Hate lives in a small town [Oriel]

[Lucas Blacke]

It had been a good few days for the Texan, his mind had finally settled a bit and he had gone back to his old ways, though he wasn't quite sure how that'd hold up with Amber. Meh, he'd see in due time. Maybe giving him permission to sleep around was for the best as everyone knew that if you were allowed to do something you simply wouldn't, and Lucas was one of the guys who pretty much lived by that style.

But that wasn't the only thing fun that had happened to him, he had a great talk with Marnie and had been enjoying his time with Serena. That girl had stamina up the wazoo and gave Luke a run for his money, among other things. Though that was exactly what irked him, girls being nice to him for his money and just that, but the more he thought about it the more his mind repeated the fact that he had never told her about his money. At least not when she called him up.

For now he was in the city though, pulling up in his loud-and-turning-heads dodge, which he was still proud of and got out, closing the door behind him and starting by stretching his legs. His car had room, but there was nothing better than to actually be standing and fully stretching your legs. Which he had to do soon anyway, he hadn't run in a while. Mainly due to the incident that occurred prior but had been resolved by that time.

Looking around a bit and taking in some of the air he scanned around for people he knew as he slowly started walking forward and mingled into the relatively quiet sidewalk, it was a quiet day, he noted, and most people were either window shopping or not there at all, and some of them were even making out in full sight. Which would be odd if not for the fact Lucas had done way more not too long ago.

Straightening his head and clearing his throat a bit he began walking forward when he noticed a store with a guitar in the window. It was on sale and it just so happened to be a warlock. Luke had always wondered if he could play one of those.

Keeping his eyes on the guitar and the price he just knew he was going to go pick it up, but he usually waited with the big stuff until his spree was done and he was heading back to his car.

But his vision being focused on something else than walking did cause him to not see the people around him in this empty street, and oddly enough he bumped straight into someone who was standing with their back turned to him.

''Woop, apologies me dear sir.'' He almost mocked, pretending to tip a hat he didn't have.

[Deleted]

Anybody who grew up in the Big Apple knew that one did not stop in the middle of pedestrian traffic.  Ever hear of a x-car pile-up?  Might be surprised to hear that it happens among people too.  The difference is, among people, they were right there, and without two layers of car between you and the offending person(and subsequent persons thereof).   The importance behind that being….if someone crashed into your person, if said person was of the violent variety, then it was much much easier for the bumpee to take out any lingering frustrations on the bumper.
 
So….you just didn’t stop in the middle of pedestrian traffic. 
 
If you had to stop, then you sidled off to the side to take that phone call or light that cigarette or loiter around like a loiterer. 
 
That said, Oriel was not a person who commonly stopped in the middle of pedestrian traffic for the sake of anything.  He was the type to keep going, weaving in and out of crowds as he tried to GTFO and away from people.  If Oriel could do it quickly, then he would do it quickly.  So the question to ask here was……what, in all that was hell and holy, caused Oriel to stop so suddenly that the person behind him had no other option but to run into his backside because he wasn’t paying attention to the flow of traffic? 
 
The answer to that question was…….a traffic light.  Oriel was stopped….at a crosswalk.  How absurd!!  How unfathomable! The Evil Overlord, the street rat of the Village, the kid who pounced fences and darted over and under highways was waiting patiently at a street light so he could – gasp! – follow the rules!! 
 
A person bumped into him from behind, and almost immediately came an apology in an accent that sounded suspiciously hick-ish.  Not like Kodi or Erik(who were both terribly from the sticks, like swamps and riding alligators and shit), but with a similar twang that undoubtedly screamed ‘south’.  Oriel didn’t know accents much more than that to determine what part of ‘south’ that was….but he figured he didn’t care enough for it to matter.  That was enough for Oriel to drop into something he found…well, amusing.

