The Short Straw {Tag: Lucien, Dom}

[Scott Payne]

Bly was not pleased.

Usually it took something relatively drastic to put the quetzal out of sorts: he didn't let much touch him, not if he could help it. Amuse him, hell yes. Most things were pretty damn funny, and very often irrelevant.

But this...Lucien's phone call...THIS was relevant. It concerned him directly, and he was not a bit happy about it. It challenged a principle that he --quite honestly-- clung to fiercely: his independence. Under normal circumstances he would have scoffed and objected to the ludicrous proposal, but the fact of the matter was that it wasn't a proposal, it was a mandate, and Lucien Cobriana was one of few people that Bly willingly took orders from without a great deal of resistance. Bly wasn't an idiot. He liked his job, and he liked his body unmangled.

But this!

When Bly was not pleased about something, he made it nice and clear. Hands shoved sullenly in his jacket pockets and face set in an alarming scowl, he entered the Onyx guildhouse and set down the hallway leading to Lucien's office. Before he got far, though, he came across the door to a restroom, and, not bothering to check which gender it was intended for, he halted, whirled, and gave the door a furious kick.

There was a rewarding BANG as it slammed and bounced off the tile wall. Satisfied, he continued down the hall to the office and gave the door a halfhearted bump with the toe of his boot, stubbornly keeping his hands glued in his pockets. It could have been construed as a subtle form of retaliation-- not deigning to actually knock on the door (although, of course, Bly was not a subtle man, so he probably had not put any thought into his action).

While he waited for the door to open, he stewed silently in his resentful, boiling thoughts. Independence was ensconced in the very fabric of his being, it wasn't something he would, could easily part with. No...he couldn't just go along with this without giving all involved parties a hard time.

No matter who the hell it was, he did not want a partner.

[Lucien Cobriana]

To be totally honest, Lucien didn't really care if Bly was pleased, or if the Quetzal's new partner was going to be pleased.  He needed this done, and he was going to have it done.  They could flip out all they wanted, and he actually expected them to.  He was prepared.

"Come in and have a seat," he called out, already seated behind his desk and awaiting Bly's arrival.  He'd told the other one to arrive later, so that he could handle one at a time.  Bly would be easier to control for longer, which was the plan.  He waited until the man was seated, however unhappily, before speaking again.

"I know you won't like this, and I do apologize.  There were a few choices, and you essentially drew the short straw this time.  I'll remember it the next time something good crops up, so long as you don't make my life hell over it in the meantime," he promised, though his tone made it sound like a threat, as well.  His garnet eyes didn't help that feeling, settled on the other man as they were.  "You're being given a partner, and you will be as responsible for his well-being as he is yours.  You will hunt and train together, and you will watch each other's backs during hunts.  Understood?"

Wait until this partner arrived.  That'd be fun.

[Scott Payne]

Bly slouched in his chair, finally liberating his hands from his pockets so that he could cross his arms over his chest in a likely transparent affectation of insouciance. He kept his expression relatively impassive, but it was proving difficult not to scowl as he listened to Lucien's words.

...Well, until a threatening tone piqued Bly's interest enough for him to seek out Lucien's eyes, which, as it turned out, were locked ominously on him. The quetzal considered. No. No, he wouldn't give the guild leader too much grief at present. He'd reserve that for his new partner.

That last thought perked him up, if only slightly.

Lucien finished rattling off a list of responsibilities that faced impending warping and shirking from a man such as Bly, punctuating his speech with a firm, "Understood?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Bly uttered casually, still somehow managing to contain his distaste. "Hell, I'll feed an' change 'im and tuck 'im in at night after checking under the friggin' bed. No problem."

He was not a good manager, apparently.

[Lucien Cobriana]

Amazingly, given how sour Lucien's mood had been since Tsunai vanished out of nowhere, Lucien smiled.  It wasn't a pleasant expression, but it was amused, and it was there.  Something about Bly's reaction just seemed to have amused him.

"We'll see just how much of that you do," he remarked, just WAITING for Verde to show up.  Fortunately for his own sadistic amusement, it wasn't more than an instant, and he wasn't interfering.  He was just going to watch.

[Carlos Romero]

Dom had assumed that Lucien was running late with a meeting when he first arrived, even if the door wasn't shut completely.  It wasn't really open, but enough that a subtle tap with the metal cane he'd been stuck with cracked it open enough for him to hear.

What?  He was curious.

Naturally, he didn't know who they were talking about, but he'd been warned that he was showing up to get a new partner, and that throwing a hissy fit wasn't going to prevent it from happening, so he could guess.  HE was officially going to kill Bly later for those remarks, though.

