grin; -- fall for you.

[indylou.]

[/size] The rain began to increase in pace as it hit the outskirts of her black umbrella, soon becoming an orchestra of secrets echoing throughout the streets. It was strange tonight. The roads and shops were not bustling like they usually did, but the walkways were not void of people, either. Though she once hated the rain, she was slowly becoming fond of it-- somewhere deep down inside her inner being. However, she did not entirely mind it. The heartbeat of the rain was quite soothing to her actually; and as she walked, she slowly closed her eyes, a meek smile creeping to her rosy lips.

What would've been a fairly quick pace in her steps instead turned out to appear rather lackadaisical due to the fact that she was walking against the harsh wind. Indy had to tilt her umbrella so that the cursed breeze wouldn't direct any falling water toward her. The young woman donned dark, faded jeans and an olive-drab coloured plaid button-up. She wasn't thinking earlier that morning about whether or not the weather would be drizzly. That's just too much thinking. America certainly seemed extremely different than England. Damned weather changed all the time. Could never make up its fucking mind.

Why on earth did she decide to stay out so late again? She did it often. It wasn't as though she did it intentionally, either. Too many dangers lurked around each corner in such a place as this, but Indy Lou Reed didn't take much heed into preparing herself for deleterious threats and whatnot. The girl ground her teeth gingerly over the sweet berry bubble gum that teased her taste buds with sugary dreams.

The cell phone in her pocket began to vibrate and the default tone that emitted from it sounded "maybe" by Secondhand Serenade. She knew who it was. And she definitely wasn't about to answer it. The unnamed person calling just didn't know how to tread in his or her own business. She reached into one of her back pockets of her jeans and clicked the end button. She didn't feel like wasting her time on something as pathetic as them. Not right now anyways. Just simultaneous to switching off her phone, the umbrella that once shielded freezing water from pelting her flesh blew right from her grasp. It began to tumble on down the sidewalk, the occasional bystander sidestepping its path. Indy started on after her wretched instrument, pretty certain that she looked like a fool, but uncaring nonetheless.

She saw him. She even told herself not to run into him. But she did anyways. It was as though fate were taking its toll on her. And apparently fate wanted her to meet this particular person before her. She fell with a hard 'thud' to the pavement, giving up entirely on catching her stupid umbrella. Animated birds flew around her head in gleeful circles and her vision turned hazy for a mere second. Even after the dazed feeling from within dispersed, Indy Lou decided that lying there on the walkway like that was better than sitting up to find that her cell phone had broken and that one of her shoes had been flung from her foot only to land in the middle of a busy street. She knew those things happened, but sitting up from her current position only meant she'd have to see the damage done. [/font][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

Walking was hard this late at night, when the alcohol had set in and one's steps were put down all wrong. It was all like an intricate dance for him. It was all like an intricate dance that he'd forgotten the moves to. Admittedly, he'd never been the best dancer, anyway. Still he tried to remember how to do it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite make his feet do what he wanted. They scuffed and scritched at the concrete. He stumbled over himself once or twice and then straightened himself back up like nothing had happened. It was less to keep himself from looking like a drunken fool and more to feed the overall-purposeless determination to keep going in the face of whatever 'adversity' he'd conjured up for himself to overcome. He was a man on a mission, but if somebody would've asked him exactly what that mission was he wouldn't have been able to say.

He couldn't even remember where he was trying to get to, at this point. Had he been headed home?

Rubber soles attached to worn-out boots met the man-made solid stone path with violent friction, much like the man [if he could be called a man] who was trying to stand up straight enough to push himself forward seemed to clash with the bustling people. He wasn't watching where he was going, and quite a few times actually pushed somebody out of the way with a shoulder so that he could get through. The walkway really wasn't crowded enough for him to need to do this, but his steps were beyond haphazard and his mind firmly believed that he was moving in a straight line.

