Don't belong here (Almaz)

[Nox]

The sounds of the next match started and Nox pulled himself together. He put on the happy-go-lucky mask and wandered the club again. This time watching where he was going and taking in the sights and sounds and avoiding the drunks and assholes. He wanted a fight still, the horde pulled him towards the cage and Nox let his feet indulge the darker impulses. The girl who'd first drawn his attention with her comment sat alone watching the fight. Her friends abandoned her.

Nox kicked a can on the ground to alert the woman to his presence do he didn't scare her looming behind her like he was a bodyguard or bouncer here at Almaz. It wasn't a hard vibe to pull off, he did it every night at Kallisti. "Your friends left you alone? Not very good friends, if you ask me." Nox smirked. "You never know who's dangerous or who's not."

[Jay Carpenter]

[[Dammit. Posted it in the wrong thread.]]



This wasn’t the entrance he was expecting. Certainly wasn’t the restaurant that was promised. The walk stirred up Jay’s stomach all the more, and that cheeseburger was going to be necessary soon. It wasn’t like the dance clubs that he imagined pocketed around Moscow’s rich and famous neighborhoods. Not that he went to places like that. There was only one dance club anywhere in driving distance growing up, and that was all the way in Des Moines. And that wasn’t much to brag about. Jay preferred the comfort of a familiar bar. Karaoke in the patio. Building pyramids of empty shot glasses on the table. The twang of live bands and flirting with waitresses. He could fall right into a place like that without a blink.

As he followed Seven, he checked out the guy at the door that let them in. Still no surname, but Seven was apparently known enough to be let in. The change of money wasn’t lost on Jai either, and he had the feeling it was for more than a cover charge.
“You bribed him to get me in?” he asked after a few steps. Seven neither confirmed nor denied the statement. Jay might have shrugged it off, but he was too interested in their surroundings to decide whether he was excited or wary of what they were about to walk into. He was curious how much the payoff required, though.

The hall wasn’t exactly well lit. There were a few fluorescent lights along the way casting that eerie white-green glow. Nothing on par with the creepiness levels of the tunnels. Given the freshness of the underground memories, Jay had nothing to be nervous about. Except that this hallway would make for a fine funnel in close-quarters combat. Not that would be a problem for him these days. They walked for a while, taking turns and descending steel and rivet-bound stairs like they were delving through connections between the buildings. There was a sense of going down. Another familiarity that couldn’t hold a candle to the Undercity carnage of the last week of his life.

He couldn’t help the thoughts that followed next.

They’d been thrilled to be alive. Exhausted and thrilled. The power was a rush better than any drug (not that Jay had any experience to compare - nope. None). The high of it flooded his body until it felt like they were floating. Floating on a cloud of death. On a river of blood and guts. Yeah. And fucking alive. They’d done it. Done exactly what they set out to do. The moment was a rush as strong as any pull of the Power. Even then, his heart beat a little faster in his chest. He felt himself glaze with the memory. That connection of shared terror turned to triumph. The heat of it so strong it pulled them together like a force neither could ignore. Nox hadn’t resisted. He pulled at the buckles of armored clothing. Shoved the weight of packs from his shoulders. One cryptic comment had been the only hesitation. One that made perfect sense now he knew the context. A boyfriend. It wasn’t like Jay wanted a relationship with Nox. He didn’t even think of the other guy like that. It definitely wasn’t love. Not the kind that fluttered his head empty and made him do stupid shit he would probably regret later. Jay barely knew what a relationship was. The last one that came close led him to realize his life was over before it started, and he ended up working for Jacques Danjou to escape monogamy. And avoid blowing his brains out. The girl had been fine. It wouldn’t have been the worst life. But it was fucking nonsense to compare the two-whatever-they-were. One fucking handjob, and Nox cuts him out of his life? Like the whole time since they had met had been fucking meaningless. After kicking out Anne-Marie from that casino hotel room, it had been a message from Nox that made him laugh through the slick of shit that was that day, and he outright did the dirty tango with her. Then later, after Cayli died and escaping Placaso’s chair, it was a steamy photo that made him grin. He didn’t know Nox had it in him. A proud moment for the guy to really start to live comfortably in his own skin.

But it was all bullshit.

It was about then that they entered the bar. 

The stark contrast to the earlier hallway dislodged some anger. Not all of it, but it was something of a distraction. Leather and velvet made for posh decorations. In the middle, a lavish bar with every kind of bottle illuminated on the wall behind. Now that’s a bar, he nodded in approval, already eyeballing a tequila he was going to try first.

Well-dressed people likely a thousand times richer than Jay spoke in groups. No overt threats lingered among them. Bottle service occupied most of the tables. Beyond, a staircase plunged to yet a deeper level.

