Of Guns and Roses

First Meeting and Offer

It was nearly about midnight as Thalia returned to the hotel across from The Rusty Spittoon. She needed a lot of sleep to rest and recover from what she witnessed that night.

She decided to change out of her performance attire behind a partition and into a white silk and lace nightdress before placing her pistol on her bedside table, turning the lamp off and laying down underneath the thick covers, in order to keep herself warm.

Just as she was drifting off into slumber, she somehow heard a voice from outside her hotel room.

"She's here too?"

Thalia stirred a little upon hearing that voice but decided to continue sleeping and getting comfortable. But just as she was about to drift off, she was abruptly awakened at the sound of someone barging into her hotel room. (The lock on her door was broken.)

Thalia groaned as she grabbed her pistol from the beside table. "Doesn't anyone knock before entering a lady's..." But as she turned on her bedside lamp before completing her question...

"Knock, knock, witch."

Just as the room was filled with light, Thalia found herself face to face with Erron, standing at the foot of her bed.

"Who are you calling a witch?!" Snapped Thalia, aiming her pistol at the mercenary. "I'm just a saloon girl singing for money!"

The gunslinger narrowed his eyes as he aimed his revolver at Thalia's pistol. "Well I'm a mercenary of Outworld. It's a better job than just "singing"."

Thalia narrowed her eyes as her manicured finger moved to the trigger of her pistol. "Really?" She asked bitterly.

"Yes...really." Now they were both pointing their firearms at each other.

"I'm lucky I took cover from one of your bullets halfway through my performance." Thalia remarked snarky, referring to what she witnessed at the bar.

"So you remember me, eh?" The mercenary asked, unshaken from Thalia's snarky bitter comment.

"Yes." Thalia nodded. "I see your face on every wanted poster on my way to work to perform at The Rusty Spittoon."

Erron shrugged off the fact. "I must be quite...the looker."

Thalia's eyes widened as she knew what he meant but still had her pistol aimed.

'Better keep my composure in case he tries anything on me like Sonya and Jacqui.' She mentally told herself, knowing that he was a bit of a cowboy Casanova and she had to stay strong, for he tried flirting with her, she would fall to pieces.

"Now...how about we begin with collecting my paycheck. It's written all over your blood."

Erron's remark made Thalia's eyes widen and her blood boil. Does that mean he plans on shooting her down?

"My blood?!" Thalia asked in shock before demanding. "Who sent you?! Tell me now or do I have to shove my revolver down your throat to give you a taste of lead!"

She pointed the gun even more, her finger still on the trigger.

"Yeah...not doing that." Erron answered, unfazed. "Besides, it's for the money. Nothing personal."

"You wouldn't think about shooting a saloon girl like me, would you?" Thalia asked, sounding sugary sweet, hoping playing the innocent saloon sweetheart card would work on him.

However, Erron wasn't one to fall for it. "But it'd feel so right."

Upon seeing her trick failing to work, Thalia changed from sugary sweet to frustration.

"Oh, you messed with the wrong girl!" She growled.

They were both prepared, with their guns pointed at each other, standing face to face, with their fingers on the trigger, ready to pull. None of them cared if the two shots would alert the hotel patrons and staff if they rang out, causing them to evacuate. But just as they were ready to pull the triggers, a cranky hotel customer from across Thalia's room, stood in the doorway, red in the face and having been woken up from the commotion from across the hall, jolting their attention to him.

"Will you two shut up?! People are trying to sleep!"

Thalia opened her mouth as if to say something but Erron cut her off. "...No."

"I'll go quietly and leave you two alone." The hotel customer gulped before running off in panic, fearing he'd get a taste of lead, thus leaving the mercenary and the saloon girl alone.

"Idiots..." Erron remarked, rolling his eyes.

"Tell me about it." Thalia agreed with a pained look. "Worse than those drunk patrons trying to grab at me during my performances. I deserve better than this job."

Upon saying that, Thalia hung her head down in sadness. All those times of performing in The Rusty Spittoon, she only wore a smile to mask her sadness, seeing as she had to fool the public in order to earn money, even if it meant having to dodge drunk men trying to grab at her onstage.

"You could always just work for me."

Thalia lifted her head up and started lowering her pistol. A job? Working for the former Earthrealmer? And no more working at The Rusty Spittoon? "Really?"

"Yes. Really." The mercenary answered.

"Well...I accept...The Rusty Spittoon can hire a new saloon girl to soothe the rowdy patrons." Thalia nodded, cooling a bit and having lowered her revolver.

Erron nodded, holstering his revolver. "Sure..."

"Thank you..." Thalia breathed, a soft smile forming before asking. "So when do I start?"

"Now."

Thalia gasped upon hearing her answer and started to get ready to leave for Outworld, having accepted the offer. Erron somehow narrowed his eyes, before taking an amulet to open a portal to Outworld, watching as Thalia began to get her stuff together and changing out of her nightdress into her performance outfit with a matching shawl around her shoulders, holstering her pistol in her garter. Thalia turned away from the window overlooking across her now former workplace and disappeared into the portal that would lead her to her new home in Outworld. Erron watched her with narrowed eyes as the portal closed, before going back to his hotel room and got down to carving Thalia's name on a bullet.

For if Thalia tried anything on him, she'd end up tasting lead and getting a bullet with her name.