Tought to Handle ((Open, Mature))

It was a hot August evening, outside a little hole-in-the-wall bar, called "Jake's Place", and a woman wearing all black, and revealing clothes walked in slowly. She swung her hips gently as she walked, passing the stares of the men in the bar before sitting down. "Vodka...", was all she said in a deep seductive voice when she sat down at the far end of the bar. A man walked up to her, obviously very nervous, but trying to act macho, and she barely glanced at him before punching him in the face, knocking him out cold. She eyed the rest of the men in the bar for a moment before looking down at the glass that the bartender placed in front of her. She quickly grabbed it and drank it down quick. "Alright, so the rest of you lot wanna try anything?", she asked, a British Accent showing slightly in the way she spoke. She eyed the men again, looking fiercely into each of their eyes, almost seeming to look into their souls, before she looked away. "Thought not...", she said, closing her eyes before looking at the man who tried to talk to her earlier. She saw the blood streaming from his nose, and she scoffed. "Didn't even punch you that hard, you pansy...", she whispered to herself, before snapping at the bartender for another.

He had seen the attack from down the bar, his lips quirking upward in a satisfied smirk as the other man went down hard after being punched. That great jerk had it coming, and he would have done it himself, save for the fact that he was trying to keep a low profile, at least in this establishment. He hadn't made any friends here the last time, Jake even going so far as to threaten his life if he saw him in here again. But they sold all the best absinthe here, so he would just have to blend in. Well, that was the plan anyways, until he saw the man with his sore ego speaking with his friend and pulling a knife. Heaving a sigh, he swallowed down the last of his drink before slowly making his way down the bar toward her, turning his head away when the bartender looked at him. Reaching a spot just down the bar from her, well within speaking range before leaning back against the sturdy wood, his somewhat shaggy blonde hair falling into his cool grey eyes casually. "Just so you know," he said softly, but loud enough for her to hear, "Your friend seems to have taken slight offense to you punching the lout in the face. Not that it wasn't great, mind you. But he's gotten himself a weapon and some friends. Never say I didn't give a lady a hand....or warning."

She raised an irritated eyebrow as she saw the drunken oaf wander his way over to a friend and pull out a knife. A small, daring grin slid itself across her face. Her straight blonde hair flowed freely with her every movement as she turned to face the man who just sat down the bar from her, and she listened to his words for a moment, her piercing red eyes surveying him for a moment. "Well well.. perhaps there are some gentlemen here...", she said just enough so he would be able to hear her. She brushed her hair away with her hand, before pulling out something from her small bag which was strapped firmly to her side. It looked like a miniature toy scythe, but with amazing detail. "But, I have weapons of my own...", she said with a little flirty wink in his direction, before she tapped the man whom she had just punched on his shoulder, and gave an innocent look. "Please don't kill me with your big, long knife...", she said innocently as she reached over, just touching the point, and running her finger along it, making it bleed. She brought her bloody finger to her mouth and gently licked the blood off. She gave a small girlish chuckle, seeing the drunken man elbowing his friends while laughing. "Hey, I won't hurt you my dear...", he said in a burly, slurring tone. She took a step back as she suckled on her finger, holding the minature scythe in her other hand. She whispered some incantation, low enough so no one could hear, and took her bleeding finger from her mouth. She ran her blood across the miniature scythe and it grew to full size. Her piercing eyes glared at the drunk and his friends. "Leave now, or you'll be leaving without your dicks!", she threatened, holding her scythe in her hands, and bringing it back, ready to swing.

Heaving a great sigh as he realized that this would quickly spiral out of control, Hadrian watched as she stood and made her way over to the group of men, a giant scythe growing in her hand. Straightening quickly, he shot a glance at the bartender, watching as the man's eyes widened in recognition and anger, flashing him a jaunty wave he pushed himself away from the bar once more, quickly crossing the distance to slip himself up beside her, and consequently, wedging his narrow frame between the handle of the rather wicked weapon and the men that were about to get sliced-and-diced rather handily. "I suggest you take the lady's advice, gentlemen," he said, grinning handsomely, but his eyes spoke otherwise, flashing cold and promising much pain, "I'd hate for something to happen to such men of your...caliber." Oh, Hadrian had a silver tongue, and a sharp wit, something that often got him into trouble, but he was well able to take care of himself, she wasn't the only one with any fun tricks to pull out in a pinch. He grinned like a complete loon to polish off his total ensemble that he had going for him, despite the fact that his body had tensed and prepared for anything, especially considering the position he had willingly placed himself in.

