Post by Arixan on May 13, 2010 9:14:15 GMT -5
Arixan pauses at the door, frowning and nibbling her lip. She lingers a moment, shifting her weight and looking around before entering.
You eye Campion up and down.
Arixan says: Heya...
You frown.
Campion leans on the railing, shoulders hunched, a faint, grey tendril of smoke wafting up. Smoking, as always. He doesn't turn around.
Arixan's shoulders slump and she tenses up a bit, biting her lip. She just waits.
Campion says: So, good on you, at the very least, for coming clean.
Arixan nods.
Campion says: Don't give me excuses. Please, don't even start.
Arixan 's shoulders hunch more,"...I ain'."
Campion finally turns, taking a drag on his cigarette. The end of it glows a bright orange in the dim, nearly nonexistent light.
Arixan keeps her gaze trained on the floor.
Campion doesn't say anything initially. But he wanders over to one of the nearby barrels and starts to methodically pry off the metal rim keeping the lid shut.
Arixan 's eyes narrow a bit, even as they stay down. She tenses up more.
Campion gets the lid off of it and puts it aside, propped against the wall. He waves Mandy over. "Come here."
You eye Campion up and down.
Arixan shuffles over, frowning at the barrel.
Arixan eyes Campion again.
Campion points at the contents of the barrel. "Do you see what this is?" She doesn't even have to get close to it to smell the pungent scent of STRONG alcohol.
Arixan blinks a bit and nods.
Campion waves her closer still, wanting her to be close enough to look at it properly. "This is some of the stuff that we smuggle on the side. Moonshine sort of rubbish. Gutrot. The strong things that are harder to come across from how potent they are."
Campion says: Interested yet?
Arixan bites her lip harder and shakes her head some.
Campion says: Are you certain? Maybe you'd want to try some. No one's stopping you.
You eye Campion up and down.
Campion waves a hand at the barrel's contents. Apparently expecting her to do just that; help herself. No cups present, though?
Arixan frowns and mutter,"'M no' 'llowed..."
Campion says: Didn't stop you before, did it?
Arixan 's fists clench at her sides and her eyes close,"I was stupid..."
Campion says: Drink.
Campion points at it now, frowning sternly at her.
Arixan opens her eyes and blinks at him, then eyes the barrel again. Okay, fine. She goes over to the edge and dips a cupped hand in and brings it to her mouth, drinking what was caught in it.
Campion takes that moment of her stooping to snatch out a hand and attempt to clamp it onto the back of her neck. If he DOES manage to get a hold of her, his grip is vice-like, strong.
Arixan lets out some sort of half-strangled screech and flinches hard as he grabs her, just barely stopping herself from flailing. The girl is shaking now, and she closes her eyes tight, focusing on not hyperventilating.
Campion doesn't waste a moment once he's got a hold on the back of her neck. He just YANKS her head down, pushing to dunk it under the alcohol in the barrel.
Arixan does flail now, hands braced against the side of the barrel, instinctively trying to push herself up and out of it. A burst of bubbles can be seen coming from the liquid.
Campion holds her there, gritting his teeth, keeping his elbow locked and his fingers clamped on her neck, countering any struggles with a hard shake. It's after several seconds he pulls her up.
Campion says: If you can't even obey ONE fucking mandate, how can we expect you to obey ANYTHING?! WELL!? ANSWER ME!
Arixan coughs and gags as she is brought up, and she tries to wipe the burning liquid from her eyes. "I-i-i... I WON' DO ET AGAIN!"
Peregrinne makes his way up the steps quietly and leans on the door frame, watching. He's holding himself carefully, trying to be unobtrusive, and frowns at the sight.
Campion snarls at her sputtered apologies, leaning in close to her face. "Do you think this is a fucking GAME? If you can't even listen to ONE SIMPLE INSTRUCTION, how do you even BEGIN to expect to stay alive in this family? Do you WANT to die?!"
Arixan shakes her head, eyes squeezed shut, a hand pressed up against her nose. Her other hand still has a white-knuckled death grip on the edge of the barrel.
Campion doesn't see Grinne still. He snarls, baring his teeth, and SHOVES Mandy's head back down, dunking it underneath the booze once more. "I said DO YOU WANT TO DIE!?"
Peregrinne says: Miles.
Campion snaps his head up to look at Grinne, all while still holding Mandy down, still keeping a death grip on the back of her neck against her struggles.
Peregrinne speaks, and alerts both of them to his presence. His expression is carefully neutral.
Arixan manages to get a squeak out before her head is shoved back down. The hand that was on her face is back clutching the edge of the barrel with the other again, then more bubbles as she tries to shake her head.
Peregrinne says: Miles, she's gonna drown for real if you don't let up a minute.
Peregrinne gets quieter, hissing a whisper while the poor girl's head is ducked under.
Peregrinne says: And what the HELL are you doin' you're JUST as bad as her!
Campion looks a bit frantically between Grinne and Mandy, and says in a shaky, VERY uncertain voice, "I know what I'm doing." A far cry from his prior stern and commanding snarls he'd been giving her. He watches her struggle now, as if it's something strange.
Arixan stops struggling as he watches her, her grip still white-knuckled on the barrel edge. She stays there, still shaking and tense, just... waiting...
Campion is shaking as well now. Grinne showing up drained all the bravado and certainty he'd had moments before. But his expression at least smoothed out from horror to placid indifference when he pulls her back up for air.
Peregrinne says: Mandy.
Peregrinne speaks firmly and neutrally once she's up out of the alcohol.
Arixan coughs and gags more, the reactions sounding more like a sob now as she tries to catch her breath and clear her lungs. She tries to get out another stammered apology,"E-et won' h-h-happen again! I WUS S-STUPID, 'M SORRY, I-I-i...."
Campion doesn't let her go, but his grip isn't as vice-like as it was. No longer holding her captive, now just holding. There's a look of concern creeping into his eyes. Regret.
Peregrinne says: What're you sorry for, Mandy. I want t' hear you say it.
Arixan says: F-f-fer bein' s-s-stupid a-a-an' n-no' doin w-wut I was t-told. E-et won' h-happen again, I'm s-sorry I'msorryi'msorry...
