Disclaimer: This work is a non-profit fan creation. I do not own the world setting, but the characters are mine.
Chance Meeting
It was hot. The air was thick with the smells of alcohol, sweat and musk, both natural and artificial in the case of the last one. The music was loud and most people around were drunk or valiantly striving for that. The light was rather dim and changed hue often. Currently it was a strange, rather sickly mix of red and orange.
All in all, the man in black leather coat mused, it was almost like being back home.
Perhaps it was wrong to mention the coat as his defining feature, seeing as just about everyone in the large but cramped room was wearing black and/or leather in some form. It might be more helpful to say that he had long, black hair and grey eyes, though you couldn't be sure about the exact hue because they seemed to flick back and forth from pale silver to slightly purplish charcoal to steel and so on and so forth. Besides the coat, he was wearing a wine-red tank top and a pair of nicely broken in once-black jeans.
Oh, and he was also a demon. He went by the name Leander Malstrom.
Currently he was just enjoying himself in one of his favourite clubs, while causing some minor mayhem just for the hey of it, of course.
Just at that moment one of the waitresses weaving their way through the part of the room that was not crammed full of dancing people tripped over something, though there was nothing to trip over, and fell right on a man sitting at one of the tables, dumping the drinks she had been carrying on his date. The woman of course jumped up, enraged, and started screaming at the hapless girl. The man tried to act as a mediator, but that only changed the irate female's focus to him. The whole night was most likely ruined for all three involved, and with any luck they would take it out on other people later.
Leander grinned and took a sip of his drink while winking at a girl who went by with some guy. The girl blushed and faltered in her step, which made her greasy-haired date turn to look. Upon seeing a tall dark stranger making eyes at his girl his face crunched into a frown and he glared at Leander who returned the gaze evenly. Then the man wordlessly dragged the girl off as quickly as possible.
The demon chuckled and tipped his glass as if toasting himself. Minor temptation with a side order of jealousy and possible lovers spat later on with minimal effort. He still got it. The waitress thing was pretty nice too, but it didn't have that personal, hands-on feeling to it.
But then, when the glass came up to his lips again, something inside of him went 'ping'.
His head shot up and the undecidedly-grey eyes darted around. Something divine had just stepped in the room, he could feel it. He couldn't for the life of him imagine what an angel would do in a place like this, but his senses had saved him enough times that he knew to trust them.
His senses zeroed in near the front entrance. There was a flock of people over there, so he couldn't see clearly yet, but something was pushing its way through. Or more like moving forward and people instinctively moved aside.
For a moment Leander pondered just leaving quickly and inconspicuously, but curiosity isn't only a human characteristic. Just what WAS an angel doing in a place like this? He decided that a quick look wouldn't hurt and got up.
He headed towards the bar at the other end of the room, where the divine aura seemed to have settled for the moment. A few people threw him flirty looks, but this time he couldn't be bothered, he might have to beat a hasty retreat soon. He pulled his own, demonic aura in to avoid detection, though he suspected that the other immortal had sensed him the moment they stepped in, but hey, better safe than sorry.
Finally he had a good view of the bar. There were only a few people sitting there. Couple of what looked like tired office workers, a-little-past-her-prime hooker, a young man who almost certainly had gotten in with a fake ID, a desperate housewife and…
Well, hello and good morning.
At the end of the bar there sat a woman. She had huge, blue eyes set in a pleasant face framed by short, golden curls, but that was as far as the stereotype went. She was wearing a charcoal silk vest that hugged every slight curve of her willowy figure and made a nice contrast to both her crisp white business shirt and the blood red tie. Pressed light grey trousers and simple but elegant black high heeled shoes completed the getup. She looked just as dangerous as the metal and leather wearing mass around her, but with half the effort and ten times the poise. Any Wall Street stock shark would have given their yearly income to pull off that look with such style and effect. Only thing that was missing was a sign that said, "The top of the food chain."
