Chapter 35
Nighttime
I grunted as I sat in the corner of the bar, watching the people around me carefully. My eyes drifted to the woman, the one named Floria, as she stood in the middle of the floor, acting like a complete dumbass as she made jokes and pranced around, causing a few of the bar patrons to laugh and cheer for her.
The only other person in this bar that wasn’t participating in watching her antics was Domitor, who was at the bar drinking something, seeming to be talking with the bartender.
“This is stupid,” I grumbled to myself, upset that I was stuck with these two all of a sudden. If it wasn’t for the threat of dying to a strange contract thing, I’d have never come near these guys again. Seeing them just pissed me off so much.
Especially him.
I glared across the room at Domitor as he drank from a bottle, looking like he had his own demons to deal with. Screw him, I hope killing that prick Lenrick affects him the rest of his life, serves him right.
Drifting my gaze back to Floria, I saw she was doing tricks with some kind of large rifle, tossing it around herself as she made a few crude jokes to the people around her.
I honestly do not know how to feel about this woman, she’s weird and crazy. And bipolar as fuck. But if she’s following Domitor around, then she can’t be that great.
“Hey man, brooding in the corner?” A random guy asked as he sat down at my table, a drink in his hand.
“Fuck off,” I said harshly, causing him to laugh.
“I’m just trying to make conversation, man, chill out,” he said, taking a long swig of his drink. “So you look capable, wanna make some quick fazoles?”
“What part of ‘fuck off’ did you not catch?” I asked as I kicked the table at him, knocking him out of his chair and onto the floor.
“What’s your problem?!” he snapped as he jumped up, but as I stood up fully, he got a good look at me. “Yeah alright, shit man, forget I even asked.”
I watched him walk away as he walked to another table and began to ask them the same questions he’d asked me.
Shaking my head, I sat back down and went back to watching everyone in the bar.
After a little bit the bartender walked over to me and placed a bottle down next to me. “From the lady dancing for everyone,” he said, gesturing to Floria, who stopped her antics long enough to give me a thumbs up.
I just rolled my eyes and grabbed the bottle, “thanks, man.”
He gave a nod as he returned to his place behind the bar.
Looking the bottle over, I saw that it was some kind of mild alcoholic beverage. I’m not a drinker, I remember watching my mother battle this shit when I was younger. It took her a few years to get to where she could stay sober and not rely on this crap to get through all the tough shit.
Luckily she had me and mom there to support her. So I decided long ago I’d avoid any of this stuff like the plague.
Placing the bottle back down, I leaned back in my chair, pressing into the corner of the room and sighed. I want to leave and go somewhere else, but apparently I have to stay with them till the job is complete. Which is luckily tomorrow.
My Ego gave me a ‘Rank: S’ quest for this, so it’ll be worth it for me as well. But a Rank: S quest? Oh boy, that means this shit will be crazy for sure.
After I finish helping them, I should have enough time to go to this floating island for this stupid tournament. That should be super easy, the people I’ve fought so far here have been pushovers, so I’m fairly confident I’ll steam roll this silly little tournament.
Up at the counter I saw Domitor get into an argument with two other guys. From what I can tell, they were trying to kick him out for being a weird creature.
“Stupid, Domitor,” I chuckled to myself, watching them get more animated as they argued. “That’s why you should be wearing a disguise. Dumb fuck.”
They started to push at him, knocking him out of his chair as he stumbled back, trying to appease them. Just as they started to get more pushy, Floria slid in between them and began to bump them back.
The two guys began to throw insults her way, pointing at Domitor as they yelled. She just held her ground and yelled her own creative insults back.
“Children,” I muttered, causing Rosemary to snort laugh as she looked over at me from her seat atop a banister.
The little yelling match turned into a full on brawl as Floria jumped into the two men, dragging them down as she laid into them. One broke free and ran for Domitor, who jumped up and began to drunkenly fight the guy.
I just shook my head as I watched the four idiots fight each other.
“Going to help them?” Rosemary asked as she hopped down next to me.
“Why would I?” I asked, settling down a bit more as two more men joined the fighting, ganging up on Domitor.
She didn’t seem to have an answer to that, since she knew our history. “Erm, you have to because of the contract?”
