The Consul and The Cat

7- Oh My Goodness, It's Sober!

Sparkling hands a glass of wine to Vampire, "I tried something a little different, so apologies if it tastes a bit off."

Vampire sniffs the wine before taking a sip.

He spits it out.

Rye, who's sitting next to him, says, "It tastes the same as always, maybe even better. Why'd you spit it out? You never do."

Vampire gets up, "I dunno, man.. It tastes weird. I'm going somewhere else."

Sparkling puts a hand on his chest, "Are you really leaving me like this? After all we've been through?"

Vampire stares at him, "Yes."

He floats out of the bar.

Sparkling sniffles, "I can't believe it.. My most loyal customer, gone in an instant!"

Rye pats his shoulder, "Need a hug, Bartender?"

Sparkling nods, leaning over the counter slightly. Rye hugs him, "It'll be alright. I'm sure it's just an off day fer 'im."

"I hope you're right, Rye..."

Vampire floats into the only other local bar. He sits on a bar stool. Wildberry takes his order, when Hollyberry sits next to him, "We don't get too many heroes. What brings you here?"

"Sparkling changed how the wine tasted and I don't like it!"

Hollyberry nods, "I hate when that happens."

Vampire looks up at her, "You're... tall...."

"Yep."

"Do you own this place?"

Hollyberry grins, "Yep! Built it by hand after I retired! Berry juice is my passion."

Vampire gets his wine. He sips it, "Oh my goodness, this is better than Sparkling's wine! Local places are great."

Hollyberry pats him on the back, "Great to hear!"

Dark Choco, who's sitting in a corner, says, "Oh, Chili Pepper went live."

Hollyberry whips out the TV remote and changes it to Chili Pepper's news channel.

Vampire asks, "is it an Emergency emergency?"

"No, why?"

"I'm one of the standby heroes."

"Oh! Sober?"

He sighs, "That's what they call me... Listen, it was a misunderstanding. I said I was sober as in not drunk, and they thought it was my hero name!!"

Hollyberry pats him on the back again, "That's rough buddy."

On the TV, Chili Pepper says, "Dang! This is one intense fight between Vanilla Cupcake from The Gang Yo, and uh.. I'm not allowed to say the other one's name, sorry."

Vanilla Cupcake crosses his arms, "Listen, Mozzarella Stick. I'm being paid to do this so if I don't kill him, I get no money!"