A/N
"Blah blah work. Blah blah family. Blah blah life is hectic..."
See my last few chapters for my reasoning about why my schedule is off. Things haven't really changed all that much.
Anyways, after the next chapter of Tigress this story will be taking a little hiatus. Mostly because I need to organize my thoughts and plans for next arc and eventual ending - lots of ideas, but unfortunately some of them will be left on the cutting room floor.
For those of you who read my RWBY story - the next chapter has been pushed to tomorrow due to quality concerns. This week's chapter of Team MARS sets up a plotline that I'm not too sure I want to deal with just yet...
And... I'm writing a small, unrelated story on the side - because I'm having a late night burst if inspiration right now...
Enough of my rambling...
Chapter 55…
Ashley wished that she could feel the wood of the panels. They were cracked and weathered with age - pockmarked with holes, scratches, and termite bites. The dark haired woman imagined the rough textures sliding over her hands; unfortunately, the bandages prevented her from truly experiencing the sensations.
There was the breeze, at least, the cool gusts which occasionally blew through Okraina's streets and tight alleyways. They washed over what little uncovered skin Ashley had, reminding her in some way that she was still alive.
Bandaged hands pushed against the swinging front doors of the bar. The hinges squeaked like field mice and begrudgingly flexed to allow Ashley entry to the establishment. One boot went in front of the other, Ashley's feet making the floorboards squeak almost as loud as the door hinges…
"Oh… it's you…"
The harsh voice sprang from the ugly lips of the ever-present bartender. Dima stood at his usual spot behind the bar counter, a large glass clenched in his meaty hands. With the stained cleaning rag thrown over his shoulder, Ashley could almost see the imposing man in some kind of domestic scene.
An amusing thought… considering that Ashley had watched him cruelly interrogate a man...
"You sound disappointed…" Ashley frowned, her slightly scuffed face hardened into a stony gaze.
Dima said nothing, the flare of his nostrils being his only response. His face looked like a piece of granite - but not one that had been lovingly or carefully carved.
"I'm here to buy a drink…" Ashley muttered.
"Why else would you be here?" Dima's tiny eyes narrowed. "It is a bar-"
"Are you going to sell me one or not?" Ashley grumbled. "Because I'm here to buy… and I'm assuming that you need money because you still need to hire someone to pull the bullets out of your walls…"
Ashley frowned and spied a few dark red stains on the floorboards. "And clean your floors…"
For a moment, Dima could be mistaken for a statue. Then slowly, begrudgingly, he swept his large hand in the direction of one of the barstools.
"Is that a yes?"
Dima lifted his eyebrow.
Huffing to herself, Ashley crossed the room's threshold - quietly maneuvering past tables and chairs. The dark haired woman settled herself in the offered barstool, her bandaged forearms crossing over each other as she leaned on the counter.
"Should you not be drinking?" Dima lifted a bushy eyebrow. "Aren't you on medicines?"
"Why do you care?"
"I care about not having another corpse at my bar…" Dima's face twisted into another unpleasant look. "Bad for business…"
"Your town's full of soldiers and it's summertime… your business is doing fine," Ashley shook her head. "I finished the last of the antibiotics two days ago and I'm off the painkillers. No health conflicts here… so are you going to get me something or will I have to find another bar?"
Dima swept his hand behind him in gesture to the shelves. They looked far emptier than Asheley remembered, probably because a majority of the bottles were shattered in the attack.
"Whiskey, straight…" Asher waved her hand dismissively. "I don't care which one…"
"Pay first, five credits."
Ashley grumbled and slipped her bandage wrapped hand into one of her chest pockets. She had been given a new jumpsuit to replace her old one; the new article was just as ill-fitting as the previous one had been. Withdrawing the plastic chips, Ashley laid them out on the counter - it would be enough for a glass of the low shelf swill.
Dima swept up the money. But to Ashley's surprise pulled a far more expensive bottle off the shelf. The dark haired woman watched as Dima overfilled a glass and then pushed it in her direction.
"Well…" Ashley licked her lips. "What's with the sudden act of goodwill?"
"It is merely a thank you… think nothing of it…" Dima adopted his usual scowl. "After this, you pay extra if you want that specific bottle."
Ashley hid the small smirk crawling up the side of her mouth. She lifted the glass to her lips and took a long sip - the smooth liquid pleasing her taste buds and relaxing the aching sense of longing in her chest.
"That's good stuff…" Ashley coughed.
"Yes."
