EN: I faced a few computer issues over the last couple of days which I apologize for. If not for that this would have been published about four days ago most likely. Don't go to sketchy cites to watch anime my friends.
Warnings: Underage drinking, being over worked, minor working at a bar, cursing?
Disclaimer: When Nine owns the rights to DGM you'll know it.
Lavi zipped up his jacket as he ran to the end on the hall toward the stairs. He hopped onto the hand rail and slid down, only stopping to switch hand rails. It was dangerous sure, but not as dangerous as being late to work for the panda because you slept in and then felt the need to safely walk down a dozen flights of stairs.
Lavi flew off the hand rail and started running the moment his feet hit the floor. Lavi didn't stop until he boarded the one o'clock bus. He had to stand in the back, but at least he'd made it. It was a good thing the city's bus system was always a little behind. Lavi thanked what ever merciful force was out there for that, and his new roommate.
Lavi hopped off a block before the agency and jogged in to the ally. It was dark and dirty, but it also provided good cover for people who seemed to have little reason to be there. Lavi pulled out his key chain and carefully selected a long silver key that unlocked the back door to a fairly plain seeming building that had served as the Bookmen's main agency since God knows when. Well God and the Bookmen of course.
"You're late again Lavi," The senior Bookmen had his arms crossed in front of him as Lavi turned around from closing the door.
"Oh! Hey-a Gramps! It's nice to see you looking so fine in the after noon!" Lavi smiled at the old man and started anxiously rubbing the back of head while trying to make it look cool, "Why am I late again? Well you see the bus ran late, and then the sidewalk was sooo, crowded, and-"
"I didn't ask why you where late, idiot. You know your punishment. Go log files DD0452 through DD1920." Bookman cut Lavi off. He wasn't interested in excuses. He did seem to be interested in torturing the poor redhead though.
"But ramps that's like," Lavi took a moment to do the math" That's like almost a thousand and a half files! I'll die before I finish! I thought you liked me at least a little!" Lavi fell to the floor in a dramatically in a desperate flourish.
"I don't have time for slackers Lavi," Bookman turned to leave, " Be sure to finish before dinner. We have a new assignment for you to start tonight."
Lavi watched the old man leave as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. He begrudgingly headed down to the basement and started to collect the boxes which held the files he needed.
Logging files was a fun job about an eighth of the time. If the person was an interesting person or has an interesting assignment then it was fun to read the file and decide where it should be tagged in the system. If the person had a lame mission and was a total dud in the personality category though, logging became complete and utter torture. This applied to all of the DD files. DD standing for dud in Lavi's book, but officially meant that agent Danny Dunkin had recorded contents of the file.
Danny Dunkin was one of the most used operatives in the 1920's because he was fast, thorough, and utterly normal. Lavi couldn't deny that the files he put together where great, if he was interested in the investigation of missing pets, faithful wives, the fastest paper rout, and the construction of a pleated dress. But he wasn't.
The Bookman clan had been gathering information on everything since practically the start of time. There were some dark secrets stored away in the Bookmen libraries across the world. But Lavi didn't get to log those. He got to log files on... Which birds where eating strawberries from Herald Q's garden. Oh for the love of God Danny, who did you piss off to deserve this? Lavi couldn't imagine having to watch some old mans strawberry garden for hungry birds.
Then Lavi thought about who he had pissed off and realized watching them probably beat the hell out of reading about them.
Six hours later Lavi knew that it was actually mostly squirrels who ate the strawberries in town, that an average of twenty fish per hour went through the river on the edge of the city, that many people where suspicious of specific Italian food dished in the down town area, that fifteen balls of varying sizes had been lost in John Goods yard to never be seen again. Lavi also knew that to 'never be seen again' actually meant donated to a local orphanage. He had read all about that and a thousand other useless bits of information which would most likely never be of any use or interest to the redhead.
