TIMING: February 15th SETTING: The Wormhole PARTIES: @vivlennox + @dirtypawscleanboots SUMMARY: Jasper and Viv run into some loverbirds at the bar. They're displeased.
Why Jasper was going back for a second round tonight, on Valentine’s Day, was beyond her. Maybe it was the grief talking. Maybe it was not wanting to feel so alone after fleeing to a new town for safety. Maybe it was a lot of things, but one thing was certain…if she saw any micro-penises tonight, she was out. Seeing one the night before had been more than enough, despite its impossibly small size. Even seeing the bowl of peanuts on the bar sitting next to her had turned her off and left her nonchalantly pushing them away, “Uh, yeah, I’ll have a Jack and Coke; a chicken tender basket; and here…I’m allergic to nuts.” Really…small…nuts.
“And it looks like Rufus Reed is down for the count!” The commentator’s voice rang out over the tv in the bar. Just a few months ago, Jasper had been in the same room hearing his voice right next to her as she was being thrown through a table in a dark match, before that night’s episode of Smackdown was about to go on the air. There had been talk that she’d be wrestling in her first televised match soon, but she didn’t want to hold her breath for fear of jinxing things.
It was a voice that seemed to pull her back to the present and in the moment, “Hey, ma’am. Ma’am…here’s your drink.” Blinking a few times, Jasper’s green eyes went from the television back to the bartender standing in front of her, pulling her back into her current reality, “What? Oh…Oh! Thanks. Sorry.”
—
Viv needed a fucking drink. She was tired of talking to people with an attempt at a customer service smile, she was tired of curbing her annoyance at everything for the sake of a few extra dollars in her pocket. She was extra tired or the people who seemed to forget how to act in public when they sat down to be served in the diner. All she wanted was a drink, and for no one to annoy her for at least five fucking minutes.
She hopped up onto the bar stool, and slumped into her seat. The TV hummed with some wrestling event. Viv watched it with a detached interest as she waited for the bartender. The woman sat next to her seemed locked in on the action, nearly missing the drink that was being sat down in front of her. “Can I just get a Rolling Rock?” She asked as the bartender turned their attention to Viv. Minutes later, a cold beer was in her hands, and she could finally relax.
Her attention was back on the television, and the woman beside her who seemed to be locked in on the action. “You a big fan?” Viv asked, jerking her chin in the direction of the screen.
—
Jasper pulled the drink to her lips, taking a small sip. As much as she wanted to down the glass of liquid, she was determined to try and savor the experience tonight, especially after last night’s events. The voice coming from the woman that had magically appeared next to her caught Jasper’s attention, “Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s alright. Good distraction. I used to know somebody that looked a lot like the guy on TV right now.” Rufus had been one of Jasper’s oldest friends from the industry, and, now, watching him get his ass kicked from thousands of miles away instead of a few hundred feet away had felt strange.
“What about you? Do you like wrestling?” Jasper knew people’s emotions on wrestling were mixed. You had: the diehard fans who believed everything was real and nothing was made up. The casual viewers who mostly watched wrestling as a kid, but caught up every now and then as an adult, and people who just loved to shit on the sport, because of the pre-determined outcomes. She had really hoped this woman wasn’t in the last category, but everybody had been entitled to their opinion. Sometimes Jasper just hated to hear them.
Taking another sip of the drink, she heard the rise in the crowd noise, turning her attention back to the TV briefly knowing that they were getting close to the end of the match, “Come on, Rufus…” You better give them a good show, or so help me…As the match was wrapping up, Jasper let her eyes shift back to the person sitting next to her knowing that their attention was more important than something she could go back and watch later, if she had felt so inclined.
—
Viv could feel the agitation that had coiled around her (not unlike how she’d coil around a meal) release her from its grip. She’d always preferred spaces like The Wormhole to unwind. It was a mixed bag, and people were rowdy. It was noisy, and chaotic, but in a weird way, it reminded her of home. It probably helped that Harvey’s gruff demeanor reminded her an awful lot of Grizz, and she’d take whatever comforts she could find stuck away from the old bear who’d become a father to her.
The woman took a swig of her beer, leaning back in her chair as she made herself more comfortable. Her attention snagged on the question, and Viv shrugged. “Dunno.” She rolled her neck, relishing in the pops as she stretched out the tension. “Never really paid much attention to it. I can admire the athleticism. And the fact that most of them seem to know how to put on a fucking show.”
That was the thing that had surprised Viv the most. When she’d joined the circus, she’d had no grand dreams of spending a life in the limelight. She saw it as a means to an end; safety in numbers, and frequently moving round would keep her out of harm's way. But to earn her keep, she’d had to try out a bunch of different jobs. It just happened she had a natural flair for showmanship. It had taken time, but she’d taken to the thrill of launching herself into the air, and trusting that her friends would catch her before she could fall. She loved the screams, and gasps. The excited chattering about how easy they made it seem. She missed that almost as much as the people. “He’s really selling it… You a fan of his?”
