The Cover Story (Omega)

"AN' DON'T COME BACK 'TIL Y'DRIED UP, FUCKFACE!"

Kirok gave one last solid kick to the batarian's backside, sending him sprawling to the deck plating. The batarian stumbled around on all fours for a bit before woozily standing up, and staggered into a nearby alley to consume whatever it was that had destroyed his blood/brain barrier.

The krogan huffed under his breath. Goddamn drunks. If they weren't pawing the girls, they were walking out on their tabs, and none of them ever put up a decent fight. The pervs weren't any fun, either - they just sort of stared and bothered the girls, then folded up like beach chairs whenever someone stood up to them. And the thugs? Feh. The thugs were the worst. Coming in here with a cheap carnifex and a dozen platinum rings, throwing money around, trying to make this place 'their joint'... and then screaming like klixen larva when they actually had to get into a fight.

Worthless. What was the fun of bouncing if you couldn't get a decent fight in once in a while?

"It's good for your cover," Shirin said. Yeah, okay. That made sense. Be seen, make it look like you don't need to be a criminal, and make sure you have someone who can alibi for you if things get hot. Yeah, yeah, that was great. But working for the Band was a lot more satisfying than standing outside this club and keeping an eye on -

"Hey! Hey you! No open containers in here! This place ain't BYOB! Finish it up or pour it out, we ain't runnin' a free show here!"

Ever since the installation of a krogan bouncer, the Periwinkle Paradise had been remarkably more tolerable than ever before. Silel actually had time between organizing the dancers and checking the books to sit back and observe the club, which in turn had led to a boon in marketing developments. It was amazing what having a little spare time could do; at this rate, she'd be running one of the top clubs on Omega within the year.

The fact that Silel had worked extensively in the business and had zero tolerance for bullshit helped more than one might expect. From her perch at the bar, she grinned as she watched Kirok at work. The old krogan was tossing out thugs left and right, weeding out the assholes and leaving in turn a much higher class of customers. It meant better tips for everyone around, and, more importantly, better compensation for the club.

With a satisfied grin on her face, Silel reclined against the bartop - legs crossed at the knee, so that she could show off her new heels - and gestured for one of the servers.

"Jan, soon as you see Kirok's hands empty, send him over here, will you? He's due for his break." She said, then reached out to snag a bright pink martini from the bar.

"No, y'can't take pictures! Y'want pictures, go t'th' extranet site we got? I DON'T CARE IF Y'HAVE T'PAY FOR IT, THERE'S OTHER PORN ON TH' EXTRANET FER FREE! LORD! WHAT DO YEW WANT?"

Kirok turned on the poor server like a wrathful natural disaster. The asari quailed a bit at the sudden outburst, but she'd worked with krogan before.

"It's, uh, Sil. She wants to see you, Kirok. Break time."

"Well, fuck, s'bout time. Goddamn, I see another one'a these assholes I'm gonna start shootin' 'em on general principles. Goddamn drunk perverts all rassum frassum frassum..."

Simmering with rage, Kirok stomped up to the bar where Silel perched, taking time to give a fearsome yellow stare at some of the rowdier-looking customers. They weren't doing anything, but that didn't mean they didn't need a reminder to behave.

"Hey, Sil. I just wanna say dat workin' fer a strip joint's a lot different then visitin' one. Goddamn, you gotta lotta perverts here, girl. Just... augh."

Huh. The martini was good, but it could have used a little more citrus. Silel made a mental note to add a lemon to the recipe. She was still ruminating on the beverage when Kirok arrived, all fire and brimstone.

"What'd you expect?" she asked. "It's a strip club. People come here for a good time, but then there's the regulars. And there's the regulars, and the regulars. You get all kind of freaks in a club, but if they wanna' toss me their money, I sure as shit am not gonna' complain."

Recalling the drink she'd made the krogan last time, Silel wiggled off of her stool and slid around behind the bar, then started mixing away. Kirok was doing good work; she figured he deserved a solid drink now and then.

"You holdin' up okay, big guy?"

Kirok drummed his fingers on the counter-top, glowering at nothing in particular.

"Meh. I'm fine. I just weren't expectin' so many of 'em, and all of them stone stupid, too. If I didn't let 'em bring in a pistol yesterday, what makes 'em think I'll let 'em do it today? But noooo, today's different, an' I gotta spend five minutes listen t'em jaw on about it before they finally give it up. Goddamn idiots."

He had a right to complain. Silel could remember when she was nineteen and first started working the clubs; it had gotten to her then, too. Hell, last year, the club she now owned was a dump filled with assholes that regularly groped her. There had been no security.

After topping the glass off with the same thick, red liquid as before, Silel slid it to Kirok. "Pass me the martini," she said, then continued, "We're just getting back on our feet. As soon as we start gettin' the real mercs and hardasses in here, it'll clear out, believe me.

"I used to have a customer like that back in the day, when I was first on Omega. Clubs clean up real quick when somebody with thirty weapons strapped to 'em struts in." She took a sip from her drink. "Give it a bit. Word'll get out, then the scumbags will have to scram. Not all of 'em, but the worst ones, yeah. It's good for the girls, too - a lot of those guys will pick out a dancer they like and request her, and man, when they do that? You get tips like mad."

Kirok looked at Sil, face full of surprise.

"Wait. I'm s'posed t'let guys with guns in? I've been kickin' 'em out!"

A snort of laughter sounded off from behind the martini glass. Silel lowered it from her lips - not wanting to spill on her dress (which was actually not black, for a change) - then shook her head at the krogan and grinned.

