A Second Glance
Blackwater Sink Bar
Lynchwood
Pandora
That was the second time he looked at me, the first time was when I sat down by the bar and waved the barmen for a drink. Why was I here of all places anyway? The air stank of booze and the timber walls were rotting down, I could have sworn the whole building was going to collapse with just a flick of a finger. It rocked as the doors swung open making way for more hard-ass bounty hunters to swoop in and flex their drinking arms. Whatever, I wouldn't be here for long and I was glad about it. Lynchwood wasn't for me, now Axton, yeah, he would have loved it here.
One more round please, barman?
Yeah, that's how he would have sounded. Tough yet something about him made me feel comfortable when I was with him. He had a smile that told you that he was OK, as long as you didn't threaten him, you'd be fine. He'd drink with anyone. He even said so himself.
Maya, you know I'll drink a beer with anyone.
Too bad he wasn't here. He'd make great company. No, I was alone with my empty glass and a man by the corner of the bar with his friends looking at me. I knew he was eyeing me up. I could feel it, it was too obvious. Oh yeah, there was also a mirror taken from a car that was attached above the shelves of drinks in front of me so I could see his reflection. He was oblivious to it. He looked over the rim of his glass and he studied my legs and he didn't even look away when he was spoken too. This place was busy and there were a lot of voices crashing against one another but I could hear his thoughts as if I was listening through an earpiece.
I want you, I want you bad.
Too bad, if only he knew I was a Siren. That would shut him up and that would take his pervert eyes away from me. It was tempting to roll up my sleeve and show him my tattoos, the mark of a Siren but I couldn't. I had to stay incognito for this task and by the way this was going, I wasn't doing a very good job at it.
I was here waiting for Max, an informant for the Quiet Ones, a collection of people desperate to track down the last of the Monks of the Order of the Impending Storm. Man, I hated those pricks.
Child! Do this! Child! Kill him! Child! Go to your room!
Eurgh, they tormented me. I have to say, it felt good, no, it felt fucking good to watch Sophis choke and flap his arms as I constricted his neck. He deserved it. Athenas was a good place, a place that was good to me. Those religious zealots weren't so good to me. Maybe today I could help dismantle the last steeple of its palace with the death of another Monk. If only Max would show up.
The doors flew open again and this time a tall man with a dark blue trench coat strolled past. He was handsome, I'll give him that and he did seem to take away the perv's attention from my legs long enough for me to lean forward and snag a handful of ice from the bucket sitting on the stack of boxes. I dropped them in the glass and slugged another drop of this poison. I didn't know what I was drinking. I asked for a round of spirits and mixed them with lime. Meh, I was fine. Was that to do with my Siren characteristics or was it the Eridium I had been pumping since Lilith gave me a bar or two in Three Horns? I was never what you would call an "addict" but I had to say she was right; this Eridium stuff is the tits!
Goddammit, he was still watching me, although it was in between glances at the newcomer who had now sank into the booth by the restrooms. He was drinking straight from a hip flask. The owner can't have liked that, he wasn't making any money from this guy and judging by the Bullymong fur-hooded coat he was wearing I would say he had money to burn. Well, that wasn't Max. From what I know about him, he was dirt poor and he was living in the Rust Commons. Maybe that's why the perv was checking him after checking my thighs; he stood out like a Hodunk in an Irish pub. He had no business being there. I tipped the glass over and left it upside down declaring myself the winner of a drinking game and headed towards the restroom. I walked as I would normally, the pervert must have loved it. I passed the stranger and tried to take in his features but the rim of his hat was hiding his face. I knew from his entrance that he was handsome, a rarity in this dump.
Shit, even the water is lousy. The thought of this made me regret drinking out of those glasses at the bar but it was too late to do anything about that now. I was getting restless; Max should have been here by now. I didn't come to Lynchwood to be stood up and I wasn't even looking for a date. I wondered if he was caught by bandits or if he had backed out. If he bailed on me, I wasn't going to be held responsible. I was tired, annoyed at the man who didn't understand good manners and I was in need of another Eridium fix. Fuck this. Nobody stands up on me.
I held the door and pulled it open. Wow, he really was handsome.
