A Run For Your Money [Xylander + Samael]

[Xylander]

You'd think that after nearly four years of living on the streets, traveling from one side of the map to the other, he would have gotten somewhere stable in life.

Nope.

Xylander was no better off now than when he started. He was still hungry. He was still licking control of his element. He was still scrawny and unable to fully defend himself if he got into trouble. Which was where he often found himself.

Today, he was sprinting down an alley between two casinos in Roa. Desperate to find some excess money to buy dinner, he had loitered around the casinos in hope of picking up spare cash that drunken gamblers may drop. It had worked for him in the past, and he wasn't stealing. He was merely finding and keeping whatever he saw on the ground.

That's what he told the two very big, very buff, and very drunk men who saw him slipping behind them to snatch the few measly coins that fell from their pockets.

Clearly, it didn't work, and now he was on the run, hoping that he was faster than them - which he was. They were stumbling and charging through crowds like a stampede of tipsy rhinos, and Xylander was quick and agile. However, he was also unfamiliar with the roads of Roa and found himself cornered in an alley that led to a steel wall.

He skidded to a halt, grimacing as he heard the footsteps down the alley. He turned and backed up against the wall, feeling the cool metal on his fingertips. If he needed to, he could use the wall as a conductor for his electricity, but he was nervous to use it. All the buildings were made of metal, and he wasn't certain how that would effect the strength of his element. He didn't want to kill them.

"Well, it looks like you've caught me," he said carefully, his voice wavering as he tried to put on a confident smirk to show that he wasn't afraid of them. It didn't work well. "How about instead of beating me to a pulp, I just give you back your two cents and you can go on your way?"

[Samael]

The lengthy hours working in the dim lighting offered by the host club and adjoining chambers had finally waned away into nothing leaving Him on the equally dimly lit street. This was His normal routine. Twelve or more working and then the brief walk to the place where He resided. No weekends or holidays, only this and nothing more. Which was not in any way a complaint nor even a thought in His mind as He walked gracefully down the street.

With so little light to reflect the gold of His outfit he almost blended with the darkness somewhat. Almost. Every sliver of light gave Him away. His brilliant golden hair and those subtle golden cues lit up in the light offered. Every step was a gentle light clip of heel against stone, His boots creating a gentle rhythm to which the cane in his hand kept time. Neither the sound of His steps, nor that of His cane was enough to drown out the sound of rushing feet ahead of Him.

It was a sound that gave Him a little pause, but there was no way to His home save through this passage so He continued forward with slightly more caution.

Only a few steps revealed the scene to Him. Two men leering down at a third who was obviously trying to negotiate and failing. Again He paused, the one blue eye visible flickering over them all. His path was entirely blocked by their presence, with no way for Him to slip by unnoticed. The sound of His final step drew the attention of one of them, He knew it in the way that his eyes moved toward Him. The way they paused and flickered with surprise.

"Well then." Those steel eyes lit a little with an expression He was familiar with, and His expression immediately slipped into something slightly warmer. He offered a smile to all of them.

"Pardon me." His voice was gentle, light and melodic with just a touch of something slightly deeper. "I have just left work and am on my way to relax." His smile widened slightly and He took a small graceful step forward.

"Would you mind letting me pass?"

The violence of a moment ago was spreading but not quite easing. He could still feel it hanging in the air like cheap perfume, thick and unpleasant. "Why don't you wait there just a moment while we finish our business here?"

A smile was offered to Him. False in every line but in that it was suggestive of what he meant to happen next. He took a small step forward again, the click of His heel cutting through what might have been a moment of suspense before what might happen became reality. "Please?" He tilted His head, the step bringing Him into a shaft of light so that when His head tilted it fell perfectly into that light. Gold gleamed like a halo around His pale and lovely features, one of them falling in the tilt to light upon His lip. The word made Him seem like something more ethereal than He was in that moment.

It was enough to draw one of the men away from the one who had been cornered toward Him. His lips half parted with His breath as he drew closer. He was taller, not so small a man, but there was an air of unsubtle violence around him which was matched only by fragile beauty. "Well, you did ask nicely didn't you?"

Only one small word escaped Him. "Yes."

[Xylander]

Xylander's attempts at reconciling with the two men wasn't working. They only seemed to get a kick out of his inferiority. That kind of stuff really got on Xylander's nerves. If he only knew how to use his element better, he could show them he isn't some worthless bum on the street (even though that's technically what he was at the moment.)

He prepared to get the life beat out of him when someone came up near them. His violet eyes flickered over toward the newcomer with surprise. Was someone coming to help him?

The two men, one burly and beastly, the other angelic and suave. His pursuer went toward the other man, in a not so pacified manner.

The last thing Xylander wanted to do was drag someone into his own problems. He shifted his focus back on the man in front of him, who was now several steps closer. Xylander pressed himself up against the wall and felt a build up of electricity bubbling under his skin. He felt jittery and anxious. He clenched his fists. 

"Don't come closer," he warned, uncertain how long he would be able to hold back his volatile element.

It made the man laugh, his voice thick with saliva and his breath reeking of alcohol. It made Xylander's stomach twist.

"I'll do whatever I damn well please," he grunted with a sneer as he cracked his knuckles. Once hand glimmered in the dim lighting of the alley. He had a mechanical arm. 

