Chapter 3, I think. I'm bad at the whole keeping track of things.
Ryan awoke to a banging on his door. He rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a thud. Confusion reigned for a moment before Ari's voice rang out from beyond the door.
"Ryan, are you in there? You said you'd come to the party with me!"
Ryan groaned, trying to fight off his sleepiness as he pulled on his clothes and then opened the door. The lights were one throughout the ship's hallway, and looking down over the rail; one could see that Ragol was bathed in darkness. He had slept longer than he thought, but the peaceful appearance of the dark planet below them did nothing to alleviate his exhaustion.
Ari smirked at him, taking in his disheveled appearance. "You're wearing that?"
Ryan became alert, and quickly compared his appearance to Ari's. He was wearing his Hunter's uniform, save for the armor and shield. Ari, however, had foregone his Force robes for a more stylish outfit, which consisted of loose, flowing white pants, a fluffy white shirt and a black vest. He had also put on some rectangular glasses and pulled his hair back, making him look somewhat like a hippy.
Ari laughed at Ryan's expression. "If you don't have anything else to wear, c'mon. Happy hour is starting soon."
Ryan simply followed Ari as he practically skipped down the hall, wondering what "happy hour" was and if it had anything to do with Ari's unusually jolly state.
They walked through an incredible number of twisting hallways and turned numerous corners, before Ryan became almost completely lost, despite having lived on the ship for almost all his life. Finally, Ari stopped dead at a door at the end of a hallway and knocked loudly, while Ryan leaned against the wall to catch his breath. He was too tired for this.
Suddenly, the door opened a smidgen and a HUcast peered out, giving Ari and Ryan the once over. "What's the password?" Ryan blinked rather stupidly, not fully believing the amount of secrecy needed.
"Gimme a drink you retard, you know me!" Ari said in an annoyed fashion. The HUcast looked at him closely and gave the robot equivalent of a smile before opening the door for Ari. Ryan started to follow, but the HUcast glared him into stillness before turning back to Ari.
"Can your friend here be trusted?"
Ari shoved the apparently weaker android away, giving him a noncommittal wave of his hand. "Of course he can, I wouldn't bring anyone who would turn you guys in." With that, he grabbed Ryan by the arm and pulled him into the room. Ryan looked around at the blank walls, wondering why it was so......empty. Suddenly, he felt the room resonate from music coming from the door at the other end of the room.
Ari grinned at Ryan's confusion, and dragged him to the door before throwing it open, the volume of the music inside hitting Ryan with an almost tangible force.
Ryan gawked as he was pulled inside. This room was enormous, and filled to the rafters with people, most of who were dancing to music that Ryan had never heard before. It was like classical in that it had no words, or very few words, but it was entirely different in style. Classical was meant to move the mind, whereas the point of this music seemed to be to move the body. The intense bass seemed to resonate with Ryan's internal organs, creating an almost frightening sensation. At times, a bright white light would flash on and off at fast rates, causing the same effect one would get if they blinked very rapidly.
Ari was amused at Ryan's reaction. "C'mon, go and mingle! The bar is over in the corner." He pointed to a dark corner of the room, furthest from the door. "They sell anything there." He slapped Ryan on the back before disappearing into the crowd, leaving him stranded.
Ryan quickly tried to make sense of things. The music was coming from two huge speakers at the far wall, to the left of the bar, and most of the people were congregated in front of them. Others were scattered around the room, most of them holding drinks, Ryan noted. He began to wade through the groups of people, not particularly heading anywhere, just to be doing something. He stopped as he came upon a circle of people, and in the center was a Newman with two pairs of lights on strings. The Newman was swinging the lights in various patterns in time with the music, and the effect was dizzying to Ryan, though the people who had formed a circle seemed to be enjoying it immensely. The strobe light began to flash again, and Ryan found his senses completely overloaded. He stood motionless, staring at the ceiling in order to get his bearings, until someone banged into him roughly.
He jumped, and looked down at the person, who turned out to be a rather busty young woman. She smiled at him endearingly, and grabbed his hand. "Are you new here? C'mon, I'll show you how to have some fun." With that, she started to drag him toward the speakers, and the resonance increased as they got closer. The volume of the music became painful, but Ryan seemed to be the only person noticing it. He dug in his heels, unwilling to get any closer to the speakers, intriguing as the music might be.
