Between the lines 1
“We shouldn’t forget the old ways. And as far as I’m concerned, this New World can go suck on an egg!”
“There hasn’t been any improvement at all?” The First Man inquired. He pulled his glass closer, too lazy to lift it and instead creating a disruptive grating noise that did not go unnoticed by the Second Man. The latter replied with a knowing look that did go ignored by the former, who simply picked up the glass when it was close enough before politely taking a small sip.
“None.” The Second Man responded, clutching his head in hindrance. “Honestly, at this rate, I don’t know if they’ll ever get better.”
“It’s not like you to give up.”
“I’m not giving up. I just don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.” The Second Man leaned back in his chair, slumping. The First Man flashed a mischievous look.
“There is always Plan-B?”
“No! Absolutely not.”
The two men paused as the waiter made a pit stop to ask how they were doing. “We’re fine. Thank you. Bring us the bill please.” The waiter piled their plates on the serving platter and left quietly. The First Man leaned in over the table and so did the second.
“But it would—"
“No. We’re not doing that.”
The First Man relented, sitting back in their chair normally and pondered at when his friend became such a prude.
“There has to be another way,” the Second Man went on. He sucked out the last droplets of soda from his glass.
“You can’t avoid it forever.”
“I can try.”
“But why though. It is what it is. There’s no shame here.” The First Man paused to suspect his colleague of believing differently now. If that were the case, it would be cause for concern.
“I know, but…”
“But what?!” The First Man hissed with a mild twinge of annoyance in his tone.
“It’s not how it was back when we were young. This is the New World.”
“That makes it even worse.” The First Man finished his drink just in time for the waiter to return with the bill. He fished out his wallet and paid for the meal in cash. He also made sure to leave the waitress a two hundred percent tip.
Up to this point, well written. However, from my personal perspective, I can't continue. It triggers too much about censorship among other things. The world described so far, makes me want to destroy the whole thing. I'm honestly impressed that you can continue writing about that world. Have fun, and keep going.
I know just how you feel. This is a horrible world.
I hope you come back after a couple dozen chapters when our heroes free this world fr the terror of censorship.
@Percy3 my bad, but you probably should've guessed as much.
As for spoiling who the First and Second man are, well you'll just have to wait to find out what the heck they're up to.
@Percy3 Given what is implied here, these two men might be from a different world, like the one before this one, since they call it the 'New' world. No clue what the heck they're doing or why they're in the story yet, but so far, author-san is spinning a very intriguing web.
Oh, hearing about the censorship gets destroyed piqued my interest.