[Performance at said dive bar.]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 2
LaviniaEast Colfax is home to a number of things, like the world's slowest busses, the world's friendliest hookers, and the most crappy bars per capita in all of Colorado.
This bar had a name at one point, a name that was printed on the outside sign like it was a tavern and somewhere a little classier than where it was right now. The paint had since peeled off and the bar was only distinguished by the abundance of off-brand beer signs thrown up in the window. They had a little stage at the front of the bar by some window, so if you wanted to pass the bar while someone was playing you got a good look at the back half of whoever was singing.
In this instance, the back half that someone could stare at belonged to a tall blonde in a mini skirt. Well, it was probably just a regular skirt, but you see she was very tall. Everything was a miniskirt. That and she had a personal vendetta against pants. You couldn't be a woman over six feet tall and have an abundance of pants that fit properly. They were finishing up the set. Started off with some original stuff, a cover here and there was the obligatory Joan Jett and Cyndi Lauper the obligatory Amanda Fucking Palmer (because Lavinia liked Amanda Palmer, so people could shove it and let her play). It was a forty-five minute set, and it was the kind of set that didn't always come to a place like this. And when it did, it was the stuff of barfly legend?
Did you hear the time that Clear Hearts, Gray Flowers played?
"Thank you, good night!" was how it ended. the blonde took a step off the tiny stage, and got on to helping the band pack up.
Alexander[Awareness?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 2 )
AlexanderThere are times where you want to be someone where everyone knows your name. Where your feet don’t stick to the floor, where there isn’t a selection of hooker’s phone numbers written on the site of the bathroom stall walls, where the health inspectors see more than a hefty bribe to sign off another certificate.
Yeah, this isn’t one of those places. There’s a quietening of conversation when somebody new walks in, until they work out if it’s trouble arriving. Groups of people take care of business between themselves with little crossover between them. Some kind of unspoken truce keeps the peace – you stay on your side of the bar and we’ll stay on ours.
Somewhere along the side, tucked away in a booth, Alexander sits nursing a beer. He’d been here for long enough, been trouble-free for long enough, to fade into the background and be generally ignored. Which suits him fine. He’s not here for the drink or the company. Not even for the music, although that was an unexpected pleasure. He’s just here to watch the people. He doesn’t plan on walking the beat for his entire career, so doing a little… extra-curricular study seems like a good idea. If only to get a better idea about how things work – who works for who – in this part of the city.
The singer on stage seems familiar, and there’s a familiar sense of something more about her. From the park? The one who came across as an Awakened elementary school teacher? Small world. He doesn’t try to get her attention – they tend to attract each other without effort anyway – but he will raise the glass in greeting if she happens to make eye contact.
Otherwise he watches people.
Lavinia[Do I notice people? Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
LaviniaShe makes eye contact while she's getting off-stage. He doesn't have to try to get her attention because something feels cold and wintry and it feels familiar. She tried to place where she'd seen him before. Something about parks and oh, right, I thought you were dead. something pings at the back of her attention.
She's talkative enough. Makes conversation with the bartender easily, cuts through the crowd like she belongs here, even if she doesn't… quite belong here. Isn't afraid to throw an elbow to get where she needed to go. She ordered a Blue Moon, ended up with a PBR because it's a cheap beer people think is sophisticated. She drinks it without irony, mostly because she could get a few easily enough and not break the bank.
Lavinia was getting paid in beer for this gig (provided she didn't go over fifty bucks). She was going to try and get the most out of it. The lady swings by the booth, "hey, do you play pool?"
AlexanderHe nurses the beer a little more, taking a couple of sips while Lavinia does her thing at the bar. He watches her, just as he watches the small group in the corner talking in hushed tones and try not to be too obvious when they glance at a couple of people in another booth. There might be trouble ahead, or there might not be. It’s too early to tell. But this looks like a bar where the furnishings are cheap and easily replaced if anything does happen.
Lavinia does walk over and she is watched. There’s a touch of caution in Alex – she’s still very much unknown to him. Who she is, what she is, what she wants. All mysteries. But there’s only really one way to work out those mysteries – get stuck in and start taking them apart.
