100,000 or the girl? (Chainedkitten & BlisteredBlood)

The sound of liquid being poured into a glass was the only thing that could be heard as Vincent stood there in the kitchen, trying to clear any thoughts out of his head. For the first time in his career, there was something that was truly bugging him, but what was it? Normally, he didn't feel anything after taking the job, completing it and disappearing into the shadows of the night.

Looking back, Vincent spotted Asa shifting about on the couch, arching an eyebrow at her. Fortunately for him, Vincent couldn't quite spot the red mark he placed on Asa's face, but his hand could certainly feel the impact. Sighing quietly while taking his glass with him, Vincent headed over to the fridge once more and opened the freezer door, taking an ice pack out of it then shut it. He would then walk over to Asa's sleeping form and placed the glass on the table for a moment before giving her a small nudge with his hand.

"Hey..." Vincent spoke quietly after nudging Asa awake. "Put this on your face." He then spoke one more time, handing her the ice pack.

Despite the tiredness of her body and the fact that it was the dead of the night, Asa slowly woke to Vincent’s nudge. With a small moan she sleepily opened her eyes and looked up at the large man looming before her. With a start when she realized that he was standing before her, Asa shot from her makeshift bed. Her hair was a messy halo around her head, but thankfully the darkness helped to hide it.

But the darkness couldn’t hide the mark on her face. The best it could do was lessen the appeared severity. Her face was mildly swollen in an area that completely covered her cheek, some of her chin, and reached as far as her ear. When it had first happened it had been a bright red, now the mark was fading to a deep purplish black color. There was a reason why the sting was still felt in his hand. The blow had knocked her dizzy it was so hard.

“Did I…oh…” Her words faded away as he handed her the ice-pack. Gently she touched it to her cheek and winced. “Um… thank you.” For a moment she looked up into his eyes. But it was only a moment before her eyes fell again.

Vincent watched as Asa placed the ice pack on her face, right on the red mark on her cheek from the mother of a swat he put on her just recently. Fortunately, the only thing she would get from that was only a major bruise from all of that. He honestly didn't like it, but it had to be done in order to teach her a lesson. One she wouldn't plan on forgetting any time soon for mouthing off to him like that.

Vincent would then see Asa soon drifting off back to sleep soon after. Once she was back to sleep, he would only turn around and picked up his glass of whiskey and headed back to the bedroom in revered silence. He sat down on the bed with a sigh then moved the glass to his lips, sipping quietly for a moment then placed the glass on the nightstand beside him.

Confusion washed over her features at his apparent kindness. It was such a drastic change from his fierce cruelty. Swallowing hard she did indeed climb back onto the sofa and close her eyes. He said nothing so she just assumed all he wanted was to give her the ice. In moments she was asleep, her face pressed against the ice pack. Tomorrow would perhaps be a new day, but it would also bring new challenges. Vincent’s insistence that they go shopping was dangerous. But it just might yield her freedom. With that thought she drifted off into her blank dreamworld. Even in her dreams she couldn't escape this situation.

Several minutes passed as Vincent sat on his bed, sipping from the whiskey glass. So much had went through his mind tonight that just bothered him to an even greater extent than before. In all honesty, it just annoyed him to no end. What was it that caused him to change his demeanor as something from a strict Catholic priest, brandishing a ruler to that of a kinder man? He knew it was something, but what? Maybe he felt guilty about striking the girl in the face, he wondered. Maybe it could also be that she was by far the most goregous thing he had ever laid eyes on.

At this rate, it was clearly uncertain as to what was going through Vincent's slowly tiring mind. But there was one thing he knew for certain. Whatever was bugging him now was about to be silenced through whatever means neccesary. Even if it meant getting tanked in the process.

A few hours later, though it was still dark outside, quite in the middle of the night, Asa’s eyes fluttered open. Looking around her she rubbed her eyes of their sleep and gently touched the dark mark on her face. Something had woken her but she didn’t know what it had been from. Sleepily she slid off the couch and looked around. Nothing seemed amiss. A brandy bottle cap sat on the kitchen counter and Asa’s eyes wandered to Vincent’s bedroom door. Had he woke her?

