young man eyes the Jabberwockies gang member with a critical eye, but doesn't say anything more to dissuade her from coming. A part of him felt like he didn't have a choice, anyway.
It was infinitely entertaining for her how the other continued to avoid her touch and advances. It was like having a male version of Bella, but asinine yet with more humor. Eve especially liked how he was so expressive with everything.
"Oh I hear that a lot~ Thanks~" She laughed maniacally as he called her crazy. She had been called such names too often she already forgot when it began. And she hardly ever minded. Being the crazy lady allowed her to do things that other people would find questionable, yet that regard also allowed her to get to and keep her position.
A small pout tugged at her lips as Candy appeared to be unsure about bringing her along. Eve had been a drug bunny way long ago but it didn't mean she was no longer fit to do it. Sure, she had to change into flat trainers or something more comfortable to wear, and she probably would hate that, but she could still cartel drugs along.
"Hmm well if I can't keep up then you can just ditch me," she shrugged nonchalantly at Zander. She would do the same to him if he ever got himself caught, so she felt no harm done there. "I can find my own way back if that's what you're worried about."
Besides, it has been a bit long since she visited a few of their darling cash cows and it has been a while since she had hooked a new one. Though it wasn't really necessary, having a new business is good.
"Lemme just change into something comfortable," She muttered mostly to herself as she began to strip off her "luxurious" clothes, not minding that she was standing before the young man. When she was down to her underwear, Eve then snapped her fingers to call over a pet, who without further instructions, had brought over a simple shirt, jeans, and running shoes.
Once done changing clothes, she excitedly latched onto Zander's arm, hooking it over hers. "Let's go!" TagZander Noble
Posted 10-11-2021, 12:48 PMThis post was last modified: 10-11-2021, 12:51 PM by Eve Lovell
Posted 08-01-2021, 08:26 PM
This post was last modified: 08-01-2021, 08:26 PM by Eve Lovell
Raise Hell
