born to die (kasey)

[gwendolyn elise wickes]

go and fix your make up girl it's just a break up run and hide your crazy and start acting like a lady 'cause i raised you better gotta keep it together even when you fall apart but this ain't my mama's broken heart ----------------------------------------------------

long since had passed the time for redemption, gwen thought absently as she pulled her hair down from its pony tail and moved into her flat. the air that day was thick and humid, and her run left her feeling a little hollow and more than sweaty. as she dropped her keys into the bowl and shut the door behind her, the blonde exhaled thickly through her lips and checked her phone.

there were a few messages, some from clients and one from her boss saying she had the night off, and gwen crinkled her nose in relief. she was, first and foremost, a drug dealer; her other job - her front - was born out of necessity. if she didn't want to work at the bar, she didn't have to. she made plenty enough money just doing what she'd been contracted into. unfortunately, the people of caroline seemed nosy enough that a young, single woman with no job living in middle class would seem suspicious.

opening a new text, she typed in kasey's number and a quick, brisk message. coming over in five. be home. it was a typical message between the two of them; just presumptive and expectant enough of kasey that he knew it was still gwen, that she hadn't softened in the least.

she abandoned her phone and undressed, showering meticulously and re-dressing in cleaner clothes. she didn't bother to check it and see if he had said something like "i can't make it"; they had been in business together for just a while, but gwen was demanding, and he ought to have been well aware of that by now. it was just as easy to cut things off as it was to give.

after dressing, gwen snagged her keys, phone, and some of the newer product - prescription painkillers, some other unlabeled pills that she knew to be ecstasy, and a few other things - and stuffed it into her bag. for how nosy caroline was, it sure was easy to push drugs around, she thought dryly as she headed out of her flat once more. the air hasn't cooled in the least, and the instant she was in her car, gwen cranked the air conditioner.

(the air is hot and thick and it burns when she swallows it down, because her lungs are heaving for a break, but it kills the itch for the pills and the cigarettes that she desperately wants and needs-)

gwen had forgotten what it was like to not push drugs. she'd only been in the business for a couple of years, but it wore on you - especially when you didn't choose it. unfortunately, gwen's poor taste in men - or at least in alejandro - had led her into you push drugs for me, or i'll shoot you.

the very idea of it made her teeth grind, her knuckles going white on the steering wheel as she turned down kasey's street and parked her car. every time, she swore she'd kill that bitch alejandro the next time she saw him - and then he rolled around, and and she got icy and cold and her hands were still clean of his blood.

with her bag on her shoulder, the blonde knocked three times on kasey's door and sighed, already impatient. "honey, open the fucking door," she called, her tone casual but restless. "it's hot as hell and the wicked bitch is about to melt."

#kasey. 576. yey. © anise.

[kasey jaxon ambrose]

tonight the foxes hunt the hound

Twenty minutes had passed as the water still fell at a medium temperature from the shower head. Music barely was audible through the sound of the drops hitting the tiled wall, but it was still enough for Kasey to hear and sing out to. The drops of water made their way around him, sculpting to his body as he just stood there, hardly moving, and accepting the hair that fell to his face.

This had always been the most peaceful part of the day. It had become a ritual for him to take the time to shower for as long as he possibly could before the water heater questioned it's ability to continue to pump out anything at an even temperature. And slowly, now the water was starting to ween down, and Kasey pulled the lever over and it came to a halt.

Clumsily reaching for a towel that he hung on the shower curtain rod, he pulled it over his head, vigorously working it to his hair, and then eventually wrapping it around his body. He walked down the hall way into his bedroom, about to reach into his closet when he saw a light flashing on his phone, presumably a new text message and detoured over to it.

“Ah, shit,” he spoke aloud after reading it and noticing that it has been sent seven minutes ago. He wasn't sure if he should even bother replying because regardless, he knew that she would be around at any of the coming minutes and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't even bring himself to quickly get dressed, but rather took his time. It was just Gwen.

He started to pull out a typically “off work” black shirt from it's hanger and threw it to the bed, and started to reach through his dresser drawer for a par of dark faded jeans before he heard knocking at the door. He took the time to through the jeans on the bed by the shirt and roll his eyes before he started making his way down the hall towards the door.

Listening to her call out from the opposite side of the door he couldn't help but slow his pace a little. Even when he got to the door he didn't open it right away, a smug smile on his face for making her wait out in the heat. Why did he have to worry about it? He was in a nice, cool, air conditioned house. Besides, he was still in a towel, he didn't know what hot was at this point.

After only a few more moments, he figured she'd had enough and opened the door effortlessly, “Darling, what are you doing out in this heat, you might burst into flames,” the same smug smile remained on his face, “Please, do come in,” he gestured her inside and closed the door after her.

