hear no evil, see no evil [lochlan/red]

The best part of work? The distraction. His mind worked better that way, when he was able to focus on something in particular, it kept him from drifting to things probably weren't beneficial to him in any way. Worrying was something he found quite natural to him. The club was a place to relax, strangely enough, he sought comfort in the routine, as well in the fact that he'd been doing more or less the same his entire life. Comfort? It was a bit bizarre to considering rough handling folks as a source of such. Through the years it had become a second nature, protecting others, it was just in his nature. A bodyguard was what he'd been his entire life, it was only natural he'd become the same through his adulthood. Therefore, in a sense it was comforting to shove people around, rather than say, sit in an office and ponder life's mysteries. Though that didn't make it easier to accept the slime balls that crawled through his place of employment. 

Generally speaking his job was a good one, getting to stare at scantily clad women for a living, he wasn't going to complain (what man would?). But with these women apparently came with the desperate sort that honestly nobody wanted to deal with. But it was only part of the job.

The club was busy this night, as if some sort of wave had crept in and brought all of the bottom dwellers with it. This naturally put him on guard, hovering rather close to the stage for what would only be inevitable, somebody would touch what they couldn't have. It appeared it would happen sooner rather than later. In scanning the area with hazel eyes the man only caught sight of one of the dancers being pulled from the stage. Alarm shot through him, muscles tensing as his arms fell to his side. Asswipes.

He set forwards now, brushing past the gawking faces that milled about, of who didn't seem to be taking any particular notice that someone had tugged a woman off stage, rather, finding pleasure in the show that went on like any other day. That was frustrating in itself, honestly, was he the only decent human being in the place? Well, considering who the owner was that was probably a valid assumption. Luckily his size made it relatively easy to push past all of the potbellied men, eventually making his way to the end of the little 'catwalk' to the two in question. 

His eyes narrowed, taking the scene in which had now progressed to what could only be some form of rape, a scowl creasing his brow.  He struck out with one of his large hands, promptly grabbing the drunken man by the back of his neck and gripping it forcefully. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your goddamn hands to yourself?" He hissed through a clenched jaw.

If there was one thing he wouldn't tolerate it was an ignorant man trying to lay his hands on a women. Unfortunately for him, there were a ton of those sorts at his place of employment. But that didn't make it any easier for him to accept. He wasn't a very aggressive man per say, which was strange considering his size, but this little pot bellied man had begun to try on his patience even from the brief moment he watched him.

The mention of his mother alone was enough to set him on edge, coming from this man caused his jaw to set and a wave of anger. At least he'd taken his hands off the woman now.. that was all that mattered. It was hard for someone to insult a mother that didn't exist, but he didn't really feel the need to get into the logistics of a drunken mans stupid words. As the woman spoke up Lochlan flicked his light eyes over to place the pretty voice to a face, lingering on her longer than they probably should have, before quickly returning them to the unpredictable old fart in front of them. "That's probably good advice, buddy." He grunted, crossing his thick arms over his chest.

The man hadn't even considered her rather odd speech, at least not at the moment, he was more focused on the ignorant fool in front of him. Naturally he would tense at the mention of another insult. He felt his eyes narrow though would only step easily out of the way with the drunkards uncoordinated attempts at an attack. Quite honestly he didn't feel it was worth his time to get into it with a man half his size. As long as he kept his grubby hands off of her he could throw his pathetic little punches any day of the week. He rolled his eyes lightly, nodding in appreciation as the men came to cart him off.

Lochlan watched until the filthy creature had left before he turned back to the woman, fighting the strong urge to stare considering what she was wearing. Instead he found the ground to be rather entertaining as he cast a hand over his jaw line. Soon he found himself glancing up anyways, focusing on her as she spoke. "Don't worry about it." He replied, his hand dropping to his side as he offered her a small smile. Even though the drama had been carted off through the door  he still remained somewhat tense in his posture, perhaps just in his nature (unless of course he was drunk which sounded nice to him at that moment in time).

Whether he was just oblivious or hadn't cared about the fact that she spoke with intelligence he wouldn't let on. Hell, it was nicer speaking to her than it was most of the high school drop outs that were her  her co-workers.  "And, Lochlan. Strange name, I know." His smile faded to a smirk, giving her a nod of acknowledgement towards the mention of her name. As uncommon as his name was, hers had to be even more so. "Nice to meet you, Eponine." He was beginning to wonder if this woman had gotten confused in her life decisions, she seemed much different than the other lusty women that strutted across the stage. "Uh, no, I don't think so." He found his smirk rise into a what was probably some sort of dirty thought, her clothing choice certainly wasn't helping anything, but he'd attempt to be civil. For the most part he'd adjusted to being surrounded by the women, but hey, he was only male. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" The words seemed to escape him before he could manage to word them correctly, in order to right them the man cleared his throat. "I mean, you don't seem the type.. to uh, you know."