There wasn't an umbrella in his hand. The rain tugged his usually fly-away mess of black curls down and pasted the strands against his forehead. Droplets rolled down his nose and mazed through his perpetual stubble. Charcoal eyelashes were heavy with water. He blinked, hiccoughed, and continued indiscriminately shoving people out of the way [much to the dissatisfaction of said people] on the wrong side of the sidewalk--a six foot three pillar of stone, walking with the wind and not allowing himself to be thrust forward by its incessant nagging. The cold whipped around him, slapping the wet collar of his leather jacket up against the back of his bronze neck; he was obviously no stranger to sunlight.

The first thing that came into contact with him was the big mushroom-top of her umbrella. It caught his lower back. It didn't slow his roll. The wind flipped the umbrella over and its handle cracked him in the back of the head, causing him to come to a stand-still. The black umbrella continued its escape. He glared over his shoulder, hands shoved down in his pockets.

The second thing that came into contact with him was her. She was a hell of a lot heavier than the umbrella, and hit him with far more force. He yanked his hands out of the damp cloth of his torn-up bluejeans and shoved them behind himself. When he hit the ground, he skidded backward about two inches and nearly toppled over. There wasn't anything breakable in his pockets and he was already soaked to the bone, so he didn't have either of those things to worry about. He didn't feel like any bits of him were hurt [but he was drunk and drunk people do tend to be numb]. The only thing that was wounded on his person was his pride [that he knew of]. And he wasn't sure if it was his fault that they were down on the ground or if it was hers. So what did Grin do? He picked himself up, brushed himself off, furrowed up his eyebrows, put on his best snarl and jutted one of his calloused forefingers at her. "Watch where you're going, lady."

[indylou.]

ooc; -- short, but oh well.

[/color]" it snarled. It was a man [or perhaps something more] and it was unhappy. What was she to do but defend herself? The thing would probably jump to attack and maul her to death. And she totally was NOT about to get eaten by some crazy strange man, uh-uh, not her.

Indy Lou Reed growled back at him. It wasn't her fault. Maybe if the people that made her UMBRELLA at the UMBRELLA company knew how to make UMBRELLAS correctly, she wouldn't be in this situation. Stupid umbrella.

Stupid, stupid umbrella. Stupid wind. And most of all, stupid man.

She ought to teach him a lesson. But.. she didn't really care that much. She felt kinda numb; probably from the fall. Part of her mind told her she should, but she just couldn't bring herself to. What was the point, anyway? She could yell at him, fail, and get devoured. Or she could apologize as any puss would. Was there a third option?

Yep.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been in my way," replied Indy coolly. She had to keep her head on at all times, otherwise, it'd roll into dangerous territory.

A raindrop fell from the heavens into her left eye. It stung a little, but she didn't blink.

All she did was stare.[/size][/font][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

For a moment, he wasn't sure what to do or what to say. His finger retracted. Every time he started a confrontation with somebody, the person yelled back at him, further-proving his general lack of wit or ability to think up good enough retorts to send people reeling. You'd think that after he'd lost so many of said confrontations, he'd have quit mouthing off at people and went about his business silently or politely. If for nothing else, just to save his pride. But no. Grin never learned. It was another one of the disadvantages of being him. His lips twisted up as he thought about what she had said. She'd tried to seem tough. Was she bowing up? Maybe you shouldn't have been in my way. Shouldn't have what? Shouldn't have been in her way?

"Maybe you should've given some warning before you came barrelling down the sidewalk, and I wouldn't have been in your way." It was hypocritical coming from him, seeing as he'd just been shoving people out of his path to get... wherever.... he'd been going. He had no clue why he was trying to act so upset about this entire thing. It really wasn't that big of a deal. He was stupid like that, he supposed. He was drunk like that, he supposed.

Why was he standing in the middle of the rain with this female and arguing back and forth like this argument meant something? It wasn't going anywhere, from what he could see. He continued standing there, anyway, staring at her like she was staring at him. Female. It wasn't like he was going to hit her for knocking him off of his feet, was it? Was it?

Hopelessly, he tried to assert his control over the situation and would keep defending his position. It wasn't like he was going to punch her in the nose...

He'd actually thought about it. Just for a split second, he'd thought about punching her right in her nose.

