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Scene Title | Ain't No Need… |
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Synopsis | Kain is put back in the same shoes he was in two years ago… |
Date | February 3, 2010 |
Kain's Penthouse
An hour's gone by, maybe an hour and a half. It's hard to say once the sun goes down and Kain refuses to turn the lights off in the apartment. He's been sitting on the sofa ever since Lola Mayeux had come in and delivered that news, told him that Richard Cardinal was dead. For a man he hardly cared about, somehow Kain seemed to have lost something in himself in finding that out.
He's been quiet this whole time, he's been nothing but silent, with his head in his hands and elbows on his knees, hair swept back under his palms and eyes held shut. The silence Kain offers to Lola isn't even a comfortable or peaceful one, it's just awkward.
"Why're y'still here?" It's the first thing he's said in what seems like forever, a muttered growl offered to the floor without even looking up to wherever the fellow Cajun had gone off to. Kain's voice implies a certain level of broken that seems incongruent with the notice of something as simple as death— Kain's killed plenty of people in his life, this shouldn't be affecting him so much. Unless the implausible is true…
…and he really believed Richard Cardinal.
Awkwardness is only as strong as it is felt.
Lola doesn't seem to be feeling it too strongly.
In fact, she's curled up in one of Kain's chairs, still dressed like a prostitute. Becuase, really, what else is she going to wear? She's been taking hits off a bottle and flicking a lighter for the majority of the time. At one point she did get up and wander around, snooping - and probably stealing.
"Waitin' fer the shift change downstairs so they don' know what time Ah got in or left." She takes another swig, watching him carefully. "Ya gonna be alright there, sug? Ah mean, don' get me wrong, seein' you in pain gives me all kinds a glee, but now ya just seem like….sad."
"The hell does it matter t'you?" Is Kain's sharply worded answer to Lola's seeming'y genuine question of concern. His blue eyes peer at her thorugh the stringy locks of blonde hair, black brows furrowed in an expression of pained disbelief. "Ah' guess you can be all happy now, 'cause both our lives a'dwn the shitter now. Ain't that just a wonderful happy coincidence!?"
Pushing himself up to his feet, Kain laces his fingers together over the back of his neck, walking away from the sofa, and more importantly walking away from Lola. "Ah' ain't got nothin' but the job that made me put a bullet in y'belly, girl…" He pauses near the island in the kitchen again, looking back across the spacious apartment to where Lola is curled up in the chair.
"Boys down in security don't pay no attention to the cameras up here at the penthouse…" Kain explains in a far less acidic tone of voice, "they know Ah' got girls comin' an' goin' an' they know who'a work for. You just go right on out the back door once you hit the lobby an' they ain't gonna do nothin'…"
Maybe it's a polite way of saying get out, or maybe it's a defensive way of saying leave if you want to.
Lola rolls over in the chair so that her arms are across the arm of it, and she can look over at Kain as he walks. She takes another swig of her drink, curling her knees up to her chest. "Know the funny thing bout gettin' shot fer personal reasons an gettin' shot fer professional ones? Hurts like a bitch either way." But she doesn't say it with a whole lot of venom - she's mostly gotten over it. Mostly.
Rolling onto her back once more, Lola kicks her feet up over the chair and takes another swig of her dirnk. "Mah life's actually workin' it's way back out 'gain, in case ya missed it. Yer just hittin' rock bottom now, s'all." Checking once over her hsoulder to see if he's looking, Lola leans forward swiftly to go through the things on the coffee table - mail, and whatever else is there. "An nobody knows rock bottom like me, sug. What's yer problem so bad anyway? Ya ain' dead, ya oughta see how much yer place beats the pants offa mine. Watcha want that ya ain' got?"
Blue eyes track over to Lola from where Kain stands between the kitchen and the living room, his throat moves up and down as he swallows silently, then just stares down at his feet. "Doesn't matter what Ah' don't have, now does it? Ain't gonna' change nothin'." Finally looking back to Lola, Kain watches her for a moment, then shakes his head and sweeps a lock of hair behind one ear and moves barefoot across the floor towards one of the enormous picture windows that overlooks the city skyline, resting one arm against it and leaning his weight on the glass.
