Can't Buy Me Love
Posted on Sun Feb 6th, 2022 @ 9:12am by The Narrator & Chloe Waltz PhD & Kindra Graham
Mission:
Li Shen's Bazaar
Location: Li Shen's Bazaar
Timeline: Day 3 - sometime after the bookstore and dancing :)
'Charlie's Junkyard' was just exactly the right name for the sprawling mess of tables, shelves and hanging space filling an uneven dog-leg of a corner of Li Shen's. Multi-coloured glass misted the light so that it felt like an old-fashioned thrift store despite its location in the wilds of the Rim, and the clientelle varied through all flavours of human. Every inch of the place had something, a myriad of trash to treasure ranging from cheap and cheerful to insanely expensive.
As the two women became caught in the store's gravity, a twenty-something Inuit man was mid-conversation with the grizzled, dark-skinned female owner, their voices occasionally loud enough to be picked up by curious ears.
The little shop struck Kindra as a fascinating mixture of the strange and interesting, just the sort of place to kill time whilst also enjoying the thrill of potential discovery. Kindra had just caught up to Chloe when they found Charlie's Junkyard, and she paused to listen to the conversation between the proprietor and a would-be customer.
"I don't have that kind of money," the man complained. "If she were here, you'd let her have it for far less."
"Mebbe. But, she ain't here," Charlie returned, with a gruff casualness. "On account of she's dead. Long dead, laddie."
Slender fingers lightly caressed a holstered handgun, but didn't lift it into action. The man sighed and turned his back on the shop's owner to face outwards where he might be seen by anyone present. Tears welled in his eyes as frustration took its toll.
This was a situation that was none of Kindra's business. She knew that. And yet, her curiosity was peaked and she didn't think she could resist. In a whisper to Chloe, she said, "I'm going to speak to them."
Chloe raised her brow a touch, unsure if that was a good idea. But, well, Kindra would know better than she did. With a slight, almost imperceptible shrug the mechanic glanced at the situation and continued to follow the Companion.
He walked forward, the young man's gaze blinded by the tears that refused to stop, and as his pace picked up in a need to exit this place and gather his emotions, bumped directly into Kindra. She could easily catch the scent of ship fuel, strong on his skin and clothing. She could hear his breath catch as he mumbled an apology and attempted to skirt around her towards the exit.
Kindra took hold of the man's arm to steady herself, surprised but not hurt by the impact. As a companion, she was accustomed to her presence being noticed, if not always acknowledged. Without letting go, she said, "Pardon me, sir, but are you all right? Would you sit with me and my friend for a moment? We can talk."
"M'nottasir," mumbled the upset soul, but he sucked in a breath of pure surprise as he looked directly into that beautiful visage. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry, ma'am," he continued, pulling against Kindra's hold even as he verbally stumbled. "M'alright. S'nuthin. M'okay."
Charlie took note from her position behind the counter, yet didn't interact. There was implied wealth in these two, and she suspected the profession of the one speaking was clear enough by her dress and confidence. Perhaps today would be a decent payday after all. Worth a wait to find out. Cleary the boy had finally picked up on those nuances too as he finally pulled his voice and brain together.
"I don't have enough money to sit with you, ma'am," said the young man, pale amber eyes pleading as he stopped struggling.
Kindra did not allow her dismay to show on her face. That was the second time today someone had assumed she was offering her services as a companion simply because she spoke to them. After the last two-and-a-half weeks spent on Fortune's Echo, she'd almost forgotten how many folks thought companions were just expensive whores. She noted the shop proprietor's attention on them and smoothly said, "Since I'm the one doing the inviting, perhaps I intend to pay you for the pleasure of your company."
Chloe didn't say anything; in fact, she seemed almost intentionally disinterested in the situation. But she did step over towards a table with three chairs and silently sit down at one, as if already under the assumption that the young man would join them.
Despite the clear internal gravity of his personal situation, the young man smiled. A Companion - he had assumed such anyway by the manner of her dress - wished to even consider sitting with him and sharing time without payment? This was an entirely new experience, and only really the second time he had even conversed with someone of Kindra's calibre.
"Okay," he conceded, gaze rising from the floor just a little in shameful modesty. "I thank you. But," he added with a swift surety that accompanied his boosted ego. "No payment. For either of us."
He took the seat across from the Echo's engineer and held out his hand to each lady in turn. "My name is Eska," he said. "I apologise for my outburst."
"I'm Kindra." She took his hand and inclined her head in gracious acceptance of his unnecessary apology. "Quite understandable, you seem upset." She tried to identify the scent on Eska's skin and clothing - ship fuel, she thought. Chloe always smelled clean to her, like soap, but Kindra had noticed that smell in the engine room. She took a seat at the table between the other two.
