(no subject)
Who: Xigbar and Axel.
When: Right now.
Where: Kardela, capital city of central Kinta.
What: Number Two and number Seven get together and discuss the future.
Warning: Bad lingo, dude.
Central station in Kardela, capital of Kinta island, tended to be a bustly place around the clock. Late afternoon, as it was now, was especially busy. This didn't stop Xigbar, groomed and dressed and grinning like a fool in love, from having claimed a green, clean bench all for himself, arms spread wide apart over the back-rest to make certain that nobody got the silly idea to try and sit down next to him unless they wanted his arm around their shoulders. Which of course might not be terribly unpleasant. But he was saving a seat.
He watched people pass him as he waited for the possibility of a flaming red-head to appear somewhere in the crowd. Stressed. Calm. Besaddened. Joyous. There were families splitting apart and reuinons and every little thing in between going on wherever you turned your eyes. Eye. The powerful displays of emotion was something Xigbar liked to watch. It was a comfort to see how other people went on with their lives.
Axel made his way through the crowd. Xigbar was certainly more difficult to spot than he had ever been. While not impossible, terribly difficult, especially if he happened to be sitting anywhere. At present, Axel couldn't find him, but he was sure he would, unless the other Nobody was leading him on some wild goose chase.
Axel walked up and down the rows of benches, trying to pick out anybody who even remotely looked like his former superior member. Again, it proved difficult, but not impossible. A smirk crossed his features as he spotted him sprawled out on a bench. He was still grinning as he approached. "It's rude to take up an entire bench by yourself, you know."
'Why else would I do it, if not for the rudeness?' Xigbar replied, his smile widening significantly when he managed to turn his head enough to spot the youth approaching. He withdrew one of his arms however, and scooted to the side to allow the other some room, should he choose to sit. 'Hey, kid. Long time no see. You look well.'
"I suppose you wouldn't," he shrugged his shoulders, but chose to stand. He had been figuratively sitting on his ass and doing nothing for the longest time, he didn't want to get literal about it. "Yeah, I guess I do. You're looking pretty good yourself. Manage to escape the kid with the Keyblade somehow?"
'Actually, no,' he conceded, bowing his head slightly. But his grin remained intact. 'He pretty much ripped me a new one, and then my part in the world was more than over. But about two years ago, apparently, I got another chance. So..' He spread his arms, wide, a gesture encompassing the people, the city, the world. 'Here we are. Back in business. Pretty darned nice if you ask me.'
"So I'm the only one he didn't get, huh?" he chuckled, bemused. That was always nice to know. Though he didn't go by unscathed, his pride wouldn't allow him to divulge that he'd willingly given his life to help the Keyblade master, unless Xigbar decided to ask. "Yeah, a second chance. Always a good thing. Gives you a chance to do things right, of course, if anyone can tell us what right is."
'I doubt there's anyone around here who can tell us what right is. People do as they always have done, Axel. We keep on doing what feels right by us, and to hell with what other people think.' A thought, at that, actually struck him and he raised his eyebrows. '..do you still call yourself Axel? Or has it occurred to you that maybe since we're sort of back.. we might resume the mantles of our old Sombodies?'
"I don't know about you, but right by societies standards just doesn't /feel/ right, if you know what I mean." His smirk widened considerably. If there was a chance to throw a bad pun or a bit of irony into a statement, Axel wouldn't pass that up. "Yeah, I still call myself Axel. I wouldn't get hopeful about this. We're back and we're still stuck without those damn hearts."
Xigbar huffed a bit, deterred. So Axel felt the same. That was too bad. He was hoping that maybe if someone felt differently than him, a bit more positive about it, they could have persuaded him into feeling the same. Maybe it was useless after all.
'Yeah, well. A second chance is a second chance. We don't have to walk the straight and narrow all the way, but I'm not gonna go screwing this up by sinking worlds into Darkness anymore, know what I'm saying? I reckon there's got to be another way to get our blood-pumps back.'
Axel actually laughed at his words. Just the prospect of any former Organization member changing their ways was, in a way, amusing to him.
"A change of character? You're not serious," Axel shook his head. "We probably couldn't stay out of the realm of Darkness if we tried. Got it memorized?" He tapped his temple, eyeing the other Nobody. "The way I see it, we're stuck. Too bad for us."
Sneering, Xigbar seemed unwilling to accept what the younger man had said. And while he'd missed Axel's mannerisms, he realised he had /not/ missed that frustratingly reappearing question he tended to ask all too often. Why the hell should he have to memorize stuff? Seriously. He had to bring that up with the kid some day.
