VI - Latewood
~~~(VI)~~~
Junior was not in the best of moods tonight. The glass bottle that Oxon barely managed to dodge was what gave him this inkling. The second bottle made the point clear upon impact with his head and knocked him to the floor.
The pain was minor compared to the fear from the state of his boss. Upon coming back from the job, the roughing up made him surprised, but the fact that he arrived alone was what led to some angry questions. The answers he got led to an almost incandescent rage focused solely on Oxon.
"One damn night! One damn night for just about everything to go wrong!" Lifting Oxon up by his collar Junior brought the two to eye level. "How did you idiots get beaten by a little kid! Four adults and Roman bloody Torchwick we're no match for a grade school girl!?"
Panic was becoming the theme of tonight it seemed. Panic at what had happened at the club, panic when facing a red robed reaper, and yet again when facing down an irate mob boss. He had no idea how to get out of this. Any excuses would clearly fall on deaf ears.
"She- she wasn't just a-a girl!" Breathing was difficult but he was doing his best to be able to keep breathing. "She had this massive scythe! It was also a gun! We went for a smash and grab like Roman said, we never expected a young huntress!"
And really, it wasn't like he was the only one to get his kettle kicked by an underage girl. The others would not stop complaining about it earlier in the night. While he knew the boss was being a hypocrite, there was no way in HELL that he'd say it out loud.
"Do I look like I care!? I remember hiring you! Didn't you say you knew how to fight!?" As his rage grew, the likelihood of a bad end was increasing.
"G-grimm, I've only ever fought grimm and the occasional rabid animal!" The excuse wasn't strong, and he'd doubted it would do any good, but it was better than not trying. "The only humans I've ever fought was when I was training. They were simple ones too, I've never seen weapons like hers!"
As he expected, Junior hardly cared about just why he was unable to contribute much to the robbery fight. Just when he expected the worst, a truly brave soul tried to meditate.
"Junior." Miltia Malachite was a sight for bruised eyes. Her walk seemed steadier than it was a few hours ago and a fresh, blood free outfit made her look relatively normal. She approached the two with zero hesitation and a stern frown on her face. "Calm down boss, let the poor guy breathe."
'Letting him breathe' translated to an abrupt release and a drop to the floor. Landing on his ass, Oxon looked up so he could see what was about to happen. Miltia seemed to acknowledge him for a moment before continuing her conversation.
"Shouting at the only guy to return won't fix anything. Besides, from what it sounded like, that mascara wearing ass didn't do much besides running away." Those were points he'd try to convey, but her words carried more weight than some minion. "Clearly we overestimated his skills, and his loyalty to the guys he rented."
The three who'd been left behind were spread about the street with one even being flung into a building. He felt guilty for leaving them, but he would not have been able to carry them back with him and avoid the cops at the same time.
"Long-hair, what caused the mini huntress to trounce you guys?" With the attention unfortunately back on him, he rubbed his neck and explained what he knew. His info was limited though. He was packing up crystals when his coworker was sent into a wall. It wasn't long after that he was also sent flying by a small kid in a red cloak, and then said kid kicked their asses. He hoped his explanation was enough.
"Bad luck then." Miltia said in a way to calm Junior down. "The guys we sent weren't even our heavy hitters since that cow from earlier took em out. Not like you expected a second huntress either, can't expect newbies to know how to handle them."
It looked like Junior was listening to her words if his expression was anything to go by. His face was turning from tomato red to a more natural hue. With a particularly angry grunt and a colorful string of curses he gave up and began to walk to a back room. Probably to either de-stress or take it out on something less likely to bleed.
Oxon took the lack of danger to get back on his feet. Trying in vain to casually dust himself off. He looked to his savior with a grateful nod.
"Thanks for the save, Miss Miltia. My life was flashing before my eyes, and it was kind of depressing." The girl rolled her eyes at the praise but accepted it nonetheless.
"First of all, never call me "miss" anything. And second, long-hair, this is just thanks for helping with the glass shards earlier. Mel isn't exactly known for her medical skills, surprised you knew what to do."
"Well, I've never dealt with glass before, but it seemed similar enough to a splinter." Oxon awkwardly rubbed behind his ear nervously, this was the only conversation he'd really had with the claw user. The only times they interacted was when she or the other big wigs needed anything moved or had a drink order.