Looking back to the melted ice pack on the couch, the young woman chewed her lower lip. What would Vincent think if she checked on him? She was not a light sleeper, something must have woken her. Moving to his bedroom door she gently knocked. “Vincent?”

It would take some time, but eventually Vincent had laid down to at least try to get some sleep. Not for nothing, but there were times for thinking and times to rest. Vincent was pretty much stuck in that predicament for what would have been for a few hours before he finally dozed off.

That was until he heard a faint rapping at his door. Immediately waking out of his sleep and rolling off the opposite side of the bed, Vincent reached under it to produce a SPAS-12 tactical shotgun and aimed it quietly to the door. However, he stopped himself from pulling the trigger when he heard Asa speaking his name.

"Of all the..." Vincent muttered to himself before hiding the shotgun back under the bed then shook his head in irritation. He first stood back up, walked over to the door and opened it slowly.

"What is it?" He asked Asa as soon as the door was pulled back.

“Um…” As he opened the door she suddenly got sheepish. “I… I heard something. I think. It woke me up. I thought maybe it was you. There a liquor bottle cap on the counter. Are you ok?” Wringing her hands she watched his face.

“And… um… I was thinking about tomorrow. How can it be safe… for you I mean… to take me outside shopping? What if someone recognizes me?” Rubbing the back of her neck once more, Asa took a couple steps back. Vincent’s immense bulk, even were he not her captor, would frighten her. His body and the wicked scar down his face didn’t help his case at all. For a moment Asa wondered why there wasn’t a woman in his life. As she thought about it she wondered what kind of woman would want a killer as a man anyways?

Vincent uttered a small sigh and glanced off to the side with his eyes closed in slight annoyance when he heard Asa tell him what she heard as well as asking him if he was alright. At that moment, he just wanted to shut the door in her face and tell her to go back to sleep, but there was something about this that he knew that she wasn't about to let go of.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said with a slight grumble in his voice before looking back to Asa with an arched eyebrow. "I just needed something to drink, that's all." He added.

When the topic came as to how he would move her about tomorrow when they went out, Vincent only gave this as a reply. "People just might see me as one of your bodyguards. As I told you before, no one even knows I exist here." He responded.

Asa looked up at the man and watched the annoyance pass over his face.The last thing Asa wanted was an upset Vincent. He had already proven what his fist could do. Closing her mouth she opened it again as if to contest what he said. But for some reason she knew that it wouldn’t have mattered. Swallowing hard she nodded. “I’m sorry I bothered you, I was just worried.” Turning back she headed towards the couch and remembereed he had not even lent her a blanket.

Turnning back Asa swallowed hard, afraid that what she would say now would anger him or annoy him enough to turn on her. “Vincent? Do you think… perhaps I could have a blanket?” Her thin white nightgown swirrled around her feet, her hands clasped gently in front of her hips. Locks of her brown-red hair were pulled over one shoulder, wisping around her breasts and grazing her flat stomach. “It’s a little cold.” She whispered, her nipples pebbled against her silk shift.

"No need to worry about me, Asa." Vincent answered with a shake of his head. "Besides, I'm doing fine so far." He added with a shrug of his shoulders this time. "But at least I get by with what I know."

"And as for a blanket, yeah. Here." Vincent spoke again turned back towards his bedroom and came back out with the blanket she requested and draped it around her shoulders. "There ya go." He said once it was completely around her frame. "Anything else ya need?" He then asked.

Shaking her head she cuddled into the blanket, rubbing a soft cheek against it. “I’m ok. Thank you Vincent.” Turning back to the sofa she curls up on her makeshift bed. “Goodnight Vincent.” Her eyes flutter closed and she brings her legs up against her body.

The blanket smelled like him and oddly that helped her feel more comfortable. It was good because her mind was still worried about the noise she heard. For some reason a feeling of foreshadowing overtook her.

Swallowing hard, and praying he wouldn’t be too upset. Asa slipped off the couch and went to his door again after about a half an hour of twisting and turning. Putting her hand on the door she twisted the knob to find it open. Looking into the dark room she whispered, “Vincent?”

