Hide the Rum (Sassy Juice Crew)

[Wolfie]

Patty watched and shook her head enjoying her drink only. There was no way she was signing up for that in any universe. She sighed and looked over at the kid.

"That's why you don't ask those questions, by the way," she said wondering why the kid put up with any of this. He obviously didn't want to be there. She thought of leaving and soon. This group was crazy, and she was on a mission - one that didn't involve too much liquor.

"There's a table over there. I'm going to sit down join me if you like," she said hoping she could get someone to talk to her rather than just want to drink things off of her.

[GIR]

<Please. Do not insult girls by lumping them with him.>, Sarah told Zed somewhat snippily, <I've met quite a few who could drink your scrawny ass under the table and STILL have room to take me on.>, she added, a note of challenge to her voice.

<Live a little? How rich, coming from a little human male drinking a little human drink consisting entirely of glorified tap water. I'd tell you to try a real drink, but you'd pass out and drown in your own vomit after the first sip.>, Sarah retorted, glaring at Ari with as much challenge in her eyes as was present in her tone, <I'm surprised they don't serve those things in sippy cups, or, better yet, baby bottles.>. Sarah wasn't sure if it was her starting to get buzzed, or if it was just the party thing, but she was having fun railing the captain. The captain's attempt to brush her drink aside resulted in a tail-blade-shaped hole in the counter near her drink, though her tail had not seemed to move even the slightest. Ari would have to be a pervert somewhere where her drink wasn't. <I wouldn't let that foot knock over my drink, Ari. You might have to drink the next one. My tail's coated in the secret ingredient.>, she hissed.

At the human female's mention of sitting a table, Sarah decided that putting up with the one sober human would be preferable to putting up with Ari's antics. <I think I'll take you up on that offer.>, she responded, sitting down almost immediately afterward at the table. Her drink appeared on the table in front of her less than a second later. <Keep them coming, barkeep. Ari's good for it.>, Sarah instructed. Not that she actually intended to make her captain pay for her drinks, she just wanted to see how he'd react. She had little to say to the human female, though her attention was directed at her in a sort of lazy, 'don't expect me to start a conversation, but I'll listen and maybe respond if you talk' sort of way as she drank a little bit more.

[Zero Undead]

Nick wasn’t even going to acknowledge that one. Was he really that horrible? An insult to even compare his drinking to a girl? Oh well, he didn’t want to be good at drinking. Drinking was for idiots and fools. Just look at all the trouble drunks got themselves into all the time. His line of reasoning really didn’t make him feel better. It might have also had something to do with staring in disbelief as Ari hopped up on the counter to demonstrate exactly what a body shot was.

As Neo performed for her shot a look of abject horror came across Nick’s face. He was next? Oh hell no. These people could do whatever the hell they wanted, Neo and Ari could let every guy in this bar pile drive them for all he cared, but they were not dragging him into it!  He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. Why couldn’t Zed of just left him the hell alone? They weren’t even actually friends!

As quick as Nick tried to flee, Zed managed to grab ahold of him, practically putting Nick in a headlock. “Not so fast mousy. Not even you can say no to a sexy little thing like that licking salt off you.”

“Oh yes I can! Let me the fuck go Zed or I swear to whatever god you believe in that I’ll kick you in the nuts so god damn hard you’ll be puking them.” He squirmed and twisted in Zed’s grip, but he couldn’t exactly escape. Everyone was bigger and stronger than him. It wasn’t fair! “Boss, please, don’t make me, make him let go. Please. Fuck, you can keep my entire next fucking paycheck, just don't make me do that.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Not get much of a reaction? Hah! Ari was loving it, and he was bound and determined to enjoy the hell out of it.

Lime between his teeth, Ari laid back, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the sensations as she lapped up the salt. Never one to be shy, he even arched under her tongue and let out a porn star moan. It was half exaggerated, half genuine; he always enjoyed getting his body licked by a hot young number, but he was also curious to see if she'd flinch or embarrass.

Vaguely, he was aware of Nick begging him, begging for him to let him go, and he grinned around the lime and shook his head. Haaah. Yeah. Not happening. Now that the kid was begging and freaking out, it just made him want to do it more. It was bound to turn out entertaining, though he really didn't see what the big deal was. He'd get slobbered on some, then it would be over, but from the way he sounded, he might have been pleading for his life.

With his mouth full, Ari he couldn't give Nick the bad news. The kid would just have to squirm with the uncertainty for a little longer.