Arixan 's voice cracks at the end.
Peregrinne rests a leather-gloved hand on the pommel of a dagger. The light hits them and they shine a sickly black-green, liquid.
Peregrinne says: This is a business.
Campion finally lets her go properly. "Y-You-..." His voice shakes, but he stops and doesn't resume until his tone is stern and solid again. "You need to learn. You cannot afford mistakes. You cannot afford to disobey."
Peregrinne says: S'a family and it's a business, an' it works off respect, and obedience, an' sure, some fear.
Campion nods, letting Grinne speak in his place.
Arixan sneezes then nods, still having a death grip on the barrel, leaning on it.
Peregrinne says: If you ain't going to obey outta respect...
Peregrinne says: Then you're gonna do it outta fear.
Peregrinne says: You understand?
Arixan nods again, sniffling, then wincing. Wrong move. She pinches her nose, whimpering a little.
Campion wordlessly hands her a handkerchief.
Arixan misses the handkerchief since she still has her tearing eyes squeezed shut.
Peregrinne says: You afraid, Mandy?
Campion sighs and drapes it over one of her hands. Then steps back, giving her space, trying to no longer be an immediate threat.
Peregrinne just sounds honestly interested.
Arixan takes it and blows her nose and, after a moment, nods at Grinne.
Peregrinne says: You realize you're standin' in a building we own, in a city that don't give a shit, in a room where runnin' one way runs you into Miles and runnin' the other way runs you into me?
Arixan nods again, still trying to clear her sinuses out.
Peregrinne is still entirely conversational.
Peregrinne says: Good.
Peregrinne says: I figure you get it, then.
Peregrinne says: Miles, you figure she gets it?
Campion crosses his arms over his chest and frowns down at the floor. He gets another cigarette out and concentrates on very methodically getting it lit.
Campion says: She'd better.
Peregrinne says: See, Mandy, thing is...
Peregrinne says: You're family.
Peregrinne shrugs.
Peregrinne says: And family don't let family fuck up.
Peregrinne says: S'what Miles was doing, makin' sure you don't keep fuckin' up.
Arixan starts wiping at her eyes with the handkerchief, trying her best to listen.
Campion nods, though he's still frowning down at the floor, smoke trailing from the end of his cigarette.
Peregrinne says: S'all I had to say.
Campion says: You should go now, Mandy. I think you've had enough.
Peregrinne looks at the smoking paladin, seeing only a red pinpoint in the shadow.
Arixan nods again, trying to blink her eyes open. She bites her lip to keep from whimpering and closes them again as they tear up again. Then she lets go of the barrel and stumbles back a step, determined to go like he said, somehow.
Peregrinne shifts on his feet a little, watching.
Campion watches the girl from the shadows. "Remember, Mandy. We are family. We don't want to see you end up poorly. This was a kindness."
Campion says: This was a mercy.
Arixan wipes her eyes with the handkerchief again and blinks around, getting her bearings some before shuffling towards the door. She nods.
Peregrinne reaches out and nabs her arm before she can go, catching her firmly, almost painfully by the elbow.
Arixan freezes, tensing up again.
Peregrinne leans in close, smelling of smoke and leather and maybe blood, and hisses something in her ear, too low for Campion to hear.
Campion simply watches.
Peregrinne whispers: "Talk to me later, just talk, none of this, just you an' me."
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne sends her on her way, releasing her elbow with a slight shove, not hard.
Arixan shifts over and places a hand on the wall, shuffling down the stairs the best she can.
Campion is watching Grinne now from the shadows. Silently. Waiting until Mandy is gone.
Peregrinne waits until he hears the downstairs door shut.
Arixan shuts the door downstairs.
Peregrinne lifts his eyes from the floor, frowning into the darkness.
Arixan leans back against the door frame, blowing her nose some more, sliding down and sitting on the floor.
Campion says: ...Love?
Campion sounds shaky again.
Peregrinne says: How long would that've gone on if I hadn't shown up when I did.
Campion says: I was going to stop. I wasn't going to kill her. LIGHT, I wasn't going to kill her.
Peregrinne says: 'Course you weren't. An' she wasn't going to kill us, neither.
Peregrinne is talking about a different she. There's a slant to the word, a deepening of his frown.
Campion says: She dis-...She disobeyed. I gave her a DIRECT order and she disobeyed. We can't afford to let them slide anymore. YOU never let ME slide when -I- was in their place. None of you.
Campion says: None of them know the fear I did. And I feel like I'm failing them for it.
Peregrinne says: ...Fear, Miles.
Campion takes a slow drag. His trembling can't be seen, but it can be heard in how his breath quivers.
Peregrinne says: Not this frantic walkin' the line shit.
Campion says: What do you think SHE'D have of us. What do you think she'd do to ME or to YOU if she knew I just let her off with a slap on the wrist.
Peregrinne says: There's a space between a slap on the wrist an this.
Campion says: S-So I went too far.
Campion takes another shaky drag. The red dot of his cigarette shivers in shaking hands.
Peregrinne says: Not for her, shit, prob'ly not. This is exactly what she wants outta you.
Peregrinne says: Outta all of us.
Peregrinne is a little quieter. "But I didn't ever figure I'd get why you had that look on your face that time you saw me workin' on that lady in the alley."
Peregrinne says: An' now I do.
Campion says: I'm-...I'm under control. This isn't like before. This isn't like that other time. The time with the demon elf. This isn't like that. Light, Grinne, please.
Campion sounds like he's pleading.
Peregrinne says: You don't have to explain that kind a' crazy to me, Miles. Me of all people.
Peregrinne says: But I figured YOU wouldn't bend that far. I keep looking for that fucking eye-patch so I c'n snatch it off your face.
Campion immediately and almost instinctively reaches up a hand to his right eye, touching it gingerly. Where the eye-patch was. Where his black eye was. "Grinne..." HE'S the one who sounds scared now.
Campion says: Grinne, it's not the same. It's not the same. I'm not the same as the rest of you. And I don't know what to DO anymore, what's expected of me, who or what I'm supposed to BE, not with all this...