Not literally. That would be messy.
“It’s been a while, but I have played. You think they have a full set of balls?”
Lavinia[Number of rounds until a legit fight]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )
LaviniaShe took a drink, and when she stood there she spend more time watching Alex's mouth than really listening to him. Perhaps it was the volume of the place, or perhaps it was something else. It didn't seem to be a flirtatious glance, but rather, one born of necessity. she doesn't invade his space, not unless she is invited and she seems pretty pleased to just stay where she was and not invite herself somewhere.
The bar is made up of circles of people. Some that seemed to overlap and some that did not. Things that mixed like oil and water, others that mix like water and magnesium. They didn't get to see those explosions, not yet. Not sure if they were going to see such a raucous interaction.
"Probably not," she tells him, tightens her stomach muscles so she can be heard over the general hum of people. She's got the voice of a herald, "but I figure we could omit the same number of balls so no one's at an advantage."
AlexanderLavinia doesn’t flirt, but neither does he. Here, at least he isn’t trying to push her away before he can wind down and relax and try to work out what the hell has happened to his friend. Here, ignoring the exchange of a beautiful day in an open park for a complete dive with a slowly ratcheting level of tension between what might pass for its regulars, he’s more at ease. Wary still – still the unknown – but at least open and approachable without any fear of whether or not anyone will be reduced to a smear on the floor. By him, at least.
There’s smile – friendly if not wide – and a shrug. “Sure, why not.” He shuffles across the seat to where he can stand from the booth, leaving the now-warm beer behind. “I’d ask if you wanted a drink first, but I see you have your own.”
Lavinia"You gotta take care of your needs," she said, "but if you want you can buy me the next one. I'll cover you, we can be egalitarian about our beer exchange."
She smiled, friendly but not flirtatious. The kind of friendly that was just born of finding a person interesting and enjoying the conversation. There wasn't a giant disaster brewing (though there was a raise in the sound of voices in another corner. Not raucous, not yet at least). She started to meander over to the pool table- the kind that was operated by putting in a hand full of quarters and hoping for the best.
"What should I call you?"
Alexander“Sure, that works.” Alexander heads over to the bar for a minute or two, sorting out a new drink. It’s another beer he comes back with. Something bottled – who knows when the pipes in the pumps were last cleared out, and he didn’t fancy finding out what new and interesting stomach complaints could be picked up from them. He comes to the pool table with a bottle – no, the bottle’s find, don’t need a glass – and a stack of quarters from his change.
“I get called a lot of things, but Alexander is what I usually respond to.” Alex? Maybe later. For now, definitely Alexander. Sorry Grace, there are little things that he does get a bit strung up about. Alex from a stranger is just a little too familiar. “I’m sorry, but I think you told me your name in the park but I cannot remember what it was.” He wipes the rim of the bottle before taking a sip, not really bothered if the bartender is insulted or not. In a place like this, it’s probably expected.
“Come here often?” He smiles, a little more relaxed than before. There hasn’t been any disasters or potential ends of the world yet, but the night is young.
Lavinia"Alexander," she repeats, as if to be sure that she heard him correctly. She'd turned wrong, lost sight of his mouth for a moment. They aren't familiar with one another, but she logs it away for future reference. this is Alexander. Alexander feels like winter, drinks from a bottle, and seemed pretty intent on keeping an eye on his surroundings. She could respect that. "And it's okay, things were kind of crazy… It's Lavinia."
Like the character from Titus Andronicus, but she hadn't lost her hands and nothing horrible seems to have happened as of yet.
He asks if she comes here often and she laughs- if that doesn't insult the bartender there isn't much that could ruffle the man. She shakes her head, "is it bad that the answer is yes?" she puts a hand up, sets her beer on the side of the pool table, "I'm in a band and we play here a lot. Mack sometimes wants to run on credit so I may or may not have been paid in PBR. What about you? What's your watering hole of choice?"
