Tequila makes her clothes come off (Levi)

[Prudence]

Her walls were riddled with bullets, which she didn't exactly mind. It added to the feel of things, but what she did mind was the damage to the other property in her place. The chairs that had been flipped over, busted and legs made in to make shift weapons, tables busted from the weight of bodies that had been dropped on them, or bodies that lunged off them and cracked the wood. Okay, so maybe she should invest in some thicker, pricier tables, but with how often people were fighting in the damn place, it seemed stupid and an unnecessary expense from her pockets that she wasn't thrilled on spending.

Maybe she needed to invest in some more vampire power in the place. Humans, as trainable and as willing as they were to work in this place (only a certain kind of breed that was), weren't often equipped with the skills and powers to handle business on a more indefinite basis. Or maybe, she could find someone who could do that one ritual, if she couldn't. Duh! Lori could probably do it and Prudence wouldn't ever have to worry about there being fights in the main part of the bar again. Easy fix, once she took care of tonight.

There was a whistling, which caused her attention to shift completely from the two rival gangs that turned on each other for whatever reason there was tonight and decided to handle their business in her place of business. Was someone whistling because there was something more they should be focused on? A bigger threat maybe? Newcomers; different gang rivals arriving on the scene to really cause a scene? Or did someone need her help with something.

Levi. She wouldn't call him a friend, but he wasn't a foe either in this situation. The biggest threat were the ones with various gang tattoos. They had actually caused a lot of property damage in the last few weeks to her place of business. The others, all sporting the same colored bandanas in various ways, were someone she wasn't going to worry about-even if they were a threat. They appeared too new and too low in numbers and seemed all too eager to make a name for themselves. It was pathetic to the woman, and would be dealt with once the bigger threats were handled.

In a blur she was gone and behind the bar, grabbing out her shotgun. Casualties, she would try and avoid, but if it were necessary, there would be some. Someone had to control the chaos in the place and as much as Ryker and J.J. were attempting to handle it, the problem was just too big. With two shells in the double barrel of the large gun, Prudence lifted the thing up and pointed it to the ceiling, just above the area where the most fighting seemed to take place. She pulled the first trigger to the left barrel, than the second trigger, to the right. While people could do both at the same time, Prudence didn't want to double the recoil and batter the antique gun any. She loved the damn thing and paid a pretty price for it too.

That got the attention she wanted and so she placed both hands on the bar, one over her gun, and jumped up on the damn thing. "Now look here. I suggest you fuckers take the five seconds Imma allot ya and get the **** out before I start dropping bodies." With that, she gently kicked the gun to the ground, behind the bar, crossed her arms at her chest and nodded her head to the individuals she was going to focus on and hoped Levi understood what she was saying, without actually saying it.

[Levi DAmico]

As the drama began to unfold around him, Levi’s first thoughts turned to amusement. He’d been around Prudence for a few short hours and this was the second scrap she’d managed to drag his arse into. Prudence had nodded to him, gave him a knowing glance, which meant he had to get ready to fight. She’d looked at a few specific people in the crowd, but Levi didn’t receive the instruction as to whether she was expecting him to target them, or that she was going to be targeting them herself. Levi didn’t know why things had kicked off exactly either, but he decided that it didn’t matter. This was her place of work and people had to respect that. If someone had done the same to him, he would have kicked off too. He wasn’t quite sure it was within his nature to stand up on a podium and make a big spectacle of himself though; that seemed to be predominantly a Prudence thing. She was far more flashy and bold and brash than he was and in Levi’s eyes it was something of a strength and a curse. Such behaviour could be seen as a double-edged sword. Yes, you do make an impact and people could be intimidated by that, you could then use that power to benefit yourself, but then again, you’re making a target out of yourself too. You’re letting potential enemies know that you exist and as soon as they know that, they can start to bring you down.

Levi preferred to stick to the shadows and keep people guessing about his intentions, which meant everyone either knew to be wary of him or just figured he was no threat. This came with its advantages and disadvantages too, but you know what they say about early birds and worms. The smart and quick survived and – breaking away from the metaphor – those who didn’t know how to properly spend their money had it taken away from them. As much as Malavita was about criminal and shady business – often ending in a coffin – it really was more about money and power and taking care of your family. It didn’t have to be about smashing peoples’ faces in, breaking legs and fingers and burning peoples’ houses down – these actions were effective in fear mongering, but they weren’t the be all and end all of the operation. Being a brute got you the weaker man’s wallet, but did it earn you his life’s savings, did it earn you a city’s pay cheque? To start earning the big bucks, you had to do more than pound on your chest. A carefully orchestrated balance between brains and brawn was the key to success, which was why Levi was scouting his surroundings and potential foes.

