Rabbit Blood

Chapter 34 - One Of The Gang

"Then he fell off the chair, and Les fucking blasted him again! Like two or three times," Ginerva recounted to Angel Dust.

It was a warm August night, and the three friends were sharing a bottle of contraband sangria in Leslie's room, perched with varying degrees of difficulty on the bed. Ginerva was in the middle, and Angel, sitting at the foot end, had to let his legs dangle off the mattress. As for Leslie (for whom the hangout had been a surprise), she kept herself pressed firmly against her pillows; the one she was most friendly with had a shoelace tied around it, cinching the middle. God forbid anyone see her handiwork. Angel, for one, would know exactly why she'd done it.

"Pretty fuckin' ballsy, Les," he admitted. "Wish I could do that ta my boss."

"Yeah, just a shame she didn't give notice," Ginerva said, hogging the alcohol. "Rapier's got the rest of us picking up the slack."

Leslie sat up (carefully, not to expose Pillow Alastor). "Urgh! He sucks. But no, I wasn't going to give him notice. You think he'd extend me that courtesy if I was being fired?"

Angel Dust nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," Ginerva grumbled. "Just looking forward to your replacement, is all." She took a hearty swig, then had a thought with the bottleneck still in her mouth. "Hm! Oh, Les, Angie... meant to ask you something."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"About Kain from our group," she went on. "Is he single, do you know?"

"Oh." Wow, Leslie thought.

"Technic'lly he is," Angel said, "though I've seen him pick up a lotta ladies that come through here."

"Ooh. So I could be one of them."

"Why Kain, though?" Leslie had to ask.

Ginerva shrugged, sliding against the wall. "I mean, he's got brains," she said, "he's got that fucking Irish accent that gives me literal gooseflesh. He'd definitely do, I just wanted to check what his deal is. You've both been in the group forever, so..."

"Ah right," Leslie said. "Yeah, knock yourself out, I guess."

"If ya don't mind gettin' redeemed a li'l slower," Angel added with a wink.

Ginerva grinned, then turned back to Leslie. "We've got to get somebody for you. I know a nightclub near my old place called FoxyLove. It is so friendly - compared to some places."

"Huh," said Angel Dust, and Leslie caught the bemused blip on his face, "interestin' choice'a venue."

"Yeah. I mean, it's mostly gay, but they let anyone in... which must make it harder to scope another gay person, now I think about it."

Leslie sat up. "Ginster..."

"Yeah?"

"You don't think I'm gay, do you?"

Ginerva smirked, then didn't. "Uh... are you not?"

Apparently this was hilarious to Angel Dust; he doubled over, wheezing with laughter. Leslie dismissed his reaction.

"Oh shut up. Wait, so..." she went back to Ginerva, "you thought I was a lesbian this whole time?"

"It's nothing bad!" insisted Ginerva, getting up. "I don't mind! Just, Rapier was calling you Lesbo, and I figured it was a personal attack, which is partly why I spit in his coffee so much-"

"Aww."

"-you're welcome. Plus you're sporty, you hang out with The Gang a lot, so I just kinda..."