Before Baxier could even drop to his knees to drive his wrench into Darian’s temple, a blur of purple threw him back. There was a brief flying of limbs until’ his arms were pinned behind him rather stiffly, forced to stand there. He tried to struggle out of the grip of whoever had ahold of him but the strength of his fellow purple was almost..unnatural.

“I come down to see how my employees are doing..and what do I find?” came that familiar voice, that almost disappointed tone echoing off the walls now that the music seemed to have been turned off. “My star bartender layin’ in a pool of his own blood.”

Following the bootfall and cane-clicks, Aether came into Baxier’s field of vision as he continued to be restrained. His expression still held that same soft smile though his gaze was almost like looking into a mirror. “Now.. I’m not sure what it is my employee did to provoke such a violent reaction outta ya.. But I do have rules in my establishment about violence and aggression within these walls.”

He then paused, looking thoughtful as he leaned on his cane. “Perhaps you’d like to say something?”

"... Nah. He's learned his fucking place already anyways." Baxier growled, before hurling a blood-filled loogie into Aether’s face.

The clown boss didn’t seem to flinch as the gross mixture hit his cheek, though his nose wrinkled in mild disgust. “Floret, take out the trash.”

As Aether moved over to two other trolls who were assessing the hunk of bruised meat that was Darian, Floret just..dragged Bax towards the entrance.

“HEH! YOU’RE LUCKY,” the lanky boy remarked. “LAST TIME A PURBLE KILLED SOMEONE IN DE CLUB THEY BECAME FLORET CHOW~!”

The rain had calmed down to a steady drizzle as Floret flung Bax out into the middle of the road without further context to what he said, nor having paused to let Baxier weigh in his two cents before turning and closing the large double doors.

Bax laid there for a moment with a somewhat pained groan, before slowly pulling himself to his feet. Even if Darian had been knocked down, he didn’t go down without laying out some damage even if that damage was him trying to stop Bax..

Either way, as Baxier limped home a grin slowly formed across his face. He was going to wear these injuries proudly on the inside..for the blood and wounds were going to give him a big advantage regardless.

It was raining..of course it was raining.

Aether stared out the door of the club into the quiet streets, the low thumping and droning quieter than its usual ear-bursting decibels. A neutral frown settled on his face as he watched the acidic water pour in sheets, making the neon lights of the city seem brighter than they were; and making the club the brightest beacon of all.

“Floret jus’ watch the door ‘case anyone wants to come in.. No need to be closin’ up shop,” he told the dopey bulldog of a clown beside him, voice lilting lazily as he casted a neutral glance his way. “May as well at least be a shelter from the rain.”

Turning back into the empty club, Aether strode further in, pausing his walk back to his office to glance to the blueblood stationed at the bar. Darian stood there leaning on the counter, his thumb-claw suffering some severe abuse against his jagged teeth.

“Caeger for your thoughts, Dari dear?” came the lilting voice, always sounding slightly flirty to Darian’s ears. He paused the chewing on his claw, jostled out of his thoughts as he turned to find Aether leaning on the bar across from him, a chin resting on his intwined fingers.

“Mmh.. Remember when I toLLd you about Karima...and what I’ve been trying to uh..piece together..? And what happened when I LLast visited her?”

Aether gave a nod, motioning for the distraught indigo to continue.

“...S-So I..decided to send her a meme..just a funny LLittLLe picture. Of course I’m not expecting her to answer I was just sharing but doing that I just..I feeLL dread, you know? LLike something bad happened..or is happening..or..I don’t know I’m just-..”

“You fear for their life..” Aether finished, a look of understanding crossing his purple gaze. “..Oh how I understand that feeling all too well. The difference ‘tween you n’ me though is she’s still out there.. As well as what you had described t’me soundin’ more..pale than mine.”

Before Darian could elaborate, the sound of sopping wet boots caught the two trolls’ attention, causing them both to look towards the source at the same time.

A purpleblood of equal height stood across from them, soaked head-to-toe but looking nonplussed about it considering he was just in a tank-top and jeans. Hell, even the cigarette hanging off of his lips didn’t care about how wet it was as smoke continued to rise off its ember.

Taking a drag off the cigarette, this purple glanced around, studying the place with a ‘snf’ before settling an almost-bored gaze on the two at the bar, an unassuming smirk rising on his lips.  

