"Listen, Toni, if you ever get locked out of your uncle's again, you can come knocking on my door," Tallboy leered at the girl tending the bar. The underaged girl tending the bar.
"I'll be fine, thanks," she grimaced. This all started because Tallboy had spotted her leaving Jughead's trailer- he'd been coming up with a steady stream of 'better suggestions for how she spent her nights' ever since. Toni knew how important it was to toe the line between disinterested and disrespectful when it came to Serpents like Tallboy. If she was rude she risked them getting pissed off, but if she wasn't... that would probably lead to way worse.
"I'm serious, you little worm," he sneered, "You're looking better and better everyday."
"Tallboy," Sweet Pea spoke up, "Enough already."
"What'd you say, boy?" the older man asked.
"You deaf?" Sweet Pea squinted at him, "You heard her- she's not interested."
"What's it to you?" the man stood up to his full height. He was one of few Serpents taller than Sweet Pea.
"C'mon, Tallboy," Sweet Pea shrugged, "Everyone knows you need your girls to put up a fight- Toni comes up to your elbow."
"That makes her the perfect size for certain things," he mumbled in response, laughing to himself.
"You wanna say that again?" Sweet Pea stood now too.
"Hey," Toni mumbled, "It's not worth it man."
"Yeah, listen to your bitch," he huffed.
"Fuck that, man," the younger guy pounded a hand on the bar, "She's claimed, alright, so back off."
"Excuse me?" Toni sputtered in disbelief.
"Toni, quit trying to hide it," Sweet Pea continued, "I'm done listening to this bullshit. Toni's with me- not Jughead, not any other guy, and certainly not you, Tallboy. So back the fuck up."
"You're with her?" Tallboy repeated, eyebrow cocked.
"Are you an echo?" Sweet Pea's jaw was set with determination.
"Pea," Toni sucked in a hot breath of air. He was crossing all kinds of lines, and Tallboy was still a Serpent- and a mean one at that. He didn't take kindly to being spoken to this way by a kid like Tallboy, even if claiming a chick as yours was the kind of shit Serpents don't overstep on.
"So why do you let her sleep nights at Jones'?" Tallboy asked, critically.
"I wasn't home and I wanted her safe from guys like you," Sweet Pea was ad libbing now, "Jones is cool."
"That true, Tiny?" Tallboy looked to the cotton-candy haired girl for confirmation.
"It's Toni," she rolled her eyes in response, but didn't disagree. If Sweet Pea was willing to risk a serious ass kicking to go out on a limb for her, she wasn't about to leave him hanging.
