Fluff

Chapter Forty-Five - Hoo You Are Deep Inside

The nice biker guys brought Athena into the pub and one of them helped her up and onto a tall stool by the bar. “There you go, little miss,” he said.

The lady behind the bar looked at Athena, then at all of the guys in their big leather jackets. She gestured at Athena. “Where the hell did you guys find her?” she asked.

One of them rubbed Athena’s head. “Ah, we found her in the alley out front. The little miss is a bit lost. You got a phone she can use?”

The bar lady raised an eyebrow and her lips--painted red with a smear of makeup--twisted to one side. “Give me a minute,” she said.

Athena took that minute to look around the bar.

It was a strange place. Everything was made of old wood, and the lighting was rather poor. An old jukebox off in one corner was playing a raspy country sound that was crooning out of some speakers linked together by trailing wires. It wasn’t loud enough to drown out all the talking and laughing.

There were some posters here and there, for beers and bikes, most of them with very chesty women with blonde hair and big lips on them. There were a lot of guys in the room too. Sitting at tables, standing together in little circles, almost all of them with a big mug in hand or sometimes a brown glass bottle.

An enticing smell caught her attention and she turned to see what the guy sitting a few stools over was eating. It was some sort of slab of meat, with a brown sauce over it and a handful of fries to the side. It looked disgusting and smelled heavenly.

“Ey, Su!” the nice biker who helped her called towards the kitchen. “Get the girl something to eat while you’re at it, she looks hungry.”

Athena felt her cheeks warming up, but that subsided after a little bit. She had no reason to be embarrassed. It was just a bit of food. “So, do you guys just hang out here all day?” she asked.

The big guy laughed, and some of his friends joined in. “Nah, of course not. We’ve got work and jobs. But once in a while it’s nice to just step back and have a drink with the boys.”

Athena nodded. That made sense. She liked hanging out with Emily, and also sometimes Teddy. “That’s cool. You guys seem really nice.”

He smiled down at me, looking really smug for a bit. “Heard that boys, I was called nice.”

One of his buddies snorted. “Best compliment you’ve gotten from a girl since before your mum kicked you out!”

There was some laughter at that, and her new friend took on a look of mock offence. He turned back to her. “We’ll get you nice and fed, call up your parents, then see you home safe, alright?”

Athena could see a couple of problems with that. “Um, alright,” she said. “But I don’t have parents.”

There was some frowning at that. “Why’s that?”

“I live with big sister Emily,” Athena said. “She’s the best.”

“And she let you out on your own?” he asked.

Athena shook her head. She didn’t want these people thinking big sister Emily wasn’t a good big sister. “No. She had a big important thing to do today, so I wanted to help and...” Athena looked away. “I got a little lost.”

One of them pat her back. “It’s good that you wanna look out for your sister,” he said. “That’s what we all do for each other. Not that anyone with half a brain would mess with us.”

Athena pouted. “I wish people didn’t want to mess with me,” she said. She was taller than Teddy, why couldn’t she be just as fearsome? Even her powers, which were kinda cool, didn’t feel as useful as Teddy’s.

When Teddy went out to help big sister Emily, she found costumes and new minions. When Athena went out to do the same, she almost got attacked in an alley.

It wasn’t fair. She was an owl, a smart apex predator! She was meant to be more clever and more useful. She sniffled, then pouted harder to keep the tears in.

The bar lady, Su, returned with a cordless phone in one hand and a plate in the other. She took one look at Athena, then glared at all the guys around her. “Oi, you dimwits, leave the kid alone for a bit!” she said before placing the plate before Athena. “Here, you eat this. It’ll make you feel better.”

Athena snorted some snot back in. “Thanks,” she said. She picked up a fork, then eyed the steak and potatoes and gravy on her plate. It all smelled really nice. “You’re really kind,” she said.

“Bah, think nothing of it. These idiots might look and act like meatheads, but they’re alright sorts,” Su said.

Just like Teddy, really.

Athena began chewing her way through the rather nerve-filled steak, occasionally slicing bits off with a knife while the guy’s who’d helped her chatted about motorcycles and talked about spectacular accidents and things she suspected they were exaggerating.

They sounded so cool.

She wished she could be as cool and useful as them....

Athena blinked. She was being an idiot.

Turning, she found the guy with the biggest beard, which she suspected was a sign of importance, and tugged at his sleeve.

He paused in listening to one of the other guys telling a story about how he got into this big fight with some thugs, and bent her way to be closer. “What’s up, little lady?” he asked.

Athena swallowed. “Hey, could I be as tough as you guys?” she asked.

The man blinked, his beard twitched, then he roared with laughter. He patted her head, then sat onto the stool next to hers with one elbow on the table. “So you wanna be tough, eh?”

Athena nodded. That would be for the best.

He rubbed his chin, mouth working left and right. “I dunno. You’re a bit small to be tough.”

She balled her fists together. “There has to be other ways to be tough!” she said.

The big guy chuckled. “Well, half of it’s looking the part, I guess. People don’t wanna mess with folks who look like they can hold their own in a scrap.”

Athena nodded. In her mind she was making notes. Her superior intellect hadn’t brought her as much good as she would have hoped. She’d need to supplement it with more toughness. And if this guy was right, that meant looking the part.

A glance around the room revealed a lot of really tough looking guys. They were big and muscly and tall. She probably couldn’t be those things. But they all wore leather and black clothes, and stood around in weird ways. “I’ll need a nice jacket,” she said.

The guy laughed. “Sure! I think we might even have something out back.”

“And what’s the other half?” Athena asked.

“Huh?”

“The other half to being tough.” She wanted to know the full secret, not just part of it.

“Oh, that’s all in your head. See, you get a lot of pansies coming around with nice Arlies and new coats, all puffed up and tough looking, but when it comes time to throw fists, they’re all cowards. Don’t matter how strong they are, they don’t have the bal-- brains for it.”

He gestured into the crowd.

“But some of these guys? Some are old, some are weak, but when they take a knock on the head they get right back up and swing back twice as hard. It doesn't matter if you don’t know how to fight. That’s not part of being tough. Being tough means even when the going gets hard, you’re always ready to go harder.”

Su snorted. “What kind of half-brained idea is that?” she asked.

Athena wasn’t paying attention to the bar lady anymore though, she was imagining herself--in a cool leather jacket, of course--wiping the blood off her mouth as she stood up to defend big sister Emily from some disgusting no-good heroes.

It didn’t matter she wasn’t as hard to put down as Teddy, not as long as she could keep up the fight.

“Yeah,” Athena said. “Yeah! I can be tough too.”

Su rolled her eyes. “You going to call your parents, kid?”

“Ah,” Athena said. “Um... I don’t know big sister’s number,” she said. Her very recent lesson about toughness kicked in. “But that’s okay. I can walk all the way back home, no problem.”

The big bearded guy shook his head. “None of that. You know where you live?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Ever ride a hog?”

She shook her head. “No?”

“Well then, missy, it’s gonna be your lucky day. I’ll grab some of the boys. They don’t need much of an excuse to head out and around town.” He gestured to her plate. “You finish off your meal, alright.”

“Thanks!” she said.