Neo was finishing up and had taken the shot, and Ari cracked his eyes open to watch her. Just before she took the lime, however, Ari spat it out to the side, grabbed her by the back of the head, and kissed her full on the mouth.

[paganchick]

If Ari was expecting a flinch or get embarrassed, he had the wrong girl, she was pretty much shameless and had been for the large majority of her young life. If anything Ari made her chuckle, though she rated his moan at about a seven, she could have done better.

Neo was taken off guard a bit as she was pulled into a kiss, but hey what the hell, the man wasn't  a bad kisser. She laid the kiss on, adding a little tongue in at the end for added effect. After a bit though she pulled her head back and ended the kiss with a rather loud slap to Ari's face.

"That is for wasting a lime, there are so many more creative things you could have done with it then simply spitting it out, an a for effort though," Neo spouted off, attitude at full blaze.

[Wolfie]

Patty observed them still. She just listened as the one female berated those around her. She wasn't sure she wanted anything to do with that one. Unfortunately that was the only one who came to sit with her.

"I didn't catch your name earlier," she said hoping for at least an introduction before spouting things off. She had her drink with her the only one she had so far. It wasn't in her to drink more than one.

"Should we try and rescue the kid?"

[GIR]

<Didn't throw it earlier.>, Sarah replied, keeping a somewhat disgusted eye on Ari and his new plaything. Honestly, did that guy ever bother getting to know someone before breaking out the sex games? Sarah knew precious little about the culture of her mother, and followed even less, but even she found the idea of bedding someone one barely even met to be unsavory, to put it politely. <Sarah, if you must know. You do not want to mispronounce it.>, she answered as an afterthought. A name would probably help keep the human talking, which, though annoying, gave her a perfect excuse to not join in the body shots.

<No. He'll live, and, if the talsak tries to force it, I'll teach him some respect.>, Sarah growled in response. Truth be told, she just didn't feel like dealing with any of the others at the moment, but, on the other hand, the idea of beating the crap out of someone did appeal to her at the moment, though one could say it was more the alcohol talking and not be far from the mark. <You know, I warned you. You, like most of your species, didn't bother to listen, but I did warn you.>, she added, gulping down her fifth or sixth drink, <You really should have listened...>, her 'tone' slightly off, a result of the alcohol starting to affect her perception of time a little.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari hissed through his teeth when Neo slapped him but barked a laugh after, sitting up and rubbing at his cheek. "Ooh, baby, ya know what I like. Throw in some hair pullin' next time and I'm yours. As for the lime, fuck it. Ya tasted better," he said, and added with a wink and lick of his lips, "Sweet and salty."

Swinging down from the counter, that was when he turned his attention to Nick. He held up a finger to Neo. "Mind waitin' your turn a little longer, babe? Someone's gettin' awfully squirrelly over there and I'd hate him to feel all left out. What was that again, Nick? Please make ya? Alright, if ya insist! Gosh, never woulda pegged as such a forward sort, ya little ghost."

Striding over to the kid, he took hold of him by the back of the shirt. "I'll take 'im from here, thanks," he told Zed, and started to drag the kid toward the counter. "Just think of it as an initiation, shorty. A manly rite of passage."

Turning back to Neo, he grinned. "So. Who's holdin', who's takin' the shot?" And then, to Nick, added, "Got a preference, kid?"

[Zero Undead]

Nick didn’t stop fighting for his life for even a second; twisting and turning and limbs more or less flailing about as he desperately tried to free himself from Zed’s grip. Mother fucker was a lot stronger than he figured. He was kind of wearing himself out trying to escape, but when Ari sat up and asked about skipping to him the kid redoubled his efforts. This was not happening. No way this was actually happening!

Zed let go of Nick when Ari took over the burden of wrangling the squirming mass of growls and attitude. With a squawk, Nick was dragged across the floor towards the counter; he dug his boots in, pulling and resisting the entire way. This was about as undignified as you could get. “I don’t need a manly initiation, you fuckhead, and I sure as shit didn’t say I wanted it. Let me go you rainbow puke gorilla.”

Nick’s eyes about rolled in his head as they tried to decide who was holding him down and who was taking a shot off him. “Neither! I don’t want either of you touching me. I don’t want anyone touching me. This is assault, you asshole. Let go.”

[paganchick]

Neo laughed at Ari, seeming greatly amused, he must have really thought highly of himself, she wondered how many girls he had gotten with such a cheesy grimy line.
Neo pressed her finger against Ari's chest, her nail digging into him slightly,"The only time I will be yours is in your dreams, so you better get busy drinking yourself to sleep! Oh and you better have enjoyed that taste because that is all you are going to get!"

