Pitiful

[Laine Eldarado]

"You disgrace this family! I want you out! Out!"

The raspy voice of the bedridden old man rose to it's highest level of volume. Two much younger versions of the senior, stood on either side of the bed, staring coldly at her.

"Papa! Papa please!"

Laine looked at her father in shock.

"Mikey! Tony! Tell Papa... He doesn't understand... Tell him..."

Her voice trailed off at the cold looks of her older brothers. Tony, the middle child of Giovanni Eldarado's three, grasped his younger sisters arm and dragged her, stumbling, to the door.
Laine struggled, trying to appeal to Mikey.

"Mikey! Mikey, tell Tony to stop! YOu don't know the story! You don't--"

Her voice was cut off by Tony's hand across her cheek. He flung her out onto the street, into the rain and mud. Spitting at her feet, the Eldarado male gave her a disgusted look.

"You cursed our name today. You aren't worthy of your name. Go. Go before Papa sends someone to off you. Go before I do."

The door closed, taking the last of the light with it. Laine stared,shocked, tears running down her face.

"Papa! Papa!"

The cries echoed in the darkness of the night.

~~~~~

::I was considered dead on Rutan. Dead to any and all that are connected to the Eldarado family. It's been seven years and I still get depressed every time.

The dirt on my boots, resting on a table, only made me feel worse. Look at me! I was pathetic! Just a down and out loser with a drink.::

"They were right! I am a disgrace! I'm going to die alone in some cave and everyone's at home is going to say 'what ever happened to that failure of an Eldarado?'. I'm pathetic!"

::The depression would pass, it always did. But I was taking the chance to wallow in my self-pity. I was growing more intoxicated by the minute, thank goodness, but not enough to forget my "troubles". In all honesty, I had it good. I had been a spoiled brat and I still was in many ways. But to myself, I was the most pitiful being in the galaxy.

Woe is me.::

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei noticed a rather sad looking woman drowning her self in alcohol. Wei hated to see people resort to such methods in order to forget their troubles. It made him feel bad. Wei went over to the lady.

"Miss, you look sad? Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? If you have a problem, you can tell me. I'll listen. Talking about your problems often times makes you feel better. I know that from experience."

[Laine Eldarado]

::I stared at him blankly for a moment before shaking my head and spreading my arms out dramatically.::

"No! Nothing can help now! I'm a disgrace! A plauge on the universe! A spot on the tea towel of life!"

::I paused suddenly. Tea towel of life. I liked that. My attention betrayed me though, diverting back to the man.::


"Did you know that oxygen is killing us? You know what that little fact amounts to? NOTHING! I'm full of nothing!"

::I slumped over, resting my head on the table, the condensation on my glass dampening bits of hair. Quite dramatic.::

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei frowned. "A disgrace? Well, who told you that? Plagues are bad and they destroy. You don;t seem to be a violent type of person to me."

Wei saw the woman's feeling of worthlessness and hoped to somehow change her mind. He just hoped she was willing to tell him why she felt so bad.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He was rather new to these parts still but one thing was for certain, no matter how big an entire planet was, you always ran into the same characters again.

Such in this case with Laine and Vishan smirked under his drink. "Ya, ain't that the truth." A dramatic long pause for a drink from his glass, he continued with fresh exuberance. "That ain't the same lady I met not too long ago. I met a vibrant and quick witted woman."

The chair creaked as he stood up. Laine noticed that her aquaintance hadn't opted for the long trenchcoat that was introduced earlier but more of a red and black leather vest that was cooler.

"Hey," he offered Wei in a polite gesture but there was no friendliness in his voice.

Seemed that his amused baby blues were too focused on Laine. "So, darlin. What happened between then and now, huh?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei didn;t know what to make of the newcomer's greeting, but it was obvious that he knew the sad lady.

"Um, hello. You know this lady?"

[Laine Eldarado]

::I half-heartedly mumbled a response from my slumped position to the guy trying to cheer me up.::