"I have experience in basic aid from my old job. We weren't always close to the settlement so knowing how to patch up wounds was important." It's not like it was anything special. All he did was clean wounds and put on bandages. He didn't know how to deal with cracked or broken ribs or anything internal. "Really, anyone else could have done it."
She let out a snort of frustrated amusement. "Dude, take the damn compliment. You were able to help me and prevent it from, like, becoming worse. Accept it before I become the second woman in red to kick your ass tonight."
Great, first conversation was going just perfect. Embarrassed by his actions and worried about the threat, he had no reason to not accept. "Ah, well, you're very welcome. I'm glad I was able to help. If you need anything else you can always ask?"
By the brothers this is painful. Maybe I should have let Junior end me...
"Thanks for the offer, but I doubt I'll need it, long-hair." Miltia seemed content with her thanks and made to leave before she paused and looked back at him. "What's your name anyways? If I ever take you up one the offer I'll need something to use other than the length of you hair."
"It's Oxon, mis- uh Miltia." He corrected himself quickly when he saw her eyes narrow dangerously. "Though some just call me 'Ox' since I mostly just carry the heavy stuff for them."
She had a little smirk on her face. "'Ox' huh. No wonder a kid in red gave you the runaround." With that little joke, she left, and Oxon was blessedly alone without anyone to stop him from making a break for his bed.
~~~(VI)~~~
The next morning his alarm had him contemplating murder. Pressing the 'off' button he groggily got dressed and ready for the day. Not that it would be a usual day. After last night a lot of work was going to be needed to fix the damage done.
The upper floors held housing that the gang rented to members that some of his fellow 'goons' had taken advantage of. While the rent was cheap and a source of money laundering, it meant he was always at work in case extra hands were needed
The elevator was thankfully far enough away from the club proper that it wasn't damaged during the fight. He passed by a few people in uniform and others out of it due to it being an off day/ recovery day for them. He said a few greetings to those he passed and made his way to the employee lockers to grab his ax. With the last of the day's prep done, he made his way to the main lobby so he could see what it was he was doing.
He made a good effort to find a group of guys and use his uniform to blend in and avoid the gaze of his boss. While he may have cooled down since last night. Oxon was not a gambling man and did not want to be singled out.
Everyone chatted with each other, many comparing bruises and arguing who got hit worse. Oxon regaled them about being knocked airborne twice in a night. All in all, the group was at least able to bond over shared pain. When the rest of the men made it to the floor, a guy in a fancier suit stepped up front to address those gathered.
Ahhh, its Tony, isn't he like #2 when it comes to running the club?
Gaining everyone's attention with a sharp whistle, he began the briefing. "Alright folks, With what went down last night, we need to repair the club by the end of the week! I don't want to hear anyone complain! The sooner we get this place fixed, the quicker we can resume operations and you all can get paid!"
A murmur moved through the crown at that. It seemed not everyone was pleased with hard labor and a pause on their income. "End of the week? That's in four bloody days!"
"What do you mean 'then we can get paid'?"
"Fuck this man, what about our other businesses? Will those be good enough for our money?"
"Damnit tony, I'm a DJ, not an electrician!"
A few more objected loudly but most were done under their breaths and hard to hear. He could sympathize, four days was not a lot of time to get everything fixed. Would they sacrifice a few items just to speed the reopening up?
"I understand everyone's concerns." Everyone quieted down from the raise of his hand and listened to his words. "Much of the income from the recent months of the club and other activities will be covering the cost of repairs first and foremost. Since you lot are useless in construction, we'll need to hire professionals to replace and reinstall a lot of equipment. That means not much will be left to pay everyone, it's also an incentive to do good work in order to get us back on our feet."
Begrudging acceptance flowed through the crowd, it seems Tony was well suited for people management and leading the men. With that Tony began delegating certain tasks to some of the gang's veterans so groups could start on different projects. Oxon was lumped in with the group that would be moving equipment and resources, a simple task that he was glad to get. He was glad he wasn't on the catwalk crew who would be setting up the lights. Heights don't agree with him so staying on the ground was welcome.
Popping the joints in his neck, he began to get to work.
