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“He's my muscle,” Fabian said with a laugh as he patted at Gorgug's chest. Gorgug resisted the urge to frown as all the other elves burst into laughter at the stupid half-orc who they clearly thought was below them.
Fabian's words were clearly said as a joke. Gorgug wasn't the best at insight but even he could tell that Fabian and these other elves were of different mindsets on Gorgug's place at this event.
He had been invited as a guest, insisted upon by Fabian and Gilear. Hallariel hadn't seen any issue, Gorgug often fixed things for her around the house when she couldn't be bothered to wait for a repairman so the woman was quite fond of her son's friend.
“How, dear Fabian, did you manage to get it to listen to you? Such a strong one.” An elf with long blonde hair said as he reached out to firmly grasp Gorgug's biceps and squeeze.
Gorgug jerked away, breath catching in his throat. The elves all laughed, Fabian's face dropped as if he just realized his cousins were not in on the joke. Shame almost crept into Gorgug's mind at flinching from a stupid elf but he fought it back. His parents had taught him better than to be shamed by assholes.
“Not quite tame though apparently. Come now Fabian, don't let your new beast rage on me.” The elf had a stupidly smug voice as he taunted. Gorgug hadn't even thought to rage until the elf had said that and you know what, Gorgug was pretty angry.
“Gorgug can do as he pleases, of course.” Fabian said, voice gone flat. “Even if he chooses to kick your ass for talking to him that way.”
Fabian had given Gorgug permission to beat this guy's ass. Fabian wouldn't be mad if he did, although these were Fabian's friends and family. Surely, Gorgug couldn't just take out his cousin because he was a jerk.
Gorgug understood why Riz refused to come now. He felt like a bug about to be squished underneath the gaze of all these high elves.
He tried to think back and figure out if Hallariel was like this but he couldn't remember a time she treated him badly because of his race, just a multitude of other reasons.
“Come now, Cousin,” Fenial smirked, “you can't let your pets have such a loose leash. You might lose control.”
Gorgug was caught between wanting to rage and not wanting to ruin Gilear and Hallariel's party. The choice was made for him however when a sickening crunch echoed through the room and Fenial fell to the floor howling in pain.
Gorgug looked in shock for a moment, thinking he had lost himself to rage in a way he hadn't since freshman year.
The real culprit became clear when Fabian pounced on his cousin, knuckles bloody. He struck his cousin again. “Don't you ever accuse me of that.” He threatened.
“Shit!” Adrial cursed. “Fabian, chill out.” The younger cousin got in between the two and separated them. Fabian, as angry as he was, wasn't the kind to brute his way through someone younger than him so he stepped back.
“What the hell?” Amarial asked. “You can't just go and attack us just cause you hang out with beasts now.”
That was the wrong thing to say, Gorgug could feel the tension in the air as Fabian immediately lunged forward. Gorgug reached out to catch him before he could attack his other cousin.
“Get your hands off him you brute!” Derriel demanded as he grabbed Gorgug's arms. Gorgug tried to hold down the rage bubbling inside him, until Derriel tried to yank him into letting go of Fabian.
Gorgug swallowed down his rage and shrugged. “Okay, sure.” The moment his hand left Fabian the half-elf leaped through the air and landed directly on top of Amarial.
Adrial threw up his hands in frustration. Derriel grabbed Gorgug by the shoulder and tried to shove him, Gorgug thought though he wasn't really sure because the movement didn't even make him sway.
“I didn't like that. You should stop.” Gorgug said calmly. It was a warning. He noticed the youngest of the boys rushed off, probably to get his parents and hopefully Fabian's mom. Derriel sneered at him but did take his hand off Gorgug, like a coward.
Gorgug stepped forward to grab Fabian and lift him off his cousin. “Enough Fabian.” It wasn't really a fight, Fabian was just beating the other boy up. Fabian's knuckles were coated in his cousin's blood but Amarial had blood pouring from his nose and lips.
Fabian grabbed Gorgug around his neck, stretching up to his toes and dragging Gorgug down a bit. “You're lucky he's not giving me permission to end your life, you stupid fuck.”
Gorgug grinned, probably a little menacingly. “Yeah, stupid fuck.”
“Gorgug!” Came the haughty voice behind him and Gorgug and Fabian both winced.
