He only really had meant it as a trick, he hadn't meant to do much more than have a bit of fun with the pink haired girl, and then go on with his life.
He hadn't meant for it to get serious, and he sure as hell hadn't meant to find himself pushed up against a cold brick wall, staring into the depths of such cold blue eyes that he felt the need to shrink into the shadows and stay there forever.
It'd hadn't been all that bad what he'd done, he'd only slipped a little something in her drink to brighten her evening a bit.
Too bad he hadn't been more careful, because someone had noticed and that, he supposed, was the reason why he was cornered in an alley, staring into a pair of eyes that looked like they could've belonged to a predator.
He hadn't said anything yet, but if the flames in his eyes were anything to go by, he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't be leaving this alley without one broken bone at the very least.
In retrospect he should've considered this. Sure, it hadn't seemed like the girl had all that many people caring for her, except that blonde and blue eyed friend of hers and given how said friend had been all caught up with a pretty redhead, he'd thought for sure she'd be an easy target.
Apparently her little blonde friend wasn't the only one who had an eye on her.
As he'd been pulled into the alley the redhead with the icy blue eyes had told him that if he felt like it, he'd bring down everyone else at the party too and when they were done there would be little left but the shell of a man. That is, if there's anything at all left once the redhead was finished with him.
Normally he didn't respond well to threats, but the look in the redhead's eyes told him that he meant business. That and his reputation, not the one amongst the girls who thought him "dreamy" but amongst the guys who'd been unfortunate enough to end up on his bad side, who thought he was "batshit insane" and "too clever to be caught should he want to kill you" meant that he wasn't going to bat an eyelash unless the okayed it first.
So far though, "all" he had received was a blow to the jaw. A strong powerful one that left his jaw stinging, but all in all, not as bad as he'd thought when he'd first found himself dragged down this alley.
Perhaps the little pink haired chit was rubbing off on him? Rumor had it she detested violence of all kinds and if this redhead was hoping to score… well, he might manage to get away from this encounter with his ribs still intact.
He was brought back to the present as the redhead moved closer to him. So, he might not be prepared to hurt him really badly, but he still made him want to shit his pants in fear. There was something lurking in the depths of his eyes that really made one question his sanity.
…
The redhead swallowed and opened his mouth, seeming to search for the right words he let his eyes wander for a moment before they went back to staring each other down. His lips twitched in what was probably disgust.
"If you ever," his voice was utterly cold, but coupled with the rage that was burning in his eyes, it made him cringe in fear, "touch her again, hell, if you as much as look her away again I'll tear your throat out and leave you bleeding where you fall. Are we clear?" his fingers wrapped tighter around his throat and the redhead smirked a little as he got several hasty nods in reply.
"I'm not beating the crap out of you right now because I'm wearing my favorite jacket and I'd hate to have blood all over it. But if you for one moment think that I'm going to let that stop me from putting you through the worst possible suffering you can imagine if I ever see you attempt something like that again, you've got another thing coming," the breath escaping his lips as he spoke travelled over the scared man and made him shiver.
This only made the redhead smirk more and he leaned even closer.
"Good, you're scared, I take that to mean that you've realized that I mean business?" a quick grin appeared on his lips and he titled his head.
"I know you, and others, think I won't hurt you simply because I'm chasing some girl around, but we both know I could beat you up and she'd never have to know about it," glancing up towards the street he grinned a bit.
"It's a bad idea to mess with what is mine, remember that, because next time I won't hesitate to ensure that you'll be spending the next few months recovering at the hospital," with that he pushed himself away and began walking away as the man slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground.
Then he stopped and glanced back, a scary smirk worming its way over his lips.
"I should probably mention that I did happen to insinuate to Julia that you were up to no good and we both know that chick can be insanely protective about her friends. I believe she's well acquainted with your old friend Rick too, isn't she?"
Satisfied that he'd scared the shit out of the man the redhead walked away.
…
"Tala! Where've you been?" Spencer called as he entered the room, glancing around he caught sight of Mathilda casually conversing with Miguel and satisfied that she was safe he ventured over to Spencer.
"You know, just taking care of something," he said casually as he took the beer his friend was offering.
"Did anything, or anyone, blow up in my absence?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
"Nah, someone spilled Mathilda's drink all over the floor and Enrique's expensive Persian rug, but besides that it's been pretty dull so far."
Before you ask me if the guy in the alley is someone from the series; I've no idea. I pondered about it as I wrote this, but I'm honestly not certain if he's someone from the series or some random creep.
This might also have shed some light as to who the pink haired girl in Tattoo was.
As for Tala, well, I'm never really certain as to which Tala I'll portray when I begin writing a fic with him in it. Sometimes he's a cold calculating brute, like here, and at other times he's silly and drunk. Sometimes he's a troubled young man with an awful past and sometimes he's just a college student taking life easy and enjoying the rewards of being a famous beyblading star or well-known college hunk.
I did originally start out wondering about writing a continuation of "Rumor", however as I started writing I realized it was more fitted to the world of "Tattoo" (which to me is a world without beyblades, i.e. our world) than to the world of Rumor. I'm not sure if I'll write a fully-fledged fic to go with/continue Rumor, we'll see, but I'll likely be re-visiting this world quite a few times with different characters and pairings :) Who knows, maybe I'll cook up a story eventually?