Campion babbles, his voice low, sad and scared.
Arixan 's face finally stops burning as bad. She gets up and slowly makes her way out of the barbershop.
Peregrinne says: I don't know what the hell you're supposed to be, either. Don't know what anybody's supposed to be. Miles, I been a thug most my life. Being good at my job meant bein' good at breakin' folks. Bein' a junkie was alright so long as you didn't let it screw with your work, so I was a roth junkie, so then I had a mean temper which was even better, long as it didn't screw with your work.
Peregrinne says: So for a good ten, twelve years now it's been worth my time to be real good at stomaching beating the everliving shit outta anybody that needed it, an' doing it MEAN.
Peregrinne says: And now it near enough makes me sick.
Peregrinne says: Where do I go?
Peregrinne says: Where do you go?
Peregrinne says: Hell.
Peregrinne shakes his head and looks down.
Campion huffs a shaky laugh. "Maybe just that. Hell."
Peregrinne snaps, "NO."
Campion jerks back as if struck. The cigarette falls from his lips, that little red light snuffed out with a 'fzzt' when it hits the stone floor.
Peregrinne whispers now. The walls have ears, and while the family may own the building, Yeva pays the bills. It's hard to hear him.
Peregrinne says: Not us.
Peregrinne says: Her.
Peregrinne says: Both of them.
Campion stares at Grinne. "Love...?" It's hard to see, but he's reaching for Grinne now. He's not sure what he's saying, but with that and with what's just happened, he needs him now.
Peregrinne takes the hand, leather-clad and cool to the touch. "Miles, -I want them to die-." His voice is so low it would be hard to hear from two feet away.
Campion takes a sharp breath. "Grinne..." He all but moans the name in something akin to shock, horror, despair. Treating it as if Grinne has just uttered the worst kind of sacrilege.
Campion says: Grinne, no, we can't do this...-I- can't do this...
Peregrinne says: Then you're on their side, not mine.
Peregrinne keeps so, so quiet.
Peregrinne says: Not now. Not even soon. But it's going to happen, or I'll die in the doing.
Campion takes another sharp breath, sudden, more like a sob than a gasp. "Grinne, no. No, I mean-...No, it's-...I can't. I CAN'T."
Campion says: Ester said-...She said-...Back when we got MARRIED. And I-...Damned if I do, damned if I don't. If I do, I could fail. If I don't, I could get you all KILLED, because of ME, and I couldn't-...Grinne, I can't lose ANY of you!
Peregrinne says: I can't watch 'em make fear-addled dogs out of good folks, Miles. Dogs so scared they snap at friendly fingers an' gnaw each other's bellies.
Campion has ahold of Grinne's shoulders now, shaking violently, wide-eyed and searching his spouse's face in the dim light. He looks TERRIFIED.
Peregrinne says: We won't be a family or a business, we'll be a Light-damned machine. Miles, I don't fuckin' care if I die.
Peregrinne pronounces each word in a harsh, punctuated whisper. "I. Would rather. Die. Than watch every. Single. Person. I love turn into an animal for the sake of somethin' that ain't never been much more to me than making. A livin'."
Campion makes a shocked sound at THAT proclamation, and it, of all things, prompts him to suddenly press an urgent and smothering kiss to Grinne's lips. He does it so hastily, he manages to mash the inside of his upper lip against his teeth and it's more frantic and needy than a passionate gesture. He's scared.
Peregrinne breaks the kiss off. "You think about it, love," he whispers.
Campion says: Grinne, don't! Don't go, please. Please. I don't-...Don't.
Campion clings now, trying to keep the other man close. He doesn't know WHAT he wants right now, except that the thought of Grinne walking away TERRIFIES him right now.
Peregrinne says: Miles, I got to. I got to see to some things.
Peregrinne says: I'll be back home, I ain't LEAVING you. But I want you to think about it.
Peregrinne says: And if you got any shred of spine left in you, anything they haven't beaten out, I hope you come around to thinkin' I'm right.
Campion whimpers. "No, stay with me. Please. Light, don't. I don't want you to die. Don't say things like that, Light, PLEASE, Grinne. PLEASE, they-...They know that. They'll use it. I'm-..." He trails off at Grinne's final words.
Peregrinne kisses him, first on the lips and then standing up on his toes to reach the other man's forehead.
Peregrinne says: Shhh, Miles.
Peregrinne says: It'll be alright. Everything'll be alright.
Peregrinne gives Campion's hand a squeeze before backing up and letting go.
Campion lowers his head and shut his eyes, looking outright pathetic, but says nothing. He just nods weakly, like a mollified child, and lets Grinne's hand slip out of his own.
Peregrinne walks Sulk slowly up to the apartment, and looks almost startled when Mandy is there.
Peregrinne looks down. "'Lo," he murmurs, and dismounts cleanly. He busies himself tying the horse up.
Arixan leans up against the wall. Her eyes and nose are red, although she can open them now, even if they are tearing up still. She's exchanged the handkerchief for a rag and is taking turns wiping her eyes and nose with it. She looks up and eyes Grinne, nodding at him in a little greeting.
Peregrinne stares at her for a while. "C'mon up then." He turns and wanders up the stairs.
Peregrinne says: Siddown.
Arixan kinda shuffles around. She sniffles and winces, then just wipes her running nose again.
Peregrinne is unbuckling armor! First the work belt, then the shoulders, then the chest. It clatters and thunks, boiled leather and metal all in a pile.
Arixan leans back and slumps down in the chair, shoulders hunched.
Arixan blinks through her eyes tearing up, trying to watch Grinne.
Peregrinne plops into a seat. He takes another long look at her.
Peregrinne says: Hell, how old are you? Eighteen? Nineteen?
Arixan frowns,"Eighteen..."
Arixan nibbles her lip lightly.
Peregrinne mutters, "Light." He looks at her again, at her red swollen eyes and running nose and soaked hair. He shifts in his seat and produces two cigarettes, offering one to her with shaky fingers.
