thefolder | It's Film Noir see~

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It's Film Noir see~

Who: Jinx, Noir and Open to all
What: Film Noir has settled on the city
Where: The Digital Dive Bar
When: Sunday Evening

The world is made up of shades of black, white and grey.

Figuratively speaking, it's difficult at times to see where right and wrong lay as shadows of selfish motives and sinful opportunities present themselves and weaken even the most pure hearted. The shades of grey can lead them astray and turn you about till you can't even recognize yourself in the mirror anymore.

Also literally. As night fell upon the city the very color seemed to drain from the world and the clothing and lingo seemed to change to match.

The Digital Dive Bar was a seedy little joint on the north end of Terminal Tokyo, located in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and adjacent to the Crest of Desire District.

It was the kind of shady bar where you could go to forget yourself for a few hours. Less reputable Digimon liked to gather here and drink away their problems. Some night this gathering of reprobates and rouges was downright cheery.

Tonight was not one of those nights.

A fog of cigar smoke filled the air above their heads as a crooked poker game was played out hour by hour with the chips gradually changing hands from one Mon to another. A vixen of a Renamon worked the bar flirting her way to tips and smoking from a long elegant cigarette holder. She wore a slinky black number that clung to her curves like so many men and mon would be happy to do behind closed doors.

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One such Mon didn't dare give her a second glance as he sipped from a tumbler of some harsh tasting liquid. His curly straw gave it a whimsical feel despite his grim expression.

Tonight had a sort of gritty feeling to it, like a worn out back alley where the gravel under your sneakers kicks up dust with every step and the dumpster is covered in rust.

A voice like silk being run over an opal called to him from the darkness.

"Well don't you look gloomy...and scruffy. I didn't know Digimon could grow a five-o-clock shadow."

A pale skinned beauty with all the curves of a snake and the eyes of a cat stood with a hand on her hip, cocked with confidence. Her own dress was a dark shade of grey that stood out against her snow white skin.

"If I had a bit for every thing YOU didn't know dame I could drink a Perfect level's amount of liquor and still have change." He grumbled facing away from her.

"Aw cheer up peach fuzz." She purred and from seemingly nowhere she produced a fedora. "I made you a little gift to try and cheer you up. You've been a real bummer ever since you-"

"Died. Right. Been there, done that. Rather not relive it thanks."

She frowned, and casually dusted off the hat. "I was going to say "Egged. It sounds nicer and less dramatic."

"Yeah and you hate drama don't ya?" He rolled his eyes. "Newsflash dollface. Just because we come back doesn't make death any less of a big deal for us Digimon."

She sniffed apparently not appreciating his attitude and plopped the hat on his head pushing it down over his eyes.

"If this is how you treat people who bring you gifts, I'd hate to see how you act around Christmas."

He growled and tugged on the hat adjusting it. There was a look of surprise as his wings popped through the hat where two holes had been cut to allow them movement. He gave it a few test flaps to see if he could still fly while wearing it and sure enough, he lifted off the seat.

"If this makes your guilt stop keeping you up at night then thanks." He muttered earning himself a sharp pinch that made him yelp. She took a seat next to him and ordered a dark amber colored drink with cherries in it.

"Is that what's been bothering you? A sudden acute sense of mortality?" she pressed plucking a cherry out of her drink and sucking it between her lips.

But he didn't answer. Not yet anyway, the night was young and he was in no place to be opening up to the woman who had held him at bay for so long.

He'd tried so hard to please her and what had that earned him? Pain, flame, and a dirt nap.

Fittingly, being burned to death had made him a little darker. Rougher. And he mourned for the boy he once was.

And grieved for the Mon he was becoming.

And so the two drank in silence as Jinx's sharp catlike eyes scanned the bar, perhaps for a victim, perhaps for some entertainment. And Noir continued sipping his drink watching the ice cubes clinking together as the fluids drained from his tumbler.

Dante wasn't looking to be anyone's victim, but he would gladly provide entertainment. What kind remained to be seen, but his eyes flicked over Jynx's dress with keen interest as he sat down next to her. His scruffy appearance and the dark shirt under his red duster gave him a gloomy look, but ice blue eyes glittered with interest and perhaps even mischief beneath perfectly white hair that contrasted with a face that was in its thirties at most.

He ordered himself a drink, something with strawberries and a proof that you could use as lamp oil, and leaned one elbow on the bar. Once again he turned to look at Jynx, as if sizing her up and deciding how to approach. It was an almost predatory seeming action, but his smooth voice was relaxed and casual when he finally spoke.

"Ain't a dame like you a bit young to be hanging out in a dive like this?"

Really, he didn't care if she was old enough to drink or not. But he wouldn't know where he would be trying to take this until he was sure she was of age...and one thing he knew well was that you never directly ask a woman her age.

Edited 2013-08-12 06:06 (UTC)

She shot him a sideways eye and couldn't help but smirk.

"Ain't a mook like you a little young to be going grey? Or is your life just that stressful?" She teased gently slipping another cherry between her lips and enjoying the burst of juice mingling with the alcohol it had been soaking in.

He shrugged, taking the teasing in stride. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten questions about his hair color and he doubted it would be the last.

"Doll, my life's got more headaches than you could count. But believe it or not, I was born with this hair. Call it a unique family trait."

Or a unique trait to being part demon. But he'd never seen anyone with both human and demon blood outside of his family, so it was close enough.

"Oh I believe it." She chuckled "But only because I've taken to brutalizing anyone who accuses me of dyeing my hair pink when it's been my natural color all my life."

