You don't want to see this, if you did you'd surely disbelieve it.

[gotitmemorised]

The days that followed Axel, Saix and Aerith's return to Rabanastre had been sombre ones.

The news of what had befallen Midgar had spread throughout the world via news channels, both visual and radio, and by here-say and would-be accounts, like wildfire.

The death toll was being counted in untold thousands and, according to most broadcasts, there were no survivors. It was being readily compared to the tragedy of Nabudis that had taken place nearly a decade ago. Aerial photographs and video showed what Midgar looked like in the wake of the disaster in comparison to the earlier pictures of it finally nearing completion.

The damage to the city was extensive. The iconic Plate had collapsed almost completely and fires raged across great portions of what was left. An entire district was still alight, even days after. The telltale pale green glow of burst Mako pipes was visible in some areas and Mist obscured some of the visuals to such an extent that entire sectors were hard to make out. Teams were struggling to get inside the city in order to fully assess the damage. Bancour's division of the Gotei 13, Squad Seven, had been drafted in as an emergency measure and the surrounding areas were on high alert regarding its potential to turn onto a Necrohol. Reports assured viewers and listeners that such a thing had not yet occurred, and may not, but tensions ran high.

Travellers were being advised to steer clear of the entire Centra area as a precaution.

Officials had not yet managed to ascertain the cause or motive behind the attack, if it even was one. Theories regarding the method used for the wiping out of an entire capital city varied almost widely as the reasons. Some theorised that it was accidental -- a chain reaction of Reactor malfunctions. Others were convinced that it was down to eco-terrorism from anti-Mako power groups. That it could possibly be an enemy nation that was responsible was not an uncommon suggestion, either. This last one had thrown the entire political state of Ivalice into turmoil.

As a result, political debates made up a heavy portion of the current programming.

The ambience of even Rabanastre, Dalmasca's usually bright and bustling capital, had been considerably more subdued than it was prior to their departure. Numbers were down in the East End and in the Muthru Bazaar. People were still shopping, but the carefree spark had been, if only temporarily, doused by numb shock.

Comments

[innatelunacy]

Saix looked up as Aerith and Axel entered, acknowledging their presence with a silent nod of his head. He didn't wave back; he wasn't the type, but there was a visible effort not to appear as if he was ignoring them.

At least he didn't look like he'd been hitting the drink, jokes aside.

A faint scowl flickered across his face, however, as he spotted the wings of Timcanpy above Aerith's hair, and he eyed the spot where the little golden troublemaker sat as if he was waiting for the inevitable.

[goldengolem]

Timcanpy stayed where he was for the time being. In fact, he pointedly ignored Saix even to the point of turning his back on him. He settled into Aerith's hair as though sleepy and folded his wings with an all-too-innocent air of indifference.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel elected to be a gentleman and, as such, he headed to the bar to get the three of them a drink. He was parched, he had no doubt that Aerith was too, and Saix looked like he needed cheering up. If his face got any longer, they'd be able to fit him with a bridle.

Axel saw that it was Demyx, and not Crystal, that was on bar duty today. Good. That meant that he was definitely going to be the prime target for Aerith's plan of roping him into flower-selling. He wouldn't mention it to him. That was Aerith's job. Instead, he intended to make small talk while Aerith got settled with Saix.

He, at least, knew what the other two would have by that point.

"Hey," he said with a nod to Demyx, and one to Xigbar, the local bar prop and de-facto leader of the Order. "The usual for me and Saix, Aerith'll have a Landisian rum and coke if you've got it. If not ... go with that new Balfonheim one."

[princeofawesome]

Demyx waved as a few of his favourite regulars walked in, and grinned when Axel approached the bar. At last, something to distract him from the news station that the owner insisted on having on the radio.

"...we can assure the people of Bancour, and of Valendia at large, that the rumours concerning PSICOM's involvement at Midgar, and by extension that of the Archadian Empire, have absolutely no basis in fact..."

Yeah, he was pretty glad that they'd finally turned up. Radio aside, Saix had been looking undeniably surly since he'd come in, and something about Saix being grumpy always set Demyx's teeth on edge. Maybe it was the berserker thing. He had never associated Saix in a bad mood with anything good, anyway.

Still, at least he hadn't been out annihilating the local wildlife and bringing in bits of mutilated monster before heading to the market. That was always a good thing. He hated having to be the one who mopped bits of grotty creature drippings off the floor.

"What's up, Axel?" He said, looking rather bright as he talked over the news report. "Two pints of the usual and ... we're all out of Landisian - you know what deliveries are like right now - so I'll go with the Balfonheim Gold Label."

He turned to fill the order and left Axel to chat with Xigbar while he waited for him. The behind-bar radio crackled as he crossed the floor in front of it, giving the woman who was speaking a temporarily gritty quality to her decidedly icy voice.

[innatelunacy]

Saix was unconvinced by Timcanpy's acting ability, but he turned his attention away from Axel's partner in crime to nod faintly at Aerith as she took a seat across the table from him.

