"You sure you don't want to speed up a little?" Melanie eyed the guy's glass. "You've been working on that one for a little over an hour now."

"I'm good, honest." Truthfully, he didn't even give himself a buzz yet, but that was okay with him; somebody had to be the sober one, and he wasn't one to deprive a couple of lovely ladies that opportunity; especially when they were taking care of his bro. "Besides, at least one of us needs to be able to think straight around here."

That earned Josh a smack in the arm from his aggressor, but he took it in good humor. Miltia smiled contentedly, having a good enough time watching the pair go about the usual back and forth. Strangely, she never got much out of him in regards to himself, with the big oaf always pressing her sister's buttons just enough to lose the topic. Unlike Jay, Josh was more outgoing, and in her biased opinion, kind of a party guy. Maybe it was the way he kept engaging Melania with his constant, and rather poor, attempts at flirting, but he had this sort of "let's do something" flair to him - and not in the overly creepy way most of those folk often went about it. He knew his limits, and when to pull back.

And yet, while he was being prodded at by her sister, Miltia once more redirected her sights from the current bit and onto the front again. It was late by this point, and to be a little direct with herself, she was starting to worry. Roman was well known for always coming out on top with whatever scheme he was brewing at any given time, but Jay was... for lack of a better term: a little kid.

It felt a bit demeaning to write him off as such, especially with the outright murder of a serial killer under his belt, but he was just so... immature, at least in her eyes. Maybe it was her own wants and experiences driving that image, and certainly a bit of nostalgia painting his appearance and place in her life with unfair depictions, but Miltia truthfully couldn't look at him like someone capable of doing things on his own.

And in a way, she didn't want to; it felt nice being a big sister again, and she wasn't willing to let that go just yet... even if she knew she had to eventually.

These unsettling thoughts were pushed aside when he walked in, and Miltia felt the crushing avalanche of worry come to a crawl and stop, leaving her to dig away the rubble and pull free the excitement which was awaiting her rescue. She so badly wanted to just run over and scoop him up, cuddling her little guy in a fluffy hug, and ask him about how his time was. Miltia, however, knew better than to give into those feelings. This was Jay, and Jay was just a friend.

Said urge to hug him was put on pause as she got a better look into his eyes, and while they never left the ground, the sheer commitment of his sulking was what got to her. Any ideas that things went swimmingly had drowned in the deeper currents of thought as she could tell, from the obvious slogging of each and every step, that Jay's time hadn't been all smiles and sunshine. Roman was a crook, yeah, but seeing as he wouldn't want to risk any bad blood with Junior, she could reasonably guess that whatever Jay had been through which put that fatigue on his face hadn't been by Roman's design.

Miltia wasn't the only one to spot Jay though, as a bright call was made beside her, yelling out, "hey, over here!"

And that excitement started to wane when the guy faced them full on, and a brisk, "oh," juxtaposed the previous thrill. Each step was just a little hard, and she heard Josh mutter, "oh no," under his breath, as if his fears had been confirmed. She wasn't sure if it was solely the fear that something had happened to his friend, which was obvious for all to see, or if Jay's sour mood had spoiled some plan Josh had in mind for them all tonight.

Jay took a seat next to her, letting his elbows plop on their table as his arms crossed themselves lazily. His breathing was steady, but heavy, and every motion of his rising chest needed an equal push to give it fuel. He looked between them all, leaned back in his space, and greeted them.

"Hey... I'm back."

Miltia was certain everyone could smell the liquor in his voice, and Melanie was the first to call him on it.

"And apparently more thrashed than anyone else here." Her scowl wasn't as hard as it usually was, but she appeared quite irritated regardless. "So what gives? You steal some of it yourself, or was Roman so fed up with your uselessness that he chose to dim you the old fashioned way."

Miltia sighed internally; her sis was on the deep end of her drinking now, and it showed - regular Melanie would have smoothed out the insult so the target wouldn't even have a way to counter it.

"Just... shut up, please." He wasn't quite on the edge of growling, but there was a rabid bite to his words. "And yes, I stole it; not that it matters."

This admittance got a twitch from her drunk sister's brow, and Melanie actually looked somewhat pleased; yep, she was wasted. Really, Miltia was sure Josh would have interrupted by this point, but his face had an uneasy calm to it, and his eyes flowed freely over Jay. Concern for a friend wasn't all that odd, but having his arms twitch as if ready to throw a punch was, especially with how playful he'd seemed before. Still, he just watched, looking alert should the need to intervene arrive... or, that's what she hoped he was waiting for; Miltia really didn't want to fathom why Josh, the happy go lucky goober, would prepare to jump his friend.

