So, you liked the first chapter enough to read the next. Or you thought it would get better over time. In either case, I applaud you.
"Azura, you can't bring your pistol on the outing," Storm said.
"Yes I can. Watch me do it," Azura replied, putting the pistol in her holster.
"What are you going to use it for?"
"In case I need to shoot something or someone."
"You're not going to need to shoot anything, Azura," Storm said. "Unless Rusti makes another of his bad jokes."
"Hey!" Rusti said indignantly. "You're not that funny either."
"I know."
"Sooo, does this mean I can keep my gun?" Azura asked.
"No!" Storm found that herding cats was easier than this—and he did have some experience with that. Azura was being impossible. Every time he tried to accommodate her, she found a new way to get in his way. Perhaps it was a bad idea to force Azura to come with them.
Then again, it might be going a little smoother if they had an actual plan. For now it was just wander on a Friday night. Perhaps someone else—perhaps someone on team CCRE—had an idea of where to go. No, perhaps not. None of CCRE really seemed the type. Well, wandering it is!
Feather came out of the bathroom. She had on more casual attire than her normal armor. She was ready for a night on the town.
The whole team walked down the city streets. They didn't know where to go, except east. If they had gone west, they'd be walking on water, and the only way Storm could figure they could do that was if they froze it, and that would need it to get a lot colder than it had been around here for a while. But anyway, they finally came across a place that might have been for them.
"Angry Leaf Juice Bar," Rusti said as he read the neon sign in front of the place. "Who the heck names their place 'Angry Leaf'?"
"I don't know why they name anything at all," Azura said. "In my village, we kept it simple. If we had a meeting place, we called it a meeting place. If we had a house we called it a house. We would not decide to make it this complicated. Then again, we also didn't have electricity, so what do we know?"
There was a long, uncomfortable pause after that.
"So, juice," Storm said, breaking the tension. And he led his team into Angry Leaf.
As he entered the Angry Leaf, his ears practically exploded with the shear loudness of the place. The music, the talking, the hum of electronics, the sound of plastic cups being moved around all combined into one deafening sound. It would take some doing to actually hear any of his teammates, but it was better than having to find another place.
Besides, it might be that this place was considered lightly packed compared to other places. Of course, he didn't want to go there, because it was crowded enough here.
And apparently there was dancing. He made sure to avoid that.
They finally made it to the bar. Storm and the others stopped just in front of the bar to decide what they were going to order. "So, I'm having mango juice, what about you?" Rusti said.
Storm read the menu above the bar, and realized they didn't have pickle juice. Just as well, he didn't feel like it anyway. "I think I'll have pineapple."
"Apple juice," Azura said.
"I would like to have grape juice," Feather said.
"Sounds good," Storm said. They went up to the bar.
The bartender was a woman with neon pink and blue hair. "What'll you have?"
Storm felt nervous about this. He would rather Rusti order. But no, he was the team leader, and he would order. "Four drinks. One pineapple, one apple, one grape, and… I forget, Rusti, what did you want?"
"Mango."
"Right. And One Mango."
"Coming right up," the bartender said. It was less than a minute before she was back with their drinks. "There you go. That'll be eight."
He turned around to his teammates. "Okay, time to pay for your drinks. Two each."
As Rusti and Feather got out their wallets, Azura seemed… off. "Storm, uh," Azura said somewhat quietly. He barely heard her over the crowd. "I don't have any money."
Made sense, considering the near anarchic state at which most villages operated on. But that didn't help with paying for her drink, and this situation may have done something to her pride. "I'll pay," Rusti said. "I'm her partner, I'll pay."
"Thanks," Azura said.
Storm handed the barkeeper the money, picked up their drinks, and they went to find a booth. Well, Storm wanted a booth, Rusti wanted a table. But fortunately Rusti was outvoted three-to-one. When they finally found an empty booth, they sat down and started on their drinks.
Storm took a big slurp of pineapple. He loved the taste; not quite sour—and he loved sour—, not quite sweet, but both in perfect balance. This was a bit different than what he was used to, but not too different.
"Ever been to a juice bar, anybody?" Rusti asked. "I know you haven't, Azura."
"We had one around Sanctum, but I only went once," Storm admitted. "They might as well have given me an actual pineapple, for how think the juice was. At least they put a little piece of fruit on the cup. This one has nothing."
"Huh. What about you, Feather?"
She answered a couple of seconds after the question. "No. I've only really heard of them from my books."
"Well, this seems to be more nightclub/juice bar hybrid than anything else," Rusti explained. "So, any of you can dance?"
"Theoretically, any of us can dance," Storm said. "It's just a matter of will we dance?"
"So, will you dance?"
He thought about it, weighing the pros and cons. All the while making "um" sounds. Finally, he reached a decision. "No. I don't think so."
It was almost echoed by Feather and Azura.
"Suit yourself." Rusti got up and headed to the dance floor.
"Why don't you dance then?" Azura asked.
"Because I'll look like a fool," Storm replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. Maybe a bit of Rusti's curiosity rubbed off on me." Why did he instantly think of something absolutely putrid when she said that? "Anyway, what about you, Feather?"
"I… Just do not want to…" Feather was at a loss for words. "It is just a thing… A personal preference."
"Well I don't know how to dance. What's stopping all of us from going out there and embarrassing ourselves?"
"Us."
"Yep. And let's keep it that way."
Storm was thinking… differently. "You know what? Let's do it once. If we never do it, then no one will criticize us. But if we do it tonight, then it could be a lot of fun. What do you say?"
Oddly enough, they agreed. "Why not?" Azura said. "As long as you don't tell a soul that I danced tonight." Then her tone turned threatening. "Not a soul."
"Okay."
"I… I guess I will do it too," Feather said. "But could I finish my juice first?"
"Yeah, let's finish our juice first."
Note that I know what a juice bar is, I looked it up, and found that this made it much more interesting. Anyway, see you next time.