Something More Familiar (Private)

[Ax L Rose]

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



The rhythm of the city enveloped her as she rode atop her monstrous motorcycle - the fearsome Tomahawk. The roar of the machine was accompanied by the sound of heavy rock music playing over the speakers as Ax blazed through the streets, deftly dodging pedestrians, slow drivers, obstacles and the notice of law enforcement with practiced ease. She knew these streets well by now, but that didn't change how strong it felt to be here again.

Nostalgia, all around her. These streets had scarcely changed in the year since she'd been away. It felt different, though, somehow... though she realized as she reached her destination that maybe it was herself that'd done the most changing.

Everashen Street was a good place for a pickup - it was nice and close to some of the main public transit in the city, such as the airship landing that traveled to-and-from the academy. Clad in her usual ensemble, the huntress definitely drew eyes as her machine rolled up along the curb near the fountain. This was the spot. She rested a foot on the pavement, lowered the volume of her speakers, and gave her surroundings a quick look around, looking for a particular, familiar mask...

She'd made really good time. Maybe Al wasn't here yet. She lazily pulled her scroll from her pocket and thumbed through her playlist. She wasn't in a particular rush... she was sure her old friend would show up soon.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was just sitting on the airship, dangling her legs back and forth as she hummed a happy tune, it had been a while since she talked to Ax, the ex beacon student had graduated a while ago, so she had been super busy with huntsman life, which did sound exciting, Al's goal herself was to become a huntress after all, so she was double excited, to see her friend again and to ask her all about how living as a huntress had been so far, but one after another, first she had to get there.
And by her luck the airship was late, Al sighed as she looked at the clock and realized this, she was not gonna let down Ax on their first time seeing each other again.
As the airship touched down and Al had gone a few steps away from a crowd, she straightened her clothes, Al was just in her usual casual clothes, a red hoodie replacing her cloak, no armor besides her gloves, boosts and mask and her normal shorts to round it all off, comfy and practical, especially practical for what Al was going to do now.

This was probably breaking some rule, but as long as she was careful it should be okay, right ?
Al turned left and right, no one was close enough to get hurt.
So with a roar of fury her flames ignited Al blasted off into the air, making it to the nearby rooftops, she had gotten strangely used to these, thanks to various chases and one or another parkour exercise.
She would dash across them, this was of course a giant shortcut.

As Al reached Everashen street she looked down from the top and could quickly spot Ax, the pink and blue bird gal really stood out, much like her fancy motorcycle.
Al planted her feet, her flames ready smoldering around her hands and feet as she leapt off the roof and with a burst of fire and pressure launched herself toward Ax.
She landed about 10 feet from her, dulling the impact with a practiced roll before she came to a stop, hopping upward to then stand in front of her pal.
"Yo!"
Al greeted casually, with a short wave, doing her best to keep her entrance cool, especially as the few surrounding citizens stared at her, most of them quickly moving on, writing it off as just another lunatic huntsman showing off.
As the left Al was quick to let her excitement kick in, as she lunged at Ax for a hug.
"Ax, I missed you!"
The wolf exclaimed as she squeezed Ax and lifted her off the ground a little, before putting her back down and letting go.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax was effortless to spot indeed - the world felt animated around her. A flock of students passed by her, all falling into rhythm with the beat of the song playing over her speakers. She nodded her head to the song, even as she skimmed through her playlist to put together a little queue. They'd need some ambience on the way to wherever they were going (she'd already forgotten).

"You have no ends,
That I can see...
After the bends,
You buried maybe something more familiar..."

The singer of the song went quiet, and the first beat of rest after the guitar-riff that followed caused Ax to startle just a bit as none other than Al - the masked huntress-to-be that she was here to pick up - landed just a few meters away and tumbled gracefully right into Ax's personal bubble.

Surprise showed on Ax's face for only a moment, before she grinned and closed the rest of the distance herself rewarding Al for her closeness with a big crushing counter-hug that'd leverage her height to all but lift Al an inch or two off the ground.

