Work Text:
The bar Barricade frequented was known for housing sinners. Of all walks of life— mortals and demons. Many a time someone was coaxed into selling their soul before they paid for their drinks. Barricade was never one of those people, and he planned never to be.
Flirting with danger (figuratively and literally) was plenty enough for him. Tonight he just wanted to play his violin off in the corner and milk the drink he'd gotten. But he could tell already that that wasn't going to work out.
He wasn't unused to being watched by demons. As a matter of fact, he anticipated it by now. He's renowned for his inability for one to trick or coax his soul from him. Many demon around the world find their way here to try their hand at it.
Certainly made things interesting.
When the pretty little crimson mecha finally found their way over towards Barricade's corner, Barricade did his best to not stare— to overall ignore the demon until addressed. But he could feel their golden optics looking him over and it made his armour crawl.
“You're pretty good at that,” The demon finally spoke up, their pretty face relaxed as they casually draped themselves over the railing to look down the short flight of stairs at the mecha— decent sized claws grasping a drink in both servo, “Would you like a drink?”
Barricade finished the last few notes to his song before slowly setting his violin aside, reaching back to click on the club's radio once more. Only then did he allow himself to look to the demon that had made a point of hovering over him instead of approaching him and allowing themselves to be dwarfed.
“... Pass.” Barricade offered slowly, his own claws raising up in a polite decline. Dual optics admiring the demon as his reply earned him a laugh.
“No strings attached. Honest~.” The demon held one of the glasses out, their tail whisking through the air in good humour, “I'm above such silly, simple tricks to try and claim a soul.”
Barricade hesitated, but he also knew that a demon couldn't lie when it came to deals. One could spin their words to be manipulative or misleading, but if it's a lie… It wouldn't work out. That's exactly how Barricade had the wiggle room he did.
“In that case, I suppose I'll take you up on that offer,” Barricade finally accepted. Reaching out and taking the drink. It was a refill of what he'd been drinking already, and the one good thing about chatting it up with a demon instead of just anyone was that they weren't going to drug anyone. It'd do them no good.
“You're Barricade, right?” After Barricade took a sip of the drink they'd brought, the demon leaned forwards more. Grinning so wide in their excitement that their deadly denta shone through easily, “The mech everyone talks about?”
“The mech with enough common sense not to stupidly bet or sell his soul?” Barricade mused out loud, a soft snort leaving him as he watched the demon's tail lazily flick back and forth, “That would be me. You looking to try your hand?”
“Perhaps~.” The word was almost a purr, as the demon tilted their helm. Before they vaulted themselves over the railing, “You can call me Deadlock.”
“Call you,” Of course, Barricade wasn't expecting to have the demon give their true name. A demon's name gave one some sort of power over them, “Alright. Deadlock. What will it be? Some silly game? A sort of riddle? Will you try to seduce me?”
Again, the demon laughed, such a beautiful laugh, as they moved their way into Barricade's field, their helm giving a curious quirk as golden optics peer up into the dual set of the taller mech, “Would you take a bite if I tried?”
“Tempting,” Barricade admitted, not feeling any shame in admitting his attraction to the devious being before him, “But I'm much too fond of my soul for such a thing, unfortunately.”
“A shame,” Deadlock huffed childishly, before stepping back and pointing towards Barricade's violin, “Then how about a music battle~?”
“... Okay. You've got my attention. But what do I get when I win?” Barricade grinned a bit, even at the bit of nerves that bubbled up under his armour. What are the chances Deadlock knew already what Barricade played due to how many other demons had passed through here? He knew at this point his soul was considered a great proof of a demon’s capabilities-- considering the huge number of demons who had thus far failed. It’s gotten riskier and riskier to play this gambling game he was.
“If, you win.” Deadlock corrected, swirling their drink slowly before taking a long sip, enjoying the taste as they seemed to think it over. Before they grinned wide, stepping close once more, “What is it you desire most~?”
