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Post by skyeknight on Oct 9, 2016 2:09:10 GMT
Axel rolled up his sleeves and looked over the new bar he was working at. It had obviously fallen into disrepair and had come on hard times. The only thing that apparently kept people coming back was the musical acts at the end of the night. The last guy was let go because he was an incompetent idiot who couldn’t tell the difference between red and white wines. The irony of it was a fire demon was hired to replace him – a fire demon in a bar with flammable liquids. However, a job was a job. Axel wasn’t about to complain.
He was just livid because the schmuck that used to serve the drinks at the bar was sloppy. White wines were sitting out at room temperature when they should have been chilling in a refrigerator. Vodka sat mixed in with scotch bottles. Bottle caps littered the floor. At least that moron managed to keep the bar top and tables clean. First he set to work reorganizing the bottles by type, then by potency. The better bottles lined the back of the display while the cheap stuff sat front and center. He had to take a deep breath to calm himself down or the whole bar would go up in smoke.
"What a dump," he sighed.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 9, 2016 6:02:31 GMT
"Well, Joe never was one for cleaning up his workspace."
The light and friendly voice spoke from behind the counter, addressing the man as if they had been included in his statement and were already involved in a conversation.
Anna quickly pulled out one of the stools at the bar with a foot before hopping up on the seat with ease. She had come to the Bourbon Graisse Bar to get her usual drinks but had been somewhat surprised to see that the normal bartender, Joe, was in absence. Instead, another man was busily setting everything to order that his predecessor had left in chaos.
Never one to run into a stranger, Anna had quickly decided to greet the man. She had listened to the red-haired figures mumbling before making her presence known and then leaping up into the stool direction across from where he stood, the friendly smile still on her lips. They might be strangers now, but Anna was determined to learn at least 15 things about the new bartender before she left.
"So, what's a girl gotta do to get a drink in this place?"
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 9, 2016 18:06:18 GMT
"Seems like it," Axel agreed. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"
He turned to see that people were starting to come into the bar. Particularly a freckled redhead who sat herself at the counter in sheer comfort and confidence. He grinned. He gave her a considering look. She wasn’t like his usual working girls who came in for drinks but he was also in a better part of town. Nah, this sort of girl had a good job. Usual hours and probably an office to boot. Still, even the uptight girls needed a night to let loose. He could help with that. She'd probably be a happy drunk too. He preferred that to the sad or angry drunks. Helped him keep his temper better.
He set his gloves aside. He had luckily washed the glasses so he would have a glass for whatever she asked for. Still it was frustrating to know how badly this 'Joe' had let things go. Axel was going to run the bar differently. At least this seemingly regular customer wasn't leaving because Joe wasn't serving her.
"It's a bit before 5 o'clock but I think we can let it slide since you asked so nicely." Axel laughed. "What can I get you?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 9, 2016 21:02:46 GMT
"Slide me a hurricane, heavy on the cherries."
Anna continued to grin up at the man, Axel, as she ordered her drink. He was quite at striking figure when you got down to it, what with the spikey red hair and the intense green eyes. She'd never seen anyone with eyes that shade of green before and the fact that he had small tattoos just under them only made them more striking. Still, looks didn't tell her much about him and thus far all she knew was his name.
"Axel, huh? Does that mean your parents were big into cars or something?"
Her voice was light and conversational, but her own gaze suddenly turned to her sunflower-shaped purse where a series of small squeaks was coming from.
"Oh, Pascal must have woken up."
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 9, 2016 23:51:37 GMT
"All right then!" he laughed.
He grabbed up a bottle with a flourishing presentation brandished another, mixing the two into one glass. He spun a third bottle in his hand. The liquid sloshed against the sides of the glass but not a drop was spilled. As soon as it was upright, it was set on the counter for her to see. Then he reached for two more. Giving the same song and dance for her before placing them in a line of each ingredient for her drink. Then he swiped some cherries from the fridge and plopped them in the drink. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
"Hmm... I'm pretty sure it was because of Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses," Axel mused.
