Horseshoes And Handgrenades

[Anty]

Anthony stumbled forwards as Evan removed his arm, but he quickly gained his balance, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. He laughed at Hatty, but it wasn't humorous. He looked her in the eye, "We won't hurt you," he gestured to himself and Evan, "We're your friends. We only want to help," he winked. He sighed, smoke trailing out of his mouth into the night air.

Quinn licked her lips involuntarily, it was a small habit she had fallen into over the years. She sized up the situation, three Hunters to one Innocent, they could easily persuade her to join them. But did she want to join these bandits? Should she go incognito? No, she decided she should tell the truth here. "I am also a Hunter," she said hesitantly, looking to her friend and folding her arms over her chest. But then her eyes flashed to Anthony, it was creepy the way he had suddenly changed from being a nice guy to... that. And the laugh sent chills down her spine, even in the warm night air.

Anthony looked around at his companions without moving his head. This was his first step into really becoming a Hunter, and it was only the beginning.

[Waddle]

Evan glanced at Anthony at that weird laugh. He didn't want to get mixed up in all this tonight. But, he guessed, it was important to Ant. Evan had never put his mind to the task of hunting Innocents and trying to persuade Undecideds to join the Hunters, but maybe now was the time to start. Perfect opportunity. With Hatty drunk, her opinion might be more persuadable than if she were sober. Plus, she was swaying on her feet right where she stood. It would be unlikely if she ran away that she would get that far. Still... He didn't like it. He didn't let the uncertainty show, though. Casually taking the cigarette from his mouth, he tapped it and watched the ashes drift away as he listened to Quinn. Well, that was a relief. "Being a Hunter has its advantages. For one, you won't have to be that awkward around your friend, Quinn. Relationships between people like us who are on different sides is awkward, I've seen it several times. Friendships ended, boyfriends and girlfriends hating each other, that type. I'm sure you want to keep your friendships in tact, right?"

Hatty's eyes widened slightly at Quinn as she took another small step back, so she could face all the Hunters. She felt like running, but knew she wouldn't get too far. She didn't like this, not one bit, and even the usually oblivious, intoxicated side of her knew something was very wrong. Listening to Evan, she nodded slowly, uncertainly. "Yeah..." she said quietly. Things would be weird, and she wanted them to not be weird with any friends or boyfriends or anyone. Especially Stan, whispered a voice in the back of her head. "But, not all my friends would necessarily be Hunters!" She looked at the three of them with almost pleading eyes. She didn't want to be part of any of it. If she had had her choice, she wouldn't have a talisman, nothing in the past month would have happened, and she wouldn't have met anyone here. "Right?"

[Anty]

Anthony noticed that everyone had begun to stare at him, which was odd, "What? No one's heard a man laugh before?" They had reached the Silent Rose and he stopped abruptly, it wasn't the place he would normally be found at. Normally he was at a bar, and this was just the opposite. He rubbed his hands together, "Well, this is... nice."

Quinn looked at the building in front of them. It was nice and quiet, the way she liked it. "You don't want to hate us forever, do you Hatty?" she looked at her friend, her eyes pleading her to join them. Once she thought it over, she decided she would rather not fight against these two, they would be a good team to have on your side.

Anthony stepped into the restaurant and looked around into the dark room, letting his eyes adjust a little. He looked at the waitress and nodded, "We'd like a table of four," he took a handful of mints from the podium thing and shoved them down his throat.

[Waddle]

"No..." Hatty whispered, looking at the ground and stopping with everyone else. She had to come up with a logical reason to stay an Undecided for who knew what might happen... Hatty didn't think that Quinn would be aggressive, but who knew about the other two? Evan didn't seem too bad, but Anthony was a different matter. Either way, she didn't trust the men, and she only slightly trusted Quinn. Even less now, that she felt so put-on-the-spot about this. Her mind wasn't working right, and she couldn't think clearly. She shook her head and kept her face down as she tried to think through the alcohol.

Evan followed behind Anthony, sure that the girls would follow without needed to be prodded. He leaned down a bit to whispers in Anthony's ear. "You're doing good with this Hunter stuff already, brother." Straightening, he looked back at the girls quickly to make sure they were still there, then started as the maid addressed them. "I'm sorry," she said, in forced politeness, "but you are required to wear shoes and a shirts at our restaurant." Evan scoffed. "So if we walked in with no pants, but had shirts and shoes, we could eat here, am I right?" The situation had always befuddled him; why most places had 'No shoes, no shirts, no service' but no 'no pants' anywhere in sight. The waitress glared at him, then glanced back into the dining area. There was hardly anyone there. She sighed and began leading them back to a table in the back. Evan grinned, satisfied with himself.