Arixan eyes it for a second before reaching out and taking it. She looks at it, turning it a little in her fingers.
Peregrinne says: Ain't any product.
Peregrinne sounds almost like he's tired of having to reassure people.
Arixan nods and mutters a thanks. She's still just.... staring at it.
Peregrinne withdraws two matches and lights his own first, taking a good four tries, unable to make his hands hold the flame still long enough. Eventually he slides the other across the table to her.
Arixan 's eyes flick up to watch how he does it, frowning lightly still. She takes the rag and makes another wipe at her eyes and nose before taking the match and sticking the cigarette between her lips. She gets it lit and inhales a bit, then goes into a coughing fit.
Peregrinne says: So you're a drunk, huh.
Peregrinne mutters as an aside, "Don't breathe in so hard at first."
Arixan wrinkles her nose, trying to stop coughing. She shrugs. "Ne'er actually got tha' -drunk-" and her shoulders slump more, looking embarrassed, then looking down at the cigarette. She mutters,"Thanks..."
Peregrinne says: Listen.
Arixan looks at Grinne.
Peregrinne doesn't say anything after that for a while, just smokes.
Peregrinne starts again! "...Listen. You know my deal, right? I mean, shit, everybody does."
Arixan frowns down at the cigarette, narrowing her eyes. Then tries to take another tiny drag off of it. She BARELY is able to stop herself from going into a coughing fit.
Peregrinne cracks half a smile.
Arixan frowns at Grinne,"...deal?"
Peregrinne grunts and tucks the smoke in the corner of his mouth, holding it there. He uses the other hand to roll up a sleeve, up to the elbow and past it. The inside of his arm is a mess of tiny scars, bruises and dark red spots, TRACKS. Tracks on top of tracks, months' worth of abuse, maybe years. It's an ugly sight.
Arixan frowns.
Peregrinne looks up at her to make sure she's looking. He rolls up the other sleeve, then. It's just as bad.
Arixan slumps down in her chair some. Oh.
Peregrinne leans back in his chair.
Arixan takes another drag off of her cigarette and goes into yet another coughing fit. Damnit!
Peregrinne says: You c'n keep doing what you're doin'...
Peregrinne waits for the coughing fit to subside!
Arixan stops coughing after a couple of moments, blinking at Grinne and murmuring an apology before glaring down at the cigarette. Stupid thing.
Peregrinne smiles faintly, exhaling smoke through his nose. "You c'n keep doin' what you're doin'," he repeats, "but you got to be smart about it."
Arixan tilts her head at him.
Peregrinne says: I been... Been needing it for years, an' mostly I've kept it from being a problem with whoever I'm working for.
Arixan nods.
Arixan sniffles and winces, then blows her nose again, well, tries to, anyway. She's having problems figuring what to do with the cigarette.
Peregrinne says: ...Just hold it like... here, when you ain't smoking it.
Peregrinne demonstrates, holding his out to show her!
Peregrinne says: Gesture with it, shit. Gives your hands something to do.
Peregrinne says: Anyway.
Peregrinne says: Don't ever smell like booze, ever, when you got to meet somebody from work.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne says: Don't be any less'n four or five hours sober when you got to meet somebody from work.
Arixan holds the cigarette like he showed her, frowning as she listens.
Peregrinne says: If you ain't sure whether you're gonna have work that day or not, don't do it.
Peregrinne says: Just don't, no matter how bad you want it.
Arixan 's shoulders slump,"...'m tryin' t' jus' stop...." sounding a little defeated.
Peregrinne says: The only folks it's safe to get drunk around is prob'ly anybody you're sleepin' with and anybody ain't in the Kamil
Peregrinne grunts and shrugs.
Peregrinne says: Well in the meantime.
Arixan wrinkles her nose at the 'anybody you're sleepin' with' comment.
Arixan tries to take another drag of her cigarette. More coughing happens.
Peregrinne keeps going! "That means me, he adds."
Peregrinne says: For Light's sake if you gotta do it don't do it anywhere nobody c'n SEE, because it gets around. Boss Lady's got eyes.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne says: Should get you by.
Peregrinne eyes her cigarette. "Tap the ash off that," he instructs. "Like this." He flicks the end hard with a thumb over an ashtray! Grey flakes flutter on tiny air currents.
Arixan sighs,"I really am tryin' t' stop, though!" Almost sounding like she's pleading. "I jus'.... was spazzin' out. Didn' realize wut I was doin' until, yeah. I did it." She blinks at the tapping of the ash and tries to do the same. She accidently puts out the cigarette.
Peregrinne digs up another match and slides it to her.
Peregrinne says: If you c'n stop for good, good on you.
Peregrinne says: I never been able to.
Peregrinne says: Not for good. Two, three months, sure.
Peregrinne says: Six months, once.
Arixan sighs and mutters another thanks. Then she lights it again and takes another small drag. At least she doens't cough as much this time?
Peregrinne shakes his head. "Always comes back."
Arixan says: I dun' -need- et. I jus'.... et keeps me from spazzin' out as much.
Arixan blows her nose again.
Peregrinne says: Yeah, an' mine just keeps me from gettin' sad as much.
Peregrinne snorts.
Arixan frowns and her shoulders slump.
Arixan looks off to the side, blowing out some smoke after taking a bit easier of a drag.
Peregrinne watches her. "Ain't coughing as much," he murmurs, and looks a little amused.
Arixan blinks at him and grins very, very lightly. Then sneezes into the rag, her nose doing what it can to protect itself from the booze it was subjected to. Ew.
Peregrinne says: Hope I helped some, anyway.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne smokes. "Everything I said up there's still true, though."
Arixan nods more.
Peregrinne says: Don't think just 'cause I ain't the screaming one, I won't do my job.
Peregrinne looks... almost unhappy, briefly.
Arixan says: Yeah, I know.
Arixan frowns a little, staring at the cigarette again.
Peregrinne says: You want one for the road?
Arixan says: Uh... sure.
Peregrinne finds one and rolls it over! He stubs his own out with a short motion.
Arixan nabs it.
Arixan says: Thanks.
Peregrinne grunts. "Welcome."
