Playing with Fire (Private: Al Ciendra)

[Ax L Rose]

Characters: Ax L. Rose, Al Ciendra
Status: Private
Warnings: None yet

(This header will receive edits whenever needed. If you notice something is inaccurate about the header, please message me on Discord)

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A bell rang at the top of a glass door looking out onto the street, drawing Ax's eye from the spiral notebook on the table in front of her. She could just barely hear the bell over the dull thrum of the rock music playing in her earphones. She quickly lost interest at the nondescript old man that stepped into the restaurant - he wasn't the person she was expecting, but Al would be there soon. She peered out the glass window beside her, hoping to catch sight of a familiar mask before the lone server came to greet her. Then again, Ax was a couple minutes early...

The Downtown Diner was a pretty nondescript, relaxed diner at a glance. The place smelled like cigarette smoke and bacon, with patrons interspersed throughout a handful of booths, tables, and stools lined up along a counter. There was soft music playing over the speakers, too indistinct to really hear. The televisions set up high on the walls were noisier, but Ax was pretty good at tuning those out by now. She had a harder time tuning out the smell of meat frying on a grill behind the counter. Her stomach growled softly.

Her attentions soon drifted back to the notebook in front of her. It was covered with little doodles. There were numerous paragraphs full of scribbled out words in pen. She tapped her cheek thoughtfully with a metal finger... she couldn't decide if this verse even really needed another line with how she was imagining this part of the song breaking down.

"Evenin'. Getcha somethin' to drink?"

Ax barely heard the middle-aged server looking at her, but she felt the friction of a laminated menu sliding onto the table. She reached up to pull out an earbud and smiled politely, gracefully masking the fact that she didn't hear a word.

"Hi, thanks! Water would be great. I'll be a few before I order - waiting for someone," Ax answered, grateful that it didn't really matter what the waitress said as she replied.

"Sure. I'll grab ya another menu and I'll poke back when you've got company."

Ax gave her a gentle nod. As soon as the waitress stepped away, she slipped her earphone back in and tapped a button on her scroll to begin it over again from the start.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was excited! So excited!
It had been a while since she had seen Ax, she had been on a mission for a while and as such Al had not even gotten the chance to chat with her using their scrolls.
So going out on a date with the pretty bird was such a refreshing thing.
Though she was also just a little nervous, Al had never been on a date, it always sounded very nice, being able to spend some quality and close time with a good friend.
But despite that amazing prospect and knowing that she really did not need to be nervous around her empathetic friend, she would still find herself a little anxious.
Her tendency to choose practicality over beauty when it came to clothing was now biting her, she barely had anything that she herself would call pretty or fancy in her wardrobe and she had no idea what Ax's standard would be regarding these sorts of things, that thought made her nervous.
But! She had tried her best to look good!
Al had changed her usual shorts to a black knee long skirt, her bodysuit was of course also gone, and her legs were covered by some thigh highs, that while keeping her skin covered did show off her well-trained legs, her boots had been replaced by petty blue running shoes, with white laces.
Despite trying, Al had still stuck with her usual red hoodie, she wore a simple white tank top underneath and had left the zipper open, but she was not comfortable showing her heavily scarred skin in public, which is why she was of course still wearing her mask.

Al checked her scroll to see if she was at the right place, she sure was.
She entered the diner, she could see Ax chatting with a waitress, Al went up behind Ax.
"Heya Ax, sorry if I'm a little late."
Al greeted, yet got no response, as her ears perked up to hear that music was playing from Ax earbuds, she sighed and just gently tapped her on the shoulder, feeling cheeky Al leaned over Ax's opposite shoulder.
"How's my favorite musician ?"

[Ax L Rose]

The brief distraction from the waitress had been all it took for a clever wolf to slip in through one of the other entrances to the diner and approach Ax from her flank. She'd just started her song over when she heard a voice she clearly recognized that cut through the music - her scroll dropped to the table with a slight clack, Ax's hand deftly raising to pluck free one of her earbuds. Her upper body swiveled in response to Al's voice right around the time a finger poked the metal plate on her shoulder.

As close as the locale was to the skyway that traveled to and from Beacon, the other patrons of the bar were apparently nonplussed at the masked woman's appearance despite how intense it was. Ax's bright baby blues, on the other hand, seemed to light up the moment she took in sight of the wolf. Those thigh highs were a nice touch... Al's whole look emphasized her femininity, gave her a touch of softness in presentation. The mask was, of course, metal as hell, too - Ax found herself amused with the contrast it created. Al was wholesome and sweet from the neck down, it looked like.

"Hey!" Ax beamed, looking away only briefly to turn off the music player on her scroll before flipping it upside down to give Al her full attention. "Nah, nah, you're good. Right on time, babe," Ax gestured for the firestarter to go ahead and sit opposite from her at the table.

"Didja miss me, Al? I didn't know I was quite your favorite," Ax's lips curved into a somewhat more subdued, sly little smirk at that. Some things never changed - Al had always been kinda fun to playfully tease.