“Well,” he started, turning his head gently over his shoulder and touching his chest lightly with the tips of his ‘dainty’ fingers. “I do declare it is such a treat to meet a proper southern gentleman.” Yes, he was speaking in a falsetto with a southern bell accent. “I’m ever so sorry my bustle did not provide the proper visibility to prevent this unfortunate encounter, but I do plan to make the best of it.” Oriel propped and trembled his “bustle” upon speaking the word and leaned in slightly to the man behind him, fluttering his naturally long, dark lashes.

[Lucas Blacke]

It hadn't happened a whole lot to the Texan, but he had bumped into people before and most of them were really appreciative of his apologies even if they sounded a bit over the top -but then again that was what caught the attention of most people. That and Lucas just enjoyed acting like, to some, a complete moron. At least he assumed he came across like a moron and almost always ended up pity talks or something else, though more often than not, if he would bump into a person of the female gender he would sometimes end up with a bit more than a conversation. Sadly never anything more than a bit more than a conversation, it always seemed to stop at a bit more than a conversation.

And even worse were the guys he bumped into at times, his odd apologies had often gotten him branded as gay for some reason or gotten him hit on, and sometimes even plain hit. But never had anyone ever responded like this guy did. But sadly light was faster than sound, so even before hearing any word he had laid eyes upon this guy and instantly disliked him due to being.. well, taller. And a guy. With longish hair.

Still, the way that the guy decided to respond made Lucas laugh as he noticed his accent was almost mimicked like a certain someone had tried before, and failed hard. Or was just too spot on to admit. But he noticed that the word used to describe his accent was southern, so it wasn't pinpointed just yet which was a good thing. Left something to talk about, assuming this guy would keep on talking.

In the midst of his laugh though, sadly, he was reminded of a certain someone who would actually respond like that. ''Oof.'' He stepped back a bit with a hand over his chest, ''Right where it hurts, ma'am.'' Trying to reply back jokingly turned out to make him think about that certain someone else a bit more, and that wasn't a good thing. ''Might wanna try again.'' Lucas spoke with a laugh, confused by the fact that the words this guy spoke were more provoking to him than he would have wanted.

But why? He didn't even know this slightly taller person, so why did his hand ball up into a fist all of a sudden? It was probably due to the memories and the slight twitch of pain returning slowly. Joking about his accent, sure, but making him remember what he had lost? Heck no, he did that a bit too often himself to avoid anyone else having to remind him, and yet this guy did just that with a single sentence.

''B'fore I ya know, actually turn ya inta a girl.''

[Deleted]

Oriel had responded with absolutely no hostility intended. For once. Well….maybe it was a bit provocative, but his intention was simultaneously get a laugh out of this guy – which he got – and get across that he wasn’t really bothered none at having been bumped into. Well, maybe he was bugged a little bit, because personal space and all, but…Oriel was actually surprised how much he wasn’t bothered by this guy’s accidental bumping. This sort of incident was one of the primary reasons why Oriel disliked crowds and going into the city….he hated having to push past people. He hated not knowing where people were going, waiting to see if they changed trajectories, he hated bumping elbows and shoulders when it got really packed….

Maybe Oriel was a little anxious and that’s why responded as such. To alleviate that a bit. And a bit of silliness never hurt nobody, right?

Well, not in Oriel’s case. He’d gotten right smack across the face and upside the head for lesser(and greater) things. Oriel did wonder briefly what would be this guys’, but it wasn’t really on his on his mind. The ink manipulator did notice that the guy’s response didn’t make too much sense, at least not to Oriel. And was Oriel sensing a touch of hostility? Maybe…

Oriel turned a tad more, raising his eyebrows. “That your super-power or something?” he said in a normal voice, normal to him being with an accent regional to the big city of New York. “’Cause that’d be like, ten kinds of amazing if it was!” Oriel wouldn’t mind spending the day as a girl. He’d probably have more fun than what was considered legal. Unfortunately, Oriel was far more focused on the ‘turn into a girl’ part of what the guy said, than the ‘try again’, which he wasn’t sure what was supposed to mean anyway.

