Chapter 6
No sooner had the men scrambled out the door, do two more men walk in.
The pair shoot scowls at the group as they bump into them. The extremely tall white haired man - looking every bit the punk thug in his worn tee, torn Jean jacket and red leather pants - looks to be contemplating chasing after them. But the weirdly contrasting younger (and shorter) prep-school looking man, wearing a large navy jacket over a pale yellow sweater with a light blue plaid button up underneath, tugs him into the bar instead. They walk right up to Meliodas and Diane.
"What got those guys' panties in a twist?" the white haired man asks, his voice familiar.
Diane frowns, "one of them grabbed my ass as I was walking by."
"They WHAT?!" The shorter one shouts and now he's the one darting for the door.
The tall one holds him in place by the hood of his oversized jacket. "Really?~" The man drawls, a wicked smile on his lips.
"Yep!" Meliodas chirps, hands folded behind his head. "Di took out two before they made to leave."
"And then the jackasses tried to attack her from behind," I add and the group of four turn to me. I fidget.
The tall one lets out a low whistle as he leans forward to study me. "Almost forgot about you," his smirk grows as he says, "whaddya think of our place, Princess?"
I frown, raising a questioning brow at him, "do I know you?"
"Ah," he straightens, hands sliding into his pocket as he regards me. "I'm hurt that you would forget me so soon~"
"But I've never-" I stop, eyes widening with realization as the stench of booze wafts off him. "...Ban." Suddenly, my eyes are narrowing on him further. This is the one who had commented on my breasts, and the memory of that has renewed the acid taste in my mouth.
The white haired man beams. "You do remember me after all!" He places an elbow atop the man's head who he walked in with. The younger man scowls up at him, but Ban pays him no mind. "I was almost worried that you were a complete ditz. All looks, no brain."
"The same could be said about you," the ginger growls as he shoves Ban off.
"So you do think I'm pretty?~" Ban taunts with a large grin.
The ginger rolls his eyes. He holds out his hand and offers me a small smile, "nice to meet you officially, Princess."
"You must be King," I eye his hand cautiously. This is the one who sat in the back of the car with me. He seems to be okay. Ban hadn't been lying when he said the man was short. Not sure how the white haired buffoon thought we could be mistaken for father and daughter. Siblings maybe. His youthful appearance rivals that of Meliodas.
My eyes shift to him. The blonde bar owner is watching me converse with his lackeys. An amused smile tugs at his lips. I look back to King.
"And you're dating Diane?" I ask as I finally take his hand.
Red crashes across the man's cheeks so much that I feel I may have said something incorrect. I open my mouth to apologize only to stop as Diane throws her arms around King from behind.
"Mhmm," she hums with a happy smile.
The brunette places a soft kiss to the ginger haired man's cheek and his knees buckle. She giggles and the bar laughs. The patrons have been extremely patient with this whole scenario. Aren't Diane and Meliodas the only workers? Shouldn't they be upset at this display and lack of service?
"You'll have to excuse King," Diane explains with an affectionate glance at the puddle of a man on the floor. "We just started dating a few weeks ago. He's still not used to it."
Ban snorts before taking a swig of his mug. "You two have been making goo-goo eyes at each other for a lot longer than that."
Diane pinks, but doesn't deny his claim.
"Surprised King even had the balls to ask you out in the first place," Ban continues.
"Hey!" Diane huffs on behalf of the man on the floor. "It's not like everything falls on his shoulders! I coulda asked him out too."
The white haired man chortles. "Then I really woulda made fun of him."
"There's nothing wrong with a girl asking a guy out!" Diane argued taking a step over her boyfriend. The poor man on the floor had just about been ready to get up too before she did so. Now he's back in puddle form.
"How about we get to back to work," Meliodas interrupts what looks to be the start of a brawl between Diane and Ban. The words sound like a suggestion, but, the tone was unmistakable. It's a command.
"Yes, boss," the two respond.
Diane pulls King off the ground and he helps her clean up the mess the hooligans made. Ban slips behind the bar and through another door. I'm assuming it leads to the kitchen. A hand on my wrist pulls me out of my observing.
"Let's go get you outta those clothes and into that uniform," Meliodas beams up at me. He tugs gently and I find myself staring.
The blonde glances over his shoulder and blinks innocently. "What's up?"
