Angel Eyes

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Bunny beamed when Eric asked her opinion of the band. "Oh, when Nerina--oh, the singer, that is--came in to audition, she was soooo cute! I haven't met any of the others--but I really like Nerina!" Of course, Bunny always liked when new people came to work at the club, because it meant more coworkers that might potentially like her! As opposed to...some of the older ones...
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"Yeah?" Eric smiled. He could easily imagine Nerina's job interview, in some respects. He didn't think she made it in the job by being conventionally professional, for certain. "You sing too, right? Have you ever thought of doing gigs like that in your life?"
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"I'm hardly as good as Nerina," Bunny said with a laugh. "I've never really thought about it...I pretty much only keep my singing to karaoke night!"
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Bunny pressed a finger into her cheek as she thought a moment. "I've thought about taking singing lessons, but don't really have the time."
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"Remind me to join you sometime," Eric turned a little more into Bunny, his eyes distracted away from Nerina and the stage. "You'll sound amazing beside me," he chuckled.
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<div class="indent">Words fail to tell a tale

Too exotic to be told,

Each night's a deeper night

In a world, ages old



The cares of the day seem to vanish

The ending of day brings release

Each wonderful night in Tunisia

Where the nights are filled with peace



Each wonderful night in Tunisia</div>
<p>
'A Night in Tunisia' ended with thunderous applause when her voice crescendoed. Nerina gazed into the audience seated around tables. She saw Yura seated at the bar and she smiled at her manager being there for her debut performance. Nerina pressed a white cloth to her temples gently. The stage lights got a little hot.
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"Thank you! Thank you. We''ll be taking a 10 minute break." She bowed.
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Félix leaned back from the piano and turned his gaze towards Nerina, smiling. She was fantastic. He did not notice Eric's performance of his own with Bunny, nor did Nerina, at least not yet.
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"How was I?" Nerina gulped down a glass of water. "I was afraid I'd mess up A Night in Tunisia." That song was her weakest point.
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"You were perfect," Félix assured.
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"I'm going to go see my manager. Come with,"
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Félix finished his own glass of water and complied. She took him gently by his hand, her fingers just hooking onto his, and Félix tried not to blush. She smiled when she found Yura at the bar.

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"Hi Miss Bengall. This is Félix." Nerina introduced her most trusted musical partner to her. She made sure to address her appropriately, not too casually.
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Yura was idly chatting with the bartender before Nerina caught her attention. She slid down from her stool.
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"Excellent performance, Nerina," she said, "I've been hearing a lot of compliments from customers."


Yura then turned her attention to Félix. "Ah, yes, we have not met. I am Yura Bengell--the owner of Club Gambit." She held out her hand to shake his.


"Ms Bengell," Félix smiled and offered his hand. "It's a pleasure."


"By the way, is Bunny here tonight? She was so nice to me-"
Nerina turned her head and found that Bunny's pink hair was easy to find in the crowd. What shocked her was that she was with Eric. His eyes were fixtated on the woman right in front of him.
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"You flirt~" Bunny teased as she poked Eric's nose playfully. The whole 'no touching' rule was really supposed to apply to customers and workers, but Bunny sometimes...bended the rules a bit if she particularily liked someone.
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Bunny suddenly stood up, fussing with her school uniform. "What do you think of these outfits? I always feel unsure wearing seifuku, school uniforms, stuff like that..." she pouted.
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"Who's the flirt now?" Eric grinned. Bending rules was probably more for an employee than a patron. After all, it was easier to find new patrons. Not so much a new 'Bunny'. As she stood up, Eric took a careful and indulgent look over her body. "Hmm... It definitely fits you well. Very cute," he stated.
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"Are you sure?" Bunny said with a sigh of relief. "I always feel like outfits like this don't quite suit me."
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Eric tilted his head, still appreciating her outift. He didn't notice Nerina looking right at him from the corner of his eye, "Why's that?" He didn't want to make assumptions.
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"Haa, I don't know...I feel like I'm a little too old to be wearing something like this, maybe?" Bunny glanced down at her outfit once more, then did a playful little twirl. "But! Knowing you think it's cute makes me feel a lot better!" she added with a little giggle.
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Eric chuckled, smile widening with her giggle, "Making someone feel special can go both ways, in this Club."
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<div class="indent">"Félix, was this what you meant? That he wants to date other girls?" Nerina had a fist over her chest and she seemed to have difficulty breathing. Her voice was unsteady.


Félix followed her gaze, and frowned the second he saw Eric and one of the hostesses sitting next to each other. They definitely looked comfortable. "...I..." Félix hesitated.


Yura watched the other two curiously for a moment, before following their line of sight to see Bunny and a young man being...a little too affectionate, perhaps? She turned to Nerina.


"Do you know the young man over there, then?" she asked, trying to get a grasp of the situation. Either way, she had a feeling this was not going to be good...

"He's my boyfriend."