Peregrinne says: Now get the hell outta my house, I got to take a shower.
You eye Campion up and down.
Arixan says: Heya...
You frown.
Campion leans on the railing, shoulders hunched, a faint, grey tendril of smoke wafting up. Smoking, as always. He doesn't turn around.
Arixan's shoulders slump and she tenses up a bit, biting her lip. She just waits.
Campion says: So, good on you, at the very least, for coming clean.
Arixan nods.
Campion says: Don't give me excuses. Please, don't even start.
Arixan 's shoulders hunch more,"...I ain'."
Campion finally turns, taking a drag on his cigarette. The end of it glows a bright orange in the dim, nearly nonexistent light.
Arixan keeps her gaze trained on the floor.
Campion doesn't say anything initially. But he wanders over to one of the nearby barrels and starts to methodically pry off the metal rim keeping the lid shut.
Arixan 's eyes narrow a bit, even as they stay down. She tenses up more.
Campion gets the lid off of it and puts it aside, propped against the wall. He waves Mandy over. "Come here."
You eye Campion up and down.
Arixan shuffles over, frowning at the barrel.
Arixan eyes Campion again.
Campion points at the contents of the barrel. "Do you see what this is?" She doesn't even have to get close to it to smell the pungent scent of STRONG alcohol.
Arixan blinks a bit and nods.
Campion waves her closer still, wanting her to be close enough to look at it properly. "This is some of the stuff that we smuggle on the side. Moonshine sort of rubbish. Gutrot. The strong things that are harder to come across from how potent they are."
Campion says: Interested yet?
Arixan bites her lip harder and shakes her head some.
Campion says: Are you certain? Maybe you'd want to try some. No one's stopping you.
You eye Campion up and down.
Campion waves a hand at the barrel's contents. Apparently expecting her to do just that; help herself. No cups present, though?
Arixan frowns and mutter,"'M no' 'llowed..."
Campion says: Didn't stop you before, did it?
Arixan 's fists clench at her sides and her eyes close,"I was stupid..."
Campion says: Drink.
Campion points at it now, frowning sternly at her.
Arixan opens her eyes and blinks at him, then eyes the barrel again. Okay, fine. She goes over to the edge and dips a cupped hand in and brings it to her mouth, drinking what was caught in it.
Campion takes that moment of her stooping to snatch out a hand and attempt to clamp it onto the back of her neck. If he DOES manage to get a hold of her, his grip is vice-like, strong.
Arixan lets out some sort of half-strangled screech and flinches hard as he grabs her, just barely stopping herself from flailing. The girl is shaking now, and she closes her eyes tight, focusing on not hyperventilating.
Campion doesn't waste a moment once he's got a hold on the back of her neck. He just YANKS her head down, pushing to dunk it under the alcohol in the barrel.
Arixan does flail now, hands braced against the side of the barrel, instinctively trying to push herself up and out of it. A burst of bubbles can be seen coming from the liquid.
Campion holds her there, gritting his teeth, keeping his elbow locked and his fingers clamped on her neck, countering any struggles with a hard shake. It's after several seconds he pulls her up.
Campion says: If you can't even obey ONE fucking mandate, how can we expect you to obey ANYTHING?! WELL!? ANSWER ME!
Arixan coughs and gags as she is brought up, and she tries to wipe the burning liquid from her eyes. "I-i-i... I WON' DO ET AGAIN!"
Peregrinne makes his way up the steps quietly and leans on the door frame, watching. He's holding himself carefully, trying to be unobtrusive, and frowns at the sight.
Campion snarls at her sputtered apologies, leaning in close to her face. "Do you think this is a fucking GAME? If you can't even listen to ONE SIMPLE INSTRUCTION, how do you even BEGIN to expect to stay alive in this family? Do you WANT to die?!"
Arixan shakes her head, eyes squeezed shut, a hand pressed up against her nose. Her other hand still has a white-knuckled death grip on the edge of the barrel.
Campion doesn't see Grinne still. He snarls, baring his teeth, and SHOVES Mandy's head back down, dunking it underneath the booze once more. "I said DO YOU WANT TO DIE!?"
Peregrinne says: Miles.
Campion snaps his head up to look at Grinne, all while still holding Mandy down, still keeping a death grip on the back of her neck against her struggles.
Peregrinne speaks, and alerts both of them to his presence. His expression is carefully neutral.
Arixan manages to get a squeak out before her head is shoved back down. The hand that was on her face is back clutching the edge of the barrel with the other again, then more bubbles as she tries to shake her head.
Peregrinne says: Miles, she's gonna drown for real if you don't let up a minute.
Peregrinne gets quieter, hissing a whisper while the poor girl's head is ducked under.
Peregrinne says: And what the HELL are you doin' you're JUST as bad as her!
Campion looks a bit frantically between Grinne and Mandy, and says in a shaky, VERY uncertain voice, "I know what I'm doing." A far cry from his prior stern and commanding snarls he'd been giving her. He watches her struggle now, as if it's something strange.
Arixan stops struggling as he watches her, her grip still white-knuckled on the barrel edge. She stays there, still shaking and tense, just... waiting...
Campion is shaking as well now. Grinne showing up drained all the bravado and certainty he'd had moments before. But his expression at least smoothed out from horror to placid indifference when he pulls her back up for air.
Peregrinne says: Mandy.
Peregrinne speaks firmly and neutrally once she's up out of the alcohol.
Arixan coughs and gags more, the reactions sounding more like a sob now as she tries to catch her breath and clear her lungs. She tries to get out another stammered apology,"E-et won' h-h-happen again! I WUS S-STUPID, 'M SORRY, I-I-i...."
Campion doesn't let her go, but his grip isn't as vice-like as it was. No longer holding her captive, now just holding. There's a look of concern creeping into his eyes. Regret.
Peregrinne says: What're you sorry for, Mandy. I want t' hear you say it.
Arixan says: F-f-fer bein' s-s-stupid a-a-an' n-no' doin w-wut I was t-told. E-et won' h-happen again, I'm s-sorry I'msorryi'msorry...
