"So, you, a, uh, bodyguard, or somethin'?"
Charon turned his head to look down at the speaker addressing him. The smaller ghoul was eyeing him curiously- from the intimidating stance he took against the wall, to the small arsenal he carried, and how he was following around an attractive smoothskin. As though the latter thought was suddenly the most intriguing, the strange ghoul roved his eyes across to her leaning over a counter with one foot propped on the other…and eventually landed on her curvy backside.
"Bet you don't mind starin' at that, all day." A wide grin hollowed his face; an array of teeth were missing. "You ever get to see what's underne-"
The ghoul never had the chance to finish his lewd question- Charon aggressively cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and then decked a fist at his face. The ghoul crumpled like a ragdoll at his feet, the few blackened teeth clattering against the pavement. Evelyn spun her head around to the commotion, an eyebrow cocked upwards in innocent curiosity. She spied the unconscious victim, and mouthed her lips across the way for her companion to read.
What happened?
Charon merely shrugged, stepping away from his altercation to lean back against the wall with his arms crossed, his presence half-hidden by the shadows. Only the glow of his eyes informed her he was watching ever-so stalker-like, ready at a moment's notice to protect her from any dangers…whether by others, or herself. She blew a hair from her face, and turned back to the vendor showcasing his wares. A loud, garbled groan deflated from the lungs of the puke beside him. Charon eyed the offender for a moment, and then raised his stare in time to his employer bringing something to her mouth-
The sound of a plunger depressed, before being rudely smacked from her hand to clatter back onto the table.
"What are you doing?!" Charon growled, ignoring her complaints of ow, that hurt you dick!
The crimson ghoul snapped his head to the vendor- a seedy-looking man with both hands raised in an old-fashioned surrender and a slimy smirk on his face. Charon already hated this place; it was full of fucking creeps. Why she had chosen to peruse down in this subway, rat-infested marketplace was beyond his understanding.
"What is that?" He pointed a finger at the chem, teeth bared in a snarl. Evelyn did not do drugs…at least, she had never done them before.
"Relax, man," the stall merchant coaxed in what was assuming a calming manner. It sounded more akin to a snake slithering through oil. "Just enjoying a good day, any day, above ground, ya feel me?"
Charon instantly reached for his shotgun. He was more than ready to put this bastard six feet under it. Evelyn immediately halted his action with the warmth of her hands on his forearm.
"Charon, stop it!" she hissed.
He flit his eyes down at her face, then to his future target practice, and finally snapped them back on her with alarm. Her pupils were so dilated; they were nothing but fucking black!
"What did you give her?" he scowled, grabbing a hold of her chin with one palm to forcefully steady her bobbing head. She was beginning to get all…wavy, like a drunken sailor on an unsteady ship.
"It's a home remedy…she's going to be seeing some wild shit-" The words faltered at the absolute murderous glare the ferryman gave. "-look man, just go park her somewhere, and she'll come down."
Charon was already dragging her by the hand up the skeleton of an escalator; he did not turn to look behind himself until they met the dark skies and fresh smell of rain. Only when he finally turned his head, did he notice the front of her jacket was undone, and she was attempting to unbuckle her pants.
"Evelyn-"
The ghoul roughly nabbed at her other wrist. A blur in his peripherals indicated there were some scum-class individuals watching their interaction a little too closely. He swiveled his head around to direct a nasty glower; a promised threat for anyone wishing to venture too close. A tugging sensation at his chest brought his attention back down. She was worming her fingers from his iron grip and trying to unbuckle his armor.
"No," Charon rasped, thrusting her forcefully a step back. There was an unease twisting in his gut; she had never attempted to strip him other than to address an injury.
"But you hate standing!" she whined, giving a little stamp of her foot to showcase her point.
Her head made a thunk against the front of his chest, and she blew out a large sigh into his jacket. Some gibberish was muffled into him, and the ghoul irately ground his teeth together, wishing for the umpteenth time that day he could just dig his thumbs into the base of her neck and throttle her. Evelyn leaned away, almost to the point of tipping backward, and the ghoul was about ready to toss her over one shoulder before she wrenched her hands from his own.
"Charon~" she sang loudly, pointing a finger to the ground as though heeling a dog. "Stay."
Oh no.
