[Flashback] Zealotry and Alcohol (Valerius)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

OOC : Awesome! You've helped me achieve one of my plotnotes goals... Offending someone so bad that they hit me! Tock's Da used to hit her. Back when she was simply 'Minerva,' he used to beat her just about every day. And she had learned, the hard way, to just take it. Because if she didn't just take it, if she fought back, then he just beat her harder. Then one day she had had enough. She had cracked his skull open with a frying pan, and left him bleeding on the kitchen floor as she fled. She had left home, made a new life for herself, and grown stronger. She had also vowed that no man would ever strike her again. The slap sobered her up just a bit. It also sent her into a fury. Years of suppressed rage at her abusive father snapped free, and she screamed in murderous fury. She pounced on Valerius with her full body weight, trying to slam him to the ground, fists flying for his face in repeated blows as fast as she could swing.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As she screamed at him, Valerius just stared at her incredulously for a moment and actually forgot that he was being attacked. He had never heard such a scream before. The women he usually associated with didn’t scream like that. They probably weren’t even able to. Not even the Kelvic in the Kelvic Research Institution screamed like that! Her scream was so loud, so terrible that he was actually worried that she was going to kill him for a moment – for a very, very short moment - but she wouldn’t dare! Nobody would dare to kill a Nitrozian - least of all a madwoman that had no respect for Rhysol! As she pounced on him, he stumbled for a moment and almost fell. He hadn’t expected her to be that strong and heavy! It irritated him. A woman wasn’t supposed to be like that! And then her fists were already flying, almost too fast for him to watch, ending any thoughts he was thinking about her lack of femininity. While she seemed to try her best to smash his face in, the Nitrozian did no such thing. In his experience blind fury tended to be rather ineffective. He just grabbed her by her wrists which would keep her from attacking him further. By Rhysol, she had really lost her mind now! Where was the Black Sun? Where were the Ebonstryfe? There was a place for people like her in Ravok!

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Lost in a drunken rage, Tock continued beating at Valerius until he grabbed her by the wrists, but that didn't stop her. If there was one thing she had learned in Sunberth, it was how to handle a man trying to pin her down. She had been grabbed by men, pinned up against walls, thrown down beneath them with their weight pressing down on her and their disgusting hard organs rubbing against her through their pants, she had felt the helplessness of a man pinning her arms until she couldn't strike him anymore. She had learned the hard way how to stop a man from taking what was precious to her, and those reflexes were deeply ingrained in her. So it was with a blood curdling scream that she lunged forward, driving her knee as hard as she could towards his groin. If she'd had a knife in hand, she would have stabbed him. She didn't care who he was. She was too far gone in her rage and her drunkenness to even know who he was. Right now, 'who' didn't matter. He was just a man, trying to force himself upon her. It didn't even matter that he wasn't trying for the thing her instincts were defending against. The hands on her wrist made her feel like he was trying to pin her down, and she simply reacted. OOCEeeep... sorry! It's up to you whether she 'hits home' or not...

