Chapter Text
The bar was a dark, cavernous place. The ceilings extended up into a gloom that seemed to linger in every corner of the ramshackle building. Allen glanced around the room, marvelling at how the place managed to be a little pocket of night time at ten am on a Monday. He stood by the door looking for the person who was supposed to be interviewing him, eyes darting down at the piece of paper and then up around the empty bar again.
“Hello?” He called tentatively. He took a few steps deeper into the building and cast his eyes around. The place was clearly casual, and he hoped he hadn’t overdressed. He looked down at himself and untucked his dress shirt. Was being too dressed up a thing you could do in a job interview? He checked his phone, brow furrowed as he read the time.
There was a silence to the bar that was unfamiliar to Allen and he longed to step back outside to breathe. He ran his eyes over the booths that lined the far wall, looking to see if anyone was sitting.
“Oh, you must be Allen.” a voice from his left said, making him nearly leap out of his skin. He turned to the girl, blinking slowly. She was a little shorter than him, sporting a sleek pixie cut and a smile.
“I’m Lenalee Lee, I run this place with my brother, Koumi.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Allen responded after a moment of searching for his voice. He licked his lips as she gave him a once over, shifting his weight to his left foot.
“Sorry, did I startle you?” She asked, a twinkle in her eye. She knew the answer already.
“A little, I didn’t see you…”
“Maybe you need glasses then.” She said teasingly, stepping around him and motioning for him to follow her into the back room. Allen trailed after her, glancing back over his shoulder. He didn’t see another door.
“You can take a seat over there,” She motioned to a bench pushed up against the wall, “I’ll be out in a second, I need to get some paper.”
“Of course. I brought my resume if you need it.”
Lenalee smiled a bit and hummed a “sure” as she vanished into the back office. Allen fidgeted with the cuffs of his sleeves, wondering if he should roll them up. The light overhead flickered, and he glanced up. The ceiling was taller than he expected for the sort of building they were in but the air in the room felt as if hovering just barely over the top of his head, ready to press down.
Allen lowered his eyes and met Lenalee’s as she stood before him. He jumped and she smiled at him.
“Sorry about that.” She said, not sounding apologetic.
“Y-Yeah, it’s fine.” Allen said, smiling a bit as he passed her his resume. He quickly wiped his palms on his pant legs.
“So, you’d like to bartend for us.” Lenalee said, pulling a chair over and sitting across from him.
“I would!”
“You haven’t really been in here much before though?”
Allen blinked a little surprised before he smiled sheepishly, “Ah, no. I only moved to town a couple weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t have a job lined up?”
“What I had planned fell through.” Allen grumbled lightly. Lenalee hummed, tapping her chin and sizing Allen up with a quick flick of her eyes.
“Do you have any recent bartending experience?”
“Yes, I worked in a bar for a year as a dish boy, then as a bartender for a year after that when I was in college.”
“Mn, college? What’s your major?”
“Music theory and composition. I graduated a few months ago.”
Lenalee laughed, “Oh, So you’ll be around here for a while. You and Lavi will get along well.”
“I guess. Who is Lavi?” Allen said glumly, rubbing the back of his neck. Lenalee tilted her head a bit, eyes scanning his face. She waved off the question with a lazy flick of her wrist.
“Any other… relevant experience?” She asked.
Allen thought for a minute, “I’m pretty good at deciphering drunk talk. And I can dance which is mildly entertaining at least.” He offered with a little shrug.
Lenalee’s eyes widened ever so slightly and she glanced down at his resume. She looked back up at him and the corners of her lips quirked up.
“Alright, take a couple moments to look over how we have everything set up, then how about you show me a couple cocktails.” Lenalee stood up, adjusting her notes and leading Allen out to the bar. He walked around to the back, looking at the set up and nodding to himself as he nibbled on his thumb nail.
“I’ll name it, you make it as fast as you can.” she said after a moment, moving to sit, “Martini.”
Allen flicked his wrists as he grabbed the bottles, making a show of leaning off to the left as he tossed the bottle of vermouth up, letting it flip in the air once before catching it to pour into the tin. The gin bottle nearly slipped from his fingers as he went to do the same to it and he swallowed, flashing Lanelee a smile as her eyes tracked his every movement.
