The Pulse

Amaretto shook his head and tugged at his hand to free it, but instead of bringing it back to his side he looped his now free hand and arm around Absinthe's shoulders. Pulling her close to his side as they walked and he let out a little sigh. "You know that I wouldn't have let you do anything. I don't want you or Blue dealing kind of trouble that you don't need to. As long as I'm alive, I am yours and Blue's personal bodyguard and hit man. I'll be jailed and sentenced before anyone can lay a hand on you two." He tightened his arm around her shoulder and leaned over to place a kiss on the side of her head.

Absinthe frowned at Amaretto as he took his hand away from hers, only to smile when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him slightly while they walked, smoking her cigarette along the way. "Well thats good to know then. I don't have to deal with bad boyfriends either." She giggled and smiled up at him. She looked over to where she could see their apartment now and smiled. "Come on, Ciro." She slipped out of his grip and ran up to the apartment, unlocking the door so she could tidy a few things quickly before he came inside.

Absinthe came up the alley was in her deer form, looking around to see if anyone was around. She phased back to her mage form and then walked in through the back door as she unlocked it. She walked in and peeked around to where the bar was to see if anyone was here yet. Surprisingly she was the first one here. She laughed and walked to the back room to find her rave clothes so she could change into them. They'll all be here soon enough. She changed into her normal black band bra, her black wrap skirt that had electric green waves on it and put back on her knee high boots with buckles and sleeveless rave jacket with the electric green slits. She looked at herself in the mirror to notice she needed her jewelry. She went to her chest and opened it, finding her electric green goggles, her electric green studded earrings and black hoops and took off her mother's locket, putting it where everything else had been and then locking the chest. It didn't feel right for her to take her mom's locket off, but she had if she wanted to dance at all.

She walked out of the back door and closed the door, coming out as soon as her other employers came in to set things up. She gave them her hellos and walked to the front to unlock the door and turn on the main lights to let people know there was a rave going on inside The Pulse. She went to the stage and turned on the music, setting up her djing props. She signaled her other dj over so they could both work it tonight, taking shifts as need be. It wasn't long until people started to come in and start the rave.

There was a ton of people by the time Abele got there. He decided to walk at a normal pace to not catch attention. After all, why was he in a hurry? It wasn't like he was excited . . . OK yeah, he was totally excited. He even got out his best clothes; all of them being his favorite two colors, mind you. Black and red coated his body with his goth buckle boots, slick tight pants, dress shirt and vest. Even his wrist-lets and choke collar had bits of red within the black. Abele approached the place, noticing how banging the music was already. This surprised him, though he tried not to show it. He managed to get inside in record time, probably because all the girls practically pulled him in; all of them wearing neon clothes and glow in the dark paint. He found himself being hovered at almost all times, when only he was looking for a place to stand for a moment. That was, until some girl with white hair tugged him onto the dance floor. He was surrounded by moving bodies, so he just went with it. Though he was pretty shy and covered in scarlet blushes.

Absinthe watched as they all came in, blinking her neon green shadowed eyes a few times. She was a bit tired after the day. Dancing didn't seem very fun to her right now. She shook her head a bit and went back to DJing for the club, her mic close to her mouth so it would capture anything she said or sung out to add into the mixing. She closed her eyes for a moment as she let it all out. This is what she lived for. It didn't matter if she was tired, she could still give it her all and make it seem like she had all the energy in the world. All she needed was her siblings up on stage with her, but that wasn't going to happen for a while. Amaretto would be attached to Suki for a while and she's afraid to come to a Rave and then Blue was no where to be found at the moment. It was a one girl show right now, but soon enough they'd get the full effect.

She opened her eyes back up as she stopped singing and only mixed her music, putting on a new track that she didn't have to do much to. She scanned the crowd, hoping that in the bunch of people was the guy she had meet earlier, Abele. She made a little face trying to find him in the glowing people. It was almost impossible to find people unless you looked like Absinthe or Blue with their crazy markings. Not soon enough though, she did find him finally. She smiled to her other dj and let her take control of the board for now as she went down the stage and around the crowd to sit at the bar, hoping maybe he'd see her sitting there, watching him dance with the maniacs out there.

The lyrics bursting out of the speakers caught Abele's attention easily. He realized that was coming from the Dj's area and looked there, seeing Absinthe singing her heart out and gliding her hands over the machine. He found himself entranced, but the surrounding girls didn't take too kindly to that. They pawed on him and whimpered about how they thought he was a rock star, or how they wanted to dance more. Abele was replying in his honest tone, saying how they were mistaken and he hoped one day he might actually get his chance on stage, which made him look towards the Dj set once more for Absinthe, but he didn't see her there.

