[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/G3Kspc0q/Untitled-design.png[/img][/center]
[right]In collaboration with([@The Savant]) as Roach[/right][hr][hr]
[indent][color=808080]
It was odd how fast the energy in a room or a whole community could change. Everything was more or less relaxing until screaming could be heard in the distance, shouting of words he couldn’t understand, and chaos erupted without a second for anyone to process what was going on. He was enjoying a meal at a shabby little restaurant where there was no inside sitting area — the only area inside was the common area to stand and wait for to give your order to the worker or wait to pick up your food, a public bathroom which was shared and barely anyone could reasonably or comfortable fit in it, and the back where all the magic happened. 

A disappointed sigh sounded out as he set his sub down, what was all the commotion about? Roach decided to stand up and leave his items, but before he departed, he grabbed the citrus drink and downed it, and found himself moving. Picking the mobile device from his pocket to see if he could find a location on Selene or anyone else that he was supposed to be watching, just in case all hell broke loose. He didn’t want to disappoint any of his clients — however — he took two pictures out of his pocket while walking. A few days ago, a council member approached him and gave him a handful of pictures of dwellers and burrowers, and last night the same council member came around again. This time, the member gave him a few pictures of scavengers that they wanted taken care of. 

The two pictures that seemed to catch his eyes the most were the older burrower named Pilka, who was roaming around Dominion without any consequences and bothering young women and the scavenger that had the nickname of [i]Ratman[/i], and people seemed to complain about him a lot. He has been running around without any consequences or punishment either. 

Deciding to mind his own business for now instead of focusing on that job, he put the pictures away, and he noticed a few locations — Selene was the closest. Roach decided to cut through a few alleys and make his way towards the woman. Knowing how to slip through the cracks of Dominion, he got to the younger woman with ease, and he stepped out in front of her — purposefully getting in her way, “[color=B87333]Hey sweetheart, what are you running from?[/color]” He was blissfully unaware of the duskhound situation, but he knew a commotion was happening, however, Selene was running with a purpose, and he kind of wanted to interfere with that more than figuring out why everyone else was screaming in terror. 

She didn’t see him at first.

One second, Selene was cutting between two vending columns, shoulder-checking a dazed man still clutching a bouquet of light-reactive lilies, and the next, there he was. In front of her. Like a goddamn ghost with expensive shoes and the worst timing [i]ever[/i].

She skidded to a stop hard enough that the case at her ribs jabbed up under her arm, and for a split, searing moment, she actually considered whether barreling straight into him would be worth it. But instinct stalled her legs before her rage could.

His voice, that copper-warm drawl she’d once mistaken for charm when she was stupid enough to believe adults knew what they were doing, slid under her skin like a splinter. Her breath hitched, not from exhaustion but from sheer disbelief. Not because he’d found her. That was the least surprising part. But because he looked so fucking casual about it. As if the city wasn’t about to collapse inward on itself with the sound of teeth and screaming.

Selene’s gaze snapped up to his, her expression flat, but her eyes sharp enough to slice tungsten.

“[color=eeeba0]Seriously?[/color]” she rasped, low and incredulous. “[color=eeeba0]You pick [i]now[/i] to play peekaboo?[/color]”

“[color=B87333]You used to love that game as a child,[/color]” Roach teased with a sickening curl to the one side of his lips. “[color=B87333]However, you aren’t that precious little girl anymore, but you are [i]still[/i] precious, so I have to find you when things go south. Clearly,[/color]” his head tilted up a little to look at the people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming, trying to find their children, and some of them were moving closer — all pathetic. 

He sucked on his teeth for a second with a distaste for the chaos and he heard the screams more clearly — [b]DUSKHOUNDS![/b] — and he almost wanted to laugh. People were worried about duskhounds? They were one of the easier things to take down. He would be more worried about Grells or Lynes. Possibly tunnelers if they got close enough, and even those creatures didn’t bother him in thought. “[color=B87333]Clearly, everyone is freaking out for such little reasons, quite pathetic don’t you think?[/color]” his eyes were covered in darker shades, like usual, and he looked so anonymous. Easily being able to blend into the background. However, his stare was strong, and he was looking directly at Selene. 

“[color=B87333]Come on,[/color]” Roach stepped forward and reached out towards Selene, going to grab her arm or wrist. “[color=B87333]I don’t even know why you go outside half the time. You have a room. Isn’t that enjoyable enough? You kids have video games or whatever they are called,[/color]” His tone shifted to show how irritating Selene could be for him. She made him work so much more. Half of the time, he wished he could just trap her inside her house, but that would be a human rights violation case that he wouldn’t want to fight in court. 

