Sarpedon

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

"You do you." Kevin replied, realizing that Zara was probably much more in need of privacy than he was, considering that she was used to living all alone in a bunker. He supposed it was probably a good idea to hang up a barrier regardless, she probably didn't want to see him naked, and he wasn't entirely convinced that he wanted to see her naked, either. Some things were better left to the imagination, especially when they had to work together for a little while. He snapped out of his thoughts to listen intently to the woman's directions, though, and nodded when she informed him of where to go. The kitchen sounded very close, and their bedroom sounded like it could be a bit of a hike. He wasn't sure how big this underground complex was, though, so he supposed it would remain to be seen.

"Thanks." he offered in response. Then the werehyena followed his companion out of the room, but he turned off into the kitchen instead of following her off to wherever she was going. The man headed straight for the fridge, only to be interrupted as a sharp, quiet gasp got his attention. It was almost like the rasp of a knife that you heard when someone didn't know how to pull their blade out quietly. His sidearm was half out of its holster before he realized it was just a kid. "Fuck." he sighed abruptly, shoving the gun back into place. The little boy whipped around, gasping louder this time.

"Mom! The guest said a bad word!" he sounded truly offended, and then Kevin was confronted with the boy's mother, who gave him a withering look.

"I'm sorry..." he offered in response, wondering if she'd killed anyone with that look. Then he popped open the fridge, and spotted what he was pretty sure was orange juice.

"I'll take that." the woman stated as he pulled it out.

"Of course." the contractor just handed it over and decided he would drink something else. He found a pitcher of blue juice and figured he would give it a shot. Blue flavoured drinks were always a good choice. The next step was hunting for a glass. The other two people in the room didn't help him, of course, so he just pulled open all the cupboards until he found one. Kevin poured himself a glass of juice, and sipped on it while he hunted for dinner. Eventually he settled on two approximately half-full containers of what he was pretty sure was left-over stir-fry. After mixing the contents on a plate that he spent several long moments searching for, he tossed it in the microwave and started hunting for a fork while it heated up. By the time his food was ready, he needed to refresh his glass. Once that was done, he took all of it back into the room he'd come from to settle down and eat. Of course, eating, for the werehyena, was a matter of shovelling food into his face until he felt like he would be uncomfortable if he continued to do so. That point was right about the time he finished his plate. Washing it down with the last of his juice, Kevin returned to the kitchen.

Being a considerate guest, he washed all of his dishes and put them back where he found them. Now he just needed to find a bathroom, and he was going to bed. Not wanting to go around poking his head into every single room, and risk disturbing another understandably distrustful mother, or worse, the same one, he decided to hunt down Zara and get her to direct him. He decided to start by looking in the bedroom she'd given him directions to. If she wasn't there, he would just have to quietly stalk the halls until he found her, or got familiar enough with the place that he could begin logically selecting locations for a bathroom...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

"You know, someday, someone is going to try and stop the 'Payne Train' and you're going to be sorry..." it sounded like more of a threat than a warning, but Kevin was convinced that Coyote wouldn't let him down. The canine spirit was practically a god, there was no way it could be stopped by anything mortal. He supposed there were other possibilities, but he wasn't exactly worried. He didn't reply to the spirit's comment, mostly because he didn't want people thinking he was talking to himself. Zara butted in before it became a problem anyway, talking like she wanted to join in their little contest. That distracted Geoffrey, though, and seemed to drive the man back to whatever business he had been attending to before they had crashed the party.

As the man departed, Kevin gave him a nod, jerking his chin up as if to dare the man to do something about his presence. The werehyena wasn't the least bit worried, though he supposed that could change. "That was a lot more excitement than I usually care for..." he sighed, realizing that he probably wasn't going to be able to strip out of his combat gear, even here, in the safety of an underground bunker. There were too many people around, and the last thing he wanted was someone getting hurt because he'd left his stuff laying around. That, and he didn't need anyone picking through his things while he wasn't looking. "Where do they keep the food around here? I want something to eat, and then I think I'll hit the sack..." life was simpler out here in the wasteland. He did what he had to do to survive, and when he found shelter, he took advantage of it by sleeping as much as not-quite-humanly possible. Then he realized he'd forgotten about the cigarette in his hand, and proceeded to suck it back about as quickly as he could, assuming it might be a while before he got another smoke break...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Kevin paid close attention as they ventured deeper into the bunker. He didn't want to be caught unaware, or have to try and flee without knowing where he was going. Not that he was planning on running away, but sometimes he didn't have a choice. Their destination wasn't too far, though, so it seemed like there wasn't a whole lot to worry about. They were offered alcohol and instructed to share their story. Kevin plucked the beer out of the air, and had it open before he hit the couch. And he didn't even have to ask for a cigarette either! Things were looking up, it seemed. He grinned as he was tossed a pack of cigarettes, and he was immediately glad he hadn't tossed his fancy cigarette case. The pack was quickly emptied into the black-painted silver container, minus the one he was going to light immediately.

He sipped at his beer and fought with the case for a moment, trying to get his smokes neatly tucked away. By that time Geoffrey and Zara were talking. He finally managed to get settled, just as their host threatened to hunt him down. To prove a point, the contractor leaned back on the couch, taking his time to get comfortable. Popping the cigarette into his mouth with one hand, he extended the index finger on the other. When he snapped his fingers, the tip of his finger lit up like a blowtorch. He followed that by extending his thumb and turning his hand into a flame-throwing finger-gun. After lighting his smoke, the man inhaled deeply, and snapped his thumb forward, extinguishing the flame. A wisp of smoke curled upward and disappeared as he gave Geoffrey's threat another moment to stew. He finally pulled the cancer stick from his lips to speak. "Do it." he dared the man, smirking and blowing smoke everywhere with his words. The man was obviously crazy, and Kevin saw nothing wrong with antagonizing him right back. "Nobody stops the Payne Train, baby. Absolutely nobody." It was a running gag from his time with GoldGate, but even time couldn't stop it from being catchy or accurate.

