milliways_bar | (no subject)

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axel

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It's a little like a bad joke, but at least it's not a dirty one. Allen knows enough of those to last him well into ... well, the rest of his life, really. They're all funny, but no one he knows these days laughs at them. This is a good thing.

So a guy walks into a bar ...

This guy is sopping wet and wishing his well-made, silver-lined coat was actually waterproof. At least this bar is warm and dry, and from the smell of it, probably has food as well.

Timcampi hides in his coat sleeve. He's not terribly fond of wet weather, either.

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If he were to happen to look in the direction of the fireplace, he'd see, stretched out on the couch there, a man with BRIGHT red hair, wearing a coat that, at first glance doesn't look too different from an Exorcist's coat.

There is also a steaming pot of tea within arm's reach.

Out of habit, Axel looks up when the door opens, just in case. You never know who might come through it.

Allen does happen to glance in that direction. He does a double-take - a man in a black coat with flame-bright hair will do that to him for his whole life, he thinks miserably.

But it's not who he thinks, so he relaxes. Approaches at the heavenly smell of tea. It's been a long time since he's had anything but that bitter stuff Kanda likes.

He might notice that there's a certain spiciness to the tea-smell. Like chai on steroids.

"Hey," Axel greets him, with an easy grin.

Allen can't help but sniff the air. It's spicy and warm and delicious. It makes his insides curl appreciatively.

"Hullo," Allen greets in return. "Do you mind if I sit?" He's still very damp, so he feels it is polite to ask first.

"I won't stop you," Axel replies, nodding at the other furniture by the fireplace.

The couch is fully occupied.

"...I haven't seen you around," he comments, after a moment of silence. "You're new here, aren't you?"

Allen blushes slightly at his apparent presumptuousness and sits gingerly on the end of a somewhat overstuffed chair. "Ah, in a manner of speaking, I suppose," Allen agrees. "I've been in this part of Germany before but I don't think I've been in this particular bar." Which is odd because Allen was pretty certain he'd seen the inside of every bar in Germany, or nearly so.

"I don't suppose you'd mind if I had a cup?" Allen asks hopefully, gesturing at the teapot.

Axel laughs.

"You think you're in... Germany? Yeah, you're new. First of all, you're not in Germany anymore. You're about as far from Germany as it's possible to be. Got it memorised?"

Allen startles back. "I'm ... sorry?"

Axel raises a finger, waits to make sure he has the kid's attention, and then slooooowly points to the Observation Window, where, outside, the universe is ending.

Again.

He's had to do this a couple of times.

"Welcome to Milliways. You're at The End of The Universe, kid."

Allen stares.

His mouth drops open. This is so far out of his level of comprehension that he is rendered speechless.

This goes on until Timcampi has the sense to bite Allen at the crook of his elbow. "Ow!" he gasps, and comes back to himself. "Ah ... i-is it possible to get back?" he wants to know.

"That depends," Axel replies, not commenting on the 'ow.' "Can you see your door?"

He points back at the front entrance.

Allen twists in his chair and looks.

There is no door.

"... where did the door go?" his voice breaks on the last word. He's pretty sure he's just walked into a brilliant Noah plot at this point.

Axel shrugs.

"Nowhere, as far as I can tell. Don't worry, nobody here is going to eat you," he says, just a little condescendingly. "It's against the rules. No door just means you're Bound. Stuck here for a while," he adds.

Allen gives the redhead a panicked look. He doesn't say why he can't afford to be stuck here - it's none of the man's business, anyway. Nothing is making sense but this bar makes less sense then the town he was trapped in before, and Rinali is going to worry.

He wraps his arms around himself instead, glancing back around the bar's other occupants as it fills up with all kinds, dressed outlandishly, most of them. "... No, I suppose not," he says miserably when he satisfies himself that none of them are AKUMA.

"Lemme guess - you're worried about someone or something back home," Axel says.

He's familiar with the syndrome, in others if not himself.

Allen gives the man a bleak look.

"It seems you have seen this sort of thing before," he says.

"Oh yeah, all the time. People are always getting stuck here. I was, when I first came. It's nothing to worry about though. You'll leave in the same moment you arrived - no matter how much time's passed here. Got it memorised?" he asks, tapping the side of his head.

Allen laughs, more from distress and some vague relief than from amusement. "Like the rewinding town," he murmurs, thinking of just outside this bar - or not just outside it. Somewhere else, where the universe is intact. "I-I'll remember it," he promises.

It suddenly occurs to him that he's been very rude. And his stomach is starting to hurt. "I'm Allen Walker," he introduces himself, offering a gloved hand to shake.

"My name's Axel," he replies, doing the same. Even through two gloves, Allen might notice the very abnormally high body temperature.

His handshake is a lot better than it used to be.

"I should probably tell you the rules - there are a few of them around here."

Allen rubs the back of his head. "That would be appreciated, Mr. Axel," he says, not bothered in the least by the lack of a surname. Most of Cross' acquaintances had only one name, after all.

He notices how warm Axel's hand is, but he attributes it to how cold his extremities are from being so wet. "Ah, I meant to ask earlier - may I have a cup of tea, please?"

"No Mister, just Axel," he corrects. "You want to try some of mine?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "All right, hold on--"

He scans the room, and after a moment, snags a waitrat, ordering an extra cup for Allen.

"This one's on me, but your first drink here otherwise is free," he explains. "Most people need one after seeing that." He gestures at the window.

The tea, for the record, is very spicy - and very hot. It hasn't cooled since Axel ordered it.

Allen considers this. "I'm just relieved that time has stopped," he decides, sipping the tea. "Oh! Ah ..." it is hot, but in a way, very refreshing. Tea should have flavor, after all.

"..... Wait. Was that a rat?" he asks after a moment.

"Waitrats," Axel affirms. "They handle most of the fetching and carrying, although there are a few people on the waitstaff. Now, as for the rules. There are only three that you really need to worry about," he starts explaining.

"One: No violence in the bar. Out back is another story, to a certain degree. Two: No outside business. That means that even if your most hated enemy walks through those doors, you're not allowed to make an issue of it. Most people don't really follow that one though," he observes. "And three: No sex or nudity in the bar. There're rooms upstairs if you really want to.

"Got it memorised?"

Allen listens attentively. His lips quirk at the first; no AKUMA here, then. The second makes him twitch; he would have a hard time simply ignoring a Noah if he saw one. But the third makes him blush, thinking of Master. "N-no, I think I'm fine," he says. "I understand. Memorized ...?" he says the last word like a question, wondering why Axel keeps asking that.

A waitrat. That is going to take some getting used to.

"Committed to your memory," Axel explains. "Stuck in your head. So you don't forget."