[PNPC] Keska – The Tsun, the Myoone, and the Truth
Kyso Nohx
((Shopping Promenade, Iana Station))
::The station was bustling with activity, which was exactly the way Keska liked it. Before today, it would be for the patronage and all the lovely, shiny money that would bring. Money. She still found the concept of it so alien, so far removed from her own culture but then, frankly, so was she. Gone were the days of castes and working together for a better Tsun. Gone was Tsun, for her anyway::
Pom: Keska, my darling!
::His voice bellowed out across the crowd like a foghorn, which was also the sound he made when he slept. Something Keska wished she never knew but, choices.::
Keska: Pom. ::Though her beak moved, it was merely to produce low-level chirrups that her vocal enhancer implant could translate into the local, primary language.:: My sweet, pink… you.
::His chubby, grubby arms wrapped themselves around her body and as he hugged the life from her, almost literally thanks to her mostly-hollow bones, she gritted her beak and bit her tongue. Actually literally.::
Pom: Where have you been, my love? One minute we were having dinner and then… it was all a blur. I must have drank too much! ::He chuckled, putting her back down.:: Or… did you slip me a little something?
::She hesitated, tugging her clothes to straighten them out but also to occupy his eyes while she desperately tried to think of something to say because, yes, she had slipped him a little something and no, he was not supposed to be awake right now, and yes, she regretted not tying him up when she had the chance. But she wasn’t entirely sure there was long enough rope at hand to wrap around his enormous frame and she had already orbited that body enough for one night.::
Keska: Pom. Pom…
Pom: Keska! ::He grabbed her waist and pulled her in close to his gut, which was still pretty far from the rest of his body.:: You do not need to explain yourself. Whatever you’re into, I’m into. This is what husband and wife do!
::Much like the concept of money, marriage and the emotions that came with it were so foreign to her that she now had several spouses floating around the Quadrant, probably all ruing the day they had met her. As much as all these customs were odd to her, she had taken the time to understand them. More importantly, she had learned how to use them to get herself further, and there was no easier way to propel yourself than to ride on someone else’s coattails.::
Keska: Pom, you gigantic– ::She bit her tongue again. It had become so much of a habit she was concerned her tongue would swell and suffocate her.:: –love… puffin.
::She was almost physically sick just saying the words but she could pull a mean poker face; it’s how she both succeeded and failed in her life on Tsun but she was adamant her life from now on would just be success after success, whatever that meant to her now. And, if she were honest, she couldn’t exactly say what that was.::
Keska: Now, I’m arranging a surprise for you but I’m going to need a little time to make it happen, but I promise… this will be worth it.
Pom: You are too good to me, Keska. ::He put both of his thumbs up his own nostrils and blew lightly on her forehead..:: I will see you tonight!
Keska: Mmmmkay.
::And with that unique and slightly weird custom, he waddled off into the crowd. She wiped off her forehead and whistled a sigh. She wasn’t lying to him. Her plans would definitely be a surprise for him and they would definitely be worth it, for her. But to make it all happen, she first had to get off the station unnoticed by– ::
Onogomotoro: Keska, you thieving, conniving, lowlife!
::Her landlord. A tall, wiry, skeletal tree of a being, and probably slightly peeved that she hadn’t paid rent for the retail space he’d leased her. For nine months.::
Keska: I’m sorry, that isn’t my name.
Onogomotoro: Keska, your filthy deceptions have no place here! You owe me nine months rent!
Keska: You should know Apakans never lie.
Onogomotoro: You are a terrible Apakan and a worse liar!
::One of those things was at least true.::
Keska: Fine. But, Ono… ::She pulled out an amulet with an ugly family crest proudly carved into it.:: … I am now the wife of Pom Pyom and according to Myoone law I am not responsible for my own debts because I’m just a lowly, incapable, irrational female.
Onogomotoro: Keska… ::He sneered and leaned in closer.:: Where do I find this Pom Pyom?
Keska: Here. ::She pulled out a key card and passed it to him.:: Section 7, Unit 23. Knock yourself out.
::He grabbed the card from her and marched off. Technically she’d married Pom to secure enough credit to outfit her new fancy digs on her new home but she also knew he’d make an easy escape plan. Of course, if Pom found out where that new home was, she would be done for, but that’s exactly why she chose it. Who would ever think of looking for an Apakan on a Starfleet vessel?::
((Songbird, USS Gorkon))
::She had finally found her way there; Deck 9 of the Federation Starship Gorkon. And it was on that deck her establishment, Songbird, was almost finished being outfitted. It had the touches of home, a kind of neon brutalism, that she couldn’t shake no matter how far she travelled in the cosmos.::
::The sweet, synthy songs of her people played softly in the background and if she closed her eyes, she might fool herself into thinking she was back there on Tsun. But that would never happen again. This lounge bar would have to be good enough and if she could proudly say anything, it would be that it was hers and she’d achieved it herself… with thanks to a lot of angry, resentful, potentially murderous colleagues/mortal enemies.::
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Keska [PNPC]
Proprietor of Songbird
USS Gorkon
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simmed by