There was a couple sitting on her other side that she’d been successfully ignoring for the most part- that was, until their blissful unawareness that anyone existed out of the pair of them sent them spilling off a bar stool and jostling Viv, and her beer. The beer sloshed onto her shirt, and the annoyance with the day that had just finally ebbed away roared back to life. “What the fuck- do you two want to get a room? I didn’t ask to join a fucking threesome tonight, holy shit.” She grumbled, snatching a wad of napkins off the bar to mop up the mess they’d made.
—
Dunno had been a hell of a lot better than sending hate towards Jasper’s one true love in life. She’d take it, especially the comment about athleticism. When she had first gotten into Greco-Roman wrestling, she had been pretty out-of-shape. TV dinners most nights and fast food had made her sluggish, even as a kid. But the more that she started to work at it and to eat better (even inspiring her dad to pick better options), the more she came to appreciate the sport. But nothing could’ve prepared her for what the ring had brought. Professional wrestling had been an entirely different ballgame. And the rumors she had heard about being ring ready had proved true, when she stepped foot inside one for the first time and found herself collapsing at the end of her first class.
“Believe it or not, athleticism and showmanship are two of the most important parts…or so I’ve heard.” It was hard pretending to be a fan, when it had been her life for a long time. And most days, the reminder that she was living a lie had lingered in her face. Maybe it had been the reason she had spent most days at the Wormhole. Well for that and to subdue the loneliness, “Yeah, you could say that. We've met a time or two.” Only spent most of our days traveling together and singing at the top of our lungs to bad 90s songs to keep each other awake. “Hoping he makes a stop around here sometime.” She took a swig of her drink.
Almost prepared to pop another chicken tender in her mouth, Jasper suddenly paused when she noticed the commotion. The beer had gone flying and its pungent smell wafted up her nose. But when she laid sight on the couple that had caused her new friend to spill beer all over herself, Jasper threw the chicken tender back down in the basket in protest, “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Thought we had this discussion last night, Micro Dick? Nobody wants to see that thing flopping – oh wait. My apologies. It doesn’t flop. It just dangles like a dainty little finger.”
The comment had gotten Micro’s attention, and he pulled away from his girlfriend; the same bitch from the night before who had tried to smash a beer bottle over Jasper’s head.
—
“I’d believe it.” Viv mused against the green glass of the lip of her beer bottle. She didn’t feel like getting into why. She was an expert in the cross section of where athleticism met showmanship. It took strength and agility to fling herself through the air under the big top. It took showmanship to make it look easy. The wanderlust that had been dormant in her chest for the time being reared its exhausted hopeless head and clawed at her ribs, like an animal gnawing at the bars of its enclosure. She wanted to get back to that life— her life. But now all she could do was sit in a dive bar with a shitty beer and watch wrestling with a random woman.
The snark coming from beside her had Viv bearing her teeth in a feral grin. This must have been her online complainer. And now Viv had a justifiable reason to ruin this man’s day. “So you’re the compensating asshole— I should have known. Trying to make up for the fact that you’ve probably never made a woman come in your life by making yourselves a spectacle when other people just want to enjoy their fucking drinks in peace. And not get co-opted into your exhibitionism bullshit.”
MD (as Viv would now be exclusively referring to him) looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. His face was as red as a tomato, and his partner for the night didn’t look much better. “What, you don’t like it when people call you on your shit?”
—
The words coming out of her new friend’s mouth made Jasper gleam in excitement. If this meant she was going to have a tag team partner tonight, she’d gladly take it. She had already cleaned up MD’s mess once, and she was going to be pissed if she was going to have to do it again tonight, and by the looks of the glass that was already coming towards her head from his girlfriend, she got the feeling it was going to be a long fucking night.
Sliding off the barstool just in time to miss the glass, Jasper glared straight in the woman’s direction, “So we’re doing this again tonight. Right. Okay, well in that case.” The shifter turned her attention to Viv and stuck out her hand, “Hi. Jasper. Nice to meet you. Would you like to be my tag team partner for the evening?” Things were always a much more pleasant experience when you were nice to people, and the introduction is what she was hoping would seal the deal of this new friendship, before a proper bar fight once again broke out.
—
Viv could see it in the other woman’s eyes. She was hungry for a fight, and happy to have someone on her team for it. Viv was happy for a change of pace in what had become a monotonous routine. She took Jasper’s hand and gave it a shake. “Viv.” She said as the glass shards scattering across the bar sounded from just behind them. “And I’d fucking love to.”
No sooner had she agreed to play for team Jasper than the contents of a glass were flying at her. Viv managed to duck so that most of it wound up soaking the back of her shirt. She glanced up at the evening's adversaries with a feral grin. “Oh, we don’t want to do that,” she chided, before grabbing the woman who’d thrown the first shot by the collar of her shirt, and dumping the contents of her own drink over her head. The woman sputtered, swiping perfectly good beer from her eyes. “Oh, so we didn’t like that? We like your little performance about as much.”
—
What an introduction to someone amidst having a glass of alcohol thrown at you, but Jasper wouldn’t have it any other way. And as she watched her new friend take to immediately dumping the other woman’s drink over her head, Jasper let out a loud laugh, “Ding ding ding. Let tonight’s match begin.” She had always wanted to ring the bell, and tonight she officially had.
