28 Vol 1. pt. 28 Ramen and Bourbon (1/2)
After being seated and placing an order for drinks and some pork buns, Ryouta and Spencer sit across from one another looking over their menus to decide what they want.
”Why do you always get bubble tea?” Ryouta asks. ”I mean, I know you love balls, but there's just something weird about drinking tea full of chunky little balls.”
Spencer shrugs. ”I guess I'm just used to ordering it all the time since it's what my roommates are obsessed with. I used to order it just to fit in with them, but here I am, actually enjoying it now. At least I don't get the exact same strawberry tea every single time we come here.”
”Strawberries make everything better. Strawberry lemonade, strawberry tea, strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream – you get the point.” Ryouta looks back down at the menu. ”Should probably go with something light since we're going out drinking after this.”
”Am I going to need to carry you home again if you drink too much?”
Ryouta blushes. ”I was drunk and you know how my legs are.”
The two place their orders for food once they get their drinks and pork buns. Ten minutes later and out come two huge bowls of ramen decorated with vegetables, meat, and topped off with halves of half-boiled eggs. Ryouta always gets an extra egg.
”How're you liking the new game so far?” Ryouta asks before twirling his chopsticks around in the ramen. That is after, of course, he takes a picture of it to upload to the group chat on Fiscord.
”It's great, just wish I had more time to play like we used to. It's probably the best fantasy game that we've ever played. Still, kind of wish that Eternal Space wasn't dying, but there's nothing we can do about that.”
”We probably could have not fucked up the biggest coalition in the game which led to a bunch of the most important players rage-quitting.”
”Yeah, probably. How are you liking your new harem?”
Ryouta almost spits out the chunk of pork he just put in his mouth but instead forces himself to swallow. This leads to him coughing and making a scene. He blushes again when he realizes that several heads have turned to check on him. ”What are you talking about? I don't have a harem.”
”Come on, it's obvious that Serra likes you and you like her, and I'm pretty sure that Cass is at least beginning to get a crush on you. I've caught her looking at you a few times whenever you're not paying attention to her. She even looks kind of jealous when you give Rock and Serra attention.”
”No way, I don't get that vibe from her at all. She has a bit of a tsundere thing going on for her, but not every tsun is going to have dere. That's like saying every girl who is ever mean to me must actually like me.”
”Do you think she would be thrusting her pole inside of you if she didn't like you?”
Ryouta almost spits again, but this time from laughter rather than shock.
”Anyways, it's not a harem. Yeah, I like Serra, and I think she likes me back, but that's just – you know, like a crush. Then having Cass potentially like me doesn't make it a harem either. A harem is like… actually dating more than one person,” Ryouta explains.
”Don't forget about Rock. Rock is totally obsessed with you,” Spencer teases.
”Rock is a cute little pupper. If you try and make it sound weird then I'm going to…”
Spencer waits with a smile for Ryouta to finish his threat.
”Shit, you're lucky nothing bothers you,” Ryouta grumbles.
”Don't feel bad. It took many years of bullying to get to my level. You might catch up to me someday, young one.”
”What do you think of them anyways?”
”Serra and Cass?”
”Yeah.”
”I like them. Serra is just a little cutie but a total closet deviant, and Cass is like… she reminds me of a grumpier and girlier version of you.”
”Serra is a deviant? What?”
”I can tell these things.”
Their bowls of ramen are half empty. While Spencer continues on, Ryouta is beginning to struggle.
”I don't know why you always get the large bowl when you never finish it,” Spencer says, sounding like a chastising mother.
”I just always think that I'll finish it.”
Alas, Ryouta ends up not finishing his bowl of ramen. He does, however, finish his tea and two refills of it.
The waiter brings them their receipts sticking out of a volume of some Japanese manga. The character on the cover of it is the same spiky-haired ninja that was featured at the entrance of the shop.
Good on his word, Spencer slips a card into the manga volume alongside the receipt and waits to get it back before the two head onward to their next location of the night.
”It's pretty funny how everybody used to think that robots and AIs were going to replace everything back in the day. I mean, I get that robots and all that are way better than us when it comes to manual tasks, but anything involving service – you can't really replace the human element. Same thing with food. Food just tastes better when it's a real person making it,” Ryouta says as the two walk down the cold street.
”Don't forget about all the laws in place to keep humans working,” Spencer replies.
”You and your laws. Do you thank laws for everything?”
”Of course I do.”
”Makes sense for somebody trying to be a lawyer. You know that we're the bad guys when one of us is a lawyer in the making.”
”You're right. It isn't the killing, raiding, pillaging, razing, nor stealing that makes us the bad guys, it is me being a lawyer.”
They look at one another and laugh. Some of the passersby on the street look concerned after hearing everything that Spencer just said, but they don't care enough to worry about it too much.
Several stops are made between the ramen shop and the bar. Ryouta needs to sit down and rest his legs every now and then to walk long distances.
They know they have reached their destination when they see a large, fancy pirate ship hanging down over the entrance to a building. A wooden plank above the ship reads ”The One-Eyed Pirate,” and next to it is a pirate wearing an eyepatch holding up a mug of beer to his lips.
A show of their IDs is required for entry. Spencer is twenty-three, and Ryouta is twenty-two, so there are no issues in allowing them in after checking on their IDs.
Inside of the establishment is a long bar against one wall with barrel-shaped stools, all sorts of pirate memorabilia decorating the walls and tables, and it is as crowded as ever. It's mostly a younger crowd like themselves that are here. Themed bars like this always grab the attention of the younger generations more than the attention of the older ones.
”The usual spot is open. Want to sit there?” Ryouta asks.
Spencer answers by leading the way over to it.
Their usual spot is at a booth with a perfect sight of one of the bar's ceiling-mounted televisions. They even sit next to each other rather than across from one another so that they can both watch it.
On the TV are two robots in a small arena fighting to the death. They don't have AIs installed since that would be illegal, but they do have teams of humans controlling the robots from the sidelines. One of the robots has a flamethrower for dramatic effect, but it's nothing against the whirling buzz-saw of its opponent.
A waitress comes over after spotting the newly-seated customers and asks them what they'd like. They decline the offer for food, as much as Ryouta does love the wings here, and get right to the drinking.
”You and your hipster craft beers,” Ryouta says.
”You and your compensating-for-your-lack-of-masculinity bourbon,” Spencer says.
It hurts, but only because it is true. Still, it makes Ryouta laugh anyway.
While the men working this bar are all dressed like badass pirates with fake swords and guns on their sides, the women are not nearly as cool looking. They are still very, very nice to look at, but they have to dress like bar wenches instead of pirates. The only other girl on duty is especially nice to look at. With a corset pushing up her already-generous bosom, stockings that trigger Ryouta's love for legs, and beautiful golden hair that—