Cadence looked around nervously as they approached the large building, Eclipse perfectly relaxed and walking with an almost swagger. She looked up at the glowing neon sign, the foreign text unreadable to her.
"That sign means 'Paradise'," Eclipse supplied, pointing at the nonsensical lettering, "It's because this is one of the most prestigious club corporations this side of the galaxy."
"Really?" Cadence asked curiously as they stepped inside, the room locking up just like that last club they went to.
"Of course!" Eclipse replied as mechanical arms put what looked like green glow-in-the-dark bracelets onto each of his rays, the bracelets staying in place, "I would never go to any shady, seedy, dirty club. This corporation regularly gets the highest marks on sanitation!"
A mechanical hand went and stuck a glowing green bowtie onto Cadence's throat, the tie stuck by some unknown tech. "And they screen all partygoers for sexual curses, and if you have even one, you aren't allowed to enter."
Cadence looked nervous as she asked, "Does that include a... swab test or...?"
Eclipse chuckled good-heartedly at Cadence's naivety. "Oh, you humans and your silly outdated ways," he sighed affectionately, the doors opening as he continued, "No, these adornments just scanned us."
Cadence gently touched the bowtie sticking to her throat, looking at him curiously as they stepped in. "How the fuck does that work?" She asked, lifting her chin as Eclipse put a mask onto her face, which covered her entire lower jaw.
"It scans your whole body for all known curses," Eclipse explained as he put a pair of black headphones over her ears, which blocked the pumping music completely, making the room almost silent, "It momentarily keeps a copy of your bio-scan just to check you aren't carrying any curses not in their database. And then they lock the scans into a different database, where no one but you can access them. So if they want to look at old scans, they have to ask you."
Cadence smiled happily, one of Eclipse's lower hands on her lower back as he gently guided her to the party rooms, leading her to a door with more of that script she didn't know.
"This is where the celebration will take place," Eclipse explained as he opened the door, the room inside being quite large with plush couches lining the walls and little pillow pits littering the floor, small tables on the edges, and a small red button on each table that were slightly raised.
"What are the buttons for?" Cadence asked softly as Eclipse led her to a little booth in a corner of the room.
"It's to summon a waiter," Eclipse explained patiently, "There are Staff Bots that work here, so you can order food or drinks while here."
Cadence nodded as Eclipse pressed the button, a robot with a round head and three-digit hands lowering from the ceiling, their legs replaced with a chain that keeps them up.
"Hello, welcome to Paradise, the first installment of Paradise Core," it greeted in a monotone, text-to-speech sort of voice.
"We'll take one C-Juice on the rocks and one Fruit Brawl," Eclipse said confidently, and the bot nodded before disappearing back into the ceiling.
"C-Juice?" Cadence asked curiously.
"It's the specific alcoholic drink that we can drink and grow inebriated from," Eclipse explained, "It would be like drinking straight whiskey or vodka for you humans, whichever one has a higher alcohol content."
Cadence nodded, and she tilted her head curiously as a big gruff dogish man walked through the door, his dark brown fur scruffy and mussy.
"Hey, pal! Good to see you again!" Eclipse called, getting up and walking over, and they hugged before kissing each other on the cheek. "So glad you could come, how's the kids?"
The dogish man chuckled as he replied in a gruff tone, "Ah, they're doing good. My baby girl is all grown up and set to get married. Her twin got a degree and is now working as a Spaceship engineer."
More people showed up, all kinds of different species, and Cadence watched curiously as he greeted everyone. Wow, Eclipse has a lot of friends.
Some went to the pillow pits and others went to the benches, many ordering drinks and chatting amongst themselves.
Eclipse walked back over with two small bug people, one a salmon color and the other a dark green. The salmon one sat next to Cadence.
"Hello dear," the salmon bug greeted.
Cadence side-eyed her, briefly wondering if someone of her height was of the age to be around alcohol. But then she instantly felt racist and shut that thought down. Even if the other person was the height of a child.
"Uh, hi," Cadence said softly, looking around as people mingled, some getting close in the pillow pits. She looked up as the bot came back, handing her the drink she ordered and setting Eclipse's drink in front of her. She looked down at her drink, licking the edge lined with sugar.
