Beatrix was still trying to catch her breath when Bill made his 'demand'. She stared at him in utter confusion. "What?" She breathed trying to comprehend it again. There was no anger in his voice, nothing, than why fight her? Bill almost never fought during 'hell' weekend and even if he did it was with the other trainers never one of his own.
Was he trying to make a point that even his 'best' Viper could be brought down? If that was what he was after than he wasn't going to get it. Not easily.
Bill remained with sword in hand his expression clearly reinstating that he did want her to attack him.
The confusion that set on her face earlier dissipated and her features came firm set and serious. Hands reformed around the hilt of the wooden blade and she came into a classic Samurai stature. Piercing blue eyes stared down his hard brown for quite some time.
She finally made a move. The two killers stood a good eight feet apart and she covered that distance within seconds and brought her sword down against his. The blades clashed, giving off a clunk rather than the clash a real steel blade made. Next pursued an almost endless amount of parries from each.
Bill realized Beatrix must have read far too much into this. He did it simply because he wanted to fight her.....not out of anger, he wasn't mad at her, but out of simple analytical interest. He was testing her......but not for Jimmy, for himself. He wasn't making a point, he was just seeing what she could do. Well, he knew what she could do......but he wanted to have his memory refreshed. He liked sparring with her, all ideas of attraction aside, she was an extremely worthy opponent. And he was always pleased to see how far she had come....it was not all completely due to him, but some of it was....and he was always glad to see his full vision of her come to fruition.
He met her piercing gaze head on. She could stare down just about anybody and make them flinch with that furious glare. But, no....not Bill.....he was the master of the furious glare. Maybe he should take credit for that glare of hers as well. As she moved towards him, Bill fell into a casual fighting stance and a mad flurry of parries began. Beatrix was amazing with a sword....quite excellent....he knew she was close to his equal on that account. He also knew she'd surpass him eventually. He had no issues with her sword work, but he was always nitpicking at something....it was just what he did.
Bill was something of an unorthodox swordsman. He liked to throw weird shit in to throw people off. He was always trying to get Beatrix to pick up on that......and she was getting much better. To make that exact point, he changed his grip on his practice sword as they met in another furious round of parries, and flipping the sword into a quick upside down grip, he bonked her hard, directly between the eyes with the butt of the wooden weapon. The trick was far safer with a wooden weapon, with a real sword it would be easy to misjudge the quick flip and take your own finger off, or slice open your forearm. But with this, it worked well.....when it came to fighting, Bill did nothing by mistake or for no reason.
Taking advantage of Beatrix's momentary surprise, he whacked her across the back of her shoulders with the weapon....a decapitation maneuver. This time, just a big bruise.......
Jimmy stood back, watching in fascination.
Beatrix winced. She was more than familiar with his unorthodox sword play. She thought it was pretty cool, when it wasn't being performed on her. But, Bill always seemed to want her to pick up on that 'cool' aspect and not go completely old school. She was working on it but she'd still remain partial to an all out Samurai sword fight, no tricks involved.
She took a second to regain her grip on her weapon and brought the wooden sword back around to meet again with Bill's upside down one. Okay, a cool trick, she could pull it off. Besides, what could be more fun than kicking your boss' ass while at the same time showing off and learning a few things?
The tall blonde came out of the parry with a hop back. Blue eyes darted around in a collected manner. She was always one to explore with new weapons and she found one. She turned her back to her opponent and ran off. Beatrix never ran from a battle, she could run from numerous other things but never a battle. She came to the far end wall and turned back to him. What was going through that pretty head could be a task for even the smartest of man and even than one could only go so deep.
The sword was brought back up to come horizontal to her body and she made a motion for Bill to follow. She knew he'd come. One didn't need to be cautious about approaching an 'enemy' when it was a training session with foes. When Bill came within a foot of her and raised his own sword back up for another round of parries, Beatrix had a better idea.