Alexander“Yeah, it was…” he thinks for a few moments, searching for a good way to describe how things had been. Crazy certainly fit. “Awkward.” Awkward is multiple ways. Awkward because someone Alexander knew didn’t seem to be that man any more. Not on first impressions, anyway. But those impressions had been far enough from the normal to get him on edge. Awkward, because walking into what had the potential to turn into a fight between complete strangers isn’t the way to make a first impression.
Or maybe it is, depending on the impression you wanted to make. Who knew what Lavinia thought of him, apart from Lavinia. Although, given the invitation to play pool, it didn’t seem to be an impression that couldn’t be redeemed.
“Nice name. Old? Passed down through the family?” Naah, he really doesn’t get the reference to missing hands and classical literature. Not his thing? Possibly not. He feeds a few quarters into the table and pushes the lever, a loud clattering audible over the noise of conversation, jukebox music, clinking of glassware, and whatever other noises are filling the bar since the band finished their set. He puts them on the top of the table, checking if there’s enough.
“You played well. You could easily get work in better places than this.” He laughs behind the neck of his bottle. “I prefer places where you don’t have to queue behind the roaches to use the bathroom. But I’m pretty easy, really.”
Lavinia"Nah, I hit a point awhile back that I could change my name and I figured I wasn't much of a Chelsea anymore. I was super weird about names for awhile," because that was totally normal, but she continues along before she has to answer too many questions as to whether or not she seemed like a chelsea and if he was allowed to call her Chelsea, names brought up a whole new can of worms that she wasn't quite ready to deal with now.
The tension somewhere is starting to grow, but it's slight, the kind of conflict that came when someone was having a heated discussion about bar trivia. It becomes pretty intense.
He says they're pretty good, says they played well even, "be careful, keep it up and you'll wake up my inner prima donna."
She laughed at the comment about the roaches. She's getting pool cues and once the balls are laid out on the table she passes a stick to Alexander. "Well, y'know, Mack hasn't had the cops called on the place for awhile so I guess it has that going or it."
AlexanderAlexander considers her for a moment, rolling the names around in his mind. Lavinia. He isn’t sure what form a Lavinia would take – she’s the first that he’s met, so there’s no real basis of comparison for whether she fits the mould or not. Chelsea, though? Definitely not a Chelsea. Chelsea would be hanging around with her girlfriends, somewhere with grass and a pool and, maybe, a butler. Who the hell has butlers these days. He shrugs, pulling himself back from his wool gathering.
“If she does wake up, she can pick out her own green M&Ms. I’m not doing it for her.” He can’t even remember which diva had picked up that reputation, but then it’s not really all that important. It’s just a throw-away comment.
Alexander looks over the bar, picking up on the rising tension. It’s nothing to worry about – not yet, at least – but it’s something to keep an eye on. Things can escalate quickly.
“Heads or tails?” He flips a coin to decide who goes first.
Lavinia"Tails," she tells him. It's all she has to say. Or, rather, all she gets out before the corner erupts into a disaster.
There is a large man with barbed wire-style tattoos around both biceps and he stood up. He stood up and shoved a table out of the way. It's how these sorts of things start. These sorts of things start when someone throws a chair of flips a table and there is something like entropy, like fate, like a chain of events that starts these kinds of fights.
The table gets shoved, you see, and it gets shoved into a man who is standing and tall and thin and he turns around, barks something angry at the other man. He steps in and shoves the man with the large man throws a punch. Because someone always throw a punch, but he misses, throw his punch and it hits someone in a different group.
This is how these things start, like some terrible chain reaction. Where a chair gets thrown out of the way, near the pool table, and while Lavinia can't distinguish what's going on over in the corner she knows enough to duck.
AlexanderThe coin spins in mid-air, reaching the peak of its journey as Lavinia makes her choice. Probability balanced on that moment – heads or tails. Only there was more hanging on the cusp of chance. Of fate? Maybe, if you believe in that kind of thing. Who knows what really led to the fight breaking out. A butterfly on the other side of the world seems a little implausible, but problems with money, drugs, family, the cops… Each piece plays a part and the point where all those seemingly insignificant actions and reactions come together? Start with a table getting shoved.