Lavi rubbed his eye as he walked up the stairs. All 1,468 files had been read, logged and inadvertently memorized. A photographic memory was a talent that every agent had to have, especially the Bookman heir, but it wasn't always necessary.
Not that Lavi was going to live long enough to inherit the agency though, not with the way the panda kept trying to work him to death. "He sure is lucky I'm always late or those file would never end up being logged," Lavi grumbled to himself as he walked down the hallway to the pandas office.
"Lavi, it's about time you finished! Come here and read this file," Lavi had barely made it to his grandfather's office when the old man started ordering him around again.
"Aw come on old man! I couldn't possibly read anything else! I'll lose my other eye for sure!" even as the redhead complained Lavi walked up to his grandfather's desk and took the file.
"Stop complaining and just read you fool, who do you think your putting such a show on for anyway?"
Lavi flopped onto the couch with out a comeback and flipped open the menial envelope. There wasn't very much inside, just the the mission request form, half a page of directions, and a blank reference list. It could barely be called a file at this point. It didn't even have an assigned agent yet.
"What even is this Gramps?" Lavi looked up from the file after glancing at the papers.
"It's your new mission idiot, what did you think it was?"
"What? But there's hardly anything here! Where the heck is all the paper work and the research? Don't we have people for that?" Lavi looked at the old man in confusion. Files usually when through the database to gather preliminary information first before going to a field agent, but this file had nothing, not even one file to reference.
"Look it up your self. Not every assignment is going to come to you half finished Lavi, work on it while you eat dinner and then hop to it. The client wants all the information you can get as soon as possible," The phone started ringing on the the senior Bookmen's desk and he waved Lavi out of the room as he answered.
The redhead let out an exaggerated sigh as he took the file and walked back down to the basement. He retrieved a premade sandwich and some water from the frig in the corner and started to really read the request form. Some random Joe Schmoe was interested in a new club that had just opened up in the red light district. Looked like the dude was planning on buying it and wanted a general appraisal of the building, location, business, atmosphere, possible clientele, and predicted revenue before proposing an investment. Not only was it a smart thing to do, but it meant that Lavi was going to have a frigging awesome evening when it came to testing the joint out. The prep work was going to be boring as hell, but the fallow through would rock. Maybe Bookman really did like him?
Lavi looked up the buildings information in the database, and started compiling information. The building was a relic of the prohibition era so it had some underground hidden spaces, but it had been remodeled a couple of times since then and had several conflicting building plans. The most current claimed that it had three floors and a normal wide open basement, was fully renovated, had a solid foundation, and lots of space. For a bar/home decor shop it was in a weird location, but rumor had it that it also served as a gambling den and underground strip club, which suited the location just fine. During the day it worked as a reasonably well to do home decor shop. The rights where kind of pricey because that, but would probably be worth it based on the most recent tax evaluations.
The current owner looked like she might pose more of a problem for the wanna be investor. She was reportedly a strong willed women with strong convictions and a strong connection o the shop, though Lavi had a hard time figuring out why. The place had existed for a long lime as a home decor shop, but had only in the last six months opened its side doors to function as a bar. (And possibly more, information on that was vague and not so trust worthy.)
A few more files on the owner and some of the more documented employees and suddenly the file looked half decent. Lavi had logged some of the information pertaining to this building already, so the research went by pretty fast. By 9:30 Lavi was all geared up and ready to go gather the information the client had asked for that they didn't already have on file, things like possible clientele and general atmosphere. Field work was also the best way to confirm whether or not the rumors about the casino where true.
Another inconspicuous walk through the back ally way brought Lavi to a busy street and then a taxi ride brought him right to the front door of Anita's Home. What a lame name for a bar that may have a strip club downstairs and a casino upstairs. Lavi was pretty sure the name was for the home decor shop in the front, but the idea of such a name applying to a strip club as well made Lavi want to shake his head and laugh.