A whiskey sour. A Mojito. A Manhattan. A Negroni. A Bloody Mary. Allen tried not to feel the hair on the back of his neck raise as Lenalee watched him.
She reached out after Allen had finished and took a long sip of the martini, “You’re pretty quick.”
Allen smiled and shrugged. Lenalee gave him another once over, crossing her legs behind the bar and trying the mojito.
“We get some fairly odd clientele here. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it?”
“You get all sorts in bars, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Someone taking off their pants on the dance floor or passing out sitting up is pretty standard.” Allen said with a shrug. Lenalee’s eyes seemed oddly bright in the gloom surrounding them. The air was heavy around his shoulders and it occurred to Allen that he hadn’t heard a single car pass outside since he’d walked in.
“Interesting.” She breathed, staring into Allen’s eyes, “I don’t think that in particular will be the concern.”
“Well… okay?”
She smiled. Allen relaxed.
“You’ll be just fine.” Lenalee dragged her finger along the rim of one of the glasses slowly.
Allen felt like he needed to leave. His stomach lurched a bit and he leaned against the bar, swallowing thickly. He brought his hand up to rub his forehead lightly, but dropped it quickly as Lenalee tilted her head.
“Are feeling okay?” She said after a few beats of silence. Allen nodded a bit and forced a smile.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Alright.” She leaned her chin in her palm, considering him for a moment, “We can have a trial shift with the other bartender-- his name is Reever-- and if it works, I’ll put you on slow nights for a week or so before you get your regular shifts. Deal?”
“Sure. Deal.” His voice sounded weak to himself, but that seemed to make Lenalee smile wider.
“Go home and get a black shirt and pants on. Be back here by five. I’ll still be here, and you can meet my brother and Reever.”
Allen nodded and walked around the bar to shake her hand. She had a firmer grip this time, and a dark flash of expectation in her eye.
The sun and sound of the bustling street outside seemed to welcome him back as he stepped out of the bar. He checked his watch and blinked. He’d been sure he’d been in the bar for no more than an hour, but the watch showed it was half past one.
===
Bills sat on top of more bills on his kitchen counter. Allen sighed, running his fingers through his hair and he looked down at them. His little notebook sat open on the counter and he slowly picked up his red pen and marked down the most recent bill-- an invoice for a large order of wine, how nice-- in the debts owing column.
“Goddamn it, Cross.” He mumbled, pressing his hand to his face. He turned his head, leaning his cheek in his palm as he looked over his possessions. He had a few things he could probably still pawn, if the job fell through.
He pushed off the counter and walked across the tiny bachelor pad to the box that still held most of his clothes and pulled it open. He dressed as the red numbers in his book sat in the back of his mind like gashes.
He heard the ding of his phone getting a new email and looked at it hopefully. His shoulders sank a bit as he read the words “Singles in your area tonight!” and flagged it as spam.
“I don’t think you know my type, email.” He muttered to himself and refreshed his inbox again.
Lenalee’s email was the only other one still sitting there, and he shook his head as he pocketed his phone. He grabbed his wallet and slipped over to the door, locking it behind him once he was out.
The steps leading up to the main entrance of the apartment building had an uncomfortably thick scent of mildew. Allen hoped wouldn’t stick to his clothes as he took the steps two at a time, holding his breath as tightly as he could.
The breeze played with his hair as he walked. The sun had started to set, but it was nowhere near dark as he made his way towards the bar. His stomach squeezed a little at the idea of going back there, but he ignored it as he jogged the last few blocks.
Allen smoothed down the front of his shirt, frowning a little at the door of the bar as he caught his breath. The dark wood of it almost seemed to lean against the door directly to its left, as if it was too old to stand on its own. Allen shook his head and inhaled, stepping into the the short hall that lead to the rest of the bar.
The previously unseen sconces on the wall had been lit, illuminating the booths that lined the far wall. The floor had innumerable scuffs and marks and was divided into a dance floor, and a small stage with a few tables and chairs in front of it. Allen ran his fingers over one of the rough wood table tops as he looked around.
“Glad you could make it!” Lenalee said from behind him. Allen spun to face her, eyebrows knitting together as his heart leapt into his throat.
“You… walk very quietly.” He said, hand over his chest. Lenalee laughed, looking around the bar.
