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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 3, 2017 19:15:06 GMT
Adeline hadn't exactly planned on visiting Axel while she was out. Her main purpose had been to check on Pitch, who was now out of the hospital and doing the rest of his recovery at home. He still wasn't at 100% yet, but he was getting better. It looked like being in the dark was doing him some good, just like he said it would. Adeline just hoped that nothing else went wrong while he was getting better. His eyesight seemed to be fine, but the stab wound Thrax gave him still troubled him from time to time. Adeline didn't want him doing anything crazy until that healed. If the wound acted up while he was out on a patrol or something, it could mean bad news. Still, as she was leaving Pitch's place, she realized she hadn't seen Axel in a while either. In between getting together with Pitch, helping Namine figure out her powers, and dealing with Thrax losing his mind, she'd forgotten about him for a time. Hopefully, she could make up for lost time if she visited him now. So, she hopped onto one of the many streetcars running about the city, and headed towards the French Quarter. Finding the Bourbon Graisse took almost no time at all. She practically knew where it was by heart. She peaked inside, searching for a moment until she spotted bright red, spiky hair. She smiled and called "Hey Axel!" as she hurried in.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 3, 2017 23:34:46 GMT
Axel's week hadn't been going well. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. At least the beer shipments came in on time and appliances in the kitchen hadn't died out otherwise he would have literally set something on fire. First Anna blew up in his face. She declared he was a horrible friend and she stormed out in a rage. Then he had to go deal with Cruella. The woman was poaching a few of his employees. He told his current ones the situation with Cruella and to avoid her, but he couldn't stop them. He couldn't wait for his next day off. However, as the manager, there were seldom days off. As lots of things depended on him doing his job. His shift was just getting started too. Even his workers seemed to realize that something was wrong when the big boss wasn't as jolly and joyful as he usually was. They knew he was typically good humored about most things. Not this week.
"Hey kid," he greeted, though with less enthusiasm as he usually did.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 3, 2017 23:42:17 GMT
Adeline took her usual seat at the bar top, although Axel's tone didn't escape her notice. As long as she had known him, he had been rather easy-going and perky. He still greeted her well enough, just with less enthusiasm than usual. "Long night?" she asked, wondering if work was getting to him. Maybe it had been super busy earlier. Or he'd had to toss out some customers who had drank too much. She figured that happened every so often at a place like this. It was a bar after all, although Adeline had been lucky enough to come on nights that weren't terribly crowded. Otherwise, some might wonder why a teenager was hanging out here and seemed so friendly with the bartender.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 3, 2017 23:47:35 GMT
"Long week." he corrected.
He almost replied with 'long life' but didn't want to drag his longevity into things. He made his choices growing up. Working for Cruella was one of them. Leaving her establishment was another. He would have ended up in prison if he kept with her. She knew it. He knew it. She was just put out because he decided to become a better person because of it. He had met good people owning his own establishment. Adeline was one of them. The kid was good and had her heart in the right place.
"How have you been?" he asked. "Want a drink?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 4, 2017 3:56:45 GMT
"Oh. Ouch." That was all Adeline felt like she could say. She wondered if she could ask for specifics. Despite being friends with Axel, she didn't know much about the guy. Then again, it wasn't like she needed to know. He was nice, friendly, and was one of the few demons she knew that didn't want to hurt her. She felt like that counted for something. When asked how she was doing, she gave a shrug. "Better, I guess. Although I'm sure hearing about Thrax has scared a lot of people." Ever since he had resurfaced and attacked her and Pitch, she had seen the worried looks people gave each other. While Thrax wasn't the most powerful demon around, he could still cause a lot of damage, and Adeline knew everyone was worried he'd pull something off like the jail break. Adeline just hoped Pitch could get better soon. The faster he was out on the streets again, the safer the city would be. He had the best chance of taking down Thrax. "One of those toddys you always make for me would be nice," Adeline said. Sure, they didn't actually have alcohol in them, but still. Axel made them well, and Adeline liked them. It was kind of becoming her usual order at this place.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 5, 2017 1:08:40 GMT
"Don't worry about it. I'll work shit out. I always do." he reassured her.
He was the bartender. It was his job to listen. Put everything aside and listen to his patrons. He was also a grown adult, capable of talking things through, even if it took him longer because of his anger issues. Fire and brimstone only got a guy like him so far. He had to perfect the art of honeyed talk, which he had. But only after years of experience.
"Yeah. That guy needs a good ass kicking... Too bad I won't be there when it happens." he sighed.
