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"Hey," he said as he looked up, then blinked. His lips parted slightly as his eyes roamed over me, and I tugged at my shirt self-consciously. Had I picked the wrong clothes?
"Uh, is something wrong?" I asked, and he blinked, then shook his head.
"N-no, not at all. You look handsome, Star," he said, a light blush on his cheeks, and I tilted my head in thanks.
"You clean up nicely too," I said, and he smiled.
"Thanks," he said as footsteps thundered down the stairs and Ryk tornadoed into the room.
"Hey! Are you guys ready? How do I look?" he asked, holding his arms up as he looked from Dakota to me.
"You look beautiful, Ryk," Dakota said with a smile, giving him a onceover. "Your outfit really suits you."
"Thanks! I'm not overdressed, am I?" he asked, and I was a little surprised he had enough awareness to ask something like that. Maybe he was learning after all.
"Not at all," Dakota assured him, and he grinned widely.
A second set of—much calmer—footsteps preceded Nico as he joined our impromptu living room gathering. "Is everyone ready then?" he asked.
"Yep!" Ryk exclaimed, then rushed over to me, grabbing my arm. "Come on. Let's go! Let's go! You're driving, right, Dakota? Because I don't know how." Not that that would've stopped him if he needed to drive in a pinch. Magic could be used in many ways, after all.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I growled as Ryk kept pulling at my arm.
"You look really good," I heard Dakota say behind us, and I could easily picture the blush on Nico's face. Out of all of us, he was usually the most self-conscious, so I was glad Dakota had made a point of telling him.
"Thank you. You look handsome too," Nico replied in a soft voice, and Ryk shot me a grin. I winked back at him and let him lead me out of the house. I wasn't going to admit it to him, but I was a little excited about this outing too. I hoped it went well.
Seven
Nico
The bar was as I'd expected: dark and very loud. It wasn't as crowded as I'd thought it would be, which was good for Star. While I didn't mind crowds much, he and Ryk both disliked them, though for different reasons. Star just didn’t like people, while Ryk preferred to spend time with a few close people rather than around a lot of strangers.
I preferred brighter and less noisy public places, though, like the park or a bookstore, but this was a nice change of pace. I wanted to be familiar with all aspects of human life, and I didn't think I would've come here on my own.
I had a feeling I knew who Dakota's friend was. The day I'd gone looking at all the houses in incognito mode, I'd found Dakota with a friend. He'd been telling her about the renovations he'd done on the house, and it was what had ultimately made me decide to pick his place.
"Duckie! There you are!" My brows shot up at the nickname, and I followed the voice to find the woman I'd been thinking of waving at us from a booth.
"There she is," Dakota said, which told me he'd heard her too. How she'd managed to get her voice across with the loud music banging on in the background, I had no idea.
"Hey, Divya," Dakota said as we reached her, and she hopped to her feet and gave him a quick hug before turning to us with a smile on her face, her arm still thrown around Dakota's waist. Were they more than friends, perhaps? Dakota hadn't mentioned it, but there was no reason for me to think he was only attracted to men. Divya was a beautiful woman, after all, with a tall, curvy figure, long black hair, and dark brown eyes.
"Duckie! Introduce me to all these handsome men you've been hiding!" she insisted, and Dakota rolled his eyes before pushing her in her seat and sliding in beside her.
The three of us squeezed in on the other side with a little magical assistance from Star, and Dakota quickly did the introductions.
"Guys, this is Divya. We're good friends and coworkers, so I have to deal with her a lot. Divya, meet Nico, Ryk, and Star," he said, gesturing at each of us in turn.
"I have to say you guys are even more beautiful than Duckie claimed," she said, her bright eyes taking each of us in. Ryk trembled beside me, and I realized he was trying to hold back a laugh at the nickname Divya used for Dakota. I had a feeling he'd be using it soon enough.
"Uh, thank you," I said, not sure what else to say. Then I got my head on straight and added, "Dakota didn't tell us how beautiful you are."
Divya gave a loud laugh and smacked Dakota's arm. "That's because this idiot has no awareness when it comes to women. I realized that after I wasted the first month of our acquaintance flirting with him. If you want this man to know you're interested, you have to beat him over the head with it," she said with a sage nod, and Dakota grumbled unintelligibly.
"I'm not that bad," he said in a clearer voice, and Divya scoffed.
"Lies. All lies. Don't listen to him, okay?" she said, and we nodded in unison like three bobbleheads.