He could already taste bitter failure sitting on his tongue. He already knew that he was going to lose. And he hated apologizing.

[indylou.]

[/color]"

What in the hell was she doing? STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. Don't sit there and apologize, it's pointless! Or maybe he's having a bad day.. he looks kinda rough.. Don't you dare become that girl. You don't feel sorry for anyone -- remember that! She didn't know which side of her mind to listen to.

She felt strange sitting on the sidewalk and staring that heated stare at the man. And she especially felt strange for sitting on the sidewalk and staring that heated stare at the man who caused her plummet to the hard earth and was being nice to him. What kind of a fool was she playing?

"A sexy one," said Indy quietly to herself so as to not be heard by the aggravated stranger. She mentally notched that into her mental bedpost as compliment number seven for the day. She only needed one more.**

It was time for her to quit being so goddamned nice. However, she wasn't about to thrust her annoyance back at him all at once, oh no. That would only make her look like a crazy person. Then he'd prolly run away screaming, beat her to a pulp, or call for help. And Indy didn't feel like causing a scene. Not at the moment, anyways.

I assume you aren't going to help me up, either.[/color]

And he didn't. She wouldn't've, either, to be perfectly honest. She would not have even bothered with saying anything. She'd just pivot and stroll, never looking back.

Yep, what a heartless, careless bitch.

Indy Lou stood to her full height of about five feet, five inches. And she stared. Stared at.. no, not at him. The confused woman tilted her head slightly and furrowed her brows, trying to focus her gaze on whatever the moving object was behind the fellow before her.

The wind must have suddenly changed directions without her notice, because the thing flying toward him was black.. and it was odd-shaped.. and it was hers.

The stupid umbrella.

THWACK!! It knocked him hard in the back of the head. Indy barely winced, raised a brow, and held back her laughter.







**see character sheet for reference; under quirks.[/size][/font][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

He was prepared to say something back to her about how she was wrong when she'd said, before he could say anything, that he was right. This was a remarkable chain of events for Grin. Usually when things like this happened, it ended up coming out that it was his fault, and then he shouldered the blame for it. But right here, right now, this female was telling him that he was right. A very uncommon thing for any female to do, especially one that he'd just met. He gave a little smile as if to say, that's right I'm right.

And then she started muttering to herself about sexy things. This muttering that she did tossed her previous 'you're right' out the window. Was she crazy? Grin frowned to himself as he watched her... almost wanted to help her up, but couldn't bring himself to touch her or even offer, for that matter. The insanity was highly contagious. He'd caught some of it from his ex-wife, before. It was a nasty business.

Just when he was preparing to go back to going wherever it had been that he was headed, he found himself minutely pained by the handle of the umbrella, yet again. He cringed and rubbed the place where it had knocked, glaring as it blustered off with its new heading, causing people harm wherever it roamed.

"Yes. Well." He sniffed and furrowed his eyebrows, turned on his boot, shoved his hands into his pockets, and kept on walking.

[indylou.]

[/color]" She went ahead and stood to her own two feet on her own, WITHOUT ANY HELP. She cleared her throat, making it apparent that she wanted to be heard. "You didn't pick me up." She waggled an index finger, walking backwards in front of him.

Her eyes were lit in a fiery blaze and she bore them deep into his own. She was silently enraged.

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. She didn't really know whether or not she should laugh. Of course she was a little flustered that he'd been so the opposite of a gentleman.. However, when she really thought about it, the situation was a bit comical. Umbrella on the Loose: When Strangers Collide. It should become a novel.

All movement from Indy halted momentarily. She stood with fists perched upon hips and feet shoulder-width apart. And she stared. She wasn't sure what exactly she was waiting on, but she was hoping for something good. Maybe an act of apologizing in some way or form.[/size][/font][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

There wouldn't be any apologizing. There wouldn't be any of that, at all. He just wasn't the type to go around giving out 'I'm sorry's for things that he'd meant to do. If he hadn't planned on leaving her there on her bottom, sprawled across the sidewalk, then he wouldn't have done it. He would've helped her up and brushed her off and offered his condolences and all of that other 'good-natured' shit. But he had planned on leaving her there. She'd knocked him out of the way, after all, it hadn't been the other way around, had it? And she really was just being a general waste of time. He had things to do and places to be. No. There wouldn't be any apologizing. There wouldn't be any of that at all. He just wasn't the type.