Thrax was likely to be taken down by the police, probably in a stand off to the death, unlike the one where that demon Vanitas gave himself up. Bellarouge city had a demon infestation. Axel considered himself one of the vermin. He shook his head before grabbing the things to make Adeline's non-alcoholic toddy. One of these days, he would mix it with whiskey for her (like the real adults took it) and she'd probably be horrified. That would amuse him greatly.
"One toddy!"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2017 1:49:54 GMT
Adeline pursed her lips in thought. Axel seemed pretty confident about fixing whatever was bothering him, but that didn't mean she still wasn't worried about it. "Is there...any way I can help?" she asked, hesitant for a moment with her words. "I mean, you've helped me out a lot. Maybe I can do the same for you." Axel had been a friendly ear that would listen to her troubles, and didn't judge her for Thrax being here. Then again, a lot her loved ones didn't blame her for that. Really, the person who blamed her the most for Thrax being in this city was herself. She was still working on not feeling so guilty all the time. Speaking of which, Axel had some choice words to say about the red demon. "Maybe...that's for the best," she said. "I mean, the less people who try to take him on, the better. I was there when he attacked Pitch with emerald dust. It was...horrifying." She'd never forget seeing Pitch's face covered in blood, the sound he had made when he had screamed in pain. She never wanted to hear that sound again, ever.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 5, 2017 13:34:05 GMT
Axel smiled at her - rather fond of the girl. She was a good kid with her heart in the right place.
"Listen, there's this bar called Mina." he said. "Under any circumstance should you ever go there. Ever. It's packed with vampires who'd love to take a bite out of your pretty little neck."
The idea of Adeline dead in an alley - drained of all her blood left Axel with a bad taste in his mouth. He couldn't offer her the same protections he offered his workers. He had a truce with Cruella to leave his workers alone as long as he left her workers alone. But that didn't mean Cruella couldn't go for Axel's... Clients? Patrons? Friends? He wasn't sure what sort of line he had started to blur with his regular customers, especially with Anna exploding at him the way she had. It truly bothered him.
"A demon using emeralds against another demon?"
That was deliberate and sickening. Axel shook his head. What on earth was this city coming to? He normally abided by the 'catch a demon, send a demon' policy. But if this was what happened when they tried to abide by that, then things were not looking good.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2017 18:19:19 GMT
Adeline blinked. That wasn't what she expected to hear from Axel. Had this Mina bar been giving him some trouble? Was it just competition between two businesses? Or was it more than that? "Y-yeah, I promise," she said. If she had to guess, the bar was probably in the Garcon Perdu area of the city. There was where most of the shady business in the city was taken place. Adeline had only been to that area a few times, and even then, it was to see Pitch. She wondered if he knew anything about this Mina bar. "Is it something that the cops can handle?" she asked. "I've...sort of been a regular at the station, ever since I summoned Thrax. Maybe I can get someone down there." She knew Pitch's priority right now was getting better, and he'd start looking for Thrax again as soon as he had recovered. But maybe he could recommend someone else who could help. Adeline had met a few members of the Others unit, but she wasn't close to them in the same way she was with Pitch. Speaking of which, Axel seemed surprised that Thrax had used emerald dust, a weapon that could hurt him as much as Pitch. Adeline just gave a nod. "Yeah. Used it as a last resort. Pitch had...really worn him down. I guess he figured suffering a little pain from using it was worthwhile if it meant he could get away."
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 5, 2017 18:35:50 GMT
"There's a good girl." he said.
He reached across the counter and ruffled her hair. Then he chuckled to himself. He set her drink in front of her, hot and steaming like always. She did come for something more than the company. Demon summoning or not, he couldn't help but see her as a kid, sweet and innocent. Normally the type his kind liked to corrupt, but he only wanted to see her safe. Probably because she came into his bar the first day, shaking like a leaf and nearly having a panic attack upon finding out what he was.
"The cops can't do much about the owner. Cruella knows her stuff and has money to protect herself." Axel said.
Cruella was rich and influential almost equally so with how blood thirsty and driven she was. Two of the worst kind of criminals in the city. She could buy off the human cops who investigated and a few of the people her clan would feed on wouldn't be missed because of who they were. Unless they were an awful human being. Then it was a mysterious death that no one really felt like solving because that person was the scum of the earth anyways. No. Adeline was better off staying away from Mina entirely.
