a man in constant sorrow | MEL&TAZE

Stale beer. That was the only thing the Braxton could register. It wasn't what he saw, but what he could smell. There was no telling how long he had been sitting in a dark corner bar stool in the Trojan Horse drinking whatever was on tap and wishing is would just kill him already. Why was he so upset? Well there were a number of reasons. The chief among them being that, while on his way to see Melanie again, he saw her with Dante. And the feeling of jealousy and betrayal that flared within him had disturbed him more than he could possibly explain. He decided it would be better to drink the feelings away, than acknowledge them.

He could barely feel someone punching him the arm. He swung his head in an over dramatic motion to look at the blurry person. Taze. It was Taze, "Whyou hit me ass?" His voice was heavily slurred and earned him a skeptical look from the bartender. Taze shook his head at Braxton and said something to the bartender before standing to leave, "Ion't need a babysidder mudder fucker." He growled, slamming the glass on the bar as if he wanted to have another beer.

@taze first. then @accaila

Abby had the night off, and the first place she wanted to be was at one of the other clubs in town. It was often awkward hitting up the club that you worked at when trying to find... Well, a good time. Lucky for her, there was a rather drunk guy at the bar a few seats away from her.

She watched as he seemed to shove off his friend. She chuckled, sipping her incredibly dry martini and crossing one leg over the other, turning toward the blonde and raising an eyebrow at him, along with tossing him a little smile. If things worked out like they usually did, he'd come to her... Then the games could begin.

Much to Braxton's surprise, The bartender handed him another beer and he nodded like it was owed to him. Taking a long gulp, he turned in his chair to look around the bar. Of course, he didn't get far before his eyes landed on the girl a few seats down. She was the opposite of Melanie in almost every way. Tall, blonde, and unfamiliar. Perfect.

He stood up and stumbled his way to the seat next to her, grinning like a fool without meaning to, "Hey." He leaned in a little to close to her. She smell good, like perfume and vodka, "I'm Brax." His voice was slurring and thick with the stench of beer.

Abby kept her eyes on him, Brax, has he made his way to her. On his arrival, she slowly set her glass down all while keeping a cool smile on her face.

He was a bit of a mess, but that's just how Abby liked it. Ooh she could give him some terrible nausea in the morning with that hangover... But she wouldn't do that. Her disease manipulation itch had been scratched tonight already, thanks to some poor sucker. This kid though... Nah, she was sure he could be helpful in other ways. She leaned forward as well. "Brax... Let's skip the pleasantries," she cooed, lifting a hand to tug at the collar of his shirt.

Grinning like an idiot, Braxton nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull the strange girl closer, "What? Can't even know yer name?" He asked, their faces inches apart now. He didn't actually care to know her name. After all, she was definitely just a one night thing for him. He stood and nudged his head toward the door, "Let's get out of here." He mumbled, tugging on her wrist and grinning.

It had taken them several minutes to get from the hospital to the Horse, Melanie cursing the entire way. Her side and her shoulder screamed from the exertion, but she had to get there. From what Taze had told her at the hospital, Brax was in full self destruct mode and things were only going to get worse. She could've kicked herself from going to see Dante, but it was all a misunderstanding. Hopefully she could make him see that.

Walking through the open doors, she scanned the room in search of the blond son of Enyo, her heart pounding as she fought to catch her breath. Spotting him near the bar, holding on to some blonde bombshell's wrist, Melanie almost couldn't bring herself to cross the floor. Maybe it was better if she left things this way, but between everything that had happened recently and the information that Taze had given her at the hospital, she knew she had to. A few quick strides led her to standing behind him, as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Brax? Brax, what are you doing?" She questioned gently, almost not sure he could hear her over the music.

He felt a presence of someone right behind him before he heard her voice. Reaching in the air, Braxton yank a small, crooked, and basically broke dagger from no where and spun around, holding it to the neck of whoever was intruding on his person space. His drunk mind took longer than it should have to realize the person he had bent over the pool table with a knife to their throat was Melanie. His eye went wide and he dropped the blade. It clunked loudly on the green surface of the pool table before popping out of view, "What?" He pushed back harder than he meant to and stumbled into the blonde girl (@abby) He had been flirting with before. His eyes were glowing with the rage that rumbled deep in his gut, "Why don't you go back to your best friend. I'm busy." He turned away from her and tried not to shake with anger.

