Suits and Charm

"Why the fuck do we gotta wear suits?" Guy complained for the umpteenth time, pulling at the cufflinks Aukusti had lent him with a stern warning to take care of them. Albert could have told him that the warning would have been lost on him, but what fun would that have been? At the moment, however, he was feeling anything but amused. Guy wouldn't stop complaining about the suits, Aukusti was taking his long sweet time in the bathroom, and as he glanced at his watch he made a low sound in his throat that sounded like a wild animal about to pounce as he realized they were going to be late.

"We're going to be late, damn that Aku! And stop complaining about the goddamn suits! We're going to a nice, expensive restaurant, you gotta wear one." Albert snapped, glaring at him.

From all outward appearances, Albert Wicket seemed like a mild-mannered man with blond hair swept to the side in a careless manner and square-rimmed black glasses that made him seem like an easy mark although, at the moment, that deceptive appearance was nowhere to be seen as he waited angrily for the third part of their group to get down to the hotel lobby, where he and Guy were waiting. But those who knew Albert well knew that below that exterior was a man used to violence- both in taking it and especially in giving it out- and that he was not a man one wanted to mess with.

That pretty boy appearance of his also made him underestimated, his cheekbones sharp and clear-cut; his manner was blunt and demanding, giving one the impression that he was used to giving out orders and expecting them to be followed to the letter, a manner which really rubbed many people the wrong way. It was that manner that, when he was bumped into from behind, caused him to turn with his scowl already out on his face. To his surprise, he saw it was a man dressed in torn clothes, black hair long and dirty and his face hidden by a scruffy beard that had grown wild. A homeless man, in this hotel?

"Excuse me, sir," Albert said coldly as the man swayed and he spotted the bottle in his hand. "Watch where you're going."

"Uhh, boy," Guy muttered, already expecting a bad outcome out of this.

The homeless man turned to face him. He smiled grimly at the sight of Albert, already judging him as others usually had done on first meeting. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" He demanded aggressively. His eyes flickered over as the concerige came over, looking anxious.

"Pardon me, sir, but you have to leave." He demanded of the homeless man. "This is a hotel for paying customers and you're clearly bothering one of them now. I am so sorry, sir, please accept-" The concierge began to say, turning to Albert, when he was hit by the bottle right across his face causing him to fall down unconscious. There were gasps and a few screams from those in the lobby. Albert didn't make a move. He just stared at the man impassively, which only seemed to incense his anger. He raised his arm and hit Albert across the face with the bottle as well.

"Goddman fucking bastard. Think some pretty fancy boy is gonna stop me from getting what I want. Fucking-"

His words were cut short as Albert didn't fall down as expected. He straightened up, putting a hand to where he had been hit by the bottle.

"Ohh, boy," Guy repeated with a sigh.

Without warning, Albert grabbed the man by the arm with the bottle, twisting it so hard the man yelped in pain and dropped the bottle. He hit the man in the face with a punch so hard he broke his nose, than he brought the man up to his shoulder, dropped him face down on the nice marble floor flecked with gray and black specks against the white marble, and in a final gesture of contempt stomped on the man's back so hard Guy was sure that if he hadn't broken the poor sap's back, he sure as hell came close to it.

"This is completely unacceptable," Albert said, straightening out his suit and tie. He glanced over at the concierage, who had managed to crawl away and was being helped by some of the other staff. "My friends and I came here because we were under the impression that this was a well-etablished hotel with a good reputation. Clearly, as this incident has proven, it is not."

He turned. "I'm waiting outside," he told an amused Guy disgruntledly.

"But- what about the police?" One of the other staff said weakly and jumped a little as Albert turned his glare on her.

"So not only do I have the injustice of dealing with this rabble, but now you also want me to miss a very important meeting so I could wait for the police? After this night I'm going to make sure that we won't stay here another day. As for the police, I'm sure they can wait until I come back- whenever that is." With that, Albert went to wait outside leaving Guy standing in the lobby rather awkwardly. As he stared at the homeless man lying unconscious on the floor, he really hoped the man wasn't dead-really, that would be too much of a headache. Just than, one of the elevators opened and out stepped Aukusti (Finally, he thought sourly) dressed sharply in a white suit, black shirt and red tie. He stopped short when he saw the body on the floor, glanced up at Guy who just shrugged, than looked over to where Albert was standing outside smoking a cigarette.

"Goddamnit, Albert!" Aukusti yelled.

Outside, Albert exhaled a cloud of smoke and smiled.