'Then perhaps you should reevaluate your views a bit, kid. Take a good long look at things and try for another walk. I mean, sure. I can't say that I don't use my skills, or enjoy the comfort of darkness in general. It's still our realm, after all. But if we make a little bit of /this/ our as well.. who knows? There's always a chance.'
"A chance for what? We're not supposed to exist in the first place." Axel couldn't pinpoint where exactly he'd developed such an overwhelming pessimistic attitude. Perhaps from Roxas... "It's not looking up for us, old man."
Axel leaned against the bench, though still made no move to sit down. He wasn't used to being the bearer of bad news. It was starting to annoy even himself.
'Ah.. a chance for a bit more fun.' Xigbar let his head fall back, looking at the world and the clear sky from askew and partially upside down. He didn't mind the angle. 'Chance to make this place ours. But yeah. Enough about this, it's depressing. You had anything to eat yet?' He tilted his head slightly to look the thin young man over. He /was/ thinner than he remembered him. Xigbar wasn't exactly full-bodied himself, but at least he had muscle-tone to cover himself with.
"I guess so," he shrugged his shoulders. As Xigbar mentioned food, his stomach growled in annoyance. "That's a no. I'm starving. You know a good place?" He cocked an eyebrow, pleased that Xigbar had changed the subject.
'I've worked in the entertainment sector of this town for the past two years. Yeah, you could say that I know a few good places.' Xigbar's grin returned full force, and he smoothly leapt from the green bench, running a hand through his hair to get a few stray strands having escaped from his pony-tail in behind his pointy ears. 'C'mon, kid. There's this real nice little joint, a family place, who serves the best spaghetti con polpette I've ever had. Cheap for such good stuff too. You'll like it.'
"As long as you're paying I'm in," Axel told him. Any food would be great. At least this time he wasn't stealing, just mooching off the older Nobody. There was nothing wrong with that.
'Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it.' Xigbar waved the munny issue away. He wasn't exactly the richest man ever, but he wasn't strapped for it. Axel had mentioned that he was though. As they walked through the throngs of people, everyday city life, he sidled up next to the youth so as to not loose him in the crowd. Not that he was exactly anonymous with that head of hair.
'..you needed a job, yeah?'
"Yeah, I guess so." Axel had spent his time actually avoiding getting a job, but he supposed now it was time to face the facts. How horribly dull. He had better things to do than work for some fat employer who got to wave his paycheck in front of his face until payday.
Xigbar snorted with good humour. 'You don't sound too happy about the fact. You'd rather slack around and let the things you want just fall into your lap?'
"It's worked pretty well so far," Axel admitted. "Who's really happy about getting a job? But I figure I might as well since I don't want to waste my second chance on starving to death."
'I was, believe it or not. It's nice having something to actually /do/ with said chance other than just loaf around. You'd better get yourself something interesting of course, I'm not suggesting you get yourself a nice suit and a desk and sit numbering your way through the ages.'
"Hn, I guess. It still doesn't excite me, though," he said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest as they walked. "I'm not sitting behind a desk. If I'm getting a job I want something good."
'Well, I'll have a chat with my boss, and maybe he can get you something temporary while you're looking for whatever it is that you really want, eh? It's in here,' he said suddenly, taking Axel's elbow and pushed him into a smaller side-street. There were a slew of almost identical restaurant-signs sticking out of the walls, but a mixture of pleasant scents of food of more different cultures than they spoke of. 'Can you mix drinks or something? I mean, drinks that you can actually ingest and have actual names. Not just a dash of lemon in some wood-alcohol and putting it on fire.'
"Sounds good to me," he shrugged. He made a small noise as Xigbar suddenly dragged him down the smaller street. "Yeah," he said, once he'd gotten over the initial shock. "I probably can if you give me ingredients and stuff. Let go of my elbow. I can walk on my own." He made a face at him. He hadn't really realized that Xigbar was even clutching to him until that point. Man, he was getting slow.
'I know you can, dude, I just don't want you to get lost. Kids do that all the time. Stray down all kinds of wrong paths.' He looked down his nose at Axel, smirking. 'Seriously. We could use another bartender or waiter down there. There's a lot of stuff that needs doing, so I'm sure you can get something or the other. And hey. Do you /really/ play the piano? 'Cause that would be cool.'
"Don't stress, I'm fine." He scowled at him and pulled his arm from Xigbar's grasp. "I play the piano just about as well as I tap dance."
