No Thinking, Just Drinking

A noise came echoing from the bar, forcing an annoyed sigh out of the Heran. How many days had it been since the events on the Lookout? Maybe a week at best, he wasn’t sure. His healing process was going fine, although he’d still walk with a bit of a limp and his left side in general just felt numb. To ease the pain and drown a bit of the lingering frustration, he decided to go to a bar, far from the hideout. That way, in addition to being able to drink at will, he wouldn’t get scolded by Bloom and Mumbo for not helping himself by drinking instead of getting some rest. Whatever.

On this day, he was wearing casual clothes, ones that wouldn’t give away his identity as the Red Stargoon. While he was not fearing that he might get recognized -what happened on the Lookout remained a secret to the folks of Earth-, he didn’t feel like risking it or simply attracting too much attention. Not that he would mind on an average day, but this time, he wanted to be as low-profile as possible. He had partially succeeded in that regard, too. He wore a simple black t-shirt with jeans, but even in that attire, he still made head turns. Most notably was his build…or was it that his clothes that were a bit too adjusted? He couldn’t tell, really. It was either that or the fact the bandages still covered part of his arm, going into his tee-shirt.

Without giving them much attention, Dosu made his way to the bar counter, sitting in front of the bartender. Looking left and right, he glanced at his drinking neighbors, the one on his right looking like an ordinary folk not looking for trouble, given how concentrated on his beer he was. All the stools on his left were empty, but someone was approaching one of the seats, this particular individual bearing a strange resemblance to someone he had met before, he thought. Something about the pointy ears and skin color. Earthlings didn’t quite look like that, but they weren’t that far off either. Just where had he seen a similar person before? Oh well, didn’t matter. She ordered something from the bartender before he could and the Heran couldn’t help but make a remark.

“Could’ve gotten yourself some juice from the convenience store across the street.”

He turned his head towards the bartender, meeting his perplexed gaze before placing his order.

“…Get me something strong. Scotch will do. And leave the bottle here.”

Before getting his turn, he watched in silence as the man behind the bar prepared some kind of fancy drink with lots of ice. Bleh, not his kind. It was the voice of the woman beside him that managed to get his attention back. Who died, huh? His thoughts immediately raced back to the fight on the lookout. His pride had died, somewhat, though this wasn’t something he was willing to say out loud. Oh, there was that ghost girl, too, right?

“Heh, no one important.”

He followed the bartender getting the girl her drink before bringing him a bottle, as was asked. He ignored the bartender after the initial glass was poured and went back to the green-haired girl.

“So what’s got you in this place drinking kid stuff in the middle of the day? Don’t look like you’re from this place either, am I right?”

The kid had some spunk, that was for certain. Usually, people would simply steer clear from him and lower their head whenever he spoke to them. It was a nice change of pace for once, even if he had to converse with a kid playing adult. Kid stuff it was and it went just as smoothly as any kid gulping down a boxed juice, for that matter. Was she trying to drag him in some sort of competition or was that just to show him how she was far from a kid? He raised a perplex eyebrow as his only response to that display and masked a chuckle when she ordered something a bit stronger.

“Easy there, you’ll just end up making a fool of yourself.”

Still, she went through with her idea and he had to give it to her, she didn’t seem like the type to back down on the things she said. He drank his own glass as he waited for the show to start, her answer to his question eventually sparking some interest in her. Apparently, she had been through some similar endeavors as he did and frankly, he could relate a bit too much with those sentiments. However, he couldn’t help but wonder how she was able to deal with that so easily. Filling his empty glass with the help of the bottle sitting beside him, he inquired.

“You look awfully fine for someone dealing with such things. Is it because pride doesn’t mean much to you? Or maybe you’ve been broken beyond repair.”

It was, in a way, a provocation to see how she would react to this. As far as he was concerned, dealing with this sensation of being humiliated wasn’t something he could overcome with only a few drinks and positive thinking. I knew what he had to do, now it was only a matter of time. The drink eventually came and for a second he thought it was just water given how clear it was. Konats, huh? So that’s where she was from. Immediately, he remembered that fellow with the robot eye and couldn’t help but smirk at the coincidence that he met that guy in a bar as well. However, the setting was a little different, to say the least.

“Ah, yeah. I met another one of your kind a while ago. Tall guy, hair like me, a weird eye. We got into a brawl at some point and I managed to pop out that damned robotic eye of his. It was fun. He left me with a nasty scar on the chest. I gotta repay him for that. A friend of yours, maybe?”

Maybe she didn’t pay any attention to him because as soon as he turned around, he could see her chugging straight from the battle. His eyes widened in surprise, he wasn’t really expecting that -nor was asking for it, either-.

“I dunno if it’s good or bad, but you’ll tell me when it comes back up, huh?”

That smug glance ticked him off a little. The comment about his drink did, too. He finished his second glass and took the bottle of vodka.

“My drink is meant to be savored. If you wanna play that game, you’ll find yourself outclassed.”