She kept her eyes on him the entire time. He knew the arrogant drunks would be too intoxicated to do any real harm to her. She took a step back, in slight shock as she saw him jump in between her, and the idiots who literally looked like they were pissing themselves. She sat the scythe on it's handle and she leaned against the blade, hearing the man freely provide his advice. She gave a quick glare. "These humans are worth nothing, and they will be fine servants in hell...", she said with a devilish smile. She gave a brief sigh as she gave a brief moment of concentration, as demon horns slowly grew their way from her head, and she gave a heated glare to the man whom she had punched. It was so difficult for her to be angry because the poor oaf was so scared. "Boo...", she whispered softly, and she saw the man give a jump and ran immediately from the bar, with the others quickly following, a several streams of liquid being left on the floor, following them.

Hadrian relaxed in relief as the men fled her presence, and he knew without a doubt that they would realize the hidden insult in his tone at a later time, when they weren't so embarrassed for running from a woman, that is. Turning, he finally caught sight of her, and his eyes widened briefly in surprise and a small bit of fear before he carefully schooled his face back into the friendly half-smile that he was well known for. His eyes rose over her shoulder briefly as he noticed the bartender pulling out a gun from beneath the bar, glaring at him as he did to. Realizing that it was time for him to make his way out the door, he bowed extravagantly at her. "Well, milady, it seems as though I must be off," he said, his silver tongue instantly going to work once more, "I have seemed to have overstayed my welcome by a good margin, and I must bid you adieu. And a small word of advice: try not to kill anyone. It's messy and entirely too troublesome." Chuckling slightly at his own joke, his smile widened to the point of being called a grin, albeit a rather crooked one, but a grin nonetheless.

She crossed her arms, seeing the small amount of fear she instilled in him. she gave a small girlish giggle and a smile, as she saw the bartender pulling a gun from behind the counter. She pulled Hadrian to her with a sly smile as she saw him giving a half smile. "Aw, but I could kill him and you could stay... I am already from hell as you can guess, and I have no fear of going there again...", she said in a soft whisper, letting her words roll off tauntingly into Hadrian's ears before she let him go. "Such a shame a boy such as yourself cann't stay where you choose...", she said as she shot a glare to the bartender, her piercing eyes looking directly into his for a moment. "And besides, these mortals are so much fun to scare with the thought of death...", she said before giggling at his grin. She surveyed Hadrian for a moment, looking him over. She had been secretly looking for a companion, someone to hold her back. Otherwise, the whole city would be drenched in blood within a week. "Hmm.. well if you are leaving, may I follow?", she asked in an innocent and sweet tone, gently putting her finger to her lips as the scythe slowly shrinked in her hand, and she quickly slipped into her bag.

Chuckling slightly, he bowed flamboyantly once more, gesturing toward the door with a large sweeping gesture. He was most definitely nervous, but he was skilled at hiding it, especially when he could act like his usual quirky self. "It would be my honor, milady," he said, grinning once more, "After you, of course." Shooting a glance at the bartender, he said in the most serious tone he could muster at the moment, "I'd put that away, Gregory. I might just have to come over there and...do something...mildly painful...and stuff. I suck at this, so I think I should take my leave." Grinning once more, he ducked outside just before a bottle shattered on the wall where he had been. Looking at her, he paused briefly to take in her appearance once more, more curious than anything else at the moment. He was slightly worried at the way she had seemed to enthrall him as she had pulled him to her, but he shook off the thought as just thinking she was completely hot, and had been pressed against him. It was something every male would experience, afterall. "Well, since you seem to be accompanying me, milady, may I request the boon of knowing your name," he asked once more, taking his chivalrous joke and running with it once more.

She raised an ayebrow at his bow. She followed him out the door, feeling a brief chill in the air as a large wind came past. She looked deeply into his eyes when she could, she was able to tell through those grey eyes that he was nervous which gave her a little smirk. "So his name is Gregory, huh?", she asked absentmindedly. "I am sure he will be expected in hell any moment...", she said as she gently tapped her slender finger against her lips, hearing a loud gunshot from the bar moments later. Drunks came running out, screaming about how Gregory shot himself. She gave a playful laugh and a shrug. She looked at Hadrian for a moment, seeing that he was looking her over. Her horns slowly deminished back into her head until they were no more and if it weren't for her eyes, she would look near normal. "He is cute...", she thought to herself as she studied him. "But I am not after that... not now anyways...", she smirked as her thoughts continued. "Boon?", she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know... coming from hell and being a demon permits one some special... gifts... and one gift is that right now I can tell this chivalry is an act...", she said with a small giggle. "But I like it...", she said as she walked up and gently poked him in his nose. "Alice...", she whispered gently into his ear before taking a step back. "And, you, lad... what's your name?", she asked softl but firmly.

