This was a birthday fic for nekoluver. I kept on postponing writing it, so it was a bit late, seeing as I meant to give it to her at her party, but succumbed to the need for sleep and finished it the next day. I'm currently typing this up at 8 in the morning, after pulling an all-nighter, trying to milk out every last second of online-time I have, seeing as this isn't my house, or my computer, heh heh. Forgive me for any typos; I'm very tired and very hungry, not to mention my back is KILLING me, so you'll understand… right?
Hiei walked quickly through the crowded dark streets, paying no heed to the humans he was basically plowing through. It was dusk, and he knew that Kurama would be at his "job" by now. He wasn't exactly sure what Kurama did or where he worked, but by following his unique distinguishing aroma, he knew he could find him.
Hiei came to a stop in front of a glazed brick building decorated with various colors of roses. Above the door was a sign that read "Rose Whip Tavern." Hiei sighed. This was Kurama's place, all right. He pushed open the door and walked inside.
Inside was a long, rectangular room with tables all along the walls. On the left was a long, continuous table with many bottles and taps behind it. There were stools in front of it, and the lighting for the entire bar was a dull, romantic red. The main theme for the decorations was roses.
Hiei looked around for Kurama, his eyes passing by all the tables with only humans at them. He looked at the bar last, where there was a crowd of giggling girls at the corner, all gushing about how hot the bartender was. Hiei rolled his eyes and took the nearest available seat to the group without being trampled. He made a noise of disgust in his throat. For some reason unknown to Hiei, he always felt sick and bitter whenever he saw Kurama with girls. He would have dismissed this as contempt for humans, but this feeling occurred with demon women as well, and that confused our poor little fire demon greatly.
He knew that Kurama had noticed him as soon as he'd walked inside; the fox knew Hiei's scent as well as Hiei knew Kurama's. He waited impatiently for Kurama to come to him, watching the crowd rather resentfully.
Kurama somehow miraculously pulled himself away from the crowd and smiled at Hiei. Hiei stopped glaring at the group and looked at Kurama. He always felt like flying when the fox smiled at him like that, but he would never let himself show that.
"Hiei!" Kurama greeted gleefully. "You've finally come to see me at work! How do you like it?" he asked, leaning across the bar to talk to Hiei.
"I have to say, Kurama, it's painfully obvious that this place's decorations are your work," he commented. "But it's impressive that you serve demons here as well," he said lowly, glancing at the demons in disguise mingling with the humans. "I'm surprised that this place isn't a mad house." Kurama laughed at this.
"Hiei, I believe that was a compliment. Thank you," he said smiling. "I'll let you in on a little secret. It's the smell of the roses that prevents fights from breaking out here. My own special-grown flowers," he said quietly but pridefully. Their conversation was interrupted by the fangirl group squealing at being ignored.
"Shuichiiii," one of them whined. "I need a refill! Come here and give me one!" Kurama walked to the girl with an apologetic look at Hiei as he filled her glass with a clear beverage and handed it back to her. The rest of the group glared daggers at Hiei as Kurama walked back to him and began talking again.
"So, Hiei," he began a little sadly. "There must have been some reason for you to come and see me, right?" Hiei nodded.
"Yes, but I don't think your little fanclub will let us talk," Hiei said vehemently. Kurama sighed and nodded.
"Right. Well, my shift is over at midnight, which is in about three hours, so come and see me then, okay? I hate to do this…" Hiei nodded understandingly. He stood and left Kurama staring sadly after Hiei with his crazy fangirls. Hiei walked out into the cooling night air, wondering what he was going to do for three hours. He leaped onto the roof of Kurama's bar and decided to just wait there for the time to pass. He lay down and relaxed, mulling over the reason why he came to see Kurama in the first place.