At the side door entrance was a pretty long line. The place reminded him more of a popular club then a bar. Lavi couldn't help but wonder if there was a list he should have gotten his name on first, or a dress code he needed to look up. Every so often a couple of people would be turned away with embarrassed looks on their faces. When the redhead finally made it to the door he quickly realized why. There where a couple of bouncers checking for IDs as people entered. There was even a sign posted on the door stating their firm stance against the underaged.
It was a surprisingly stand up thing to do. Most clubs and bars in this area would let just about any body in, no matter the age. Teens where a grate source of income for the red light district. They could be blackmailed more easily into paying off their debts and had more disposable income just in general. Also didn't hurt that no one really cared much in this part of town either. The owners stance was almost stupidly good upstanding thing to do.
Lavi flashed a killer smile to match his fake ID as he stood in front of the bouncer. Every other year since he was about fifteen the agency had been giving him ID's so that he could do these kinds of assignments. He usually didn't need it, but every once in a while it came in handy.
The bouncer gave his ID a second serious look and then glanced at Lavi again. The redhead just calmly waited to be admitted. It was a real, fake ID. Government issued and everything. Some branches of the government occasionally contacted the Bookmen for help as informants or special contractors. Once when he was younger the police had used him to help bring down a child sex trafficking ring a few towns over. That was not a fun mission. This one was going to be way more fun if Lavi had anything to do with it.
With a reluctant glance the bouncer gestured to his friend to let Lavi in after handing the ID back to the redhead.
Inside the 'bar' really gave off strong club vibes. The hallway he walked though was low light with multiple pulsing colors that lead him forward. The hall turned several times but ultimately led to the back half of the building. At the end of the hallway though a set of double doors on the left Lavi exited the hall and was suddenly hit with a huge wave of sound, warmth, and the smell of alcohol.
The room was huge, separated right down the middle by a long bar that thrust half way into the room perpendicular with the doors Lavi had just walked through. A couple of neon signs hung from the ceiling. On the right the sign had the male and female symbols in pink and blue connected with each other. To his left hung neon signs with two male symbols connected in blue and two female symbols connected with each other in pink. The meaning was pretty clear to Lavi as he considered which side to start on.
There seemed to be a DJ on the left side and far more people, so Lavi figured that would be a fun place to start. The fact that it was also the gay side just happened to be a coincidence.
.- - - - -~a little earlier~- - - - -.
"Hey! It's nice to see you back Red. Chaoji's been complaining about the possibility of you being late for the last hour. With the DJ on your side it's going to be packed for you tonight, so hurry and go tell that fool to head home." Fou greeted Allen as he walked behind the her bar to his side. She had been a lot more welcoming to Allen after that first night. It was like he had unwittingly passed some kind of initiation on Tuesday by not quitting. Not that he could have if he'd wanted to.
"Yes Ma'am Fou," Allen gave her a mock salute as he grabbed another shaker from her side of the bar. Over the last two nights Allen had quickly realized that he just did not have enough on his side to handle what the crowed wanted.
Fou hit him on the back of the head before Allen could stand all the way up, "Hey! Who said you could take that?"
"Ouch. But Fou, you have so many on this side, and there are only five on my side. What could it hurt for me to bring one over?" Allen flashed her a sweet smile. "Please?"
"Ugh, fine, what ever, just bring it back clean at the end of your shift," Fou gave up the silver shaker with a warning. "Now go relive Chaoji before he complains again!"
Allen switched sides of the bar with a small laugh. Fou seemed kind of rough some times, but she was really quite nice.
"Nice of you to join us boy. Chaoji here was just telling me how much he hated late people!" Tykki laughed as Allen walked over. The older man was sitting in the same spot as last night and already had a drink in his hand.
"Oh, but your right on time Red so I don't hate you of course," Chaoji gave Allen a big smile and clapped him on the shoulder, "Here's the keys kid! Any one that walks in so far in good for an innocence as far as my side goes!" and with that the older man was gone faster then Cross Marian in the presence of debt collectors.