The woman looked at him inquiringly, as if amazed that he might show resistance. "Uh, I'll just, go over there, thanks......" Ryan said, gesturing weakly toward the bar. The woman let him go, staring after him bemusedly as he half walked, half stumbled away. 'Wow, I sounded like an idiot.' Ryan thought ashamedly to himself.
He finally made it to the bar, and noted with unease the number of people who seemed to have collapsed around it. He sat on a stool quickly, trying ineffectually to hide from his surroundings. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, as if that would help.
"What do you want?" The gruff voice startled him, and he looked at the barkeeper, who held a number of differently shaped glasses. Ryan stuttered, unsure what to say, before the man he had previously thought unconscious on the stool next to his spoke up.
"Get a martini, man. It, like, tastes how the music sounds."
Ryan didn't know how to make that cerebral connection, but simply nodded to the barkeeper, trying to act like he knew what he was doing. With astounding speed, the barkeeper filled up an interesting, top- heavy glass and placed it in front of Ryan before moving down the bar to other arriving customers. Ryan had no idea what a martini cost, and just placed 5 dollars on the bar table, assuming that a martini couldn't cost that much more than a glass of water.
He picked up the glass and sniffed it, unsure of how to drink it. He saw the man next to him chugging his drinks with astonishing speed, and tried to do the same, but ended up almost spitting all over the bar. He had never tasted anything like this before-it was kind of like carbonated water, only much more acidic, and strangely burning as it went down. He eyed it carefully, wondering how something that seemed fizzy didn't have any bubbles in it. This time he sipped it, and found it far more pleasurable, savoring it in his mouth before swallowing. The taste was nothing special, but it had an interesting texture for a drink. It was almost like it evaporated in his mouth as he drank it.
Before long, he had finished it, and asked for another, which the barkeeper obliged him with without question. After getting halfway through the second, he began to feel strangely aware of what was going on around him. The pounding music no longer bothered him, and he found it enticing, now, instead of frightening. The strobe light didn't dizzy him, and he found it fascinating, wondering if he blinked at just the right time if he wouldn't be able to see at all.
He got up from the bar, the music starting to affect him as it affected the people around him. As he began to walk toward the main group of people, though, he found that he had some trouble walking in a straight line. No one seemed to mind his bumbling, though, and he found he wasn't the only one affected such, which he thought was amusing.
He stopped, leaning against the wall for a moment, before he spotted Ari, who was dancing in the main throng of people. It wasn't ballroom dancing, like Ryan knew, but simply moving to the rhythm as best one could. He stared at Ari, ignoring the people around him. The combined effects of the strobe light and the pounding music, coupled with Ryan's intoxication, made him find the sight of Ari incredibly arousing.
Suddenly, someone banged into Ryan, causing him to hit his head against the wall painfully. He grimaced, his trancelike state broken, as he looked for the source of the interruption. A mean looking, fat little bald man glared at him with distaste. "Watch what you're doing, you idiot!" Ryan simply looked at him, confused, which seemed only to make the man angrier. He started shouting at Ryan, but Ryan was getting dizzy and ignored him, causing the man to yell louder, catching the attention of the people around him. Someone smirked and said "Tyler is at it again" and Tyler's furious yelling, none of which Ryan could understand, only increased in its belligerence. Ryan felt like he was going to pass out, and the room swayed threateningly.
Thankfully, someone supported him as he began to lose his balance. He looked up at his supporter confusedly, only to see that it was Ari. He smiled drunkenly at him, and Ari rolled his eyes. "I leave you alone for two hours, and you get completely wasted?" Ryan struggled to stand again, but found it was harder than he had thought. "C'mon, I'll take you back to your room. Tyler, shut the hell up, you probably hit him, you little liar."
With that, Ari half dragged Ryan out of the room, making it to the adjacent room before Ryan was able to actually get to his feet. The HUcast who had let them in laughed at Ryan's predicament, and waved mockingly as Ari helped Ryan out into the halls and finally to his room. With the lack of the pounding music and flashing lights, Ryan felt nothing but exhaustion now. Part of him wanted desperately to rub up against Ari, but the still sober part of his brain, what little there was left, convinced him that that would not be a good idea.
Ari smiled as Ryan staggered into his room, not even making it to his bed before he started to fall. Ari caught him again, and lay him down on the couch, where Ryan curled into a ball and closed his eyes tightly, wishing that the room would stop spinning.
"We've got the caves to explore tomorrow night, remember?" Ari said with laughter in his tone. "Sleep well."
Ryan was asleep even before Ari was out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Do I need to say something after every chapter? I feel like I do. Oh well. Hope you like it so far.