She reached up a long arm and fingers gripped around a large rod settled against the wall. She used the support of the rod of a flexible metal to hoist her weight up a few inches from the ground. Her feet planted against the back of the wall and knees bent she pushed herself off. Her body swung around and as she came around to Bill, she used her sword to jab him hard in the side. When her body came back around to the wall she let go and landed back on two feet.
The instant she turned her back on him, Bill was quizzical about exactly what the hell she was up to. Beatrix never turned her back....nor ran in battle, she knew better....but once he realized what she was doing, he had to admit it was a pretty nifty trick. Clutching at his side, he took a few steps back. That had hurt. He winced, smiling at her....if not a little painfully, "Nice move Kiddo...." It wasn't hollow flattery, it was true. Leave it to Beatrix to use the walls themselves. She may have been a more orthodox swordfighter than himself, but when it came to body maneuvering she could do some of the weirdest shit he'd ever seen...
The smile dropped off Bill's face as he spun around and snatched up the large metal rod that she had just used for leverage. It was slightly longer than a normal Bo staff, about seven feet.....but it would work. He tossed aside the wooden sword and gripped the somewhat flexible staff in both hands. Bill had just upped the ante, this weapon being higher on the possible damage scale.
He raised an eyebrow at her coyly and flipped the staff around in a whipping motion. The flexible metal made a loud whishing noise as it narrowly missed Beatrix's head. Not missing a beat, Bill brought the staff around his torso and made a returning blow...this time aiming directly for her knees.
Before the rod could make contact she jumped up and dodged it as if she were a young girl playing jump rope in the court yard. The wooden sword she was wielding wasn't going to do much against a long metal rod. She threw the sword to the ground and ducked as another swing was taken at her head. Of course Bill only had to have one metal rod in the whole fucking place, leaving her without many resources to fight back with.
Blue eyes darted around the area in a collected manner. In a real battle, taking time to find a weapon was a deadly tactic. The few seconds she took could lead to her own death. As which Bill seemed to be making a point to at that moment. The rod came at horizontal to her lower chest area but she was quick, like a snake, she latched onto it. Her body jerked but she didn't let go of her handle on the rod.
Bill raised his eyebrows as Beatrx snatched onto the end of the makeshift Bo. He wasn't going to engage in a tug of war with her....she was equally as strong...perhaps even more so now. But, for the moment he let her on that struggling with her was exactly what he had in mind. After a few seconds of relentless tugging, he simply..........let go.....
It was an age old schoolyard trick.
But Beatrix was no easily duped child....it would only work for a brief moment. As expected, she lost her balance momentarily and Bill took full advantage of those precious seconds. He took a few long strides toward her and grabbing onto one of her wrists, he twisted her arm around her back, stepping behind her he used his knee, checking her leg movement....his free hand wrapped around her neck in a choke hold...not completely enforced of course. He did this in about three seconds. It was a classic hold, nothing fancy.....used by cops worldwide. But it was effective, painful when fully executed and rather difficult to get out of.
Jimmy shook his head from his standpoint in the corner of the room, "I tried that one on her.....she....kneed me....in a not so pleasant place," he cringed at the thought.
"Obviously you weren't doing it right," Bill spoke up next to Beatrix's ear, still applying the hold. Leave it to Bill to say something like that to an apparent "kung fu master"
Beatrix cringed and her muscles began to tense. Pearly whites were clenched together and she took harsh gasps of air through flared nostrils. The huffs of air she was admitting weren't doing much for the lack of oxygen. Bill wasn't fully chocking her; it was more like a slow death as your air supply begins to dissipate.
She had three options; kick him, which had a tendency to falter, flip him (a bad idea considering the weight and size difference), her nails were rather sharp, or...The blonde took on a devilish grin. She tilted her chin down so her lips were resting against Bill's forearm that was wrapped around her throat. Lips parted as well as her jaw and without a second thought she snapped her mouth closed. It wasn't hard enough to break skin but it would freak the shit out of anyone. She had just bit him.
