Au Revoir (Sofia, Yuuko, Elijah/OPEN)

[Detective Ave]

January 28, 2012

Saturday. Back of a common bar. Tequila and ice. Straight. He came right from work, the sun waning, light slanting through the street view. Still in his office attire, a green and white scarf was lax against his shoulders. Tan pants, blue button down, and a black trench coat remained on despite a breeze of heat streaming steadily through the vent above him. His fingers nursed the outside of his glass, condensation dripping down to pool in a perfect circle. Here, it was where he began wondering both why he was here and why he hadn't left just then. Still he sat on the worn stool, waves of stark hair falling against obscured blue eyes. When he blinked, he felt the hair catch against his eyelashes and then fall back. Shaking that hair away, he leaned a chin of scruff into his palm with a sigh. Right about now, he'd be evading demons in a place called Inferis: hell. Right, instead, he was in a bar drinking in the dead of winter, contemplating quitting: quit his job, quit going to Inferis, quit everything. He was done. He had also had quite a bit to drink and wasn't really in that place where he believed himself yet. He just leaned back and laughed at those thoughts, letting them pass through the ice, and get watered down like the tequila. It burned when he swallowed: a perfect poison for the occasion.

Tomorrow was the anniversary of his father's death. Well, not his death; his murder. What a prodigal son he was to visit that grave each year--venture into his old state, walk past the same old same old. Progression was dead in that town, festering amid the chaos society channeled year after year. Even his shadow dragged hard behind him when he went to loom of a tombstone cringing away from him. Murderer, it screamed! But it was his own thoughts--his own mind telling him again and again what he did and why he did it. Justification, ah, he didn't even need it. A kitchen knife was all it took. Everyday utensil thrust into flesh. And the blood--a garish shade of life just slithering out and all over prepared syringes made up to make his life that living hell. But no, Inferis did not even measure up to that kind of thing. Living--living was what really took a toll. Yet at the same time, weren't demons living too? They had died, but they were still wandering about as if they had some sort of existence. He wouldn't know; he never really took the time to talk to one just in case it noticed he was human. There was only so much a gun could do. In fact, he was sure his pistol wouldn't leave a dent in some of the demons he glanced by. It was funny sometimes, he'd wake up the next morning and wonder if all that was just a sad nightmare.

The graveyard said otherwise. That heavy weight of the cross around his neck choked out all the falsity he wished to paint over the truth with. But then that would make him just like the Templars whose cruel, selfish, ignorance clawed at reality with crosses knitted into stakes. He escaped all that and was alone now. His uncle passed away years ago. He only had his job and these nights--these long-winded, frigid nights to feel those dank pangs of loneliness that question the real and the fabricated equally. He'd cast away his humanity, and taken another sip. Sometimes you just gotta wave goodbye and swallow.

[Elijah Cross]

It was nice, a night such as this. The air was crisp and cool, soothing Elijah's throat and chilling his lungs as he breathed. Washington D.C. was always a wonderful place... Full of people, full of attractions. Full of potential objects to enjoy a good time with. Fighting, fucking, it didn't matter. As long as he got what he truly wanted out of the situation, he would gladly throw himself into anything. But tonight was different. He felt strangely at ease, calm. He wanted to enjoy someone's company without messing with them for once. He wanted to have a real conversation without manipulation or lies. While Elijah would never admit to it, he simply wanted someone to talk freely with. Someone who would be able to understand the things that had happened... The things in that place. The Underworld. Inferis. Hell.

Elijah wandered about for quite some time before he stumbled upon a small bar. By peeking in through the glass, the young man noticed that there weren't many people in the place. Quite frankly, it was empty. Just as he pushed open the door and heard the rather familiar 'ding' of a chime, Elijah took notice of a single man sitting alone with a drink in his hand. The stranger was dressed rather nicely, as if he had just gotten off from work. Jacket undone, tie slung across his shoulder, shoulder length hair slightly messy. Yeah, that must have been the case. The newcomer couldn't tell if he had been here for a long time, but the condensation that rolled down his drinking glass was some indication. Unfortunately, he was still unable to place his finger on it.