What there would be, though? Snide remarks and aggravated glances. His lips came together in a fine line that said 'peeved' or 'calculating'. Rain rolled down his face, clung to his eyelashes, generally put him in a worse mood than this woman, who was calling after him, was putting him in. She was... what was that word that he was looking for? She was adamant? No. That wasn't the word. She was set on following him? Getting some sort of rise out of him? Well, she was well on her way to getting it. Maybe 'adamant' was the word that he was looking for, after all.

His habitual frown only deepened as she walked in front of him, wagging her finger in his face. She seemed uncaring of the fact that she'd probably be bowling people over if she didn't watch out. And she didn't seem to be watching out. She seemed uncaring of the fact that she had no way of seeing where she was going. No Perception, even. She was human, after all. At least from what he could Second-Sight. From what he could smell.

He must've been getting sober. His thoughts felt very sober. His body was starting to ache, and a headache was threatening to swallow him. He grunted.

Her little display of dominant body posturing didn't go unanswered. He'd stopped walking altogether, now. His shoulders squared up and his jaw jutted out as she made eye contact. His own shoulders lurched forward, making his already-large frame seem even larger. Vicious grays narrowed down into thin slits. The bridge of his broken nose crinkled up. Annoyance was evident. He grated out the words, "It isn't my job to pick the trash up off of the streets," from between his achingly clenched teeth.

[indylou.]

[/color]" the angered man
stated boldly through pearly, clenched teeth. He stopped moving. And so she remained in a sturdy standing position. However, she slid her hands from those delicate hips of hers to either side of her body. They hung there, barely swinging, and she looked as though she were about to cry. Her eyes were big and pleading, her lower lip slightly quivered. She acted like he'd hurt her.

But he hadn't. Not in the least bit.

Adrenaline began to course rapidly through Indy's veins. She felt like she was about to turn into the Hulk or somethin'. She probably could, too..

The fierce woman swiftly maneuvered the top of her foot to come into harsh contact with the stranger's testicles. He immediately grabbed ahold of himself and.. was that a wince?.. she continued to glare at him. He wasn't about to get away with making a fool of her. She would have her way, even if it meant throwing down with some strange dude in the middle of a not-so-crowded sidewalk. She'd probably lose, but at least she'd get the satisfaction out of getting in on the first hit.

Again, she posed in a waiting and ready stance, one hand on a hip, the other gingerly clasping onto her thigh. One of them must not have been thinking. She, of course, blamed it on him. If he'd just apologized as Indy wanted, neither would be in this position at the moment.

It was too late now, though. Even if he got on his knees and kissed her toes, she wouldn't let him off that easy. Oh, man, if he even thought about-- "What the fuck?" she whispered under her breath. She was bleeding. What just happened?! She was perfectly fine one moment and the next, blood began dripping from her nose.

Her vision started growing a little hazy. She wiped one of her wrists across her upper lip and crimson fluid smeared across it. Lots of it. Indy Lou furrowed her brows and.. she fell hard, smacking the spot next to her right eye on the hard pavement. She had no earthly clue what'd just happened.
But it was up to the quarreling stranger of whether or not he'd help her out.

Perfect. Her life was in his hands now. [/color][/ul][/size][/font][/blockquote]

[Sammy-boy]

You know when you feel bad about doing something, but you don't really feel bad about it because of that deep inner sense of right-and-wrong? You just feel bad about doing what you've done because of the fact that you got caught and punished for doing it? The moment that her eyes started watering up, he kind of felt bad about what he'd said [but not really]. He could tell he'd either made her sad, or made her incomparabley angry. And she could deny it as much as she wanted, but what he'd said had hurt her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have felt any emotion, at all, pertaining to the incident.

