losing all that's making me human┊INTRO (O)

[WALKER.]

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.4; color: #6B6953;"]after a few days of being on a hunt from a job he picked up, walker approached the familiar landscape that he decided to call home. home. that had always been a fleeting topic for him. when he was younger, the only thing he ever knew as home was the quaint little brick house he grew up in with his parents. however, that soon changed when he was the only one left and he trashed the place before sending the building up in flames… his anger always seemed to get the best of him in situations such as losing his parents. for awhile after that, home had just been another average word that had no meaning to him.

then lucia came into his life. like most of his relationships, at first he only intended for it to be some sort of brief fling that helped distract him from the darkness that lurked in his mind. a few days turned into weeks and before he could even fully grasp the situation, he had been with the woman for three years. he told himself it wasn't anything special, it was just simply "easier than finding new people every few weeks". as much as he didn't want to admit it, it was different. things felt natural with her and for once in his life, walker began to feel comfortable. without him realizing it, she began to feel like home. that was certainly a no-go for him and he did what he always did best - ruin it.

walker brought the cigarette to his lips and took a long drag, holding it in his lungs for a brief moment before exhaling the smoke. if things were still normal like before the blackout, a six foot five man with dry blood on his clothes and dirt on his arms walking into a casino surely would have triggered a bunch of red flags for onlookers, but in the badlands it was a common scene. not many people even bothered to raise their head to take a look at him as he made his way back to one of the poker tables. his green eyes locked onto the man with a cigar in his hand and a smirk on his face. before the man could even say anything, walker tossed the small burlap bag onto the middle of the table. walker tapped his cigarette into an ashtray as the man took a look into the bag at the proof that he completed the hit.

”good work as always, walker. it’s a lil concernin' how good of a hitman you are, no one else can do it like-”

"save the flattery." he was quick to interject, all emotion erased from his face like normal. "either i get the payment tonight or..." he paused to nod his head to the bag the other man was holding. "the same thing happens to you until i do get it. how’s that sound?" he didn’t bother waiting for a response, instead he walked over to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools. he really should get cleaned up and rest for awhile, but a few drinks wouldn’t hurt, would they? "whiskey." he muttered to the bartender, running a hand over his face as he sighed.

// this is so so rushed and i'll fix it when im home but!! hes here

[paisley m.]

She was seated at the bar already when a familiar voice spoke, one she definitely hadn't heard in years but she knew who it was. She only glanced over when he approached the bar. Jesus christ he was tall. "I don't know if you can hear me up there, but hey Walker" long time no see would be an understatement to say the least. Who knew she'd run into so many familiar faces by joining The Badlands.

Penny downed the rest of her drink "refill, penny?" "Si, of course." she responded, looking back over to the new but familiar face. This was definitely not the way she expected to ever run into Walker again, but she didn't exactly ever expect to. "How's being...a hitman? Am I correct?" she questioned, eyebrow raised at her guess as to what it was he did now. Her father had hired a hitman or two, so at least her guess was an educated one and not just one she pulled out of her ass.

She took her glass, now refilled, and drank from it. Walker seemed a lot scarier but even if he was a foot taller than her - there was just something about him that didn't scare her. Maybe because she knew him, who knows. "If he isn't gonna pay you...I mean, a little batting practice never hurt" she offered with a smirk, it had been too long since she was able to actually participate in any type of violence. So yeah she was a little rusty but that's what batting practice was for, right?

[WALKER.]

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.4; color: #6B6953;"]walker’s eyes were shut tightly as he waited for his drink, even as he heard a vaguely familiar voice speak towards him. where did he remember the voice from? he raised his head away from his hands, his tired gaze shifting over to look towards the woman, his face expressionless from the quip she made. for a moment he was silent as he just blankly stared at her, hand reaching to grab the glass of whiskey that the bartender was passing to him. he took a drink before finally speaking. "funny." he took another drag from his cigarette. "how long did it take you to think of that one?" walker turned his head and blew out the smoke before taking another swig of the whiskey. being six foot five, walker was quick to grow use to the typical reoccurring comments people would make to anyone above average in height. back in his teen years, it made him want to pull his hair out at times, but with like everything now, he didn't have much of a reaction to it anymore.

"oh, you know me. 'm a simple guy, not that hard to please," he started off when she asked how being a hitman was. "i get stuff in return for doing stuff i would normally do for fun anyways, so it's an ideal situation."

"thanks for the offer, but..." his voiced trailed off as his green eyes went to go look her up and down, mainly to accentuate that he was referring to her height. "i can't imagine you being very much help." he smiled briefly after as a way to make it seem like a light-hearted joke, which wasn't the case, but from his experience, normally doing that helped with saving himself from a headache. "besides, that would take all the fun away from me, can't just make a threat and not follow through with it. that wouldn't be polite." he sat the glass down after finishing the last little bit, pointing it towards the bartender in the process as a way to request another.

"what are you doin' all the way out here anyway?" most of him didn't really care, but there was a part that was genuinely curious. he hadn't seen her since they were teenagers and back then she was still around her family, a bit surprised that she was off on her own now.