Bleeding Ink (IC)

[Aoiroo]

Carrie yawned quietly as she stepped off the bus, it nearly made her mistep in her black lifts but she was able to grab the edge before twisting her ankle. She tested it quietly before stepping onto the curb and sighed as the chill hit her bones. The stockings under her ruffled skirt were thick, but not quite thick enough for the chill that the night would bring. At least it would be warm in the clubs.

Clubbing wasn't really Carrie's thing but as far as the drug scene went, clubs were always a good place to gather information. It still left a bit of a conumdrum as to what she would do before hand. She didn't really want to wait outside while the night descended into the lower fifties. Walking a few blocks, she spotted some potiential places, a cafe, they'd probably want her to buy something, maybe a bar though that did run the annoying risk of being hit on by undergraduates. Carrie had only began to sigh over her lack of options when a new place caught her eye.

Knight's Ink, sounded something like a tattoo palor, she hadn't seen it in the area before but it was at least a good place to hang out. Not many people actually attempt to pick up girls at places like that, plus there was less of a risk of getting the stink eye about just looking but not buying, tattoos were decisions most people did make after some careful consideration (or drunk). Either way, it might be a good place to ask about drugs as well, though it wasn't always the case, users tended to like having other forms of needles be dragged across there bodies as well, and in the chair people could be plenty chatty. All of these were excellant reasons as she walked to the door and looked over at the open sign, however the deal breaker was the gust of wind that gave her the strengh to push on the heavy door to escape it's bone numbing chill.

[Sandman XI]

It had been a while since Knight's Ink was open. After his little tropical vacation, Wesley decided it would be good to open up the shop again and drum up some business. While it wasn't grand opening, Friday always seemed like good business. Lots of friends came back, and lots of new business too. He had let the word of mouth out that the shop would offering body alterations and modifications. Nothing dangerous. He wouldn't attach a sword to your arm, but if you wanted different color eyes or to lose some weight those bisected tongues that seemed to be popular these days, he's do stuff like that. Heck, he'd even do "improvements" (cat's eyes lighter step or things like that). Not to say that he hadn't had his share of silly requests, each was a case by case basis. Wesley knew when new people entered his shop. He didn't know about the other artists, but it was almost another sense to him. When the new girl entered, he was talking with a friend about getting a spiderweb tattoo expanded upon. Luckily it didn't take much more talk and he got to greet the new person himself. Wesley welcomed her warmly. "Hey," he called out. followed by a few other 'hey's from patrons and artists. He walked over to her in a non-threatening manner. More like a family member than a salesman. "Welcome to Knight's Ink. I'm Wesley Knight. How are you on this fine evening?"

[Aoiroo]

"Cold,"

The word slipped out with a slight shiver as she sat herself down and pulled the mini coat closer to her arms. She continued to shake but gradually let the easy warmness of being indoors and away from the wind calm her down before she spoke again. Reaching forward she grabbed a sample book off of one of the tables and started to flip through, she wasn't going to be buy anything, but she liked to look at the designs. Halfway through the book though she started to get through to some more interesting things. Particularly was the section about eye colors. She had seen something like this before, but she didn't think they'd sell it here. Walking to the front she waited quietly and when she could get his attention asked,

"Are the cosmetic contacts theatrical contacts or fitted ones?"

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smiled when the new girl stated the obvious. There was little he could do about the weather. But he understood that others had to deal with it. He would have offered to take her coat, but it looked like she was attached to it. He wanted to be nice, not overbearing. He tended to a few things, but stuck close to the area as she was looking at the eye book. He laughed with a friendly tone when she asked her question. She was in the special section. "Well yes, we do contacts of all sorts. Those however are not contacts. Those are the the hassle-free modification we offer." He nodded matter-of-factly. "I can give you a demonstration if you like."

[Aoiroo]

She looked down at the page then up at him quietly examining him. His eyes were very green, which probably meant he himself has had this 'hassle-free' modification. She gave him a light smile,

"On me, or yourself?"

Letting out a breath she glanced down at the page again and some of the more vibrant colors,

"If it's not contacts, dye injected then? Don't know what sounds worse, finger in the eye several times, or needle in the eye once. Given, falling asleep with the theatrical ones aren't pretty, it's really creepy feeling if they fall out of line with you're pupil."

[Sandman XI]

"Yeah," Wesley squicked, "I've heard some pretty bad stories about lodged contacts." He whistled over to another part of the store, "Yo, Susan!" He waved Susan over. She wasn't doing anything, so she came over. "Hey you mind showing off the modifications and alterations deal," Wesley asked. Susan nodded happily, "Oh sure, this is really neat." Wesley turned back to the new girl, "This is," Wesley paused for a split second, "Forgive me," he said sincerely, "I have not had the pleasure of your name. How rude of me not to know you."