His face turned into one of puzzlement, until he spied her hanging around the bar. He saw her starring and gave a wink, turning back to the girls to excuse himself. They were discouraged, but he escaped and walked over to Absinthe, observing her clothing and slipping his hands into his jeans. "Very nice place," he told her as he leaned close to speak. "Your DJ skills are kick-ass, too!" He gave a grin, licking his lips out of habit, but also showing off his glow in the dark tongue ring he put in before leaving his home.

Absinthe giggled when he finally spotted her and winked, making her smile and turn around on her stool to talk to her bar tender until he came over. When she heard him next to her, she turned back around. leaning her arms back on the counter and crossing her legs "Thank you. That means a lot to me." She looked him over quickly, liking what she saw. He dressed up well for a rave. She moved her legs back and forth on the moving stool, keeping her upper half in the same spot as she looked up at him right as he licked his lips. She spotted his new tongue ring and starred for a moment, making her stop her leg movement.

She shook her head to get herself back to reality and looked out at the crowd. "You seem to be popular with the girls. They keep looking over here. Did you meet the freaky ones yet? They can scare you sometimes." She laughed and looked back up at him, leaning a bit closer so she they could talk. She wondered what the girls thought with him talking to her. She hated to get her own members to hate her just because she was talking to a guy they seemed to find attractive.

Seeing Absinthe acting so casual was intriguing. He rose his brows and tilted his head, smiling when she spoke. "You're welcome," he replied, chuckling when he saw her eyes wander along his body. Then, it came with the tongue ring. He rolled it around in his mouth, debating whether or not to tease her some more. "You like the new ring? It's got a small diamond in the center, see?" He leaned forward a bit and stuck out his tongue fully, showing off the glowing bud. Sure enough, there was indeed a small diamond glittering there in what light it caught.

At the mention of the girls, Abele glanced over his shoulders, noticing eyes. Oh sure, that was normal. He shrugged, his cheeks a tad pink from embarrassment. "Yea . . . They think I'm in some boy band," he chuckled, palming the back of his neck. He furrowed his brows, confused by the term 'freaky'. "No, I haven't. Which one's are they," he asked, settling himself in the stool beside her and leaning in close beside her, looking to the crowd.

Absinthe watched as he asked about his tongue ring and stuck it back out again for her to see. She watched for a moment, making her mouth twitch a little bit. "Y-yeah. It's really cool. most of my jewelry is pretty lame." She laughed from both her comment and from her stuttering. That wasn't like her. He was teasing her and she could tell and it was getting under her skin a bit, though in a good way. Her eyes never left the tongue ring until he slipped it back into his mouth and she moved her golden eyes up to his eyes to get contact with him.

When he sat down and asked about the freaky girls she laughed and looked out, trying to spot them out. "The ones with the weird glowing plastic dreads and the furry leg warmers. They're nice, but the can look pretty... Odd." She giggled at a thought and looked back at him, moving her legs back and forth again as she did so.

There was a tension in the room. Not a bad one, but it was something he couldn't name exactly. He felt relieved when he spoke with Absinthe. She wasn't those people who judged him, or said harsh words, or stared at his scar across his neck. "Wow, that was so positive," he chuckled, shifting a bit in his seat so he was more comfortable. He glanced at her eyes, noticing the shadow and how the dots upon her skin glowed in the light. It was really gorgeous. He smiled a shy-like one. She was really communicating with him and it was nice.

"Glowing. Plastic. Dreads," he soothed out, raising a thin brow. He turned back to the crowd, and sure enough, he spotted a few. "OK, even I have to admit that the dreads are a bit much," he chuckled. Though the furry leg warmers weren't that over the top. He found them interesting, as he did everything. He turned to speak to her again and found their faces rather close. His face coated in a blush, and then he pulled back just slightly, coughing and looking away. "So--erm. Your singing . . . It's really pretty. Do you just sing techno?" He asked this with enough courage to look back, but he was smart this time and kept his face a good distance away,

Absinthe laughed at his comment and smiled. "Well it's true! I've got studs, lighting bolts, plastic bracelets, and my favorite waved shaped bracelets. The only cool things I have are my goggles and my mother's locket." She looked up at him and stuck her tongue out. She loved jewelry, she just didn't know how to buy it for herself. For others it was fine, but others had to find her jewelry otherwise she was clueless.