Arixan 's voice cracks at the end.
Peregrinne rests a leather-gloved hand on the pommel of a dagger. The light hits them and they shine a sickly black-green, liquid.
Peregrinne says: This is a business.
Campion finally lets her go properly. "Y-You-..." His voice shakes, but he stops and doesn't resume until his tone is stern and solid again. "You need to learn. You cannot afford mistakes. You cannot afford to disobey."
Peregrinne says: S'a family and it's a business, an' it works off respect, and obedience, an' sure, some fear.
Campion nods, letting Grinne speak in his place.
Arixan sneezes then nods, still having a death grip on the barrel, leaning on it.
Peregrinne says: If you ain't going to obey outta respect...
Peregrinne says: Then you're gonna do it outta fear.
Peregrinne says: You understand?
Arixan nods again, sniffling, then wincing. Wrong move. She pinches her nose, whimpering a little.
Campion wordlessly hands her a handkerchief.
Arixan misses the handkerchief since she still has her tearing eyes squeezed shut.
Peregrinne says: You afraid, Mandy?
Campion sighs and drapes it over one of her hands. Then steps back, giving her space, trying to no longer be an immediate threat.
Peregrinne just sounds honestly interested.
Arixan takes it and blows her nose and, after a moment, nods at Grinne.
Peregrinne says: You realize you're standin' in a building we own, in a city that don't give a shit, in a room where runnin' one way runs you into Miles and runnin' the other way runs you into me?
Arixan nods again, still trying to clear her sinuses out.
Peregrinne is still entirely conversational.
Peregrinne says: Good.
Peregrinne says: I figure you get it, then.
Peregrinne says: Miles, you figure she gets it?
Campion crosses his arms over his chest and frowns down at the floor. He gets another cigarette out and concentrates on very methodically getting it lit.
Campion says: She'd better.
Peregrinne says: See, Mandy, thing is...
Peregrinne says: You're family.
Peregrinne shrugs.
Peregrinne says: And family don't let family fuck up.
Peregrinne says: S'what Miles was doing, makin' sure you don't keep fuckin' up.
Arixan starts wiping at her eyes with the handkerchief, trying her best to listen.
Campion nods, though he's still frowning down at the floor, smoke trailing from the end of his cigarette.
Peregrinne says: S'all I had to say.
Campion says: You should go now, Mandy. I think you've had enough.
Peregrinne looks at the smoking paladin, seeing only a red pinpoint in the shadow.
Arixan nods again, trying to blink her eyes open. She bites her lip to keep from whimpering and closes them again as they tear up again. Then she lets go of the barrel and stumbles back a step, determined to go like he said, somehow.
Peregrinne shifts on his feet a little, watching.
Campion watches the girl from the shadows. "Remember, Mandy. We are family. We don't want to see you end up poorly. This was a kindness."
Campion says: This was a mercy.
Arixan wipes her eyes with the handkerchief again and blinks around, getting her bearings some before shuffling towards the door. She nods.
Peregrinne reaches out and nabs her arm before she can go, catching her firmly, almost painfully by the elbow.
Arixan freezes, tensing up again.
Peregrinne leans in close, smelling of smoke and leather and maybe blood, and hisses something in her ear, too low for Campion to hear.
Campion simply watches.
Peregrinne whispers: "Talk to me later, just talk, none of this, just you an' me."
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne sends her on her way, releasing her elbow with a slight shove, not hard.
Arixan shifts over and places a hand on the wall, shuffling down the stairs the best she can.
Campion is watching Grinne now from the shadows. Silently. Waiting until Mandy is gone.
Peregrinne waits until he hears the downstairs door shut.
Arixan shuts the door downstairs.
Peregrinne lifts his eyes from the floor, frowning into the darkness.
Arixan leans back against the door frame, blowing her nose some more, sliding down and sitting on the floor.
Campion says: ...Love?
Campion sounds shaky again.
Peregrinne says: How long would that've gone on if I hadn't shown up when I did.
Campion says: I was going to stop. I wasn't going to kill her. LIGHT, I wasn't going to kill her.
Peregrinne says: 'Course you weren't. An' she wasn't going to kill us, neither.
Peregrinne is talking about a different she. There's a slant to the word, a deepening of his frown.
Campion says: She dis-...She disobeyed. I gave her a DIRECT order and she disobeyed. We can't afford to let them slide anymore. YOU never let ME slide when -I- was in their place. None of you.
Campion says: None of them know the fear I did. And I feel like I'm failing them for it.
Peregrinne says: ...Fear, Miles.
Campion takes a slow drag. His trembling can't be seen, but it can be heard in how his breath quivers.
Peregrinne says: Not this frantic walkin' the line shit.
Campion says: What do you think SHE'D have of us. What do you think she'd do to ME or to YOU if she knew I just let her off with a slap on the wrist.
Peregrinne says: There's a space between a slap on the wrist an this.
Campion says: S-So I went too far.
Campion takes another shaky drag. The red dot of his cigarette shivers in shaking hands.
Peregrinne says: Not for her, shit, prob'ly not. This is exactly what she wants outta you.
Peregrinne says: Outta all of us.
Peregrinne is a little quieter. "But I didn't ever figure I'd get why you had that look on your face that time you saw me workin' on that lady in the alley."
Peregrinne says: An' now I do.
Campion says: I'm-...I'm under control. This isn't like before. This isn't like that other time. The time with the demon elf. This isn't like that. Light, Grinne, please.
Campion sounds like he's pleading.
Peregrinne says: You don't have to explain that kind a' crazy to me, Miles. Me of all people.
Peregrinne says: But I figured YOU wouldn't bend that far. I keep looking for that fucking eye-patch so I c'n snatch it off your face.
Campion immediately and almost instinctively reaches up a hand to his right eye, touching it gingerly. Where the eye-patch was. Where his black eye was. "Grinne..." HE'S the one who sounds scared now.
Campion says: Grinne, it's not the same. It's not the same. I'm not the same as the rest of you. And I don't know what to DO anymore, what's expected of me, who or what I'm supposed to BE, not with all this...
Campion babbles, his voice low, sad and scared.
