RUNS IN

I HAVE THREE HOURS TO WAIST LET'S GET DRUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mercedes turns the water off and calls across the shower stalls, voice echoing slightly in the steam.

"That's what friends are for, right? Next time I get kicked through a window, I'm coming your way," she says with a smile as she pulls on fresh clothing. 

"I'm heading up front, in search of protein. And caffeine. Take your time, I'll be back in a few."

Mercedes worked her way through various doorways before entering a small kitchen. Grabbing the cook's attention, she asked for a couple of loaded omelets and a pot of fresh coffee to be sent back to the Den.  

Passing through the bar this time on her way back, she was feeling generous. Or maybe she was still suffering from the effects of head trauma. Mercedes places an unopened bottle of single malt in front of a rambunctious bar patron. She steadies herself against the bar and speaks softly.

"If you can finish that by yourself in three hours, it's free."

Kate held her breath as she heard Mercedes approach. But the footsteps continued out of the dressing room and Kate began to breath again. Emerging from the shower with a towel wrapped around her chest and torso, she quickly rummaged through a couple of the closets used by the strippers. She just needed something simple... but that was harder than it seemed. Nipple tassels and assless chaps didn't make for the best lounging clothes- and she didn't want to put any of her old stuff back on. No, she wanted simple, practical, and comfortable. Eventually, she made her way back to the den in a small black t-shirt and sweatpants that were too large for her, sliding down to expose the bruised hip where she'd been kicked. 

She was carrying her gunbelt in front of her and place it on the floor near the couch. Kate froze when she saw the omelets and smiled.

When Mercedes returned to the den she was greeted with an empty plate and a lightly snoring Kate Logan, stretched out on the couch on her stomach, mostly covered except for a single bare foot sticking out- as well as her hand dangling near the floor inches from her gun.

Mercedes plops down on her couch and waits. It's not an uncomfortable wait; several thoughts swirl around in her head. She toys with a button on her shirt and thinks about the last twenty four hours, and what they could mean. Would someone come looking for that jackass they'd wacked in the alley? Was there more to this story? And if so, would she ever be privy to it? 

She mulls these thoughts over as she stares at Kate's hand, a hair breadth away from her weapon. Shifting her gaze to the right, she then stares at her foot.

She had very cute toes.

​​​​​​

 Kate snaps one eye open, sees Mercedes_Kompressor, and closes it again. Slowly, she blinkingly opens both eyes.

"Hey. How long was I out? Feels like days."

Reaching for the painkillers next to her, she pops a couple more and stands up, popping several joints as she stretches. Walking briefly over to her bar, she checks her back: the bruising looks noticeably better, although she's fair from perfectly healthy.

"I also feel... better. Thanks for keeping an eye on me. I'm... not really used to trusting people. Been on my own a while, you know?"

Walking slowly back to the couch, she gently reclines on it and looks at Mercedes.

Mercedes continues to study Kate. She was indeed an interesting woman.

"Something to be said for being on your own. It works wonderfully until...it doesn't. I respect the sentiment, however. Lack of ties, responsibility, emotional involvement..." 

Her eyes glaze over for a moment, remembering another time. After a few heartbeats, she snaps back to the present.

"You weren't always this way. Who broke you? A lover? A parent? A shit boss who took credit for all your brilliant ideas? "

Kate smirked at Mercedes_Kompressor.

"Well, I suppose you earned an answer after everything. My father taught me to be tough- to be a loner. But I can't blame him for that.

You ever read this guy Hemingway? He said 'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.' Well, I'm pretty strong, Mercedes. At this point, it's just who I am. Keeps things clean, you know?"

She leaned back on the couch, stretching her arms behind her head so that her arms were more defined as she closed her eyes. Without opening them, she took a deep, contented breath and continued to speak.

"Although I doubt I could have made it out of here alone last night, so maybe my life plan needs some slight revisions. What else do you want to talk about? This is the longest conversation I've had in a while without alcohol involved. Although... well, I am on pain meds. But still. Hit me. What else do you want to talk about? Did someone hurt you like you said?"

"Maybe just me. I am my own worst enemy, I think. I do like that quote, though. Did you know, when a bone breaks, it knits back together to become stronger than it was, before the break?"

She pauses a moment, gathering her thoughts and attempting to put a murky idea into clearer words.

"You and I. We should work together. There are opportunities out there that I can't access alone. I make a good living now, but I can't do this forever. I want a retirement fund. I don't have a family...no husband, no kids. I'm living in the thrill of it now but it can't last. It never lasts. So I'm looking for big game, with big winnings. 

"Are you playing it safe from here on out? Or are we maybe on the same page of that Hemingway book?"

Kate grins at Mercedes_Kompressor.

"Who needs a family? And who says the thrill can't last? I don't expect on living long enough to find out, if we're being honest.

And I haven't played it safe since I was fifteen. Not really sure I know how anymore."

Kate opens her eyes, looking steadily at Mercedes.

"So I think we're on the same page, I think? Tell me about these opportunities, now that you've got me pinned down."

Kate looks aimlessly around the room.

"You know... I haven't sat around this much in months. Kind of nice. Starting to go a little crazy. But a nice kind of crazy." 

Mercedes laughs. Kate had a way of drawing it out of her.

"Crazy is underrated anyway. Are you familiar with Van Gogh, the artist? Brilliant, cutting edge fella...that saw fit to cut off his own ear and send it to a prostitute. Must have been a helluva lay!