~~~(VI)~~~
The rest of the week was a blur of heavy lifting and installations, work he was used to. As he expected, some decorations like the glass columns had to be put on hold for when there was money in the budget. To Oxon's great relief, the LED trees had survived the fight and just needed some minor fixes and a bit of cleaning. He had finished the last delivery of machinery, a new DJ station, about an hour ago and the tech savvy guys were assisting the hired specialist as he set up the finishing touches. At this point, the club was ready to open for Friday tomorrow. Tony said tonight was a night for the gang to relax and enjoy the club for the night.
Oxon was with a few others of the group he was in, on the second day they'd dubbed themselves the 'Twenty Bear Team' for a bit of fun and a morale boost. Since they had completed their tasks, they broke out the alcohol so the celebration could begin.
"C'mon Ox, you're telling me that you haven't even had a beer?" A tipsy guy, Ooro he recalls, slurred. He'd been busy knocking a few back the moment they collapsed at the bar.
"Well, My father gave me some wine at festivals, but besides that? Not really. Never saw the appeal I guess." After being made to clean up after drunk adults when seasonal holidays came and went, he grew annoyed at what alcohol caused.
He had his nice, hydrating, water and he was content, yet it seemed his fellow Bear Team members were not. A few people encouraged him to try some. Most of what was put in front of him smelled too strong for his unaccustomed nose.
None of this is like the fruit wine we had for solstice.
His reactions only spurred others to try harder. Talk of 'camaraderie', 'team spirit' and even 'not being a dweeb' were used. Eventually some of the other groups made their way to the bar once they had finished and joined in. The most annoying was Lisian by far.
"Oxy, buddy, baby, you don't drink? We just went through hell this week." He stood inside the bar and seemed to be mixing a few drinks. A blend of colorful liquids were stirred together and a cherry was dropped inside at the end.
"All work and no play makes a man boring and one dimensional. Take it from me, people loooove a good drink after a hard week of work." Yes, but water or tropical fruit juice was more than enough for him.
Lisian handed Oxon the colorful cocktail with an over dramatic grin. "Fighting those welllll above our pay grades, furious boss, and then backbreaking labor. Truly a stiff drink after that is a welcome relief."
The, whatever it was, set on the counter was given the love it deserved. None. He was distrustful of what had been made since at least half a dozen ingredients were used and too fast to track.
"Come on bud, we've been working shifts together for a while now, would I ever try to lead you astray?" While the man had certainly done so in the past, Li had a semi serious face on and he didn't want to be rude to one the few guys he got on with.
Scratching his ear, he picked up the damned drink. "Look, fine, you win. I'll try one, ONE, drink ok? Once I do will you finally fuck off?"
The grin on his friend's face was, while not reassuring, not something that screamed 'bad.'
He'd seen similar drinks served at the bar during his time there. Though he'd never paid attention to it before since he didn't think he'd ever try it. He trusted Lisian to make a good drink, but he didn't trust the actual drink.
"What's it called? I know these things have fancy little names." He picked up the glass and observed the colors. It was mostly a yellow looking liquid with splashes of green and red diffusing slowly into the whole.
"Oh that? We call that 'Vacuo Man' cause the main liquor is from the kingdom. It's based on one of their popular fruit drinks." The chuckles of the others didn't help his paranoia. "It's a fruity drink and doesn't taste very strong. Perfect for your untested taste buds."
Folding to the peer pressure, Oxon brought the drink up to get a sniff first. It smelled like a fruit drink, sweet and cold. It tasted even better. The juice was refreshing after the long day, and he barely tasted the bite of the liquor. Lisian must have gone easy on him.
While he was distracted by the drink. Lisian and his other conspirators whispered merrily. Lisian was in the center of their hushed conversation taking a few lien from the others. "I told you he'd drink it! There's no way he knows what goes into the thing."
"You really gave the kid a Vacuo Man as his first drink? Damn, and I thought Melanie was vicious." A few others gave some muted chuckles in agreement. The drink was infamous due to its medley of hard ingredients. Fruit liquors and a few juices made a sweet drink that was deceptively high ABV.
"What would you have me give him? A Vale Light?" Lisian spoke the name with a nasty amount of venom. "It's depressing enough that it was invented, more so that people like it. If his first ever drink was that watered down swill, then I'd quit being a bartender. I don't even class it as a beer, it's closer to hopp-water, the less people who drink it the better."