Axel slid her drink in front of her once he was finished mixing it. He prided himself on it and would put good money on it being better than anything the last bartender could have mixed up for her. However, her purse started to make noises. He wasn't sure if this was something he should be concerned about or not, so he just raised a brow. Pascal could literally be anything these days.
"And Pascal is what exactly?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 10, 2016 0:40:43 GMT
"My pet."
Anna didn't elaborate but instead reached down into the depths of her purse and searched for a moment, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration. Suddenly, she found what she was looking for and pulled her hand out.
Resting in the cup of her palm was her pet chameleon, Pascal. She lifted him to the counter and gently put him down where he yawned for a moment before looking up at Anna and squeaking again. She nodded her head and smiled affectionately at him, acting as though it were normal for women to pull chameleons out of their purses and hold conversations with them.
"Glad you woke up. I got you your favorite!"
With that said, Anna picked one of the five cherries out of her hurricane and held it out to Pascal by the stem. He examined the fruit for a moment before suddenly opening his mouth and shooting a long pink tongue out at the cherry. A moment later and it had disappeared into his mouth, his skin turning from green to red at the taste of the fruit. He then gave a small growl of happiness and Anna giggled.
"Yeah, Joe might be gone but at least the cherries are as good as before. And the new bartender even gave us five this time!"
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 10, 2016 0:59:18 GMT
"Well," Axel said, "You did ask for extra."
It was a little strange she brought her pet lizard to the bar, but hey, some girls had dogs they put in their purse. He didn't see why they would want to carry around their dogs in a little bag and make them wear clothes when they obviously had fur, but he wasn't exactly dog friendly. He didn't see why this woman couldn't have a lizard in her purse. It was just a little quirky. He still smiled. He supposed quirky explained her just fine and she didn't care what anyone had to say otherwise.
"So a lizard?" he asked. "Can't say I've mixed a drink for one of those before."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 10, 2016 2:47:44 GMT
"Oh, the drinks are strictly for me, the cherries for Pascal."
With that said, Anna picked up the hurricane and sipped at the liquid, her face puckering slightly at the tart tones of the drink while also picking up on the sweetness of the cherries. After a moment, she fished out another cherry and Pascal happily inhaled it as soon as she held it out to him.
"Mmmmn, this hurricane is amazing! The perfect mix of sweet and tart."
Anna presented another cherry to Pascal before putting her hand down next to him. The chameleon quickly ate the fruit before climbing up Anna's arm quickly and coming to rest on her shoulder.
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 10, 2016 2:54:43 GMT
"Let me know and I can put the cherries on the side next time," Axel said. "Not sure the little guy's tolerance to alcohol. But he seems like a lightweight to me."
He chuckled at over his own joke. Now that would be a a first for him. He could get lizard drunk. Though he supposed dragons didn't count in that situation since some could take human shape. And some demons did look rather draconian in nature. But this woman was quite amusing to the fire demon, to say the least. She had been nothing but unpredictable since she walked into the door, much like the drink she ordered - a hurricane. A whirlwind of unexpected events unraveling one right after another.
"So you know my name and I know your pet's name," Axel pointed out. "But what's your name?"
If she was a regular enough to know Joe by a first name basis, she might show up at the bar enough for Axel to know her well enough to predict her drink orders. He honestly hadn't made a hurricane for anyone in a while. It was nice to do something unexpected.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 10, 2016 2:59:53 GMT
Anna had started to take another sip when she realized she hadn't yet introduced herself to the new bartender. Her mouth full of alcohol, she suddenly hit herself lightly in the forehead before swallowing the drink.
"Oh wow, that was silly of me! I'm Anna."
She then extended her hand over the counter to Axel, all too aware of how she had once again missed the first and probably most simple part of any new meeting. She hadn't even introduced herself!
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 10, 2016 13:20:35 GMT
Axel chuckled and shook her hand. She would probably noticed his fingers were too long to be natural or comment that his skin was warmer than hers. His temperature always ran high compared to humans. He was not uncomfortable to touch, so they assured him, but it was a side effect of his species. He had never thought about it. Fire and warmth was always something he had just been so accustomed to that he didn't know cold. He just had to be mindful when mixing drinks that weren't supposed to be lit on fire for special effects.
