8 years ago
Nicolas stared at the small girl in front of him. She was really banged up this time. She had a busted lip and a hand shaped bruise around her neck. No doubt there were cuts on her stomach, too. There always were.
Worick was talking to Danny in the other room. Nic would just get the run down from Worick later. He didn't feel like struggling to read Monroe's lips today. Besides he walked and turned around too much when he talked. It just got in the way. So, the twilight ended up in the hall, sitting beside Amelia. He only knew her as well as he knew Delico or Yang. He knew she grew up in the orphanage with them and seemed to be close to Monroe. He had seen Amelia fight which only confused him. She fought like him- like a twilight. But she had no tags that he had ever seen or heard of.
And yet she had these bruises and cuts almost everytime he saw her. He knew what caused it. Everyone did. Yet no one ever mentioned it. It was definitely an elephant in the room whenever she was around.
" 'im ag'in?"
That caused the girl to look up in surprise. Nic scratched the back of his head where his hair was cut shorter. He had that slightly nervous look on his face he always seemed to get when he spoke out loud, not sure if he said the words right or was loud enough.
She gave a sad smile and nodded, pushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "Yea... Him again."
Present Day
Alex's voice flowed smoothly out of the large speakers set up around Bastard, singing a sweet song that sounded heavenly with her voice. It seemed like a leisurely night. Nic was standing by the doors with his head against the speakers, feeling the vibrations of Alex's voice. Worick was talking to some of the 'entertainers' in his usual flirty way. Amelia was sitting at the bar with a Perrier water in hand.
The crowd was normal for the club but the handymen and the girl were looking for someone in particular. Their eyes scanned the club easily, not drawing any attention to themselves.
Amelia was starting to wonder if it was just a false alarm. Nobody suspicious had showed up yet and it was getting late. She was tired of just sitting here. She wanted to dance...
Alex's song came to an end and it must have been her break because a more upbeat song began to play without lyrics. Amelia seemed to take that as a sign, standing up from the bar and making her way into the swarm of people dancing. She smiled as she began moving her hips to the music, closing her eyes and losing her self in the beat.
She could feel eyes on her. At first it made her uneasy. She saw the creeps in this place and she would rather not have those eyes on her body. However, the black eyes she noticed on her were another story.
She bit her lip, a slight blush dusting her cheeks as she went back to the fluid movement of her hips. She glanced over at those dark eyes every now and then as she danced. It's been a while since he looked at her like that. Amelia really wasn't sure how to feel about it.
However... she did know how to feel about the hand that was now on her ass. "Hey, is your hand alright?" She hissed out, glaring at the male who was so confident in his 'flirting'. He didn't even flinch at her fiesty attitute. It actually made him think he could get away with squeezing her cheek.
"Perfectly fine, baby~" the creep purred in her ear which made her face scrunch into disgust.
"Are you sure-" she turned around, about to grab his hand and hopefully break a finger or two but she was caught off guard. Nic was standing behind the creep who suddenly got a terrified look on his face. Little did Amelia now, the deaf twilight was pressing the hilt of his katana into the others back threateningly.
"A-ah, I'm sorry, miss. I mistook you for someone else," the creep quickly apologized before stumbling away, whimpering and crying like a baby. Amelia giggled and smile softly up at the tag.
"Thank you," she said while doing the sign for the phrase.
Nic gave a slight grunt but otherwise didn't respond. He looked down at the woman for a moment with those black eyes before turning to go back to his place by the speaker.
Amelia hesitated before grabbing the males sleeve between gentle fingers. The tag stopped and looked back at the girl. She panicked. Maybe this was a dumb idea. It wasn't like he could hear the music. Would he even be able to...
"Would you like to dance?" She blurted, unable to hold back. Did deaf people dance? Obviously there was nothing holding them back from physically doing it. They might have trouble finding the beat but physically they could. Although that didn't mean he would want to. Gosh, did she just make a fool out of herself?
She went to retract the statement when she saw that look on Nic's face. It was the same look he got when he had to speak out loud and was nervous, shy even. He was rubbing the back of his neck, which seemed to go hand in hand with that look on his face.
"... 'n't... 'nce." She could barely hear him but she could tell he said something. It was hard enough when there wasn't music blaring in her ears. He just couldn't quite control the loudness of his voice.
'What?' she signed, indicating to him that it was loud so he should just sign his words.
'I can't dance,' he signed after a moment of thinking as if he was debating if he should actually say it.
Amelia smiled softly at the innocence of the answer. She reached out and grabbed his large hands as the music slowed and Alex returned from her break. The petite woman slowly placed the twilight's hands on her waist before resting her own small hands on his shoulders.
Nic was obviously confused. She knew he was deaf right? How could he dance to something he couldn't hear? And yet, for some reason, he agreed. Indirectly or not, he agreed. If it didn't feel right he would just walk away. Simple as that.
He watched as the woman placed his large hands on her waist. It felt tiny compared to his hands. Not overly tiny though. He always kind of liked that about Amelia. She didn't feel like she would break in his hands. He was still gentle though.
He looked at her face as her dainty hands were laid on his shoulders. Now what? He had seen people dance before but he knew it depended on whatever they were hearing, too. He was pretty sure Worick said that the man lead the dance. This only made him more nervous. Maybe this was too much. He should just shrug her off and return to his place by the speaker.
"It's ok. I'll take it slow. I'm not that good either," Amelia smiled shyly at the male, trying her best to reassure him and keep him from retreating. "Just follow my steps. First... like this." She stepped to the right. Once he did the same, she stepped to the left and back slightly; he stepped to her left and forward slightly. "Just like that. Nothing fancy," she smiled, making sure he could read her lips and repeating as necessary.