Getting kicked in the groin, Bill had expected that.......but not getting fucking bitten!!!! Well, that was new. "Christ!!" He instantly let go....there was something about human teeth nearly going into your flesh that was created an instantaneous reaction to move away. He managed to keep a hold of her arm around her back, but he'd lost the advantage of the choke hold...which was the real clincher of that move. Already, Beatrix was spinning out of the hold....which was more than easy for her to do.
"You just bit me!" Bill said in exasperation and perhaps a little amusement, still clinging onto her wrist...while there was a brief struggle to see who was going to gain the upper hand now.
Jimmy was laughing, "Good move....good move...." he nodded.
Suddenly Bill was not so amused. "Alright...." he said softly, fixing Beatrix with an intense look. In the meantime she'd reclaimed her wrist. The whole move was lost. He fell back into a fighting stance. Enough with holds....she wanted play dirty....so be it....
Flicking a hand at her, he nodded, "Bring it on Kiddo."
Beatrix knew it wasn't the bite that set him off but that Jimmy was laughing. If Bill hadn't gone into a serious fighting stance she would have joined in with the laughter. She wiped the smirk from her angelic but all out deadly facade and whipped her pony tail around. Her arms than lifted as she came into her prestigious tiger, crane stance. She always enjoyed mixing full out hand to hand combat with kung fu. It added to the excitement, unpredictability, and deadly accuracy of it all. And, it was dirty.
Her demeanor was firm set and blue eyes turned chillingly intense. Heart beats passed before she approached with a high jump kick. The maneuver was evaded and she came back around to take swipes at him. All in which were being evaded and annoyed the hell out of her only because she knew her kung fu was a tad rusty.
Bill easily stepped away or simply moved back out of out Beatrix's moves....not that she wasn't as good as hell....he just knew her moves very well. He spent a few moments, simply dodging her attacks. An annoyed look began to creep onto his face as he continued to parry and dodge. "Come on Kiddo....I know you can do better than that..." he grumbled between her attacks. He was purposefully goading her on of course...Beatrix seemed to operate best under anger. She could be extremely calm about it, but she was a fucking fireball when pissed off. He'd seen her do some amazing things when utterly irate.
To make his point more clear, he snatched one of her forearms as she punched at him once again and whipping her arm around in a wide arc, sent her flipping to the ground. He knew she wasn't a big fan of getting thrown down onto the ground.
He put a hand on his hip, smirking down at her, "Easy as pie......and there you are...back on the floor...."
Pushing buttons was something Bill seemed to do quite well....especially with Beatrix.
She was on the ground on her back and her forearm was cradled to her chest. Blue eyes stared up at him with an icy chill as breaths heaved her chest. She knew he was pushing her buttons and as much as she tried to ignore it just made the blonde more irate.
She stared at him. The stature he was holding, the smirk....that irked the hell out of her. It had to go. Bea moved up into a sitting posture but not before she extended a long leg and whipped it around to make harsh contact to Bill's calf. That alone wouldn't get him down so she grabbed his hand and tugged hard. That got him down. Now that he was on his back on the ground she quickly climbed on top of his chest and pressed her hands against his wrists to keep him there, her legs bent on either side.
Her blonde head canted to the side and brows raised in a taunting manner. "Easy as pie."
Bill stared up at her, a myriad of expressions crossing his face. He smirked, but then decided that's what had got him in this position to begin with....not that it was a bad position......well, then......that thought made him laugh, so he chuckled for a moment. But, then the smile dropped...getting back to business. "Not all that fancy.....but affective," he nodded seriously, "Nearly flawless......but.....you shoulda pinned my legs," with that, he quickly kicked his knees up.....hard, kicking her right in the ass in the process...using her forward momentum he flipped her over the top of him...right over his head.
It was the quintessential Captain Kirk flip maneuver. God bless classic Trek.
She landed on her stomach, already in a ready crouching position. But Bill wasn't in the best position to do much where he was, so he simply reached his arms over his head and wrapped his forearms around her neck. Choke holds were boring, but they were very effective. "What were you saying about pie?" He quipped through clenched teeth, as he tightened the grip.
