Bobby's gettin' drunk and lookin' for a fight

There was a strange tension in the air when Nick stepped out of the bathroom. He couldn’t put his finger on what was going on, but he definitely felt uncomfortable.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asked, approaching Marley.

The brunette **** a smile to her face.

“Yup!” She grinned through gritted teeth. “Everything is just fine…”

How was she supposed to say that Dakota had just unloaded a bunch of her crap onto Dani and her sister, and nearly made Carly cry? That would totally wreck the mood.

Besides, her sister was smiling now… that was a good thing, right? It meant that everyone was doing fine, right?

She didn’t know what Dani said to her, but she really hoped that was the case.

“Nick.”

Nick turned to Dani, who approached him with a serious expression on her face.

Then she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“Whoa, what?!” Nick was used to a bit of skinship from Dani here and there, even back before they had their whole fallout. She was a physical girl, and she didn’t mind touching guys, as long as it was in a platonic sense.

Heck, her penchant for giving out spine-crushing hugs like they were candy was one of the reasons he’d developed a crush on her. Contact with a girl hadn’t exactly been at a premium back when he was in high school.

This time, though, something felt off. This wasn’t one of her “glad to be friends” hugs it felt completely different.

Dani pulled back, and he saw a bit of redness around the corners of her eyes, like she’d been crying. But she was all smiles right now.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” she said quietly. “I really screwed up by ghosting you before, Nick. You were my closest friend, and I pushed you away. That was wrong of me.”

“Hey, are you still going on about that?” Nick couldn’t believe that was still an issue for her. He’d let that grudge go a long time ago. “Look, Dani, we were kids. It wasn’t a big deal. I’m fine now, I promise.”

It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her chest with those words. She sighed in relief and nodded.

“Okay… okay. I’m glad to hear that. But I’m not the only one.”

She turned to Carly and nodded.

Carly approached him cautiously. He wasn’t used to seeing her be so self-conscious.

“I need to apologize too,” she said. “For the same thing. I ditched you, too, back in college. And I didn’t even tell you why. I just…”

Nick held up his hand.

“Okay, yeah, let’s stop right there,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t need to give me an explanation.”

“But-!” Carly’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Nick, this is serious…”

“I’m sure it is. But it was in the past. I’m getting married tomorrow, to a woman I love. All that stuff that happened before… trust me, it’s not a big deal,” he assured them. “At least not to me.”

He looked from Carly to Dani, and back again.

“You two are important to me,” he said. “I don’t care about what happened in the past, that isn’t going to change. I trust you.”

“Nick…” Dani’s eyes began to tear up, and she smiled.

Carly went for a little more direct approach.

“Thank you so much!” She gushed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tight. Her chest squished up right against his, giving him the wonderful sensation of Carly’s boobs pushing into him directly.

His face turned red.

Marley wasn’t impressed.

“Okay, I think that’s quite enough,” she said, prying her sister away when Carly’s hands slipped below the belt and started massaging his crotch. “Let’s not use this as an excuse for other things, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, I would appreciate it,” Nick said, pulling away. His face was red.

Carly clicked her tongue. “Just trying to make it up to you,” she teased. “Unless Gina drained you dry already.”

Gina smacked her lips together. “Just about,” she cooed, and Nick rolled his eyes.

“Look, I don’t know what brought this on, guys, but like I said, this is a party. Let’s just forget about this and have fun, okay?”

Dakota sighed. “Fine by me,” she said, eyeing Dani and Carly. “If that’s what you want, Nick.”

Nick nodded. “Good. Then in that case, I think we’ve spent a little too much time in this bar, if you ask me.”

“Those are made-up words. You made those words up,” Gina said, scowling.

He stared at her.

“…Fine,” she sighed. “So what’s next on the agenda then, boss man?”

“We could get some food,” Marley suggested. She’d been suggesting that for the last half-hour.

“Just eating isn’t enough for a celebration, though,” Carly said, shaking her head. “And I’m sure the strip club has great-”

“We’ll get there,” Nick said, rolling his eyes. It felt like she was more excited for the strip club than he was! “But Marley’s right. Let’s go get some dinner.”

