A plume of smoke wafted out from the door. The white cloud was given a red hue by the colored bulb, flickering on the wall. The glow matched the crimson flash cherry on the end of the cigarette that bounced off the moist ground. A boot came down twisting and snuffing out the embers.

"Welcome in," a gruff voice spoke. Throat damaged by endless years of smoky rivers winding down it. The door slid open. The drifting sound of a slow jazz saxophone lured the second man closer. he was standing in the tight quarters of the alleyway. Only the two of them stood there. The second man had a fist full of jewels and slid one into the doorman's hand.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Take your sits. Talk drink and prepare yourself for a night of the finest entertainment."

With a nod, the door began to close behind the man. Within was the glimpse of circular tables all surrounding a stage and a bar. The guard crossed his arms and leaned against the railing as the door shut.

Kaz stepped by the alley when the brief resonance of the saxophone caught his ear. The building itself was three stories high. The brick exterior was well kept and the higher floors sported a balcony all around it. The top of the building had railings around it and you could barely make out the corners of the tables that inched closer to the edges.

"Hmm, well I suppose work can wait for a moment." The wind mage entered the alley. The doorman gave a lazy gaze, and rolled his lips. His eyes sparked wide as he took in all the features of the man coming his way. "Crap that's the guy," he cursed.

"hey, I'd like to go in," Kaz asked.

"Listen, Sir. We are a legit business. No crime going on in here," the man fumbled in his pocket for another cig.

"That's good. but I'm really just here to relax and enjoy a show."


"uh, well in that case. Basement is for gambin, this floor is the show and bar, second floor is...you can pass that one by. And top floor is food. What's it gonna be?"

The door was already opening, and a man rushed by with a violin in hand. Kaz leaned forward to take a peek before answering the man's question. It may not have been the most angelic place, but then again...what did that even mean to begin with. Some light-hearted enjoyment was just what he needed to get back to his old self again.

Kurisa and Masami have been becoming a little more distant with them doing other things without each other. It was right to let your kin go free into the world though. As long as nothing bad happens to them of course. She gave a light smile and tilted her head up to put on lip stick perfectly. Her eyes of brown and blue glistened like mirrors as they cornered to look at the door. A woman boomed right in, slamming the door open. She was yelling at some guy about being right back. Once it was shut she gave her a sneered look and went to the mirror beside her to do her makeup.

"Ugh, what is an RBC doing here." the girl became snarky. She chewed bubble gum louder than a cow ate grass. Kurisa just tried to get ready for her singing as a band was arriving to play a song she made. Songs were how she got to let out how she felt about somethings so this was a perfect place. People in the bar liked peaceful shit to get over their life troubles. It gave them hope of some kind. Even rough men loved listening to beautiful music as it gave them peace of some kind. The woman was not very judgemental, gave all races and people chances, but then there were people like her.

Kuri's head turned to look towards the girl with a sweet smile. "I swore when I went to the door they weren't allowing farm animals inside. They must've not noticed you. Poor thing."

The girl stopped putting on eyeliner and gave a heated angry look. "Excuse me?!" She shrieked.

"You missed a spot," Kuri said happily with a gentle smile, pointing against her own eye by the corner. The girl looked closely at the mirror over the sink. Kurisa swiped her finger to blast water in the girl's face, getting her all soaked. "UGH!" She threw her shit and ran out the door. "Have a good day!~" Quietly, Kurisa patted down her dress and exited the girl's restroom to go toward the bartender. At that moment she saw her run past a man and went to the ext.

"Sorry about that. We get those every so often." The bartender jested and nodded towards the stage. "It's all set up for you whenever you're ready." Kuri stood there for a moment and the bartender was somewhat confused. "OH right, here's a drink, haha." He laughed fatherly and gave her a sex on the beach, her favorite. "Thank you." Kuri nodded and took the drink before walking towards the stage. The dress was white, mermaid formed as it pressed against every curve.

Chugging the dress and taking a deep breather she stood in front of the mic. Every man watched, shrugged, and went back to their stuff. The band behind her nodded that they were ready. Before singing, she licked her lips and closed her eyes. 'Alright, you can do this. You had your alcohol to get buzzed.' She thought to herself.

As soon as she started to sing, people started to turn a little bit, their attention grabbed. It was melodic and beautiful as she sang.

"I'll stay and hear the show," Kaz answered the guard. The door eased open revealing the calm demeanor of the establishment. A few people sat along a bar and others dotted around at various velvet chairs with small tables. The man with the violin waved away the cloud of smoke he rushed through with a cough. "Regi stop acting like a chimney. At least for a night"

The Nephilim crossed the room towards an empty stool next to the bar. His slender body filled the space and he rested an arm on the counter waiting for the bartender. Only a few people shuffled about the stage, tuning instruments. A microphone stood front and center without a voice to give it life. His ear perked up with a glance over his shoulder as the bartender spoke to someone about the stage. Looks like he made it just in time. The band settled in, with a few practice strums on the thin strings on the instruments. A woman clad in white strolled over to the stage and took the mic in her hands.

"You're in for a treat tonight pal," a man tipped his felt hat toward the wind mage. His suit was pressed and dress shoes shined against the dim light of the bar. The bartender set a glass of water next to the mage with a nod and returned to the other patrons. The only two looking at the stage were Kazimir and the man with the felt hat. "Just wait."

The rest of the men and women around the joint were consumed in their liquid self-reflection. Envelopes of money slid across tables into calloused hands. A white suit jacket in the corner flapped open revealing the pearl-handled pistol snuggled next to a man's hip. Then all eyes drifted to the stage as the mic came to life. The woman's voice like an angel sang out over the crowd. One by one the seats turned toward the stage. "Told ya," the man with the hat smirked and took a sip of whiskey.

