Reiner spotted Cara and her friend approaching him as he casually drank, along with the stark differences between the two. Cara always had an affinity for black and, though he didn't meet her in high school, he'd venture to guess that she was the goth girl during her high school days. She was almost exactly the kind of girl that would've caused people to scratch their heads when they saw Reiner with her. Despite quickly being assimilated into the jock clique in high school, he had always been easily bored and in need of meeting new and different people. Heavy metal came into his life and Cara followed shortly after, with a bond that still held strong.
He returned her blonde friend's smile, though a quick read of Cara's lips told him that it was meant for his friend. He didn't mind. "Very nice to meet you," he said, giving her a brief hug. "Has New York spoiled you get? We have a thing for the Irish around here," he asked, with a small laugh. The conversation between Cara and her friend quickly escalated in an amusing way, suggesting Cara had once or still had a thing for Reiner. He was never unaware of that fact, though he sometimes pretended that he was. He found out the hard way that he valued his freedom far too much to ever be held down by any one woman. A friend with benefits was one thing, but very few were into that, even if they thought they were. And he wasn't willing to put their friendship on the line just to find out.
Reiner chuckled after seeing Cara's reaction to her choice of beer. "Yea, a stout would've been the safer bet, huh? Try mine," he suggested as he slid his half-finished glass over to her. Maeve ventured closer to the dance floor as the wait for Orion grew. Reiner honestly wasn't expecting a girl like her when Cara mentioned having an old friend around. With how well she dressed for the night, he was eager for Orion to meet her, but there was still no sign of him, which was unlike him. Cara seemed to be growing bored as well.
"What do you have planned? Don't think I'm playing wingman all night tonight," she said to him. There was never much a plan with Reiner. He just did things. He lived and thought only with regards to the present. He visibly held back laughter toward the suggestion that she would be Orion's wingman.
"No, no, no. Axelrod's a big boy now. You brought a friend; your favor to him is done. I'll be sure he thanks you," he replied quickly and with a grin. "You're nobody's wingman. This is our night. I texted you to dance, remember?" He said with a more serious tone, somewhat evading the first part of her statement. He squeezed her forearm gently and gestured to the dance floor with his head as he got up from his seat and led her closer to the stage. He recognized one of the go-go dancers as being Carmen, so he gave her a small wave when he thought she was looking in their direction, unsure if she noticed. Turning his attention back to Cara, he clenched his fists and began moving casually to the beat. "Your friend really went all out," he commented. "Did you tell her Axelrod has a fat wallet or something?" he added with a grin.
Speak of the devil, Reiner thought as he caught sight of him making his way to them. "Good to see you," he said to him as he clapped his shoulder, his comment regarding the neighborhood completely going over his head. "Hey, Cara brought a friend, you should go say hi. She's the pretty blonde over there in the black dress. She's expecting you," he explained, pointing out Maeve. He furrowed his brow when he finally noticed the black ring around his eye. "What is that? Were you trying on some makeup?" he said with a chuckle as he examined it with a squint. Then his comment about the neighborhood sunk in and his heart skipped a beat. "Whoa, wait a minute. What the hell happened to you?" As far as black eyes went, it could've been worse, but the fact that he was supposed to meet somebody new and have a dance with them with that thing on his face concerned him. "You wouldn't happen to have some makeup that could cover that up a little, would you?" he asked Cara. I'm so sorry, he thought as though he were speaking telepathically to her. He hoped he wasn't about to waste her friend's time.
"That's amazing. Finally!" Sakamae replied from her room excitedly. Staying in the apartment for long periods of time was a drag for a while, especially once the summer weather really kicked in. The nights were simply unbearable. The fact that their rent would be reduced on top of getting the AC fixed was just the cherry on the cake. It was sad that it takes a lawyer to get a landlord to do a very simple thing, but that was the world they lived in and it felt good to win. "Oh, for sure. Once the rest of the building knows what to do, everything will run smoothly from now on," she replied, still playing around with her hair as she thought about its future color.
"And yes you should dye it another color in honor of us making Dowton cave in," she heard Scott say, as though he were reading her mind. She laughed and smiled wide in the mirror. Was she really that predictable?
"How about strawberry pink?" she thought out loud as she opened the door to her room. "How do I look?" she asked, posing with one hand on her hip, before bursting into laughter a moment later in acknowledgment of how out of character the question was. Going out to dance always put her in a good mood, but the big reduction in their rent put her on cloud nine. We'd have so much more money now, she realized. I could buy a new lens. "Let's get out of the frying pan," she said as she linked arms with him and walked out the door.
A short train ride took them a few blocks from where they needed to be and the more than familiar bouncer let them into the club without asking questions. She waved to Reiner, Orion, and Cara when she saw them, but she wanted to get close to the stage and see Carmen before approaching them. "Carmen should be performing tonight, let's move up a bit," she said to Scott before she less than politely made her way through the crowd. "We wanna see April! WOO!" she shouted at the top of her lungs once they made it close to the stage, earning her some annoyed looks from those around her. She immediately began to dance in large and aggressive movements, causing those around them to give them much more space than normal. Sakamae shot Scott a deviously satisfied smile as she began to dance normally. "This floor has our names on it," she said. "Want to get some drinks?"
