Drunken Revelry: "I should die, you know..."

[Guest]

The sounds of somehow rhythmic music thundered out on the street as a door opened. Glaring lights of multiple colours swarmed out on the street, given an opportunity to escape and taking it. Should one be angled just right they would be able to see the writhing of bodies moving to the dubstep, house, electronica, or whatever else it could be that turned a dance floor into a single organism of grinding bodies, sweat, and barely concealed sexual attraction. The sudden emergence of exotic noises at higher than tolerable volumes startled a couple heading home from a nearby cinema. The door to the club closed and the sound was once again limited to the entrancing beat of bass. Minoru snorted in contempt for the music, couples could probably sit still on the treble and still manage a jackhammering pace that would leave them sore, all without moving.

"Damn lunatic music," the soldier grumbled as he tossed back the rest of the cheap bourbon. "Barkeep, another!" he hailed to the man behind the counter. The middle aged bartender and also the owner of the pub shook his head before setting down the glass and fetching the same bottle as earlier. Sure, the man was tossing back bourbon as if it was water, but he was a soldier and he paid well and as easily as that the barkeep gave not a single fuck while his pub remained undamaged.

And what a pub it was. With swivel seats around a large part of the bar counter, one of which Minoru occupied, and booths, the pub was downright comforting if the atmosphere was right. It also seemed to cater to the slightly older clientèle, boasting a wide variety of beers and many different kinds of harder liquors. Mostly focused on the realm of bourbon, whisky, and such spirits the typical kinds of party drinks, like Bols Blue or Sourz Apple, were rarities. "Barkeep, another," came the soldier's bark once again. The barman shook his head.

"You know," the professional drink server said, "try this instead." A brown liquor was poured into a whisky glass and sent down to the waiting hand of Minoru.

"Carraig Mist you say? Is it any good?" The barkeep nodded. Minoru had never tried that before. "Well, this seems to be a night of firsts," he grumbled sourly, keeping his glance at the drink in front of him. He was in a dark mood and to an observers gaze the booze did not seem to help much, his exotic features being marred by a frown.

[Emmelin]

As usual Valeria caused a scene. Of course it wasn't her in general, just her usual game that left two men fighting outside the club. Both had guns and both would be dead by the time someone realized they were fighting and had guns. How pathetic people were. It was amusing to the woman and disgusting at the same time. BANG! And there they would fall. Of course she wouldn't look twice. Her face looking stressed and simply overworked. In a way it was a true emotion upon her for once. A feeling of nuisance around her. This job did not pay enough! Though she got basically all she wanted. Greed was a sad thing.

Her curvy figure accented by the red dress. The dip cut off around her bosoms, a bit low, but not too far while her lap was covered. Up the left side would be a high slit shutting off before the woman's undergarments showed. Around her neck was a small black scarf or ascot. The skin of hers looking almost luminescent and soft. A sort of walking statue almost. Soft brown hair and brown eyes gazed over the place as the scents would rest on her tongue. How gross these people were. The way they danced, the way they sweat out in public. She could almost see one couple simply disguising their actual deeds as dancing in a corner. Such sins... so many sins... Her body filled with an urge to slight her wrist and simply massacre the people. Such an act would be a very dumb one though.

Fed up to be surrounded by such sinners, Valeria would leave from the booming bass and walked to a separate building. Her ears slowly adjusting as she felt partially deaf. Such silence embraced her ears and simply eased the pounding on her eardrums. It took her a moment, her hand moved to fix her strapped shoes before surveying the inside. It was much quieter than the bar and the peace was relaxing. For once she felt comfortable and calm.

Step after step, she led herself to the bar and would slide her waist over the stool. A look in her eyes asking for a drink. The bartender didn't hesitate to slide her the first thing he grabbed and Valeria would nurse it softly. Her body was next to a man who smelled strongly of alcohol. Rather potently. Her brown eyes fell to him and read his expression rather quickly. "My, my, what have we here? Seems someone is in the slums.." Playfully she moved her hands to rest on the bar while her face was turned to look at him. Her legs crossed and a whole feminine aura about her. She had a friendly face.

[Guest]

"My, my, what have we here? ..." The question sparked a quick flare of irritation in Minoru. He had come here to drink and be in peace, wallowing in self-hate, not to entertain the fancies of a-

The fact that he had turned his head to tell the woman off was what led to the crashing of that train of thought, and the stopping of whatever Minoru was going to say. With his mind currently inebriated beyond what most people would consider healthy, the normally iron hard will that controlled sexual attraction let go a little on the reigns. "Wowzer!" was the spontaneous thought that bubbled to the surface before the reigns were tightly gripped once again. Minoru had promised himself not go down that route again, not until he connected with someone like he had with Amity. The sex just felt empty, not even being close to satisfactory, and he blamed it on the strong bond he and his second cousin had formed. Blamed and thanked in quite equal amounts.

