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You walk towards the Fruvous Bar and Grill.
Fruvous Bar and Grill
Contents:
Tara
Clara
Target
Obvious exits:
Java Quarter
You walk here from the Java Quarter.
Niko, the pinnacle of suavity in his leather jacket, seems to be unaware of said suavity. He pads over to the bar to get a beverage--something brown, though that doesn't say much. His eyes scan the crowd almost automatically, and pause briefly on a certain pair. He casts a smile in that direction, but doesn't approach yet. There's a nifty song being played, see, and he must listen. And, natch, he can't walk and listen at the same time.
Clara takes another sip of the rum, then sets it aside carefully to blink slowly. "A thousand shares...a -person-?" She clears her throat slightly, one brow lifting. "That's...well. Ambitious," she decides after a moment. Of course, then she has to do a double take of definite appreciation. She may be his brother's lady, but she's by no means blind and Niko is defintiely suave looking. She does lift a hand and grin at him in greeting, too.
Tara blinks. "Oh, hell no! I'll be happy if I can get each person to buy just a couple shares. I'm hoping to sell a thousand -total-." She glances over her shoulder, and spots Niko, waving as well with a grin.
As the song ends, Niko snags his drink and ambles over to the table, rummaging
in a pocket as he does so. He replaces an envelope, and silently offers
Clara... uh, whatever it's been established is used to record music. A blue
crystal? The band, naturally, picks that moment to comment about bootlegging,
and Niko rolls his eyes. "Sorry to interrupt," he adds, with an apologetic
grin. "It's just that this'll never get delivered if I don't do it while I'm
thinking of it."
Clara exhales a decided sigh of relief that trails into a laugh. "Ooooh, okay. Far, far more reasonable," she agrees with a grin, shaking her head. "I was about to choke a little. I don't know too terribly many folk on Linnae that could afford that much." Meaning she knows them on Terra? "Tell you what, let me get my lawyers to look it over, and I'll consider an offer?" At Niko's greeting and offering, she brightens considerably. "Oh, -Niko-! Is it those songs we were talking about?" she asks, obviously delighted.
Tara arches an eyebrow curiously, but grins at Clara. "Oh, it's not just here I'm recruiting investors." She nods, looking pleased. "I appreciate that, Clara." The crystal gets a curious look too. "No worries, Niko. Join us?"
"Sure is," Niko replies cheerfully. "And I got threatened with blackmail if I
wouldn't make a copy for Aspasia, too," he adds, with a quiet snort. "There
are definitely disadvantages to having her on-planet. But I swiped the
blackmail material." Yes, he's smug. He is hot shitake mushrooms. With a nod
to Tara, he indicates a chair. "If I'm not interrupting? I can just as easily
go somewhere else, plenty of room here."
Clara nudges a chair out with one foot, grinning cheerfully. "Of course not, if you don't mind us discussing the deathly dull world of finances. Pull up a seat and share. What was this blackmail, and how do I get ahold of it?" she wonders, then winks back at Tara. "You're recruiting investors elsewhere?"
"Blackmail material? Do tell, Niko." Tara grins, then nods to Clara. "I've got
contacts all over the place. Through... judicious communications... I've been
able to spread the wealth, so to speak."
Niko slides into the indicated seat. "I have the blackmail material in my
pocket," he says, tucking hands into pockets to keep said blackmail material
safe. "It was part of my deal with Aspasia. Maybe she should be a politician
after all," he adds ruefully. "And I will show it to you both, on a couple
conditions--that you mention this to nobody else--well, except Riley, that's
okay, that I get it back when you're finished, and that I get to go hide on
the other side of the room while you're looking." There's an exaggerated
shudder at the mention of finance, though he grins. "Actually, that's good.
Maybe it'll put me to sleep, so I can go home."
Clara's smile fades into the thoughtful look again as she regards Tara for a
long moment, sipping at her drink again, then setting it aside with a slow
nod. "Interesting choice of terms," she murmurs, then pauses and brightens
abruptly at Niko. "Oooh, I think I can certainly make that promise. You
brought me happy music, you're wearing that fantastic leather jacket, and if
I get to mess up your hair, I'll agree to all those conditions," she explains
cheerfully.
