this heart i know

“Sounds fair.” Spencer nodded keeping his eyes on the uninvited guests in the bar. His eyes went wide at hearing the others yell at them. He glanced a moment at Bradley unsure what to say. Were they for real? “ What the hell?” Spencer replied before the Lich squared himself and began to fight with one of the patrons. As much as he hated to admit it, Spencer missed fighting. When he fell into being a guardian for his siblings the wilder spots in his life had to disappear but this was almost fun despite how badly he didn’t want them to mess up Terrence’s or his friends. “Yes hit them. We gotta get them out of here” He exclaimed before  he was practically tackled to the floor.

As soon as Brad sees one of the Rowdy Idiots tackle Spencer, his expression changes drastically. He grabs the guy in front of him and headbutts with a loud crack. He stumbles backward, seeing stars, and that somehow gets him out of the way from another swinging bat. After kneeing the one with the bat in the chest, he runs toward the other one holding Spencer down. He kicks them right in the neck, knocking them off of Spencer. “Don’t touch my friend, assholes, or I’ll have to break your fucking windpipes, one by one.” He says almost cheerfully, but the glints in his eyes suggest that he is 100% serious. The lights above their heads flicker frantically. One thing they all forget is that, Brad was raised by Terrance Bradshaw, and before that, he was a feral child from the woods. He is vicious in fights. “You okay?” He asks as he helps Spencer up. “So, how do we get them out?” 

Julia hadn’t even opened her mouth to reply when the young man took matters into his own hands to stop the thief from running away with her purse. He performed some magic, like it was the most natural way in the world to deal with a situation like this, and managed to get the thief knocked over. “Okay, eso acaba de pasar…” she muttered to herself, seeing the strange scene play out before her with wide eyes. It would certainly take a while for her to get used to the fact that people existed with magic and weird powers every single day, casually, comfortably. “Uh, yes- Yes, it is” Julia said with a nod, holding out a hand to get her purse. “Thank-” And everything spilled out to the ground “…you”.

It hasn’t been that long since Brad has managed to control his ‘bad luck’, or learned its nature-- a form of magic, apparently. After some tests, they told him that he may be both nymph and witch, which changed very little for Br\ad. It wasn’t like he knew who his birth parents were... He still doesn’t understand much about it. He just knows that he can cause a minor ‘bad luck’ to a certain person or object if he focuses hard enough. In what form, he can’t choose most of the time... This time it was shoelaces, but it could have been worse. Funnily enough, spilling the contents of the bag wasn’t a bad luck. He is just that clumsy. “Shit, I’m so sorry.” Brad apologizes profusely as he hands over the bag. Then he crouches down to the ground, and starts picking up the mess he made. “I hope I didn’t break anything... if I did, I’ll uh... pay for it. Probably next week, though, ‘cause I’m kind of short on cash.” He rambles as he checks the items and dusting them carefully.

Quinn had to admit he didn’t like to share any space near anyone, but if he had too Bradley was probably the person he would pick to socialize with. They seemed to have similar ways of living in nature and it was one of the few thing’s he could see eye to eye with. He hadn’t expected to see the guy hanging from the tree though when he picked up his scent. “ Yeah, I’ve been finishing up stuff and the shop is open again, so I’m glad to be working again. “ he hated not building or fixing things so he was glad the mechanics shop was back in order. He was also the type to never turn down any food offers so he nodded at the suggestion of apples. They guy still ate like he lived in the woods under a tarp sometimes. “ Pestos for pasta right?” He asked glancing back at his neighbor. “How long you been up there?”

Brad drops from the tree, flips in the mid-air and lands on his feet, somehow not dropping the paper bag full of apples. He stands up straight, and tosses an apple to Quinn. An unusual shadow falls on his face as Quinn mentions the autoshop. He still can’t believe Clark is actually gone. A part of him, perhaps, expects Clark to come back as a lich or shade... He soon puts his smile back up and says, “ah, that’s good to hear! I think we need to get the truck checked again. I’ll tell Terry or Matty to bring it in sometimes.” He takes a bite of the apple, trying to put the gloomy thoughts away. “Yeah, basil and pine nuts... cheese... y’know, the Italian stuff.” He shrugs. “Uh, I dunno, like an hour or two? We had a fire at the bar, so I’ve got nothing to do for the evening.” He says, looking back at the tree. “It was kind of crazy. They were all like, power to the pack! You’re either with us or against us! All that gibberish. They’ve got... uh, what is it called, Moldy cocktails? and everything.” 

