Nightclubs, Eva was rapidly learning, were nowhere near as fun to be in when you were sober. They were hot, and loud, and sticky, and everyone was acting like seven-year-olds at a school disco where someone spiked the punch with Red Bull, only with a lot more pheromones. Plus she was wearing heels, and now her feet were starting to hurt.
A pattern was starting to emerge as well. Someone would catch her eye, come over to the bar, buy her a drink and then ask who her friend was – at which point Natasha would turn around, smile, and the stranger would turn white, mumble an excuse and disappear into the crowd.
It was funny; with the collective trauma that everyone in the universe had shared over the last couple of years, anyone would think that places like this would be dead. But apparently, some people dealt with their grief by getting wasted to terrible music. And who was she to blame them?
Eva leaned over to shout in her ear. "I hate this song," she yelled.
"What?"
"YOU WANNA GO OUTSIDE?!"
"WHAT?!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY –"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"Screw this," Eva muttered, grabbing Natasha's hand and hauling her out of a side door into the smoking area. They headed towards a quiet corner, where the walls were still shaking with the noise from inside. "Are you having fun?"
"Nope. Has anyone ever had fun in a public space at two in the morning?" Natasha asked. "At least, not without breaking any laws."
Eva was just trying to think of a sarcastic enough response when a bouncer came up to them. "Excuse me, ladies," he said. "My manager has told me to tell you that you're welcome to our VIP suite."
Eva and Natasha exchanged glances. "Perks of being a superhero," Eva suggested. "Free upgrades."
"I haven't flown economy since 2012," Natasha replied. "Who's your manager, big man?"
The bouncer, who was twice the size of both of them put together and looked like he had been in several fights with several brick walls, did not reply. Instead he just told them, "complimentary champagne is waiting for you."
"We're not drinking."
"And diet coke," he replied promptly.
"I do like diet coke," Eva admitted. She looked at Natasha, who was frowning. "What do you think?"
Natasha leaned in to whisper in Eva's ear, her hair hiding the movement of her lips. "Stay close to me," she murmured. "It might be nothing, but… stay close."
Great, Eva thought. Tonight just keeps getting better.
A/N this probably would have gone up one, two weeks ago had it not been for the fact that my whole dang laptop broke, which was extremely upside-down-smiley-emoji. Hey ho, we got here eventually!