Tara nods amiably to Niko, taking a sip from her beer. "You've got my promise. Who's Aspasia?" She grins over at Clara. "No worries. Everything's perfectly legal and above-board. It's just easier to get investors when said investors don't get paranoid about working with an ex-con. Hence judiciousness."
Niko leans forward, folded arms resting on the table, so his hair is more
easily accessible. Of course, he got a haircut in the not-too-recent past, so
it won't be as much fun. "Deal," he says amiably. Tara gets a flickered look
of curiosity--yes, he's listening more than he's letting on--and then he
replies, "My sister--the second-oldest of them. I figure, if we import enough
family, maybe we can overthrow the Council and set up another government." He
says this perfectly deadpan.
Clara leans forward to reach out and muss Niko's hair as much as possibly, well
and truly pleased. "Life is good. If you can drag your brother off duty and
send him home to me sometime tonight, I'll even get Niles to send an extra
batch of fudge for you." She nods amiably enough at Tara in wry agreement.
"He's not kidding. I figure in ten years, the Alliance will be run by this
one big Family, syndicate style."
Tara's eyebrows rise. "Sister... Ahhhh. She's here? She's not a SecOff too, is
she?" The pilot gestures toward the Complex, and laughs. "I'm not sure
whether to applaud that notion, or fear."
"Fear," Niko replies promptly to Tara, as he gets to his feet. "She's going to
school on the islands, though, not a SecOff. Going to teach politics if she
ever gets out of school. I think she likes it." He pauses, then, and nods
amiably at Clara. "Sure, I'll try to shoo him home once I'm finished here.
Depends what's happening, but they didn't yank me back from Bakaretsu..." He
pulls that envelope from his pocket. "The blackmail," he says, dropping it on
the center of the table before he, yes, flees. He does not want to watch the
reactions to the contents of the envelope. The exaggerated haste is, though,
pretty cute.
Clara trades a vastly amused look with Tara, then reaches for the envelope to carefully open it and start to pull out the contents. "I can't imagine what would have him so wildly embarrassed," she admits. "I've seen pictures of him as a child, and he was insanely adorable. Goodness, get little Niko, Greer, and G'ben all in the same room, and you'd have lethal cuteness."
Tara watches the fleeing with some amusement herself before turning curious eyes to the envelope stuff. "SecOffs and politicians," she murmurs. "Interesting family." She grins. "Got a cure for lethal cuteness, Clara?"
The contents is, in fact, more pictures of Niko as a small child. The first, in
fact, is the obligatory "'horribly embarrassing' small child in the bathtub"
shot. That one is probably the reason he's fleeing. Or maybe it's the next
one--goodness, he was a choirboy, as that particular picture proves. Of
course, choirboys aren't supposed to look quite that mischievous. Kinda makes
one look for the horns holding up the halo. There are more of the same, and
then one that's just sweet--Niko at about six, holding a baby so teeny that
she must be newborn, or pretty close to that. Aww. At the other end of the
room, Niko stares very firmly in the opposite direction, head cocked to
listen to the music.
Melt. Melt melt melt. "Oh, -goodness-," Clara breathes, shifting over so Tara
can see the pictures as well, expression one of overwhelmed 'awwwww'. "How
utterly...wow," she murmurs, staring for a long moment and grinning fondly
before flickering a look up at the man the little boy in the pictures became
and grins. "Not a single cure, especially not for women in the last decade of
childbearing years. Talk about a clock-ticker," she murmurs to the other
woman with a chuckle.
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Tara's own 'awwww' is quite verbal. "Oh heavens. So basically Niko's been
breaking hearts all his life. You suppose his kids'll come out with this
apparent cuteness gene too?" She laughs quietly, though she gives Clara a
thoughtful look. And then a wicked grin forms. "You suppose we can get these
pics copied before giving 'em back?"
Niko is still quite staunchly hiding from all these awwws. He doesn't like them, nope. And he's not cute! He's supposed to be dashing. Well, the jacket helps with that. (Indiana Nick and the Complex of Doom?) He leans lightly against the nearest table, apparently planning on staying where he is until he's summoned, or until his 'aww' radar has stopped flashing.
Niko is still quite staunchly hiding from all these awwws. He doesn't like them, nope. And he's not cute! He's supposed to be dashing. Well, the jacket helps with that. (Indiana Nick and the Complex of Doom?) He leans lightly against the nearest table, apparently planning on staying where he is until he's summoned, or until his 'aww' radar has stopped flashing.