((Sorry, but is 2 am here, gottsta work tomorrow, I'm off... I will post after Iget off at 11-ish.. k? see ya!))

((Alrighty, sounds good. Talk at ya tomorrow then.))

Twitching at the sound of the gunshot, his hand twitched toward the small of his back where he had a pair of knives concealed before forcing himself to relax, Hadrian glanced toward the door with a quirked eyebrow as he pieced together her meaning. "Oh..." was all he said. Looking back at her, he watched as her appearance reverted back to her mostly normal appearance, still completely hot, but normal. Tilting his head, his grin widened even more as she pointed out the complete acting on his part. Raising a hand, he placed it over his heart, acting as if he had been wounded. "Oh, my lady doth wound me," he said dramatically, "But, I shall live. It is a pleasure, Alice. I am Hadrian." His breath had hitched when he had found her close enough to whisper in his ear again, and it was something that disconcerted him, but only briefly. It probably should have disconcerted him longer, afterall, she was a being from the realm of hell, and probably here to sow chaos and destruction, but it really wouldn't be much different than it already was, would it?

Alice saw Hadrian's hand twitch to his back. "What's wrong? Those willing to take a life should be willing to take their own, for it is worth so much less...", she said softly. She raised a curious eyebrow as she watched Hadrian put a hand to his heart. "I haven't wounded you... not yet...", she teased as she put her hand atop his, on his heart. "Hmm... even your heart knows when you lie...", she said absentmindedly before taking a step back, seeing that she had bothered him a little. She wasn't here necessarily to sow chaos and destruction, but they needed more souls in hell, and she could easily tempt old and young men or women into the dark fires. "So where are you from, Hadrian?", she asked softly, as she began to walk down the sidewalk and looked up, seeing the cloudy sky above. "It is such a beautiful night, and I would hate for it to end so early for us...", she said softly with a raised eyebrow as she turned to face him. "I won't hurt you...", she said plainly. "I only harm or kill those that deserve it... and you don't deserve it... not yet."

His lips twitched slightly in an attempt at not grimacing, making him look like he smiled instead. "Nothing's wrong, of course," he said, tensing when she touched him. He wasn't only nervous at her proximity, but the fact that he doesn't usually allow people this close anyways. Hadrian has lived with a healthy dose of paranoia for most of his life, something he usually hid with bad humor and false chivalry. He started walking beside her, sticking one hand into his pocket as he strolled along. "Oh, I'm from here, actually," he said, gesturing at the surrounding city around them, "Bounced from foster home to foster home before being kicked out of the system when I was eighteen." Tilting his head slightly, like a curious dog, he regarded her with slightly surprised grey eyes. "Er...well...that's good to know, I guess," he said, reaching up and mussing his hair up more than it already was. He licked his lips his hands dropped to the necklace hanging around his neck, fiddling with the pendant through his shirt briefly before dropping his hand back to his side. It was the only possession he had from his real parents, and it wouldn't ever leave his neck.

She saw his reaction, and she kept her distance, just to muse the boy for now. "I can sense... I bother you... If you would prefer, I would leave if you choose...", she said in a rather polite tone as she tucked her hand behind her back. She shook her head for a moment, letting her blonde hair dance about for a moment before becoming still again. Her snappy attitude seemed to come back with a vengeance. A smirk appeared over her face, a dirty smirk. "I know your parents...", she said, as she tried her smirk as much as possible. "They are in hell... they ended up dying, trying to rob for money....", she said softly as she stared into his eyes. She wanted to get to his core, find out what he was really like, and the only way she knew how was to strike at every sore spot there was, which might explain why she might not have many friends. "If it maked you feel any better, they were stealing to try to provide for you...", she said absentmindedly as she tapped her finger against her cheek for a moment, as her piercing red eyes stared into him.