[Aoiroo]

"Think nothing of it, a lot of people don't know me, and I fully intend to keep it that way. But you introduced yourself, so my name Caroline Wendle, or Carrie. Most people forget the Caroline part, and the Wendle part, but I can count on Carrie being remembered if only because of Stephan King."

She glanced over at the other person he called over and gave a light smile as she looked at the both of them,

"So, go ahead and start showing off then, if I had all night I might of brought some food to share."

[Sandman XI]

"Nice to meet you, Caroline," Wesley greeted her cordially. "Likewise," Susan spoke up. "Alright," he said stepping behind Susan and showing her off, "Take a mental picture of Susan now." Susan was a little bit taller than Caroline with her flats on, maybe two or three inches. She was definitely proportionate to her height, affecting a pear shaped build. Her skin was a natural shade of tan. Her hair was a rich copper, it was short too, barely reaching her shoulders. Her eyes were a sparkling, almost unnatural blue.She was wearing blue jeans and red sleeveless tshirt that showed off some art that had been done up and down her arms. "Alright," Wesley said standing next to Caroline, "Now here's the fun part. You'll notice I'll do this little glow thing. I have no idea what color it is usually," he said as he beg to put on a dark purple aura, "Classy, eh? Now I take Susan's hand and she does the same little glow thing." Like clockwork, Susan gave him her hand and she too had a dark purple aura about her. "Now we take a design out of the book. Keep your eyes open, Susan, you too, Caroline," he looked at the book, "Hm, that one look well used," suddenly, Susan's eyeballs were bright yellow and had a black split in the middle. "That's not all we can do. If you'd like a different hair color," Susan's hair turned a light shade of ginger. "Maybe you want some freckles," Susan's face was then full of them, "Or maybe you don't want them at all," the freckles disappeared, "It goes beyond that. Some people want to be a bit taller or shorter, have a bit more muscle or be a bit skinnier," Susan morphed a foot up and afoot bulked up and slimmed down as Wesley talked, but returned to her original shape. "But wait there's more! I'm sure you've said to yourself, 'what if i could see better or jump higher and run faster?' We have that too. Though those are case by case basis. And if you don't like them we can put it all back like it was before," Susan returned to the woman she was before the modifications and alterations and Wesley let go of her hand. They both lost their auras. She smiled and took a bow, "Fun, huh?" Susan looked to Wesley to see if he was finished. He nodded and she went back to where she was before. Wesley looked to Caroline with a friendly smile, "Oh and we do piercings and tattoos too." He chuckled, "So, see or hear anything you like?"

[Aoiroo]

Carrie did what he said, and she watched. She saw everything that happened, she heard everything that was said, she saw the woman go back to normal. Everything that happened before her eyes took a few moments after he asked for her to even open her mouth but quickly shut it. Instead, her eyes started to looking around every nook and crany of the shop. There was the standard supplies for tattooing and piercing, none of them were big enough or set in a stratedgic location, there weren't any trick mirrors around. She glanced at Wesley Knight and then said,

"Umm, how?"

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smiled as the girl looked around, making sure she didn't knock anything out of place. Thankfully, she was graceful. He understood her skepticism. When she asked her question, he was not surprised. How does one justify what he just did? Most think it's a trick until they tried it. "It's a talent of mine," he spoke up, "I'm not really sure there's a 'real' word for it. Biokinesis? Vitakinesis? Those are unofficial terms for it. I basically have the ability to shape matters of the body and health. The alterations and modifications are as permanent as the wearer wants. So yeah."

[Aoiroo]

She didn't expect such a straight answer, given it wasn't much of a secret if he was effectively selling this ability to the college crowd. It certianly fit the area, in fact if she went to the Midnight hour she might of seen several people who had gotten in because of this paid altercations.

"That's got some scary potiential, and not only because you could single handedly destroy the cosmetic surgery industry."

She let out a breath and started to skim through the book again, it wasn't like she could talk. She could fesibly cut things on an atomic level, though she is less then willing to try on things like metal because she could probably get stuck or hurt herself in the process. Looking through some of things she went to skin colors and snorted a little bit at the sparkling vampire skin,

"Well there's definitely a business for such alterations, though there is a business for a lot of things on the party circuit. People do weird things to stand out sometimes."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley had heard these questions before. It never surprised him though. People hear of phenomenal cosmic power and never think of itty bitty living space. He wasn't trying to shut down the cosmetics industry or the plastic surgeons, just have a little fun and to help people that needed it. He smiled and sat in the chair next to her, resting his left leg on the top of his right and leaning back. "You know there's an adage that goes, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. I like to adhere to that. Sure I could be an evil guy and do evil things, but what would that bring in the end? More retribution than reward. No, doing good is it's own reward. To see happy people is enough for me. Heck, I do my part and get out there and do my super-civic duty when I can and/or must." He laughed about the comment on weird people, "You have no idea."

