World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - Distractions [Complete]

[z-Amber Wren]

August 18, 2008, 11:00 p.m.

La Cienega Chevron, corner of N. La Cienega Blvd and Holloway Dr

Well, fuck, why’d I say that? Amber sighed to herself. The words were there, though.

(Dec): well shit, Frank. how am I going to get my rocks off now?

(Lady_Luna): (Dec) I have some ideas.

(Dec): LL: Yeah I just bet you do

(Dec):

Amber kicked the deposit safe, ignoring the bruising that was causing her. She was getting that feeling again, that tight strain in her gut. Maybe… maybe she should try Frank again. She could pass of her attitude as… something. He’d accept lots of excuses, especially when she dropped her pants.

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) What,ou working tonight?

(Frankie): (LL) Yeah for a bit

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) Lemme guess.... until midnight.

(Frankie): (LadyL) Yeah how'd you guess

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) Lucky guess. That's how long I'm here until.

He seemed ready to bite again, if ‘Frankie’ was Frank White. Amber shrugged, then turned to the customer waiting impatiently on the other side of the glass. “Come on, chica, I ain’t got all night,” he grumbled, shoving cash into the little depression under the glass.

Amber rolled her eyes and took his money, gave him his change. “Have a good night,” she said without a trace of pleasentness. It earned her a finger, which got a shrug from her. She turned back to the laptop on the counter.

(Dec) falls over laughing

(Frankie): (LadyL) Where do you work?

(Dec): gonna offer to walk LL home, frankie?

(Dec):

(Lady_Luna): Dec: No, not unless he works close to me. Then.... maybe.

(Frankie): Dec: The lady's right. I'm not sure she works near campus

Here was her chance, and she quickly typed:

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) Frankie... White>

(Lady_Luna): ?

(Frankie): (LadyL) Yep the one and only

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) Well, no. I don't work near campus.

(Frankie): (LadyL) Well then I guess I'll have to pass on walking you home

And she couldn’t stop the smile. “Smooth, ass,” she muttered. “The correct answer is, ‘I’ll sneak away from work and be there to walk you home.’ Also acceptable: ‘I can’t walk you home, but I’ll get there in time to tuck you in tonight.’ Or ‘tuck into you’ for the exceptionally crude.”

(Dec): dontcha worry, LL. I'll walk ya home.

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) You will have to pass. By the time you got to me, I'd have gotten tired of waiting and walked myself home. Besides, I'm safe. I have a secret weapon.

And god-fucking-damnit, her heart squeezed in her chest. Stop that, Dec, she grumbled. You’re not helping. But she couldn’t stop herself from replying in kind.

(Lady_Luna): Which is apparently Dec.

(Dec): yeah, i'm like gibson from lethal weapon, only better looking

(Dec): hehe

(Lady_Luna): The original answer was: mace.

(Dec): LL: am I a good substitute?

(Lady_Luna): (Dec) Better, stud. Better.

And she couldn’t stop herself either, damnit. God damnit. God-fucking-damnit.

(Lady_Luna): Whose type are you, Dec?

(Dec): Whose type do you think I am, LL?

(Frankie): (LadyL)I like the wild type

(Lady_Luna): (Dec) I wouldn't know, personally, though I have some guesses.

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) You don't say?

(Frankie): (LadyL) Yes, I do. You interested?

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) You can't handle me.

(Frankie): (LadyL) Hmm, care to find out

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) I'm already positive. And should you really be soliciting me while on the clock?

(Frankie): (LadyL) A bit cocky aren't we? And don't worry about me I'm good.

(Lady_Luna): (Swara_Ann) Sorry to hear that. College is tough, so I hear.

(Lady_Luna): (Frankie) So I hear. Rumors are getting around.

(Frankie): (whispers) Rumors? Please do tell.

(Lady_Luna): (whispers to (Frankie)) Something about leaving the party with a stipper?

She shouldn’t have, but she was enjoying teasing him, and so she let it continue. She vaguely alluded to their encounter for a while, until he had to leave. It distracted her from Declan and wrong thoughts. He was off-limits and that was part of the allure; had he been accessible, she would have fucked-and-dumped him already.

Movement in the store caught her eye. She glanced at the two men, then turned back to her chat. Ten minutes to go-

The smell of gun oil froze her in her tracks. Keeping her movements loose and casual, she quickly typed:

(Lady_Luna): I gotta go. Hold up!

Shutting down the chat connection, she turned to deal with this new distraction.

[z-Amber Wren]

The two men were millng around the store, looking at the rows of cheap food and candy with no enthusiasm. The third guy by the reading rack was ignoring them. Amber put her finger on the silent alarm, willing them to go away. Or, to at least wait ten minutes. Her replacement would be here then, and Amber would gladly let that skinny hag deal with this.

One of the men noticed her watching him through the glass. He looked away quickly before glancing back to find her staring straight at him. Go. Away. she thought, putting that thought into her gaze. You're a distraction I don't want to deal with tonight.