'Dang. I better start looking for someone then.' He stuffed his hand into his pocket, feeling up his own wallet, and rubbed at his face. 'Got any idea of what you /would/ like to do if you had a choice? I mean, it's a big city. You can probably do it here, whatever it is.'
"No idea," he said, honestly. "I had a bit of an idea, but we'd need someone prettier than me for it. Like Roxas. He's got that innocent, girly look to him." He smirkedat the thought that was crossing his mind at the moment. If he could get Roxas to agree, he was sure to make a lot of money from that.
'Oh.. Christ..' Xigbar's grin was now so wide it was a physical impossibility. 'I /like/ the sound of that, and I don't feel horrible at all for it. Problem is that he /isn't/ as innocent as he looks. If I'm thinking what you're thinking, then that could become a problem. Especially if he chooses not to agree with a plan like that.'
"Exactly. I'm just hoping he won't bitch at me for suggestion it." He scratched the back of his head. "Like I said, we need some relatively small, girly looking guys and we've got it made." They could use Zexion, but Axel doubted he would agree.
'Knowing him, you're probably in for a bitching. A bad, bad bitching. But, you know, pimping isn't as rewarding as you think. You gotta pay your bitches, the place you stay at, food for everyone.. You're gonna need a loan or something to get you started, and you don't even have said girly little guys .. yet,' he admitted. Axel had streetsmarts. He could probably round up some cute little hookers in the blink of an eye.
Axel cocked an eyebrow and, for a moment, he was silent. He then burst out laughing, rather loudly. He actually had to lean up against the side of a building to steady himself. "Oh, man! You actually thought I was going to whore Roxas out?" He shook his head. "Nope. Close, but no cigar. Though, that is another idea, but I don't know if I'm prepared for /that/ amount of bitching from him."
Axel's laughter was infectious. Xigbar sniggered as well, not at all abashed at being wrong or presumptive. 'Aw, no suck luck? I was really hoping to see the two of you bickering about his price-tag. You'd better tell me about your idea over dinner then. Come on, it's in here.'
Again he took the young man by the arm and wedged him in through one of the narrowest doors ever built. It was not made for the overweight, or anyone whose body-size fell into the category labelled "normal", which was interesting because most of the small little diner's customers were enormous. And they were families of at least five. The table-cloths were checquered red and white, and Xigbar slid into an empty chair with the ease of a big cat, totally at peace with the surroundings. Warm and a little subdued.
Axel allowed himself to be pulled into the restaurant this time, figuring that fighting was futile. He took a quick glance around the place to take in his surroundings. He was usually one for lavish, five star restaurants with all the local celebrities in them. However, as he knew their money situation, or lack thereof, he didn't complain. He sat down in the chair across from the older Nobody and leaned his elbows on the table.
"I was actually thinking something along the lines of this, only we'd need pretty waitresses. The only girls I know are Namine and Larxene." He rolled his eyes. "So I figured Roxas in a pretty little maid costume would have to do until I can pick someone up to help."
'A pleasant minds-eye image,' Xigbar smirked, and nabbed hold of a passing waiter's sleeve. ''scuse me, could we have two spaghetti con polpette in five, eh?' The man looked him over, surprised, but then recognised him, and gave him a long, stringed greeting in a wholly different language. Xigbar let it wash over him, and to his credit his grin only stiffened just a little. 'Yeah. Sure man. Whatever all that meant. House red, please.' The waiter nodded his understanding and continued on his way back to the kitchen.
'So. What you're thinking of is actually starting your own little tavern, am I reading you right, Axel?' He turned back to the youth, scratching at his scarred cheek.
"Exactly," he paused then, watching as Xigbar spoke to the waiter. He cocked his eyebrows when Xigbar returned his attention to him. "Yep. That's exactly right. Probably rough at first, but I think it'll prove profitable if done right."
'Sounds like fun, actually.' He helped himself to a long stick of bread and crunched down on i thougtfully, letting his one yellow eye scrutinize his former Organisation member. Had he grown a bit? As a person, that was. The idea of dressing up Sora as a maid suggested that it wasn't quite so, but he seemed to have put some thought into the whole thing. 'A restaurant?' he inquired further, wiping some crumbs from his lips with a fingertip.
"Restaurant, bar, pub, whatever," Axel shrugged and snatched up a piece of bread as well, nearly devouring it. "What do you think?" he asked, his mouth still semi-full with the bread.
Xigbar smiled, resting his chin on his hand as he watched Axel stuff himself, nibbling his own bread-stick. Was he that hungry? 'Whatever floats your boat, kid. They're a bit different to run, you know, but I suppose they're basically the same in the beginning. I'd go with a bar if I were you. Then you won't have to worry about the stress of getting a cook, or good groceries all the damn time. Licquor doesn't go bad as quick as haricot verts.'
