Carnival of rust [Dante]

The rain fell in a torrent, blanketing the city of Los Angeles coldly. Michael watched the water fall, strange eyes, silver in color and flecked with a neon green looking heavenward. Something about them was different though, hollow in a way and perhaps even dead, though there was still a sort of luminescence about them, even if it were painfully somber. A trail of smoke rose from the cigarette dangling loosely from his mouth, curling ever so lightly before fading away into the open air. The cemetery was empty, save for the multiple headstones that dotted it, though he stood on a plot personally garnered through, multiple connections; didn’t need to have him lying next to the common rabble. The rain ran down his face in small streams, down the bridge of his nose and dropping off at his chin; wetting and flattening his dark brown hair. The silver orbs would fall down upon the headstone, eyelids fluttering closed for a moment before opening, tongue dancing nervously over his lips.

His clothes were beginning to become drenched, clinging to his body like a second skin: a simple white polo shirt and light pink shorts, nothing really special but Michael found them comfortable. With a flick of the finger, Michael watched the spiraling red ashes fall to the ground, disappearing instantly. A sort of dizziness ran through him, blurring vision and nearly forcing him to his knees, hand reaching out and steadying himself on the headstone, strong marble capable of holding him. It was within this moment that he swore he heard a voice mutter “Because of you” and if that were the case, Michael would not contest it. Shael was dead because of his weakness, but it seemed that he was always too weak when it really counted.

His eyes would scan over the letters, articulate as they were, ones that spoke of the human name that he had taken on. He had friends, and they would mourn his passing as well, yet he did not quite care about their mourning; they were mostly just humans. With that done, Michael would turn and walk away, before he found himself overcome by emotions, by more weakness. The cigarette found itself being tossed aside, landing safely within a trash bin on the fringe of the cemetery, rain only seeming to grow stronger, as if fueled by the ill feelings within Michael. Part of him wanted to forget everything, yet he knew that could not happen, not now anyway. People would mill around him, not really giving the diminutive ethereal a second thought, just as he did not give them a second glance. He was heading for a bar, or rather one that he had heard about once or twice, one that his parents had frequented before.

Slipping through the front door would be easy, considering Michael’s connections a convincing and legitimate fake id would be easy enough to ascertain, and so that was what he had; along with a credit card to deal with any purchases he might need to do. Dealing with the moisture saturating his clothing was all a matter of suffusing ethereal energy through them, and forcing the water out, leaving them acceptably dry. Some manner of song was paying, but Michael was barely aware of it, beyond a low thrumming that played itself out at the back of his mind. The young male would lead himself to the bar, on autopilot as he ordered what he assumed was beer, a rather tasteless and boring human drink. Of course he was not expecting this place to carry Seal and that meant that he would have to drink the whole damn joint before even beginning to feel a buzz, or so Michael estimated. The dingy brown colored bottle was passed to him, and Michael slowly nursed down the vile fluid, turning to watch the humans do what they did best.

He felt like indulging within his titan heritage, to feed slowly on the radiant Nether that all mortal beings held, that would give him the buzz he seeked.

The city of angels had just gotten itself a demon, okay half of one. Why Dante was in Los Angeles he wasn't really sure though he did recall it involving a vessel with a large number of lonely people and he was just what they needed. Well now that he was in this very wet city Dante figured he might as well get a drink and figure out what it was like on yet another continent. Quickly however he found that the money he had last stolen did not work where he was, it was moments like this he missed all the money being made from metal.

Dante had learned from his albeit brief time back on this plane of reality is that if you did not have money no one would let you do anything and this was once again a problem for Dante. This meant he was either going to have to steal some or earn some and a bar would still be a great place to start. Walking towards the first bar in sight he found himself in front of a rather brawny bouncer. A quick bit of flirting combined with his demon charms and he found himself in the bar despite his lacking of an I.D. Walking in Dante must have been a bit of a sight. His clothes still had soil left over from the ship and its crew, his hair along with everything else was soaked which only made his black horns stick out further and his usual devil-may-care attitude was clearly showing all over his face. Grabbing the bouncer's ass as he walked past he came in looking at what he could possibly do to push this bar over the edge.