He slapped Seven on the shoulder.
“Good choice,” he said and straight as an arrow, he was at the bar ordering the kind of tequila that was going to make the night and usually out of his reach. Technically, he ordered two, and pushed one in front of Seven as a means of thanks.

The amber liquid was smooth and buttery and helped swallow some more of the previous anger. The familiar bite in the back of the throat made a pleasant burn that warmed him from within. It wasn’t hard to start to relax, but the holoscreens were awake with information. After a moment’s puzzling, Jay quickly figured what kind of entertainment was coming.

[Danika]

Danika crossed and uncrossed her legs about ten times. She couldn’t get comfortable with her heels on. They just propped her legs at the worst angle. Then she felt like she was going to flash someone every time she leaned back in the seat. So between the foot problem and the hip angle problem, she probably seemed pretty uncomfortable.

Perhaps that was why she wasn’t left alone for long. She didn’t notice him approach until he was almost right over her. The wounded Nox made her gasp, but only because she wasn’t expecting to see him so soon. Nor so near. A can rolled past her shoe that made her smile. The atmosphere was so fitting. She wondered if they designed it that way or if evolved organically.

“Well technically we’re co-workers, not friends,” she clarified. Maybe that explained what he perceived to be disloyal behavior. “But I am learning that lesson, Nox,” she said his name with a bit of triumph. “You said you remembered me, but in case you don’t remember my name, it’s Danika Zayed. I couldn’t remember yours until I saw the screen. So are you like a professional fighter? And seriously, how are you standing up right now?” To that point, she stayed sitting. She didn’t want to try and climb her way to her feet in these heels again. Though maybe if she was offered a hand up, her chances for success would increase.

He really was cute, and all the more so after the fight. Otherwise clean cuts on his face were surrounded with the first signs of bruising. Little swells bulged where hits had landed. She wondered if his nose had been broken, but she wagered that if so, it would still be bleeding. However, maybe the club stocked vasoconstrictors and coagulation stimulants in the back for just that reason. Then there was his foreshortened arm. She'd seen it during the fight. Was it amputated or was he born that way? She couldn’t remember if he had it like that at the ball, but prosthetics these days were almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Either way, he had two arms now, or at least what looked like an arm under the sleeve of his hoodie. Her gaze inevitably fell to the hand, since she knew that during the fight it had been missing. It looked real now. Maybe the whole thing was some magical illusion.. which made her want to study the optics of it.

She didn't realize she'd reached out to touch the hand just to see if it was real or channeled. ...

[Nox]

She offered her name and Nox nodded. He didn’t remember it, he was pretty sure he never knew it either. Not his thing to remember names of girls he meets at random. But that night had been so full of pain and things, he didn’t think they had been introduced.

”Pleasure.” He said without a smile. His mood still was off beat. The horde wanted more, but it would settle for something else. And that was harder to push away. It had been a go to for so long — a natural habit when he was around women to flirt and find the right moves to make. Now he wasn’t exactly not interested, but he wanted things to be better with Raffe more than he wanted to indulge the fucking instincts in his head.

His stomach rumbled on top of it. When was the last time he ate? He was fighting all three fucking things on a body devoid of any comforts. Nothing to lose himself in with safety. He hated what he’d done. Hated himself and he tried not to growl but the rumble left his throat regardless.

”I am not good with names.” He tried to distract himself with conversation. ”And when I saw you I’m pretty sure we had bigger problems to deal with.” The memories of the Ijiraq made Nox shudder.

She reached out to touch the arm and Nox pulled back with a jerk. ”Sorry.” He said with a soft smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He pulled his sleeve past his elbow revealing the socket just below and offered a better view to the curious woman. ”A gift from the Ascendancy. And no I’m not I professional fighter. I hunt monsters. Was looking for a man that hurt a friend who’s gone missing. My friend is concerned something bad might have happened to him. My job to find people like him.” Nox didn’t add and kill them. He wasn’t after Kasun for hurting Raffe. He wanted to alleviate one of Raffe’s concerns. He had enough to deal with and his heart was too big. And it was a promise he’d made — one he could fulfill even if it meant nothing came from it.

Nox didn’t expect anything to come from anything he did. He’d fucked it all up. The fact that he still had hope is only because he was being stubborn and selfish. His home had turned into Raffe. It was all he had left. And if he lost that…

Nox sighed and wiped away a tear that slid down his cheek. He muttered to himself in a whisper. ”Fuck!”

