A brawl with no stakes

[skeggsismad]

The night was lively in the hall, Friday being one of Sticks & Stakes\' busiest days. There was hardly a person in the room without a smoke in hand, and even less were without a bottle of some sort of alcoholic beverage. That was just the way things rolled here, and nobody seemed to be very objective about it. Very few by the bible Chrisitians dared to walk near this place, let alone enter the double doors. It was a rare and safe haven for those who wanted to add a few dozen rowdy intoxicated trouble makers to their list of friends.

Buddy wasn\'t wasted- yet. He was halfway in between, the state in which you weren\'t quite drunk but definitely not sober. But was he ever really \'clean\'? The best conclusion he could come to was that at least being a stinkin\' alcoholic was better than a good-for-nothing-crackhead. With his flask around his neck and the lid easily snapping on and off, Buddy knew he\'d be crossing the line sooner or later. Maybe not within the hour, but at least by the end of the night depending on how often he was interupted.

The man was sitting in the far corner of the room, stuffed in a tiny space where his face was barely visible behind thick clouds of cigarette fumes. He\'d smoked through at least half a pack by now, the stench of the room was in the flavor of his \'Kool Light\' branded cancer-sticks. His original intentions had been to play a little pool, win some money and maybe hit the road until he felt drowsy, but things didn\'t seem to be going the way he\'d planned. This place was packed tonight, and the pool table was being dominated by some young kids who likely never thought about things such as the meaning of life. Not that it meant much to Buddy, as long as he got the chance to play. Watching the game intently, but without prying too much into matters, Buddy struck a grin when a tall, lanky player hit a ball that jumped off the table and halfway across the room.

"Yew seem sharp as a mawsh\'d potayta, boy." He boasted, taking a bit of a chuckle afterward. The Lanky fellow, who did so appear nothing more than a boy, took a pause and drifted towards the area of the older gentleman, with somewhat of a sour expression.

"You talkin\' to me?" The boy asked, a slick city-boy accent that Buddy knew all to well.

"Uh-hawh." Buddy responded, there being a long break between the Lanky lad\'s response. Tension was high in the air and he knew this testosterone pumped kid was going to want to take a couple of punches in. It wasn\'t something he wanted to do, but if the kid asked for it....

"That mean you want a fight?" Lanky-boy asked, though his tone was nothing short of friendly. Buddy took a thoughtful glance, looking the ceiling as he puffed some more smoke from his face, maybe hoping that the teen might choke on it and vanish off. But he knew better than that by now. This kid wouldn\'t back down unless he put on the right show.

"Maself? Naw, pears yew be thaw one pickin a brawl." That stalled Mr. \'Friendly\'. For a moment it appeared that Buddy was going to have to stage a demonstrative smacking to get his message across- the leery-eyed boy\'s gaze was confrontational and just...mean. But all of it was avoided when the group of kids that Lanky had came with gestured to him. His head turned and he gave one last venom-filled look at Buddy before turning around and joining his fellow peers.

All in all, it had been a slight breeze on the winds of trouble. The Supernatural knew what danger was, and that kid wasn\'t it. The only \'bad\' that had come of it was the attention that it had drawn, and the number of faces that were staring at him now. It probably wasn\'t the encounter that had taken so many aback- things like that happened loads in a place like this. Really, it was the Texan accent that took up so much interest. He heard some snickers, and he sent a squint in the general direction of the noise, but didn\'t do much more than that. If they wanted to talk about his hometown, they could do it straight up. He had no problem fending for himself.

[Saiketsu]

His green eyes flashed up when Jeremy backed down and returned to the pool game. This kid is never going to be adequate unless he stands up for himself. "You need balls, kid," was the only thing that Nikolai mentioned as the so-called Lanky-boy returned, aggravated but never enraged. Jeremy got his whacks upside his head and shoves in the arm by the mortals there. No need for another one from a much stronger man.

Jeremy was the up-and-coming star, a human straight from the streets of a city so dirty that there couldn\'t be anything more foul. The Eastwood Disciples had decided that Jeremy Lapare would be their perfect candidate. Nikolai Armani had his own thoughts of the boy.