 "Evenin’ gentlemen.” he started, making his way up to the bar but still keeping a bit of a distance between him and the clown club-owner. “I'm looking for a blueblood named Darian. I just want to talk."

Darian arched a brow, while Aether just put on that Usual Smile he always seemed to have, though it was strained as his gaze fixated on the cigarette. “I’ll allow ya to speak to my employee - soon as you put that out. Nothin’ against ya but we do got a rule against smokin’.”

“Hm - oh! Right, of course.” Bax took the cigarette out of his mouth with a seemingly-sheepish smile, dropping the half-burnt stick on the ground to grind out into the heel of his boot. Aether’s smile wasn’t as strained anymore, but his gaze stayed leveled with the others’; if there’s anything he’s learned is that he couldn’t trust his own caste. Tapping the bar, he pushed off of it, pointing at Darian as he stepped back. “Go ahead n’ finish up re-stocking, Darian. With how heavy it’s rainin’ I doubt anyone else’s comin’ in so we’ll close up early.”

Darian blinked, realizing he was staring at Baxier a little too long as Aether’s addressing of him knocked him out of it. “Oh uh..yea sure.”

Aether slid his arms under his knees and around his shoulders, hoisting him up into his arms to carry him back to the large black company SUV, cane still in-hand. Laughter filled his ears and made his heart skip beats as the two conversed on their way to the vehicle.

“I should have known you would do something like this. I can walk, you know.”

“I know..just felt like carryin’ ya..”

Darian blinked, pausing to look up from the tablet in his hands. “You say something boss?”

Aether glanced up from his spot at his office chair to the still-healing but no longer bandaged blueblood sitting across the desk from him. His eyes held such a far-away look before refocusing back following that usual simple grin. “Nah..jUst reminiscin’. NoW What Were ya sayin’?”

“I was saying that’s not a bad idea; demoLLishing that oLLd buiLLding in the back to buiLLd onto the cLLub with a proper LLounging/sLLeeping accommodations,” he told Aether as he handed the tablet back to the clown. “If anything it’LL LLook much cLLeaner. Right now it just LLooks LLike a breeding ground for squatters.”

Aether nodded absently, clearing everything before setting the tablet aside. “So hoW’s everything Wit’ yoU?” he asked after a moment of silence, turning his attention to Darian.

Darian, of course, was caught off-guard a bit, turning just a tad sheepish; Aether showing any sort of care for him or his life always did that. “Everything’s aLLright.” he said with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Kari’s been visiting me a LLot, sometimes with tea or sweets,” he added, before dipping his head some, a faint dusting of indigo rushing across his cheeks. “I feeLL kinda fuzzy inside whenever he drops by; he seems to care quite a bit.”

Aether’s grin became a mixture of warm and teasing, leaning forward to rest his chin on top of laced fingers. “SounDs to me like ya got a crUsh of some sort~”

That only made Darian’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of indigo. He quickly but carefully got back up onto his feet. “I’m gonna go see what FLLoret’s up to..” he croaked sheepishly, before turning and hurrying out of the office. Aether’s grin widened as he leaned back into his office chair, clasping his hands behind his head as he placed his feet up onto the desk. His gaze rested onto the ceiling above him, his grin faltering as his mind seemed to wander back, flickering to him taking Karima home to something else.

“So– I’m curious what kind of job necessitates bringing a large car like this out to the middle of nowhere… What really is your.. side work..?”

“Hm how to put this.. Technically the club bizz is my side-job. A front if ya will. Ain’t no way to say this any other way but I run a bizzness in the criminal organization front. In simplest of terms I’m a mob boss.” he explained, relaxing back in his seat as he watched the road in front of them.

“I won’t lie, that does.. unsettle me somewhat. But I won’t say that what I’m doing is perfectly legal either. It’s for a good cause, though. It really is. At least, I think so. I’ve already told you I lead a religious movement, but I haven’t said anything about what that entails. It’s… a lot to explain, though. But we’ve… kidnapped trolls before. Unwilling participants.

… I admit, it weighs a little heavily on my conscience, even if we’re helping them.”

A pause.

“… Honestly, a lot of it is beginning to bother me…”

“Faith is a tricky thing, isn’t it? The whole point of faith is to believe in something you don’t have proof of…”

“N-not to suddenly unload my feelings and concerns onto you, I mean..”

Aether gave a soft, sad smile as he closed his eyes for a little nap.