bleak mid winter

featuring: alibek & axel

Axel winced harshly at the sunlight peering through the gap in the curtains, burning a line across his face like a laser and forcing him eyes open. He lifted his head ever so slightly from the pillow, glancing around the room between heavy blinks, trying to piece together where he was until the lull of Ali's voice pulled him to his senses. "Barely." Axel grumbled, dropping the weight of his head back down onto the bed. With his eyes closed again, he decided he needed a cigarette, a coffee, and a shower. He didn't care in which order. He started chuckling deeply at Ali's question, because he knew the shit they were drinking last night tasted bitter but got them very drunk, and very fast. "The less you know, the better." Axel confessed. "You can handle your alcohol better than most grown ass men I know, I'm impressed."

TO: @axelthrcne

Axel grunted slightly at his mini namesake ran into his arms at almost full force in excitement. He had no idea how he had won the heart of a seven year old, but in truth, Axel didn't mind at all. "Hey my boy, missed ya." he plopped his hand upon the boy's head, ruffling his hair into a tangled mess, causing him to erupt with laughter. "What can I say? Guess your sister knew how fucked we'd all be with two Liam's runnin' around." and for some insane reason, having two Axel's were entirely justifiable. "She's a smart woman." he teased, flashing a wink at Liam.

CLOSED FOR: @axelthrcne

The beer had barely touched the table before Axel had took a heavy swig from it, giving Gigi a nod in thanks for the drink. "I was startin' to think you'd fucked off to someplace else and just didn't wanna break it to me." he teased jokingly, although he wouldn't blame the man if he had found somewhere bigger and better than Reno. Axel was chained to the city, he had no escape plan. "Yeah? Those late night booty calls catchin' up with ya?" Axel teased again. "Y'know how it goes," he huffed a long sigh as he sat back in his seat, his other hand mindlessly playing with the label on his beer bottle. "Still alive, still free, ain't got much else to ask for." his time in prison had left him wanting and needing very little.

Dilan looked over at Axel with a raised brow. "You wanna bet?" She challenged in turn, flashing him a look of caution before she rose from the ground and wiped her hands upon her thighs. Her body shifted to peer at him while he rounded the bar and came to take the box from her. The look of smugness never left her expression, because despite knowing she'd get him a drink, she was also going to make sure he worked for it today.

"Boy's got it too easy workin' here." Axel teased, knowing that Ramy worked his ass off both at the bar and as a paramedic, never mind within his role in the MC too. He hauled the case onto the bar top, waiting until Dilan was steady before moving to pass her one bottle at a time. "You forget I was depraved of a woman's ass for 10 years, gimme a break." he grumbled jokingly. And what a long decade it turned out to be. "You anticipatin' a big celebration or somethin' with all this fancy shit?" Axel eyed the bottle of alcohol in his palm, trying to figure out what it was and if it was worth all the money others were willing to spend on it.

TO: @axelthrcne

Axel always had a policy of keeping things as in house as possible. The rules were that if Ramy wasn't available, then the next person you call was Anisa, and under no circumstances do you go to the hospital, even if you were close to knocking on death's door. The less people knew about the MC and the fewer questions they asked, they better, as far as Axel was concerned. "Do I hear a note of concern, Nisa?" he teased, trying not to wince as the cut upon his lip cracked slightly. "Tell me somethin' I don't know." Axel grumbled, his hands patting down the pockets on his jeans to look for a cigarette. "Can I have a smoke first before you start patchin' me up, nurse?" he'd already had one while he waited for her to arrive, but Axel always had a need to keep his hands busy.

Compared to New York, Reno bored the living hell out of Dallas. If she wasn't at the firm, she was left to her own devices, namely Tito's on a never-ending pour. It didn't take long for her to learn when she spent half her miserable nights sulking around bars, that knowing (and sometimes even befriending) the other poor bastards who sat at the same stools. That was how she came to know Axel.

"I ain't so bad after all, huh?" he teased, shooting Dallas a side glance. Axel accepted the second shot in silence, finding solace in the sweet burn the alcohol left in his throat - a reminder that he was human, and he was alive, for all his sins. "You wanna talk about it, sweetheart? I'm all yours." Axel turned to face Dallas, an innocent smirk tugging upon his cheeks and he all but fluttered his deep blue eyes. "Ain't this what we supposed to do? Drink, talk shit, pretend like this beautiful glass can fix everythin'." his held up his entire shot glass to the light, as if he were inspecting it for its secrets.

availability: closed for @axelthrcne

10 years might have passed but that didn't stop Axel from being cautious of anyone connected to Judge Torres. His release on parole was uncharacteristic of the man, and Axel knew vultures had been circling, just waiting for someone to slip up. Time might have gone by, but Axel's cautiousness had always lingered. But Bec, she was a ghost of his past... The part of his past that he desperately clung onto within himself.

availability: open starter for anyone

These days, Axel was known for being somewhat of a recluse. The less he was around other people, the less they could talk shit about him. But The Tipsy Tavern had become somewhere he frequented a lot, mostly because he got left alone, and partly because he knew Dilan could handle his bullshit. He said nothing as he heaved a sigh, emptying his pockets of his cigarettes and lighter before pulling himself onto a stool at the bar.