The coin begins its descent, but it’s already been forgotten about. Alex glances at the birth of the brawl and realises what’s coming. Leaving, right now, would be good. Only there wasn’t anywhere to leave through apart from the fight. It would be too much to hope that it doesn’t suck them in. These things are indiscriminate. Almost the embodiment of chance. The likelihood of a single bottle of beer remaining standing in the middle of it all? Probably higher than you’d think.
“This is bad.” He picks up a cue from the table, weighing it in his hand. It’ll have to do. “I think the number of days since the cops were last here’s about to get wiped.” He doesn’t know whether or not Lavinia is used to this kind of thing. If she hangs around this kind of place a lot, she might know how to swing a punch or a bottle. But maybe not. He takes a step to the side, placing himself between her and the oncoming brawl.
LaviniaGeneral Disarray: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
LaviniaCaptain Obvious: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )
LaviniaSwing McCrappy Aim: +6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (1) ( botch x 1 )
LaviniaLavinia: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
AlexanderAlex init +6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
LaviniaSwing McCrappy Aim: 6 +1= 7
General Disarray: 5 + 4= 9
Lavinia: 5 + 5 = 10
Alex(ander): 6 +4 = 10
Captain Obvious: 5 +6 = 11
There were things to be done here, you see. While other people were content to make things expand and some people with some sense left while others took it as an excuse to try and swipe a couple purses or maybe a drink off the table. People seemed content to run or cause problems or uses excuses.
The tall man, the one that is lean and thin and generally built fast turned out to be built drunker than fast and maybe Alexander looked like someone who who screwed his girlfriend once, or maybe he decided he'd rather have the guy's wallet, or maybe he's just wanting to expand into the fight. Whatever the case, he takes his time and throws a punch at the guy.
(action, punching Alexander- sorry bro)
The other guy, the one with the bicep tattoos, was more interested in his fight with the rather nondescript bald man who had a bit too many tattoos who looked like he had probably been to prison a couple times.
(Engage Captain Obvious)
Lavinia, for her part, groaned and looked up. It was as if she was waiting for the highest of heavens to give her an answer. For her part, though, she took the pool cue in hand and seemed more intent on making sure someone didn't hurt her current companion than anything else
(Action: smack at Swing McCrappy Aim with a pool cue)
There’s a resigned sigh as it became obvious that they – or, at least he – was going to get dragged into it all. Alex spots the tall man coming towards him with a mission and swings out with the pool cue. [Action: Sweep at punchy man]
LaviniaThe other man, the one who seemed to be bald and probably fresh out of prison, was distracted when it came to dealing with other people.
Alexander[Sweep: Dex+Melee +1 diff]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 1 )
Lavinia[Do I fall over? Dex+athletics, diff 8]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia(that's supposed to be 8, so 0 successes. Holmes is down)
Alexander[So yep. Shame. Going with club for damage? Str+1]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )
Lavinia[Oww. Stamina]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
LaviniaWell, she was going to take a swing. The two men who were equally large and burly and generally imposing were content to fight with each other. They were content to try and pummel each other to bits, the barbed wire man holding the other man by the lapels. Perhaps he was going to throw him over a table, perhaps they were exchanging some very intense words, but it didn't matter.
One man lunged, was ready to take a punch at Alexander but, as it turns out, the man was fast. He was fast and he was sharp and the sweep came like a dream, perhaps not the cleanest execution, but it would appear that this didn't matter. Lavinia was almost ready to take a swing at the guy but then he was on the ground and she made a little eee noise and dropped her pool cue. Hands up, not aiming for someone who was flat on their back on the ground.
"C'mon, we should bounce," she tells Alexander. Best thing to do in a fight is to not be there, "is someone calling the cops?"
AlexanderAlexander finishes his spin – messy, but the guy had been half-drunk and not really paying attention. He was down, the punch evaded for now, but he wasn’t out.
“Lady, I am the cops.” And the fight, it seems, wasn’t over. Hopefully the bartender had the thought to call 911. Tempting as it was to let them fight out whatever anger and energy had kicked everything off in the first place, it didn’t guarantee that nobody else would get dragged in. Looks like the fight isn’t over yet.