Kaz leaned forward as the instruments accompanied the woman's performance. "It's been a while."He remarked to himself, thinking about the last time he had just enjoyed the sweet melody of music. He tapped his foot along with the soft harmony washing over the room. Whenever the performance would come to an end, Kaz would meet it with quiet applause along with the rest of the room. If the woman came down from the stage he would say "A lovely song," to her, and take a drink of his water.

Her brown-blue eyes gazed around with her eyelids half-closed. Her voice went soft at first as she sang the first verse. As she got to certain parts of the song she got more into it as she hammered down her tone. Truly this song was written about two lovers that fell in love during a war. Throughout their battles, it became tougher and tougher, but they stuck together. One of them hid a secret as they battled through their own thing and before they could tell their significant lover - it was too late. In the end, the one with the secret lived and watched their lover pass away. Lastly, they got to see their lover grow wings and fly away into freedom, a place they will once again meet and call home.

It was something like that. All she really knew is that it gave men of war and battle hope that they will find love, their hope, or something they dream about. Once she was done she nodded towards the people and waved goodbye to the band, thanking them in the process. Slowly, she walked towards the bartender to speak to him, but not before a random man spoke up towards her. 'A lovely Song.'.

It was indeed. She gave him a smile with her eyes gazing at his. "Thank you. Many people with a lot of things going on with them like it usually the most. The man looked familiar, but any guy or girl who had a lot of reputation would be known. "Kazimir, right?" She wondered and took a seat next to him. Her hand went up, "Bartender, another drink and whatever he wants." She chuckled softly, "Food?" she asked him. She looked at the bartender who looked at her. "Two menus as well." she giggled once more. Her attention went back to him. "The place has pretty good food. Breakfast, lunch and dessert options.~". She loved two things, food, and alcohol. Soon enough he brought them a menu and whatever he wanted to drink. Finally, the bartender went back to what he was doing.

It wasn't everyday Kurisa had someone to talk to. She usually just ignored people, took her drinks, and went home. "So Kazimir - other than your name since that is well known already. Tell me more about yourself if you don't mind. I'll tell you anything in exchange -- unless that'll bore you of course." She teased and gazed at the menu. Everything looked so good. Maybe she will just order some cheese curds, teriyaki chicken with some fried rice. Even if this place was some old fashion club, it had really good food.

The woman looked at him with two distinct eyes. Something about them reminded him of rumors he had heard about someone. He nodded back at her words. There was certainly a lot going on and it was nice to get lost in the performance and lose track of the world around if only for an instant. "huh," he replied when she said his name outright. He smiled and shook "I guess you caught me. nice to meet you. And I certainly didn't expect to run into such a well-known mage singing here. The tales of her exploits had been the talk of Fiore. A powerful mage.  "just water thanks," he replied.

"Yeah...I think I could use something to eat." He looked over the menu but was only concerned about one thing, "Excellent breakfast huh? How are the pancakes?"No matter how much he traveled, somethings were just too ingrained to change. "Seems like you know this place pretty well. Been here long?"

He gave a small laugh at the woman's upfront conversational tactic. The mage folded his menu closed and slid it back to the bartender. "well, I suppose all the important details about my life are public records mostly. Served in the knights for a long time. But I'm not from Fiore. Born Sinese and raised Joyan in a village. Right now I had planned to stay in Hosenka longer, but...some things came up and changed. Got offered to join up with Fairy Tail, but now I'm just enjoying my last few nights here," He took a sip of his water. It was nice to just talk to someone random. Nothing about the chaos that had riddled his life the past months and the pain from the last week. Just something simple.

"You are pretty well known yourself. What about you, what brings you...?" he began to ask all the typical questions and looked at the woman a second. "Sorry, that's all a bit basic for an answer." he thought for a moment. "I suppose the most notable thing about me is I'm one of the last Nephilim. Ever since the portal to that world closed. And I can play the flute but I lost it years ago," he added with a bit of a laugh.

"And you? what's something about a popular mage? Where did you learn to sing like that?" Just speaking and getting things off his chest was cathartic, in masking what sadness he had from the destruction of the guild and all that happened afterward.

After a bit of conversation, Kaz felt the painful tug of what awaited tomorrow. "Sorry, but you'll have to excuse me. The conversation has been wonderful, but it's time for me to head out. My road tomorrow is pretty long. Thank you for this last conversation," he stood up and put his hand on her shoulder with a gentle nod and then walked out of the bar into the night air once more.

-Exit-

Spoiler:

Kurisa made a calm smile as she gazed into the man's eyes. He seemed like a nice gentleman, but her judgement could have been blinded by his appearance. The guy was in the Rune Knights, a place she knew well as she was one for a small-time thanks to the person who recruited her in the first place. The woman recruited her and ditched her right after telling her where to meet. The person never appeared. His history was almost as eventful as hers which was a little amusing. Her hand rested against her cheek as her elbow was against the counter.

Something really caught her attention throughout all the talking, him being a Nephilim. Her eyes widened a little in shock, but went back to a slanted gaze just as quickly. Another Nephilim was rare to see, mostly a male one. It wasn't common to see one as it made her wonder when was she going to meet one. Her body sat up straight and giggled, with her hand against her lips. "You have had quite the adventure, Kazimir." She spoke and wanted to ask more, but sadly as she wanted to talk about her adventures and how she too was a Nephilim - she wanted to finally relate to someone and she was, but alas... he was leaving already.

He said his goodbyes and left without a trace after that night.

-exit-

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