The sound of birds chirping can be heard coming from outside. The sun shines through the window and hits Axel's sleeping face. He stirs for a second, for the light was causing him to wake. Axel relents and sits up in bed, then he yawns and stretches. His joints crack as he wakes his body up. He looks around the room to get his bearings. A small cozy room with two beds and a nightstand in between his and Ray's bed. Axel looks over at Ray, for he is still concerned about his well being. Ray lightly snores and rolls over. Axel chuckles and swings his feet over the side of the bed. He places his feet on the hard wood floor and shivers. Standing up, he shuffles over to the ajar door on the far side of the room. Stepping inside, he reaches for the light and turns it on. Turning and closing the door, he then twist the lock more out of habit than concern of privacy. He takes care of his business while inside. He turns toward the sink, he turns the faucet on and rinses his hands under the water. Reaching to his right for soap, and he does not feel any. He proceeds to then look around for soap, not finding any he shrugs and turns off the faucet. Drying his hands on the hand towel next to the sink, he looks in the mirror and smiles.
"I got a feeling we're gonna have a good day today" Axel spoke to himself in the mirror. He then winks at himself and opens the door to the bathroom. Stepping out, he walks over to his bed. Reaching under to grab his shoes moving his weapon to the side, he pulls his sneakers out. 'I shouldn't be needing you today, Ferrum Domina' Axel thought as sits atop his bed.
Left foot in left shoe...wrong shoe. Now it is left shoe. Once he has his sneakers on and tied he stands up and dust himself off. Looking back at Ray, he walks around his bed towards the night stand. He pulls out the drawer and sees a bible, a notepad, and a pen. He grabs the bible, shrugs, and tosses it behind him.
'I've ran into so much trouble in my life, I have met God' Axel thought as he grabbed the pen and paper. Closing the drawer he places the notepad on the dresser and quickly writes...
'I'll be out the majority of the day. Just take it easy and rest up, I'll have the hostess bring up food to your room throughout the day. Don't leave the room, I should be back in the evening. See ya later bro,
Axel'
Axel smirks at his letter and places it on the nightstand towards Ray. Axel looks at Ray, mouth open slightly snoring. Axel chuckles, turns, and walks towards the door opposite Ray's bed. Axel quietly opens the door and steps outside the room. He turns to the left and begins walking down the hall. The walls are aligned with doors, and in between each door is a picture relating to the sea. Not thinking anything of it, Axel continues on.
"It is a port city" Axel thinks aloud, he yawns and proceeds down the hall. It is not very long, only about five rooms on each wall including his own. Axel rest his hand on the railing and proceeds down the stairs. While he is coming down he looks over the main room, or well, the bar. It was more accurate to call it a inn and bar, for the bar is at the far wall away from the entrance. Several tables are strewn about the room, a few patrons can be seen eating breakfast at the tables. Axel descends the stairs and proceeds towards the bar to speak to the hostess. As he approaches, the hostess looks up, blushes, and smiles shyly.
"C-can I get you anything?" She asked while playing with her flowing blonde locks. Axel sits down and smiles sweetly at the girl. He places his hand on top of hers and looked in her blue irises. The hostess flushes and looks at Axel with lust.
"Yes, my dear little brother was injured last night..." Axel said looking downcast and troubled. The girl nods and licks her lips waiting. Axel reaches with his other hand and rubs under her chin with his finger. "...and I'll be busy all day, so...I was wondering if someone could bring him his meals while I'm gone"
"Y-yes! I can do that for him!" She replied with half lidded eyes. Axel smiles and reaches behind him pulling out his wallet.
"How much do I owe you, Beautiful" Axel said flashing her another smile. The girl blushes harder and brings a hand to her cheek.
"I-it won't cost you a thing" she said looking directly at Axel. "I'll have three of my finest meals ready for him"
"That would be great" Axel chuckles, and she shivers. "But I'll feel bad if I don't give you something, so..." Axel reaches inside his wallet and puts ten lien in the tip jar on the counter. He then pulls his hands to her lips and leaves one kiss on the appendage. She leans against the counter to support her weight as her legs felt like jello. "...Thank you"
"Y-you're welcome!" She replies leaning towards him over the counter. Axel pulls away and stands up from the counter. He smiles down at her one last time and turns away from the bar. He begins walking through the bar toward the door. Once he reaches the door he looks one last time back at the girl. She was looking at him the whole time, so his looking back brought a smile to her face. He winks, then proceeds through the door. Once the door closes behind him he sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
"I hate doing that to women" Axel said walking embracing the morning air. "But I'm low on money, can't afford three meals for Ray." Axel thought aloud as he walks with his back turned away from the sun. Not going in any particular direction, just enjoying the morning.