"Heh-heh... hey Al. Missed you too," she eased up a bit and let Al down gently.

"What've you been up to? Gettin' into much trouble lately?" She grinned a bit, her heel bouncing subtly to the beat of the song.

[Al Ciendra]

Being lifted up from the ground when this was what Al had intended to do to Ax was a bit of a surprise, a small "Eep!" escaped the masked wolf, followed by happy giggling as she held Ax just a bit tighter before being let down, she was kinda sad Ax didn't keep hugging her, but thinking about it she wasn't even sure how fond her feathery friend was of public displays of affection...maybe she should have thought of that sooner, but Ax seemed cool with it so she didn't spend any more time on it.

The first question aimed at her sparked Al to chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Me, starting trouble ? Well I still love getting into fights, most of the student body got their ass kicked by yours truly, or well, I tried to at least. Plus messing with Mr Copperfield is still fun."
Al shrugged nonchalantly, it was nothing Ax didn't know of already, Al had always been upfront about her love of fighting and her competitive nature.
"So yeah, guess trouble and I get along pretty well."
She chuckled, before then tilting her head and leaning toward Ax a little.
"How have you been, what's brought you back to Vale ?"
Al asked, locking her hands behind her head and leaning back a little as she tried to play it cool, there were still a couple of hundred more questions burning at the back of her mind, but she and Ax had a bunch of time together, more than enough time to ask Ax all the questions she could, speaking of time, she really hoped Ax would like the pizza place she had recommended, in truth Al still wasn't very familiar with Vale, she was really just to invested in her time at Beacon...maybe Ax could fix that considering she wasn't at Beacon anymore ?
Perhaps, for now, Al was refocusing all her attention back on her pal, the black glasses of her mask fixated on the bird faunus.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax didn't seem perturbed in the slightest - she was in her absolute groove. The world around her seemed to dance to the beat of that song playing on the speakers - the steps of passersby, the subtle flickering of lights, the natural rhythm of the streets... she was cool and composed even as her eyes flashed with a hint of something like amusement, her lips curving into a smirk as Al spoke.

"Someone's gotta keep 'im on his toes. And nice, nice," she raised her hands, clapping softly, metal from a gauntlet plinking against the steel of her cybernetic fingers.

"Gotta love a hot streak," she grinned a bit, cocking her hips and planting a hand on her waist.

"I'll give you the full run-down after we hit this pizza place up. You like to go fast, don't you?" She leaned over and planted a hand on the handlebar of her glorious silvery motorbike-thing.

"Hop on, n' hold on to me tight," she said, tossing her hair back, putting on a pair of sunglasses, and straddling the seat of the Tomahawk. She seemed to expect Al to simply get on and cling to Ax as they rode - and evidently, Ax knew where they were going, judging from the little display that showed her destination coordinates.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was more than happy with the fact that Ax seemed to approve of her shenanigans, but while Al wasn't one for music, she probably didn't have one rhythmical bone in her body, she did also notice how in tune Ax seemed to be with everything around her, it was kind of infectious as Al found that her bobbing back and forth on her feet had subconsciously adjusted itself to the beat that Ax gave of...was this her friend's semblance at work ?

Questions for later, just as Ax said she'd simply wait until they made it to the pizza place, not that she'd have to wait long, by the looks of Ax motorcycle... Al wondered if she could outrace it with her semblance.
Ax planted herself on the front seat, leaving Al plenty of space behind her, to which Al had to collect herself for just a second, it had been a while since she had ridden a motorcycle, while she liked going fast being at the mercy of this machine's performance and the drivers did feel just a little scary, but it was Ax and Ax's bike, she was gonna be fine!

With a quick leap, Al was right behind Ax and with just a second of hesitation hugged Ax around her waist, yay for more hugs! Not that she really felt the need to hold on tight, if anything would go wrong Al could just fly.
"Yeah, let's get rolling!"