Ryan awoke to a banging on his door. He rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a thud. Confusion reigned for a moment before Ari's voice rang out from beyond the door.
"Ryan, are you in there? You said you'd come to the party with me!"
Ryan groaned, trying to fight off his sleepiness as he pulled on his clothes and then opened the door. The lights were one throughout the ship's hallway, and looking down over the rail; one could see that Ragol was bathed in darkness. He had slept longer than he thought, but the peaceful appearance of the dark planet below them did nothing to alleviate his exhaustion.
Ari smirked at him, taking in his disheveled appearance. "You're wearing that?"
Ryan became alert, and quickly compared his appearance to Ari's. He was wearing his Hunter's uniform, save for the armor and shield. Ari, however, had foregone his Force robes for a more stylish outfit, which consisted of loose, flowing white pants, a fluffy white shirt and a black vest. He had also put on some rectangular glasses and pulled his hair back, making him look somewhat like a hippy.
Ari laughed at Ryan's expression. "If you don't have anything else to wear, c'mon. Happy hour is starting soon."
Ryan simply followed Ari as he practically skipped down the hall, wondering what "happy hour" was and if it had anything to do with Ari's unusually jolly state.
They walked through an incredible number of twisting hallways and turned numerous corners, before Ryan became almost completely lost, despite having lived on the ship for almost all his life. Finally, Ari stopped dead at a door at the end of a hallway and knocked loudly, while Ryan leaned against the wall to catch his breath. He was too tired for this.
Suddenly, the door opened a smidgen and a HUcast peered out, giving Ari and Ryan the once over. "What's the password?" Ryan blinked rather stupidly, not fully believing the amount of secrecy needed.
"Gimme a drink you retard, you know me!" Ari said in an annoyed fashion. The HUcast looked at him closely and gave the robot equivalent of a smile before opening the door for Ari. Ryan started to follow, but the HUcast glared him into stillness before turning back to Ari.
"Can your friend here be trusted?"
Ari shoved the apparently weaker android away, giving him a noncommittal wave of his hand. "Of course he can, I wouldn't bring anyone who would turn you guys in." With that, he grabbed Ryan by the arm and pulled him into the room. Ryan looked around at the blank walls, wondering why it was so......empty. Suddenly, he felt the room resonate from music coming from the door at the other end of the room.
Ari grinned at Ryan's confusion, and dragged him to the door before throwing it open, the volume of the music inside hitting Ryan with an almost tangible force.
Ryan gawked as he was pulled inside. This room was enormous, and filled to the rafters with people, most of who were dancing to music that Ryan had never heard before. It was like classical in that it had no words, or very few words, but it was entirely different in style. Classical was meant to move the mind, whereas the point of this music seemed to be to move the body. The intense bass seemed to resonate with Ryan's internal organs, creating an almost frightening sensation. At times, a bright white light would flash on and off at fast rates, causing the same effect one would get if they blinked very rapidly.
Ari was amused at Ryan's reaction. "C'mon, go and mingle! The bar is over in the corner." He pointed to a dark corner of the room, furthest from the door. "They sell anything there." He slapped Ryan on the back before disappearing into the crowd, leaving him stranded.
Ryan quickly tried to make sense of things. The music was coming from two huge speakers at the far wall, to the left of the bar, and most of the people were congregated in front of them. Others were scattered around the room, most of them holding drinks, Ryan noted. He began to wade through the groups of people, not particularly heading anywhere, just to be doing something. He stopped as he came upon a circle of people, and in the center was a Newman with two pairs of lights on strings. The Newman was swinging the lights in various patterns in time with the music, and the effect was dizzying to Ryan, though the people who had formed a circle seemed to be enjoying it immensely. The strobe light began to flash again, and Ryan found his senses completely overloaded. He stood motionless, staring at the ceiling in order to get his bearings, until someone banged into him roughly.
He jumped, and looked down at the person, who turned out to be a rather busty young woman. She smiled at him endearingly, and grabbed his hand. "Are you new here? C'mon, I'll show you how to have some fun." With that, she started to drag him toward the speakers, and the resonance increased as they got closer. The volume of the music became painful, but Ryan seemed to be the only person noticing it. He dug in his heels, unwilling to get any closer to the speakers, intriguing as the music might be.
The woman looked at him inquiringly, as if amazed that he might show resistance. "Uh, I'll just, go over there, thanks......" Ryan said, gesturing weakly toward the bar. The woman let him go, staring after him bemusedly as he half walked, half stumbled away. 'Wow, I sounded like an idiot.' Ryan thought ashamedly to himself.
