The Bishop of Bounce

The music pulsed and thundered around me, making the concrete under my boots thrum with the force of it. The flashing, wildly jiggling lights didn't even effect me anymore. Being the "little guy" on the crew meant I had to prove that I could tough it out with the big boys. And I'd never had a problem with that, until the night a man who went only by the name of Aros waltzed his pansy ass into my club and changed my life forever.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, at least, the beginning of that night. It was a typical Friday night, everyone was partying it up to celebrate living through another horrific week of the 9-5 grind. Girls everywhere, a smattering of guys... A few eighteen year-olds here and there thinking they could trick the Shooter-Girls into serving them. Naomi and Lish were too smart to fall for any of that shit. So, like I said, a standard Friday night.

But then he walked in with his entourage. This guy Aros. No one knew much about him or where he came from, just that he was some diplomat's son from some foreign country or another. Loaded with cash, everyone who worked in the club loved him. He was a BIG tipper. Something about the guy always struck me as slimey, so I tended to busy myself elsewhere when he waltzed in with his assistant - an Asian named Lina with a huge rack, two hulking security guards who I'd gotten to know as Wulf and Red, and a few random half-drunk girls hanging all over him.
He was an attractive enough guy, but I don't see how so many people liked being close to him. He weirded me out, like in a sixth sense kinda way. I didn't know what it was at the time, and I didn't really want to.

“Jules!" the second I heard Lish shout, my feet were already moving towards the sound of her voice. Some dirtbag, a soldier judging from the cut of his muscles and his hair, had her backed into a corner. She was holding her tray up like a shield, ready to bean him with it if she needed to, but it looked like it hadn't progressed to anything aside from a threatening posture on his part. She was right to call for me before it escalated into something serious.
I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and was rewarded for my nicety with a suckerpunch to the jaw. I saw stars for a second, but it'd take a hell of a lot more than that to take me down. I shook my head twice to clear out the cobwebs and threw my arm up to block his next attack. I grabbed his fist and squeezed as hard as I could and he dropped to his knees in pain, waving his other hand at me to signal that he gave up. Veins popping out in my arm, I begrudgingly let go. Wulf and Red, who were two okay guys as far as I was concerned, came over to escort the man out. Lish looked down at me with tears in her big grey eyes and I gave her a smile.
She gently touched her fingertip to the already darkening bruise on my jaw and I winced. Her face fell and she looked like she was gonna burst into tears on me. If there's one thing I really hate in this world, it's when girls cry. "I'm fine," I mouthed, but she looked like she didn't believe me. Lish dragged me behind the counter and grabbed a clean bar rag, putting a handful of ice into it. She tied the ends together and held it to my bruise, despite my protests about how I was okay and it was no big deal.

I looked out into the sea of bodies, hoping that one of the other bouncers could save me from the doting attentions of the very tall and buxom beauty. Wulf caught my eye and glanced at Lish, giving me a wink. I shook my head as if to say, "It's not like that! Help me, you big stupid oaf of a man!" But he shrugged and disappeared, no doubt going to check on Aros.
A few minutes later, certain that I didn't have a concussion or any serious injuries, Lish refilled her tray and headed back out onto the floor. I was to the end of the bar, ready to get back out there and do my job, but I stopped just inches short of crashing into Aros. I recoiled from the closeness, taking a few rushed steps backwards and almost falling on my ass in the process. Aros arched a perfectly manicured brow at me in response. The guy had an almost feminine beauty to him. Heart-shaped face, long lashes that framed impossibly blue eyes, lean limbs, thick blond hair that fell in soft waves to his waist... Hell, sometimes when I looked at him for too long it made me wonder if I was turning gay.

He smiled at me and I fought the urge to snarl in response. Some sign of it must have showed on my face, because this golden god before me began to laugh. I crossed my arms and looked at him, glad I didn't have to crane my neck because of the distance between us. "Did you want something?" I mouthed, becoming more aggravated by the second.

He crossed his arms as well, mimicking my pose with a grace that came from practice with putting on airs, and he leaned one hip against the bar. "I wanted to apologize for that ugly stain marring that pretty face of yours, Mr. Avelino. The man who attacked you is the lover of one of the women at my side tonight... He wanted to make her jealous by hitting on your Miss Lish over there," he bobbed his head in her direction. "Had I known he'd be so much trouble, I'd have had Wulf and Red keep an eye on him."

The way he was talking, so sincere and genuinely sorry sounding, almost made me blush. "I'm fine. Really," I struggled to keep my voice calm as I seethed inwardly. "I've gotten worse wounds from drunk broads in here before... A bruise is no big deal. Nothing's broken, dislocated, or bleeding. I'll be okay."
He was suddenly in front of me then, somehow closing the distance between us so fast that I hadn't even seen him move. Aros was so close that I could smell his cologne, the leather of his jacket, the apple scent that wafted from his hair... He brushed his fingertips lightly across the bruise on my cheek, his skin cool and impossibly smooth. "Are you really sure you're alright?" insert shoujo bubbles here
I slapped his hand away with a very loud, clear, and concise, "I said I'm fucking FINE!" and stomped off, hoping no one could see the color rising in my cheeks in the dark and inconstant light of the club.

