Adeline

He'd walked in looking like death. Literally. Adeline had been packing away the brushes and bottles that constituted her kit. The webbing of her fingers were cut with glitter; every time she moved her hands they sparkled. She wasn't sure if she abhorred it or if it comforted her because it happened every damn time. It was familiar.

'Looking for work?'

He'd eyed her hotly before swinging into the bar stool beside her.

'Adeline. It's me. Brady.'

It had been months since she'd seen him here. Since his first and last visit. Since their brief first encounter.

'Brady. Too long.'

'Far too long ' he said. He hadn't held out a hand for her to shake; hadn't nodded genially. He'd simply slung an arm around her neck and pulled her in to intimate the situation. The reaction had been a gut instinct; one from years of working in dives like this. A side of the hand to the neck. A violently quick motion that had sent him sprawling.

'My neck. My neck…'

She saw the crease at his neck oozing thick blood, magenta under the hot fame of the club's spotlights.

'Je-sus…'

Her hand had been offered but he ignored it. Pulled himself up on to his knees and from then on lurched to his feet. Still clutching at his throat, fingers clawing against it.

'I must be stronger than I think.'

He breathed deep and ragged, form half-hunched.

'Are you all right, Brady? I'm sorry.'

The sight of him staggering in had been the start of it. Had stayed with her enough for her to not turf him out. But it was the ease with which he fell that sealed it. She'd let him stay long enough to recover himself. She'd pour him a drink. Spiral wouldn't mind; he'd trusted her with the keys (although it suited him, negated the eleven am start he could barely handle) and therefore patently trusted her with the place in general.

'What's this?'

He wrinkled his nose in distaste. Allowed his lips to hover at the rim.

'Jack and coke. Extortionate so appreciate it's lack of price tag.'

'Down the hatch,' Brady said, lifting it resolutely. It's taste made him wince. Made his cheeks puff and redden.

'Not a drinker, huh?'

He looked like a doll of a boy. Porcelain skin that thrummed under the lights. Auburn hair split by a fissure of pale flesh that ran central to his head. Lithe frame.

'I won't pour ya'another. It's just occurred to me you're probably not even legal, honey.'

'I am.' Said with a childish indignance that near enough proved her point in her mind. She swept her body onto the stool beside him and laid her palms flat against the counter top. Let her fingers drum softly.

'So, you're not here for the booze. What is it?'