“Something like that. What do you think of the place now that you can see it?”
“It’s a lot older looking than I thought. What is it, some kind of speakeasy themed place?”
“Mn, sort of, I suppose. We haven’t changed much in a long time.”
She missed the odd look Allen gave her as she turned away to lead him into the back room. She leaned over a box and walked back to him holding something her fingers curled around something. Allen blinked in confusion, opening his hand up. She dropped a pendant on a well worn leather band into his palm, and looked at him seriously.
“Do not take that off. It will let everyone know you work here.”
“Okay.” Allen said running his fingers over the carving. The yellow stone had an old style cross on the front, with feathery wings and an odd little swirl on the back and sides. Lenalee didn't move for a long moment, making Allen blink out of his thoughts and sheepishly tie the pendant around his neck. He inhaled softly, then released it with a small shake of his shoulders.
“Try to stick close to Reever. He knows everything that goes on around here.”
“Of course.” Allen shifted his weight slowly. Lenalee narrowed her eyes a bit, then looked away. She worried her bottom lip then turned back to Allen, opening her mouth to speak.
“Hey, did you order more limes-- oh.” The pair turned to a gangly chinese man-- who could only be lenalee’s brother-- that stood in the door to the back office.
“Oh, good, you're here Komui,” she said, after a pause, “This is Allen, I hired him as a bartender.”
Komui blinked at Allen for another few moments, then smiled, offering his hand, “great to meet you, Allen! We really needed the help around here.”
“Its nice to meet you as well.”
“If you touch my sister I will remove your intestines and jump rope with them.”
“I'm gla-- wait, what?”
Komui’s grip on Allen's hand tightened as he kept shaking it, a pleasant smile plastered on his face. Allen jerked his hand back a bit but Komui held on, leaning towards him slowly.
“Brother, please.” Lenalee said, exasperated, “Can you at least wait a week before you threaten him?”
“Hm?” Komui released Allen's hand and adjusted his glasses as he looked at his sister, “Oh! Darling Lenalee, did you order limes?”
The girl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Yes brother, they are in the back fridge.”
Komui hummed and bustled off to find them, leaving the other two alone. Allen turned to Lenalee slowly. She patted his shoulder with a fond little smile.
“Welcome to the Black Order.”
===
Allen swore he was seeing things. He considered that perhaps the stress of living with Cross for ten years had finally caught up to him and he’d just lost it, quietly, in the night. Perhaps it was a trick of the light. He frowned, wiping out the glass in his hand for the fourth time as he stared at the teeth of a man sitting in the booth across from him.
Maybe he was one of those people who had them sharpened? He did sort of dress like the sort who would do that-- a white streak in his black hair, loose sleeves with lace around the cuffs, and of course, everything in black. But, he wasn’t the first person he’d seen like that in the bar. He forced himself to look away.
A week in The Black Order had given Allen a lot to think about when he laid in bed at night. He rubbed his face and got himself a glass of water, glancing over at Reever as he poured a drink for the old woman sitting at the bar. Her hood obscured most of her face, but Allen winced at the sound of her voice. Her words felt like an open wound as they left her lips.
Reever tapped Allen on the shoulder to draw his attention.
“Hey.” he said after a moment.
“Staring at the customers is kinda frowned upon.” Reever leaned back with a bit of a smile, chewing on the toothpick in his mouth.
Allen flushed, putting the very clean cup down and picking up another, “I wasn’t staring…”
“Mhmm…” Reever said turning back to noting which bottles were low behind the bar so he could grab more from the back.
“I was just… thinking and I happened to be looking there.”
“Sure.” Reever raised both eyebrows. Allen rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the sharp toothed man sitting at the booth.
“Lenalee did tell you we got some… interesting folks here, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“It’s good you’re noticing.” Reever nodded lightly towards the other booth that had people in it, “See anything odd about them?”
Allen turned to look at the young woman and her companion. There seemed to be a very slight mist around them, clinging to the ground no more than a meter away from them. The woman’s hair moved around her as if it was underwater when she tipped her head back to laugh softly. Her companion adjusted his glasses proudly, a smile on his face.
They were both somewhat transparent.
