Gold Rain (sneaky-cheeks // Open)

[Anonymous]

To respectable citizens, MegaZillions looked like a cheap dive. A huge neon light sign flashed like no tomorrow and thick rows of bright yellow lights on either side of the entrance were equally tacky. The design was made with a castle full of gold in mind, although that message rather drowned under the lights.

Aberi had to shield her eyes to avoid the nausea the sight of the bar and its flashy decorations induced. Her stomach was full to the brim of alcohol and she hadn't eaten since very early in the morning. She had done a pretty good job of guiding Lyc so far, or so she thought, but when the bar was finally in sight Aberi had to stop. A big burly person with black sunglasses stood in the doorway and Aberi immediately recognised him from before.

"Errr, I really don't think it's a good idea if I follow you in," Aberi stammered a little blurrily. She turned her tiny frame to face Lyc, with her back now turned to the casino's entrance. "Not unless you're willing to lie a little, the owner won't like you knowing me so say I'm repaying a debt by helping you to help her or some weird stuff like that. She'll be happy if you don't like me much." Aberi blinked a lot while talking, and didn't stand entirely straight. She really wasn't feeling so hot, but a part of her was eager to see such a nice woman with furry ears getting some work. Plus it was almost exciting to piss off the owner and doormen by showing up.

[Anonymous]

Lyc looked at Aberi, giving her a soft nod. She then looked back at the brightly lit building. "Not very good at being subtle are they. Then again...I guess they never really intended to be."  She sniffed softly as her ears and tail twitched. "Ok then, stay close to me."  Lyc approached the door way, quickly being stopped by the large stocky man in the sunglasses. Lyc looked at him with a stone like expression. "Relax...she's with me. She's showing me around, working off the payment for a drink I bought her."

[Anonymous]

Aberi took a deep breath as she approached the entrance, careful to keep Lyc between her and the doorman. She almost tip toed, ever watchful of the broad man or in case somebody else emerged from the bar. "She tells the truth," Aberi chimed in from the safety of hiding behind Lyc. She almost felt big now. This was so cool!

[Anonymous]

Lyc had to stifle a giggle, upon seeing how Aberi  was acting. Upon entering the building she was nearly blinded. Apparently the out side wasn't the only part of the building that was covered in Neon lights. She was in no way use to this kind of lighting, even in her travels through some of the cities back on Earth...she had never encountered such brightness. Ulricians have never liked overly bright lights, it throws off their power of sight. She couldn't understand why the hell any one, Ulrician or not, would want to surround themselves with such brightness. Gently rubbing her eyes with her hands  she looked back at Aberi. "Is it always this bright?" Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the new surroundings, allowing Lyc to be able to look around the room with out having to squint.  "So who is it that I need to talk to? And where is this person?"

[Anonymous]

"Yesyes, it's always bright in here," Aberi said as they were in, glancing several times back towards the entrance. She almost bounced around rather than walked. This was fun. "They like the lights, it's like a sign for the stupid saying 'come here, we want your money!'" Her blonde ponytail swished around as she scanned the bar for the owner but she didn't see anything. "She's gotta be here somewhere, she sits somewhere all day and night long counting her money. Maybe she just needs a reason to stop and come down here." Aberi looked at Lyc and smiled for just a fraction of a second. "She's the one with the really long dark green hair. You'll recognise her."
Without even the slightest notice, Aberi went for one of the tables and using both her hands swept all the glasses and dishes onto the floor before jumping on top of it, standing as tall as her thin body allowed. She waved her arms up in the air pretending to be dancing to music that wasn't there. The three persons at the table backed off in surprise, staring wide-eyed at her. That was however not what caught Aberi's attention as she quickly spotted a guard coming her way. The owner would come out of her cave for sure and Lyc could get a chance to talk to her. Aberi's own escape plan was however not as well thought out, it would be made up as she went along...

[Anonymous]

Lyc watched Aberi, it took her only a moment to realize what she was doing. There was no way a disturbance like this would go unnoticed by the owner. And if the owner disliked Aberi has much as she claimed she does...the owner would be sure to come out and throw a fit. Lyc quickly noticed the guard making his way, surely with the intent of manhandling Aberi and having her thrown out.  She had no intention of being separated from this girl...Aberi had been so kind as to help her out so far...and Lyc was intent on returning the favor in some way.  The guard reached them looking at Aberi in disgust. "You again...you dirty little rat, I thought I told you never to come back here!" He made a sweeping gesture in an attempt to grab her. Lyc slid in front of him.

"Come on, she's just a bit drunk from the drink I bought her earlier. I will pay for the dishes she has broken."  She looked straight into his eyes pulling Aberi down off the table and behind her.
She lightly growled which was an indicator for the man to back off.

[Anonymous]

"I saw your mom the other day, she's so ugly I nearly had a heart attack," Aberi commented smugly to the guard who seemed reluctant to twitch his muscles at Lyc for the time being. Something was however twitching in his face as he glared right back. He finally turned his attention back to Lyc. "What do you want here? I have every right to throw you both out." He sounded rather upset, like he was wanting to pick a fight.

"There!" Aberi shrieked all of the sudden, pointing towards the bar where she spotted the owner emerging from one of the back rooms. The woman looked cross as she stormed towards them, Aberi was certain she preferred to be back there counting her money. "How often does this need to happen? Why is she in my club yet again?"

[Anonymous]

Lyc didn't falter in her stance at all, as the angry owner reached them. "She's with me. I'm new here, and met her in a bar. She brought me here, she had told me that I might find some work here." Lyc remained a safe barrier, standing between Aberi and the two that might harm her. Her ears were laid back against her hair and her tail was bristled, an announcement to all that she was in a sort of mood that messing with her wouldn't be the smartest idea.  She looked at the woman with the dark green hair, completely ignoring the hired help all together. "Might this be true? Is this a place where I might find some kind of work to do?"