Convinced that she didn't need anything else, Vincent eventually turned back towards his bedroom and once more shut the door behind him before heading back to the bed and slowly dropped himself onto it, but not before slipping the sleeveless shirt off of his torso and casting it into the laundry basket near the closet.

About a half hour passed as Vincent rested on the bed before he heard the door to his bedroom opened, nearly causing him to leap out of the bed and reach for the shotgun once more and literally bust a cap into the ass of the unknown individual had he not heard Asa's voice sound out his name. This in turn, would bring about a different reaction from Vincent, causing him to sit up in the bed and glance over to Asa as she walked in.

"What is it?" He asked simply, a tad bit annoyed. Looking over to the clock, it was halfway into the midnight hour before glancing back to her.

Asa let her eyes adjust to the darkness for a moment before she found him on the bed. The blankets had slipped down and his chest was fully exposed. Blushing, Asa started to wring her hands. “I am truly sorry to be bothering you again Vincent, I just… I can’t sleep. I heard a noise a while ago and now I’m… scared.” Taking a few more steps into the room she paused and looked at him. The moonlight that filtered through the room illuminated her cream nightgown.

“I thought maybe you’d let me… sleep in here. With you.” She paused, looking around shyly. “I’d rather be in here with you then outthere with something I don’t know.” By this point her face was flushed with red she was so embarassed.

This brought a rather confused reaction out of Vincent. Asa wanted to sleep beside him even though he was a murdering asshole this evening? The more that he thought about this, the more it just seemed to boggle his mind. He would then shake his head at himself and offered a shrug before giving his reply.

"Yeah, I suppose you can. Just..." Vincent accidentally trailed off as he looked off to the side for a moment with a small sigh. "Just wake me if you hear something out of the ordinary." He evenutally spoke up as he moved a little further back on the bed and patted it a few times as if he was telling her to get on it.

Asa nodded thankfully and moved to slip into the bed beside him. Her silky nightgown brushing his thigh, his calf, his skin. Gently she took the blanket he gave her for the couch and draped it over the bed to add to the coverings there. Norway could get cold and it wasn’t averse to having more than one blanket. Sighing gently, Asa nuzzled into the comfortable bedding, against the warmed pillow. I guess killing people gets you good beds. She thought. Opening her eyes for a moment to look at Vincent in the darkness. “Thank you. I’d rather be in here with you then out there with something bad that I don’t know.” Closing her eyes she rolled onto her back and pulled the covers up to her chin. Asa loved being warm, and couldn’t stand being cold. This bed was like heaven compared to the sofa. Even though it was a nice sofa.

“Where is this place? Is it like a safe house for bad people?”

"Anytime." Came Vincent's reply as he then turned on his side with his back facing Asa, feeling her gown brush up against his body after he turned around, causing him to look back at her briefly then looked forward once again. For now, he believed, that that might have satiated her curiousity if only for right now.

If only.

When the question came up of where this place was, Vincent only rolled his eyes in response before giving his reply, despite it came out a little stiff. "Yeah. It's for people like me." He answered, silently wishing she'd shut up already. Besides, it was late in the night and he wanted to get some sleep.

It wasn’t hard to tell when Vincent wanted her to do something. For a gruff man he was very effective at communicating what he wanted. And his silent order for her to shut up came as clear as crystal. Closing her mouth she cuddled more into herself. An angry Vincent equaled a painful reminder of his dominance. One she did not want to have repeated. Two lessons were all she needed before she understood the picture and wouldn’t cross the line again. The strength in his hand was an effective deterrent from any protesting or annoying (to him) actions.

With that in mind she curled up, how she always slept. Her small feet brushing his calves for a moment but she instantly jerked them away when the two of them touched. Not wanting to risk it she didn’t even raise her voice to apologize. Even if he were a good man she didn’t want to bother him again when he was clearly trying to rest.

Closing her eyes she ran a thumb under each, wiping away the mistiness that grew there.