Her Digimon partner groaned into his drink.

"It was the ONE TIME! Let it go woman."

"Never~"

"Ya'd think they'd have an easier time figuring out you're not exactly run of the mill after seeing those pretty eyes of yours."

He picked up his drink as the bartender set it down. A long drink, and then he put it back on the bar with a loud clink.

She smirked at the flirt and fluttered those eyelashes of hers.

"Sweet mouth for someone who looks like he stepped out of a punk rock noir flick." She purred. Her partner rolled his eyes and sipped harder at his drink.

"They say everyone's got hidden depths. Mine happen to be knowin' how to treat a lady right."

In more than one way, as he was hoping to get the chance to show someone tonight. This dame certainly had a way of drawing his eyes, but it was always a trick dealing with the younger ones. The line between legal and jailbait was a thin one and those directly on either side of it were impossible to tell apart with eyes alone.

"I bet you do." Jinx almost couldn't keep a straight face, but thankfully she'd gotten some more practice in flirting recently.

"Your mother must be so proud." She teased tapping her glass and signaling to the bartender she wanted a refill with more cherries.

Well, that killed the mood. His eyes fell down to his glass and the pendant under his shirt suddenly felt very heavy. Memories of his mother, her smile, her laugh, that way she had of controlling even two rambunctious half demons...her shouts of desperation as she told her children to run in her final moments, all came rushing into his head.

"I like to think she would be. I do my best to be the kinda man she'd want her son to grow up into."

Ever perceptive, Jinx could tell she'd inadvertently stepped onto some sensitive territory. But her curiosity got the better of her.

"Well I may have only just met you, but so far you're doing a fine job." She purred soothingly.

It was never easy to completely lift Dante's mood after it'd been dropped by thoughts of his dead mother, but the effort earned a small smile. Dragging the mood down with him wasn't his style. And besides, even an attempt at cheering him up was enough to warm his heart slightly.

"That's sweet of ya, doll, and I'm glad to hear it."

She turned back to her drink and hooked another cherry, twirling the stem between her fingers.

"I never knew my parents, just a bunch of circus scum and a few decent folks. I've wondered if that was a good thing. A way to keep me from being sad when it's over."

"Family's a complicated mess."

With two dead parents, a brother who'd run off to the demon world and literal Hell on his tail for most of his life thanks to his father's history, he was one to know. Sometimes he wondered what he'd done to deserve the kind of life he'd gotten, aside from being born half demon.

"But take it from a guy who's loved, lost and been alone. It's always good to have someone ya care about, even if they ain't really family. Loss ain't pretty, but it does dull. Loneliness just keeps gettin' worse and makes you into an ass to boot."

She smirked at the remark, this guy had layers. Layers he might not normally share. But this scenario, the black and white, the clothes, the drinks. It was bringing things out of people.

"Family isn't about who you're born with. It's who you care about most." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"And when the people you care about stop caring about you it hurts. But humans adapt and move on. Some people just don't deserve the family they have."

"Everyone deserves at least a chance."

He finished off the last of his drink and signalled the bartender for another, this time a Bloody Mary. Strawberries and tomatoes, whoever figured out you could turn them into alcoholic drinks deserved a medal.

But now he found he had nothing to keep his hand occupied so it didn't tap agitatedly on the bar. Family was a sticky issue. So was belonging and deserving.

"And sometimes it ain't about deserving. Sometimes ya can't help but care. ...And sometimes ya don't get that chance because ya don't fit in."

"Fitting in is over rated." She shot back with a curl of her lips, apparently proud to stand out.

"As much as it clashes with my strong sense of self preservation, I've never been the type of girl to follow the beaten path."

"More fun to be yourself anyway."

He responded with a wink, taking his next drink out of the bartender's hand and immediately taking a swallow.

"Long as it don't get ya run outta town for shit ya can't help, anyway."

That was something he had personal experience with. Humans tended to react poorly to learning they had a demon in their midst, even if it was only half of one.

Catching onto that Jinx just had to ask, "Something you have personal experience with?" She had never been run out of town so much as locked up for her misbehaving. But it was still always such a pain to have to break out of jail time and time again.

She gently traced a long elegant finger along the rim of her glass while she listened and studied him curiously.

"Once or twice. People find out their new neighbor is half demon and all of a sudden it's torches and pitchforks."

It was risky, admitting his heritage. But this dame obviously had her own supernatural history, even seemed to understand what it was like being looked at strangely for the hints of it you couldn't hide. Besides, she'd been good to him so far. Now was as good a time as any to see how she reacted to the truth.

She barely batted an eyelash to that "The more I hear about other peoples worlds, the more I become nostalgic for the difficulties of my own crappy reality." She murmured in a soothing way. She didn't look away or even acknowledge anything particularly odd about the idea.

"Sounds like something you've gotten used to, but never completely accepted."

"Came to terms with being a halfbreed years ago. It's not havin' a place to really belong that's the problem."

Some days it just seemed like he wasn't meant for that kind of life. Not human, not demon, where did that leave him? Just a lonely warrior holding onto the few who accepted him in whatever way he could.

"So you make your own place." She answered simply. "And bring people to you. Shouldn't be too difficult in a city like this. Everyone needs something. And a clever boy like you looks like he knows how to take care of business." She smirked playfully.

"And peoples needs."

He turned to look at her with a smile.

"Maybe you're right. Already managed to find a sweet dame I'd like to keep getting to know."

She shot back a smirk to his smile.

"Well she's gonna have to wait her turn. I'm enjoying your attention far too much and I'm not above lashing out to get what I want."

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