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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Conofrac on 2024-11-02 11:25:52+00:00.

Just a little something I thought of and felt the need to write down.

The pub was busy. It always was at this time of day. Most people had knocked off work by this time and we’re enjoying their evenings having a few drinks and socialising. There was no tension in the air, aside from the air around one patron, sitting quietly in the corner, keeping to themself.

Velik, the bartender, had just finished serving another customer and was cleaning a glass with a rag. His expression was one of boredom. It wasn’t much fun watching other people get intoxicated and have a great time doing so while one had to remain sober and sensible. The small degree of resentment he felt towards the pub goers had somewhat diminished from when he had first started working here.

‘I guess it is true, you can get used to anything, given enough exposure’ he thought.

There was a noise of exclamation from one of the patrons sat at the bar. Velik decided to alleviate his boredom by eavesdropping on the conversation the exclaimer was having with two others sat at the bar with him. Velik shifted as subtly as possible towards them, stopping only when he was in hearing distance.

“…o way!” he heard. “There is no way they can keep going at, well anything that long.”

“It’s true” said another of the bar sitters. “I have seen it first hand.”

“Also, their ability to recover from almost anything is remarkable” said the third.

Velik, still industriously buffing the glass in his hand, tried in vain to discern what they were talking about.

“What do you mean?” Said the first one.

It was at this point Velik spotted the lone, brooding drinker stand and begin to make his way towards the bar.

“Well, I mean what I said. Physical injuries and mental traumas. They have helped a great many others from all species to recover from similar things.”

'so’ Velik thought, ‘they’re talking about a species.’

“Yes but, remarkable how?” The first speaker asked again, swaying slightly on her barstool.

“Well, I mean things like broken bones, concussions, even things like organ failure or having a limb forcibly removed. Granted for those more extreme injuries they require intensive medical treatment, but they have a higher survivability rate than any other species. In recovering from mental traumas such as losing a loved one they show an increased ability to…”

The approaching brooder had by now reached the bar. Velik reluctantly walked away from the conversation he was listening in on, letting it trail off into the background noise of the pub.

“What can I get for you, sir?” He asked politely.

“Another Old Hevert” the man, a Mofarll, said.

“Coming right up, sir.”

It was as Velik was otherwise preoccupied that the first speaker, further down the bar, spoke up loud enough for her voice to carry.

“There’s no way Humans can do that!” She shouted incredulously.

Velik turned and looked at her, finally realising they were talking about. Humans. Of course Velik had heard about them, but he had never met many and when he had, it was only for brief periods of time, usually as long as it took them to order a drink. If what he had overheard was true, then it was no wonder they had forced the Mofarll Empire to accept a truce. Velik finished pouring the drink and turned back around to the Mofarll behind him, drink in hand.

“Here you are, sir” Velik said, placing the glass down. “That’ll be…” He trailed off as he saw the look in the Mofarll’s eyes.

It was the look of hatred and disgust. The anger that simmered behind those eyes chilled Velik to his very core. It was the sort of anger that could drive a fist through a slab on concrete. It wasn’t the blind, heat of the moment anger, that flared up violently before being quelled. No, this was the kind of anger that had been built up over years upon years. Heat of the moment anger was uncontrollable. Those under its grip made mistakes, if in a fight, they were sloppy and flailed wildly. The fury behind those eyes was controlled, held tightly on a lead lest it burn whole countries. In short, the look Velik saw in that face was one that promised violent retribution if deemed necessary by the look giver.

“On the house?” Velik squeaked. The Mofarll didn’t respond, instead taking the drink, downing it in one, leaving some coins on the counter and turning towards the exit.

“Thank you” Velik called after him.

The Mofarll once again failed to respond. His quick, confident steps towards the exit only faltered when the door opened and in stepped a Human. Velik saw the Mofarll’s body tense and his hands clenched. This might get rather messy.