Axel is looking around at the buildings as they begin to open for the day. He notices various venders selling things ranging from dust to fish, but it is mostly fish. Walking through the streets with the smell of the sea permeating through the air. The cobblestone road was slick with slime from the fish, and it squished every time he stepped on it. No one seemed to notice this though, the people walking on the street must have been used to it.
"What the hell am I doing here?" Axel asked himself. He walks over to the side of the street, so he would not get in the way. Several people moved through the street, a few were carrying or pulling crates of fish. A tap on the shoulder alerted him to his right, so he turns and faces the man getting his attention.
"You look like a decent enough young man" the old man said. He rubbed his rough beard down and blew out some smoke from his pipe. "You think you could do somethings for me? I'll pay you"
"How much?" Axel said smiling at the man. The man scratches his head and blows out more smoke. He turns and motions for Axel to follow him. Axel follows the man behind his stand, and waits for the man to speak.
"I need to go make a delivery" the man said turning to look Axel in the eyes. "I need you to watch the stand for me, I'll only be gone for a few hours. I'm willing to pay you a hundred lien for this."Axel looks shocked, and the man raised an eyebrow at him.
"Uh, sure, I mean, yea...I'll do it" Axel said recovering from the shock. 'I just made a hundred lien, sweet' Axel thought while shaking the mans hand.
"All you gotta do is watch the stand for me" the man said. He then gestures towards the open road where pedestrians were walking. "If someone wants to buy some fish, then just be polite and give them one...make sure they pay first!" The man added.
"Alright, sounds easy enough" Axel said looking over his new work station. "What's your name, old timer?"
"The names Earnest" Earnest said with his back to Axel. He then turned and threw Axel an apron. Axel caught it and began putting it on. "Don't want your clothes to get any of this stuff on it, it doesn't come out"
"Thanks, old man" Axel said ignoring the scowl on Earnests face. Earnest shook his head and sighed. He walks up to Axel digging in his pockets. Axel tenses, not sure what this man was going to do. Earnest then pulls out his wallet. He reaches in and grabs a bill and hands it to Axel.
"Fifty lien" Earnest said. Axel pockets the money and looks at Earnest. "You'll get the rest when I get back, and if my stand is still in one piece"
"Alright. You can count on me!" Axel said enthusiastically. Earnest smiles, grabs a bag with something in it, and walks out of the stand. Axel watched as he left, once he was out of earshot he laughs and says. "Nice. Easy money today."
Axel stood there looking through the crowd as people walk up and down the street. He began shuffling his feet as he grew bored. Minutes passed, then an hour passed, still nothing.
'I wonder if Ray is doing alright' Axel thought. He sighs, and notices a stool to his right. He pulls it over and sits down on it. He leans over and rest his head in his hands while he lets the time pass. 'I hope he's feeling better after last night'
o0o
"Wait...you're telling me all this food is mine?" Ray asked looking at the pretty lady that just entered his room. She had a cart full of food pulled right up to his bed. She smiles warmly at him and nods.
"It sure is sweety" she said while placing the food on a tray then on his lap. The plate had a stack of pancakes, several sausages, and some breakfast potatoes. A glass of orange juice was put to the side with a pitcher of juice for refills. Ray sits against the headrest and smiles at the food. "Your brother requested this food for you earlier in the morning"
"Thank y-" Ray looked up and saw the lady shaking her head and blushing furiously. A sweat drop formed on Ray's head as he looks at this girl. The lady smiles and turns to leave. She walks out of the room and closes the door, then Ray releases the breath he was holding.
"Axel must have used his charm on her" Ray said stabbing a bit of potato with his fork. He brought it up to his mouth and started chewing on it. "I doubt he payed the girl, not like we could've anyway"
Ray slowly ate his meal in peace. He looked out the nearby window and saw several people walking up and down the street. He smiled and grabbed a glass of orange juice and took a small sip. He ate in peace for a few minutes before setting the plate over to the side. The plate still has some leftover sausages and pancakes on it.
