FFM2: Indirect Correlations
David was terribly bored, and Luis was no where to be found. It was nearly impossible to find one without the other, but today was a rare exception: they had had a fight.
It had started out really well. Sparky had wanted to learn to mix drinks, and his gargoyle shoulder angel, Johanna, hadn't been able to come up with a good reason as to why he shouldn't. Luis had jumped on the opportunity to kick around the Inn, with David trailing after him with short mutterings of going along only as a chaperon and nothing more. It wasn't strictly true, of course. Luis was pretty sure that David would kill just for the chance to see Merci in an informal environment, but he kept that part mostly to himself.
Sparky wasn't the best student, but he grasped concepts after the first couple of times. At least, that's what Cameron and Brendan kept telling him, but it was Newt who was subject to the taste testing, and he was positively green after the third Long Island Ice Tea. David was convinced that Newt just sucked all the fun out of everything, and had told him so. It didn't take long for a word war to break out, and Etna quickly suggested teaching Sparky about Tequila Sunrises to avoid a fist fight.
Which turned out to be a mistake, of course. Tequila Sunrise was the bane of David's existence, because Luis and him had never agreed on how it was made. Luis was more of a simplest, using only tequila, orange juice and grenadine syrup. David, on the other hand, was dead set on the original: tequila, creme de cassis, lime juice and soda water. With tempers already on the rise, an intervention by Deciet was the only reason they didn't come to blows.
And that was that. He had been damned to the kitchen, twirling his thumbs in silence while Luis continued teaching Bartending 101 to the clueless humanoid hybrid. It was glorified time out, and that particular fact chipped away at his already brittle pride. David slumped against the dark granite counter tops, completely dejected. He only slumped more when the purring of a small fuzzball became the only thing he could here.
"No, Mou, I'm going to maul him." David muttered darkly, ignoring the sand cat hybrid kneading into his shoulder.
"I'm told she bites liars." Lou reminded him, digging into the refrigerator on the hunt for sustenance. David ignored her, trying to make his face part of the counter top. She plopped down a bar stool shortly after with a carton of neon orange mulberries and a container of whipped cream.
"I'm not lying. I am going to remove his perfectly manicured nails from his fingertips with pliers."
"What a vulgar phrase, too bad you won't do it."
"What makes you think that, Anjo?" David sat up, and stole one of the odd colored mulberries from the angel in question. She only pushed the container toward him, and dipped another berry into the whipped cream.
"Be careful, you're letting your cultural background show." He scowled at her.
"That didn't answer my question."
"Eh. I've got experience dealing with guys like you." She shrugged, suddenly done with the direction the conversation was taking.
"How are you and Gabrielle?"
"He's going to go batshit if he finds out Deciet's slander is catching on, you know." She sighed. "He's an idiot."
"Give up on him, then." He popped a mulberry into his mouth before stalking over to a corner cabinet and retrieving glasses and a bottle of Chardonnay. Mou only gave a muted growl at being displaced from her perch on his shoulder and stalked off in search of someone to give her attention.
"But..." Lou tried to wave him off when he offered her a stemmed glass, but David would have none of it and she quickly gave up. "Our betrothal is purely for political reasons. I don't dislike Gabriel, but..." She rolled the wine glass in her hands.
"Does he make you happy?" Lou opened her mouth to say something, but David waved her off. "If he doesn't, damn the political play and do what makes you happy. It's not like Gabrielle has much of a political agenda when he's busy chasing Merci and leaving Justice to run things."
"You've got a point there." She sighed again. "But what's left if I commit political suicide like that? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to ascend."
"Being an angel is overrated, anyway." David shrugged, popping another mulberry. "You can't do anything fun, and it's all politics this and politics that. Besides, I'm told that Sin's pretty lenient on pretty girls." Lou rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure-" Lou was cut off by Crypt peeking around the door frame.
"Hey, pretty lady, your fiance managed to piss the redhead off and she's gone and tied his wings in knots. I'm told to escort you to the scene by Darius... What is going on here." Crypt eyed the scene critically, before nodding. "It's about time."
"Don't be dense." Lou snapped at her fellow angel, setting her glass on the counter. "I'm not up for political suicide, thanks." She stalked out of the kitchen, with Crypt hot on her heels.
David just shook his head and wandered up to the library. Perhaps Deceit would want to act on this particular gem of information.
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