"I am a violent person. You should fear me. Rawr."

::Then the familiar voice hit my ears, pricking my curiosity enough to look up. I almost groaned. I didn't want to feel better now and if there was one person that could do it, it was this man. Vishan.

Sighing, I cupped my forehead in my hand and answered him, letting the disgust I felt at myself filter through.::

"I lived, that's what happened."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei frowned at the woman's sarcasm. "Well, ma'am if that is such an attitude that you are willing to take, then I am afraid you are beyond helping."

Wei turned to go and looked at the other man that had joined them earlier. "I'm leaving while I'm still ahead. If you want to stay, I'm afraid that all you will get out of it is a headache."

the woman was immovable. Wei would help her, but if she did not want help, then Wei would let her sit in her own dreary sorrow.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He just shrugged. "I've had much worse situations that caused migraines, kiddo. This," Vishan slid into the free chair at the table and toasted his glass against her dirty boots that were on the table, "is just life."

With a wink, he finished off the remains and turned the glass upside as it hit the table. "So, you lived. Generally speakin', most beings like wakin' up in the morning with the knowledge their still breathin'."

The disgust and abohorrance in Laine's voice didn't go unnoticed, it was why he made sure to sound less haughty in the way he spoke. He was honestly perplexed to how her situation turned the wrong way in such a short of time in meeting her.

[Laine Eldarado]

::My head was starting to spin and my chair was twirling something fierce. Maybe I should have stopped the flow of alcohol into my cup a few glasses ago but it was too late now.::

"You didn't grow up with Giovanni Eldarado for a father. I'm a disgrace. I don't deserve to live. They should have sent Giulio to knock me off years ago."

::I nodded, emphasizing my pointless point.::

[Vishan Korogoth]

His eyes grew wider and he mouthed 'ouch' in response to what was said. "Powerful family and the daughter didn't please the old man so you got thrown out?" Mostly it was a question but by the little information he got out of Laine, and by the tone of her voice, it was a good jump in logic.

Half of his nose scrunched together, still not understanding the situation completely. Hopefully Laine wouldn't have his head being nosey because one, she was more then tipsy but the look in her eye, and two, he wasn't trying to be nosey. He was just trying to help. "Ya said years, Laine. If your family hated you that much then somethin' would've happened by now. Betcha this is just a chance to prove yourself to him." Vishan was speaking in all seriousness now knowing that Laine was mob born. With a name like Giovanni Eldarado for an old man's name, it had to be mob. The pieces all fell into place. The way Laine carried herself and how she acted, what she liked. So, if the family wanted her dead, it would have happened.

"'Course, you could always say frell 'em." He said off-handedly, not really meaning it. Family was a sore issue with him, only because his was all dead. His view was somewhat biased in that area.

[Laine Eldarado]

::I rolled my eyes. Sweet as he was, Vishan had no clue about how things in my family were done.::

"It doesn't matter how long it's been. They should still send him, they're probably going to eventually. It took my father eight years to repay Sonny Maciatto for knocking off my brothers."

::I sighed and rubbed my temples. Prove myself to Papa? Yeah, right. If only it were that simple.::

"And it wouldn't matter if I was dead. I already am to them. Not even my stepbrother, who, incidentally, was also my cousin for five years and was disowned as soon as our parents got married, won't talk to me. And he's not even really real family. I'm nothing to the Eldarados. And if I'm nothing to my family, then what am I?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

Tough question and a good one. It made Vishan stop and think for a minute on a proper response. Laine only knew her family so she was at a lost in this situation, not having them around. It was her identity, it was her being, it was her entire physical make up that was Laine Eldarado.

"Well. Have you ever asked yourself that question?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her. "Maybe if you could answer that question, things wouldn't seem as bad?"

