Spelling with Bakura - Traverse Town; Random Bar [COMPLETE]

[diabound]

The spirits had contacted him rarely since coming to Traverse Town. Each time they said less and griped him more weakly, but in no way did Bakura miss cursing at dust and shadows or angsting in dark rooms. Hell, he was beginning to find he missed Egypt less and less - but then, he could just be spoiled. Most places in town had electricity and hot

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[redxdevil]

Dante was bored. Horribly, insanely bored and willing to do nearly anything he could to delay his inevitable trip to Queer Central, headquarters of Captain Condom and his illustrious Planetqueers, to stay the night. The half-devil could think of several reasons why even the Heartless would steer clear of that place and filed them away for ammunition. So, directly after he'd wandered out of the cafe where he'd joyously run into Sunshine again, the white-haired newcomer took to just cruising around town. After a little while, he found himself at the door of a bar.

Huh. He hadn't thought this shithole would actually have a decent place to get smashed. Well, besides the dump he'd initially visited when he'd first set foot (or ass, as the case had been) onto Traverse Town's front step. Curious to see whether this place would be decent or not and more than a little intrigued by the ruckus that his keen senses picked up inside, Dante kicked the door open and strode in, earning the gaze of half the bar. The other half, bartender included, seemed intent on the some other bastard sitting at the bar. Apparently, the guys seemed to be having the same trouble getting the locals to take his currency as well. Buncha dumbasses, he assumed, considering the fucking coin looked to be solid gold.

Dante Sparda never liked to mind his own business. Least not when it benefited him not to, so he sauntered up to the bar and kicked leaned against it, not bothering to look at the face of the bastard who was causing all the trouble. Maybe the two of them could start some trouble of their own or something. Or at the very least get a free drink.

"Hey. Just wondering, old timer. You guys accept money here. You know, like fuckin' normal people money? M-o-n-e-y?" he asked obnoxiously with a grin that showed off his fangs nicely. That said, he tilted his face to look at the other guy.

Oh, fucking hell. Of all the luck... Dante's eyes darkened briefly, and he was sorely tempted just unload on the jackass here and now. Fucking throwing him through a roof... cutting his throat... and worst of all running the fuck away like a little bitch. Still, somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't as annoyed about all that as he was about the money versus munny issue. So, for the time being and perhaps the first time that year, the youngest son of Sparda kept his mouth and turned his attention back to the bartender in a silent, temporary truce.

[diabound]

Bakura's eyes shifted briefly to Whitey, whom he'd missed dearly in their time apart. Really. He liked to think that throwing a man through a roof after kicking his ass was a sure way to say 'Hey, let's be best friends for life.' He really should have been more surprised, but he had already figured Whitey was some sort of unkillable roach-man. That brief flash of fang earned him a slightly raised eyebrow before Bakura turned his attention back to the incensed bartender.

Truth be told, he was running low on the 'munny' shit. And, at least for the time being, he was mildly amused.

"Look, I don't want any trouble from you assholes. Munny is the currency here, not whatever it is you have." The bartender growled, glaring at Dante and Bakura in turn. "If you don't have any, you can go kill a few Heartless. Just get out of my bar. Now."

That seemed to confirm all of Bakura's assumptions; these people were terminally stupid. It was probably genetics.

Oh well, he would have to do this the old-fashioned way. He raised his hands in mock surrender, rolling his eyes and looking suitably cowed. "I'll take my coin back then, old man."

He held out his hand, and just as the bartender dropped the coin into it and retreated. Bakura got up, leaned casually forward and put him to sleep with a quick movement of his hand. He caught the man before he hit the bar and helped him drop non-lethally to the floor. The man made good beer after all. He dusted off his hands and hopped over the bar.

"He's still alive." He said, waving a hand casually over his shoulder. No big deal.

Hmm... Vodka, Burbon, Beer, ale... He read the labels casually, pulling 'Vodka' off the shelf. He turned to what was left of the bar crowd: everyone but Whitey had cleared out. Shame.