Allen turned to Reever, eyebrows knitting together. Reever smiled and nodded to the back room, putting his hand on Allen’s shoulder as they slipped away from the hooded old woman. He shut the door and turned back to Allen.
“So, I guess Lenalee probably thought it would be fun to watch you figure this out on your own, but our patrons are a little uh. Not human.”
Allen said nothing.
“I’m human, if that’s what that face means, but we’re also people who have some kinda sense of that stuff.” Reever stopped, eyes moving from Allen’s face to something over his shoulder.
“Aw, Reever you always spoil the surprise.”
Allen jumped, turning to face Lenalee as she leaned against the door to the office, “Wha-- um?” He said.
Lenalee flicked her wrist and the notepad in Reever’s hand floated over to her in a lazy arc across the room, “I was fairly surprised when you came in and didn’t seem the… sort to know about this stuff. Someone with enough ability to see the door usually already knows, you know?”
“See… the door.” Allen said slowly, watching as Lenalee glanced over the notes.
“Well, it’s not exactly safe to have your average person walking into this sort of establishment, what with the vampires, sirens, nymphs, and witches about. Then there’s also the cops. We don’t really want them snooping around here either.” Bottles began floating from the shelves to the table beside the door, arranging themselves into neat lines.
“Vamp... witch? Siren?” Allen carded his fingers through his hair as he eloquently tried to get words out.
“You’re perfectly safe,” Reever said, voice warm, “Well, as an employee here, you are, anyway.”
“That little pendant I gave you will keep you safe in my walls. Anything...” Lenalee pursed her lips in thought, “Anything that tried to hurt you would be… taken care of.” She smiled as she glanced up from the notes. Allen wobbled.
Lenalee stepped forward and took him by the arm, gently guiding him to sit on the bench. She and Reever made brief eye contact before he nodded and slipped out of the room.
“Ah, I’m sorry Allen. I should have told you sooner.” Lenalee patted his head lightly as she pulled herself back up to her full height, “But, well, even if I did, would you have believed me?”
Allen shook his head as Reever came back into the room, pressing a glass into his hands. The white haired man closed his eyes and took a sip of the water as his hand came up to touch the stone pendant.
“So… I wasn’t seeing things?” He asked, voice reedy. He took another drink of water.
“Well, you were but what you were seeing wasn’t fake, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Allen frowned deeply.
“Is this too much?”
“I…”
“I’ll remove any memory of this place from your mind, if it is. And maybe something else for my trouble.” Lenalee said, eyes flashing to Allen’s face and making him swallow nervously.
“Is this a prank?” Allen asked, looking between the two.
“No, it’s not a prank.” Lenalee said, a little more gentle, “My father established this bar about three hundred years ago as a gathering place for all folks.”
“Your father.”
“Mn, those with magic tend to be a little longer lived than your average sort.”
“How old are you?”
Lenalee smiled, “It’s rude to ask a lady her age.”
Allen shut his mouth. Reever patted his shoulder.
“So, you really didn’t know?” He said, drawing Allen’s attention.
“What? How would I have known?”
“You have a protective ward cast on you.”
“A what?”
“Someone cast a spell on you to ward off danger.” Lenalee shrugged, “I suppose they didn’t want the likes of us giving you a problem.”
Allen crossed his arms, considering that, “Okay so, the take away here is I’ve apparently been around magic and have a sense for it but know nothing about it somehow?”
Reever nodded, “And the supernatural in general I guess.”
“Okay. Cool. Great. That makes zero sense.”
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Allen.” Lenalee said, raising an eyebrow. She flicked her hair out of her eyes and glanced at Reever as Allen got up to pace the room.
“This is impossible.”
Reever chuckled a bit, nodding, “I said that too when Komui showed me a spell for the first time. You kind of get used to it.”
“Get used to it?” Allen ran his fingers through his hair and glanced back at the door. His stomach sank as he realized it was the only thing between him, a vampire, and everything else.
“I think you’ve sensed these things before.” Lenalee murmured, looking to the side. Allen turned to her, legs tense.
“What?”
“Haven’t you ever started down a dark street, then felt something? Felt like you needed to turn away?”
Allen nodded slowly.
“Have you ever felt the hairs on the back of your neck rise when no one’s around? Or heard a voice that jolted you out of a daze you couldn’t explain?”