“Nowhere in that contract said I have to help them in a bar fight,” I commented, watching Domitor holding his own against the three opponents as Floria finished off the one she was fighting. She rushed forward and jumped onto the back of one of the Kejtdra’s, beating the hell out of the back of his head as he ran around the bar screaming for help.
Three more guys joined in on the fighting, all moving on Domitor. They really don’t like him, do they?
“Get away from him ya limp cocked fucks!” Floria roared as she dived into the mess of men, dragging two away from the fight as they struggled to get away from the small Kejtdra woman.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at this, as the scene before me was a bit funny.
“Fine, I’ll help, a bit,” I conceded as I grabbed my full bottle of alcohol and looked at the scene before me.
One of the men had grabbed Domitor and was holding him from behind, letting two others lay into him.
Rolling my eyes I threw my bottle and hit the one holding him, shattering the bottle right on his faceplate. This gave Domitor enough of a chance to free himself and hit back at the ones attacking him.
“Welp, that’s my work for today,” I said as I leaned back, enjoying the show.
Some poor idiot turned his attention to me, having seen me throw that bottle, and rushed towards me.
“Bad move buddy,” I called out to him as he neared me. He ignored me as he threw the table out of the way and moved towards me. Just as he was close enough, I exploded upward, slamming my fist into the underside of his chin, sending him flying straight up into the ceiling.
The poor bastard’s head smashed through the wooden roof above us and just hung there, out cold.
Letting out a heavy sigh I strolled forward and grabbed one of the guys laying into Domitor and threw him full force behind myself, sending him straight through a window and out onto the street beyond.
“Having fun, dumb ass?” I asked him as he struggled to handle the two guys who were still fighting him.
“SIt down, asshole,” he growled at him as he caught one guy in the throat, sending him to the ground coughing. “I don’t need your help.”
“Yeah, you did,” I mocked as I grabbed the last guy by his tail and yanked him towards myself, ramming a fist into his face as he spun around to face me. He was out of the fight instantly.
Domitor frowned at me as he looked around at all the groaning Kejtdra laying on the ground. “That was a stupid fight to be in.”
“You need to wear a disguise,” I said as I crossed my arms. “You stick out like a retard.”
“Fuck off, Shayla,” he growled, causing me to slam a fist into his face.
He stumbled back, looking shocked as he held his bleeding snout.
“It’s Shane,” I said in a chilling voice. “Remember that.”
“Whoa whoa!” Floria yelled as she suddenly appeared between us, holding her hands up to us as Domitor tried to move towards me. “We have to get along, at least till the jobs done!”
“Yeah, Dom,” I taunted. “You gotta behave.”
“You-” he cut himself off, restoring to just glaring at me.
“Both of you, stop,” Floria said sternly, causing me to turn my gaze to her.
“You need to stop acting like the boss, little girl.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly as she held her ground between us. “Okay. We all need to cool off before tomorrow. Shane, thank you for helping us in that fight.”
“Mhm,” I grunted, taking a step back as I stared them both down. “When this job is done, I’m out of here. And if I catch wind of Lorenzo, I’m killing all of you.”
They didn’t seem convinced of my threat, as my voice cracked a bit as I said it, so I growled and turned around, heading for the front door.
I stepped out aggressively and leaned against the wall, since I didn’t actually have a place to go for the night.
“You’re so good at making peace,” Rosemary said as she appeared next to me, leaning against the wall.
“I ain’t making peace with that little bitch,” I said as I spat onto the ground. “He fucks with me my whole life, then he helps the guy who…”
She looked at me as I went silent, letting my mask hide the emotions my face was displaying at that moment. Of course, she still knew how I was feeling.
“Shane,” she said, still clearly not enjoying calling me that, “if it wasn’t for Domitor, you’d’ve been-”
“Do not finish that,” I warned as I glared at her. “I don’t care if he saved me, it’s his fault I got caught like that. So fuck him. And fuck everyone else too.”
Rosemary just shook her head as she faded away.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned my head back, staring up at the night sky. My eyes drifted to the large skull like moon that could just barely be seen through the branches of the tree above. I held my gaze on it for a few moments, feeling nothing at first. But after a little bit I started to feel a dull pain in my head, causing me to advert my eyes.
Shaking my head hard, the pain slowly faded away. This whole world was hostile for no reason.
“Hey,” I heard Floria say as she stepped out of the bar. “Can you play nice till this is over?”
“Sure,” I grunted, staring right into her eyes.