She watched as he thought over the dreads. They were like weird monster arms coming off of their heads in her mind. You had to be the right kind of person to pull them off. She turned to him when he started to speak to see him closer, making her blush just like he did and turned away to watch the dancers. "Thank you. My family seems to love it and I guess the ravers do too. Techno is my main choice, but I was trained in classical music when I was young, so I know that better. I had to teach myself the techno stuff. If you ever hear my siblings and my songs you'll hear how my sister and I sing in a very soothing tone and yet some how turn it into a techno song with the help of our favorite brother." She smiled. Their band really did need to get back together soon.

Abele shook his head, laughing back at Absinthe for her negativity about jewelry. He thought her clothes didn't look too bad--that includes her accessories. Though he did admit the goggles were pretty rockin'. He didn't think he could pull those off even if he tried. He laughed at her tongue action, thinking it was like him to some extent. Though hers wasn't pierced, she did look like a child.

"You're welcome," he answered, forgetting that their close up faces had ever happened. He was intrigued by the classical music bit. How did a classical girl turn into a rave-digger? A smile gripped his face as he found the whole explanation really worth-while. It was a bit of a look into her family and fun life. "Ah, so you have a brother and a sister. A family band," he commented without realizing it. He then mentally smacked his forehead. Really? He felt stupid, for that could of been a touchy subject. All this talk about music made him miss his own band, where the members were like true brothers to him. His fingers twitched, wanting to play his instruments. Though, he was now into the techno beat that was playing. "So, you DJing all night, or taking shifts with someone?"

Absinthe nodded to his statement, not bothered that he was thinking out loud. [color=#54F754]"My brother just recently moved in with us finally after we escaped our stupid life back in Australia, so I plan on making them do some band stuff with me sometime soon. "Amaretto is a little lucky he didn't get forced into the classical training like us girls. It was kind of annoying at times, but I guess it worked out for the best."

She stretched a bit and then pointed up to the the current DJ. "Taking shifts." She twitched slightly and realized she hadn't had a cigarette in a while. Damnit all. She got up and went behind the counter to fumble around for her cigarettes. "S-sorry. I haven't had a cigarette all day and all the atmosphere in this place is making me want one. I'm kind of a nervous reck after being on stage..." She blushed as she was looking for them, finding them quickly along with her lighter and then standing up behind it to look at him. "I'll be right back, unless you want to come along." Her hands shook a bit as she held onto her cigarette and lighter. It wasn't like her to be like this at all. She was dying for her cigarette though, pretty sure she hadn't had one since New Years around midnight to celebrate. One a day was the usual and she had gotten off of it. A nasty habit hers.

Ah, so she was a family band person. Abele nodded, a smile on his face. He really was interested in the subject. Amaretto, he assumed, was her older brother. In his opinion, he couldn't imagine most boys wanting to learn classical music. Abele was among the few who breathed it. Every genre he managed to master except for rap, jazz, and romance. Just the thought of the first two made his nose wrinkle in distaste.

Abele's eyes looked towards the current DJ, not noticing him before. He rose a brow, observing the style and type of music playing. That DJ seemed less passionate that Absinthe, but that stuff happens all the time. His thought train broke when he heard a stutter, and found it to belong to Absinthe. He was surprised to hear she smoked. Though he didn't like it, he wasn't going to say anything. After all, it didn't harm creatures' bodies like it did Humans. He took a glance at the crowd, seeing the girls eyeing him and waving. He shuddered. Familiarity was best in his book, and right now, that was Absinthe. "I would like to come along, if you don't mind," he said, braking the stare with the girls to look at her.

Absinthe smiled as sheepish smile at him, trying to hide her shaking hands. She hated that she smoked and she could already tell that he didn't like that about her. No one did. Her brother was the most pissed off person in the world when he found she had started smoking. She doesn't even remember why the hell she started, she knew it was stupid. Knowing her it was back when she was trying to look cool. She sighed at the memories and looked at him as he said he'd come along. "Alright, come on back to the alley with me then. It says's employs only, but you're with me." She turned on her heels quickly and walked to the hallway and out the door into the alley, putting her cigarette in her mouth as she did.

When she got outside she stopped in the middle of the alley and tried to keep her hands from shaking and quickly lit her cigarette before Abele followed along and saw her shaking. Stuffing her lighter into her bra she turned around and breathed out a breath of smoke, sighing out and closing her eyes. Holy crap that feels better... What has gotten into me?

Abele nodded, listening to her speaking. He already saw the shaking hands, and figured she was trying to quit. Smoking was a difficult habit. His father smoked a heavy pipe that smelt so severe. However, glancing at the pack she held, it was smaller and probably less odor. He got off his seat and followed her towards the back, slipping his hand in his pocket, his free arm moving to run his fingers through his hair.