"Roman certainly won't be happy about that."

"It wasn't his, so I really don't think he cares."

That got some snark from Melanie, who let loose a fluent, "ha," and eyed him. Grinning, she led with, "cleared out someone's cupboards, or what?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Jay didn't seem all that amused... as if Melanie cared. She just continued to prod after finishing off what was her eleventh refill of the night.

"He'd probably have chewed you out about evidence, but what good is that when you don't exist yet." She chuckled, grinning with, "but I suppose that's what makes you tolerable though: you aren't even real to most people."

There was a slight twitch, and with more than a little huff in him, Jay stood firm.

"Whatever. I'm not in the mood for this." And with that, he started away, with Josh calling out."

"H-hey. Hold up a second." He stood as well. "Where are you headed?"

"To clear my head." Jay never once broke stride, and Josh was about set to chase after his buddy when something fell against the table. Turning, he saw Melanie pull off to the side, standing, and now with her empty drinking glass planted firm on the table. She stretched, exhaled, and started off.

"You two enjoy the night. I'm going to go make sure the ass-wipe doesn't get into any more shit."

Miltia felt that was a little weird, and Josh apparently saw it too, and made a request as he tried to shimmy around and out.

"Well hold up a second!" He was nearly there. "I'm his best bud! Let me help!"

"Nope." Melanie's tone wasn't all that loud, but it held within an essence of power. It was a command, not a request. "Sit your ass back down and drink." Starting off as well, she added, "you'll just let the prick walk all over you. Don't worry," She waved back, volume dropping with every step. "I'm just going to screw a few extra bolts into his brain. Maybe then he'll wake up."

Josh very clearly wanted to say something, but seeing her pass out of view had him falling back in place. Huffing, his arms hit the table elbows first, and his head may well have joined them had Miltia not perked up with a question.

"Josh?" He looked over, stalling his tired face. Worry sat in place of those eyes, and yet there was something more. Miltia, however, had an inkling that 'something' was related to what she wanted to know, especially in regards to how he acted. Josh was Jay's best friend, by the man's own admission no less... but the way he acted at the sight of him was much more than a little concerning. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." He propped his arm up, resting his cheek in the open palm. Miltia linked her fingers, clearing her thoughts a little and trying to consider the least offensive way to pose the question.

"You were... worried when Jay came back, right?" This drew a curious look from him, and with a raised brow he confirmed it.

"Yeah."

"Okay..." She took a short breath, letting her eyes drop to his other hand. "Then... Why did you look so tense when he sat down?"

"Hmm?" He leaned back a little, more... 'awake' this time, and seemed a bit confused. She wasn't sure he quite understood what she meant by that, and so opted to be a bit more overt in what she saw.

"You didn't exactly look all that happy. And... every time he moved, you seemed about ready to... well... jump him." There was a slight twitch near the corner of his lips, but she didn't stop there, and made it clear exactly what she wanted from him. "What was up with that?"

He sucked in some air, tightened his lip, breathed out through his nose, and leaned his head back. Raising both hands, he covered his face, and from that she knew the answer wouldn't exactly be anything good.

"Alright." It was a little muffled, but he pulled his hands away and settled them back on the table. He didn't seem super tired anymore, but the lack of any real smile and the more drained expression did not suit him. It kind of reminded her of Jay a little, but even his more fearful expressions still held a pinch of energy; Josh's look just seemed dead… and a little mean. "I'll... try and explain a bit."

Miltia, seeing how uneasy the guy was, at the very least tried to lighten the mood with a touch of playful prodding. "It's that bad, huh?"

"Try complicated." His tone relaxed somewhat, but not as much as she would have liked. Still, it was better than nothing, and he carried on in full. "Now, by this point, you've seen what he's like when there's some booze in him."

"Twice." She corrected, letting out a small giggle. "Although the first time was more incoherent rambling and puking."

This got a chuckle out of Josh. "So he reached that point? Good. No real need to worry when he's that far along."

"Yeah." Miltia saw the light fade from him again, and pushed him along. "But... I'm guessing that's not what you're trying to focus on."

"Nah... nah, that's... that's usually the better outcome." He turned, and reaching over, took Melanie's glass in hand. Although empty, he lifted it a bit off the table, and twisted it as if swirling a shot for her to see. However, unlike the mini tornado which a full shot would create, only specks of spare, forgotten droplets were moved. "You know, back in my home town we used to have a nickname for beer and other drinks: liquid courage."