It didn’t take Levi long to become familiar with the type of people they were dealing with here. Maybe Prudence knew a lot more about it than what was readily available at first glance, but Levi could recognise that these idiots were gangsters. Not professional or particularly well connected or smart, mind you; it was rather insulting to use the term gangster even. Sure, he met a few made men which were dull and about as intellectually sparkling as a wet pebble, but it was rare that these men got anywhere further than soldier rank. Most of the time, brains and power trickled down from the top like flecks of gold, so by the time it reached the bottom, they got lost in the ocean. The problem here, it seemed, was that these punks didn’t respect Prudence by any shape or form. They didn’t gave two shits about turning her bar into a war zone and that was a major ******* problem in Levi’s eyes. Granted, he didn’t exactly respect her all that much either, but at least he was willing to concede that she knew more than he did about certain things. Again, in dealing with people of this calibre, it came down to running down one of two avenues: intimidate them into never coming back and as a consequence, encourage them to come back shooting, or give them a better reason to give a **** about your stuff.

To gain control of this situation long term, Prudence needed a better strategy than idle threats. The only problem there was offering these idiots a reason to take her place seriously. Not being aware of any supernatural responses, Levi decided that he would do something he did know about: negotiation or framing. All he really needed was a bit of information, a bit of leverage. Besides that though, what Levi really needed to know was what Prudence wanted out of this situation. Levi could assume all he wanted from the information available on the surface, but that didn’t necessarily mean ****. People said one thing and did another all the damn time, so Levi really felt like his hands were tied in this situation. Once again, he’d help her clean the crap up that she probably started in the first place and maybe when that was done they could have a sit down and trade information. If she wanted his help he could give her it and maybe he’d cash in on that favour later on down the line…

[Prudence]

A couple of the gang bangers decided to listen to her suggestion and tuck tail. Mostly the ones that didn't have guns. Small blades were only effective when and if you were close to your target and chances were, they weren't going to get close to Prudence. Pair that with her known nature of 'dropping bodies' on the ground and they decided it wasn't worth the effort to end up with a bullet somewhere in their body or a few broken bones.

Five remained however. Some with small handguns, a couple with larger caliber of guns. Automatics that sprayed a lot of bullets in a short amount of time and effort. For now, they seemed to be at a stand still. Prudence and her team on one side of the building, near the bar and the thug wanna-be's on the other side, placed near tables, mostly. The redhead stood there, waiting for someone to make the first move as she glanced around at the remaining five. Her first intended targets would be the ones with the higher powered guns. Taking them out first would mean less clean up and not so many holes in the **** she owned. Prudence also had faith that J.J. and Ryker could handle the ones with the small pistols. It wasn't uncommon to see people in here with them and to break up a stupid pissing match either. Levi's purpose was yet to be defined, but Prudence certainly wasn't counting on him. They didn't like the other much, this wasn't his business or he didn't work here, so he had no personal stake in what would happen here in the next few minutes.

A male to her left decided to flip a table and use it as his own personal barrier as he sprayed a volley of pellets in their direction. She heard bullets hitting things, mostly wood since her bar had it everywhere. Tables, the bar itself and the walls. Good thing she had a great insurance plan on the building for **** like this. Prudence cartwheeled away from the spray of bullets so she could take refuge behind her own table that was flipped before the redhead worked her way from table to table, using them as cover until the guy was out of ammunition and had to switch his magazine over. She took the break as her best option to go after him, running at him as fast as she could, using table tops to jump from until she was almost on top of him. Razor claws protruded out of her fingers as she slammed them deep down in to his neck and pulled downwards as the woman landed. Blood gushed everywhere from his neck and shoulders as her razor sharp claws tore through his flesh in a swift motion. It was clear the Masquerade wasn't in her mind at the moment. Prudence planned for there to be no more remaining survivors anyways, so there was no need to pretend.

Bullets went off in other places in the bar. Mostly aimed at Ryker and J.J. as they started to devise a plan of their own to take care of the pea shooters. Ryker claimed the shotgun Prudence discarded earlier, taking random, wild shots at a thug as J.J. moved from behind the bar, to the side with the baseball bat in tow. Prudence heard him call out something to her, but she didn't quite here him. Or his words didn't register with her. She was in a 'zone,' focused completely on the task at hand. The killer inside of her coming alive and consuming her.

