joegoda | BagsNPockets - One is the loneliest...

Pockets made his way through the throng of standers, talkers, beer drinkers, flirters, liars and hopefuls. The pub wasn't very full at all, but for not being very full at all, it was pretty crowded. He saw the world as he always did, in colors and sounds and sights that sometimes were missed by other folks. He kept an eye out for the invisible line of energy that would get him to his destination the fastest.

Pockets was a good person, just not terribly moral. He never had much need for them, he always said. As long as nobody got hurt in the process, then where's the need? His small time thieveries were more of an experiment at social interaction, to the degree of wondering just how stupid most folks were.

Pockets was a snob, in the intellectual sense. Sure, he'd sit with you and buy you a beer if he had the money on him, and generally it was money that you probably just had in your pocket. He'd even talk with you briefly, and if you could understand what he was saying, he'd stay and buy you more beer with your money. If you couldn't keep up with what he was saying, he'd lose interest, put your money back in your pocket and wander away, leaving you with the odd feeling that you were a bug crawling under a leaf.

Pockets was a naive man, believing that most folks would really choose to do good if they had the choice, and so he also chose that route. He held the idea that everyone was interested in the refractory properties of rain on rooftops, or how big a soap bubble would get before it crushed itself under it's own weight. He liked to laugh, and believed that he was a funny person, and often told jokes, if only to himself.

Pockets was also a lonely man, at times, when his humanity came through to the forefront. He was also a human man, at times, when his loneliness came through to the forefront. Tonight was one of those nights. Sitting and watching Bags and Grizelda play their romance game reminded him of times long ago when, he too, had a sweetie, if only for a little bit. Normally it wouldn't have bothered him, but there was something about tonight, something about the way the two lovers sparred with each other, and something about the way Chibi looked at him. As if, for all his intellect and wondrous abilities, she just wanted him, for himself. It made his heart ache, though if you asked him, he would tell you that the heart would only ache if there were a medical, and not an emotional reason behind it.

One could say that Pockets lived in denial of himself most of the time. Of course, one wouldn't say it to his face, because he would look at you with his blue eyes, smile his shy smile, pluck your wallet from your pocket and say "Ah. Of course it's all true".

The lonelies had a hold of him tonight, and he went in search of Chibi, to see if he could find a cure for feeling human again. Just as he came to the very back of the bar, he caught sight of her as she ducked out the back door. As she was leaving, she looked up at him and smiled and winked. Something in his mind went 'Ping!', and he followed her out the door.

The back door, which was larger and wider than the front door to allow deliveries, led to an alley behind the pub. The buildings rose tall and dark, and as it was night, there was not a lot of light to see by.

"I'm over here, Chester." came Chibi's voice. Pockets turned toward her in the dark and made his way, haltingly, in that direction.

"It's as black as the inside of a collapsed star here, Chibi. How can you see?" he asked.

"Oh, you get used to it, after a while." she said "When I first came out here, I did every thing by feel."

Pockets stumbled on something in his way, perhaps a crate of some sort, and found himself grabbing some other thing, something soft, and warm, and very roundly feminine feeling.

"You see?" Chibi said. "Touch is sometimes the best way to feel around, don't you think?"

"Not tonight." said Pockets. "Thinking is the last thing I want to do." His fingers found the soft curves of her waist, and leaning forward, his lips found hers, waiting and pliable.

Soft rustle of clothes in the dark, murmurs and sighs, and with very little conversation of the juxtaposition of angles and the tensile strength of the human bones on hard stone, an ancient waltz was spun in the dark, and only a few sprinkle stars were the witnesses.

Clothes back in place, no bruises that would be noticed, Chibi said "I think I'd like to go up to my place. Care to join me?"

"What about work?" asked Pockets, as he slapped his jacket in back into place. "Won't you be missed for the rest of your shift?"

"Nope. I already cashed out. Damien will close up in about an hour. I'm off to bed, and if you would rather not join me, that's fine."

"Lead the way, kitten." Pockets said. "I'm all yours for the night."

"What about your friends?" asked Chibi.

"They are in the middle of a reconciliation. I doubt they will miss me for a while. I mean, it's not like I'm a big thing to them, more like the third wheel on a two gear system. Might do them good for me to be gone for a bit. Sometimes I suspect that I'm the psychological crutch that Bags uses to not propose to Griz."

Chibi led the way out of the alley, a twisty way, turning down this corner, and through that hidden entry, that would have been difficult in the day time, but for Pockets, near impossible in the pitch blackness between the buildings. He held tightly onto her hand as Chibi guided him through the maze.

The two emerged on a street, deserted and dark, no lamps lit, no candles in windows.

"I thought your little toy was very cute, by the way. When we get back to my place, would you mind if I took another look at it?" she asked.

"The way I feel tonight, you can look at anything you want. Your wish is my command."

"You are such a sweetheart." she said. "Makes it just a bit hard for me to do this."

"Do what?" Pockets asked.

"This." Chibi put two fingers into her mouth and blew, a shrill, trilling sound, that caused Pockets to cover his ears. From out of doorways and alleys, six robed and hooded figures appeared and approached.

"Um," said Pockets, "does this mean that there won't be any more nookie tonight?"

"Darling," said Chibi, "Not so's you'd notice it."

A sharp, heavy ringing in his ears, the world turned red, faded and the night was all around him.