The Dragomir Heir (Watty Award)

Bucks' Night

Derrick played with his pie while glaring at Lucius and huffing quite loudly to show his annoyance. Instead of getting Lucius’ attention, Darim gave him a look that said ‘quit it’. It was Lucius’ buck’s night and the first activity on the agenda was… dinner at a local tavern. It was the worst tavern Derrick had ever been in. It had stale beers, stale food and wrinkly middle-aged busty women. Derrick cringed away when one woman tugged seductively at his ear and asked, “Who’s this pretty boy?”

When they stopped outside the establishment, Derrick exclaimed, “You’ve got to be joking!” as Lucius walked in first, followed by Darim, Dante, and Darim’s brothers; Jeremiah, Isaac, Aaron and Zacharias. Zach gave him a shrug and warned, “Be nice, Derrick.”

When they went to pick up Lucius, they found the king melancholy. Word was that Lucius just had a meeting with his elders, who were stressing as to why Valentina had disappeared so close to her wedding. Unlike the Dragomir elders, the Vladonov elders were very keen to get the wedding and union underway. They spent the meeting warning Lucius about a certain ex-captain of the guards and how Frederick’s son would be more desirable than Lucius. The meeting was based purely on this topic that Lucius couldn’t discuss the budget and the kingdom merging together. There will have to be another meeting to make up for lost time.

But of course, that wasn’t any of Derrick’s business, so he didn’t ask. However, Derrick was sure of one thing that deciding to attend Lucius’ buck’s night instead of accompanying Valentina was clearly the biggest mistake he had ever made. The. Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

 To demonstrate his unhappiness, he demolished his stale pub pie with his fork, not bothering to eat it and finished his equally stale beer. Schooling his features into one of a grateful guest with a tight smile, Derrick asked the brooding Lucius, “So…what are we doing after this?”

Lucius shrugged, clearly brooding and longing for Valentina. The others lowered their heads at the question, not enjoying the buck’s night that Dante (the best man) had organised. Organised what? Derrick wanted to shout out loud but reframed. “We could go and see a movie”, suggested Jeremiah, Darim’s second brother and the most sensible of the brothers.

Derrick rolled his eyes at his friend and said with too much hostility, “What are we Jeremiah? Teenage boys on a night out after school?” In his anger, Derrick’s emerald eyes glowed, which caused Darim to persuade him to calm down.

Sensing that he should take the reins from the equally brooding Dante, Derrick quickly paid for the food and ushered the party to a strip club.

“Hot, Hot Ladies”, Isaac looked at the club’s name with disdain. “Yes…very tempting indeed”, Isaac said with dry humour.

Lucius followed gloomily and went straight to the bar rather than to the table with the dancing stripper. When he entered, the barely clad women looked at him with longing and Derrick had to admit that Lucius could have any women he wanted…but he was in love with another.

Jeremiah followed him, who was growing rather uncomfortable about the club. Derrick could hear him say to passing topless waitresses, “You do not have to do this for a living! You have a choice.” The waitresses gave him an offended look and either flipped a bird at him or ran off crying. Aaron, Darim’s third brother was a bit more enthusiastic about the change and paid for a lap dance. Darim frowned at his married brother but the former said, “I am still loyal to Daphne, brother. No need to give me that look.”

Aaron, seeing Lucius at the bar, paid a beautiful topless woman to dance for Lucius. The beautiful black hair strolled seductively to Lucius and when she got there, she intimately stroked his back. Instead, Lucius paid the woman to go away and leave him to his liquor. Derrick didn’t know how the mind of a woman worked but to him, it was as if they could sense a challenge in Lucius.