Dimitri hands Sly a copy of the flight roster and quickly goes back to standing casually at the bar. Chaz gets up from his seat and walks over to Sly. "Is that it?" Chaz asked. Sly unfolds the paper and examines the contents. "It's legit." Sly said while he folded back the paper and put it in his bag. "Awesome. Let's get back to the hideout." Chaz begins to walk ahead of Sly, expecting him to follow. Instead, Sly grabbed a hold of his arm just before he got out of reach and pulled him gently.
Chaz turned his head in confusion. "What's wrong?" Chaz asked. Sly grinned slightly before speaking. "Wouldn't this be a cool spot to have that "date?" Sly said while air quoting. Chaz gasped and looked around the room. "I… I forgot I owed you that… even though I shouldn't." He noticed the elegance of the room around him and took a breath in and out. "You know what? Sure. Let's get this out of the way." Chaz said before going over to an empty table.
Sly felt his nerves start getting to him from how easily Chaz accepted. He watched Chaz closely as he took off his jacket and placed it on his chair before pushing his chair under the table. "Okay… Let's see if I can get somewhere with this." Sly said to himself. He walked over and did the same as Chaz. A silent moment passed and the two caught each other's gaze once again. Chaz, feeling awfully confident, smirks. "Well? What's the move, Cooper?"
Sly began to question his intent of his move and looked around for anything to start off. He took notice of the menu on the table and quickly grabbed it. "How about we start off with a drink?" Sly asked. "Oh? Do you think you can make a lucky guess to what I might like?" Chaz continued to keep his smirk. "Well, let's see." Sly began to scan through the menu, trying to find anything that might spark interest.
While searching through the collection of food and drinks, the room went quiet. "What's going on?" Chaz questioned. The two followed everyone's gaze to the front of the room and watched as a figure made their way up the stairs. A shorter man came almost wobbling up the stairs wearing a blue flight outfit and hosting a luxurious mustache. The figure stood tall despite his small stature and began talking. "I bid you all a flamboyant welcome, my esteemed comrades of the sky. Welcome, WELCOME to another year of the aces competition. We got teams from across the board. Canada, Belgium, Ecuador, Iceland, Korea, and many many more. Not the least of which is last year's deadly runner up, Team Muggshot."
The name went through their ears and lingered through. "Muggshot?!" Chaz worriedly asked. "We're gonna drill you jokers fulla holes!" Muggshot threatened the contestants while shaking his fist. "That's the meathead himself." Sly calmly stated. The Baron laughed at Muggshot's comment before focusing back on the crowd. "Now we know in years passed, some teams have engaged in a little good late night hi-jinx." Groups from around the room began calling out old "pranks" done to other teams in the years before. Sly and Chaz just listened while keeping their heads down. Their attention was brought to the main stage once again when Baron slammed his foot into the flooring. "If my guards catch you outside after sunset, you will be beaten to within an inch of of your life! No exceptions. This will be a fair competition!" After the Baron finished, he bowed and descended down the staircase, out of the room. The room filled up with voices once more and everyone went back to being normal.
Chaz and Sly look once at each other. "Competition turned deadly… Sounds like fun." Chaz jokingly said. "I wouldn't trust someone who got the short end of the stick." Sly responded back, making Chaz laugh. "He was pretty short." Chaz connected his gaze once again. "So, those drinks?" He finished. Sly perked up straight. "Oh! Waiter!" Sly snapped his fingers to alert a worker. The waiter came to the table and took out a notepad from his apron. "What may I get you two today?" He said while clicking his pen.
Sly cleared his throat and began talking. "We'll take a bottle of raspberry champagne for the start of the night. Our appetites have yet to reach us." Chaz gave a beam of satisfaction to Sly. "Right away, sir." The waiter walked away, leaving the two alone again. "I'm certainly feeling special." Chaz seductively said. "I'm glad." Sly responded. Their attention soon turned to the waiter coming back with a bottle and two champagne glasses. He placed them gently on the table and bowed. "Please grab my attention when you're ready to order." The waiter finished and left the two alone again.
Sly opened the bottle and poured the two glasses with the drink. Chaz took his and waited for Sly to finish to give him a soft smile. "I'm enjoying myself." Chaz took a tiny sip from the glass and put it back down. ""I appreciate this Sly." Sly put his drink down onto the table. "No problem. We needed a break after almost getting flattened." The two shared a laugh. "I hope she's okay. Who knows what that experience was like. Let me not ruin the mood with mission talk." Chaz said.
Sly chuckled and tapped his index finger on the table. An awkward silence flowed through and the two had no idea where to take the conversation. Sly began to dive deep in his thoughts. "Would that make it awkward?" He questioned in his head. Still tapping his finger on the wood, he looked at Chaz. "This could just be a friendly thing." He continued. He felt himself become flustered at the thought of opening up to Chaz. He wanted to just get up from the table and embrace him for being there for him. For caring. For worrying. For coming back. Ever since Iceland, he's been thinking of telling Chaz everything he felt about him. The Guru's conversation replayed in his mind, which only drove his choices further into discussion. "He's a friend. It's not like this would change anything… plus he's shown interest? Right…?"
He took his index finger off the table and exhaled loudly. "Something wrong?" Chaz broke the silence, making Sly gasp. "Oh…! Uh… I guess I got caught up thinking. Whoops." Sly playfully hit the side of his head with his fist. Chaz laughed and took another drink from his glass. Sly felt something build up in his throat and his hands became finicky. He had to muster up the words to ask him. "Hey Chaz… Can we talk about something?" Sly paused and looked down at the table.
This was his chance. It was either take the chance to open up, or have the possibility of someone else taking the one thing keeping him happy. His face became warm, the air around him heated up, the cool breeze off the ceilings fans couldn't help. It was time.
End of chapter 19