tuesday, 3 a.m. [open | fare]

[HARLEIGH MATHEW VALENTINE]

ONCE AGAIN I'M WIDE-AWAKE

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harleigh | stripper | 786 words | tag : open

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This city isn't the easiest place to get a good night's sleep, particularly when you just got off of work and feel as gross as if you'd been swimming in Tommy Lee's underwear drawer. Harleigh stepped out of the back of the club and looked up at the clear summer night sky. The blonde zipped his oversized gray hoodie up and put the hood over his head. Beneath the comfortable, baggy sweater Harleigh wore white shorts that would make even Daisy Duke blush and a pair of gold converse, untied with no socks. He hadn't brought clothes to wear after work, just shoes and his jacket, but he didn't mind. He'd spent all night with strangers looking at him, the same thing during the walk home wouldn't be so bad now, would it. Pausins, taking a moment before heading home, Harleigh counted his take-home pay for the night. One hundred and twelve dollars, not good, not for strippers in this town. Still, it wasn't so bad. Harleigh was carfeul to tuck the money away safely before walking out into the streets.

He kind of hated it here. In some ways, it was alot like New Orleans, only far more hellish. Out of the corners of his eyes, which he kept glued to the ground as he walked the streets of the redlight district, he coiuld see the ladies of the night selling it on the corners. Dealers luring the innocent into their parlors only to infect them with a love for poison. It wasn't a good place, but Harleigh had come to accept it as his place, as 'home' even. He sighed at hos pathetic that thought was a slipped a cigarette between his lips, taking a moment to light it before pressing onward, still not looking up. Walking to and from work was always such a blur, he kept his eyes down and moved fast the whole way. It worked though, because just as he took the last drag from his cigarette Harleigh was standing outside of a vietnamese nail salon that he lived above.

He wasted no time in running up the stairs to his little loft. It was sparsely furnished, a large bed with messy, mismatched pillows and blankets was the focal point of the room. There was a counter with a sink and a stove that sat next to a fridge. You could hardly call it a kitchen because there was never much food and Harl never really cooked anymore. Against the windowed-wall sat a small white table, the paint on which was chipping to reveal aged wood. Atop the table sat a square cut frameless mirror with traces of blow on it. There was small chair next to the table and a few feet behind that chair was the door to Harleigh's bathroom. Aside from clothes and scant costumes strewn all over the floor, that was it. That was how Harleigh lived and he accepted it.

The blonde removed his hood and took a deep breath after shutting and double-locking his door behind him. He looked out the window and walked over, using all his strength to force the old window to creak open he breathed in the toxic city air before he turned to his table, tapping the contents of a little bag onto the mirror and forcing it into a line with the ripped-off cover of a phone book. Harleigh placed his nose to the dust and inhaled it swiftly, sniffling and basking in the almost instant rush. He felt better already and moved over to the fridge in search of a drink. "Fuck!" he exclaimed slamming the door to the fridge that he'd found to be empty. He must've forgotten he needed some groceries. Not even bothering to change out of what he was wearing, or what he wasn't wearing as is more accurate, Harl darted out the door again and back down to the streets. There was a mini mart a few blocks away, he could grab a six-pack and a gallon of milk there.

Resolved, his feet began padding the pavement again, another cigarette between his lips. No night could ever be totally calm though, right? Because, just as Harl thought this'd be a short errand, he plowed into someone. It was totally an accident but people in this neighborhood got shanked for alot less. He looked up at the stranger he'd run into and just looked into their eyes with a muttered "Sorry" Hoping that it'd be enough for him to get away unharmed.

[faylinn]

♥--The hunt was on, and Fare was dressed in a way that one would call slutty and almost stripper like. This was what she usually what her style was like but tonight she pushed it a little farther. After all she was on a man hunt and he always came here on these nights and he was not a part of a gang but he was helping them out. Some would call him a hitman or maybe a great business man but in Fare’s eyes he was a spy for another gang. The barely got away with a guns shipment last time because someone rated them out to the cops, and Fare had gone through the list and he was someone to worry about. No one kept secrets in this town.

As if on cue he came into the area looking for a woman, Fare was going to make sure he wanted to take her, and with that she giggled and skipped over to him fling herself onto him. "Hey there handsome, wanna have some fun with me tonight?” She said before letting out a hot breath on his neck and giggling like a school girl. “I’ll make you a deal if you can make me scream.” She whispered into his ear before letting her tongue flicker out along the rim of his ear. He was hooked.

Bringing him to a place she knew was empty she pushed the door open and took him right to the bed room. They had already worked out the rates on the way there, or so he thought. So with a wick grin she pulled him close and pushed her tongue into his mouth as his hand dance around her body and just as they were about to push down the front of her skirt she twisted his other wrist and flipped him on his back. He gasped for air and before he could do anything was sitting on his chest and heel pinning down his wrists and a gun pressed to his forehead.

“Now, now John Tummer, can you tell me way you ratted the Turpis family out to the cops? We don’t take to kindly to those kind.” She said her voice no longer kind but was playful. Fare loved her job. His eyes were wide and he was surely afraid, he was about to open this mouth to speak but Fare cocked the gun. “How did I find you? How did I know? Well that’s my little secret.” She leaded closer to him. “I know everything.” She whispered and with that she leaned back and winked at him.

The gun had gone off and the man was now dead. She sighed and pushed herself up and started to clean up. This place was going to burn. She started fishing through the kitchen and found something very flammable. With a smirk she poured it over the body and then lit the fire. Dancing out of the house she looked up at the bedroom window she could see the from the street. The fire was already breaking through the window, no one would be able to tell what happened in the room, all the cops would be able to tell is someone broke in and a fire started in the bedroom. They’d be lucky if they could identify John Tummer by his teeth, she would keep an eye on the new.

