In the Night [Luna] [End]

Nights were always cold; however, this night was particularly more chilly, due in thanks to the signs the snowmen made in front of some houses. District 1 was the home of sparkles and shine - even if they had to be invested in the frozen water droplets falling down from the sky. White freezing petals of Mother Nature's gift descended slowly in a single dance consisting of swirling, turning, and - finally - landing on the ground as a mass of packed particles, almost to the texture of sheet. Everything was being covered in the falling crystals into gentle layers, especially the dimly-lit light poles that could hardly illuminate the streets beyond three feet.

Squeaks erupted from an alleyway. Out the door of rust and bolts came out an Asian woman, face on default. With slowness, she had attempted to close the entrance way with little loudness; and, after such a try, she put a fur-trimmed hood over her head and inserted the gloved hands in her coat pockets, huffing out white vapor. Both physiological and emotional warmth highly contrasted the bitterness of tonight. She exited the little area, breathing deeply, and took a sharp turn to the left, down the street where no pedestrians were spotted. Quickly, she had flashed a smirk and returned to normalcy, walking just a little bit faster but not enough to look out of place. From time to time, her hands would fondle with the items inside the pockets or a gloved hand would fix the strap of a satchel back onto proper place.

Oh was he quite fun! Hehe! What a wonderful way to spend the night!

Boots crunched against the packed snow on the pavement. Tanned hands grasped the open coat to 'close' them without the use of a zipper. Out in the snow, seemingly no one but her was in the nature, and she continued walking at the pace that was faster than her usual speed. When she finally reached the corner of the street, just a turn of the head from the wall, a man looking to be her age was leaning against the wall, smirking, folding arms, a black boot of his own propped against the same building. As she came up to him, he only shifted his position to rub the shoulders up. He whispered in her ear, and she hooked her arm with his. Walking down the street together, the Asian woman was smiling.

They strolled up to a sign with a smiling and frowning mask, red curtains behind a dancing man and woman in a picture. Low chuckles could be heard from the male while the Asian merely smiled that was almost like a smirk of utter glee. Opening the door, they were met with a tall man that opened his palm. Tickets were thrust to the man, and the two entered the building, all the while the girl furrowing her brows while smiling. Immediately, voices could be heard echoing off the surroundings until the door was closed and the lights shut down. Black brows rose when the two took their seats.

But she was still smiling.

Brown eyes were set forward even as more deep whispers entered in the ears. All the Asian girl had to give back to the man was a shake or nod of the head. While waiting, the woman had propped her head on a balled-up fist, the elbow also propped on the arm of the seat. Even if she disagreed to certain items of dialogue, the man went on with the hushed talk. From her peripheral vision, she could see that the guy was smiling, exposing his teeth while his voice got softer, more masked. As he went to touch her small shoulders, she had gently brushed off the physical contact, continuing to look on towards the stage.

Main lights were killed. Claps increasingly erupted from the audience in a reserved, polite manner. From the side, the Asian woman could hear her partner following the crowd, but she did not go along in suit. As a substitute, she had flicked one eyebrow with a peculiar, small smile - almost in a smirk. She did not shift her head at all even as the curtains were drawing. Back in place, the brow reverted to normalcy while the smirk-like smile was kept on. No more did the man sitting beside the young woman continue on with the conversation - or attempts of. When the stage lights flashed on, the hand not occupied with keeping the heavy head stationary had moved to patting the satchel and hugging the bag close to the body.

Narration boomed through the speakers, setting up the story. In the tale, the beginning of the life of a Avox was told, his past babyhood and his current child aspirations. Seconds ticked; the history of the boy brought actors and actresses on the stage gradually, akin to ants in a focused line crawling to food. Another brow flick from the Asian girl. Once the main character and propeller of the story was introduced, the show began.

Little was invested in the props, but the main seller was the story. Throughout points of the play, the audience would move around in their seats, getting closer to the stage to the best of their ability. Starting from when he was barely five-years old and increasing until he had become a man, the main character garnered quite a bit of interest - even if negative. From what the Asian girl could tell, at least thirty percent of the crowd were not always pleased with the achievements of the Avox protagonist. As stressed throughout the story, he was a criminal of Panem, and he should not deserve good fortune for his deeds. Sometimes, a loud boo could be heard.

In the end, the protagonist - despite all the increasingly blissful events that happened in his favor - had one devastating negative moment that landed him back to the beginning, when he was a child, seemingly not having progressed all his life. After the final bow and applause, the main lights were back on. Among the first to go, the woman and the man rushed to beat the crowd and out the building; and, again, the conversation went one-sided for the guy, now his normal-leveled voice hidden amongst the rest of the mingling the crowd did. Away from the people and back out in the open hours later, the monologue was turned to dialogue. He whispered in her ear, and she replied with, "Sounds fine. I don't mind being in abandoned places. I find them... interesting."

So they walked a ways, heading into the lesser-populated section of the District, and the man opened a door for the woman, ushering her inside which she complied to.

"Now, then, your price for the show, as we agreed on," he said. "No jilting me, got it?"
Discreet smirk. "Of course not. I wouldn't do such a thing, you naughty boy. You deserve quite a punishment..."

Quite deserve indeed.