The Mofarll were a proud species, very honour bound and absolutely ruthless, in whatever they ended up doing with their lives. From fierce worriors to shrewd businessmen to cunning lawyers to relentless inventors and engineers. The Mofarll may not be the leaders in all of these fields, the best of the best, but as a species they were very good at every aspect of modern life in the galaxy. It was, therefore, a bit of a suprise when their war with Humanity ended with the Mofarll as the ones to conceede the victory.

There was a pregnant pause as the two members of the formerly at war species stared at each other before the Human exhaled and began stalking towards the bar, eyes drifting away from the Mofarll, who turned to keep the Human in front of him the whole time. The Human reached the bar and began to look over the labels of the bottles on the shelf behind Velik.

“You’re going to serve this filth?”

It took Velik a second to realise that the Mofarll had been addressing him.

“Well, yes. Why is that?” Said Velik, trying his best to ease any tension in the room with his tone alone.

“It’s a Human, that’s why.”

Velik saw the Human tense up again, his jaw clenching tightly.

'De-esclate the situation, now!’ thought Velik desperately.

“I’m sorry but we don’t like to discriminate here” he tried.

“You should, against scum like that. Civilized people don’t deserve to be around such a dishonorable race as Humans.”

“Why don’t you try addressing me as if I’m actually here…mate” said the Human, coldly.

“Because you shouldn’t be here” sneered the Mofarll.

“Yeah? According to who, hmmm?” Said the Human, spinning around to square off with his counterpart.

“Me” said the Mofarll, pointing at himself.

“Now now gentlemen” Velik tried despite the growing tension in the room. “There’s no need to go starting any trouble here.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t start anything. Just like Humanity didn’t start the war.”

“You deserved to be put in your place!” Shouted the Mofarll, finally losing a degree of control.

By now, all the conversations in the pub had ceased and all eyes were on the pair of belligerents. Then tension that, before, had kept itself to the back corner the Mofarll had occupied had now spread its way across the entire establishment, growing in strength as it did so.

“For what? Not kowtowing to you? Standing firm despite your demands? You’re people truly are pathetic!”

There was no shout of rage, no hesitation from the Mofarll, he simply leapt at the Human with a seething fury that demanded retribution. He slammed into the Human’s chest, knocking them both against the bar. People nearby scattered out the way as the Human and the Mofarll crashed to the floor in a tangle, swinging at each other as best they could before disentangling themselves from each other.

The Human was first to his feet, rolling across the floor away from the Mofarll before springing up. He darted back towards his still rising opponent and struck with a fist. The Mofarll, clearly experienced in fighting, saw it coming and threw an arm in the way to block it. He was still off balance though so the blow knocked him back down. The Human didn’t let up, angling a booted foot to connect with the once again prone form of his people’s former enemy.

Velik had just reached the silent alarm that was installed in the bar and pressed it, praying that the authorities were nearby.

The Mofarll endured a few kicks and a couple of punches before he managed to roll away from the Human, under a table and out from the other side. He got back up to his feet and took a fighting stance before the Human managed to rush round the table to strike again. The was a pause of a second as the pair glared at each other, then the Mofarll shoved the table, hard. The edge of the table jabbed into the Human’s midriff and the force was enough to wind him slightly. The Mofarll didn’t wait for the Human to recover. He jumped up onto the table and dived at the Human, piling the pair of them to the ground again and began raining blows down onto the Humans head who was blocking with both arms. The Mofarll, seeing he wasn’t getting through the Humans defenses, opted to instead try to strike at his exposed flanks. This change in tactic shifted the Mofarll’s balance which allowed the Human to buck his hips and throw the Mofarll off of him. The pair both chose to roll away from the other and regain their footing again.

“I’m going to fucking kill you” the Mofarll hissed.

From the angle he was standing, Velik was able to see the Human’s face as his mouth curled upwards at the edges and split open to reveal two rows of flat teeth. Velik had thought that the look in the Mofarll’s eyes has been intimidating. It was nothing compared to that rictus plastering th…

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