Okay, so I came home from school early today because I'm sick, and I decided I'd get a head start and write this chapter. Well, I actually finished in a couple of hours, and I figured I'd save it for next week. But... I happen to rather like this chapter (particularly the last section), and so now I'm just like "Fuck that, I'm posting". XD Hopefully none of you mind. 8D -dances- I'm on a roooooll.
Update: I have changed the rating to "M". I probably should've done that in the beginning, what with Devit's lovely vocabulary. XD
--
Jasdero, you idiot, where are you?!
Devit kicked at the wood floor, scuffing it with his boot. He could hear the men in the shadows whispering.
Dammit, he hated bars.
Hiii! Devi?
Devit let out a short gasp of surprise. Jasdero?! Where the fuck are you?! Why did you leave?
Dero didn't leave Devit! Dero went looking for Tyki! And Dero-
"Hey, kid."
Devit was jolted from his silent conversation . Annoyed, he looked around. The bald man was back, along with a couple of his drinking mates. Scowling, Devit extracted his gun from his pocket again.
"I swear, I'll shoot you this time, you bastards!" He tried to make his growl as menacing as physically possible.
The bald man, who appeared to be the leader of the gang, put up his hands. "I getch'ya, I getch'ya."
Then, after a moment, he suddenly took a step forward.
Devit recoiled slightly. "What are you doing?! I-I told you, I'll shoot!" He silently cursed his voice for quivering.
The man took another step toward him. He smiled a horrible smile. It was more like a grimace. "You won't shoot."
"I WILL, DAMMIT!"
Another step. "I betcha it's not even loaded."
Devit inhaled sharply. "It fucking IS loaded!" He dramatically pulled back the safety latch, swallowing hard.
Another step. They were only about a meter and a half apart from each other now.
Insides quaking, Devit found himself desperately thinking: Jasdero! I need you!
Another step.
Dammit. How was he going to get out of this one?
Another step.
They were too close now. Devit could feel the man's hot, whiskey-laced breath on his face.
The man grinned his terrible grin again. "I knew it. Yew weren't ever gonna shoot, were ya, kid?"
God dammit.
This was it.
The man, still smiling, took hold of Devit's wrist and twisted it. The pistol clattered to the cold floor, mere centimeters from the tip of Devit's right boot.
This was REALLY it.
He was going to die, just like his goddamn mother.
A Noah, killed by a couple of thugs.
How terribly pathetic.
He would rather drink liquid Innocence than be remembered for something so lame.
The man's hand found his throat and he started to squeeze.
"Hey!"
A new voice suddenly mixed with the shouts and jeers that echoed about the bar.
If the little pride that he had remaining wasn't a factor, Devit would've cried with relief.
Tyki, you bastard. What took you so long?!
--
"Hey, let him go!"
Tyki briskly walked to the other side of the bar, Jasdero loping along at his heels.
"This yer kid, Mikk?" The man looked down into Devit's icy glare and squeezed his neck again, making him wheeze.
"N… Yeah. Now, let him go." Tyki shoved the man's hands away and Devit stumbled backward into Jasdero's chest, who in turn lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor, bringing Devit down with him.
The thugs laughed at this, slapping their knees and wiping their running eyes.
Devit quickly stood, his ears burning. "I'll be outside," he muttered shortly.
"I'm coming." Tyki took another half a second to glare at the bald man before he and Jasdero quickly exited the bar as well.
--
"WHAT THE FUCK, TYKI?!" Devit roared once the trio was safely outside.
"What do you mean, 'what the fuck'?" Tyki glared over at the raging teenager as he struck a match for his cigarette. "I just saved your pathetic little life. Show me some gratitude."
"I had it all under control, until you had to come and save the day, and make me look like a fucking IDIOT!"
"You made yourself look like a 'fucking idiot'. Why did you get yourself into a fight if you knew Jasdero wasn't with you?" Tyki pulled the smoldering cigarette out from between his lips and exhaled.
"That reminds me…" Devit spun around so he was facing his brother. Jasdero jumped in surprise.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT, RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING ME BY MYSELF?!"
"Dero was just-"
"I COULD'VE FUCKING DIED JASDERO! THEN WHERE WOULD YOU BE, EH?!"
"But Dero-"
"YOU SHOULD DAMN WELL KNOW BY NOW THAT WE CAN'T SEPARATE!"
"But-"
"YOU HAVE TO FUCKING GIVE ME SOME WARNING OR SOMETHING BEFORE YOU JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT, GOT IT?!"
"B-"
"WHAT IF YOU HAD BEEN IN DANGER?! I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE FOR YOU EITHER! IT'S A GOD DAMN GOOD THING THAT I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT."
Jasdero sat in the dirt, trembling in stunned silence. Tears were now running down his cheeks, ruining the makeup around his eyes.
Tyki stared. "My God, Devit. Get a hold of yourself."
"Shut up, you bastard." Devit stared pointedly at the dirt ground that was powdering his boots so Tyki would not see that his own eyes were damp. "Just shut the fuck up for once."
The three of them lingered in a troubled silence, which was only broken by Jasdero's occasional sniffs. Clouds began to gather overhead, rolling and tumbling across the heavens, growing dark and dense.
Finally, Tyki looked up. "It's going to rain. Let's go home." He turned to look at the boys for a minute. Devit had not flinched. Jasdero kept glancing at his brother, then back at his feet, or his hands, clearly still upset.
Tyki shrugged, turned, and began to stroll away.
At the sound of his footsteps, Devit looked up. He hesitated momentarily, then looked down at Jasdero. His knees suddenly buckled and he collapsed into the dirt next to Jasdero's thin legs. Jasdero swallowed, but did not look up.
Devit reached up and wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders in a hug. "I'm… M'sorry," he whispered hoarsely. "I was scared, okay? I was just fucking scared."
Jasdero whimpered for a split second, then let out a strangled cry and threw his arms around his brother with such force that they tumbled backward into the dirt, wailing what must have been apologies, though no one would ever know for sure.
"Alright, alright, get off." Devit scowled, pushing Jasdero aside. He stood and brushed the dirt off the fur lining the tops of his boots. "C'mon. Let's catch up to Tyki."
Jasdero got to his feet and gave Devit a watery grin before sprinting off down the path after Tyki. Devit chuckled to himself, bent over to tighten his boots, then took off through the wake of dust that Jasdero had left behind.
--
"You sure don't seem drunk."
"Hiiiii, yeah! Is Tyki even drunk at all, hii?"
"I have a high tolerance for alcohol."
The Jasdevi twins had reached Tyki fairly quickly. They walked along either side of the older Noah, their guns pointed at each other behind his back.
"Well, in that case, I don't think we're gonna need to, you know, bring you home from bars anymore. You tell the Earl that you can keel over and die from alcohol poisoning for all we care." Devit said this as nonchalantly as he could, examining his nails while he spoke. The polish on his left index finger was chipped.
Tyki smirked. "Do you know what 'bringing someone home' from a bar can be interpreted as?" He had long since finished his first cigarette and was currently extracting another from his shirt pocket.
Devit scowled, his ears suddenly pink. "Shut the fuck up, you pervert."