Chapter 15

"Are you.. Do you.." Noel could not make up his mind about what to say in that moment as he served Jade a glass of cold liquor. The people who would normally stay in the bar even when Jade appeared seemed to slowly shuffle out of the bar at a casual pace at the sight of how he looked. It was enough to terrorize anyone who had no ability to defend themselves so it was not surprising to Noel that they all seemed stunned to the point of fleeing.

Jade slowly tilted his drink up so that the cool drink could refresh his dry throat as he drank. Little beads of moisture trickled down from the corner of his lips that missed his mouth as he drank too quickly. His body seemed to shiver as his nerves were still rocketing high from earlier. It felt as though he was on a slight high as his eyes gave a far away gaze towards the wall of the bar drinks from across the bar counter where he sat.

"Sorry for that." Jade's words seemed blunt and emotionless as if he didn't actually care at all that he had just cleared out Noel's bar.

It was completely empty now that he had a blood covered killer sitting at his bar counter. The whole situation he was in caused his own head to hurt so he just stared blankly at Jade. No matter how much he wanted to yell at the man in that moment a different line seemed to find it's way out of his mouth.

"It's alright. It's almost the end of my shift here anyways.." Noel started to panic inside of his head as those two words left his mouth.

What part of this is fine? What the hell am I even saying? Noel thought to himself as his brow twitched slightly at his self scolding.

"Ah? I see.." The drink in Jade's hand seemed to slowly lower itself towards the counter until he was no longer holding it but simply had his finger clasped around it's dampened glass.

"Are you alright to be out in your current state? Shouldn't you be at home resting rather than drinking; wouldn't you get sick from that?" Noel pondered over this thought for a second as he knew that jade wasn't actually human because he had seen his wings himself and even caught a glimpse before of his eyes shifting into something that almost seemed feline or possibly reptilian. He was not sure what the man was so he could not really understand how exactly he healed compared to a regular human being.

"It's fine." Jade bluntly replied as if he had no desire to fill in any of the missing details Noel might have about him. It was not surprising for Noel because the man never really did open up to him and given his personality he doubted there was probably a single person out there who he did such a thing with.

"Fine.. I won't expect you to go into details on anything with me, but if you don't at least let me walk you back since we're going to the same place anyway given your condition right now I'll ban you from the bar for the next month." Noel had pushed every fiber of courage he could into his words and the second they left his mouth he felt like collapsing onto the floor. He was not sure how Jade would react to his stern argument but there was something inside of him that would not allow him to leave Jade be in his wounded state.

"The next month, huh?" Jade seemed to have a look on his face as though he was pondering something intently while his hand gently swirled the liquor in his cup in a circle around the glass as his jaded eyes just gazed down into it quietly.

"Yes.. Good luck finding a bar aside from this one that'd even serve you because-" Noel was panicking internally as he could not make his own words stop from his own stubbornness. He felt like someone who was literally dancing in a minefield. If he said the wrong thing he wondered if Jade would kill him but the man continued to look unswayed in the slightest towards his argument with him.

"Well.. If the barkeep hasn't started to grow a pair all of a sudden.." His words cut Noel short in his rant as his eyes slowly turned towards him. His gaze was clouded with something that Noel could not place at a glance. The glass in his hand slowly was pushed away by the back of his hand as he leaned towards Noel's direction against the bar counter.

"Wh-What?!" Noel became slightly flustered at the remark that felt rather insulting to him. In his own mind he could not help but wonder who would not be nervous all the time in the presence of such a man as the Jade Devil.

"Forget it, I'm too tired right now to deal with much more. If you're going to follow along just hurry up already because I'm worn out." Jade's eyes seemed to falter in the slightest as he spoke his words.

"Your.. Consenting?" Noel's expression could not have betrayed his surprise anymore than his sudden stunned expression did in that moment. He had not been expecting Jade to allow him to help him at all but the man had so easily consented to the help getting home. If Noel did not know any better he would have accused the man of being abducted and replaced by an alien but he knew better.

"Yes." Jade closed his eyes as he lowered his body against the counter. His arms folded under his chest as he began to peacefully nap where he sat in the silence of the empty bar. The place carried a mixture of the scent of blood and liquor and the scent felt like it was blanketing him.

"D-Dont sleep there!" Noel fidgeted slightly before reaching his hand out slightly to tap on Jade's shoulder only to stop inches from his body in contemplation. His mind could not make up the decision on whether or not to wake the man back up.