He poured himself a glass of vodka and gulped it down almost immediately, the alcohol going smoothly down his esophagus, as any good vodka would. The burn wasn’t too bad. He poured himself a second.

“Here’s to you and your existential crisis.”

And he drank it straight again.

Looks like someone was getting on the defensive when called stupid. The Heran smirked at the sharp change in attitude, though this could have been a result of the alcohol. Kids these days had to prove themselves to the old veterans, didn’t they? He didn’t mind it, however, and in good spirits, poured himself another drink, the exact same one she had criticized for being a bit too soft earlier. There was something endearing about people acting as if they were fine even when they clearly weren’t, especially because he could relate very much with that feeling. It wasn’t his place to twist the knife into the wound, though, not after what he just went through. Instead, he opted for the alcohol as well, showing that he was no better than her if anything.

“Right. You’re good.”

It wasn’t before long until that she opened up a bit more to him, giving him enough details about what she had gone through to force him to finish his glass in one long gulp. He waited a moment, then let out a chuckle while considering her words, not even bothering to look her direction and he poured yet another glass.

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

Apparently, they were here for the same exact reasons. Fate had a strange way with things and while this encounter was probably nothing more than a coincidence, he just thought that maybe…maybe she could have a bit of insight on stuff. Something to meditate on. This would be for another time, because what he said about beating that Typha guy apparently attracted more than just her attention. Her whole expression changed and was it just him or did she seem overly satisfied with that statement? He frowned and she went on explaining the situation on Konats and her unlucky encounters with that guy.

He didn’t know what to think of it, other than the guy didn’t really seem to fit the sins he was guilty of. Goes to show not to judge a book by its cover, heh? Still, he was left a bit curious about this whole deal and couldn’t keep himself from asking for more details.

“What happened there?” he inquired, curious. “What’s this guy’s deal, anyway?”

He supposed her explanation would only give him a reason to justify his hatred of him. Still, feeling bad about her situation would still be a stretch at this point, as were most things that didn’t concern him directly. It was when she mentioned that he had to be stronger than her that he went back to his drink, without a word and emptied another glass in a matter of seconds. Alcohol was starting to kick in at this point, feeling lighter and more talkative, all of a sudden.

“Tch, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Just got my ass handed over by some kid pretending to be God and a dead ghost.” It felt weird to say it like that. “I’m no better than you if anything. Still, I think I could beat up that loser again, just to change my mind.”

He looked at the hand in front of him, considered it for a few seconds and finally turned towards her in order to shake her hand, letting out a sigh at the same time.

“Alright. I’m Dosu.” He almost mentioned that he was part of the Stargoon, but wondered if it meant anything at this point.

He refilled his drink and poured hers as well, lifting the glass in order to celebrate.

“Well, here’s to us losers.”

And he drank it whole, once again.

“So, whaddya plan on doing, now?”

It was hard sometimes to understand what drove people to act the way they did. Certainly, it would take quite the explanation to justify unleashing a bunch of killer robots on the masses and almost wiping out an entire race. Not something a “sorry” and a get well card could ever hope to fix. He knew the guy was a weird one when they met, now it was clear that Typha guy was an idiot at best.

“That’s some weird movie plot you’ve got there. Why would anyone do that only to bring them back and act as if nothing happened? Can’t you just shun him? Or is he forcing you to be thankful that he brought you back?”

Either way, it was a pretty dumb thing to do. If anything, he should bear the weight of his extraordinary mistake and just exile himself far away. Not take up the throne for himself. How much of a self-sufficient guy was he? Alcohol was getting to his brain and suddenly, that guy who he shouldn’t even care about was suddenly becoming someone he had to put down. In truth, it was just a bunch of feelings welling up inside the man that somehow redirected themselves towards the half-robot konatsian. He let the woman speak, not focusing on his own grief anymore as she talked about looking for people to beat that guy. He rose up from his seat and let out an angry shout that shook the whole bar, pumped up and ready to go.

“I’ll do it! I can beat that punk and pay him back for that scar he gave me. Don’t worry about my name, I’ve already forgotten yours, girl. Come on, where is he? I’ll split his damned skull in half!”

If anything, it was the best thing he could come up with to vent off after the sour defeat at the ends of Chime. Somehow, the folks in there weren’t too happy with the man getting too much attention at once. Most of the regulars here were small-time criminals, gangsters, and wannabe tough guys. One of them approached the Heran, going in for a sucker punch to the back of the neck. He was a rather tall-looking guy, giving off that menacing vibe with multiple scars and some teeth missing from a wide smile.

“Mister redhead feels like playing? Alright, I’ll be your partner.”

Dosu didn’t budge from the hit he received, turning around and headbutting the guy straight out of the bar, to everyone’s shock. Apparently, not everyone was used to these absurdly strong martial artists yet.

“Alright, girl. Tell me where he is! I’m itching for a fight, now.”

Impatient as he was, it’d be hard to contain him. Alcohol had taken him out of his slump and now in this inebriated state, he found himself with a little too much energy and even shorter temper than usual.