"I doubt Axel ate anything" Ray thought aloud as he finished his glass of orange juice. Ray laid back down in the bed and stares at the ceiling. "Axel always worries too much"
o0o
Axel looked on with a smile, for before him were several women trying to buy the products from the stand. Axel wraps a fish in some paper and puts it in a paper bag. He then hands it to one of the ladies, but he made sure to give her a sly smirk. She blushes furiously, mutters a thank you, and backed up from the stand. Several more ladies were asking Axel about 'his' produce. Axel laughs and continues working with the ladies.
'The old man better appreciate this' Axel said while putting some money into the register. Axel then wrapped another fish and hands it to the lady who paid. Axel winked at her while she backed away from the stand. 'Ray gets mad when I take advantage of women like this...he'll probably be happy this time though!'
Axel is soon working up a sweat from handling all the fish, and dealing with all the women. Axel pulls a fish out of an ice tank and wraps it. He hands it to a lady who hands him some money. He smiled sweetly at her and put the money in the register.
Minutes soon turned to hours as Axel worked at the stand. Soon, he saw an arm stick out through the ladies and grab the counter. Pulling himself through the horde, Earnest breathes heavily while looking at Axel. Axel smirks at the old man, and gives him a thumbs up. The old man laughs and walks around to the back of the stand. He walks up to Axel who is leaning against the counter.
"You've certainly turned things around" Earnest said looking at the line of women waiting, as Axel dealt with another customer. Earnest pulls out another fifty and hands it to Axel. "Here, you deserve this, in fact..." Earnest pauses looking at all the money in the register. He pulls out a few bills and handed them to Axel. "...Take this too. Thank you for watching the stand for me"
Axel looks at all the lien and smiles. He counts five hundred lien in total and pockets the money. Axel then took off the apron and handed it to Earnest. Axel shakes the mans hand and steps out of the stand. Axel turns and looks at earnest.
"I can help you next summer" Axel said, while kicking his feet on the cobblestone road. Earnest looks at Axel in bewilderment. "That is...if you don't mind?"
"Hahaha...that would be great lad" Earnest said looking at the customers. He then snaps his head back to Axel as Axel began to turn and walk away. "Wait! What's your name, mi'boy?"
"The names Axel, Axel Alexanderson!" Axel yelled stopping to look at Earnest. He smirked and waved as he turned and walked down the street. He feels the money in his pocket and smiles brightly. He begins walking back into downtown, for it was early afternoon now. The downtown section was starting to get busy, and Axel wants to browse the stores with his money. He begins walking, and dodging the bodies of pedestrians all the while keeping his hand on the money in his pocket. One can never be too cautious, especially with the life that Ray and Axel live. Axel sighs and takes some of the money out, he then put it in his left pocket. He kept most of it in the right, but decided to split it up.
'I'll give some of this money to Ray' Axel thought as he side steps a baby stroller, he looks and smiles at the baby as it laughed up at him. The woman blushed at Axel and kept moving. Axel turns and starts walking down the street again. 'Ray will need some money, for when we go to school'
Axel walks around aimlessly for little while, because nothing seemed to catch his eye. Then Axel looked and saw a sign that read 'The Dust Depot'. He blinked, and then laughs. He walks down the street towards the building. He stops in front of the store and reaches for the door knob. He opened the door and heard a bell jingle as he stepped inside. The door closed as he looks around the shop. Several shelves are stacked with a plethora of items for dust. He walks through an aisle and sees cleaning kits, handling tools, wash cloths, etc. Axel turns and walked down another aisle, dust tubes, grenade canisters, bullet magazines... Axel stops and looks over the bullet magazines.
'Hmmm, for a small store they have a decent collection' Axel thought as he pulls out a box of assorted nine millimeter rounds. He turns it over and smiles at the price tag. 'A box of a thousand for one hundred lien! That's a steal'
Axel opens the box and notices they were arranged by their element. He closes the box and walks back down the aisle. He exits the aisle and walks toward the counter, but something catches his eye and he turns at the shelf. On display was a dust tube, but it does not say what element it is. This peaked Axel's curiosity as he stares at it. The shop clerk steps over toward the item.