“I’m serious,” she said in a serious voice. “This job is important, and if you can’t keep your anger in check-”
“I got it,” I interrupted her, holding up my hand.
“Okay,” she said, then her mood shifted as a relaxed smile appeared on her face. “Now, unless you got a place to stay nearby, you can room with us. Got a nice couch with your name on it.”
“I’m good,” I said as I crossed my arms.
But Rosemary appeared behind her and shook her head at me. “It’s either this, or a long walk back to your grandparents. You’re out of money.”
With a loud groan I roll my eyes. “Fine, I’ll stay at your place tonight. But I’m not playing nice while there.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a wink as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Then her eyes went wide as she pulled out her hand and held up her hand. “So I have a confession.”
“Yeah?” I said as I came off of the wall and stood before her.
“So when I first bumped into you, I stole something from you,” she said sheepishly.
“You what?!” I snapped, running my hands over my pants, trying to think about what she could have stolen. I didn’t bring much with me, so… “Give it back.”
Nervously she flexed her hand as a little vial appeared in her hand. I growled as I snatched it from her and held it up, staring at the Watcher’s confused little face.
I can’t believe I didn’t notice I’d lost this!
“To be fair, that whole thing with Lenrick…” Rosemary said, but felt I wanted her to stop.
“Little thief,” I snarled as I put the Watcher’s vial away in a pocket and latched it closed so it wouldn't fall out.
“Sorry, I'm a bit of a kleptomaniac,” she said as she scratched the back of her head.
I had the urge to punch her, but held back on it for once as I turned my body away from her, staring at the dark street before us. “Just keep your fucking hands to yourself going forward,” I grumbled, clenching my fist.
“Can do!” she said cheerfully as she walked back into the bar, only to reemerge a minute later with Domitor. “Alright, both of you play nice and follow me!”
Domitor glanced at me, holding a cloth to his nose with a wing tip. I gave him a thumbs up, causing his eye to twitch.
“Wanna another one?” I mocked, slugging him very hard in the shoulder.
“You’re a bully, Shane,” he said firmly, causing me to frown. I had expected him to hit back at me like usual.
“You’re the fucking bully, Domitor,” I sneered, but he just rolled his eyes and walked after Floria.
Walking behind them, I watched as Floria told him a joke, causing him to relax and laugh.
I decided to ignore them as I pulled out the Watcher’s vial and raised my mask so he could see my eyes. “You ready to talk?”
As usual he just stared blankly at me.
“Come on,” I pressed, glaring at him. “Don’t be a bitch, just say something.”
After a few moments of him just staring at me I began to shake him violently.
“Shane, that is not going to convince him to talk to you,” Rosemary said, but my only response was to start shaking him harder and in different directions to really mess with him.
I stopped and held him close to my face, “so? Talking? Because I can do shit like this forever.”
His eyes were spinning as he floated around in the vial, but he remained quiet.
“Fuck you’re persistent,” I grumbled as I shoved him back into my pocket. He’d talk, I’d make damn sure of it.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“Okay, I need to warn you,” Floria said as we walked down the hallway, “my apartment is a bit messy.”
“Can’t be that bad,” I replied in a bored voice.
“It is,” Domitor said, causing me to roll my eyes.
We reached her door as she stopped and unlocked it, “well, welcome to my humble abode, Shane!”
I walked in behind them, looking at the messy apartment around me, with all the piles of trash and food containers. The floor was covered in clothes and trash as well, with the corners being piled high with all kinds of shit.
“Huh,” I mumbled, kicking some trash aside as I walked further into the room, taking note of the couch that was surrounded by trash. “Yeah, this isn’t that bad.”
“What?” Domitor asked in a dumbfounded voice. “This is horrible… no offense, Floria.”
“Ah none taken,” she laughed as she opened the fridge, even though it was clearly empty.
“Yeah, my house gets pretty bad,” I said as I stood there taking it all in. “My parents aren’t much for cleaning, so we all kinda just leave shit everywhere till Twilight or Adry comes over and forces us to clean. My room right now looks pretty bad, if they haven’t cleaned it yet.”
“That somehow makes sense,” Domitor muttered, getting a glare from me.
“Oh I’m sorry I don’t live in a mansion with maids and servants,” I snapped, kicking some trash at him.