The dance lessons continued as if they were the only two on the dancefloor. Soon, they were rocking together in a rhythmic dance. It wasn't exactly to the music but Amelia didn't mind. She was just happy. Nic was really getting the hang of it and he didn't even try to run away. It made her a lot happier than he probably realized.
Although he was a little embarrassed, not knowing if they were on beat or not, Nic was happy, too. It felt nice to have Amelia in his arms. She fit well with his body. He was a bit wider than her which made her fit safely against his chest, away from harm. He assumed he must have gotten the hang of it because the girl had stopped telling him when to step and neither of them were stepping on each others toes anymore. They were just gently swaying, slowly moving in a circle so it was more dancing than just rocking. It was peaceful.
When he noticed she was no longer talking and just enjoying the dance, he had decided to keep his eyes up, just staring into space instead of down at her beautiful face. However, he couldn't help but look down when he felt something press against his chest. He looked down to see the top of her head, her cheek resting on his chest.
Little did he know Amelia had been debating whether it was safe to do that or not for about 5 minutes. She was nervous as hell that this would be the final straw to drive Nic away. She could feel his body tense at the mere feel of her cheek on his chest. He was definitely going to run away now. She closed her eyes, enjoying the breif moment before she was sure it would be over.
5 seconds... 30 seconds... 60 seconds...
She wasn't pushed away. Acutally, Nic was relaxed again. In fact, if Amelia didn't know Nic so well, she would have sworn his arms tightened around her and even pulled her closer. She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and relaxed completely into his arms.
The song was coming to an end, but Amelia didn't have the heart to tell the twilight. She didn't want this to end. It was another slow song and it wasn't like he would notice right?
Nic pulled away hesitantly which surprised Amelia. He couldn't tell the music changed through the vibrations or something could he? They were too far away from any speaker. She looked up at him confused before she saw his face. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in a deadly glare, his black eyes narrowed. Even his lip was curled slightly in that sneer he wore like a mad dog in a fight.
Amelia turned to where his eyes were directed and noticed Worick approaching a man. He definitely looked suspicious and matched the vague description they had been given when hired.
Before she could consult with Nic what to do, the tag was stalking towards his prey, hand on the hilt of his katana and ready to pounce. She quickly followed after him, hoping he remembered that Loretta hadn't wanted any fighting or bloodshed in her brothel.
As they got closer, Amelia could hear Worick's voice as he made contact with the subject. "Would you mind coming outside with me? I don't believe this is the place you're looking for. Maybe Pussy would be a better suit for you," Worick said, obviously trying to play nice and give the man a chance.
The male was tall and slender with shaggy hair that obviously hadn't been washed for at least a week. He also didn't seem to own a razor as his face had mangled facial hair all over. He definitely didn't look good. If Amelia had to put a name to his appearance, she would say he looked like a creepy hobo.
"Fuck off. I'm 'ere ta see my girl. Don't be gettin' in my way, pretty boy," he slurred, obviously drunk.
Worick rolled his eyes at the man, not letting him past him. "This is a brothel. Prostitutes. Whores. Not girlfriends. Did she act like you were special? Guess what- that's their job," Worick sighed, obviously finding the male rather pathetic.
This only seemed to anger the male more. The more Worick said, the more distorted the man's face got as he writhed with anger. Then he slid his hand into his coat, reaching for something all too obvious to the handymen.
Nicolas lunged to grab the man's hand before he could draw the gun, a low growl sounding from his throat. His sword was drawn and placed right below the males neck.
"Sca~ry. Isn't he?" Worick grinned at the male who was wide eyed and scared as he dared not move a muscle. Even swallowing may just move his throat too much and cause the sword to cut into him. "Now, don't you think a different brothel would be nice right about now? No one's interested in you here and wouldn't even do you for money so you might as well leave," Worick cooed slightly, raising an eyebrow and waiting for a response.
Terrified that the sword would cut open his throat, the males gave a shaky thumbs up for lack of a better way to reply. Nic slowly retracted his sword, sadistically dragging the unsharpened side down his skin with a sadistic smile.
Amelia just stood back, watching the two handle the job. She was really only there for lookout and backup. If the guy decided to fight they were supposed to use killing him as a last resort and, well... Nic wasn't great at restraining himself.
They escorted the man to the door and stood outside, watching to make sure he wasn't just going to sneak back in. Worick lit a cigarrette as they watched.
"Smoke?" He asked around the dart between his own lips, holding one out to Amelia. She shook her head, politely refusing.
"You know I don't do that," she rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall of the club, looking up at the sky boredly.
"Get you drunk and you'll do a lot of things," Worick chuckled as he shoved the cheap pack back in his pocket and lit his smoke. He took a drag before blowing the smoke out slowly. That comment earned him a smack on the shoulder from the petite woman, wincing slightly and chuckling even more.
Amelia sighed. "All that just because he got obsessed with a prostitute here," she scoffed, signing to make sure Nic was included in the conversation without having to read her lips. "And guys say girls are the clingy ones. Always complaining that girls need to realize sex is sex and nothing more," she rolled her eyes and sighed. Men were stupid.
This was mostly cutesy build up for the romance part of this story but I hope the end was enough for you guys who rather a bit more action incorporated and stuff. Also I'm sorry if Nicolas was too OOC this chapter. I just really wanted a cute moment like the dance between them. I'm so bad and making up conflict I swear. I'm still kind of developing what the big threat is and what's going to happen so I'm sorry if that part isn't moving as auickly as you guys would like.
But anyways, please follow/favourite so you can keep track of this. Also reviews are very much encouraged and wanted. -
February 11, 2016