The little twinge of guilt that accompanied her looking up at his so pitifully flew into full-blown 'what-have-I-done-now' when she yanked her leg back and then shoved it into his groin. The action was almost too-quick to see and very unexpected. There wasn't a chance in Hell of him blocking it. CONTACT! He instantly doubled over and grabbed himself, groaning and taking shuddering breaths. It made his stomach churn and his face get all red with embarassment and pain. He had flashbacks of Coquette punching him in the crotch when she hadn't liked something he'd said. For the first time in his life, he realized that his big mouth was what got him into these situations. He must've been doubled over like that for a good fifty seconds.

When he looked back up at the female who'd physically assaulted him, she looked confused... and the scent of blood clung to the air as it began rushing out of her nose.

She went down and she went down hard. If he hadn't been in pain, himself, he probably would've caught her. He could hear her skull crack against the pavement. His body lurched forward and he grabbed his knees, taking a few more moments to catch his breath. When he had, he yanked his beat-up cellular out of the rabbit-fur lined pocket of his leather jacket. He flicked it open and punched '9-1-1' against the keypad. It rang a few times and then somebody picked up. "911, what's your emergency?"

His voice was strangled and heavy when it came out, "There's a woman here. She looks pretty messed up. Got blood gushing out of her nose and some head trauma. I think she might've been physically assaulted."

"Location?"

"Fear and thirty-sixth. You might want to send and ambulance."

"We'll send a vehic--" He hung the phone up before the woman on the other line could even finish speaking.

Half of him wanted to kick this woman in her ribs until he heard a few of them snap. That's why he'd said the thing about her being physically assaulted...so that he could beat the crap out of her while the ambulance was on its way. You know... get her back while she was down. The other half of him told him that he should be the stereotypical knight in shining armor, and wait for the ambulance to arrive. It was the half that was worried about this woman, who he didn't know. Grin stopped hugging his knees, adjusted himself, and heaved a sigh.

He went against the favored choice, and opted for the second.

The tall Scot leant down, scooped the female up, held her close against his chest, and sat down on the curb, waiting--patient and drunk.

[indylou.]

[/color]" she quietly croaked out.

She was hooked up to all sorts of strange machines that she'd never in her life seen before. She gingerly swiped at her head and discovered that her head was wrapped with a few bandages. She also had a needle poking through the inside of her elbow and tubes in her nose. She tried calmly pulling out the needle, but it sorta hurt, so she gave up on it after the second tug. She huffed. Her sight wasn't so great, but she could tell that something odd was across the room from her. And it was staring intently back at her.

It was Him.

Her eyes filled to their brims with obvious confusion. Was he the culprit of her injury(ies)? Or was he her saviour? She wasn't so certain after what she'd harshly done to him. She wanted to inquire upon him what was happening here, but the only thing that spilled past her lips was, "Hi."

[/size][/font][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

You know how stupid some people can be: They stick around after the fact, even though they shouldn't. By the time she woke up, his head was pounding something fierce, and his eyes were throbbing in their sockets. He hadn't slept. He had been well on his way to it, but this thing had gotten in his way. She was awake, and he couldn't stop staring at her. She was okay now, right? She'd be alright, right? The doctor had said that, because he was there when they brought he ambulance, he could stay. They couldn't find anything else on her.

He assumed that she dropped her wallet, somewhere, and had told the hospital workers that he and she were very, very good friends. The stupidest parts of him hadn't wanted her to wake up alone and scared. And when she finally had woken up, with that tiny little 'hi' that she'd given him? He started getting pissed off all over, again.

Shoulders rolled and flexed, and his entire face scrunched into itself. "You good, now?" The truth of the matter was, now that she wasn't in distress, he didn't really give a crap about her. He kind of felt a bitterness rise up in his throat--the taste of being kicked. Without waiting for a response. "Good."It took him all of two seconds to haul himself out of the hospital's 'sleeper' chair, and all of another two seconds to grab his jacket and tug it over his now-green t-shirt. Proof that he'd showered, changed, and come back in the time she'd been passed out.

[indylou.]