Dani grinned. “In that case, I have an idea of where we can go next!”

---

“A fight club? What is this, Fight Club?” Dakota asked, raising her eyebrow.

Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about this.

“Come on.” Dani rolled her eyes. “This isn’t some brawl. It’s a Mixed Martial Arts match! And we’ve got some front row seats! Not only that, this place serves some great steak too, at least that’s what Sylvia told me.”

“You know, for a lesbian you really seem excited to see a couple of sweaty half-naked guys hold each other,” Dakota snorted.

Dani gave her a look.

“It’s all about the thrill of unarmed combat,” she replied. “Come on, we’ve got a private booth and everything to watch the fight!”

Nick wasn’t sure how exactly she arranged this. Why did the hotel have a fighting ring like this? Who was in the audience, even? He squinted out the wide window of the private booth, but he couldn’t make out any faces in the crowd.

“So are these people that were **** too, or what?” Marley asked warily.

Dani shrugged.

“Dunno. Maybe the elevator connected us back to earth? Anyway, come on! It’s going to start soon!” She was squirming in her seat with anticipation.

A faerie in a blood red dress fluttered to the center of the ring, thoroughly disabusing the notion that this was on earth.

“Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and tentacle monsters of all ages!” The punkish faerie shouted into the microphone. “Who’s ready to see some BRUTALITY?!”

The crowd went wild and Dani did, too.

Nick just rolled his eyes. While he wasn’t the biggest fun of violent sports (he much preferred his combat to be in video game form) he appreciated that this was a unique bachelor party, at least.

“Today, our match comes all the way from the deepest, darkest of hell dimensions,” the faerie continued, narrowing her eyes. “Fighters from every realm in existence gather here in the Battle Drome to compete, and today we’ve got some special challengers for you!”

She turned and held up her arm. “In the blue corner… we’ve got one of our favorites, Dane, ‘the Pebble’ Jefferson!”

“What kind of name is ‘the Pebble’?” Carly asked, raising her eyebrow.

“The trademark-proof kind,” Gina replied, already digging into her steak. The food had appeared in front of them before anyone realized it, and it was delicious.

“That guy looks pretty tough,” Nick said. “Look, he’s like, all muscle.”

Indeed, the hulking beast of a man stepped forward and held up his arms, each one about the size of a tree trunk. His shining muscles seemed to flex just by his breathing.

“And, in the red corner… THE PUNISHER BEAST!” The faerie roared into the microphone.

“GISHAAAATH!” A monster of equal parts fur and scale lumbered onto the mat, lifting up its four arms and extending its claws. Its face split into three parts to reveal row upon row of sharp teeth as a long whip-like tongue extended from its maw.

“…Oh. So it’s THAT kind of battle.” Dani might have bitten off more than she could chew, coming to a place like this. “I’m a little shocked.”

“I’m not,” Dakota said, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. “Man vs. monster, that’s the sort of thing you could only get in a place like this.”

Nick turned to Dani. “Dani, is your idea of a good bachelor party to take me to see some dude get devoured?”

“Come on, Nick, it’s a competitive sport,” Dani said, trying to laugh it off. “Nobody’s going to get devoured.”

“And remember, per the rules of the Battle Drome, the winning fighter has the right to devour the losing fighter!” The faerie exclaimed.

Suddenly, the delicious steak didn’t seem all that appetizing.

“Dani…”

“Right, right, we should probably get out of here,” Dani agreed. She hurriedly finished gulping down her steak and the party of six hurried out of the box before things got too graphic.

“Well, lovely plan with that one, Dani, really, top-notch,” Dakota said sarcastically.

“Hey, at least I was trying!” Dani replied. “What did you want to do for his bachelor party, again? Oh, right, an orgy. Because THAT’S going to be something he’s interested in.”

“Not gonna lie, an orgy would probably be better than what we were about to see in there,” Nick said, glancing back at the elevator doors.

“Oh?” Carly perked up excitedly.

“Still a no.”

“Damn.”

“It’s fine, sis,” Marley assured Carly, patting her on the back. “You can go without sex for one night, can’t you?”