Selene’s whole body coiled at the reach. He barely brushed her sleeve before she jerked back a step, the case jostling under her arm, her free hand instinctively curling like she might draw something—knife, wrench, middle finger, didn’t matter.

“[color=eeeba0]Touch me again,[/color]” she hissed, “[color=eeeba0]and I swear to every rusted god beneath this city, I’ll lodge your hand so far down your own throat you can finally taste the bullshit you talk.[/color]” Her eyes—those mismatched eyes—didn’t even flinch as she said this. For a heartbeat, the light caught the ghost in his gaze: a reflection of the girl she’d been, all scraped knees and desperate to please. Pathetic, yes, but not her anymore. He [i]always[/i] did this, though. Showing up late with that waxy, serpentine smile and treating her like she was still six and stupid. Still scribbling escape routes into her notebooks while pretending not to notice the cameras above her bunk.

“[color=eeeba0]And don’t call this pathetic,[/color]” she snarled, advancing now, driving him back for once, “[color=eeeba0]just because you’re too dead inside to give a shit about people getting hurt or [i]threatening[/i] to hurt them and those they care about.[/color]” She, of course, was referring to Scotti when she said this. He’d threatened a kid. A scared, twitchy kid with too much heart and not enough protection. And Selene hadn’t forgotten it. 

At first, he was taken aback by her outburst, but he was not surprised, not moving back much, and allowing a foot to fall behind him so he was secure. “[color=B87333]Someone is feisty today. What happened? Didn’t get a shitty job? You know, I am always up to take on an apprentice,[/color]” he chuckled while putting up his hands like he was in defeat. 

The man’s eyes sharpened as she continued her confidence, “[color=B87333]I was only giving the kid some encouragement, sweetheart,[/color]” Roach spit those words out with distastefulness. As if he were not interested in this conversation, but he would continue anyway. “[color=B87333]Plus, I wouldn’t actually hurt that little girl. She’s sweet. Reminds me of you when you were little. Too innocent for her own good. She walked right up to me and had a talk for about twenty minutes. Her daycare workers didn’t even notice, an awful bunch they are, I could have scooped her up if I wanted to,[/color]” Roach joked, but there was an underlying seriousness of concern in his voice. The concern that the workers were lacking, while it was so easy to get over that playground fence and talk to a little girl. 

Selene’s jaw clamped shut, the tension radiating down her neck. Her fingers twitched once at her side. Not enough to draw suspicion from the untrained eye, but Roach knew her tells. Or he used to. That twitch meant she was calculating how many steps it would take to drop him.

Three, if he didn’t dodge. Two, if she led with her elbow.

She didn’t, though.

Instead, her voice came out quiet. Cold. 

“[color=eeeba0]You think this is you being funny.[/color]” She didn’t blink. “[color=eeeba0]But I know what it is. You’re testing limits you already know. Reminding me that you [i]could[/i], but don’t. That’s what you do, right? Keep everyone [i]grateful[/i] they’re not on the floor.[/color]” Her lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. More a scar remembered. “[color=eeeba0]But don’t ever compare me to her again. She probably still sees good in people like you. Still hopes. I buried that part of myself before I left.[/color]” 

The crowd behind her was thinning now, people running, shouting, scattering like rats. A deep, inhuman growl echoed somewhere close, just enough to crawl down the spine.

She didn’t look away from Roach.

“[color=eeeba0]If you’re here to do your job, then do it. Tail me. Report in. Play watchdog for the bastards who still think I owe them something besides a thank you for my birth.[/color]” Her breath fogged slightly in the cooler artificial air. “[color=eeeba0]But if you so much as breathe wrong in that girl’s direction again? I’ll stop playing this game. That’s what you can crawl back to tell my parents.[/color]”

The man waved her off, “[color=B87333]Stop overreacting,[/color]” he huffed out while picking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and a lighter. Taking one out, putting it between his lips, and lighting it up before putting the items away. Then he looked around the woman to see a duskhound tilting its head. “[color=B87333]Stop talking,[/color]” he ordered her. 

“[color=B87333]And I don’t give a shit if you want to continue playing the game. I doubt your parents even care to keep tabs on you. I’m pretty sure they just forgot to take me off payroll,[/color]” he shook his head while taking a few steps to the right to get a better picture of the hound that was behind Selene. It was about thirty yards away, but it was trying to figure out where they were, but the screaming and chaos were definitely confusing it. 

Plucking the cigarette from his lips and blowing out a cloud of smoke, “[color=B87333]If you really want me to make it up in some fashion. I’ll go visit their mom later. Help her build those kids' college tuition and life, but I am busy right now,[/color]” he chuckled with a dirty sense of humor and put the cigarette back in his lips before pulling out a gun and switching out parts to it. It was a handgun, nothing impressive, but it was tactical. He was changing it from a stun-gun to a deadly weapon. 