Or perhaps he was just that screwed up. Always a possibility.

But back to the woman who was looking at him with an altogether not that pleasant look. "What do you want, lady?" the soldier asked grumpily, deliberately turning to take a sip of his Carraig Mist. He suddenly felt less inclined to sweep it and the whole 'tasting pretty good' quality that the spirit possessed only helped in that direction. "I'm in no mood for being a woman's toy," and here he glanced at her stunning appearance of red and black curvaceousness once again. Managing to not suffer a mental crash this time he continued with "not even for one as good looking as yourself," while steering his gaze at the rows upon rows of liquor at the wall behind the counter.

A thought struck Minoru as he considered the colours she wore. Invert them and you would be rather close to the colour scheme of the black widow. But the thought was dismissed as quickly as it came, banished for the moment.

[Emmelin]

The man seemed to take in her appearance and Valeria instinctively stiffened. She didn't know the game to play so soon. Each man taken in a different way than the last. Such was her ways and yet she would seem the same. the way she tensed would only throw her chest forward a bit as if shoving it in his face though it was unintentional. She wasn't the type to fling herself at a man so in a way that made her look bad. Of course other men would take notice to her form and stare at the dangerous beauty. With those brown eyes upon his actions. Her brown hair like soft feathers upon her shoulders. Such a normal woman who simply knew how to dress herself.

"Aha. A rather foul mood indeed." She would say in a teasing way. Her eyes narrowed a bit in a flirtatious way while her hands moved to cross and rest on the bar. The angle allowing her to lean forward with her arms as columns. That seductress smile was on her face but not in an evil way, but one that was playful and in some ways innocent.

For some reason the man's rather vicious words had left her curious. What had him in a foul and hateful mood. She'd seen this all the time and she had a guess. The man was having woman troubles. The way he seemed aggressive towards her as a woman was proof enough in her mind. No worries, you'll be free from your grief. She'd state to herself as her inwards smile was almost demonic. Oh how cruel she was!

"A woman's toy? I'm offended!" She'd state with a huff as her little charade continued as always. her acting skills only surpassed by few she never really knew. "I saw you sitting here by yourself and moping. Was it so bad that I was concerned?" Her face pulled into a bright smile as she'd laugh in a sort of understanding way. "Let me guess, woman problems? You and your wife fight?" The last half was just something toying with him in a kind and joking way.

[Guest]

A foul mood? Why, you don't say? Minoru's thoughts had been taking a turn for the deeper, darker reaches of the ocean of mind with each drink imbibed since he had arrived. At first it had been a slow thing, a beer sipped over the course of half an hour as he spoke with some of the people who trained at the same marksmanship hobby-club as he did. Things had taken off from there, the beer was followed by another, and then a whisky, and then yet another whisky. The third and fourth whiskies had been back to back and he was now currently nursing his latest drink, the golden brown, like thick honey, Carraig Mist. With his mind deadened by the alcohol thoughts had bubbled up from where he tended to ignore them, thoughts he did not want to have.

A few months ago he had been part of a suppression squad from security. The occasion for the squad to be called into existence had been the discovery of the hideout for a domestic gang of drug dealers and other criminals. This in itself was not too bad, the bad part had been the proceedings inside the warehouse which served as the gang's base of operations. Pinned down by gunfire from a number of criminals exceeding the estimated number of threats by a large amount Minoru had taken the advantage to his team by sending out two flashbangs from behind cover. Rising and taking it all in, eyes snapping left and right to document all threats, Minoru had raised his guns, Freya and Amaterasu, and let loose. The number of gun toting persons in the room had been far too large to take chances with, and as the squad followed his charge Minoru had steeled himself.

The worst fault in his trained way of marksmanship was that he could remember each and every one of his victims, the way he catalogued them in order to track them with his peripheral vision caused their appearance, their faces, and should they be close enough also their voices to be forever seared into his memory. At present time, or rather before this woman had disturbed him, images from the raid had been flashing behind his eyes, the faces of those he had killed. The part he hated the most was that in the aftermath some of the gangsters had been shown to be little more than children.

What kind of monster had he become to kill children?