[Anonymous]

"I overheard Geiler," said Aberi, looking as arrogant as she could from her position on the table. She normally didn't look down on many people, she was starting to feel a bit dizzy from doing so now. Unless it was the drink that was starting to reek havoc in her stomach. "Geiler was saying the Atari pilot screwed him over and the shipment was not yet in sight. I've met the coolest replacement in Cancer. I even risked my life to tell you!"

Something kept the bar owner silent for a while, she seemed a little taken aback despite hiding it well. She gave Aberi a murderous look before turning her gaze on Lyc again, this time with defiance. "Why would I trust you, stranger? I certainly don't trust the vermin you've brought with you."

[Anonymous]

Lyc looked at her, studying her eyes. "What reason does any one have to trust in a person that they have just met? Lets be honest, having any trust in me isn't the real issue. The issue is, that the last person you trusted with your shipment didn't make good. And so now you have an angry person, who very well just might begin taking his business else where. Unless you send some one else to correct the problem. I'm here to pull your butt and business out of the fire, all you have to do is give me a chance."  Lyc grabbed a drink off of a tray as a waitress passed by them.  She brought the glass up to her lips taking a small sip from it.

"What do you really have to lose? You can always send some one after me if I try to rip you off.  Though I have no real reason...or intention to do such a thing to you. I'm in need of money, not cargo...besides I wouldn't really know of any place to trade or sell off your cargo." She looked back at Aberi for a moment before returning her attention to the club owner. "And the so called vermin I have brought with me, led me here to you in the hopes that she might gain some sort of favor in your eyes."  Lyc licked the run off liquid from the corner of her lips. "Further more, if you choose to hire me she'll be going along with me. So you won't have to worry about her for quite some time."

Lyc reached out her hand, her lips splitting into a slight smile.  "The name is Lycurgus. But I go by Lyc.....so do we have a deal?"

[Anonymous]

Aberi kept her mouth shut for once, but stood tall on the table and between listening to Lyc's very convincing speech she glared at the two bouncers that were ready to rush for her if given the green light.

The owner had been listening to Lyc, not appearing to be very happy but she was thoughtful nonetheless. She did not accept Lyc's handshake at first but after a few moments reached forth with her own hand.  "Sangria del Mar, you get one chance to prove yourself and you had better not blow it. Give me your contact information here on the space station and I'll have the necessary information on the shipment sent to you within 10 hours. Please understand that you just got very lucky considering who you brought here with you. Feel free to tell the vermin that this doesn't buy her any favors."

[Anonymous]

Lyc smiled as she shook her hand. "I assure you that you won't be disappointed."  She glanced over at Aberi, and then back at Sangria del Mar. "That's an interesting name you have there. I have yet to acquire a hotel room, but I will have one soon. If you need to you can send the information to my ship, its computer will then rely the information to me via my personal portal able computer."  Lyc turned slightly as she helped Aberi down off of the table. "Is there any one hotel that you recommend as better than the rest? I really haven't taken the time to compare them." She placed the empty glass down on a tray as a waitress passed by them again.

Lyc's eyes moved between the two bouncers and then to Sangria. "Oh, and I know that none of you seem to like Aberi here. However I would appreciate it if from now on, both you and you're employees would show some kindness to my crew members. Just as you would to me."

[Anonymous]

Aberi was calming down now out of necessity rather than knowing her limits. She was trying not to throw up on the floor, something that would no doubt reflect badly on her. A part of it was the drink and the other relief over not having had Lyc killed. That could be considered positive!

"Many of my customers have been very pleased with The Castle Hotel, you should see if they have a free room," said Sangria. "It's in the Blue District near the largest commercial docking station, the one number 6." She grabbed a name card from a pocket on her pants and handed it to Lyc. "Here's my information if you need to reach me. Let me have the ship's ID on the system and I'll have the information sent to you that way."

[Anonymous]

Lyc took the card from her placing it in her pocket. She then quickly wrote down her ship's id and system down on a piece of paper and handed it to her.  "There you go. The Castle Hotel huh? We'll head over there right away." Lyc nodded happily at Sangria. "Just be sure to send the info to my ship...it'll then send it to me. Once I've gotten that, the cargo and a good bit of sleep, We'll depart on the mission." She turned and looked at Aberi. "I trust you won't keep us waiting too long. Its been a pleasure doing business with you, I trust I will receive payment once the job is done...if that's the case just say so in your message."

Lyc turned and began walking towards the door. "Come on Aberi, we need to get that hotel room..and some rest."

[Anonymous]

Aberi caught up with Lyc with speed, dashing past her and out of the bar. She slowed down to a brisk walk after cutting past a corner and promptly threw up in the nearest rubbish bin she could find. She couldn't believe she had walked out of this place on her own. She leaned back against a wall of a store and slid down to rest on the ground, glancing in Gold Rain's direction waiting to spot Lyc. That woman was really super cool and good at what she did. It made Aberi really pleased that Lyc had managed to get Sangria to employ her.

[Anonymous]

Lyc walked out of the building standing in front of the entrance for a few moments. Aberi had run out of there quickly, the poor girl must have been slightly terrified...even though she had put up a good front to say other wise.  She hoped that the girl wasn't planning on ditching her, it didn't matter if she was...Lyc wasn't going to let her.  Aberi seemed to know her way around, and to have at least some kind of connections, one sided though they may be. She was the kind of person Lyc needed, and she had to admit that she had taken a liking to the girl. Maybe hanging if Aberi hung out with her, she might gain more confidence in her self.

Lyc began walking forward looking for her. "Aberi? Come on, we need to get to that hotel."