Ravess could almost say she was actually happy to see the Dark Ace when he appeared through the thick cloud like fog that hovered a few clicks above the 'surface' of the Wastelands leading a handful of other Talons.
Almost.
Because she would be rotting in her grave before she was ever glad to be anywhere near the man. He was the walking equivalent of a storm cloud, an angry thunderhead that produced arrogance and cockiness instead of rain. Or a psychotic fucking asshole as Snipe so nicely put it, although she could hardly disagree. After knowing the champion of Cyclonia for a little over six years she could very well say she had seen him do some crazy, daring, and down right suicidal things before. If she didn't know better she'd call him an attention whore, but contrary to popular belief he preferred to blend into the background more often than not.
But as much as she disliked him he was also the only person in Clyclonia she could have an intelligent conversation with, or who was as sarcastic and as witty as herself.
"It's about time!" She yelled as Dark Ace landed the standard issue Switchblade a few feet from her and directly in front of Snipe, causing him to flail and fall off the rock he had been sitting on.
"Goddamnit! You're such a dick!" Her brother yelled, jumping up and getting even angrier when Dark Ace just started laughing. Snipe growled and muttered something obscene under his breath before stalking over to one of the other Talons and commandeering his ride.
The pinkette rolled her eyes then walked over to Dark Ace as he waived her over.
"Get on," he said with out even looking at her. "We're doubling up."
"Oh is that so? And just what makes you think I'm riding with you?" She replied hotly.
He huffed and actually looked at her, eyebrows pinched together in annoyance. "Because I know how much you love me and I figured you wouldn't want to pass up this opportunity?"
The archer didn't respond immediately. Although her mind subconsciously registered his mocking tone the majority of her attention was focused on the fact that he was covered in blood. His left arm was still dripping sluggishly, there was a sizable patch of it on his chest, which she now noticed was devoid of his typical armor. Smears of blackish red were streaked on his sides and upper thighs.
Just what the hell happened in Cyclonia?
Just as she was looking up at the smear of crimson running across his temple into his onyx hair, her eyes met his and she was thrown at how they seemed to glow just as luminous as the fire and magma surrounding them. Almost like the light that most crystals gave off.
That's new she thought as she continued to stare at him.
Ravess knew she had been taking too long to reply when she saw him arch a brow.
"Hell no, are you concussed?" She fired off after breaking away from his freakish gaze and glaring just to the right of his head. It annoyed him to no end when she did it, which was often. Barking out a laugh he revved the bike and looked back out over the wastelands. "Don't know yet, but if you want out of here then you have five seconds to get moving."
The woman took a breath before releasing it slowly, throwing her leg over the Switchblade and leaning as far away from Dark Ace as possible, all the while wishing she could beat his face in with something sharp and heavy. "Happy now? I'd like to leave."
He didn't give any inclination that he'd heard a word she'd just said and took off towards Cyclonia.
The moment the three commanders got back to their shared quarters Dark Ace and Snipe went straight for the stash of alcohol and after a few seconds thought Ravess figured she'd indulge as well. It had been quite a.. hectic day after all.
The archer sat at the table calmly sipping her wine, watching Snipe root through their liquor cabinet looking for something to take shots of, finally coming up with a cheep bottle of whiskey.
Dark Ace snorted and pushed it aside, pulling out a bottle of expensive -and mine!- vodka. Snipe smirked and poured himself a shot of the whiskey, all while eyeballing the smaller man. "What's the matter, can't handle a man's drink?"
Dark Ace gave him a look that Ravess couldn't quite decipher before unscrewing the cap and taking a healthy swig with out so much as blinking then said, "Dark liquor makes me violent."
Rolling his eyes, her brother sat at the table opposite of her and they all drank in silence for a few minutes.
It was deathly quiet in the room, only the sounds of liquid sloshing around inside bottles or glasses was heard and Ravess was beginning to doze off right here, head resting in the palm of her hand.
Drip...drip..drip...
Then new sound caught her attention and she briefly wondered what the hell it was but then decided she was too tired to really care.
Drip... drip...dr-"Fuck!"
She heard movement and the dripping increased and gained a metallic ping. Opening her eyes she saw Dark Ace leaning over the sink and blood pouring out of his nose. Like, a lot. Even Snipe looked mildly alarmed. Sitting up straight she watched him carefully, her mind wandering back to the quip she had made about him having a concussion and then glancing at the vodka bottle on the counter which was a bout a fifth less full than when she'd last looked at it.
"Don't kneel over in the kitchen. I mean it." He gave her the finger and turned the faucet on, starting to wash blood out of the sink.
"T'is is gettin' really annoying." He muttered sticking his face under the tap and getting water everywhere.
"It's happened before?" Ravess asked without really thinking about it. Why should she care?
"Nosey arn't ya?" Snipe said, taking another shot. She glared at him and kicked him under the table. He was either too drunk to notice or care because all he did was shrug. When she looked back at Dark Ace he was peeling off his wet and blood stained shirt and an odd thought struck her. She'd known him, trained with him, hell, she even lived with him the whole time she'd been in Cyclonia which would be seven years next month and she'd never seen him without a shirt on. Which was rather unfair now that she thought about it because she was sure he'd seen her almost completely naked within the first two years of her living here, and Snipe felt the need to parade around naked as the day he was born when the mood struck him. But Dark Ace? The fearless aerial dog fighter. The terror of the skies. She'd never seen him in anything but his uniform, and always fully dressed, armor and all.
Snipe wolf whistled and laughed. "I don't have any singles but thanks for the show." The only reply he got was another middle finger which seemed to be Dark Ace's new favorite gesture.
Taking another sip of her wine she observed what was in front of her with a critical eye.
The first thing she noticed was the tattoos on his left arm. The Cyclonian emblem on his bicep, which tapered off into some sort of edgy pattern that morphed into a sort of reaper on his inner arm just above the bend of his elbow as well as a few random symbols she didn't know the meaning of and some sort of script wrapping around his wrist.
The second thing she noticed was the massive scar on his left shoulder. It started on the back of his shoulder and wrapped all the way around to the front, over his collar bone an ending a few inches below it. She had known about the injury to his shoulder, but she hadn't known the damage had been so extensive. Just looking at it made her bones ache.
The last thing she noticed was something that, now, she felt was more than obvious. Watching him lean against the counter with his dirty shirt pressed over his still bleeding nose, it really struck her just how thin he was. She had always just figured he was lean, their lifestyle didn't really lend itself to being anything other than as fit as possible, but he was past that. He had muscle and that was basically it. Glancing down to his pants that were sliding down a bit she saw hipbones protruding sharpy under his tan skin, leading up to a stomach that was running a fine line between flat and concave. From there she followed the curve of his rib cage, sticking out just enough for her to count the first few ribs, From there, an almost delicate looking collarbone was fully displayed, leading up a slender neck to an angular face and...Those fucking eyes she thought, catching his gaze again as he turned around after dropping his shirt in the sink.
"See something you like?" He almost purred, walking over to the table and leaning over it to get in her face. Pitch black hair fell over his eyes and brushed softly against her own fuchsia locks and Ravess looked him dead in the eye, holding his gaze.
"No."
One word was all it took. The older man broke eye contact first and laughed, drunkenly, then sat down between her and Snipe. "Then stop staring, it's annoying."
Twirling the last but of liquid in her glass Ravess shrugged. Without a word she got up from the table and walked into her room, shutting the door and cutting off the light. She needed her rest. After all she was going to be quite busy tomorrow.