[Ax L Rose]

The Tomahawk was a beastial thing wrought of steel and dust - sleek, shiny and chrome. It roared like a monster as she revved the engine a few times to the rhythm of the song, causing a few folks nearby to jump and stare as Al settled in behind Ax and wrapped her arms around the driver's slender waist.

With Al's words, the the rubber tires began to spin. The tires spun and they sped off with a kick - Ax let out a giddy laugh as the machine ripped forth, the world quickly speeding up around them. Streetlamps seemed to flicker on in as they flew past to the tempo of her motorcycle as they cut through the lanes of the great City of Vale at a breakneck speed that certainly wasn't legal. The early evening air was a cool gale at this speed, but the Tomahawk itself, as well as Ax herself, seemed to radiate warmth.

Ax's ability to navigate with the big bulky bike was something that had to be seen to believed; This thing didn't look built for sharp turns in the slightest - it was practically an engine block suspended in a heavy metal chassis, though the tires seemed to spark as they reached Ax's preferred cruising speed, anchoring them to the road and keeping this machine from gaining lift. Going this fast was a rush - Ax never seemed to get tired of it.

She swerved around slow cars to the tune of low riffs, took corners like a cyborg, and managed to somehow dodge obstacles along the way in time with the music, like the streets bent to the will of the beat. As a result of Ax's optimized path through the streets, they arrived at the pizza place in what felt like seconds. She rolled up along the road to park and let the bike come to a slow, steady stop, tilting her head down a bit to take in her surroundings from over the top edge of her sunglasses.

"This the place?" she called out over the engine. The song on the speakers came to an end, only for another to start up, though Ax quickly turned the music down so she could hear Al's reply, just to confirm her nav console hadn't glitched again. The damn thing had been on the fritz lately.

[Al Ciendra]

THIS WAS NOT FINE!

Well at first it was, the humming of the engine and the drive getting started had Al looking excited to get started, doing her best to peak over or around the driver.
This was going at about the same speed as her flight when she was pushing it, so Al was pretty calm, the wind going by her and Ax presence were really nice too, a good mix of cool and... Ax, Al, couldn't feel the warmth due to the fiery wolf being much warmer herself.

Yet as they finally hit the road and the bulky machine started taking turns, Al felt nervous, why was Ax doing them so close ?
The first time Ax weaved between a car had Al flinch back, she was used to the speed, that was fine, but unlike her flight EVERYTHING was just way too close for comfort.

As Al was clutching onto Ax she could however feel something, once again, the beat...the way Ax steered the bike, the obstacles that came her way, it all followed a rhythm, Al was subconsciously tapping her foot to the beat.
Al began to relax, she saw how confident Ax looked and how she so far guided them through without issue.
Her grip loosened and Al rose up again from having leaned her head against Ax shoulders.
And she began smiling, this may not have been her own-favored way of transport, but Ax had somehow put her at ease and even started enjoying this.
Al even cheekily waved back at some of the annoyed pedestrians, as she could not help herself but cackle.

Al hopped off the bike as they found their destination, it was a comfy looking place, the bottom floor held what obviously looked like a restaurant, a single large window led inside into a rustic style pizzeria, most things weremade of fine wood, except the kitchen area behind the counter, which was visible from the entrance being made of stone, including the stone oven, letting customers observe the whole process of pizza making.
"Yeah, this is the place! Cozy ain't it ?"
Al said as she fixed her clothes a little, Al waited on Ax before she went inside, only a few other customers were visible, two men were in the kitchen, one barman and a waitress were also working away.
The people inside raised their eyes in surprise and slight worry, as the two oddities entered, only the barman seemed relatively calm about the masked faunus girl and her vibrant companion, giving a relaxed nod to Al who waved at him, she had only been here once before but as usual her lack of a face was easy to recall.

