Tessa dropped me off at my hotel and I called a personal conveyance. I didn't have long to wait for them to show up. I could have just walked down the street; but, I didn't feel like being swarmed. As it was, people stared and spoke loudly, and one man came over to ask for my autograph. I shook his hand instead and turned towards the hotel. After a moment, I told him to go inside and ask them for a picture from the security footage from the lobby. He practically fell over himself as he thanked me and scrambled into the hotel.
My ride came and I gave him Kris' address. I hopped out and a few people noticed me, then Kris came out of her apartment building wearing a very sexy bright blue dress. It hugged her in all the right places and I was impressed that she had turned her cuteness into a weapon. When she saw me, she caught her breath and stared at my stylish new suit that fit me perfectly. I waved her closer and helped her into the hover car, climbed in myself, then told the driver to take us to the bar.
“You look very nice.” Kris said in a low voice.
I gave her a smile. “It doesn't take away from what you did.” I said and looked at her dress. “When I saw you, I was impressed.”
“R-really?”
“I hope both of our outfits can last through the night.” I chuckled and her face flushed red. “You know what I meant.”
“I do... and I don't.” Kris said and gave me a smile.
“Are we going to play verbal tag all night?” I asked and she had to laugh.
“You know what I want.” Kris said. “Everything else is just...”
I nodded. “As long as you don't deny your own fun in pursuit of that goal.” I said. “If you meet someone tonight that gets your attention, don't let the fact that we showed up together stop you.”
“I... I'm not sure what you mean.” Kris said.
“In about two minutes, you will.” I said and she gave me an inquisitive look, and I pointed. She turned her head and looked out the window of the hover car and gasped. Hundreds of people were along the sides of the street and a lot of them had cameras of some kind and were taking pictures and video of the cars approaching the bar, in the hopes of catching someone important showing up to the huge event.
“I think... calling ahead... might have been a mistake.” Kris whispered.
I laughed and waved my hand out the window and several screams and flashes of light responded. The hover car stopped right in front of the bar and we saw that everything was roped off to keep the crowd back at a reasonable distance. The driver hopped out and ran around to open the door of the hover car for us. I stepped out first and smiled and waved, and a deluge of flashes and screams of delight greeted me. After a few moments, I reached into the hover car and helped Kris step out.
“Hunter! Is she your girlfriend?” “Hunter! Are you sleeping with her?” “Hunter! Have my babies!”
I laughed and held a hand up to stop the questions. “My girlfriend and I had a fight actually, and Kris agreed to come with me tonight.” I said to the woman that asked the first question, then I turned to the man that spoke. “No, we haven't been that well acquainted.” I turned again and looked at the exuberant woman that had asked the last one. “I honestly don't think it's physically possible for me to have your babies, not without quite a bit of reconstructive surgery.”
Lots of people laughed at that and a bunch more questions were shouted out.
“I hadn't planned on giving a press conference.” I said and was met with more laughter. “I'll do my best over the next ten minutes, then I need to get inside.”
That had surprised them, especially the members of the actual press that were there, and I answered as many questions as I could. Not surprisingly, the main question was what I was wearing. I answered it and told them there would probably be a waiting list to get an appointment after tonight. That made a lot of people laugh, too. I kept answering questions and most of them I answered directly, a few I had to deflect with a joke or two, and a couple of the more personal ones I chided them for asking things like that in public and then surprised them by answering some of them, too.
Kris stood at my side and clung to my arm the entire time. “Your ten minutes are up.” She whispered.
I held up my hands to stop any more questions. “My beautiful companion has informed me that our ten minutes are up and she wants you to stop monopolizing my time.” I said loudly and put my arm around her waist. “That's supposed to be her job!”
A few people laughed. “Lucky her!” “I want to do that, too!” “Marry me!”
“I have to get inside, so thank you all for listening.” I said and they responded with their own thanks and appreciation for me taking the time to do what I just did. I gave them all a wave and led Kris inside the bar. I wasn't surprised to see that it was packed.
“How did you do that?” Kris asked. “I was terrified confronting all of those people!”
“You're not angry at my joke?” I asked and she shook her head. “The thing about an unruly mob is as long as you remain calm, they can instinctively sense that they aren't rattling you and they'll calm down as well.”
“Really?”
“The last thing any of those people expected was for me to actually stand there and answer their questions... especially some of the ridiculous ones.” I said and one of the waitresses led us over to the same roped off area that I had been in before. “Who asks a man what kind of panties he likes, besides a woman he's sleeping with or his guy friends?” I asked and then laughed. “Did you see their faces when I answered?”
Kris' face flushed red and she ducked her head a little.
“Oh.” I said as I heard her thoughts. “You're wearing them.”
“Y-yes.” Kris said, slightly embarrassed as she turned to sit down at the table closest to the dance floor.
“I guess that's why I couldn't feel any indents on your dress, even though it's so form fitting.” I said as I sat beside her, because my hand had slid over her hip a couple of times while we walked side by side and entered the bar. She blushed harder and crossed her legs.
