Mika nodded. "Well...thank you, doctor," she said slowly, "I think I'll get better dressed," she smiled at her haphazard clothing, "and maybe I'll return to the bar for a while. I'm not sure I can sleep quite yet."
Arthur was still in the bar, and by the looks of it, would literally drink until he dropped. The rejection he suffered was bad, but it wasn't the end of the world. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure if he really wanted to push up on her. It was what he believed to be the reason for the rejection that got to him. His marriage to a crackpot and the seven kids that came with it. That woman finds a way to f*ck up everything in his life. He lit another cigarette and ordered another Bourbon. The drinks went down so smooth at this point, he couldn't seem to reach his limit. He was already a heavy drinker, so the thought of him outdoing himself might entail alcohol poisoning. He was annoyed thoroughly by taking a back seat in life. He was too nice for his own good, and it bit him in the ass. He raised his hand to summon Bugsy for another Bourbon after taking the shot he just had. He took a puff in between Bourbon shots, exhaling as if he were trying to release all his frustrations. He also hated being a Roughneck. He hated the shadow talking that Roughnecks were subject to. He fixes this, and fixes that, but never feels appreciated. Even to the friendlies he encounters on a daily basis, he's a joke. After the last shot, he grabbed the glass so tightly it broke in his hand. Three shards of glass dug deep into his right palm. Bugsy came over to him and said, "Hey buddy, you should get that looked at!" "Yeah, I should." he replied. "Are you okay?" Bugsy asked him. "I'll be fine." he said, bleeding on the table. "Sorry about the mess, Bugsy." He gets up and goes for treatment. "That's alright. Sleep that Bourbon off, pal." Bugsy said to him as he left.
Omar's hands were still shaking. His life's work now flowed through the veins of some woman he barely knew. "Maybe I'll join you. I probably wont sleep for the next week. You have no idea what this means to me. Heh, I could probably use a drink to steady my nerves. Didn't get a chance earlier..." Several minutes later, the doctor found Arthur staggering through the hall. Blood was dripping from his hand. "Hey, c'mere. You're bleeding..." Instinct took over, and Omar was stitching the cuts almost as soon as he saw them. Three loops was all it took. "Careful with that. There's an artery leading into your thumb... if you slice it, you could bleed to death pretty fast."
"What'll it be sir?" Bugsy asked Chris. "Got any warm milk? I'm having trouble sleeping." Chris said to the barkeep. "Whiskey coming right up."" Bugsy answered. After a few sessions of passionate lovemaking Eve had passed out. Chris lay awake in bed, alone with his thoughts, he couldn't stop thinking of her as a reaver, torturing and killing anyone who wasn't her kind. He envisioned her getting some kind of sick pleasure in cutting herself, then he envisioned her doing the same thing to him. After all, he'd basically forced her to promise she would. He grabbed his clothes, snuck out of bed and made his way back to the bar to try and think things through. Chris turned around in his chair, scanning the bar for Arthur. Arthur always had sound advice.
Mika laughed, surprising both of them. The laugh was light and carefree. "I say we need a drink to celebrate," she said, "why look at the bad side? I'd like to think that your work is brilliant and will perform exactly as expected." I certainly hope so. She picked up her underthings and stepped into the bathroom, dressing properly and brushing her tangled hair so that it went from a wild tangle to a semi-presentable mass of champagne white. She splashed her face, blotted it on a towel and stepped back out. "Let's go." she said to Omar and they stepped out the door. Just as it swung shut behind them they met Artie coming the other way from the bar, his hand bleeding. "What happened to you?" Mika asked, horrified, "Was there a fight?"
"What happened to you?" Mika asked, horrified, "Was there a fight?" He smirked at the question. "Yeah, I got in a brawl with a glass. I won, but he got some licks in." He looked down at his hand, watching the blood ooze out of his palm. He wasn't terrified of blood anymore. He was indifferent to it. Maybe it was the other events that preceded the glass in the hand incident. He felt he was on the lowest level of dog sh*t, and took a little pleasure in the fact he couldn't get any lower. He saw Mika wasn't alone, she was with the doctor. Another smirk invaded his face as he nodded to himself. "I gotta get this looked at. Excuse me."
Mika stopped Artie by the simple expedient of grabbing him by the collar. "The doc's right here," she said, pointing to Omar, "let's have him look at it."