The bartender gave Michael a strange look, something about his youthful appearance setting off some kind of alarm but the fact that he was in there anyway was enough of a reason to ignore that. The young ethereal looked them dead in the eyes, smirked and took a deep swig of the beer gripped within his hand. They would give him an even stranger look, but go about their business, not really giving him a second thought. Done with silently taunting the bartender, Michael swiveled upon the bar stool, and glanced over the seemingly inebriated humans that milled about, some dancing and others just drinking. A small, bitter smirk formed upon his lips as he took another swig of the drink, only finding himself annoyed by the taste of the drink. There was one however that caught his interest, if only because it was obvious they were not human.

Yet Michael found himself wondered what they were, and why they would be wasting their time within this dump. Granted, he was curious of anything that was not human, but that was mostly racist tendencies springing up. Of course the ethereal could move to investigate, but it was better to do so from afar first, and then move in. From the way that he walked, one could ascertain that he was a confident individual, even with how wet and dirty his clothing looked; walk alone telling him that. A certain carefree attitude was portrayed upon his face, and a fire within the eyes, all of this information gathered within a few seconds. Superhuman intellect had its perks and this was one of them, as well as many other things. Swirling around, Michael ordered something stronger, of course paying before making up his mind to investigate.

Standing up and moving to a seat closer to where the demon was, Michael plopped down, cocked an eyebrow ever so slightly and spoke to catch his attention. ”So, what brings you to a mundane place like this?”

Walking to where he would have the best of view of the whole bar Dante sat looking at the crowd of drunken and drinking humans looking for his mark. With the drinking dancing and feigned security of the bouncer at the door they weren't keeping close eyes on their money which Dante had full intention to take for himself. Watching them dance and drink the way a lion watches a herd of zebra he waited for one to take his attention for the one he was to pick, either up or their pocket not yet determined. Anyone could draw his attention, a sight, a smell, just the right sound, or the person who looked like they should still be in highschool giving him a cheesy pick-up line.

"Bad travel agent." What he was sure was the result of a fake I.D. had seemed to have taken an interest to him, why the interest might be fun though Dante was hardly sure. Allowing his gaze to drift between the crowds and the young male he continued the conversation. "And what brings you to this bar, it looks like someone kicked your dog." Dante could never sense the supernatural around him, not that it ever really mattered to him if it wanted to be known it would be known.

”Bad travel agent? You have my sympathies.” Michael noted coyly, taking another swig of the bitter drink held within his hand, letting a low hum escape from his lips as he examined the inhuman being. They were obviously not human, and the strange horns peering from his hair ever showed that, not that he expected any of the blind humans to notice them. The statement about someone kicking his dog however was more true than this thing realized, but he would not let the bitterness slip through too much. Michael inhaled deeply, and then sighed before taking another swig. ”You could say that’s it but I was just coming here to get….plastered.” He noted with a wry smirk, trying to play cool and doing mostly well. If there was one thing that Mike was good at, it was acting. He could be a damn good actor if he put his mind to it, but playing in human movies held no appeal to him. ”Care to join me?” This was not a pick up line in the least, but anything could be taken as such. ”I hear getting drunk with others is…more fun.”

That hum, that damn hum was just what was needed to draw Dante's full attention towards this young male before him. "You know if you need to find something to do with those lips I can come up with a thing or two." A suggestive grin looked like it was about to cut Dante's face in half as he turned and fully faced the young male. He was never concerned with what humans perceived about him, some called him a meta and those who had the guts to pick a fight with him about it quickly learned their place. He listened as the young male took another swig of his beer which he did not seem to enjoy as much as he should as he explained that he was there to get plastered and that he had heard it was better to do it with others.

"Look I don't know what your friends in gym class told you but beer is far from the choice if one wants to get as you called it 'plastered.' Secondly while getting drunk can be enjoyable with others it is best done with friends or someone you would like to slide into bed with." Dante chuckled slightly at the whole situation, he was giving drinking advice to some kid. "Also while I am more than happy to fall within either category as needed you are going to have to be paying or wait for a second while I rip someone off of their unneeded cash."

Regardless of who that was at the moment, Michael found himself slightly red, if only due to his inexperience when it came to flirtation. Most kids on the isle were too intimidated by Michael to really consider him in any way other than their leader of sorts, and he found most humans only worth being puppets, so that left him with little in the way of experience. He only really knew of how relationships worked from his dads, and they were not the best models. The strange being continued to talk, and push Michael into unfamiliar territory. Nothing about where this was going was a place that he understood.

