Sour Candy and Celebrity (Marzena)

[Gavin XIII]

Gavin looked at Marzena as she came up next to him. Oh, so now she wanted to rush. Funny. He'd bet money that she was waiting for him to act like a movie detective and drop some cash in return for some information. The thought made him chuckle. She was staring at him, and he just answered the look with a grin. He tilted his head quizzically at the shopkeeper, then wordlessly grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room at the man with the shotgun. The lady just got his tongue stuck out at her.

"I'm not an actor, Marzipan."

His laugh was interrupted by the feeling of a knife getting thrown into his chest. Ah, there was the excitement. A loud roar escaped him as he grabbed a certain scar-faced man who'd tried to stick another knife in his back from behind the counted.

"Definitely not an actor."

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena's eyes went wide as Gavin grabbed the man behind the counter and launched him. It was a less than subtle option, but she hoped that it would work in their favor. The next thing she knew Gavin had taken a knife to the chest and his voice filled the small pawn shop. Marzena backed away, letting out a scream of her own, and hid behind the nearest thing she could find.She knelt behind what little shelter was offered by a coat rack, and watched the scene unfolding in front of her. Indeed Gavin was not an actor, and this was certainly not the set of a holofilm... it was real.

"Are you -" She was about to call out to ask if he was alright... but was anyone alright after being stabbed in the chest?

It seemed that the commotion had roused a few men in the backroom, and she saw them running forward towards Gavin. Oh no... if her hired gun was killed, she would surely be the next logical target for these men. She searched for a moment and her dainty hand found a crow bar and she stood up slowly. Marzena crept up slowly behind one of the men heading for Gavin, she raised the metal bar up over her shoulder and brought it down swiftly. The man crumpled before her, and she looked a bit upset by what had just happened... for she had noticed that she'd chipped a nail.

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

"Thanks for that one, Marzipan!"

Gavin hadn't even pulled the knife out of his chest, yet. He nudged his toes under the fallen man and tossed him into the air, right at a couple of his sharply armed friends. Marzena was checking her nails, and he rolled his eyes before stuffing her in a closet, just as Mr. Shotgun blew a hole through one of the blonde man's hearts. Gavin choked on his own blood for a few seconds, then spat some out and jumped back into the fight. The skin around the hole was slowly crawling to close it and repair the damaged organs, but nobody had noticed yet. The fight was just too intense.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Before she knew it, the fight seemed to escalate and then she found herself being shoved into a closet. "Hey!" She protested, but the door to the tiny space closed in her face. How rude. Her new surroundings were dark and a bit smelly, she really hoped that it was only coats that were draped against her back right now. She pressed her ear up against the door, she could hear the sounds of the fight... and guns being fired. It would be a bad idea to open the door to peek, but it was too tempting...

Slowly she cracked the door open, a sliver of light cut into the darkness of the closet and she looked out to see that Gavin was bleeding. Quickly she pulled the door closed again and set a hand on top of her heart, feeling how fast it was beating. How was all of this going to end? Part of her didn't want to know the answer, for the doubt was beginning to creep in.

The desire to not get stabbed or shot at was very strong. So, for now she would remain in the closet. Yes, that was definitely her best option.

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

The fight didn't last much longer than that. It was quieter than a graveyard in the pawn shop, with Gavin's breathing being the only sound outside the closet. He was lying on the floor, breathing hard, and trying to recover from having half his face blown off, along with the hole in his chest. His arm stretched out to grab what looked like a woman's handbag. Probably Marzena's, considering who'd had it in his pocket.

"Hey, Marzipan... got it!"

He started laughing, putting the bag to the side before he started coughing blood. Everything hurt, and he had to admit it was his fault. Completely his fault. At least he could say for certain that he wasn't going to die. The smaller bruises and burns were already beginning to heal.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Everything went silent. Marzena was sitting patiently in the closet and listening closely for any sign that it was safe to emerge. Finally she heard Gavin's voice, and she slipped out of the closet gratefully. The whole store was in a terrible state of disarray, and there were beaten and bloodied men strewn about the floor... one of them was her hired gun. She grimaced as she came to stand next to Gavin, and she looked away when he started coughing up blood. It was not a very pretty sight. However, she was glad that he'd had the sense to put her bag aside and she snatched it up quickly to keep it from getting soiled.

"Are you seriously injured? Should I call someone or take you somewhere?" She asked, looking down. As she spoke, she swore that she could see bruises slowly beginning to fade. Couldn't be... She was also not quite sure if she should be worried about the gang of men waking up or not... were they all dead?

It was only a moment later when she started to look through her bag, everything seemed to be present and accounted for. But it was still upsetting to think of the thief's dirty fingers rummaging around her things.

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

It took a few minutes before Gavin could string a more coherent sentence together. He really hadn't been beaten to a pulp like that in a while. When he finally managed to sit up, he just shrugged up at Marzena and shook his head. No, a hospital would be bad. Hospitals were always bad. The first bioscan would show him to be something other than a normal organic sentient.

"Just take me home, Marzena. I gotta eat something or none of this will heal."