"A pleasure," Axel said, "I take it you're in a lot."
Axel found he wouldn't mind that. She and her lizard were probably going to be two of the better behaved regular patrons in the entire bar. She had at least made the evening rather amusing and things were only getting started. She could very well become a 'friendly' face in the crowd. Or rather, she seemed keen to talk to him. Absently as they spoke, he began to mix the other drinks for the other patrons as orders came in from the servers.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 11, 2016 2:33:03 GMT
"Yep, I come here a lot just to..."
However, what it was Anna came to do was cut off when Axel took her hand and gave it a firm shake. Immediately she lost her train of thought as she felt the heat in the bartender's hand. Her mind, always jumping around to begin with, focused on this sudden realization that Axel's temperature was higher then a normal person. And that meant he was possibly an Other or a Gifted Human.
She let go of his hand and didn't say anything for several moments as her blue eyes carefully took in his appearance once more. Pascal, who had been sitting comfortably on her shoulder, picked up her mood and turned to stare at Axel in the exact same manner as Anna. Finally, after a silence so intense that the only noise was that which came from the rest of the bar, she spoke.
"Are you are Fire Manipulator?"
Anna's gaze didn't leave Axel's face as she sipped at her drink. She couldn't be certain, but she thought logically that perhaps the new bartender was an Fire Elemental or maybe a fire-based Other. After all, she knew from experience with Esmeralda at the BPD that Gifted Humans or Others who controlled fire tended to have body temperatures that ran much higher then humans.
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 11, 2016 17:25:16 GMT
Axel slowly withdrew his hand when she started staring at him. Some people really didn't like fire, so naturally, they disliked the person who controlled it. Having both Anna and her little lizard staring at him like he was about to set the place ablaze was not something he would have predicted. But he was not about to hide what he was. He was proud of his species, when they weren't all stuck up their own bums and setting random fires all over the place. He had managed to integrate into human society just fine. He had a clean streak for at least a year and half. That was 547 days without a single spark. That was pretty good for a creature like him.
"Cherufe," he confirmed. "Or fire demon. Whatever you prefer. People can't really tell the difference anyways. But hey, gotta give you a prize or something. No one's figured it out that quick."
He might have seemed dismissive about it, but he was watching her reaction. Fire. Demons. Neither brought positive reactions from humans. She looked human. At least to him. Small. Dainty. He couldn't sense magic from her. But she might have just been very good at masking it. It made her a mystery. Axel never did like those. Unknown elements and variables always tended to bring trouble for him. He had been so long without incident, he didn't want to break his streak. It was like trying to quit smoking or being sober after being an alcoholic. Sure he got an itch for a good fire every now and then but he had kept himself from it.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Oct 12, 2016 0:27:22 GMT
Anna didn't say anything or react at all when Axel stated that he was a Cherufe and merely continued sipping at her drink as she perched lightly on the stool in front of him. Pascal stared at him a moment longer before turning to stick his tongue on Anna's cheek. Taking the hint, she help up the last cherry to him but still kept her large blue eyes on Axel.
Finally, she sat her now empty glass on the counter before leaning forward and her elbows and speaking.
"Can I get another Hurricane?"
It was clear that the realization that she was sitting in front of a fire demon didn't bother her in the slightest. In fact, she seemed perfectly at ease.
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Post by skyeknight on Oct 12, 2016 1:10:43 GMT
He slowly reached for the bottles and began mixing her drink. He almost expected a sort of outburst. Alarm at the very least. The silence wasn't doing much for the demon, particularly since he was a talkative sort. He never did like silences. He finished the drink off with a twirl of a bottle and more cherries for Pascal. The new glass was slid in front of Anna.
"You're, uh, taking that pretty well," he said. "Nice girl like you shouldn't hang out with demons."
At least Anna seemed like a nice girl. The kind of girl who wouldn't get on the wrong side of the law. Axel had been on both. More or less the wrong side more often than not, especially when he was a teen and coming into his powers. Some of those fires were purely accidental. Just him going through magical growth spurts and 'stretching' newfound muscles. Others were in defense of others. Especially during the war that the city had struggled through.
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