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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 5, 2017 22:58:49 GMT -5
She nodded, "Almost. Feels like a lifetime." she said only a hint of weariness in her voice. While he certainly had a lengthy record, hers had been more of a crash course.
There were more motivating factors in her success than Christian had. To him it was a job, a lucrative and exciting job, but a job none the less. For her it was her life, the life of her child - now children. She had an impressive record as well as an impressive skillset for someone who was relatively new to the 'game'.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 5, 2017 23:29:09 GMT -5
Christian laughed darkly. He could never understand her life, but he could sympathize. He saw his part in her misery, though he maintained his innocence for the most part. He didn't know what he was leaving behind when he went to take care of his father and the family business. He hadn't cared at the time.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 5, 2017 23:40:36 GMT -5
She had stopped blaming him for leaving her long ago. They had both been stupid kids. She hung the moon on his shoulders, Christian could do no wrong. It was a lot to live up to, and he had other responsibilities that she didn't know of at the time.
"It's not all bad." she said sipping her tea, "I mean yeah the constant running, hunting, fighting through broken bones and bullet holes isn't a picnic, but..." she smiled faintly, "I'm pretty good at it. I've never been good at anything I was supposed to be good at." she tossed her head back toward the kitchen, "Cooking, socializing, business matters, getting a husband." she teased him with the last part, "Though I suppose I finally succeeded there."
She shook her head.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 5, 2017 23:50:04 GMT -5
"And then you erased him," Christian replied in a neutral tone. He and Diana were getting on fine enough, they still fought but it wasn't the hateful emotional battles that had come before, and Christian was trying very hard to come to grips with the fact that he was a father but he was still conflicted when it came to Diana. He had obviously seen something in her once, and perhaps their current strain was making things unclear, but Christian couldn't see himself truly loving a woman like Diana. She was too emotional. And he never thought of himself as someone who would settle down.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:02:00 GMT -5
His words didn't sting, she even agreed with him, "See what I mean? Failure at every end." she laughed, then sighed, "But I can do the job well. I'm alive, and that's saying something. Most of them aren't, that says something too."
Diana was emotional with Christian, just her Christian. Derek had tried to penetrate that shell for over a year with no luck before Christian came into the picture. But being pregnant, and other recent events concerning the love of her life had brought the drama out of her. She was well entitled to her volatile emotional state. But she realized that Christian, at least this Christian, wasn't the man who rightfully earned her emotional outbursts. He didn't understand them, he didn't deserve them or at least he didn't know that he did.
Diana hardly recognized herself with Christian, but she knew she was happiest in his arms, she was happiest just being around him, but she was also miserable when he hurt her.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:09:03 GMT -5
When she spoke confidently, as she did now, Christian felt something stir inside him. It was the same feeling he got as Diana studied the floorplans to the building he and Burke would be sneaking into in a week. His mouth twitched, almost smiling at her. If he could just have this Diana things would be very different indeed.
"Well we know you're fertile as f*ck, that's got to go on the win side of the list from your parents' point of view."
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:25:13 GMT -5
She laughed again, "That's one way to look at it, but my mother died when I was too young to remember her, and my father well..." she gave Christian a look, "You know, I'm not all that concerned about living up to that man's expectations."
Being the perfect wife and mother and making a proper match had been of importance to Marcus Crawford, but Diana only ever had eyes for Christian. Even if she didn't love the man as deeply as she did, she might have married him simply out of spite to her father. Or rather she would have lived in sin with Christian forever to really stick it to the man's corpse.
"Besides, I had a little help in the baby making process." she said eyeing Christian teasingly, "But infiltrating a gentleman's club in pasties and a thong to slip Belladonna in a mark's drink, and subsequently taking out three security guards in said pasties and thong with nothing but a broken bottle and imagination, now that, was all me." she smirked.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:32:11 GMT -5
Christian's brow rose in interest as Diana described Christian's new favorite fantasy. "And this from the woman who thought she wasn't as attractive as some young stripper," he said as a clearly seductive smirk grew.
"I think I'm going to need a visual though...I can't seem to picture it." He was picturing plenty and the idea was titillating. They were once again heading for dangerous waters.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:37:47 GMT -5
She gave him a look that told him she knew very well what he was picturing. It was her fault this time, she had steered them to this conversation and now she had to navigate the waters.
"I wasn't a stripper. I was a waitress, made the hit rather easy." she said moving past his visual request.
"What was your best mark?"
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:50:56 GMT -5
Christian gave a decidedly unimpressed sigh as Diana again refused him. He didn't see why they couldn't have a little fun from time to time. It was not as if she could get more pregnant.