The claws retracted when Prudence made her way around the table to take care of the next target. A female that was a little shorter than she was. And was she having a hell of a time with her gun. The thing was controlling her, more than she was controlling it. A large bullet grazed Prudence in her thigh as the woman kept her focus on the redhead, Prudence shrugging the affects off as she progressed onwards. Another bullet kissed Prudence's flesh-in the left side of her gut. This bullet caused her to pause before Prudence's form distorted and she became a grotesque shell of a beast. Her flesh cracked and changed colors as bones cracked, allowing her already tall frame to grow to an almost impressive 8 feet. Bullets wouldn't matter now and as she moved forward, the weight of her monstrous form cracked the wood at her feet. The redhead grabbed the woman and crushed the bones in the woman's arms before she picked her up, lifted a knee and brought the woman down on it. There was a sickening crack from the spinal area before the woman went limp and dropped to the ground. Prudence turned and more or less roared out a warning to the remaining three. She was coming for them.

[Levi DAmico]

As soon as it kicked off and bullets went flying, knives were being pulled and blood went spattering, Levi realised what his ******* problem was. He was a control freak and a fixer, so if he saw a problem, he wanted to solve it. Forget about any benefit that might come off of helping Prudence clear her bar of idiots, Levi was focused on the immediate pay-cheque; if he got rid of these fuckers, he’d get rid of a problem. Even the small victories would give that right hit of adrenaline, a thing he chased from pillar to post like an addict. In this case, however, it only seemed like five gangsters were staying in the fray and considering there were four of them – two supernaturally gifted individuals plus two injured humans versus five idiots who probably didn’t know their arses from their elbows anyway – Levi began to wonder what the **** his purpose was in all this. Prudence had already leapt into action, taking on punks by hand no less with a projection of jagged claws coming out of her hands. This was a new trick on him and he certainly was intrigued, so Levi decided to watch for now. No one was firing at him anyway and he blended into the darkness of the room without any kind of supernatural gift. Besides, with their focus on Prudence and their necks about to be cut open, their bodies torn in two, what was the point in getting involved? Levi would only hurt her pride if he bothered to jump in, not that standing around like a wet towel besides storm victims was of any use to his pride.

Levi wasn’t normally one to take a particular stance in a battle, but if he was to choose, it would be the strategist. He would be the one thinking up how to get what you wanted right at the beginning, right before you even came face-to-face with your enemies. He did this kind of **** on a daily basis; he was good at it. Prudence hadn’t given a sliver of a second for him to form a plan of attack for any of them though, so that left him watching and contemplating and deciding that defending her employees was his best option in all of this. With Prudence on the offence, Levi could take defence, no problem. He didn’t mind too much, even if people would start to wonder why the gruff and cold Italian was darting in to save people’s lives. As one human employee claimed the shotgun and the other moved behind the bar with a baseball bat, Levi decided to give them some cover. He couldn’t turn himself into a beast like Prudence and take the bullets on their behalf, but since he was basically invisible in the darkness, he could use the element of surprise. Shadows rose out of the floor under the tables and benches, becoming thick and alive. Instead of attacking the gunmen right away, however, Levi trained the darkness to flip the tables in the direction of the bar, forming a wall of wood that would act as an extra barrier.

With lamps being shot out and the light diminishing quickly, it would have looked as if a poltergeist had manifested inside the tavern. The extra darkness also meant that Levi had a bit more dominion over his environment. He decided to shoot out the remaining lights, to leave everyone in the dark completely; Prudence could bill him later. The explosions of wild gunfire lit up the world in brief flashes, exposing the jagged movement of the Vampiri and the gangsters. There was only three left now that Prudence had torn a young girl in two and beat down on another. The three men huddled together, not knowing where to shoot, so shooting in every direction; it was a miracle that they didn’t shoot each other despite their proximity. The successive rounds had turned the tavern into a dance club with violent music and strobe lighting, but when the cartridges emptied, the darkness and the echoing gun shots became heavy in the air like a liquid. It was too dark to see **** and any footsteps coming at them like black-lightning was going to be impossible to dodge. The panic was pretty tangible too, leaving a stink in the air, and Levi watched the targets shift behind their shield looking for a way out.