Leander stopped for a moment, uncertain. Yes, this was definitely the presence he had felt a moment ago, but something was off. Something didn't match the picture his eyes were taking in.
Suddenly the angel's back stiffened. She turned, slowly, as if knowing what she would see, but afraid of getting her suspicion confirmed. Blue and grey locked. Leander also froze for a brief moment, but then his face broke into a smirk and he sauntered over. Might as well go out with a bang and all that. He plopped down on a seat next to her and fired off his best grin, adding a bit of fang just for the effect.
"Why, hello there. Didn't think I'd ever see one of your kind in a place like this."
Well, it appeared that his luck was holding for the time being. The angel girl was apparently in a state of shock over his direct and casual approach. He had to hand it to her, she did regain her cool pretty quickly, though. She blinked and glanced over her shoulder, as if to make sure that nobody was watching, but of course everyone was. They both were of the type that draws attention even when alone, and together, whoa.
Leander felt a little pang of pride and malicious glee as he caught the crushed and longing looks thrown at each of them. He was pretty sure he had utterly destroyed half a dozen hearts with just the act of striking a conversation with the blonde. There was a bit of resigned despair in the air as well. Of course stunning people would be drawn to other stunning people. With a little luck, someone would commit a suicide tonight because they knew they'd never get anything as fine as the two sitting at the end of the bar.
His attention was drawn back to the matter at hand as she leaned in and hissed, in the hurried tones of a child who's talking to someone their mother told them not to talk to:
"Look, I don't want to make a scene, and I have things to do, so… just… be on your wicked way, won't you?"
Her eyes left him again to dart over the room and she fidgeted slightly. Leander blinked and arched an eyebrow. The angel's outfit and demeanour screamed: "I could chew you up without even touching you, so don't even think about it, boy." but her heart wasn't in it. It was like an actor parroting lines he had memorized without truly grasping the emotion behind them. Could it be…?
His grin spread just a little and he leaned just slightly forward, towards the other.
"I kinda like it here, actually. Plenty of wicked things to do right within arm's reach…"
He accented the last words by sliding one of his hands along the edge of the bar towards the pale, manicured fingers that were clutching the poor object hard enough to leave dents. He inwardly beamed and gave himself a pat on the back when the angel gave a strangled yelp and snatched her hands away, almost falling off her stool in the process.
That confirmed it, she was indeed winging the whole thing. Most likely she had prepared the role for this mission, but it was so far from her own nature that it took all she had to keep the act up in front of a throng of humans. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't even realized that there was another immortal in the building, probably chalking the evil aura up as just a standard 'den of sin' thing. And now the sudden appearance of the demon was making the whole act fall apart around her. Oh, sometimes it was good being bad.
Except when the angel started to reach out to empty air on her right side with the clear intention of summoning her flaming sword. And by the feel of it, she might've been stronger than he first thought. Leander started to sweat a little. Slick mouth, don't fail me now…
"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" He quickly leaned back, returning to his own personal space and held his hands up placatingly.
"Don't get your feathers in a knot, I was just teasing! I'm simply enjoying my night off, okay? I'm more interested in what you are doing here, especially…" He gave her a leer free of charge, too. "… like that."
"Like what?" Well, at least that seemed to halt her train of thought. But oh, Go… whatever, she really should've put on a pair of shades, too. That blank look clashed terribly with her outfit.
"You know…" The demon made a vague cupping gesture with his hands in front of his chest. "THAT."
The angel blushed and quickly turned to her drink, a clear tang of embarrassment in her aura. She muttered under her breath:
"For Spirits when they please
Can either Sex assume, or both; so soft
And uncompounded is their Essence pure,
Not ti'd or manacl'd with joynt or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose
Dilated or condens't, bright or obscure,
Can execute their aerie purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfil."
Leander waved a hand dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah, 'Paradise Lost'. I've read that book too, and I tell you, it's 90 crap. But still doesn't answer my question: What are you doing here, and why that form?"
"Does it really matter?"