[Aoiroo]

"I hang out in the theatre district a lot so I probably have some idea. Not really sure what's been popular on the college scene, except maybe those Zoomers, but only because of the press it gets."

Flipping through she really just skimmed pages, maybe stopping like something might catch her interest but not really looking. It was semi-interesting, but she was very attached to her own skin. She had gone through hair styles and colors, as well as tried tanning once(though it didn't work), but almost always grew out the colors back to her natural light brown instead of ever doing touch ups since she was just so used to seeing herself a certian way when she looked in the mirror.

"I heard there's been a bit of an uproar for that sort of things like max and zoom, and also this other stuff, it's like a greyish powder or something."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley sighed, "Yeah, those guys. They're everywhere it seems." He sat up and grimaced before looking to with a stern look, "You probably don't wanna get mixed up with them if you haven't already. They can mess up up real bad." He stood up and crossed his arms, "I happen to know where a few of those guys are set up. Well, they keep moving due to interference." He looked down to her with the same stern look, "Like I said, it's best not to get mixed up in that group."

[Aoiroo]

Carrie snorted a bit,

It's a little late for that isn't it.

"You're preaching to the choir. I don't really have anything to do with drug users or the like it gets too messy and causes a lot of problems. Almost all the stuff can kill you after one dose too, it makes me wonder if it's really worth it? It's not like Max makes any of you're problems go away just because you're a little stronger, and Zoom, well nothing kills a speeder buzz like the sound of there heart stopping. It's really quite stupid the whole thing, and that powder...."

She stopped her face slipping into a frown as she closed her eyes and saw it all again, the thug falling unconcious in her arms, the glossy look in the mans eye as he continued to reach for the shot gun that wasn't there, then the conversation with Robin and the underlined words in her own notebook,

"I don't know how they sleep at night, putting that stuff on the street."

[Sandman XI]

"Good," Wesley nodded with a smile. Caroline didn't look like the type that would do that stuff, but you never know. He'd had perfectly nice looking people talking about it in his shop before. It was where he found out most of his leads on that kind of thing. He'd chase the dealers all out by himself if he could, but like roaches, they find their way back. "Sorry for the grilling. There's certain things you gotta look out for, you know?" He let his arms rest behind him. "But yeah, it's been a problem around the darker places somewhat. I've had to take down a few recently. Not pretty at all in action."

[Aoiroo]

"Well the whole drug scene has been so I don't know, for some reason there's been such an increase in violence and just use and general."

She looked down and sighed,

"I don't live in the best neighborhoods, and my jobs don't always bring me to the best areas of town but even so it's only been recently that it's just been so difficult to avoid these things. It seems like all month I've been harassed by so many dealers or somehow find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Closing the book she looked alway,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be worrying you with stuff like this. I should probably whine to my friends, but I have a sneaking suspicion I might end up learning something I shouldn't."

The last part was a full on lie, because in her circle she not only knew which friends of her's were doing drugs, she knew where their stashes were and which dealers they were seeing about it. Not that she ever took out those dealers in particular, it was always faster just to hit suppliers.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley could hear the lie in her voice. This girl was once again being suspicious. Well, if she wanted to find some drugs he would lead her there. Not really. He was going to tell her the place of the last bust he did. There was bound to be no one there. He just had to make it look like he wasn't doing it. "Hm, yeah," he pondered aloud, "bad stuff. There was this little place on Bayou Street that they hung around a lot. I don't know if they do anymore. It would be silly if they did as it was already cleared out once. Though you know what they say about roaches." He shook his head, "Midnight. Always midnight." He shrugged his shoulders, "I can't tell you where to stay away from, only the places that are supposedly clean." He formulated a plan to be on Bayou at midnight. Just in case the suspicion was right. If she wasn't there, good on her. Though if she was, there was going to be an impromptu intervention.

[Aoiroo]

"Never heard that before, but I'll be sure to avoid it if it ever comes up."

Closing the book she looked up with a light smile,

"Nothing here to suite my tastes, at least not now. Might stop by later during the con seasons, nothing attracts people to a booth like a realistic cosplay after all. I might get some ankle tats too, maybe a scaredy bat to match my doom kitty."

Turning around she took off her jacket to reveal black cat etched unto her upper back with a really curly tail that was only partially covered up by her corset.