Actually, he was in the mood to kill him now.

He pushed the door open completely and then shut it behind him, catching Lucien's creepy red eyes and knowing that the snake had noticed him out there.  He had to have.  Bly was so screwed.  "What makes you think you'll be getting anywhere near my bed, hijo de puta?  The only thing you'll be changing is that mouth of yours, or it'll be put to use eating a bullet instead," he snapped, glaring death at the brightly colored young shifter in front of him.  Lucien's eyes were creepy because of their color mostly, but Dom's were scary because there was a LOT of crazy in those gray-green eyes.  He didn't need fancy colors, just old-fashioned insanity and a gun within VERY easy reach.

[Scott Payne]

Bly's own bright, aquamarine shot open, betraying his startlement when an angry voice rang out (he hadn't heard anything at the door, being too immersed in his own barely contained annoyance), and, jerking his head up, beheld-- Domingos Verde.

He wasn't sure whether to groan, or burst out laughing.

The shifter knew plenty about this man. Even someone who spent as much time away from the guildhouse as Bly generally did could not avoid a certain familiarity with Dom, though they'd rarely had any actual encounters. Gruff acknowledgment in a hallway, perhaps. No, most of what he knew was due simply to the Spaniard's reputation: and it was quite the reputation. Bly could concede that.

Didn't mean it impressed him.

He finally settled on a laugh, a short, barking sound heavy with incredulity. "You?" he demanded of the other hunter, a lopsided grin forming on his face as he looked between Lucien and Domingos. "Seriously? This is my partner? Th' old man can barely walk! What, so, I'm s'posed to do all the work, that it? That what this is about?" He locked eyes with Dom and emitted another laugh, and this one had "arrogant youth" stamped all over it. "Calm ya liver,  anciano, bed's all yours. I am not," he went on breezily, returning his gaze to Lucien (and frankly risking the wrath of everyone else in the room, at this point), "gonna go along with this if it's just so HE gets to sit back an' mooch off my jobs."

[Carlos Romero]

Mooch?!

Domingos Fucking Verde had NEVER mooched off of another soul in his entire life.  He'd made life difficult for a LOT of people, but he didn't mooch.  He earned everything he got, good and bad, and he wasn't about to let some idiot kid give him hell over it.

He'd shot the last one, and he'd shoot this one, too.

In fact, he had his gun pointed at the idiot boy's face within an instant, glaring death and hoping that he wouldn't have to waste the bullet.  Within a millisecond, he didn't care if he wasted the bullet, though he couldn't KILL the kid outright.  So he jerked the weapon to the side enough to take Bly the the shoulder, and backed up within another second. 

He wasn't stupid.

"This anciano doesn't HAVE to walk to take your dumb ass out, so I'm sure I'll be fine," he snapped, just in time for an interference.

Now, Lucien knew that these two were going to be trouble together.  He hadn't taken into account the thought that they might ACTUALLY try to kill each other until he had Dom pulling a gun and firing.  Lucien was quick, but even he didn't make it over his desk and in between them before Dom fired.  He was there an instant later, swatting Dom's gun down and prepared to smack Bly if he had to, as well.

"You're both idiots!" he hissed, obviously missed.  He wasn't the sort to yell, but he'd get it across in other ways, like the manner in which his red eyes flashed.  "Stop!"

He was seriously going to take one of the cripples down if they didn't.

[Scott Payne]

Bly could move quickly when he wanted to, quite light and agile, thanks to his lineage. But for the insane geezer to whip out a GUN and AIM IT AT HIS FACE...well, he was startled for an instant and a millisecond too long.

A pained and indignant shout tore at the quetzal's throat as the bullet slammed into his shoulder, followed shortly thereafter by a slapped palm to staunch the immediate flow. This was one of those infrequent instances when anger was the first emotion to erupt: Bly did not take physical attacks lightly. Not at all.

His chair skidded into the wall as he sprang to his feet, hand flying away from the wound, a streak of blood trailing like an afterthought, and darting for his waistband under his jacket. Wrong hand, wrong hand, he didn't care. The other arm probably wasn't going to do the job, not just now. He practically tore out his gun, gripping it clumsily, nearly fumbling it as he brandished it at the other hunter's face.

Again, a moment too slow: the face he saw as he stared down the barrel was Lucien's, not Dom's. He was saved the indignity of dropping it --for truthfully, his grasp was so poor and the jolt of seeing Lucien so great that he certainly would have-- as the guild leader batted the Glock from his hand, as well.

"You're both idiots! Stop!"