"Yeah, though probably not the easiest to keep clean." He shrugged his shoulders and finally swallowed. "I'll figure something out. I just have to get people to help me out."
'You got something against wiping up vomit?' He leaned back, rubbing at his eyes. He had a night of work coming up, but right now he didn't feel too excited about it. Perhaps it'd change after getting some lining to his belly. And the food that the waiter brought them in deep, steaming platters certainly smelled wonderful.
Spaghetti con polpette turned out to be, for the uninitiated, long, stringy pasta with tomatoe sauce and the chunkiest, most generous meatballs the island world would ever see. His mouth watered at the sight, and he gave the man with the beaming white smile a thankful grin, nodding him off.
'Cheers, mate. Here's to a happy reunion, and a hope that your little endevour goes off well.' He picked up his glass of deep red wine and lifted it at Axel.
Axel lifted his glass to him, but set it down immediately after. He was still pretty hungry. He picked up his fork and proceeded to stuff a bit of the food into his mouth. If he had any less self-control, he would have moaned, due to actually getting something good in his stomach.
Watching Axel eat with such obvious pleasure on his face was almost more enjoyable than the act of doing so himself, and he did so slowly, never a good eater, which his own lean frame spoke plainly of. This didn't mean that he didn't enjoy good food. And this, if anything, was really, really good food. Perfectly spiced, fresh, and steaming hot directly from the kitchen. The red wine mild and rich in their mouths, almost too good to use only to wash down the mouthfuls of pasta.
Axel, after finishing several mouthfulls of food, slowed down just a bit and looked up at Xigbar. "Yeah. If you feel the need to, I dunno, help me out with it or something, that'd be great."
'I'm helping you out right now, aren't I?' He sipped his wine, fastening his penetrating gaze on the red-head before him. 'Making sure you don't quip out of the picture due to starvation, for a first. And offering you a place to stay until you get your own, for a second. That not help enough?'
"Nah, that helps." He grinned at him. "I meant with this business type thing. See if you can round me up a couple girls or really pretty boys to wait on tables." Maybe he could convince Roxas to do a striptease... probably not, but it was worth a shot.
'I know some of the girls where I work need extra time, so sure, I'll ask 'em if they'd be willing to hook up to your little joint once you get the papers up and done.' He nodded, putting his fork done. Sure there was a lot of food left on his plate. But, as previously mentioned.. he wasn't a good eater. He popped a last meatball into his mouth though, and took his time chewing it, feeling content. 'It's easy to round up people around here for things like that. Lots of kids, a bit younger than you, looking for work. Just put up an ad by the academy and you'll be drowning in applications.'
"Thanks. I owe you if they pull through," he told him. Not like he'd really ever pay him back, but he could say he would. He took another bite of his food and swallowing before speaking again. "That's good. I'll keep that in mind."
'Meh. Don't worry about it, kid.' Xigbar scratched his nose. He knew it was more talk, but if there was a sliver of gratitude down there, then that was good enough for him. 'Listen, Axel, I have to get running. Got some stuff to do before my shift starts. I work nights,' he explained, and pulled out his wallet, and a pencil. 'Don't worry about the food, it's on me. Just stay here and take your time. I'm leaving cash here so you can pay 'em when you're done, and, well, tip or whatever. If you don't have a place to stay, you're welcome to crash on my couch.'
The pencil, a simple, regular yellow lead thing, scratched hurriedly at the back of some receipt for B-vitamins. 'Here's my address, it shouldn't be too hard to find. There are some spare keys down in the front desk. I'm sure you can gank them without the portier noticing. This all cool with you?'
"Sounds good. Thanks a bunch, you're a life saver!" He grinned at him and took the paper from him, hoping he didn't lose it.
'Yeah, I know.' Xigbar grinned in return, and slapped up a few high-value notes on the table-cloth, and pushed them over to Axel to do with as he liked. 'Pocket-money for you, kid. Don't waste it on candy now, okay?'
"I'll try to resist," he said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Don't sweat. I'll see you later."
The freeshooter gave him a carefree salute and then strolled off, slipping his wallet back into his pocket again, heading out of the diner, giving the passing waiter a grateful smile. Yeah. Things were good. Axel was alive and well, which was cool, and unsuspected.
At least something was happening. He headed down the street, and decided he'd walk to the club today rather than just teleport. Nothing wrong with a bit of normal excersise. And with that, he set off.