"I can find a place to change on my own."
He studies me for a second before he chuckles. "Think I'll just lead the way. Don't need you snooping about my bar this early in the game, Princess." He grins smugly, somehow figuring out exactly what I had wanted to do. I guess it was a fair assumption - if the tables were turned I know I would have done the same to him.
We follow the bar's counter all the way to the wall, and down a corridor hidden behind the barrels stacked on the wall. Down this hall there is a set of stairs that lead up one flight, then twist around another corner. We head to the stairs and he throws a, "be back in a few," over his shoulder to the nearest worker, King.
"Don't take too long," he eyes us suspiciously before dumping the mess left by the men in the nearby garbage.
Meliodas makes no comment and just laughs.
We climb the metal staircase up and follow the hall to stop at the first along the hall. He unlocks it, pushing it open so that he can wave me in. "Here," he says, waiting for me to enter and turn back to him. "Get changed quick. We're gunna be real busy soon."
And then he shuts the door.
Alone again, but this time it's welcome. I needed a moment to myself - to collect my thoughts, to breathe. I glance around the room and find that it's actually pretty spacious, with furniture - the vast majority of which were covered with white sheets. I glide a finger over one of the uncovered dressers and find a layer of dust. Whoever's room this was, hadn't been here for some time now, and it didn't seem like anyone made a point of keeping it dusted.
I wonder who stayed here?
A quick knock brings me out of my thoughts, "You ready yet?" Meliodas' voice filters through and I start disrobing with a start.
"Y-yeah! I'll be done in a minute!" I yell back.
This whole situation is… peculiar. I've gotten glimpses of Meliodas' supposed title, but that's been it - I hadn't seen anything that even remotely gave me cause to suspect he was a criminal - you know, aside from him kidnapping me. If I didn't know who he was suppose to be, they all easily could have been written off as overly protective. And in the crazy world we live in, no one would have blamed them for being so. Especially on this side of town. More than a few times I'd ended up in an area much like this where the thugs were tough and threatened everything that moved just because they had to in order to survive. It was a way of life for people here. To protect their own.
Is that what happened to Meliodas?
I close the buckle on the leather belt I was given to wear over the tight skirt, then pulled the ridiculously tight pink collared crop-top tee-shirt over my breasts. The damn thing made me look even bustier than I already am! How was that even possible?!
Now I was left with the pile of clothes I had come here in. Immediately, I turn to pull open the uncovered dresser, and place my old clothes inside. I opt to keep on my jacket over the skimpy uniform. Not only to hide all the unnecessary skin showing, but so I can wear my gun and holster as well. Despite Meliodas' words of warning on drawing it, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I pulled open the door and find Meliodas waiting for me, leaning against the wall directly across the hall. I frown at him. "Are you really so worried I'm going to snoop when you're not watching me?" I can't blame him for his caution. But I can find it annoying.
He doesn't answer right away. Instead his eyes are drinking in my new look. A smirk forms on his lips, and he gives a small nod of approval. "Nice. Legs for days."
I take a swing at him.
He catches my wrist, using my momentum against me to push me against the wall - my chest pressed to the surface as he pinned me there with more strength than I had expected from him. The wrist he had caught, was twisted behind me and secured to the small of my back. I glare at him over my shoulder, completely pissed at the damnable smirk that has only grown at my impulsive action.
"Do you always attack people when they give you compliments?" His voice is gruff but hushed as he tilts his head for me to see his face. He quirks a brow, obviously finding pleasure in our... position.
I'm half tempted to kick him in the nuts. At the same time, I'm fighting the sudden urge to shiver. "In my experience, people don't give compliments unless they want something in return." I spat, with my cheek pressed to the white wall. My heart is hammering in my ears.
"And what is it you think I want from you?" Even more hushed - he's practically whispering in my ear now. His expression has shifted - just with the change of his tone. It's actually… kind of… alluring.
I swallow, but continue to glare at him, "free labor…" I debate saying what most men seem to want from me. Leaving it vague I merely add, "or worse."
He surprises me with a chuckle. "Don't worry, Princess. I won't touch you unless you want me too." He smirks as he releases his hold on me and backs away, allowing me to spin around and face him. He takes a few steps towards the stairs before saying over his shoulder, "don't forget you're my girlfriend, though. Appearances will have to be kept while we're in public."