Elijah offered a curt nod to the bartender before taking the empty stool at the blonde man's left and casually glanced over to him. Upon closer inspection, Elijah noticed that he seemed out of it. He was thinking about something and it took his toll on him. The man looked tired, sick. He looked done with everything but his drink. Then again, that glass of his could be easily filled, "Hey." Elijah said, testing the stranger with that twisted demon language. If they had anything in common, it would be the language that fell from his lips with an unexplained fluency, "You look like you've been through hell..." He tapped the bar lightly with his fingers and simply ordered a glass of water. Elijah never favored the taste of alcohol, "The name's Elijah."

[Detective Ave]

"God, if only you knew," Avery replied, flicking the cross around his neck with a look of disgust. The weight of the metal fell heavily back against his chest littered with permanent ink. Pieces of meaningless tattoos slithered out from beneath the collar of his shirt, just barely in view depending on his position. He took off his coat and splayed it on the bar counter. Wait, was that a baseball game that was on? Suddenly distracted, his eyes lulled over the flashing television screen just above the bar. As he lost himself momentarily, something abrupt occurred to him (and it wasn't that his favorite team was losing horribly).

"The name's Elijah." Elijah here did not exactly start off their encounter with the atypical Washington D.C. tongue. No, there was a greeting involving the curl of the tongue and a shiver, which certainly didn't belong here. So, I'm not the only one! Ave found himself thinking this, but the thought wasn't exactly comforting. Made him feel a bit crazier than he initially thought. Prolly hallucinated it all. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't worth the risk. What could happen? Really, there was nothing that was going to land him any lower than he already was.

"Avery. Avery Sax." FBI. Nah, leave that part out. This wasn't a Bond film. He extended his hand in suit and shed a crooked smile or two. It was that time of the night where fuck-it really applied. Which involved throating back the rest of his tequila and ordering another to go along with his acquaintance's water. He'd offer to pay the round, but seriously, water was free.

[Sick of waiting, it's just you and me now. 8D]

[Yuuko Koizumi]

Such a shitty night. The scent of booze and sweat was thick in the air, and the chattering of people and the blaring TV was all she could hear. It almost gave her a headache. Still, work was work and the teen had to have a good source of income somehow. Yuuko really wasn't supposed to be working at the bar since she was only seventeen, but the owner had cut her a deal. As long as she didn't touch the alcohol and worked less hours (due to the new required healthcare laws), she could work at the bar. At least she looked around twenty-one bodily wise. That way, she got away with it easier and the customers were none the wiser. It wasn't a terrible job, and the pay was decent. Enough to support herself as long as she lived cheaply. It wasn't like she had anybody to depend on for a source of income but herself. 

"Yo, Yuuko!" One of the chefs shouted. "What?" She hollered back as she retied her apron. "Take this out to that blonde guy sitting at the bar," He grumbled, pushing a plate with a toasted sandwich on it her way. "I'm about to get off though," she muttered in complaint, grabbing the plate with a huff. People at work who made her stay later pissed Yuuko off. Sleep time was a precious time, and not something that she got often.

Pushing some of her long ebony bangs out of her face, Yuuko made her way out to the main bar area. The chattering only got louder, and so did that damn blaring TV. Why couldn't the boss ever mute the stupid thing anyways? Such an annoyance really. Hard to understand a single thing a person says. Yuuko's grey eyes scanned the area around her, looking for a head of blonde hair at the bar. Her eyes landed on a man much older than herself, but still in his prime. He sat next to a younger man with black hair, both of them chatting casually. 

With a soft sigh, she slowly began to approach the bar table. Unbeknownst to her, a few sets of eyes were locked on Yuuko. Even if she had noticed, she wouldn't care. She was used to it by now. Yuuko was young and had a pretty face, with a curvy body to go with it; of course she'd turn a few heads. 

"Here's your sandwich, sir," Yuuko said in that fake chipper tone as she placed the plate down in front of him. Yuuko turned to leave, but felt something a bit odd about the pair. She did a double-take for a moment before shrugging the feeling off and going on her way. After clocking out and taking off her uniform, Yuuko headed out the door; sword (inside of it's case) in tow of course. Yuuko never left home without it! But unfortunately, it seemed that the eyes hadn't left Yuuko. The owners of the watchful eyes all stood at once, paying their bill after waiting a moment and filing out just moments after Yuuko had left the building.

