So I wrote this little thing for a prompt about "Modern Struggles", envisioning your character's life in an alternate dimension Azeroth, where everything is oddly similar to 2021's Earth. This is what I came up with. Enjoy!
Jona checked the time on his phone again, the bright blue light from the screen forcing him to squint for just an instant in the dimness. Only two minutes had passed since he last looked. It felt like longer. No new texts, no new calls. Of course, if he had gotten any he'd have felt his phone vibrate. Probably, you never knew, sometimes you could still miss it.
He had to fight down the urge to read the message again, to check and double check that he had the right time and place, even if he knew that he did from all his previous checks and double checks. His date was just a bit late.
This nightlife scene really wasn't his kind of thing, with the loud music and the drinking and so many people and dancing. Jona would have preferred to meet over a cup of coffee maybe, at some nice café where you could actually talk. But his date had insisted on this bar. Perhaps because he hoped that a dwarf hooking up with a vulpera would stand out less in a place like this. He could hardly blame him for it.
If Jona was being honest the guy wasn't really his usual type, either, but considering his past relationships, or lack thereof, perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing. The gnomish matchmaking algorithm seemed to think there was something there worth exploring. And it wasn't all about looks. How much could you even tell from a photo? In the end he just wanted to make a connection with someone, and he seemed nice. Right up to the point where he was probably standing him up, anyway. He could at least have sent a text or something if he'd changed his mind.
With a soft sight he looked down into his drink, yellow melding into orange into red, a little green umbrella and a few pieces of fruit adorning the edge. He prodded the bottom of the tall glass with his straw, causing the ice cubes to clink together, and then took another careful, fruity sip. It was very sweet but he didn't mind that. Considering how expensive it had been he wasn't exactly in a hurry to finish it, though.
He wasn't big on drinking, usually, but if he wanted to sit at the bar he had to order something. It was where they had agreed to meet after all, and the alternative, unless he wanted to stand all alone by a wall looking stupid, was the dance floor, and there was no way he was going there. He slid a thin slice of cactus apple from the rim of the glass and bit into it, musing if it was actually supposed to taste of nothing or if he was just making a fool out of himself eating the decoration.
He kind of regretted wearing his knitted sweater now, even if he really liked that big, cosy collar and the muted light blue colour. It complemented his fur pretty well, he thought, and was just about fluffy and shapeless enough to sufficiently hide his scrawny build, which might give him at least a fair chance at a decent first impression. But the atmosphere in the place was stifling, he was already sweating, and that only made him feel even more nervous and uncomfortable. It certainly didn't help that he felt totally out of his depth to begin with, either.
A draenei was preening herself in the mirror mounted behind the bar as she waited for her order, fussing at her reflection, smacking her glossy lips and twisting a strand of hair around her finger, trying to make it fall artlessly just so. The place was far from packed, it was probably still too early for that, but even so the small dance floor was already a boiling crush of bodies. Near the edge of the crowd a bubbly goblin woman with bouncy corkscrews was sitting on a troll's broad shoulders, his enthusiastic dancing making all of her bounce and jiggle in time with the music. And by the look on her face she was having the time of her life.
The music had that kind of heavy bass where you could feel it thumping right through your chest, the kind that got your blood pumping. It was probably perfect for dancing; but he didn't dance. All that pent up energy only made him feel restless. Surrounded by all these people laughing, flirting, moving together ...
Oh that was it, he was actually really late. Jona slipped the phone from his back pocket again, blunt claw tapping against the screen as he started typing with frustrated determination.
'Where are you?' No, that sounded too demanding ...
'Did something happen?' Too prying.
'I'm still waiting ...' Ugh, no, no, no, way too needy. He didn't want to come off as desperate as he actually felt. Delete, delete, delete ...
"Excuse me," a man's voice came from behind him, Orcish spoken with that sing-song note of a Thalassian accent.
Jona paused, the hairs at the back of his neck suddenly tingling with the sensation of being watched, ears instinctively twitching. He looked up from his phone and back over his shoulder, gaze climbing until it reached a smiling face, and a pair of dazzling, fel green eyes.
"Hi!" the sin'dorei said brightly, his smile growing even wider.
"Uhm," Jona started hesitantly, doing a reflexive sweep of their immediate surroundings, in case he wasn't actually talking to him. But there was no one else around. "Hi ..."
The elf gestured at the barstool right next to his. "Is this seat taken?"
It was kind of hard to look directly at him, but even harder to look away. There was something in the way that he smiled that reminded Jona vaguely of his ex, which should probably have been a bad thing, especially considering how that had ended, but in reality it only made his heart beat even faster.
The tall brunette tilted his head curiously at him, waiting.
Shit, he had totally been staring. Great, real smooth.
"No, go ahead," he squeaked, his traitorous voice cracking like some pubescent schoolboy's, causing his cheeks to flush with heat. In an attempt to cover it up he let out a small cough before quickly clearing his throat, trying again in a slightly lower pitch that only sounded a little bit strangled. "Be my guest."
"Brilliant, thanks!" the elf beamed, and without further ado he grabbed the barstool, dragging it off towards the opposite end of the bar where his friends were apparently waiting. A rowdy cheer went up when he arrived with his find, someone throwing an arm around his shoulders as he was absorbed back into the group. Jona blinked after him, his mind slowly working to catch up.
Oh, right. That made a lot more sense.
Thank the Ancestors, the Light and everything that's Holy that it was too dark for anyone to see how red his face was right now. He wouldn't have been able to survive it. Why did he have to do this every time? It wasn't as if he could ever have a shot at someone like that. And anyway he was here on a date. Well, technically.
Turning back to his drink he went for another sip but it only tasted of water, from all that melted ice. Probably as a direct result of that man's radiant face. He chewed on the straw idly, checking the time on his phone again. Maybe he'd just missed his bus, or something. That sort of thing could happen. Jona pushed the empty glass away from himself, his eyes flicking in the bartender's direction in a bid to get their attention. It worked the second time she passed him.
"Yes, what can I get you?" she asked while nodding towards another customer further down the bar, confirming that she would be right with them.
"Could I get a beer, please?"
"Tap or bottle?"
Jona watched as she spirited his glass away, reaching for a fresh one from under the bar. "Oh, whichever is cheaper, please ... Thanks."
She went for the tap then, filling the tall glass with a frothing hiss to the point just shy of overflowing, a few drops escaping the foam to trickle down the side.
He accepted it straight from her hand, the bubbles tickling his nose as he shaved off the most immediate threat with a mouthful before setting the glass down on a coaster. "Thanks," he mumbled again and slid the payment across the bar; receiving a well-practiced smile and some small change in return.
Big_lad32 was only an hour late; he should probably give him a bit more time. Just in case.