Moonlight Shenanigans [Finished]

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

On this night, just like almost every other night, Hobbs was up and about. And tonight, just like almost every other night, she was racking her brain for something to do. At first, the insomnia had provided calm respite from the bustle of the living world, and spending nights working in her messy little tech lab was a welcome break. But as the insomnia refused to go anywhere, her workspace began to feel more like a prison and Hobbs yearned for wilder pursuits. In more recent weeks she'd used the nights as an excuse to test out her gadgetry in the city, rebuild her muscle mass, and butt heads with those she came across.

Hobbs vaulted the low wall that separated pavement from park and walked across the grass. The dew slicked the leather of her Docs and made them oddly shiny. Hobbs came to the path and stopped, before stepping across it onto the grass on the other side. She knew that druggies and common criminals frequented King's Landing at night; she didn't need noisy gravel betraying her presence. Not that thugs would give her much trouble; she had an aged but trusty Glock 17 tucked into the waistband of her shorts, and she knew how to use it.

She moved quietly over to the kids play area and stepped onto the wood chips. Her footfall was silent. She reached back into her hood, pulling down what appeared to be a plain pair of sports sunglasses that had been perched atop her head. The lenses, however had been refitted to allow thermal infrared imaging. It was handy when trying to tell immortals apart from regular humans; humans glowed a body-warm array of yellows and greens, brightening to red around the face and hands. Vampires were much cooler, in blues and purples, and Werewolves, who ran hotter, burned up in red and white.
Hobbs glanced around the park, seeing very few people nearby, but those she did see were yellow-green. Human.

She lifted up the glasses again, perched them on top of her head, and reached up to catch the monkey bars on the kids climbing frame.

[Jillian Moore]

King's Landing was a beautiful park. It was well kept, unlike the ones that Jillian had grown up with. When the sun was shining, it was filled with laughter and Frisbee games. When the sun went down, however, King's Landing reminded her too much of her old home. There were drug dealers everywhere. You couldn't walk by King's Landing without being asked if you wanted a hit. If only the dealers asked on foot, but most of them had their getaway bicycles. They didn't care how foolish they looked as long as they were able to get away from any dangers. Maybe that was evolution; more worried about survival than looking good.

Jillian had been in New York long enough to know that few people went there at night unless they were looking for trouble. And, she had known Hobbs long enough to know that she liked trouble. Or, so it seemed. So, when Jillian had noticed the woman walking out towards King's Landing, she had tested her skills at sneaking. Humans were easier to sneak by than supernaturals, but it was always good to practice. She had not only sneaked by the woman, but she had gone further and set up camp high in a tree.

Curiosity killed the cat, didn't it? Well, not when the cat was curious about a cripple and was hiding in a tree. Jillian watched the figure jump over a small wall. She was mildly surprised by this. Most often, Hobbs was seen hobbling about on an artificial leg that didn't match her expectations. To see her adequately jump the wall was intriguing. It was possible that the woman faked her hobbling, but also entirely possible that she had simply gotten used to this leg.

Jillian was curious, though, so she climbed down. She knew the other Hunter and was less than worried about what could happen if she was discovered after following her than what would happen if she surprised her. Missing a leg or not, Hobbs packed a nasty punch. Jillian walked calmly across the field towards Hobbs, hands up as a sign of peace. "Hey, Hobbs." She called out softly.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

With both hands on the monkey bars, Hobbs hoisted up her own weight in what appeared to be an average pull-up. She'd become pretty good at doing those over the past year; between carting herself around on wheels, physio, and generally working out trying to get back into the shape she'd had in the army, her upper body strength had seen an increase in strength. Shame the same couldn't be said for her leg.
It was for this reason that Hobbs swiftly turned the pull-up into something else. Hooking both her legs over a bar, she let go, and allowed her body weight to hang by the strength of her knees. A few months ago it was the falsie that she'd have been worried about, but she'd recently built herself a new leg, all sleek and strong and something she could put her weight on without the mechanism busting. The ankle wasn't quite right, though. She'd have to fix that.
Now she wondered if the carbon fibre and slightly yielding polymer was stronger than her real leg. As she dangled there, upside-down, her shades fell off her head and into the pocket formed by her hanging hood.

It was then that she heard the quiet voice say, Hey Hobbs. Hobbs at first squinted into the darkness, before reaching back into her hood and stuck on the glasses. The mass of yellow-green moving towards her, palms up in the universal gesture of peace, was a comforting sight. It was only when she peered over the top of the specs that she recognised the blonde woman approaching her out of the shadows.

Well look who it was. Jillian Moore. Moore often reminded her of the bond film GoldenEye, in which M was described as an "evil queen of numbers" because of her reliance on statistics and cold hard facts over 'emotion' and 'instinct'. Hobbs had never seen this logical, rational decision making side of her, but others that Hobbs had spoken to certainly had. Suppose that was one way to make a first impression. Beats being known as 'the cripple' any day. She'd even stopped bothering to hide the fake leg; the shorts exposing the mass of black that extended above her knee. Everybody knew by now.

