taxonomites | 04 | Location: Osten/Taxon Forest | From the shadow that's creeping up behind you

You know that nagging feeling that there's something you have to do? It's not like forgetting to turn the stove off or lock the door before you leave the house. It sucks a little less. It's like having a to-do list sitting on the kitchen table, and every time you walk through the room, you get a glimpse of that one little last item. Maybe tomorrow. Yeah, I'll do it tomorrow. And tomorrow turns into next Friday, and Friday turns into a new year resolution.

Talk to Party. She hadn't spoken with him much since his little extra bombing spree or his stint in jail. He probably wasn't too thrilled about her leaving him in the dust, but if she were to go back, she'd . . . probably do the same thing. She'd managed to go a couple decades without getting caught, and she wasn't about to start now. Maybe she'd have to give him a few pointers about doing the crime and not doing the time.

When she'd finally run out of excuses to avoid him, she sought him out on the tablet and made her away across the city. She could have called him, sure, but what fun would that be? So she dressed in black spandex, braided her hair down her back, and tracked him down to the center of the Taxon Forest. Thankfully, the trek was less Blair Witch than she thought, although she was relieved when she saw the back of his red-headed self.

He would be gathering fresh food in the dead of night. Probably thought he'd fly under the radar. His feet made rustling noises on the ground and she occasionally saw his eyes flash this way and that--likely for any followers. Gwen felt that slight rush of excitement--kind of what she felt before taking out an armed guard or taking that first step into freedom after stealing whatever juicy prize she'd been hired to snag--and made her way up a nearby tree just so she was almost right above him. She strapped herself in, tied the rope around the branch, and when Party Poison approached, she hung upside down and lowered herself like a spider in the darkness.

"Hey there, stranger. Long time, no chat."

Damn, she was good.

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"Don't get used to it. I don't do it very often." Or, ever. "But you were the first one to give me the straight intel on this place when I got here, so I guess I owed you one."

But she's relieved he's cool with it. And that the Sheriff didn't tear off his arm, or anything. Then? Gwen might have felt a little actual guilt instead of just 'Am I off Party's good-list?' guilt.

"I take it that 'right now' leaves room for the future?" she presses, and then with an unapologetic smile, holds her hands up. Alright, alright, she won't push so hard. She'll take it, Party. Eat all the dirt-stained Taxon Forest fruit you want.

She looks up into the night. "Think we should get out of here? Or were you planning on sleeping out here, too?"

"I'm a survivor, not an idiot. If someone can prove to me its not poison, I'll bite the bullet." Party's chuckling slightly, looking amused as he watches Gwen's body movemeny. In an odd way he thinks they're kind of similar. Gwen has a lot more grace and a tendency to be quiet, sure, but they're both highly adaptable, theyreh both...

Woah. Woah woah. Woah.

Even in the dark, Party's face is about as red as his hair. The choice of words...and..

"I--you...but what? I just..." for a second he looks and sounds more like Kobra Kid, all lanky frame and stuttered, choppy sentences.

"You want to go somewhere? With me? I mean--uuh...you're inviting me..away?"

Gwen's eyebrows raise, catching on to her new-found ability to fluster the boy. It was fun and useful to play coy with clients, bat the eyelashes and flash the smiles and the occasional show of skin, and there was always something to gain in return. Power, influence, more cash, they're trust, you name it.

This was a little different. Either her charms are really working overtime on Party Boy here, or he just isn't used to people. Girls. It was a 50/50 shot, but Gwen's ego leaned toward the former.

"I was thinking...out of the woods," she says, her voice laced with plenty of 'duh.' "Life of luxury, remember? I don't eat in the woods, and I don't have sleepovers." A beat, before adding playfully: "So don't get any ideas."

"No no no no no," Party's shaking his head, trying to gain what little bad-assery he had left now. Looking like a fool infront of an apprent world class theif? Not a good thing. He's sure if he's thinking with his brain he'd probably realize that this was a weakness Gwen could exploit, could run him for all he's worth (which is probably a can of PowerPup and chuffed electric guitar). But he's too busy being flustered at the slightly short woman.

"That's totally not..you know." A laugh, one that sounded way too forced. "Lay off the nitro, tumbleweed. Jesus, you'd think sunshine ain't got a four and two ones on you."

Saisfied he'd covered it up (though he was still blushing and can't, for some reason, make eye contact), he spoke again, glancing to wherever he had come from.

"But..I can go. Sure."

She smiles only very faintly at his indignant denial and shrugs like, Well, look at me. She rises to her feet and gathers her rope from the tree. "There's no gun to your head," she says. Which reminds her.

"I'm just saying it's getting kind of creepy here. Life of luxury, you know. I don't plan on sleeping out with nature. Hey, you want me to take that?" She asks, pointing vaguely to the...what was it? A laser gun?

She doesn't know if she could fix it. But she figures a good poking around won't hurt.

It's instinctual, but Party simply grips the gun tighter, the bright yellow and black striped thing (http://poisonousparty.livejournal.com/1742.html#cutid1) with kanji painted on it, the same logo on the holster as was on his back and was now graffitied all around Taxon. Party Poison.

Still, he gives Gwen a cautious look, even though he's the one that offered it to the other. "Let me disassemble it first, huh? And since you wanna go somewhere else..." He shrugs, and it's unclear if he's imitating her previous body motions or if flailing like an idiot is true to the Killjoy name. Which it kind of is, at least for the redhead.

"It's all electricity. Most of Battery City is. Cars, even. That's why my baby looks like shit, I picked her out and scavenged her when I was like, 16." But Gwen's not a motorbaby and doesn't want to hear about cars. Instead he takes a few steps forward, motioning his head in a silent 'shall we?'. Kobra's asleep, after all, and Party could use some warmth.

04 | Location: Osten/Taxon Forest | From the shadow that's creeping up behind you

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