Nowhere to Run
S E V E R A L • H O U R S • B E F O R E • M I D N I G H T • O N • D E N O N
"Denon wears her neon like a crown..."
A smile seemed like a permanent fixture on the teen's face, fading only slightly as she pulled at the bandage on her left wrist. The design lived in her head for weeks, winding up on the margins of notes and doodles in her holojournal, earning her more than a few glares from Luminous Sun or an eyeroll from another Z-Runner. Not even they could dampen her spirits, or the urge to get the stylized blue flame as her second tattoo. The bandage came off without protest, even though the instructions told her to leave it on for at least another day, revealing the design underneath. It was still a little red, but no longer the raw and puffy gore she had peeked at this morning. It redoubled her grin as Daiya cleaned her wrist and the adhesive marks, twirling in feet covered in textured leggings while she fetched her discarded towel from the bed.
Deeming herself decent enough for the call, Daiya leaned over to fetch her datapad. She pulled up Brie's contact, tapping in to start a call to her best friend. The teen spun away as it connected, still swaying to the music as she lowered the chain necklace over her head. The holo of her scrapper friend appeared, saying something the young shadowrunner couldn't make out. "What?" Daiya asked, before realizing and turning down the music. She grinned at Brie, giggling at the error in giddy euphoria that she was almost certain would have annoyed Brie if they were together in person already. "You're coming tonight, right?"
Of course she was. Daiya knew Brie had just gotten back in to Denon, that's why she had been so frantic to get off Belazura. Zenie understood, even if the little heiress should have been the second on the barely-still-fifteen year old's invite list. The Belazuran girl's birthday gift to her was a cover mission that would keep Sun occupied long enough not to miss Daiya for a few days. "We're gonna meet at the Blue Flame, and then we paint this town PINK!"
"Blue Flame? You kidding?! I will be there! If you promise to not order Port in a Storm again!"
Daiya gaped at the blonde's comment, looking very blue in the haze of the hologram. She placed her hand on her chest, drawing a gasp in mock offense to the accusation. "Oh my stars, Brie, that was one time!" She grinned, dropping the pretense along with her arm, revealing half of the outfit she wore tonight. "Fine. Dress to impress, I'm inviting someone you need to meet."
"Wait! What? No you don't!"
Laughter followed the teen as she danced away from the holo, still moving to the beat of absent music, to grab the jacket hanging behind the refresher door. It was plain, business-y, and with any other clothes Daiya would have gagged at how drab it looked. Paired with her other choices, though... "Yep! It's gonna be fuuuuuuuuuuun. You'll see."
"Hm, you haven't invited Ahxel, have you?"
The former infiltration partner to that Cabral party rolled her eyes, leaning over the bed to glare into the datapad's holorecorder. "Nope! He's totally new to you, and cute. But I'm not telling any more, you'll just have to wait and see."
Daiya enjoyed teasing her friend, deriving splendid pleasure from the older teen's deep sigh. "Alright... Because it's you then!"
"Exactly." The teen beamed at Brie from across the comms. She stood up to don the jacket, completing most of her outfit for the night. Daiya stood back, tossing her arms out in a Yirt pose with one hand tipped down, showing off all of herself to the holorecorder. "Incredible me. See you there."
She waved at the holo, then moved close again to shut it off but not before Brie had a chance to get the last word in. "You are hopeless!"
Daiya just stuck her tongue out at the older girl, and punched the holo-comm off. The seventeen-year-old wouldn't be able to hold onto her lead for much longer, one more night and Daiya would be hot on her heels. The teen danced into the refresher again, using the mirror to finish up her hair and makeup, ensuring that she'd be as hot as she felt tonight.
Tomorrow she turned sixteen, and Daiya was only hours away!
B L U E • F L A M E
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
"What the feth is that supposed to mean?"
The sign she passed was explicit enough in its laconic wording. Its implication swirled in the birthday girl's head from the moment she walked into the Blue Flame, a tavern that had become as much of a home as a favorite haunt to her. Unfamiliar beings stalked by, crossing rooms with purpose unknown but acting like the bar's staff did. Her eyes scoured the room, panic encroaching her earlier excitement as she sought the comfort of a familiar face or a friendly wave. Daiya could see none of her attendees for the evening yet, and aside from the regulars, it was hard to spot anyone who didn't make her feel as if she'd just walked into the wrong neighborhood.