The outside was a bit airy, and much quieter. He still heard the erratic beats of the music, and smelt the alcohol, but it didn't effect him as bad. He went over and leaned against the brick wall, glancing over to Absinthe. "Don't take this the wrong way . . . But you seem like the type to smoke," he admitted, just curious as to where she got that habit. It really wasn't healthy, even for a creature. He was worried, especially since he saw her shaking. His sharp eyes caught a lot in this world, and the little details especially.

Absinthe began to pace a little bit in the alley, slowly, as she smoked. She rolled her head on her shoulders a bit and smiled up into the air, letting out a breath of smoke every now and then. She couldn't help it with the cigarettes. She loved them, even though she wasn't completely addicted and smoked an entire pack like some people, they still made her feel better. She quickly stopped her pacing when he said she didn't seem like one to smoke. She made a face and looked over at him, taking another puff. "Pretty sure I picked it up when I was young and trying to look cool. I'm just glad I didn't turn into a complete idiot back then and do even stupider things." She walked over to him to stand beside him, leaning on the wall and closing her eyes as she put her cigarette out on the wall and threw it at the ashtray that was next to the bench they placed out there.

She looked to him now, realizing again that he was a dragon and most likely had picked up everything she had been trying to hide. No matter how magical she was, the creatures out there could spit her a new one. She laughed on the inside and laid her head back on the wall. The beat of the music was nice to feel through her boots while being a little further away from it. It was an odd soothing thing to her.

Abele watched her pace back and forth, face smooth and blank. He showed no emotions when in thought, and right now, he was definitely thinking. the black in his eyes came and surrounded the purple, making him seem a bit more preoccupied. It was just because he was worried, as he always was to sweet people. He listened to her voice, watching smoke clouds wisp away. "That's true. There are worse things out there," he mumbled, grasping his choke collar on command, since his mark was under there. Yeah, so much worse could happen. His eyes glanced over to Absinthe, just as she leaned against the wall beside him. When the cigarette was out of sight, he sighed, breathing in the clean air and lulling his head to the side.

He felt her eyes watching him, and it was sort of curious. Really, he found nothing fascinating about himself, but she was allowed to look--as long as she didn't torment him like the others. He turned his head back towards her and offered a smile, eye lids lowered slightly to give him a day-dream facial expression. He wanted to say something--anything to change the subject. His mind, though, was way too fast and never lingered on a thought for too long.

Absinthe kept her eyes locked on Abele. There was something different about him and she was trying to figure it out. As she stared she realized they had both gotten quiet now, not talking. She wasn't sure if she was okay with that or not. She slowly dragged her eyes over him again, she was doing that a lot, looking at everything he was wearing. When she got to his boots she realized that they were matching, it made her giggle, breaking the silence that had gone on. "Ya know. You never told me your last name." She said to him, looking back up at him now so he didn't see her looking him over yet again.

She was wondering in her head if they should go back inside and have a drink and dance, or if they should stay out here and talk. She liked it either way. She'd have to back in at one point for her shift though, but she had only just started her break. Sometimes her other DJ didn't even realize how long her breaks were. That happens when you're having too much fun at a rave, you loose track of time and reality.

The observing silence was actually quite comfortable, despite the lack of words or movements. He realized this, and blinked his eyes a few times, wondering why she didn't say anything. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, noticing the laughter that bubbled from her chest. He gave a grin, glad she was amused--though he didn't know why. Then, she asked for his last name. Now, that seemed like a reasonable question, and he had no problem giving it to her. "Valentino~" He said his last name with pride, since it was the only left--besides the marks on his neck--that reminded him of home. His first name was something he gave up a long time ago, and never really wanted to bring it up ever again.

Though, he did notice her interest in his name, and it made him smile. She was such a nice person, truly a blessing to Abele's luck lately. First he found this amazing place, though there were the pests of Humans from time to time, and now he actually had a girl who was interesting and willing to talk to him. He thought his luck was changing quite nicely.

Absinthe tilted her head as he said his last name, smiling at the sound of it. "You really are Italian." She giggled and leaned her back onto the wall, repeating it in her head. "Would you mind if I called you Val? That's too good of a name to not use it." She smiled at him a bit, hoping he'd be okay with it. It rolled off her tongue easier than Abele. She rubbed the back of her neck slightly, hoping it didn't offend him at all.

She looked back at him, looking at his smile. It was funny. She was a twenty year old girl and this was the first time she was getting good attention from a guy. Or that she was noticing at least. She was always preoccupied with her family and leadership roles at school that she most likely couldn't tell if someone was flirting with her not.