Not even bothering to tell her to make herself at home, or to sit down or any of the typical acts of hospitality, Kasey just held his arms across his chest and watched her, “So what's up? Can i put some clothes on first, or...?” He raised his eyebrow at her in question. If she was only going to be here for a minute or two he might as well just remain in the towel, but he'd much rather change into something rather than walk around in a partially wet towel.

[gwendolyn elise wickes]

go and fix your make up girl it's just a break up run and hide your crazy and start acting like a lady 'cause i raised you better gotta keep it together even when you fall apart but this ain't my mama's broken heart ----------------------------------------------------

kasey had been an interesting addition to gwendolyn's life. not in the you're so important to me now! sort of way, but more in the so how precisely does this work? he perplexed her in the very best sort of way, where she didn't feel particularly invested in him and thus whatever personal predicament he might be in, she could survey like a spectator from a safe distance, away from shrapnel. whether she contributed to any of his dilemmas was yet to be determined; she knew already that she had participated, but that bothered her very little.

what did bother her was that he took his oh-so-sweet time getting to the door. did he suddenly forget that she was his supplier? was he trying to play her? gwen rolled her eyes leaning against the back railing of the front deck area and lolling her head back as a breeze drifted through. if i didn't want his money, i'd shoot him, gwen thought absently as she shut her eyes against the breeze, ruffling her still-damp blonde waves. it certainly was taking him long enough.

when at last he did open the door, she brushed past him and made her way inside, dropping the bag on the coffee table careless and moving to make herself comfortable on his couch. it was pleasantly cool inside, for which gwendolyn was utterly grateful - she'd already run a mile in the heat, she didn't need to marinate in it. yawning, the blonde swung her sandaled feet up unto the table, fixing the necklace around her neck so that the clip rested at the nape of her neck. from this - her perch, so to speak - she surveyed kasey with a steady gaze.

part of her gaze was admiring, but mostly it was irritated. "just because you're pretty doesn't mean you can be a little bitch, you know," gwen said pleasantly, her smile dry and not in the least amused. "the only reason i get away with so much is not because of my dazzling looks, but because i've got great aim with a gun." reaching up and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, her smile became at least a little bit amused as she gestured vaguely with a slender hand.

"go ahead and put on some clothes," she replied. "i've got some new stuff for you."

it struck her - as it had many times in her life - that she probably didn't look like much when it came to pushing drugs. after all, you normally pictured big, burly men with tattoos; gwen was moderately short, slender, delicate. wiry and tough, yes, but generally not the face you pictured for drug dealing. she wondered if it was an advantage or not; whether it was, she didn't much care. she was still getting paid.

standing when kasey had gone to change, she picked up a magazine and flipped through it, easily at home wherever she went. "i hope you haven't had a brilliant epiphany and decided you're too good for my business," she called conversationally, running her fingers through her damp hair as she perused the magazine. "however, let's not forget that, as a customer, you are expendable. the only reason i keep you around, really, is because you make me money and occasionally entertain me."

#kasey. 553. wow templates!! © anise.

[kasey jaxon ambrose]

tonight the foxes hunt the hound

As far as the majority of Caroline was concerned, Kasey was just a business man, with a lot of ambitions and no room for bull shit. He worked for what he wanted, did as he wanted, and at the end of the day was still able to remain at a position of power. But that wasn't for all of them. There were also people like Gwen that saw his completely other side, the darker side. It was something that he only had during the times that he wasn't in Caroline, before everything, when he was constantly moving around and was able to get away with bad habits easier.

This wasn't the lifestyle that Kasey wanted to integrate into his every day lie in Caroline. Actually, Caroline was supposed to be the town that helped him settle down form everything, get him away from his vices and push him into the white-picket fence, modern, life style that he had always dreamt up coming from a poor family. He'd be a success story that people would read in his biography and look up to. Yet, Caroline proved to be a place where no matter how hard he tried, he had to give into the powers of evils.

Gwen was his number one evil that he gave in to. It worked though because no matter how much he didn't trust her, he equally trusted her. She knew enough about him to take his respected reputation down, and he knew enough about her to get her arrested. As if he'd actually call her out though, because if one of them went down, so did the other.

At her comments, Kasey simply rolled his eyes. He could honestly care less about her seemingly threatening words. There was nothing remotely terrifying about her to him, as he imagined she felt the same about him. Without a word, he walked out of the room and back down the hallway and into his bed room, picking up the clothes had thrown to the bed. Pulling his pants on quickly, he started to walk towards his closet again, double checking something he hadn't looked at since yesterday. Hidden in one of the corners was a safe-deposit box where he had different things stored over the years, the majority of it money that he kept separate from any of his accounts when he made and payments such as the one he was about to.

One of his hands wavered over the combination, picking apart the numbers that remained engraved in his brain until it clicked and opened for him. The thick walls were lined with different stacks of cash, and then one shoe box that was in the deeper portion of the case that Kasey only looked at for a moment before reaching for a bundle of cash he'd already organized previous to Gwen's appearance. Closing the safe tight, he got another look at it, thinking about what it'd be like if he had been able to escape himself. Would he ever be able to? He liked to believe that he would be able to walk away from this all whenever he wanted to, regardless of if that was true or not.

