John hurried back the apartment and up his usual route to his room. He heard loud voices and stood outside the door to listen.
"That old man is one of the meanest people I've ever met! I mean, John works for him? How does he tolerate all that yelling? I just don't get it."
"Maybe Yorks had good reasons to yell at us. He is a war veteran after all, he must have seen unimaginable things. It's no wonder he yells like that. I sure hope that he calms down though, if he can. You see, Octavia, even John's boss has a heart within his icy exterior..."
"I guess I let my emotions get the better of me sometimes, I sure hope I didn't get John fired."
John chose that moment to walk in, "He wouldn't fire me after that incident. Believe it or not, we are buddies outside of work. It's just we have reputations to keep."
Octavia and Vinyl listened to his words, and calmed down. They now understood that Yorks was just playing a role, nothing more.
"Now that we have that taken care of that, I have plans for us tonight. We are going to a local bar to see my surprise I told you guys about earlier. Unfortunately, I don't have any dresses on hand, so you might have to wear some of my clothes."
Octavia suddenly whipped out a chest full of random outfits.
Vinyl shook her head, "Did you really have to bring those?"
"Well, yeah!" Octavia responded, "Rarity hoof-stitched all of these! I could never refuse any outfit from her! Besides, she even took human measurements for me so I'd be prepared for now!"
John raised an eyebrow, "Hoof-stitched? Human measurements? Are you sure you're not from another world, like Equestria perhaps?"
Both Vinyl and Octavia were agape with shock. How could he know their mission?
John burst with laughter, "Ha! Like that could ever happen! Cartoons taking human form and coming to Earth? Sounds like a ridiculous idea for a novel! From a children's TV show no less! Ha! Anyway, it seems like Octavia has come prepared. Vinyl, don't you have a dress to wear? Or maybe a polo shirt? Really, the place we're going doesn't really have much of a dress code. Wear what you like, I'll be outside the lobby if you guys need me."
John forgot to take his employee uniform off, but remembered as he was exiting the room. "Darn! I guess I'll just change quickly and try to look at the floor, to prevent awkwardness." He walked into his room, and grabbed a dark green shirt, khaki pants, belt, and his pack of cigarettes. He headed towards his section of the apartment and shut the door to his own room. John began to undress and shave off the goatee that he had. Why did I grow this thing anyway? It's not like anyone finds it attractive nowadays.
He got into the shower. He turned shower lever to cold, then to a boiling hot. John felt his skin heating up over the few passing minutes. He quickly turned it to a freezing cold, and shut the shower off. He grabbed for a towel, and slipped on the tile floor. John quickly grabbed for an object for leverage, but found none. A loud crack echoed as his head hit the floor. He thought that he saw stars above his head, as he sat still to calm down. Good. Nothing seems to have broken or shattered.
Just as John was once again reaching for a towel, the bathroom door opened. Oh no...haven't they heard of knocking? In any case, I have to hid Mr. Happy. John barely managed to cover himself up with the towel as Octavia and Vinyl barged in.
"Hey! We heard a large boom, are you alr-argh!!!"
Octavia blushed a deep red and started sobbing uncontrollably. Vinyl drug her friend away from the bathroom, apologizing as she went.
John sighed, he had this happen to him once before in swim class, another period in life he'd rather forget. He dried himself off, and quickly dressed himself. He put on a modest amount of cologne, and walked out of the bathroom.
He briskly walked past sobbing Octavia and Vinyl, who was actually starting to blush as well. John knew he had to get out as fast as possible, or things could get even more awkward. "Hey, you guys need to be down in the lobby within the hour, alright?" The two did not answer him, so John walked out the door and loitered outside the apartment complex.
Man, that was really awkward, even when I knew they were coming. I gotta fix that lock on that door, I don't want to run into one of them. John lit a cigarette, and fiddled with his lighter, flicking it on and off. I'm surprised that I only smoke one pack a day. It's all because of that fire. Actually, it seems ironic that I started smoking after that....
Thirty minutes had passed, and John heard the ding as the lobby elevator doors opened. Octavia was dressed in a dark red dress, she applied no make-up on, but she looked very mystical to him. The dress flowed to and fro, much like the waves out at sea. Vinyl, however, was dressed in retro wear. She had a black beret on, to highlight her blue hair. She had taken off her glasses, which she wore constantly, showing her red eyes. She had on black jeans and a Daft Punk t-shirt with headphones around her neck. John thought that the styles clashed, but he chuckled, seeing that the dress reflected the personality.
John smiled, "Are the two of you ready?"
The two responded, "Yeah!"
"Good, now let's have some fun, shall we?"
The three walked towards the bar, which was only five blocks away, awaiting to see what the night held for them.