Admittedly, there were times when Vincent knew when he crossed a line and there were times when he knew he was right. More often than not, he knew deep down in his heart of hearts (if there was one inside this large man, was entirely questionable) he knew he was right. But this present situation just seemed to cause an arguement of sorts to suddenly erupt within his mind. Asa here did nothing wrong, but at the same time, she disturbed him yet again. One of the things people in his industry knew that a tired Vincent was an unhappy Vincent, and man, did he ever have a brutal tendancy to way-lay into someone if he never got any sleep that night.

On one night (to prove a point at how angry he got at someone), Vincent broke his former partner's jaw and all five fingers on his right hand for snoring then telling him to either - and I quote - shut the snoring down or he was going to shove a railroad spike up his ass, end quote. With Asa, she was getting a fairly moderate form of punishment from him.

Vincent glanced over his shoulder briefly when he felt her feet touch his calf with an arched eyebrow before reaching back behind him and gently patting his hand on her side before speaking, but his tone instead came out a little differently.

"It's alright." He said gently, despite there was a part of him that wanted him to say it unmeaningfully or with sarcasm. Strangely, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Afterwards, he then slid his hand off of her side then brought it back over to his hip as he then gazed out the window of his room.

Asa knew and appreciated how hard it must be for him to be gentle. And it was strange that he would decide to be so to her now. But she wasn’t one to question good fortune. Even though her eyes were misty with tears she smiled a small smile and touched his hand on his hip. A light brushing of her fingers over the top of his hand. Slowly her hand closed around his, but hers was so much smaller she only held a few of his fingers. But it was enough.

In a way that only sleepy innocent girls can pull off, her eyes drifted shut and she fell into a comfortable sleep. Lying beside him with her fingers around his own. Soft puffs of warm breath gently blew across his back as she slept, her body turning to lie facing him.

Vincent felt Asa's hand slide up his own before he noticed her shuffling about on the bed and curling into his back, accompanied with gentle puffs of air as she slept. It was a little annoying at first, but then, he figured to just let it go. Besides, this was a rather taxing night on the both of them and he didn't want to read too much into this, even if he could help it.

About another hour passed before Vincent would finally drift off to sleep, silently wondering to himself as to how he would plan out the day in the morning.

The next morning, Asa was lucky enough to be the first to awaken. She was lucky because had Vincent woke first and seen her pressed against him then he would probably freak out. He was still on his side and his back was towards her. Her front was pressed up against his back, her breasts molded against his spine. One of her feet was between his calves and her hands were folded against his back.

Mortified she slipped away from him and off the bed. Her long nightgown tangling with the sheets and twisting about her ankles. Causing her to fall hard on her butt. “Ow…” She moaned and struggled to free her trapped feet. So much for trying to be quiet and not wake him. Asa prayed that he was a sound sleeper and she could get out before he woke.

That following morning, Vincent was awakened to a rather odd sound. This being the sound of her falling out of the bed and hitting the floor hard, causing him to open his eyes suddenly and glance over his shoulder to see Asa struggling with her nightgown from before.

After a moment, Vincent would sit up in the bed gazing at Asa entirely with an arched eyebrow. "Hey, you alright over there?" He asked, rubbing a little sleep out of his right eye as he sat up.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I woke you Vincent, I was trying to be quiet, I swear.” She eventually was able to untangle herself from the bed linins and her nightgown. Standing up she looked at him for a moment before using her fingers as a comb and trying to brush her hair to make it look even slightly more respectable. Rubbing the back of her neck, she was hesitant to bring up what was going to happen this morning. Vincent did not enjoy being questioned.

“I’ll just… go into the other room until you’re ready to…uh… do whatever it is you’re going to do.” Blushing she all but runs into the living room and quietly closes the door behind her. Letting out a heavy breath she sits upon the couch and puts her head in her hands.

Vinent arched an eyebrow in confusion when Asa left the bedroom and hurried out into the parlor, leaving him to sit there with that same expression on his face. "Eh?" He asked himself with an equally confused tilt of his head.

After a moment, Vincent began to shuffle out of the bed until he finally stood back up on his sock-covered feet and headed out of the bedroom to join her in the parlor, seeing her with her face in her hands.

"I was being honest, Asa. What happened to you that caused you to fall out?" He asked with that same confused look on his face as he approached her.