And just when I thought the night couldn't get any worse...
Out of nowhere, I heard Naomi raising her voice from across the room. "What the hell is your problem, you freak?! Get OFF me!"
What the hell was wrong with people tonight? I hadn't had this many problems in this club since I'd started working here. I ran like someone'd lit a fire under my ass, not even bothering to be nice to this guy who had his hands all over Naomi. She was trying to push him off, but he was a big guy. Damned big. Like, 6'4" and about 275 pounds big.
I grabbed his arm and spun him around to face me. "The lady said no, so I think you'd better back the fuck off, man." I said simply, adrenaline coursing through my veins like a serpent, coiled and ready to strike. This big motherfucker looked down at me and arched a brow, seeming confused. Then he did something that really pissed me off. This asshole started to laugh.
He leaned down, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard and patted me on the shoulder. "How the hell'd you get in here, little guy? Did Mommy and Daddy help you get a fake ID?" Apparently, this guy thought he was a goddamned comedian.

"Look," I said, taking one of those deep breaths that keeps me from killing people. "I'm twenty-three motherfucking years old, and you're on my last nerve. No one messes with our girls, and anyone who does gets tossed out on their ass. So I'd advise you to step off and cool down, or you'll be no different. Naomi and Lish don't need to take shit from guys like you. They work their asses off here to make money to pay their bills. Shitheads like you make them not like their job, and we all want to keep them happy... Got it?"

He just stared at me for a minute, then he laughed some more and picked me up, his hands actually touching each other around my waist. He held me up at eye level with him and the smell of the booze on his breath made me gag. "You think a little shit like you scares me? I eat things bigger than you for breakfast..."
That was all I let him say. It's bad enough that I'm only 5'3"... I've always gotten treated like a kid over it. But when some big goofy-ass Lurch-lookin' motherfucker picks me up like I'm a chic... Oh, man... It was on.

The fact that he'd touched me was enough for me to cry self-defense all the way to the hospital. I pulled my knees in to my chest and kicked out, both of my feet connecting solidly with his hands. He dropped me like a sack of potatoes, but I was ready for it and landed in a crouch, ready to strike again if need be. He was shaking his hands, swearing like there was no tomorrow. Naomi had long since taken cover behind the bar, knowing this wasn't going to end well.

I couldn't resist a little chuckle at how much agony he seemed to be in just from me crunching his fingers a little. "It could have been your face, you know..." I said out loud, coming to my feet and standing as tall as I could manage. The top of my head was about level with the middle of this guy's chest.
More and more people were stopping what they were doing to watch us, and I let myself travel to that quiet place I went in Judo class. The tranquil environment where all sound and activity faded around me and there was nothing but me and my opponent. I was hoping that things wouldn't get this out of hand, but things were fucking crazy tonight. Maybe there was a full moon or something.

The big guy clenched his fists, standing about five feet from me. People around us were forming a circle, kinda like the ones you always see when a fight's about to go down at a school. You know the type; the ones where everyone starts chanting "Fight, fight, fight!" because they're all bovine morons. I saw Wulf and Red push their way through the throng to get to me, coming to stand just behind me, one on each side. I shook my head at them with determination. I was a grown man, I could take care of this drunken jerk-off on my own.

Naomi might have been hiding behind the counter and terrified out of her mind, but Lish was a little more proactive about the whole situation. She had the aluminum baseball bat, what we called "The Equalizer", from behind the counter. She was standing on the bar, heels and all, ready to dive in swinging if it looked like I needed help. It made me smile a little. It was nice to know people had my back. Mickey the bartender, on the other hand, looked quite disgusted that Lish was getting heelmarks all over her pretty polished hardwood counter.

The guy stared at me for a second and then, in a sudden flurry of movement, he started swinging. I ducked and weaved, moving just out of his reach each time. I landed a few good punches that would have taken a normal guy off his feet and put him down for the count before you could blink. But this guy... He just wouldn't go down.
I glanced behind me for the barest of seconds, and the fucker got me. One solid fist right to the mouth. I felt my lip split open as it slid across my teeth and I was rewarded for my distraction with the sudden taste of blood filling my mouth. No lost teeth, but my lip was probably gonna need stitches. Along with making me bleed, he hit me so hard that it knocked me on my ass and room swam around me. I was so dizzy, and nothing would stay still like it was supposed to. The walls shouldn't have been rolling like they were...