Ashley set the glass down on the bar with a hollow tapping noise. Absent-mindedly, the woman began to twist her bandaged up fingers together. Doctor Fedorov had had a point when he compared her to a mummy - it had been some time since she had last seen the bare skin of her arms.
"What are your plans?"
Ashley's obsidian eyes flicked upwards in surprise. "Huh?"
"What are your plans now?" Dima repeated himself. His eyes were stuck on the wet surface of the counter, a rag in his left hand carefully wiping away the moisture.
"What do you mean by that?" Ashley frowned. "Is it because my secret isn't so secret anymore?"
"You think that I told people?"
"I can only assume that you did…"
"I didn't…" Dima frowned and shook his head.
"No?"
"No… but there are many whispers amongst the townspeople," Dima scowled. "So much gossip about you…"
"And you didn't tell them anything?"
"I do not care for gossip."
Ashley chuckled and took another sip. "You know what? You're not that bad…"
"I still do not like you," Dima's eyes narrowed. "IMC dirt…"
"The feeling is mutual…" Ashley lowered her glass again. "But still… you're not all that bad I suppose…"
Dima was silent for a long moment, his eyes narrow. "Likewise."
Ashley relished the new atmosphere that fell over the bar counter. Perhaps what she shared with Dima wasn't a mutual like… but it wasn't hate either. Neutral respect was something that she was perfectly fine with.
"To answer your question…" Ashley ran her finger along the rim of the glass. "Probably go back to the mill…"
"That's it?" Dema scoffed.
"Oh?"
"Work for a few weeks… go back to being a soldier… then back to a mill worker?" Dima narrowed his eyes.
"What else am I going to do?" Ashley narrowed her eyes right back. She realised that she had gone from tracing the rim to tightly squeezing the glass. "I left that life behind for a reason. Come on… you can't tell me that you were always a bartender..."
"No… but I kept both of my lives separate."
"I tried to do that too…"
"But now you can't," Dima frowned. "Like I said… there are whispers amongst the townspeople."
"Then let them whisper…"
"Besides," Dima began to aggressively clean another glass. "There is no more titan…"
Ashley frowned and nodded her head. Dima had a point - no Big Ivan would mean a large dip in production. The bandits had destroyed and set back the town's livelihood.
"Then I'll work without the titan…"
The hinges holding up the bar's two doors loudly squeaked - signaling that someone else had entered the establishment.
There was the sound of talking, and many booted feet pressing down against the floorboards. Ashley's initial assumption was wrong - many people had just entered the establishment.
"Hey bartender!" A voice jeered. "One round of beers!"
The voice was masculine but slightly higher pitched. It notably lacked the accent Ashley had grown used to hearing in Okraina… and that wasn't even mentioning the fluent English…
Ashley could imagine a group of men sitting around one of the tables, their green and yellow uniforms glowing in the low light of the bar.
She felt a prickly feeling on the back of her neck...
"Oh… and could you bring them to the table?" Another voice asked.
"Do I look like a fucking waiter?" Dima scoffed. "I put them on the bar and you pick them up…"
There was the sound of murmuring as the table of Militia patrons fell into a quiet conversation. Ashley ignored them, fighting the urge to leave by slowly taking sips from her cup of whiskey.
"Like I said earlier," Ashley clicked as she set down her glass. "Soldiers… good for business…"
"I will not argue…" Dima set the last of the beers on the counter. "You five! Your beers!"
There was the sound of a single pair of feet shuffling against the floorboards. Ashley could hear the individual approaching, their gloved hands reaching out in her peripheral vision to precariously grasp the necks of the bottles.
'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'
"Thanks."
"Yeah…" Dima gruffed.
The person retreated, carrying the bottles back to their table.
It took Ashley a moment to realize that Dima was staring at her, she had been too preoccupied with the Militia soldiers fraternizing behind her.
"You are nervous."
"Always will be…" Ashley quietly responded, taking another sip.
"They do not know."
"Doesn't make me feel better…"
"I think that-"
"Oh… hey! Long time no see, titan-lady!"
Ashley's eyes bulged and her fingers nearly cracked the glass she was holding. She knew that boisterous voice… it belonged to the man she had been hoping to avoid.
Out of her left peripheral, Ashley saw someone sliding into the barstool next to hers. Two tanned forearms were rested onto the counter, the biceps and shoulders they were attached slouching down over the bar.
"You okay?"
Ashley slowly turned her head. Now, perhaps only a foot from her own, was Robert "Barker" Taube's unshaven face. The man was wearing the exact same jumpsuit that he always seemed to be wearing; his hair and stubble had grown a little more unkempt from a lack of upkeep.