"No, no, you're doin' fine. Look, just use your judgment, okay? If he looks like a shady little shitheel, don't let him in. If you see some professionals, though... make an exception. Let them know not to use 'em unless absolutely necessary, but hey, if they've got a lot of credits and a reputation big enough to max..."

She shrugged.

"I'll try and get some appearances in, too. Dunno who to bring in, though."

"Uh-huh. Well, okay. Yer th' boss."

A part of Kirok's brain spoke up. You now have two bosses, and they are both women. One of them is the daughter of your old boss, and the other is sleeping with your best friend. Kirok, your life is nuts.

Another part told the first part to shut up and die in the storm of alcohol that was being poured down his throat. Thoughts like that always made him consider the nature of the universe, which made his head hurt.

Speaking of Cal...

"Hey, yew talked t'Cal recently? I've been tryin' t'get him onna horn, but he ain't responded to enny of m'calls. Ain't seen 'im in near-on a month, neither. What th' hell's goin' on with him, ennyways? What, is he corin' out th' damn sewers with a toothbrush er somethin'?"

Damn. Krogan knew how to take alcohol like a champ; Silel quickly started making another round for Kirok, just so she'd have it ready he finished the first one.

"In passing," answered the human. "He's just been workin' a lot of shifts to try and rebuild his savings, and then, you know... he gets home and he's tired, doesn't want to go out. I'll tell him to call you when I see him next."

Silel squinted at Kirok thoughtfully. "Speaking of, this thing payin' enough for you? I dunno' what your expenses are like these days."

Kirok started looking at one of the dancers, trying not to meet Sil's eye. Also, great tits.

"M'finances 're doin' okay. Still had some money left over from th' Palaven thing, an' all that bounty huntin' I did 'fore I met enny of you guys. Don't worry 'bout that. Kirok can take care of hiself."

Also, I'm a professional criminal now, an' that pays better'n ennythin' you could pay me, but I ain't tellin' you this because Shirin told me to an' then I'd hafta listen to you lecture at me, Kirok pointedly did not say.

The drink disappeared with a thunderous belch.

"Alright, 'nother one. How 'bout you? You makin' 'nuff here t'earn a livin, yet?"

Well, if he said his finances were fine, then they must have been fine. Silel had a sneaking suspicion that Kirok had another investment lying around, but she wasn't about to start digging; he'd allowed her the courtesy of privacy, and she supposed she owed him the same.

Another drink slid across the table and into the krogan's waiting hand. Silel had been ready.

"Yeah, it's fine," she answered. "Never made much money before, to be honest, y'know? This is the most income I've ever had on a steady rail. I left home pretty young, never went to college, you know how it goes. Most of what I had when we met was from the divorce settlement."

Kirok's eyeridges met in the middle of his face, wrinkling his reptilian snout into a confused expression.

"Wait. You were married? I don't recall y'tellin' me about that?"

Silel stared.

"Kirok, I've told you a million fucking times. Hell, I told you when I hired you! We were married for two years, separated, got divorced, then he dropped off the fuckin' map after I got my half."

"Well, shit, I can't keep track of everythin' everybody says! I'm over six centuries old, woman! Things kinda blur t'gether after a while! Damn."

"You're an idiot."

And Silel was a liar, but at that instant she spoke the truth. A roll of her eyes preceded her taking a gulp of the martini. "Yeah, dumbass, I was married. Went to Illium for a few months after the divorce, then I tried to go to the Citadel, and you know the rest of the story."

"Huh."

Kirok thought about that, then shrugged.

"Eh, well, y'made out of it okay, sounds like. Sounds mostly painless, that's lucky. Ain't like y'married some kinda serial murderer or a freakjob or somethin', somethin' you'd hafta see onna news alla time. Trust me, that gets awkward after th' first fifty years or so."

A contemplative expression briefly floated over the krogan's face, then fled for parts unknown.

"Man. I wonder what she's doin' right now. Eh, prolly still locked up."

"He was an asshole, but yeah, nothing like that."

Silel's brow knit with thought as she thought back to the, er, not-so-good old days. Her first years away from home had been filled with a fair amount of petty theft, an incredible number of bad decisions, a broken marriage, and an affair. Ugh. How did she start living in a soap opera?

"Now's my turn - you were married?" the human tilted her head to the side curiously. "Never thought you were the type. And don't give me shit, because you've never mentioned this to me before. I didn't even know krogans got married."

Her eyes flicked briefly towards the entrance, where a rowdy group of bachelors had gathered, but a batarian bouncer was tending to them in Kirok's absence.

"What? Yeah, I got married. What, y'think I was single for six centuries? Hell no. No, Ol' Kirok got married. See, it was way back when I was only two hundred years old..."

Kirok's eyes unfocused and he entered what his friends and associates had started calling 'story mode.' This was a terrible time, as it meant that Kirok - who was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor the most adept of storytellers - was about to engage in another rambling diatribe about his long life that would probably end up miles away from the original topic of conversation and would put everyone to sleep.

Several of the dancers who had come up to order drinks suddenly veered away.

Oh, Christ.

Silel's eyes glazed over. She could feel every ounce of love leave her body, as though a void of happiness had manifested beneath he feet. As Kirok started talking - oh god, the talking - Silel glanced off to the side and examined the club, all the while rapidly concocting another beverage. She needed way more tequila if she was going to listen to this shit.

"Uh, wow, that's an interesting story," she eventually replied, when the wheels of time had stopped and Kirok, at long last, had finished his trilogy. "Hey, do you think I should get a bigger gun?"