Al took a seat in a corner further away from the other customers, putting her elbows on the table and propping her head up with her hands as she leaned over.
"So, for starters, what's up with your semblance ? It feels way different from how it did before."
Al asked with a tilt of her head, she wanted to start with an easy topic and one that Ax could probably also use to flex a bit, emotion reading was cool, especially for Al, but what ever was going on with Ax now was new, at least she had not noticed it before.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes were alight with curiosity as she followed closely alongside Al. She'd known all the best pizza places in Vale... so she thought. Was this one new, or just a hidden gem she'd somehow never found before? The place looked classy, even if it wasn't super busy. Probably a bit pricey, too, but on a huntress' salary, she wasn't too worried.

"Cute," she breathed the word out quietly as she watched the employees at work for a moment through the window. As they stepped into the pizzeria, her bright eyes meandered to the lights, the decor, the small handful of other patrons. There was distant music playing over a speaker somewhere, but it didn't really suit the vibe. But there was something to this place... the steps of people's feet as they worked, the cool atmosphere... she could just imagine a slappy little bass line as the theme of this place.

Unphased by the mild concern that accompanied their arrival, Ax leisurely kept up alongside Al as she led the way to a spot in the corner. She trusted Al not to recommend someplace where they'd be overly rude about faunus customers. She plopped down in a spot across from Al and lazily drummed her fingertips against the countertop to the beat her semblance gave her for this place. She grinned a bit at Al's question, lowering her head a bit and speaking quietly, as if it was a secret conversation.

"Found my groove while I was out in action. My semblance finally evolved past just the awkward emotion shit. I used to kinda hate it, before. Now, well... nothin' much for me to hate about it anymore," she said with a smile.

"It's eh, not the easiest thing to explain in simple terms. But I can find the rhythm in just about anything now. Whether that's the music in the background, the feel of a person's heartbeat... a person's inner timing before they strike in a fight. S' pretty handy. Fun, too."

[Al Ciendra]

While Ax said, it wasn't easy to understand her new semblance, Al could actually understand what she meant quite easily, she wasn't a musical person but certain things and people just felt, or rather sounded different, plus Al seemed to have gotten an insight into her friend's semblance already, Al guessed that Ax still couldn't turn it off entirely.
"Your semblance's evolution sounds awesome! So if you can sense your enemy, does that mean you can just dodge all their attacks ?!"
Al asked, still extremely excited as she leaned forward a bit more, before calming down.

"But no, I think I get what you mean, it feels as if I've been getting a 'beat' from you as well, is that also part of your semblance now, that you can share your beat ? What does that ?"
Al, even after calming down, was of course still loaded with questions, many of which she'd have to feel out if they were even okay to ask, but for now the waitress walking up to them with two menus in her hands provided a quick distraction.
"Hello there and welcome, here is the menu, would you want anything to drink already ?"
She asked, pulling out a pen and paper notepad, Al eagerly took one of the menus, the thing being quite large.
"I'll have a... Kiba."
Al said, as she then laid down the menu, she just waited on Ax for a bit, she pretty much already knew what she was going to order regarding food.

[Ax L Rose]

"Theoretically, yeah. Assumin' I'm fast enough to react, payin' proper attention and all," she answered with a little grin. She was about to continue, before the waitress arrived. Ax flashed the woman a charming smile and offered a little wave with her metal-plated fingertips.

"Water for me," she answered as she reached out to take a menu. "This' my first time here, so I'll need a few to browse."

She turned her attention back to Al at that.

"Got any recommendations? Guess you know this place better than I do," she said with a lazy little smile.

[Al Ciendra]

Being able to dodge any harm coming your way sounded pretty useful already, it wasn't the flashiest power, unlike Al's Volcanic Heart, but simple was usually best and by the sound Ax Semblance could do a lot more on top, when ever Ax got some time Al would have to ask her for a fight, even if she most likely would get her ass kicked.

Al could not help but notice the flirty smile Ax gave the waitress, who smiled right back, Al couldn't tell if she was just being polite or responded well to Ax.

Al then turned to Ax, looking a little sheepish.
"Uuuhh... well if you like meat I can recommend the prosciutto or salami other than that...sorry I only ever ate those two."
Al, obviously, had only ever eaten the Pizza that came with meat, considering her diet this wasn't a surprise.