Beatrix began to struggle. This time he wasn't going to play nice and give her breathing room. Her lungs were burning as she tried to suck in as much air as she could as her oxygen supply dwindled. Trying to think fast she bent her legs and lifted her lower body off the ground. Her next maneuver was going to be a challenge but she was determined to pull it off.
With force she bent her knees and pushed off the ground. Her body did a back flip motion over Bill, his arms coming back to the front as the hold was loosened, but while in the air she kept her knees bent so that when she came back down her sharp, rather boney knees, were sent into Bill's chest. Her landing pad. A glint sparked in blue eyes as she made a head motion to remove sweaty strands of hair from her face. "I like apple pie," she breathed as air filled back to her lungs. Bill would have some trouble with that.
Bill gasped, as she landed extremely hard on his chest.....bony knees and all. He was only grateful she hadn't landed lower....but that piece of mind didn't do much to ease the pain and lack of oxygen. Clutching at his chest, he couldn't help but cough violently. He swore she must have cracked a rib or two. After a few moments of this struggle, he looked up at her with anger and pain. Ok...that was it....this little game was over.
"I....hate....apple pie......" he choked out, never one to pass up witty banter even in his current state, "Now....cherry........on the other hand...." Moving quickly, he rolled over and literally just threw himself on top of Beatrix's back...his weight forcing her down onto the floor, stomach first. Far from fancy, really just a sloppy wrestling move...something kids did to ruin the furniture and piss their parents off, but it worked nonetheless.
Bill had the weight advantage by far, and all he had to do was lay there and she was pinned. He made sure that all her limbs were pinned down with his own as well. He wasn't about to let her get out of this one.....he knew these sort of submissive moves pissed her off....and he wasn't about to get kneed in the chest again. Still catching his stolen breath, he rested his chin on her shoulder, "Mercy?"
Jimmy, who was still watching in the corner, currently had his eyebrows slightly raised.
Beatrix tried a few squirming struggles but they were ineffective. Her breathing was labored, soaked to the bone in sweat, and utterly pissed off. She hated cherry pie. It reminded her of taking that fucked up nasty cough medicine as a kid and the taste of cherries turned her off since then. That, and their current position sent her mind whirling.
But, she had to come to terms. There was no use straining herself. This was in a training session and she'd learned a few important points. One being; the two killers disagreed on pie.
She let her forehead rest on the ground and her body went limp of struggle beneath his form. Beatrix despised admitting defeat and it took force to get it out. "Mercy," her words muttered and muffled from her head position.
Bill smiled, but didn't allow himself much time to gloat....that's not what this had been about. Or had it?
After a moment, he picked himself up and helped Beatrix to her feet. She didn't appear extremely pleased....well, he couldn't really blame her. He wiped a hand across his shirt, which was now patched with sweat. That had to go. He gave her a small smile, attempting to communicate that it had all been in good fun.
Jimmy joined them on the mat, "That was.......interesting......." he said tactfully. "I can't say I've seen a lot of those moves before. Very.....eh.....different."
Bill raised his eyebrows, as if to say 'well, of course'. He slapped Jimmy on the shoulder, and gave Beatrix a fleeing look before turning to exit the room.
He'd spent far too long there......there was still a lot to be done.
And so, the day continued. Finally, thankfully.....the training ended for the day and everybody met once again to nourish themselves. It was well past dark by this time and everybody looked like utter hell. Elle was holding a huge bloody towel to her nose as she sat down at the table. The blood didn't seem to daunt her all that much, as she stuffed food in her mouth under the towel.
Vernita's eye only looked worse at this point...as it had basically swollen shut. She was also limping heavily. Bill had never quite recovered from getting kneed in the chest by Beatrix and he was sitting quietly at the head of the table, attempting to not hug himself too much.....that was far from manly.
