53 and 99 with Branjie for the prompts (hope it’s okay to include 2)
Thank you for the prompt! Here’s another throw back now that I’ve finally decided to go through my inbox and write something. We’re back at it with a little bit of The Audit branjie.
When Silky said they were doing team bonding at Squid, Brooke was intrigued. She enjoyed a good aquarium, and she found the creatures fascinating, the way they moved so gracefully and dangerously through the inky water. So she didn’t understand why the suggestion was met with so many groans and Silky’s shock when she’d advocated for the event too.
Brooke quickly learned that Squid was not, in fact, an aquarium.
They didn’t even have a squid.
So she found herself nursing a glass of water with lemon, sat on the blue velvet seats of a corner booth with Vanjie, A’keria, Nina, and Scarlet, while Yvie gathered everyone else’s drinks from the bar, and Silky was flitting around the dance floor.
On the way over, in Vanjie’s dented Camry, Silky claimed repeatedly that she was mother-fucking ready, which Brooke met with her own enthusiasm to meet the squid, posing her own squid facts. Vanjie looked concerned, though it made sense—the humboldt squid’s dwindling population was something to be concerned over.
Turns out when it came to oiled up men in briefs and captain’s hats, Silky was in fact ready.
As Yvie returned with the drinks: a couple of beers, some fruity looking drinks, a glass of whiskey, and Nina got up so Yvie could filter back into her seat, Brooke glanced around the table. She cleared her throat. “So, was anyone going to tell me this was a club or?”
“No,” Yvie answered bluntly, with a twisted smile, setting her beer down on the table.
Brooke ignored the curt response, turning her attention to Nina and Vanjie.
“So you guys like this place?” Brooke asked incredulously, folding her straw back to drink from the glass. She felt like she had to scream to hear herself talk, and thinking was absolutely out of the question with the pounding bass shaking the walls.
“Uh, no.” Nina laughed. “We’re like, all gay, so this does, like, nothing for us.”
“Silky’s happy though,” Vanjie plopped her lime into her glass and poked it with the straw, drawing her attention away from Brooke.
“She always suggests it and we usually say no and go to dinner instead, but you supported her and we’re all scared of you, so we went.” A’keria already downed her drink. “I’m gonna go find Silk and keep her out of trouble.”
A’keria looked out over the dancefloor, unable to spot Silky, who must have been deep in the dancefloor. She gulped.
“Be brave, sweetheart,” Yvie cackled, taking another swig of her beer.
Though the club was dark, save for the roving blue spotlights, Brooke knew A’keria rolled her eyes before shuffling out of the booth.
Brooke followed the lights around, feeling her class sweating in her fist. She shouldn’t have been shocked that A’keria said they were all scared of her. She knew exactly what kind of front she put up, how she basically came in and decided to clean house in minutes. Of course people about to lose their jobs would be scared of her. At least A’keria was up-front about it.
Brooke took her phone and made a note to address this fear later, when the whole department wasn’t on their way to getting drunk.
She took another sip, peering over at Vanjie, who suddenly averted her gaze. She’d start with Vanjie for sure. Maybe apologize for calling a whole seminar on professionalism just to comment on Vanjie’s open-toed shoes. And for stealing her parking spot. And smashing her coffee mug.
“Captain, it’s time to...release the kraken,” the loudspeakers sputtered out, causing the whole table, save for Scarlet, who was resting her head against Yvie’s arm, to glance up.
From the ceiling descended various men, cloaked in fog, wearing squid hats, swaying their hips vigorously.
“What the...what is this?”
“They’re the kraken,” Yvie said, as though it were common place, obvious. She pushed Scarlet gently off of her shoulder and announced she was getting another round of drinks.
“So what are we supposed to do about that?” Brooke asked, overwhelmed by the heavy music and all the loud, sweaty people. Though she felt safe in the corner booth.
“We don’t have to do anything besides drink and forget.” Nina fit her straw between her teeth. “So last night, Monet texted me this dog she was looking at getting. It’s this little thing with curly brown fur…”
“Oh and when they announce ‘Litty Squiddy’ you don’t have to take off your shirt,” Scarlet interrupted. “It’s just a suggestion.”