Bly wanted nothing more than to hurl himself at Dom, yank away the cane and beat him over the head with it...but Lucien was rather in the way. He settled for balling his fists (trying to ignore the pain that flared in his upper arm) and snarling, "HE FUCKIN' SHOT ME!" He'd intended on lifting both fists pugnaciously. The injured arm did not, however, respond beyond his clenching hand. When he noticed this he added another livid "FUCK." And now his jacket had a hole in it.

[Carlos Romero]

Despite all the yelling, Dom was pretty pleased.  Having Bly shrieking and freaking out like that was perfectly fine with him, and he thought it was absolutely laughable that the child had thought he could shoot back before Dom would have been able to hit him again.  What an idiot.  If the Spaniard had really felt threatened, he'd have put a bullet in Bly's skull, and been done with it.  He didn't play around like that.

He'd known Lucien would interfere, though.  Shooting the Guild leader, however tempting sometimes, wasn't a good career move.  Perhaps this would 'suggest' that these two weren't to be partnered.

Yeah, Lucien was DEFINITELY reconsidering this.  It HAD been a random choice, but he should have known it'd never work.  He'd had faith in their abilities to act like mature adults, but that had obviously been a huge mistake on his part.  How DARE he assume that two of his hunters could be mature enough to get along without killing each other?

"Verde, get out!" he snapped, not about to deal with two psychos at once, and staring down the barrel of a gun hadn't been enjoyable, even if he swatted it away quickly.  Surprisingly, it didn't rattle him, though. 

Just a part of everyday life in Onyx.

He waited until Verde was gone, seemingly in a better mood for having gotten to shoot someone, until he bothered with Bly.  That was really for the best, he knew without a doubt, and he even bent to pick up the chair his hunter had knocked over.  "Sit down," he directed in a tone that suggested Bly not return with a smart remark, and he leaned back against his desk for a moment in silence.  He had to decide how to proceed.

"I'll contact Crimson.  Verde's former partner still works for them, so that'll have him covered, but I think you would be better off with one, yourself.  Maybe it could teach you a little respect for others," he commented dryly, just WAITING for a retort.  He'd call Doc Mitchell once he was sure Bly was going to be cooperative. 

[Scott Payne]

Seething, Bly kept his hand clamped over the oozing wound, face twisted in a very unpleasant grimace as he watched Lucien order the psychotic Spaniard to leave the office. However, never one to let his attention linger on one thing for too long, once something new caught his notice, he was soon distracted by the wound itself, peeling back his hand and glaring balefully at the bloody hole. The bullet was smashed in there, obviously, or else he'd have no problem healing it. Had to get the friggin' thing out, first.

"Sit down."

The Quetzal, focused on his wound --he was even nudging one finger around the edge of the hole, ignoring the pain, as if he were considering fishing out the bullet himself-- almost jumped at the guild leader's tone. Shit. He sat. He hated doing it, but he sat and said nothing. He did, at least, transfer his glare to Lucien.

He did not speak or move until the other man made mention of ANOTHER partner...and respect. He uttered a flat, disbelieving laugh, then went on sardonically: "Look, let's get this straight: you I can respect. You're in charge. You're in charge for a reason, OK? Other guys, they ain't any better than me when ya get down to it. Why should I respect 'em?"

[Lucien Cobriana]

Lucien, being rather good at threatening glares himself, wasn't at all bothered by Bly's attempt.  He wasn't really upset by the response he got, either, but that didn't mean the was just going to take it and let it go.  The kid needed to learn some respect, or he was going to get himself killed.  Considering Lucien's responsibilities included not letting his hunters end up dead, he was going to try to help Bly out on this. 

He didn't care if it wasn't appreciated.

"Yes, I'm in charge for a reason, and I'm telling you that you're going to have a partner because you need to learn to respect people for more than just being stronger and faster than you are.  This guy is going to be more to your liking, I'm sure, and you're going to just have to learn to deal with it.  First, the infirmary, though," he insisted, writing down a name, taking a moment to find a phone number and write that down as well, and handing it to Bly.

"If you don't call him and set up a time to meet by tomorrow, you'll be back in here for another forced meeting," he threatened, and he actually made it SOUND like a threat.  He didn't have time to babysit, so if he had to, he wasn't going to be pleased.

[Scott Payne]

Bly hated lectures passionately...but this was Lucien. This guy was in charge of his job, and whether or not he could keep it. Truth be told, it was pretty simple what Bly would have to do.

Cooperate. How that word made him twitch.

He accepted the piece of paper with a mere, "Yes, Mother," before pushing back his chair, standing, and stalking out of the office. Didn't want to go to no damn infirmary, didn't want to call no damn pointless partner.

Yet he was going to do both. Not a happy little Quetzal.