Lochlan found his multicolored eyes searching hers in wait of a reply, thankfully she didn't seem to take offense to his impulsive statement - often times somebody would. Her speech left him at a loss of words, initially. Not from her weird choice of words, hell, he'd worse come out of those strippers mouths, but from her lack of concern for what she'd found herself in. Or maybe she was just clueless as to what she was doing, which seemed the more likely answer considering her state. His brow knit slightly.

Hoomins? Though he wasn't going to question her strange pronunciation he found himself wondering what the alternative was. "What? No, it's not." He replied easily, shaking his head as he focused on the shorter woman. "It's an easy career choice for desperate women, and.. good money, I guess. But there's other.. better ways to make money" He immediately felt some sort of urge to protect the poor woman, wanting to pull her out of the (literal) hell hole she'd found herself in and send her off towards a more.. appropriate career.

"Excitement?" He tugged his eyes from the attractive woman in front of him to survey the crowd and her co-workers, trying not to let his eyes linger for too long, before returning them to her. His stern features cracked with a small smirk now, dipping his head in a small nod. "I guess you could say that."

Again he felt his eyes wander at the proposal, much to his annoyance, they seemed to have a mind of their own today. The idea in itself was tantalizing, but no, he was much too set in his ways to allow such a thing. He was a gentleman for the most part, putting aside the fact that he worked at a strip club. The man just found this place the easiest and most comforting job he could find. That didn't mean he didn't have morals, right now his conscience was telling him to chill. So he would. Heaving a sigh (which didn't seem to relieve any sort of tension in him, so was there even a point?) he shook his head. "That's not necessary."

But, she seemed rather insistent that she owed him something. The man lifted one of his beefy arms and drug a hand through his hair which he often did in times of deep thought. The first thing that came to mind? Besides the obvious. "Well I could go for a beer right about now. If you really have the overwhelming need to make it up to me, take a break and come with." He offered lightly, turning to glance at the bar. Or perhaps checking to make sure his bitchy bosses weren't around. Dallas sees all. They probably wouldn't be too fond of him ditching his post to have a beer with a stripper. But hey. This seemed to be some sort of sweet, but  different woman that he was sure he wouldn't mind getting to know.

Why did so many people work in such awful circumstances? This club in particular was filled with nothing but the scum of the earth, the disturbed little creatures that needed to crawl back into the shadows they emerged out of. The mans brow knit briefly before shrugging his broad shoulders. It could be a multitude of reasons, the two most obvious being money and lust. But he wasn't going to ponder this too much, if he attempted to wrap his mind around why people did what they did he'd most likely be there all night.

However, he had other plans. Of which included drowning his sorrows in the bitter liquid he found to be soothing. The term 'alcoholic' might have been a bit..official but he did enjoy his beer. And, at least he was a happy drunk...most of the time. Lochlan offered the woman a stiff nod before making his way over to the bar. Obviously the promise of a good drink was much more important than the possibility of upsetting the little bitchfaces.

The man followed suit, lowering himself onto one of the tall stools and gladly accepting the glass that was offered. He cast the bartender an appreciative dip of his head for the drink before tossing it back. Perhaps from the burning liquid suiting his tastes or the promise of being distracted, he immediately felt himself relax. Some of the tension slid from his massive form, rolling his shoulders back to stretch them out. He soon would pause though from his 'companion's' words. Confusion briefly met his features but quickly faded, replacing it would be none other than a soft chuckle. 'Lazy eye'. That was one way to put it. Though he had all ideas that those lazy eyes weren't exactly all that lazy. Lochlan loosely gestured towards the woman and her choice of dress. "With what you're wearing, hun, I can fully understand why." He stifled a small snort.

If he had relaxed the slightest bit the tension quickly crept in again. Hazel eyes narrowed ever so slightly, fixing themselves upon the bar surface for several moments before flicking over at her. There was many a reason as to why he chose such a career, but he cared not to discuss them. "This one just suited me." He explained gruffly, hopefully signalling that he had no intention of delving into that part of things.

Soon he found himself focusing on other matters as he felt a gentle touch. His heart jumped a bit from the simple gesture, naturally casting her a wayward glance. Does she even know what she's doing? Probably not. He sat the empty glass back on the counter and pushed it towards the back, signalling the bartender for another, before directing his full attention on the blonde. "Superhero?" It seemed as if he was briefly distracted from the hand on his knee, watching her carefully. "I wish." That probably would have been a much more productive career than the one he had found himself in. "But, ah" He paused to reach towards his knee, attempting to lift her palm with a strangely light hand. A rather bizarre gesture in itself considering his job consisted of keeping people from laying a hand on her. But he had never really been the shy type. "Lets not go there, shall we?"