Selene didn’t laugh, but the sound she made was close enough to pass.

“[color=eeeba0]Of course they forgot,[/color]” she said, the words dripping with acid as she continued to ignore his instruction. “[color=eeeba0]Prioritize profit, purge the problem. That’s the family motto, isn’t it?[/color]” A bitter smile ghosted across her lips. “[color=eeeba0]If I’d known that’s all it took to get rid of you, I would’ve tried to tank the family name way sooner.[/color]”

But her fingers curled a little tighter around the case.

“[color=B87333]You know the family motto better than I do. I’m not a part of the Syn family,[/color]” he chuckled while switching the gun, and it began to buzz with power. It was a battery-powered gun; it shot bullets, but it charged up before blasting a piece of metal that would open up while stabbing into the skin and discharging the electricity that it absorbed. 

Twisting the cigarette in his lips, “[color=B87333]Also, you can’t get rid of me that easily, sweetheart. I’ve known you before you were born. One could say I am a little attached. I hate to say it. Maybe I even have a little piece of me that cares. I’d still check in on yah without a second thought. You do some pretty dumb shit,[/color]” he began to aim the gun at the beast. 

Selene didn’t share her thoughts about anything he’d just revealed right away. She just stared at him, lips pressed thin, something cold and flinty settling behind her eyes. Then, without a word, she moved to walk past him. 

“[color=eeeba0]Whatever,[/color]” she muttered over her shoulder, the word dry as ash. “[color=eeeba0]You’re not even the worst thing crawling around out here today.[/color]”

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/28836]Duskhound roll[/url] = 10 (success)

When Selene began walking away, that was when the duskhound twisted its head and seemed to lock onto her movements. It was clearly jittering from the commotion, but it finally caught onto something that it wanted, and it began to charge. Quickly and efficiently. Aiming right for her without issue, before she would have felt its weight plunge her to the ground. 

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/28837]Roach’s Reaction[/url] = 13 + 2 (bonus) = 15 (success) 

Roach didn’t react right away, not because he was old and slow, but because he was making a point. What point, exactly? Probably one that no one but him would understand. Though he was letting his gun charge that bullet before he took a shot with an electrically powered poof. Once that bullet dug into that Duskhound's flesh, the creature whined out and jumped away from Selene, and Roach was reloading that gun without hesitation. 

Walking right over to Selene, not helping her up but placing himself right in front of her and looking at the duskhound, “[color=B87333]You know, you should really watch out. You could get hurt,[/color]” Roach let out a condescending tone while charging another bullet up. 

The creature began to growl out before that echoing cackle could be heard. It was trying to get Roach to move, but he stood there watching it. It began to sniff the area where the bullet entered its flesh, and then began to sniff the air. It was trying to locate him. The strategy of trying to find him showed how intelligent the creature could be. 

Selene hit the ground hard. The case skidded from her grip, clattering just out of reach as the duskhound’s weight slammed her sideways, breath punched from her lungs. If not for the sharp crack of Roach’s gun and the sizzling whine that followed, it might’ve been the last sound she made. She didn’t say anything at first—not as the thing scrambled off, not as its shriek rattled through her bones, and not even when Roach’s boots planted in front of her. Only when he spoke did she finally look up.

That [i]tone[/i].

Like this was a lesson. Like she was a damn child again.

Slowly, with all the grace of someone running on pride more than pain, Selene pushed herself up from the floor. Her palms were scraped, her elbow throbbed, and her heart was a snare drum in her ribs. But her eyes? Her eyes could’ve lit a fire.

“[color=eeeba0]Wow,[/color]” she said flatly. “[color=eeeba0]Thanks for the tip, [i]dad.[/i][/color]” She spat the word like it had burned her. Then, grudgingly, so grudgingly it almost hurt, she stepped in behind him. Not because she trusted him. But because between him and the thing with claws and cackling teeth, she’d rather keep the known bastard in front.

She stooped to grab the case, wincing, then muttered under her breath without looking at him:

“[color=eeeba0]You get bitten, I’m not dragging your ass.[/color]”

It was the closest she’d come to a truce. And the farthest she’d let him think it was one.

Roach laughed at her little sarcastic title, “[color=B87333]You would have been better off if I were your father.[/color]” Her comment clearly amused him, and there might have been a sad truth to his response. He knew how her parents were, and he had a lot of unsaid things about them in his mind, but money was money. As long as he was getting paid, he wouldn't bite the hand that fed him, but he did snap at her parents a few times throughout the years — no reason to tell her that. 