He probably sounded more serious than aany other time that morning. His head was pounding, he was bleeding, and everything hurt.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

She blinked a few times when he called her by name, it was a clear sign that he wasn't joking around anymore. Marzena nodded and stepped outside for a moment to hail a transport, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice in one day. Once she had secured transportation she came back and and moved to Gavin's side.

"Right... now to get you outside." Marzena tapped her foot on the ground as she thought.

The actress wasn't strong by any means, but she grabbed the man's hand and attempted to pull... nothing happened. She tucked her bag under her arm again and knelt down slightly.

"Okay, you're going to have to help me out here." She said, offering her arm for him to hold onto. "Let's get you into the transport and we'll be on our way."

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

The Sithspawn nodded, slowly pulling himself up to his feet. He could stand up just fine, but trying to take a step nearly toppled him until he leaned on Marzena. Gavin was huffing and puffing like a smoker, but he gave her a crooked grin. Having women in his house usually didn't mean needing to be taken care of.

"Come on then... my stomach's growling."

He awkwardly walked, limping along next to her until he got to the transport. The moment he was in the speeder, he collapsed sideways with his head on his temporary employer's shoulder.

"My name. The guy just needs my name."

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

The actress struggled under Gavin's weight as they moved out of the pawn shop and into the transport. She went inside first, and a moment later found that Gavin's head was resting upon her shoulder. Normally she would have protested quite loudly, but she figured that she could make an exception for the injured man.

"Oh! Right." Marzena looked up to see that the driver was staring back at her, an annoyed expression on his face. "His name is Gavin, take us to his place right away."

The driver nodded and mumbled something under his breath before taking off. Of course, Marzena had no idea where they were headed, as she'd only met Gavin that day. The minutes seemed to stretch, and she wasn't even sure how long they had been traveling. Her toe was tapping quickly against the floor, and she tapped the driver's shoulder.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" She chided him. "Honestly!"

When it came time to pay the driver, Marzena had already decided that he would not be receiving the most generous tip... When the speeder came to a stop she looked to Gavin. It was hard to tell if he was awake or not, so she poked his chest cautiously with her index finger.

"Is this the right place?"

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

Marzena's tap came as a surprise to the blonde man, whose fingers instinctively came up and closed around her wrist until his eyes shot back open. He shook his head at his own stupidity, letting his grip relax. Of course he wasn't sitting in a speeder with his old killer. Just a tiny actress trying to help him home before he died on her. Not that he would, given the fact that his head was still completely attached.

"Sorry. Yeah, right upstairs. Tip the guy, will you?"

Gavin's fingers were getting their feeling back, so he was able to pull himself out of the speeder just fine. He leaned against it as he walked around to the door to his building.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena yelped slightly when Gavin’s hand snapped around her wrist, and she withdrew her hand quickly when he released her. Overreact much? Well, she supposed that she shouldn’t blame him after what he had just been through. She was relieved that he was able to exit the speeder on his own, and Marzena peered into the driver’s window.

“Wait here, I will be returning shortly.” She said in a tone that hinted there would be no tip if he did not wait.

The actress walked alongside Gavin until he stopped in front of a door, and she figured that they had made it to his residence. A slender hand pulled her datapad from the purse, and she remained silent for a moment while she took the time to settle their bill. She did not have the slightest clue about what the rate would be for such an afternoon’s work... but she figured that she would throw in a hefty reward.

“I have transferred your payment; I think you should find it sufficient.” She nodded, sure that he would make his dissatisfaction known if the sum was not equal to his suffering on her behalf. It was a lot to go through for a purse... but it meant a lot to Marzena.

“Thank you for your help.” She said, letting her snobbish air fall aside for a moment. “Will you be alright?”

[member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

Gavin almost snorted. If he wasn't dead, he'd be alright. That was his approach to life, and it was even a mostly justified one. He turned his face so that Marzena could see the skin slowly beginning to crawl over the burns that took up most of the area. He lightly tapped her cheek with a finger.

"I told you to stay behind me for a reason. I'll be looking good again in... four hours? Then it's back out to shoot something else."

He yawned and stretched his back out, with audible cracks as he did.

"I'm not a very interesting employee, huh? All I do is sleep, eat, and get beat up."

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena's eyes narrowed slightly when Gavin poked her cheek, and she watched with a bit of grim interest as his burns began to mend. This was certainly not normal. Something seemingly strange was happening here, but Gavin seemed to be quite at ease now... perhaps this sort of thing happened more often than she cared to think about. Her foot took a slow step towards the door, handbag clutched tightly in her hands. As he hadn't mentioned anything about the payment she'd sent to him, she took that as a sign that it had been enough.

"Right," She said, not really sure what else she could say to bridge the silence. "Well, as you seemed to be sorted out now...I should be going."

The actress didn't feel right to linger in a strange man's home, even if he had taken a beating on behalf of her purse. She moved back towards the door and pulled it open, pausing for a moment in the doorway. Marzena doubted very much that they would cross paths again, but it was always hard to tell what was in store in the future.

"Thanks again." She said simply, nodding before disappearing outside. And with that, the actress descended upon the waiting transport and returned to usual routine. She shook her head slightly as the transport took her further from Gavin's home, what a terribly strange day it had been...

[member="Gavin XIII"]