2019-07: Saturday night's alright for fighting

[Milo Hayes]

Milo tried not to look completely put out upon hearing Duncan’s voice calling out to them, though it certainly wouldn’t be the highlight of his evening, being joined by the Londoner. He should have known. There was a stranger with Duncan however, someone he didn’t recognize, and assuming it was yet another vampire he did his best to put on a friendly face. That wasn’t a complete breeze, given that the entire attitude and look he’d been cultivating over the last decade was essentially ‘look but don’t touch and definitely don’t talk to me’. With his spikey red fauxhawk, partially-studded leather jacket, and thick black eyeliner, he definitely had a look going on, though replacing his usual scowl with a smile certainly softened it.

He couldn’t help bristling as Duncan punched Thomas’ shoulder, even if it was in a brotherly fashion, his gaze following his fellow Englishman as he moved to Tanner’s side. Milo’s smile lingered, but had waned slightly; he wasn’t sure how he felt with Duncan along and pretending it was ‘good’ that Milo was too.

“Yep!” Was all he managed in response, no snide remark or smart aleck greeting. Trying to quiet the discomfort in his stomach, bright blue eyes turned towards Fleur next, seeming equally curious about the only one he didn’t recognize. His brows arched as she identified him as Milo, though he managed to disguise the rest of his alarm, while feeling a sudden pang of uncertainty. If she already knew of his existence, what else did she know? Did she know who he actually was to Thomas?

Fleur had offered a hand though, and he was quick enough to accept it so as not to appear impolite despite his initial surprise. With a grip that was firm but not overbearing, he offered a single, solid shake, and dipped his head slightly to her in respect, before releasing again. He hoped, at least, that it was courteous enough, and that he hadn’t been meant to kiss her hand. If she was Thomas’ ‘sister’, he suspected she was not so fussy, but you never wanted to offend someone related to... his other family.

“Oh, this is your sister! It’s very nice to meet you, Fleur,” He offered politely, sincere. His eyes flickered towards Thomas and then Tanner, hoping he could possibly gain some insight, which Tanner seemed to provide quite quickly. Except that Milo couldn't tell if the death glare was meant for all of them, including Fleur, or just a reminder to those who needed it. He supposed it didn't matter, he might as well get practicing now for the part regardless.

"Heh.. never pregamed for a bar fight before.. Whatever Thom wants, I'm game for."

[Duncan Ackerley]

Duncan might've never been good at socializing, but he'd grown old enough to pick up certain subleties in body language, mostly in his own benefit, during the time he was still hanging around in West-London on gang turfs and in bar fights that were a little more dangerous than the one they would be practicing their skills in. What he noticed was how taken aback everyone was; he knew why Fleur was a bit more quiet and reserved, but he had no idea why Milo, Thomas or even Tanner would be. Usually the Aussie was a lot more jolly and he was quite sure that with every encounter Milo had been part of the other Englishman had shown a lot more snark and attitude. He had no idea what kind of conversation the three had been having but it made him part uncomfortable and part amused. Mostly because Milo was so quiet and he actually managed a smile, even though it didn't look like he was very enthusiastic about it.

He didn't miss the look-over Tanner gave him and Fleur but purposefully ignored his Sire's gaze. He didn't want to talk about anything regarding their sparring session right now. That was a subject for later- in private.

For a moment he just looked at how Milo and Fleur got introduced, from a comfortable distance, standing next to Tanner. If he could manage to catch his glance, he'd lift and eyebrow at Thomas in an attempt to communicate something along the lines of 'Your story to tell, mate'. Which it was. He'd purposefully held back on telling everything, also because he respected Thomas enough but also because he really didn't to get involved in any shit that might come from the lack of entrusting Fleur with information about Milo.

When Tanner called Milo Thomas' ghoul however, he instantly turned his head towards the Australian and frowned deeply, shaking his head once as if he was confused. What did he miss about this get-together? Did they actually share blood just now? There was something about Tanner's tone of voice that told him there was more behind it, but he wasn't going to question it right now. If that's what they were rolling with, then he would roll along, for now.

"Fleur's been shown the basics, yeah," he answered when Tanner looked at him, his own eyes wandering off to look over to the woman for a short moment. "But learning by experience's always been be'er as far as I know. So that's wha' we're gonna do."

Since he was the one who proposed this 'date' in the first place, his gaze travelled over Milo and Thomas before he continued: "Let's talk rules, yeah. I'm gonna start the figh'. We're on the same team, so no figh'in each other under any circumstances. We're upholding the Masquerade so don' use yer fucking disciplines- means no superhuman strength or speed either. Don' draw any proper amount of blood; we all know tha's not gonna help anyone. And try to figh' defensively, no' aggressively. So no bo'lle smashing, no winda' breaking, it needs to be fun." He lifted his eyebrows. "How's tha' sound?"

[Fleur]

Fleur smiles friendly to Milo and is about to say something when Tanner gives a little bit shocking information.
Milo can see how her blue eyes turn bright yellow and then immediately back to blue. Sadness and worry almost dripping out of them.

