Going Out Drinking!

"Ah, I see," Mayu replied. "I don't drink that much either actually. But once in a while I like to come here to chill out. Kita-san's cocktails are excellent!"

Hearing Nikolette mentioned the word friends made the short haired girl paused a bit. It's true that in the past she used to come to South Wind with a few people, but they're not exactly friends. Acquaintances was probably the right word to describe those people.

"Yup, I was told about this place by a... um, senior from a part time job. I can't come here all the time of course! I would have went bankrupt very fast then... haha," she let out a small laugh. "As for friends... well..." she would look down a bit before smiling at Nikolette. "I barely have any."

Nikolette smiled at Mayu when she spoke about the bartender. "I sure hope so!" Nikolette said. She was as eager as she was hesitant to taste what she had ordered. But what Mayu said next reallys urprised Nikolette. Her eyes widened visibly. "M-Mayu...' She said and looked away. She then turned back and smiled. "Ok... ok... I get it. Yer just foolin me. Haha.' She said and waved her hand at Mayu. "C'mon now. There ain't no way a gal like you ain't got a few dozen friends or so. I ain't never met anyone so cheerful in all my days. An infectious personality like that ain't gonna keep a gal like you lonely!"

Nikolette let out a sigh, still smiling a bit though. "It ain't like me where ya spend all yer free time cooped up in a shop doin work. Only people I ever meet are gals that work in AFW and even then..." Nikolette's thoughts trailed off. She had really only met a few and only one she was ever able to be close with. And things didn't work out so well. She smiled a little brighter to hide her thoughts and looked to see how those drinks were coming.

Mayu's smile faded as she heard Nikolette's words. Well, she couldn't blame her for saying that. But should she tell Nikolette the truth? Mayu wasn't sure, and all she could do was giving the girl a warm smile. The short haired girl didn't really want to ruin the mood they had right now.

"Well, having a few friends isn't a bad thing, though," Mayu said. "A senpai of mine once said... it doesn't matter if you can't make a hundred friends. All you need to do is to find a friend you can treasure as much as a hundred people," she continued.

She didn't mentioned about the part that her senpai was quoting the line from a manga, because it'd probably make the words less... meaningful. Not long after that, a waiter approached their table, carrying a tray with him to deliver the girls' drinks.

"Excuse me," he said politely. "One Kirin," he said as he put a glass in front of Mayu and pour the beer into it from a bottle, and put the bottle besides the glass. "And one White Rusian," he continued, placing a glass filled with the cocktail in front of Nikolette. "Enjoy," the waiter said as he left.

"Thanks!" Mayu said with a bright smile before she looked at Nikollete. "Come on! Drink drink!" she said excitedly before she took her glass and offered it for a toss. "Kanpai!" the short haired girl would let out when Nikolette tossed with her before she drank her beer.

Nikolette perked up at Mayu's words. "Yeah! Actually, that's pretty smart thinkin!" She said and grinned. Nikolette thought as much, but she herself had barely managed to make half of a good one. Or when she did, they vanished... Nikolette let out a sigh as the waiter came. She felt good talking about it with Mayu, even if it wasn't really a conversation.

When Nikolette got her drink, she inspected it thoroughly and then stirred it a bit. She sniffed it and wondered about it. This would certainly be an adventure! "Thank ya!" Nikolette said as the waiter left. She then smiled at Mayu as the girl offered a toast. Nikolette hurriedly lifted her glass. "Kanpai!" She said and pushed it too her mouth. She lifted the glass and began to drink. The coffee flavored coolness mixed with the burning vodka. It was an unusual and thrilling experience. But by the time she was done considering it, she had gulped down most of it. She slammed her glass on the table and let out a deep sigh.

"Ahhhh~"

She licked her lips over and over again. "Oh..." She said as she could feel it both burn and cool in her stomach. "Oh my." She said and then giggled. "Ya wanna try?" She said offering her glass to Mayu for the girl to taste.

Mayu smiled as she watched Nikolette inspecting her drink before tossing with her and drank it. Her reaction afterwards seemed to indicate that she enjoyed the drink. Mayu wasn't really surprised to say the least. She knew that the bartender's cocktail was good, and it made her glad that Nikolette enjoyed it too. When the girl offered her to try the drink. Mayu nod with a smile and took the glass, accidentally turned it around as she brought it towards herself and drank from around where Nikolette did.

"Aahh..." she let out afterwards before putting the glass down. "It's great isn't it?" she asked with a delighted look before returning the glass to Nikolette. The short haired girl paused for a bit after that before she glanced at Nikolette and thought to tease her just a little bit as a smirk appeared on her face.

"It's an indirect kiss~" she would say out of blue, winking at the girl.