In an instant, Xylander went from flight into fight mode. The man didn't seem to be carrying a weapon; if he was, it was concealed, and Xylander was certain that if he did have one, he would be the kind of guy to pull it out for intimidation. As he came another step closer into Xylander's range, the young electricity elemental thrust his fist up in an arc. As his chin slammed into the man's chin, he released the energy building up within him.

The spark was enough to give the man a shock, and the bright light emitting from his hand blinded him. The man shouted in anger, squinting as he threw his hands out to grab at Xylander.

Slippery as a cat, Xylander ducked down, feeling the whoosh of air over his head as he dodged the attack. He jolted forward, keeping low to push past the man with a static burst, giving himself an extra jolt of speed that knocked the brute off to the side, and nearly into the other man conversing with the angelic being.

[Samael]

Between one breath and the next the violence broke. He did not see it happen. His one visible blue eye was locked with the eyes of the one who stood before Him. He did not see it happen, but He knew. The sound of electricity and the sudden sharp scent of ozone in the air. The sound of movement behind him. If He had looked He might have seen it, but He did not.

There was a moment where He could have stepped forward, stepped back. Could have done something but that moment slipped through His fingers and was lost. There was a sound of footsteps and the fight was drawing nearer to them. He looked, breaking their gaze and He looked as well. Caught just enough to know that the one who had been cornered had done something to momentarily stun the other.

Eyes lifted to meet His for a moment and then suddenly he was moving forward very quickly. One startled sound left His lips before He felt His back slam into the wall of the alley behind Him. That one blue eye widened in shock for just a brief moment, and He felt thick fingers wrap around His throat. Choking off the air from His lungs.

His head tilted back slightly, so that He could breathe just a little more, back arching into the touch and allowing the air better access to His lungs. It also lifted His face to what little light made it to this dark place. Light that lingered with care over His milk-pale features and glinted off of the spill of His hair.

"You just don't move now you hear?" The voice that spoke to Him was rough, and He saw the glint of a weapon in the hand not holding Him against the wall.

"Yes." The word was soft, exhaled with what little breath He could gain. The one who held Him turned away, staring at the young man that had been cornered just a moment before.

"You should take a lesson from your friend and just take your lumps kid." There were stars on the edges of His vision. The fingers on His throat tightening for a moment and then He could almost breathe again. He did nothing to fight back, standing as still as He could make His body be. Even if He had been free to breathe His chest would have hardly risen or fallen with the passage of His breath.

[Xylander]

Xylander stumbled forward, trying to regain his composure. He wasn't used to accelerating so quickly, let alone stopping on a dime. However, it had managed to get him out of a sticky situation that could have ended very badly for him. 

However, it also put an innocent in danger.

He turned to flee, but noticed the angelic man up against the wall, clearly caught off guard by the sudden shift in energy around them. One of the men grabbed him by the throat, squeezing tightly to choke off his air supply. Xylander watched as the stranger gasped for air, throwing his head back and writhing to try and breathe. 


"You should take a lesson from your friend and just take your lumps kid," the man said, staring angrily at Xylander. He wasn't sure who the man was talking to: him, or the man he held up against the wall. Either way, it was a threat. One that Xylander couldn't ignore.


"Lumps," he replied, narrowing his eyes as a cocky smirk grew on his lips. "How eloquent of you. I never would have expected such poetry from a brute of your size. Truly, you are more than just a sack of muscle and fat." 

He knew he was instigating a fight, which is what he was trying to avoid in the first place. However, if he didn't try to do something, both he and the innocent stranger were going to be hurt. Now that he wasn't cornered into an alley, he had more room to move, and he could put all of his childhood training to good use. 

Conjuring up all of his bravery, and quite frankly all of his stupidity, Xylander stood up straight and continued with his arrogant mockery.

"I would like to see if your IQ of 12 compares to your strength. Surely, you have mastered the skill of intimidation, but can you follow through on someone who can fight back without the help of your side kick? Let's put it to the test, shall we?"

[Samael]

His vision began to darken around the edges in a way that He recognized as meaning that soon He was likely to lose it entirely. The lack of air to breathe made His head ache, but He did not lift a single pale finger to stop the one who held Him so harshly against the wall. Distantly He could hear the sound of voices, and at last the fingers loosened slightly, allowing Him to take a breath that brought sight back to His blue eyes. The one who held Him dropped his hand away entirely, turning toward the one that had held his interest before He had entered into the scene.

Air passed by His lips, taken into hungry lungs as smoothly as He could force His body to. Just a little He bent forward, only to freeze again watching as the one who had accosted Him moved away.

"You've got a big mouth for such a little man." The voice was grating and angry. He drew further away from Him, and before He could even think better of it He spoke.

"Please..." The word was half whisper, His throat still rough from the ungentle hand that had been lain upon it. His eyes turned back, and He offered His most entreating look. Blue eye resolved, His cheeks flushed and His whole body adopting an air of submission without seeming to move at all. "There is no need to fight."

His eyes met those of the one who stood before Him. "Is that what you really want?" He made the words half breathless, lifting a hand to His chest. Anger and surprise leaked out of the expression He had been given at the sound of His words.

"I do actually. I want to beat the hell out of this kid, so just stand there and keep your mouth shut while I take care of business eh?" There was dismissiveness at the end of the question which He could tell was not a question at all.

His lips pressed gently shut.

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