I'm fuming. "I'm not your girlfriend!" I insist with a childish stomp of my foot.
"When you're here, you are. It's safer that way, trust me." He throws a cheeky grin over his shoulder as he mocks the word I used to him during the interrogation.
Now that kind of trust should go both ways, my own words swarm in my mind.
"I don't think there's much trust between us right now," I repeat his reply back to him.
An amused crinkle forms at his eyes as he pauses long enough to glance back to me, allowing himself one last sweep down my form. "That's probably for the best anyways, dontcha think, Princess?" He walks down the stairs, waving at me to follow him, leaving me standing there staring at him.
Despite his… let's call it 'jovial' nature, the last of his words stuck to me like a warning. Yeah, I guess trusting a career criminal would probably be detrimental to my health - not to mention my career.
The next few hours pass in a blur. I never realized that waiting tables could be so taxing. Not to mention I was absolutely terrible at it. I got orders wrong, tripped over my own feet, spilled on customers and made a mess of the floor more than a few times. Despite all of that, the patrons and fellow workers, King and Ban joining the fray along with Diane and Meliodas, were nothing but kind and patient. I have no idea if it was because of my looks, their own generosity or the simple lie Meliodas insisted on being a truth;
Princess is my girlfriend.
That appalling sentence is engraved in my mind. Anytime someone new came in, Meliodas would repeat the lie. It didn't take long for it to stick. Not a single person questioned him on it.
By the time the tavern closed, I was exhausted. I collapsed in a chair by the bar. Diane smiled sweetly as she slid a plate of food and a mug of beer in front of me.
"Here ya go! Some food will make you feel better." She chimed. It smelled heavenly and a drink sounded oh so tempting. "You didn't do too bad for your first day."
My brows furrowed. "You're kidding. I was horrendous!"
She shrugged, "you got some stuff right."
I give her a flat stare. If this was her idea of consoling me, it wasn't working.
"It was your first time waiting tables, course you're gunna mess up," Diane shakes her head with a soft giggle. "Though I gotta say, I was expecting a bit more grace given your… previous line of work."
"That doesn't require grace. Just fast reflexes." I mumble as I try to suppress a blush by taking a swig of the mug in front of me. The liquid is a bit stronger than what I'd normally drink and I sputter a bit as I put it back down.
"Oh, I shoulda asked what you wanted," the brunette frowns. "Sorry, I just gave you what the rest of us drink." She holds up her own mug and takes a drink. A refreshing sigh leaves her lips.
"It's fine." I stare at the food and wonder if I should eat it.
"It's not poisoned."
I snap my eyes up to meet Diane's mirthful grin. "If we were going to do that, we woulda just put it in your drink."
My mouth drops.
"Kidding!" She laughed. "This ale is from the same barrel we all drink out of. We wouldn't waste the good stuff by poisoning it."
Her statement does little to relieve my worries.
"You shouldn't joke about that, Diane," King's voice joined the conversation. He drops into a seat at the counter, not far from me. "She's in an unfamiliar place with people like us, she's going to take it seriously."
Part of his sentence jumped out at me. "People, like us?"
The ginger haired man tilted his head and looked at me. He sighed heavily and called out, "Boss. You take this one."
"Wouldn't have had to if you could keep your mouth shut," Meliodas rolled his eyes as he appeared by King's side. He punches the other man lightly in the shoulder. "Maybe I wasn't going to tell her."
"Given the situation, you kind of have to," King responded and rubs his shoulder with a frown. "Assumed you did already," the ginger mumbled under his breath.
"Guess you're right."
"What are you talking about?" I interrupt the small squabble.
Meliodas grinned. "Ready to meet some Sins, Princess? Well… technically you already have," a smug smile dances across his lips. "And by the way, this is all off the record, as covered under our agreement. No turning around and turning us in, got it?" He gave me a pointed look.
No way, I think to myself. He couldn't possibly be insinuating that.
He waves Ban over. "You've probably already heard of this guy." Meliodas taps his knuckle against the taller man's chest. "Meet Ban, Sin of Greed."
Well that was one suspicion confirmed. My eyes dart between King and Diane. They were outright the most normal out of all the people that I've run into. Sure, Diane beat the crap out of some assholes earlier, but I would have done the same thing if I was in her position.