”So what does that make you? A friend or the latter?” He would question, still taking another swig of the drink, even though he knew it would do nothing for him. ”As for paying, I think I could do that. Not like I’m short on cash at the moment.” He noted with the usual smirk. ”It all depends on what you want.” If he were flirting or not could be told, though Michael did not think he was; yet he had no idea how things could be misconstrued.

Dante saw the young male blush from his suggestive comments. Aw, am I the first to tickle your fancy? At this point the half-demon couldn't help but dial up his demon charm, if the young male found Dante attractive he would find himself relaxing and less concerned with rules as he might normally be. Deciding to point out that he noticed the blush without freaking the young male out he licked the pad of his thumb. "You seem to have a little something on your cheek there." He then rubbed his thumb against the blush on the young man's cheek feeling the warmth of his blush. "Nope guess that's just you." Another grin came across Dante's face.

When asked whether Dante was a friend or a potential lover his grin only got wider. "That would depend on you and just how drunk we get." Dante while still having most of a human physiology could consume massive quantities of alcohol due to his other heritage before getting drunk, however that did still make it possible. Once the young male agreed to pay Dante finally could have his drink, spinning around so fast that a small air current was made Dante got a hold of the bartender's attention. "Give me a bottle, something with a fire hazard label!" The bartender rolled his eyes but gave him a bottle of 151 and two shot glasses. Dante now beginning to truly enjoy himself decided to whisper into the young male's ear. "Be really good and I might just make you my cup."

The moist thumb brushed along his cheek did nothing to help with the blushing, as it seemed to grow a shade darker and Michael found himself turning away, as if trying to hide it. It was strange, being the one to act shy like a human maiden, something that would usually anger him. He would have normally lashed out in some way, or made a remark that was an attempt to chase the male away, yet nothing came to mind. Was this something the male was doing, or were his own hormones finally just deciding to mess with him more than ever?

His tongue danced nervously over his lips, Michael turning back to the male with the bluish mostly under control, yet something about his perception of the male had changed. ”It would take a lot to get me drunk, probably more than this bar has to offer.” That much was true, considering his bloods potent mix of both ether and trace amounts of nether. Being that both races had quite the resistance to alcohol separately, made his own quite formidable. This male would ask for a bottle, and Michael would foot the bill.

”Well before you considers using me as your…cup. Mind if I ask your name?” he ventured to ask, resting one arm on the bar and finishing off his first drink, placing the empty lass bottle on the bar with a low thud.

Dante could eat this whole thing up with a spoon, heck on some metaphysical level he probably was. He normally would press himself closer when one turned away from him but he decided to go easy on the young male, he would be dealing enough with his own hormones and from what seemed to be his first interaction with a interested party. Dante watched the young male turn back to him slightly less red and licking his lips out of nervousness, this in turn caused Dante to wonder what they would feel like on his lips. Dante nodded as the young male flat out told him of his massive drinking tolerance which he nodded to slightly surprised, something minorly odd about that. "Well there is always bar hopping or other more... vigorous actives to enjoy."

Dante seems a tad disappointed when the young male missed the veiled hint towards body-shots but he knew that the male seemed to be in his first hormone charged encounter and might not know the references being suggested to him. Then the young male asked for his name, a reasonable request. "Certainly you can ask, and I will even give it to you." Dante poured up two shots of the strong liquor and put one in front of each of them, time to test the claims of tolerance. "My name is Dante, no last name. And what should I call you other than 'gorgeous?'"

Michael could fathom what vigorous activities the male was referring to, yet he did not really consider them a viable option personally. Something however told him that he was making…quite the fool of himself, and that would do no good, Michael was not the type to normally do that. It was strange, not being the one in control. ”Bar hopping might be a…viable option.” He would not admit to a slight interest in what one would call more vigorous activities, if only to avoid sounding more ignorant. Instead he would listen for the males name and then make sure to categorize it, watching over every single movement that he made as if trying to figure him out.

