Cor smiled softly at the beautiful view. He could easily imagine this was similar to what stars looked like. Almost every program had heard one thing or another about the world of the Users; stars were what Cor had heard about. It looked so peaceful.
The doors slid open; Bit happily floated over to join Nora, who looked up at it, not noticing Cor. "Hello, Bit. I was wondering where you were."
Cor smiled softly at the little reunion before looking around. He recognized the End of Line club easily, despite its state. He clenched a fist at his side thinking about the original owner. It didn't take too much digging to learn about “Castor”. The glitched fake and traitor. Though the one interesting fact about this place… Flynn himself had been here. And his son, Sam.
He blinked a couple of times to clear his head and looked back at Nora.
Nora took a double take when she saw… good Flynn, had she even gotten his name? What was he doing up here? Unless he was a construction program, he shouldn't have been able to even touch the button to get up.
And then she put it together. Bit. Whatshisname.
She'd left Bit downstairs, hadn't she?
Pushing her bangs out of her face again, she strode over to him, her Siren heels click-clacking loudly on the tile floor, which was no longer glowing, now just a dull grey. "Did Bit make you bring it up here?"
Cor nodded at her question, taking a cautious step out of the elevator. “It was very insistent on getting back to you.” he said. “Though I’m interested in why you're up here. Obviously, you're supposed to be or Bit wouldn't be able to access this level.”
"I own this place," she said stiffly. Bit zoomed around her head a few times. Yes. "And I'd be careful up here." She nodded at a gaping hole in the floor a few feet from where he was standing.
“Oh. Yeah, that’d give you access.” Cor nodded, eyes widening slightly at the answer. He glanced down at the floor and saw the hole she was warning about. “Don’t worry. I'm not going to come out too far. Just didn't want to lurk in the elevator.”
"Mm," she said noncommittally. A large part of her wanted to tell him to leave, to get in the elevator and let her get on with repairing the club. But something about him reminded her of Kaira, and that part of her, the part she kept walled off, the part filled with memories and hurt, wanted him to stick around a little longer.
In the midst of her thoughts, she hadn't realised that Bit had floated off and was now curiously inspecting the construction and the construction programs themselves; one batted at Bit, shooing it off, and Bit zoomed furiously towards the program, circling his head. No.
"Bit!" Nora said, both amused and exasperated. "Get back down here."
No, Bit said, zooming around the program's head one more time before floating off to inspect another area.
Cor laughed a little at the scene of Bit causing trouble and shook his head. “Curious little Bit you have. I’m not surprised it gets into trouble.” he smiled faintly, remembering the bartender's story.
"Yeah," Nora said, allowing herself to smile for the first time in a while. Most other programs were usually annoyed by Bit's antics, especially as Bit made an effort to annoy most programs that came across Nora's path.
But Bit hadn't annoyed this program, and she wondered why.
"I don't believe I got your name earlier," she said, stiffly and awkwardly: the phrase was unfamiliar to her, one rarely used. She ignored Bit annoying the other construction programs, one of which nearly fell from his post.
“Cor. My name's Cor.” he laughed as he realized he never had a chance to introduce himself. “Sorry. I heard the bartender mention yours when he told the story about your Bit.” he explained, hoping he hadn't overstepped any boundaries with a complete stranger.
Nora felt a smile tug at the edges of her mouth, but tamped it down. "The bartender doesn't like me very much - he's just bitter because I own this, and all the business he's getting will be gone when we open again."
“I can understand that. Though I’ve always preferred this place.” Cor admitted with a simple smirk. “The whole setting was just better even if I didn't come here all that often.”
Nora looked around. "But nothing you'd change?" In the back of her mind, she'd been planning making tweaks to this place - nothing major: new furniture here, maybe a new sound system there…
Cor shrugged. “No. Not really… then again, I'm no design program.” he admitted as he took a couple cautious steps into the building, being mindful of the state of the floor. “And besides it's your place. You can make it all your own or keep it as it was.” he reminded her.
Nora nodded. Bit, meanwhile, had finished inspecting the construction and now came zooming back to Nora, bobbing up and down by her shoulder.
"Everything all right, Bit?" she asked.
Yes, Bit said, whizzing over to Cor and back. Yes, yes, yes.
"We'll work faster if that thing leaves us alone," called one of the construction workers, one that Bit had nearly knocked from his post. Kama frantically hushed him, but it was too late.
"I don't recall asking for your opinion," Nora said, glancing at the worker coolly over her shoulder. "Disrespect me or Bit like that again, and I'll dock the pay for the entire project."
Cor laughed a little at Bit’s antics but raised a brow at the program's rude remark. He really didn't understand why so many seemed to be against Nora’s overly active companion. “I’d listen to her, if I were you. This snappy Siren means business,” he called out, keeping his voice calm. Normally, he wasn't this talkative or the kind of program that jumped into other’s business… Maybe he would just blame the drink he had earlier.
Nora raised her eyebrows. Cor hadn't struck her as the defensive type, more calm and easygoing. He spoke the truth, though, with the 'snappy' comment.
She smiled emotionlessly over her shoulder at the program, who looked on the verge of another comment, but a blazing glare from Kama hushed him and he turned back around, repairing code with perhaps more force than was necessary.
"I think my work is done here, unless any others want to insult me," she said softly, her voice carried through the club by the wind.
Silence. Nora smiled and stepped towards the elevators. "Good."
Cor's eyes sparked with amusement at the reaction, though he kept himself from smiling too widely as he carefully followed Nora to the elevator. “Come on, Bit. You don't want to be left behind again.” he warned almost playfully.
No, Bit said, zooming into the elevator first. Nora pressed the buttons to the first floor, and the elevator began to glide smoothly downwards.
Cor chuckled lightly at the Bit as he joined the two in the elevator and leaned against the cool glass.
The elevator ride was calm and uneventful, and then they stepped out into the bar. It was considerably more empty now; Aya and her friend were gone, and the bartender was polishing glasses. When he saw Nora, he scowled at her, and she sighed. "I suppose he'd be happier if I was in my apartment…"
Cor smirked lightly and shrugged. “His loss. Afraid of a friendly little competition.” he teased. “Well, I guess if it's time to close, I should probably head home too.”
An impish smile appeared for the slightest instant on Nora's features. "The club will be done soon. I want to annoy him one last time."
Yes, Bit said, whizzing around their heads.
“Oh?” Cor smirked, raising an intrigued brow. “Anything I can do to help?” he asked. He wasn't really sure why he was acting like this. Normally, he only acted this way when he was “Black Light”…