LaviniaThe man on the floor was starting to stand up, feeling a little woozy, maybe a little drunk, but he wasn't done fighting, at least not yet. It was, of course, not the fastest of movements. More like he was trying to get himself back in the ring.
(action: stand up!)
---
The man with the barbed wire tattoos shoved the other man into the duo of reality breakers, he wasn't so much concerned about where he went. He wasn't so much concerned about anything, really, except that he got shoved in the general direction of someone who just said that he was a cop. With little fanfare, with gritted teeth and even eyes, he took a swing at the man. Muttered something about pigs under his breath
)action: Slug Alex)
-
Lavinia wasn't having much of that. The young woman wasn't a fan of getting Alexander into too much trouble, and being a cop in a crappy bar was occasionally a painted target so… she had to intercept.
[Actions:
1a: interpose between dude and Alexander
1b: knee the dude in the gut]
Sometimes the smart thing is to know to keep your mouth shut. And maybe leave a bar fight while you still can.
It’s a shame that ‘smart’ isn’t something that Alex has been called an amazing amount during his life.
The cue is dropped so Alex can get up a little more close and personal with Barb Wire.
[Action: Tackle Barb]
LaviniaSometimes, you see an opportunity. Sometimes, you have to act on said opportunity when it presented itself and, for now, there happened to be a rather attractive woman in a mini skirt that was close. She wouldn't notice if he copped a feel right? Of course right.
[Bald Guy's action: be a perv.]
Alexander[Tackle: Dex+Brawl+1 diff]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
Lavinia[Do I stay up?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (1, 5, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )
Alexander[Alex stays up?]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Alexander[Bashing damage: Str +1 + 3 from the attack roll]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )
Lavinia[Oww!]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )
Lavinia[Action: 1a: No need to interpose
1b: Dex3+Brawl3=6-3=3. Boot to the head?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Lavinia[And damage: Str3+2+1 (because kicking things is a Thing]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 4 )
Lavinia[Barby: SERIOUS. OW.]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 10) ( success x 1 )
Lavinia{Barby is KOed!]
LaviniaNow, things could have gone better. The lanky man is getting up, looking at the people who happened to be handling themselves pretty well in a fight, and trying to figure out whether or not this was something he wanted to deal with. The bald man, ever the opportunist, happened to time it out perfectly, got a hand halfway up the blonde woman's skirt while she was busy kicking the ever-loving-crap out of the man that Alexander had just tackled.
And he had most assuredly made contact. It was poetry in motion compared to what everyone else was doing. It was poetry in motion because he pounced, lunged like he was aware of his body and knew precisely how to move, what he needed to do, and Alexander? It was suddenly clear he was a force to be contended with.
AlexanderIt probably wouldn’t have made much difference if the brawler had known exactlywhat they were getting themselves into. Enough alcohol and you become very short-sighted to the consequences of your actions. Hopping over the rail lines seems like a great short cut home, right until you’re sober in the ED with less of you that there was at the start of the night.
Alex’s admission that he was a cop gained the man with the barbed wire tattoo’s attention. It might have been better for him if he’d thought that would be a good reason to leave. But no – it was too good an opportunity to get a boot in to miss. His mistake. Alex tackles him and the pair of them spin, landing heavily on the bar which dazes the man with the tattoo. They stay standing, but not for long. Lavinia gets her boot in and… well, he’ll be waking up in a cell in the morning.
One down, two to go. Assuming they didn’t realise what had just happened to their ‘friend’ and decide that discretion was the better option.
LaviniaThe skinny guy had a moment to think, feeling particularly irate that Alexander had taken him to the ground so easily, and he reached on to grab a bottle. To arm himself in the event that he wanted to kick things up a notch. He reached for a bottle and hurled it at Alexander. He didn't have to get close now
[action: throw a bottle!]