He grew increasingly nervous with the wolf staring hard at him, her gray eyes boring into his body. With two minutes to go, the back door opened, and Cassie came in. Wrinkling her nose, Amber started to breathe through her mouth. As usual, Cassie hasn't showered in a while, and her hair hung in lanky strings. "Hey, Amber," she said, setting her woven bag down in the back room.

"Cassie," Amber replied, turning to look back out the window as the door chimed. All she saw was the backside of the kids as they ran into the night. False alarm, though the kids might have been carrying. "Check the cameras, Cass. Did those kids take something?"

"Lemme check," Cassie said, closing the door so that she could access the security footage.

Amber glanced at the guy in the corner, the one reading magazines off the rack. He had his back to her and she sighed, waiting for Cassie to check the tape. "Well," the other woman said, opening the door as Amber glanced at her, "I think that they took some chi- Oh god!"

She was looking over Amber's shoulder in horror, and the werewolf followed her gaze to see the guy from the magazine rack, wearing a mask on his face and pointing a gun at her. "Money," he said in a deep, affected voice.

Amber gave him the bird, pressing her hand to the glass and rolling her eyes. "Bullet-proof glass, asshole."

He fired anyway, changing his aim at the last second so that he was pointing over her head. The bullet tore into the glass and right through, shattering it like real glass. Amber felt the shards blow past her, some missing but a few of them hitting her. "Money," he said, "or the next one goes into you."

Amber felt the rumble of a growl tickle her throat but before she could respond, Cassie shoved past her and fumbled for the cash drawer. She emptied it out and shoved it at him, shaking so hard that she missed the bag he held out. Amber started at his sunglasses, her face set in stone. Unsurprisingly, his gun remained pointed at her. It was almost flattering, that he recognized her as the most dangerous predator.

Gathering up the bag's handles, he edged back toward the door. The two women watched him go; even though Amber was in the mood for a chase, this was not the time. Also, why should she care if he stole money from her boss? She just watched him leave; the moment he was outside, Cassie lunged to the floor and pressed the silent alarm. "Get down!" she said.

Amber rolled her eyes and went to the bathroom, checking the cuts. None of them were bad, and she hastily picked the glass out of her torso and shoulder and bandaged herself from the supplies she kept in her backpack. Then she switched shirts. When she was done, she was good as new and, from the sounds outside, the cops were here.

[z-Amber Wren]

Unfortunately, the first person Amber saw after getting out of the bathroom was Muhsin. He was the owner or maybe the manager of the La Cienega but at this moment, all Amber wanted from him were answers. She was losing her temper; she gave herself as much leeway as she could, but she was angry. She hadn't been in danger, but if the robber hadn't shot over her head, she'd be facing the problem of a rapidly-healing bullet wound. And that fucking pissed her off.

"Hey, Musin," Amber said, noting that she'd messed up his name again, "did you know anything about the fucking safety glass being regular glass?" It was only after that statement was out of her mouth that she saw that the person he was talking was a cop.

"I... Amber, I'm busy," the short little Pakistani man said, his normally handsome face twisted by worry lines and sweat.

"Amber... you're the other woman on duty, right?" the officer asked, butting into the conversation.

"I was. I was about to leave," she said, glancing at the clock to see it was almost one. "My shift is over at midnight. I'm getting overtime for this, right?"

"No!" Muhsin snapped, looking frazzled. "I just lost four hundred dollars. And whatever it costs to replace that glass!"

"You wouldn't have lost it if you'd put in real safety glass!" Amber snarled, feeling her arms shake from the effort of not hitting him. What he said in the next seconds would determine whether she could contain herself. Walking away seemed like a good idea, but she couldn't, not right now. Part of her had to know: had Muhsin been a cheap bastard and risked her guise?

She half expected the cop to stop them, but the man looked vaguely amused. He leaned back against the wall, watching them.

Amber's attention was pulled back to Muhsin by his hand on her arm. "I saw the camera, Ahhhm-ber," he said, scowling at her. "Had you not flipped him the bir-"

Amber punched him right in his handsome face. She shouldn't have, and she regretted it the instant she did it - for a second. As he sagged to one knee, holding his red cheek and his face lax with shock, she stopped regretting it. Fuck it. She'd enjoyed it, and he'd deserved it. "Fuck you, Musin," she snarled. "I could have been killed!"

Her glee deepened when the cop started laughing. "She assaulted me! Arrest her!" Muhsin snapped.

"Assaulted you?" the cop grinned. "I saw you fall, buddy. This nice lady... you're lucky she isn't going to have you arrested for endangering her life. That's right, right?"

"I just want to quit and go home," Amber snapped. "I don't want to come back here again. Except to get my last paycheck."

"Then go home," the cop said. "We don't need to talk to you anymore."

"Thank you," Amber said sincerely, giving him a big smile.

"Anytime," he said, and actually touched the brim of his hat.

She left out the back door and started home, feeling both happier and unhappy. She needed steady employment to pay her bills, but she'd hated being there. It was a loss and a gain, but overall, Amber had the feeling that she'd just lost one more unneeded distraction in her life.