He finally made it to the bar, and noted with unease the number of people who seemed to have collapsed around it. He sat on a stool quickly, trying ineffectually to hide from his surroundings. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, as if that would help.
"What do you want?" The gruff voice startled him, and he looked at the barkeeper, who held a number of differently shaped glasses. Ryan stuttered, unsure what to say, before the man he had previously thought unconscious on the stool next to his spoke up.
"Get a martini, man. It, like, tastes how the music sounds."
Ryan didn't know how to make that cerebral connection, but simply nodded to the barkeeper, trying to act like he knew what he was doing. With astounding speed, the barkeeper filled up an interesting, top- heavy glass and placed it in front of Ryan before moving down the bar to other arriving customers. Ryan had no idea what a martini cost, and just placed 5 dollars on the bar table, assuming that a martini couldn't cost that much more than a glass of water.
He picked up the glass and sniffed it, unsure of how to drink it. He saw the man next to him chugging his drinks with astonishing speed, and tried to do the same, but ended up almost spitting all over the bar. He had never tasted anything like this before-it was kind of like carbonated water, only much more acidic, and strangely burning as it went down. He eyed it carefully, wondering how something that seemed fizzy didn't have any bubbles in it. This time he sipped it, and found it far more pleasurable, savoring it in his mouth before swallowing. The taste was nothing special, but it had an interesting texture for a drink. It was almost like it evaporated in his mouth as he drank it.
Before long, he had finished it, and asked for another, which the barkeeper obliged him with without question. After getting halfway through the second, he began to feel strangely aware of what was going on around him. The pounding music no longer bothered him, and he found it enticing, now, instead of frightening. The strobe light didn't dizzy him, and he found it fascinating, wondering if he blinked at just the right time if he wouldn't be able to see at all.
He got up from the bar, the music starting to affect him as it affected the people around him. As he began to walk toward the main group of people, though, he found that he had some trouble walking in a straight line. No one seemed to mind his bumbling, though, and he found he wasn't the only one affected such, which he thought was amusing.
He stopped, leaning against the wall for a moment, before he spotted Ari, who was dancing in the main throng of people. It wasn't ballroom dancing, like Ryan knew, but simply moving to the rhythm as best one could. He stared at Ari, ignoring the people around him. The combined effects of the strobe light and the pounding music, coupled with Ryan's intoxication, made him find the sight of Ari incredibly arousing.
Suddenly, someone banged into Ryan, causing him to hit his head against the wall painfully. He grimaced, his trancelike state broken, as he looked for the source of the interruption. A mean looking, fat little bald man glared at him with distaste. "Watch what you're doing, you idiot!" Ryan simply looked at him, confused, which seemed only to make the man angrier. He started shouting at Ryan, but Ryan was getting dizzy and ignored him, causing the man to yell louder, catching the attention of the people around him. Someone smirked and said "Tyler is at it again" and Tyler's furious yelling, none of which Ryan could understand, only increased in its belligerence. Ryan felt like he was going to pass out, and the room swayed threateningly.
Thankfully, someone supported him as he began to lose his balance. He looked up at his supporter confusedly, only to see that it was Ari. He smiled drunkenly at him, and Ari rolled his eyes. "I leave you alone for two hours, and you get completely wasted?" Ryan struggled to stand again, but found it was harder than he had thought. "C'mon, I'll take you back to your room. Tyler, shut the hell up, you probably hit him, you little liar."
With that, Ari half dragged Ryan out of the room, making it to the adjacent room before Ryan was able to actually get to his feet. The HUcast who had let them in laughed at Ryan's predicament, and waved mockingly as Ari helped Ryan out into the halls and finally to his room. With the lack of the pounding music and flashing lights, Ryan felt nothing but exhaustion now. Part of him wanted desperately to rub up against Ari, but the still sober part of his brain, what little there was left, convinced him that that would not be a good idea.
Ari smiled as Ryan staggered into his room, not even making it to his bed before he started to fall. Ari caught him again, and lay him down on the couch, where Ryan curled into a ball and closed his eyes tightly, wishing that the room would stop spinning.
"We've got the caves to explore tomorrow night, remember?" Ari said with laughter in his tone. "Sleep well."
Ryan was asleep even before Ari was out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Do I need to say something after every chapter? I feel like I do. Oh well. Hope you like it so far.