Then, because he was smart enough to know that people were liable to try and prove their own points at times like these, and because he didn't want to leave any beer behind, he downed what was left in his bottle, which was most of it. He was less concerned about the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, however, and he sucked on it thoughtfully as he waited for their host to do something. If the man wasn't smart enough to realize that he needed Zara alive to get his payday, he didn't think he would understand if he tried to explain...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Apparently the man with the rifle wasn't the person they were looking for. Instead, they got a warning about funny business and then the guard disappeared. That was followed by the garage door opening up, the panels grinding up and out of the way. Behind that was a ramp, and at this point, Kevin was starting to get a little nervous. There were too many doors here. And then, of course, when they least expected it, a baseball bat came out of nowhere.

Zara seemed to have things under control, but that didn't stop her companion from cocking his weapon and keeping it levelled at the crazy man in the lab coat. The werehyena was on edge through the whole exchange, and he'd already planned out fire and movement, should things go south. Of course, the vampire was very confident that things were going to be fine, and she told him to calm down. "Should have slept outside..." he mumbled, only lowering his rifle very slowly. He swept the whole area again, checking everything around him, before he reluctantly unloaded the rifle. Once the chamber was clear and he'd snapped the magazine back into place, he followed the other two with enough trepidation for all of them.

"I've got some fuckin' history for ya..." he grumbled as they headed down the ramp. No one who swung a baseball bat at him would be getting out of that situation uninjured. He couldn't promise death, not in this day and age, but he could definitely promise pain. As they descended into Geoffrey's lair, he kept one hand on his rifle, clutching it to his chest, while the other fondled the hilt of his revolver. If anyone tried anything, he was probably going to lose his mind. The last thing he needed was Geoffrey thinking he was Zara and getting swung at, so he hoped that if he looked uncomfortable enough, they might call off the shenanigans. That being said, part of him definitely wouldn't mind some shenanigans...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Kevin liked the sound of the place they were headed being safe. And if they didn't kill Zara, he was pretty sure they wouldn't kill him. Stranger things had happened, he supposed, but it was a start, at least. And lucky for them, the trip was practically uneventful. They got so much further than the contractor had planned, he was beginning to think that another day like that might have them at their destination. Two more tops, assuming they didn't run out of fuel. Even if they did, though, as long as the vampire was willing to ditch her bike, they would still have cut their travel time down drastically. It was something to consider later, though, since they appeared to be stopping for the night now.

When they did stop, it was in front of a scrap-heap of a fence that claimed to be highly electrified. If nothing else, it was incredibly sturdy. The were-hyena was hoping he wouldn't have to compete with the thing any time soon. The man hopped off the bike when he realized they were staying, and he was very careful to never take his hand off the grip of his rifle. They waited for a moment, and then Zara started yelling. He wasn't convinced she could kick the door in, but he would certainly try if that was the next course of action. With a little help from Coyote, the contractor was very sure he could get in.

He even prepared to do just that, when he heard the way the person on the other side spoke to his new friend. He was about to start undressing when the gate began to open, though it seemed reluctant in the way it slid. When Zara insisted that they go in, Kevin spun and lifted his rifle to his shoulder, covering their rear as they got through the gate. He let the muzzle of his weapon return to pointing at the ground as he turned again, however, when he saw the sort of person coming to greet them. Having interacted with the sort of people who wore military kit before, the werehyena took some very careful precautions. His left hand came up, and pinned the receiver of his weapon to his chest, even as he leaned forward, extending his right hand toward the man. "Kevin. Nice to meet you." he offered. His voice was a little gruff, but only because he'd had to wait so long outside, and he knew the man had to understand that. The gesture remained, however, and that normally went a long way. If not, he supposed they could always just leave. Nights outside weren't exactly fun, but he'd endured enough of them to have learned a few things...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Kevin raised an eyebrow when Zara got his attention. She apologized, and he shrugged. She offered him her best excuse and he just chuckled. "It's not all it's cracked up to be... There's at least two of us in my head right now... Sometimes Coyote has fuckin' parties in there... Control is relative anyway..." he wasn't going to sit down and try to explain things, but he didn't need his new friend envying his apparent self-control when he wasn't convinced it was him doing the controlling. Coyote seemed at least as crazy as he was sometimes, he just couldn't tell who was driving the bus when things got hairy.

Kevin took the time Zara spent checking her bike, to cursorily inspect the other dead bodies, looking for more ammunition or magazines. He didn't find much of anything, though, and shrugged when she asked if he was good. "Good is relative, but let's get out of here before the vultures show up." he replied, double-checking his gear was strapped on tight before he hopped on the bike. Then his companion said she wanted to make a stop, and he shrugged, even though she wouldn't be able to see it. "Sure, as long as it's not going to get me killed..." he figured that meant most places were safe, since it took a lot to kill him. Then again, sometimes it seemed like it didn't take all that much to kill him. A big enough spike through the heart, to slow him down, and then chop off his head and put it on an equally large spike. Assuming no one messed with his body after that, and he'd die. Eventually. He shuddered a little at that thought, and pushed it away. He thought about cake for a while, clearing his mind of everything else, and after he didn't know how long, he managed to focus on their surroundings again. Then he started wondering where they were going...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Kevin just wigs out about once a week, it's pretty regular...

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Only a little bit, eh?

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

They were magical flames, so they didn't burn his clothes, but yes, he was actually on fire.

The Vanquishing of the Vampire Plague (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

It's all good. just started a new portion of my course and it's all kinds of fucked. take your time.