Slightly off target (tag Paris, Jordan)

[Deleted]

The week was going badly for Brody. He'd run out of money five days ago and as a result he'd been forced to spend the last four nights sleeping in an uncomfortable doorway (three of which it had rained heavily and he'd caught a cold) plus he'd not eaten anything even closely resembling proper food for the last two. Tough luck when the rats got to the good stuff in the dumpster before you.

It had gotten to the desperate stage where he actually considered trying to catch the little critters and set up some kind of elaborate spittle system over an open fire down some back alley, but since his camping skills were rather rusty, he'd forgone that idea. Brody was the scavenger type, not the boyscout type and ordinarily, that worked out just fine for him in a big city setting like this with plenty of resteraunts that threw out lots of perfectly good leftovers, just so long as he could get to them before the vermin.

Another perk of a busy, built up area was the bountiful supply of money that walked up and down the streets everyday, just waiting to be liberated from someone's purse or wallet. Brody had quite the sticky set of fingers and usually he got away clean before the unsuspecting person even realised he'd bumped into them. Though he was a little more tentative about doing it ever since his encounters with strange at Murdstone Mansion.

Getting bitten by a vampire would do that to you, especially since a vampire could be anyone, anywhere. For the most part, they looked like ordinary people and that's probably what freaked Brody out the most. All these so called normal people that looked down their noses at him on the street, any one of them could turn out to be something else. Something nasty that could rip out your throat if you looked at it the wrong way. Meeting the guy at the bookstore had also opened his eyes further to the truth and now the genie was out of the bottle, it wouldn't go back in again.

It made Brody more cautious on the street, scared in fact and that was possibly the reason he'd taken to sleeping in the back alley behind Chet's bookstore. He felt like a wuss for doing it but he got the sense that if trouble ever came looking for him there, that Chet might just be around to help him out of it. At least that's what helped Brody get to sleep at night these days. It wasn't like he had any friends, so a random guy who he'd met once was pretty much all he had.

So yeah, you could say he was having an off week. Distracted by his thoughts, off his game and clearly not bothering to take care of himself the way he usually did. His jeans were still slightly damp and dirty from the night before, boots scuffed and in need of laces that weren't frayed half to death. He wore three long sleeved t-shirts that had once been three different colours. Now they were all the same off-grey, washed out tinge of grubby. As ever, he wore his fingerless black gloves, his hands stuffed in his pants pockets to try and keep his fingertips warm while he ambled aimlessly down the street.

People, the type who liked to pretend that homeless people didn't exist, all gave him a wide berth as they passed, not that he really noticed since he was keeping his head down low, chin tucked against his chest. He figured that he probably smelt a little ripe, no surprise they were keeping their distance really. He might too if the roles were reversed.

He stopped at a crosswallk, trying to ignore his grumbling stomach when it growled loudly at the fresh smell of a hotdog a woman beside him was eating. Without realising it, he found himself staring at her food, practically salivating at the sight and smell before he caught her looking at him. Embarassed, he gave her an apologetic look and a smile to show he wasn't the kind of bum that would attack for two dollers worth of processed pig and he was surprised to find she smiled back at him, almost as if she understood what he felt.

Brody looked away, up at the lights to see whether they were changing or not so he could keep on walking and was even more shocked when the pretty young blond woman beside him nudged his arm and offered him half of her hotdog. He was so stunned by the kind gesture he didn't know what to do. It was very rare anyone ever did anything like that for him he found himself gaping back at her.

On the one hand, he didn't want to look like some pathetic charity case (though possibly it was a little late for that), but he was so hungry and she seemed as though she genuinely wanted him to have it, his hand had already reached out before his brain could do anything to object.

"Best hotdogs in town." The woman winked at him, smiling warmly in such a way that Brody felt he wasn't so bone deep cold anymore.

"Thanks..." was about all he could manage to say in response, a grateful smile plastering itself on his face. The lights changed and everyone else around them started walking across the road, the blonde hesitating for a moment as she met Brody's gaze.

"Enjoy." She said with a smile, taking a step off the kerb and back on her way to wherever. Brody stayed put, watching her go before looking down at the half hotdog in his hand. His stomach growled again, as if it was unimpressed that the food hadn't instantly been devoured, so Brody took the hint and swallowed a bite.