Miltia smiled, leaning back and relaxing herself. "Funny. We have plenty of regulars who call it the same thing here. I guess it's a shared sentiment."

"And for good reason." Josh laid the glass back down. "Drinking dulls the senses, taking away fears and restrictions which usually keep us from doing what we want in the moment. The way I look at it, a drunk man is, most of the time, showing his true face. We get to see who he is without anything to hold him back."

"I'm... not so sure." Miltia had a feeling Josh was a little bit off in his thinking. "Based on how I've seen friends act when drinking, I'd say their whole shtick is usually a combination of sound reasoning and overall personality."

"Yeah, but the overall isn't exactly what I'm getting at." Josh sank in his seat, almost worryingly so. "The buzz takes away a part of their judgment, but even so, their overall personality and feelings are still there. Take a look at any of your friends, and while they're less restricted, you still get to see them shine through in the end."

Even with that in mind, Miltia still felt that was a bit of an overgeneralization, but hey, it was just an idea on his front. And besides, he wasn't entirely wrong with the idea either. Alcohol wasn't anything like hard drugs, who swelled up addictions and just completely washed away the individual... at least not at the start. But she supposed that's what he was talking about: not an overall dependency addiction, just the occasional night out. And, in that regard, she supposed he kind of had a bit of a point.

Her cheery friends got party-wild, and the downers of the group were usually just a bit quiet. While not overt evidence, it didn't hurt to play with the thought for a little while.

Actually... the more she thought of it, the more she wondered about Jay. Yeah, she'd only seen it twice, but the first time he went all out he'd spoke in an almost threatening manner to the blond gal who'd supposedly beat his ass, spouting nonsense here and there that she couldn't make heads or tails of. And now he was all mopey, and even a little rude. But that could be explained by his little outing. It was no secret Roman and Neo were a pair, and their jobs were always a little on the exciting end of the spectrum.

However, taking into account what Josh was saying, Miltia ended up more concerned for the guy than she'd been previously. And now her sister was out to keep an eye on him... which, knowing Melanie, involved a serious talking down. She wasn't blind, and knew her sister wasn't much a fan of the guy.

In the end, she could only hope Melanie didn't do anything drastic.

.

.

"Huh." Jay really wasn't in the mood for company, but it seemed Melanie wasn't one to just let him go unchecked, and she strolled up to his side casually, as if she hadn't been prodding at him before. "You're not that fast of a walker, but then again I guess Miltia tends to control the speed, am I right?"

"What do you want?" He asked, unconsciously picking up the pace in response to her strange method of starting conversation. This didn't sit well with Melanie, who unknown to the guy, was more than a little fed up with his shit by this point. She made her feelings known in the most inconspicuous method she had available to her.

With a slight grumble, she rolled her eyes and spat, "well, for one: I'd like you to get your head out of your ass. But by this point, I don't think you can even hear me with how far you've got it shoved up there."

"Oh, really?" He stopped, stared, and crossed his arms. "Well tell me, what is it that's so detrimental to have you out here chasing me?"

Melanie accepted his challenge, with her ever waning patience steadily ticking away. Through grit teeth, she seethed out a reply, and not a nice one either.

"Don't."

A single brow of his twisted up, along with a tiny grin.

"Don't wha-?!" He was cut off by the sudden introduction of a fist burrowing its way into his stomach. It left his mouth agape, spitting bits of drool out and forcing him to take a step back as she pulled away. He made to look up and ask what the hell that was all about, only to see the fury scorching her face.

Although just a little wider than usual, there was no ignoring the hate pulsing in those iris's, and as the shadows caked the space around them, Melanie made sure her voice was nice and full as she spat out with crystalline clarity.

"That." Taking a few choice steps, she shoved him over with just one hand, employing enough force to knock him onto his back. From there she laid it all out. "Boo hoo, the frightful little bitch is surrounded by scary trouble on all sides. Oh no, he just keeps running into problems, so we've gotta help him."

"I-augh!"

"NO!" Digging her heel into his gut, she leaned over him. "You don't get to speak right now. This is the part where you listen!" She wasn't even hiding her anger as she snarled down at him. "I've had it up to here with your nonsense!"

This time it was Jay's turn to shoot out the evil eye. "Nonsense?! What the hell type of nonsense are you fucking shouting about!"

His breathing cut off as she pressed harder down, twisting into a delightfully vile grin.

"Cubs got claws after all~" And then she cracked him across the face. Pulling back up, she uncurled the fist and set in on her hip, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. "That nonsense. You can't seem to see it though, which matches up perfectly with what I expected from the likes of you, so I guess I can't say I'm surprised; your type is always so damn predictable."