The Fruit Brawl is a fruity, colorful drink for those holding no interest in alcohol and a lot of interest in sweet things. From the bottom to top, it formed a rainbow, with red at the bottom and purple at the top, the colors almost artificial in their intensity.
"I'm Priscilla," the salmon bug said as Eclipse sat next to Cadence, grabbing his drink. "And my husband there is Shusani." Priscilla continued, her mandibles clacking as she pointed to her husband sitting on Eclipse's lap.
These bug people vaguely reminded Cadence of the Plump minipet from Marapets, with a body almost resembling an upright beetle, and the head similar to an ant.
"I'm Cadence," Cadence said softly, sipping her drink from the cute shiny silver straw that made a little heart near the top, her fingers toying with the little rainbow paper umbrella, "Friend of Eclipse."
Priscilla giggled as she replied, "Oh, silly, we're all friends of Eclipse here! Everyone here knows Eclipse, he's the one who invited us!"
Cadence pursed her lips, feeling a little embarrassed.
She looked up as she heard some heavy footsteps, eyes widening at the big ursine fellow she saw entering in a hurry.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," the new person started to explain as he rushed up to Eclipse, wearing a white cocoon the size of a child attached to his chest, "Roxanna was sick and-"
Eclipse held his hand up as he replied, "Freddy, it's fine. I'm just glad you're here."
The new fellow was quite tall, just slightly smaller than Sun or Moon, with fluffy orange fur covering his whole form, aside from the fuzz of light beige fur covering his chest and stomach. Over his heart looked like a bright blue lighting bolt, the crystalline structure glowing while connected to a stripe up his neck to his chin. He seemed like a big bear creature, his small round ears folded down as his bright blue eyes looked apologetically at Eclipse.
"I really am sorry-" The newcomer tried to apologize again, but Eclipse waved him off.
"It's fine, it's fine. This is a celebration, you can come and leave anytime," Eclipse replied dismissively as he stood up, setting Shusani onto the chair. Eclipse stepped over to the ursine fellow, giving him a side-hug as he added, "I'm glad you could make it. And don't worry about Gregory, as long as he stays asleep, you don't have to worry." Eclipse cooed softly at the cocoon, lightly patting it.
The newcomer glanced at Cadence, leaning in and whispering to Eclipse, "Whose human is that?"
Eclipse chuckled as he replied, "She's with me. You know, my ravishing young friend." Eclipse put a hand behind the fellow's back, leading him over as he said, "Cadence, this is Freddy. Freddy, this is Cadence. Human, indicolite glamrock. Indicolite glamrock, human. Freddy is a dear friend of mine that I have known for a long time, and Cadence is a dear friend I have known for over a year."
Cadence shyly waved as she looked up at the big bear, chuckling softly as she replied, "Uh, hi."
Freddy smiled as he replied, "Good evening, Cadence. So glad to make your acquaintance. Would you mind if I set this by you?" He motioned to the cocoon attached to his front. Cadence tilted her head in confusion, but shook her head, and Freddy smiled as he gently unattached the cocoon and set it next to her.
Priscilla had since wandered off, chatting with a bee person and what looked like a person made of tar.
"Not to be rude but... what is it?" Cadence asked curiously as she pointed to the cocoon, fixing up her mask again after taking another sip of her drink.
"It's my child," Freddy explained with a happy smile, "He's just a young child, but he's my sweet boy." At Cadence's weird look at it, he quickly added, "The cocoon you're seeing is his car seat."
"Ohhh," Cadence said softly, nodding.
Eclipse smirked, teasing, "You might want to read up on your baby supplies, Cadence. You wouldn't want to confuse a bed for a car seat and put a baby in the wrong place."
Cadence nodded, sipping her drink again.
After a moment, she nearly choked on her drink, snapping her head to look at Eclipse shocked, but he was already walking away. She narrowed her eyes, huffing as she slumped.
The celebration was nice, and she made sure to ignore the activities happening in the pillow pits as the alcohol flowed. When she finished her drink, she looked down at it, hesitating on if she should order another.
She assumed Eclipse was paying, and she didn't want to waste Eclipse's money just cause she wanted a tasty drink. So she decided she'd just wait until he came back over and she could talk to him about it.
