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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 20, 2017 17:44:08 GMT
"Good thing you ended up in Bellerouge."
She paused to take another sip from her wine just as Pascal finished his own dinner. The chameleon gave a happy burp before crawling off the table and heading towards one of the other rooms in the apartment. Anna watched him go with an affectionate look on her face.
"A lot of people don't really like to accept things that are different but I feel like that's not quite so much the case in this city."
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 20, 2017 21:14:38 GMT
"And what about you?" Axel asked. "How'd you end up with the BPD?"
He had to admit, he didn't know much about Anna. She shared quite a bit about what made her happy, but he wanted to know more, like what made her tick. Why was she was so perky? What would have made her brush off what he was like it was talking about the weather? Did she just hang out with random strangers often? They didn't know each other extraordinarily well, but he wanted to. That was the strange part. That he wanted to know Anna better.
"I mean, you don't really strike me as the type."
No. Anna had this air about her that was more like someone in a higher education field. Like a college lecturer or a chemist. She did pick a scientific field after all, but what drew her to that field exactly? Past experience? Tragic family member who passed away and she wanted to know why and how? He was a bartender because it was literally the only job he could get for himself. Bartending school had been hard to scrape through when he had been low on money, buying a business was even harder. He was still paying off the loan.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 21, 2017 3:43:10 GMT
"You aren't the first person to say that. In fact, when I tell people I'm a medical examiner at the BPD they think I'm morbidly cheerful. They say someone who works with the corpses of murder victims shouldn't be so happy or optimistic."
Anna took a moment to skewer a piece of asparagus on her fork and examined it before biting into the green vegetable.
"However I've never regretted the choice I made. You see, originally I wanted to go to school to become a doctor. I might be a bit of an airhead at times, but I've always made good grades and had a passion for biology. So I thought a doctor was the perfect job for me, one where I could help people. Heck, I even started on that track when I went to college. I probably would have ended up a doctor too, if I hadn't seen it that day..."
She paused her for a moment, her eyes growing somewhat distant as the memory of that life-changing moment passed before her inner eye.
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 21, 2017 12:53:13 GMT
"It's not a bad thing if you're following something you like." he said quickly.
Axel didn't see it as a bad thing that she took a job that most people wouldn't have. Someone had to do it. Anna was smart enough to do it. She shouldn't let anyone make her change her mind on it, just because they thought she wasn't 'suited' to that sort of work. It was something Axel liked about her. Once she had an idea in her head, it was hard to dissuade her from pursuing it at it's full extent - like chasing after her two coworkers who had been avoiding each other with the intention of locking them in the closet and making them talk things out.
"Seen... what?" he asked.
He was afraid to ask. He had grown up during the war. He knew how bad things could get. Considering her job, it might not be polite dinner conversation but work was all they had to talk about. But he didn't like the turn the conversation had taken.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 23, 2017 4:57:53 GMT
Anna didn't respond immediately. She continued to chew slowly while she ate with the same somewhat distant look on her face. However, after a moment she finally responded even though her eyes were still unfocused.
"A body."
Suddenly, her blue gaze fell onto Axel's own green eyes and something seemed to return to her. It was as if she had lost herself for a moment but had returned.
"See, I was walking along in the park one day after I had finished my last class for the day at the university. It was such a nice day, cooler and less humid than usual here, and I thought it would be nice to enjoy the sunlight. I was just wandering up a random trail I picked that ran along a nearby waterway. I always liked to pick a different trail each time because I told myself I would always see something new that way. And boy, did I sure see something new that day."
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 23, 2017 13:18:31 GMT
"Fuck," he muttered. "Anna, I'm so sorry that happened."
He didn't know what else to say, he was literally at a loss for words. Someone like Anna, her life was completely derailed because she found a dead person, left to be forgotten about. It sadly happened more often than not. Especially in a city this big with people with worse temper's than Axel's. She could have been a doctor, saving lives... But would she have been happy doing that? It was anyone's guess. As long as she was happy there and then. That was all that really mattered.
"You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." he said gently.
Now that was a thought. His tone had gone soft and warm. Very much unlike him. He was mostly the rough, tough, give no fucks bartender. Worst part was, Anna made him care. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of that new revelation. Without even trying, she had convinced him to come to her rescue, despite not needing much saving and come to her house for dinner with her, things he would have turned down had it been anyone else. His hands clenched his cutlery a little tighter, to keep from reaching across the table and taking her hand.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 25, 2017 22:44:04 GMT
At Axel's words, Anna's distant gaze suddenly turned to him and she stared at him in silence for several moments. For a time neither of them ate and the space of her apartment was so quiet you could hear the sound of distant traffic as it went by. However, when Anna finally spoke again it was the last thing anyone would have expected.