Stepping off him now, he leaned up a little, but was put back down on his back as a sharp pain shot through his core. Surely she hadn't done any serious damage; he was too important to Junior, at least enough to gather some protection. While still in his doped up state, Jay knew the man wouldn't allow anything serious to befall him, meaning Melanie was taking it easy on him. That's just the man Junior was: he never let his assets go to waste.

As this ran through Jay's mind, and for just a second, the woman's glare towards him sparked, and while it looked like the very shadows around her would leap out to tear him asunder, that all fled when her shoulders dropped. Her rage died much too fast to be natural, or even legit, and Melanie gazed upon him as she always had, bearing nothing but smothered irritation.

"Let me give you a bit of advice, and pay attention, because this'll be the only time I give it." She sent a small, half hearted frown, but her look never once let up. "Quit it with your pathetic showboating. Feeling sorry for yourself is one thing, but whoring for the limelight is a whole other level of disgusting. You've been through shit? So what? Everyone's dealt with life's nonsense since the day they were born. Get your act together."

Turning away, she began to head back to the club. Jay would have called out something, but she hit him with one last retort before she was gone, which he'd heard whispered in the wind.

"Why should you get a pass when the rest of us had to work through our shit?"

Jay wasn't sure how long he laid there: he just stared up at the sky, all the while running her words through his head. He wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point one of the jabs got through, but he wasn't sure which. Regardless of whether she was saying anything solid or not, he couldn't help but feel pissed.

His thoughts began to scatter.

What gave her the right to come out bitching at him? He was already pissed as is, she knew that, and yet she rambled on about this and that, and god forbid he try to break down why she chose to confront him now of all times over that blatant bullshit. Clearly she'd been holding onto all that resentment for a while, but what made tonight any different than all the others? She could have whined to him at any point beforehand, so what changed?

More important than all of that though was the whole thing with everyone going through life. Yeah, no shit, but what the hell was she on about with showboating? Did she think this was all just a game: an act he was putting up? Did she think he liked feeling like a stain of roadkill scattered across the highway? What the fuck did she know about his life, and his problems?

She was a cartoon character for crying out loud!

And not only that, but she was one of the most respected and feared of Junior's crew, and that man was already the big fish of the underground sea. Melanie had it good compared to most people in Vale, let alone himself? But here she was, complaining to him, and about getting his act together? Ha! What a laugh. She'd been nothing but a prick to him since his arrival; at best tolerating him when her sister was around. Melanie was nothing but a coward when it came to the topic, and now she was whining to him?

Jay tried twisting over, flopping onto his gut, and pushing himself up as best he could. Most of the pain in his gut was nothing compared to the wild state of his mind. It was almost humorous the amount of rage such a little confrontation had dwelled up, and in his near delirious state, Jay did not once question why he was so furious, only accepting that he was and making excuses.

Is this about Miltia? The thought came to him the very moment the topic came up.

She'd been a lot closer to him than any normal friend would be, damn near doting on him every chance she got. It was obvious she was babying him, but he was injured the first time he met her, and even - somehow - saved her after that. He'd just assumed she was being that way because he helped her, and maybe because she found it amusing to play nurse to him. Yeah, it was creepy in concept, but he never minded too much because she'd always tried to keep the tone of everything light. Was that it? Was Melanie pissed with him because he was too close with her sister, and all this other toxic sludge was just an excuse to yell at him because she didn't have a better excuse?

"Hey, you forget how to walk?"

That didn't sound like Melanie, or even one of the others. Twisting his head up, Jay couldn't make out the guy above him, not with the street lights just behind blaring brightly in his eyes.

"Here, let's get you up." The man reached down, and Jay, figuring there was no harm in it, took the hand offered. With a yank, he was propped up on his feet again, and the light dulled enough to illuminate the figure, although Jay really wished it hadn't. "There you go. So how are we feeling?"

"Fine." Jay said with enough ease. He was still pretty buzzed, so even though he knew the significance of the guy who'd helped him off the sidewalk, he wasn't all that afraid.

Besides, it was just Qrow: Ruby's drunken, but overall goofy, uncle. Granted, Qrow was only goofy for the first little bit of his introduction, but that was due to the fall of Beacon to come. At this point in the series, Qrow would still be that ultimately carefree guy, who only showed his wear and tear when business got involved. And, seeing as he was speaking with what should have been a total stranger, Jay assumed he wouldn't up and pounce.

Qrow smirked, shooting a knowing smile.