His GHOUL?!
What is Tanner talking about… It can’t be true, no… He would never do that… I did tell him about bloodbonds right? Or Vid did…Dusza? One of them must have told him!

“Well Milo I am looking forward to get to know you a little better”
Fleur turns to Thomas and quickly gives him a hug “Hey brother, I am happy you are here”.
She cant stay angry now, not at him. Later when they are alone she will ask him, hopefully he is willing to tell her…

Fleur stands next to Thomas and nods when Duncan tells about she knowing the basic’s. In her mind a big grin appears but her pokerface keeps up for now. Basic outline of your sweet butt yes.
The rules are explained and Fleur can feel the questions bubbling up, and the nerves.
“Teams? How do teams form in a barfight? Will you just go and find a group about a similar size? And what is the ‘other’ team decides to fight mean?”

[Thomas Parker]

Relief washed over Thomas as Fleur didn't bring up she never heard of Milo before. Not only because he didn't want to talk about it in a public parc, but also because he knew pretty sure Milo would get involved and that it could go either way. They could gang up on each other, or on him, neither of which were very desirable situations.

The redheads' remark on pregaming before barfights wasn't lost on him either. Not that it surprised him, especially given the circumstances of their reunion a couple of weeks ago, but still. Milo was a hothead, but Thomas was the soldier. Right now it felt the other way around because the other man obviously had way more experience with these sort of scenarios. Thomas tried to remember whether he had ever been in a bar fight and had to conclude he drew a blank. He wasn't the sort of person to pick a fight. Usually, he tried to stop the fighting from happening.

As Duncan explained the rules, Thomas found himself nodding along, which was a complete and utter lie. He didn't know if he could keep his claws in check, he didn't know if he could keep himself from frenzying if things got ugly and he certainly didn't expect it to be fun. Violence was never fun. It was mostly pointless.

Christ Fleur, why didn't you want to go freaking bowling, or flower picking, or laser gaming, or whatever the fuck normal people do these days.

[Charlie Tanner]

Tanner did an admirable job of keeping a straight face at Milo’s obvious displeasure at having Duncan join them. To his credit, the mortal also performed respectfully in greeting Fleur with a politeness that didn’t betray what an undoubtedly sour evening he was probably having. He wasn’t certain how everyone had reacted to his announcing that Milo was Thomas’ ghoul, whether they understood it was for keeping up appearances or not, but in the end it ultimately didn’t matter. As long as they went along with it. Thomas could sort out the details later.

At the very least, he gave Duncan a subtle shake of his head, knowing that with his own Childe he could communicate fairly clearly, nonverbally. Either the younger man would understand that it wasn’t true, or that he should ask later. Tanner didn’t feel like getting into the details of it right now; he was content to sit back and listen to Duncan lay down the rules for the fight. He was happy to let his Childe run the show, since he’d proposed it, and the conditions he set were close enough to what Tanner would’ve suggested, himself. He couldn’t help but throw Duncan a teasing pout when he insisted no glass breaking or the like, as if that was precisely what he found fun.

“We’ll make sure to pick on someone with friends, so it’s fair,” Tanner chimed in, hoping Duncan would forgive him speaking up. “Gotta feel out the room, usually you can find folks who are geared up for the same. Even if they didn’t start out as a group, if we pick on someone and we outnumber ‘em, people will just naturally join their side. And if they start fightin’ real dirty, we’ll defensively see ourselves out, I reckon, since that’s usually when the bouncers or the cops start getting involved, in short order. What d’ya think, Dunc?”

Tanner’s gaze flickered over Thomas curiously, noticing the young man had fallen rather silent during all this. He didn’t want to call him out personally, so instead Tanner looked back to the group as a whole. “And if y’ think you’re losing it… smell of blood gets too much or you’re scared or whatever, you give Dunc’ or me a sign." Tanner's expression grew more serious as he added: "An’ folks… say now whether you’re okay with having Disciplines used on you to defuse the situation in an absolute emergency, ‘cause I can, if absolutely necessary.”

[Milo Hayes]

Milo didn’t miss the way Fleur’s eyes seem to shift color for just a moment, and though he was unsure what it meant it didn't necessarily leave him feeling very comfortable. The general reaction to being introduced as Thomas’ ‘ghoul’ seemed to have been mixed, with even Duncan looking a little bewildered. It left Milo still fairly confused and unsettled, but he relegated those feelings to the back of his mind as much as possible. He’d have to check with Thomas later, and come up with an actual ‘backstory’ they could both agree on to play out when in ‘public’.

Seeing Thomas get a hug from Fleur gave him a strange mix of feelings as well. One part of him wanted to be happy, that poor Thomas seemed to have made at least one proper friend. But there was a sting paired with the joy as well, because the sisterly greeting brought up old memories, of Mary, and the rest of Thomas’ living siblings, and how much they mourned him. Milo winced internally, recalling how he semi-accidentally made Annabelle cry at the funeral. He tried not to think about that either.