"Well, there must be a reason. After all, if you wanted to NOT draw attention, it would've been much easier as a guy, even with that face."
She turned back to him, looking quite defeated.
"Will you leave me alone if I tell you?"
"Probably not, but at least I might move on to something else to pester you about."
She was quiet for a moment, weighting her options, and finally let out a sigh.
"Fine, if you must know, when I was first sent to earth as a field agent, my first mission required me to be in a female form. But, as luck would have it, it was a LONG mission, and once it was over, I had grown so… accustomed… to the way I was that I did not see any reason to change."
"So you just got so used to the boobs that you feel off without them?"
The look of embarrassed indignation on her face was almost enough to crack him, but he managed to keep his amusement down to a malicious chuckle. Even so, for a moment he already feared that the angel had had enough and would proceed with the smiting after all, but then she simply crossed her legs and turned away with a dainty huff.
"Hey, don't be like that, baby."
That got him an icy glare and a flare of angelic aura that made him instinctively lean back and try to shield his face with his arms.
"The… other… question?" he managed to squeak.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, getting her composure back. Then she waved her hand towards the bartender.
"That man over there, he's mixing the liqueur with… all kinds of bad things. Quite a few people have already gotten sick, but they haven't yet been able to connect anything to this place. If it's allowed to continue, most of the regulars are lucky if they merely go blind."
Leander blinked and then cast quick, critical look over the person in question.
"Well, don't know how you picked that up, but congratulations, you're right. And by the feel of him, he's planning something big tonight."
"So, you see, I really have work to do here, so if you'll excuse me…"
The angel's hasty retreat was interrupted by a hand on her arm. She turned to look at the demon, who suddenly appeared troubled. He didn't look at her, just held on to her arm with his chin resting on one palm and his eyes cast thoughtfully downwards.
"You know, I like this place."
The blank look was back, but since the demon wasn't looking at her, the conflict didn't irritate his senses.
"If the guy runs unchecked, sooner or later this place will be closed down. And then I'd have to go be a regular demon somewhere else. You know how hard it's to find a place with decent drinks, décor, music AND unused potential for temptations?" "
"But… you can't do good."
Grey eyes snapped to blue ones. The owner of the former gave a visible shiver of disgust.
"You think I wanna? Eugh! But stopping a madman from poisoning innocent partygoers, even to preserve a place of temptation would definitely be a 'right' thing to do. And you're obviously not up for the job…"
The last remark certainly ruffled the angel's feathers, plus she didn't really agree with the 'innocent' bit either, but before she could voice her thoughts the demon's face suddenly brightened.
"Unless…"
Now the smile was back on his face, but this time it was subtly different. While the one before had been of the "I could make your evening interesting"-variety, this one was far more like, "Oh, THIS will be interesting." She would have taken a step back, if he wasn't still holding her arm.
"We could make it a joint project."
"What?"
"You heard me. A little act of good here, a little devilish intervention there, all piling up to a desired effect. We'd be both doing our thing, and the problem is solved, anyhow."
"Tha-that's…" a brief pause, "…probably the most sensible idea I have heard all day."
"Yeah? Sometimes I scare myself." Leander pulled her back to her seat and then sobered up.
"Okay, what's the current status?"
"W-well, it looks like he's about to pop into the back room now, probably to… 'mix a cocktail'. Whatever we do, we had better be fast."
"Nice metaphor. So, what should we do?"
"Well, obviously it would be easiest if he was just caught red-handed, but he carefully picked a moment when he wouldn't be bothered…"
"So, then someone has to burst in unexpectedly." He finished the thought and glanced quickly over the mass of people. Spotting a target, he fired away a malicious thought.
Within moments two waitresses were having a very ugly argument over a particularly nice tip. It didn't take much demonic powers to chip away the other's self-confidence, or to make the other pull out her most scathing remarks. After a particularly vicious comment, the more timid one turned on her heel and ran crying towards the back room door.