Clara snickers quietly, shaking her head and continuing to look from pictures
to the current version of Niko. "He'd kill us both, and that would really
tick of Riley. No copying. And yeah, I'll say he has been. And have you seen
Ela? Those two are going to produce children of seriously lethal cute
factors. I'll have to hide from them," she decides. "Look at this one...I'll
bet that's one of his sisters, hmm?"
Tara snickers quietly. "Well, yeah, your death would probably have that effect. Especially since he probably couldn't get anybody to replace Niko if he ended up in jail." She shakes her head. "I don't think I ever have. I always figured she must be gorgeous." She cocks her head a little to peer at said pic, and nods with a light smile. "That'd be my guess. Maybe even Aspasia. The age factor'd be right, think, if she just started her studies." She sneaks a glance toward Niko, murmuring about taking a trip to Bakaretsu.
Niko is starting to fidget. It's too quiet. They must be plotting about him!
Aiee! (Just because he's paranoid doesn't mean you're not out to get him.) He
shoots a look over his shoulder, bushy brows quirking as if to ask if it's
safe to return to the table.
"You haven't? Trust me on this, Ela is hands down gorgeous. Niko's an excessively fortunate guy, because I'm pretty sure she adores him utterly too," Clara adds with a warm smile, obviously fond of the woman in question. "Awwww..." This is for the look from Niko, not the pictures, which she tucks in the envelope before waving him back over. "It's safe..." she calls.
Tara smiles slightly. "Yes. I'm sure she does." She nods over at Niko with an obviously fakely-innocent grin, confirming the safety factor.
Niko ambles back to the table, hands tucked in his pocket. One hand emerges from hibernation to take the envelope back. And he's very trusting. He doesn't even count the picures before he does this. "Remember," he says, with a grin. "Just between us. If Anya hears about these, she'll nag--er, that is, she'll -persuade- me to give her one for the picture board." There's a look to make sure Anya didn't mysteriously appear to catch that statement.
"Niko, you -ought- to let her," Clara notes with a terribly fond grin, reaching
up to tap her fingers on his coat sleeve in a mock-slap. "You, my friend,
were painfully adorable, and that picture of you with... was that your
sister? Wow. Just wow."
Tara grins. "Just between us, yep. Hell, Niko, it's not like Anya'd take my word for it anyhow even if I shouted it from the roof of the Complex. Besides, with those plastered on that bulletin board, you'd probably be underestimated." She nods her agreement with Clara. "Adorable. Downright cute." A snicker escapes. "No matter what Greer says."
Niko pulls a face, shaking his head. "Adorable--that's almost as bad as 'cute.'
I'm not cute!" The protest is automatic. "Greer is an amazingly perceptive
kid, she's absolutely right. And there's no way I'm letting Anya get these.
No way. It's 'spasia, though, yeah. That one's the one that isn't blackmail.
She's a lot more evil than she looks in the picture." He takes a step towards
the door. "But I should probably go see if Ela's maybe still awake. Probably
not, but it's worth a try. And you ladies can go back to talking about
disturbing financial stuff."
Clara snags her nearly empty glass and lifts it cheerfully in farewell. "Give
Ela my best, and you are hearby under orders to kiss her when you get home.
Unless she's asleep, and then you get to stare in dumbfounded awe." Gee, bet
you never heard -those- orders in boot camp? "G'night, Adorable Man!" She
leans aside to Tara. "We really should get him a superhero costume for that.
Adorable Man."
Tara snickers, waggling her fingers at the SecOff. "Maybe next birthday. Hey,
don't forget to check on the Chief, Niko."
Niko lifts a hand to twoing one of Clara's curls. "See," he grumbles amiably,
"-This- is why I shouldn't have shown the pictures. Feh. And I'll kiss her
even if she's asleep. Won't wake her. And if I do wake her," he adds,
starting for the exit, "Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing." Wink wink.
"Check on the Chief, kiss or stare at my wife. These are easy things. Good
night, ladies." He's going to leave you now. Fortunately, he didn't hear that
aside, or he'd be -really- afraid.
You walk towards the Java Quarter.