He shrugged, gesturing widely with his arms as he spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, drinks on me."

[redxdevil]

Usually, Dante would've jumped in to help the bartender out. He wasn't the nicest guy in the world, but dropping innocent people who hadn't swung in his direction yet usually didn't suit him. But, whatever. He was tired after a long, exceedingly annoying first day, and it wasn't like the jackass had killed the guy. After everything? Dante totally deserved a free drink anyway.

"Thanks a bunch," he replied sarcastically to the invitation for drinks. Most of the crowd looked suspicious but not ready to jump them yet or anything. Yet. Lazily, he poured himself a shot of whiskey, the first thing he'd picked up, and downed it before turning back to eye up Bakura. "And just so you know. Some time in the near future? I need to beat the shit out of you. But for now, the free drinks and the fact that I'm sick of this 'munny' shit get you a 'get out of ass-beating free' card."

That said, the half-devil downed his drink and appeared to have nothing more to say on the matter.

[diabound]

Don't tell me no one has ever stabbed him in the throat before.

Bakura rolled his eyes, dragging the bartender into an almost comfortable position so that he wouldn't be stepped on. Bakura would hate to trip. And he was pretty serious about not killing the supplier of decent beer. It was like a thief code.

"Take a number. I'm a popular guy." He replied sarcasticly. He gave a casual wave, pouring himself a good helping of beer from the tap. Quite honestly, he expected to be attacked at any minute for stabbing the man in the throat among other things. It was what he would have done under similar circumstances. Then again, it wasn't his fault Whitey had decided to get in the way - not that Raindrop or whatever-the-fuck-his-name-was had been very forthcoming.

He settled back against the wall, looking deceptively comfortable. What the fuck ever. "'The hell do people care if it's Heartless shit or a gold coin anyway? I can't even figure out what this 'munny' shit is made of."

[redxdevil]

Dante had to laugh at the way he was taking all this. Funny, he wasn't so annoying right now. He reached over and clapped Bakura on the back suddenly, just like they were old pals or something instead of the mortal enemies he'd briefly thought them to be. He was funny.

Besides, sharing a drink over this munny-money bullshit was enough to make any man forget their petty squabbles. For a time.

"Yeah, it's fuckin' bullshit," Dante agreed. He'd had a decent wad of cash on him from one of his last, odd jobs before Temen-ni-gru had been erected. But Captain Condom and his Planetqueers had just turned up their little noses at that, demanding insane shit like swords and repairs to pay for the loss. "You'd think a goddamn, gold coin would be fuckin' worth more than a ball that jingles when you roll it on the ground. Dogs play with nicer shit where I come from."

Another shot of the whiskey.

"Name's Dante. Since we didn't get properly introduced earlier an' shit."

[diabound]

For his part, Bakura managed to keep his knee-jerk reaction in check. His fight or flight instincts usually ran pretty high and more often than not he opted to keep them that way. They had that nice tendency to save his life. But after all the effort he'd made to keep from starting a bar brawl, he wasn't about to screw up over a trivial thing. Dante was there. Bakura was bored. It was really win-win until someone lost a kidney.

He wondered if roach-boy had real human organs. Hell, he briefly considered cutting him open just to find out. But Dante seemed perfectly capable of getting smashed, so he would let that be his evidence for the time being.

He took a long swing of his own beer. "Yeah, that happens when you meet people blade-first. Always forgetting the pleasantries." He waved a hand absently as he spoke, rattling off the usual title without any real effort to impress. More gold glinted at his wrists and fingers in the dim light. "Bakura. King of Thieves, Stealer of Souls, Resident Psychopath and all that shit."

[redxdevil]

Dante snorted after his bar buddy's more grandiose introduction.

"Shit, if I'd have known we were gonna get all official and fancy about it..." He cleared his throat, sitting up straight for a second. "Dante, son of the Devil..." Which wasn't really too off the wall, now that he thought about it. "Ruiner of Worlds, and Lord of All."