Letting out a short, slightly abrupt sigh, Milo focused on listening to Duncan’s instructions. He was glad to hear Duncan be the one to make the stipulation that there would be no fighting each other under any circumstances. The redhead stayed quiet, especially as many of the rules were specific to the vampires, offering only an initial grunt afterwards as ways of confirming he was ok with what had been laid out. He found himself less excited now than he had been originally. Well, he’d been more curious than excited, but now that things were getting real, he was more... concerned. Overly aware of Thomas standing beside him, and the potential danger, as it’d become clear that his love wasn’t well versed in vampire protocol, and neither was Milo. Not that Milo was afraid of being hurt, but more worried that Thomas might hurt himself or his situation, somehow. But here they were. It wasn’t like any situation he’d found himself in quite before, but he was committed to protecting and helping Thomas however he could.

“I’ll follow your lead...” Milo gestured vaguely towards the other trio, not specific. The question as to whether everyone was alright or not with having Tanner use Disciplines on them did cause Milo to instinctively bristle, though he tried not to show it. Given that the question had followed vampire-specific instructions, he also tried to assume that it was not directed at him. Just to be sure though, he shot a look at Tanner that briefly but clearly said ‘don’t even try it’. It seemed the redhead didn’t want to voice that out loud though, lest he come off too aggressive.

[Duncan Ackerley]

Duncan listened closely to the additional suggestions Tanner made and nodded here and there. With the comment about the smell of blood, he added: "I wasn' planning to make anyone bleed at all, mate," he said as he looked from his Sire back to the group. "I'm seein' enuff nervous looks as is, so I don' want anyone even thinking about blood. No offense but I don't know the three of you in a brawl." He nodded at Fleur, Milo and Thomas. "And if you look at me like tha' after an explanation like I just gave, I'm not really sure I would trust you with goin' all out jus' yet."

He turned his gaze to Milo as he added: "I'm saying no other powers or what'evs either." His eyes trailed back to Fleur and Thomas, to make sure they understood he was talking to them just as much. When I say we act like we are human, I mean it, yeah?"

When Tanner finally proposed to use Disciplines if things went wrong and he saw the other's reactions to that, his nose crinkled. "If we'll all act like proper fucking adults he won't need to use any of tha', so don't worry about it so much. I don' like it either but we better be fuckin' happy tha' he can if hell breaks loose. Which won' 'appen."

He rolled his shoulder to stretch his muscles and granted everyone a short glance before he grabbed his bike again and turned into the direction of the club they were heading towards. "So unless anyone has anyone else to add, I say we get our arses over there before the sun comes up."

[Fleur]

Things are good because they don’t last, but sometimes things that are good don’t last because of things simply going bad.



Fleur is so nervous when they are finally at the bar, but excited as well. She first tries to stick close to Duncan but all to quickly for her liking he finds a group. Did he summon them in or something? How can he find someone so quick?! Once she heard a saying that man in a bar will find love at first sight, but it isn’t the romantic type she likes, no more the ‘going to hit all the teeth out of your mouth’ version.

The argument between the men becomes louder and instinctively she starts to walk backwards, away from the danger. Finding this whole plan to join in on a bar fight less and less smart. Maybe just training in a controlled environment would have been better.
Then she bumps against someone. Looking over her shoulder she looks straight into the smiling face of Tanner.
Fuck
Fleur tries to smile as well and points vaguely to the door, showing him where she is planning on going. The smile turns into a grin and before she can say anything the fighting breaks loose. Tanner moves forward and Fleur can’t do anything else then join in and defend herself.

She tries to see if Thomas is fine and she can’t help but be impressed at how he moves through the crowd, so in control and looking so much like Laurens in de way he moves. She can’t seem to find Milo but she hears his voice in the air.

Then Duncan is next to her, he blocks a hit that otherwise would have ended in her face.
Ofcourse! She does need to pay attention, not look at what the others are doing!
Together they become quite the team. Blocking, hitting and Fleur starts to see the charm of fighting this way.
Yes her hands hurt and so do her arms, she is sure that her legs has a huge blue spot but it doesn’t matter, she feels alive and almost connected to the guys she is fighting with.

Then it all chances so fast. Someone pulls on her scarf and she gets launched forward, into the wrong side of the fight, between the ‘enemies’.
She petrifies, the fabric tight around her neck cuts off the airflow and a nightmare from her past seems to have come alive again.
Two strong hands wrapping around her throat and softly starting to push and push. Little stars are appearing before her eyes as she tries to fight off her loved one.

Then she finds her strength again, internally screaming she hits blindly around her. Forgetting everything she learned, forgetting she can’t die from lack of air, forgetting that he is dead and will never lay his hands on her again, no matter how much she wishes for it.
The sounds around her change, someone grabs her arms and she can hear a man moan in pain. It takes her a few seconds to come to her senses again but the eyes she looks in seem worried but friendly as well.
“Thank you” she murmurs, not able to recognize the one that pulled her out of the fight at that moment.

For now she had enough of it, with a angry face she pulls of her scarf. Jamming it violently into the pocket of her jacket. People seem to step away from her, a redheaded lady with a face like thunder….better not make yourself the center of her rage.

Fleur waits for the gentlemen outside, a happy little gangrel greets them when they emerge.