“Everyone has…”
Lenalee shook her head, “Not like I’m talking about. You’ve managed to avoid the dangerous side of the supernatural all your life and there is a reason for that. Just like there is a reason you could see the door here through all the magic that’s there to conceal it.”
Allen crossed his arms, looking between Reever and Lenalee slowly. His stomach lurched and he wondered if they could catch him if he ran.
“It’s a good thing.” Lenalee said gently, “And a rare thing. Innate sight and sense doesn’t show up often. It takes a lot of time and skill for most humans.”
“A good thing, huh…” Allen mumbled, looking down.
“Are you going to be able to handle this?” Lenalee asked, watching the white haired man carefully.
“I…” Allen hesitated. There was no denying that there was an allure to brushing elbows with the supernatural world, to knowing what no one else did. But there was danger too. He thought of the long teeth the vampire had. He thought of every possession in every movie he’d ever seen. He thought of a werewolf’s claws tearing him to shreds in the parking lot.
Well, they hadn’t confirmed werewolves existed but he thought of it anyway. Allen sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He thought of the debts piling up on his kitchen counter and shivered.
“I can do it, I guess. I can try.” He said, finally. Lenalee and Reever smiled. Allen tried to smile.
“I thought you would say that. Now get back out there before someone wants a drink.” Lenalee said with a wave of her hand, turning to go back into her office, “And if you need anything, let me know, okay?”
Allen nodded and looked at Reever for a moment, the taller man smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Wanna get back to oggling our customers and polishing glasses?”
Allen sighed, nodding, “Lead the way.”
===
The Thursday night crowd was quiet when Allen walked into the bar. A couple of spectres, a little coven of witches in the far corner, and three vampires decked out in fluorescent clubwear as they pre-drank at the bar. Reever nodded to him as he stepped around the bar, stashing his jacket.
“Thanks for coming in early.” Reever said, looking frazzled, “Komui is going to keep me busy tonight with his goddamn experiments.” He ran his fingers through his hair and somehow got it to stand up more on end.
“It’s fine, I can handle a Thursday. Will you be able to help with cleanup?”
“Depends. I’ll try. If not, I’ll get Lenalee to help.”
“Eh, I’ll probably be fine if it's slow.” Allen shrugged.
“Yeah…” Reever said, looking a little nervous, “I know it’s been a week, but are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”
“I’m… as ready as I can be, I suppose.” Allen admitted, glancing at the shelves of liquor.
“Well, just remember the pointers Lena and I gave you, and it should be fine. Plus,” He smiled a bit, reaching out to tap Allen’s pendant, “You’ve got this just in case.”
Allen nodded and they both blinked as a rumble from the back room made the glasses clink together.
“Oh no,” Reever said as he all but ran to the back door, “Good luck!”
Allen felt distinctly glad that it wasn’t his job to look after Komui as he got another round for the rowdy vampires.
The door of the bar swung open and Allen glanced up as the man strolled in. He was alone, carrying a large bag as he made his way through the mostly quiet room to the bar. Allen walked over to meet him.
“Hey there, you’re new.” He said, leaning his arm on the dark wood.
“Yeah, started last week.” Allen shrugged a bit, looking the redhead over. There wasn’t anything overwhelmingly supernatural about him. Allen wasn’t sure if that made him nervous or not.
“Oh, I see.” The other man said, with a musical hint to his voice, “Well, I’m playing here tomorrow night. Call me Lavi.” He held out a hand to shake, which Allen took.
“Oh, Lenalee mentioned you. It’s good to meet you, I’m Allen.”
“Allen.” Lavi said, letting the name roll off his tongue, “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
“Did you need her for something?” Allen asked, hoping that the dimness of the bar hid the slight flush on his cheeks.
“Huh? Oh! I was dropping off a couple things to make setup easy for tomorrow.”
“I can put it in the back for you.”
Lavi smiled, leaning his chin in his hand, “No rush. I was hoping to grab a couple drinks while I was here. Get to know my new favourite bartender.”
Allen laughed a little a rubbed the back of his neck, “What can I get for you?”
“Gin and tonic, please.” Lavi batted his eyes.
“Coming right up.” Allen said, a smile dancing across his face.