forthedog | (no subject)

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preston

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He's on his way home, and he's not bloody, so it hasn't been the best night. Then again, he's in one piece, and he supposes that any night that ends that way is at least halfway decent.

A few blocks from the necropolis he pauses, pulls out the pack of Neil's cigarettes that he'd stolen before heading out, slides one between his lips and flicks his lighter into flame. It's one of the first really cold nights in a while, and he watches as he exhales steam and smoke together into the night air.

He's hunting alone tonight, but more out of convenience than any desire to be so. He slides the machete into its sheath at his back and turns toward the busier streets. If he's calling it an early night, nothing says he can't catch a drink on the way home.

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He keeps watching long enough to be sure that Preston is, for the moment, all right, then turns his attention back to the one coming at him. He doesn't have time here to play much, not anywhere near as much as he'd like to, and really his first concern should be for Preston's safety.

But when he swings at the vamp's head and takes off its left arm instead... It might not be all accident. Not completely.

I fire off another round and it slows the vampire down but it sure as hell doesn't stop him. He gets close and my heart leaps as panic overtakes me. I take a couple steps back but the fucker is faster than I am and in an instant he's on me, grabbing at me. I'm kind of boned because all I have is the gun and it's not doing dick.

Until I put it right under his chin and pull the trigger. His grip slips and I look to see the exit wound and...I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty fucking proud of myself even if firing the gun that close did make me a little deaf.

Time to stop fucking around. He takes its head off with another couple of swings and then whirls before it falls, burying the blade in the other one's neck.

It stumbles back, still snarling - though a large part of its head is a pulpy mess and it's clearly nowhere near as mobile as it was - and two more hard chops does the job.

He stands there, panting, watching as it turns to dust, before he looks up at Preston again. "You okay?"

My ears are ringing still but I get what he's asking and I nod. It's fucking surreal because six months ago I would have been a mess but now? Now I'm just pumped.

"That was so fucking cool!" I exclaim. "Did you see the way that fucking thing turned to dust? That was amazing!" I'm grinning ear to ear as I hand him his gun back. I mean, it's over. I don't need it anymore. "I can't hear a fucking thing out of this ear, man. Is that normal?"

It's not usually the level on which he enjoys this kind of thing, but Preston's enthusiasm is contagious, and he laughs, shaking his head and raising his voice. "Yeah, for what you did, it's normal. I mean, hopefully it's not permanent or anything."

He holsters the gun, then his machete, after wiping what little blood there is off on the leg of his pants. "Gotta say, kid, that was some pretty decent shooting."

He hadn't panicked, had thought on his feet. For someone with very little combat experience, that's something.

I stick my finger in my ear and jiggle it, like that might make the ringing go away. It doesn't, of course, but it doesn't make it worse, either.

I look around, peering into the darkness. Part of me kind of hopes some more of those fuckers come out of the shadows because that was fun. Not that I'm into murder or anything...but it was a rush. And it's not like they were people. But then reason takes over and I reluctantly say, "We should probably get out of here, huh?"

I can't hide the disappointment I feel at suggesting that, but it is probably the smart decision.

"Probably." He nudges one of the dust piles with the toe of his boot. It's good that they aren't the kind that leave bodies. Those are always a bit more complicated to deal with.

He grins as he starts walking. "You didn't completely hate that, did you?"

I huff out a laugh and steal one more glance behind me, just to make sure. there's no more. Now that I'm wound up it's not easy to shrug it off. I fumble in my pocket for a fresh cigarette and I spark it to life.

"I didn't hate it, no," I reply and I can't wipe the grin off my face. "I wouldn't go looking for it but...I didn't hate it. I'd do it again."

"Yeah, well, I'm not about to take you out hunting." It's not nearly so much about ability as it is that he's not sure that he wants Preston seeing everything that he does on these nights. Though there's a lot that he's discovered in the last few minutes that he appreciates knowing.

"But it's good to know you got my back if I need you." He considers a moment, then adds, "You should think about getting a gun."

"You think so?" I ask, but the seed's been planted and I start thinking about what kind of gun I could get. "I guess now I get why Neil's armed most of the time. With that knife or whatever. But...the gun didn't really work. I think I was just pissing that vampire off."

"Yeah, but it can still slow it down long enough for you to get away." He fingers the handle of the machete. "If you wanna kill 'em, you gotta take the heads off. Or with some of 'em you can use a wooden stake." He grins. "Just like in the movies."

"I'm not sure I'm up to taking anything's head off," I admit, just being honest. But then I think about it and my lips quirk into a smile around the cigarette before I pluck it from my lips. "I could handle a stake, though. I could do that."

"Takes a strong arm," he points out, but it's not meant to discourage. It might not even be such a bad thing to know. He's not exactly into dragging anyone else into the world he spends a significant amount of his time in, but there's no harm in knowing how to defend yourself.

"Tell you what. You really wanna know how, I'll show you sometime."

"I think I'd like that," I tell him and I can feel the way the corner of my mouth tugs up on the left side. It's kind of exciting, thinking about it.

Maybe if that vampire with those blue eyes ever finds me again I could actually do something about it.

"We should probably get to the bike, huh?" I ask, because even though I want to learn I think it might be smart right now to get the fuck out of Dodge.

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