Gently, the Asian girl's hand stroked down the man's back, the nails scratching through the fabric of his clothes. Slow, steady, she went down the back, increasing pressure. Playing on the lips, a smirk crawled on her face as she heard him gasping heavy breaths. When she saw him close his eyes, her hand swiped to smack the man's face hard. Brown eyes narrowed in as the male growled through his teeth with a smile and a pleased glint in the eye. His own facial expression matched her own devilishness, though the dark-haired girl could hear the air being sucked through the pearly whites, holding in desires. Her smirk grew wider, and she lowered both her brows closer to the eyes.

As the man tried to touch her, she would step away, dodging, and say that he was a naughty boy. Her words were laced with a playfully scolding tone, and that brought the guy around her age closer, snickering, his fingers twitching inwards and outwards in a grabbing manner. "Over there." Dark-brown eyes flickered over to an area with tall beam structures going perpendicular to the ground. Not an entire solid, there were other warped metals to support the legs of the structures, zigzagging and crossing each other in an intricate web of human making. Holes made by the lacing were fairly large. "You masochist, you. A man like you," her fingers ran through the curve of his face, smiling, "needs a little more than a chase. Naughty men deserve a nice, good whipping."

Seeing the expression of glee on his face allowed the girl's smirk to grow even larger.

To her implied suggestion, the man walked over to the area and stood still. Also walking to the spot, the 19-year old Asian withdrew a couple sets of rope from her bag. "You're prepared for these things, aren't you? Cool. That's very cool." In a hesitant but sure fashion, the young woman wrapped the rope around the wrists in tight knots and attached them - again, tightly - to the beams. There was enough cord to reach, but hardly enough for the man to move and shift in. One last cable wrapped around the two legs, spreading him out in a T-shape.

"Oh, yeah, this is good..." He threw a laugh out.
"Naughty, naughty, naughty."

She shook her head and kept on muttering the word 'naughty' while extracting a firm whip out from the bag. By simply looking, the girl could see that the weapon had been used many a time before her, having twine that was coming undone or snapped. Her eyes rested on the black tool a while, inspecting it, and then smiled big. "You're rather tough to survive this. That's so... awesome." He did not give a reply back, but the dark-haired girl could imagine the look on his face. "Are you ready for the thrill of the lifetime? Hehe. Big, bad boy."

With a crack, the whip was driven down onto the guy's back, and he gasped in both elation and some pain. "This is some weird way of wanting to be treated for a show!" she went on while getting more hits on the man's back. More gasps and - eventually - heavier breaths could be heard throughout the building. Though she was smiling at first, the Asian contorted her face to a deep frown. "Wouldn't it be better for the shirt off?" She received a disagreement, and continued.

Not long, the girl expressed having a break in order to lash out harder attacks. Her hand reached over to the satchel and pulled out a water bottle and sipped. Purity rushed down the throat. She put the container away and - with a low snicker - pulled out a sickle. "I'm just about ready!" Returning to the back of the man, the 19-year old whipped across the back, restarting the heavier gasps. For each whipping, the girl got closer to the body until she was within a good reach.

She started to slash at the guy. Instead of breaths of pleasure, he was screaming in alarming pain. This was where her happiness was derived from. In the frenzy, the girl started to roar with laughter and snickers, smiling wide. His yells reverberated off the walls; but, in the sounds were not loud to penetrate the building and ask for help from the outside. Someone who gets pleasure from pain should learn to think twice! Hehe!

"The fuck are you doing?! Mira! God, that hurts!"
"Hickety, pickety, my black hen,
She lays eggs for gentlemen;
Gentlemen come every day
To see what my black hen doth lay."

Blood soaked in the fabric that was not cut open. With each strike, the man around her age was beginning to get quieter, whining and whimpering for his life. Deep gashes got the most out of him, but that did not stop him from getting more silent - to the Asian's chagrin. She went to the front and saw that his eyes were looking down, flinching upon seeing the weapon of choice drooling of his crimson essence. "The heck... Why...?" One slice through the chest got another scream out of him. On her face was a smile of pure, concentrated ecstasy. Down the arm, the blade ran to the hand, another pain-ridden howl escaping from the lips.

"Oh Black Hen, why doth you lay eggs? I love to hear you scream...!"

On and on with the slashes, cutting parts off and ripping the flesh open. With silence coming on, the girl's eyes glanced over at the man and detected him falling to an unconscious state. Her trusty sickle reaped all it could from the man. "No more screams? No more screams?! You're no fun! Scream for me!"

In the final act, the sickle was plunged into the chest, and the last scream was let out before the man drooped, still, the coppery smell emitting from his lips as blood dripped off from the mouth. She squealed as the pain was made certain. "Yes, yes, yes! That was rather fun! Much, much--- Oh... right." Looking up to the shattered windows, the Asian thrust out the sickle, blood droplets flying off and splashing onto the floor. "Oh new friend! Where are you?" She walked slowly, taking large striding steps. "You know it's not good to play Tag without touching anyone or notifying that we're playing a game. To follow us to our places. Where are youuuuu? Let's play!"

Snickering, the Asian girl changed to dashing, running at full-speed towards the door, smiling big and dark.