He slouched back down again, laughing more at himself than at Bakura. The half-devil could only imagine what Vergil would say if he could see him now...

"Seriously, though." Dante continued as he knocked back another shot. "How many Kings of Thieves control giant, invisible snakes?" Honestly, Dante wasn't so annoyed now as he was intrigued. And on his way to being quite drunk.

[diabound]

The Devil, huh? He'd heard that name maybe twice in his lifetime, always from foreigners preaching about a distant religion. The most he remembered was that this 'Devil' sounded like someone he wouldn't mind swapping stories with on a rainy day. He never thought a man like that would want to have kids.

Weather or not it was true, he snorted at Dante's introduction. Lord of All? That he would have some competition for. After he killed the Pharaoh, being a king might be just what he needed to unwind. "I don't know many 'Kings of Thieves', not living ones anyway, but none of them have a Ka as powerful as Diabound."

This was a point of pride for Bakura, controlling a God as a spirit beast. He knocked back what was left of his beer and helped himself to another. This would be the last one. Really.

"What about you? Most people don't survive shit like that. Hell, no one except the fucking Pharaoh survives shit like that, and he has three Gods on his side." His beer spilled a little when he gestured, and Bakura automatically licked the largest droplet from his hand. Never waste good food when you could help it.

"'The Devil teach you that walking-dead trick?"

[redxdevil]

Ka. What the fuck was a Ka? Not that Dante really cared or cared to have it elaborated on. To him it was a giant, fucking, invisible snake that just so happened to be a pain in the ass to fight.

Dante shrugged at the question, an almost sheepish smirk crossing his face as he contemplated just what to tell Bakura. It wasn't like he was ashamed of his heritage or anything, but it also wasn't like he was about to come out and give this random guy the whole 'Son of Sparda, Dark Knight and Right Hand of the Lord of the Underworld' speech.

"Three gods. Heh." Dante chuckled, knocking back yet another shot. "Other side, actually. Half-devil. Nothin' special, really. Thought it was pretty fucking obvious m'self," he replied casually with a fanged-grin. "But I guess people around this shithole aren't used to dealing with actual demons with these pussy, little shadow fuckers running around."

"You ain't bad, though," the half-devil almost felt required to return the half-compliment or whatever it was. "Most people don't stand up to me that ain't got some type of devil blood in them."

[diabound]

Oh, so he was only a half devil? Had Bakura been just a little less drunk, he might have thought to measure the potency of this 'devil blood'. Something that could make him stronger physically was not something he'd ever to pass up. As it was, he would let Dante slide with the reasoning that no one was useful to him dead and, this one at least, was not immediately dangerous alive.

"Devil blood, huh? Of a different kind maybe." Bakura couldn't help but grin at him. He barely knew what a devil was, let alone if there was one somewhere in his bloodline. Hell, he doubted their existence in his world entirely. If he had any kind of 'Devil Blood' in his veins, it came directly from his ancestors, the screaming sacrifices paid for the Millenium Items, the ghosts of psychotic street rats.

He took another drink.

"'S why'd you need to talk to," Bakura gestured vaguely with his free hand again. "Spikey so bad? 'Could have saved us both a few bruises." He gave another quick grin. "Not that I didn't have fun."

[redxdevil]

"'s a pain in the fucking ass, really," Dante scoffed, refering to his ancestry with a sneer and another shot. He wasn't that drunk yet. "People always comparin' me to my old man. Fuckin' annoying."

It was a good thing Bakura was too drunk to attempt to measure his blood because, really, that would just end in violence. The half-demon did have to laugh at the next topic of conversation, clapping his new friend (and that was probably the liquor talking) on the back.

"Just wanted to know more about this shithole. I'm new, cas you couldn't tell," he admitted with a shrug. "Just got a little pissed that you were tryin' to butt into my conversation. No hard feelings, though. 's been a long time since I've had a good rumble like that. And 's'not like he had anything really important to say. Sunshine was a lot more helpful."