Nikolette handed the glass to Mayu and smiled as she drank it. She didn't even think about which end Mayu was drinking from until she Mayu had told her. "Yeah, it really is good!" And then Mayu spoke and Nikolette's eyes widened as her cheeks reddened instantly.

"A-Ahh.. " Nikolette looked down at the glass and lifted it up. She could see Mayu's lipstick on it faintly. She brought it up and put her lips over it again and looked at Mayu. She smiled as she tipped the glass back and finished it, letting out a contented sigh. "I.. I guess I'll haveta order a different one this time... so you can try that one too." She said and smiled up at Mayu with bright, warm cheeks.

Seeing Nikolette's reaction made Mayu giggled cutely at her. Usually she never really teased someone like that, or rather, usually it was her who was teased with something like that. She kinda thought that she understood now why people would pull a joke like that. It's kind of... fun. Mayu never imagined that the tough mechanic would blush and get all nervous like that.

"I'm just kidding, Nikol-san! Please don't take it too seriously! Tee-hee," she would say with a childlike grin. The short haired girl would drink her beer afterwards, and smiled at Nikolette.

"You want to try mine? It's only a beer, though," she offered.

Nikolette looked bewildered at Mayu's cute way of explaining herself. Nikolette turned her head and smiled. "It would be ok to take it a little seriously, wouldn't it?" She muttered, mostly to herself, not caring if Mayu heard her or not. She really liked Mayu a lot. She had since they first met and she was STILL trying to figure it out. It was like a complex puzzle. With Hitomi, the connection was natural and obvious. Both of them were scientists in their own right. They were fascinated by problems of the mind and solving them.

But what Connection was there between her and Mayu. Nikolette lifted her head up and smiled at Mayu. She nodded and took the beer. She looked at it and pushed her lips to the glass, making she she matched up with where Mayu's had been and took a drink. The cool and bitter beer tasted good as it slid down her throat much easier than the hard drink. She nodded and slid the beer back to Mayu. "Hey, that's alright." She said and then looked over Mayu and let out a pleased sigh. She then furrowed her brow. Well, why not speak her mind. The warmth of the alcohol sure made it easier, even though she hadn't even been buzzed yet.

"I can't put my finger on it." She said, tapping the the table. "Why I like ya..." She smiled. "I mean... aside from the obvious..." Nikolette said, letting her eyes pass down Mayu's svelte form before turning her head and blushing slightly. "I just... wanna know more about ya... what makes ya tick?" Nikolette chuckled softly. "That's how I tick... makin sense a things... "

Mayu smiled as Nikolette seemed to enjoy the beer too, it seems like asking the girl to go out drinking was the right idea after all. Hearing Nikolette's words as the girl tapped the table startled the short haired girl for a bit. Mayu decided to take the meaning of the world "like" uttered by Nikolette as in she liked her as a friend. That would only be the normal conclusion wasn't it? They had only been meeting each other a few times, Nikolette couldn't have meant it the other way around, or so Mayu thought. As the girl continued by stating that she wanted to know more about her and what made her "tick", Mayu only took Nikolette's words as a way of deepening their friendship and she smiled at her.

"Ah... do you mean what I like and stuffs?" asked the short haired girl as she put her index finger on her chin. "Um... I like... fighting! That's obvious I guess, tee-hee. Ah, and drinking! That's another obvious one isn't it..." she said, grinning silly as she scratched the back of her head. "Hmm... apart from those, I like sightseeing too! And music! Um, is that what do you want to know...?" she would ask with a rather confused look afterwards.

Nikolette smiled at Mayu's words, unable to not smile at Mayu's cute laugh. When she explained herself, Nikolette nodded each time. It was quite obvious that Mayu liked to fight and drink. But, Nikolette wasn't, exactly, looking for the obvious stuff. Music. Good. Sightseeing. Also good. "Oh... yeah, Things like that, I suppose." Nikolette said and smiled. She finished off her drink and set it down. "You must have seen everything there is to see in Japan then." Nikolette teased.

"There's not a whole lot to look at where I'm from. But, I come from a pretty little town in a pretty little country." Nikolette then smiled. "When I was little, I used to take a bus to Smiljan and visit the place where Mr. Tesla was born." Nikolette perked up. "There's no relation, u-unfortunately... Oh.. I wish!' Nikolette swooned a bit. "Mr. Tesla is my idol. One day... I want to build big machines like he did! Gigantic powerstructures, Huge, humming Tesla coils!" Nikolette looked at Mayu. "I love machines. I love how they whirr and buzz." Nikolette then looked around. "You know... almost everything we take for granted in this modern age is thanks to Mr. Tesla's inventions." Nikolette blushed. "I.. uh... even sort of took my name from his. Nikolette... isn't a very Serbian name... if you didn't notice, eheh..." Nikolette said blushing deeply. Never in a million years did she think she could tell anyone her real first name. She was just so embarrassed at how... olde tyme it sounded.