M021
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lost star
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There was something soothing about hitting an object with a bat. Bolt had never done it before, but when he'd looked for something to vent himself on, this had come up. Baseball was an old, old sport that had gone through a thousand and one changes. Through it all the central concept had stayed the same. The ball was thrown, you hit it with a bat. It was more surprising that the facility had this sort of thing. He'd thought it was all mech and piloting stuff, but here it was.
"Wow, you're really out of it." Lilly's voice came from the side as Bolt hit another ball.
The young man looked up. "Hmm?" He made an inquiring noise.
"Been here like thirty minutes and you didn't even look up." The girl leaned against the cage that kept the balls from flying everywhere. "What's this by the way?"
"Old sport. I don't play it, but sometimes you just wanna hit something." Bolt suited words to action by hitting the next ball hard. Something rang as the ball hit a target of some sort. "Did something stupid and this is a safe way to vent."
Lilly looked a bit worried while looking at him. "Darlin' sweety, you're far smarter than me. What would you do that's stupid?" She asked.
"Had a great mech design, spent a lot of virtual money on it, and then realized midway that it'd be a only you could really pilot." The young man snorted. "Stupid in many ways. Now I'm running the mistakes through my head a thousand times and need to distract myself."
The expert candidate rolled her eyes and let herself into the practice area as she laughed a moment. "Ok, heh, that's enough then. We're going out. Half the pilots here are raving about a noodle bar, and I wanted to see it."
He was half tempted to deny the outing, but he had to acknowledge that his current actions weren't exactly helpful. They did have some local credits issued by the MTA. Nothing like a fortune, but more than enough to pay for a meal, especially since transportation was free.
A few minutes later they were at the bar in question. It was a large and gaudy thing. Three stories high with so many banners and flying decorations around it that it was practically an air hazard. It was absurdly busy too, but Lilly and Bolt got a place at a counter soon after entering. The young man found it a bit claustrophobic frankly. So many people he didn't know, and so much noise. Thankfully there were a lot of sound bafflers in place so it wasn't horribly loud. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Lilly was practically vibrating though, and she stared at the center of the building were a fighting pit was setup with such intensity that he was surprised something wasn't burning up.
Bolt ignored that in place of trying to decide what noodles to get through the digital menu in the table. The MTA had given them access to a food printer that he'd set to mostly just spit out a generic blend of nutritional stuff. It had better options, but he'd not explored them out of disinterest. Here, he assumed that the noodles were part of the experience. So he needed to find something good in the menu. The medium spicy chicken ramen sounded decent? He had no idea what it meant, but the picture looked interesting.
"Want me to order for you?" The young man asked as it occurred to him that Lilly likely couldn't read the menu.
"Sure!" Lilly bounced and then cheered as some fighters took to the ring with staves. "I can sort of parse words now, but I think I started too late to make it natural. Get a headache trying to do it too long. You wouldn't believe the looks I get when I say that."
"I would." Bolt muttered as a flash of anger went through him.
The MTA officials were always calm and professional, but there was pleasant professionalism and 'I look down on you' professionalism. They all had the latter towards him. He knew for a fact that if Lilly was very vocal about being his fiancé they'd have already thrown him home with a credit or two for his time.
Ordering the noodles had them arriving in a minute or two, sliding along the bar without visible means of propulsion along with some water glasses. Hot and steaming, and loaded with various vegetables, it was like nothing Bolt had ever seen before, and the scent made his nose twitch. He spent a long moment staring before tentatively trying something.
It burned horribly.
"Shit." Bolt breathed out and then watched as Lilly grabbed hers and took a big mouthful before he could warn her.
"Emmmmm!" The young woman made a little shriek as he face went red. "What did you order?!" She got out after a second of gagging.
"Just the medium spicy chicken stuff!" Bolt shot back and grabbed some water.
"Ow ow!" Lilly looked almost as red as her face as she grabbed at her own water glass.
"Get the Soothing Milk." A voice advised from the side, and Bolt immediately found the item on the menu and ordered it.
Two glasses of white liquid slid over and Bolt grabbed one before downing it. The burning stopped immediately and he sighed before resting his head on the table. Beside him Lilly punched his shoulder weakly.
"It can be a bit overwhelming if you aren't expecting it." The same voice advised and Bolt looked up to see a bald man with a few dots on his forehead.
In retrospect, he was used to bland and filling stuff. Even medium spice was a big shock to someone completely unused to things like that. It was still good, but ow.
"Next time go with mild." Lilly muttered feebly before slurping some more noodles. "Or get the milk too."