The group ended their discourse when they heard a 'clink' sound from down the bar. The decent sized drink that Oxon was given now rested empty, and he popped the fruit chunk into his mouth. The drink that was meant to last him at least a half hour was gone in a minute.
"Not gonna lie Li, that was a pretty good drink, mind if I get another?"
Lisian looked a mix of proud and worried. He was glad his idea was a success, but worried about how quickly it was downed. He decided with a shrug to just embrace it, it's a party after all.
"Why of course Ox, It'd be my pleasure."
~~~(VI)~~~
"Alright, look, just because they're called a stick bug, doesn't mean they are actually sticks."
"I'm tellen ya… they gotta be plants… I mean, deyr green. And they just stand there, plant lyke!"
"But they're bugs! I know you're a little out of it bro, but they're stick BUGS."
"Lisn, 'ere, wich a us is from the city and which a us grew up in the sticks." A slow and wavering finger pointed between the two. "I'll, gi' ya a hint, I'm not from heeeeere."
The mildly tipsy gangster was begging to lose his mind with this insane argument on insects. Rubbing his temple, he decided the best way out was to surrender. The man raised his hands in the universal signal of defeat. "Sure thing bud, I'm just a city slicker, what do I know?"
Oxon cheered his success at winning the debate, Cimma? Cibba? Cinna, maybe. Eh whatever, nobody remembers the losers anyways. Taking another sip of his drink in victory was a good feeling.
The booze was also a good feeling. He had a light feeling throughout his body and a hazy feeling in his head. It was far better than the drinks given at celebrations and ceremonies back home. He'd need to do something nice for Lisian for this.
Looking out to the rest of the club he saw the fruits of their labor. The end of the crunch celebration was in full swing and the gang was relaxing after the long days. A number of guys were dancing on the floor or sitting around drinking and chatting. The frustration of the previous week forgotten, they all indulged in their vices. Oxon could blearily make out a junior sized blur on one of the balconies that was connected to one of the VIP rooms.
He continued to look around the room when someone sat next to him. A stupid grin was plastered on his face when he realized who it was.
"Mil!" He said with confidence only a fool or a drunkard could muster. And the raised eyebrow from Melanie Malachite was the response he got.
~~~(VI)~~~
Seeing a new arrival at the bar, Lisian quickly walked over to her. While not technically on the clock, someone had to mix drinks for everyone. The bartender's experienced employees took turns so that they could enjoy the night as well. Seeing one of the higher ups near his inebriated friend required quick intervention.
"Mil!" The big lummox took a look at Melanie and the first thing he did was call out her sister's name? Not the best move, that's for sure.
Ahhh crud, come on man, they might be twins but she's wearing white!
"Hey there, boss lady, what can I get for you?" Yikes, calling one of the twins by the wrong name was a one way ticket to castration. Luckily, Lisian was adept in the ways of distraction and could shift her attention off the drunk idiot.
"Something decent and spicy, can you pull that off horn-dog?" Ahhh, when even the upper crust of their gang knows his reputation, it's either really good or really bad. Of course, really good sounds much better to him. After all, it's not like he faced the consequences all that often since Ox showed up.
"Well I can give you a number of drinks to spice up your night." And if anyone asked, the eyebrow wiggle was absolutely necessary. And others could argue the cold glare he received was absolutely deserved.
"Just give me a drink before I show you what the inside of your rectum looks like." Her message was punctuated with a heavy tap of a blade on the barstool.
While most of the men would have ran away or cowered in fear, Lisian was one of the types who lived off reactions, both positive and negative. While he undoubtedly tended to try for a positive reaction, leading to a positive night, a furious person was just as amusing to him. So with a placating gesture, he began to work on her drink.
"So what brings you down here?" He asked while mixing in tabasco sauce to a reddening drink. "Normally you and your sister just send a message instead of ordering personally."
"Hei thinks we should be seen with the rest of the gang, group morale and all that jazz. Why else would I willingly get within ten feet of you." Truly the cuts of her words were worse than those on her feet. "Miltia is not even attending, she was supposed to meet me here, but she made some lame excuse about being tired. Please."