"What Ah' ain't got, ain't nothin' that nobody can give me no more. It's the life Ah've been given, an' everythin' else is just wishful God damn thinkin'. Ah' was just about ready t'try an' re-evaluate mah life an' maybe take a step on the other side'a that there fence, maybe find out if the grass really is greener…"
Kain scowls, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Ain't nobody told me the fence was electrified."
"Oh mah shit, do ya even listen ta yerself, sugar? Grass is greener, electric fence - Ah'm bout ta rip out mah vagina an hand it over ta ya, cause of the two of us yer the one what really sounds like 'e oughta have one," So maybe Lola isn't the best person in the world to vent to. In a movement of surprising grace, the woman swings her legs under her and is up on her feet, sauntering - maybe a bit tilted, that's a big old bottle she's got - toward Kain.
"Why doncha just go an get whatever it is's got yer panties all so twisted, sug? Girl? Money? Fame? Fortune? Ah'm sure ya'd make a great underwear model if that's the way yer goin, though yer gettin' kinda old now, Ah'm sure there's a market ta the girls with daddy issues. Quit whinin! What is yer problem?"
How long ago was it that another woman who knew exactly how to get under his skin, with almost exactly the same accent came up here to change his life? How long ago was it that he put a bullet in someone she cared about? It was snowing that day too, just like it's snowing outside Kain's windows now. Looking over his shoulder to Lola, Kain's dark brows furrow and those blue eyes stare at her in more haunted expression than frustration.
The blonde reaches into her purse and procures a tape recorder. She presses play and lets the tape run for all of five seconds before clicking stop and holding it just out of reach for now. Just long enough so he can hear his own voice. Any pretenses of being drunk have been dropped now. "You've gotten sloppy, Zarek. D'ya have any idea how hard it's gonna be for me ta clean up this mess?"
"What Ah' ain't got is a life that's under mah control, what Ah' ain't got is a life that ain't owned by nobody. Takin' a bullet helped you get your shit on the right track— fine— nice an' dandy for ya, but the last time Ah' tried t'take a bullet t'fix mah problems the bullet was a dud." Pointing a hand towards the frosted glass doors of his penthouse, Kain makes it evidently clear where he wants that particularly leggy problem to head herself.
Kain's eyes go wide as he hears the sound of Mischa's voice shouting on the recorder, and his pained groan from the kick to the face she had delivered. The drawer opens the rest of the way, a smooth and quick motion, and all of that confusion on Kain's face drains away as a large pistol is raised from the drawer he had been fidgeting with. The hammer clicks back with a roll of his thumb, blue eyes shadowed by the lowering of his brow. "You got about till the count of ten to explain yerself, dollface, before I go and need to call a dry cleaner." Zarek's hand holding the gun level is shaking, a bead of water rolling down the side of his face from his wet hair, a few stringy blonde locks now unkempt from the rest, hanging in front of his eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
"Get outta' mah apartment." Kain grumbles, this time leaving no room for error in the gruff tone of his voice as he turns slowly from the window, "get the hell out an don't come 'round here no more, Ah' ain't in the market for prostitutes and Ah' ain't in the market for southern belles with strings attached." The bitterness in his voice isn't for her, but she'll do.
"Mister Linderman will be very upset if you waste me. He likes having cops enforcing the Act bearing his name in his pocket." The tape is tucked back into her purse and she quirks a brow. "Call me Kay."
It's for her.
"No,"
The answer is flippant, as if Lola didn't take his threat seriously. "Bullets don't work - we kin give ya drugs," Lola gives him a look with raised brows, as if this were a good idea. "Drugs might do. Or, ya know. Leavin' dear old Mistah Daniel. Maybe ya even need a vacation. Or a dead boss." Please, like both of these people haven't thought about this a hundred times before anyway. "Though drugs are probably easist, Ah don' see ya as the type ta, ya know. Bounce back. Yer kinda emo lately."
