Renewing the Habit (Darcy)

[blueeyeddevil]

Wes Harlow

Now as Wes stepped into Le Silencieux, he got the distinct feeling of having come full circle. He was right back where he had been almost exactly two years before when he'd run into his (then) boss, Santiago Ortiz in this same spot. He'd been less than a week away from turning 21 and purchasing drugs that he'd somehow found the strength to resist using. Now he was going on 23 and no further along in his life than two years before. In fact, he was probably taking steps back now...he'd already used a number of times. He'd officially relapsed.

The sad thing was...he didn't care.

The heroin took his mind off the fact that his father had died with ever having apologized for putting him through years of emotional and physical abuse. It took his mind off the fact that Amorette had broken up with him and left him when he needed her the most. It took his mind off the fact that he was still a chorus member and that maybe leaving the band had been the worst mistake of his life. His life was falling apart all around him and heroin was the only way he could forget about it for a little while.

Thankfully his dealer had grown use to his rather youthful looks and no longer poked fun at him. Most days he just took the money and didn't ask any questions. What did the dealer care that he was slowly killing himself with illegal drugs as long as he got paid. This night would have been like any other if Wes hadn't checked the paper bag the dealer had handed him. When he did, red filled his gaze.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!! Are you ripping me off?!" Wes demanded. Normally a very laid back guy, withdrawl had made him irritable. "You gave me half of what I paid for!!"

"The price went up," the dealer said with a shrug. "Take it or leave it, pretty boy."

With a deep throated growl Wes launched himself at the weasel-like man, his fists hitting the man's face repeatedly. The dealer began to strike back, giving Wes the beginnings of a black eye and a split lip before Wes got the upper hand again. No one else in the bar seemed to be paying much attention to them, all too use to nightly brawls around here.

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier


Darcy wasn’t going to come tonight, but she told herself that every time she got the urge to go Le Silencieux. She eyeballed the room when she walked in and saw the usual forgettable crowd. There were people she knew she’d seen before, and people she was sure she had but didn’t remember. It was that kind of place. She was always vaguely uncomfortable as per usual being the only female in the joint, and tried to keep her eyes sharp on the lookout for a man who would cause her trouble.
She headed to the powder room, though that was a rather generous description of a cramped two stall bar bathroom that hadn't seen the clean side of a mop in way too long, and leaned in front of the mirror.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!! Are you ripping me off?!" Darcy heard from the main room, and began reapplying her lipstick. She sniffled a little, and checked herself very carefully in the mirror for even a hair out of place. You may have a drug problem, she told herself, but there’s absolutely no reason you have to look like it. "You gave me half of what I paid for!!" the irate man continued, and when she walked out of the ladies room narrowed her eyes. What she had seen that made her displeased was a blond man around her age grappling with the man that she had come here to meet and more importantly buy from. Darcy tensed. Seriously?

Normally the curvy blonde would either ignore the altercation entirely or avoid the conflict as much as possible, but she happened to have a dog in this fight. All of a sudden it wasn’t the usual two guys fighting that happened sporadically in places like this, and it was some guy trying to beat the hell out of her drug dealer. “What are you doing?” she exclaimed, and reached to pull the stranger off of her supplier, earning a careless elbow to the face for her trouble. Stunned, Darcy dropped to the floor. She didn’t know which man the elbow had come from, but she was not about to stand for it. Getting to her feet she grabbed her purse, pulling out a small can. “Then next man that throws a punch is getting maced,” she said, pointing it at the stranger only because the dealer was essentially working for her. She didn’t need anything from him -- she had money, she could go to anyone. “I am seriously pissed right now,” she warned, her cheek feeling hot where she knew there would be a bruise later.

[blueeyeddevil]

Wes Harlow

Wes was beyond furious at this point, which anyone who knew him would know it took a lot to get him this worked up. All he could focus on was that this guy had cheated him out of the heroin he'd paid for and needed. Honestly, Wes had been teetering on the brink for a good while now, ever since his father's funeral and this had finally pushed him past his breaking point. Suddenly all of his anger and aggression was being unleashed on the dealer who'd quite obviously picked the exact wrong junkie to mess with tonight. Wes barely even noticed when his elbow collided with someone's face.