Lavinia wasn't too happy about this. She could have cared less about a number of things but she spun around quickly, eyes narrowed, fists clenched, and she took a swing at the man who had the forethought to decide to put his hands on the woman. She clenched her jaw, didn't say a word, but most assuredly radiated the sort of wrath that one only felt in the old testament.
[action: punch Baldy]
Alexander“Oh, fine!” So the skinny guy didn’t have the brains his pet dog was born with. Or maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. Either way, he wasn’t backing down. Well, neither was Alex.
[Split action:
Sweep skinny
Kick skinny]
Bless Baldy, he didn't much care for a lady coming at him with the intention of decking him. And sure, he might have gotten a hand full of something pleasant but he also wasn't above backhanding a woman if she got too uppity.
[Action: Backhanding Lavinia]
Lavinia[Smack: Dex+brawl]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 6, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )
Lavinia{oww, jesus.]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )
Lavinia[WTF OWWW: Lavinia soak[
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )
Alexander[Sweeping skinny: Dex+Brawl-2, +1 diff]
Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 8) ( success x 1 )
Alexander[Damage?]
Dice: 2 d10 TN7 (1, 3) ( botch x 1 )
Alexander[Erk, misclick. ]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Lavinia[Do I stay up?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN7 (5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )
Lavinia[Soak?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 8) ( success x 1 )
Alexander[Kick! Dex+Brawl -3, +1 diff]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 4) ( fail )
Lavinia[Lavinia: Dude. That hurt. -1 (OWW)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Lavinia[Damage]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia[Soak?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia[Dex+athletics: Throwing (Skinny)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 7 ) Re-rolls: 3
Lavinia[What the actual fuck. Damage?]
Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )
Alexander[Oh god, please soak!!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 7, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )
LaviniaThis didn't go particularly well.
The man on the ground was most assuredly knocked out. And the bald man knew what it was that he was doing, he knew that something was coming so he took his time to beat the blonde woman to the punch (no pun intended.) He reared back, hit her hard across the face and enough that it made Lavinia's world spin, left her sporting a bloody lip. She looked to the side and spit, tasting copper and iron on her tongue. Alexander was having none of the skinny man, huffing and only moving in defense, taking his feet out from underneath him, or at least trying. Moving enough that he left the man staggering.
He staggered back to a table, hand resting on an unopened can of beer. Lavinia turned to throw a punch, retaliatory and fueled by venom and she hit him. She leaned in and she made contact with the man's jaw and… all he did was stare at her. He cocked his head to the side, neck popping and jaw clenched. Lavinia heaved a sigh, eyes wide and surprise on her features.
"Oh fuck, really?" she said to no one in particular.
The can of beer went flying, nailed Alexander hard at the place where his neck and head met his shoulders and it could have been bad. It was a shot that was aimed true and it may have left Alexander's ears ringing, but it could have been so much worse.
AlexanderNo, there had definitely been better days. He might have gotten a little over-confident after the guy with the barbed wire tattoo was knocked out cold. He might have expected this skinny guy to go down as easily. But no, it’s not easy. Alex tries to knock his legs out from under him again, but it just isn’t happening. The man’s staggering took him away from Alex’s attempt to kick out at him, to keep him down. But it just wasn’t happening.
The can hurt, but it really could have been so much worse. Oh, he felt it now and he’d feel it more later. But it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t get better with a little time.
He looks over to Lavinia, checking how she was faring. She was still upright, but spitting blood and she’d have some impressive bruising of her own in the morning.
It wasn’t over, though. Not yet. Alex and Lavinia weren’t going to be allowed to walk out, so there’s really only one way: through.
AlexanderRecap, I think:
Lavinia: 3B
Skinny: 1B
Alex: 2B
Perve: unhurt]
LaviniaThe scrawny guy seemed to think he had a good thing going on there, and he went to look for another weapon of some kind. Finding no nearby cans, he lunged back into the fray, thinking himself capable of taking out a guy who probably had sixty pounds on him. He headed in, feeling like a king, and he took a swing at Alexander.
