Betrayal in Elysium [malexmale]

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The night was filled with booze, a friendly prostitute, music, and laughing.

I hadn't laughed in a while, at a joke that wasn't my own, so I welcomed it with open arms, despite being a little tipsy. Jahlia was nothing like the other women I'd been around. Fos was obnoxious and nosy while her sister, Skotadi, was just as sly and manipulative. The other women just wanted to try and suck up to me or make bets on who could make me straight first.

Yeah, that's so how it worked.

NOT.

Jahlia didn't care who I was and would happily slap me with insults that I countered to the best of my ability, only to have her bitchslap me with a comment even harder. She was damn good company, and even though she knew nothing about my life, I still felt like she could relate. Not quite to the dot, but to the point where it effected her strongly.

"Men are pigs," Jahlia stated as she leaned on the bar, knocking back another martini, rolling the toothpick around on her tongue before she snapped it in half with her fang and dropped it in the glass, "You can never trust them. They say they love you? What a joke!" I nodded, even though technically she was insulting me as well, but even I had to admit that the word "love" had lost its meaning. I'd had a couple of one-night stands who said they loved me, but it was all bullshit. They just wanted what little power I possessed, or to fuck my life up.

One man told me he loved me, and I believed him.

In return, to show his precious love to me, he killed me more times than I can count. With more than a dagger and fists. With words.

"I can drink to that." I told her, beating my hand on the bar to get the bartender's attention, but he was too busy trying to flirt with a woman that had crawled in through the back somehow. I cursed foully and Jahlia patted my hand.

"You gotta do more than that to get attention, sugarlumps."

"Sugarlumps?"

"I've knocked back enough alcohol to kill a human. You're sugarlumps, candycrust, and gumdrops. Whatever the hell I say you are."

"Mmm," I moaned at that, grinning wickedly at her as I rested my cheek on my fist, elbow on the bar, "Keep talking like that and I might just get a sugar high before I get drunk." Jahlia snorted at that, then smacked her hand down and snapped her fingers in the air, turning her head to look over her shoulder down at the bartender.

"Oi! We're paying you to get us drunk, you! Two Enigmas!" She shouted, making the bartender wince and glare in our direction before he sulked off to obey as the woman he was trying to flirt with slunk off to find new prey. I snickered, running a hand through my hair before dropping my hand to the counter.

"I can't handle that much alcohol without puking." I warned her with a smirk. Jahlia shrugged, waving me off as she licked her red lips, then paused to make a face at the lipstick on her tongue. She picked up a napkin and wiped the lipstick off her pale pink lips, smacking them to try and get the paint off.

"Don't be a light-weight after all that talk about drinking like a man," She drawled, tossing her napkin at my face before she paused to watch me pull it off my face and study the lipstick there, "Wow, red's your color." I snorted at that, flicking the napkin at her as she caught it and shoved it into someone's shot glass behind her.

"So, why'd you decide to come out and drink anyway?" Jahlia asked as the bartender pushed our drinks across the counter to us. She took hers and swallowed a huge gulp, barely flinching at the harsh alcoholic flavor. I was a little more hesitant. I could handle alcohol, sure, but enough to have me going up like a Roman candle? Not so sure. I took a little sip and instantly withdrew to set it down, coughing. Jahlia smirked at that, watching me with amusement dancing in her eyes. I scowled, recovering from the coughing fit to glance at her.