“Leriph,” they both said, she and the man. But the man continued on, “Where’s Bren?”

Rhea slipped out of the corner she’d been sequestered into and fled to a more open space, beside Leriph.

"Who?" He put an arm vaguely in front of Rhea.

“Bren, she went to find you,” he said. “Don’t tell me you wanted both of them? C’mon, throw me a bone here.”

"Throw yourself a bone," he retorted, as if that comeback was any good, and accompanied it with a rude gesture. "It's my party."

The man lurched forward, reaching out for Rhea's hand. She side stepped him easily and watched with some concern as he just barely managed to right himself, leaning against the wall. "Aw, fuck you, Leriph."

"Don't you grab my girl," Leriph warned, shooting the guy an incensed glare.

Rhea's eyebrows bobbed upwards, a faint feeling of dread seeping down her chest.

"You were all over Bren." he snorted, pointing at Leriph. "I remember seeing you with your face in her tits last weekend, she was ready to do anything. You got tired of her already? And now this one? You've gotta tell me where you're importing these sluts from. The Docks?"

Leriph saw red at the implication and swung a messy, off-kilter punch at the guy in retaliation. His fist smacked the offender's face surprisingly hard, and he would have collapsed on the floor from the follow-through had he not caught himself on a bystander.

Rhea's eyes widened and she pushed past Leriph, heading towards the man. "Oh my god, Leriph!"

The drunk guy wheeled backwards and collapsed on the floor, splayed against the carpet. Rhea knelt next to him, reaching down and probing his head for any sort of bumps or bruises. "Leriph, you can't do that!"

"He called you a whore!" Leriph defended, clutching his tender hand.