[Lucas Blacke]

At least the stupid southern accent was gone now. The only one that didn't annoy him with a southern accent other than himself was Karalie, and she held very little interest to him at that point. Which probably was the reason he told the dude in front of him to try again.

And not too off topic, he had met two great girls, though admittedly one of them was a bit iffy at best and the other.. well he'd only seen her once now. He bet that alone was more times this dude was with any chick. And his comments.. was this guy daft or aware of the fact he was annoying Luke to no end? Because if he turned out to be aware he was annoying the Texan he was doing a hell of a job, and sadly enough reminding him of someone else.

Looking slightly up but not quite forced to move his head (the guy was maybe an inch, 2 inches taller or something.) he cleared his throat and almost willed the guy to be silent, ''Yer annoyin' me.'' Which was a personal record for hating someone, he realized. Even for a guy, which he already would hate in due time but this specific specimen managed to skip the waiting bit and go right for the part where Luke would clench his fist despite knowing he had to apologize the guy for bumping into him. Which he had already done.

And he had joked too, which made it even weirder because all the guy did was joke back. Yet still Luke was feeling oddly aggressive for some reason still unknown to him. ''If ya wanna be a girl I'm sure I can rip yer balls off for ya, might even let ya taste yer first dick b'fore ya go an'.. oh I dunno, go lie down in a ditch.'' Wrong foot, meet wrong.. everything. This little bump was not going according to plan.

Lucas really hated guys, geez.

''Oh an' by th' way, me power is of no concern to ya.'' Mainly because if push came to shove he could use his power to deck the guy in an instant.

[Deleted]

”Yer annoyin’ me.”

“Oh, good,” he replied with a smirk. “I almost thought you had a sense of humor.” Nope, it wasn’t just Oriel imagining it. He was sensing some rabid hostility here. Well, that might be obvious too when one threatens to tear another’s balls off. Once upon a time, Oriel might’ve made that threat himself….no, he might still make that threat, if you caught him in the wrong mood.

But yes, this was very quickly reminding Oriel of better(dangerous) days, back in NYC when he’d provoke some random asshole on the street until they popped their top and chased him down for revenge. Wow, Oriel sure was stupid back then, he was lucky he didn’t get shot…though he did get beaten several times by several people. At once.

“Oh, honey, oh sweetie,” he started with a slight coo in his voice. “You sure know how to get a guy all fired up~” Tee hee hee. “Getting all testy over my testes.”

Oriel could relate to not wanting to give out one’s power. It was an annoying pastime that idiots liked to share upon first meeting, talking about it as casually as the weather. Oriel’s response to that question too many times had been a quick and curt ‘fuck you’. Oriel nodded his head, his parsing slightly exaggerated. “I’ll give you that one, it’s annoying as fuck being asked that,” he admitted. “I don’t know why I did.” Just a…slip of the tongue, he supposed. Oh Freud…

The light turned green and with it the signal to cross switched from a red hand to a white walking figure. The crowd that was waiting followed the figure’s example and walked. Oriel, however, stayed put, still smirking, as people bumped past him and the twangy-voiced gentleman. Oriel kept his eyes on him, the slightest glimmer of excitement in his stare as he waited for this guy’s response. He’d had a change of plans, apparently. This was far more interesting than whatever those were.

[Lucas Blacke]

The worst part of this guy, he was doing the exact same thing Lucas would do to anyone else in a situation like this. Luke always had this problem where he was able to dish out but not take, unless it was of course physical, in that case he could probably take more than he could dish out. After all, what he had been teaching himself was based on speed and not hitting hard. Small little hits and dodging everything, the guy would go down like the sack of shit he was.

Why was he thinking of things like that, by the way? It seemed like this guy had really done something wrong. Likely due to being a guy combined with the fake southern accent and the casual comments shot back he raised the hate levels of the Texan a bit. ''Oh, I do 'ave a sense of humor, it just so happens it involves removin' yer spine.'' He replied to the comment about having no humor, which at that point was very much the case.