Hadrian's eyes turned slowly to meet her's, trying to gauge her thoughts quickly. "You know, I don't particularly care where they are," he said, turning to look to the front once more, "I never knew them, so what they did or did not do has no impact on me." And it was true. He would have gotten rid of the pendant ages ago, save for the fact that every time he threw it out, or sold it, it somehow ended up back in his possession. Either by suddenly appearing, or for some stranger to just give it to him. "The only person that matters to me, is me, myself, and I," he said in clarification, "It's been that way for years, and I don't see it changing any time soon." He continued walking briefly before thinking of something, his eyes flashing over to her. The pendant he wore was of a strange blood red stone that no one has ever seen before, and etched into the face was a rune of unknown meaning and origin. He knew because he had taken it to many experts to find out what it meant. Maybe she knew, or just recognized the language the rune would have come from. Deciding against asking, and possibly revealing more about himself than he could possibly want, he looked down at the sidewalk before himself awkwardly.

She was actually impressed with his response, and she gave a short shrug. "Well... to be truthfull.. it has changed now..", she said tauntingly. She was surprised by the amount of coldness from Hadrian. She knew there had to be a way to break through to him, to find his core, but the walls seemed to be too high and too strong. She gave a slightly frustrated look. She could see that he was thinking, and she briefly saw a flash of a red stone with a symbol on it. "What are you thinking about?", she teased as she tried to focus and figure out what it was. "You're thinking about that... aren't you?", she asked, poking him squarely in the chest where the necklace was. She saw him looking at himself awkwardly. "So what is there to say about you? You have been in adoptive parents for the most part, and what? you end up a cold emotionless man with good manners?", she asked, taking a brief staba t him, trying to find out more.

He realized what she was trying to do in a flash, lips quirking slightly as he looked over at her. "Well, of course I'm thinking about that," he said, wiggling his eyebrows slightly as he pulled his humor around himself like a protective shield, "I'm male, don't I ever think about anything else?" Of course, he completely misconstrued her meaning, but that didn't stop him from having his fun and protecting himself at the same time. "Well, I guess you could call me an emotionless man with good manners, but I prefer...Captain Awesome of the Comedian Clan of Chivalry. It has a much better ring to it." Turning to look at her, he grinned widely, much more comfortable now that he was in his comfort zone of smartassery and idiocy. "And for the record, I was never adopted. I was in foster homes...sort of like an orphanage, only different. Fewer kids, more rules. You know, the lame stuff," he said, tucking his hands back into his pockets after making a few grand gestures.

She gave a brief confused look, before she looked him square in the eye, a flash of anger showing before returning to normal. "Now... my dear Hadrian... You know for a fact I wasn't talking about that...", she said with a small pout. "I meant your necklace...", she said softly. "What are you protecting yourself fron?", he asked. A deadpan look went across her face as she heard his name for himself. "So you want me to call you CACCC for short? Ok....", she said. When she tried to say it, it sounded almost like she was choking. "I don't think Caccc has a good ring to it... Hadrian works well...", she said as her smile slowly returned. "Foster homes, adoptions... bad parents loading their kids on someone else...", she said with a careless shrug. She kept her eyes on him, trying to look for a flash of who Hadrian really was. There had to be something past this whole chivalrous thing. It was nice, but this guy had to be something special to get inbetween a demon girl and a bunch of witless pissing drunks, and almost get shot by a bartender by doing so. It was gnawing away at her. She couldn't focus in on his eyes because of his hair,a nd he kept moving. If she could get a good look, she could see who he really was.

Seeing her flash of anger, he almost threw his hands up in victory, but instead allowed himself to grin widely. "What am I protecting myself from? Well, illness...accidents...murder...stuff like that, you know," he said innocently, "I am afterall, a gentleman." Reaching a hand up, he pulled the collar of his coat upwards to ward off the creeping cold that seemed to have swept down upon the city. Pausing thoughtfully, he tapped a long finger against his chin briefly as he stared up at the overcast sky, "Though that one insane old man once called me 'The Savior,'" he said before shrugging, "Whatever that means. He was probably drunk out of his gourd...the loon!" He enjoyed talking with people, that much he knew, because he just loved misunderstanding their meaning and going off on completely irrelevant tangents...he lived to frustrate others, and he was damn good at it too!

She gave another deadpan look. "Look... I know you are probably drunk from whatever you were drinking in that bar, but come on... what are you protecting your persona from?", she asked, flicking him on his head. She couldn't even feel the cold. She could easily see the glint of victory in his eyes and she gave a pout. "Well then if you won't tell me...", she said as she crossed her arms, immedietly shutting up, not saying another word. She could easily give him the silent treatment, or do a heck of a lot worse if it came to it. She took quick brisk long strides, just looking at him with emotionless expressions, tryingto see what he would do in return to her being completely quiet. even her footfalls were quiet. She gave him some stern glares as she switched her gaze from the path ahead and to him.