“We didn’t have maids or servants,” he grumbled, “I had to clean most of the shit on the weekends. My father was against letting anyone in the house for any reason.”
At the mention of his father I just growled and walked over to the couch, standing by the trash covered coffee table. “Okay, so this is my bed for the night?”
“Yep!” Floria exclaimed as she skipped over and handed me a thing of takeout. “Also found that, should still be good!”
I sniffed it, noticing it was probably not ‘still good’, but I just shrugged as I lifted my mask and used the fork stuck in it to start eating the leftovers.
Domitor made a face as he watched me eat, looking a bit sick.
“What?” I asked with a smirk, “little pussy boy don’t have the stomach to eat anything?”
“That’s just nasty,” is all he said as he shuddered a bit.
True, it tasted old and out of date, but food is food. My parents taught me that. Basically everything can be edible, if you’re brave enough.
“So there's still blankets on the couch for you,” she said as she then pointed to a door. “That’s my room, where we’ll be.”
“Oh you two banging?” I asked crudely, causing Domitor to frown and Floria to laugh loudly.
“Nah, he’s not into me!” she laughed, slugging his shoulder playfully.
He just stood there, glaring at me.
“Anyways, come on, Dommy, let’s let her get settled in in private,” Floria said cheerfully as she moved for her bedroom door.
I laughed out loud at this, slapping my knee, “Dommy?! She calls you Dommy?! Like a Dommy Mommy?! Oh you little dweeb!”
“Oh fuck me,” he groaned, ignoring me as he walked after her, disappearing into her bedroom.
Laughing a bit more I jumped up and landed on the couch, still in my full armor as I got comfortable. But as I laid there, I slowly began to notice a certain smell coming off of the blankets and the pillow I was laying on.
My body began to shake as I slowly realized where’d I smelt this before. Then without warning I let out a panicked scream as I flung myself into the floor and pulled myself away from the offending couch.
Floria ran back into the room, looking startled as she looked at me on the floor as I pushed through the trash.
“What?!” she yelled, looking around, then her eyes landed on the couch, causing them to go wide. “Oh fuck… I’m so fucking stupid!”
“He slept on that couch?!” I roared, shakily forcing myself to stand up straight.
“Shane, I’m so fucking sorry, I forgot-”
“He slept on that couch?!” I repeated in a horse voice, still hyperventilating. “And I just laid on it!”
She didn’t seem to know what to say as I stumbled over to her kitchen and collapsed into the counter, ripping my mask off as I began to vomit into the sink.
“What happened?!” I heard Domitor say behind me as I vomited again.
“Shh, go back into the room,” Floria said as I dry heaved a few more times.
I sat there for a few moments, just staring blankly down at the messy sink. A glass of water was pushed into my view, which I took and downed in one go.
“Take my bed tonight. We’ll sleep out here,” she said in a calm and soothing voice.
With a growl I crushed the glass in my hand and turned to face her. “No. I’m sleeping on the floor, and that is final. I am not sleeping on the same bedding that any of you have slept on.”
She frowned at me, but didn’t press the issue as she walked over to a pile of trash and dug through it, pulling out a blanket and pillow.
“These don’t smell great, but they're the only ones I got that no one has used.”
“Give ‘em,” I snapped as I snatched them from her hands and walked over to the other side of the room, grabbing my mask as I went, and began to clear a spot on the floor.
“If you need anything, just yell,” she said as she slowly walked back to her room.
“I won’t,” I replied harshly as I laid down on my back, shoving a pillow under my head and pulling a dirty blanket over myself.
She seemed to want to say more, but my glare got her to move on and leave me alone in the living room.
Now that I was alone I pushed my mask back onto my face followed by a loud sigh of relief. I just felt better having my whole body covered like this. I thought for a second and flicked my tail out from under the blanket, seeing that some of my yellowish fur was still visible.
“Ah fuck,” I grumbled as I looked around and saw a black shirt. I took it and shredded it, using the shreds as wrapings as I covered the last of my fur, completely hiding all of myself from view.
“Better,” I muttered as I tried to relax, but found it difficult.
“Take off the armor,” Rosemary said as she appeared on top of the trash in the corner of the room.
“Nope,” I replied simply as I shifted around a bit, staring up at the ceiling.
The last thing I was doing was sleeping without clothes in a place like this. I’d deal with the discomfort.
Unlike the night before, sleep did not come easily for me.