bravo1102 wrote:
Like Clue we could always have multiple endings.

1. “Okay then, closing time! Settle up the tabs and say good night.”
Kimber Lee shook her head, she was suddenly getting nothing from this person. There was no threat here. Kaida and Kimber left together. Good enough.
Sara called a cab driven by one of her team to take Samantha home. She had found a credit card in a pocket but no cash. She ran it for $48 which was the wholesale price for the rum.
She checked under all the tables and then locked the door. She picked up Bonz. All lean muscle. She brushed back some matted hair. Nice eyes, little bloodshot but she could fix that.
“We're taking a shower together and I'm going to scrub you clean and sober and then we're going to fuck. Hope your stamina holds up.”

I'm good with this ending ;)

KimLuster wrote:

bravo1102 wrote:
Like Clue we could always have multiple endings.

1. “Okay then, closing time! Settle up the tabs and say good night.”
Kimber Lee shook her head, she was suddenly getting nothing from this person. There was no threat here. Kaida and Kimber left together. Good enough.
Sara called a cab driven by one of her team to take Samantha home. She had found a credit card in a pocket but no cash. She ran it for $48 which was the wholesale price for the rum.
She checked under all the tables and then locked the door. She picked up Bonz. All lean muscle. She brushed back some matted hair. Nice eyes, little bloodshot but she could fix that.
“We're taking a shower together and I'm going to scrub you clean and sober and then we're going to fuck. Hope your stamina holds up.”

I'm good with this ending ;)

But wait, Tim Curry as the butler comes running in, “but that's not the real ending…” ;D

KimLuster wrote:
Kimber Lee took note of the Redhead's reappearance. Her enhanced senses still picked up a distortion, like quivering air over a hot road…. But she could't push through and determine a true aspect, only that it was being concealed… That bugged her tremendously!! If others grew strong enough to conceal things from her, that would pose some serious problems…

She leaned in, speaking lowly but firmly. “Let's cut the Bullshit! I know there's more to you! Who are you? Did Caleb make you - and send you to spy on me…?!!”

“No, no one ‘made’ me - and I spy on Caleb.” Sara replied. “Kimber Lee there are layers within layers within layers in the black world of above top secret that even your powers will never be able to penetrate.” Up close Kimber was stronger than Sara had anticipated. “I cannot tell you everything. No one can, that's the whole point of need-to-know compartmentalization.”

Kimber's irritation came through loud and clear. One didn't have to be an empath to sense it. “But I am being disingenuous.” Sara grinned. “There are two of us. The first auburn haired beauty was my ancestor; Searsha the Claw. She's a sorceress from another world that died long ago. She can visit using magic. With your consciousness you know it's possible under certain specific conditions.” Sara leaned back on a bar stool. “Her talent is like yours but is inborn. Once upon a time it was. It's still buried deep within humans and in your case was reawakened.” Sara took a deep breath.

“But her power and that of her long gone sisterhood is on a far different level from yours or Caleb's or anyone today. And they were–are–” Sara cleared her throat, “More aware and more responsible with their powers. She'd couch all this in terms of duty to her goddess and selfless responsibility to the community. Different time and more aware of such things. She was born knowing what it took you a long tortured journey to discover about your powers.”

“And that ain't no New Age gobblygook. New Agers; they – we don't fucking know dick.”

Sara saw Kimber was only partially satisfied but that she wasn't any longer ready to jump down her throat. Sara could explain Searsha at length but could never divulge her own truth. “As for me, I'm on your side. I am with the United Nations Intelligence Command.” Sara noted the shock. “Never heard of it? UNICOM was depicted in a TV series but fictionalized. But I mean who would take Dr. Who as disclosure?”

Lucy walks in wearing her shawl and purse. Like most seasoned waitresses, she knows her way around a bar and what to do when you feel any eyes on you: don't feel back with your own eyes. It seemed strange for a bar waitress to go to another bar for drinks especially since her boss and friend gives her free drinks, but she knew all too well that Poole needed the money more than he was too kind to admit. So this is why she would go to another bar to be served while taking a break from serving.

Of course, that is all she was there for. A drink and to relax. She was not interested in meeting a man. Not yet and definitely not in a bar. Those days of looking for anything she could get were far behind her. She could now afford the luxury of being a little picky and of course a glass of scotch on the rocks. She notices another woman drinking while watching the soccer game, something Lucy loved herself, and felt compelled to go over and sit not too close but close enough to not look like the only woman there. Lucy felt safe and all and knew where to kick any guy who messed with her, but I guess it is only human to not want to be a sore thumb. That and she wanted to grab the best view of the tv before someone else took it.

She sees one player attempt to score a goal, but despite the fancy footwork and zigzagging, the goalie still catches it blocking the shot with his face and hands. Despite getting it in the face, the goalie smiles triumphantly as he holds the ball like a trophy.

“Now that there is a true goalie.” Lucy says out loud before sipping her scotch daintily.

Kimber Lee stared long and hard at the ‘bartender’. Yep, she’d just outright admitted she wasn’t the original bartender (where did that one run off too…?), or even really a bartender at all… No, worse, a cockadoodly spin about sorcerers, other dimensions, spying on this reality. As if talk of Vampires wasn’t bad enough… And doubly worse, it seemed the ‘sorceress’ was telling the truth (or at least she believed what she was saying…)! But was she? It was a bit of a gut punch. Kimber Lee has come to assume she could automatically detect falsehoods without really even trying. It had become a crutch… But now… If this ‘lady’ could cloud her appearance, it seemed just a hop and a skip to cloud the truth of what she was saying.