He shrugged, “[color=B87333]Then be more careful, so I don't have to take my eyes off that monster,[/color]” as his gun buzzed in an alert state, as if fully charged. The beast lunged at him. 

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/28838]Duskhound attack[/url] = 16 (Success)

Even though the beast was hurt, it was proving that some pain and injury were not going to dwindle its spirits or its instincts to kill. Roach found himself hitting the ground hard while the creature's jaws clamped down on his arm, which naturally went to block his face. A hissing sound came from him as he felt the sinking pressure of teeth in his flesh. 

His gun slid away from him by about three feet and he glanced at it before trying to position his foot to hopefully kick the damn thing off from him or get into a better position. 

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/28839] Selene Attack [/url]= 6

“[color=eeeba0]Shit,[/color]” Selene spat, half under her breath. She didn’t want to move. Every survival instinct screamed to let the bastard get eaten. But she’d never been great at following orders, not even her own. With a grimace, Selene darted forward, snatching the gun up before her finger quickly found the trigger, muscle memory overriding spite. The shot erupted in a searing arc, grazing the hound’s flank and detonating against a holographic billboard. Shrapnel rained down, glass petals from a luxury perfume ad spiralling like shrapnel confetti.

“[color=eeeba0][i]Fuck.[/i][/color]”

The duskhound flinched, startled, but not hurt. And now, it seemed [i]angry.[/i] Its eyes snapped toward her with predator clarity, and in that split-second, she realized what she’d just done: made herself the more interesting target.

“[color=eeeba0]Fan-[i]tastic.[/i][/color]” she muttered, already moving fast, backpedalling, trying to circle wide. She kept the gun raised with both hands, but her grip was too tight, her breathing shallow. Panic pressed hard against her ribs.

“[color=eeeba0]Get. Up.[/color]” She barked the command at Roach. The hound advanced, claws scoring the tile with a nails-on-chalkboard shriek. Her mind fractured, half calculating trajectories (weak spots she’d read about, such as its joints), half clawing through a memory: Roach, a decade younger, tossing her a pistol. [i]“You miss with this thing, you probably die. Romance that trigger, sweetheart.”[/i]  

Another shot. This one cracked louder than the first.

And this time, it [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/28840]hit.[/url] 

The electrically charged round slammed into the duskhound’s front leg just above the joint, embedding deep before discharging with a gut-churning pop of scorched flesh and snapping ligaments. The creature screamed, a warbling, wet snarl, and stumbled, its lunge faltering mid-stride as one leg buckled beneath it.

Selene didn’t wait for praise. She pivoted and slid the gun across the tile toward Roach with a flick of her wrist, just in case the thing got back up faster than it should.

Roach was up and at it as Selene was barking out the order, and he was turning to her and the duskhound when his facial recognition alert went off. It echoed throughout his mind while he looked around quickly before shaking his head and focusing on Selene and the hound again — this was a problem that he needed to focus on. Not his alerts going off and telling him that there was someone around whom he was hunting. 

“[color=B87333]You are doing a wonderful job, sweetheart![/color]” His voice was actually encouraging and possibly a little proud as he crouched down and picked up the gun. Putting another bullet into the chamber and charging it up. He walked over to the whining mass of fur and blood as he put a charge through the creature's eye. With a final yelp, silence, or at least the silence around them, while chaos was everywhere else. 

This was when Roach began to look around to scan for that face again, and off in the distance, up on a cliff by a building where his alert began to go, he saw a figure. Letting his artificial eye do its work to zoom in and recognize the face. It was Pilka up on a ledge, hanging out. “[color=B87333]Get home, sweetie. I’ll check on you later,[/color]” his voice fell from the positivity that held around Selene as he began to move towards his next target. 

“[color=eeeba0]Of course you’ve got another appointment,[/color]” Selene muttered, low, mostly to herself. Her gaze flicked up to where his focus had turned. A figure. Distant. She didn’t need facial tech to know it wasn’t her fight. Not today.

She looked back at the creature’s remains, then at the smear of blood on her sleeve. Then, finally, at Roach.

“[color=eeeba0]You keep calling me sweetheart like it means something,[/color]” she said, her voice quieter now. “[color=eeeba0]Like it’s a comfort. You forget I know what it actually means coming from you.[/color]”

She turned her back to him, tucking the case against her ribs with a wince. The drop-off would have to be rescheduled.

“[color=eeeba0]No need to check in,[/color]” she said over her shoulder. “[color=eeeba0]I’m managing just fine, dumb shit and all.[/color]”

And with that, she walked away.

“[color=B87333]There is always a need, I’ll bring you takeout. You’re clearly grumpy and annoyed for some reason,[/color]” Roach waved her off while heading towards the man he was contracted to hunt down and kill. A pest of society. 
[/color][/indent]