[Ax L Rose]

The server seemed to get the hint that they'd need a few more minutes, so, she politely excused herself. "Let me know when you're ready!"

Ax chuckled a bit. This suited her fine - she could kinda take charge with figuring things out. Stars knew she had to do that a fair bit for her team back in the day.

"Riiight, okay. In that case... how 'bout this one here?" She gestured at the menu. "This one's got sauce dollops, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni... we could split that and maybe get some basil-tomato cheese bread on the side, bit of sauce for dippin? That sound good t' you?" Ax asked.

[Al Ciendra]

Those were a lot of toppings, many of which Al didn't even know of, but they did sound nice, right ?
Al was left silent for a little bit, it was pretty obvious she was caught a bit flat-footed and now just left to think for a bit.

Al just nodded, she would accept, just to try something new and also to make Ax happy, but she would raise her hand, a bit of a silly notion but simply based on her being used to classes.
"That sounds great, but could we get some ham on the pizza ? Sorry... I just have my bias."
Al sighed in a bit of embarassment, she hoped that Ax would understand what she meant.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax watched Al patiently, picking up on those few steady beats of reluctance from her masked friend. She'd be nearly about to offer some simple reassurance before Al seemed to find her words.

"Sure. I mean, we can get it half-and-half, even, if you want somethin' way different. We can even do a slice-exchange - I try a bit of your side, and if you're feelin' daring, you can try a bit of mine," she offered. To Ax, the pizza was secondary - the *point* was to get to catch up with Al!

"I get how it is. S' one of the beautiful things about pizza though, right? We can both get it exactly how we like it."

[Al Ciendra]

Al shook her head, dismissing Ax offer.
"No, this is fine, I should expand my diet a bit, mom promised she'd kill me if I get home and can't list 30 new ingredients I tried. So this is a good start..
She chuckled, while that was true, Al was hungry and simply did not have the patience to figure out their order, if she got the extra ham on top of that fancy sounding stuff Ax ordered she'd be happy.

"But yeah, pizza is pretty great. When I went here first, these guys had an all-you-can-eat buffet, it was pretty great."
Al giggled as one of the men behind the counter seemed to give her an exasperated look.
"So, where are you staying currently ? What are you gonna do job wise ? Are you gonna come back to beacon ?!"
Al finally let her well of questions just flow for a little bit, she wasn't done by far, but she knew it was a bad idea to drown Ax in questions.

[Ax L Rose]

"Suit yourself," Ax said, her expression slightly dubious despite the hint of a smile on her lips. Hey, if Al had something to prove by eating something other than what her little heart desired, who was Ax to step in the way of that? It was all the same to her. Then the questions began. She was more or less ready for this, right? She'd spent a little time planning for if any tough questions came her way...

"I've got an apartment I'm month-to-month renting downtown. I've got enough lien saved up to coast for a few months if I really need to, but I'm hoping to get back into working regular again before long. I ah, had a chat with Professor Copperfield, and he's out to chat with the Headmistress, see if they can put me to work 'round here, seein' as I'm cruising solo for the time being," she explained, her knee bouncing just enough to cause their table to shake just a little. Before she could continue much longer, the waitress returned, and Ax's body language cooled.

"Sounds like you two have your order figured out?" She asked, a pen and notepad in hand. Ax flashed her a cool little smile and nodded.

"Thanks, yeah. I'll take the Mama Mia, with ham slices on one half and an order of the basil-tomato bread with a side of marinara on the side. N' whatever else my friend here wants too - my treat," Ax turned toward Al and gave her a little wink, giving her a chance to amend the order if she wanted anything else.

"As for coming back to Beacon," Ax began as soon as order-taking was wrapped up. "I'm hoping to, in some capacity. Whether that's chillin' and helping students at the workshop, shadowing newbies in the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall - we'll see. That's more or less up to higher powers now, not me."

