𝓥𝓪𝓵𝓼

☬𝓢𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻☬

-ENG

The moon was shining like a midnight lantern. Joe had long ago promised himself not to attend large gatherings anymore.

This time, however, he was unable to oppose it.

It turns out that Moe had been strangely summoned by Cortex, along with another group of mutants. And out of curiosity, he could not refrain from accepting the invitation. Even if both brothers were the ones who least followed the orders of the yellow big head.

Joe was not so happy about the fact that Moe accepted, because since only his brother was summoned, he was not allowed to enter. And the situation got worse when they didn't even let him wait outside Cortex's office, which made him choose to go somewhere near the Castle (since he wanted to wait for Moe and didn't want to stay talking to the remaining mutants inside the place).

Because of the time they had come, several establishments were already closed, with the exception of one...

The Pinstripe casino.

It is at that moment that the reptile's face transforms into a grimace of disgust at the thought of the potoroo.

Not only did his personality make him a total nuisance to the komodo dragon, Joe felt capable of putting up with him for at least an hour. What hurt his pride badly was having to get it into his head that he had stooped so low, that he would walk into his damn casino.

He sighed, there was no other option, he was too far from home.

...

And there he was now, sitting on one of the velvet furniture, while the bustle of people increased and the noise of the machines dulled the whole place.

Joe felt uncomfortable. A few minutes ago, he had gone to the bar looking for something to drink. He wanted the alcohol to help him calm down a little, or even sleep until Moe returned and they could go home.

Most of the drinks were strong, to the reptile's luck. But after a while he regretted it a little, thinking of the worst if he became too clumsy from drinking...

A non-existent embarrassing news invaded his mind:

''Komodo dragon found singing karaoke unsupervised''.

What a mess.

He sighed and looked again at the signboard with the names of the drinks, then asked for any that didn't have wumpa as an ingredient.

He stayed a long time in the bar, seeing how a huge dance floor had recently been inaugurated next to the Casino, but with a door directly connected to it. It looked like a reception hall, he was not surprised to think that Pinstripe had had it built just to please himself.

He saw through the tall glass door as people seemed to arrive in droves as they danced. A couple or two were arguing, some people were drunk to death, among others.

Joe didn't find it so interesting, causing him to concentrate again on himself and his thoughts. That made him not even touch his drink.

...

At least an hour and a half had passed. The reptile had left the bar long ago, and the crowds had thinned out. Joe didn't feel tired, on the contrary, he felt sleepless. Maybe it was the stress, or maybe it was because he felt short of breath inside the place. That made him think that when he got home, he probably wouldn't sleep anymore and would have to stay up doing something else.