Day #36 - Jalous Houlen and Hrivna Rupule (cowritten by Tess)
Normally the drinking would be done in her own hive, or at her shop, depending on how business was doing. Tonight, though, she was feeling adventurous. A public bar, that's where she would be. Full of loud, annoying assholes looking for fights and pathetic whiny creatures trying to drown their sorrows. It was an interesting sight to witness, she supposed, but only because she too would be drinking. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to tolerate this while sober.
Near the back of the bar, a group of trolls crowded around a stickball table, bets flying as a pair of bluebloods attempted to psych each other out of their next shot. Near the back of that crowd, leaning against a wall and with drink in hand, a troll with a sign showing his blood to be that of the subjugglators was keeping watch. He was the subject of most of the nervous glances shot about, those still sober enough to realise what he was being rightly concerned. But still, he didn't have a trace of the paint, didn't appear to be flying into a rage, didn't really appear to be doing much of anything. Just quietly sipping his drink and watching the game.
He was expecting things to go badly. That was a trait of Jalous, expecting everything to be ruined, but usually it came true. Sometimes by his own intervention. Not all the time mind you. Just enough to make most trolls wish he didn't try to 'help'. But in this situation, it was hard to imagine a bar brawl wouldn't errupt. If Jalous had ever been here before, or bothered speaking with the owner, he'd already know that was a regular occurance. But today Jalous was here to lend a hand in keeping the peace. No matter who he had to beat the shit out of.
He took another drink. The crowd was getting louder as the game approached its finale.
Hrivna shuddered as another loud taunt rang out from the back of the bar. If this were her own shop, she'd have had them thrown out long ago. She was still almost tempted to throw them out herself. Sopor was taking a while to kick in tonight, it seemed. She turned and glared at the rowdy bunch, who, while annoying, were ultimately pretty harmless. For now, at least. Her eyes wandered across the bar, eventually resting on the indigo in the corner.
She had to admit, indigos tended to make her nervous. Subjugglators were notorious for making a mess wherever they went, and the non-subjugglators still were often cocky jerks. It was hard to get a read on this guy, though. He didn't look like a subjug upon first inspection. Probably just a cocky jerk, then. Who the hell even wears a cape? Heck, that wasn't even a cape. That was a shitty half-cape. By now she was feeling the effects of the sopor, and saw nothing wrong with addressing this highly important matter.
"Hahah... nice cape, dude."
Jalous paused, drink raised to his mouth, and looked down. More bluebloods. They sure did enjoy making trouble for him it seemed.
"Is there an issue?" he lowered his drink, turning his head slightly to alternate between glancing at her and at the crowd behind them, which was quickly escalating in noise. "If you plan on quietly enjoying your drink, I wouldn't be near this crowd when things start." He pushed himself off the wall, stepping forward so he was beside her. "I'd rather not deal with more troublemakers than I have to."
"Oh-- oh trust me, I hate these noisy assholes as much as you do," Hrivna laughed, downing another mouthful. "Terrible. So inconsiderate. Jus' asking for a fist to the face. All of their faces." She glanced at the increasingly rambunctious crowd before turning her attention back to Captain Douche. "Bu' no, no, no issue here. Your cape's fuckin' stupid and impractical but no. Nothing wrong here. How do you even do anythin' while wearing that thing? It'd get in the way all the time, right?"
Having had a good amount of drink so far, Jalous was a few steps separated from completely rational thought. His movements certainly weren't effected yet, as it was not hard to quickly step around the insolent blueblood, the slight flare of his cloak (cloak!) obscuring his movement enough to add a minor layer of confusion. He'd likely never get away with this on anyone less intoxicated than he currently was, but luckily this one fit the bill. "It suits my movements," he stated coolly. "Perhaps you should consider holding your tongue the next time you find yourself curious about how a cloak can be worn."
This minor discussion was thoroughly being ignored by the rest of the room, as one of the bluebloods, now having being beaten by the other, was accusing those who'd bet against him of messing with the game. Words were being said that would likely require a little bit of violence to resolve, and were Jalous not busy dealing with an insulting blueblood he'd notice and choose now to step in.
"Oh, a cloak, is it?" Hrivna chuckled again, only barely aware that she was overstepping her boundaries here just a little. That was certainly not something that sober Hrivna would do. "My apologies, your hiiighness. I don' pretend to know what "it suits my movements" even means--" She hiccupped. "--but okay, sure. Wha'ever you say, dude."
A glass tumbled off the table at the back, and Hrivna's attention was diverted instantly. The sound of breaking glass was unfortunately one she always associated with her shop, and such instances usually involved her throwing around some harsh words and threatening to throw office supplies at the clumsy offender. As it was, she was not in her shop nor did she have a stapler on hand, but part of her still wanted to deal with this... whatever was happening here.
"'Ey, what the heck's goin' on over there? God, they're gonna fuckin' wreck the joint if they're left alone much longer."
Jalous whirled around at the noise, and took off moments after this loud blueblood began talking. Honestly, he couldn't take his eyes off any of them for a second. Reaching the edge of the crowd, he had little luck pushing through, but it seemed the centre of it had moved away from the tables. Probably a fight in the works. Unknown to everyone else, the barkeeper simply sighed and began tracking who broke what to add to their tab.