I saw Lish leaping from the counter and clonking the big guy on the back of the head with the bat. It dented the bat and the big man finally went down. Wulf and Red came in to collect him and dump his ass outside, and then that wave of nausea hit me that tends to wallop you in the stomach and the head at the same time when someone hits that button with a really well-placed punch. I fought it and managed to keep the contents of my stomach IN my stomach, so my body responded instead by knocking me out cold.
The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Aros crouched over me, his pretty blue eyes filled with concern.
Why was this androgynous god so worried about lil ol' me? The answer to that question was something I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams... or nightmares.

Waking up was the worst thing I could have done. I almost wished Lurchzilla would have killed me rather than knocked me out. When I came to, I had a killer throbbing headache worse than any hangover in the history of all mankind.

And as if my headache and the horrible twanging sensation in my gut weren't bad enough, you'll never guess who the first person was that I laid eyes on when I came to...

Well, maybe you can guess, but that's beside the point. The point is, I was expecting to see someone like Naomi or Lish, or even Mickey at my bedside. However, looking up into the fretful blue eyes of the golden god Aros made me have several emotions course through me with the rapidity of machine-gun fire. Confusion, disappointment, curiosity, joy, anger, and finally exhaustion.

"What in the name of Hell are you doing here?" I asked tiredly with a sigh, noticing the bandages wrapped around my chest and upper abdomen. That meant my ribs had either been cracked or broken. I was guessing cracked, since the sensation was a mere tingling and nagging ache rather than the fiery agony that comes with full fractures. I touched my fingers tentatively to the bandages and winced instantly from the light pressure. I changed my mind quickly. I definitely had a few broken ribs.

Aros' beautiful face fell and he looked as if he were about to cry, and I just couldn't understand what the hell was up with him. It wasn't like he was the one who got his ass kicked by Lurchzilla or anything. I hardly even knew the guy, so why did he look so damned guilty?

After a moment of silently collecting himself, he turned the full force of his blue eyes on me and I'd have backed away if I was physically able. There was something strange about the way he was looking at me, something almost... hungry. At that moment, I was suddenly aware of the fact that Aros wasn't just another pretty face. His tie was at half-mast and the top few buttons of his dress shirt were undone, his sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. The thick swells of muscle on his arms were made all the more apparent by his lack of a jacket and the tightness of his shirt. He looked like he worked out more than I did, but it was more likely that he was just one of those lucky guys who could sit around and eat Doritos until Armageddon and still keep his stomach paunch-free. If Aros was a predator, I was definitely prey as I couldn't have defended myself if my life depended upon it.

He gave me a small smile then, a little of his usual arrogance leaking back onto his visage. "Julius..." he began with a sigh. "As if it were not bad enough that my actions caused you one injury this night, I have instead aggravated the situation and caused you two, the latter being clearly much more serious."

"That second guy had nothing to do with you. It was just some drunk creepo who thought that Naomi hadn't gotten her daily allotment of unwanted touching, yet." I sighed, a little of the anger fading from my voice. I was too damned tired to summon up the energy to get properly pissed off, so I let it go. "Besides, I was just doing what I had to do. Protecting the girls, and everyone who sets foot in that club, is my job. Until tonight, I've always been very good at my job..." I added the last a little more quietly, looking away from him in shame. What sort of man can't even protect the people he cares about most?

Aros reached out and covered my hand with his own, and even though his skin was chilly, I didn't bother to pull away. He'd somehow become less repulsive to me since the night began. I was too tired to think of the implications, too damned tired to do much of anything...
He smiled then, a little less worry in his eyes. "Do not begin to doubt yourself, Julius... You did your job, and you protected your friends. It just turns out you needed their help as much as they needed yours."
I shook my head and instantly regretted it as the room tilted crazily around me. I think I was slightly more concussed than I'd initially anticipated. "If Wulf and Red hadn't been there to drag him out..."
"Your Lish would have spilled the man's brains all over the floor if they hadn't taken him away when they did. She feared for you more than you might realize..."
I was silent a moment, looking down at our hands, amazed at how small my hands looked next to Aros'. I smiled a little. "Alicia's a good girl. I'm sure her father'd be proud of how she turned out if he was still around..."

Aros, as was the case with most people, didn't press it or ask any questions. Most people didn't know how to react when someone said something like that.
My eyes were getting heavy again. Must have been the sedatives kicking in. I had an IV in each arm, and God only knew what was in them. I tried to ignore them. The Golden God gently lifted my arm, careful not to rattle it around and jar the needle that was residing in my wrist. He pressed a feather-soft kiss to my knuckles and said simply. "Get some rest, Julius. Now that you are through the worst of it, your friends will be in to see you when next you wake."
I blinked slowly, fighting to open my eyes again. When I did, Aros was gone. I gave in to the heavy sedatives sluggishly sliding through my veins and went back to sleep.