Still unconcerned with his desire for her to leave, Lola leans her back against the wall - not against the glass, thank you - and swigs from her bottle. Either way, she doesn't appear to be leaving, for whatever strange reason.
Kain tilts his head to the side, looking at Kay, then down to the purse, "Bullshit." Kain snorts out, slowly circling around the island with the gun trained on the blonde. "I ain't got a call from anybody 'bout you being on the way, and where the hell did you get that tape?" His eyes narrow again, hand still trembling slightly. Kain backs towards the middle of the living room, keeping Kaydence in line of sight as he crouches down, picking up his cellphone in his free hand, flipping it open without looking at it as he does, then rises up to stand straight again. His eyes dip down to the screen, no missed calls. He looks back up again, watching Kay with a wary expression, waiting to see how she explains this.
"You didn't get a call because Ah haven't told anybody yet, Zarek!" Kay tilts her head to one side, unruffled by the gun, it would seem. Then again, when you work anti-terrorism, you get used to people wanting you dead. It's just another day at the office. "Ah didn't figure you wanted the headache that comes with having to explain yourself. How some reporter managed to get a tape of you and that whore. You see, Ah was assigned to Miss Hamilton's case, and she gave me this tape. Only she and her lawyer have heard it. Oh, and me. Ah just— haven't turned it over to Commissioner Lau yet."
The look that Kain gives Lola is a piercing one, for a moment stunned by her defiance of his order to leave the apartment. Nostrils flaring, Kain takes a step closer to where she's leaning up against the white painted wall. "Ah said t'get out." This time his voice almost raises, bare feet tracking across the floor as he makes his way to Lola's perch against the wall, one hand swiping the bottle from her and throwing it to the floor with a loud clnk of the thick glass, sloshing alcohol on the hardwood.
"Son of a bitch!" Kain lowers the gun, throwing his phone at the sofa, "That little— " His fingers curl around the handle, knuckles whitening before he storms back over, "How the hell'd you end up with the tape? She just up and gave it to you? And son of a bitch she has a lawyer?" Kain reaches up to run one hand through his hair, franticly pacing back and forth through the living room, rubbing at his temple with the barrel of the pistol before waving it animatedly at the window.
"You go to anyone else with this yet?" Kain finally recollects his faculties, looking back to Kaydence, but all of the happy charm he had has drained from his face. "Just you, me, an' that little bitch and her lawyer?"
"Why ain't you leavin'?" Kain's voice tightens as he leans in towards lola, brows tensed and jaw clenched tightly one hand curled into a fist at his side and the other colimg to brace his weight against the wall, planted beside her head so he can lean in over her. "You lookin' t'get yerself shot again?" He squints to emphasize the words, nose rankling and breathing heavier now, working his frustrations up.
"Just our happy little foursome." Kay sways her legs back and forth, casual as you please. She watches Kain pace like a cat watching a canary. "Calm down, Zarek. The girl should be easy enough to handle, but the lawyer— Ah can't just feed her a cock and bull story about how the tape won't stand up in court. It might. Depends on which judge catches it. But we do have other options." She sighs. "Options that don't involve killing anyone. Put the gun down, for God's sake."
"Killin' people's what solves things!" Kain shouts while swinging the gun around, "God damnit," He hisses thorugh his teeth, finally easing the hammer back with his thumb. "That stupid bitch was suppos'ta get all scared outta' town, not go tryin' t'get herself killed." With a heavy sigh, Kain stalks back over to Kay, "Hand it over," He demands, holding out his hand, "We'll figure out a way t'explain how it got lost after." His fingers flex, a clear gimme motion. "Why'd you come on over and handle this personally anyway, why din'you take this straight up t'Dan?"
