[FIN] Bottom of a Bottle

[Blood_Goddess]

Jaimee's usual tired looking eyes widened lightly during the duration of Luke's short call, her mouth still kept firmly closed while Jerome and Jamie howed with laughter and cheers, Drawing the looks and the chatter from the few other groups within the bar.

Jerome jumped to his feet, though he was clearly past the point of being buzzed at this point it was still impressive how steady the man was on his seat as he stepped over to the still down looking Luke and patted a hand on his back.
"Ya burn w'th the tongue, man, best thing I heard all ********' month."

"Oh my god I don't even know what the guy looks like and I wish I could see the look on his face!" Jamie continued to laugh draped forward into his arms on the counter.

"Yo- get one a those colorful ones fer this guy, n'more a that toxic s**t."
Jerome said to the bartender.

The next drink that Luke got, was a mixed alcoholic drink, it certainly would taste a whole lot better then the shots he was getting before.
"first step bro- first step."  

[Suudonym]

Everything seemed foreign and strange, as though he had suddenly been cut off from himself and were watching a video recording of someone else's life. It felt as though he should have been feeling regret, embarrassment, some kind of shame, something, but there was only a numbness, an aching void that swallowed up everything and replaced it with heaviness. He processed it one sensation at a time, unsure how to respond to any of it.

Another beverage was set before him, one with a more normal appearance for once, the vague familiarity of it in a way compelling. He drew a taste of it, returned the glass to counter and, recovering his ability to react, gestured to it, mildly baffled, "Why the hell did I have anything else if this was an option?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

" 'Prolly cause I dn' really go f'drinks like that." Jerome answered, but with a slight grin at Luke's response to it.

"Well now you know for next time right? wait, What is this your first time drinking or something?" Jamie asked.  

[Suudonym]

He made a face at the thought of 'next time.' This time wasn't making a very good impression as it was; so far his efforts to think about everything less had only resulted in him thinking about it more. He replied to the question with a light nod.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"And you're spending it with us?" Jaimee pointed out with a light tone that suggested that she herself thought it was pretty strange too.  

[Suudonym]

"Uh." If he really stopped to think about it, 'strange' would be quite an understatement. "It looks like it worked out that way, yeah."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"I mean, you made it sound like you've had a lot more beefs with Rockets then just us." Jaimee pointed out. "like... a lot more."  

[Suudonym]

He shook his head. "What Team Rocket does, even to its own members, is awful. But people are people. If you're an a*****e, I'll treat you like an a*****e. Your Kyle guy," temper flared in his tone, "he's an a*****e. I'll punch his goddamn teeth in. But that's because he's an a*****e, not because he's a Rocket." He shrugged a shoulder.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome by now didn't look completely surprised, but there was a look on his face that showed some kind of intrigued response to what the boy had said. Jerome lived his entire life with the understanding that you were your gang, it was fascinated to him to have this boy's perspective, and Jerome quite liked that someone could realize and accept it so young, after all the s**t in their life.
It took Jerome a lot longer then that.

The comment about Kyle drew small knowing and slightly awkward grins from the two Grunts. "We've been hearing much of the same about you." Jamie pointed out.  

[Suudonym]

He opened his mouth to retort but stopped and closed it again with a quiet huff. "Well," he muttered, "I'd be pissed off too if someone broke my arm. Actually," his volume increased, indignation in his tone, "no, my ribs, my arm-- hell, my skull was fractured! And for what?! I was going to work! Even if I had seen you I probably wouldn't have done anything, and he just ******** attacked me! And I'll tell you one thing." He maneuvered a hand to lightly tap at the hilt at his waist. "If I'd been prepared, it would have gone a hell of a lot differently."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Ah, hey we're not saying Kyle always makes the best decisions now, That whole thing was wired for everyone and-" Jamie stopped, looking at what Luke was tapping at on his belt.
"... Is that a sword!?"  

[Suudonym]

"Hell ******** yes it is!" He returned both hands to the counter. "Pokemon not good enough, I can put up a pretty good fight on my own. Hand-to-hand not good enough, that's what this is for. For now, anyway." He wasn't confident enough yet with a gun to add one to his arsenal, but even when he did he doubted he would discard his sword in favor of it. There was a lot to be said for intimidation.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome didn't say anything to that, looking down at the sword with a slight frown, then back to Luke himself. "Gatta get out r'gatta get serious." Jerome muttered in agreement to what Luke had said.

Jamie and Jamiee however both looked rather horrified.  

[Suudonym]

He shrugged, "I don't like hurting people, but I'm not gonna sit back and let myself or my friends get hurt either. I've been through that enough already." A shake of his head. "Not anymore."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome grunted with a nod, turning to Luke and folding his arms over his chest. "Ain't fighin' ya on that. and don't take this th' wrong way er nothing, I like ya- but after t'night I hope we don't ever see ya again."