Threats weren't above Luke though, and while he didn't act out on them as much as he should he still hoped most people would back off by merely hearing one of those threats. Sadly most of those threats were stuff he couldn't even do if he wanted to, like right now, he couldn't even touch a spine without the right tools, and probably even then he still wouldn't. Maybe he would go as far as observing how the muscles of a person worked in depth, but that would be about it.

''An' ta be frank, I don't even need me power ta cave yer face in.'' Honestly, that 'to be frank' comment was meant to lure out the guy and see if he was smart enough to react on that like only a real douche would.

The light turned green then and the guy still kept standing there, which was odd considering he was standing there looking at the light. Who in their right mind would wait for a traffic light and not move? ''Get.. fuck- I- You- gah!''

Lucas clenched his fist tight for a second and then opened it, trying to appear calm in front of the guy before suddenly thrusting his open palm forward and upward in an attempt to hit the guy on the nose. Would be the first person he ever tried hitting with martial arts, quite the milestone. Sadly it was wasted on this guy..

[Deleted]

The antagonize and run game was Oriel’s favorite. He really should be careful about who he played with, though, because the last couple times had ended with him picking a fight with one he shouldn’t have been messing with…though one of them actually messed with him first, so Oriel wasn’t sure if that one counted.

This guy….he seemed to be on edge after the first syllable that came out of Oriel’s mouth. Oriel hadn’t seen someone with that short a fuse since…well, Rue came to mind, and that guy broke Oriel’s nose and left him bleeding in an alley. One would think Oriel would have learned his lesson from that. “You keep focusing on my testicles and my spine,” he quipped with a curious crease between his eyebrows. “Is that ‘cause you need some extra courage before heading off to OZ, Dorothy?”

Apparently, Oriel had learned nothing.

Oriel wasn’t sure whether this guy was serious or just full of air. He was shorter than Oriel, but that didn’t count for nothing(though Oriel did enjoy being taller than most people). He certainly liked to talk big, but in Oriel’s experience guys who talked big didn’t actually have anything to back it up. Most guys. “Quite frankly, my dear,” he started like that one guy from Gone With The Wind(great movie!). “….I don’t give a fuck.”

Oriel couldn’t say he was surprised when the guy lashed out at him, finally. That just meant that Oriel won the game. Or did he? Oriel was standing fairly close to the guy. Oriel was on high alert, watching and waiting for this guy to make a move against his provoker. One would think Oriel would see it coming and that he’d be able to dodge it. Well…Oriel saw it coming…from the wrong direction. He’d expected a hook, like most brawlers started out with. An up-palm strike was definitely unexpected. Oriel stepped back as soon as he saw the other guy move, but was slow enough to still get hit smartly in the nose. His head arched back from the force of the strike, and he covered his face with both hands, cradling his sore schnoz.

Oriel grinned. So it was a fight this guy wanted. After securing his balance(not too hard for a dancer), Oriel rolled his head forward, fixing his eyes on the man who just struck him, a glint of excitement in his eyes. His grin spread like the devil. “So….you’re not all talk. And here I’s thinking I’s about to be bored.” Oriel didn’t start this looking for a fight, just a joke…but if this guy wanted one…

[Lucas Blacke]

Alright Luke, calm the fuck down. This guy is worth nothing you can offer. He pleaded with himself to remain calm and not lose his cool, but with every word this guy spoke it was like.. like.. he wasn't even sure what hurtful memory to go with, what made him angry. It seemed that the level of mad he was at now was previously unknown to him. Did he go super saiyan through pure rage or something? No, that would be pushing every bit of reality, but he certainly did know how to move like one (not that it'd help). What would help right now was moving like those people he had been studying for the longest time. Yip Man among others, though mostly just him.

He wasn't happy his first strike hit though, because now there would be a fight and Luke knew he would likely have to let himself get hit once to adjust himself to how this dude moved. Downside of Wing Chun as taught by.. no one, he would need time to adjust to his opponent. Which.. didn't seem all that difficult with how he regained his balance after stumbling back a bit. It seemed this guy had quite the leg muscles, so focusing on them would be futile, he would have to look out for them though.