[Al Ciendra]

Hearing all this, it was easy to tell Al was ecstatic!
Ax was doing well, which was excellent to hear, but it was even better that Mr.C was helping her, it would be great for Ax to get to stay here in Vale and have a comfortable life, Al...wasn't sure why her friend was back so soon, but she knew that if anyone had earned it to just get a break it was Ax.

As the order was placed, Al was just kind of in her thoughts, thinking what other questions she wanted to ask Ax, or would be okay to ask, so Ax's offer and wink caught her off guard, a small blush snuck itself on her face as the wolf girl just looked at the waitress and Ax a bit dumbfounded.
"I uhm...would just like a small bowl of arancini"
Al then ordered, after checking the pronounciation.

And now this news was amazing, Ax wanted to get back to beacon, and she even had a chance of doing so!
"That's amazing!
Al exclaimed, leaning over the table toward Ax with her head now propped up on her hands and elbows on the table.
"Having you back at Beacon would be great, would you wanna become a professor at some point ?"
Al knew that last question was probably unlikely, Ax was smart but... Al couldn't imagine her going through all the effort that was probably involved with becoming a professor.

[Ax L Rose]

The rhythm of the place still felt mellow, but Ax's knee was bouncing in double-time with the ambience. Al's good cheer and praise were like distant echoes... which was unfortunate. Ax had expected those notes of happiness and cheer to have more influence on her. Alas - like many changes that her semblance had brought, simply piggy-backing on someone else's emotions wasn't enough to get by anymore.

It all felt familiar, yet far away - the rhythm of ordinary social interaction. Al's emotions felt locked away behind that mask to Ax now - had Al changed much herself? So far, it didn't seem like she had. But Ax... she knew she couldn't feel the same anymore. She wasn't the same anymore. Ax's sly little smile felt paper thin on her face as her knee continued to bounce beneath the table, outpacing the rhythm of the room around her.

"Having you back at Beacon would be great, would you wanna become a professor at some point?"

Ax scoffed a bit, a hint of a dry little smirk forming on her lips.

"Me? No way. I'm way too young for that. I'm still right at the start of my huntressing career... feels like I should put in more hours, slay some bigger monsters, do my time proper before looking for a cushy gig like that," she waved a dismissive little hand.

[Al Ciendra]

Yeah, that's fair, Ax was way too young to be in a dusty old school teaching, Al giggled a bit at the thought of an older Ax, dressing all modest and stuff...it was bizarre, so Al dumped it almost immediately.
But the thing Ax said did make her think, if Ax wasn't satisfied with her huntress career, then why had she come back ?
She wasn't gone for long after all, so Al had initially just thought that Ax may have just had second thoughts, but no she was still aiming to be a huntress.
Did something happen ?

Al remained silent for a while as she was just looking at Ax...she had a feeling this wasn't a thing she should ask, not here in this cozy lil pizzeria they found themselves in.
This was a time for happy topics, so she would talk about something, or rather someone, that made her happy.
"So hey Ax, remember Bartok ?"
Al asked as she gave her time to think, not that she needed much, Bartok was pretty memorable.
"Me and him are a thing now."

[Ax L Rose]

Those few beats of silence didn't register to her right away - she was probably adrift in the ambience of the place again. It was so easy to get carried away...

"Yeah, I 'member that guy," she nodded a bit, eyes out of focus, drifting off to the side someplace. "He was a guy that existed."

She raised a little brow as Al continued, curiosity in her features. She was quiet for a beat or two - yeah, it sorta made sense, didn't it? What, with him being blind and Al not wanting people to see her face.

"Yeah? What's he like these days?" she asked.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was a bit surprised that Ax had forgotten about Bartok, they seemed to have some sort of relationship, not a good one per se, but still.
"He's not changed a whole lot, confident, cheesy, supportive and happy ol Bartok as always. The only big change is that he's stopped chasing other girls, since, ya know, we're a thing."
She kicked her feet a little under the table, talking about Bartok just made her happy.