Eska's face clouded rapidly and overtly. He was indeed upset, but that wasn't these fine women's problem.
"I'm sposed to pick something up," he half-clarified. "Don't have enough credits." Then, swiftly, and with a demonstrative waving of hands, he added. "Not asking for help." His voice steeled a little along with his expression as he wiped his face on his sleeve. "I'll take another job, come back when I do."
Chloe kept her gaze on the background, as if pointedly not paying strong attention to the man. She didn't know if he really meant it when he said that he wasn't asking for help. Chloe was never good at telling those things, and she was fully aware of that fact. So instead she would be relying on Kindra here.
"Of course I understand," said Kindra solemnly. There was no price to be put on a person's dignity, and it seemed that whatever Eska had come to claim had deep personal significance to him. "May I ask, what it is that you planned to buy at Charlie's Junkyard today?"
He thought about it for a moment, looking from one woman to the next as if his opinion of them had suddenly fallen into a jeopardy of trust. Was that innocent, stunningly beautiful face trying to cheat him? No, that was crazy. Eska looked down at the table in a moment of personal shame. He was getting paranoid for no reason.
"My aunt's diary," he said. "It has a lot of her personal artwork in it."
She saw that flicker of suspicion on Eska's face. Kindra glanced at Chloe and wondered what the engineer's perspective would be – probably something thoughtful and logical. What if by trying to help this man, she was doing him more harm than good? Helping her clients find their own path to whatever brought them enjoyment was one of the most satisfying aspects of her work as a companion, but she was always invited to help.
Did his aunt want him to have that diary? Chloe never had the luxury of a family that liked to share their emotions. Still, it seemed to mean a lot to him. Chloe just gave a slight shrug when Kindra glanced towards her, unsure of the right course of action.
Kindra reached out and lay her hand on Eska's forearm, a gesture intended to comfort and reassure. "I heard the proprietress – Charlie - say someone had died. Was that your aunt? Am I correct in thinking the diary is a keepsake, an item important to you as a remembrance of your aunt, but not intrinsically valuable? How did Charlie get possession of the diary?"
Calmer now since both these strangers were, Eska allowed Kindra's touch without comment or concern. It was good, he told himself internally, to have someone to talk to, and it was better he handled this situation coolly and professionally. He considered his words carefully before he began to address those questions.
"Yes," the young man said first. "My aunt died in the war." A while ago now, as they would know. Now, here came his chance to lie or tell the truth and that prompted another moment of deeper thought. "Sorta," Eska answered Kindra as he opted for honesty. "Yes, the diary is a very important keepsake because my aunt mattered a great deal to me. But... it's also not worthless. My aunt was a talented artist." A soft sigh preempted his next sentence. "I don't know how Charlie came by it, it's taken me some considerable time and effort to locate." He lowered his head. "I guess that's why I got so frustrated..."
"Is it-" Chloe finally spoke. "Is it that you want the diary? Or that you don't want others to have the diary?" Perhaps it was not an important distinction, but to Chloe it was. If this man just wanted his aunt's writings, perhaps it might be cheaper to see if they could copy it. Wait - did they even have copiers in places like this? But if he was more concerned with keeping his aunt's private life out of public hands, then there was no way around it. Chloe herself was not much of a sentimental person, and the thought that he might care about the diary itself, rather than its contents, hardly occurred to her.
That was an excellent question, focusing the discussion on Eska's desired outcome. Kindra nodded encouragingly, held back her thoughts about recovering the diary, and waited for Eska's answer.
"A little bit of both," admitted Eska, truthfully. "I've never read it, but my aunt... she was what most people refer to as complicated. I'm curious, and Charlie... she knows that well enough." He looked over in the direction of the shop's owner who was currently serving another customer and paying them no attention at all. There was more to it than that, but he had zero intention of telling these two strangers everything he suspected. "I'm kinda worried what others might do if they get it, what they might find out."
"Sounds like you're saying the diary may contain family secrets." The details of which he apparently didn't want to discuss, something Kindra could understand. Her own family harbored secrets as well.
Eska offered up an uncertain shrug. Truly he didn't know either way, but he'd far rather said tome was in his possession than wandering around in the Verse outside of close family. "Maybe," he conceded.
Chloe nodded along silently as Kindra spoke. She herself had not been privy to any of her family's secrets, but there were some things that she herself had done that she wouldn't want to be shared in a stolen diary.
"Do you have any legal claim to the diary? For example, were you a beneficiary of your aunt's estate? Did she say she wanted you to have it, or that she wanted it to stay in the family?" She canted her head thoughtfully. "Though a lawyer to present a legal claim would cost more than Charlie is probably asking for the book. Still, it's an angle that might give you a bit of persuasive leverage."