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean, Dox? Haven\'t seen you so much as breathe since you got herr." Oh Jeremy, you poor soul. That\'s not the way to entice me to keep you alive. Nikolai took the stick from the mortal next to him, Jockey, an idiot of a man with a white scar running the length of his face, a mop of brown hair and the dullest eyes Nikolai had ever seen. With one swift motion, Nikolai set himself up on the table and shot two of the striped balls into side pockets with the perfect edge of grace. Yawn, he mused, throwing the stick back at Jockey.

"Fag," Jeremy said under his breath and turning away.
"Pay up. Now." Nikolai simply swiped his hair from his eyes, tucking as much of it as he could behind his ear. As the mortals groaned and threw their payments on the table in forms of drugs and money, Nikolai grinned, eyes flashing up to the man sitting in the corner with the beautiful face.

Nikolai had seen him at the beginning of the night when he had first walked into Stakes and Sticks. He knew the man wasn\'t human, that much was clear to the vampire. He could only guess that man was some kind of demon or something relatively unfamiliar to the clubs and scenes Nikolai found himself inhabiting night after night. And he couldn\'t help but smile as the young lad named Jeremy denied any confrontation with him.

Nikolai, however, wasn\'t as fragile. Money in hand, the vampire crossed the room, his eyes straying casually towards the table with the southerner. His arrival face was pleasant, something poised and charismatic. "You up for a game of pool stranger? Or are you contented where you are?" Perhaps he could tell the hidden fondedness in his velvet voice. Perhaps not.

[skeggsismad]

The scene unfolded rather fast, but Buddy was able to get the gist of it. The same boy who\'d tried to brew trouble with him was being talked down to by a older gent, but not too much older by the looks of it. He looked pretty young, either in his early or midtwenties. But he didn\'t look quite human...but maybe he was. Buddy couldn\'t make up his mind. There was a showdown, a defeat, and the sight of the provocative kid digging in his pockets for money. The smoke demon found himself grinning a lot more than he usually did, all for the sake of that the badass of a boy was being taught a lesson. But out of the blue, the man who\'d seemed so slick turned to him of all people giving something of long hard look. It was belated, but to be expected. He didn\'t judge the man\'s intentions too harshly- until Buddy got the chance to look over the stranger real good, and realized he was nothing other than one of those Mongrel Vampires.

Now this fellow wasn\'t someone that Buddy was to pleased to see. There was noway, nohow that he\'d come to conversing with this thing if it hadn\'t pestered him first. The man squinted at the vampire curiously, though he didn\'t let his distaste outwardly show. This guy was giving him a funny feeling, but he couldn\'t put his finger to it quite yet. What was that look supposed to mean? It wasn\'t quite the meaning of intimidating, it but wasn\'t kind-seeming either. It was like someone had attached a kick me sign to the front of Buddy\'s forehead and the stranger was brimming with amusement- least, that\'s the closest he could come to for a metaphor.

There was no point to starting an issue  with the Vampire unless he could shame the critter somehow. Perhaps after robbing the Supernatural of all money he\'d come with, Buddy would be pleased enough to give the man a piece of his mind. Flask in hand again for about the dozenth time this evening, the demon took a swig and paused before the decision came to  respond.  Buddy wasn\'t the type to sit and ponder things too hard, so he put on his best face and tried his best to appear blank. He\'d been waiting for the table all evening, and his options were to play with a blood sucker or not at all.

"Y\'oncha go ovur thayre and settup," He stifled, not willing to extend his friendliness to something of such a disgusting nature. Finishing off the last of his cigarette he stood and lit another one, blowing it\'s emissions towards his new card of interest. The pool table was a bit of a distance, so he sluggishly made his way around, his waddle a spectators sight all of itself. He grabbed a stick and eyeballed Fangey closely, watching to make sure the critter didn\'t do anything too strange. He didn\'t trust those Vampires with anything....if you kept your eyes off of them for to long of a second, they were bound to do something sneaky to you.