Kain's life has been a series of choices kept out of his control, and even now Lola's defiance of his request to get out of his apartment leaves him bereft of any form of solution to his predicament. Nothing he ever does has ever really been his choice, it's always been someone on the outside pushing him in one direction or another, and whenever he moves outside of the tether of control to try and grasp at some semblance of freedom for himself, someone is there to yank him back like a dog on a leash.
Lola seems mildly miffed as he shoves the alochol bottle away, and she watches it drain out. Such a waste. "No, but ya ain' gonna shoot me, sug. Who else would listen ta ya whine an bitch?" The woman, not wanting to be any closer to Kain than she has to, no matter her belief of not getting shot again, pushes away to cross the room again, stnading behind the island to watch him once more.
"Ah like pushin' yer buttons. Ah like drinkin' yer booze. An what's more….ya oughta have killed me once, an ya didn', sug. Where ah come from, means Ah owe ya a few good turns. Ya look like yer in need of a few right now, s'all." She seems almost uncomfortable making such an admission, as though confessing to being haflway decent physically hurts. "Not as many good turns as if ya'd been a little nicer, but one or two at least, seems like a fair trade in mah book. So that's why Ah'm askin' ya what it is ya want. Aaannnnddd…" She titls her head, putting on the 'innocent' face. "Ya might know some folks what need something stoled. Apparently mah apartment comes with bills, now that Richard Cardinal ain' makin' 'em get paid no more. Who'da figured?"
"Ah already know how it gets lost." Kay moves her purse around behind her back. My show, buddy. "And Ah would rather you owe a favour to me for this than get nothing from Mister Linderman. Does he need to know that you and his little pet cocked up? No. He doesn't need that kind'a concern." She raises her brows, "Would you calm down already? If Ah didn't have things undah control, Ah wouldn't be talkin' ta ya right now. I'd be talkin' to the bossman." She grins, "Mister Linderman employs me because Ah don't need to come to him for answers. Ah can clean up messes well enough on my own."
It all seems reasonable enough. Reasonable enough to calm Kain down some. He walks back into the kitchen, sliding the drawer open and depositing the handgun back where it was taken from. "Man, ain't this just a kick in the teeth." Shaking his head, he grabs that glass he was drinking from and pounds down the last of the vodka in it, then slams the glass down on the counter top, hunching forward and grumbling as he runs both of his hands through his hair, still dressed in but a towel after all of this. "So you're with housekeeping?" One brow raises as Kain regards Kay again, "Kay, was it?" He snorts slightly, muttering to himself, "Son of a bitch."
"Ah need mah life back from Daniel Linderman." Kain states flatly, his head only then turning to look at where Lola's standing behind the island, turning to stalk her across the apartment from where she left. His bare feet step into the mess of booze on the floor from the spilt bottle as he stands just on the opposite side of the island from her. "Ah' need Richard Cardinal back from th' dead." Now comes the bitterness in his voice he'd had once before. "Ah need leeches like you outta' mah life!" One of Kain's hands violently swings across the ocuntertop, toppling a bottle of gin over to smash on the floor.
Silent for a time, head held in his hands, Kain finally starts to rise up again, leaning one hand on the countertop as he looks at Kay, "Got me right by th' short and curlies then, darlin'." He has such a colorful way with words, "What's your price, and Ah'll see what Ah can do 'bout it."
"A favour to be named later. Ah don't need anything from you right now." Kay smiles sweetly, "But Ah do know you'll come in handy." She tips her head in his direction, still clearly in control. "Ah have a plan."
Kain cracks a smile, finally starting to relax as he leans on the counter, forearms resting on the polished marble top, "Well now, that's two fine women that Ah'm in a debt two in as many days. Somethin' tells me Ah'm jus' a little slack these days." Brows raising, Kain shoots a side-long glance over to Kay, looking her up and down again. "Alright sugarlips, you wanna' let me in on this here plan, or am Ah just goin' t'sit here and look half-dressed?"