Instinct took over, and Omar was stitching the cuts almost as soon as he saw them. Three loops was all it took. "Careful with that. There's an artery leading into your thumb... if you slice it, you could bleed to death pretty fast." He shot Mika a sideways glance. He was a little bit afraid something would happen to her in front of one of the others. Which would be an awkward thing to explain. Not even Hawke knew exactly what Omar's research pertained to. And certainly not that one of his crew would be its subject.
Just like that the three of them were at a table nearest the door to the bar and Artie had his hand laid on it while Omar stitched, talked, and picked out a sliver of glass. "Here." Automatically she responded to his tone and put out her hand. Omar dropped piece of glass into Mika's palm without commenting. She stared at the bloody sliver, a little taken aback and just as she was going to go find a place to dispose of it he dropped another one in her hand. Steeling herself to wait until he was finished, she gave Artie a smile that she hoped was encouraging.
As he got the glass taken out of his hand, he sized up the shards. They were pretty big, Artie was surprised they even made their way into his skin. He winced as the last piece was taken. After his eyes re-opened, he looked up and saw Mika smile at him. He wanted to smile back, but he was in such a bad mood, it would look forced. He tried to smirk a little anyway, but couldn't go through with it.
The doctor finished up, swabbing the blood from Arthur's hand. "You're one of the Roughnecks, right?" Omar asked conversationally. "Man, I don't envy your job. I mean, fixing people is tough, but at least there's no risk of blowing up or electrocuting yourself..."
Mika knew that she was probably part of Artie's bad mood but now she wondered if his mood could even be salvaged. It wasn't like she knew him very well. "We're headed back for a drink," she offered, "could I offer YOU some coffee now?"
He looked down as the doctor mentioned how he didn't envy Artie's job. That made two of them. He kept his down and let out a sigh. "Yeah, it's pretty rough out there. Thanks, Doc." He was leaning towards getting up and leaving, when she spoke to him again. "We're headed back for a drink," she offered, "could I offer YOU some coffee now?" "Suddenly, I don't feel like coffee. I could use another drink, though, if you wouldn't mind."
“Well no offence to your mum, but when tomorrow’s taking us into Reaver territory I think we ought to worry. Second part might be right though,” she added dryly, glancing round at those left in the bar. “Today we get drunk, tomorrow our hangovers get us killed.” He dropped his gaze from Sadie "i haven't touched alcohol tonight" he told her continueing his gaze, she sighed. Lewis knew she was going to continue so he listened intentivly “Fine. My dad died when I was nine, and my mother remarried. My stepfather was an abusive, drunk bastard. I couldn’t protect her - she used to stuff me into cupboards so he couldn’t get me. When I was sixteen I found a gun in his stuff. When he came home that night and started hitting her I shot him. Twice, in his shoulder and leg. He lay there like the bug he was and dared me to kill him. But I couldn’t do it. He got away. So I joined the army. I wanted to be able to protect the people I cared about.” Sadie paused, then smiled grimly. “And I figured if I couldn’t kill him, I’d at least get the other bastards out there. "your turn" Steward saw her hands laying on the table, he placed his giant warm hands over her them for reassurance "You know, what you did was the right thing, you have something special in you..... that determination, the spark, call it as you wish. It's people like you that make this world a better place, i know it sounds so cliché but it's the truth" he gave her another of his comforting smiles and slid his hands off hers "Sorry" he said. "Now me?" "Where do i start....." he sighed "My dad was English my mum was a Reaver.... please dont give that look" he had noticed Sadie's eyes giving him the 'can i trust him look' "Anyway, I was only a few months old and my parents were taking me to see my granddad. He lived in the very northern of the ancient English Island," he stopped for a second to think "ermmm.... I think it used to be called Scotland, but i'm not so good with history. He was a Hunter, he lived a simple life," Steward dropped his gaze from Sadie "My parents vehicle was ambushed by Rabbaddon and a group of his minions," he locked eyes with Sadie, only this time his eyes radiated Rage and Hatred "They hadn't noticed me because the snow had covered me. My Granddad found me crying and he took me in and raised me to about 4 or 5 he also loved the alcohol, but that ran in his blood.... apparently the scottish, that's his decendents, race if you call it that... they loved a good old