It took everything Melanie had not to scream as Braxton pushed her up against the table. Her biggest fear when it came to him had always been that she could never tell when he was armed, and this was why. As he let her go, she silently prayed that Taze had followed her in for back up in case things got nasty again. On a good day, she could probably have held her own against Brax in a fair fight, even if she couldn't have won. Today she could barely stand, much less fight. Isn't that what had landed them here in the first place? Pulling herself off of the table, Melanie walked towards Brax slowly, her hands slightly out in front of her.

"Brax, I swear you've got it all wrong. I went down to confront Dante because I was pissed and had questions, not because I cared. That is the only reason I left the room. I needed to know why." Stopping just out of arms reach, Melanie waited to see how he would react before going any closer. If he was still ready for a fight, things could get bad and fast.

Torn. He was torn between complete anger and total defeat. She was....he didn't have a word. Turn his head completely so he couldn't see her anymore, he put his hands up to his face to hide it from the bar as he took in a deep breathe. His mind had completely strayed from the blonde girl he had been planning on sleeping with that night. Instead, he was trying to keep the alcohol down. Leaning sideways into the bar, Braxton tumbled tot he floor and braced himself with his hands on the wooden planks, hoping that would steady the room. 

It didn't. He felt someone's hand on his back and a female voice that was steadier than the bar seemed to be. Annabeth Wallace and trying to pull him from the floor and lead him outside, but he didn't move. Instead, the thought of leaving made him dizzy and he lowered his head so it was touching the cool floor, "He tried to kill you. Fuck that guy." He groaned, thinking that the beer wouldn't taste as good coming back the other way.

Kneeling down on Braxton's other side and nodding towards Annabeth, Melanie placed her hand against his back and tried to help him up much like the younger woman had. "Your right. I won't go back, because this isn't worth it. He tried to kill Alex, almost killed me." The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Yes, Dante had been her best friend, but right now wasn't the time. Maybe some day in the near future they could talk things out, but not until she was ready, not until Brax was at least. Brax meant more to her than that, and one stupid decision had left him a mess in the middle of the floor. "Come on, let's get you outside." She said soothingly, running her hand up and down his back as she spoke.

He shook his head and heard Taze's voice somewhere over the roaring in his ears. Forcing himself to stand, he pushed the people around him away and started toward the door, "Just get off!" He hollered, obviously trashed. He left without paying his tab and pushed his way out into the cool night time air. Once outside, Braxton felt a little better, stretching his arms so they bent above his head and his palms rested on the back of his neck, "Damn it!" He yelled, punching the brick facade of the bar, "Damn it!" 

Sparing a glance towards Taze, Melanie headed outside to make sure Braxton made it out alright. "Brax, come on. Stop." That's it, she was going to end up getting hurt tonight and Dr. KOTNEY was never going to let her hear the end of it. As it was he had already refused to heal her side and shoulder. "Stop hitting inanimate objects and threatening people. Talk to me." Leaning up against the wall near him, Melanie tried to keep her breathing even and her head down. Maybe if she looked a little less confrontational, he'd calm down a little bit. He was too drunk for that though, she could already tell. Braxton was about to explode.

His fist pulled back from the brick wall, leaving a smear of blood on the brownish-red brick. He turned his icy, blue gaze to Melanie and pulled his hands on either side of her head, forcing her to look at him, "Talk to you? Why would I do that?" He growled, pinning her against the wall so her poly way out would be to push him away, "You have obviously have other people you can talk to."

Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat as she hit the wall, Melanie closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them, she motioned away the concerned form that she assumed was Taze before placing her hands over Braxton's. "No I don't. I had other people to yell at. There is a difference." She didn't attempt to pull away or struggle, she simply stayed there, looking him in the eye and hoping that he would realize soon that she was being sincere.

Braxton had to look down at her and, because of that, their faces were barely three inches away from each other. His breathing was heavy as he thought about anything but what he had said. The way her face looked up at him seriously. The way her lips parted as she breathed. Everything was distracting to him. He moved his hand, looking at the blood for a moment where the bricks had grazed cuts he had gotten punching out...him. He moved the hand and it hovered of Melanie's cheek, without touching her. He didn't want to be too forward and wasn't even sure where any of this was going, "What is happening to me?"