Kaz's head lay on the bar, staring to his left and straight through a dirty glass of draft beer. His vision, yellowed from the sixth glass he'd had since he'd entered the bar earlier, was taking in very little. He was numb. He liked numb. Things were less painful in numb.

He didn't try to puzzle that out, but somehow he knew that his own thoughts were betraying him.

"'M not drunk." he muttered, not noticing his own slurred speech. No one took note of the young man, wasting his life and drooling on the old bar. No one cared, not here, not anywhere. He hadn't moved in nearly an hour, but other than the bartender who walked by from time to time, making sure that Kaz hadn't passed out on the bar, no one noticed.

Watching his life tick away, his memories betrayed him as well. The laughter of a small child filled his mind and he sat up too fast, falling off of the barstool. He hit the ground with a thud, but other than the wheezing chuckles of a man old enough to have sired Kaz's grandfather, no one reacted.

The laughing had stopped when he'd fallen, and he was glad. He just wasn't ready to face that memory yet. When he stood, he polished off the sixth glass that night. Listing just a bit, he retook his seat and ordered something harder.

Lost in a drunken stupor, and a place the memories couldn't follow him, Kaz adjusted himself on the bar and sat down to continue wasting his life.

Aldi hated dressing this way. She felt naked without a bag big enough to hold the numerous herbs and other implements for protection spells. The small, black, hand bag she carried matched the short and tight black skirt, as well as the heels. The red spegetti strap shirt she wore was tight and cut low. Silver was her theme for the night, from jewelry to make up. Silver bangles from her wrists, her earrings were all silver, as well as the ones in her eyebrow and lip. The pendant she wore was silver, with a single garnet set in the center of a diamond like base.

She looked, felt, and probably smelled like by now, a cheap whore. Ignoring the minor inconveniences, Aldi flashed a smile at the bouncer and handed him the fake id. She had to get in that bar. She had to get to the young man inside. She'd been following him all day, waiting for a chance to shower him with the red powder in a vial concealed in her pocket. It was the only way to know if Arias had her filthy demon claws in this mortal.

The bouncer smiled at her.

"It's a good forgery, I'll give you that hun. I don't know who did it, but there is no way you're 18. Get out of here."

The language Aldi used probably didn't help her case, but it made her feel a little better. She didn't feel like staying out all night again just to save some drunk.

A little twinge in the back of her neck, however, straitened her shoulders. She wasn't doing this just for that man. If she could save him, she could thwart Arias, and perhaps, injure or even kill the bitch. Maybe this would be the time, maybe this victim she could save.

Sighing, but her jaw set stubbornly, Aldi found herself a comfortable resting place in a back alley, and sat down to wait. He had to come out eventually. She could wait, it wasn't like they'd be missing her at home. She pulled out a scrap of paper and began idly scribbling the bones of a protection chant.

"Get your drunk ass off my bar, Kaz, it's closing time."

Kaz ignored the man. He was comfortable and just starting to doze off where he sat. The ninth beer of the night, and several shots of things that he didn't really want to contemplate at the moment, were doing their job and he was tired.

"I said get your fucking ass off my bar, Terrace."

This time Kaz couldn't ignore the voice. Someone larger and stronger than the barely conscious man was dragging him like a whipped puppy from his stool and across the small, seedy bar.

"Fffuck you." Kaz muttered, dragging out the 'f' enough to spit all over himself. He looked down at what had been a black shirt once and wondered if all those spots were actually decorating it or if it was just his vision playing tricks on him again. Deciding that he really didn't care, he tried to get his feet under him. Failing that, he growled.

"Put me down. 'Can walk." he snarled, sounding much like someone with cotton stuffed in his mouth. The burly old bartender chuckled and hauled Kaz to his feet.

"Suit yourself, Terrace, just get out of my bar."

Stumbling out, Kaz swore under his breath when the ground started shifting in mysterious ways. Attributing the awkward way that his feet kept moving to that last shot of vodka, he turned to the right at the door and started trudging towards his apartment, several blocks away.

Aldi waited for the train wreck of a human to pass her before standing and brushing off her skirt carefully. She waited two more seconds then followed him. It didn't take long for them to pass down a street with no other occupants. When the street lights were the only one to witness her deed, Aldi pulled the vial from her jacket pocket and uncorked it carefully.

With a smooth gesture she threw the contents of said bottle over the man before her. Aldi watched, with haunted hazel eyes, as the drunk cursed and slurred, almost fell, but wasn't touched by a single fleck of the powder. With a grim and purposeful look, Aldi swooped under the man's arm and hauled him upright. She set purposefully down the street, and was at his apartment door before he could ask who she was. She'd watched him all day, knew which room was his, where he kept his keys, how he liked his coffee. She dug into his pants pocket and pulled the keyring from it, unlocking the door swiftly and shoving him inside.

Almost angrily, she closed and locked the door. She gripped his arm and pulled him closer. She took a satchet of rue and oak leaves from her purse and muttered swiftly.

"What's hidden
What's un benign
Show thyself
To mine eye

Let none loiter
Bring them to me
It's evil's presence
I must see

As I will it, so mote it be."

When nothing answered, she breathed out a sigh of relief and hauled the man into what she supposed served as his bedroom and a convenient dump.

"Now, let's have a little talk..."

[next post moved because of location change. find it there, kaori.]