"Hah, the burn is part of the fun. Namaste," the man gave a nod of his head. "Forgive me for interrupting your date I presume? I assumed you could use the aid."
"It's fine." Bolt waved him off.
"Is date, but Bolt dummy." The young woman seemed to be slowly perking up as she spoke in short clipped sentences. "New people fun. New food fun. Next time Bolt be less dummy. Namaste too."
"Yes, next time." The young man agreed and slowly tried to parse through his food. Wasting food was anathema, so he would endure it. Lilly seemed of like mind, even if she also seemed to be enjoying it now.
"I hope then that your next date is more pleasant. If you need I could advise more romantic settings, or places with less spice." The man indicated the bowls with amusement.
Lilly shrugged and began to chug the broth. "I can handle it!" She declared with a small burp before stealing Bolt's milk. "Easy!" She chugged that too.
Bolt order two more glasses. "I don't think she'd be interested in something without fighting." He pointed to the arena where two different men had taken their place to beat each other with sticks.
"Oh, a fighting girl then? Want to put on a show for her?" The man they were speaking with asked with a sudden eager grin.
The mech designer restrained a laugh. "If you want me to use the thing like a club and try to bum rush you sure. I know some dirty fighting, Lilly's the real fighter." He gestured to his fiancé.
Lilly flexed an arm. She had some good muscle on her frame, but she was still a tiny girl, and the man's face did show his mild surprise. He gave Bolt a look.
"Flex an arm for me if you would?" The man asked.
Bolt did as requested. It had to be said that the flex was impressive in his opinion. He was not a small man by any measure but he had also worked hard and had a physique to match that effort. Which was probably why Lilly was giggling at the looks the young man was getting.
"And you do not fight? It feels almost like a cosmic irony there." The man shook his head with a small smile. "But if you'll pardon my saying it, you are quite the pair of Yin and Yang. I wish you great fortune in your future. Though before then, if the little lady if the fight, could I ask her for a spar?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Lilly set down the bowl and immediately bounced off her seat towards the arena.
The man watched her go for a moment before turning to Bolt. "She, ah does know that you have to get the staves from there first right?" He asked as he pointed to the very prominent area with the sparring weapons right next to them.
"Give it a moment." Bolt advised.
She did indeed figure it out after a moment. She also didn't do that well against the man. Expert candidate or no, he was very good at staff fighting. While Lilly was surprisingly skilled as well she simply didn't have the reach comparatively. Not that either of them cared. They had fun, and even more fun when Bolt was somehow roped into playing along too. The bruises hurt, but it did clear his mind.
"Wow, you're really out of it." Lilly's voice came from the side as Bolt hit another ball.
The young man looked up. "Hmm?" He made an inquiring noise.
"Been here like thirty minutes and you didn't even look up." The girl leaned against the cage that kept the balls from flying everywhere. "What's this by the way?"
"Old sport. I don't play it, but sometimes you just wanna hit something." Bolt suited words to action by hitting the next ball hard. Something rang as the ball hit a target of some sort. "Did something stupid and this is a safe way to vent."
Lilly looked a bit worried while looking at him. "Darlin' sweety, you're far smarter than me. What would you do that's stupid?" She asked.
"Had a great mech design, spent a lot of virtual money on it, and then realized midway that it'd be a only you could really pilot." The young man snorted. "Stupid in many ways. Now I'm running the mistakes through my head a thousand times and need to distract myself."
The expert candidate rolled her eyes and let herself into the practice area as she laughed a moment. "Ok, heh, that's enough then. We're going out. Half the pilots here are raving about a noodle bar, and I wanted to see it."
He was half tempted to deny the outing, but he had to acknowledge that his current actions weren't exactly helpful. They did have some local credits issued by the MTA. Nothing like a fortune, but more than enough to pay for a meal, especially since transportation was free.
A few minutes later they were at the bar in question. It was a large and gaudy thing. Three stories high with so many banners and flying decorations around it that it was practically an air hazard. It was absurdly busy too, but Lilly and Bolt got a place at a counter soon after entering. The young man found it a bit claustrophobic frankly. So many people he didn't know, and so much noise. Thankfully there were a lot of sound bafflers in place so it wasn't horribly loud. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Lilly was practically vibrating though, and she stared at the center of the building were a fighting pit was setup with such intensity that he was surprised something wasn't burning up.
Bolt ignored that in place of trying to decide what noodles to get through the digital menu in the table. The MTA had given them access to a food printer that he'd set to mostly just spit out a generic blend of nutritional stuff. It had better options, but he'd not explored them out of disinterest. Here, he assumed that the noodles were part of the experience. So he needed to find something good in the menu. The medium spicy chicken ramen sounded decent? He had no idea what it meant, but the picture looked interesting.