"King, Sin of Sloth," Meliodas speaks up again, gripping said man's shoulder. "He's a bit of a blabbermouth so you can thank him for these introductions."
King didn't respond, simply rolling his eyes before giving me a half hearted wave as acknowledgement of his title.
"And last we have Diane. Sin of Envy."
Even with my guesses at her being one of the Deadly Sins, hearing the statement out loud is still a bit of a shock. This girl is a sweetheart, through and through, how in the world did she get tangled up with a bunch of criminals?
"Surprised?" Diane smiled at me.
"Yes… and no," I admit. I take them all in, one at a time. Ban was the only one I would have assumed to be any sort of trouble-maker, but even then… it was based off of his choice in clothing alone.
The others looked… so normal.
"Any questions so far?" Meliodas asked me, clearly reading the confusion that must have been written all over my face. And I sputter with an incredulous chuckle. He's joking. This is all one big joke to him, right?
"I would say that'd be fairly obvious." But where do I start? If I asked the wrong questions, they were bound to shut me down. How was I supposed to get the answers I needed without making them feel like I was fishing?
I take a breath, "Alright… well, I guess I'll start with the most obvious question first." The one that's been bugging me all day in fact, "How many people actually make up the sins?"
Meliodas grins, and I'm half expecting him to drop a 'You'll just have to wait and see' on me when Diane chuckles, "You're right… that is pretty obvious, isn't it?"
Wait… really?! My eyes find Meliodas again and his grin hadn't wavered at all. "So… wait, there's really only seven of you? B-but I thought that the bar was-"
"I told you we don't judge people here." The blonde chided. Damnit… did he always have that fucking grin on his smug-ass face?! "We serve anyone who walks in, assuming they haven't pissed us off in some way or another. But, yeah. The name says it all."
So I've met four of the Seven Deadly Sins… Where were the others? Were they lurking around here somewhere too?
"Okay. Why?" My question didn't seem to register as they looked at each other confused.
"Why are there only seven of us?" King asked as clarification, but I shook my head. While that too was a good question, it wasn't what I had meant.
"No, I mean, why form a gang? And yeah… I guess… why are there only seven of you?"
More glances, but this time their collective expressions were wary - cautious. None of them seemed willing to be forthright with an answer.
Except Meliodas. "That's something you'll have to learn later. For now, let's just say, we're all on the same side."
Same side? Hardly. I was on the side of justice and peace in the city. On the side looking to take gangs like his out of the game for good. What on earth would make him ever believe otherwise? But in the interest of keeping my communication lines open, I left it alone. There'd be plenty of time to interrogate everyone later.
"I guess my last question is: what's next? Do you blindfold me and take me to a safe house? I don't assume I'll be able to go home."
There was a round of chuckles, and I'm starting to get tired of being the only one not in on the jokes. That's when Meliodas slid a little key ring across the counter to me. It was the same one he had used to open the room I had changed in.
"Welcome to your new home, Princess." He said.
That was the other thing I was tired of. That damned grin of his...
Dom: *Shoots off a firework* HAPPY 4th OF JULY!
Luv: Dom… you do know that independence day was last week, right?
Dom: *Stares blankly at Luv* B-but… fireworks! Look at all the fireworks I bought to celebrate!
Luv: … who even gave you those? I thought I told you to stick to the sparklers this time.
Dom: HA! AS IF! WE NEED MORTARS! BIG BOOMS! BAMMMMM! *Waves hands wildly to make her point*
Luv: *looks down at her little sparkler before tossing it aside.* YES Bring on the BOOMS! *disregarded sparkler starts the table of drinks on fire.* Oh crap! *panics and tries to put it out.* Our booze!
Dom: *Laughs maniacally as she lights the mortars despite the booze going up in flames* Next time on DTM : Elizabeth's first night at the Boar Hat and she's already breaking the rules. The question is, can she get away with it? A late night meeting and a mysterious picture, what secrets are the Sins hiding? Now she just has more questions than answers…
Luv: Dom! The booze! Do you see it!? Help me! *panics some more and runs around the table out of ideas as tears roll down her face.* I just wanted one more drink...
Dom: Happy belated 4th everyone! And we'll see you in the next chapter!