"Anyway. I want out of the bar business. I love mixing drinks but I can do that anywhere. I think the best game in town for a woman is the con. Short for starters, get your toes wet and perfect the act, then move on to the long con. I truly believe that a handful of long cons would set us for life. Imagine what a Mayor, hell, a Congressman would pay on an ongoing basis to keep an affair under wraps? Or his kid's record clean of an unsightly drug bust? Or a murder quiet when one or both end up dead in the trunk of his car? Okay, maybe the kid is a bit much but you get my meaning," she says as she rubs her eyes, feeling a little loopy.

"I might have seen a couple copies of Van Gogh. Just some pictures in a book a decade ago. Art's not something I have too much experience in."

"But you like crazy, eh? Does getting kicked out of a window count?"

Laying back on the couch, still with her hands behind her head, Kate grins devilishly before quickly answering Mercedes' next point.

"You want to seduce a Congressman with me? I'm liking the way you think, Mercedes. I'm in."

"Really? I'll start gathering some intel, then. See which one of our fine Congressman has the most to lose. And spend," she says with a laugh.

"What do you need from me now, Kate? Are there loose ends I can help tie up? Are there going to be...repercussions for what we've done? I don't know that you're ready to go through any more windows," Mercedes winks and sips at her coffee.

Kate looked at Mercedes for a moment before sitting up on the couch and swinging her feet around. 

"What do I need from you? Nothing. But... I'm grateful. I'm pretty sure I could have handled this whole thing myself. But I think it would have been a lot more painful. And who knows, maybe I couldn't have."

She stood, testing out her back with slow movements.

"I haven't really had too many friends. Lots of associates or... what's a good phrase? Dalliances? But I don't rely on too many people, and I just want you to know I appreciate this, Mercedes."

Walking over to her, Kate gently leaned forward, careful with her back, and kissed Mercedes on the cheek. Keeping her face close in front of Mercedes, she smirked.

"Let me know about this Congressman thing, huh? And I owe you one. Any favor you want, just name it and I'll make it happen if I can."

Slowly, she straightened up and prepared to walk out of the bar.

Mercedes sits there stupidly while she frantically tries to process the situation. She should probably do something, say something, before Kate walked away and the moment was lost. She reaches for Kate's hand but is a fraction of a second too late, as she's already turned and is making her way toward the door. Crap. She was gonna have to talk, and it wasn't going to come out right. 

"Wait!" She stands and crosses to Kate.

"Are you...? Do you think we...? Because when I'm anywhere near you, I just...Jesus," she says as she rolls the proverbial dice. 

Gently taking Kate's face in her hands, she kisses her.

It's hard to smile and kiss at the same time, at least if you're trying to do either particularly well, so Kate quickly abandoned the former to focus on the latter. She slid her hands to Mercedes' hips as heat flushed to her face, warming her lips and tongue as she savored the moment, moving slowly. 

Mercedes falls completely into the moment, responding with her lips, tongue, and hands. She traces fingertips down Kate's cheeks and hesitates near her pulse point at her neck, noting the strong, fast heartbeat there. Continuing downward, she smoothes her hands across Kate's breasts and leans forward a bit in an attempt to pull her closer as her hands slide around to her back.

Kate flinches just as Mercedes' fingertips graze the bandage there.She'd completely forgotten. Any idea she'd had of getting Kate on her back at this moment began to slowly fade away. Stepping back a bit, she sighs.

"There's nothing I'd like better than to take you to my place and see where this goes," she says with a small smirk. "But I'd like to know the sounds I cause you to make are of a passionate nature, not a painful one.

"Do you...date? We could try a new restaurant, or maybe I could make you dinner?"

NinjaNinja steps into the bar, he heard this was a great place to get a drink. He sits down, asks the bartender, "May I have a few shots of Jim Bean, or if you don't have that Jack Daniels? I'm very fond of my brown liquor." As he waits he takes out a cigarette lights it and enjoys his smoke. 

The bartender stops in front of the gentleman at the bar and places a clean glass in front of him, on top of a napkin.

"We've got both, Sir. And drinks are half price this weekend. The bar here is undergoing a change into new management. Hopefully, I'll still have a job next week!" he adds with a chuckle. P!acing a complimentary bowl of salted nuts next to the glass, he then grabs the bottle of Jim Beam from the shelf being him and pours the customer a generous drink.

He takes sip of his drink, and takes a few nuts places them into his mouth. He looks up at the bartender, and says, "How long you been working here lad? I remember when I was a bartender, not an easy job when you start out. Memorizing the different drinks and cocktails, not an easy job." He takes another drink of his whiskey, and smokes his cigarette. He asks the bartender, "Do you have a wife and kids? or do you live alone?" 

Kate bites her lip in a mixture of pain and desire. She steps back from Mercedes and gingerly stretches.

"I... yea. Gotta shut this down now. I tend to play a little rough. Right now you'd be liable to undo all this healing you helped happen."

She grins, looking wistfully at Mercedes.

"Someday. Soon. And the 'Do you date?' question is a complicated one, but it's one that I'd be happy to discuss with you over dinner. Did you have a place in mind? If not, your place would be fine."

Exhaling an audible sigh, Kate steps forward again and raises her hand to Mercedes' face before leaning in and kissing her- although this time it's more ponderous than the unrestrained passion of the previous one. After a few moments that feels like some mix of infinity and a second, Kate pulls back, biting her lower lip again.

"I've gotta get out of here before I do something I regret."

As she buckles on her gunbelt and walks away in the borrowed clothes of a dancer, Kate looks back wistfully over her shoulder and calls back to Mercedes.

"Let me know about dinner!"

There is, perhaps, a bit of an extra swaying in Kate's walk as she leaves, regardless of the condition of her back.