It was too ******* late to tuck tail and run, however. Prudence wouldn’t let them leave having seen what they had, not that Levi understood that exactly. At least he understood that these fuckers had forfeited their life the minute they raised arms against Prudence and her team. Levi didn’t consider himself part of her team, but he was on her side since he wasn’t against her and couldn’t choose to sit back in a booth and watch **** unfold. No, that probably would have been bad. Nevertheless, the idea of a drink was pretty ******* appealing. It was the least she owed him, he’d decided as he began to walk around the outskirts of the bar – Beretta in hand. It being as dark as it was, he walked securely hidden from view and with the dampening effect of his powers, they couldn’t much hear him coming either. Levi walked around the corner of their defence and calmly squeezed the trigger three times; putting one bullet square between each person’s eyes. It was quiet after that and even though the enemies had been taken out of the picture, Levi still felt his instincts keep a firm grip of the gun. Umber eyes searched for the monster Prudence had transformed into as he started to retreat from the area. She’d been heading over here just when he was and she might be pissed to find her targets were stolen from her. Levi didn’t know what to think, but he made sure he was prepared to respond to whatever happened next.

[Prudence]

She was coming for them, but by the time her large, gargantuan form made it over to the remaining punks, Levi had already dispatched of them. She knew she should be appreciative and deep down she was, but Pru still wasn't sure what she thought about Levi. What she felt about him.

A large foot stomped on the ground, a few inches from where Levi stood as the beast locked her eyes on Levi. Long nails dragged on the floor and then finally picked at the wooden floor as Prudence fought to control the urge to rip the guy apart for stopping her massacre far too early.

The beast swiped at Levi, avoiding him, but shredding the cloth on his upper torso. No matter what she knew, or didn't know about Levi, or what she thought about him, it took a lot for the redhead to kill a member of her blood. So, this was his warning of sorts that Prudence wasn't happy she couldn't **** more **** up, but the end result was the same. All of them were dead, and people would know not to come try and make her bar part of their turf wars.

The beast of the woman moved away, slowly from the male vampire as she tried to focus on retaking her natural, human form. Prudence focused on things like her height, the color of her skin tone, the vibrancy of her hair, to the way she stood or walked. The shift was painful, but not as painful as the original transformation of going from almost six foot to twelve or so feet. Still, as the woman shifted back to her fleshy form, Prudence screamed, hunched over and practically cradled herself. This wasn't a form she took often because if was so painful going from one spectrum to the other.

Finally, with pieces of dark flesh and matted hair randomly strewn around the Saloon, Prudence emerged as herself, though quite naked. She didn't say anything to anyone, but instead opted to turn on her heels and disappear to her office. She returned a few minutes later, dressed in her typical garb. "Thanks." She said, eyes on Levi. "I coulda got that, ya know? But, the help was, is, appreciated." With that came an offered hand though; an attempt to at least give the guy a fair chance at being liked. Or disliked.

[Levi DAmico]

It didn’t take long before Levi’s instincts were confirmed. Two vibrant eyes held him in their sights, regarding him as something small and squashy. The beast stomped on the ground, perhaps readying a charge from what Levi could make out. Long claws crackled against the wooden floor as it drew closer and then as it just stood there, heaving its chest, its whole hulking body swaying as it breathed and growled. Of course Levi had seen that this was Prudence somewhere in there, but the longer he studied it, the longer he watched it, the less he was reminded of the red-head. Sure the girl was loud and obnoxious, slow and beastly in her own ways, but this creature before him was like a mindless, ambling monster. It was angry, he knew that without a shadow of a doubt, and as it lunged at him, Levi didn’t have to make too much of an effort to skip backward on his heels. He was surprised when claws tore through cloth and nothing more. As prepared as he’d been to dodge any oncoming assault, it seemed that avoiding it was more due to the attack itself than any of his skill. Prudence didn’t seem in too much of a desire to rip him in two like she had with the Humans, and that let Levi breathe again. He didn’t sheath his weapon, but he was more relaxed.

