Vex stepped out of the back room and spotted Summer slouched over the bar. “‘Ello love,” he greeted as he made his way over to stand on the other side of the bar, a glass of jack and coke in his hand.
Several emotions played across his face in a flash. First came the shock, but this was quickly replaced by a dense of disgust, and then came the fury. “Clearly, you can’t!” he snapped, hands balling into fists at his sides, “Who did this to you?” His voice was little more than a growl, raised but still only really loud enough to be heard by the two of them with the music blasting around their conversation.
She offered him the usual sort of answer: “You should see the other guy.” Putting the glass back down on the bar, she shifted around on the stool until she was facing Vex directly and properly pulled her hair back. Carefully, around the bruise, she said, “I don’t know who it was. They were immune to me, and strong enough to pick me up by my /face/.” The last word, spat out, was followed by a swallowed moan of pain. “What difference does it make?”
Despite her ever-common response, Vex didn’t believe her; it was the same kind of excuse he would have used. A coil of anger twisted in his body as he got a better look at the bruising on Summer’s face. “It makes a difference because if I knew who it was I could bloody kill ‘em,” he snapped, eyes flashing with black lightning. “Somebody ‘urt you…” he said quietly, angrily, almost impossible to hear over the music, a frown on his face.
“Yes, they did,” she said wearily. “Please don’t. I didn’t — ” She sighed again, and lifted the glass back to her face. “It’s bad enough this happened, without you — ” Summer cut herself off again. She’d only come to Carpe Noctem because she didn’t expect to see Vex there, and she knew they wouldn’t hunt her in there.
Having Vex chew her out, even before he knew what her stupidity had gotten her into, was not part of the plan.