"Nothing in pasties, sadly. I'm more direct; break down the door, torture for information if needed, kill quickly. I did have a rather simple hit go wild when the target modified a multiplying charm and used it on himself. I had to kill seven of the same man by myself after two of my men were taken out. Managed to negotiate a higher rate after the fact," he said with a smirk. Christian had threatened the client with an Unforgivable and raked in triple the original price.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 0:55:28 GMT -5
She studied him from her safe distance, "Handy." she said as an afterthought, "The multiplying charm." she explained, "Outsmarting the assassins was more of a trial than taking out most of the targets...with a few exceptions"
Her chin rested on her knees as she looked at him, "You lot can be mighty clever."
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 1:07:38 GMT -5
"That's why they pay us so well," he said with a haughty smirk. Some assassins were paid better than others; Christian did very well comparatively.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 1:25:20 GMT -5
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Mmm, and what was the bounty on my head anyway?" she asked deceptively calm.
She was curious what the going price for her life was in Christian's book.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 1:41:39 GMT -5
"You, my dear, were a very special case." He rose and moved toward the bar cart, refilling his glass. He nearly offered Diana a drink when he remembered that she was pregnant. She charmed away the bump so often that Christian sometimes forgot, only for a moment but whenever he remembered there would be a heavy weight on his shoulders.
With his glass full, Christian returned to his chair. He took a sip, rested the glass on his knee, and smiled before telling Diana how much her head was worth. It was nothing to bat an eye at and quite obviously the reason Christian was concerned with hit wizards travelling from all across Europe to find her.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 1:49:00 GMT -5
Diana scoffed unimpressed, "Those cheap bastards." she said indignant. Christian's listed figure was paltry compared to the value of Crawford Industries and what the board members stood to gain with her death.
Though she could see why it would appeal to most hitwizards, it was enough to retire on.
"Do you ever think about your marks? Who they are, why someone is paying you to kill them?"
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 2:05:39 GMT -5
Christian knew Diana's family was wealthy, but for her to scoff at that pricetag was astonishing. Not that he would now, but Christian could easily retire and then some on what he would have earned should he deliver on the bounty. And Christian, while not rich by any means, did not hurt for money.
He thought of the paperwork the was currently shrunken and resting in his coat pocket; Diana had him pick them up from Burke's hotel. One of the documents entailed the finances of Crawford Industries but Christian hadn't had the chance to really look through it before Burke came back into the room and Christian was forced to his the papers. Diana's reaction now reignited his interest in the forms.
He took another drink as his mind turned from the payout to the target. Christian's face was almost emotionless as he answered her question. "No. It's a job, my job. I only turn down contracts if I know I can't do the job cleanly."
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 2:20:32 GMT -5
"You don't ask any questions?" she asked almost incredulous, not that it would have mattered. The board members could have said anything they wanted to. She didn't know why it bothered her, she shouldn't have let it bother her, but it did.
It really sunk in on her at that moment that she had been just another job to him, and that there had been other jobs he had done and succeeded in. He was the best for a reason.
"I'm sorry. I don't have a leg to stand on in that argument. Forget it."
She wouldn't, but they didn't need to argue.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 2:28:30 GMT -5
"If you ask questions you can't get the job done right. It's a rookie mistake." This Christian didn't know it, but the questions were what saved Diana's life. When Christian originally took the contract from Copperbottom, Diana piqued his interest and he asked lots of questions to himself. Questions that only Diana could have answered. Once he opened that door it was like a floodgate had opened; Christian was susceptible to the emotions, connections, and history that every single person he had ever killed had also had but not knowing any of it saved Christian from the guilt of taking their lives. Without the questions it's a job, with the questions its a daughter, a son, a mother, a father, a lover, a friend. Questions made the target a person.
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Post by Diana Ward on Jan 6, 2017 2:38:56 GMT -5
She thought about it for a moment. Christian had asked her questions, and she reasoned that it became difficult for him to kill her after he got to know her. She wondered if this Christian would still kill her now if they weren't tethered or if she wasn't pregnant, if he knew that he could kill her and suffer no repercussions.
"You're no rookie."
She smiled at him, "How's the sandwich?" she asked changing the topic, then she shook her head, "Sorry...I'm full of questions. Why don't I let you rest a bit." she said setting her tea down and standing up.
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Post by Christian Ward on Jan 6, 2017 2:46:57 GMT -5
This Christian had been forced to ask questions because they directly related to his missing memories. He had been careful not to ask anything that he didn't need to, but Diana also shared more than he would have liked. Without asking a single thing he was given the answers. It complicated things.
He didn't reply to her comment about not being a rookie, and she interrupted herself before he could answer about the sandwich. He wasn't upset to see her go, it would give him a chance to better look through the paperwork he'd nicked for her. Christian nodded at her and sipped on his drink silently.
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