"You've gotten into some of the good stuff, haven't you?"

Booze, Jay knew he was referring to booze, and nodded.

"How could you tell?"

"I know that smell anywhere, and buddy, it's like you've just walked right out of the brewery."

"Thanks, I always wanted to be told that." He was getting tired by now, and Qrow rolling his eyes didn't help. On the bright side, the man never said anything off putting, meaning that he, so far, had avoided Ozpin's detection.

This reasoning, while sound, was completely false, but there was nobody around to correct him on this, and so he went on believing it.

"Yep, you're a mess. Alright buddy, point the way and let's get you home." Qrow wrapped his arm across Jay's shoulders, waving ahead, to which Jay questioned it. The act, while appearing as that of a normal good samaritan, was questionable for Qrow; he was the guy to join you on the pavement after a night out, not the one to pick you up.

"I'm fine on my own." Jay tried to pull away, but Qrow wasn't having it.

"Nah, I don't think so. What type of guy would I be to just leave a buddy like you all on his own?"

"Someone normal." Jay tried, but soon gave up, sighing and accepting defeat. "Whatever, you win."

"Good boy. Now then, where are we headed?"

"Have you ever heard of Junior's?"

"Oh ho ho~" Qrow sent a sly grin. "Just about every frat-boy in town knows that place. New hire?"

"Kinda." Jay's vision was getting a little hazy. "I help out with some things from time to time."

"Yeah, sounds about right for the newbie." He finished that off with a chuckle. "Not too bad, is it?"

"I can't say..." Jay was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, but even he could see how weird this whole situation was, and called it out as his eyes began to droop, looking at Qrow and asking, "why the sudden interest? I'm only the new guy."

"Meh, I was just curious I guess." Qrow fumbled with his words a little, looking at him with... a look; Jay's vision was a fuzzy mess now, and he was soon about to drop, and for sure couldn't see straight. "Well that, and the fact you remind me of someone I know: a relative of mine."

A relative?

And like the flick of a light, Jay passed into sleep before he could even contemplate what that meant.

Author's note

...

We're back again, but this time it's more of a laid back chapter... kind of.

Jay's very clearly not in a good state, and Melanie's totaled as well it seems, which lead to their little confrontation in the empty nighttime streets. She's certainly had a good bit to say, and quite violently too, leaving Jay on his back and grumbling.

But was her blow up and assault legit, or was it all a product of the alcohol enhancing the stress? Regardless of that, Jay's certainly not going to forget about it, and with Qrow stepping in it seems Jay wasn't in a good enough state to realize why that was such a worrying meeting.

Josh also had something to say too, and with Miltia taking his little idea to mind, she's wondering what it means.

I swear this isn't just going to become a story about the dangers of alcohol; we're just in the club setting, and our not so great lad is rather quick to rebound into his habits.

Oh, and just to put this on the table - I mentioned this in my other story, but I'll put it here.

I write characters to be interesting, and not necessarily "good." Anyone with even some sense can see that certain choices being made by our cast aren't exactly "just" at points. And no, this is not a self-insert for those who may be wondering; I don't do those stories - I don't like self-inserts, it just feels a little weird to me, so I don't write 'em. I bring this all up because, as anyone can see by this point, our protagonist Jay isn't exactly a hero. I bring this up because I know there's a good many of you who'll look at a lot of characters and their reasonings for what they do and why as "excuses" to their behavior: it's not. If something sounds and plays out vile, chances are it is, and is meant as such.

You, the reader, have to decide what answers are right and wrong on your own: I merely provide the questions and situations. Look, I know most of you are smart enough to see this on your own without me telling you, but based on many of the reviews on my previous and ongoing story, as well as a few here, there are a good bit of people who aren't and just assume that whatever the protagonist's do is fully and morally justified: it ain't.

By the way, keep your reviews civil and mature if you can: you don't need to like the characters or the story, and you're free to critique elements and drop it as a whole at any point, but claiming to want to spit on the face of anyone because you think they're like an obviously cowardly, and overtly flawed, protagonist is just foolishness that won't be taken seriously. I always do my best to read and understand every review; I like getting everyone's perspectives on my work, and making adjustments to said work when needed. Based on one particular review, perhaps even the one which sparked this whole breakdown, I don't need to make any alterations to the story or characters whatsoever: everything is working exactly as it needs to, and it seems everyone is looking at things as intended. Still, it never hurts to make sure everyone's on the same page.

Also, to the rest of the more sensible and interested audience: keep a close eye on Jay - No, I won't explain why.

Anyway, that's it for this one.

Until next time.