“But I would really rather not,” her sister replied. “So Dani, what’s next on the agenda?” She asked, turning to the embarrassed and ashamed tomboy. She didn’t mean to load more pressure on Dani’s shoulders, she was just genuinely curious.

Dani sighed. There was really no avoiding it at this point.

“Okay, fine,” she finally acquiesced. “Let’s get going to the strip club.”

“Woooo!” Carly threw her fists into the air. “Strip club! Strip club! Strip club!”

“Why is it that it seems you girls are more excited for this than I am?” Nick asked, raising his eyebrow. “This is supposed to be my bachelor party, right?”

“If it makes you feel better, I honestly couldn’t care less,” Marley informed him with a cheery smile. “I’m just here to help you celebrate, that’s all.”

“Much obliged,” Nick replied.

“So any ideas where we can find a strip club?” Gina asked. “And I mean, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d prefer one without any faeries to be honest.”

“Sylvia gave me a list,” Dani nodded. “But she said the best one to check out was this place called ‘The Palace Lounge’.”

“Sounds classy,” Carly agreed. “Sounds like a plan! Let’s go there!”

Dani opened the brochure Sylvia had provided, and found the right place. She pushed the button and the elevator shot off to the strip club.

---

Meanwhile, back at Mary’s bachelorette party, the girls were still hanging out by the pool. Only they were significantly more **** than they’d been before.

“So Kim, what do you think?” Rose asked curiously. “How was your first taste of ****?”

Kim drained her glass. She’d been very austere with her drinking, not wanting to go too fast. She’d seen all kinds of horror stories involving alcoholism, so she wanted to pace herself.

Because of that, she didn’t even feel light-headed.

“It’s… okay? I suppose?” She said, not sure what else she was supposed to be thinking. “I guess I’m not much of a drinker.”

“It’s okay,” Mary said, patting her on the shoulder. “I’m not much of a drinker, either.”

“Can I have some?” Morgana poked her head out of the water. She’d been trying to get the hang of swimming again, but with her rolling curves it wasn’t exactly easy. Thankfully Dawn’s comments about buoyancy held true.

“Absolutely not,” Dawn snapped, staring coldly down at her. “You’re 18 years old. You’re not allowed to have ****.”

Morgana pouted. “But… but SHE is!” She whined, pointing at Kim. “That’s not fair! She’s only two years older than me!”

“She’s also far more mature than you are,” Dawn pointed out. “Notice how we didn’t give Holly anything to drink, either.”

“Hey!” Holly snapped, scowling. “That was a personal choice and you know it!”

Dawn replied with a shrug. That certainly wasn’t HER problem.

“Fine, then give me some! I’m done swimming!” She pulled herself out of the water and wrapped a towel around her slim figure, drying off. “I’ll show you just how well I can control my liquor!”

“Well, it certainly won’t be better than me,” Sylvia scoffed. “I’ll have you know, thanks to my role as a host, **** won’t have any effect on me.”

“That’s nice, Sylvia, nobody cares,” Dawn coldly replied.

The blonde’s mouth fell open.

“That’s rude! You’re a rude drunk!”

“I’m not even drunk,” Dawn sniffed, her tail flicking behind her. She drained her glass. “I’m *hic* way bedder ad holdin’ my… my…”

She stared off into the distance her eyes glazed over.

Rose sighed, and couldn’t help but smirk. “Ah, here we go again…”

Mary’s jaw dropped. “She’s drunk already?”

“NO!” Dawn pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “YOU’RE drunk! You… you drunkie drunk! Hehehe…”

She laughed like that was the funniest thing in the world as her tail fluttered behind her. She held her sides, cackling so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.

“Yeah, none of you saw this way back when,” Rose said, trying not to smile too widely at Dawn’s predicament. “When we went drinking to ease some of the guilt Dawn felt over Holly’s elimination, it only took two beers to get her completely plastered. Or in this case, one glass of champagne.”

She waved her hand in front of Dawn’s face. Like a kitten, Dawn swatted at it, but her inhibited hand-eye coordination left her clawing at the air.

