Daniel is a respectable man, very well mannered, charming, easy-going. On the surface. After all, what lawyer hasn't got a ruthless side to him? He would not be a very good lawyer if he were not willing to expose the opponets weak points, their dirty secrets and weak lies. But Daniel has a more ruthless side to him, not only is he a respectible laywer with a clean record and a 80/20 win/lose rate but he happens to be a hired assassin to any who can pay his ungodly prices for his near perfect services.

But that said, Dan had been to the club on bussiness, a client, of the more deadly origin of his two jobs, had prefered to meet in a public place. It seemed that while he wanted the best services in town, he did not trust to be alone in the office with Daniel. A wise man but a stupid fool. Dan could have killed him right here in the club and no one would have noticed for at the very least several hours.

At any rate, business over, it was time for pleassure. Dan sat at the bar, having picked quite possibly the only stool in which the bar in front of it was not sticky. He'd ordered a cold beer, what ever they had close to hand, from the bottle not the tap, and wipe the bottle clean.

Dan looked like what he was, of both worlds. He was short, at five feet nine inches, weighed not much more then a hundred and fifty and appeared to be in good shape, beneath the clothing he was a solid man. His slacks must have cost fifty dollars, tan and cleanly pressed, no wrinkle even after sitting in the office the entire day. His shirt was a blue button down that did something for his eyes, pulled the gray flecks out from the brown, a tie around his neck of the exact same hue. His duster had probably cost more then the pants and hung as though it had been tailored to his body, matched the tan of the pants perfectly. His loafers were a light brown leather. Dan's hair was brown, short, combed neatly, his face handsom but forgettable. He looked expensive but average at the same instant.

His jacket had been tailored to hide the indent in his shoulder that his shoulder holster created in his arm, it was also designed to hold a kife down his back without showing sign of being armed. He sat with his back to a corner, a position to see the crowd and both entrances.

((Hope you don't mind me joining you.))

IC:

Maia strolled into the mostly unnish club and immediately heard the music of a rock band playing. The music was always different every night and often is what brought her into the club; to listen. Quietly she walked over to the bar and asked the bartender for a coke. Yes she was that kind of girl to come into a club and order something non-alcoholic.

She is definitely not one to stand out in a crowd. Standing at 5 feet 4 inches and weighing 110 pounds usually qualifies her as small enough to go unnoticeable. Wavy brown hair reaching just past her shoulders was done nicely tonight for clubbing. The only thing that would separate her from the rest to make her ‘unique’ was her bi colored eyes, one blue and one brown; though you couldn’t really make it out in the darkness of the club unless standing quite close.

The dress she wore was nothing special. It had a white laced top that connected to her skirt that reached just past her knees. It had slight frills all the way down and was adorned with red and orange flowers as a design. It looked very Hawaiian in style. Shoes were only slightly high-heeled, and red, for she hated walking in high-heels.

Finishing her drink she headed to the dance floor where a few people happened to be dancing and joined in. It was kind of hard to dance alone as she was the only one doing so. Everyone else had someone to partner with. But she didn’t care. Just another trait to try and make her stand out.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man sitting in the corner of the club. His clothes stood out to her as most didn’t dress so ‘business like’ in a club. But she soon ignored it and continued to dance until the end of the song. When it was over she headed back over to the bar and ordered another drink, only this time she just wanted water.

He didn't notice her. Well, he saw her, and knew she carried no large weapons, but aside from a quick assessment, Dan did not notice her. She couldn't carry any large weaponry under that dress and any thing small would have had to go in a belly pack, wich would be a struggle to retreive in that dress, or in a thigh holster, which is incrediblly uncomfortable and she would not be danceing if she were wearing one. They chafe terribly.

So, it was, he noticed her as much as every other bar going patron. His beer sat on the counter but his hand rested over the opening at the neck, allowing for no one, even when his eyes are averted from the drink, to slip something into the bottle. She's gone to the bar again for water. He knows this because every few minutes he takes a moment to peer down the length of the bar and see the people's faces, and then his eyes are back to the crowd once more, as they are now.

Drinking her water she looks down the counter once more to see the man she’d noticed previously while dancing. He seemed out of place for some reason in her mind. The way he was dressed; not many dressed like that in a bar. Making a quick decision she takes her drink and heads down the counter towards him.

”Hey.” She smiles at him and notices how he has been looking out on the floor every now and then. ”You looking for someone?” Grabbing a stool nearby she sits down and crosses one leg over the other. She straightens her dress out after she crosses her legs.