[Seven]

True to Jay’s assumption, Seven made no denial nor confirmation about the bribe. He tipped a shoulder with the noncommittal shrug, a quip of a grin and a grandiose flourish that the way was open to them both. He had only once before been in Almaz, meeting a client for a deal that ended up saving the man from certain humiliation. Since then, Seven had been a name to grant admittance, and a running tab would go to the benefactor’s expenses. Seven did not make large wagers, but he tried to legitimately add to the expense more than he took away. It left him in good graces and gave him the opportunity to impress when the moment called for it. He’d never shared company with a tried and true soldier before, and honestly did not now if Jay would find the entertainment the kind of distraction he sought. If not, they could fall back on assuredly good food and even better liquor.

He loitered by the door while Jay plunged toward the bar. It was with no weak sense of amusement that he watched. Jay did everything with such intensity, it was somewhat fascinating to witness. He had to wonder if it was Jay’s training that gave him such singular focus or if he was a man born with passion since the beginning. Given what little he knew so far, he guessed the latter.

It gave him a moment to sweep the people in sight for anyone he knew. The bar goers were well-dressed as he recalled from his previous visit. Seven himself fit right in, wearing the designer charcoal blazer and matching waist coat. A collared plum shirt was swirled with an abstract pattern beneath that. It was open at the neck. A John Hardy dragonscale necklace roped silver against his skin. Two dragon heads met in the middle, the jaws of each clenching an 18k gold circle. A recent requisition that was from the Indonesian designer’s Naga Line.

At the bar, Seven leaned into the stone surface, one elbow propping him up. With a flourish, he toasted the shot of tequila with Jay, declaring the sentiment with a rowdy "skål", while meeting the other man’s eye and adding an abundant nod of the head.
“My pleasure,” he said in response. The holoscreens came to life about then, abuzz with news of the next fight.

“Are you a betting man, Jay?” he asked, gesturing at the screen. A timer ticked the countdown to the next one. Odds and ratios rippled statistics in the background.

[Danika]

Despite the scary fight that Nox just won, Danika was comfortable talking with him. Those nearest had quickly abandoned their seats when they realized the fighter in their proximity. However, Danika had a feeling that they were more worried about the channeling than anything else. She remembered the way that he looked at Godric, and now she understood why.

The name thing didn’t bother her. Most people forgot her name, or they mispronounced it horrifically. Then he retracted the hand she didn’t realized she’d reached after. She gasped when he revealed the connection under his sleeve. He hadn’t liked to be touched before, so she didn’t try again, but she did push her glasses up her nose and lean close. Were those neuropads? “You can feel the senses in it? Can’t you?” she was practically giddy. When he said who gifted it, her brows rose up, quite impressed.

She didn’t really understand how a man that claimed to fight monsters wasn’t a professional fighter. Wasn’t it just fighting something else if not in a pit at the bottom of a secret club? She mulled over the philosophy of the definition of fighting a few moments before noticing that Nox had become emotional.

A single tear fell. He swore, and Danika just kind of cringed to herself and hoped it would pass. Crying men really made her uncomfortable. When she came to understand that was probably not being the most understanding, she wobbled her way to her feet despite the heels. After a tug of her skirt to make sure her butt cheeks were covered plenty. She went to pat him on the shoulder with some measure of comfort. “There, there. I’m sure it will all be okay.”

[Nox]

She was a strange one. Never really met a girl like her before. He wasn’t typically into the smart ones — she was interested in his arm more so than many. Probably knew more than he did about it too.

”I can feel. It’s much stronger than I’m used to, there is a learning curve.”

His emotions ran away with him and she had notice which made him growl as she tried to comfort him. She was wobbly on her heels. Her unsteadiness made him chuckle. ”I think I can walk better in them than you can. I’ll never understand why women wear them.” The mask returned and he smile brightly at her. Though his lip pulled with the new cut and he tasted blood when he licked his lips.

”I seriously doubt that everything will be fine, but nothing I can do about it right now.” Nox nodded to the fight about to start. ”Fights about to start, you staying? Can I get you another drink?”

[Danika]

Danika must have been a better comforter than she thought. He stopped crying, which immediately put her at ease, and made a joke instead. She leered down the lithe line of him, trying to imagine him in heels. “If that’s true, then you have to give me some pointers because oh. my. god,” she laughed.

“Actually do you want to trade outfits? We can go to the bathroom right now and switch. You’d probably look better than me in this getup anyway. Not that you’re pretty! I mean, not that you’re not not beautiful. You are. I just meant..” oh boy. She stammered and rubbed at her forehead, pushing her glasses up on her nose with one finger. Remembering what she’d said earlier and how it started the whole fight with Godric and everything.

“Thanks but i’m really not much of a drinker. Although I could get wild with a diet coke?” she shrugged apologetically.

[Nox]

Nox laughed. "I draw a line at wearing dresses. Rather walk around naked than put one on. Heels I can do. Have done." He said in a whisper. "The girls down at Kalisiti didn't believe me either. About the heels that is. Dancing is good for lots of things.” He grinned before leaning over and adding. ”Duckling I am pretty, no worries there.”