Arixan 's face finally stops burning as bad. She gets up and slowly makes her way out of the barbershop.
Peregrinne says: I don't know what the hell you're supposed to be, either. Don't know what anybody's supposed to be. Miles, I been a thug most my life. Being good at my job meant bein' good at breakin' folks. Bein' a junkie was alright so long as you didn't let it screw with your work, so I was a roth junkie, so then I had a mean temper which was even better, long as it didn't screw with your work.
Peregrinne says: So for a good ten, twelve years now it's been worth my time to be real good at stomaching beating the everliving shit outta anybody that needed it, an' doing it MEAN.
Peregrinne says: And now it near enough makes me sick.
Peregrinne says: Where do I go?
Peregrinne says: Where do you go?
Peregrinne says: Hell.
Peregrinne shakes his head and looks down.
Campion huffs a shaky laugh. "Maybe just that. Hell."
Peregrinne snaps, "NO."
Campion jerks back as if struck. The cigarette falls from his lips, that little red light snuffed out with a 'fzzt' when it hits the stone floor.
Peregrinne whispers now. The walls have ears, and while the family may own the building, Yeva pays the bills. It's hard to hear him.
Peregrinne says: Not us.
Peregrinne says: Her.
Peregrinne says: Both of them.
Campion stares at Grinne. "Love...?" It's hard to see, but he's reaching for Grinne now. He's not sure what he's saying, but with that and with what's just happened, he needs him now.
Peregrinne takes the hand, leather-clad and cool to the touch. "Miles, -I want them to die-." His voice is so low it would be hard to hear from two feet away.
Campion takes a sharp breath. "Grinne..." He all but moans the name in something akin to shock, horror, despair. Treating it as if Grinne has just uttered the worst kind of sacrilege.
Campion says: Grinne, no, we can't do this...-I- can't do this...
Peregrinne says: Then you're on their side, not mine.
Peregrinne keeps so, so quiet.
Peregrinne says: Not now. Not even soon. But it's going to happen, or I'll die in the doing.
Campion takes another sharp breath, sudden, more like a sob than a gasp. "Grinne, no. No, I mean-...No, it's-...I can't. I CAN'T."
Campion says: Ester said-...She said-...Back when we got MARRIED. And I-...Damned if I do, damned if I don't. If I do, I could fail. If I don't, I could get you all KILLED, because of ME, and I couldn't-...Grinne, I can't lose ANY of you!
Peregrinne says: I can't watch 'em make fear-addled dogs out of good folks, Miles. Dogs so scared they snap at friendly fingers an' gnaw each other's bellies.
Campion has ahold of Grinne's shoulders now, shaking violently, wide-eyed and searching his spouse's face in the dim light. He looks TERRIFIED.
Peregrinne says: We won't be a family or a business, we'll be a Light-damned machine. Miles, I don't fuckin' care if I die.
Peregrinne pronounces each word in a harsh, punctuated whisper. "I. Would rather. Die. Than watch every. Single. Person. I love turn into an animal for the sake of somethin' that ain't never been much more to me than making. A livin'."
Campion makes a shocked sound at THAT proclamation, and it, of all things, prompts him to suddenly press an urgent and smothering kiss to Grinne's lips. He does it so hastily, he manages to mash the inside of his upper lip against his teeth and it's more frantic and needy than a passionate gesture. He's scared.
Peregrinne breaks the kiss off. "You think about it, love," he whispers.
Campion says: Grinne, don't! Don't go, please. Please. I don't-...Don't.
Campion clings now, trying to keep the other man close. He doesn't know WHAT he wants right now, except that the thought of Grinne walking away TERRIFIES him right now.
Peregrinne says: Miles, I got to. I got to see to some things.
Peregrinne says: I'll be back home, I ain't LEAVING you. But I want you to think about it.
Peregrinne says: And if you got any shred of spine left in you, anything they haven't beaten out, I hope you come around to thinkin' I'm right.
Campion whimpers. "No, stay with me. Please. Light, don't. I don't want you to die. Don't say things like that, Light, PLEASE, Grinne. PLEASE, they-...They know that. They'll use it. I'm-..." He trails off at Grinne's final words.
Peregrinne kisses him, first on the lips and then standing up on his toes to reach the other man's forehead.
Peregrinne says: Shhh, Miles.
Peregrinne says: It'll be alright. Everything'll be alright.
Peregrinne gives Campion's hand a squeeze before backing up and letting go.
Campion lowers his head and shut his eyes, looking outright pathetic, but says nothing. He just nods weakly, like a mollified child, and lets Grinne's hand slip out of his own.
Peregrinne walks Sulk slowly up to the apartment, and looks almost startled when Mandy is there.
Peregrinne looks down. "'Lo," he murmurs, and dismounts cleanly. He busies himself tying the horse up.
Arixan leans up against the wall. Her eyes and nose are red, although she can open them now, even if they are tearing up still. She's exchanged the handkerchief for a rag and is taking turns wiping her eyes and nose with it. She looks up and eyes Grinne, nodding at him in a little greeting.
Peregrinne stares at her for a while. "C'mon up then." He turns and wanders up the stairs.
Peregrinne says: Siddown.
Arixan kinda shuffles around. She sniffles and winces, then just wipes her running nose again.
Peregrinne is unbuckling armor! First the work belt, then the shoulders, then the chest. It clatters and thunks, boiled leather and metal all in a pile.
Arixan leans back and slumps down in the chair, shoulders hunched.
Arixan blinks through her eyes tearing up, trying to watch Grinne.
Peregrinne plops into a seat. He takes another long look at her.
Peregrinne says: Hell, how old are you? Eighteen? Nineteen?
Arixan frowns,"Eighteen..."
Arixan nibbles her lip lightly.
Peregrinne mutters, "Light." He looks at her again, at her red swollen eyes and running nose and soaked hair. He shifts in his seat and produces two cigarettes, offering one to her with shaky fingers.
Arixan eyes it for a second before reaching out and taking it. She looks at it, turning it a little in her fingers.
Peregrinne says: Ain't any product.