“Then next man that throws a punch is getting maced,” yelled a very angry voice. It wasn't the Russian accented voice of the bartender either. No, this voice was female. That alone was enough to catch the attention of the two brawlers as females were generally scarce around this bar. “I am seriously pissed right now,” she declared and Wes slowly looked up to be met with a small mace can directly pointed in his face.

He finally glanced past the nozzle to see a rather gorgeous. curvy blond woman looking very angry. A red mark was forming on her cheek and suddenly he remembered the elbow he'd given to someone. So she was the one that had been trying to break up the fight? He wouldn't have taken her for the type of girl to get involved in fights like this. He wouldn't have even pegged her as the type to come to places like this. Wes cast one last furious glare at the dealer before letting go. The dealer cowered away from his like he'd completely innocent in the whole ordeal.

"Do it, Darcy! Mace him! The guy is completely insane," the dealer pleaded with the blond woman.

Darcy? So the blond and the dealer knew each other? "Look, Darcy, right? You do business with this guy? I'm going to do you a favor and let you know that his prices went up...doubled apparently. Didn't want you to get taken by surprise," Wes told her. "Forgive me if I get angry when people try to cheat me. I think I have a right to kick his a*s!"

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier

Darcy wanted to roll her eyes at the look the blond man gave her when he realized the interloper to his fight was a female, but she was too angry. She could feel her cheek throbbing and glared as menacingly as she could. Eyes hard and jaw clenched, she kept her can of mace directed at the man most likely to do her harm. He let go of her shady acquaintance and scurried back, befittingly rat-like. "Do it, Darcy! Mace him! The guy is completely insane," he said, and this time Darcy really did roll her eyes. "I'm sure you did nothing to instigate this," she replied sarcastically. 
Her best guess was that he was short changing someone, a thing he tried to do from time to time because he happened to consistently have a weapon on him. She'd heard his packages could get a little light, though he'd never done it to her.


"Look, Darcy, right? You do business with this guy? I'm going to do you a favor and let you know that his prices went up...doubled apparently. Didn't want you to get taken by surprise," the angry man told her, and Darcy took note that his accent was not French. Maybe he forgot that once you got off the Champs and into the dirtier side of this city the rules change. "Forgive me if I get angry when people try to cheat me. I think I have a right to kick his a*s!" Darcy kept her can pointed at Wes, but now looked at their mutual supplier. She shook her head. "You're both idiots," she sneered. "You need to stop lightening your loads or someone more dangerous than him is going to try to take care of you. Double, really?" She looked at Wes again, still a stranger to her. "And you need to remember that dealers in Paris carry weapons and make the rules." What she had seen from her vantage point that the blond could not have was  the dealer reaching for his back pocket, and she happened to know that he carried a knife with him.

She put her can down, trusting both men were cooled off sufficiently enough for her to reach into her purse. "Now I'm interested in getting my business taken care of, then you can kill each other for all I care, but the next guy that touches me is pulling back a bloody stump." She pulled out a thick envelope from her purse and gave it to the dealer. "If mine's light too I'm using this thing," she said, pointing it at him. "And I think you owe it to him to give his money back or give him everything he ordered, because he was beating you pretty handily when I got here." He looked like he was considering it, but she cocked the can of mace. He was outnumbered and knew he was wrong, so he made a face at her, but pulled out a bag for her, and another one for the other guy. "Don't think I'll forget this," he told the man. "You're getting it from someone else now, both of you. And I'd watch my back if I were you." He walked out the front door, and Darcy exhaled deeply. She tucked her purchase into her purse, and tossed the blond his. "I think you owe me a drink," she told him, both in a foul mood and relieved that no one had gotten hurt any further.

OOC: Hope this post is okay, sharing an NPC can be hard and we never made a plotline haha! Let me know if you'd like me to change anything. BIC:

[blueeyeddevil]

Wes Harlow

The woman held herself with an air of authority. She was the one holding the mace after all...Wes just couldn't figure out why she kept it aimed at him. He had a split lip and bruising around his eyes. Did he really look like that much of a threat? The injuries he had proved that the dealer had been fighting back. But Wes stayed where he was. He certainly didn't need a face full of mace to make this night any worse than it already was. He tried to explain to the girl that if she was doing business with the dealer that he was more than likely going to cheat her out of a good portion of what she paid for.