As everybody sat down, a somewhat softer tone of conversation then that at lunch began all around. The pitchers of water were quickly getting drained. A large amount of food was scattered about. Nikishi was scuttling around, obviously working her ass off.
At this point, the garden lights had come up which gave everything a dim but pleasant lighting. But just about everybody was too damn tired to care.
Beatrix sat in the middle of the table next to Budd and Roy, she believed it was. She was cradling an arm on the table that had taken a good beating during the day. Her back was sore and that caused her to slouch back in her chair. All in all she felt and looked just as shitty as everyone else.
"Have fun today?" Budd asked her in a quaint tone as he sipped at his 'tankard' of beer. She couldn't blame him for that.
"I wouldn't necessarily call it fun," she replied dryly but with a good amount of humor. She told no one of her spar with Bill and she was sure Bill didn't mention it to anyone. It had been really cool but not everyone else would think that. She wasn't angered anymore and was more content. All in all 'hell' weekend proved a success and she learned a great deal to help her train to an even greater extent.
"Me neither," Budd chuckled gently and went back to his beer glass. Before taking another drink he put the cold mug up to his cheek were a fancy bruise was increasing in 'appeal'.
The worn blonde offered a smirk and prodded her fork at a piece of meat on her plate. Blue eyes flickered to Bill down the table. It was easy for her to make out his discomfort. He may have won their spar but she supplied the most psychical damage. That brought a sparkle in her eyes.
Bill, for once, completely missed Beatrix's look, he was staring off in space....who knew what the hell he was thinking...or even if he was thinking of much at all. Later that night, as he was getting ready for bed, he figured out she must have cracked a rib. After having it done to him more times than he could even remember, he knew the signs pretty well. He wasn't angry with her over it, in fact he thought what she did was pretty cool.....he just wished it didn't hurt so goddamn much to breathe.
After dinner things got a little rowdier as they tended to do. But nothing extraordinarily interesting or embarrassing happened...which had certainly happened before at these things. Apparently this "Hell Weekend" was proving to be extremely brutal, and it was taking its toll on everybody's energy level.
Roy, Ray and Budd were the last to head out....all of them having more than enough fun drinking through the liquor that had been provided. Bill was too tired to stick around to baby sit and he went inside praying to whatever gods there were that nobody was going to break anything, set fire to anything or.....worse.
The following morning and day went pretty much the same way. Things seemed to move at a little slower pace since the day before had been so strenuous. Not that anybody went easy on each other. The same rotations were made, and each trainer did something different than the day before.
Bill decided he'd stay out of most of the fights this time. He mainly observed and did whatever he could.
Finally, to the delight of all of the Vipers and no doubt most of the trainers, the second day ended at sunset...as was the tradition. If everybody looked bad at the end of the first day....they looked even worse at the end of the second. Much first aid was applied...nobody appeared to be severely injured which was a good thing, because it was always a real pain in the ass.
After it was made sure nobody was going to bleed to death or keel over....the big party took place. This was always a big deal and Bill tended to spare no expense.
Bill had a full sushi bar brought in, equipped with a real life su chef. A huge table of all sorts of sushi was spread out...the sushi ranged from typical California rolls to the most bizarre of raw fish...including all sorts of fish eyes and eggs. The su chef, as it turned out, was quite good with a knife and did all sorts of cool knife tricks while cutting up his various sushi dishes. This was a major bonus. To the delight of Budd, far better alcohol was brought out. This was all set up at a big "serve yourself" bar. To top it off, Bill had hired off the mariachi band that played at his favorite Mexican food place for the night. Part of the reason he liked that restaurant so damn much was the excellent mariachi band.....well, that and the charming decor....and the killer tacos. Mariachi music and sushi only Bill could pull that sort of crap off and somehow make it fit.
When creepy Ray quipped if they were going to have any strippers, Bill was quick to tell him a flat out "No." That it "...would have been a very...VERY...bad idea."