“Mama!” Fabian said cheerily as he spun around, hiding his bloody knuckles behind his back. “How happy we are to see you.”
Gorgug turned around, with his head ducked down. Hallariel, several unknown elves, and Adaine and Aelwyn stood in the doorway. They all looked furious. “Sorry,” Gorgug mumbled.
“Do not be.” Hallariel replied coldly. “It is I who should apologize to you for the way my family treat you as a respected guest of my estate.” Her eyes narrowed on her nephews who were cowering at her wrath.
“This was unacceptable!” Another elf spoke, his face pinched in a way that made him seem ugly. Aelwyn almost looked amused as Adaine's face turned red with rage. “A beast in here causing such violence.”
“How dare you?” Adaine spoke, venom dripping form her voice. Aelwyn crossed her arms and sent a mischievous grin to Gorgug, the only sign she was on his side.
“He does not belong here, among us!” The elf shouted, gesturing at Gorgug aggressively.
Before Gorgug could say anything Adaine and Hallariel both threw a punch. Gorgug was starting to get the feeling he needed to teach his friends how to control their rage, especially because Adaine's knuckles cracked as she made contact and she drew her fist away with a yelp.
“Speaking to my guest in my estate in such a manner is disgusting.” Hallariel seethed, her hands trembling with anger. “Either apologize to my guests or prepare to duel.”
Her brother huffed out a breath and stepped back. His pride forbid him from speaking to Gorgug but he looked at Adaine and bowed deeply. “My apologies for disturbing you Oracle.”
Aelwyn raised an eyebrow and something dangerous danced in her eyes. “That's not who demands an apology.” Her voice lacked the decorum Hallariel had but also wasn't as feral and uncontrolled as her sister's. It was almost more intimidating how absolutely in control she sounded while being so dangerous.
Hallariel and Adaine crossed their arms but Aelwyn kept her loose with a lazy grin on her face. Gorgug shuffled awkwardly, the air was so tense it was suffocating. Fabian was vibrating with excitement. He was loving this, Gorgug just wished he was somewhere else.
“I…” the elf started, his eyes narrowed in pure hatred at Gorgug, “I apologize for my son's actions towards you, esteemed guest of my sister.” The words sounded anything but sorry.
“Yeah, it's okay,” Gorgug said awkwardly. Adaine and Fabian made noises of disagreement. Aelwyn seemed rather disappointed at being denied a fight.
Hallariel clapped her hands with a smile. “Wonderful!” She cheered. “Now we can return to having a wonderful time. Just in time, I believe Figueroth is about to play a song for us all in the main room.”
Gorgug felt a lot more at ease having the attention drawn from him. He also couldn't help but be relieved Fig hadn't been here for that, she surely wouldn't have been as easy to drag off Amarial as Fabian was.
Fabian was excitedly dragging Gorgug away, chattering on about a dance he had planned with Mazey. He seemed to not even realize Gorgug was drawn into his own mind, or perhaps he did and that's why he was talking with such a happy tone. It could also be the adrenaline of a fight.
“Fabian.” Gorgug cut off his rambling. Fabian stopped and looked at Gorgug, eyes bright as if he truly wasn't affected by the event that just happened. As if Fabian had no regrets about beating the shit out of his own cousin in Gorgug's defense.
The thought hit Gorgug all at once that Fabian probably didn't care. He hadn't hesitated. The moment they insulted Gorgug, Fabian had lunged, as if it was the natural reaction and not just something he felt he had to do. “Never mind,” Gorgug shrugged.
Fabian shrugged back with a laugh and went back to scrubbing the blood off his knuckles. “So Mazey wanted to do a hip hop ballet mix, but I wanted a contemporary so we ended up combining the three…” He chatted happily, oblivious to Gorgug's internal epiphany that his friend actually did care about him.
Gorgug got lost in Fabian's explanation of what sounded like the weirdest choreography ever created. He let his mind wander and it immediately went back to Adaine throwing a punch with a horrible form and hurting herself.
Surely, someone had taught her to throw a punch before. They'd been in fights before. “Who taught Adaine to fight?” Gorgug asked. Fabian paused, furrowed his brow in confusion. “Did we never teach Adaine to fight?” Gorgug asked in alarm.
“Oh no,” Fabian said. Gorgug and him met eyes in disbelief.
“Shit.”
“Shit.”