Stepping around the side of the island that doesn't have broken glass scattered on the floor, Kain's barefoot stride takes him towards Lola, eyes filled with something more angry now than before. "You wanna' use me t'get cher'self where y'wanna be?" His voice is a grunted growl now, stepping close to loom over the shorter woman. "You wanna' play games, well go on ahead! Welcome t'Kain Zarek's house of screw-jobs!" Both of his hands fly wildly and drunkenly into the air. "Go ahead, take a piece'a me like everyone else!"
"You're goin' ta listen to mah plan and sit there and look half-dressed. Ah like you that way." Kay adjusts her seat on the island, sliding to one edge so that she can leave one leg to dangle off the side and settle the other long leg along the length of the surface in what she hopes is a distracting manner. "How's your right hook? Solid? Can you drop a man in one punch?"
Kain reaches out, grabbing Lola by the wrist and forcibly yanking her closer, his lips downturned into a scowl, brows furrowed and blue eyes narrowed in a furious expression. "How's about it, darlin'?" Kain's growling tone of voice is unlike what Lola's heard from him before. "What's it gonna' be now? You can't get me what Ah want, an' Ah can't get you want you want?" His throat tightens, swallowing noisily, and Kain's lips draw back into a grimace.
Kain's eyes follow directly as intended, clearly distracted enough that he doesn't even hear her question completely. Looking back up, he manages enough of a charming grin to pass off his ignorance as thoughtfulness. "Ah can take care've m'self if it comes down to it. If they don't stay down on the first swing, tha's what the good Lord gave us feet for." He cracks a teasing smile, shaking his head before looking back up to Kay, "How's about you? Can you drop a man in one blow?"
"Get out."
"If Ah wanted a peice a ya, sug, Ah'da taken all of ya. Ya know how greedy Ah am, now get off a me afore Ah take yer family jewels!" Lola doesn't like being grabbed. Even if she wanted ot leave now, there's the whole issue of Mr. Grabbyhands. At least she has one free hand, which she tries to use to push against the larger man's chest, one foot propped against the island behind her to give her a bit of force, should she need it.
"Fuckin' drunk, ya don' want mah help? Then fine, lemme go. Ah'll do ya one better, Ah'll even shoot ya mahself if ya ask real nice." Yes, she really ought to have known better. It's what she always gets, for trying to be helpful in her own screwy way!
A laugh is snorted out as Kain straightens, turning around towards the open-faced cabinets to grab another glass, bringing it over to the counter. Two ice cubes are dropped inside with a soft plinking sound, and he fills that halfway with vodka, and refreshes his glass while he's at it. The second glass is, of course, pushed across the counter top towards Kay with one hand.
Fingers slowly unwind from Lola's wrist, and when she pushes against his chest Kain drunkenly staggers until his back hits the refrigerator, knocking a few magnets off to clatter on the floor around his feet. He watches the redhead move, slip past, and he tries to look smug and thankful that she's finally moving out of his apartment and out of his way, even if inside he doesn't want her to leave.
Kay takes the glass and sips. "Ah'm more a gin girl, but this isn't half bad." She shrugs and takes another longer drink. To answer his question, she plucks a floating cube of ice from the glass and slides it past her lips. Can I ever.
"Ah' don't need your help…" Kain breathes out with a tightness in his voice, dark brows furrowed and head turning away from the redhead, "Ah' ain't never needed nobody, not since Ah' was born. Just get the hell outta' here, an' don't ever wiggle your ass up them stairs again…" It's easier to dismiss Lola out of his life, than it is to dismiss someone who isn't around any longer. In the drunken haze of his current state of mind, Lola Mayeux makes a fine substitute for Kaydence Lee. Somehow that plan with what to do with the nosy reporter and her lawyer girlfriend seems like a million years ago, even if Kain can remember how that conversation ended more clearly than the middle of the conversation.