His eyes watched the safe for a moment longer before the sound of Gwen down the hall snapped him from his thoughts. Putting the money in his front pocket he, once again, found himself rolling his eyes, walking backwards and grabbing his shirt that he pulled over his head as he started down the hall way towards her. “You're so cute when you're trying to be a hard-ass” he flopped down on one of his chairs, giving her a serious look up and down.

“So, what do you got for me this time?” nothing wavered on his face as he waited for her to present him with whatever he would be getting into today.

[gwendolyn elise wickes]

go and fix your make up girl it's just a break up run and hide your crazy and start acting like a lady 'cause i raised you better gotta keep it together even when you fall apart but this ain't my mama's broken heart ----------------------------------------------------

how much did gwen like being a bartender? not at all. she actually despised it to the very marrow of her bones, because she'd had plans. sure, she'd been rebellious, but college had not been a shimmering dream in the distance; college had been real, and her grades had been excellent enough to get her into a school out of state, even. she hadn't really been sure what she wanted to do - science, chemistry maybe - but then she'd been dragged into a chemistry of a different kind. at the very least, at least she wasn't stripping, because then she could punch men who made a blatantly drunken grab at her ass.

ultimately, gwen liked being the one vice that kasey couldn't stop himself from giving in to. whether it was the drugs or the (repeated) one night stands, it pleased her to know she still had her claws sunk in to him. did she hold any malicious intent for him? not necessarily. did she want to see how far she could get him to sink? absolutely, because it meant more money for her and while, yes, she didn't necessarily want to see him die, there was a part of her that had always been interested in watching how far people could fall before they truly needed help. whether or not she decided to be the help they needed would always remain to be seen.

"i'm so cute period," gwendolyn drawled, shaking a finger at him chastisingly and moving over to the bag she'd set on the coffee table. damp strands of golden hair stuck to her cheeks, and she could feel her jaw aching the tiniest bit. alejandro sure knew how to lay the punches. "as for what i brought for you today, we have a lovely assortment for your needs -" she paused, sitting on the coffee table and crossing her legs daintily as she rifled through her bag. producing three small ziplock bags, she smiled pleasantly, batting sooty lashes.

"ecstasy, the newest bit," she explained, point at each bag as she went. "vicodin, and percocet. don't take with booze unless you want to die. i also have the usual, but it's all back home, and it's a thousand degrees outside." she quirked a brow, grinning wolfishly. "see anything you like?"

#kasey. ###. pardon this bad post. © anise.

[kasey jaxon ambrose]

tonight the foxes hunt the hound

Kasey may of rolled his eyes, but as he tilted his head back a playful smile crossed his lips. “Right, i forgot that's the real reason i like to have you around,” His eyes remained intent on her, giving away no real emotion. At this point he was just ready to see what she had brought for him, but he couldn't deny that he didn't mind the company of a person every once in a while. He wished he could say it was the company of someone who wasn't completely focused on business, but even this was another business venture, so to speak, for Kasey. Apparently no one liked to stop by for a simple conversation anymore.

Not for a moment had Kasey broken his eyes from her figure, watching as she went through her bag. He'd learned how important it was to never turn away from people, especially someone who was associated with business. The focus that Kasey consistently had was part of the reason why it hadn't taken him so long to become as successful as he was now.

As soon as he saw the little bags he already had a feeling of what he'd be getting himself into today. It was strange to think that at one point needles seemed to be his only vice but now he was finding it all over the spectrum. He started nodding when she spoke, since it reassured what he'd already suspected she had for him.

For a moment the room was silent as he allowed himself to think over what he really needed at this moment in time. “There's no need for the usual right now,” he thought and said this part at the same time. Really he wasn't all too concerned on the same things. He was feeling a little more adventurous than usual. This was probably because he'd been feeling so good with work lately. If anything, he didn't need anything at all for the good mood that he had been over this last week, but he liked to have something for those off days.

“Okay, so, i guess we will go with two tabs of the E and...” There was a moment of doubt inside of him, that little bit that was telling him he was fine and didn't need this to be okay that was fighting against him as he tried to speak out, “and maybe like three of vicodin, not really up for percocet.”

His hand slipped to his money, pulled it out and set it down on the table. “That should get me through at least two weeks, i've been feeling good,” a smirk came across his face for that moment that he was able to break and tell Gwen that he actually was feeling okay enough to avoid the drugs from an every day usage. As if he'd actually find himself doing it on a daily when he had work the majority of the time

“I take if you weren't to eager to go back home just to pick something up that you intend on staying a while?” he questioned her, almost hopeful that he'd have someone around if not for the shortest bit of time. Even though he was just getting ready to start out on the day, it didn't mean that it wasn't an indoors sort of day either.