Hatty couldn't stand it anymore. The feeling of being trapped, caged entered her brain as she walked into the Silent Rose. She turned to Quinn, a desperate, wild look in her eyes, unable to catch her breath. "Quinn! Please don't make me do this!" Her voice was quiet, but urgent. Her reaction was from the drinking, but it was only a small exaggeration of how she would've felt about this situation if she had been sober. "I don't think I cant decide, I- I- I-" Stammering herself into silence, she eyed the doorway behind Quinn hopefully, wishing her brother or even Stan or anyone would come rescue her.

[Anty]

Anthony smirked, his friend could get away with anything, and it probably didn't help matters that the young waitress kept eying his abs. He almost commented on the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes either, but with is luck he would be thrown out. Following the small waitress, he took the seat by the window. Making himself comfortable, he propped his chin on the palm of his elbow.

Quinn glanced worriedly at Hatty, she didn't quite seem like herself. "You don't have to make the decision if you don't want to, Hatty," she stammered and grabbed her friend by the arm, leading her to the table.. She sat down beside her, "It's okay, you don't have to," she whispered with sympathy in here eyes, they had all been there before.

Anthony suddenly grabbed Evan in a giant hug. He closed his eyes and his eyes began to sting with tears, "I love you brother," he told him. He looked up at the waitress staring down at him expectantly, but he continued to hug Evan anyways, "I want a large beer with extra foam."

[Waddle]

Hatty took a deep, steadying breath, bringing her mentally broken-down mind back into order. She swore to herself that she wouldn't drink so much ever again. She nodded, getting herself under control again, and followed Quinn, slightly nervously. She raised her eyebrow at the hug scene, and a small breath escaped her lips. "Aww... Ain't that sweet?"
she asked of no one as she took a seat.

Evan hugged Anthony back, nearly choking on his saliva. "I love you too, brother" he was able to manage in at least a slightly dignified voice. Looking up at the waitress, he told her, without breaking the hug, "Water, if you don't mind, thanks." He sniffled, then burried his face in Anthony's shoulder. Having Ant, someone that would be closer than even family, back was just great. Probably the best thing in his life. His mind wandered back to his real family he had never met, but he jerked his thoughts away before he got too deep into contemplation about it. Breaking the hug, he sniffed again, wiped his eyes and smiled to himself as he stared down at the menu the waitress had placed on the table. His smile quickly fell, however. The prices were pretty high. Oh crap. He looked at the girls, then back to the menu, wondering if they would pay their own food. Hopefully, 'cause we didn't invite them.

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo woke with a start as he felt a sharp object slide easily into the skin of his arm. He looked around him and found he was in a semi-fancy restaurant, at a table in the back. He saw there was a rather small, grumpy waitress, and a small variety of people huddled at another table along the same row of tables as him. He was hidden in the shadows, so they probably hadn't even noticed yet.

Tomo figured he must have dozed off into sleep while he was grabbing a quick dinner here. He then wondered what might have awoken him, and he was brought back to the stabbing sensation flowing through his arm. He yanked a steak knife out of his arm; that must have woken him. In his haste to pull out the sharp blade, he knocked a saucer of steak sauce into his lap, and cursed loudly. But, Tomo then remembered the dream he had had when he was dozing off, about a small blue serpent hissing- rather whispering- hastily in his ear about- what was it he had said again?- talismans...

He got up from his table in the corner, pulled out a wad of cash, and began to walk back to the door of the restaurant. Because he was still trying to recall the rest of his dream, he didn't realize he was walking straight at the other company's table until he walked right into it. He quickly scrambled back up and dusted off his already wet and steaky pants. He raised his hand, about to quickly apologize, when he saw the man without the shirt's eyes. They were pale blue.

Tomislav held the man's gaze, for once at a loss for words. "Worthless French scum!" Tomo muttered under his breath, not meaning for it to be heard, although he said it loud enough, so the whole table probably did.

[Waddle]

Hatty yawned widely. She was beginning to feel very, very tired. Standing, she leaned over the table slightly, and stared the two men in the eyes. "Right now," she said, in a drunkenly business-like manner, "I am about to drop passed out where I am right now. I am leaving and finding somewhere to sleep. I might see you guys again sometime, but good day!" She straightened, waved, turned, and marched out, passing the other customer without even noticing him. Just get out the door, she told herself. Get out the door and never see any of them again. Oh, my gosh, I wish I knew what to do about Quinn!