Allen turned around and started setting things up for a busy night. And boy was it. There where more people tonight then there had been on his first day. The only thing that made this night easier then Tuesday's was the presence of Tykki. Allen was still hit on a little, but Tykki was the main focus, and if any one started to take too much of an interest in the sixteen year old the older man often had a small chat with them. Allen didn't see quite how often that was, but he knew that it occurred.
After a little while all of the faces that came to the bar started to blend together. Allen couldn't have picked a costumer who had just ordered a cocktail out a a line up if his life depended on it. That was until a certain redhead came leaning against the counter and started eyeballing the liquor that lined the wall behind Allen.
"Hey man, can a get a gin and tonic please?" Allen's new roommate stood in front of him eyes still focused on the wall like was trying to memorize what the bar had.
"ID please," Allen didn't even hesitate to card his roommate. Allen had received the distinct impression that Anita was not a fan of underage anything except debt repaying. The silveret also didn't want to be the one responsible for letting his roommate get drunk at... a gay bar. That realization contained information Allen was going to have to process latter.
Allen took a close look at the drivers license that Lavi handed over with out looking at Allen still fixated on the back wall. It was flawless. The lamination wasn't hardly scratched, the image inside was in fact of Lavi, and it looked authentic. The birthday put him at the right age and all of the information on the card matched up. Except the name.
"What is your name sir?" Allen asked it casually. That was often where people would make the mistake of giving a name that was different from the card.
"Deak Fiddler, and yours?" The redhead answered just as casually as he turned a flirty eye toward Allen, who quickly handed the ID back to him and turned around to grab the drinks ingredients.
Allen lowered his voice a little to respond with a simple "Red." Lavi's ID was flawless, Allen had no reason not to serve him, with out possibly causing his roommate to recognize him, which was a sudden real fear. It was unlikely that a catholic school with standards so high they gave kids a roommate to prevent the 'solo evils of the night' would continue to provide a scholarship to a student who worked at a gay bar.
This encouraged Allen to mix the drink with his back to the redhead. When he turned around Allen had to hold off running away instead of handing over the drink. Lavi was clearly trying to recognize him.
"Hey, do I know you?" Lavi spoke the words that Allen had been ever so afraid of hearing.
"You may have seen me around I have worked as a bartender at a couple of places before," Allen replied in the same deeper voice and then quickly moved further down the bar before the other could question him further. He really hoped that lame reply would be enough to keep his peer from thinking to much about their possible previous encounters.
Allen checked another persons ID to make the action seem normal on the off chance Lavi was still watching him. Allen didn't have to check for an ID since the bouncers at the door usually did that. Unless the person coming in was a VIP that every one knew like Tykki. Or the person coming in was with a VIP like Tykki.
Allen could feel Lavi watching him as he served other drinks. It wasn't a creepy stair like Calvin's had been, but it still made Allen uncomfortable. He wanted to be recognized even less then he wanted to have Calvin hitting on him again. Allen put on his poker face to try and remain calm as he moved farther down the line away from the redhead who looked like some light bulb had just clicked on inside his head.
Tykki waved Allen over with a big smile on his face and a charming laugh on his lips. Allen took the order for two more drinks from the guy next to his only friend when Tykki suddenly stopped laughing and leaned in a little closer to the silver haired teen.
"What's the matter boy? What is it that's troubling you?" Tykki spoke beside Allen's ear just loud enough for Allen to hear over the music but no one else.
"Red hair and an eye patch a meter and a half up the bar," Allen tilted his head in the direction of his new roommate, "We go to the same school, he looks like he might recognize me soon. Pretty good ID so I haven't any real reason to kick him out," Allen didn't hesitate to rat Lavi out.
Tykki got an excited look on his face, "What me to remove him for you Red?" The older man leaned back a little to get a better look at Allen
"Nicely please, he hasn't done anything bad. He's just knows the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time," Allen offered a pleasant smile as he pulled away from the Portuguese man. Allen could breath a sigh of relief knowing that Tykki would undoubtedly take care of it.
