~The Black Rose~

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

"And whatever you've been drinking has probably contained everything in the bar," Riina teased, knowing he was right. "Just don't go off with any mysterious strangers hell-bent on keeping you for themselves." She smiled at Jussi, hoping he didn't take the joke too seriously.

[Doktor Dubstep]

"Hey. However I act drunk is based soley on how pissed off or lonely I'm feeling at the time." He said smirking. He prepared another shot and took it, rolling his eyes at the disapproving look his friend's eyes held.

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

Riina smiled tiredly. "Can't you find someone a little less... detrimental?" She scanned the bar, mumbling, "Of everyone, you need to pick the one with roofies.." Returning her attention to Jussi, Riina told him, "Just know that next time I'm not gonna let 'em off so nice. Maybe a nice trip to the friendly critical care unit will keep them in line..." she trailed off, half lost in a daydream.

[Doktor Dubstep]

"It's my own fault, leave them be. I know how I am when I get drinking, but I do it anyway. I'm a little guy, and I know I'm easy to take advantage of. Does that stop me? No, so its my fault." Jussi looked down, wondering if it made any sense to her. He knew he was a pretty boy, he kept himself looking good and he was just born with natural good looks, so when he was almost asking for the encounters he'd gotten himself into in the past, he never felt any anger towards his predators. What was the point? He wavered in his seat a bit, starting to feel the effects of the second shot. 'At least this means no more headache...' Jussi returned his gaze to Riina. 'Don't waste your time on me... I'll never change, so don't even try honey. I'm a lost cause.' Jussi knew how to run a business, hence the one they were in, and he was intelligent. He could take care of himself and that's all that mattered, because he'd accepted his ways. It depressed him when people tried to change him or look out for him, because even though they thought they could make a difference, he knew their efforts were in vain.

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

Riina sighed. She knew Jussi hated it when people thought they could 'protect' him, but that never stopped her. She wanted to be his backup. She knew, even if he didn't know it, that at least once the day would come when the world just sucked too much for him to stand it alone. And even if he only needed someone to be on his side, she wanted to be there for him. "You know I hate to just sit back and let 'destiny' happen." She looked Jussi in the eyes, leaning in close to be sure she had his atention. "You're not as destroyed as you think you are."

[Doktor Dubstep]

Jussi looked at her with teary eyes. 'Then tell me: How destroyed is a boy who gets slipped roofies, knows it, and doesn't care?' He thought to himself. He looked back at the bottle of alchohol right in front of him. 'How destroyed is a boy who's already drinking at ten a.m.? ...I'd say he's not very together... and he's probably pretty lonely. He mustn't love himself much.' He kept staring at the same spot on the counter, his eyes almost glazing over as he didn't move for a while, too deep in thought to bother with it.

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

A somber look grew on Riina's face a she watched Jussi's eyes water and finally look away, unmoving. She stood up and walked the small distance over to him, hugging him tightly then moving half a step back. She wasn't sure if being too close would bother Jussi, and she didn't want to take that chance. "You're still alive, you're holding up a buisiness, you've got people who care. You seem together to me," she whispered to him.

[Doktor Dubstep]

Jussi looked down to purposely have his hair fall in his face before he got up and walked over to the window. He kept his arms crossed, almost as if he was cold, and stared blankly out the window. He stared out at the endless snowfall for quite a while before saying anything. Finally, in the quietest of voices, he finally spoke. "You know my mom always told me she was proud of me... when I did well in school, or I drew something really nice.. and I loved her. But all my life I wanted to hear my father say it. Just once..." He kept his eyes down and his face hidden thanks to the curtain of hair, though the sound of his voice give every touch of sadness away. At this point, he figured she'd think it was the alchohol talking, so he didn't care what he said. It was only two shots, though for him it was only enough to take the headache away and to feel a bit weird. "...but he never did."

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

Riina walked over to stand behind Jussi, placing her hand on his shoulder. "He must have been proud, he would have been a fool not to," she told him, hugging Jussi around his shoulders from behind. Letting go, she stepped back, letting her hand drop fom his shoulder. "It's not fair that he never said it, but I'd be surprised if he wasn't proud."

[Doktor Dubstep]

"I wouldn't be.." Jussi sighed before he turned towards a door that lead to the stairs. "I'm gonna go to my room..." He announced, not sounding too thrilled about anything at the moment.

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

Riina frowned at the snow as if it had been the one to wrong them. 'Just.. let him be...' Riina instructed herself reluctantly, returning to her seat behind the bar and toying with her gun, now on her lap with the magazine out to avoid accidental mishaps. She grabbed a random bottle from behind her, hoping it would taste good. Chugging half of it, she began to relax. Deciding to not pay with a gun wile drinking an uknown liquid, she put the gun back in her pocket and took out her phone, not sure what she was doing or expecting; just messing with the settings.

[Doktor Dubstep]

Jussi went up the stairs completely out of it. When he unlocked the door, he frowned at the empty place and trudged his way over to the couch, not wanting to sleep in an empty bed. He grabbed a blanket and curled up in it, falling asleep quite quickly.

[JustAnotherLostProphet]

Riina sat at the bar. Having finished the bottle of... something, she was out of things to do. The cafe was nearly empty and anyone left wasn't very talkative. She rested her head on her arm on the table and watched the lights on her phone blink. Falling asleep, Riina was lost in dreams caught somewhere between broken realities and swirling fears. It probably wasn't sanitary to sleep on the bar, but she didn't want to move; she only wanted to let the mystery drink lull her to sleep and help her forget, a task easier hoped than done.

[Doktor Dubstep]

Jussi awoke hours later. Though he wasn't sure how much longer, he knew it'd gotten dark out by now, so it was a while. He yawned, stretched, and got up to sift through his clothes to find something new to wear. He quickly picked out some shorts with black strips and zippers all over them, a black stud belt, and some black shirt with red design to match. He threw on some arm warmers that matched and did his staple eyeliner before he threw on some vans and walked back downstairs. He laughed when he saw Riina passed out on the counter, but decided to leave sleeping, so he silently slipped passed her and went down to the underground, the same ecstatic rave scene he'd always loved to forget everything at.