"Well since you are here, you have my skill to your undivided attention." And it would stay that way even as the others down the table complained. So what if he was being selfish, he wanted a damn raise. "Also, please ignore Oxon, he's… had a bit more than anticipated."
"I have a suspicion he has you to blame for this." Oxon was fairly out of it at this point, he was using two hands to carefully sip from his virgin Vacuo Man. While he thought he was still going strong, in reality he'd been cut off after three drinks. While normally most people know their limits, first time drinkers are usually not so knowledgeable. "He won't be thanking you tomorrow."
"Dude handled more than I thought, I guess that height of his helped prevent any digestive reversal." He'd honestly expected him to be out cold at this point, not that he was complaining, a cheerful Ox was a new sight. The majority of their working relationship was polite yet distant conversations, with a rare few jokes, so actually having a conversation, no matter how incoherent, was nice.
With a last bit of flourish, the drink was ready. "I present to you, a Bloody Maria, a perfect drink to beat the heat and feel it all the same."
She took the glass with a word of thanks and took a probing sip. After deeming it to be sufficient, she relaxed a bit while she enjoyed the night off. After that rough night, he could see why Junior was cool with letting the guys have free drinks. Even someone as strong as the boss and the twins were on edge the whole week in case something else happened.
"Hey Melanie, when you see your sister," He ignored the suspicious look. "Can you give her my thanks? The dudes helped me out of a few jams and it'd suck if he was removed." After a string of colossal failures by the rest of his fellows, he was half expecting an example to be made out of Ox. It was hard to punish the entire group that got their ass kicked, but since Oxon was the only guy to come back from Roman's job? That was far more plausible.
She continued to drink for a bit before eventually responding. "Whatever, Mil was just repaying the favor for his help that night. I didn't exactly see anyone else have the sense to start treating people."
Honestly, that was probably his saving grace for what happened. Without that, he'd have just been a failure and a coward for running, but helping fix up the boss and the twins? I guess he gained and spent his brownie points all within the span of a few hours.
He was brought out of his thoughts when a loud thud was heard from his left. The spot Oxon had been sitting at was now mysteriously empty. And like most bar related mysteries, the case of the missing patron was solved by leaning over the counter. The graceful sight of his pall passed out starfish style greeted him.
A series of "not its" rang out throughout those who were nearby. And Melenie, who was unused to the anti-dibs system, was the only person to opt out of helping the guy. By the time she realized the situation and tried to follow along it was too late.
"Not- Fucking hell, You cant be serious.'' She tried to look around at those who'd been quicker on the draw but they all had a sudden interest in everything besides Oxon and the enforcer. "Fuck no, there's no way you're making me carry his ass, look at him! Isn't it your jobs to do that?"
While not the most skilled or smart guy on payroll, Oxon was not what was considered small. He was the typ of guy that probably needed two or more to carry him out when gone rag dolled. He wasn't about to volunteer. He'd been the first to say "not it" after all.
With a grin and an idea that definitely won't do him any favors, Lisian was ready to give the final push. "What was it that Junior wanted you guys down here for? Oh right group morale and all that jazz. There's nothing better at raising morale and camaraderie among us guys than helping a drunken coworker back to their apartment! Besides its super convenient since he rents from the boss."
His shit eating grin was reaching critical smugness. In comparison, Melenie's rage was soon to boil over. "I mean, don't you want to support us after all that's happened?"
With a quick finish of her drink, she hopped down from the counter and grabbed the unconscious lug by the back of his jacket. "I'll do it, but don't think I won't remember you or those who didn't to offer to help."
Lisian watched the twin drag Oxon off into the night by one who everyone not so secretly wanted a piece of. Though the exact situation was one that was not exactly how they'd imagine it to go. Wiping an imaginary tear from his face, Lisian had to get one last quip in.
"Ahh, they grow up so fast. First they ask you how to find the storage room, then they get dragged off by our hot boss back to his room."
~~~(VI)~~~
Yes I shamelessly 'borrowed' some characters by more well known world builders like Coer (Tony).
I wanted to, and still do, come up with some more people like Lisian. But creating unique gang characters that would fill similar roles to characters like the twins felt off. In the end I just decided to redo it with them instead since it was much easier. Besides, I think it's much better character development than interactions with some dude who probably won't make a return.