[Elijah Cross]

Elijah offered a wry smile upon seeing the other man's reaction to his speaking in the demonic tongue. While it was nice to be considered 'special', it was even better to know that there were others like him. There was a noticeable shift from his usual  condescending and sly approach when it came to speaking with others. It felt good, idle conversation.

The young man noticed a shocked expression on the bartender's face. He must have been surprised at the harsh, and throaty foreign language. To an average human, it sounded like a mishmash of garbled words and satanspeak. But to those born with the ability or taught by someone else, those sounds made words. Eventually it became like speaking your birth language. Then again, this was Elijah's birth language. Huh...

"I could be wrong, but it seems that you have a lot on your plate." He said, taking the hand that was offered to him and gripped it firmly before pausing to take a small sip from his water. Just enough to soothe his throat, "Care to share with a stranger?"

In Elijah's past experiences with random people, he found that they were usually more willing to give details about their lives, the older they were, the more they had to share. He learned quite a bit from from random passersby. There was a reason for why they spoke with him, too. In general, people found it easier to speak about their personal lives with a person they never expect to see again. For all they knew, both of them could have been either a local or a tourist. But tourists couldn't find small local bars like this without some kind of help.

There was a third person in the bar, but she was on her way out. Probably a waitress, considering the fact that she brought out food for a patron. Something told him that she simply couldn't wait to get out of this place. Her brisk pace, the way she clutched that long ass case. Who in the hell would lug something so large everywhere?

As she passed the pair by, Elijah noticed something a little peculiar about the girl. Something about her felt... Familiar. The calloused hands, light scratches and faded bruises. Either she was a battered woman, or she liked to scrap every once in a while. If it was the former, she could deal with it herself. The latter... Why did he care? His focus was on the man next to him, not the girl on the way out.

[Detective Ave]

The blond guy sitting at the bar furrowed an eyebrow at the younger man not far from him. There weren't any real defining qualities that, you know, alluded to the fact that Elijah had associations with Hell or anything like that. Then again, Avery had a pretty normal life too. It made sense that people wouldn't really let on that they could speak a demon's language. Wasn't really accepted in common everyday society for obvious reasons. They'd probably land themselves in a psych ward in no time. (That was what he was trying to avoid). If anyone at work had any idea how he spent his nights... It would be better to leave that sentence fragmented.

A plate was placed down before him by a pair of slender hands. Female. Slowly, he raised his tepid blue eyes and accessed her. No, she wouldn't have poisoned it. He was safe. For now. He looked sideways, narrowing the sky in suspicion. But the cooks could have; was this a sandwich or a trap!? No, no it was okay. "I could be wrong," Avery forgot about his food and the waitress, muttering a thanks and meeting Elijah's gaze, "but it seems that you have a lot on your plate." Well, yeah, he just got it. What, was he hungry or something? Confusion corroded his irises, a finger rising to touch the corner of his mouth in thought. "Care to share with a stranger?"

"You want a sandwich?" He paused, deciding on where to take this information. "Order one, I'll pay. Be quick about it; kitchen is about to close." He offered a soft smile, taking his new glass of tequila from the bartender. WAIT. Elijah was being vague. There was possibility that Ave had been mislead by his words. OH CRAP. He froze mid-sip with a pained smile, lowering his head and attempting not to choke on the realization (or the tequila). Was he talking about just how he looked? What with downing these drinks and stuff? It could be that. Or it could be the food. Probably the food. It was way more appealing than inquiring about his sad life's story.

Just then he noticed something. Elijah was distracted by the waitress that had just served him. She was about to go out the door when three burly men with nothing better to do but dent their wallets on beer and baboonery stood up to follow. He saw this all the time. She'd be found the next day in the back alley, rape victim, most likely dead. Ave grit his teeth, took the few strides to her, and grabbed her elbow with his hard protector look. "Let them go first."

[Yuuko Koizumi]

Now normally, if someone had grabbed her so suddenly, Yuuko would've punched them in the throat. But she was at work, and if her boss caught her beating the shit out of a customer she'd be fired. The economy was shit right now, and jobs for adolescents were scarce. Yuuko also supported herself, with no other assistance. So of course she couldn't lose this job, not on her life. With a small huff, she tore her arm from the blonde man's grasp and growled, "Piss off, go back to your drink or whatever it is you were doing."