He grinned at her, but fell silent nonetheless, walking along beside her and staring ahead, feeling her glares like a dozen little fingers mussing his hair at the back of his neck. Raising his hands briefly, he spoke once more, "Alas, I confess...I was drinking illegal absinthe...and I may or may not be drunk out of my mind at the moment. Clap me in irons, throw away the key, I'm guilty," he said flamboyantly, stumbling slightly due to his dramatics. Heaving a sigh, she shoved his hands back into his pockets after a few minutes of walking like he was cuffed. Chewing on his lower lip briefly, he pondered over telling her just a fraction of what she wanted to know, and decided it wouldn't hurt anything to say just a couple words about it. Then he could clam up later. "I'm keeping myself from getting hurt," he said after a long silence, completely serious, "People get close and they hurt you. It's the way of the world. It's all about who knows the most secrets of someone else." Okay, so he acted a bit bipolar sometimes, so sue him.

She eyed him, seeing him walking like he was cuffed, and she gave a small scowl but primarily kept a straight emotionless face. She kept looking back at him, seeing his face go serious for a moment. She turned and stopped, keeping her eyes trained on him. Her expression softened. She may have been from hell but she did still have a heart. "Aw, hun... I won't hurt you...", she said as she placed a tender, caring hand on his shoulder. She was cheering herself inside her own mind, but would be serious about this. "I hurt the people that I don't know anything about...", she said with a small grin. "Those drunks, the bartender... people I don't know get killed by me...", she said with a small shrug as she slid her hand from his shoulder. "Look... I don't want you to be worried by me... but I can tell when someone is hiding something or is protecting themselves with acts...", she said with a slightly raised eyebrow. "I don't entirely mean to pry, but what has hurt you so much that you feel need to protect yourself so much?", she asked, as she kept her eyes trained on him. She wanted to get information on him, especially since he was in a divulgatory mood. But she didn't want to scare him off.

Stopping in turn, he tensed beneath her hand once more before forcing himself to relax and give a half-smile in return to her words. Shaking his head, Hadrian raised a hand in a universal stop motion. "Nope, I'm not going to spill all my secrets," he said quickly, a wry expression on his face, "I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night." His eyes darted away from hers as he mussed his hair again, making sure it fell into his eyes so he could help to hide away from the world. Not to mention, it made him look oh so much better in the looks department, something he wasn't short in to begin with. He lowered his hand to tuck it into his jacket pocket calmly, glancing at her from beneath a fringe of blonde hair. He wasn't sure what her motive for digging was, but it was making him even more nervous than he was originally.

She gave a slightly frustrated look. "So where are we going then?", she asked, wondering if they were just wandering aimlessly. "And if you were born last night, you grew way to quickly, and I suddenly have a thing for much younger men...", she said, eyeing him to see how he would react. She knew he was cute, but she wasn't going to give it away too much, just like she knew he wasn't going to. She was still confused as to why he was hiding so much. "And if you are curious... the reason I am digging is because of how you acted in the bar... Only a certain type of person would have done that... and you keep hiding that person away behind an act of chivalry all the time... I am glad, though... that you did tell me you were at least protecting yourself...", she said softly, reaching out a hand, wanting him to grab on and hold it. She was completely perplexed by him, and she didn't want to say goodbye to him.. not for the time being. In fact, she wouldn't mind being with him for a while... as long as he dropped the chivalry down a few notches. "Are you curious about me at all?", she asked, trying to get the subject off of him for a bit, since she could clearly see he was uncomfortable.

Looking down at her perplexed, he tilted his head. "I don't know. I was following you," he said after a brief moment's hesitation. Looking over at her, he opened and closed his mouth a few times before managing to choke out. "Er...you have a thing for me," he said with no small amount of surprise, "Why? I'm actually rather unimpressive, you shouldn't have a...thing...for me." Despite his words to the contrary, his hand only paused briefly before seizing upon hers with a gentle yet firm grasp, his eyes dropping down to their hands and staring in surprise at his own action to the contrary of his normally hermit-like behavior. Raising his eyes to meet her's slowly, he smiled slightly and gave a half-shrug. "Of course I am," he said quietly, lifting his eyes to look up to the sky again, "But I'm not one to pry. If you want me to know, you would tell me. I'm fine with there being mysteries to the world, secrets people hold...it makes things interesting."