When Prudence turned and strolled off into a darker corner of the room, umber eyes still had her in careful vigilance. The Beretta was pointed at the floor, safety off though just in case, but he didn’t want to act like he thought she was a threat. Sometimes you could start a fight by just being overcautious. Levi glanced down at his shredded suit jacket and the underlying white shirt beneath it just the once, clicking his tongue across the roof of his mouth and sighing to himself now that he’d have to get this one burned too. It just seemed appropriate was all. Being overcautious might be dangerous in some respects, but more often than not it was better to be safe than sorry. Given all the bloodshed he’d been involved in tonight, it would be wise to destroy any connecting threads. It was a bit of a pain in the *** to set fire to a good suit, but then Prudence had ******* ruined it anyway what with her stupidly long claws and her stupidly bitter attitude. So what she wasn’t happy with him stealing her kill? They weren’t lions and this wasn’t Africa. They were more evolved than that, surely. He saw an opportunity and took it, and at the end of the day, he’d helped her out here.

By the time he was done grumbling to himself about suits and lions, Levi looked up to find a very naked Prudence skipping off to the private quarters. Maybe it was indecent to have seen her in general, let alone watch her disappear, but he was only… Well, not Human, but the point was still valid. Granted, if he was Human he wouldn’t have been able to see ****, but even in low levels of light his Vampiri eyes could make out staggering details. Levi returned his gun to the holster and eventually drew his attention away from Prudence, mostly because she’d disappeared behind a door, but he looked back over his shoulder to the bar. It was very quiet, perhaps too quiet to be healthy. A thought struck him to ask about Prudence’s employees, the ones he’d done something to shield from the incoming bullets. As soon as that thought struck him, however, the need to dodge that question came flooding in. He reached inside his packet for a cigarette, lit one up and leant himself on one of the tables near the barricade he’d made against the bar. He took his sweet-*** time in asking that question he really didn’t want to ask, because he didn’t really want to get involved, but as it happened, by the time he bothered to open his mouth, Prudence was back.

She cut him off from any responses and he looked to her with a frown as she held out a hand. Levi eyed that offering too, wondering if she would be pissed at him smoking in her bar, because some people were weird like that, but it was more that she wanted to express some kind of gratitude. Levi rolled a shoulder and passed the cigarette over to his left, shaking her hand with his more dominant right.

“Yeah, no worries,” he murmured, holding back a lecture on fighting smart rather than hard. “So that happen a lot around here?” He had to ask because it was bugging the hell out of him.

[Prudence]

Prudence thought about lying. Levi wouldn't know either way. She didn't even know why he cared to ask. "It happens enough. This whole ******* strip." Prudence pointed to the left and right indicating all the businesses in the area. "CC's dealt with it, I've dealt with it." She shrugged her shoulders as she continued to look at the damages.

"It's gotten worse since-" Prudence played with her long red hair as she stumbled on the exact moment things went downhill. "Well, since I got rid of the bloodthief and Cliff." Cliff, while many things, was at least protective and territorial of his ****. It was as much of a strength as it had been a flaw. "So, about half a year now." Prudence nodded her head.

"Anyways, thanks, again. CC's place is just at the end of the block." Prudence said, feeling rather awkward at confessing one of her multitude of issues at the moment. She moved to the humans, pulled out a glass jar from behind the bar that was stuffed with various bills and put a stash in the hands of Ryker. "Why don't ya two go get checked out and take the next two nights off? I can handle all this in here." Prudence assured them, even though neither human put up much fight with the woman on her suggestion. She put the jar back and moved to get a broom. Once it was secured in her hands, Prudence started to sweep up the various debris in the bar, content with dealing with this, and assuming that at some point, Levi would take his leave.

[Levi DAmico]

The Italian considered what she told him, quiet contemplation bringing out the best of his mental capabilities. Everything else just faded into the background, grey like smoke. There were a lot of questions he had for her, but maybe now wasn’t the time to ask. He might have made a comment on why she was always mentioning CC to him, like maybe he hadn’t been obvious enough about how much he hated her and her stripper glitter. There was a name that came out of Prudence’s lips that Levi didn’t recognise, yet he wouldn’t question her about that either. Maybe he had a right to know this Cliff since she’d brought it up as casually as she had, but then again, maybe it had nothing to do with anything, much like that Blood Thief she’d brought up too and just left in the air to settle like dust. Levi didn’t know a lot about these Blood Thieves, he had to admit. He neglected to give them all that much attention when they seemed to be your supernatural equivalent of a hooker. Instead of soliciting sex for money, however, they were actually buying blood. It was a weird experience, to be approached in the middle of the city in hushed tones and being offered cash for blood. Cash for gold was a bit more familiar, but still kind of strange. Funnily enough, Levi trusted the people who sold **** more than the people trying to buy ****, but that wasn’t the thing that made Levi raise an eyebrow or raise his fists for that matter. It was a first lesson to him that other supernaturals could identify him for what he was and he really, really didn’t like it.