"I don't know," Eska admitted, unsure how that kind of thing was decided. "I didn't expect to have to fight for it, I just wanted to protect it. My aunt didn't have any children and it wasn't mentioned in her will. I could say she wanted me to have it," he suggested. "But I'd rather not get lawyers involved. I probably shouldn't be talking to you about it," he added, begrudgingly. "But you seem like nice enough folks."
"Any mentions or records of the diary on the Cortex either? Those can be used to establish claim sometimes." Chloe suggested. She knew more than she would have preferred about legal procedures, but even so, she knew more about the cortex and technology than she did about law.
"It's only referenced as a 'diary' in the listings of Charlie's Junkyard," Eska answered. "Like I said, it took ages to find where it was. Word of mouth mostly, talking to friends and fellow Alliance soldiers over time. Mebbe I could sell a piece of the artwork, if I could just get a look at it and see what's there..." He pushed his palms against the table. "But I should go," he stated. "I've taken up enough of your time."
Hearing that Eska had been an Alliance soldier didn't change Kindra's opinion of him. She'd made him uncomfortable, he hadn't asked for her help, and often there was a fine line between helping and making matters worse. Kindra had thought of a potential solution, but if she conveyed it, was she helping or hurting him? "Eska, I may have a suggestion for an approach you could take for convincing Charlie to sell you the diary at the price you offered. But you'd need to look at the transaction from her point of view and tell a convincing story."
"Is it possible the diary was looted from your aunt's body on the battlefield?" asked Kindra, gently. "Or if not, do you think you could tell Charlie that it was?"
Eska's eyes locked with Kindra's, backlit with intelligent hope. "It's possible," he said, though he was pretty sure that wasn't the case, something unprovable didn't necessarily need to matter truthwise. "I'm not the best liar," he admitted, "but I could try. You think that might work?
"Businesses operate on the principle of supply and demand for each sale," said Kindra. It was one of the reasons companions were paid as they were for their services. "From what I overheard the two of you saying, Charlie knows you want the diary enough to raise more money and come back. Meanwhile she can look for another buyer. But the future of a business depends on its reputation."
Kindra made a subtle gesture toward the curio shop. "That is an eclectic assortment of merchandise. It could be that Charlie imports unappreciated items at a low cost from core world charity shops. It may be that poor and destitute individuals sell her family treasures so they can eat. Perfectly legal and moral methods for Charlie to build her inventory." She paused to make sure he was following before she got to the main gist of her idea. "Or, it could be that Charlie is a fence for battlefield scavengers that loot personal keepsakes from fallen soldiers. I have no idea if that is true, but a rumor to that effect would hurt her reputation."
It took a couple of minutes of silence for Eska to process all of this. His intrigued expression shifted through cognisance and consideration as the young man internally did the emotional and merchantile maths. Amber eyes looked at Kindra, as if finally seeing her now for far more than that stunningly beautiful human packaging. He hadn't considered - never being able to engage professionally or otherwise with her Madrassa colleagues - that Companions might also be worthy foes for more than carnal adventures.
"So," Eska checked his facts in a quiet voice, his face as close to Kindra's as he dared to place it. "I make up a story, and she drops the price?" He stood up from his chair and looked in Charlie's direction, there being no immediate sign that the store's owner had heard any of this conversation. "I like it," Eska said, a firm nod towards the table solidifying his decision.
"You've got it. I recommend that you keep the story simple. Claim only information you could have learned from your aunt's friends so that Charlie can't demand firsthand proof. Repeat your offer of a fairprice," said Kindra, and smiled. An entire script formed in her mind, but this was Eska's goal to achieve. Her goal was only to help him consider an alternative path.
Kindra got to her feet, making ready to leave even though she was curious how this would turn out. But if Eska failed, her presence might embarrass him. If he succeeded, it should be his victory alone. She squeezed Eska's shoulder. "Best of luck to you, my friend."
The young man mustered up a hopeful smile and offered Kindra a confirmation nod while blushing just a little at the hand on his shoulder. A real Companion! There was an uncertain confidence in his words as he responded to her supportive coaching, but no sign of tears this time.
"Thank you, ma'am," Eska said, simply and he looked from Kindra to Chloe to try and encompass them both in that gratitude. Then his gaze lingered back on Kindra as he spoke again. "You remind me a bit of my aunt, if'n you don't mind me saying. She was real clever with words. I ain't got anywhere near the magic she possessed.
Yup, Eska considered, as he walked from table to shop counter with a tiny bit more swagger than he'd possessed the first time. This time I'm gonna make Aunt Anouk proud. This time he was walking away with that diary and jumping into a whole lotta learning.
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