"Woman problems? If things were that simple." But even as he said this he wondered about things. Was it all just him having women problems? Could that be the underlying reason? Minoru did not think so and even if the 'Amity Incident', as he once jokingly called it, was the beginning of his journey of compromises, shaken goals, and battered integrity. So in one way, true, this was a self-inflicted problem about a woman, but in other ways it was not. The level to which Minoru had deadened himself to become a good soldier, to become a good shield and lance of Amestris, was something that sickened him once he thought about it.

Thus he didn't think about it. He simply did as a good soldier is want to do and work to the fullest of his abilities. Even if that meant compromising values he had held since he was a child. But the woman had been concerned? The way she intoned her speech made this seem odd. "And offended? Please, the way you sound makes it seem like you are playing a game," he responded, neutral in tone compared to the first gruff sentence. "I suppose it could be favourable to the world as it is... All right, so what's this about? People aren't usually that concerned about strangers."

[Emmelin]

Valeria felt the twitch of annoyance playing upon her lips. How stubborn this man was. oh well, it seemed she would deal for now. He was one of those most annoying men that were smarter than they looked. She wasn't saying that they were all dumb, just that it wasn't often she found someone who was smart. Having a brain and using it was a separate game after all. Her brown eyes stared upon him intently as she would sigh in a knowing way and laugh softly at his words. It seemed she had been accurate. If only for a part of it, he was having woman problems. Valeria couldn't help but grin. Men had a great weakness for women. Often times it was fairly easy to catch a man simply by using his wanting or longing for a woman against them. Valeria did it all the time; husbands were the most prone.

His other statements though amused her. So he caught her little game? That was fine, she could play at a different tempo. Valeria was a lady of many talents after all... if she could be called a lady. In some words she was a temptress or a succubus. A woman who used her body to fool men. This idea was false though as Valeria had no qualms about being around women either. A sort of sly grin on her face, she would move her hand to block her mouth as she laughed. A cute and soft chuckle fell from her lips before she pulled back a small sip of her own drink. Those eyes closed from him before she looked forward. "It's amazing how much trouble a single woman can cause." She should know after all.

Turning her head to face him, she would smile sweetly. The act always there. She was measuring his since like she was some sort of god at the time, but it didn't bother her in the slightest. "Is there something wrong with a rare case? I just feel as if you need someone to talk to. So? Talk!" She would state in a serious tone while she waved her hand in a 'carry-on' movement. She wanted to know what had this man so down

[Shula Brighton]

{BUMP}

[Guest]

She wanted him to speak? Fine, he could do that he supposed. But where to begin? Yes that was the question. Without a proper starting point he would not get his message across and even then it would be a harrowing journey trying to traverse the jungle of conversation to eventually end up at the goal, hopefully with a tale properly told and also understood.

But what was his goal with this? Being a firm believer in putting goals for himself as a way to navigate life, Minoru knew that he had to find his own reason for telling her. Was it to make her understand? He doubted he could achieve such a thing and as such it would not be the primary goal, perhaps a pleasant side effect. Was it to make himself see how deeply this affected him? No, he had already dealt with that and it was not quite the worst problem with him, this destiny-broken romance of his. Closure? Yes, closure seemed like a good goal to go for, not too unrealistic and also something he could likely reach after having talked to this woman. But he did not even know her name so he couldn't possibly... Did he even want to know her name? Did he want to form some sort of attachment to this woman through talking or did he not?

Perhaps it would be best not to speak of it all and drown it in a haze of booze, forgetting it in the morning. Preparing to shot the rest of his generous helping of Carraig Mist he stopped. He had been down this road before, he knew where it lead and it would only make him miserable, tired of it all. Perhaps he should do as he had previously; it was, after all, a night of firsts. "Tell you? 'Lighten my burden' so to say? Fine, I don't have much better to do really." He took another sip of the golden liquid. Telling someone else would be all fine and dandy, but first he needed something from her. "But before I begin I would like to know your name, I didn't catch it earlier. Mine is Minoru. Minoru Kowalke if you care about last names." Turning to the drink again he swirled the glass around in a few lazy motions. The languid motion of the spirit lulled him in, it made him more relaxed. A good mood to tell tales in.

And thus he began. "I should first tell you that this is by no means something I think about a lot, its just that, well..." he gestured to the blend of whiskey, honey and herbs, "this here gets me in the mood to remember. I think I'll begin with the short version. You see, there's this woman, although she was but a teenager at that time so I guess I should refer to her as that from now on, whom I meet about 12-13 years ago. I was visiting some relatives in Creta when I met her, having ran from the stuffy home of theirs." Minoru muttered something along the lines of what could be assumed to be 'damn snobs' under his breath before he continued. "So I had fled to a small lake quite the distance away and I met her. We chatted and found quite a lot in common. We met up over the next few days and things were progressing quickly." Minoru took a look at Valeria. "I was going to tell her as such, but in the positive way, I wanted the next step to happen. Not quite sure of what I thought that to be back then... Anyway, it all fell apart on my side. I never confessed. See, the crux of all this is that she and I are related. We're second cousins and I did not want my father to suffer more shame than he already had, what with my obvious marks of heritage." A deep sigh was heard from the soldier.