[Saiketsu]

The smoke never affected Nikolai, only the gesture. Judas stirred in the back of his eyes in the new cage that the vampire had to construct after a single night with a Zalmric tracker named Adam. The black leeches stirred as well, gluing themselves to the images being absorbed by the vampire\'s eyes now that Nikolai\'s mind (save for the secret between Nikki and Judas) had been fully raped several times over in the past days. These things made Nikolai\'s own anger multiply rapidly, his lips purse and his feet carry him back to the Disciples\' table without too much hesitation.

A sly comment filtered out of Jeremy\'s mouth which allowed Nikolai to fire off a heated glare towards the mortals who found amusement. Vincent, the only other vampire of the Disciples, remained silent, knowing Nikolai\'s temper. Any outward show of power or anger would shock those mortals like Jeremy and his cronnies that Nikolai might not have actually been human. And Nikolai quite liked his income. And the whores.

"Alright, ladies," more snickering from the mortals and silence from Vincent, "place your bets or join in yourselves. No exceptions." Altogether, there was about seven of them sitting around, including the two vampires. Six voices landed on the table as the other immortal approached the table, all in favor of Doxy.

The vampire\'s eyes didn\'t hold as much charisma as they had upon nearing the demon\'s table, especially as they lifted from the green table to meet the stranger\'s. There was nothing wrong with Nikolai\'s initial approach to this man, yet the southerner barely tried to hide his disgust with the vampire: not a good reason for Nikolai to go easy on him.

"So, stranger. You got a name we may be able to bet on or no, you\'re not interested in our type of fun?" The vampire felt more sneers pass behind his back, stemming from Jeremy of course. "We never bet more than a grand, or ten grams of blow. Just so you know the stakes." The vampire offered him a flash of a fanged smile (one which the humans never saw, of course) and took the stick away from Jockey once again.

[skeggsismad]

The number of people watching made Buddy feel a bit uneasy. Then there was the fact that there were two fangeys, not just one. He didn\'t like the amount of unfamiliar eyes, and it just made him squint even more as he looked over them. He\'d been here a few times, once or twice, but not enough to know anybody. This was in neutral territory. That meant in most eyes, he was the newcomer, and he was going to lose. But Buddy loved playing pool. He\'d been known by many things, but one of his love besides the saddle and the the satisfaction of a good hunt was a good game of pool. He was a winner, and he was hoping to keep his reputation up to date.

 "Mah name\'s Budday, an\' ahm up fur the game. Long as yew can keep awn up with meh,"

Usually at this point he would shake hands, and he felt his hand start extend before he realized the nature of the gesture, but he withdrew it just as smoothly. The man took a moment to stare down his opponent, not caring much whether the Vampire took a taking to it or not. He was going to smother this critter, and he wanted to be sure this guy knew just what he was getting into.

Buddy reached into his pocket without taking his eyes off the man,  taking a brown leather wallet from his pocket that bore a sewn picture of a hawk, one of the prettiest things that the man had thought he\'d ever seen. He opened the wallet and combed through his stack of green, counting the twenty dollar bills and finally settling on a number. For Buddy, it was all or nothing. He counted just a little over two hundred dollars and though it was a hefty amount, it seemed to be worth it.

"Ah reckon two \'ahunerd dollars thayre. Yew?" He asked, holding his wallet tight and his gaze on the Immortal even tighter. He didn\'t intend on being too mean since his intentions weren\'t to start a fight, but if the Vampire chose to get lippy he\'d be forced to sock him a few times. There wasn\'t no use in keeping a bloodsucker around if they weren\'t decent.

[Saiketsu]

His eyes remained focused on this Buddy as a plain smile twisted his lips yet again, something most mortals would take as politeness. But there would be hardly any of that as the too immortals faced off. Nikolai was sure of it and by the glance of the fledgling, so was Vincent. The lips parted and his pseudoname, along with the youngers\', came out in a slow, methodic spell as if it had all been rehearsed before. Doxy. Vincent. Jeremy. Cole. Jockey. Cript. Scuzz. The Eastwood Disciples. Or at least a part of them.

"So, solids or stripes, my friend?" The balls were already set up, waiting for someone to hit them with the cue. Nikolai leaned on the stick as he gazed at the stranger, his mind focused on staying calm and denying the leeches their food even as the outright challenge continued. The temptation to tear this guy apart was becoming more inticing as the darkness ravaged his mind, watching through his eyes.