Nikishi was an excellent events person, and she had strung up all sorts of large Japanese paper lights around the good sized yard. The large white spheres were decorated with various kanji. Nikishi, having a very subtle but good sense of humor had written a few obscene words on a number of them.....just to see if anybody would notice. With the already good amount of garden lighting, everything was very well lit in soft yellow whites. A few extra tables had been set up, so not everybody had to sit at the large one. The mariachi band was playing in one corner, loud but not obnoxiously so. They were used to playing in restaurants after all. While bodies were bruised, spirits were high once everybody got into the whole scene.
"Have you seen the kanji?" Of course O-Ren would be one of the first to spot the glowing white spheres.
Beatrix shook her blonde head as she was standing closest to the half breed. Luckily throughout the night all of the Vipers stayed on good terms or stayed away from each other. Everyone had their share of bumps and bruises and further ones; whether psychical or emotional, weren't up for confrontation.
"That one says death," O-Ren extended a finger at the paper light hanging in to the far right near the stage where the mariachi band was playing. "And that one is disembowelment." She grinned from ear to ear.
Bea laughed lightly finding this dose of teaching very intellectual. "Ah, and I suppose that one," she pointed a long white finger. "Means disfigurement."
"Close, mutilation."
The blonde shrugged. "Same thing" O-Ren let her grin linger and than turned to refill her sushi platter. Beatrix spent her sudden alone time to enjoy the essence of the music and wander around aimlessly. She didn't wander too far or too much as her leg hurt like a bitch. During a session earlier the second day of training she misjudged a step, twisted her leg the wrong way, and tore a ligament. Her steps ceased as she came over to Bill whom was standing off to the side of the stage rather involved in the music. Not wanting to disturb him she slid in beside him.
Bill stood listening to the music for a few minutes, he was aware of Beatrix standing next to him....he liked it and he took his time savoring the moment His arms were crossed over his chest, still attempting to conceal the fact he was pressing on his sides to aleve the sharp pain of breathing. Finally he leaned towards her, "This guy's really good...." he said in a hushed, almost awed tone of voice. 'This guy' was obviously the mariachi singer. Like all good mariachi singers he was a large man, who could belt out the sort of notes that truly soulful Latin music required. When the song ended, Bill unfolded his arms and clapped adamantly. He received a grateful nod from the singer...who obviously was living off a great number of Bill's very generous tips from over the years.
Bill then turned towards the tall blonde, "You're limping a bit," he cast a glance down her legs, knowing full well she was probably fine anyways. His weary gaze returned to her face, "How do you think the weekend went? I haven't really been able to get a straight answer from anybody...I was hoping you would give me one." As promised, Bill was still all business.
Beatrix had plans on making a retort to the fact that he was breathing peculiarly but she let it slide. Only Bea would be able to tell she caused some serious damage with that hit the other day. She wasn't resentful or sorry for it. Bill could handle it just like she could handle the pain running up and down her calf muscle.
Blue eyes cast to him at a luke-warm temperature. If Bill wasn't getting a straight answer from any one else what was the likelihood he'd get one from Beatrix? Well, surprisingly much more likely as she could be pretty damn truthful when it came down to business matters. Her lips curled as if she was going to wear a different façade than planned but she changed her mind and kept to a docile and straight lipped façade. "It was much better than last years. I personally learned a great deal and found it was a commendable asset for further assignments." She paused. "I can't admit to saying I enjoyed being thrown on the ground, bruised, battered, strangled, and to conclude the events of the weekend and further extend my 'enjoyment' I fucked up my leg. But, yes, all in all it went well."
Bill nodded. He knew, at least when it came to things that didn't have to do with him...or her....or them for that matter, then she'd be completely truthful. "Good to hear," he replied, "I agree. There were better trainers this year." He cast a watchful glance around the yard, "Although...that Ray asshole hasn't been much of a hit. Might can him for next year." Turning back to her he chuckled at her last comments. "I don't think anybody enjoyed getting the shit beat out of them this weekend....well," he raised an eyebrow, "Maybe Elle...but...we won't go there." He gave her a half smile and then turned back to the stage as the mariachi band had started back up again.