When: Right now.
Where: Kardela, capital city of central Kinta.
What: Number Two and number Seven get together and discuss the future.
Warning: Bad lingo, dude.
Central station in Kardela, capital of Kinta island, tended to be a bustly place around the clock. Late afternoon, as it was now, was especially busy. This didn't stop Xigbar, groomed and dressed and grinning like a fool in love, from having claimed a green, clean bench all for himself, arms spread wide apart over the back-rest to make certain that nobody got the silly idea to try and sit down next to him unless they wanted his arm around their shoulders. Which of course might not be terribly unpleasant. But he was saving a seat.
He watched people pass him as he waited for the possibility of a flaming red-head to appear somewhere in the crowd. Stressed. Calm. Besaddened. Joyous. There were families splitting apart and reuinons and every little thing in between going on wherever you turned your eyes. Eye. The powerful displays of emotion was something Xigbar liked to watch. It was a comfort to see how other people went on with their lives.
Axel made his way through the crowd. Xigbar was certainly more difficult to spot than he had ever been. While not impossible, terribly difficult, especially if he happened to be sitting anywhere. At present, Axel couldn't find him, but he was sure he would, unless the other Nobody was leading him on some wild goose chase.
Axel walked up and down the rows of benches, trying to pick out anybody who even remotely looked like his former superior member. Again, it proved difficult, but not impossible. A smirk crossed his features as he spotted him sprawled out on a bench. He was still grinning as he approached. "It's rude to take up an entire bench by yourself, you know."
'Why else would I do it, if not for the rudeness?' Xigbar replied, his smile widening significantly when he managed to turn his head enough to spot the youth approaching. He withdrew one of his arms however, and scooted to the side to allow the other some room, should he choose to sit. 'Hey, kid. Long time no see. You look well.'
"I suppose you wouldn't," he shrugged his shoulders, but chose to stand. He had been figuratively sitting on his ass and doing nothing for the longest time, he didn't want to get literal about it. "Yeah, I guess I do. You're looking pretty good yourself. Manage to escape the kid with the Keyblade somehow?"
'Actually, no,' he conceded, bowing his head slightly. But his grin remained intact. 'He pretty much ripped me a new one, and then my part in the world was more than over. But about two years ago, apparently, I got another chance. So..' He spread his arms, wide, a gesture encompassing the people, the city, the world. 'Here we are. Back in business. Pretty darned nice if you ask me.'
"So I'm the only one he didn't get, huh?" he chuckled, bemused. That was always nice to know. Though he didn't go by unscathed, his pride wouldn't allow him to divulge that he'd willingly given his life to help the Keyblade master, unless Xigbar decided to ask. "Yeah, a second chance. Always a good thing. Gives you a chance to do things right, of course, if anyone can tell us what right is."
'I doubt there's anyone around here who can tell us what right is. People do as they always have done, Axel. We keep on doing what feels right by us, and to hell with what other people think.' A thought, at that, actually struck him and he raised his eyebrows. '..do you still call yourself Axel? Or has it occurred to you that maybe since we're sort of back.. we might resume the mantles of our old Sombodies?'
"I don't know about you, but right by societies standards just doesn't /feel/ right, if you know what I mean." His smirk widened considerably. If there was a chance to throw a bad pun or a bit of irony into a statement, Axel wouldn't pass that up. "Yeah, I still call myself Axel. I wouldn't get hopeful about this. We're back and we're still stuck without those damn hearts."
Xigbar huffed a bit, deterred. So Axel felt the same. That was too bad. He was hoping that maybe if someone felt differently than him, a bit more positive about it, they could have persuaded him into feeling the same. Maybe it was useless after all.
'Yeah, well. A second chance is a second chance. We don't have to walk the straight and narrow all the way, but I'm not gonna go screwing this up by sinking worlds into Darkness anymore, know what I'm saying? I reckon there's got to be another way to get our blood-pumps back.'
Axel actually laughed at his words. Just the prospect of any former Organization member changing their ways was, in a way, amusing to him.
"A change of character? You're not serious," Axel shook his head. "We probably couldn't stay out of the realm of Darkness if we tried. Got it memorized?" He tapped his temple, eyeing the other Nobody. "The way I see it, we're stuck. Too bad for us."
Sneering, Xigbar seemed unwilling to accept what the younger man had said. And while he'd missed Axel's mannerisms, he realised he had /not/ missed that frustratingly reappearing question he tended to ask all too often. Why the hell should he have to memorize stuff? Seriously. He had to bring that up with the kid some day.