Placing her hands on her hips Neo stood there watching. Poor kid, for his personality he really did pick the wrong crowd to hang around. Well it wasn't her fault or her problem, he picked his peers. Nick's words did warrant a glare out of Neo.

"Hey, who said I wanted to touch you, you pansy!," She replied raising an eyebrow, looking a bit bitter.

[Wolfie]

"Talsk?" She said never having heard the word before. She wondered if her robotic friend had been hiding words on her all this time. She figured she would learn soon enough. She sipped her beverage careful not to get tipsy from it. She didn't want anything to happen in this place.

"Warned me? I didn't hear a warning earlier?" She said confused. She was watching what Ari was doing and sighed. This wasn't right someone had to do something for that poor boy. Leaving her drink behind she got up and went back to where they stood the boy struggling.

"Aw Ari, wouldn't you rather have a good time with a pretty female rather than this boy? Unless you prefer boys then I was barking up the wrong tree the whole time," she said being bold for once. Patty didn't know what came over her she suspected it was remorse for the boy.

"So how bout it, Ari?"

[GIR]

<Talsak. If you're going to parrot a Hestari slur, at least pronounce it correctly. You don't need to know what it means.>, Sarah corrected irritably. Humans. Couldn't they at least try to pronounce things right?

<When I said he'd try to get in your pants. That was a warning. Don't tell me you didn't even notice that...>, Sarah growled, <Don't you humans listen to anything other people say?>, she added irritably as she casually grazed another patron who'd been getting a bit feely with her tail blade. Said patron collapsed like a sack of potatoes, soundlessly crying out in agony. <Next time, keep your hands to yourself.>, she snapped, then stood up. The situation with the ghost and the captain was getting out of hand.

<Ariiii... Remember what I said about keeping things to this side of the fine line?>, Sarah said with unusual sweetness as she appeared next to Ari, <You might want to let him go. I'm feeling a bit... what's that term? Oh, yes. Froggy.>, she added in a venomous tone. It wasn't necessarily that she cared one way or the other about Nick. She didn't. It was that Ari was giving her an excuse to let loose some pent-up aggression, and it was only fair to warn him before letting loose.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Ari burst out laughing at Nick's quip. Rainbow puke gorilla?! That was a new one! He'd have to remember it--and hopefully he would, after he got drunk and wasted, though so far he was the only person who hadn't drank yet. How the hell did that work? Oh yeah, 'cause he was busy running this circus.

He was about ready to haul the kid bodily up onto the counter when the girl from earlier, Patty, strode up to him--and then Sarah was there, too.

Well, shit, seems like he'd caused some controversy here!

"Ladies," Ari said, yanking Nick forward as the kid tried to dig in his heels. "Please, please, wait your turn. There's plenty of me to go 'round. Now, first off!"

He turned to Sarah and met her sweet smile with one of his own. "Oh, darlin', you're too gorgeous to be froggy. Those scales! That tail! Ain't like some slimy amphibian, don't sell yourself short. Now hold on a second, alright? Don't get all excited now."

Then he turned to Patty. "Alright, so! Ya wanna negotiate a hostage release, eh?" he said, patting Nick on the head. "Alright then, how 'bout it--you for him. He goes free, ya take his place on the table. Eh? Oh and, for the record..." He gave her a wink. "I swing very freely, if ya know what I mean."

[Zero Undead]

 By now Nick had pretty well resigned himself to the fact that he was on his own. No one was going to help him, nobody cared. It served him right for not having any friends to watch his back among this freaking circus of jackasses. That didn’t stop him from putting up a huge struggle as the counter inched closer and closer against his will. It really annoyed him that his quite creative insult had been met with nothing more than laughter. That had been pure insult gold!

In what seemed the blink of an eye, everything began to turn upside down. That woman that Ari had been flirting with when he’d first got there was trying to sweet-talk Ari into letting him go. Nick honestly didn’t think that would work at all, but the look he gave her was one of immense gratitude, and hope. Maybe, just maybe, he could wiggle his way out of this mess. With some help, of course. The calvery seemed to have arrived, actually, because a moment later Sarah was there telling the rainbow monkey to let him go.

He hissed as Ari jerked him forward, giving his boss a look that clearly said just how badly Nick wanted to murder him at that moment. When Ari patted him on the head, he jerked his head away, looking rather sullen and still squirming, trying to free himself from Ari’s grip. “Hostage negotiations? What the hell man?”