"Evelyn, do not be stupid!" he barked, missing a swipe at her forearm as she noodled away from his long reach.
Another high-pitch call of her voice as she twirled in a circle, arms raised to the sky and a stupid smile on her face. "Stay~!"
The ghoul cracked his hands into solid fists, his coals for eyes unblinking as he watched her mosey around the corner to disappear. One of the lecherous observers on the side began to take off after her, only halting as the ghoul aimed his shotgun with a terrifying snarl.
"Do not even think about it," Charon rasped threateningly. He may be designated to his place until she returned, but he didn't need the freedom to snipe the bastard's head from his shoulders with a well-placed shot.
Fortunately for his ever-deteriorating-sanity, he heard her voice carry on the cold wind with a shout of his name, instantly teleporting him to her side.
"Evelyn-" the ghoul began to rage, snapping his jaw shut as he assessed her condition.
He was perhaps only imprisoned in his place for less than five minutes…and she had already stripped down to her underwear. She was sitting on a rusted bench with her head cradled in her dirty hands, elbows digging into her bruised knees.
"This ugly cat won't stop talking to me." Was all she said, and she blinked down at the skeletal remains of a molerat at her feet. She turned to look up at his blackened outline, ominous against the stormy sky. "The walls are falling, and I can't put the colors back in."
Charon belted out a sigh. This was not part of his obligated duties to her. "Where are your clothes?"
Evelyn gave him a once over with glassy eyes before slowly drawing back down to the 'ugly cat'. The ghoul growled, pinching the remaining cartilage of the bridge of his nose so forcefully it cracked.
"You alright?"
Charon swiveled his wrathful glare nearly 180 degrees to the male voice behind him. He did not recognize him from the market, but then again, Charon rarely took note of others unless they were a threat. At that moment, his employer, a woman, half-naked and high out of her mind, was easy bait for just about anything. Before Charon could dismiss the smoothskin with the barrel of his gun, he felt Evelyn's weight smother into his side under one arm. She tilted her head back and made a smacking sound with her lips. The ferryman had to resist the urge to roughly elbow her behind him as the man gave her a thorough once-over.
"You know this ghoul?" he asked a bit lowly, his gaze never leaving her chest.
It was time to go.
"No," she replied with a dreamy sense of wonder.
The bones in Charon's neck nearly snapped in half from the speed at which he turned down to look at her.
"Evelyn," he rasped warningly.
"Why don't you come with me, then? Let's get ya something to wear, huh?" The stranger held out his hand for her to take, warily eyeing this seven-foot, shotgun-toting, death machine of a ghoul wearing an expression that could kill.
Charon held up his right arm, single-handedly directing a perfect shot at the encroacher's head. "I suggest you leave."
"Yeah," Evelyn drawled, rummaging through the ammo satchel at the ghoul's waist. "Shoo."
She held up a shotgun shell, and went to bite down on it. Without breaking eye contact from the man still standing in place, Charon swiped at the stolen, slobbery paraphernalia. He held it up, and then chucked it at the man's forehead with enough force to leave a welt.
Evelyn gasped in utter amazement, tersely rubbing at her temples with her fingertips. "I didn't even see you shoot!"
"Next time I will," Charon darkly threatened, and the stranger muttered a curse of goddamn zombie fuckers under his breath before stalking off.
"Ugh, someone shut that fucking screaming dog up!" Evelyn shouted, pointing back at the skeleton.
Charon's brow muscle twitched, and he had to take slow, controlled breaths deep into his chest as he holstered his gun in its place. His employer was now reaching for the clasp of her bra strap, and he quickly halted her before she could leave nothing to the imagination.
"Stop it!" he growled.
She pouted and wiggled her butt, and he tightened his grip around her wrist. "Ow!"
"We are going to your room," he said flatly, leaving nothing for an argument as he pulled her along behind him.
"…will you carry me?" she shyly asked, and he paused in step to glare back at her, his eyes drawn down to slits.
"Are you injured?"
She sucked in a breath between her teeth. "No."
"Then you can walk."
The ghoul only made it a few more steps before eventually carrying her under one arm and grumbling indignities. The internal image of his hands choking the life from her suddenly seemed all the more pleasing, but he had to settle for throwing her into a cold shower instead.