That seemed to at least get her attention enough to turn her gaze to dealer. "You're both idiots," she said exasperatedly. "You need to stop lightening your loads or someone more dangerous than him is going to try to take care of you. Double, really?" But now her gaze turned back to him. "And you need to remember that dealers in Paris carry weapons and make the rules."[/n]

Wes knew deep down that she was right. It had been foolish to attack someone who frequented a place like this. All the anger in the world couldn't save him if he got shot or stabbed. The truly depressing part came when Wes realized he wasn't sure if he actually cared. He wasn't quite suicidal but he was certainly getting tired of feeling like this.

The heroin would help...

Wes watched quietly as she conducted her business, but was surprised when she suddenly pointed at him. "And I think you owe it to him to give his money back or give him everything he ordered, because he was beating you pretty handily when I got here." she commanded. She aimed her mace can at the dealer now.

"Don't think I'll forget this," he said before tossing the woman two packages. "You're getting it from someone else now, both of you. And I'd watch my back if I were you." the dealer warned before turning and storming out.

"I think you owe me a drink," she said, turning and tossing his to him.

He sighed and checked the bag. As she'd commanded the rest of his stash was in there. His green eyes flickered back to the woman and a small smile turned up his lips. "I'm thinking you're right," he agreed. He motioned for them to head over to the bar where the Russian was on duty. "By the way...I...I'm really sorry about hitting you. I really didn't mean to," he apologized. "Maybe I actually owe you two drinks? What can I get you to start out with?" He held out a hand to shake. "I'm Wes, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Darcy...and again, I'm very sorry."

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier

Darcy's adrenaline was pumping, her heart was racing, and she was sure she needed a cigarette or she was going to go crazy. She pulled one out, and lit it. Despite the Parisian ban on smoking in 2008, a piece of legislation the natives still hotly detested, this was the type of bar where no one was going to look twice at you and the owner certainly didn't care so long as you were buying drinks. She had already been jonesing for a fix and the altercation she'd just been a part of did not help settle her nerves in any way.

The blond checked his bag first, then smiled at her, and Darcy resisted the urge to smile back. She didn't want to encourage his stupidity, after all, and while she didn't find time spent with anyone interesting wasted she was still pretty irate that she was both out a dealer and now had a target on her back. She was immediately grateful that she'd never had him come to her place, always meeting him elsewhere, usually at the bar to make an exchange. Still, it wouldn't be hard to find where she lived if he just had her followed. "I'm thinking you're right," he told her when she had suggested he might want to buy her a drink, and she followed him to the bar. "By the way...I...I'm really sorry about hitting you. I really didn't mean to," he told her apologetically. "Maybe I actually owe you two drinks? What can I get you to start out with?" Never one to turn down a free drink these days, Darcy requested "Whiskey, on the rocks," knowing nothing would settle her down quicker than her drink of choice. Of course, now that she was imagining herself getting into trouble on her walk home she wasn't so sure she'd be able to calm down at all. "I'm Wes, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Darcy...and again, I'm very sorry." Darcy took the offered hand and shook it, and tried to beat back her annoyance that he had indeed hit her in the fray of the fight. Would you be so apologetic if I had not made sure you got your share, she wondered, or are you truly sorry? She knew it was hypocritical of her to judge as she herself had a few habits she wasn't proud of, but she couldn't help but wonder. 

"What's done is done," she replied, and waved her hand to dismiss it. "You really shouldn't be so hot tempered when dealing with men like that though, Wes. You could have gotten really hurt, and I'm not talking about just your face." She put a hand on his cheek and turned his face side to side to examine his injuries. A split lip, two black eyes forming that would look terrible the next day, and a few other bumps and bruises. She picked up his hand, and saw that his knuckles were red from punching. "You're going to want to ice this," she said, and set it on the bar top.