She wasn't kidding. This is the best hotdog in town!

Suddenly the urge to go find the woman came over him, he didn't know what he would do if he caught up with her, but something in him didn't want to let her slip through his fingers.

[paris]

Sliding out of the cab, Paris extended the cane and tapped it against the curb as she felt around her pocket for the folded 10 dollar bill. She held it through the window for the cabbie, smiling. "Keep the change." She chirped and waved, stepping away. Inhaling, she coughed a little, making a face. New area, new smell.

Tapping down the sidewalk, she paused to let someone by, turning her head she sniffed the air again. Her nose twitched with the smell of the hot dog stand on the corner and she started to it. There was a couple standing near it, from the sound of it flirting. They're auras were visible to her, so she could make them out in her bad vision. There was a compatibility there, she sensed.

Brushing past them, she stumbled, and brushed her fingertips on the man. "Oh, sorry, clumsy me..." She giggled, and slipped past the woman. She could see the strings coming off the man, connected to her fingers. She flexed her hand, fraying the strings and tangling them a little. "One hot dog please." She ordered, waiting for a moment, the right moment, to connect him to the woman, tie them in a way and help the love.

[Deleted]

Brody had been so wrapped up in trying to keep his eyes on the hotdog woman in the crowd so that he didn't lose her, he almost didn't see the dark haired woman in front of him until they practically bumped into each other. On any other day, that would have been a great excuse to pick her pocket, but he was too preoccupied right now, especially when he saw the white stick the new woman was carrying.

Oh, good job Brody. Run right into a blind chick why don't ya...

"Oh, sorry, clumsy me..."

"No, my bad. Wasn't looking where I was going."

Hey, why not make some blind jokes while you're at it, ya doofus....

She'd already moved on to go buy herself a hotdog, so Brody resumed looking for the blond woman again, turning in a slow circle until he caught sight of her on the other side of the street. Something was a little different now though, he felt drawn to something. Not anyone in particular, nor anything, just in need of a connection that he couldn't quite grasp just yet.

[Deleted]

Jordan was in a hurry. Jordan was always in a hurry. She may have been a demon but she was a business woman still and time was money and power and she still craved both even as a demon. Her limo pulled over to the side of the street and stopped. She was still several buildings down from where she needed to go but a taxi had stopped in front of them and they were stuck there for now.

Letting out and exasperated sigh Jordan pushed open the door to the limo. She looked over her shoulder and gave him a glaring look. Thinking that he was a complete idiot for not going around the taxi before he pulled over. But she was too irritated at the moment to wait for him to pull back out in traffic to pull farther down the street and drop her off in front of the right building.

"You are a complete idiot, you know that?" Jordan hissed at the driver as she got out of the car.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk and then slamming the car door closed behind her she gave one last stare at the incompetent driver. Then she turned on her heel and started walking down the sidewalk to her appointment. Suddenly her cell phone started ringing. Still in her huff she dug into her bag to retrieve her phone. Not paying attention to where she was going.

Jordan pulled out her phone, just as she was about to flip it open she suddenly bumped into a blind woman who was buying a hot dog at a hot dog stand. Jordan was dressed in a grey tailored business suit with a knee length tight skirt and black stiletto heeled pumps. Bumping into the woman caused her to lose her balance a bit and she had to grasp onto the woman to keep herself from falling.

All that had done was make Jordan more irritated. Disentangling herself from the woman she mumbled something that sounded like an apology. Still trying to answer her phone she turned around to walk around the woman and found herself stumbling and falling into a rather scruffy looking man who was standing on the curb about to cross the street.

"What is WRONG with everyone today? Can't a person just...."

Jordan started ranting and then suddenly stopped. She looked at the man she had just bumped into. He was familiar. Her phone was still ringing as she was still staring at the man she flipped the phone open and snapped at the person on the other end,

"I'll have to call you back!"

Flipping the phone closed again she gazed at the man in front of her. Still angry she couldn't quite place him but she knew him from somewhere. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. Cocking her head to the side she addressed the man in a reasonably polite tone.

"Who are you? I know you don't I? I'm sure that I do."

Folding her arms over her chest she quirked her eyebrow up while she waited for him to answer her. Jordan forgot all about the meeting she was in such a hurry to get to. The man intrigued her.