"I'll be sure to tell one or two of my friends about this place too."

Pulling her jacket back on she glanced down at her watch, just a little past seven now, the sun would be down soon and she could decidably do something a bit more interesting with her time tonight. But first she'd have to get back to her appartment,

"I need to get going, I was going to do some light clubbing but I think I'll get a nap in before my shift instead. No one wants a tired scantally dressed woman driving there cabs, well hopefully none of the people I'll be picking up tonight."

She gave a smile and a light wave as she headed out the door and to the bus stop. Though she wasn't actually going to be driving taxi's, a nap did sound ideal because it was indeed going to be a long night.

_____

11:46pm

Bayou Street wasn't hard to find on a map, but it was rather hard to find on foot. She had been lurking in the shadows for a good twenty minutes before she actually found the street sign. Black clad she creep down it quietly keeping flat against the buildings making sure to keep her eyes and ears open for anything suspicious.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley chuckled nodded at the cosplay mention. He'd prepared for that also. He was still studying all the breeds of anime to familiarize himself with everything that would be thrown his way. Hopefully he had time. He would have been surprised at the tattoo she had, but then again, he'd seen a lot nicer girls get a lot weirder stuff. He nodded and winked, "Very cute." When she mentioned the free press it was music to his ears, "Thanks. That's how we get business sometimes. Susan came by word and now she's a regular." When she mentioned she'd be leaving so soon after his subtle tip off he knew something was wrong. Cab driver, indeed. "Oh, right," he said cheerfully, "You could sleep and do the clubbing thing. I've seen it done before," he chuckled. "Stay safe out there," he waved back as she left. After she exited, he shook his head. This whole drug thing. God.

_____

11:46

Bayou was a quiet street this late at night. While other businesses were doing their late night thing, this was an unassuming row of mom and pop shops that closed at ten or eleven. The cops didn't even come out here it was so 'safe'. It was ripe for dealers. Well, until a few coordinated strikes were put out. Wesley had been searching up and down Bayou Street in an invisible winged form. Waiting for the girl to show up. It was a bit early, but with Zoomers and Max-heads, you never knew. He sat on one of the building tops. for a rest. He had time. No sooner than he sat down, he saw a blackclad figure. It wasn't the girl. Had she tipped some one off to go get it for her? Whoever it was he needed to go have a talk with them. Flying down he suddenly appeared to the suited individual. Over 8 feet tall with massive leathery wings. He crossed his arms. His voice was deep, "May I help you?"

[Aoiroo]

She had just pulled off an edge and returned to her full form when her eye met a shadow loaming over her in the darkness. She knew someone was there but didn't quite want to acknowledge it until it actually spoke, turning her head towards it she couldn't get a good look at whoever it was in the darkness but the two large wings almost made her jump,

"Holy,"

Backing up against the wall she turned flat and started to run against the shop fronts like a shadow to avoid the figure.

[Sandman XI]

The black clad figure disappeared. Well then, Wesley thought as his eyes began to glow bright green, let's get a closer look. She, it was a she, was there, but she was a shadow? Wesley took off after her with his winged form. "Slow down," he shouted, "I just want to ask you some questions!" This girl was fast, but not too fast. He kept up with her easily. "When you stop running we can talk like civilized people. Or you can keep running. I've got all night."

[Aoiroo]

Him flying after her didn't exactly lessen her fear or make her want to stop even as he spoke. However, when he spoke he didn't sound like he wanted to fight, however he still sounded scary as hell. Even as she ran she yelled back,

"Yeah, because normal sane people stop running when the bat out of hell says they just want to ask questions."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smirked. The whole giant bat winged look was to scare some sense into the little drug addict. Though this girl seemed to not be her. He wasn't sure what she was here for though. He shrunk down to the size of a pixie with gossamer wings to complete the look. "So, now will you stop?"

[Aoiroo]

She glanced at the voice and almost missed him as she looked at the drastic change in size, she was still a bit skeptical since the only other person whom she had seen in such a form she was fairly certian could kick butt with the same intensity regardless. Still he didn't seem like he was really trying to hurt her, he probably would of overtaken her by now if he did so she slowed and stopped before regaining her form off the wall and walking over to him. Looking him over she let out a sigh,

"If you can really change you're form at will, wouldn't white fluffy wings been a better choice if you 'just wanted to talk'."

She held up air quotations before rolling her eyes though that was invisible behind her full cloth mask,

"Anyway, what are you doing out here anyway, because if you're a drug dealer I'm going to walk away right now. I do not fight shapeshifters, though I do occasionally spare with them, and to be honest I still have a nasty bruise from that last match."