AN/ Sorry for such a long wait everyone, I've been preoccupied and stuff. I really appreciate all of the feedback alerts and hits. I definately didn't think Ahz would get this much traffic :) I'm doing my best and hopefully in at least a week i'll have the next piece up. Umm, I really need to get a weekly planner haha :3
Part IV
The stagnant air hadn't changed as the week passed by, the same off and on routine of underhanded dealings moved as they always had, the past 150 years was a never ending cycle of viscous boredom to the barkeep. Several times he was put under the weight of thinking of the smoothskin, but not long after he was pestered by a few patrons who couldn't keep their lips sealed from the incessant flapping. They would not talk about the 9th Circle, no they would talk of Carol's place, and the demon that it harbored. That damned Greta, an old flame. Well not really, it was more of an arranged marriage. His parent's wanted to have a laugh, but as with much else, it was Ahzrukhal who had the last laugh.
He met Greta and he had a quick fling with the girl, taking all that she would give, and left her standing at the alter looking like a complete fool. It wasn't something he looked at proudly these days, but at the time it was the perfect idea. And even so, he wouldn't give up that time for all the Caps in D.C. The barkeep moved back and forth through the motions, avoiding too much contact with the other Ghouls, who seemed to be quite content with their yammering. Ahzrukhal pulled up the 'Back in 10' sign and left it on the counter, locking eyes with the menacingly tall ghoul across the room who nodded in response. Ahzrukhal left his place of business and headed for the outside to stand near the skull doorway and there she was.
A snarky glare trapped permanently on her face as she looked up with a cigarette between her ruined lips. The barkeep snorted as he pulled a cigar from his suit jacket's pocket, resting it tightly in his ruined lips. He lit it up and continued out the doors to sit on the stoop of the outside of the museum, his usual spot obviously taken by the bane of his existance. Well, one of them at least, always women too. He took a deep hit from the cigar as he reached the doors, the scent of radiation purged in the breeze as he took a seat, staring into the clouds, looking back on his past once more.
Greta used to be a pretty thing, curly hair reaching just below her shoulders, her eyes a blissful blue, her skin always seemed to be pink as if she'd seen something a bit risque. When he first saw her, all those years ago, he had a guttural feeling, distress, need and hate. As if she never wanted to be wherever she was. Making her appear angry at most times. Their introduction dinner, he got her name, using all of the most polite skills and quips he could muster. She fell for it hook line and sinker. He was quite a gentleman when he had skin, a ladies man. Yet there was never a woman that could actually satisfy his needs, his wants goals and aspirations. And Greta was definately not an exception. He used her up, and threw her away just as he had done so many times before with the rest.
Ahzrukhal took another hit off of his grade A cigar, his face clouded in the smoke as he exhaled the fine dust. After the War, after his Ghoulification, he made his way to the only place he could think of, and he remained to this day. She came in, a month or two after, peeling away, wisps of hair falling at a whim. She saw him and looked away in a biting anger, stomping off to what used to be the ladies restroom. Right now, Ahzrukhal laughed at the memory. That expression was the turning point of their Post War relationship. By the defining glare she wore, he could tell anyone the kind of mood she was in. And he was always, spot on.
Ahzrukhal let his mind drift into the distance, the hulking figures of super mutants wandering just in the distance. Lorelei.. that smoothskin must be a pretty penny away from here, no doubt being the menacing rascal she is. His thin, ruined lips upturned only for a moment as he thought of her evil state, running rampant through various places, marauding and pillaging on a whim. It was on her last trip, they learned that she had taken out the Brotherhood of Steel Citadel with an Airstrike. She said she'd grown quite tired of their bothersome chores, telling her that she absolutely had to, she had no say for denying anything they asked. She showed them exactly how she could deny their petty chores. This earned a husky giggle from Ahzrukhal as he extinguished his cigar, standing to his feet, flicking the but out into the nearby pot that would have held a beautiful Ficus.
These Pre War memories had become quite adamant about showing lately. The barkeep moved inside, Greta already gone as he walked into the main corridor, entering the next room under the skull, he quickly made his way upstairs before becoming the victim of a staring audience. His paranoia began kicking in as he entered the bar, making his way behind the counter, taking a moment to himself he gathered his mind. Bringing it back to the present, to now. He pulled the break sign away and went about his business.
The air was a brisk temperature of 68, well below the usual. She moved silently across the cemetary, on her way to her local safehouse at the top of the hill in Arlington. The moon shown just overhead as she passed by the haunting pre-war markers, entering the house she had a gun shoved into her mouth. "Ahh, you.." She looked over the man, Junders Plunkett. A good friend of hers. He holstered his weapon and she slugged him in the arm. "You bitch, don't shove shit like that at me." She growled, a mistake he obviously regretted now. "Sorry sorry, them Regulators are after me you know.." He replied, heading towards the stairs to the basement, Lorelei just behind him.
"Oh? If I take care of that, what would you be willing to do for me?" She asked, an obvious seductive tone, teasing even. "O-oh. Well, depends on what you need." He replied, taking his step off the stairs, moving across the room, taking a seat on his bed, looking over her figure. "Ahh, well, i'm looking into a few things for a friend of mine.. I can't give you the exact details, but I want some help.. you willing?" She took a seat beside him, behind half-lidded eyes, he couldn't even begin to read the extent of her thoughts. He didn't dare cross the Devil in Disguise. "Of course. You know i'm up for it all." She smiled gently and granted him a kiss on the cheek before taking her leave. She left the small house on the hill in the dust as she made her way north.