The air in the tavern grew thick as Retsu Unohana approached. The fishermen around her instinctively cleared a path.
The floor was so sticky that strings stretched from it with every step. Selene rose onto her toes in disgust, avoiding a puddle of unidentified liquid, and remarked that the sanitation here was barely better than Gotham's sewers.
Maggie tugged at Selene's sleeve, signaling her to keep her voice down. The fishermen nearby, their faces flushed from drinking, were already looking over.
Retsu Unohana led the way, paying no attention to the filth around her. She approached the oak table, the clack of her wooden sandals striking the floor unusually clear amid the din.
Pulling out the chair the burly bald man had occupied, she sat down gracefully. Her black Shihakusho had a muted sheen beneath the dim yellow light.
Arthur Curry's hand stopped in midair, still holding his beer mug. He studied the woman opposite him. Her long hair was braided and draped over her chest, her skin so pale it showed no trace of color, her wrist narrower than two of his fingers.
"Ma'am." Arthur set down his mug and belched, releasing a pungent whiff of malt and alcohol. "This is where men come to play. You're on the wrong set. Go order a juice at the bar. Put it on my tab."
Laughter erupted around them. The fishermen joined in the teasing.
"Arthur, since when did you learn to go easy on the ladies?"
"Careful, miss! Arthur might snap that skinny arm of yours!"
Retsu Unohana ignored the noise around her. She planted her right elbow on the scratched, beer-stained oak tabletop and spread her fingers.
"The rules are free drinks if you win, five dollars if you lose." Her voice was even, her Kyoto accent lending her