Evan wasn't paying any attention to the other customer. He was just glad that the drunk girl left. He grunted a reply, waved disinterestedly back, never taking his eyes from the menu. Maybe, if they acted like they didn't care about Quinn, she would leave too, leaving Ant and Evan alone so they could eat in peace. He glanced up, met the other customer's eyes, then looked behind him, not noticing anything odd about the tall man. He narrowed his eyes at an odd painting on the wall, then heard a voice behind him and faced frontwards again, staring at the stranger. Was it so apparent that he was of French origin? "I'm sorry... Do I know you?" Evan asked. Then his eyebrows rose as he saw the stranger's pale blue eyes, so like his own, and so like his father, or so he had been told. Probably just a coincidence, a lot of people had pale blue eyes. He closed his menu and stared up at the stranger, studying him, but not finding anything familiar, aside from those blue eyes.

[Anty]

Quinn sighed in relief as Hatty marched out the door, she waved to the guys and muttered something about good riddance, then slipped away from the building unseen.

Anthony studied the menu, muttering aloud to himself the many choices of cheeseburgers they had to offer. He lifted the large mug of beer to his lips and gulped down much of it, leaving a white mustache on his face. He wiped it off with his sleeve and looked up at the newcomer. Oh, please don't be that drunk one again... he thought, but he was relieved to see something else. There was a tall man standing in front of them now, but for a split second Anthony was sure that Evan was standing in front of them. "EVAN! Wait... Evan? What the hell are you doing over there? Ehh?" he looked back to his best friend, then back to the stranger again. "Is he- Am I- Do you know him? French?" He whispered a curse, shaking his head in the confusion. Had he missed something?

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo seethed with rage that had nothing to do with this stranger, and yet everything to do with him. Had to do with his father. Tomo scrunched his eyes shut and saw his father as if he was plastered to the inside of his eyelids. He slammed his fist down onto the table, making it's contents slide dangerously close to the edge. "Well, I guess you fu-" he stopped himself, trying to curse, "freaking mother didn't tell you what she did!" Tomo yelled in anguish. He was breathing heavily, and his head felt like it had a bass drum pounding inside of it. He didn't know why he was so angry, perhaps his father, the man's ignorance, his mother's death...

Tomo felt a single tear roll down his cheek, a tear filled with grief, pity, fury... No, Tomislav you mustn't cry. She did this to you. The maid. His mother. He let out a low hiss, that sounded oddly like a snake about to strike. And so was he. Tomo grabbed Evan round the neck, and held him against the wall, which was fairly easy since the other man was so puny compared to himself, tall and muscular. He swung back his fist, and hit his opponent square on the jaw.

[Waddle]

"What are you talking about?!" Evan demanded, both scared and surprised by the stranger's angry face and the fist pounding on the table. He scooted his chair toward Anthony, about to answer Anthony's questions, but didn't get the chance to as the stranger grabbed him and slapped him against the wall. Evan tried to wiggle free, but the punch sent him reeling, the back of his head slamming agianst the wall. He started to go limp as the world went black, but caught himself and finally squirmed free. He threw three swift, accurate punches to the stranger's chest, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get a good swing in on his head. He backed away, but he knew that running from this fight was as hopeless as beating the stranger. His eyes were wide as he stumbled over his own bare feet. "I swear to Mother Earth, I don't know you!"

What had the stranger said about his mother again? Oh yes... Evan's fists clentched up again as he seethed in anger at the words. French scum? What MY mother did? He had never met his mother. Or his father. He had only known that his father had come home drunk one day and had sex with his mother, then fired her like any little piece of filth would. "How would you know what my mother did?!" he shouted at the stranger. What right did he have to insult Evan's family so? Evan had always hated his father's guts, but was very protective of his mother, for some strange reason. She had done what she needed to protect her son, by abandoning him, something that must have been hard for her to do. He wanted so much to punch the stranger square in the face like the stranger had punched him. His jaw kept trobbing, painfully so, and the pain was added to it by the fact he was biting mad.

[Anty]

Anthony winced as the large fist hit the table, knocking his beer into his lap and splattering it across his face. He spit some of it out of his mouth, "Hey! You're paying for that!" he said angrily. If this guy was trying to make new friends, he was going about it the wrong way. He looked from him to Evan and back again. There was something going on that he was missing, but it looked as if Evan had no idea either. "Do you guys know each other? Because you- " he stopped.