(Action: Punching out cop friend)
--
Lavinia was not pleased. Her natural inclination was to have things escalate but she wasn't there yet. She didn't think anything bad on these unfortunate souls, but she's been in this situation before and she knows damn good and well that she's either leaving through the front door or she's leaving on a gurney and she prefers the former. The woman threw a elbow into the man's ribs, throwing whatever lack of bodyweight she had into it
(Action: elbow Baldy!]
AlexanderLavinia seemed to be handling herself well, even with the sucker punch she’d just taken. Alex contemplated helping, but that would leave the skinny little bastard to do whatever he wanted. And having both of them against either him or Lavinia? Not great. So he keeps it simple this time and just hits the man.
[Splitting:
Punch!
Punch!]
Well, you know, there was something to be said about being able to fight with a woman while continuing to be a reprehensible human being, and she'd yet to actually do any real damage to him, so... why not enjoy one's self. He leans in, plants a kiss on a woman who is probably more likely to actually bite him than reciprocate.
1a: continue being a perv
1b: possibly rip out a chunk of hair
Lavinia[1b: Pulling hair- calling it a brawl thing, -3]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
Lavinia[And damage?]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia[Lavinia: God. Damn. It. OW]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )
Alexander[Punch the first: Dex+Brawl, -2, -1 for wounds. WP, because this is getting personal?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 6, 8) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Alexander[Damage str +2]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia[Oww? Soak]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )
Alexander[Punch the second: as before, -1, WP again]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (3, 8) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Alexander[Damage str+1]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 5) ( fail )
Lavinia[Lavinia: Elbow? -2 because OWW]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) [WP]
Lavinia[Ha. Damage]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 3, 6, 7, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )
Lavinia[Soak?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5) ( botch x 1 )
Lavinia[Skinny- OMG I'm going to punch a cop]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )
Lavinia[Damage?]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 8, 8) ( success x 2 )
Alexander[Soak]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )
LaviniaIt was a rallying moment. A moment of a great resounding I will not. The bald man pulled in, shoved his hand into Lavinia's hair, took liberties that he should not have been allowed and when he pulled back, he yanked out a fairly decent chunk of golden halo waves. She didn't make a sound, except for a low and simmering growl. Alexander, for his part, had enough of this. Threw blow after blow and the scrawny little man seemed to feel pretty damn good about himself. Their opponents cocky and pleased-
Which was about when Lavinia, having none of the bald man's advances, threw an elbow to his ribs hard enough that she could feel something crack. She grit her teeth, buckled down, didn't say a word.
The scrawny little man tried to throw a punch at Alexander, and while the bald man was reeling the thin man realized that he was probably not in the best condition since Alexander hadn't gone down yet.
AlexanderAlexander and the skinny guy keep exchanging blows, but they seem to be pretty evenly matched. They connect, but it’s just glancing blow after glancing blow – neither getting much advantage over the other. Something’s got to give eventually, though.
He glances back again, seeing Lavinia’s assailant stagger away clutching his chest. Seems she’s having better luck than he is. But it still isn’t over.
Although it’s looking more and more as if Lavinia will be the one coming to the rescue.
Alexander[Aaand... Lavinia and Perve are both on 4B, Perve is dazed. Alex 2B, Skinny 1B]
LaviniaThe skinny man reached for a nearby bottle, half empty, and he made a run for Alex. He made a swing for the man with a bottle in hand, the violence escalating quickly and the man wanted to end it promptly.
(action: take a swing at Alexander with a bottle)
---
Lavinia wasn't having much of the staggering man, she turned around and took a quick survey of what was going on and she picked up a chair. Yes, a chair. It wasn't terribly difficult to do, and she took a swing at the retreating man. Well, he might not have been retreating, but she wasn't going to take any chances.
(action: smack a dude with a chair)
----
The bald man was just a tad too out of it to notice that a blonde celestine was about to smack him with a hair. He's seen enough pro wrestling to know how this works.
AlexanderAt the end of the day, Alex isn’t proud. He’s worked with enough women to know that they are just as capable of kicking the stuffing out of someone as anyone else. So? He’ll give her that opportunity, if he can.