Eyes were watching and the general area hushed as the game approached, Nikolai feeling a bit of tightness to the air. The vampire could hear everyone breathe, the flames licking at the ends of everyone\'s cigarettes. The sweat and dirty air of the joint. And Nikolai just kept smiling innocently, knowing that eventually he would hear the immortals thoughts easily enough.

[skeggsismad]

Nobody asked before the break. It just didn\'t make sense. Buddy, assuming it was his go, took his cue and shifted the weight, making sure he\'d be able to hit the ball with it right before making any attempts. His eyes scanned for the chalk, and he took it in hand, using it more as paintbrush on the stick than it\'s actual purpose. After getting the nitty-gritty part of it done, the smoke demon took his stance behind the cue ball, taking the end of the cue with his left hand. He made a circle between his thumb and index finger, letting his grip loose and easy. Took two steps back, stood with the proper stance, and wiggled the cue on the table, just to make sure he was in the right position to nail it. It didn\'t take too much concentration for this hit. Upon contact, the cue ball flew into the crowd of balls, making a mess of a break and landing a  yellow striped nine in the pocket of the farthest corner.

"Gonna haveta say stripes," He said under the muffle of the puff of his cigarette. They were becoming spent quickly, and the man was starting to wish he\'d brought his cigars. At least they\'d keep him going for longer with less lights. Stepping away from the table to give his opponent some room, The Trigger took a short glug from his flask. Perhaps some of them would notice his desperation to get his hands on the bottle. But he doubted it, and even if they had, it was likely half of the people in the room shared his alcoholic disease. He wasn\'t worried much about that- not as worried as he was about Doxy there.

[Saiketsu]

The smile never shifted but the green eyes watched as the game progressed and the mortals hushed at his back. When it was his turn, the vampire made a great showing of bending low to find just the right angle when really he had watched it happen already. He practiced his strike without actually striking it, stifling the urge to say "Yawn" aloud. When Nikolai finally struck the cue ball, it ricocheted off the green six ball, sending it flying into the corner pocket near the door, the same pocket which Jeremy over-shot earlier.

As the vampire leaned back up to face his opponent, he noticed the bottle clutched in his hand, the thousandth cigarette locked desperately between his lips, clouding the eyes that Nikolai was beginning to enjoy despite the distaste he felt. He couldn\'t understand this man, this Buddy, the smoking-drinking man with a fond distaste for whatever Nikolai was or represented. But the vampire was simply dying to know.

"So, Buddy, what is it that brings you here tonight? Just the pool table, or are you interested in something specific?" The smirk was now a simple pull of lips covering sharpened teeth as he watched, purposely missing his stroke in order to let the stranger play. No sense in finishing the game just yet.

[skeggsismad]

Buddy watched over the vampire as he hit, disappointed that the other wasn\'t as good as his reputation seemed to hold. Somehow he knew the Supernatural could do better than what he was doing, so as he watched the actions his eyebrow raised, wondering what was motivating such actions. He was in this to win. What was the \'suckers motivation? All that smiling was starting to effect his fists, and he was getting ready to turn this into a wrestling match rather than a game of simple pool. And he didn\'t like the tone of voice the punk was using as he spoke. The demon took his same stance, concentrating yet not ready to shoot.

"Ah dunt lah, fangey. Ah dunt like yew one bit. Yoncha tawk to sumoze other folk, an\' stop smawlin."

The warning was quiet; non confrontational, and nothing even near what most people considered a warning. He said it as if the news was plain as day, as if it the information wasn\'t intentioned to be hurtful at all. It wasn\'t a tear at the other man, or an attempt to get things rattled up. Buddy was just fessing the truth, like he always did. The Immortal didn\'t like walking in circles like some people tended to do- when Buddy had something to say, he said it straight no matter what it was.

Then, he hit, with the same precision as before, though he made better efforts to get balls in than his opponent. He hit one ball that hit another than finally deflected two balls into opposing pockets. It was nice, but his mind wasn\'t into it as much as it could have been. Doxy was throwing him off his game.