Peregrinne sounds almost like he's tired of having to reassure people.
Arixan nods and mutters a thanks. She's still just.... staring at it.
Peregrinne withdraws two matches and lights his own first, taking a good four tries, unable to make his hands hold the flame still long enough. Eventually he slides the other across the table to her.
Arixan 's eyes flick up to watch how he does it, frowning lightly still. She takes the rag and makes another wipe at her eyes and nose before taking the match and sticking the cigarette between her lips. She gets it lit and inhales a bit, then goes into a coughing fit.
Peregrinne says: So you're a drunk, huh.
Peregrinne mutters as an aside, "Don't breathe in so hard at first."
Arixan wrinkles her nose, trying to stop coughing. She shrugs. "Ne'er actually got tha' -drunk-" and her shoulders slump more, looking embarrassed, then looking down at the cigarette. She mutters,"Thanks..."
Peregrinne says: Listen.
Arixan looks at Grinne.
Peregrinne doesn't say anything after that for a while, just smokes.
Peregrinne starts again! "...Listen. You know my deal, right? I mean, shit, everybody does."
Arixan frowns down at the cigarette, narrowing her eyes. Then tries to take another tiny drag off of it. She BARELY is able to stop herself from going into a coughing fit.
Peregrinne cracks half a smile.
Arixan frowns at Grinne,"...deal?"
Peregrinne grunts and tucks the smoke in the corner of his mouth, holding it there. He uses the other hand to roll up a sleeve, up to the elbow and past it. The inside of his arm is a mess of tiny scars, bruises and dark red spots, TRACKS. Tracks on top of tracks, months' worth of abuse, maybe years. It's an ugly sight.
Arixan frowns.
Peregrinne looks up at her to make sure she's looking. He rolls up the other sleeve, then. It's just as bad.
Arixan slumps down in her chair some. Oh.
Peregrinne leans back in his chair.
Arixan takes another drag off of her cigarette and goes into yet another coughing fit. Damnit!
Peregrinne says: You c'n keep doing what you're doin'...
Peregrinne waits for the coughing fit to subside!
Arixan stops coughing after a couple of moments, blinking at Grinne and murmuring an apology before glaring down at the cigarette. Stupid thing.
Peregrinne smiles faintly, exhaling smoke through his nose. "You c'n keep doin' what you're doin'," he repeats, "but you got to be smart about it."
Arixan tilts her head at him.
Peregrinne says: I been... Been needing it for years, an' mostly I've kept it from being a problem with whoever I'm working for.
Arixan nods.
Arixan sniffles and winces, then blows her nose again, well, tries to, anyway. She's having problems figuring what to do with the cigarette.
Peregrinne says: ...Just hold it like... here, when you ain't smoking it.
Peregrinne demonstrates, holding his out to show her!
Peregrinne says: Gesture with it, shit. Gives your hands something to do.
Peregrinne says: Anyway.
Peregrinne says: Don't ever smell like booze, ever, when you got to meet somebody from work.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne says: Don't be any less'n four or five hours sober when you got to meet somebody from work.
Arixan holds the cigarette like he showed her, frowning as she listens.
Peregrinne says: If you ain't sure whether you're gonna have work that day or not, don't do it.
Peregrinne says: Just don't, no matter how bad you want it.
Arixan 's shoulders slump,"...'m tryin' t' jus' stop...." sounding a little defeated.
Peregrinne says: The only folks it's safe to get drunk around is prob'ly anybody you're sleepin' with and anybody ain't in the Kamil
Peregrinne grunts and shrugs.
Peregrinne says: Well in the meantime.
Arixan wrinkles her nose at the 'anybody you're sleepin' with' comment.
Arixan tries to take another drag of her cigarette. More coughing happens.
Peregrinne keeps going! "That means me, he adds."
Peregrinne says: For Light's sake if you gotta do it don't do it anywhere nobody c'n SEE, because it gets around. Boss Lady's got eyes.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne says: Should get you by.
Peregrinne eyes her cigarette. "Tap the ash off that," he instructs. "Like this." He flicks the end hard with a thumb over an ashtray! Grey flakes flutter on tiny air currents.
Arixan sighs,"I really am tryin' t' stop, though!" Almost sounding like she's pleading. "I jus'.... was spazzin' out. Didn' realize wut I was doin' until, yeah. I did it." She blinks at the tapping of the ash and tries to do the same. She accidently puts out the cigarette.
Peregrinne digs up another match and slides it to her.
Peregrinne says: If you c'n stop for good, good on you.
Peregrinne says: I never been able to.
Peregrinne says: Not for good. Two, three months, sure.
Peregrinne says: Six months, once.
Arixan sighs and mutters another thanks. Then she lights it again and takes another small drag. At least she doens't cough as much this time?
Peregrinne shakes his head. "Always comes back."
Arixan says: I dun' -need- et. I jus'.... et keeps me from spazzin' out as much.
Arixan blows her nose again.
Peregrinne says: Yeah, an' mine just keeps me from gettin' sad as much.
Peregrinne snorts.
Arixan frowns and her shoulders slump.
Arixan looks off to the side, blowing out some smoke after taking a bit easier of a drag.
Peregrinne watches her. "Ain't coughing as much," he murmurs, and looks a little amused.
Arixan blinks at him and grins very, very lightly. Then sneezes into the rag, her nose doing what it can to protect itself from the booze it was subjected to. Ew.
Peregrinne says: Hope I helped some, anyway.
Arixan nods.
Peregrinne smokes. "Everything I said up there's still true, though."
Arixan nods more.
Peregrinne says: Don't think just 'cause I ain't the screaming one, I won't do my job.
Peregrinne looks... almost unhappy, briefly.
Arixan says: Yeah, I know.
Arixan frowns a little, staring at the cigarette again.
Peregrinne says: You want one for the road?
Arixan says: Uh... sure.
Peregrinne finds one and rolls it over! He stubs his own out with a short motion.
Arixan nabs it.
Arixan says: Thanks.
Peregrinne grunts. "Welcome."
Peregrinne says: Now get the hell outta my house, I got to take a shower.