Kay holds up her left hand where a diamond ring glitters on the fourth finger. "I'm a married woman." The drawl slips away some as she turns somber, "But you… are quite the good-looking man." Suddenly, that calm demeanor is shaken and Kay's cheeks flush a faint shade of pink. Her gaze is apprehensive.
Kain takes a look at the ring, then takes the hand gently by the wrist and pushes it aside, moving in to stand a bit closer, "Ain't the first ring I'd tarnish." He says with a lopsided smile, looking down at Kaydence with one brow raised, "Ah am, aren't Ah?" Kain's smile remains strong and confident as he eases that acquired wrist down, stepping in a bit closer, "Now how's about we compare notes on our plans?" A smile is flashed, something a mix of predatory and promising.
"Ah' don't need you…" Kain reiterates more to his feet than to Lola, because of the way his head hangs and eyes fall shut as he slouches his back against the refrigerator. "Ah' don't need nobody…" That much is just hoarse grumbling, and Kain's back slides down the refrigerator as his knees bend, and he finds himself seated on the floor of his kitchen, broken glass and discarded magnets scattered across the floor.
Lola ran. Like a pup, she ran, she even managed to get her coat on. It hangs open now as she stands just beyond the kitchen, gun in her hand, looking down at the puddle of mess that remains of Kain Zarek. He is, after all, a mess. A train wreck. A disaster. But shit, Lola's been all of that before.
And looking down on that mess, she sighs. The gun makes a soft sound as it's set aside, and she pulls off the jacket. "What ya need is a cold shower and a long night a sleep," Lola advises, being the expert that she is on being, well, a train wreck.
High heels click softly against the floor as she makes her way back to him, crouching down. "Come on, ya floozie. Get up, lets get ya clean," she mutters, lifting Kain's arm around her shoulders to try and help heave him to his feet. "Maybe even sober, if ya believe that's possible."
One thing about being a reformed junkie - you can really see a lot of you in other people, and remember how much you needed that help when you got it.
The woman's eyes widen just the barest bit. Fight or flight instincts are trying to kick in. Mostly flight. Kay's head turns so she can glance toward the door, but she finds herself quickly looking back at Kain again. "Shit." Her eyes turn skyward and she whispers, "Forgive me," before reaching up to rest her hands on either side of the man's face and press her lips to his passionately.
There's a frustrated grunt from Kain as Lola hooks his arm around her shoulders and tries to lift him up from the floor. His legs buckle ever so slightly, a wheezing breath is taken and blue eyes find Lola's as he barely manages to get his drunken self off of the floor.
Kain lets out a quiet sound, and the whisper for forgiveness only seems to make him enjoy what comes next even more — forbidden fruit is always the more sweet. The hands on either side of his face meet with the rough and mostly unshaven skin, like he's gone a day or two without cleaning himself up. He leans in at the invitation, one hand moving to settle at the small of Kay's back, drawing her up against him, the strength in his arms evident from the way in which he commands her slight frame.
"Ah… thought Ah' tol' you t'leave…" Kain breathes out with a shaky exhalation, shuffling along with Lola's guidance away from the broken glass on one side of the kitchen floor. His head hangs, tangled blonde hair matted in his face, all the fight drained out of him in this see-saw of drunken emotional response. "Ah' tol' you Ah' dun need nobody…" or so goes the mantra he's been repeating all night.
His other hand keeps her wrist restrained, perhaps with a bit more force than he had before. Not enough to hurt her, but perhaps enough to remind her that he's in control, or perhaps to let her give in and allow someone else to take control. It is always the woman who have power who seem to want it taken away, in Kain's experience.
"Yer a stubborn bitch…" Kain grouses without fighting off her assistance, feet shuffling wetly across the floor thorugh the spilled alcohol from the unbroken bottle he'd thrown from Lola's hand. His head shakes, shoulders slack, and as he watches his bare feet move, he can't help but remember those words he gave to Kaydence that day.
"Ain't no need," he whispers against her lips, breath warm and heavy, "for forgiveness."
Maybe that's what he needs after all.