Dropping into his old game was easy. But he had no intention of going anywhere more than making sure she got home. The horde’s instinct wanted more — pushed for me. He fought it back like biting back bile rising in his gut, all with a pretty smile on his face.

”If you don’t drink that’s great. I won’t have to pretend to drink. Sit and I’ll get you that diet coke.”

Nox lost the smile as soon as he walked away from Danika. The brooding feel into place and he yawned to stretch his jaw and the cut on his lips cracked more leaving behind a bit of pain that he focused on. It was tiring being fake.

The bar was crowded and Nox squeezed in where the crowd waned. Nox waved down the bar tender and waited his turn.

"Are you a betting man, Jay?”

Nox looked at the pair of men he’d stopped next to and growled. ”Fucking hell.” He said a bit too loud.

The horde rolled into his mind. The rage and anger he’d been pushing down pulled at his skin. It felt red hot. Nox growled. He needed to get gone now.

[Jay Carpenter]

A rounding of one finger in the air promptly resulted in the deposition of a second pair of shots. The tequila was actually delicious. Maybe after another one or two he’d start to give it the sipping it was due. For now, he clunked the glass on the stone and downed it in the kind of swallow that made him stare at the ceiling as it went down. He was already feeling more relaxed, if that was possible. Seven’s foreign salute was met with a grin. Jay had been around Moscow long enough to learn the Russian toasts. And he knew half a dozen different ones in Spanish and French. This was the first time to try Seven’s version. His attempt was in something of a shit mockery, but by Seven’s easy grin, he didn’t think the man would be offended. If anything could offend the guy.

He laughed at his poor attempt. “We sound like vikings,” he laughed, followed quickly by a serious drawing of the brow and far-away intensity to his expression. Maybe even the fake swing of a sword. Shit but that was a cool look. Jay had a ceremonial sword as part of the dress blues once he reached corporal rank. He really only learned a few ceremonial moves. Most guys, even the higher officers, never put even a cutting edge on the blades. And nobody really learned how to fight with one like in some old movie. But the Viking imitation was fun anyway. Even if he didn’t know if Stockholm counted as old Viking or not. It was north. Close enough, he figured. And for a moment, Jay forgot about the hellhole that were these last few weeks.

His gaze was pulled aside. Screens flickered. Lights flashed and video cuts snapped. Stats and odds rolled through information about the upcoming fighters. He watched curious to interpret what was happening. He could put the same info into his preferred apps. Calculate his own odds and decide whether or not he liked the risk. It was the kind of thing you did on football games right before kickoff. It’d been a while. Interesting idea. He used to be pretty fucking good when it came to big bets. And money wasn’t always on the line. Those were the best wagers. But he was better at cards. Take the apps out of the picture and put it man to man. More fun that way too.

As the timer ticked down, people began to take stairs downward. Jay looked around. The same walls of the video background surrounded them now. The light scheme matched. The bar had filled in anticipation of the next fight. People wanting refills just in the knick of time. Like the half at a basketball game.
“This isn’t live-streamed is it?” he smirked. “Huh. Definitely interesting ‘entertainment’ you had in mind. And you still owe me a juicy cut of meat,” his gaze held, remembering the way it lingered over that last toast. He wondered how old the other guy was. They had to be fairly close in age. But he definitely had the look of one who hadn't had too hard of a life. Then he clapped Seven on the shoulder and added with a laugh, “At least that fucking cheeseburger.”

About to order, he saw him from the corner of his eye. Dark hair. Swagger. Oblivious to the world. Rising from the level below. And in that moment, contentment vanished. The flex of his jaw clamped till he was near choking. Teeth grinding to pain. The grip of anger crawled up from his fists. Settling in his chest. It felt like concrete was poured down his throat. Crushed his lungs from the inside. Nox hadn’t noticed yet. It was Seven that gave him away. But he barely heard the question.

”You a betting man, Jay?”

Why yes. Yes he was. He just stared. Stared over Seven’s shoulder. Tracking Nox. Surely he felt the heat of stalking eyes.

He watched the slow burn of recognition come over the other man. Twisting into a mixture of horror and contempt. Anger Jay could handle. Fuck but he’d been caught in a blind rage with others before. Axel for one. Only to be friends again later. But it wasn’t the heat inside that poured fuel to the fire.

“Fucking hell,” Nox growled, looking ready to bolt.

He knew what running looked like. Jay did nothing but run these days. But not today. He was done running. His heart pound drums inside. This time, he was going to walk right into the fire - not like it was his first time - and grab it by the balls.

“Are you fucking kidding me? The fuck is your problem?” he pushed from the bar, rounded Seven in a step and was in Nox’s face before he even realized it.