"And he's my idiot brother," Félix added.
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Of course he was. Yura sighed.</div>

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Bunny was full-on crying once she reached the office.
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"Y-Yura...I...I..."
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"You were flirting with Nerina's boyfriend--yes, I know." Yura rummages through the drawers of her desk and tossed Bunny a pack of tissues.
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"I-I didn't know...I wouldn't have..." She clumsily caught the tissues and tried to wipe her tears away in vain.
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"I know you wouldn't have, Bunny." Yura let out a sigh and rubbed at her forhead as she tried to determine the best course of action to deal with the situation. In some ways, she almost missed the days when 'shoot the fucker full of poison blood' was the solution to all her problems...
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In the meantime, Eric was sitting alone at his booth. Even the other hostesses veered away from him, but Eric wasn't in the mood for that sort of consolation. In one of those rare, rare occasions, he didn't feel at the top of the world. He didn't even feel much of anything. In fact, he felt so little that he just about glared holes right through Félix's head.
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Félix, on the other hand, was grinning at Nerina. "That was fantastic," he applauded. Finally, right on stage, he gave her a tight embrace. He figured she needed one right about now.
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"Thank you, Félix." She wrapped her arms around him. "Maybe I need to sing 'Lullaby of Birdland' now, to cheer me up."
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Yura led Bunny to sit at her office chair and patted her on the head as she sobbed into a tissue.
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"Nerina's song is over. I'm going to go out and deal with this, alright?"
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"I-I want to apologize to Nerina..." Bunny whimpered.
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"Get your tears out first, alright?"
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"No!" Bunny suddenly bolted up from the chair, which surprised Yura. "I want to apologize now! I-if I don't do it now...I...I don't know...but I want to do it now." She sniffed. Yura was a bit skeptical if Bunny could handle any of this at the moment, but shrugged and figured she would let Bunny do what she pleased. She was a big girl--she could make her own decisions.
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"Well then," Yura adusted her tie and pushed up her glasses, "let's get to Nerina first before she starts her next song. Then we'll deal with the guy."
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Bunny sniffed and gave a determined nod. Together, they left the office and headed backstage.

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Félix broke away from Nerina when he noticed both Yura and Bunny coming into the back stage. Bunny was still, evidently, quite upset over what happened. Yura was at least more calm, but Félix imagined she was ready to hurt something or someone really badly.
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"Hey," Félix addressed them, though unsure of what he should say to help cheer anyone up. "Sorry for Eric, everyone." All in all, he felt like it was his fault somehow. Maybe for not giving Eric enough wedgies as kids.


Before Bunny could apologize, Nerina seemed to take the words out of her mouth.

"Sorry about Eric." Nerina faced Bunny. "I thought too highly of him. It wasn't your fault, at all!"


Bunny squeaked when Nerina spoke up. "So, so...do you...forgive me?" She rubbed at her eyes. "I-I really didn't know..."


"I was going to talk to you before Eric first. You were so nice to me before my interview. Félix told me before going on stage that Eric was um... Was..."


"...Uncommitted," Félix euphemized.


"N-Nerinaaaaaaaaaa-!" Bunny couldn't hold in her feelings anymore, and gave Nerina a big hug. "I'll never make you feel bad again, okay? Never!!"


"It's okay! Eric's just... Licquorice." She closed her eyes and patted Bunny's back soothingly.


"Lecherous," Félix corrected. Or black licquorice. Awful, indigestible, black licquorice.</div>
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Yura was quiet during the exchange. Thankfully, things went smoothly on this end. What was more important for her now was how to deal with this 'Eric' guy. In situations like this, Yura tended to not know entirely what she was going to say right up until she could look the other person in the eyes. Once she could study another for just the briefest of moments, she would know what to do. Without a word to the others, she headed back into the club--toward the lounge.
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Bunny didn't even notice Yura had left, as she was burying her head into Nerina's shoulder. "Oh Nerina--I've had unfaithful boyfriends too. It's really hard. I'm sorry this happened."


"It's okay. When the time comes, I'll give him another chance. He probably has to mature a bit. Anyway, I gotta finish up the gig. The next song will be fun! Are you ready, Félix?" Nerina swiftly went back to work, leaving Bunny to ponder what exactly she meant by Eric needing to 'mature'.


Félix did notice Yura had left, but he didn't bother to mention it. All he hoped was, whatever happened to Eric, that he didn't drive off with the only car. "I'm always ready," Félix smiled. He had a doubt Eric would ever mature, but... well, he was still young. Too young for this place, actually.
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"O-oh yeah..." Bunny blushed as she let go of Nerina so she could finish her gig. She wasn't really in any condition to get back out and work, so she laid low and watched Nerina's performance from backstage.
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Yura did happen to catch that little comment of Eric needing to 'mature' before she left. It stuck in the back of her mind as she approached the lounge where Eric sat.
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"Excuse me," Yura said, wanting Eric to look up so she could look him in the eye.
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Eric did look up, holding his breath the moment he realized this was the same woman Nerina and Bunny had talked to. She was... probably the manager, right? "How may I help?" Eric still managed to sound calm. He even smiled.
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Yura looked him straight in the eye. The same word kept popping into her head: Maturity, hm? She could have just said 'you are a disruption and I have to ask you to leave, but...she had a strong hunch about this guy. This...kid.
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"I'm sorry," she said, smiling a touch as she held out her hand. "We need to check IDs one more time. May I see yours, please?"
<p>
Eric tried his hardest not to frown. He had a pretty strong inkling this wasn't a random check. Still, he nonchalantly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his fake ID. "Of course," Eric forced a smile and offered it to Yura.
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Yura took the ID and carefully peered at it. She lifted it to see the card through the lights. She ran her fingers over the edges, then the whole surface of the card. She started to lightly bend it to get a sense of how strong it was.
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Then she snapped it right in half.
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"This is obviously a fake," Yura stated simply, holding the two pieces of the card between her two fingers.
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She may as well have broken Eric's spine, the sickening sound nearly made him gag. "Uh... I think you might be mistaken," Eric was already standing up from his chair.
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Yura dropped the two pieces of the card on the table. "I know fakes, boy. I used to make them." She admitted that with no shame--just a statement of fact.
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"Now then," she crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "You are obviously too young to be here, and you have also been a disruption to my club. Simply put: I must ask you to leave."
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Eric started to pale. He pulled at the collar of his shirt, "Well... it's... getting a little too stuffy in here anyway. I could use from fresh air." He stepped away from Yura before hastening his pace out the door.