"This is our latest item" The young man said gesturing towards the tube. Axel looks up at him then back at the tube. "It's 'The Rainbow Tube'"
Axel looks at the tube unimpressed. It was just a simple white tube, it looks like any old ice dust tube. Axel scoffed and put the bullets on the counter. The clerk looks at Axel and nods toward the tube. Axel shakes his head showing his disapproval of the product.
"Sir, it isn't some regular old ice tube" the clerk said, Axel gave a look of shock. The clerk laughs and reaches for the tube under the desk. "A lot of people think it's just some ice tube at first glance, because it's all white. But...if we do this"
The clerk then clicked the tube into a glass box. Inside the box was some sand, probably from the beach outside town. Axel looks down at the box while the clerk hits a button on the box. Once he pressed the button, the sand inside the box was covered in frost. Axel looks from the glass box to clerk, and the clerk chuckles in embarrassment. The clerk hit the button again, and the sand began blowing around rapidly. Axel looks astonished at the box, the clerk smirks and hit the button again. This time the sand started smoldering, and Axel smiles in excitement. The clerk presses a different button and detaches the tube from the box. The clerk then grabs another rainbow tube and put it with the bullets.
"Do you want a tube now? It only cost a hundred lien" Axel nods and pulls out two hundred lien. "The total comes to...two hundred and ten lien" Axel pulls out another bill and sighs, damn taxes.
The clerk bags the items, then takes the money from Axel. Axel grabs the bag from on top of the counter, and the clerk presents his change. Grabbing the change, Axel turns and proceeds to leave the store. Turning his head over his shoulder and giving a thanks to the clerk in the process. He opens the door and leaves the establishment.
"That just turned into my favorite dust shop." Axel said as he turns down the street. Axel looks up and notices that the sun was in the middle of its decent in the afternoon. He started walking up the street, back towards the inn. "I might as well head back and check on Ray now"
Axel was enjoying the afternoon sun, for it was a comfortably warm day. The bustling streets only seemed to add to his good mood, for Axel enjoyed being active. He turns at the corner and walks down a silent street. The only people on the street our himself and a couple of people walking his way. He is soon standing in front of the inn. He turns to open the door, but as soon as his fingers brush the knob.
"Stop! I told you I'm not interested!" Said a girl from across the street. Axel turns around and looks for where he heard the woman. Right across the street he sees a group of guys huddled around a woman. She walks past them with her long dirty blonde hair flowing in the wind, and her brown leather knee high heeled boots clap against the pavement. One of the men quickly catches up, grabs her by her denim sleeved arm, and pulls her next to him. Axel drops his items by the door of the inn, and stalks over to them with anger in his eyes.
'No one treats a lady like a piece of meat on my watch' he thought as he was halfway across the street. He could see the poor girl squirming in her black leggings to get out of his grasp, she turns and pulls her right arm back to swing her large black handbag, revealing her yellow tank top under her open denim jacket. Axel is only a few feet away by this point.
"Marisa? Marisa! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Axel exclaims as he grabs the girls right arm with a gentle grip. He then takes her by the hips and pulls her away from the group of men. The girl looks confused, for she was passed between these two men like a toy. Axel kisses her on the cheek, and notices her ears stick up on the top of her head. The girl in his arms blushes and wags her tail in excitement. Axel notices her ample chest from his position, but he looks at the ugly men in front of them instead. "Sorry, but this beautiful young lady is with me"
"Hahaha, you have to be kidding right?" Said the one in front as the other two stepped forward from behind. Axel looks at the three men, sizing them up, they do not look very strong. Just your everyday thugs, nothing special. The girl looks at the men in disgust and bares her teeth at them.
"Yea. Marisa is with me, I thought you-" Axel began, but he was cut off by the sound of the three men laughing. Axel looks at the men in confusion.
"You actually think this...thing, is beautiful?" The man said gesturing towards 'Marisa', she looks down and her ears then lay flat on top of her head. Her tail stopped moving as well, and Axel grips her hip a little tight. The girl looks from his hand to his face.
"If she isn't, then why give her so much trouble?" Axel questions bringing his hand up to her shoulder now, no need to make her feel uncomfortable.