"Why are you sorry? Everything that happened that day, it all helped me realize a lot of things about myself. It helped me discover my passion, what I wanted to do with my life, how I could finally help people in a way I hadn't even dreamed of before."
Some people might have assumed that Anna was lying or trying to make light of what had happened to her, but in the clarity of her blue eyes there was nothing but a simple truth. Truly, for her the day she found that body was the day she discovered who she was.
"When I saw that body, at first I was shocked and then I got scared and nearly ran away, but something stopped me. Standing there, looking at the remains of what used to be a person......"
Here she paused, her hands folding and twisting the napkin in her lap into various shapes. When she tried to explain why that day was so important to her to other people, they never really understood. No one had. Axel probably wouldn't understand either and would simply come to realize how truly strange the woman sitting before him was. Still, some part of her felt the need to tell him.
"I realized I wanted to know their story. Instead of running, I started to take a closer look at them, trying to piece together the mystery that surrounded that dead person. Looking at that dead body, I wanted to know who they were and how they could have ended up like this."
At this point, Anna's gaze went from looking down at the table to staring directly into Axel's almost cat-like green eyes. There was no fear present, no uncertainty. Only a deep passion and something else....
"And I wanted to know that their story didn't just end with them being murdered, cause one look at the bullet holes in that body's skull told me enough. See, most people think that the dead can't be helped, that they're far beyond any help. And in many ways they are, but there's one way we CAN truly help them."
Here, her eyes seemed to suddenly shine with a brilliant light, a vibrant energy that filled her entire frame and drove her so far into her work.
"We can learn from their story and how it ended. We can stop the ones responsible for ending it. And in that way, yes, we truly can help the dead."
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 26, 2017 17:03:28 GMT
Well this was uncomfortable. He felt bad that she was the one to find the body. Bodies never were pleasant things to be around, in Axel's experience. But she didn't regret how she found out her calling to work. It was just an unfortunate accident that led to one thing after another. Funny how one little incident could change things. She was already in route to be a doctor. Weren't things just as horrific and gruesome for them? Some of the injuries they had to deal with... Axel just had to wrap his mind around the fact that the seemingly innocent Anna was used to the aftermath of violence.
"It's a tragedy that made you discover that you wanted to do what you do." he said. "But someone needs to speak up for the dead."
People weren't exactly lining up to do Anna's job either. They would prefer to work on the living - saving lives, not dealing with the dead. But she was passionate about it, about the people who were left behind in accidents and murder. She wanted to end their stories on a positive note, instead of leaving them to ring it out in uncertainty. She was determined. He would give her that.
"Seems like they've got themselves a pretty good spokesperson if you ask me."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 27, 2017 19:04:10 GMT
Anna’s appetite was gone by that time but she continued to pick at her food silently as she waited to see how Axel would response. Normally she wasn’t one to worry about how others saw her or to let their harsh judgements weigh down her normally care-free spirit, but something about the young Demon sitting across from her made her hope that her story hadn’t pushed him away. Axel was the first person she had told about finding the body in a long time. While it was common knowledge around the BPD and all her coworkers knew about it, hardly any of them knew the significance of this moment in her life, how it had set her on her current course. And she would be lying to herself if she claimed she had planned to tell Axel this story. She hadn’t simply because it was so personal and he was just a friend…. So why had she told him? When he did finally speak, Anna couldn’t help but blink in surprise at his response. Somehow, in some strange way her story hadn’t made him think her insane or weird or gruesome. In fact, he seemed to understand what she had been trying to convey. At his statement that the dead had a good spokesperson, Anna couldn’t help but smile as a light blush crept up her cheeks. “You’re probably the first person I’ve ever told this to who didn’t just get creeped out by the whole thing or who didn’t think I was just straight up crazy.”
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 27, 2017 20:32:01 GMT
"Anna, I grew up during the Black War. I saw my fair share of dead bodies." he said. "And I'm demon. Hard to creep out."
Being creepy was a demon thing. An unintentional thing but a thing all the same. Anna did her work right. She didn't do it for the money or the fame. She could have had both, with as brilliant as she was, she might still have both if she closed some really difficult cases. Ultimately, she did it because it was the right thing to do in her mind. He couldn't fault her for that. She was just doing what she thought she needed to.
"You're doing what's right by you. What anyone else thinks shouldn't matter." he said.
He was a firm believer of if someone disagreed with you, tell them to stick their opinion where the sun doesn't shine.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 28, 2017 4:38:10 GMT
"That's kinda ironic. I mean, you've been a lot kinder to me then a lot of humans I've met, Demon or not."
Anna's tone was unusually quiet as she said this. She was normally such a vibrant, energetic individual that her quieter moments tended to be rare and occurred mostly when she was being truly serious and sincere. She had stopped picking at her food now and instead watched Axel in silence across the table.