A different waitress came over and her tray was full of drinks. “These are gifts from the ladies over there.” She said and pointed. I looked and saw a dozen hands wave at me. I waved back and a few of them yelled my name.
“I can't drink them all at once, so could tell them that the order I drink them in doesn't matter because I'll drink all of them?”
The waitress smiled and nodded. “I'll let them know.”
“Thank you.” I said. “Which one tastes the best?” I asked as she put all of the drinks on the table.
“This one.” She said and slid a dark drink over to me. “It's also the most expensive of the bunch.”
“That figures.” I said and took a sip. “Is that... licorice and vanilla?”
She nodded. “We don't sell a lot of them.”
I took out a five hundred credit chip and gave it to her. “Give each of them one of these drinks.”
“Yes, sir. I'll be back with your change.”
“Keep it.” I said and she widened her eyes at me.
“You're going to be working a lot tonight.” I said with a smile. “Believe me, you're going to earn that tip... and probably a lot more.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Yes, sir.” The waitress said with a grin and left. After a few minutes, there were twelve nearly identical yells and all of the women stood and waved to me. I waved back and heard a laugh from beside me.
“I didn't sign on for this, you know.” Kris said with a huge smile.
“Oh, we're just getting started.” I said and the music started up with a fast beat. A collective happy yell came from the crowd and practically everyone in the bar stood up at the same time. “Care to join me for the first dance?”
Kris looked at the dance floor as it started to fill up, nodded, and took my hand.
*
The media coverage was total. They had paid the bar a considerable amount for its security footage from the last time, both inside and outside the bar. This time, because of the foreknowledge of Hunter's arrival, they had paid nearly three times as much to have professional video recorders set up in key locations to get all of the action and in the highest quality possible.
Hunter did not disappoint them.
His behavior wasn't outrageous, just flamboyant... at first. After a few hours of everyone having fun and after he had a multitude of dance partners, there was a lull in the music so the band could rest. As everyone left the dance floor, Hunter, eight men and a dozen women remained, then a slightly see-through blue wall appeared around the dance floor that went right up to the ceiling.
No one knew what was going on. Inquiries were made with the staff of the bar and they didn't know either. The band finished their break and set up to start playing again, then the entire area inside the blue walls lit up for about ten seconds.
Luckily the band didn't notice and started to play... and then... Hunter and the people inside the blue area floated up as if there was no gravity inside. The entire bar stopped and watched as the people inside the walls laughed almost hysterically and danced through the air.
It was like they were flying!
A fast song, then a slow song, and the people coupled up and floated around in circles like a merry-go-round. No one at the bar believed what they were seeing. The men and women at the studio couldn't believe what they were seeing, either.
It wasn't possible! It was a trick! A hologram! It had to be fake!
After five songs, the people inside the blue walled barrier floated down to the floor and landed as if nothing had happened. They were still laughing and looked exhausted, then the barrier faded away.
*
“I can't believe we just did that!” Grace said and laughed. “Look at everyone's faces!”
“Thanks for helping me out, everyone.” I said.
“Hey, when you said we could practice our weightless skills by dancing, we couldn't refuse!” Jaset laughed and Tessa held onto him and laughed, too.
“What a thrill that was!” Tessa exclaimed.
“Did that just happen?” Kris asked and looked up at me. “Did we just dance through the air?”
“We all did.” I said and looked at the military people that had volunteered when I mentioned putting on a show for the bar. “I didn't expect so many eager participants, though.”
The others laughed and we quickly dispersed before the audience decided to swarm us. Grace, Tessa, Kris, Jaset and I made it back to the roped off area just as everyone recovered their senses. We were swarmed by people and suffered a barrage of questions. Thankfully, the roped off section provided some protection and kept things at a more civil level than if we had stayed on the dance floor.
Of course, everyone that had participated were asked what had happened and none of them could say what really happened, just that they heard about what was going to happen and wanted to participate. I didn't enlighten anyone about what I actually did, which was use up one of my engraved wooden plaques that had the Flight spell on it. They had no experience with actually flying, so I just told them that inside the barrier it would be zero gravity, and their minds used the flight ability that way. It became an immediate sensation, both inside the bar and out.
“Can you do it again?” Someone yelled.
“I wanna try!” “Me, too!” “Take me to heaven!”
“I was only able to do it this time because I had professional help.” I said and snaked my arms around Grace and Kris, and both women blushed slightly. “I wanted to show you all how skilled the members of your military are when they are operating in space, even when there's no gravity.” I said and a collective gasp went through the crowd. “Did you see them? They danced! They danced in zero gravity!”
“So did you!” Someone shouted.
“I wasn't by myself.” I said and laughed. “Thanks to them, you all saw a great show! Let's give the Chofaris military a big round of applause!” I said and took my arms away from the two women beside me and started to clap. “They risk their lives every day to keep Fogaris space safe! Let's hear it!”
The crowd picked up my clapping and soon everyone inside and outside were clapping enthusiastically for the military. I stopped clapping and raised my hands, and they all slowed down and stopped. Complete silence fell and they all waited for what I was about to say next.