Instead of proceeding to do some inverted crunches as many hardcore hunters would, she instead stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled packet of Marlboros and a yellow plastic Bic lighter. She lit one up and hung there on the monkey bars, blood rushing to her head, wearing a ridiculous pair of sunglasses at night and smoking a cigarette.

"'Sup Jill?" Hobbs asked, offering the Marlboros packet in Jill's direction. "Were you following me?"

[Jillian Moore]

She was hanging from the monkey bars. How strange. Jillian half expected her to continue her work out. Hobbs stopped, however, and put on glasses. Jillian thought that was the strangest thing she had seen in a while. She knew Hunters to be better than others, smarter. Why in the world would a Hunter in their right mind put on sunglasses when it was dark outside? She thought this for a moment and then realized the answer was simple. They weren't ordinary sunglasses.

Hobbs was famed in the Hunters' ranks. She knew how to work machines. No doubt, as Jillian looked over the woman, the leg that was now attached to her body was of her own design. It was probably the only one that worked at all lately. Jillian felt a small smile of admiration spread across her face. Too bad she wasn't as good with technology as others. Surely it was an interesting pursuit.

The cigarettes were offered, and Jillian took the pack. She popped a cigarette into her mouth and handed the pack back. She dug one hand into her pocket and pulled out her lighter. With the cigarette lit, she thought for a moment before responding. Was she following? Of course. Was that smart to admit to?

"Yes," Jillian said calmly. "I was. I was curious."

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

Hobbs was used to the curiosity. She'd been asked a lot of questions, usually the same questions by about fifty different people. She didn't know what was worse, though; people being overly interested and quizzing her about everything, usually the same things over and over again, or the people who pretended as though nothing at all was out of the ordinary. It was as though they'd been told about her beforehand and the phrase "whatever you do, don't stare at her leg" had been mentioned. Normally the latter would be preferential in everyday life, but when she was roaming around the Hunter base with an obvious limp? Questions were not only expected, they were deserved. These guys were at the top of their game, hunting creatures physically superior to them.

"Yeah?" Hobbs said, packing the cigarettes, lighter, and the glasses into one of the pockets of her leather jacket. "Curious about what?"

Not like she could guess what was about to be asked. Hobbs had practically had to recite the responses by now. It would be a nice change to be asked about her tech. She could talk at a mile a minute about that stuff.
"Lemme guess, it's either the glasses or the leg." The glasses was a hopeful guess. The leg was an obvious topic. She had about four of them, counting the one she was wearing. Two of which she didn't really like, one she was wearing and the last was in the shop for repairs after taking a bullet to the ankle.

[Jillian Moore]

Jillian raised an eyebrow at the woman. She cleared her throat and forced a friendly smile. People felt more comfortable around people who smiled a lot. It was interesting to see that the woman had given her a choice of what she thought she'd be asked. She was wrong on both accounts. However, Jillian made a mental note to ask the woman about her glasses. It was obvious that the leg would be a conversation piece, but what about the glasses would make them an intriguing topic? The idea that someone else thought they were worth being noticed was enough for Jillian. She'd ask later.

"Actually, you're wrong. Neither the glasses nor your leg that piqued my curiosity," She pulled the cigarette from her lips and raised a quizzical eyebrow to Hobbs. Jillian's smile had drained away when she spoke. "Think with me for a moment. I've been with the Hunters a shorter time than you, but how would that make me less aware of the technological mind behind many of the fixes on our weapons? Of course I know you lost your leg. Or, maybe you didn't lose it. Maybe it was taken from you due to infection,"

Jillian shrugged. "It's not my place to know that, so I choose not to take part in those rumors. Next. Why would I want to talk about your glasses?" As she asked, Jillian waved towards herself. She was wearing a tee shirt, hiking boots, and a very ragged pair of loose fitting jeans. "Do I seriously look like the kind of person to worry about fashion? The only thing that would make your glasses interesting to me at this point is why you put them on earlier. But, that's a conversation for later."

A long drag from the dwindling cigarette. She dropped the butt on the ground and stepped on it lazily. "No, the real reason I followed you was curiosity. Where in the world would a crippled woman be going so late at night? And, as I got further along, why in the world would said cripple come to the King's Landing at night alone? I would have thought that a Hunter would know better," She sniffed and looked back at Hobbs. "Bad things happen to women who travel alone at night."

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

So, not the glasses, and not the leg. Well, this was shaping up to be a conversation Hobbs could get interested in.
She mentioned that Hobbs had been hunting a longer time than her, and Hobbs wondered how much of a newbie Jill was. Hobbs hadn't been with the Hunters for very long herself. Some of them were in it through family business. Slaying was in their blood, reaching back through the generations and they felt it was their job to uphold the stuffy tradition. Some had oh-so heart wrenching sob stories about how their family was cruelly slaughtered by the monsters, and they'd been in the biz ever since. Either way, there were some hunters who'd been at it for years, decades even. She'd been at it for about four months. Probably less than that.