Back to the situation at hand, though, Levi watched Prudence pick up a broom and start to clean up the broken glass. This was after she’d shooed her workers out, told them to get some medical care and take some time off. Generous, he thought, but then Levi would have done the same in her shoes; after all, a broken employee was not a useful employee. When they were gone though, Levi and Prudence were left alone in the dark to manage the mess. Well, he didn’t have to manage the mess exactly, but since he’d been responsible for some of it, he supposed he had to take his share. He stubbed out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray; a miracle that it had survived the carnage here tonight. Levi wasn’t really one to do manual labour, but he recognised how a mindless physical task was pretty handy in clearing one’s head. He also didn’t mind it being pitch black in the bar; partly because the Saloon would look like it was closed so no ****** off the streets would waltz in and annoy him, and partly because Levi liked the dark. Still, he did spare a glance up to the ceiling and then back to Prudence as he removed his jacket, shoulder holsters too, and hung them over the back of one of the booths that hadn’t been completely destroyed.

“So, we gonna sort the lights out first or last?” he asked. It was at this point that he began to roll up his sleeves, ready to break down the fort he’d built over the bar. “Got any spare bulbs?”

Arrangements could be made to bring some bulbs over if she wasn’t stocking spares – he did run a logistics company after all. The least his ******* minions could do was be there at his beck and call even outside of normal work hours. It wasn’t like he was running a normal business anyway. He couldn’t be around in the day so he made the operations run 24 hours to accommodate. The day team did very little in the way of responsibility and were like the face of the business as far as the public were concerned. They would perform the menial tasks of making sure everything was running correctly, that calls were being answered and orders tracked, as well as the clients who’d ordered the **** in the first place. One of the most important jobs that the day team were responsible for was guaranteeing that a full profile was made on each client, including any relevant personal details for insurance purposes. All this information was secured on a ‘hack-proof’ server, ready to be wiped and incinerated should there be a major breech in security, but most of all, every piece of documentation they kept looked perfectly innocuous to your average Joe and everyday hacker. All the shady **** happened under the night team’s watch, but even so, Levi was careful to make things look as typical and mundane as possible. He didn’t have gangsters shooting up his ****, for example, and the only ‘break-in’ he’d had was when Dhara had just walked in right under Caro and Barzetti’s noses.

Those two idiots had been punished for that one, but their punishment had been light in respect to the kind of **** the Mafia were used to dishing out. The only reason they were still alive was because Levi could trust them to keep their mouths shut, tongues tied up behind a cage of teeth. If ever that wasn’t the case, if ever they were to become useless, they’d find their employment and their lives would cease without notice. A broken employee was not a useful employee and a useless employee was a dead one.

[Prudence]

Prudence stopped what she was doing and just looked at Levi. 'We,' indicated he was staying and not only was he staying, but he appeared to want to help her. With the removing of his suit coat and then the fact he rolled up his sleeves which implied he expected to do something useful and maybe even get dirty. "Uhhm, yeah? But not enough to cover up all this mess. It's not like my bar gets shot up every night. Just some stupid **** mostly. Threats." Prudence pointed to a storage closet that was at the end of the bar that only staff could get to.

"Ya know you don't have to stay or anything. I figure the bar will probably be closed for a few nights anyways. For repairs. Ryker and J.J. are pretty good, hard working people." She gave him a smile, which was small and said two things, 'if you stay, I would appreciate it,'but if you go, that's alright too.' It was pretty much up to Levi what he wanted to do and how he wanted to spend his night.

She went back to cleaning up the immediate area around her and then paused to look at him. "This doesn't happen a lot. Me needing help. So don't think it's a thing or something. It's just been a really long, fucked up night." Red locks were tucked away behind her ear as Prudence shifted the weight on her feet, a hand rubbing her shoulder. She obviously did something to it at some point in the night because it was really sore, but when it happened she wasn't sure. Limits were not things Prudence stayed within.

