More Than Imagined

Chapter 10

Rhoawyn didn't dance. Couldn't. There was not much music beyond the beat-boxing of lips and pattering of palms on a surface where lower numbers lived. So the gyrating and fist-pumping was foreign to her. But the atmosphere was electric, zinging through her like static on cloth. The laugh that escaped her lips is one of mirth. She followed closely behind Eli as he forcefully wriggled his way through the small stream of dancing bodies clinging to each other in a sweat-induced heat. Almost all of them were dressed in the same styled trench coat as Eli. Rhoawyn assumed they're Imaginaries too.

As they waded through more bodies, Rhoawyn noticed a velvet curtain hanging over the bar in the back with a long line of hazmat suits hanging from the rack just beside it. Rhoawyn wondered who they belong to. The bar resembled the small one her father built for their kitchen.

He always used to say "unused skills make for a life unfulfilled" so he brushed up on his handy-manning, even after being moved to a new job, by fixing and crafting from any old thing left lying around.

Rhoawyn and Eli approached the bar, pushing aside the velvet curtain and plopping down onto hard stools. The bartender was on the other end of the counter serving a guest who had definitely had a bit too much, and Rhoawyn impatiently rapped her fingers against the surface in front of her.

"Didn't quite take you for the drinking type. Does it taste any good?" she asked, trying to fight off some anxiety starting to bubble up. She was still in the dark about the second half of initiation.

"Smoke is more my poison, and unsolicited judgment is clearly yours. We aren't here for the drinks you're thinking of," Eli muttered coolly, leaning his elbows on the bar.

When the bartender handed the drink off to the person he was serving, Eli signaled for him as Rhoawyn relaxed as best she could into the uncomfortable stool.

The bartender sauntered over, situating himself in front of the two—the glass in his hand squeaking with each pass of the rag he wiped it with.

"Eli, it's been a while since you've dropped by. Been pretty dry around here without you," the bartender greeted.

"You and I both know nothing is ever dry around here, Kade." Eli reached out to complete a complicated handshake the two had concocted. A weird mashup of flailing limbs and flitting fingers. Kade glimpsed Rhoawyn sitting rigidly next to Eli and turned back to face him, intrigued.

"Who's the shy little bird you've brought with you?"

"Why does everyone keep giving me animal nicknames?" Rhoawyn grumbled.

"Oh? Maybe she's not so shy after all." Kade grinned.

"This is Rhoawyn, and I'd peg her as more of a little squirrel than a little bird," Eli smirked.

"Or maybe she isn't a woodland creature at all," Rhoawyn insisted, voice pitching louder than the bass of the melody playing in the background.

The two of them laughed, hearty and gasping, beyond amused with themselves.

Kade was the first to simmer down. "And what can I get the lovely couple? Celebrating a special occasion?"

Eli straightened in his seat, sobered by the reason they're really here.

"If turning her into a full-fledged Imaginary can be considered a special occasion. Get her a Last Flight, heavy on the dust.

"Oh? You must be with the group that came in earlier?" Kade asked as he moved from behind the counter, escorting them to a table that seats three other people.

"It was good seeing you again, Eli, "Kade said with a knowing nod. "I hope you and our little squirrel stop by again soon. I'll be back with your orders shortly."