Drunkard, Hobo, Liar: Ch. 3, Liar.
a/n: Case the Headcase, my baby Cross, is having a hard-earned girls' night out. At the Repenta. So relaxing. See how relaxed she is? Very relaxed.
Maybe swears (I'm not checking, add some if they are missing), definitely violence.
All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, but 4 out of 5 women are OCs.
"And that's why you need to check that your lipstick is smudge proof!" announced the woman with hair like a storm cloud. "So ... you ... don't ... smudge!" Her words were interspersed with loud kisses on the cheek and neck of the woman sitting next to her.
Lucy giggled loudly and pushed Marguerite away playfully, which is to say, hardly at all. "Stop it! You're tickling me!"
"Challenge accepted!" Marguerite laughed before pouncing. The result was more squealing from the other side of the horseshoe booth, and Lucy almost falling into the aisle.
"Knock it off, you guys. You're making the drinks slop over," chided Alexa.
"Easy solution to that," smiled the older woman sitting directly next to the chaos. Lila lifted her shot glass and slurped pointedly.
Case's beer was already low enough that slopping was unlikely. She smiled as she watched the other two shove and tease themselves back into relative calmness. This evening out was turning out great, she thought. She'd laughed twice now. Once at that really raunchy joke Lucy told, not so much because it was that funny, but it was cute how Lucy blushed bright pink as she struggled to get to the end. Also because Case had only recently learned what a mermaid was, and the freshness of that knowledge still felt a little amazing. And now at this ... performance? Something was off, or so it seemed to Case. She looked at Lila, and knew she was right. Lila had that "don't believe it, not going to argue" face going on. Not a bad face, though, so Case would not worry about it. Not tonight.
No, not tonight. She took a deep breath and realized she wasn't smiling. Whoops, that was not in the plan, so she took a small sip of her beer as a cover. The plan was, she reminded herself, to have a night out. With friends. Well, the closest thing she had to friends. A blushing ex-teammate, a loud potential teammate, a sly ex-boss, and that girl from the Outfitters that was friends with anyone that liked skells or could pretend to like them.
Case had been doing good, by any metric. Back in BLADE for 3 months, only injured once, and hitting all the markers for eating right, sleeping right, answering right. She'd even cut one hard thing out of her life, the person she was not thinking about right now. Another BLADE that was wrong in every way for her, and vice versa. She'd only seen him a couple times in the past month, not since they'd accidentally teamed together, and yes, she was going to use that one-week stay at the Mim Maintenance Center in her favor. Hadn't seen him at all the past week, come to think of it.
She set her glass down, made sure not to catch Lila's eye, and tried to be excited about dinner. The Repenta wasn't really known for its food, but it was convenient for workers in the Industrial sector. She looked across the crowded room and to her surprise noticed Frye leaning against the bar. Frye, indoors, would miracles ever cease? Even at a distance and blocked by the crowd, he looked kind of angry. Maybe she could go over and talk to him. At least then she wouldn't have to pretend to smile.
The table had gone dead silent. Case looked across at Marguerite. Her face was furious. "Bug off," she snarled. Case wasn't surprised by the sudden hostility, only resigned. She'd sensed the figure shambling through the diner. She didn't have to see him to smell him, or to hear his wheezing as he'd moved through the crowd. Case had decided to ignore him, whoever he was. Marguerite's warning let her know he was now directly beside her. She didn't flinch when he leaned over her, or when he grabbed her shoulder. In a second, she was going to push him away, but she needed to be calm about it.
She realized her right hand was already clenched around her dinner knife. How long had it been there? Was she actually about to brainjack a dude in the Repenta? She was having trouble unclenching her fist. The metal was warm and her arm muscles were shaking with fatigue. She was suddenly afraid that she'd need her other hand to peel her fingers loose. Exactly how long she been gripping the knife? Had she been about to brainjack her friends to make them think she was okay?
The reeking stranger brushed her neck with his free hand, and her whole body started shaking. She couldn't make out what he was hissing. She still hadn't let go of the damn silverware. The rest of the table was rising to push him away, but they might as well stay seated. Case was going to do something bad in exactly no seconds left and that was so not tonight's plan.
One second later: Cold air on her neck. An absence of stranger and hand, and the presence of Frye, howling like an animal, punching him repeatedly straight in the face. The third punch connected perfectly.
Next second: the stranger falling over, flat on his back, as slowly as Case fell in her dreams, arms wide, eyes closed, falling into endlessness. Frye wasn't satisfied, following him to the floor, but it was too late. Case had recognized him.
Next second: Case on her feet, pushing Frye straight into Lucy's lap. She stood over the unconscious BLADE, warding off everyone, friend, bouncer, bystander. No one was getting to the downed man without going through Case first.
At least she'd left the knife on the table. She'd try to be proud of that later.
a/n: Lucy is a Reclaimer and would love to demonstrate to certain other Reclaimers how kissable she is; she's shown up in 1 (one) story as Case's teammate (Inktober 2017, 23 Juicy). Marguerite doesn't have fic yet, but she is a Harrier that is going to knock all memory of Irina from another OC's brain. Lila has so much fic it's not even funny, and currently is managing a skell refueling station next to the West Gate. Case used to work for her, back when Case had been bounced from BLADE. (Funnily enough, she had brainjacked a dude. He deserved it. Someday I'll put that up.)
Next up: I've run out of title. Case will be irritated. Maybe I will finally name the Hobo. But you probably know who he is already, don't you?
