Tangle in the Dark - Kassidor

guy on a flute that sounded like a mellowed trio ofsaxophones and a guy on a tambourine that sounded like abrushed jazz kit. They were amplified, softly, but the girl'svoice was not. There were a few dozen people left in a roomthat could hold two hundred. The mezzanine above was darkbut with a few more people at the rail. Most were welldressed, only one girl was topless and even her outfit wasstylish. One couple had some kind of animal with them thatwas not of Earth origin that turned only a couple of its eyestheir way when they came in. It had a harness instead of acollar and the leash looked unnecessarily strong. At anothertable a group was passing an ornate bong trailing glowingwisps of smoke.Ava lead them to a table close enough to hear the bandbut not close enough to be part of the show. A girl dressedlike the one at the door was at their table as soon as they weresettled. Ava ordered green by brand name and ordered him ablue tea, whatever that was. "You've been here before," Thomsaid as soon as the girl was on her way to the taps. They werenot the wooden barrels with bung taps that he knew from theparts of Alan's universe he had seen lately, they wereplumbed fittings behind a polished bar with fine woodworkaround it and glowing symbols on the tap handles, more likethe place where he used to play the Herndon Cherub for her."This is actually my favorite place in Alan's universe,"she said, "I think it's quite romantic.""Do you think that will help?" he asked.178