'Then perhaps you should reevaluate your views a bit, kid. Take a good long look at things and try for another walk. I mean, sure. I can't say that I don't use my skills, or enjoy the comfort of darkness in general. It's still our realm, after all. But if we make a little bit of /this/ our as well.. who knows? There's always a chance.'
"A chance for what? We're not supposed to exist in the first place." Axel couldn't pinpoint where exactly he'd developed such an overwhelming pessimistic attitude. Perhaps from Roxas... "It's not looking up for us, old man."
Axel leaned against the bench, though still made no move to sit down. He wasn't used to being the bearer of bad news. It was starting to annoy even himself.
'Ah.. a chance for a bit more fun.' Xigbar let his head fall back, looking at the world and the clear sky from askew and partially upside down. He didn't mind the angle. 'Chance to make this place ours. But yeah. Enough about this, it's depressing. You had anything to eat yet?' He tilted his head slightly to look the thin young man over. He /was/ thinner than he remembered him. Xigbar wasn't exactly full-bodied himself, but at least he had muscle-tone to cover himself with.
"I guess so," he shrugged his shoulders. As Xigbar mentioned food, his stomach growled in annoyance. "That's a no. I'm starving. You know a good place?" He cocked an eyebrow, pleased that Xigbar had changed the subject.
'I've worked in the entertainment sector of this town for the past two years. Yeah, you could say that I know a few good places.' Xigbar's grin returned full force, and he smoothly leapt from the green bench, running a hand through his hair to get a few stray strands having escaped from his pony-tail in behind his pointy ears. 'C'mon, kid. There's this real nice little joint, a family place, who serves the best spaghetti con polpette I've ever had. Cheap for such good stuff too. You'll like it.'
"As long as you're paying I'm in," Axel told him. Any food would be great. At least this time he wasn't stealing, just mooching off the older Nobody. There was nothing wrong with that.
'Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it.' Xigbar waved the munny issue away. He wasn't exactly the richest man ever, but he wasn't strapped for it. Axel had mentioned that he was though. As they walked through the throngs of people, everyday city life, he sidled up next to the youth so as to not loose him in the crowd. Not that he was exactly anonymous with that head of hair.
'..you needed a job, yeah?'
"Yeah, I guess so." Axel had spent his time actually avoiding getting a job, but he supposed now it was time to face the facts. How horribly dull. He had better things to do than work for some fat employer who got to wave his paycheck in front of his face until payday.
Xigbar snorted with good humour. 'You don't sound too happy about the fact. You'd rather slack around and let the things you want just fall into your lap?'
"It's worked pretty well so far," Axel admitted. "Who's really happy about getting a job? But I figure I might as well since I don't want to waste my second chance on starving to death."
'I was, believe it or not. It's nice having something to actually /do/ with said chance other than just loaf around. You'd better get yourself something interesting of course, I'm not suggesting you get yourself a nice suit and a desk and sit numbering your way through the ages.'
"Hn, I guess. It still doesn't excite me, though," he said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest as they walked. "I'm not sitting behind a desk. If I'm getting a job I want something good."
'Well, I'll have a chat with my boss, and maybe he can get you something temporary while you're looking for whatever it is that you really want, eh? It's in here,' he said suddenly, taking Axel's elbow and pushed him into a smaller side-street. There were a slew of almost identical restaurant-signs sticking out of the walls, but a mixture of pleasant scents of food of more different cultures than they spoke of. 'Can you mix drinks or something? I mean, drinks that you can actually ingest and have actual names. Not just a dash of lemon in some wood-alcohol and putting it on fire.'
"Sounds good to me," he shrugged. He made a small noise as Xigbar suddenly dragged him down the smaller street. "Yeah," he said, once he'd gotten over the initial shock. "I probably can if you give me ingredients and stuff. Let go of my elbow. I can walk on my own." He made a face at him. He hadn't really realized that Xigbar was even clutching to him until that point. Man, he was getting slow.
'I know you can, dude, I just don't want you to get lost. Kids do that all the time. Stray down all kinds of wrong paths.' He looked down his nose at Axel, smirking. 'Seriously. We could use another bartender or waiter down there. There's a lot of stuff that needs doing, so I'm sure you can get something or the other. And hey. Do you /really/ play the piano? 'Cause that would be cool.'
"Don't stress, I'm fine." He scowled at him and pulled his arm from Xigbar's grasp. "I play the piano just about as well as I tap dance."