[Action: Hold skinny]
Alexander[Str+Brawl, -1 for hurts, +1 diff]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 4, 5, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Alexander[No damage, but he's got hold]
Lavinia[Nyehhhh! Skinny's attempt to get free]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 )
Lavinia[1b: hitting a dude with a chair. Dex3+melee3= 6 -3 (split) - 2 (oww)]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (3) ( success x 1 ) [WP]
Lavinia[Str3+1 (succ) +2 (because it's a chair)
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 9) ( success x 3 )
Alexander[Keeping hold? Str+Brawl -1 for hurts]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (5, 6, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
LaviniaSoak?
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )
LaviniaSkinny: already rolled for the contest aaaaand failed because Alexander is a beast
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 4, 6) ( success x 1 )
LaviniaThe fight could have gone a lot differently. The blonde woman picked up a chair and, in spectacularly dramatic fashion, took a swing at the man who had decided that he had the right to get a little too familiar with the daughter of the Western Wind. She dropped the chair, looking at the plastic bits as if she had expected it to crack. The scrawny man reared back and seemed ready to throw something at Alexander again, but he was soon enough intercepted by Alexander. Who was fast and strong and generally not terribly injured enough to feel like he couldn't do much. He knew what he was doing, and it would seem that people were going to walk away from this without needing sittches.
The blonde woman looked at the bald man, pushing her skirt down into a position she liked a little better.
"Kindly stay the fuck down," she told him.
Lavinia(fit it!)
AlexanderAt least nobody had thought to bring a knife along to the fight, or things really could have turned out worse. Or a gun. Or maybe had their friends think that it would be a good idea to join in too. But with one man out for the count, another just about managing to moan gently on the floor, and the third one held down with a really quite painful arm lock, it would seem to be over for the moment. The other people who had been in the bar earlier had either left at the first signs of trouble, or simply contented themselves with staying out of the way and seeing what happened. The band earlier had been good and all, but this was real entertainment.
Somewhere in the distance, there’s the sound of police sirens. The patrols around here aren’t as numerous as they should be, and those that there are tend to be occupied. But there are only limited resources, and the wealthier citizens in the nicer areas of town tend to complain a lot more loudly when there’s trouble. They have the governor’s number, and don’t you know who I am. Still, at least they’re coming.
So Alexander is content to stay put, with the skinny man’s arm held in a slightly unnatural angle and his knee in the man’s back until more official backup arrives. He does look up at Lavinia, though. “You ok?”
LaviniaShe ran her tongue across her teeth, trying to figure out precisely where the blood was coming from. She rubbed her jaw, aware that she was going to have a bruise the size of Texas along her cheekbone. The woman took a few steps closer to Alexander, not quite walking into flailing or kicking range, but it would seem that the skinny guy that happened to be apprehended wasn't having much of a good time breaking away or tempting fate or whatever it was that people did when they were in right and proper trouble.
"I'm not missing any teeth, am I?" she looked around, "like, nothing got knocked out and I just didn't notice?"
A beat.
"Can I get you a piece of pie or something later?"
Alexander“Not that I can see. You might need a hat for a while to avoid awkward questions, though.” Even after the fight, he still has a little of the usual sense of humour showing. Maybe it’s just a way of letting some of the tension out, now that it looks like they won’t be waking up or being found in a dumpster somewhere even less pleasant.
“Don’t you know the stereotype that we run on donuts and coffee? There’s a place down the road that does decent pie and rubbish coffee, though. Once we’re done here.” Alexander checks the man he’s kneeling on shifting position just a little when it’s not entirely obvious whether or not he’s breathing. Ahh, there we go!
LaviniaShe does laugh, though. Her face lights up, but she doesn't laugh or long, because it makes her cheek hurt. But she does let out something a little smaller and possibly a tad more demure on account of still being amused but her face hurting like a sonofabitch.
"Is there anywhere that does good donuts here? Because if your cop sense knows where to find good donuts, I'm signing up for the force tomorrow," she said with a shrug. Sirens were coming, maybe a few more minutes. People doing anything too terribly illegal were heading off lest someone find them doing whatever it was they did.