[paganchick]

Neo could tell that ignoring or playing hard to get wasn't working with Ari, he had a distraction, Patty. Neo took the time, plotting, planning how she could get Ari's attention. It would be different if Neo had decided to completely ignore him, but now that it was being done to her, well she didn't really like it too much.

[Wolfie]

"Sorry I'll try to pronounce it right in the future. Why don't I need to know what it means?" She said being very curious.

"Oh that one, yes I heard it. Sorry I think the alcohol is taking some affect," she said. When she heard Ari's offer she had to think about it. It was one thing to just let the kid go, but another to ask her to take his place. She didn't much like the offer on the table and sighed.

"How about I make it an even better offer? You let him go, and I'll replace him, but for only you in private instead of with your friends here," she said not sure if he would go for this. It was worth a try though. She had a feeling he wasn't going for that though.

Patty had half an eye on the kid. He seemed grateful to her. She wasn't sure why though nothing had changed yet. Ari still had him and even patted him on the head. She wasn't going to count the kid as a new friend yet knowing he seemed to be more of a loner. Then again so was she mostly.

[GIR]

<Because you don't. I doubt anyone is going to call you it, and you've got no reason to use it, so you don't need to know it.>, Sarah responded with the condescending 'patience' of a particularly arrogant adult explaining something to a dull child.

<Because hearing and listening are totally the same thing...>, Sarah's 'tone' was pure sarcasm, not even bothering to hide.

<Ari. You know flattery only pisses me off more.> The words came simultaneously with the six claws of her left hand digging into his shoulder as she was about to throw him to the ground. Only for him to say the words that made such a course of action not quite advisable. Yet. The hand continued its grip, ready to toss him about should the wrong choice be made. As much as she wanted to toss him around, she needed an excuse, after all. The grip tightened. <Well, Ari? You going to go with the one practically throwing herself at you, or do you wanna see just how tough you are?>, she asked upon hearing the human female rephrase her offer. She dug her thumbs further into Ari's shoulder to emphasize her point.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Yeah, 'cause you're a hostage--ah!"

Sarah gripped his shoulder. Hard. And Ari couldn't help but squirm under her hand, wincing, and out of reflex he nearly lost his grip on Nick. Still, rather than admit it hurt like a bitch (because while he enjoyed pain, that was in a very specific context!), he turned his pained sound into yet another erotic moan and arched into her claws.

"Nn, well darlin', ya keep touchin' me like that and we're gonna have ourselves an awkward problem here," he said, voice breathy. Her tightening grip made him wince and hiss in pain, but he managed a very convincing shudder of enjoyment. "But ya don't, mm, gotta worry. Missy over there has me sold."

He released Nick then and held up his hand to show it was empty. Then, still squirming, he looked over at Patty. "Deal," he said, and reached up to pry at Sarah's hand. "Your place or mine?"

[Zero Undead]

Nick really didn’t like the idea of being referred to as a hostage. It was far too creepy. Besides, he was Ari’s freaking employee not a hostage! How did the asshole keep workers if he treated them like this? Then again, he kind of couldn’t help but smirk as Sarah had grabbed ahold of Ari now, he couldn’t wait to see how his boss liked being the one held against their will.

Still, he felt kind of bad, Sarah alone could probably have gotten him out of this mess at any time, but he knew she wasn’t doing it for him. No, what really made him feel bad was knowing that this strange lady had just thrown herself to the wolves on his behalf. It made no sense, why would you do that for somebody you didn’t even know? What was it to her? Obviously she was a do-gooder type.

The moment he was let go, Nick jerked away from the giant rainbow monkey. When he’d first agreed to work as part of the Sassy Juice crew, this was definitely not what he was expecting to be going through. Blinking through owlish mocha eyes he looked from Sarah to Patricia. “Thanks Sarah, even if you didn’t do it for me, I owe you one. And you, uh, whatever your name is…I really wasn’t worth it.”

He felt sick, between the alcohol and the stress of being held against his will, his stomach was roiling. As much as he’d have liked to see if Sarah was actually going to pummel Ari, he didn’t want to get grabbed again, so he ducked through the bar and into the men’s room, locking himself in a stall and empting his stomach of what felt like everything he had eaten ever.

[paganchick]

Neo grabbed a hold of Ari's arm rougher than she originally intended.
"Hey sweet cheeks, you are forgetting something, you owe me a body shot," She said looking up at him with her hand on her hip and her hip popped. She was clearly not playing and didn't seem to plan on letting go of his arm until he gave her what she wanted.