" Indy Lou exclaimed quietly. She squinted her eyes toward him, suspicious of his intentions, and pursed her lips together. What was his deal? Why did he act so rude to her on the sidewalk earlier, yet stayed around to help her out and accompany her to the hospital, wait for her to wake up, and then get pissed off all over again when she came to just to storm off?

It didn't make any sense to her.

The curious woman eyed him carefully.

Although she was a little light-headed and knew it would hurt to pull out the needle in her arm, she did so anyways and quickly stood to her feet. She was strong enough. Which was good, because otherwise, she would've been screwed.

Her feet padded lightly over the freezing tile floor as she made her way closer to him.

When she got to be about five or six feet from him, she diva'd a pose by placing her fists on her hips and queried him: "Why are you going?" She sounded more confused and sad than anything. Maybe a little curious. Why did he pretend to care about her health if he was just going to abandon her here? She had nowhere to go after this. Of course she had an old, crappy apartment to leave to; but there was no one to care about her there.

Which is good, she told herself.

She always told herself to NEVER get involved whatsoever with anyone else. EVER. But why was she still trying to keep this man here with her? He most likely had better things to do. Other people to hang out with or whatever. He didn't even know her, and she, him.

Her arms fell to her side, swaying a little. She chewed on the inside of her cheek. She had nothing else to say.
It'd be his turn to talk.

It was probably best if he left, anyways, never to return into her life. Nothing good would come of it, or so she thought. [/size][/ul][/blockquote][/color]

[Sammy-boy]

He wasn't watching her when she started tugging at the thing they'd stuck into her arm. If he had been watching, he probably would've just stood there and stared at her incredulously while she ripped it out. He didn't even know what that thing was. He knew that it was supposed to stay there, though, and when he looked up from adjusting his jacket, he was in total shock that she'd torn it out, and waltzed up to him. What did she think she was doing?!

After a short pause [to collect himself], his eyebrows furrowed down, and he started protesting and bossing her around.

"Hey. HEY. That thing is supposed to stay in your ARM." As much as Grin tried to stay up-to-date on what things were called, and how to talk like a modern citizen of this city in this country of wherever, he had no clue about hospitals--he'd never had to visit one, you see, so he didn't really need to know anything about them... aside from the fact that the stale white shock of entering, and all of those blaring lights and the smell of antiseptic kind of creeped him out.

His neck prickled with the tiniest tinge of anger.

He didn't know what it was, and he didn't know her. And he definitely didn't know her enough to be putting his hands on her, without answering her question, and then dragging her by her elbow back to the bed. "Now, you're just going to lay down right here, and we're going to shove this back inside of..." He'd picked up the IV, and was staring at it, trying to figure out where exactly it was supposed to go. He hadn't tried to stick her in the bed, yet, but he was studying the tiny bruise on the inside of her arm, and then looking hopelessly at the needle.

"Maybe we should just call a nurse... Get in the bed." His fingers came loose from her elbow, and he jerked a finger toward the bed. God, he needed a drink.

[indylou.]

[/b] attempting to boss her around? Because if so, it wouldn't work. Not on her, no siree. She was top dog. And she'd prove it to this arrogant, strange man. That-a-way, he'd get the hint, let off, and know that she was in charge at all times.

Indy held her ground. She pushed her upper body against the opposing force of Mr. Man so that she didn't actually move a single inch. She even shoved a little, but didn't make it noticeable that she did it on purpose. C'mon, the woman's an innocent little angel. Why would she do anything to harm or annoy anyone else?

Gesturing under-dramatically, the confused Indy Lou bore her eyes into his with brows furrowed downwards. "Who do you think you are, trying to order me around?"

Let's see him wriggle his way out of that small inquiry.

He couldn't really hold any authority over her. Sure, he'd called the proper aid for her, but she hated hospitals [with a passion] and could have lived without visiting one. She was grateful for his assistance, however.. but she wouldn't show that to him, nor anyone else for that matter. He couldn't claim to be her relative, significant other, friend, acquaintance, or even enemy. They didn't know one another or anything. She had the advantage, though, because she was smart. And she was female. So she could hold both of those "excuses" above Mr. Man.[/ul][/size][/color]