"Mortarion, come on, it'll be fun!"

"No."

Fulgrim had dragged him to this frat party, anyways. He said 'Nesh would be there, and they always knew how to cater to everybody's tastes. Of course they did, they literally own a sex club named 'Excess'. The older of the pair had taken Fulgrim in as an intern, but they were friendly enough to the rest of his brothers. Maybe not to Father, though.

Regardless, he'd needed a ride, had forced Mortarion into the party, and then fucked off to who knows where. Nesh waved, nodding courteously. Slaanesh wasn't exactly his friend, considering Mortarion was Nurgle's apprentice. But she was still friendly, currently still offering work, "in case you ever get bored of that old toad".

Nurgle was, in fact, very toad like. The humor wasn't lost on him, but his smile had been too wide, his eyes didn't share the same smile as the rest of the sharp face. Mortarion had been unnerved, to say the least, before Nesh moved on to other partygoers. "Think about my offer, babes."

Fulgrim couldn't see the competition between their mentors, one that included Magnus' boss, Zee. Nurgle hated Zee with a passion, and sometimes, Mortarion was inclined to agree. The confusing bastard had even latched on to his least favorite brother like a damn tick.

A shoulder slamming into him snapped him out of his head, as somebody gripped his arms and hissed into his ear, "pretend we're dating, please."

Mortarion looked over, with half a mind to shake her off and storm away. But the woman hung close, fear in her eyes. "Name?" he asked. The majority of his mind told him to shake her off, and leave her to fend for herself. Clearly, he was listening as well as he listened to Father.

"Sydney."

"Mortarion." With introductions out of the way, he hesitantly slid an arm around her shoulders, and followed her line of sight to see a greasy football player shoving his way through gyrating bodies towards them. Mortarion put his hand out to stop him from getting too close. Sydney was already pushing past his self imposed contact limits. "We're alright here." Dammit, of all the times for his voice to start croaking.

The player laughed. "Seriously, Sid? You picked the greasiest guy in the room for this bullshit?"

Ouch, okay, rude. Mortarion wouldn't call himself a looker, but he also wouldn't go so far as to say "greasiest in the room". That was Konrad, on a normal day, and right now, it was this jock, who had him beat. "I don't think she wants to be around you," Mortarion warned.

"She's just playing hard to get, ain't that right, babe?" He reached across the boundary of Mortarion's arm, and rubbed against Sydney's shoulder. Mortarion, who wasn't one for touch in the first place, felt his nostrils flare at her discomfort. He wasn't one for touch, but even less so when it, unwanted, made one afraid.

The jock stumbled back, holding his arm. It was dangling from his elbow in a weird angle, whereas Mortarion's elbow merely ached from how hard he'd brought it down. He wasn't done there.

—

Sydney could have chosen better, was her initial thought. But when your stalker is following you through a frat party you thought you've be safe at, threatening several illegal actions, beggars don't get to be choosers. Her knight in greasy armor smelled, looked exhausted as all hells, and very clearly did not want her around him.

Her second worry was that this guy, Mortarion, would hand her over to Brick, be just as bad, or the end-of-times scenario would be him joining in. What Sydney wasn't expecting, however, was Brick's arm almost disintegrating, and her french fried savior breaking his nose in the span of five minutes, right after Brick had tried to yank her away.

Sydney slipped away, stepping back as Mortarion loomed over her stalker. The party goers were starting to chant and cheer, gathering in a big circle. Her arm all but burned with the discomfort from Brick's grip, but that same arm rose to her shoulders, where Mortarion had placed his hands to keep her at a safe distance.

Mortarion, meanwhile, was flinching from the increase in noise, and Brick was slowly getting back up. Taking a quick look around, Sydney noticed that the crowd, once eager for booze, sex, and socializing, was now eager for a fight to liven things up even more. Which meant they were converging. If she looked towards the back of the room, there were two people already rushing over, not to join, but to hopefully stop whatever this was turning into.

"Hey! Back up!" Sydney started pushing people back. Somebody stepped on her foot, and she almost swung. Almost. Instead, she stomped, and heard them yelp. People were starting to slowly back up, clearing a path for the two people she'd noticed running over.

One was, very clearly, a man, with white hair tied up into a loose bun. The other person? Good question. Pale hair, delicate, and if Sydney was thinking straight at the time, she would have called them elven. Both figures were well dressed, and the elven looking person snapped their fingers, getting everybody's attention. "Show's ov-"

Brick launched himself at Mortarion, and it was then that Sydney started swinging. Pain exploded through her knuckles, and she was tugged back roughly by the taller of the two. "Stay back," he commanded. "You don't want a part of this."

—

"Get off. Off. You boys want to fight, talk to Khorne. Brick, sit your ass down. You're down a working arm, and I don't know if you even still have a nose. Accept defeat. Mortarion, baby, I'm sorry, but I have to tell you to leave. Same with you, Brick. Go to a hospital."

Mortarion huffed. He hadn't even wanted to be here in the first place, and now he was getting told to leave? He supposed that he had started a fight in Nesh's residence, and as much as his brother's boss enjoyed a good fight here and there, she wasn't Khorne, and this was not a gym. His hands went up in surrender, and he stalked off, pulling Fulgrim along with him and, by extension, Sydney followed.

"I was protecting her," Mortarion started, letting go of his brother.

"By beating him senseless?!" Fulgrim argued. Sydney stood to the side, awkwardly. "What even happened?"

"He's my stalker. DA won't do shit, neither will campus security." Mortarion didn't know why she was chiming in, but it was welcome, nonetheless. Fulgrim quirked a brow up, met Mortarion's eyes, looked at her again, and sighed.

"Fuck." Agreed. "Right, let's just- Mortarion, I'll meet you at home. We'll…sort this out later."

"By sort this out, you mean sit and gossip about it?"

"Naturally. Sweetie-"

"Sydney."

"Got it. Sydney, love, we'll have to have you go home, too. Want me to set up an Uber?"

Sydney shook her head. "Don't trust it." Fulgrim nodded.

"I'll take her," Mortarion offered.

Sydney looked at him, alarmed. "I'll walk," she clarified. Mortarion, as per usual in a social situation, felt embarrassed.

"Better idea."