"Step aside." He kept his voice cold and that was enough to gain the attention of the few trolls around him who could hear him over the din. Most of them took one glance at the purple he wore and dodged to the side. But the moment Jalous stepped into the heaving crowd he was unable to make further progress, no one paying any more attention to him as each troll attempted to reach the front of the crowd before the fight really began.
As he stood there, being jostled about and ignored, Jalous felt as if the temperature was rising. He had to grind his teeth to try and maintain his cool but that was failing miserably as things continued to get hotter and hotter. He couldn't actually move for the trolls around him. Someone successfully elbowed him in the gut.
"MOVE!" When Jalous exerted his full strength, pushing his arms out to the side, the trolls pressed against him found themselves suddenly moving. And all the trolls they were pressed against as well. A number fell over and a space was quickly made around the Subjugglator, who in tales with less strict adherence to science would likely be giving off steam right now.
As it was Jalous felt like he was. The crowd had finally parted enough for him to get a look at the centre, it of course being the two bluebloods very loudly arguing with one another about the exact amount each had cheated in their game. Jalous entered the centre circle.
Hrivna watched intently as the indigo shoved his way into the heart of the crowd. As obnoxious as this whole situation was, things were starting to get interesting here. Let's see how her douchey new friend handled these jerks.
The two arguing bluebloods kept at it long after Jalous had approached them, until one finally took notice and elbowed the other urgently. The other troll was apparently not as concerned.
"The fuck do you want? We're busy here, ffffuck off."
At this point Jalous was far past anything resembling politeness. Quickly stepping between the two, each suddenly found themselves lifted into the air, his hands gripping their necks. "You are loud." He stated coldly. "And annoying. And fighting in here would only cause damage to this place. So calmly state your problem and I will resolve it such that you all may shut the hell up."
The bluebloods, ignoring what he was saying due to being both drunk and held aloft by the necks, struggled. One, who had been toying with a blade he'd intended to use when the fight started, shoved it into Jalous's arm.
Jalous broke the door of the bar with how hard he threw him in return.
"H-hey, hey!" Hrivna jumped as the troll crashed through the door. She was all for throwing out shitty customers, but not literally, man! Fuckin' figures, this guy's just an angry stuck-up shithead using his power to push people around. Hrivna was not exactly opposed to the hemospectrum-enforced ways, but there was a time and place for that. There would've been like, at least five other ways this situation could have been handled that didn't involve property damage. Like, she'd been drinking and even she could see that.
She peeked her head through the doorway at the troll Jalous had thrown, who was lying on the broken door and groaning louder than she thought was possible. To be fair, that was a heck of a throw. "You 'right, dude?"
Blood dripping down it, Jalous placed his free hand on her shoulder and pushed her out of the way, stepping through the doorway with the other blueblood still gripped by the neck, dragged behind. Once outside, Jalous dropped him next to his fellow, though he was definitely the most unharmed, having wisely decided to go limp the moment Jalous had performed his throw. Most of the bar was quiet now. A blueblood fight was fun, everyone could get behind that. Having a subjugglator go off killed the mood for everyone though.
Jalous stared at the pair. "This is what your troublemaking has led to," he announced. "Maybe next time you will each show some sense before causing problems for everyone else. Go home."
He turned around to re-enter the bar, only to find its keeper standing in the doorway.
"Think you should take the same advice, mate," as the only sober troll in the area, his voice was a beacon of wisdom in this dark times. "You've had enough."
"I was not done," Jalous was confused at this treatment, he had solved the threat of the brawl those two were about to impose. "If you wish for damages to the door to be covered, I am capable of..."
"I wish," the barkeep stressed the word, "For no more damage like this to happen. Blood and glass is easy to clean. A door isn't. Go home."
He turned around and stepped back in, leaving Jalous standing at the threshold. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Just turn around and leave? Him pushed around like that? He could feel his clenched fists shaking.
Inappropriate as it was, Hrivna couldn't help but laugh. Bless you, barkeep. You don't deserve this shit.
"Pffff... he's right, dude, you're... you're a fuckin' shithead, dude. Get outta here before you break somethin' else or hurt anyone else unness... unnessary... unnsessessary... f-for no reason." She was starting to think maybe she should be taking that advice too.
Her. Her and her attitude. Unsettling him while he had been calmly preparing to do his duty. Her fault. And here she was, still mouthing off. Any other Subjugglator would kill for less. They'd have the right to. Jalous angrily grabbed the hilt of his sword.
He remembered why he only carried a hilt. Suddenly hitting the safety net he himself implemented was extremely sobering, and anger at others quickly gave way at anger directed towards himself. He'd slipped. Even though his goal was to never make mistakes such as that. Damn it all.
"Get back in there, blueblood." He turned his back to her and the bar. "Don't make a mess. No one likes people who make messes." He'd walk back to his hive. Hopefully that trek gave him some time to recover properly. "I should know."
Hmph. About time he came to his senses. Too bad it happened way too late. Hrivna generally had no patience for troublemakers like him, even though it seemed like making trouble was not his intention. Under the sopor's influence she was only slightly more forgiving. Shame, really. He could have been fun to talk to. And make fun of.
Deciding that she was most definitely done here for the night, Hrivna finished her glass and got ready to leave. She almost considered leaving a tip for that poor barkeep, but no, she wasn't quite that drunk yet.