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius Nitrozian did not scream. Oh, he let go of her wrists the moment she drove her knee into his groin because it hurt like hell (or the Mizaharian equivalent thereof). He also doubled over, and his hands went between his legs, but he didn’t scream in pain (or anger, like she had). He never screamed. No, he just raised his head a fraction and glared at her. He had every intention of alerting the Ebonstryfe as soon as he could stand halfway straight again and not look completely ridiculous when it occured to him that they might want an explanation. He didn’t want anybody to know about this embarrassing little episode. His reputation would be ruined! Would it suffice if he accused her of being a heretic (which she really was)? Maybe. He was a Nitrozian. They might not question him too much and just accept whatever he told them. Would she keep her mouth shut? Not likely. He didn’t even want any rumours! So he asked her (sounding a little less confident than a few chimes earlier because he was still in pain), „How much do you want? Fifty golden mizas? One hundred? I won’t betray you to the Ebonstryfe or let the mob loose on you if you’ll keep this here to yourself.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock's mind was in a daze. She was barely aware of where she was right now. Between the anger, the alcohol, and the flashbacks to Sunberth, she could barely think. All she knew was she wasn't being held down anymore, and she had no further target to unleash her rage upon. Val wasn't touching her or attacking her, and so her defensive instincts started to fade. When her focus started to return, she heard him offering her money. She scowled in confusion. Money for what!? Why the petch was he offering to pay her in exchange for NOT calling the Ebonstryfe on her!? Shouldn't blackmail have gone the other way around? She would have understood if he was asking HER to pay HIM in exchange for his freedom... Of course, her mind quite simply couldn't understand the importance of his status, or begin to realize he was desperate to protect his image. "I ain't want yer dirty stinkin' money!" she shouted, shoving him back away from her. "Jus' leave me alone!" She turned and stalked out the door, just wanting to be away from him. She didn't even know where she was going. She just wanted to be gone.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„My money isn‘t dirty!“ Valerius retorted as he quickly looked around to make sure that nobody had witnessed the incident. „It’s probably cleaner and smells better than you!“ „And I’m afraid I can’t just leave you alone, not after what you have done!“ As she walked out of the door, he immediately followed her, as if she hadn’t just kicked him in the groin and nearly castrated him. His reputation was that important to him He wouldn’t let her run away and tell everybody what she had done to him! He wouldn’t let her embarrass him! „You will take my money, and we’ll both pretend that our little argument here never happened!“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock refused to stop moving, just glancing over her shoulder at the man who was stumbling after her. She didn't get it. He was bound and determined to pay her off, and while she could use the money, she wasn't one to allow herself to be controlled by anyone. It sounded like he wanted her to forget this incident ever happened... and slowly it was starting to make sense. He had assaulted her (or that was how she saw it), and he must be afraid SHE was running to the authorities! He wanted to pay her off for his freedom, to keep the law off his back. That was the only explanation she could come up with. Well she wasn't the sort of person to go to the law. In Sunberth, there WAS no law to go to. You handled your own problems, or you paid off a gang to take care of business for you. That was that. She was the sort to handle her own problems, and she felt she'd done that already. So, she wouldn't be telling anyone about this. Well, unless she bragged about it over drinks at another bar. "I ain't tellin' nobody nothin' 'bout nothin'!" she said, making a lewd gesture at him. Sure, she could have taken his money in exchange for doing what she was going to do anyway. But then he would think he could control her. "Now PISS OFF, 'fore I change my mind an' I DO goes an' tells on ya..." She continued along her way, not intending to stop unless he tried to put his hands on her again.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As Tock informed him that she wouldn’t tell anybody – in that special, almost unintelligible Tock way – Valerius was relieved, but only for the fraction of a second. He didn’t appreciate that lewd gesture she had made – he would never do something like that, and he definitely didn’t like the fact that she still refused his money. Valerius Nitrozian didn’t trust mere promises, especially if they were made by somebody like her. He only trusted money and the power it had over people. As for the fact that she had just told him to piss off … He was about to tell her that he would not piss off and arrange that little date with the Ebonstryfe and the angry mob after all when she threatened him further. There was something about the way she worded it that was a little strange, as if she thought he had done something wrong and was worried about the consequences now. As far as he knew, being kicked in the groin was completely legal, it was just embarrassing, especially if you were a rich, powerful Nitrozian, and the one who had done it was a woman … He frowned as he considered her threat, and then he came to the decision that forcing his money on her now was a bad idea and would only anger her further which was something he could not afford. He needed to do what he could do make sure that nobody ever found out! “As you wish, since you’ve agreed not to tell anybody, I’ll piss off. But if you ever need money, let me know!” He didn’t come after her as she walked away, and he definitely didn’t try to touch her again. He had done all the touching he could stand that day, so the heretic was finally free of him.

[Verilian]

Tock +1 Singing +1 Observation +3 Brawling Lores: Ravok Lore: Don't Insult the Ones in Charge, Rhysol Lore: Creator of Ravok, Valerius Nitrozian +2 Persuasion +2 Brawling Lores: Educating a Heretic, What it feels like to be kicked in the groin, You Question My Logic? : Okay, so I didn't really feel the thread merited a point in philosophy.. but if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me. Notes: An entertaining little thread, keep up the good work! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.