At last! Daiya spied the long face of Meeno, looking longer than usual. Without any alternatives, the teen made her way over to the usually-taciturn Muun, barely avoiding collision with a Nikto taking long strides toward a rear booth. She was surprised not to see him behind the bar, he looked out of place, and his body overlong without the wooden counter taking up half. He barely noticed her as she approached, taking a long time to turn away from the menial tasks he could usually do without looking. Concern drew itself on Daiya's face at the distressing scene. "What's going on, Meeno? Did Shenn hire a new staff and manager?"
The Muun just tipped his long head toward the kitchen, where a Weequay man was having a boistrous conversation with Odri. Any satisfaction the teen might have felt at seeing the acerbic woman squirm was lost in her own stomach clenching. Daiya squeezed in around the gesticulating stranger, only managing a few words out once the attention turned to her. "Are you the—"
"Welcome, welcome! You seem a little young to be in here, but everyone seems a little young to these eyes. Ha Ha! You've come for drinks? Food? Some companionship? Ha Ha! Tycho doesn't judge, he just wants what we all want. To get paid...now, tell me young miss, what is your pleasure?"
"Where's Shenn?" The blessed words were out of her mouth the moment the Weequay's closed, sparing her from too much thought. The man was too much of a rambler, and not the good kind. Daiya didn't need Force magic or a vision to feel the slime oozing from his pores. Whatever it was about Tycho, it instantly put the teen on guard.
"Shenn? Shenn? Everybody asks about Shenn. What about Tycho Ohnaka, when does he get his due? I will tell you, young miss, right now!" The Weequay stamped his foot, his gravely voice grinding against Daiya's ears as he over-emphasized the point. Her placid face turned slightly inward, the implications of the man's ramblings starting to form a picture of dread in her mind. "It's been sixteen years and that old Chandy still won't pay up what's mine. He's like a, a, what'cha call 'em around here? A Corpo. Corpo! Greedy kark with a stick up his ass, but always telling you that you're 'like family to him'! Weeeeell, I decided I was done waiting for my inheritance, it was time to seize my moment."
The teen swallowed hard.
"And I did! Ha Ha."
Chit. Daiya felt the bile rising in her throat, her fingers curling in against themselves. She had practically grown up in the Blue Flame, and Shenn was practically a grandfather. Everything the man said sounded like a perversion of what the teen knew to be true. Shenn Rosham was like family to everyone he met, and this tavern was his home he gladly opened to all. To cross Shenn was excessively hard, Daiya couldn't fathom what would possess the jolly, old proprieter to become the kind of demon described by Tycho.
She decided she didn't like Tycho. At all.
"It's his now," Odri clarified, finally speaking. Daiya could have sworn she heard an explosion, but it was only the sound of Tycho starting up again.
"Every. Square. Meter of it! Ha Ha!" The Weequay's smirk could have thrown planets out of alignment. "And soon, a new name! Stick around, watch me glow, and enjoy Tychoon's, young miss!"
Tycho wandered off, and after a pained look so did Odri, leaving a hard pit in the bottom of Daiya's lonely stomach. She wandered aimlessly back out into the barroom, contemplating the worst gift she could have received tonight. The Blue Flame was conquered. Shenn was gone, and she hoped unharmed. But worst of all?
Her birthday was ruined.
Brie Jaxx
Cassus Akovin
Doc Painless
Yula Perl
Cartri Keswoll
(Joint dialogue adorably provided by Brie Jaxx )
(Joint dialogue adorably provided by Brie Jaxx )
It's Daiya's Birthday, and plans have fallen apart when the meeting spot of the Blue Flame is taken over with a mostly new staff and owner: Tycho Ohnaka. Only Odri and Meeno are left.
Obviously this isn't going to sit well with our birthday girl. She's quite distraught that Shenn might be dead, or worse, and that her favorite watering hole is now in the possession of a smug, new owner. Whatever leverage Tycho used to get the Blue Flame, it can't be all that legit or defensible. There's probably plenty of dirt to dig up, or palms to be greased, to get someone to help oust this new boss.
The Blue Flame needs help if it's going to survive. All it has is you six.
Good luck!
(Feel free to useHondo Tycho Ohnaka as you like, and the Blue Flame staff as NPCs. There's no plan for how this ends.)
Obviously this isn't going to sit well with our birthday girl. She's quite distraught that Shenn might be dead, or worse, and that her favorite watering hole is now in the possession of a smug, new owner. Whatever leverage Tycho used to get the Blue Flame, it can't be all that legit or defensible. There's probably plenty of dirt to dig up, or palms to be greased, to get someone to help oust this new boss.
The Blue Flame needs help if it's going to survive. All it has is you six.
Good luck!
(Feel free to use