Taller, slightly agile (Lucas would no doubt be more agile) and full of jokes. This would be what would make him lose, Luke knew this to be a fact, and even more so when his demeanor faded and most of the talk left in him was no longer about getting laughs or taunting. No, this was a side to him that hadn't seen daylight in a very long while, the one where he hated how much he enjoyed fights, enjoyed hurting people and lashing out.

Instinct told him not to loiter with just having gotten one hit in and decided to follow up as quick as he possibly could when he retracted his open palm that still felt warm from the hit. This was nothing like hitting a dummy around, this was real, and he almost encouraged himself to try and break what he was hitting.

With a quick shuffled step forward he attempted another hit, this time an opened palm to the man's neck, that, if it would hit would certainly open him up for another strike with a closed fist to the right side of his body with the very same fist.

Momentum? None of that. Speed? Whole lotta that.

[Deleted]

Oriel didn’t have speed. Well, he had some of it, and some agility, but for the most part, Oriel was all brawn with a little bit of brains. Well, quite a bit of brains, in his honest opinion. Or maybe not? If he had any brains, then maybe he would have just backed off and apologized when this guy started getting touchy with him. But Oriel wasn’t the kind of guy to back down just because someone else threatened him for no good reason. Apparently the guy just didn’t know how to take a joke. Those weren’t even Oriel’s worst jokes, actually! Oriel concluded that this guy just had a chip on his shoulder about some nameless thing and Oriel was a convenient punching bag…which was fine because if there was something else that Oriel had, it was endurance.

How many times had he been pummeled this year? This decade? This whole life of his? Whatever this guy could dish out Oriel doubted could be as bad as being kicked around like a soccer ball in a New York alley when he only weighed 125 pounds. At twice the height and twice the weight, Oriel had confidence in his punch-taking ability.

No sooner did he recover from the first blow(and only half that at that), another came in front the other man, a palm strike aimed towards his throat. To dodge would have been out of his capability, so instead, Oriel let the strike come at him, taking it right where it aimed….and while he was coming in, Oriel raised his arms, aiming to catch the guy’s forearm between his rock-crushing hands. Should he prove successful, Oriel would pull him in and attempt a head-to-head blow. Literally.

[Lucas Blacke]

Fighting was fun! As long as Lucas was the one winning that was, and right now that was very difficult to tell as he had only been hit once. Obviously Luke would tell himself he would win even as this guy before him was slightly taller, but height didn't mean that much in a fight.

But when his open palm homed in on the throat of the guy, attempting to hit him right on the Adam's apple, but was stopped right as the Texan figured he was going to hit the guy where it hurt. His eyes widened when his fist was caught though and instead of thrown to the side was actually pulled in, something he would have never expected. If he had figured one thing over the years it was never to have someone with martial arts get close to you, and here this guy was just blandly pulling Luke in closer to him.

But to what end? With this internal query Lucas braced for whatever he thought was happening, throwing up his other arm instantly and trying to beat away at the arms grabbing his, but to no avail as they still held him in their grip. And soon it would become clear to the Texan what exactly was going to happen as he looked at the face of the guy, he was bracing for an impact as well.

And despite him beyond a doubt hurting himself his head then crashed into that of Luke, and boy did he feel every inch of that ugly mug on his. He didn't know if he arm was released or if he straight up yanked it free, but what he did was what he had seen multiple times; he wanted to step back but avoid this guy from following up and landing more hits. So what happened was simple, with his eyes closed he tried stepping back with his leg shooting in an upwards motion, not knowing if he hit something but surely making for some distance between the two.

With some luck he would hit the guy where it really hurt though.