Looking at him, it really was hard to believe he was a Demon. Sure, not all of them were evil or bad, but it seemed like it was a small percentage that fell on the side of good and the distinction wasn't always clear. With Axel, however, she had no doubt in believing that he truly was a good person. His actions up until this moment had shown that much and while he did seem to have a short temper, she couldn't help but think well of him. It didn't hurt that he was also cute....
Anna suddenly pushed her chair back and picked up her plate before turning towards the kitchen. Where had THAT thought come from? She didn't know but the blush had grown stronger on her cheeks and she used the excuse of clearing off her plate to try and get her thoughts back in order. Giving a cough as she put the dish in the sink, she called out to Axel.
"Well, if you're done we can move on to dessert if you want."
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 28, 2017 12:46:42 GMT
"Wouldn't have said that if you met me five years ago."
And it was the truth. Axel had been just as mean as any demon came back then. He had nothing to lose. He had been rough and rumble from the street life he had lived. Fighting crime with more crime. Violence and hatred and burning. He hadn't been proud of who he was. So he had tried to change after he had gotten arrested, went into jail for a minor crime and came back out. He had to clean himself up or he would have gone back more than he would have liked.
He raised a brow when Anna quickly stood before marching her cleared plate to the kitchen. That was a little sudden. What could possibly have evoked that sort of reaction? He finished the last of his food before doing the same. He walked up beside Anna. He was not making her clean that kitchen by herself. She had made all this effort for him after all.
"And now you're just trying to spoil me," he laughed. "How about this, let me help with the dishes and then you can wow me with your dessert?"
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Mar 31, 2017 7:30:58 GMT
"Guess it was lucky that I met you now then."
Anna's voice was light and teasing, but the color hadn't completely faded from her cheeks as she set about rising off the dishes. When Axel came up next to her and offered to help, she kept her focus on the soapy water in the sink but gave a quick nod of the head.
She didn't know why, but his proximity to her was making her feel somewhat jittery. It was almost as if she had chugged an expresso, she was filled with a restless energy that she simply didn't know what to do with. So instead, she stepped aside and around Axel with exaggerated care before going over to the fridge.
However, before opening it to look for the dessert she had made, she shot a quick glance at Axel and spoke in a quiet voice.
"For all it's worth, I think you're a pretty amazing person regardless of your past."
And before the silence that accompanied this statement could grow too long, she opened the fridge and spent the next few moments pulling out the homemade chocolate lava cake and Chantilly cream she had prepared for them.
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Post by skyeknight on Mar 31, 2017 13:48:43 GMT
"For all it's worth," he echoed, "I think you're pretty amazing too. Unique job and all."
When Anna stepped away from the sink, Axel rolled up his sleeves, picked up the sponge and started to scrub them clean. As his hands went into the water, things got a bit steamy. Literally. Wisps of hot steam danced off the water. He grinned over his shoulder at Anna. After he rinsed each plate after they were cleaned, the heat from his hands dried them off quickly. It certainly beat a dishwasher. He would have her dishes caught up in no time. Putting them away however, was something he didn't know what to do with because he had never been in her kitchen before and didn't know where she liked things.
The clean dishes were carefully stacked on a clean counter space. Plates were in a stack, pots were in a separate place to avoid anything from tipping over and breaking. He didn't want to ruin Anna's nice dish sets. Even if she was likely to not mind. He couldn't remember the last time he had dinner with someone and he did the dishes for them. Granted, Anna seemed to be made of up of a lot of exceptions for a lot of things that Axel did.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Apr 1, 2017 9:33:55 GMT
Anna had just found the bowl containing her homemade Chantilly cream when Axel spoke. For a few moments she merely stood facing into the shelves of various foods in the fridge, cherishing the warmth that Axel's words brought her. It wasn't often that she heard such kindness from anyone outside the BPD.
Most people seemed to assume that she was perpetually happy and that nothing in this world could ever bring her spirits down. Indeed she was a very upbeat individual, but there were times when the smile she kept on her face wasn't as sincere as she would like, times when it felt like her cheerful disposition would burst under the strain of always trying to be the bright spot on a dark horizon. And there were times when she hid her own pain and hurt under her smile, using it almost like a shield when someone truly did hurt her.
So part of her couldn't help but wonder why Axel was so kind to her.
Slowly, she brought out the cream and turned to face the Demon once more, watching him in silence as he quickly cleaned off the plates in the sink and dried them with little more then a wave of his hand.
"Thank you, Axel."
Her voice in that instant didn't sound like its usual self. In that instant, it seemed to contain something more to it, something that needed to be conveyed and yet couldn't be captured into words. However, before it could make itself clear, the old and familiar smile had once again taken its place on Anna's lips and she held out the two dishes she had collected from the fridge.
"Well, I hope you saved room for some chocolate lava cake! I even had time to make some Chantilly cream to go with it."
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