Burning Rage
"You drink while you play?" Daw asked with a happy lilt.
"Yea of fucking course! What else would we do between turns? Don't tell me everything here is devoid of fun? I thought this was supposed to be human beer pong?"
Their faces told her everything she needed to know. Everything had been such a shit show up to that point from being in hell, to having no memory, to getting sick, she wasn't going to let them ruin beer pong. She turned to Thia, "Ok we need beer and liquor STAT! Lots of cups and tables? Plus, probably like a speaker and something I can control the music with? How much time do we have until the matches start?"
"None, the first two teams are up now," Brazz pointed and sure enough, Angel could see the crowd growing around them. Still no Hades, which was probably a good thing since she was about to create chaos.
"Ok I'll teleport us so we can get it done quickly," Thia insisted. Angel didn't question how Thia could teleport. She chalked it up to a "god thing".
"We're the 50th match so don't take too long!" Rig scolded but he seemed interested in how humans play the game. Thia called black mist forward out of nowhere and swirled it into a doorway. She and Angel walked right through it into a room filled to the ceiling with alcohol.
"What the? Why do you guys have so much?"
"It's for the regular parties and balls the gods host but most of it is for the Involution, the biggest Gala we have. Just about every god and goddess comes to that." Angel nodded, still amazed by the mass of alcohol before them.
After a few teleport trips to the kitchen's liquor pantry, everything was set up and Angel chose the perfect spot near the pong table, throne and the group of women standing nearby. Every party needed female attention. She felt eyes on her back as she lead preparations. She carefully chose the music to suit the crowd making sure the playlist had a little bit of everything and started with the volume at twenty percent so as not to offend anyone's sober senses.
"Shots! Now!" Angel insisted, already pouring the first round. She felt totally in control and in her element. Though she couldn't remember everything about herself, she could feel when she was being true to herself. It made her happy. Her body involuntarily started bouncing to an electronic song. When she looked back to the crowd of women, they had drawn closer and were smiling in her direction. She could see the gleam in their eyes as they watched her prep the shots.
"You guys in too?" she shouted over to them, feeling more herself every moment, and before she could say anything else, they crowded the table. She realized they were all secretly waiting for permission to join in. Angel silently wondered how dry everything must have been normally. They seemed ageless. Some looked gaunt and pale like the hellraisers so Angel assumed they worked for Hades in some fashion or another but the others looked more like Thia: beautiful and kind. After some brief decisions about which liquor to choose they downed the first round together. Then a second and a third. Angel coughed against the burn.
"We're up human!" Rig shouted and Angel hopped over to the table without reserve. She waved to the other team who both looked at her like she was an idiot. Whoohoo go Angel! The ladies cheered from the sidelines. Everything felt so much more pleasant with people being a little less stiff. It'd been hard enough in hell already, she needed a release. The other team didn't seem to mind playing against a human. She didn't feel any of the uncomfortable energy she remembered from the meeting. After a few misses from Angel, Rig clenched the win and they returned to the drinking table, the other team in tow, annoyed.
"I thought you said you were good?" Rig teased, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. He had to admit he enjoyed her company. She was growing on him, raw energy seemed to pour out of her and light up everything around her. She was vibrant.
"I am! But I haven't had enough to drink yet," she gushed with a slight blush seeping through her high cheeks, "I have to be tipsy! That's when I play my best."
"Sure, sure," he nodded, unbelieving, but happy nonetheless because they won the match, "couldn't be worse than Daw I suppose."
"Hey fuck you man! I don't even like the game but you're always making me play," Daw huffed from across the table.
"That's because Zero always wants to be on the opposing team and take the lead over me and Brazz purposely tries to make us lose so he can stop playing," Rig accused the others.
As the matches continued, more and more hellraisers made their way to the drinking table which elated Angel. She mingled with total abandon. Hellraisers and gods alike. She realized that she must have been an extrovert because she felt embedded in her element, totally at home. The smart ass comments and comebacks came too easily. She was fun and funny and clever, soon she felt surrounded by good energy. Angel edged the music volume up to fifty percent since more people had started participating. The bass started to echo against the walls like a real club.
Thia and Angel had downed a few more rounds of shots before Rig motioned her to their next game. She made two shots which was a marked improvement over the last game and Rig seemed pleased. Again, Rig clenched the win.
"Drink more" he insisted with a teasing laugh, feeling drunk on liquor and Angel's energy.
The tournament neared the end and Hades still hadn't made an appearance on his throne. It didn't seem to bother anyone but Angel. She felt nervous, as if his arrival was a band aid she just needed to rip off. The dreams made her insides feel like lava, an uncontrollable current of desire. In her waking hours, the world felt emptier without him. And the peek she took in his room only raised more alarms in her mind. She just couldn't quite put her finger on why. She shook her head at the thought knowing in her heart that it would only end in heartbreak: hers. The anxiety dissolved a little after another shot of Fireball. By that point, Angel and Thia were dancing around and singing the lyrics to Bad Guy by Billie Eilish which had reached maximum volume.
