Chapter 5
The evening after his pleasant time spent with Raquel and Amistad, Kaldur was working once again at the bar, refreshed and ready to tackle whatever came his way that night.
How naive of him.
Around nine, Dick arrived, laughing about something with Wally. The two ordered a beer each, taking their drinks to one of the mid-room tables as they continued their conversation. Not long after, Zatanna slipped in the front door as well, animately talking with the woman behind her.
Who happened to be Artemis.
Kaldur has his gaze flickering back and forth between the two pairs, and as such noted the exact moment when the blonde and redhead noticed each other's presence. There was the recognition, followed by a very brief appearance of pleasure, and then a deep hostility that had him tensing and wondering where he'd put that baseball bat. Tae Kwon Do didn't seem like it would quite be enough to deal with this situation.
Fortunately, Dick and Zatanna each followed their companion's gaze, blushed with a small smile when they met each other's eyes, and then paled as they realized what was likely to occur. Sure enough, Artemis stomped over to the boys' table, and immediately launched an angry query at Wally. He responded in kind, and within moments, both were engaged in an argument that attracted everyone's attention from all around the room.
"Um, Kaldur?" The server standing beside him asked nervously. "Sh-should we...?"
"I'll deal with this, Topo." Leaving behind the relative safety of his bar, Kaldur headed towards the fight, needing to slip around customers who'd stood up either to leave or see better. Breath coming a little quicker as the voices continued to grow louder, he reached the cleared area around the argument just as it resolved itself.
Artemis leaned forward, grabbed the front of Wally's shirt, and pulled him into a searing kiss. Immediately, the nervous murmurs in the room morphed into catcalls, Dick and Zatanna participating with large grins on their faces. By the time the kissers came up for air, each was also smiling. Relieved, Kaldur continued to approach, just catching the last thing Artemis said. "...Very sweet to come see if I was alright, even if it was totally unnecessary."
Wally chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as he gestured to Kaldur. "You came blame this guy for that, actually. Utter misinformation." The bartender grinned at him.
"You are the one who ran off without thinking to use your phone, I believe." He said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Well, now that that's finally been settled, are we going to get down to a nice night of drinking or what?" Zatanna asked, making her presence known again. Artemis and Wally exchanged a look.
"I think... We might head out early, actually." The blonde said, curling her fingers around Wally's hand. He nodded in agreement, and the pair left in an excited hurry while their friends sighed in exasperation.
"On the plus side, Zee, you get to have Wally's beer."
"Sounds good to me." They settled down at the table, as people around the room returned to what they'd been doing before the drama broke out. Kaldur went back to sooth his nervous wait staff, oddly at ease after such a near-confrontation. About an hour later, both Dick and Zatanna left arm in arm, leaving him with just the usual crowd.
It was much closer to closing time when another familiar face entered the establishment.
"Heard you got to see some excitement earlier tonight." Raquel smirked as she slid onto a bar stool.
"I have no earthly idea how you and others have managed to stay friends with those two for so long."
"I'm not sure I could explain it. But, it should be noted that those two didn't use to be quite so bad - they've just gotten worse as the tension built as well as the denial. Now, I want a martini and a little time to ask you a few things."
"But of course." After fetching her drink, Kaldur settled down to lean against the bar and start talking with a woman he'd been coming to like more and more this week. "Ask away."
Raquel took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Well, first order of business really is business: you guys rent out the back room for private parties, right?"
"Indeed we do. Cost runs a flat rate per hour no matter the size of the group, with drinks ordered for those within at half price."
"Very nice. Is it free tomorrow night?" It was, so the pair quickly made arrangements for Raquel and all of her friends that he'd met that week to have it to themselves for the evening. She went ahead and paid him the deposit, with the rest of the payment to come after the total cost was tallied.
"Thanks, Kaldur - I've been meaning to get the whole gang out for something together for a while now."
"You are very welcome, Raquel." They smiled at each other for a while, drinking in the sight of the other's pleased expression. Eventually, Kaldur was the first to break it, asking what else she wanted to ask him. Even with her dark skin, there was a noticeable flush that crept across Raquel's face.
"Ah, well, I was wondering if- you see, Amistad really enjoyed yesterday, and his fifth birthday is coming up soon, and he wanted me to see if you could come." Blinking at the odd request, Kaldur nonetheless found himself grinning as he agreed. The boy had been fun to play with, and he'd hate to disappoint a young man on his birthday. "Thanks. I know it's a little weird, but he doesn't have a- have too many friends. I'm hoping that will change once he starts kindergarten."
"It most likely will - he's a very likeable boy, after all."
"Yeah... Yeah, he is."
"So, was there anything else on your mind?" Raquel opened her mouth to reply, but closed it before speaking, shaking her head with a shy smile. "In that case, I hate to say it, but we close in a few minutes."
"Right! I'll just head out then." She jumped up and headed for the exit, pausing with her hand on the glass of the door. "See you tomorrow?"
"I'll be here." He gave her a warm look, which Raquel returned before departing. As soon as she was gone, Kaldur sighed, wondering if the fluttering in his stomach meant he might be coming down with something.