“Isn’t she just adorable?” Sylvia giggled. “She should cut loose more often like this, if you ask me.” Sylvia fished a laser pointer out of parts unknown and flicked the button, flashing a bead of red light on the tile.

Dawn reacted immediately, pouncing at it. Or trying to pounce, anyway. She stumbled dizzily out of her chair and fell right on top of Holly.

“Hey! Leave me outta this!” Holly groaned.

“What’s the matter?” Sylvia cooed. “I thought you would have liked someone finally getting on top of you.”

“No!” Holly sniffed, turning up her nose at the prospect as she maneuvered Dawn off of her. “Unless it’s Nick, I’m not interested! …Or a woman who Nick’s currently fucking. That would also be good.”

She paused for a moment.

“Actually, no, that would be even better…”

“Yes, yes, we get it, you little pervert,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I think Dawn might be done for the night.”

“Your MOM is done for the night,” Dawn shot back. She started giggling again.

Rose frowned and her eye twitched. “Dawn… some things you don’t joke about.”

Dawn blinked, and a bit of common sense made its way out of the fog her brain was trapped in. She gasped.

“Oh no! I-I’m so sowwie!” She wailed, wobbling over to Rose. “I-I didn’t- I totally forgot… uwaaaah!” She burst into tears, sobbing into Rose’s sweater.

Mary stared incredulously at the duo. “Is she… crying?”

Rose sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Well… this is new, at least.”

“I think you’re right, we should probably cut her off,” Kim said, standing up. She showed remarkable fortitude for someone who’d never had a drop of **** before.

…Then again, she’d only had one glass of champagne. Not everybody here had a comically low level of tolerance like a certain bawling cat girl.

“Help me take her inside,” Rose said, helping Dawn to her feet. The vet’s glasses had fallen off at some point, but Rose didn’t have time to find them. She was focused on getting the other girl back into the villa, where she could get some rest. Kim took her other arm, and the two women led her back inside.

Mary sighed and slumped back in her chair. “Somehow, this wasn’t the bachelorette party I imagined,” she mumbled.

“You’re not having fun?” Holly asked, sitting down beside her.

“No, it’s not that… of course I’m having fun,” Mary said. “Racing on the track, playing in the ball pit, there’s so much stuff we did, and it was a blast.”

She couldn’t place the odd feeling welling up inside her.

“I just thought… I don’t know. That a bachelorette party was supposed to be more of ‘a thing’ you know?

Holly stared blankly at her. “No, I really don’t,” she honestly replied.

Mary didn’t know how to put it.

“I just… I don’t know. Earlier, it felt like everything had fit into place. Like, I knew that my wedding was really happening. Tomorrow. And that felt right.”

Holly frowned. “And now you’re not sure how you feel?”

“No, I know that I want it to happen,” Mary assured her. “And of course, I love Nick and I want to marry him! It’s just… is this what a bachelorette party is? Hanging out by the pool and drinking champagne?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Sylvia confirmed.

“I don’t know…” Again, she couldn’t place what felt off to her. “Maybe I’m just not the bachelorette party type, I guess. I like having fun with my friends, I like spending time with everybody… but even now, what I want most, is to see Nick again.”

“So you’d rather spend time with Nick than with us, huh?” Holly offered her a crooked smile. “Well, I can’t say I blame you for feeling that way.”

Mary blushed slightly.

Morgana got out of the pool and walked over to the table. She didn’t bother drying off with a towel, so her curvaceous body dripped water all over the place.

“I kinda get it,” she agreed.

Mary looked up at her. “Yeah?”

“Mhm,” the goth nodded. “If I had to choose between hanging out with other girls and hanging out with Nick, well…”

Her eyes glazed over. Because her face was already wet, it was hard to tell if she was drooling or not.

Sylvia sat back in her chair and tried not to smile. Excellent. The harem is certainly coming along nicely, she thought. If these girls would rather hang out with the master than have some girl time bonding, that suits our purposes just fine!

A few more parties like this, and the girls would just form one big cuddle puddle with Nick as the center rather than do anything on their own at all.