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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Allen blinks at him. "Ah, I think," he says. "A little ... overwhelmed, perhaps." A horrible thought occurs to him. "Will they take my currency!?" he asks, abruptly urgent. "I need a place to stay, so--!"

"Yeah, yeah. Bar accepts any currency you have."

Which reminds him.

"And I almost forgot to mention - Bar? Is sentient."

Allen falls back with relief, but the next sentence makes him pause. "Is ... it's what?" he asks.

"Sentient. Has a mind of her own," he adds. "If you need anything, just ask the counter."

"Just ... speak to the counter," Allen repeats.

He pauses. "Does it talk back? I once met a gate that really despised cursed people."

Blink.

"No, I've never heard of her talking back," he replies. "She'll give you notes though."

He pauses.

"What, are you cursed?"

Allen blanches slightly at this. "Well, yes," he admits. "But it's a very useful curse." But he doesn't attempt to explain further, either. "That's good. About the bar, I mean."

"Most people around here don't care about stuff like curses, as long as they don't affect anyone else," Axel replies. "If it's something you want to get rid of, you might even find someone willing to help."

Allen's curse can't effect other people, except maybe creep them out sometimes. "I actually don't mind it much," Allen says. "It's useful, as I said." And to some degree, sentimental. And a reminder. And a lot of other things that Rinali would say was 'cliche' from the books she liked to read so much. "But thank you for the advice! If there are people from everywhere and everywhen, then ... I think one must be able to meet all sorts of interesting people."

Axel nods.

"Yeah. And..." He gives Allen a scrutinising look.

"You're human?"

Allen's first inclination is to take offense, but he quickly revises this position. After all, he has been waited on by a rat. "Of course," he says anyway. "Only humans can be cursed." Komui told him as much.

That gets a raised eyebrow.

"You have a lot to learn," Axel says. "There are a lot of people here who aren't human - some of them you can even tell by looking."

Allen smiles.

"As long as they have no murderous intentions, that's all right," he says, thinking of AKUMA hiding in human skin.

Axel wobbles his hand from side to side, his grin shifting to something a little sharper.

"Depends on how you define it," he says.

Allen looks at Axel, really looks at him, with both his normal eyes and his Other vision. "... Why? Are you not human?" Allen asks, throwing Axel's words back in his face and nearly certain of the answer.

"Nope. It's no big secret," he adds.

He thinks the 'not human' thing is fairly obvious, really. All things considered.

Allen sips his cooling tea.

"You're just missing a piece, I think," he says, softly. "But you haven't gained anything extra. That would concern me more."

"So you can see that, huh?" Axel asks softly.

"It's the curse," Allen answers with a smile. "You see? Useful."

"What's the downside to it?" Axel asks.

Allen shrugs slightly. "It depends on who you ask," he says. "To me, there is no downside. Rinali - she's my partner, er, working partner - says that it must be terrible to see monsters in people's skin. It's all a matter of perspective."

"Then are you sure it's a curse?"

Allen remembers the night Mana sliced through his eye, screaming. I curse you, Allen Walker! I curse you for giving me this horrible form!

"Yes," he says.

"Interesting."

Allen's smile is a ghost on his face.

Timcampi bites his ear.

"Ow!" Allen slaps his ear and holds the lobe, wincing. "Tim!"

Timcampi bears its teeth, then floats in the direction of the bar.

"... I think Tim wants something," Allen sighs, getting to his feet.

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killitwithfire - 2007-10-13 07:09 (UTC) - Expand

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the-grayman.livejournal.com - 2007-10-13 07:12 (UTC) - Expand

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