[Al Ciendra]

It was so good to see Ax again, Al was smiling from one ear to another as she saw Ax beaming a bright smile her direction.
Even though she was not quite sure about her calling her babe, but she just guessed that was Ax being casual, so she shrugged it off, though she had a hard time keeping herself from blushing slightly as Ax continued teasing her.
Yet she tried her best to not give her much of a reaction, not that it mattered as Al did recall what Ax's semblance could do.
"It's great seeing you again!
She exclaimed and without any further warning she leaned down and hugged Ax, she had her arms tightly around the bird faunus and her leaned against her shoulder.
"... I did miss you a bunch."
She sighed before moving back and finally taking a seat opposite to Ax.
"So, hope your mission went alright, I didn't hear from you in a long time, so tell me how have you been ?
Al asked, folding her arms on the table and tilting her head, the glasses off her mask reflecting the midday sun with a little glimmer.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax could tell from Al's body language when the hug was coming. She had never been the biggest fan of sudden touch, but... eh, what was the harm? She read Al's intent and raised her arms - while her raised eyebrows hinted at a bit of surprise, Ax's shoulders seemed to relax into the hug. It was... actually kind of nice. Either Al just gave really good hugs, or Ax was more touch-starved than she realized.

"M' glad someone did," Ax said with a hint of a chuckle, her arms giving the wolf faunus a cautious yet firm little squeeze around her middle. Her cool blue eyes were alight with good cheer as Al soon pulled away to take her seat across from her. The moment she did, Ax was already pocketing her scroll and leaning forward with interest, her elbows planting on the table.

"Eh, you know how it is... scroll traffic gets monitored and cracked down on in sensitive contexts. You'll see for yourself someday when you get put on a long-term assignment," Ax smiled a bit.

"And I ah...I missed you too," Ax said after a moment. She managed to keep a straight face, but she instantly internally cringed at her own hesitation. Admitting she missed people, showing an earnest desire to care and be cared about... these were not always easy things for the emotive rocker-bird to do. But with a warm reception like the one Al gave her, Ax wanted to show her appreciation!

[Al Ciendra]

Al may not be a mind reader, but Ax seemed to be apprehensive, she frowned under her mask as she leaned back.
Guess there were things the flirtatious and confident bird was bad at dealing with too, it was reassuring to know that Ax had her flaws too.
"Hm, that's sure to be interesting...man, I just realized I've never been on so much as a small assignment yet, the only thing close was my teacher sending me to fight some Grimm in the forest, with his supervision of course. Couldn't let a 14-year-old get killed." She chuckled a little, still looking at Ax.
She tilted her head again, scratching her chin.
"What did you do on your mission anyway ?"
Al asked as she waved over the waitress, she was pretty thirsty already, well she had not really eaten or drank anything today, it would be kind of rude to go to a dinner date with a full stomach.
"Heya, could I have a coffee, latte please." Al butchered that pronunciation, but this was the only kind of coffee that she actually liked, she preferred sugary drinks, but she wanted to give it a try and Ax seemed to like this place, plus she did not have any better suggestions herself so...yeah.
As the waitress was writing down her order Al continued to look at Ax, man, that was right, she was on a date, with Ax, two weeks ago she would be a nervous wreck, with her heart going in circles because she was alone with her first big academy crush, but now she was just happy to spend time with Ax, a friend, how was she gonna break the news to her that she had a boyfriend and that it was Bartok, she wasn't even sure if Ax liked him.
"AAAAAAH! Why do relationships have to be so hard ?!."

[Ax L Rose]

"Really?" Ax seemed surprised at first, but then she thought about it.

"Yeah... when you're a first-year, it was tough to get good assignments. The faculty baby you kids more - sucks having to get special permission to take on more dangerous jobs..." she nodded after a moment, only to pause mid-thought as the waitress stepped over again. The woman was a bit tactiturn with how she took Al's order - perhaps intimidated by her mask - but she was at least not outright rude. Ax took the chance to place a proper order for herself finally too.

"Mmh, some real food sounds good!" Ax chimed. She'd been watching her calories lately, but a savory, greasy burger with smokey bacon and melty cheese sounded too good to pass up on... her stomach growled quietly.

"I'll take... what's it called again?" Ax paused to peer down at the menu and doublecheck it. "The Blackstone Burger. Can I get a side of peanut butter with it?"

She turned her attentions back to Al as the server collected Ax's menu. She left an extra copy in case Al decided she wanted food with her beverage later. Ax smiled politely over at the waitress even as she stepped away. Then a weird feeling started to register somewhere in the back of her mind, drawing her eyes back to Al. She made a point not to seem concerned - it could've been nothing, after all. Maybe a residual emotion from some other patron in the diner.

"Sorry, what'd you just ask me?" Ax asked.

[Al Ciendra]

"Yeah, I suppose the teachers don't think I'd be up for the task, and honestly I can't blame em, I really need to work on my teamwork skills. I might hurt my team before any Grimm does if I don't watch my flames"
She played it off with a laugh, yet the way she sank her head made it quite obvious that it did bother her.

Al perked up as Ax mentioned food, that did indeed sound VERY good.
She hurriedly looked over the menu and luckily read something that did interest her immediately.
"I'll take the Volcano Burger."
She exclaimed towards the waitress, who had already walked partially away and looked at the masked girl with a look of bewilderment, but did write down Al's order.
"Coffee with a burger, not something I'll eat every day."

Al just waved it off, it wasn't super important after all, heck, maybe what Ax did was "classified" anyway.
"It's not important, that's not meant in the passive-aggressive way, on second thought I just don't think I wanna talk about it."
She shook her head, just looking at Ax pretty face again, man, if she wasn't preoccupied with her own thoughts at the moment she probably would have gotten lost in those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
"Instead, let's talk about what you and me should do with our day ?"
She tilted her head a little.
"Unless you want to sit here and chat ? I'm 100% happy with that too'."