After freeing herself from his tight and firm grip, Yuuko promptly left the bar. The chilled January wind felt nice on her hot and sweaty face. It was always so hot and nasty inside the building, so she loved walking home when her shift was over. Especially during this time of year, as long as it never got too cold. Whenever it did, she'd snag a ride home with a co-worker or something.

Though tonight, Yuuko knew her walk home wasn't going to be pleasant. After walking for a block or two, she had noticed that the intoxicated group of men were following her. Nothing she couldn't handle though. She'd just have to move this somewhere a little less... public.

With a soft sigh, Yuuko turned into an alley and disappeared. All of them of course followed, finding this to be a perfect opportunity to strike. It wasn't the time to strike for them though. No, it was Yuuko's. Upon entering, the first man received a good crack in the face with her katana's case. This sent him staggering back, before he fell to the ground with a bloodied and broken nose. Yuuko crouched down in firm stance, unsheathing her sword slightly as a warning. "Whoever wants some, better come get it now."

[Elijah Cross]

"You want a sandwich?" Was this man an idiot? Asking Elijah if he wanted food. If he wanted to eat, he would have paid for something to eat. It made no sense. The young man opened his mouth to elaborate on his meaning, but was quickly cut off by the dunce before him, "Order one, I'll pay. Be quick about it; kitchen is about to close." It seemed that the alcohol Avery drank messed with his senses a little. Elijah was talking about his emotional state, his personal issues. Not FOOD! The quizzical furrow to the younger man's brow must have flipped a switch in Avery's mind. It took a little while, but he managed to catch on,

"I didn't mean food, but thanks for the offer. I'm not very hungry." Just as Elijah went back to his water, he took note of how Avery reacted when the bruised waitress left and was followed out by three larger men. That couldn't lead to anything good at all. Then again, it didn't involve them. Whatever happened, happened and he wasn't going to lose any sleep over it. But before he could start up another topic, Avery just had to play the white knight and move to her rescue. It was just one girl! The people who cared would mourn and the world would continue to turn.

"Piss off, go back to your drink or whatever it is you were doing."

Well that was unexpected! The girl had a bit of fire to her. She didn't want to be protected by some random joeblow who thought himself the hero. With that statement, she gathered his interest, "Let her go, man. She looks like the kind of gal who can handle herself..." Elijah looked to the ground and that very familiar grin came spread across his face. Things were about to become so much fun.

Right when the girl ripped her arm away and stormed out, Elijah got up to follow behind the three men in pursuit of her. Then, when she turned into the alley, the three made their move. There was a sharp crack followed by the startled shout of a man. Looked like he was right. She was no damsel in need of protecting. She was a hunter who looked like prey. By the time Elijah made his way to the alley, he noticed the familiar glint of steel along with the girl's new stance. A sword? Who in the hell carried something so easy to spot around? Wait a moment... The case! she was carrying it in that little case of hers. Clever. But if there was a metal detector somewhere, it would be a little hard to explain, no?

Before deciding to expose himself to the quartet, Elijah reached down to the knife strapped on his leg and gripped the handle in an oh-so-familiar ice pick fashion. Each man was too busy trying to back away from the girl to notice him coming up from behind. It looked like there would be a few more statistics added to the cities long list of deaths by violent crime. But they wouldn't be missed. Each and every one of them was scum. This time his killing could be 'justified'. Then again, his last three victims could have been considered self defense. Oh, he loved how the law worked!

[Detective Ave]

"I didn't mean food, but thanks for the offer. I'm not very hungry." Fuck. OF COURSE HE DIDN'T. Avery shed a nervous smile and swiped away some stray hair from his downcast eyes. Okay, so this was his fifth tequila; he could be a little...slow (it was an understatement). He was just here to have fun, not make impressions. If he was trying to though, he definitely just fucked up, and decided to play the White Knight instead (whatever that meant).  

"Piss off, go back to your drink or whatever it is you were doing." Too bad it wasn't her. UNDERAGE. His grip was yanked free, and in conclusion, he stood there like a jackass. Well, fine. See if he cared (but he really did). However the dialogue sequence was followed up by:

"Let her go, man. She looks like the kind of gal who can handle herself..." He'd like to handle her. Nonono! Shaking away the excess fuzz, Avery held up both his hands and sighed.