"Did you have to bring that thing with you?" He asked, slightly gruffly. He was coping amazingly well with sleeping on some cushions on the floor, and bore it with good grace since no one had made any dog related comments about his sleeping arrangements as yet, but he did get slightly tetchy at being woken up by Timcanpy. Tim could bite through steel; Saix's ears hadn't put up anywhere near as much resistance.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith smiled at Saix, as sweetly as she could physically manage. "He comes on his own," she told him, being firmly of the opinion that Timcanpy was cute, no matter how much trouble he was, and enjoyed being. "I think he likes you."

[notjustanyolddude]

Xigbar sucked on his bottle of beer, watching Demyx out of one hawkish eye before he turned the full force of his affable gittishness on Axel.

"Gotta be getting cramped at your place," he commented, conversationally, leaning against the bar with one elbow. "Especially sharing it with a chick, and a berserker; I don't envy you if their cycles synch up." He cracked a crooked grin at the thought. They all knew what Saix could be like when he was pent up for any length of time anyway, and with the current Vexen situation....

Well, it was no wonder Saix was looking like someone had told him no bicciebones, ever.

Axel, however, seemed to be in his element, so to speak. Surrounded by his little friends, able to do his own thing with them. Yeah, there was a part of the kid that was enjoying it.

[goldengolem]

Aerith was right; Timcanpy did like Saix.

He thought he tasted just fine, really.

Timcanpy casually hopped down from Aerith's head and sat on the table in front of Saix. He was out of smacking range and was, for the time being, totally innocent.

Even so, there was something contemptuous in the 'look' he was giving him ...

[gotitmemorised]

Axel nodded at the pre-approved amendment to his drink order and turned to Xigbar when he addressed him, widening his eyes at his comment about cycles. Well, that was a rather scary concept. He could take Saix being grouchy, and Aerith being ... tetchy, but if they got like that together? He'd rather sleep on Xigbar's floor.

"Tell me about it," he said, half amused, half terrified. "Slow day?"

The Sandsea itself didn't seem as busy as it had the potential to be. Axel had seen days when the whole place was heaving and it was, quite literally, standing room only. In fairness, those did tend to be Blitzball days, but it was still a far cry from how it was today.

[princeofawesome]

Demyx got Axel's drink order, half listening to Xigbar and half to the radio. He had no interest in politics, but it did pay to keep an ear to the ground about certain things and, well, it wasn't uncommon for barstaff to be treated like information sources.

Demyx had no issue taking a slightly better tip in exchange for imparting some interesting info on hunts and unusual or suspicious people he'd seen milling about. What people wanted to know at the moment, particularly travellers and roving hunters, was whether anything big and juicy had been seen in the Centra region, and whether there were any rewards going if there had. The Mark boards were blank, but that didn't mean that undeclared, or totally open Hunts weren't available to those who knew where to look.

As it was, nothing was being said. Instead, interviews with important people continued on and off, each with assurances of some kind or another.

"...furthermore, we are fully supportive of the decision to send groups of Seated members of Divisions Five and Twelve in to aid in the effort to keep the Midgar area safe from a potentially dangerous influx of ..."

Meh. Perhaps things would pick up soon.

[innatelunacy]

Saix regarded Timcanpy with a sour look. He was waiting for Axel's pet to do something, which Timcanpy clearly seemed to have planned. Saix picked his glass up and took a long drink, keeping a narrowed eye on Tim as he did so.

He put his glass down again, and told Aerith, simply, "If that's how you interpret liking someone, I don't wish to be your enemy."

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith giggled behind her hand. "You try really hard to be mister grumpy, but we know there's a squishy side in there somewhere." She grinned at Saix, "If there wasn't, you'd be angrier about Tim," she pointed out.

Saix, well covered and dry though it was, had a sense of humour, as well as that loyalty that had made him defy his husband to help his friend on a suicide mission. Somewhere under all that grumpy exterior, Saix had a very secret nice side.

Very secret.

[notjustanyolddude]

"Slow week," Xigbar answered, picking up his beer again. "This whole Midgar debacle has put a real crimp in business." He eyed Axel out of his one functioning eye, "It's all gone politics," he said, his voice a shade quieter than it had been, "but I know and you know that there ain't going to be a repeat in the next couple of weeks, but with everyone acting like they think there could be," he shrugged, "then we've got two of the big powers on the planet facing off against each other to see who blinks first." And you had to wonder just what kind of spanner it would throw into the politics if anyone found out there were survivors.

Xigbar grinned, horribly. "Meanwhile, small businesses like us suffer. Looks like we just can't catch a break, hey flamesilocks? Yo, squirt," he said, addressing Demyx seamlessly and waving his nearly empty bottle, "another one of these, too."

He turned to Axel and flashed him a wide and crooked smile, "It's been that dead in here, I feel bad enough to actually pay for my drinks," and he fished for his wallet.

[goldengolem]

Timcanpy sat where he was. Oh, he'd move when Saix too his eyes off him and he was waiting for him to do just that. As it was, he stayed perfectly still and perfectly innocent.

[princeofawesome]

Demyx put Axel's drinks on the bar in front of him and, without missing a beat, he put a bottle for Xigbar down, too.