”Dante eh? Interesting name you’ve got there, mines Michael, though some call me Mike.” He explained, taking the shot and downing it in one go. The idea of being called gorgeous was both a strange an appealing one, but he could not show his preference for such a pet name; considering his own vain pride. The taste of the drink was strong, and his face contorted into a sort of scowl for a second before rectifying itself, though he found himself the same as before he drunk it. ”Strong stuff.” He noted with a smirk.

The said the barhopping might be an option and was walking around the alternative, and here Dante thought that he liked him. "Well before we can drink the next place down we are going to have to drink this one and we might as well start with this bottle." Almost as quickly as the shot glasses were empty Dante refilled them, no sense in wasting time if both of them would require multiple bars to get themselves sloshed.

With the giving of his own name Dante learned the young males. Micheal, name after the archangel with the flaming sword, Dante mused to himself if he could get Micheal to take a flaming drink. Watching the Micheal drink and make a face Dante grinned. "It can be hard to get much stronger and I find it fascinating that it can burn with an invisible fire." He quickly put down another shot, enjoying the flavor. "Now as for your name I think I will go with Micheal, Mike sounds like a little boy." Dante lightly took hold of Micheal's chin, not hard enough that he couldn't pull away if he wanted to but enough he knew he was being held. He moved his head while pulling Micheal so that they were just as small distance apart, eyes looking into eyes and lips close enough you could feel breath. "And you not a little boy... are you?

It was true, the drink had a certain burning feeling as it slid down his throat, Michael slightly enjoying the feel of it as he considered taking another swig. The empty shot glasses would find themselves already refilled, and so Michael would find himself taking another shot, feeling the sensation once again. Part of his mind was wondering how many times he would have to do this before the alcohol took any effect and the mental total was around……maybe a million times or more. That would take quite a while, though he may have been exaggerating things exponentially. The note of saying that Mike sounded like a little boy was not too far off, but that was more of a nickname that his family gave him, and most of them knew him since he was a little boy.

He had a sly remark to offer, but the male next to him grabbed ahold of his chin and kind of pulled his head forwards until their faces were only a few inches apart. The closeness was strange, something about it alien, and yet he knew the feeling that accompanied this. ”I know a few people that would say otherwise, but I am not.” Sure he may be short, and comparitivly young even by human standards, but he was by no means a little boy. Slowly pulling back from the awkward situation now with a slightly redder face than before, Michael took another shot and sighed.

Dante had hoped for Micheal's response but not his physical reaction, he intention had been to plant one on Micheal but instead he pulled out of Dante's grasp before he had a chance. Deciding to make the best of it anyway he pressed his lips to Micheal's cheek, he could feel the warmth from the young man's blush and it made him smile into the kiss. "Glad to hear it." With that suggestive whisper Dante moved back to have another shot of liquor reveling in its taste. He couldn't help but find himself borderline tormenting the young man, playing with his hormones and pushing just a little bit further to see how Micheal liked it.

He turned to see the bartender and gauge his reaction, while there was some odd flitting emotion in his eyes (most likely concern for Micheal) he seem to not be speaking up which was just fine for Dante. Dante turned back to Micheal seeing how he was reacting to getting a peck on the cheek, considering that simple flirting was getting him hot and bothered Dante wanted to make sure he didn't just give him a heart attack.

Even if he pulled back from the confusing situation, Michael still found himself pulled into another one, lips pressed against his check and perhaps confusing the ethereal slightly; though he had dealt with the gesture before. The difference was that it was usually someone like his dad doing so, taking away any sort of strangeness from it, yet this guy was…a stranger. With that small amount of torment done, the half-demon seemed to return to his drinking, Michael doing the same as he poured himself another shot and let his mind run over this. His phone would vibrate and Michael would roll his eyes, quickly checking the text shot his way and rolling his eyes, before smirking.

It seemed Jordan felt like bothering him this evening, not that he really minded it at this point. The text itself was not really spelt correctly, yet he did not really nitpick that, considering that it was easy enough to discern, ethereal male typing a reply before turning back to his drink and downing the shot.  Michael turned to the bartender for a moment, who was giving him some kind of sympathetic look before returning to their duty.  He then turned back to the demon, the blush having not worn off as he gave the best smirk that he could given how his emotions were misbehaving.”So, are the horns real or some kind of weird body modification?”