After Business... The lanky blonde put her cigarette out before walking up to the front door where she nodded to the bouncer, "Hey, Bones." "Hi, Hamako," the black haired woman waved her on by. Hamako Shihonmatsu paused in the dark hallway, taking a moment to straighten out her leather jacket. Her white T-shirt was snug fitting, and the blue jeans hugged her hips. 'Hope she likes this,' she thought nervously as she looked down at her clothes. Her own nervousness surprised her a bit, but she tried not to let it bother her. Hitomi smiled at the boyishly butch woman cheerfully as she emerged from the hall, "Nice to see you again, Hamako." Hamako smiled back as she asked her, "Has a red-headed, slightly nervous looking young lady been in yet?" "Yeah, just a few minutes ago," Hitomi smiled. She looked up at Hamako thoughtfully and asked, "Is she your date?" "Something like that," Hamako ran her hand through her slightly wind- blown, short hair. "Hope this place doesn't scare her too badly," she muttered, her green eyes narrowing slightly as she scanned the crowd for her date. "I saw her heading towards the library," Hitomi volunteered gently. "Thanks," Hamako smiled at her before heading into the crush of people. She saw a flash of red hair in the wild crowd, but it was just A-ko arguing with B-ko again. C-ko sat at a nearby table, sipping at a soda. She shook her head and moved on, remembering how she first met her. Hamako had just been coming into work at the animation studio when she saw the formally dressed young woman looking around her in pure bewilderment. Introducing herself, the redhead responded with her name, Mikiko Oguro, though she was quickly given the nickname of Kuromi. The new production manager and her had a bit of a rough start, but they soon hit it off pretty well. They managed to push the illustrators and others to get the project done in time, and had arranged to hold a victory celebration. 'Which brings us here,' Hamako thought nervously. 'Why on Earth did I decide to bring her out to the Locket?' she worried as she looked intently around her for that bright red hair. 'I don't even know if she likes girls.' Hamako finally spotted her, leaning up against one of the bookcases and flipping through a white trade paperback thoughtfully. The redhead looked much more casual now, dressed in a loose skirt and comfortable blouse. There was a bit of a flush to Kuromi's cheeks, and her blue eyes were wide as she read. Hamako got a good look at the paperback that she was reading and chuckled softly, thinking, 'One by Pat Califia, it figures.' Kuromi heard the warm chuckle and looked up with a smile on her face, "Hi, Hamako." "Hi," Hamako smiled back at her shyly. 'God, she's cute,' she thought. Kuromi noticed the book she was still holding and went read. She quickly pushed it back into it's place before exclaiming, "I was just looking at it." Hamako smiled at the younger woman gently, "Don't worry, I've flipped through more than one book in here." "It was certainly educational," Kuromi looked down shyly. "Do you want to get a drink?" Hamako asked her. "Sure," Kuromi smiled up at her happily. They moved out together into the crowd, and Hamako made sure to keep a protective arm across the girl's shoulders. "Excuse me," Keiko bustled by, her boy's school uniform hugging her closely as her long brown braid swung behind her. Hamako blinked in surprise as she noticed Kuromi's quite interested gaze following her. "She's a girl, by the way," Hamako grinned. "Oh," Kuromi blushed furiously. Before Hamako could tease her any more they reached the busy bar, and took in the twin's performance there. Ryouko tossed a beer bottle in the air, ignighting her energy sword at the same time. As it dropped the blue haired woman smoothly cut across the falling bottle, then the beer dropped down right into an waiting empty beer glass. The halves of the bottle then splashed down into the garbage bin. The crowd spontaneously broke into a round of applause even as Minagi picked up the glass of beer and passed it to Misato, "Your order, ma'am!" "Thanks," Misato Kisaragi grinned, drinking her beer happily. "Hi, Minagi," Hamako smiled cheerfully. The girl with the scars on her face smiled cheerfully, "You want your regular sake?" "Please," Hamako smiled, then she looked over at Kuromi, "What would you like?" "Just a rum and coke, please," Kuromi smiled shyly. Ryouko looked over at Kuromi, "You're new here, right?" At Kuromi's nod she laughed, "Juri would be over here greeting you right about now, but she's a bit busy." At the curious gazes from both Kuromi and Hamako she nodded to the dance floor, where Juri and Setsuna were gently swaying together to the music. "They're beautiful," Kuromi murmured softly. "That they are," Hamako agreed softly, but she was looking at Kuromi. The girl blushed faintly, looking down. Taking a chance Hamako asked her softly, "Would you like to try it?" "Dance?" Kuromi squeaked softly. She smiled up at Hamako, her cheeks still faintly red and said, "I'd love to." Hamako took Kuromi's hand in hers, leading her out onto the dance floor. It was a slower number, and she nervously put her arms around the shorter girl's waist as they gently began to sway together. Kurumi snuggled closer, and she smiled up at Hamako happily. "You're pretty good at this," Hamako murmured to her softly after a few moments. "So are you," Kurumi answered softly. She looked up at Hamako, her blue eyes meeting Hamako's green ones as she softly asked, "Could we do this again, sometime?" 'Guess it's a start,' Hamako thought even as she smiled down at her, "I'd love to." The Staff: The bar's owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Minagi and Ryouko are from the series Tenchi Muyo. Keiko is also from Utena. And finally, Hitomi is from Escaflowne, the movie. Our Cast This Episode: Hamako Shihonmatsu and Mikiko (Kuromi) Oguro are from Animation Runner Kuromi. A-ko, B-ko and C-ko are from Project A-ko. Misato Kisaragi is from Neon Genesis Evangelion. And finally, Setsuna is from Sailor Moon. Author's Note: I've only seen the first episode of Animation Runner Kuromi, but Hamako and Kuromi were just so cute together I couldn't resist. Pat Califia, for those who may not know, if an author of lesbian and gay erotica, including the book Melting Point. How do I know this? You'd be surprised what you can find at the library...
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