Spencer was behind the bar tonight since it was slower and there really wasn’t as much of a need for his piano skills on nights like this. He didn’t mind either way, since he loved his job. It was the only thing he really did to get out of the house since he took over guardianship of his sibling’s. “ Yeah it doesn’t look like it’ll miss us out here” He nodded before heading in the direction Brad was heading until he stopped in his tracks at the hooded figures. “ What the hell?” Spencer replied giving a face that could be accurately described as ‘are you kidding me.’ Were people actually trying to start something in the bar? He may not have been a witch anymore but he was already dead, so in a way he didn’t have anything to lose. “ Rowdy? I would say idiots” Spencer replied before flanking Brad to his side. When he was younger and long before he was essentially put in the position of being a parent, Spencer had a tendency to fight. It was like riding a bike. You never forget that stuff. “ You guys had your fun and it failed. You can go now”

“Let’s call them rowdy idiots then,” Brad laughs as the people begin to swarm the bar. Some of them carry a baseball bat or pipe, some of them are pulling out more of those bottles. He notes that these rowdy idiots look a lot more organized and prepared. “We are here to send a message!” One of them shouts, shattering a half empty beer with a bat. “You’re either with us, or against us!” With that, the group charges toward the bartenders. Brad, confused, goes “what does that even mean?!” before ducking his head down from a bat swung his way. On the other side of the room, he sees Matty and Cal fighting. “Spence, I don’t think they’re gonna listen” he says as he sidesteps away from another punch. He just evades the attacks with an impeccable timing or blocks them casually. “Does this mean I can hit them too?” He asks looking back at Spencer.

It’s a quiet Wednesday night, where Brad gets to eat burgers on one of the booth’s since there aren’t many customers. Terry went out to throw out trash, and Matt... well, Brad does not want to know what Matt is doing... After he finishes assembling the burgers, he steps out of the kitchen. “Hey, Spence, I’m gonna go eat my dinner. Wanna join me?” he asks Spencer by the bar, when the door opens and a group of people in hoods and masks walk in. Brad takes a bite out of the burger, puts down his plate and goes “hey, can I get you anything?” Instead of the order, one of the hooded figures pulled out a bottle... sets it on fire, and threw it across the room. Brad’s eyes follows the Molotov cocktail in the air,  and the air ripples around its fuse before the fire goes out. The bottle shatters on the floor. “Well, that’s not nice.” Brad says, a trickle of blood flowing from his nose. “Looks like we’ve got some rowdy customers.” He says to Spencer and jumps over the bar to face the group.

“I’m originally from Oregon, why?” Hale has to laugh at the ‘worst bars’ comment. It’s not ill-manners, she just thought the comment was cute. Hale has been here for six months and there’s definitely worst things happening in the dark bar corners here in Lethe than just a few drunk people laying out punches every now and then.“A brawl every hour doesn’t sound so bad. Back in Ashland, because of where the community was situated, we had parties in the fields or in the woods. It was fun until it wasn’t when it started raining or when a party was thrown in the dead of winter. So, yeah. I’ll take a bar brawl.” Hale can’t recall if she’s held a conversation with a nymph up until now. Either she didn’t realize the person was a nymph just because she didn’t really see the difference between a nymph and a fae, or she was too high to notice. “Oh. Fire, earth, water, air!” Casually she begins to hum the course to September by the band she just named. “ – – Which one are you?” At the nymphs panic, Hale has to roll her eyes to signal that this really isn’t a big deal. “If another girl walks in here and sees you, trust me, she won’t care. It’s if you’re in here alone, that’s when girls will start to think you’re an asshole. But, you’re with me. So you’re good.” One again, Hale rolls her eyes and rips out a few paper towels from the dispensary and wets them under warm water before tossing towards the nymph and laughing. “Wow. That is the most square thing I’ve heard all night. Now, would you relax and clean yourself up? My favourite song is on and I want to dance!”

“You said it was different back home, that they have bar etiquette.” Brad gives a shrug. He only passed through Oregon, didn’t stay long enough to experience it really. He just takes her word for it, “Huh, outdoor parties do sound great... except in the woods, maybe. Animals live there, y’know. I don’t think they’d appreciate it.” Parties usually involve loud noises, alcohol, a lot of trash... and what if some people smoke and just throw away cigarette butts on the ground? That doesn’t sound like fun. “Umh, earth.” He lets out a small chuckle at her question. It’s a rather odd question in his perspective, but he supposes it’s a part of getting to know a new person. “I don’t think that’s... alright, alright,” he sighs and drops the protesting. He catches the ball of wet paper towels and dabs them under his nose, “thanks.” He says, standing in the far corner as he rubs away the dried blood. “What? I don’t wanna make out with some random people I don’t know.” He protests, throwing away the wet paper in the trash can.