Groups of men like the ones who had been prowling down the alley were such a common breed, it had ceased to be even disturbing. I had grown up around men like them... Peacocks with their feathers waving so broadly and brazenly in the air that all you could do was notice them because they were so close to your face. You didn't have the chance to see through the actually limp, sparse feathers. Men like that were everywhere, so close to your line of sight that you could not see the genuine sentinels, who were made up of morality and yeah... Maybe those were mythical creatures. The men in the alley had no form or sort of morality linked to them. Their very pores oozed bad intentions. Identifying bad intentions was kind of my forte, especially considering I entertained a wide variety of them myself.

The woman was clearly scared, I could all but smell the discomfort and near fear on her when I returned to my seat after marring the locked door to the bar. Why shouldn't she be? Women were often easy prey, regardless of their strength, personality, and wildness... Physically? So many women were not as strong as their masculine counterparts, leaving them with a literal and figurative weakness that was easy to prey on. I came off as less physically formidable than other men â€" but then again, I had spent most of my life around battered, shattered, and frail women. I had learned that a woman who had fallen prey could all but smell bad intentions, and in your every movement, your every inkling, ... She knew. My sister would cringe if I faced her with square shoulders and my chin raised, regardless of whether she knew I intended her no harm. Instinctually, she knew that I was aggressive and domineering. Experience with women like her, extreme victims, had led me to a higher understanding I honestly never wanted. But my god, do you learn. It was inevitable that I became manipulative, understanding how to motivate and maneuver myself around the mice while posing as a much bigger threat, with claws, to the felines. Especially like those waiting the woman out beyond the bar door.

Then again... Those bad intentions? Yeah, they were pretty instinctual for me, too.

I took a sip of my drink. A small, mischevious smile replaced the rim of my glass against my lips as I heard her begin to speak. " It always seems to happen to you?" My accent was much stronger, almost startling to me. Was it seriously that strong of a drink? The rapping at the door took my gaze from her and the glass beside me on the bar to the door, albeit very briefly. It wasn't going to do her good, or me any good, wondering what was beyond the door at the moment. It might, let's be real, be prudent to be paying attention to the men for when the "exit scene" arrives, but for now? I was far more content with another drink, and to watch the woman wondering if she would be safe, come morning.

I might have a lot of bad intentions, but the woman was safe, at least sitting on a bar stool in this particular establishment with me, at the particular time. Granted, maybe that would be different and more than likely would be at a later date, but for now? She looked innocent, and the way her heart was racing and rattling her chest was enough to take hears off the end of her life. Even her eyes, the way her hair fell in front of them, reminded me of the innocence of my sister...

What a heartstring to pull.

The banging had gotten the attention of the barkeep, who's manager was now parading through the establishment towards the door, in order to understand what the deal was. I looked that way for a moment, but the management of the bar was not going to get in my way regardless of whether they intended to intervene.

"Seems to me like if she wanted to find you, trouble would have wound up at your home, too," I shrugged, nonchalant. The group wasn't about to make their way in very quickly, which left -... My head whipped way too quickly to the window that had been broken through by a very large tire, followed by some large men. I stood, pulling the woman's stool much closer to me than she had sat down, largely in an attempt to keep the room from spinning with how quickly I'd stood.

"Now is as good a time as any to tell me why they might be after you. I sure hope you have an affinity for improve 'cause they sure as shit don't like me," I drawled, feeling that slow, amused, and intoxicated smile drawing itself over my face again.

Now is as good a time as any to remind myself why I don't drink in public.