"Did you think I was lying to a princessa like you?" He laughed a bit at her comment, not imagining himself pulling off any other last name. Valentino just sounded right. He was a true Italian--through and through! He was proud of it as well, since Italians were prideful and super-romantic. He smiled towards her, giving a shrug. "That's fine--as long as it's just you," he cooed, being all flirty again. Damn his Italian instincts! Though Abele was a proud man, he still hated it when his dorky-charming side took over. It's what made him so popular, that and his cutesy shyness.

He observed her a few moments longer before his attention caught to the door. It opened, showing a male--he guess a bar tender by the scent, coming out to smoke as well. The man ignored them, probably just habit, and went towards the end of the alley way to smoke. Abele chuckled, glancing back down to Absinthe. She looked deep in thought. He decided to humor her. "Hey Absinthe, do you like riddles?" He was hoping she'd be interested in this one, because it was rather difficult and most people felt funny after they heard the end to it. "I have one you'd enjoy~"

Absinthe blushed and shook her head, looking away from him for a moment when he flirted with her. "No, not at all. I was just confirming it. I do that." She looked at the ground for a moment, looking at their matching boots again. She leaned down slightly, fidgeting with the buckles on her boots. Now she always fidgets, so at least that wasn't something new for her for once today. With her siblings all back in the same house and her being busier than usual she was fidgeting even more lately. Maybe that was a reason as to why she was doing all of the things that weren't like her. But those only started today, they hadn't been going on for a while when Amaretto came back.

She looked back up at him when he mentioned riddles though. She wasn't big on them, they annoyed her since she usually couldn't figure them out. But it seemed like he wanted to tell her. "They're not my favorite thing in the world, but why not. Go ahead and tell me the one you have in mind." She smiled slightly, letting him amuse her. He was a funny guy to her, so she figured that he would make her laugh even if it wasn't something she enjoyed a lot.

She really knew how to blush. It complimented her skin so well, Abele thought she should always be blushing. "You double check? Ah, that's always something good to do," he commented, figuring she was a bit on the organized side. He glanced down at their shoes, and realized just then they matched. This made him chuckle, but he rose a brow when Absinthe began messing with the buckles on her shoes. He was curious as to why she did that, but figured it was just from the cigarette.

Abele was happy to hear she's give it a wing. He stuffed his hand in his pocket and leaned close to her, lifting a finger. "OK. So you're driving this bus, right?" He waited for a confirmation before continuing, "There are thirty workers to pick up, and thirteen get on at the start. At the first stop, three people get off and two people get on. At the next stop," he waited a moment before going on once more, "no one gets off and five people get on. At the stop after that, eight people get off and six people get on." He leaned back wards, smiling to her. "At the stop after that, only two people get off, and after that, one person gets off and seven people get on." After that long explanation, he took a deep breath. "Now . . ." He glanced up to the sky, figuring this riddle would be easy for her. "How old is the bus driver?" He grinned.

Absinthe stared at him for a moment, hoping she could keep up with the riddle. She blushed a bit when he got closer to her, making her loose track for a moment. "Yeah. Why am I driving a bus..?" She mumbled the last part as he went on with the riddle. She tilted her head a bit, realizing he was going to be saying a lot of numbers. She hated math. School in general really, but math the most. She paused for a moment at his question, narrowing her eyes and watching him lean back and grin, confused as to what that had to do with anything he had just told her, only to make her laugh when she figured it out. "Almost got me there. The bus driver is 20 because I'm 20 and I'm driving the bus." She smiled and giggled at the riddle. Maybe she did like them after all.

"Got any more for me, mister?" She glanced over to the guy that had come out a few moments before, realizing finally that they weren't alone out here anymore. She didn't want her workers thinking she was up to something out her. The good thing was it was only her bartender and not one of the teenagers that worked for her.

Abele figured the long riddle would confuse her a bit, but was rather surprised that she paid attention. He nodded at her thoughtful face, encouraging her to figure it out. As she pieced it together, a grin made it's way onto his face. He watched the realization hit her, and enjoyed the laughter that followed. "Ah, I knew you were the clever one," he mused, clapping softly at her intelligence. It really was impressive she got it; for not many could unless they paid attention, and didn't focus on everything as a whole. Usually the beginning of a riddle was the answer.

"Oh I have plenty. One of my band mates was a Riddle-Master at one point for a traveling circus. He's really good at making up hard ones, but I'm sure it would all be easy for you." He tilted his head, trying to think of another complicated one. "Ok . . . A man was found murdered on Sunday morning. His wife immediately called the police. The police questioned the wife and staff and got these alibis:
The Wife said she was sleeping.
The Cook was cooking breakfast.
The Gardener was picking vegetables.
The Maid was getting the mail.
The Butler was cleaning the closet.
The police instantly arrested the murdered. Who did it and how did they know?"