'Dang. I better start looking for someone then.' He stuffed his hand into his pocket, feeling up his own wallet, and rubbed at his face. 'Got any idea of what you /would/ like to do if you had a choice? I mean, it's a big city. You can probably do it here, whatever it is.'
"No idea," he said, honestly. "I had a bit of an idea, but we'd need someone prettier than me for it. Like Roxas. He's got that innocent, girly look to him." He smirkedat the thought that was crossing his mind at the moment. If he could get Roxas to agree, he was sure to make a lot of money from that.
'Oh.. Christ..' Xigbar's grin was now so wide it was a physical impossibility. 'I /like/ the sound of that, and I don't feel horrible at all for it. Problem is that he /isn't/ as innocent as he looks. If I'm thinking what you're thinking, then that could become a problem. Especially if he chooses not to agree with a plan like that.'
"Exactly. I'm just hoping he won't bitch at me for suggestion it." He scratched the back of his head. "Like I said, we need some relatively small, girly looking guys and we've got it made." They could use Zexion, but Axel doubted he would agree.
'Knowing him, you're probably in for a bitching. A bad, bad bitching. But, you know, pimping isn't as rewarding as you think. You gotta pay your bitches, the place you stay at, food for everyone.. You're gonna need a loan or something to get you started, and you don't even have said girly little guys .. yet,' he admitted. Axel had streetsmarts. He could probably round up some cute little hookers in the blink of an eye.
Axel cocked an eyebrow and, for a moment, he was silent. He then burst out laughing, rather loudly. He actually had to lean up against the side of a building to steady himself. "Oh, man! You actually thought I was going to whore Roxas out?" He shook his head. "Nope. Close, but no cigar. Though, that is another idea, but I don't know if I'm prepared for /that/ amount of bitching from him."
Axel's laughter was infectious. Xigbar sniggered as well, not at all abashed at being wrong or presumptive. 'Aw, no suck luck? I was really hoping to see the two of you bickering about his price-tag. You'd better tell me about your idea over dinner then. Come on, it's in here.'
Again he took the young man by the arm and wedged him in through one of the narrowest doors ever built. It was not made for the overweight, or anyone whose body-size fell into the category labelled "normal", which was interesting because most of the small little diner's customers were enormous. And they were families of at least five. The table-cloths were checquered red and white, and Xigbar slid into an empty chair with the ease of a big cat, totally at peace with the surroundings. Warm and a little subdued.
Axel allowed himself to be pulled into the restaurant this time, figuring that fighting was futile. He took a quick glance around the place to take in his surroundings. He was usually one for lavish, five star restaurants with all the local celebrities in them. However, as he knew their money situation, or lack thereof, he didn't complain. He sat down in the chair across from the older Nobody and leaned his elbows on the table.
"I was actually thinking something along the lines of this, only we'd need pretty waitresses. The only girls I know are Namine and Larxene." He rolled his eyes. "So I figured Roxas in a pretty little maid costume would have to do until I can pick someone up to help."
'A pleasant minds-eye image,' Xigbar smirked, and nabbed hold of a passing waiter's sleeve. ''scuse me, could we have two spaghetti con polpette in five, eh?' The man looked him over, surprised, but then recognised him, and gave him a long, stringed greeting in a wholly different language. Xigbar let it wash over him, and to his credit his grin only stiffened just a little. 'Yeah. Sure man. Whatever all that meant. House red, please.' The waiter nodded his understanding and continued on his way back to the kitchen.
'So. What you're thinking of is actually starting your own little tavern, am I reading you right, Axel?' He turned back to the youth, scratching at his scarred cheek.
"Exactly," he paused then, watching as Xigbar spoke to the waiter. He cocked his eyebrows when Xigbar returned his attention to him. "Yep. That's exactly right. Probably rough at first, but I think it'll prove profitable if done right."
'Sounds like fun, actually.' He helped himself to a long stick of bread and crunched down on i thougtfully, letting his one yellow eye scrutinize his former Organisation member. Had he grown a bit? As a person, that was. The idea of dressing up Sora as a maid suggested that it wasn't quite so, but he seemed to have put some thought into the whole thing. 'A restaurant?' he inquired further, wiping some crumbs from his lips with a fingertip.
"Restaurant, bar, pub, whatever," Axel shrugged and snatched up a piece of bread as well, nearly devouring it. "What do you think?" he asked, his mouth still semi-full with the bread.
Xigbar smiled, resting his chin on his hand as he watched Axel stuff himself, nibbling his own bread-stick. Was he that hungry? 'Whatever floats your boat, kid. They're a bit different to run, you know, but I suppose they're basically the same in the beginning. I'd go with a bar if I were you. Then you won't have to worry about the stress of getting a cook, or good groceries all the damn time. Licquor doesn't go bad as quick as haricot verts.'
