"Here's the strongest one we got," said the bartender, setting a tall, thin glass full of glowing blue liquid on the counter. "Enjoy."
Nora watched, faintly curious. She had never been a fan of strong drinks herself; she preferred a lighter touch, if and when she drank, which was rare. The last thing the Grid needed was a vigilante who was a deadbeat drunk.
“Thank you.” Cor said, accepting and paying for the drink before taking a long slow sip of it, downing a fourth of the glass. “Best drinks in the sector… More like the only drinks.” he mumbled softly once the bartender was out of earshot. “But they’re not bad.”
"They're not as good as the drinks at the End of Line Club," Nora remarked dryly, idly stirring her own drink, listening to the little chinking sounds the ice cubes made.
“You got that right.” Cor agreed with a small chuckle. “The only reason this place is as busy as it is, is because End of Line is closed.” he pointed out, turning to face the Siren.
"It should be open soon," Nora said stiffly, hoping that Kama and her workers were hurrying. She had payments to make, for Flynn's sake. There was a whole mess that Zuse and Gem had left for her to clean up on her own, and she wasn't enjoying it.
She had been watching the door absentmindedly, a practise long born of her vigilante skills, and then two programs she recognised walked in. A man and a woman; the woman had a bright purple mohawk, while the man had a tattoo on his cheek, an odd, angular symbol. She'd seen them before. These two were in the Iris gang - a ring of disk forgers who had their fingers in some other sticky business. Most of the members were pretty easy to deal with, but Nora had seen this pair before and it had gotten ugly.
She eyed them coolly, tracking their every move. Take one step out of line…
“I hope so and I don't hope for much.” he chuckled again, the drink already loosening his speech. He took another sip of his drink as he noticed her tense response. Cor was half tempted to say something to try to diffuse her attitude but decided not to and followed her gaze. This posture of her’s was one he recognized and had held more than once. Normally, when he was avoiding the Black Gaurd.
“Friends of yours?” he asked softly when he saw the new pair, his tone serious and tense. He was just as ready for action as she was.
"I know them," she said tersely, eyeing the two as they made their way through the crowd. The woman, who seemed to have sensed Nora's gaze, was looking around for her pursuer; Nora swivelled her head slightly, observing them out of the corners of her eyes.
"Refill?" asked the bartender, shuffling up to them.
"Not for me," Nora said quietly. She needed her senses as sharp as possible if these two were up to something.
And then something caught her eye. Something familiar.
"Is that… an ISO armband?" she asked, peering curiously at her neighbour's accessory.
Cor hummed softly, picking up her tone and deducing that it wasn't a pleasant experience between them. He made himself look as relaxed and disinterested in the couple despite his focus on them.
“I’m good. Thanks.” he told the bartender before placing a couple more bits on the counter.
Cor stiffened slightly and covered the band with his free hand. “Y… Yeah. It is. Why do you ask?” he asked, forcing himself to calm down. It wasn't like before. Wearing that band wasn't as incriminating as it used to be.
"Nothing." She shrugged. "Programs just usually don't wear those in public anymore." Or ever in the first place, really.
Cor scoffed softly. “Oh, programs wore them alright. They were just more secret about it.” he told her, sure she already knew that fact. “I… I just can't seem to find the nerve to take the glitched thing off.” he admitted softer.
Nora nodded, scanning the bar again, and, with a jolt of horror in her stomach, realised the two programs had disappeared. Good cubes, she'd been distracted at exactly the wrong time.
Her dark eyes scanned the crowd, searching frantically for a purple mohawk, but she found nothing. Apprehension laced with nervous excitement started to tingle in her stomach. She began looking at programs' backs, searching for empty disk holders, but again, nothing.
"Excuse me," she said, standing up, "I've got to go do something."
Cor blinked at the sudden action and nodded slightly. “No one’s stopping you.” he pointed out, though his own gaze swept the bar and realized what seemed to have worried her. “Looking for trouble or going to stop it?” he asked, referring to the now missing couple. Something was strange about those two and the reaction this Siren was having… Well, it actually interested him.
"I never go looking for trouble," she said shortly, looking around and finally spotting the couple sequestered in a far booth with a few drinks. Maybe it was just… a date? Still, her gut told her something was up.
Frowning, she sat back down and took a sip of her own drink. "Trouble usually finds me."
Cor laughed a little and nodded. “I know what that’s like. Though I don't always need help getting into trouble.” he admitted. His… other job, if you could call it that, usually got him into plenty of trouble. He’d actually lost count of the number of times he’d nearly been derezzed. “Mind if I ask, what's with those two?” he asked.