Turning around she skipped away from the house humming to herself before making it back through the red-light district. She needed to be seen retracing her steps as if they never made it to his place or any place. After all she needed a way out of his murder if anyone saw the two together. So as she made her way back she heard a girl yelling at a man around the corner and like that she knew she had gotten out of this without a problem. Little did she know was there was a boy walking her way so just as she turned her head back the two hit one another. Taking one step back she looked at the thing that had walked into her. He had said sorry and she grinned, her red painted doll like lips parting to show her teeth.

“No worries little one.” She said her eyes shining in the little light at three in the morning. She stepped around him like a fox stalking it’s pray. “What are you doing out so late? Isn’t it pass your bed time? If not that why be in a place like this? You may get hurt.” She said finishing just as she found herself standing in front of her.

~~~
Tagged:HARLEIGH/Open
Words:780
Lyrics:Haunted -- Evanescence
Outfit
Notes:<33

[HARLEIGH MATHEW VALENTINE]

ONCE AGAIN I'M WIDE-AWAKE

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harleigh | stripper | 503 words | tag : open | fare

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The creature that met Harleigh's eyes when he looked up almost didn't register with him. This woman looked like the street-walking version of what you might get when you mooshed together alice in wonderland and 'faith' from buffy the vampire slayer. The blonde, in a state of complete obliteration, almost fialed to contain a slight laugh at the sight of her. She spoke condescendingly to him as well, not something that Harl often took too kindly to, particularly not at random in the middle of the night. Still, he showed little sign of how off-putting this run-in was. Women, men, and everything in between could all be dangerous in this part of town. Harleigh wasn't so dense as to be too at ease around her.

"Don't call me little one." He said, sultry southern venom coating eachword as they rolled out of his mouth with a bitter after taste. He knew that this woman didn't know anything about him and most people who really knew people could tell that he was still a child, despite how old he preteneded to be. Still, she had no right to condescend to him, even in a polite manner, as she was completely unaware of who he is or what he's been through. Harleigh felt plenty grown to walk around his own 'neighborhood' at night.

"I think I can take care of myself." Harleigh added defensively when the strange woman said he might get hurt. He'd been walking these streets for months, to and from work, in some of the most revealing outfits. He'd done well so far and he continued to take care of himself. This kind of encounter was the last thing he needed. "I'm sorry," Harl spoke up, "But who the hell are you?" His tone kind, though his words were not. "I mean, you don't even know me and you're treating me like a child. Isn't that, I dunno, a bit narrow-minded?" Harleigh said with the snarkiness that only a teenager could muster, in that way belittling his own argument by showcasing his age, kinda. Still, he felt he deserved some sort of an explanation from the woman.

She looked like a prostitute but she didn't have that air about her that a normal streetwalker did. Also, despite the appearance of her clothing, they were clearly pricier than the moth-holed deals you'd find in boutiques in this neighborhood. She wasn't from around this part of town, you could tell if you studied her long enough on a coked-up, and therefore, at times, over-analytical brain. The youth tossed his head to the side, ushering platinum silk strands out of his line of sight as he looked up at the stranger once more, fully absorbing her strange appearance.

[faylinn]

♥--His first words were bitter and angry words. Little in age she could tell, but didn’t seem to think that. Six-teen to Eighteen, he wouldn’t pass any older and all of those ages to her were young, little and not the brightest. “Touchie.” She said softly, the smirk on her lips not falling down one bet. Fare enjoyed seeing reactions of people and just with her first comment she had found one this kids weaknesses. Fare enjoyed people, they were all just one game to her, learn about them, play with their minds a little before destroying them all together.

As she came before him again her bright green eyes shining slightly in the dime light of the street, she cocked her head to the side as he spoke. Laughing softly she clasped her hands behind her back before slowly starting to make a circle around him again. “Is that so? So besides this being the second worst place to be at night, you can fight off any of those crazy gang members running around doing, what gangs do.” She paused and pressed her lips into a line before making a popping sound. “You can fight with your hands? You can get away from someone with a knife? You can dodge a bullet?” She said as her smile faded her feet planted right in front of the boy again and her voice got cold.

Only after that small moment she was smiling brightly again. “But who am I to know that, I was just doing the right thing, making sure no one gets hurt.” She said almost looking kind before the playfulness came back into her eyes. It was then that he asked her who the hell she was and she smirked just slightly, it was almost like a twitch in the corner of her lip. “You may call me Fare, and I enjoy meeting people.” She said taking a small step towards him. She wanted to learn his reactions she watched him closely her eyes boring into his soul.

Fare was what one could call a people watcher and what she learned from watching she used against them, the smallest movement could tell her anything and everything. She used to be one just to watch and make up stories of their lives but after what happened to her with her father before moving to the USA, she was more interested and interacting with them as well. “You could saw narrow-minded but you could also say it’s a guess. Just from one look you can tell that you are a teenager, height tells no one anything anymore and so guessing from the way you hold yourself, walk and even speak, tells me that you are younger then I and in need of growing up and therefore little.” She smiled brightly knowing that she was right, Fare hardly ever got anything wrong. It was her job after all to learn everything about everything.

Moving once again to circle him again she leaned in behind him and whispered. “Prove me wrong.” And quickly move out of his reach with a giggle that sounded like a child . . . . a twisted, dark child.

~~~
Tagged:HARLEIGH/Open
Words:538
Lyrics:Haunted -- Evanescence
Outfit
Notes:<33