He didn't know what caused her to be an outcast, that was true, but he was going on gut instinct here in what he was saying. "What little I do know of you, your strong willed, intelligent and," he stopped and laughed for a moment, remembering how they first met. "And extremely quick witted. So it took your old man what, eight years to get that guy? I figured you've been gone for what; by the way you're talkin', three years maybe? That leaves you with five years. Why brood over what happened, what will happen and all that nonsense. Live your life and make somethin' outta yourself. I know you can."

Vishan leaned forward over the table and couldn't resist the stupid smile that came across his face, "Come on. You know Dexter's right."

[Laine Eldarado]

"Seven."

::My muffled reply was flat. I hated that number. Last year I'd hated the previous.::

"It's been seven years. Long ones too."

::When I looked up, there were pools of salty wetness starting to gather in my eyes. I hated the fact, but when I get drunk, my emotions go haywire. When I'm up, I'm up. When I'm down... well, there ain't nothing lower. It's only natural of course... but I seem to be in the group that completly loses control.::

"I can't just make something of myself. I'm a failure. I can't even make it with a partner! I tried that and Christ, it went to pieces!"

::His goofy grin made me pause for a minute and I ran my hand lightly down his face, trying to erase it.::

[Vishan Korogoth]

It didn't need to be erased. Not anymore. Laine filled in enough blanks to cause that smirking grin to disappear on its own before her hand came near his lips.

There were times when being silly and making people laughed worked. Then there were the times that all you needed to do was listen. This was one of those times and he wanted to kick himself squarely in the a$$ when he saw those unshed tears rim around Laine's eyes.

Vishan took hold of Laine's hand gently and covered it completely with his free one. "I'm sorry."

[Laine Eldarado]

::He was so damn nice. I was about to break down and wasn't willing to do it in front of Vishan. I never let anyone see me cry. That was weak. Stumbling to my feet, out of the seat, I tgried to walk to the ladies room. Unfortunalty, this place seemed to be a revolving establishment and it was spinning something fierce. I fell, knocking over a napkin holder as I hit the ground. There had been a small mirror on one side of the metal dispenser and it shattered on the tiled floor. I looked at the pieces and then back at Vishan.::

"Seven years bad luck."

[Vishan Korogoth]

The pessimism was so thick that it was really affecting Vishan. But it wasn't affecting him so much that he started to believe in such nonsense that breaking a mirror would give bad luck for seven years.

Laine didn't need another seven years of such luck anyway.

He pushed his chair out and kneeled down beside Laine, careful of the glass. "I think it's time to call it ah night." He was ignoring her comment on purpose and held out a hand. Perhaps Laine saw the concern in his eyes, but then again, maybe not. She really wasn't in a very perceptive state. "Ya need your rest and right now your legs ain't cooperating'. Let me take ya home, makin' sure ya get there all right."

[Laine Eldarado]

::I smiled bleakly through my watery eyes. Home would be nice. But my ship would have to do. I grabbed his hand, introduced it to mine, and slowly stood up. A feat more difficult to do than it seems when you've got buddies like vodka backing you up.::

"I don't wanna go home. I just want to find a nice gutter some where and wake up with a hangover. Tradition."

::Whoa, seems he was right about my uncooperative limbs! I stumbled forward and gripped his shoulders to keep from falling.::

"That first step's a doozy."

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Doesn't mean ya haveta do it all the time. I know I don't like it.... Whoa!" He wrapped his arms around Laine's waist unconsciously. It was a natural reaction after all, but he couldn't help feeling guilty. A beautiful woman, albeit a drunk one, falling into his arms forces the mind to wander.

"Yeah a doozy all right. Good thing ya had me blockin' your fall to the floor." He replied nervously. "Here." Vishan pulled one of her arms off his shoulder and hugged her tightly to his side, making sure there was enough of him for Laine to lean on. He was really glad that she was out of it to realize how stupid he was acting. Normally someone like Laine, actually especially like Laine, would be able to see the edge in his eyes and the anxiousness in his voice.

"Better?" He asked, with a sideways glance down at her.