. . . . . . . . .
Lavi took another look at the bartender as he walked away. There was something that seemed really familiar about him. Lavi never forgot a face, so it was killing him that he couldn't place the bartenders.
As he walked away it clicked. Allen. He looked a lot like his new room mate. Obviously this guy was older, maybe a little taller, and more out there, and but they looked a lot alike. Did I just find Al's big bro? Lavi had been too distracted by the tattoo on the other guys face and the slicked back silver hair to make the connection before, but the two looked undeniably similar once you ignored the major differences.
Lavi watched curiously as the bartender severed other patrons. He didn't really need to finish his mission today, and meeting his soon to be best friends probable brother seemed like more then just chance. It was like fate! The best way into someones life was through there family right? That was how Theodore Roosevelt became close to his first wife.
Just as Lavi was considering waving the bartender over to him and striking up a conversation, the silveret bent down to listen to the wipers of another guy farther down the bar. The gesture made Lavi wonder if this was the kind of thing he should be watching. Red pulled back with a pleasant smile on his face and then moved down the bar a little further.
Then the older man looked right at Lavi, threw back the rest of his drink and pushed himself away from the bar. Uh oh. That's not a good sign.
Lavi hadn't been appraising bars for long, but he'd been receiving that look since middle school. Someone was ready to kick him out or kick his ass. Either way it was time for Lavi to get a move on. He slid money for the drink under the glass and then walked straight into the growing crowed behind him.
Always move into the hart of the crowed and then in the direction the other comes from. Man I could write a book on avoiding aggressors in public. Lavi mused as he fallowed his own directions. People never expect you to head towards them when they're clearly getting ready to kick your ass. That made it easier to casually slip past them and then run out the back while they tried to chase you out front. Nine times out of ten it worked flawlessly. Lavi slid through some extra side door into an ally on the other side of the building from the one he had come in on which made this one time one of the nine.
Lavi walked into the ally farther away from the buildings main entrance. After a little while he turned into one the main streets and started to head back to the Order careful to avoid Anita's Home. It was a long walk since more taxi services had ended, but Lavi didn't mind. The night air felt nice and it gave him time to think over his report. He hadn't done much. All he was really able to to was confirm that they checked for ID's at the entrance and included the gay community. That wasn't really a lot. I'm defiantly going to have to go back. Lavi nodded. What did I even do to deserve getting kicked out this time?
Lavi had been kicked out of a lot of places,l and he'd had people threaten to kick his ass in a lot of places, but he usually did something to deserve it. The redhead simply hadn't had the time to deserved it this go around. All he'd done was order a drink.
Putting that aside Lavi focus on getting back to the dorms to wright his report for the first day. Hopefully his new roomie wasn't a really light sleeper.
An: Hehe, the start to something fun. Sorry that took so long, but with the landslide victory of 2-1 in the votes I just wanted to make sure there was no error in the polls. (Which no one used). Seriously though thank you to those who voted, and to everyone else, sorry you missed out on the opportunity of a life time. (Just kidding.) Really this chapter ended up being waaaaaaaaaay longer then I meant it to. Like just the first part where it was all in Lavi's Pov could have been a chapter, and it almost was. But then Leo's computer went kapoot, and I just kept adding to it. So if you like longer chapters thank him. If you like faster updates hate him. Dosen't ruffle my feathers none.
Cutiepie120048: That dose sound like fun... we'll have to see what happens. Leona is better at writing action scenes then me, so I'd get here to help. I hope you enjoyed taking a chance on my favorite redhead.
awesomwpsyco: Sorry you where out voted. Honestly I had the rough draft of Allen's day already out lined, but trust me when I say Lavi's day was more interesting. But we still got a little bit of Allen!
xXxPhantomxXx: Both votes have been reflected in this chapter! I think. And you say I can't label you lazy yet, dose that mean later I can? JK.
Once again I'll answer any questions comments and general feedback you have if you eave it in the reviews. Peace out V-_-V.