[Saiketsu]

The perimeter ran silent, as if they had all been listening this entire time. The leeches stirred, stroking his mind with fresh venom as the vampire took the demon\'s comment completely out of proportion. With pursed lips and aching fangs Nikolai breathed. "Getting a little touchy there, aren\'t we? It was simply a question."

He bent low, letting the stick rest in the crook of his hand as he shocked the balls into clacking together once again, less focused this time with a better result, ringing up two solids and conveniently knocking the only stripe out of the obvious paths into any pocket. What he offered to Buddy then was nothing like a smile he had offered before, but instead left it up to the interpretation of the stranger. But Nikolai was never one to back down from a confrontation, and it had been a few days since he had physically fought last.

"Feeling a little uncomfortable, or just a bit drunk? You need to relax a bit, pal. A little dope would do you good. Your turn."

[skeggsismad]

That was frustrating. The last ball, and it was on quite a crooked path. Buddy glanced at it carefully, a methodical expression to his face. He was hard at work now, doing the geometry basics of trying to figure how to get that ball into any of the pockets. He placed himself at one angle of the table, looking sure as ever if he was going to hit, but after a couple practice swings he picked up his cue and turned to another side of the table. Here he did the same thing, but again, couldn\'t get right exactly where he wanted. Finally he settled in a third spot where he swiftly hit the ball, a hopeful thought but not exactly confident on this turn.

It was a sticky situation to get out of. But when the ball went for a straight path to it\'s goal, his face softened and Buddy almost felt as if he\'d been right. Until the ball stopped, right before landing the pocket. He straightened his back and bit his lip. It was nearly impossible to do anything now. Defeat by a bloodfucker like this one? It licked Buddy\'s sour side. He  tossed another finished stick of smoke to the side, and jerked another one inside his mouth. It almost looked like he could be steaming, the anger he had of that ball stopping when it should have sunk.

"I-on-no what makes yew thank that theyre, but yewr as ignernt as a blind poeit is tuh a mighdey purdy sunset." Just to spite the Supernatural he took the flask in his hand and with a considerate amount of sloth he swished the contents in his mouth and swallowed, maybe proving the point that he didn\'t care what was said. That cocky attitude wasn\'t going to fly. He was getting heated up. But if Buddy lost his temper, this wouldn\'t be no oridinary fight....he was sure of it.

[Saiketsu]

A demonic hiss almost broke through his lips at his insinuation, and the reaction of the mortals near him didn\'t exactly help. This Buddy was crossing over lines Nikolai was sure he didn\'t want to cross. The leeches tugged at his mind again, draining him of any level-headedness he may have had left. The only thing Nikolai could do was bite down on his inner lip, block Judas\' cage from the leeches and hang on tight for the ride that would ensue.

What came out of his mouth then was tainted thick with his own form of venom. "Ignorant, huh? And how much do you make getting blitzed and buzzed as often as you do? I can make at least a grand a night even on the worst nights just by dealing." The vampire made his next move on the table, clacking his stick against the cue far too hard, a small crack splitting the crown of the ball as it ricocheted off another ball and edge, spinning around a bit before it settled lop-sidedly. The orange five-ball and the purple four spun around wildly before plummetting into opposing holes; He left the thirteen ball still teetering on the edge of oblivion. "Oh, and speaking with so many ignorant soulds has improved my ability to get messages across clearly. Which is more than I can say for you, now isn\'t?" Another cocky smile.

Unless this guy was a speed demon or something, there was no possible way that Nikolai could lose if things progressed. He was faster, could read minds easier. And whatever enjoyment Nikolai had developed towards the stranger\'s eyes was quickly fading as Judas readied his knives and the teeth in his mind set deeper. Nikolai was going to lose it, his knuckles turning, if at all possible, whiter as his grip on the pool stick tightened, the wood beginning to buckle.

[skeggsismad]

Unlike previous times where he\'d addressed the man nonchalantly while shooting, this time Buddy looked the Vampire straight in the eyes as he spoke, as a sign of pure hostility. In his mind, he\'d warned Doxy about a dozen times already. The man just didn\'t listen- and to the demon, it seemed like tonight everybody wanted to get a piece of him. First the kid, now this man. It didn\'t ever come to Buddy that he was the one insulting people in the first place.  The words that spewed out of the creature\'s mouth were such a tear on Buddy\'s pride that he couldn\'t bare it anymore. His voice ripped, sounding the meanest it had all evening.

