Chapter 2
The lights in my studio where dark, jinx came in once and now the whole place glows neon from so many cornered i cant even count, it made the place a little more fun. I was sat on my stool, cleaning up after finishing up with a guy who bet off all his fingers and needed to replace them, seconds later i hear a loud grumpy muffled voice, a little surprised I turn around. It was another client, i raise an eyebrow and decide to help him out, his entire jaw got knocked off. Half way, twisting tight against his jaw, i hear another pissed of voice at my door, confusion and surprise filled my face, i paused and turned to see a fully grown man with both his mechanical hands ripped off brutally, my eyes widened in slight shock, wondering what the hell went down to have caused that. I groaned and ordered him to wait till I finished up with this squealing man across me. Soon enough i hear another one complaining and another after her, i was starting to get annoyed at how my clients seem to have doubled in a single night, still business was business.
A week after that there was more and more, i knew how affected people where because of shimmer but not this much…
On day as i left my studio, finally after what seemed like forever, i hear more of a ruckus at the ring and curiosity gets the best of me. I tie my hair up and mentally prepare my self to be surrounded by sweaty men yelling mindlessly. I walk in with my hands in my pockets, recognising almost everyone as I’ve seen them at least once in my shop, finally i reach the centre, expecting to see a very angry big man, injuring everyone he gets the chance to and sends them to me. I turn my head to see my expectations quickly being proved wrong.
A woman, not even taller than me with black make up down her cheeks and neck, nothing but sadness behind her eyes. Fighting in a way I’ve never seen anyone do, fast and hard, sending men twice her size down in a second. For the first time in my life i was mesmerised by each hit she landed, squinting and hissing softly at each hit she took. Still, no hit she took made her fall, she always won and still she looked like she lost to each one. I tilted my head slightly as i see her take her win, her blue eyes finding mine and holding them for a long moment, my eyes narrowing slightly as i tried to read her but something deep within me urged me to look away, it felt like I couldn’t. All till i blinked and all of a sudden she disappeared from the pit and my sight.
I sighed and turned to find my way out of the crowd and to the bar, tired from having more people see me than usual then willingly going into this fight pit where everyone is loud and reeks of sweat. Glancing down as i sip my drink slowly, dissociating as all i can think of is her eyes staring into mine, feeling way more curious than i ever felt for anyone. I turn around to see everyone moving in for drinks as the fights are over now. Watching calmly as all of a sudden i see as this dark haired girl stumbles and leans into the bar, grabbing a bottle and drinking straight from that, a little surprised and curious, i turn and tilt my head to see who would even do that. The girl from the fight, she would.
I realise who I’m looking at and and turn my head again, looking around at all the people at the bar, trying not to get distracted by her staring right at me, i glance over at her again, a little confused why she would be looking this closely into me for this long, instead she was actually slowly passing out as she’s falling into me and off the chair. “Oh no-” i say in surprise as i instinctively catch her, her head falling into my shoulders with her entire body weight on me causing me to almost fall over too, a little worried now, about both of us.
I lean her back against the bar, trying to wake her up, even grabbing some water to splash on her face, noticing all her injuries and cuts on her face till i finally notice the “VI” tattoo on her cheek.
“VI?”
i say out loud as I wondered if that was VI or 6 till suddenly her eyes open up half way in response, sighing in slight relief as i was still holding her up by her shoulder and her face to look into mine, a bunch of her make up smudging into my hands. I tilt my head curiously as she opens her eyes, her voice low and sarcastic,
“I know you… you’re the one fixing these idiots up”
I smiled softly as i let go other her face, still holding her shoulder up as i know she’ll probably fall over again, wondering how someone this strong has no limits.
“And you’re the one breaking them”
I could help but scoff softly, turning away before my eyes land back onto her, noticing how the dim lights of the bar couture her muscles well, her arms slightly tense as i still hold her up. I look up at her cheeks, noticing all the remains form the fights she just had.
“You’re hurt”
I say not even sure why I would care, the sight of blood mixing with the black paint running down her face made my heart ache in a way no one ever managed to do. I let go of her noticing she has that look on her face, a look saying ‘why would you care’, annoyed with her lip pulled up slightly. I take a cloth from across the bar and dip it in her drink, sure it was probably pure alcohol. She was silent, i ran the cloth across her wounds, watching as she hisses at the pain, trying to find it within me why im even helping her. She looks into my eyes, her gaze softening slightly before snapping out of it and taking the cloth off my hand, turning away as she held it her self, her look going back to annoyed and angsty.
“Why do you even care? Just because your fixing everyone up doesn’t mean i need any”
I try hard to not roll my eyes, instead just shrug softly as i watching her bite her lip at the burning feeling. I lean back into the bar, sipping my drink again, crossing my legs, watching all the fighters drink and gambling their pain away, throaty laughs fill the bar before being replaced with arguments and petty fights very quickly. My fingers tracing the rim of the glass in my hand, wiping off the stain my dark lips left before feeling her eyes on me again, I couldn’t help but turn to her, my curiosity getting the best of me. Curiosity on why would she chose to take out all her hurt here, getting beat up over and over again knowing shell win on the end anyways, but all that could come out my lips was the most stupid question.
“What’s with all the makeup?”
I could see her face switch from confused to almost amused, she scoffed, her movements still hazy and her tone sarcastic.
“To hide all my beauty of course”
I couldn’t help but actually chuckle and i could see her eyes losing some of their edge, feeing somewhat glad i could see who she might have actually been before whatever caused to to get into all this. I could see her try and push down any opportunity that forces her to lower this mask she put on, turning away and almost reminding her self how every new relationship is a new way she could be betrayed, sabotaging her self from any chance of happiness.
“I don't think its hiding any of it”
I spoke almost pulling her out of her head, smiling softly and for some reason unable to look into her eyes and instead looking down at my drink, feeling her eyes on me, slowly feeling the heat rise up my neck, grateful of the darkness of the bar as she’ll probably not see. I noticed her lips part like she was about to speak but instead stayed silent, only smirking and glancing away as she took a big gulp from the bottle in her hand. We sat there in the most comforting silence, feeing her arm brush up against mine as she joins me in just observing everyone at the bar, knowing she was probably never one to do that before, too hot headed, too social.
Quickly this was broken as an argument started to arise and lots of stuff started to be thrown around, a glass heading straight for me as I quickly tilted my head away and knew this was my invitation to leave. I turn to Vi but she was already jumping after whoever’s glass that was, i sighed and tried to sneak my way out without getting hit, hearing a mutter of her voice “Hey wait!”, but i turned too late as she was back into the fight, feeling too overwhelmed i had to leave. finally reaching the door and taking a deep breath, maybe the air in Zaun wasn’t the best, but it was definitely better than the strong scent of alcohol and sweat in that bar. I turned hoping ill see her come out after me, clenching my jaw as i mentally scolded my self for even expecting that, looking down at my hand to see her black makeup still softly stained, sighing in annoyance as i wonder why i feel in my most vulnerable all of a sudden.