"No excuse. Trash like that needs to die."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2017 18:47:41 GMT
Axel seemed pretty relieved to hear that. Still, as Adeline sipped her tea, she couldn't help but feel curious about the place as Axel talked about it. She couldn't believe that a place like that could be standing for so long. At least with Thrax, he had only escaped being put into custody because he was smart and played dirty. But some place like the Mina bar existing because nobody wanted to do anything? It didn't sit right with her. Axel talked about the owner, Cruella, with a lot of venom in his voice. It was a tone Adeline hadn't heard him use often. "Sounds like you know her well," she commented, looking at Axel over her mug. For a shady person, a lot about this Cruella person seemed to be known by Axel. Had he lived in that area or something? Or did he used to actually frequent the place? The venom was still in his voice when he talked about Thrax, and she just gave a little nod. "Yeah. At this rate, he's more likely to be brought in dead than alive." Pitch would certainly take no chances the next time he faced him. He'd given him chances before, and it had led him to nearly dying. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 5, 2017 18:54:45 GMT
"I used to work for her, before I owned the Bourbon." he said.
His bar had been months and months of saving up, of living on next to nothing after the purchase and making sure the business stayed afloat long enough to make a profit and turn back his money. He had finally started making back some of the money he lost the first year of business. Thankfully his bar could compete on an level with even Mina. His bar could be for literally anyone who liked good food and good booze. Mina was more of an... acquired taste. Not suitable for everyone certainly.
"Be careful, kid. Try and stay out of it as much as you can."
He knew that was asking a lot considering the demon seemed to have a very uncomfortable fixation on the young woman. Axel wanted the broil the man alive, but with emerald dust in play, he didn't know how well that would go well for anyone involved. Axel wasn't afraid of a little burn. Wasn't the first time he dealt with the stuff. He had an emerald knife pulled on him once. Had a scar right between his ribs on his right side. It wasn't pretty.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2017 20:48:40 GMT
Adeline's eyes widened at that. "Really?" That surprised her. Then again, Axel was a demon. Even the good ones, like him and Pitch, usually had less-than-stellar beginnings. Although, so far, both of their pasts remained mostly shrouded in mystery. Even Pitch hadn't told the whole story, only talking about the promise he had made, and how that had made him a police officer. She knew he had done some bad things in the past, including probably omitting murder, but the specifics were still unknown. Adeline wondered if Axel's past was just as shady. It might be, considering how Cruella seemed to be #1 on his Shit List. Adeline didn't say anything in response to Axel's request for her to stay out of the whole Thrax thing as much as possible, but that didn't mean she wasn't still thinking about it. She still remembered how Thrax had only backed off after she had stepped in, and with her demon side nearly emerging too. The rage and fury she had felt still scared her. She'd never felt something like that before, and it frightened her of what she might do if a loved one of hers was threatened like that again. If she nearly lost it after seeing Pitch getting hurt, who could say whether she would lose it if Axel got hurt? Or Namine? Or her parents? The idea of feeling that much anger, and acting upon it, made her feel anxious.
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Post by skyeknight on Jun 5, 2017 21:12:36 GMT
"I did some things I wasn't proud of." Axel said. "Would have been in prison if I kept going like that. So I left."
He was good at cutting toxic people out of his life. He tried to help but when they wouldn't meet him half way to try and change for the better, he let them do what they wanted. He wasn't going to change people by force. He certainly didn't like the way Cruella did it with her hypnotism and viper's tongue of lies. Adeline wasn't suited to become some baby vamp. He wasn't even sure if she could. But he also didn't want to see her as a food source for Cruella's minions. The girl wouldn't take it well. No one took it well when their very life essence was being drained from them.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2017 22:08:15 GMT
Adeline couldn't think of anything to say for a moment. What could she say in response to that? It kind of made summoning Thrax pale in comparison. Sure, it had been a bad thing, but at least she had stopped doing stuff like that afterwards. If what Axel said was true, he did bad things way more than once. Adeline wondered how he had managed to get out from under Cruella's grip. A person like her didn't sound very easy to escape from. Still, if anyone could do it, it would be Axel. He seemed like the type of guy to just stubbornly plow along when trying to reach a goal. Even if the progress was slow, he'd still be moving in that direction. "Seems like a lot of people have a backstory like that," she commented. Pitch, Axel, it seemed like the only friend Adeline had that was an exception to that was Namine. She was the kind of person that bad things happened to, rather than being the person that actually did the bad thing. Namine wasn't the type of person to hurt someone intentionally.
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