<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5b/fd/68/5bfd684acbbaa2ce635387ab576f324e.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Valkyrie (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=337984.msg16040058#msg16040058)<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Black Lotus Tattoos --> Afterife<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Karma --> Open<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Blood, language<br/><strong>Mood:</strong>Killer - slowed // reverb (https://youtu.be/f1-UaZaLPbQ)<br/><hr/><hr/><br/><em>Drip.<br/><br/>Drip.<br/><br/>Drip.</em><br/><br/>The red drops fell and blended into the black asphalt of the alleyway, churning into pools where rainwater collected from the leaking awning below a myriad of flashing neon signs. Katya turned her head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood. Indelicately she brushed the back of her gloved hand over her lips and the underside of her probably broken nose - it didn't hurt, not much did these days, but she could still taste the coppery sweetness. Who knew his head had reinforced titanium? Or that he would use it when his insultingly small switchblade failed?<br/><br/>The fixer certainty fucking<em>hadn't</em>shared that little nugget of wisdom with her prior to going in...Though the eddies were prime.<br/><br/>At least she had something to show for it when she came limping back to the basement. Katya was lucky enough that Karma didn't seem to mind her dropping by occasionally to pay off her steep bill without using the front door.<br/><br/>Swiping her bloodied hand down, she hit the small console on the door concealed in the otherwise flush wall; an emergency exit of sorts, just in case shit went sideways. The door pulled away from the seam of the posters. Kat stepped in quickly, concealed in the shadows under a convenient guise of black leather and dark composite carbon fibre plating. Just as it opened, the door shut with near perfect alignment. Immediately inside was a narrow stairwell to the sublevel lit with a few old flickering bulbs recessed into the wall. Kat followed the route down to the basement and walked into a room she knew very well.<br/><br/>Remiss as she was to dirty the floor, she was already tracking in a bit of rainwater and whatever other detritus made up Night City's streets. The sealed concrete floor of Karma's basement had seen much worse.<br/><br/>Despite the beating she took her arms were still nimble enough to pull back her shoulders and make her jacket taut. Dropping her limbs loosened the sleeves down until she freed one arm and swung the jacket off with the other, wearing only a grey tank top underneath. It landed with a muffled thud on the stainless steel table gleaming just off centre of the well lit room. As she rolled her newly freed shoulders something clicked and--<br/><br/>Ok, maybe some things still hurt.<br/><br/>"Mm.." A low grumble seethed through her clenched lips. Katya reached back to feel around her left shoulder blade. The prick of metal bit back and she pulled it out easily, examining the knife tip. So that's where his switchblade went.<br/><br/>Careful not to make even more of a mess than she was already (just by existing), Kat palmed the shard and dumped it into the disposal unit at the end of the clean galley-style counter. She started to pull off other layers then; cupping the underside of her half visor with the opposite hand she pulled her techgogs off from the bottom up. A curtain of dark brown hair slipped out in a messy pony tail to splay over her pale nicked shoulder.<br/><br/>The lack of pressure made her nose run anew but thankfully she was over the sink anyway. Turning on the faucet she splashed lukewarm water onto her face hoping it would look some semblance of clean-ish. Then Katya turned to the coffee machine and flicked it on. She chewed the inside of her cheek while she waited for it to percolate. It took an embarrassing amount of will power to stop herself from getting impatient.<br/><br/>She didn't have to wait long until she heard the tell-tale rhythm of Karma's footsteps coming from the parlour above. Without looking up when light streamed into the open basement stairwell, Kat fished into her pocket for a chip and laid it out on the counter.<br/><br/>"Four thousand eddies." Finally, she turned around so her lower back rested on the counter's edge and crossed her arms over her chest. Her tone became more sombre, and she sniffed loudly to stop her nosebleed. "It was a dead end, though." Her dark eyes moved toward the coffee maker and then back over to Karma; both orbs a warm amber brown while the left pupil reflected green, giving away the impressive imitation was cold dead cyberware. The scent of fresh coffee started to waft in the air.<br/><br/>"This shit smells like old petrochem," Katya added nonchalantly.<br/><br/>She was bad at small talk too, obviously. Though it roughly translated to:<em>drinks?</em><br/><br/><hr/><br/>Afterlife pulsed brightly in front of Katya's currently bare face. She didn't like to go without her visor even though Karma fixed her up real nice; only a few thin scars from lip to ear and above her dead eye. However, the urge to drink herself into a deep stupor definitely overwhelmed her usual inability to be social and play nice. Tugging the lapel of her leather jacket up, Kat saw the hulking beast that was Emmerick give her a once-over from her periphery. Small nod. That was the green light.<br/><br/>At Rogue's house she followed the rules. Especially for such good drinks.