Sleep is the little brother of death

[meowminx]

WHO: Selina (catmasked) & Lust (easytochop)
WHERE: City streets somewhere downtown
WHEN: Afternoon of August 18th
SUMMARY: PAIN
WARNINGS: VIOLENCE AND BLOOD AND STABBING
FORMAT: Para

It had been a fairly uneventful day so far. Selina had stopped by Ramus' habitat and spent a few hours with the leopard. He really seemed to be taking to his new home. One less thing for her to worry about.

She was taking a roundabout route through downtown back to her apartment. Plenty of time to kill before she had to meet Peter for dinner. So she walked, just enjoying the sun (something she saw less and less often these days, it seemed), the momentary lack of chaos in the city. Hell, even the masses of people that moved by en route to whatever their daily lives held, despite the latest wreckage that surrounded them.

It took Selina a while to figure out that, despite everything, she was actually in a fairly decent mood for once.

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[easytochop.livejournal.com]

He continued to walk down, stupidly enough--but that was the power of persuasion. Once they were started, they didn't always come to a stop unless you made them.

Once she had glanced in, Selina's position was immediately obvious, but an attack at this point in time would be a bad idea. They were still relatively close to the mouth of the alleyway, and Lust would rather avoid bystanders altogether if she could.

"I don't see anything," muttered the boy, his voice even higher-pitched than she had expected, but he didn't stop. As she followed him, Lust turned her head and looked directly up at Selina, her the gleam in her eyes cold and challenging.

You know what I will do, she thought, brushing her hair back casually and smiling a little. Make your decision.

[meowminx]

Damnit.

Adopting a casual pose, she leaned on the railing, looking straight down at the kid. "Hey," she called, throwing in a touch of Brooklyn into the voice to add to the authenticity. "Private property. Get lost before I call the cops."

Of course, that would only work if Lust would let him pass.

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

And Lust, of course, would not. Standing between the boy and the street, Lust kept her gaze on the fire escape. Selina was the priority; if he tried to run, she could easily catch him.

"Really?" she called back, her voice clear and defiant--the very model of a concerned citizen. "And what if there's someone injured on that private property?"

[meowminx]

Selina's grip on the railing tightened until her hands were white-knuckled. The implied threat was obvious.

"No need need to hurt anybody," she replied, an edge laid into her voice that she hoped the kid was smart enough to pick up on. Not that he'd be fast enough to get around Lust.

Still, if he was ready to bolt and she could provide a distraction...

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

He was, indeed, getting cagey fast--although he couldn't have any idea of just what he had gotten himself into, the boy had to know that he was in a bad situation that could go downhill fast. He fidgeted a little, starting to back away in the direction of the alley's mouth, but he was already too far in to escape. And even if location wasn't against him, Lust was simply too fast to outrun. She didn't shift from her position, just extended one arm in his direction, but her claws moved like lightning. In less time than it took to scream, they were hemming the boy in, piercing the bricks behind him like butter.

He opened his mouth, presumably to scream--but with a sigh and a flick of her wrists, one of her fingers lay directly across his throat, skimming the prominent Adam's apple. Just enough to draw blood, but not nearly enough to kill.

"Be quiet, okay?" she whispered, smiling angelically. "We have some talking to do before I can let you go." Which she had no intention of doing, of course; though Selina would doubtless identify Lust as her murderer (because she was going to kill her, she had decided it from the moment she entered the alley) once the magic of this place revived her, but she had no desire for the humans to mob her before she was ready. But he was paralyzed with fear, shivering underneath her fingers--she could have told him to run away and never look back and he still wouldn't have moved.

Looking back up at Selina again, she smiled easily--but her voice, when it came, was cool and commanding.

"Come down here," she said, "before I make you."

[meowminx]

It took her a minute. Scenarios ran through her head and were just as quickly discarded. Lust was too far away fro her to try and take out from here. And she couldn't just leave the kid to die. Maybe once upon a time it would have been an option. And even then...

Selina vaulted over the railing, plummeting down to street level, landing in a crouch. Ready to phase, to fight, to do something.

She just didn't know what.

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

And with her other hand, she lashed out, all five fingers lancing out at her vitals. She knew Selina could phase. She knew that she was a perfectly capable fighter. But she was only human, and Lust was so much more.

[meowminx]

The fingers went straight through her. Harmlessly... she was already intangible and in motion. Heading right towards Lust.

But that was a feint, and the last minute she changed course, angling to grab the hostage and phase him free. Get both the kid and herself out of there.

Of course, grabbing him meant she had to shift back to solid, if only for a split second.

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

And when she did just that, Lust was waiting. It was more instinct than a deliberate move, but she jerked back in the right direction at the right moment, her claws slicing through Selina's abdomen and the boy's head--presumably piercing his brain. The feeling of catharsis was immediate and absolute, as was the pleasure, and any idea of retribution was momentarily wiped from her mind. She had actually, finally, done it.

The boy died instantly, and though he hit the ground hard he made no sound other than the initial impact, which Lust appreciated. All things considered, he was the lucky one. Only three fingers had made contact with Selina, she realized, retracting them with a soft smile on her face. A pity.

As quickly as they had shot out, they were gone, and she was just a woman with unfortunately bloody gloves in terrible surroundings. She would have pulled Selina to her, to cover her mouth in case of screaming--in the satisfied afterglow of accomplishment, she sometimes felt a certain disgusting intimacy for them--but she couldn't have blood on her now. Stupid as the tide of human traffic was (had they really not noticed any of this?), they weren't entirely blind.

[meowminx]

To her credit, Selina didn't scream. There was a strangled gasp as sharp pressure spiraled out from her center. And still the dead kid hitting the ground processed first. She had to look down and see the blood running out from between her fingers before she realized what had happened.

Should hurt worse, she thought. Shock maybe. That was a bad sign, right?

She was still on her feet. With an exhale like a hiss, she managed to stagger a step, two steps towards Lust before falling to her knees, barely catching herself on bloody hands.

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

It was impressive, Lust had to admit, just how much determination the woman had--but she didn't want her approaching any more at this point. Extending the same three claws, she struck Selina hard in the chest, pushing her back more than aiming for anything vital.

[meowminx]

Selina was trying to pull herself to her feet when Lust attacked again. She barely felt the impact of the claws, the collision with the pavement as she was sent sprawling backwards. All she knew was she was suddenly staring at a patch of sky framed by the lines of the surrounding buildings.

Help. The word floated through her head, dim and ethereal. Need help.

She managed to work her comm unit free from her pocket, but it slipped from her fingers, clattering far away somewhere. She muttered something that might have been a curse. And then the little sliver of sky faded and shrunk away to nothing.

[easytochop.livejournal.com]

The ecstatic tinge to Lust's satisfaction was beginning to fade, but she was still smiling slightly as she bent to pick the communicator up. Selina was gone. She had friends who would pick up on her absence, friends who could very easily come after Lust for what she had done--and a few of them, she had to admit, who could probably kill her for it. She might just have to take a vacation after this, but she had the money, and the release she felt now was well worth it.

Was that device recording? It always did seem to come on at the most inopportune moments. Silently, Lust switched the damn thing off, and then she left the alley without a backward glance.