It was a love song. And nobody did love songs quite like the Spanish....they were full of passion and heartache and always extremely heartfelt. It was a Latin staple really.
"This is a good song......" Bill mumbled more to himself than anything. He obviously knew the band's whole set list from having listened to them for so long. The song was called "Un Amor," which simply meant "love" in Spanish. He watched in silence as the band played out the piece, his expression really somewhat impossible to read...weathered gaze fixated on the band. Bill was something of a music lover, but then again...aren't we all?
Beatrix's expression wasn't any less easy to read. She stole a side glance to Bill to see if she could decipher a word but failed and turned her full attention back to the band. She loved music. She wasn't as passionate about it as Bill was but she displayed her own manners of being drawn into the notes. This one song was particularly nice. Even Beatrix with her little bit of Spanish could make out a few select words.
A love song was meant for couples to dance or show affection. No one here would ever do that so enjoying the song was the next best thing. Beatrix felt a need for physical contact but restrained herself. This wasn't the place nor the time and it would go against her better judgment. So, she stayed put. Finally the song drifted to an end and Bill and Beatrix weren't the only ones clapping this time. The band bowed and went into a time out for water and refreshing of their vocals. Speaking of time out, the blonde slowly let her gaze wander back to Bill. "This is working," she stated matter-of-factly in a soft tone.
Bill turned slowly to look at Beatrix...full on, for the first time since she had joined him by the stage. Still with an unreadable expression, but there was a touch of understanding there. Her words had been somewhat vague, but he knew exactly what she was talking about.
A small internal struggle was going on in Bill's mind. Should he tell her that this little "time out" thing was driving him fucking crazy? That, despite him still thinking it was a good idea, it was just as maddening? It would have been easy to do, if things hadn't progressed the way they had. After all, he'd known her for years and managed just fine. But now.....it was different. The sad thing was, she was right. It was working. Was it to be this way then? Perhaps, yes....they both seemed to be less likely to kill one another and they hadn't really fought over anything thus far...which was really quite remarkable.
He glanced away briefly, realizing he may have betrayed some of his current thoughts through expression...not something he tended to do. His gaze safely landed at a table where Elle and Sonia were having some sort of conversation. He pursed his lips, finally speaking up softly, "Yes it is."
Beatrix was dealing far better than Bill with the 'time out' thing. At times it drove her up a wall but more times she found it serene. It gave her time to sort her thoughts and feelings and in the end she was becoming less confused and uncertain. But all of that took time and that's what the time out was for.
She didn't speak further on the subject. As long as he agreed with her, to a point she wasn't going to press. It was best dropped there on the stage. "Fabulous party Bill," the voice of Xing said. He had approached on Bill's other side and was holding a half empty wine glass in his hand. It appeared the man wanted a few words with Bill so Beatrix was wise and turned away. Before leaving she brushed a hand against Bill's arm and departed. She wandered aimlessly over to a vacant chair. Her legs were extended out in front of her as she soon came to realize she had been standing for much too long. The pain in her leg was pulsating. Her head was settled back against the chair and blue eyes void of expression traced around the gathered.
"Hurt your leg Bea?" It was Elle, the other blonde had sat herself down in the chair next to Beatrix, crossing her long legs. She had changed into a typical Elle looking blouse and a pair of tight fitting dark brown pants. Black pointy boots topped off the outfit. She was smoking, to nobody's surprise. A large bruise was prominent over her patched eye, as well as around her right wrist. Both of them were turning an ugly shade of purplish green.
The band was back up and playing. Bill had disappeared somewhere with Xing. Everybody else seemed to be enjoying themselves...some more than others.
Verntia, who was not much of a drinker, had decided to have a couple martini's and was now laughing amiably with William...who seemed to only be getting only more attractive with each drink.
Elle inhaled deeply on her cigarette, "God...." she rasped, "I can't speak for you, but I can sure as hell say I'm glad that's over with. Assignments are one thing, but fuck.....I mean, I like pain and that still sucked." Elle freely admitted to "liking" pain...which again came as no surprise.