"I guess you're right, man. Let me buy you a dr--water." But the man he had just met was in pursuit of the men that were now shuffling through the door. Ave raised an eyebrow. Was it just him or had consistency just gone out the window? Or was it more like 'Let her go, man. I want to ream them'?! Seriously, it would just be easier to say it from the start then go running off like a hypocrite! He wasted no time to follow.

The streets were well-lit enough, lights towering about the sidewalks and even alleyways between buildings. He tailed after Elijah, not exactly fluidly, but as quiet as an old pro. Thing about lights were, they made thicker shadows. Whether the guy knew he was there or not, Avery didn't really care. His intended targets were well ahead of Elijah and pursuing a damsel who was obviously not in distress. Blunt object met face, followed by a whimper of pain even while drunk. Damn, she was good. He noted the sword, wondering why it was necessary. Scare tactic? She wasn't actually going to kill them just for-- Elijah pulled a knife. Ave rolled his eyes skyward. Such dependence on weapons. It would be easier just to knock them all out, call the cops, and get them arrested for assault. Life didn't work that way, though--had to take the hard way out like always.

"Hoooold up, everyone!" He flashed his badge. His blue eyes flitted to the three fools. "Fucking run before I change my mind." Then he turned to the remaining two, the sound of pattering feet tripping over each other sounding in the background. He waited until the idiots were practically out of sight then pointed at Elijah. "He followed you, and I just followed him. Now why is such a lovely young lady going about with such a dangerous weapon, hm?"

[Yuuko Koizumi]

When Yuuko saw that young man from before raise a knife towards the drunks, her heart stopped and everything seemed to slow down. Was he.. trying to kill them? They were scumbags, yes. Assholes who deserved a good beating. But.. but killing them? No, that was unacceptable. Killers, they were the real trash of the world. Thinking they had the right to steal life from another person. To just rob someone of their existence... it was unthinkable to Yuuko.

Yes, Demon Hunters, Ritualists, and Templars often killed each other. Yuuko didn't know why they felt the need to (besides the Ritualist), but it was dumb. They were all just humans. Humans stuck in a crazy messed up world full of demons and chaos. Why didn't they just help each other and band together, instead of murdering each other? Yuuko just.. didn't get it. Why did people have to die, when there was a better solution?

Yuuko took a step forward, about to take the knife when she heard shouting coming from someone else, and rushed footsteps. She stopped and glared at Elijah, not wanting to start anything in someone else's presence. "I didn't ask for your help. And I sure as hell don't want to see you killing people, you scum," Yuuko hissed, clearly agitated by Elijah's actions. She could hear the three drunk men run off when the man from before who had grabbed Yuuko's arm showed up, flashing a badge at everyone. When he questioned Yuuko's reasoning for having a sword with her, that just ticked her off even more. Fuck, she hated cops. "I do Kendo, and sometimes we use real swords instead of the bamboo ones okay?" Yuuko half lied and turned on her heel, beginning to walk away. "Now if you'd excuse me, I want to go home. It's late, and I've been working all night."

[Elijah Cross]

"Hoooold up, everyone!"

What the fu-... It looked like the guy from the bar followed Elijah out. How in the hell was he able to keep himself quiet enough to get the jump on him like that? He had alcohol in his system, Elijah made sure to move fast... Apparently, he wasn't fast enough, "Oh for fuck's sake!" He said spinning on his heels to face Ave, the knife hanging loosely in his fingers, "Remember what I said about letting her-"

A badge. Well that definitely complicated things, didn't it? First off, he was prepared to kill all three of the sumbags that followed the girl out. Then again, there was no way to gauge his true intent. Elijah could have been moving to knock the guy over and put the blade on his throat, you know, to keep him still. Any accusations would just be circumstantial. The second problem, however, was the length of his knife. In the D.C. Metropolis, Elijah had absolutely no excuse for carrying it around. It was a combat/survival knife, not some little pocket blade. But he had a couple of those, too. Just in case, you know?

"-Go?"

Avery's eyes shifted to the group of drunk men. One of them was gripping his broken and leaking nose. That had to smart, Fucking run before I change my mind."