[Rhea Hartman]

Most interviews with witnesses took place down at the station. Most witnesses also weren't angling for a bribe from the police, which was what Rhea suspected Mr. Hemperly of Hemperly's Heavenly Mattresses was doing. Since he had missed every appointment to date they had set up at the courthouse, she decided to drop in at his place of business. Despite Rhea's calm manner and being surrounded by bedding, Mr. Hemperly was uncomfortable. Officer Hartman was very, very large.

"Mr. Hemperly, I understand that your son is busy with his studies," she continued evenly. "But if he doesn't make his appearance in court, the--"

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhea saw someone in front of the shop freeze and raise their arm to point. She turned around in time to see the young woman take a few steps back. "One second," she said to Mr. Hemperly, then hurried to the door and stuck her head outside.

Half a block away on the other side of the road, a fist fight exploded between two young men. Rhea was across the street before the gawking woman had pulled out her cell phone. "HEY!" she bellowed, throwing a suppression field onto the tussle as she ran. She felt it take on both of them. "BREAK IT UP!" One hand plunged for the collar of each, and upon contact she popped the boys apart like two halves of a pistachio shell.

[Deleted]

Oriel had no training in fighting. He did have experience, though. Plenty of it, in fact. Instinctual knowledge, he would call it. The one thing that made things difficult for two tall, long armed, long legged individuals to fight in close quarters was that often those legs and arms were too long to offer any sort of leverage to make an effective impact.

After the head-butt to the butt-head, Oriel kept a firm grip on the guy’s arm, taking a step to the side and letting the guy swing himself in front of him. With his opponent still within his death-grip, Oriel pulled back a fist and swung it at the face of the southern man.

Whether it hit or not, Oriel didn’t get a chance to swing a second time as he was suddenly pulled away from the other boy by his back collar. “Urk!” he grunted in surprise, struggling in the grip of what looked to be a super-muscle woman. What? Shit, right! Public street, fist fight, of course someone decided to come in and play hero. Oriel scowled and raise both his hands in resignation, showing that he wasn’t pursuing the fight anymore. Whatever, it wasn’t like he started it in the first place. Tex-hick over there was the one tossing out threats of spine and ball ripping over dumb joke.

[Lucas Blacke]

With his one free hand still thrown in front of his face in the hopes of defending himself and his other still in the hold of that other guy he began to think he was in a bind. Staying close while in a fight was, well, bad. He needed space to throw punches and this guy was ruining that for him, not even letting him step back as his arm was still in that hell-hold. Not to mention the head-butt that hurt quite a bit due to not having seen it coming. With his eyes closed he had shot up his leg, but it hit nothing and quite probably just looked stupid as it pierced the air. But at least his arm was still gripped tight so he wouldn't fall down as easily. However.. he could have just twisted his form and let himself fall to the ground to throw that other guy out of balance..

No sooner would he try to do that than he got another fist thrown at him which he only noticed at the latest of moments. Luck just had it that his one free hand was constantly in front of his face now as flesh hit bone, and even with it being blocked and all he still felt the impact of it ring through his arms. It wasn't fun and caused him to want to physically shake the pain from his arm, if at all possible.

But then his collar was grabbed by someone else from behind at the same time as the other guy got the same treatment with them both being pulled apart and being kept in a relative safe distance away from each other. The only words really registering at that point were those of a woman telling them to break it up, and while Luke would often just change in front of any woman into.. well, in some cases an even more obnoxious brat, he felt it was quite difficult to do so right then.

''I was totally gonna break somethin' but we were pulled apart by a.. you.'' He shot a glance at whoever pulled them apart.

[Rhea Hartman]

Rhea responded to Oriel's scowl with a fractional lowering of her eyebrows. Neither had weapons or were seriously hurt. She let go of their collars and stepped forward, placing herself more squarely between them and maintaining her suppression field on both. Her black, long-sleeved police uniform had a shield-shaped patch on each shoulder and a utilitarian belt around her waist, several pouches of which looked extremely businesslike. She was as tall as both young men, broad, thick-set, and not pleased. "If you had it'd be three months in prison," she barked at Lucas. "What are your names, both of you?"