Barricade tensed, not at the proximity but the question-- such a cliché question for a demon to ask. And a dangerous one to answer. If one didn’t know such already, the glint in Deadlock’s golden optics would likely be enough to cause any sane person to hesitate. Thankfully, Barricade’s been playing this game for years. The question was met with a shrug, before he took a good swig of his own drink.
“Nothing I don’t already have, I’m a pretty chill mech,” He finally offered, helm tilting a bit as he looked Deadlock over, “Anything you think is worth my soul?”
The flash of light in the demon’s optics almost made Barricade smug. But then they seemed to perk right up, gesturing towards the worn out violin Barricade had been using, before unclasping a case from their back. “Well, I have this,” They grinned, opening the case and pulling out the elegant violin-- gold and red, like them. And just as gorgeous. “My violin for your soul. Deal?”
Barricade couldn’t exactly say no, and demanding something else would put power in the demon’s servos instead of his own. Instead, much too proud (and, dare he say, confident) to back out, Barricade gestured towards Deadlock, clicking the radio off once more to allow the chatter of the bar to overwhelm the immediate area once more.
“Challenger goes first. Good luck, Deadlock.” The chatter in the bar didn't die down in the least, the mortal mecha mostly seeming to carry on with their conversations while it was mostly only the demons that weren't… preoccupied, that seemed to catch what was going down.
Deadlock took a second to ensure their violin was tuned proper, before taking a soft ventilation to soothe themselves from the excitement. Meanwhile Barricade just sat back, sipping on his drink and waiting as he casually admired the demon. Sparing a moment to wonder just what type of demon it was that was challenging him this time.
But before he could focus too much on the thought, Deadlock began. A harsh, aggressive tune. Something quite lovely, and absolutely captivating. It had Barricade sit up straight.
None of the patrons really seemed to care too much for it— tuning it out as they had been the more generic stuff Barricade had been playing later. Perhaps, and Barricade would only wonder this after it was all said and done— it was more captivating to him because he got to see the demon in action.
Their tail sliced through the air as they focused heavily on making sure each note was hit perfectly. Their body moving along to the beat. But the song itself was lacking… a sort of emotion. Passion.
When Deadlock was finished, they twirled the bow, grinning expectedly at Barricade. Not caring to look back to the small crowd the song had drawn towards them. Quiet and awaiting for Barricade's next move.
Barricade, instead of replying, hoisted up his own violin. Playing a few notes before pausing. Notes that were mournful, as if full of sorrow. In his pause, a few of the mecha that were chatting away fell silent and glanced over towards the source of the noise.
Bingo.
Dual optics drift shut as Barricade continued, letting the sad tale weaved into the tune carry him on a journey. No grin adorned his face, it'd kill the atmosphere.
Slowly, the song picked up, and by then the entire bar was quiet. Some patrons finally finding their way over to the little gamble that was going on. And when Barricade finished, his optics opened to an enthralled crowd. A crowd that cheered when he lowered his own bow.
Barricade took a moment to soak in the appreciation, before turning to Deadlock— the demon seemed unsure how to feel, before they stepped closer and held out their own violin.
“It's easy to see who's won this one,” They grinned, watching Barricade take his prize as their tail flicked through the air.
“Learn to feel the emotions of your music and come back to try again,” Barricade offered, admiring the golden violin. “You've great potential. Maybe next time I win I can learn your name~.”
Deadlock laughed at that, finding themselves closer to Barricade once more, easing up a bit on their pedes to close the sight height distance, “Talk to me after three wins, and then we'll talk names.”
Then, Deadlock gave Barricade a soft, chaste kiss to his lips before pulling back, tail swishing as they turned and started to walk away. “See you next time, Barricade~.”
Barricade tapped his lips, not entirely minding the kiss— though it was certainly not expected. A grin forming while he watched the demon disappear into the crowd. Oh, he was excited to see what they tried next.