As the trio tripped over themselves to escape, Avery pointed a finger at Elijah, singling him out for the next statement, "He followed you, and I just followed him. Now why is such a lovely young lady going about with such a dangerous weapon, hm?"

"Woah, woah! Don't put me out like that, guy." Elijah said, pointing his knife in Avery's direction, "First off, wasn't it you that wanted to pursue the guys in the first place? I said for you to leave it be because you had been drinking. What good is one buzzed man in a fight with three hammered ones?"

Then, Elijah turned his attention to the sword wielding girl who, at this point, was much closer to him than necessary. If she was going to make a move, she should have done it while he was occupied. But Elijah wasn't just some guy with a knife. He knew how to use it with deadly efficiency.

"I didn't ask for your help. And I sure as hell don't want to see you killing people, you scum,"

"What the fuck are you on about, you stupid little girl? You know what happens to people like you when they walk about by themselves this kind of time? They end up statistics." He paused to sheathe the knife and folded his arms. Where in the hell did she get off making an assumption like that? "As for the 'don't want to see me killing people' thing, I only pulled a knife. You're the psycho carrying a, very sharp, katana around."

In response to Avery's question, the eyeglass wearing, sword toting BITCH gave her response. Some bullshit about being in kendo and using real swords sometimes. Now that was a worse excuse than Elijah had for his knife. He couldn't hold back the little snrk that came up directly after he heard the lie, "What kind of idiotic teacher would let his students swing around sharpened swords for kendo practice? Blunt ones, I could believe."

[Detective Ave]

"Oh for fuck's sake! Remember what I said about letting her go?"

"Yeah, remember what you said about letting her go?" He paused. "Then da fuck are you here for?" The situation progressed, the man known to him as Elijah continuing to hold the knife despite the lack of danger now. Avery didn't care and didn't judge him for it. Dude had a huge-ass knife that was definitely above and beyond the D.C. regulations, but it was whatever. He wasn't a cop; his badge obviously and clearly said FBI on it, so why should he care? So long as he wasn't going around stabbing people with it, it was cool with him.

"Woah, woah! Don't put me out like that, guy." Wtf had he forgotten his name already!? The knife was poised at him as the man continued. "First off, wasn't it you that wanted to pursue the guys in the first place? I said for you to leave it be because you had been drinking. What good is one buzzed man in a fight with three hammered ones?"

"That good." He pointed in the direction the three had fled in, and crossed his arms, muttering, "Hypocrite." That was when the girl piped up, seemingly in distress now of all times. Not when the men were after her, of course. It just had to be afterwards when she was pretty much safe. Not that Elijah's knife-waving was much comfort.

"I didn't ask for your help. And I sure as hell don't want to see you killing people, you scum."

"Ouch." He glanced from the girl back to Elijah with a dank look. The two had an exchange; Avery stayed out of it, entertained for the most part just observing.

"I do Kendo, and sometimes we use real swords instead of the bamboo ones okay?" Was what she had said: a blatant lie. Real swords weren't used in Kendo; shinai were. Not that he was any sort of expert or anything, but being the detective he was, he was certainly a plethora of information. If real swords were used during practice, someone would die. That armor was made to protect against bamboo not steal. There was something definitely fishy about this 'stupid little girl' who was not so stupid after all. Why would she dodge the question like that? Was she hiding something? If she brought her sword to work with her, then most likely it had some sort of significance to her. It wasn't like she had practice after work or anything, considering the fact that she had mentioned her desire to go home now. So then, what?

"What kind of idiotic teacher would let his students swing around sharpened swords for kendo practice? Blunt ones, I could believe."

"Even an iaito or mogito would be implausible for kendo as an art." Ave looked her over with a blank expression. "What are you really after?" In all his years as a detective, one particular lesson stood out to him: underestimate no one, not even 'stupid little girls'.

[Yuuko Koizumi]

Fuck. Yuuko hadn't anticipated for them to know anything about Kendo, but apparently looks really could be deceiving. Shit, Yuuko really was stuck here. If she tried to lie more, she'd make it worse. And if she told the truth, she'd be called crazy. Yuuko didn't have very many options here. Not to mention, there was law enforcement here. And that wasn't a good sign either. Yuuko didn't have time to go to prison- and she didn't have time to have everything she worked for be messed up all of a sudden. The others were depending on her as well. She REFUSED to be the cause of their group going into disarray just before it had started. Laz was the one who was supposed to do that.