It took a bit, but then Eclipse strolled over, his glow pulsating like a heartbeat as his eyes were lidded.
"Hey, um, Eclipse, who's paying for these drinks?" She said hesitantly as he sat near her, cuddling that Shusani fellow. "Cause, like, I'd like another one but don't want to waste your money if you're paying..."
Eclipse looked at her, his pupils blown wide. "Oh, sweetnesssss, just order as many drinks as you want!" He giggled, and Cadence quickly looked away as their cuddling grew more intimate. "I'll pay for your drinks, don't worry about it. This is a celebration, after all!" Eclipse continued.
"Ah, okay then," she muttered, pressing the button to summon the Staff Bot and order another Fruit Brawl. She could just barely see Eclipse out of her peripheral, and she looked down at her lap once she realized what they were doing.
"Miss," the emotionless Staff Bot said from above her. Cadence looked up and accepted the drink with a smile, thanking it softly as it left.
"Froot," she murmured under her breath as she stuck her tongue into the drink, lightly lapping at it like a cat.
She heard Eclipse's slurred giggle, a hand gently patting her head as he cooed, "Awww, like a kitten! How cute~!"
She looked at him offended, but quickly regretted it when she saw Shusani sitting on his lap and facing outward, a noticeable bulge from Eclipse's cock as the bug man glowed orange from the inside.
She quickly looked away, face burning as her eyes were wide. IT FUCKING GLOWS.
She quickly sipped her drink, trying to drown out the intrusive thoughts.
"So very cute," Eclipse continued, nuzzling the back of her head. "You can leave if you want to. You seem uncomfortable right now."
"I'm... fine...." She replied hesitantly. She did feel very uncomfortable, but everyone was giving her space, so it wasn't that bad. She just didn't know Eclipse's version of a celebration is an orgy.
"Don't sound like it," Eclipse muttered annoyed. "If you are uncomfortable, you should say so. Keeping quiet is not very good communication."
Eclipse scooted closer, his neck arching over her head so his upside-down face could be in front of her face, the frown looking almost like a smile.
"If you don't want to be here, then that's fine. You have no obligation to stay," Eclipse continued, one hand going and gently rubbing the nape of her neck. "Can you tell me the truth? Do you want to leave?"
She shrugged, looking at her drink. "Eh," she replied, the unspoken 'whatever you wants fine' hanging in the air between them.
Eclipse frowned, gently nuzzling her face. "You need more bones," he replied, then giggled. "Bones. It's funny how humans sometimes call erections boners. Or like I'm boning Shusani." He giggled again, Cadence's face growing hot.
She didn't know how to respond, so she simply laid back against Eclipse's shoulder, ignoring the movements of Eclipse's arms as he bounced Shusani in his lap.
Sometimes Cadence wished she could be so free and relaxed about it. But she isn't. And as much as she would love to work on it, she's scared.
Scared of what could go wrong. Scared of what could go right.
She knew the only way to work on it would be a series of spontaneous, impulsive decisions she would act on.
Maybe later.
She looked over at the cocoon as it moved slightly, and she curiously leaned towards it, Eclipse behind her as she gently set her hand on the cocoon.
She tilted her head, slowly rubbing small circles onto the cocoon, and the squirming mass slowly stilled, relaxing again. She didn't want to impose too much, however - after all, this is someone else's kid - so she lifted her hand.
The mass started fussing again, and she hesitantly started comforting it. She didn't really know what to do, she didn't see the father anywhere, though she was NOT going to look around to find him. Not risking seeing the debauchery happening in the pillow pits.
She hummed softly, gently singing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take, my sunshine, awaaaayy."
As she sang the lullaby, the mass seemed to relax, and she sung softly until the only movement she could sense was soft breathing.
For a moment, she could forget she was at an orgy.
For a moment, she could forget that Shusani was taking in Eclipse's entire length - which god damn seems big.
For a moment, she was simply comforting some mass she was told was a car seat, holding a child of some sort inside.
She remembered her sisters and how she hasn't seen them in a while, especially the middle sister. She felt a pang of sadness as she remembered where her middle sister was, and genuinely wondered if it was a good idea to visit her.
She decided she would. She misses her sister.