"Just some old friends," Nora said, with an odd, twisted smile, before disappearing into the crowd. The two programs were nowhere to be found - until she spotted them, sequestered in a corner booth with a pair of drinks. They were on a date.
Disappointment mixed with anger washed over Nora. She had actually been looking forward to fighting those two, which just went to show how boring her life was nowadays. She was down to yelling at construction programs and suspecting an innocent couple on a date.
She hoisted an innocent smile on her face and went back to the bar. "Sorry. I thought they were someone else."
Cor nodded, more to himself at her answer, as she walked away. He wasn't sure he believed the way she said friends about that couple… But who was he to judge? He hardly had any. At least any that he really considered as one. There were a few contacts, some knew him and others didn't. But that suited him just fine.
He turned in surprise when she rejoined him. “Oh… You don't have to apologize. It's your business, not mine.” he replied with a friendlier version of his usual smirk.
It's everyone's business, she thought to herself, sitting down and picking her drink back up.
(BTW I'm pretty okay with one-liners)
Cor looked at his drink, already half-finished, and debated how buzzed he wanted to get. Then again, two of these probably wouldn't be a good idea… he hummed to himself.
(ok. Good to know.)
Nora leaned back against the counter, watching the programs again, barely noticing that a fist-sized, pulsating, white polyhedron had come floating through the crowd towards her. When it reached her, it zoomed around her head excitedly.
She sighed, exasperated, though it was laced with amusement. "Bit!"
Yes, Bit said, flashing yellow.
Cor looked up and chuckled at the interaction. “This one belong to you?” he asked, smirking playfully.
Yes, Bit said happily, now zooming around the other program's head; Nora scowled and tried to grab it, but ended up clutching empty air.
"Yes, this one's mine. It's supposed to be in my apartment, I don't know how it escaped. Bit, come here."
No, said Bit, dodging another grab and bobbing up and down in the air.
Cor laughed again and attempted to help catch the Bit floating above his head. “Sneaky little rascal, aren't you?” he asked rhetorically.
No, Bit said, evading the catch attempts.
The bartender, meanwhile, had sidled up to them and was eyeing Bit apprehensively. "Nora, please get this thing out of my bar. Do you remember the last time it showed up?"
"Vividly," Nora said, scowling. "Bit, for the last time, calm down."
Bit bobbed up and down in the air for a few seconds, then zoomed once around the bartender's head and floated above Nora's lap.
“I doubt that.” Cor smirked at the Bit, relaxing as the bartender scolded Nora. Nora… Nice to have a name to go with that face. He raised a brow at the implications mentioned between the other two programs. “Dare I ask what happened last time?”
"You don't want to know," Nora said, but it was too late: the bartender had heard the question.
"What happened? What didn't happen? Drinks all over the floor, programs running out screaming their heads off, three dozen broken glasses, four lights broken, and this" - he pointed accusingly at Bit - "floating around in the middle of it, scaring my remaining customers out of their wits!"
"Only a fourth of that is true," Nora said acidly (Bit concurred). "And are you sure it's a good idea to talk about the crime in front of the perpetrator?"
The bartender paled. "Just keep that - thing - far away from where it could do any damage!" he said, before bustling off to help a new customer.
Cor's eyes widened when the bartender spoke, though there was an intrigued spark until Nora and her Bit pointed out the exaggeration. He gave a soft chuckle and shook his head in both relief and amusement. “My kind of Bit.” he smirked at the pair as the bartender left.
Yes, Bit said happily, going over to him and floating above his lap. Nora frowned and took another sip of her drink.
Cor chuckled softly at the Bit and took another sip of his own drink. “Gotta say, meeting the two of you has been the best part of walking in here.”
Yes, Bit said, but Nora said nothing. A compliment? She hadn't had one of those in what felt like hundreds of cycles. Already she could feel herself shutting down. Don't let anyone get close to you, you'll just get hurt again and again and again and again.
She sighed and swirled her drink. "Well, Bit certainly seems to think so."
Cor smiled again at the Bit and carefully reached out his fingers towards it. Truthfully he had no intention of getting attached to either of them but he did enjoy their company… and he was kind of a sucker for Bit’s. Especially one's with a more rambunctious streak like the one in his lap. Perhaps it was the drink making Cor seem and act more like a normal program instead of his normally jaded demeanor.