[diabound]

This time, Bakura didn't even have to hide a glare. He'd known people like Dante before - he just had to expect some kind of weird buddy-buddy touching thing every now and again. With the amount of alcohol the two of them were consuming, he might not even have to worry about pulling a knife out of his back later.

What the hell. He knocked back most of the glass and filled it again. He was losing count and well on his way to getting properly drunk. It was funny how enough beer took the edge off wasting time in a shit-hole town.

"See, I don't have that problem! Didn't have parents. But if people keep comparin' you to some fucker, all you have to do is be better than-" He made another vague, open gesture, then a sort of stabbing motion. "Than this fucker! You don't have to prove shit to anyone. Eventually, even their little pea brains clue in. It's like a bonus."

Bakura laughed. To him, it wouldn't have mattered if they got that point before or after they died, especially if someone decided to compare him to The Fucking Pharaoh. But that hadn't happened yet. (Obviously, because he was far superior.)

"All you need to know about this place is it's a shit-hole through and through. 'Only met one other guy that wasn't too pissy to have a little fun." He looked vaguely annoyed at this, but it passed quickly. Sunshine. Information. He still needed that, right? "Wait, you got something more than 'they want your heart, so guard your ass' from this Sunshine kid?"

[redxdevil]

"Well, the old man and my mom died when I was pretty young. But all these shitface demons running around pulling this 'Ooooooh! Son of Sparda! Let's see if you're as tough as your father was!' gets old after a while." Dante knocked back another shot and grinned. "Good thing that beatin' the shit out of 'em after that bullshit never does. Almost hope they don't get the fucking clue soon enough, cause my life would be damn boring if they do."

The bottle was nearly empty, and Dante was beginning to feel just a touch tipsy. He had a decent amount of stamina, but this crap was actually pretty potent.

"Sunshine told me pretty much that same shit, but I got a lot more too. Found out 'bout the fucker who could supposedly control 'em." He had to grin as he offered Bakura the information. "Forgot his real name, but he's this real, surly son of a bitch who growls a lot if you ever need some decent info."

[diabound]

"A-fucking-men. Me and you should have a proper match sometime - hand to hand, no weapons or giant snakes. This town gets old pretty damn quick."

Maybe, Bakura reflected, it wasn't always a good idea to stab first and ask questions later. He and Dante might have hit it off as soon as they met were he a little less stab-happy. Not that it mattered anymore, because the whole chain of events had just become very fortunate for Bakura.

He took Dante's mostly empty bottle and replaced it with a full one, somewhat sobered by the mention of information. "'Got some business to take care of before that, though. Remember anything about this guy that can control 'em?"

[redxdevil]

"Are you kidding me? I'm ready whenever you are. Been a long time since I've been in a good brawl." Dante laughed loudly, pumping a fist into the air as he took a drink directly from the bottle he'd been given with his free hand. He flashed Bakura a grin and held up his current bottle for a cheers. "I'll even go easy on you if you want."

As for the stabbing? Well, that had been completely forgotten at this point.

"He was the king of some world or something. Did a buncha shit to the people there and whatever. Didn't really care much about details. Fucker destroyed my world and sent me here. His name was Ansem or something." Dante waved a hand and snorted. "Heh. Doesn't much matter, though. He's fucking dead next time I see him."

[diabound]

Bakura couldn't help but snort at that. Their glasses met and, surprisingly, did not shatter on impact. Bakura took a long drink, looking mock-offended and shaking his fist at Dante. "Like hell you will. What kind of pussy fight do you think I'm askin' for?"

Well, it wasn't the brightest idea to fight with the human cockroach, but Bakura had never played fair in his entire life - he wasn't about to start now. Fun as it would be though, he had to keep his priorities in check. Revenge then petty amusements unless they somehow went hand-in-hand.

Most of the time.

"Anyway, this Ansem guy can control 'em? He and I need to have a little chat before you use his guts for garters. I've got a pest to dethrone and humiliate."