He watches her cross her legs, blinks and when he opens his eyes they're once again on her face, scanning, taking in her features. Looking for someone? Was this her curiosity or was she hitting on him? You could never tell anymore. He would treat this as curiosity since Dan was not looking for anyone.

"Not at all." He turned slightly, keeping his back to the corner but enough to politly face her. "Just stopped in for a beer after work."

He let his eyes scan the crowd again. "I take it you arn't looking for anyone either?" He made it a question.

”Well that explains why you are so nicely dressed.” Perhaps the coke had gotten to her and made her just a tad hyper. She wasn’t the type to come up to a complete stranger, but perhaps the fact that her favorite book shop had just been set on fire by a maniac pyro had something do with it. She needed something to get her mind off of the situation and talking to someone might just do that.

”No. I came alone. Just wanting to get away from things you know?” She rested her elbow on the counter and then leaned her head on her fist. ”Where do you work?” Hopefully she wasn’t being too forward or annoying him. She would leave if he wanted her to.

His eyes flicked over the crowd and once again settled on her. He was comfortable and at ease with the casual conversation and he made it obviouse by taking a long drink of the chilled beer and resting the palm of his hand on the opening once again when he set it on the counter.

"You mean what do I do?" He smiled and his smile was straight and looked right to his face. "I don't actually work for anyone par say. I'm a custody lawyer." Ok so he worked for what ever client hired him. "I keep a private practice in a home office," he explained. "And you? What exactly do you do?"

A custody lawyer huh? No wonder he had to dress nice. Court always seemed to make her fall asleep and she’d been in a custody battle before when her father tried to get her back from her foster parents when he got out of jail. Perhaps if he hadn’t been abusive to her he might have won, but she was glad he didn’t. Her foster parents had been nice.

”Well I did work helping out at a book store, but seeing as it was burned up today I guess I unemployed for the time being. Going to have to find another way to pay for my classes and apartment.” Her eyes looked down at his drink and noticed he kept his hand over his drink.

”Why are you covering your drink?”

Actually, Dan just dressed like this all the time. Not only did it look good, fit well, and feel comfortable, it gave him a good many places to hide weapons when he needed them. He looked the length of his arm at his hand over the opening of his bottle and answered her first comments first.

"The book store on Elm or another one?" Not really out of curiosity so much as making conversation. He didn't buy books from many bookstores. He already owned a room full of books. Not the sort of books you'd find commonly in a public book store however. "How did the fire start? Have they figured it out yet?" Now to answer her: "It keeps the dust out, and the nasty people off of it when I turn my back."

”Yes, Jacobson’s book store.” She sighed, but quickly resumed composure. ”A very rude man started it and got away to.” She crossed her arms and a look of distaste was evident on her face. ”After I attempted to help out a little he still burned up my poor book store.” He said that he kept his hand over his drink so that he could keep dust out and other nasty people off of it when his back was turned. That got a chuckle out of her.

”Very well then.” She did the same thing and placed one hand over her water glass although she didn’t know who would sneak a drink from a glass of water as it was free and they could very well get there own.

He smiled a little again when she covered her drink with her hand. He knew she had not understood exactly what he'd meant by keeping nasty people out of his drinks. If only she knew he meant people dropping poisons in a drink that will slowly or even very quickly kill you. Shame.

"What I mean is a date drug." he improvised. "I do not like to chance the idea of becoming so out of my mind that anyone can take me home and have their way." He shook his head and scanned the crowed of dancers again. "Not a pleastant idea at all."

He looked sideways at her. "Jaccobson's? That's a shame." It was one of the few that he would go to.

Her eyes went a little wide as he spoke of the date drug. She knew what that was and had hardly thought about it before. It never really entered her mind to think about that sort of thing. She remembered what it was like when she was little, but with her foster parents she had become almost too relaxed thinking that perhaps just her father was the only jerk in the entire world. Guess not.

”No. Not a pleasant idea at all.” Truth to say her good mood was a little soured, but it was good that she knew what he was talking about and was going be a little more cautious. When he spoke about the book store again she felt a little better.

”Yes it is a shame. I was so mad at him.” If she could growl she might be doing so right now to show how furious she was at the crazed pyro.

"Did you know him?" He asked, watching the crowd and not her. He turned slightly and took another shorter drink of the beer. It was slowly warming now. "You could bring it to the attintion of the police. If he were questioned and found a possible and likely suspect you could take the case to court."

Obviously has not Only done just custody cases. He had once been a crime and murder lawyer as well but he found that a self practice for custody leant him more time for his other job.

”No I didn’t know him. He wore sunglasses and refused to take them off. The only things he said to me were quite rude and offending.” She left out the fact that the police had approached her and asked if she knew what had happened. Perhaps she was in shock from the ordeal and that was why she didn’t tell them. He did after all shoot at the police and even killed one that she knew of.