"Want me to order for you?" The young man asked as it occurred to him that Lilly likely couldn't read the menu.
"Sure!" Lilly bounced and then cheered as some fighters took to the ring with staves. "I can sort of parse words now, but I think I started too late to make it natural. Get a headache trying to do it too long. You wouldn't believe the looks I get when I say that."
"I would." Bolt muttered as a flash of anger went through him.
The MTA officials were always calm and professional, but there was pleasant professionalism and 'I look down on you' professionalism. They all had the latter towards him. He knew for a fact that if Lilly was very vocal about being his fiancé they'd have already thrown him home with a credit or two for his time.
Ordering the noodles had them arriving in a minute or two, sliding along the bar without visible means of propulsion along with some water glasses. Hot and steaming, and loaded with various vegetables, it was like nothing Bolt had ever seen before, and the scent made his nose twitch. He spent a long moment staring before tentatively trying something.
It burned horribly.
"Shit." Bolt breathed out and then watched as Lilly grabbed hers and took a big mouthful before he could warn her.
"Emmmmm!" The young woman made a little shriek as he face went red. "What did you order?!" She got out after a second of gagging.
"Just the medium spicy chicken stuff!" Bolt shot back and grabbed some water.
"Ow ow!" Lilly looked almost as red as her face as she grabbed at her own water glass.
"Get the Soothing Milk." A voice advised from the side, and Bolt immediately found the item on the menu and ordered it.
Two glasses of white liquid slid over and Bolt grabbed one before downing it. The burning stopped immediately and he sighed before resting his head on the table. Beside him Lilly punched his shoulder weakly.
"It can be a bit overwhelming if you aren't expecting it." The same voice advised and Bolt looked up to see a bald man with a few dots on his forehead.
In retrospect, he was used to bland and filling stuff. Even medium spice was a big shock to someone completely unused to things like that. It was still good, but ow.
"Next time go with mild." Lilly muttered feebly before slurping some more noodles. "Or get the milk too."
"Hah, the burn is part of the fun. Namaste," the man gave a nod of his head. "Forgive me for interrupting your date I presume? I assumed you could use the aid."
"It's fine." Bolt waved him off.
"Is date, but Bolt dummy." The young woman seemed to be slowly perking up as she spoke in short clipped sentences. "New people fun. New food fun. Next time Bolt be less dummy. Namaste too."
"Yes, next time." The young man agreed and slowly tried to parse through his food. Wasting food was anathema, so he would endure it. Lilly seemed of like mind, even if she also seemed to be enjoying it now.
"I hope then that your next date is more pleasant. If you need I could advise more romantic settings, or places with less spice." The man indicated the bowls with amusement.
Lilly shrugged and began to chug the broth. "I can handle it!" She declared with a small burp before stealing Bolt's milk. "Easy!" She chugged that too.
Bolt order two more glasses. "I don't think she'd be interested in something without fighting." He pointed to the arena where two different men had taken their place to beat each other with sticks.
"Oh, a fighting girl then? Want to put on a show for her?" The man they were speaking with asked with a sudden eager grin.
The mech designer restrained a laugh. "If you want me to use the thing like a club and try to bum rush you sure. I know some dirty fighting, Lilly's the real fighter." He gestured to his fiancé.
Lilly flexed an arm. She had some good muscle on her frame, but she was still a tiny girl, and the man's face did show his mild surprise. He gave Bolt a look.
"Flex an arm for me if you would?" The man asked.
Bolt did as requested. It had to be said that the flex was impressive in his opinion. He was not a small man by any measure but he had also worked hard and had a physique to match that effort. Which was probably why Lilly was giggling at the looks the young man was getting.
"And you do not fight? It feels almost like a cosmic irony there." The man shook his head with a small smile. "But if you'll pardon my saying it, you are quite the pair of Yin and Yang. I wish you great fortune in your future. Though before then, if the little lady if the fight, could I ask her for a spar?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Lilly set down the bowl and immediately bounced off her seat towards the arena.
The man watched her go for a moment before turning to Bolt. "She, ah does know that you have to get the staves from there first right?" He asked as he pointed to the very prominent area with the sparring weapons right next to them.
"Give it a moment." Bolt advised.
She did indeed figure it out after a moment. She also didn't do that well against the man. Expert candidate or no, he was very good at staff fighting. While Lilly was surprisingly skilled as well she simply didn't have the reach comparatively. Not that either of them cared. They had fun, and even more fun when Bolt was somehow roped into playing along too. The bruises hurt, but it did clear his mind.