"Barker, right?" Ashley clicked her tongue. She was only feigning forgetting his name - she knew exactly who he was.
"Ashley… Ishikara…" Barker blinked, pointing an unwelcome finger in Ashley's face. "I pronounced that right, didn't I?"
"You did…" Ashley waved the man's teetering finger away. "Look… is there something you want? I'm trying to drink in peace…"
Ashley regretted the words the moment they let her mouth. She should have told him to fuck off and leave her alone… not give him an opening…
"Yeah… but first…" Barker withdrew his flask from his jumpsuit pocket. He wiggled the container, revealing it to be empty, and thrust it in Dima's direction. "Gimme a refill… same stuff I got last time…"
Dima wrinkled his flat nose and silently accepted the flask. Turning, the hulking bartender turned to fulfill the request.
"Anyways…" Barker waved his hands, as if he was trying to dispel the tension in the air. "I wanted to keep talking to you…"
"I can't say the same…"
"Ouch," Barker blinked. "But anyways… just admit it to me, would you?"
"Admit what?"
"C'mon, you know…" Barker shook his head. "What you used to do for a living…"
Ashley watched as Dima's form grew more tense. The bartender turned his head and looked over his shoulder. "Is this man bothering you, Ashley?"
"Hey- Hold on…" Barker held up his hands again. "We're talking here…"
"Like I told you the last time… we have nothing to talk about…"
"I-"
"Leave this stone unturned…" Ashley spoke coldly and narrowed her eyes. To her surprise, Barker only responded with a disarming smile.
"I can't…" Barker shrugged. "Y'see… I'm in the business of turning over stones… seeing what's under them, y'know?"
The man reached into his jumpsuit pocket. He withdrew a small object, clenching it gently between two pinched fingertips. Barker laid the object down on the counter…
… it was a business card.
"ANGEL CITY ELITES" was scrawled on the face…
"Are you…?" Ashley blinked in surprise. "Trying to recruit me?"
"Well, duh…" Barker chuckled. His flask was abruptly thrust in his face by Dima, and the unkempt man reached out to accept it. "Thanks…"
"You're being serious…?"
"Of course I am!" Barker grinned. "Skills like yours? We'd be happy to have someone like you with us."
Ashley scoffed. "Save me the pitch…"
"Look, maybe you used to run with the IMC…" Barker shook his head. "Maybe you were in the 'predators…"
"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Ashley sipped her whiskey. "Now could you please leave me alone?"
"I'm not asking because I'm trying to arrest you…" Barker chuckled. "Maybe you were IMC… maybe you were a part of the predators. Who cares? I was once IMC too…"
Ashley looked at the man with surprise.
"You see that table over there?"
Ashley turned her head to spot the table full of Militia patrons. As she suspected, they were all dressed in their camouflage green uniforms, sitting and laughing as they drank beer.
"About half of those guys are IMC defectors…" Barker grinned. "So you've got skeletons rattling around in your closet? So do I…"
"I have no clue what you're talking about…" Ashley flicked the business card back in Barker's direction. "And I don't want what you're selling…"
"Well at least hear me out…" Barker reasoned. "My group isn't like Apex. We do all kinds of fun stuff - unraveling mysteries, raids, even altruistic stuff like helping this town…"
"Didn't you say that you guys got paid for helping this place?"
"Well, mostly altruistic…" Barker moved erratically, never being able to sit in one place. "Sorry, I'm excited… and drunk…"
"I could tell…"
"Listen, what are your options here?" Barker continued his rambling speech. "One, you sign up with us… action, adventure, good money. Or you stay in this little town… drinking away at this hole-"
Barker was cut off by an animalistic growl from behind the bar.
"Uh… sorry-"
"Look…" Ashley rose from her seat and gulped the rest of her whiskey. She slammed the cup back down on the counter with some force. "I'm not interested…"
"All I'm asking is that you take the card…" Barker adopted a more peaceful tone. He handed the card to Ashley, which the woman begrudgingly accepted. "Think about it. Me and my guys will be here for the next few days anyway…"
Ashley turned to leave.
"Oh!" Barker called out, watching as Ashley turned back around to view him. "Did I mention that there's a signing bonus?"
"Still not interested…"
"Like I said… think about it…"
Frowning, and feeling the card sitting in her pocket, Ashley turned to exit the establishment. The hinges of the swinging doors made a loud creaking noise as she left...