"Doxy, yer opin-yen is as welcome as a rattlesnake at a sqwhere daynce. I cud care less\'n ever bout whut some bloodleech thinks of meh, an\' if yew dun stop now, Imma have\'a mighty fine time punchin yer lights out,"

After such a serious two bit, he went to concentrating on the game once more. There were two balls left, and he knew if he let one more turn pass and didn\'t get them in this time, he\'d lose. Buddy mulled over his options for a considerable about of time before actually mounting his place at the table. It would be impossible to get those two balls in on one shot. They were far across from each other, on the completely wrong tracks to be heading for any same pocket.

So the demon made a daring move, one that he knew wouldn\'t get them both in, but would make it appear that he\'d tried. He leaned in and made a few practice shots, then hit a ball which hit another that hit one of the stripes into the pocket and left the last one: a blue number ten. Buddy was screwed. The man stood tall, took a long drag on the teeny stick between his lips, and tenaciously looked over Doxy. He knew that beast was going to grin, he knew he was going to feel shame while paying up, and he knew he had already lost. But still, there was a glimmer of hope in those big blue eyes of his. He could feel the starting of something brewing...perhaps he\'d lost his money, but he wouldn\'t loose his dignity.

[Saiketsu]

The money owed was the last thing on Nikolai\'s mind. Instead he was being stretched. The leeches were feeding from the multiplying aggitation, fueling the fire and pushing Judas to rattle the bars of the cage tucked so safely behind Nikolai. Something in the back of his mind said "delicious" very clearly to the vampire, the tone too similar to the mortal Adam\'s to be comfortable for Nikolai. And the leeches pulsed, pushing him farther into his darkness. A growing feeling of dread, greed, lust, hunger, Thirst, and anxiety swayed his senses enough to snap the lock off of Judas\'s cage descretly.

A cold sweat over-took the vampire, something uncommon to him in afterlife. His eyes closed as he grimaced, bracing himself on the table. His nails pushed themselves out of the flesh and the eyesight sharpened immesureably. "Savage" from the voice, with a smile as well. The vampire resisted the urge to dry-heave as the leeches took over his mind, raping his thoughts, memories and whatever the fuck else was in his web of a life. Somewhere a voice that wasn\'t his laughed at him, something much stronger than the echoes it had been before.

"I need this fucking thing out of my head," he breathed to Vincent in a demonic voice, knowing that the fledgling had no idea what he meant. The head of uneven hair raised to shoot daggers at the demon across the table. He was slipping. Any motion here could give the vampire away as what he was, something he didn\'t often like to do. "Buddy, love. You\'re crossing over lines I\'m sure you\'ll be sorry for. Now pay up and fuck off, savvy?" His voice was deeper than it usually was and accentuated the right syllables that any public speaker would applaud.

[skeggsismad]

There was something funky going on the Doxy. Buddy watched as the nails changed, and it\'s eyes flickered closed, and something...but he wasn\'t quite sure what, happened. But according to the Vampire himself, something was in his head. The Immortal was sick, with some sort of disease was all that the Demon could figure. But the insane was funner to play with anyway. They were better fighters- most of the time.

Love? He was being called love? It threw Buddy off a bit, seeing as he had just warned the fucker for the thousandth time, and now he was playing the \'love\' card? He wasn\'t no show, and he wasn\'t one to be made out and mocked. The demon took his wallet from it\'s hiding place and took all of it\'s contents, placing it on the table for his opponent to grab. But he didn\'t leave, and he stared at Doxy as he puffed a cloud of smoke the Vampire\'s way.

"Name innt love, it\'s Budday," He spat, and without warning, took his stick and aimed it center stage for the eye socket of the fucker. Maybe he\'d be fast, maybe he\'d stall. But all Buddy knew was that he wanted to dig that cue into the sick bloodsucker\'s eye, twirl it around, and lick the blood right of the cue so he could spit it back in the Vampire\'s face. He was angry. And there were no bounds to this, how much he\'d let his body suffer, because once he was in enough peril....he\'d poof.