Kapitel 94: Whisky Rose has thorns

It'd gotten to the point where Afton had begun seeing double, he and Karl had made a bet earlier to see who could drink the most, and he'd begun counting each drink as two... Was it cheating? Yep... Did Afton have any idea what was happening anymore? Nope.

He gave a bright smile and clinked yet another shot of Tequila with an NCR soldier, he caught sight of the woman drinking whisky again... Unfortunately, this time she'd had enough liquid courage to march over to him... She stumbled slightly due to how inebriated she was, but she made it over to him eventually.

"Fuckin' raider piece of shit." she growled at him.

"Lady I've done nothing to you, just sit back where you came from." Afton said, taking another shot.

"Done nothin' to me? You're the reason I'm stuck in this shit-hole!" she exclaims, pushing him in an attempt to knock him off of the stool.

[Stonewall is in effect]

The stool collapses and the leg breaks but Afton somehow threw his feet underneath him, regaining his footing. He looks down at his feet for a moment in confusion before glancing back at the woman, spotting that she too was confused about what'd just happened.

"Why don't you back off? I'm not one to hit a woman." he slurs.

Karl just watches the two and laughs at them, "Is this your way of picking up women kid? Hahe! Go on son, go get 'er!" he says, the surrounding NCR soldiers joining him in encouraging Afton.

"Ain't one to hit a woman? That's great, cuz I'm fine with hittin' you!" the woman shouts, punching Afton in the face.

[Stonewall is in effect]

Afton would've fallen to the floor after being hit by the surprisingly strong woman, but somehow was still standing. He touched his face and realised his nose was bleeding. "Bitch, you do that again I'm gonna beat your ass-"

*Bap, Bap, Puchi!*

She follows up by punching him twice in the stomach and giving a roundhouse punch to his cheek. Spittle flies out of his mouth as his head in wrenched to the side by the hit, he'd had about enough of this cunt punching him though.

Gritting his teeth he turned towards her and grabbed her shoulders, giving the hardest headbutt he could manage. He was targeting her nose but misses and ends up slamming their forehead together, the woman stumbling backwards, clearly disorientated.

By now the duo had been encircled by the drunken crowd, each already betting on the winner. Most bet on the woman as they'd seen her beat down bigger men than Afton before, though, everyone shouted for both to beat the other.

Afton follows the headbutt by giving a straight punch straight to the woman's face. The blow was relatively weak due to his drunken footwork, but had more force than expected. Her head cranks upwards and she almost falls to the floor from it.

"Think I'll lose to you Powder Ganger? Fuck no!" she regains her footing and launches a flurry of punches at him. Each hits vulnerable areas such as his ribs, stomach, liver, neck, and face. But his [Stonewall] and [Toughness] Perks prevent him from being knocked out completely. Not to mention his previous experience with getting hit by Veronica.

One last punch sent to his stomach makes him feel like he's going to vomit up all the Tequila he'd just drank, bu he swallows the bile down and picks the woman up. She struggles to escape his grip as he lifts her over his head and brings her down on a table, breaking it in half.

"OOOOOHHHH MY GOD!" someone in the crowd shouts excitedly.

"WHAT, IN THE HE-ELLL IS GOIN' ON HERE?!?" A voice suddenly causes the crowd to go completely silent. Afton steps away from the broken table as the woman slowly gets up, gripping her side in pain. They both turn towards the new arrival and spot a Ranger with a handlebar moustache, sunglasses, and cowboy hat glaring at them with crossed-arms.

"Er... Wanted to see how strong the table was..." Afton replies, his slurring words failing to convince the man.

"Yeah... It's nothin' Jackson, just getting a little too rowdy..." The woman says.

...

Ranger Jackson looks towards Lacey inquiringly.

Lacey just shrugs, "Nothing to see here, they're just winding down for the night... Offered to pay for the table too."

Jackson sighs, it felt like no one even cared that he was the Senior officer of this outpost. Regardless it was good that he wouldn't need to discipline anyone, or remove them from the outpost. "You all cut the shit and quieten down then. The whole fuckin' outpost can hear yah!... And no more brawlin'! Cass, if I see you throw another punch in this here Barracks I will through you in the pens with the Brahmin!" he shouts.

The woman nods and the Ranger eventually leaves. She grabs the stool she was sitting on earlier and pulls it next to Afton's. He himself having to find another seat due to his previous one missing a leg.

He glances at her while rubbing his bruised face, "You want another round or something?"

She shakes her head, "You're a good fighter, most can't take me when the drink gets me going. I'm impressed."

Karl chuckles, downing the N'th shot of Tequila... How many had he drunk already? "I'll bet the kid can take you any place he wants girl."

Afton raises a brow and swipes the bottle of Tequila from the man, "Karl, since when did drinking turn you into a perverted old man?" he asks in exasperation, he was drunk, but not drunk enough to ignore the weird way he was acting.

"Since always, that's the Ranger way son, get drunk, fuck, sleep, and get back to work again." he says, attempting to take another shot but forgetting that Afton had swiped the Tequila. "Gimme that back."

Afton shakes his head, "You've had enough."

...

"Fine. But you're paying for drinks next time, burnt a damn hole in my pocket." he says, getting up and paying for a bed in the Barracks to sleep in.