Beatrix admitted a subtle laugh to Elle's words as well as the spot she choose to sit. She gave a tilted nod of her head and kept blue eyes transfixed on the party atmosphere. "Yes, it did." There was a passing silence as Bea watched Budd from across the way. He was still merrily chatting with Roy and Ray. They were becoming 'buddies' which was either brought on by drinking or that they really liked one another. "I fucked up my leg," the tall blonde began in a civil tone. "I ripped a muscle when I twisted it the wrong way. It's gonna be a bitch to heal."
Elle nodded silently, taking another drag from her cigarette...her sleepy left eye wandering around the party goers. She knew exactly what Beatrix was talking about.
They sat there in silent for a few moments.
It was almost as if, once decided the two blonde assassins were arch rivals, then it became a livable fact. Elle would always respect Beatrix as a warrior, as the fighter she was. But she would also always despise her for being and having the things she always wanted. Elle knew this, Beatrix knew this....and thus....something of an understanding was between them. Even if it was an understanding of hate, they at least didn't have to bullshit with each other anymore.
"Vern's gunna so fuck that guy," Elle pointed her cigarette at Vernita and William. "She keeps saying she doesn't like white men...but she's full of shit." She raised her eyebrow, "I can tell..."
Her gaze fell on Budd. Elle and Budd were tough to figure out. It was hard to even say what their deal was, "Look at Budd," she exhaled a stream of smoke, "What a podunk piece of shit. How he and Bill are really brothers is beyond me," she continued watching as Budd as he merrily laughed with cowboy Roy and creepy Ray. "Asshole," Elle grated, snubbing her cigarette under her boot. Elle just simply didn't like much of anybody.
Well, Beatrix wasn't going to stand up for anyone. Elle could say what she wanted and Bea wasn't going to agree or disagree. It wasn't as if what she said was a complete and utter lie.
She casually and gingerly lifted her legs together, vertically off the ground and stretched them before settling her heels back on the cobblestone. The action helped relieve her cramped muscles seeing it was never a good idea to stay in one position for too long. Blue eyes glanced away from Budd and his 'buds' to her blonde counter part. She stared and her thoughts wandered before she spoke up again.
"You and Stella...I think... were talking for some time. Did you have a lot in common?"
"You mean Sonia?" Elle pursed her red lips, "Hrm....she was alright. We didn't have much in common really....." She trailed off. Elle didn't talk "buddish" with anybody....especially Beatrix. And she didn't have much in common with anybody....even her fellow killers. The only person who seemed to understand her was Bill.....and he........
She lit up another cigarette and sat in silence. That was Elle for ya....
Vernita had gotten up and was making her way over to the two blondes, William was trailing behind her.
"Hey you two," Vernita obviously had had a few drinks; "William and I are going to head into town." Into town meant San Diego.....in this part of northern Mexico there wasn't much of town...unless you counted Tijuana and that was far from a desirable place to spend your evening. "We're trying to round up some people to come along, you guys game?"
Elle shook her long blonde mane, "You couldn't pay me enough to hang out with you two. I think I'd rather hang out here and watch Budd get shitfaced."
Vernita frowned, but undaunted she looked at Beatrix. Either she was too drunk to remember the rift that had recently come between them, or she was faking it very well, "What about you Bea? Have some good times.....like the old days..."
The way Vernita referred to it as 'the old days' made Beatrix even more skeptical than she already was. She side glanced to Elle and came back to Vernita with William hanging onto her in almost a disgusting manner at her side. Her lips curled into an apologetic smile whether it fake or not was to be decided. "I'll pass as well but not for the same reasons as Elle."
She pushed up so she was sitting further back on the chair since she had been slouching so much before. "I'm beat and in need of a nap. So, I'll be heading out soon."
Vernita shrugged and walked off with her town buddies to enjoy the remainder of the evening.