Fuck that. Fuck this. Fuck all of this situation. Yuuko was done with it, she was one hundred percent done with this month. Getting stabbed, being in the hospital, templars, memories, and everything else. FUCK ALL OF IT. Sending a nasty glare at both of the men, Yuuko began to jog away. And the jogging soon turned into sprinting.

"The tear, I have to get to the chasm. They can't chase me into there.."

[Elijah Cross]

Elijah watched with that same smug grin of his while Avery picked apart Yuuko's lie bit by bit. Sure, Eli wanted to go ahead and do it himself but watching the situation unfold was just as interesting. It was different, being an observer to something like this. The two men worked pretty well together with exposing her. Elijah started, Avery finished. There was a leader and then the follower. That's how he thought of it, at least. In the end, his thoughts were all that mattered, right?

Right when Avery finished his little line of questioning, Elijah turned to the bespectacled psycho and pointed an index finger in her direction, "Blondie has a point, you know. No point in lying to us now, girlie."

The look on her face was just priceless. Shock, awe, surprise, even a bit of frustration. It was all there for him to see, to enjoy. Every encounter in this place seemed to bring a new experience, adding a tiny drop of information into his mind. He was beginning to see what made the girl tick, what made her flustered, frustrated. And he simply loved it. She stood there in silence for a time, mulling over their words. Lying would get her nowhere... All she had to do was tell them the truth. Shit, it couldn't be any crazier than taking a literal trip to hell and back. Elijah had done the same. Judging by how Avery reacted to Elijah's speaking the demon language, he must have had a similar experience. Despite everything different about them, there was one connection. A connection in their blood.

Running out of options, Yuuko decided to turn tail and run from the both of them. Normally, Elijah wouldn't hesitate to give chase but it simply wasn't worth it at this point. He got what he wanted, learned all he could get with the minimum amount of effort. So instead of giving chase like a dog, he just cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "We're closer to each-other than you think, girlie!"

If she couldn't understand the language, then his words would just sound like a twisted mash of syllables and ungodly noises. But if she could, Eli would definitely know at least a little more than the average person. Normal people couldn't grasp the language without years of practice and study. To people like them, however, it came as naturally as their first language.

Fuck, that's weird...

[Detective Ave]

Yeah, you know, the two of them worked pretty well together. Made Ave wonder what the hell this guy did as a job. Well, he wasn't exactly bright what with the whole following bit, but in the end, it was the picking that really counted. Fieldwork was different than desk work after all and fosho neither of these two men were much for that. So really, they nailed it because she was looking kind of worried there for a second. It was almost as if so much bad shit was replaying in her mind and she was spitting at it like a lama. (What? It was the best simile there was!) Plus, she kinda looked like a lama nix the red eyes. He was sure that if a lama had red eyes, it was probably rabid or something.

ANYWAY. "Blondie has a point, you know. No point in lying to us now, girlie."

"Holdup. I ain't blond." Dude, was the guy blind? Okay, maybe he was too quick on the uptake of considering Elijah a temp partner. 'Cause, really, blond? He yanked around a piece of his shoulder length hair and inspected it to make sure his hair color didn't decide to spontaneously burst into bleach. Fuck that, it was orange! He frowned and hipped an arm. Attitude, it was all about the attitude. Maybe he'd realize HOW WRONG HE WAS. Idiot. HE was the blond.

Meanwhile, the girl was looking further and further flustered the longer the two of them stood around bickering. He didn't exactly know where this was going to lead, but so long as no one died, it was all cool. Again, he reiterated. She was beginning to glare at them now, inching away slowly at first, but hell if he didn't know what was coming. "Hey!" He yelled out to her just moments before she broke off into a dead sprint. FINE, if she was going to play it that way, he was damned if he wasn't going to chase her down! Unravel this mystery! He booted up for his run--actually got a couple steps in before...

"Blondie has a point, you know. No point in lying to us now, girlie."

"Holyfuck there'smorelikeme." He stopped, staring avidly at Elijah as if he had magically sprouted fairy wings and flew off into the night. Alas, this was a different kind of fairy tale.

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[Holy shit sorry! I never got an email. Someone shoot me a PM if I don't reply in like two days XD]

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