[Levi DAmico]

Since Prudence wasn’t running him off, Levi was going to stay and clean up what he could – probably until she got fed up with him. When she indicated where the spares bulbs were, Levi decided to make that his first point of call. He could work in the dark just fine and so, probably, could she. It just seemed like something he had to take responsibility for since he had, after all, shot out a number of the lights to distract and blind the men. People had accused Levi of overkill quite a number of times in the past because he would always have a few plans in mind, covered by further back-up plans should **** get out of hand. When it came time to pull the trigger, he was also just as thorough. Levi had learned from experience, even when he was mortal, that just shooting someone wasn’t enough to kill them. Headshots were a given because once you destroy the brain, the person’s fucked. Shots to the heart work just as nicely too because as soon as someone’s bled themselves dry, the organs begin to die. Given the timing to get someone to the hospital and the sheer number of organs to replace, no transplant would have been possible. Levi had been shot, stabbed, burned, had animals set on him and had come into contact with a number of blunt and pointy implements, but he’d survived with the scars to show for it. Thus, Levi felt justified enough in his overkill; better they’re dead now than risk them coming back for revenge.

As Levi headed for the storage closet, Prudence continued to speak at him. He didn’t stop exactly, but he did slow his pace so he could still hear her; just in case he needed to say something. When she made a point of explaining that this thing wasn’t common, he smirked and gave her a look that expressed that he wasn’t convinced. Levi then disappeared into the closet, facing a wall of bric-a-brac. It took him a while, but he found a pack of bulbs and brought them all out. Problem was, he couldn’t tell if they were ready-to-use or just returned here because they’d already been burnt out. People did that, they were annoying. They replace one of their burnt out bulbs with a new one and then put the used one back in the box they’d taken the new one from. Levi didn’t necessarily know if Prudence or whoever was that kind of annoying, but they were annoying nevertheless. Nothing personal, Levi found everyone annoying to some degree.

Stepping back into the tavern space with the box in hand, he turned his head to the ceiling to identify which ones he should start with. Of course, he was no electrician, but changing a bulb wasn’t that hard. He’d changed one or two in his time – not that he made a habit of doing that kind of domestic ****. He barely even cleaned in his office, his apartments, not even when he used to make a mess in the kitchen or whatever. The prince, which was what all Italian men assumed they were, was used to have people for that kind of thing. As a matter of fact, Prudence had people for this kind of thing. It made no real sense for him to stick around, but, he could use this time, maybe show Prudence that beneath the grumpy, sour exterior he wore, there was a slightly less grumpy, sour man beneath it…

“Probably gonna have to switch the power off,” he said, looking over at the red-head. “Where’s your switches and ****?”

Now that he was looking at her again though, he noticed a few things about her appearance that made him frown in consideration. Pushing her hair behind her ear like that revealed the youth and vibrancy of her features. Prudence wasn’t unattractive – in fact, he could probably agree that he thought she was more than easy on the eyes. It was her attitude and status to him that repulsed him, pushing anything other than a physical attraction down into the dirt. Levi didn’t like having people with authority and power over him and he certainly didn’t like it when those people didn’t ******* deserve it. She had time on her side, more knowledge about this world they were living in than he had, but she was still a bambina as far as he was concerned. She couldn’t have been much more than 20, which was a decade under him, and worse, meant that she was barely out of her teens. Teenagers were just the worst – dumb as ****, yet think they own the world. Few people were more arrogance and equally as ignorant as a ******* teenager and to top it off, they had zero respect for anyone. Selfish little cunts, that’s what Levi thought of them.

As harsh and sweeping as his assumptions were though, Levi rarely expressed them. There had to be something really stewing and eating away at him before Levi would lose his mind and act out on his true feelings. The first time he’d met Prudence he wasn’t exactly calm and composed, but he held it together well enough. He hadn’t called her any names, hadn’t raised his voice at all – or worse, lowered it – and he hadn’t attacked her either. Levi hadn’t been nice, but then, he never was and it was hard to be nice to someone who’s as tart and assertive as you are. He vaguely recalled the events of that night too; Prudence had asked him two or three questions and when he was vague and not so forthcoming with detailed, life-long explanations and answers, she’d given up and walked off. Levi had found it amusing at the time, but, he knew he could have done more to make bridges since he would probably be stuck with her for an eternity. That hindsight was part of the reason he was here today and looking her over with a bit of concern.

“Shoulder still hurting from earlier?” he asked. She’d been stabbed just a few hours ago. He couldn’t remember exactly where, but he’d pulled that knife out of her back. “Can you take anything for it or just suffer through? Noticed that anything that goes down which isn’t the red stuff comes back up angry.”