Anthony tensed his muscles, not sure what was going to happen next. Then he saw him lift Evan from his seat, and he rose quickly from his seat, knocking his chair backwards. But then his face went from a look shock to absolute disgust. He quickly found his way towards the buff figure until he was standing in front of him. But he wasn't scared of him, which was probably due to the adrenaline, but the beer helped too.

Anthony gripped the back of the man's hair, pulling his head down towards him so that he looked as if he was playing a fun game of limbo. He drew his fist back and threw a well aimed punch towards the man's pale blue eye. It hit home, and Anthony felt the impact on his tightly clenched knuckles, he shook his hand to lessen the pain surging through it and took the back of the man's head into his grip. With one swift move he drove the man's face into the wall, hearing a loud crack, then he let him drop to the floor. "No one messes with my Evan," he snarled with disgust, spitting onto the man.

Then through all the excitement he remembered Evan. He rushed to his side, kneeling down on one knee. He grabbed his jaw and wiggled it around a bit, "You alright, bro?" he panted.

[Mothtoto.]

"Well, let's just say your mother and my father were very close one night." Tomislav hissed in his deep Russian accent. Tomo took the first few blows to his stomach as a bit of a shock, but they didn't do much to him but make him stagger back a few paces. He was about to lift Evan up by the neck again and knock him out cold, when he felt something reach into his hair and pull his head painfully backwards. He made a strange croaking noise and fell backwards a bit more.

Tomo then felt like his right eye was being pushed back into his skull, going all the way through his head. Then the small man pushed him forward into the wall. He feel something wet and sticky on his face, but then as he slowly slid down the wall, he knew he was leaving a trail of his own blood. Tomo slid right on top of his half brother's limp form.

When he thought he could bear the pain no longer, and would slip away from this world, he sunk into unconsciousness.

[Waddle]

"Yeah, yeah," Evan panted, then felt something heavy land on his middle. The last bit of air in his lungs gasped out as the stranger's words took full meaning in his foggy brain. MY mother? HIS father?! He looked at his half brother lying limply across him and felt something he hadn't felt in a long time since he was 11 or 12 years old. Pure, richus anger, the anger you feel when you know you've been wronged to the highest degree. Except it wasn't for himself or at the stranger, it was for his mother and at the stranger's father. Yes, Tomo's father... Not MY father! He kicked and pushed the man off him, feeling like he wanted to kill someone. He wanted to kill his father - for all the lowlife things that man had done to Evan's mother. Right then, he had no where to put that rage. Raises a bare foot above the man's nose, he slammed it down, hoping to hear something similar to a crack.

He felt tears sting his eyes and turned away from Anthony, facing the wall, head bowed, gasping to regain his breath. What had just happened? He had just met his half brother? Yes. Was he more confused than he'd ever been in his entire life? Yes. He turned around to look at the man's limp body, then looked at Anthony, a small smile spreading across his face. It hurt to speak, but he knew he had to. "Thanks, brother. You are my only true brother. And I love you." Stepping over the unconscious form of his half brother, Evan hugged Anthony, and realized that he really meant what he had said. Maybe more than a friendship-brotherly love. Glancing at the people who stared at them, he didn't care right then. He didn't care that they were staring, that some of them had phones half risen to their faces to call 911. He didn't give a rat's tail about them. Ant was the only person in his life he cared about right then, and that really, truely freaked him out.

[Anty]

Anthony searched Evan's eyes, he knew he would never admit if he was really hurt, "Are you sure you're all right? Is your jaw fine? That was a nasty blow... God, I never should have made you come here. None of this would have happened!" he ran his hands through his hair, trying to take in everything that had just happened. He hugged his friend back, but his mind was occupied. He had enjoyed the fight, he had been in fights before, but never quite like that. The scene replayed in his head numerous times, "Yeah... Ditto," he muttered.

He let go, turning around to face the large crowd that surrounded them now. It was funny, moments ago the place seemed almost deserted, and now it seemed as if thousands were watching them, jeering them on and shouting for more violence. He looked at one face to the next, seeing the same thing: amusement. "What? Never seen a fight before? EVERYONE GET OUT!" he snarled, and watched as everyone slowly filtered out, giving him odd looks. He sighed, "What a night," he turned back towards Evan.

Suddenly he remembered his fist, and he looked at it closer now. He attempted to flex his fingers but winced in pain, realizing he couldn't. He knew he had punched the guy pretty hard, but to break his own knuckles? There was something caged inside of him that was crazed and ambitious, and it had just shown itself.