The angel immediately sent, as per her job description, thoughts of regret in the other girls mind and the girl ran after her co-worker, who had now reached the door.
"Jenny! Wait! Jenny I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said, I was just worked up over something and OH MY GOD!"
The two had barely passed through the doorway and out of sight when the string of hasty apologies was interrupted by the sudden exclamation.
"Carl! Wha- what are you doing?"
"N-nothing! It's nothing!"
The two at the bar listened intently, planting worry and annoyance respectively in the minds of the onlookers. A crowd was starting to form around the doorway and other employees were pushing through to investigate the cause of the commotion.
"What the hell's going on? Customers are waiting!"
"Look at what he's doing!"
"What's this…? Holy cow, he was putting this stuff in the drinks!?"
"You sick bastard, you were trying to poison people?"
Leander got a jab in the ribs. He turned around to look at the angel, who was giving him a very disapproving glare, though it was more pouty than threatening.
"Enough. We were supposed to stop him, not have the crowd lynch him."
"Spoilsport." he turned back to the general chaos at the other end of the room. Someone seemed to be saying something about the police.
"Might as well get going, once the cops appear they're bound to start asking questions, and I doubt you want to give them all the details."
She simply nodded and together they slunk away. It wasn't much of a feat with everyone around them so distracted. Once outside she leaned against a wall and let out a long, truly exhausted sigh. Leander took a step away and mimicked the action. He was feeling slightly haggard himself after having so much divine energy so close. But looking at the angel, who now was rubbing her forehead with one hand, he couldn't resist getting the last lick:
"A little rough for a first date, eh?"
Blue eyes snapped open and she stared at him with an open mouth, scandalized speechless by the implications. He couldn't contain himself any longer and burst into laughter. Not really because her face was that funny, he just… felt like it. There was something pent up inside and it had found a way out. It was good, laughing at something other than other's misfortune for once.
Once the mirth died down he noticed that she was watching him, looking still a bit embarrassed, but now also curious.
"What?" he wheezed.
She quickly averted her eyes.
"Nothing. I just… didn't know that demons could laugh. For real, I mean."
"For real?"
"Yes. I mean…" she waved a hand like trying to draw the words out of thin air. "Like… like you mean it. Like you're happy."
Leander tilted his head and frowned a little. Happy? True, demons weren't exactly known for possessing positive emotions, but he didn't think there was any rule against that one. He hadn't really thought about the matter before, but yes, when you looked at things he was kind of hoping everything would stay the way it was.
"Demons can be happy." he said out loud, more as a conclusion to the train of thought than to the angel.
She shrugged, like she had just been proven wrong, but didn't really care.
"I guess so, then."
Then one corner of her mouth curled up, just a bit.
"And apparently, they can do good, too. Even if indirectly."
Now it was his turn to look horrified and scandalized. And she in turn giggled at him. But somewhere deep down he was pleased by this turnabout. So, demons could be happy and angels could tease. Maybe he should file this knowledge away for later.
She straightened and dusted her vest before turning to properly face him.
"Well, I must be off. Evils don't thwart themselves." Leander snorted, but he kind of liked the glint in her eye when she said that. "It was…unexpected, but surprisingly pleasant working with you, ah…"
"Leander. Leander Malstrom."
And then she did something strange. She smiled, full-force. As if she was talking to anyone but someone she should consider her enemy.
"Leander. I am Nessael."
The demon fidgeted, confused and uneasy in a way he wasn't fully familiar with. He had the overpowering urge to say something.
"Uh, there's this other really nice place on Franklin's street, just across from the park. Bit more your style, no drink-spiking madmen about, and I'm there every Tuesday, so… Drop by, will you? First round's on me."
"I… think I might do that."
What was weird was that they both meant what they said.
Then there was another radiant smile, a little wave and she was gone. Leander stayed leaning against the wall for a moment more, but then he straightened and walked away. Evils didn't thwart themselves, but they sure didn't cause themselves, either.