drink. I remember reading something about them." He paused to take a sip of his drink as he did he noticed Sadie looking straight at him not even blinking "I mean my Granddad was brilliant at his job, full of old tales and he even taught me how to hunt, track and many other hunter skills" But..... One night there were two Reavers, they had decieded to raid the house. My granddad hid me also, but in a wardrobe... I remember hearing gun shots. I escaped my hiding place, to see if i could see my granddad, However a male reaver found me and he was going to kill me but his wife saved me. after that she looked after me till i was about 8 or 9, but she discovered my 'Kaze Bezhni' which is a scare that is inscribed into a Reaver child when born, normally it is there Clans insignia and the symbol of there Spirit Beast in which they have been reincarnated from.... does that make any sense?" he didn't wait for her to reply he rattled on "Reavers also have Clan feuds and hatred is stronge between many of the clans, However they have all come reunited by the power of 'Jeramiah Elder'.... so as you can imagine, things were getting more risky for her to keep caring for me, if she was to stumble upon someone she knew with a child of around 8 or 9 who they knew was not hers would cause suspicion as you can imagine, so she left me at the nearest English colony. I ended up becoming a street boy, pickpocketing, robbery, stabbings petty crimes. I didnt want to live my life like this but in the end i had commited murder, only because someone tried to kill me because they saw my 'Kaze Bezhni' and understood what it ment. I chose to join the army before anybody found out about the murder and from then on i have lead a military life. and now i'm in the state you seem in now" he hadn't realised her hands were upon his, he smiled at her "Any questions?"
"Well, come on, then," she nudged Artie's elbow, "that makes three of us." She didn't like to see someone so down. Especially someone who seemed to be naturally ebullient. They went farther into the bar together and Bugsy looked surprised to see them. "Thought you folks had turned in," he said, hands on the bar. David was up on the bar, he'd stopped yelling but was posing like a weightlifter. "Uh..." words failed her. Then she saw that Handsome had returned and was looking at Artie in a somewhat...desperate...way? Surely that couldn't be right but the description seemed to fit somehow.
As the three got closer, he saw his friend, Chris. He gave Chris an upward nod, sensing that something was bothering him. After passing David, who gave them a nod, he looked at Mika. Mika was looking at Chris, he saw it clear as a bell. "Hey bro, this is Mika. Mika, meet my best friend, Chris." The damage was done. Now time would tell if magic was in the air. He didn't hate Chris at all, but he couldn't understand why his buddy was never looked at like a dirty mechanic. He couldn't understand why he was always looked at like a dirty mechanic. He was ready for that drink.
Mika nodded to Chris politely. She'd seen him with Eve, had seen him leave with Eve. She wondered what he was doing back here. Maybe he was the type that couldn't sleep after... "So what do you want from the bar?" Mika asked Artie.
Omar gestured for the barkeeper. "Bugsy, right? Still up? Aren't you a dedicated fella. I'll have an Irish coffee. Don't skimp on the Irish." Then he looked from Arthur to Mika and back. He sensed something odd between them. "You look down, Arthur. Maybe you shouldn't have any more to drink. It's a depressant, you see. Talking about it is a much better cure. Y'know: catharsis. Releasing your problems..."
"So what do you want from the bar?" Mika asked Artie. "I'll take a Bourbon, please" he said to Mika. Artur reached into his right pocket with his left hand to pull out a smoke and a lighter. He placed the lighter on the bar as he used his good hand to wrestle a cigarette out of its box. He snatched the lighter from the bar and lit the cancerstick. Then he heard a noise that cleared up mid-sentence. "You look down, Arthur. Maybe you shouldn't have any more to drink. It's a depressant, you see. Talking about it is a much better cure. Y'know: catharsis. Releasing your problems..." He stared at the doctor, half-drunk and upset. It wasn't the doctor's fault, it was no one's fault, really. But Artie wasn't in the mood to hear it. "Thanks for your concern, Doc. I'm not in the mood to talk and let out my feelings." he said with an emphasis on the word feelings. He played with the word in a way that made it sound girly.
Mika had expected Artie to head toward Chris, not toward the bar. So by the time he answered her question they were at the bar and she felt a bit silly. Still, she turned toward Bugsy as Omar was making dire predictions about alcohol and told the bartender, "You heard him and I'll have some Bailey's on ice."