“What are you all standing around for? Let's keep this party going!” I exclaimed, and they all cheered.
*
The bar had been smart and stocked up on alcohol and had a back-up band. They took turns all night and the alcohol didn't stop flowing. The night turned into day and everyone kept partying. No one left to show up for work and some even had their bosses there with them, which meant they had the perfect excuse. No one knew why they all still felt energized and no one questioned it. Everyone had fun, even the people outside that never got to enter the bar. Mostly because Hunter occasionally brought out a bunch of people with him and they partied right there with them.
They were all amazed at the spectacle as the party continued on for nearly half the day, then the bartender announced that they needed to close to clean up the place for the following night. Of course, this was met with the largest amount of boos that ever existed in the bar's history. When he told them that, everyone laughed. Once they knew they had set another record, besides the sixteen hour long party, they all agreed that it was time to go home. What surprised them all was that they weren't as drunk as they thought they should be.
*
I waited for most of the people to leave the bar and I saw the state it was in. We had wrecked the place and trash was everywhere. I looked over at the bartender and the waitresses as they stared at the colossal mess that they had to clean up and I knew I couldn't let them tackle it alone.
“Ladies, excuse me for a few minutes.” I said to Grace and Kris and left the roped off area. The bartender looked at me as I approached and his face was very happy.
“I think I can retire now.” The bartender said.
“Me, too.” I said and looked at the place. “I'm sorry about the mess.”
“Well, with this many people, it was bound to build up like this.”
“Would you mind if I gave you a hand?” I asked.
“Yes.” The bartender said. “You're the Hero of Chofaris.”
“How about a hundred hands, then?” I asked and generated a hundred slightly blue glowing Presence Hands around us. The bartender and the waitresses stared at the hands and didn't know what to say. “I'll get to work, then.”
I turned to face the bar and started to clean the place up. The last of the people still shuffling their way out, stopped and turned to look at what was happening. They were shocked to see dozens upon dozens of glowing blue hands as they picked up trash and crushed it, then the trash floated by itself towards the center of the room and gathered in a ball that floated above the floor. Food was gathered in another ball and the alcohol was pulled out of glasses and gathered in yet another ball.
No one expected to see a large floating ball of alcoholic liquid in the middle of the room with a ball of snacks beside it, or the huge ball of trash as it accumulated.
“I assume you separate the trash and food?” I asked and the bartender nodded his head several times. “Do I pour the liquid down the sink?”
“We... have a... receptacle.” One of the waitresses said. “In the back.”
“Large white barrel with the lever?” I asked and she nodded.
The liquid floated around me and towards the door into the back. The bartender shouted to stop and I had one of the hands open the door. He relaxed and the ball of liquid squeezed together to fit through the space and I floated it over to the barrel and opened it, then slowly lowered the alcohol in and closed it.
“The discarded food?” I asked.
“The large bin out back.”
“What about the trash?”
“The bin next to it.” The bartender said and looked at the big balls of food and trash. “There's no way you are getting those huge things out through the door.”
“What? These little things?” I asked and the big ball of food and the huge ball of trash glowed blue for a second, then they were crushed down to the size of a marble. I put the two marbles on the bar and they all stared at them. “Where should I put the glasses?”
The bartender and the waitresses looked up at me in surprise and the hundred glowing blue Presence Hands behind me held four glasses each.
“Du... du...” The bartender stuttered and stared at me.
“Dispenser... in the back.” One of the waitresses said.
I saw what she meant in her head and found it in the back and nodded, then held the door open and quickly made a train of hands that continuously funnelled handfuls of glasses back into the dispenser that would clean and deconstruct them so that the materials could be used to make other glasses. In barely ten minutes, the place was completely clean of debris.
“I can't stay around to help wash the tables off, though.” I said. “I need to take my friends home.”
The bartender didn't respond and the waitresses kept staring at me.
I reached out and took each of their hands and shook them. “Thanks a lot for a great time.” I said and ended with the bartender. “I'll back in a month when I take another break.”
“A-a-a month?” He asked. “You're waiting a month before taking a break?”
“I kind of goofed off a lot the last little while, so it's about time for me to get serious.” I said.
“This... wasn't serious?” One of the waitresses asked and I laughed.
“I probably would have flown all night if I was serious.” I said and their eyes widened. “You don't believe me?” I asked and used levitation to pick myself up and floated backwards, did a twirl in mid-air, then waved and floated over to the roped off area and landed beside Grace and Kris. “Ladies, allow me to give you a ride home.”
“L-l-like th-that?” Kris asked, her voice shaky.
“If you want.” I said with a smile.
“I do.” Grace said and I glanced at her. “Please.”
Kris' hand found mine and gave it a squeeze. She didn't say anything and just nodded. I put one arm around the waist of each of them, then the three of us walked across the room and out the door. Surprisingly, there were still quite a lot of people outside.
“Hunter? Maybe we should wait until...” Grace started to say, then I covered us in Presence and floated us up into the air in front of everyone. She held onto me tightly, as did Kris, and I used my Stealth technique to make us invisible and sped us away over everyone's astonished heads.