”I don’t know. I don’t like dealing with the police.” And she was true with that. She’d had too many encounters with them when she was little and not all were fun. Some were truly terrifying and had left her a bit traumatized when around policemen.

He was scanning the crowd again, the doors but he spared her a glance with his brown and gray eyes.

"They aren't so bad. You get used to them the more you work with them," in all honesty, he hated to deal with the police as well but for very different reasons. His reasons happened to be both his second job as well as certian bits of knowlege from his childhood. And the fact that he beat his sister on his father's whims didn't help. That could get him landed in jail.

”I suppose not.” She noticed that he continually was looking at the crowd and doors. He said he wasn’t looking for anyone but it seemed like he was.

”What are you looking for then? If not a person. You keep looking at the people and doors.” He really was quite odd, but it was refreshing to talk with someone more polite than the last man.

"Honestly," he smiled. He wasn't going to give her an honest answer, even if he trusted her. 'I'm looking for anyone that might have a weapon, that looks suspicious,' that'd go over well. "I've been spending too much time with a cop friend of mine and my sister." He didn't have a cop friend. His sister hid from him. He'd seen her a few dayd ago in her office for the first time since the last time he'd beat her, three months prior. "He's a cop so he's always watching people. My sister is just silly. She's a little paranoid. Afraid of her own shadows really, poor kid."

”Oh. I guess they rubbed off on you then.” She looked at her watch and it read 7:30p.m. She had class in the morning, but wasn’t ready to go home yet. On that note, she would have to find a new job as well until the book shop was back up and in repair.

”I’m Maia by the way.” She remembered she hadn’t even introduced herself yet. But she wasn’t going to go as far as giving a last name with her first.

He picked up his beer and switched it to the other hand, the left hand, to hold his right hand out to her. No rings on either hand, his nails looked manicured. There were a few scars on his knuckles, suggesting childhood sqrimishes of sorts. A lot a guys had them, they just weren't so noticable as they were on Dan's tanned hand.

"Daniel Webb, or just Dan." Whole name. Nothing to hide here.

Unlike his sister, Dan had absolutly no false names aside from the nicknames Dan, Dannie, and Alex (his middle name). He didn't need them. As an assassin he didn't give his name out. And he worked through a system so most of his employers never saw his face or heard his name. Safe.

She shook his hand as he told her his name. Well of course he didn’t mind giving out his name. He was a lawyer after all. How else would he get clients? Letting go of his hand she took another drink of her water and looked out to the dance floor. A slow song was playing now. Yuck. Slow songs were so boring.

”Having any luck with winning cases?” By his attire she would think so. That was one good thing about being a lawyer. They always made a lot of money, especially when they won cases.

He smiled. "I always win." 80% of the time anyways, which is better then most lawyers can say. He took a drink, set the beer back on the counter and covered the top of it. He looked at her water cup. "Can I buy you anything?" Not flirting, so simple and casual it couldn't have been mistaken for anything else. He lifted his beer slightly to indicate it, though he was once again watching the crowd rather then her.

Well if that wasn’t being a bit show she didn’t know what was. But she guessed if she had the same winning streak she might be a bit cocky as well. Curiosity drew her to wonder what would happen if he lost a case.

”No, thanks.” The way he continuously scanned the crowd was a bit awkward as she felt she was talking to a brick wall at times, only replying when he had an automatic response to a question. It was weird.

"Very well." He turned his eyes to her, then scanned the ever shifting faces down the line of the bar. "So I've told you what I happen to be doing here, what is it you might be here for alone?" He turned his eyes to her again, hopfully, she wasn't trying to flirt. While Dan can become a shameless flirt, he just happens to never be in any more then a one night stand. He's too cruel to keep most women around him. And his life leaves no room for women, or keeping a secret from a steady girlfriend. It would be a hassle.

”Just came here to let off some steam after the book store ordeal. Needed to calm down a bit. I come alone because I can. Not like I need a babysitter or anything.” The band started a new song with a more upbeat rhythm and she was glad. Slow music made her tired.

She finished her drink and uncrossed her legs. Her eyes cast out over the dance floor. Though it looked like a lot of fun, she was actually beginning to feel quite tired and no longer in the mood to join in. She looked at her watch again. Still kind of early. But the university was a little far away from the bar and she wanted to start out before it got too dark; she had to make a quick stop by the library seeing as where she worked had burned books now.

”I best be going. I have to stop by the university before heading home. Perhaps I’ll see you around again.” She held out her hand to shake hands in a ‘good-bye’ fashion.