Sadie kept her eyes on her cocoa, waiting for Lewis to speak. She looked down as he placed his hand over hers, warm and probably meant to be comforting, then up at him. “You know,” he said “what you did was the right thing, you have something special in you..... that determination, the spark, call it as you wish. It's people like you that make this world a better place.” Sadie arched an eyebrow, and Lewis hastened to assuage her scepticism. “I know it sounds so cliché but it's the truth.” “Hmmm,” Sadie hummed. She wanted to ask Are you sure you haven’t had any alcohol tonight? but decided that would be rude, even for her. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to need a reply; noticing her discomfort he lifted his hands away for hers with a murmured, “Sorry,” and launched into his own story. Sadie turned her eyes on him in surprise when he announced his heritage. Another ex-Reaver? Were there any more on this expedition they didn’t know about? Gask and Lewis didn’t seem to know about it each other – or if they did they were really good at hiding it – but it was possible, Sadie supposed. It would be a hell of a coincidence though. Lewis seemed to misinterpret her surprise as censure, but continued determinedly with his tale. Sadie listened intently, a little disbelieving that such a complex and disturbing past could lie behind such an overwhelmingly cheerful person. It perhaps explained why he prattled on the way he did though, trying not to dwell on the horrors in his past. Hesitantly, she reached out and lightly touched his hand. It seemed like something most people capable of normal social interaction would do. Lewis smiled at her as he finished. “Any questions?” Her mind when blank for a moment, then she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the dance floor. “Was it the Reavers that taught you to dance like that? Or was that just natural skill?”
Chris spotted Arthur, he had Doc and that mystery woman from earlier in tow. He locked eyes with her, she had a different air about her, perhaps it was because she wasn't as tipsy as she had been earlier. Arthur noticed the two making eye contact and decided to make an introduction. "Hey bro, this is Mika. Mika, meet my best friend, Chris." "Nice to meet you." Chris managed, she returned the sentiment with a nod. Upon closer inspection, Chris could see that Arthur was down. He always got that way when he drank too much. Chris was in no position to cheer him up tonight though, he had his own problems to solve. Art, and his new friends walked off a little further down the bar and ordered some drinks. Chris hoped they would help him get over whatever was bothering him... He made eye contact with Louie as he talked to Sadie. He lifted his glass and smiled...
Steward released a chuckle causing his chest to release pain upon his body, clenched it until it past. "Natural skill" he said beaming "Why was i that bad?" "Look i know you and many other people see the worst of Reavers. But behind the warrior clans, If you look at the women and children you will see, that they are just like English families.... look i'm half Reaver, Half English...... Do you feel like i might betray you and the team?? if so please go and warn Hawke and the others" he said it with a blank expression on his face while he shrugged his shoulders, he took a sip of his drink while he waited for an answer. As he did he noticed Chris looking at him gesturing his glass at him, he looked at Chris and shook his head, he knew that she wouldn't be intrested now after finding out he is half Reaver
Sadie felt an instant of relief when Louie laughed. In the past people hadn’t always been able to tell when she was joking, and she’d inadvertently caused offence more than once. “Why, was I that bad?” Louie asked with a beaming smile. “Well …” Sadie pretended to hesitate. “Let’s just say I feared lives would be lost.” Lewis seemed to be a human yo-yo, however, as the next moment he was serious and staring down at her intently. “Look I know you and many other people see the worst of Reavers. But behind the warrior clans, If you look at the women and children you will see, that they are just like English families.... look I'm half Reaver, Half English...... Do you feel like I might betray you and the team?? if so please go and warn Hawke and the others.” Sadie shook her head, wondering how she’d given him the impression that that might be what she was thinking. She really needed to start listening when people talked about body language. For a moment, she almost told Louie that his situation wasn’t that unique – but that seemed to her akin to betraying Gask. “If I thought you were a threat to anyone here,” she said after a pause, “You would already be dead.” She turned back to her cocoa, and caught sight of Chris further down the bar. Having seen him leave earlier looking very cosy with Eve, his reappearance made her wonder what had happened. Catching sight of her and Lewis, he raised his glass and smiled conspiratorially … at Lewis. Sadie rolled her eyes. Men.
Mika caught herself glancing over her shoulder at Chris, wondering what had him bothered enough to leave Eve in the middle of the night. Unless things hadn't worked out somehow. She slid a glance at Artie. He seemed to have a bone to pick with life in general, smoking as though he was going to destroy the cig in one lungful. Even his hair seemed to flame with indignation.