"How did I not know you and I would be best friends?" Angel panted. She was three drinks past tipsy.
"Oh I knew as soon as I talked to you," Thia laughed, "I'm stealing your music taste, by the way!"
"You are such a human," Angel giggled, pointing an accusing finger.
"Yea well, gods and goddesses are known for a lot, but I love human music," Thia laughed, "When some of the artistic gods make music it's so boring, like classical music went to sleep!" Angel waited for the beat to drop in the song because it was the Dachiao remix and she knew Thia wasn't expecting it. Immediately they made eye contact and Thia mouthed, I love this! She and Angel joined arms and slowly twisted their hips and bounced to the beat of the song. Angel felt the liquor and the freedom and something like happiness returning to her. The tightness in her chest released a little.
She danced her way back to the pong table. Rig smiled at her lack of inhibitions and together they dominated the table. The game was won with only two turns each. Angel hit Rig's hand in two short slaps, showing him how to do a team handshake. He laughed before making eye contact with something behind her. She turned to find the losing team skulking across the table. The leader openly growled at Angel in disgust.
At the same time that Angel met the raiser's eyes, Hades was receiving alarming news across the palace. He worked through several hundred requests and transfer tickets on his desk. The night with Angel played on his mind and he tried his best to throw himself in his work. Nyx cautiously slid into his office with something on her mind. Hades hoped it wouldn't be something flirty.
"My lord, I was wondering if I could excuse myself for the night?" Hades looked at her desk where the papers had been filed away meticulously.
"You appear to be done for the night, so yes."
"Thank you, sir, I was just going to head over to the beer pong tournament."
"Oh, was that tonight? I'm usually supposed to judge." He glanced at the clock on his wall. They probably only had a handful of games left. He should at least make an appearance, "I'll accompany you, Nyx. They should be wrapping up."
"I wouldn't be so sure sire, my friend just messaged to say it's turned into a big party. Apparently, the human had something to do with it."
"Then let's hurry," Hades insisted. Inside he was trying to calm himself down. She wouldn't be with anyone. She's probably just watching on the sideline. No need to be jealous. He followed Nyx into the hallway, toward the dorms.
Somewhere in Angel's heart she knew she should have been afraid of the angry hellraiser. His eyes were murderous as he clenched and unclenched his fists. He was clearly a sore loser. But instead of scared, she felt euphoric. One of her favorite songs played, Over U by Ali Bakgor and her body involuntarily started moving towards his scowl. She knew she was definitely drunk when she ignored Rig's warning tone and continued towards the team. Angel grabbed the leader's arm and pulled his head down to her level.
"I can tell you're competitive," she whispered with emphasis, "I like that."
He looked like someone shot him through the chest as she pulled back revealing a subtle smirk. She didn't know what came over her. Was she the type to flirt like that? She felt dialed up and bold, in tune with some dormant part of herself that was a temptress. Angel felt like she transferred something like heat in her touch and she saw him react. She motioned toward the drink table and he begrudgingly followed, watching her small waist flit around to the liquor. It was more than just drunk, she felt high off of influence. The way she changed his emotions with just a touch and a simple phrase. She felt powerful. After a moment she produced three shots which she haphazardly clutched between her fingers.
Once taken, the peace was made, and she brought a couple of admirers over to hold his teammate's attention. The simple act of breaking his anger down with her flirt, made her feel untouchable, definitely on a power high. Rig had returned to the others to gloat and she knew she wouldn't be missed yet. She pulled the hellraiser, who told her his name was Bolt, into a dance as a good-sized dance area had filled with people gyrating. After only a moment, she heard a powerful growl that ripped everyone out of their joy.
She snapped her neck toward the sound to see Hades' dark, flaming eyes looking right at her, no, through her, and to the hellraiser she danced with. He stayed for a moment before scanning the room.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE? EVER-Y-ONE OUT!" he roared loud enough to rumble the walls. The music suddenly stopped playing and silence filled the room before the loud thudding of boots leaving the room. Instinctually, Angel knew he hadn't meant her. As if reading the same vibes, her hellraisers hadn't moved and neither had Thia. But Bolt moved away from her like a deer in headlights.
Angel inched closer to Thia and whispered, "Why's he so fucking grumpy all the time?" Partly because of how drunk she was becoming with each passing minute and partly because she felt she'd done something wrong, her words had been loud enough for Hades to hear. Had she actually done something wrong? Why couldn't she dance with someone else when he clearly wasn't interested in her. He snapped back to her with a rage that seemed boundless.
Hades' fiery glare caught Bolt's eyes and he burst into flames, turning to ash in seconds. Angel backed up as Thia's face turned white as a sheet. Each step he took toward her made her feel like her face was going to melt, his fiery gaze so intense that heat pulsed toward her. As soon as he grabbed both shoulders, Angel screamed, as her skin burned under his touch.
At the sound of her screaming he came back to himself and immediately dropped her arms but the damage had been done. Remorse flicked past his face quickly before he put the stoic mask back up. Mist dragged up around them and Angel fell into her bed, whimpering like a wounded animal.