"Yeah, though probably not the easiest to keep clean." He shrugged his shoulders and finally swallowed. "I'll figure something out. I just have to get people to help me out."
'You got something against wiping up vomit?' He leaned back, rubbing at his eyes. He had a night of work coming up, but right now he didn't feel too excited about it. Perhaps it'd change after getting some lining to his belly. And the food that the waiter brought them in deep, steaming platters certainly smelled wonderful.
Spaghetti con polpette turned out to be, for the uninitiated, long, stringy pasta with tomatoe sauce and the chunkiest, most generous meatballs the island world would ever see. His mouth watered at the sight, and he gave the man with the beaming white smile a thankful grin, nodding him off.
'Cheers, mate. Here's to a happy reunion, and a hope that your little endevour goes off well.' He picked up his glass of deep red wine and lifted it at Axel.
Axel lifted his glass to him, but set it down immediately after. He was still pretty hungry. He picked up his fork and proceeded to stuff a bit of the food into his mouth. If he had any less self-control, he would have moaned, due to actually getting something good in his stomach.
Watching Axel eat with such obvious pleasure on his face was almost more enjoyable than the act of doing so himself, and he did so slowly, never a good eater, which his own lean frame spoke plainly of. This didn't mean that he didn't enjoy good food. And this, if anything, was really, really good food. Perfectly spiced, fresh, and steaming hot directly from the kitchen. The red wine mild and rich in their mouths, almost too good to use only to wash down the mouthfuls of pasta.
Axel, after finishing several mouthfulls of food, slowed down just a bit and looked up at Xigbar. "Yeah. If you feel the need to, I dunno, help me out with it or something, that'd be great."
'I'm helping you out right now, aren't I?' He sipped his wine, fastening his penetrating gaze on the red-head before him. 'Making sure you don't quip out of the picture due to starvation, for a first. And offering you a place to stay until you get your own, for a second. That not help enough?'
"Nah, that helps." He grinned at him. "I meant with this business type thing. See if you can round me up a couple girls or really pretty boys to wait on tables." Maybe he could convince Roxas to do a striptease... probably not, but it was worth a shot.
'I know some of the girls where I work need extra time, so sure, I'll ask 'em if they'd be willing to hook up to your little joint once you get the papers up and done.' He nodded, putting his fork done. Sure there was a lot of food left on his plate. But, as previously mentioned.. he wasn't a good eater. He popped a last meatball into his mouth though, and took his time chewing it, feeling content. 'It's easy to round up people around here for things like that. Lots of kids, a bit younger than you, looking for work. Just put up an ad by the academy and you'll be drowning in applications.'
"Thanks. I owe you if they pull through," he told him. Not like he'd really ever pay him back, but he could say he would. He took another bite of his food and swallowing before speaking again. "That's good. I'll keep that in mind."
'Meh. Don't worry about it, kid.' Xigbar scratched his nose. He knew it was more talk, but if there was a sliver of gratitude down there, then that was good enough for him. 'Listen, Axel, I have to get running. Got some stuff to do before my shift starts. I work nights,' he explained, and pulled out his wallet, and a pencil. 'Don't worry about the food, it's on me. Just stay here and take your time. I'm leaving cash here so you can pay 'em when you're done, and, well, tip or whatever. If you don't have a place to stay, you're welcome to crash on my couch.'
The pencil, a simple, regular yellow lead thing, scratched hurriedly at the back of some receipt for B-vitamins. 'Here's my address, it shouldn't be too hard to find. There are some spare keys down in the front desk. I'm sure you can gank them without the portier noticing. This all cool with you?'
"Sounds good. Thanks a bunch, you're a life saver!" He grinned at him and took the paper from him, hoping he didn't lose it.
'Yeah, I know.' Xigbar grinned in return, and slapped up a few high-value notes on the table-cloth, and pushed them over to Axel to do with as he liked. 'Pocket-money for you, kid. Don't waste it on candy now, okay?'
"I'll try to resist," he said, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Don't sweat. I'll see you later."
The freeshooter gave him a carefree salute and then strolled off, slipping his wallet back into his pocket again, heading out of the diner, giving the passing waiter a grateful smile. Yeah. Things were good. Axel was alive and well, which was cool, and unsuspected.
At least something was happening. He headed down the street, and decided he'd walk to the club today rather than just teleport. Nothing wrong with a bit of normal excersise. And with that, he set off.