"I've never managed to connect with anyone else in any way close to the budding relationship I had with her and I ended it in such a way that neither of the two of us would like to give it a chance, all over my sense of family honour." Having sipped on the drink as he spoke, as well as now feeling the onset of the earlier shot upon shot, Minoru was quickly approaching a state of suggestibility not all too unusual amongst those who were of the inclination to drink such amounts. "And not a day goes by were I don't regret ending it, no one's ever come close to Amity.... and here he trailed of, clearly expecting the woman to have some form of input.

[Emmelin]

Names, names, names. How could she forget to show the man her name? It seemed it had been done though. With a soft chuckle, she would nod. "My name is Valeria. A pleasure to meet you." She wasn't one for last names. Especially being a Diablos from Esparia, she HAD killed all of them, or so she supposed at least. On her rampage for freedom, so many had to be sacrificed. Were some innocent? Probably, but Valeria cared no more for them that she cared for the disgusting parents of hers. They were all guilty for creating such horrid beings in the process. That had happened.. what four years ago? It sounded reasonable enough. Valeria wasn't keeping time anymore, as long as she refused to go to Esparia, she was safe from the law's awful touch.

Thus his story began. She seemed to be right about the woman troubles. In love with his cousin, eh?While most sound that gross, Val found it.. interesting. Her eyes locked on his every action as the tale continued, every word of it whirling in her head. It seemed he really cared for that woman and while Val was not the type to usually support 'good things', her words came out before she could catch them.

"I see. If you love her so much, what is a title of being related. Didn't people inner-marry all the time in the past. Besides, it's not like you're siblings." She'd laugh softly while drinking something fruity. What was it even? She didn't like it. The scowl on her mouth proved it clearly. "You are your own man, stop living for someone else and live for yourself.. damn." Annoyance smothered her voice as it was obvious she did not like whatever the bartender had given her. "What was the old saying..? Love is blind?"

Like I'm one to talk about love. Val snorted. Though, ever since she'd met Jericho, she'd been a bit more accepting of people's feelings. That didn't exempt them from deserving to die, but as of tonight she had no urge to kill this man. He seemed so.. pathetic in her view. Weak with alcohol in his veins and it was hardly a challenge. Her charismatic skills though was something that left men and women alike feeling flattered she'd even given them the time of day. Valeria was no princess, but she knew how to give off good feelings.

Catching the bad vibes she was giving, she looked at him with a soft smile. "So who's more important? A man who's lived his life or yours that may have just began? I believe in all honesty that man would feel relieved if you're happy." What was she saying? In all honesty she was unsure. Giving advice to a man drinking at the bar. Simple men were not her type, his problem was more common than he thought from what all she witnessed. Well, sort of. Most relative cases were. 'I cheated on my wife then found out the woman I cheated on her with was my cousin'.

[Shula Brighton]

{BUMP}

[Emmelin]

No response. She assumed him to be out cold. how incredibly rude! He had fallen asleep in the middle of her talking? That was just.. unforgivable! The laziness of people. the stinking nerve that this man had to vent out his problems then pass out as if nothing had happened. Nothing made her madder! Well.. there were things but at that moment she wasn't thinking of them. Her eyes would narrow and softly her breath would wave out of her nose, unseen. This was why she didn't like to drink. Her memory returned as she drained the glass she had and turned it on its side. An odd habit, but one she did, nonetheless.

As she spun it once out of boredom, she found herself quickly on her feet and soon to follow her feet. She didn't bother paying the tab, that man could. After all, he was rude enough to ignore her. Whether he was actually asleep, she couldn't know or even gain enough to care. It was really just lack of manners that did that. Something so irritating to her. It really would grind at her gears in an annoying fashion that this man could do that. NO she would not get over it. After all, it was simply the most annoying thing ever to her at the time. Something so simple made so over the wall and pushed past the limits of a normal situation.

Nevertheless she left. His body in her wake and not a Good-bye was said. It would be stupid to say farewell to someone who had no manners. Like talking to a wall, there would be no reaction. In fact at that time, Val would rather talk to a wall. As she shut the door behind her, she would sneak into the night before her. Perhaps tonight would be one of fire to bring out those stars in the sky.

[EXIT]

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