by I'm Not Mister Mxypltk, Grimm, The Eurostar and thedoctor
Suddenly, a walking bear dressed in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt approached the team. "Oh, my God..." he said. "Shirley?"
Mick Harrison looked at his fiancee, puzzled.
"Uncle Otto?" Shirley Francis said, her face a combination of excitement and confusion.
"Uncle Otto?" Mick repeated as Shirley jumped forward to hug the bear-man.
"My li'l Shirley!" Uncle Otto Peter said as they hugged. "What on earth are you doing in La Perdita?"
"We... Well, it's a long story," she said. "What about you?"
"Well, honey, this is the only place a meta like me can live peacefully," he answered. "I'll get us a table, and we'll catch up, okay?"
"Okay," Shirley replied as she gave him a kiss.
"That's..." Mick said, still a little bit shocked, "...your uncle Otto?"
"Yes," she answered. "I told you about him, remember?"
"He's a walking bear," Mick stated.
"Yes, I noticed that," Shirley said with a smile. "Come on, let's go sit with him."
"Yes, Mick," Danny Hearn said. "Go sit with your uncle-in-law."
"I..." Mick began, scratching his head.
"Awwww, but I had something special prepared for the two of you!" Grimm said. "You know, to celebrate your engagement, buddy!"
Grimm put his hand on Mick's shoulder, causing him to chill.
"I-I think we'll go with Shir's uncle, thanks." Mick excused himself.
And they did precisely that. As soon as Shirley announced to her uncle she was getting married, the big jolly bear placed his paws around Mick and gave him a bear hug. Mick just tried not to scream.
"So, what have you been doing, honey?" Uncle Otto asked Shirley after letting Mick go. "I haven't heard from you since you left Mandelovia."
"Oh, we have a lot of catching up to do," Shirley said.
"Get me a scotch," Mick said to the winged, two-headed green waiter/waitress.
"But, honey, you don't drink..."
"Make it a double."
Dirk Bell sat in the corner, watching the place. He felt uncomfortable in so crowded a situation. He was damn sure wasn't gonna sit with the two assholes he'd been fighting with earlier this afternoon. That one in particular, the one Dirk had shot, no one but his friend seemed real keen on sitting by him, anyway.
"What can I get you, handsome?"
Dirk looked up from his thoughts to see a seven-foot, four-armed, bald androgyne with smooth, pale skin standing in front of him.
"Hi, my name's Octavia. I'll be your waitress, or anything else you want, hot stuff."
"Just a beer," Dirk said coolly.
"You sure, sexy?"
Dirk raised his right eyebrow, eyeing the supposed waitress.
"Just a beer," he repeated.
"If you are a wanted man in the States, maybe you should change your code name. Your look is different enough from before," said Dr. Henry Quantos, sitting next to Edulcore Cicciotto.
"Yes, something unrelated to your past, exclusively tied to your present. You must be a totally new man," explained Kristofer Schanz, the Swedish man who possessed extraordinary luck.
"Well, but Eurostar is not only my code name. It's more; it's a reminder of my past, of what I have accomplished," Edulcore said, but with a glance Turner caused him to become silent.
"You really want to remember?" he said, reading Cicciotto better than he could himself.
He's right, what do I have to remember? The Revolution? thought Cicciotto. "Okay, a new code name. But what? Bird-man? Sounds a little corny."
"Why not Raptor?" suggested the skull-faced one named Grimm.
"Hmm... Raptor. I like it. It's what I am now. Okay, it will be the name on my fancy new suit, when I finally get one. I have seen your new uniforms, guys. They are cool."
Ed drank his cold beer. This place was very cool. He felt like when he was nine or ten, at the premiere of Star Wars, amazed at the bar scene, with all these incredible beings.
In Chicago, he had seen and met many people similar to the customers of this place, but they were persecuted people living in the sewers, and he never saw any of them smiling. Here, everybody was laughing and having fun. Yet, from what Grimm said, even these people had to disguise themselves from the people at large. Even here, there was fear over the different.
No norms are here, thought Cicciotto. At least, if any norm is present, he's not easy to recognize. I don't like this. And I don't like the food this place sells. I miss being a cook. Well, at least now I can cook for my friends. But... I have the money to start a new activity, now. I could create a restaurant... or better, a club... a place for eating, drinking, dancing, and singing, a place where metas AND norms could meet and meddle.
"Euro? Euro?" It was Danny Hearn. "Ed, you were staring at the wall," he whispered.
"I was dreaming, Danny," replied Edulcore, smiling.
Octavia returned with a beer. Dirk wasn't liking the looks that thing kept giving him. There was something that he needed to do about it. "Hey!" he said to her as he handed over the money for the beer. "See that guy over there?" He pointed to Euro, and she nodded. "What do you think about him?"
"Well," the creature said, blushing, or maybe something else that he didn't want to know about, but he took it as a blush, "he's kinda handsome himself."
Just what I wanted to hear, the gunslinger thought to himself. "He just so happens to be an acquaintance of mine. As a matter of fact, it was his idea to come here. Do you know why?" Octavia shook its head. "To see you."
Octavia looked surprised, either that or something or someone it ate was coming back on her. "Yep," Dirk continued, "it seems as though he's developed quite an infatuation with you. You're all he talks about, his sweet Octavia. He'll never admit it, mind you. He's a bit on the shy side. That's why he hasn't made the first move. He's just too damn shy."
"What should I do?" Octavia's emotions were running away.
"Now's your chance. Make the first move. Don't give up your man without a fight," Dirk said just a moment before she took off for the back of the bar, probably in an attempt to pretty itself up before going for her admirer.
This ought to be fun to watch, Dirk thought to himself as he took a sip of his beer. Too bad the beer tastes like shit.