pursuedthestars | A Bar on the Mainland

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A Bar on the Mainland | Sunday Evening

Sometimes, Jim went out to bars to forget. Sometimes, he went out to bars to escape. Sometimes, he just went to bars to have fun. Tonight was the latter. There was nothing wrong save for the fact that Jim hadn't gone out and had a little fun in awhile.

The bar was fairly nondescript. Not seedy but not posh. The bartender was female which meant it was pretty easy to flirt his way into not being carded when he started to order drinks. It was easy and it helped that she was pretty and funny. He wasn't going to go any further but flirting was allowed. That wasn't against any rules that he remembered.

So, he started drinking and he kept flirting. He was on his fourth (maybe fifth) drink and well into a story about just how agile some female aliens were (he figured the bartender was humoring him) when someone's massively meaty hand landed on his shoulder.

"Yer in my seat." When Jim turned around, he had to look up into the face of a man with a mustache that was damp with beer, a bulbous nose and ruddy skin. "Move."

"That's okay," Jim said, patting the man's hand comfortingly. "There's other seats for you to choose from, man. Take a pick. I'll buy you a drink."

The man with the hand didn't move. His grip tightened. "Move."

"Now, that's really not very nice," Jim said, shaking his head. "We should talk about this. Maybe ask the seat if it wants you to sit on it? I mean, you're a rather large man. I think you'd suffocate it."

The man's face screwed up into what Jim thought was anger and Jim knew what was coming next. They were not going to have a tea party. Jim decided to be proactive and swung a fist into the man's gut. The man stumbled but since he had a hold of Jim, Jim went stumbling with him.

That just made it oh so easy for the other guy to bash his other huge fist into Jim's face. Blood flowed from his nose and onto his lips. He spit it towards the other guy and brought a knee up to his groin. That, at least, meant Jim was free of the other guy's hand. And so he decided to tackle the other -- okay, that didn't work since the guy was large, Jim just bounced off of him and hit the floor hard.

Not five seconds later, he was hauled up and socked in the gut. Twice. He was going to puke, he was sure. All that wasted booze! Jim didn't even realize he was being dragged somewhere else because he was too busy trying to not throw up all over the place.

Jim was so sad he didn't even know this guy's name. Considering the absolute intimacy of this beating, he thought he should know. But then, Mr. Man was bringing a fist down on the back of his neck and knocking the wind completely out of him. He saw his blood on the floor. That wasn't good.

When Mr. Man, sent him crashing through the bar's front door and onto the street outside, Jim landed on his side and winced. He stayed there for a few minutes, people passing him by and then he rolled onto his back.

And started laughing. "Guy really likes his seat," he croaked before coughing painfully.

[NFB but open if someone happens to be at this random bar or wants to call him. I finally got around to doing this since I'd been saying it and saying it for so long. The icons needed to be used.]

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"I was apparently in someone's seat," he told her, hoping the hotel was close because he really needed to sit down. "And I offered to talk it out first but he wasn't having it. Not my fault."

"Mm."

Well, she didn't sound like she doubted him, so that was something, even if she didn't add anything to it. They came to the hotel after a moment of silence, anyway.

And she even held the door open for him.

Jim made his way into the hotel and waited for her inside. He was just going to let her grab the room and everything. It was taking all his effort to keep standing up right now.

Natalie probably wouldn't have let him at the counter anyway. They were already side-eyeing his face as soon as he'd come in. She went ahead and used her best politician's assistant demeanor in getting a room – yes, I know, he had a little accident, no he's not going to bleed on anything – before coming back over and nudging him towards the elevator.

"Did you get a nice room?" Jim asked as she nudged him. He stumbled towards the elevator. "Something with a view?"

Natalie got a very light hold of his arm. Just in case. "Street view. Nothing you'll be looking at much."

"Why not?" he pouted, frowning. "I like street views."

"Well you can look if you want to." See, she wasn't unreasonable. She pressed the button for the right floor and the door closed behind them. "But I think you need sleep."

"Maybe." He leaned against the side of the elevator and fell quiet while they rode up to the room.

Natalie gave him another little nudge when it was time to get out of the elevator, and then she went ahead to find the room.

It wasn't far, just a couple of doors down. She didn't even have trouble with the key, either.

Jim was bringing up the rear and when she got the door open, he walked inside slowly. He swiped a hand across his face again, blinking and wincing as he did.

"Nice place," he mumbled.

"It'll do." It was generic, and maybe not quite the standard Natalie had been getting used to lately, but it had all the basics. It'd do. She closed the door and was almost immediately getting her bag off her shoulder. "You should sit down."

Jim decided not to argue. He walked over to the bed and took a seat on the edge of it. He stretched his legs out and sighed because sitting down was much better than standing up.

Natalie came over, dumping her first aid kit on the bed next to him.

"You look even worse here in good lighting."

She was so nice.

"Gee, thanks," Jim said, rolling his eyes. "Feeling very loved right now."

Actually, he did feel pretty cared for all things considered.

"Mm, and it's only going to get worse when I have to touch your face," Natalie replied. She got cotton balls out of her kit, then headed for what she assumed to be the bathroom for water. "Sucks."

"You can't just leave my face alone?" Jim asked, frowning. "It'll heal."

"It'll heal, yes," she agreed, from the bathroom, "but right now it's gross and bloody."

Jim didn't argue because he knew she wasn't wrong. He was quiet while he tried to find a comfortable way to sit. It wasn't really working.

Well, that was his karmic payback for sitting on the wrong seat to begin with.

Natalie came back with her pieces of wet cotton. Kind of glad she'd gotten to be a little more okay with dealing with blood over the last couple of years. "Okay, time to get the blood off. Hold still."

"I'll be fine." He had no idea but he stayed still anyway, waiting for her to do what she was going to do. "I'm still."

Natalie raised his chin up a little before she started to gently get the blood off. It might not have been a pleasant feeling, but at least it was just water – for now, anyway. Just getting the worst of the blood off skin.

Jim couldn't stop the immediately flinch that came with pressure against his sore face but he buried that quickly. He bit the inside of his cheek hard and gripped the sheets on the bed.

"Sorry," Natalie murmured, even though it wasn't exactly her fault that it hurt. And she was doing her best to be gentle. "Just a moment."

"S'okay," Jim said, barely shaking his head. "Just sore. You're fine. Do what you need to do. I'm good now."

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