But it wasn’t long before she was dodging the fist of MD, “Whoa! I see you still don’t understand the rule of never hitting a lady!” Jasper quickly stepped back to put some space between herself and her opponent, “You’re no lady. That’s for fucking sure.” His words would’ve almost cut to the core if she had actually given a shit, but that was just enough incentive to grab the plate of uneaten food and without hesitating, she flung it at the man like a frisbee hitting him upside the head, before grabbing the rest of her drink and throwing it back to finish off the $7 glass of whiskey she had ordered earlier, “Don’t want that to go to waste.”
—
It was going to take a lot of apologies to Harvey to smooth over this mess. Not that Viv cared too much. If anything, her helping to get rid of a recurring issue in her friend’s bar was a public service. After all, it was a dive bar. People came to drink, watch a game, play darts or pool, and not watch two fucking random assholes put on an uninspiring softcore show at the bar. Assholes that had caused her to dump her beer that she’d paid good money for. She cracked her neck and rolled out her shoulders.
Viv had been in her fair share of bar fights. Andrej, one of the jugglers in the circus, had a penchant for dive bars. He was sweet, and loyal to a fault, but also a fucking idiot. More than once Viv had had to jump into the fray of a fight where her favorite wolf had bit off more than he could chew. Luka, Andrej’s more sensible brother, had dragged them both back to the circus with black eyes and shit-eating grins on all of their faces. She didn’t have Andrej or Luka tonight. But Jasper seemed like she could hold her own.
MD was continuing to be a douchebag, and Viv was contemplating the merits of just unhinging her jaw and having the last thing the man saw be a forked tongue and teeth that curved inward, pointing him down to the final destination of her stomach. But Jasper was already dumping her whiskey on the guy. “And you’re no man, jackass.” She called back in response. She hooked the toe of her boot behind his ankle, and swept his foot out from under him. The man slipped on the puddle of beer and whiskey and landed heavily on the remnants of Jasper’s dinner. Suddenly, Viv’s head was yanked back, as square tipped french manicured fingers dug into her hair and pulled. “Fucking shit, lady, he’s just a guy— he really worth this shit?” Viv didn’t wait for a response. The nails clawing at her scalp were annoying the piss out of her. Viv reached for the the woman’s wrist, and with a well timed yank as she dropped her body lower, flipped Mrs. Hair Puller over her shoulder.
—
Everything happened so fast. That’s usually how it went. Slow motion for some things, but the sped up Alvin and the Chipmunks version for others. It kind of made Jasper sad that this wasn’t going to go as long as it had the night before. The night before, she had also been alone and having some assistance was well worth it this evening, especially since Viv was easy on the eyes and could definitely stand up for herself. And as she watched her new friend flip MD’s girlfriend over her shoulder letting the two lovebirds once again connect, just in a mess of food and alcohol this time, Jasper couldn’t help but let her commentary escape, “Fuck that was hot.”
“Hey, Bartender, two drinks. One for me and my new friend.” There had been another mess made at Jasper’s hands, and she would probably be the one to clean it up, but it had been all worth it as she put her foot down on MD’s head, making sure to squish his face further down into her half-eaten meal, knowing just how to keep her weight balanced to make it look good, but to not put any real pressure on his skull. “What’ve you got planned after this?” It was a stretch, but maybe Viv would want to do something (or someone, someone being her) after this.
—
She was going to owe Harvey one. Several, actually, based on the expression on the bartender's face, and the steady dripping noise from the beer that had splattered against a bar stool. But at least her hair wasn’t being yanked out by a vindictive woman at the bar, and the woman’s obnoxious boyfriend had shut the fuck up. Viv fished out her wallet, and sighed as she fished out a few crumpled twenty dollar bills and set them on the bar. “Sorry. Tell Harvey he can send me a bill or whatever for the cleanup.”
The woman snorted as she watched Jasper set her boot down on the man’s head like the pirate on a bottle of Captain Morgan. The bartender slid their drinks across to them, looking half terrified that they would devolve into more wrestling antics. Viv picked up the bottle, pressing the cold glass to her lips as she studied the other woman for a moment. “No plans.” She finally said, leaning back against the sticky wood of the bar as she took a long sip of her beer. “Down for a good time. Whatever that entails.” She raised her bottle in a little salute. “To having a good time.”
—
What. A. Night. From what seemed like it was going to be just another evening spent watching her former friends wrestle and eating shitty bar food to having her own match; and a tag team match at that! Even if it had been with the same p.o.s opponent and his rude girlfriend, Jasper could actually feel the genuine smile that lingered on her face. And what was even better? She might actually have help in cleaning up the mess she had once again been responsible for. But that was an issue she could deal with later. Right now she wanted to enjoy the high she was currently riding from the adrenaline and thrill of what could’ve turned out bad.
Picking up her own drink from the counter, she raised it in a toast to Viv and the rest of the night they were about to have, “To a good time, and whatever the rest of this night may bring!” Jasper clinked the bottle next to Viv’s before taking a long, slow drink. Only the reminder of the night would reveal what kind of bullshit these two new friends would get into, but whatever it was, Jasper was just grateful she wasn’t about to do it alone.