Jill kept talking, and behind the specs, Hobbs raised an eyebrow. There were rumours about her? Oh, now she was interested. Did they tell horror stories of disease and sepsis, or maybe valiant tales of how it got bitten off by an alligator as she tried to save a bus of school children from a burning volcano? She could dare to dream.

"Couldn't sleep. And hanging around Memorial Island is starting to suck. I needed something else to do, so I figured, why not test these out?" she said, gesturing to the glasses. She took them off and held them out for Jill to put on. "Try them on, they're really cool."
She hung there and puffed on the cigarette that dangled from the corner of her mouth. "I reckon tomorrow night I might head down to the sewers and test drive my scent masking spray."

[Jillian Moore]

Jillian took theglasses gingerly. This was not what she had come to talk about. She put themon, choosing to humor the woman rather than anger her. To her surprise, she saw a blaze of light. It was in the form of human. She felt the same admiration form into a smile again. Hobbs had created heat sensing glasses. A quick sweep of the park showed every living creature. It pleased Jillian to see that there were no other beings close to them.

Removing the glasses, Jillian handed them back to Hobbs. "Nice invention," She said curtly. Despite having already made sure that there was nothing near them, she couldn't relax in this situation. It was too familiar. She tried so hard to keep calm, but she had been terrified of traveling alone for so long... Now, she only had a handicap. Literally.

"Listen, I don't like people traveling alone. I especially don't like women traveling alone. Even more so, at night. Please, do me a favor and take someone with you when you go out. These places are full of dangers, and not every one of them come at you with teeth..." Jillian looked over her soulder again and then snapped her head back to face Hobbs. "Humor me, alright? You're in no condition to fight off... Anything. If I came at you right now, what would you do? That leg of yours surely can't work as well as mine do."

Jillian scowled deeply. She knew it was true. There was no other reason that Hobbs would switch legs all of the time. She had yet to find one that actually worked right. "So, I'll stay here with you until you decide to leave. You did bring some sort of weapons with you, right? Not only do you need to worry about fucking vamps and wolves. You have a group of five people out over there somewhere, I don't know if they've moved yet. About 50 feet away from us, there's a drug deal going on," She pointed. "Out there. And you have one leg, and I have the small weapons I use to give me a chance to escape either of our supernatural friends. There isn't an addict out there who would be afraid of silver brass knuckles and a flashlight..."

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

Hobbs grinned as Jill handed back the shades, and Hobbs put them on again. It was more difficult trying to keep them on when normally they rested on her ears and nose, and upside-down they developed a tendency to droop down onto her brow.

Now, Hobbs didn't understand why Jillian was so uncomfortable with her being out on her own at this time. Many Hunters worked alone, plenty were female, and almost all operated at night.
"Why so paranoid, Moore?" Hobbs asked, wedging the cigarette in her mouth before reaching up, grabbing the monkey bars and swinging her legs down into the wood chip. "Nothing's gonna get me out here. I'm keeping an eye on the druggies and they're not coming close. I've got a Glock stuck down the back my shorts and if a vamp or were decides to come at me I've got a couple of bombs in my leg." She leaned against the climbing frame, lifted her right leg and rapped her knuckles against the back panel of polyethylene that was shaped like a calf muscle. The sound it made betrayed it to be hollow. "Neat huh?"
She put her leg down. "If anything gives me trouble I'd detonate one and limp like the wind." She took one final drag on the cigarette, flicked it onto the damp wood chip and stamped it out. "I do have a athlete cheetah model that shaves five seconds off my four hundred metre track time, but it looks weird and I can't hide explosives in that one. And wearing only one shoe looks dumb."

Hobbs pulled up her hood again and burrowed her hands into the deep, warm pockets of her leather jacket. "Do me a favour and keep your worry to yourself. Or is it something else?"

[Jillian Moore]

Jillian scowled. Of course. She had been too obvious with how uncomfortable she was. This was not something that she wanted to discuss with another Hunter. It was not something she wanted to discuss at all. She looked away from Hobbs, sincerely considering leaving right then. But, she couldn't. It wasn't her worries about leaving behind the other woman, but her worries about traveling alone.

"I don't like being alone in situations that I may not be able to handle. Let's keep it simple. I've had a couple bad experiences with bad areas of town. I'd rather not talk about them. I'm sure the other Hunters have come up with their own ideas on my discomfort in these areas. They're wrong, I promise."

Jillian cleared her throat before looking in the direction of the drug deal. It was too close for her comfort. "Let me give you the briefest bit of information on my past I can. That way you may understand. I worked for ten years as a stripper. I've seen what men do to women. Especially if they're half way pretty. I don't like being in an area where there are too many of those men who would be willing to do those things. It is my own fear. I shouldn't have tried to include you in it."