"I'd say we should be dead more often, but I'm actually getting less tips than usual this way," he complained, hanging his head miserably. "Eleven gil for you, Axel," he said, "Aaaand three for you, Old Man."

[gotitmemorised]

Axel nodded along to Xigbar's observations of the current political situation. There was something slightly scary about the potential for a cold war between Bancour and The Archadian Empire, that was for sure. He couldn't deny it, he rather hoped that they'd declare it an industrial accident on a massive scale so that the whole situation would settle down a little bit. The restricted travel really was putting a cramp in his work options.

"Looks that way," he sighed, shaking his head at Xigbar's comment. He then nodded at Demyx when he gave him the price of his order and followed it up with Xigbar's. "I'll get it, you can owe me one." He said as he handed over the fifteen gil and waved away the offer of his change before he got it.

He gathered up the three drinks in front of him, more than able to carry them across the bar and up the stairs without the use of a tray. He paused though, and looked at Xigbar out of the corner of his eye.

"Saix been in here all day?" He asked quietly, lowering his voice. "Anything been said about the Aerodromes, yet?"

[notjustanyolddude]

Xigbar tipped his bottle in a salute of thanks, although Axel had better not expect a big one in return for that favour. "Most of it," he answered, "Short, Blue, and Angry's got stuff on his mind; I think there's still no answer at home." He gave a wry smile, "Aerodrome's staying shut until after the weekend at least. They can't reopen at full service immediately, either, on account of the airships being in the wrong places, so it'll be disrupted service for a bit longer."

He took a drink from his new bottle, which was cold enough to have formed condensation, and then pointed at Demyx with the neck. "And you, less of the 'old'."

[innatelunacy]

"There's little point getting angry at something that would lose a battle of wits against Demyx," Saix answered, drily. He eyed Tim for a moment before addressing the golem directly; "Don't think I'm taken in by that act." In his peripheral vision, he could see Axel making his way towards the mezzanine. His hair tended to stand out and was easily noticed.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith giggled quietly to herself again. "Don't think we're being taken in by yours, either," she told Saix. "Besides," she said, "I know Tim's naughty," and she poked the little golden ball on the top of what was best described as his head as she said it, "but he's got a good heart." She thought about that for a moment before adding, "Sort of," with a grin.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel nodded at Xigbar's answer. Well, that seemed sensible ... even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear. He didn't want to get rid of Saix; he didn't even mind him sleeping on his floor. It would just be better for him when they re-opened the Aerodrome. Piece of mind and all that.

Axel would never deny that he didn't like Vexen. It was a fact. The man was irritable, bitchy, cold as hell and he had the kind of nasal voice that got on his last nerve. Even so, Saix cared about the miserable old man for some reason. As such, Saix not being able to get a hold of him made him grouchy and, it had to be said, worried. The sooner he managed to make contact with him, either by phone or by flying back to his home city of Lindblum, the better.

"Makes sense," he replied with a shrug.

He gave Xigbar a nod and headed up to their usual table, drinks in hand. He put Saix and Aerith's down in front of each other and his in the place he'd decided to sit. A quick glance told him that there was no blood, so Timcanpy and Saix hadn't kicked off just yet.

"I hear it's been quiet in here," Axel said conversationally.

[princeofawesome]

Demyx shrugged, sitting back down on the chair he'd put behind the bar for those slow moments. Well, they were all too frequent lately and standing all day, especially when you were bored, was just lame.

"Just saying it like it is," he grinned brightly.

He gave the radio a sad look as the interviews and news reports continued. Ahhh, what he wouldn't give for some music.

[innatelunacy]

Saix nodded, faintly, and took his drink from Axel with murmured thanks, before draining all but the last mouthful from his current glass. "Just the usual regulars," Saix answered. A couple of Akatsuki who were local were in and out, but for the most part it was quieter than usual. "Xigbar has been here longer than I have." He was starting to think that Xigbar lived under the bar.

"I have not," he added, slightly pointedly though with a tiny flicker of a smirk, "been drinking all day, regardless of what Xigbar may have told you. I'm not about to turn into him."

[hearstheplanet]

"I've been telling him he's not as grumpy as he likes to act, but he doesn't believe me," Aerith chimed in, cheerfully. "He can hide out and be antisocial in this bar all he likes, we know better." She grinned, brightly, as Saix rolled his eyes and didn't make eye contact.

"Which is why I want your help with something, Saix," she said, smiling at him sweetly. "Just a teensy little favour?"

[gotitmemorised]

Axel disagreed slightly. Saix was, as far as he was concerned, every bit as grumpy as he liked to act. It was barely even an act. Even so, he knew full well that he had a lighter side that showed itself every so often, albeit dimly.

He grinned when Aerith brought up the favour. He knew that it wouldn't be well received, but it would serve to get him out of the pub for a while. He had a feeling he'd get roped into it for moral support or Saix wouldn't do it, but it did promise to have some comedy value ...

[goldengolem]

Timcanpy crept slightly closer to Saix.

It was only by two steps, but the movement was slow and calculated.