"Faunus chicks are easy that's why" the one standing to the left said. Axel stiffens hearing that, and the girl looks back down at her feet. "Even ugly beasts like her can satisfy us"
"All I see is a beautiful girl" Axel said looking into the girls amber irises, she began to blush as he smiles at her. "And don't let me hear you say another insult about her"
"Pff. The skank isn't worth the trouble anyway" said the man as he began to turn around, but Axel finished the turn for him. Axel punches the man square in the face, the girl looks surprised at the sudden movement. Axel releases the girl and steps toward the three men.
"You three need to be taught a lesson about respect" Axel said cracking his knuckles. The men charge him at the same time. Axel ducks a punch and sways another. He throws an uppercut and sends a man reeling back, and he parries another blow. Axel elbows the second man, and kicks the third. The first man throws a punch at his head, only to be counter punched as Axel hit him with a hook. Axel turned and swayed back to avoid a kick, and then parried another punch. He heard a grunt behind him and sees the girl land a punch in the first guys face. The third guy threw a punch at him, and he ducked under it and throws an uppercut. The girl roundhouse kicks the second guy creeping up on Axel.
The first then grabs Axel from behind, and the third stood up to punch Axel. Axel pulls his legs up and kicks the man in the face then flips the one holding him on the ground. The third stood up and pulled a knife on him, and Axel backs up a step. The man stalks closer as Axel brings his hands up preparing for an attack. The girl then hit the man in the head with her hand bag, and kicked him in the gut when he fell. Axel looked at the girl and laughs. She sighs and looks at Axel.
"Thanks, you sure know how to fight" Axel said looking at the three men on the ground. The girl blushes and rubs the back of her head. Her tail is wagging as she steps toward Axel with her hand extended.
"Yea, but you're obviously better" The girl said. Axel grasps her hand in a firm hand shake, and she has a surprisingly strong grip. "the names Leona, Leona Lunari"
"Axel. Axel Alexanderson" He pulled away his hand and smiles at her, not one of his fake smiles, but a genuine one. Leona smiles with a flushed face. Her ears perk up and her tail sways to and fro. She steps away, turns around and walks away. Axel laughs as he sees that her tail is still wagging. He watches her walk for a sec then turns to look at the three men on the ground. He looks up the street, then down the street.
"Lucky" Axel said as he saw no one besides Leona farther down the street. Axel then rummaged through their pockets. Axel finds that two of them have their wallets filled with lien, well, now they were empty. "Probably stole that money anyway, and stealing is wrong."
Axel laughs at his own irony as he turns and crosses the street. He walks to the door of the Grim Colossus and grabs his bag from the store next to it. He opens the door and steps inside, and his eardrums were assaulted with noise. The bar was packed with people, and the tables were crowded as well. Axel smiles and walks to the far end of the room. He turns and walks towards the stairs, and watches as the hostess tends to the needs of the patrons. Quickly running up the steps so the hostess does not notice him. He looks back to make sure no one was following, releasing the breath he was holding, he walks down the hall. This time when he sees the artwork hanging on the wall he smiles, because it just reminds him of his exciting day. Once he reaches the door to his room, he reaches for the door knob. Slowly twisting it he opens the door quietly. He slowly steps inside and gently closes the door then locks it. He looks and sees that Ray is just as he left him. Axel chuckles softly and walks towards his bed. He sits down and unties his sneakers. Taking off his shoes, he then slides them under the bed. He looks behind him and sees a plate of food on the night stand. Axel hears his stomach growl, then slides over to that side of the bed. He reaches for the plate of food and sees that it has all sorts of food from different meals. Some sausages, pancakes, half a turkey sandwich, and some pasta. Next to the plate he sees a can of soda, and under the can is a note. He picks it up and sees that it's the note he left for Ray in the morning, but Ray left his own message at the bottom.
'Thanks for getting me food, and I know you didn't pay for it. It's ok though, not like we could've paid for it anyway. I found out the ferry leaves tomorrow evening, so I hope you're ready to go. We still need to buy our tickets after all. I'll leave the rest of the important stuff for tomorrow,
Ray'
Axel smiled at the message and looks at Ray who was snoring away as he sleeps. Axel chuckles and begins to eat his meal. He finishes within a couple of minutes and yawns.
'Today sure was a busy day' Axel put the plate down and cracked open the soda. He took a few sips then just sat on his bed looking out the window. The sun was beginning to set as just enjoys his beverage. He finishes the soda and sets the can on the nightstand. He swings his feet onto the bed and lays down. 'That cute girl made it all worth it though'