Shan reclined on a park bench, absentmindedly twisting around a strand of pink hair with his fingers. A couple blocks away, one of those huge TV screens on the front of a building was blaring news. In fact, there had been about four or five “late breaking” news stories within five minutes of each other. Boy, there are definitely some people having fun out there. The mercenary sighed. Today was one of his days off so he was suppose to take it easy, which translated to not making any scenes. Therefore, this day will be boring as hell. He stopped playing with his hair as a grin crossed his face. Of course, that’s what would happen if I actually followed the rules.

He hopped up from the bench and began to stroll through the streets. The TV was now talking about some serial killer (who, Shan noted, was only referred to by a number) and started showing pictures of a rather bloody living room. The kind of scenes most people only saw in slasher horror flicks. However, grisly murder scenes weren’t terribly interesting. The only reason the Lilim would be interested in the murder is if he ended being hired to find the psycho. He turned down a backstreet, wanting to avoid the majority of the city crowd. Or if I happened to meet him in the dark alleyway.

Instead of a crazy murderer, a homeless person approached Shan almost as soon as he stepped around the corner. The pathetic-looking man held out his hands, “A little money for some supper?”

“Sorry,” Shan shook his head. The vagrant blinked a couple times and then aimlessly shuffled off. Shrugging, the pink-haired man continued down the alley until another darted around a corner and nearly ran into him. Eyes wide with fear, he barely gave Shan a glance before running away. “What... was that about?” The mercenary poked his head around the corner. Oo, she’s cute. The young woman exhaled a wisp of smoke as a man with a bloody face staggered away in the opposite direction.

Her eyes watched him warily as he strolled up, a smirk on his face. “So, it seems you’re a rather rough player.” The fist aimed for his face came slightly faster than he expected. After all, not only did this woman look like she kicked ass, she looked like she kicked it on a regular basis. He caught her attack and held onto her fist, “Aw, come on, I wasn't that rude.”

__________________

Wake up, lose your hesitation. Wake up, it's time for us to realize.
Wake up, show appreciation. Wake up, it's time for us to realize.
[Set by Azure Guardian.]
[Tiah Rivers]