"Come! Come, Adria! The old fucking gang is still here," Squatterbloat pulled Adria along to a group of Darklings at a large table, "Hey, screw-brains! Adria is back!"
"Yeah! Adria!!!" The Men and women at the table cheered. These were people Adria was most familiar with. They were a group of four men and three women including Squatterbloat who was their team leader.
"Adria! you shithead! I heard you were coming back here, but damn hell I didn't believe it." One of the Darklings commented.
"Yeah! Me too. Adria, what the f**k did you do this time? Bite mummy's tits!?" Another darkling added and the table burst loudly into laughter.
Adria laughed too as he pulled a mug of alcohol from the hand of Sqautterbloat before it reached his mouth. He took a deep swing at it, "Yeah! I'm back you Shitheads! I heard you sissies have been missing your daddy." He took a seat at the table.
"Daddy!? You mean, the daddy with mummy issues?" Sqautterbloat added and the entire table burst into laughter once more.
Nora and the rest of her team watched these happenings from her corner in surprise. A fight was the expectancy, but Adria was making merry with people she would not even dare to approach. After all, everyone on that table was a legend in his or her own right. They had so many medals from battles won all over the world, that are now probably just a sack of coins to them.
And yet, a person as unaccomplished as Adria mingled in their midst like he was fish in water. She really could not understand why. To make matters worse, she could clearly see the ranks of the members on the table, and there were all Adria's superiors.
It was public knowledge that all Darklings graduated with the officer rank of Sub-lieutenant when they graduated from the academy. This was a privilege that all Darlings enjoyed. However, after many years, Nora could clearly see that Adria was merely a captain. She could guess that in maybe another year or two, she would have most likely dusted him. His uselessness was just that much certified.
She knew that the military was strict on seniority. And although Adria was of the first Batch of Darklings, she just couldn't understand why these senior-ranked officers were clowning around with Adria. From the patch on their shoulders, it was clear that the lowest ranked amongst them was a Major. Yet, Adria was rubbing shoulders with them like some long-lost brother coming back home.
...Back at the table, Adria had already insulted them as much as they had also insulted him. Yet, the atmosphere could not be any merrier.
Adria suddenly remembered something and his mood damped a bit, he looked at them and his eyes counted their number. He sighed loudly, "I heard about David and Victor."
"Yeah! that happened." Sqautterbloat sighed a bit, and the mood on the table visibly dampened. "But you know how it is Adria! One morning you are drinking wine with brothers and the next, you are drinking piss and shit with death."
Adria nodded in understanding and so did the others at the table. Many words did not need to be said. At this stage in their lives, the job description was pretty clear to them.
Adria stood up lifting his mug in the air, "To those assholes David and Victor! May they enjoy a good screw with angels before we join them."
"To David and Victor!!!" the table echoed and they burst once more in laughter as mugs were clanked loudly against each other.
"Yeah! That reminds me guys. I got it! It's arrived!" Squatterbloat reached into his uniform pocket and brought out a small bag of pills.
"Hey, team leader! keep your voice down. We don't want the little runts knowing we are breaking rules. After all, we are still senior officers." One of them at the table advised.
Squatterbloat nodded as he whispered, "So, you guys know how this works. Everyone takes two pills. But no swallowing until late at night. I recon Brigadier General Bridges will soon pop up for his speech. We don't want to be tripping balls in front of him, right?"
Everyone nodded. The bag of pills was skillfully passed around as everyone took two pills from it. However, when it got to Adria, he refused.
"Come on! Take some Adria!" Sqautterbloat encouraged.
"Naaa! I appreciate the offer, but I really can't. Am still scarred from the last time." Adria refused.
Sqautterbloat nodded, "Trust me, man, you are really missing some good stuff right here." He dangled the pill bag before Adria's face, "This here, ain't those shitty clowning stuff like weed or coke. This here is the real deal. It's called joyride, and trust me, there is a reason for that," he giggled weirdly and members of the table joined him, "Bro! It's so good, it screws even Darklings up in mere minutes."
"Yeah! that sounds like some really good stuff. But the only joyride I need is right here," Adria stretched for a bottle and poured its content into his cup. After a deep swing of it, he belched loudly, "And also a..." he winked at the chest of one of the ladies at the table, and they all laughed loudly.
Just then, Adria suddenly frowned, and the atmosphere around him changed. For a people that had brushes with death most regularly, this slight change from Adria was one that they all easily sensed. The laughter immediately stopped.
"Adria! What is it?" Sqautterbloat asked.
Adria put down his mug, and slowly turned about. As he did, his nose twitched, filtering the smell in the air for the oddity.
It was at this moment that a particular blood sucker not so far away lifted its head, breathing wildly in ecstasy, and Adria's nose caught the scent in the air.
"Shit!" Adria cursed. He suddenly had a faint guess of what was happening, however, he also knew that it would create panic, "Forgive me, boys. I need to go take a leak!" As he said this, he exchanged eye contact with members of the table. Squatterbloat's mug immediately paused halfway to his mouth.
"Fuck! It's In here!?" Squatterbloat asked.
Adria nodded.
There was no way he and the others did not understand that look, "Hmmm! you go do that. Don't just make it loud and we will ensure the calm here.
Adria stood up from his seat, "I won't be long lassies, DUTY calls..."