Kimber Lee turned aside, leaned back against the bar, and let out a sigh… “Well, I’ll just be damned…”

She glanced back at the ‘sorceress’ with a smirk. “Seems I might have to adjust my worldview… Problem is, I can’t really believe anything you say, as you’ve already shown you can pull the wool over my eyes… Didn’t think that was possible. No matter what you are; United Nations Op, and/or some extra-dimensional Harriette Potter, you surely can understand why I think it’s mighty fishy you’re posing as a fricking bartender, at the exact moment I’m in here… Sorry for my paranoia, but I’ve had to deal with quite a few ‘enhanced beings’. You could say I have trust issues… In any case, your ‘intelligence network’, if it’s as pervasive as you say it is, probably has a good idea of what I’m capable of… Right? So, if you’re looking for THAT much trouble…”

As she awaited a response, she took note of another newcomer, wearing a shawl, striking up a conversation with ‘Buffy’. Great! More weirdos…!

“Damn and I was hoping to close early.” Sara said to herself as she filled the new arrivals drink order. “Lovely shawl. My line of work you don't get to wear things like that often.”

And of course unlike her trench coat it didn't offer a whole lot of places to hide stuff. She had a good half dozen weapons on her now, but the last thing she wanted was a fight, especially with Kimber Lee.

She went back to Kimber. “I am commander Sara Letalon, detached duty to the Earth United Nations Intelligence Command. Section head Theian sector, Aordian Intelligence and Security Group. ” full disclosure. She dropped all pretence.

Theia was the Aordian name for earth. It meant home or place of origin as it was for the human species. The Aordians would safeguard their ancesteral home as a protectorate until earth acquired faster than light travel. Plenty of space faring people out there who would just love a fresh primitive world to harvest. And preventing that was also part UNICOM'S and SIG's mission.

“And now with you knowing that I have to kill you.” Sara paused to let it sink in.

“Not really. A line from a spy movie. But then I am a spy.” She poured herself a ginger ale and took a gulp. “I didn't hide anything that time. But you can read that, just like I can read you. I am not a sorceress, I am a spy.”

“We have oversight of the world's black operations. ‘Can’t always stop things but can make a effort to keep them from getting out of control. It could have been a lot worse.” She took a heavy breath. Kimber was in this quicksand up to her neck and Sara could be a lifeline.

“Beyond that the Aordian Intelligence and Security Group oversees this planet's activities in the interests of the interstellar security of the Aordian Republic of which this little green and blue world is a protectorate.”

Sara tapped her ear. “And this conversation is confidential and none of the other people here heard a thing. The people on this world have trouble dealing it as they do with you but – we don't.

”She looked away and then looked back, leaning in and waving her finger with a sly spy smile, “Just don't. Whether you like it or not we're the best friends you got or could ever have.”

“Let me buy you a drink. Inspired by one of your TV shows which has more truth to it than you could ever imagine, star trek to star strip and so on,” she took out a bottle of blue liquor and poured a glass. “Romulan ale.” She raised her glass of ginger ale.

“To your science fiction as my science fact.”

Kaida finds herself half relieved and half disappointed.

The bartender shows the mannerisms of someone engaged in small talk. Looks like she's packing some weapons, so the bar is well-defended. Kaida would trust your average bartender more than your average police officer. (She knows a few above average police officers she'd trust with her life – but not with her life story.) Kimber still seems guarded but doesn't have the vibe of adrenaline she had before. The “fight or flight” sensation has passed.

Kaida texts her friend, “It's fine now Seemedtense but passed Gonna hang outa bat langer” Ugh. Silly phone. She had turned off predictive text for its insistence that she said “duck” and “shot” all the time.

The new bar patron seems engulfed by the soccer game. Sports are not Kaida's forte, but to each her own. The… ladies' man is under a table leering at people and acting all too man-like. Kaida doesn't show even a hint of a figure in her coat. (And without it, she looks like a pale, curveless, stick.) With her sunglasses and cap, she appears genderless. Generally, no one leers at her, and it's how she likes it. She has nothing against men in theory, but her experience was it was best to consider them guilty until proven innocent.

Kaida's not sure why her head hurts. She hadn't had that much alcohol. Who knows? Maybe there was something to this talk of supernatural things and magic powers. – Or maybe someone put something in her drink.

Kaida finds a place to sit. I can't leave with this headache, she thinks. At this hour, I could be mugged and not manage to draw fast enough with this fog on my mind. It could be a stress headache. That must be it. Being around people could get to her sometimes. Especially suspicious people. Every person here seems… strange. She searches her bag for ibuprofen and orders a black coffee.

I'll just calm down. Stop being so paranoid. Drink my coffee. When my head feels better, and I can throw three bulls-eyes at the dartboard, I can start for home.

After a moment's pause, Kimber Lee took the ‘Romulan Ale’ from Sara. An even longer moment, during which she gave Sara one more look-over, and she threw back a swallow. It was quite good!

“Thank you, and so you know, you and I are not quite done,” she said, allowing a smile to sneak in. “There's a bit I more I want to know about… well, everything you've said. I've got way too much power in this… particular world to be so in the dark about the stuff behind-the-curtains. That's not good for anybody…

”But for now, it can wait;“ she gave Sara a wink as she turned away. She needed some time to let all these new revelations soak in…

An sobering realization dawned. She now knew why fictional super-powered beings might craft an earthly identity. Superman wasn't so much Clark Kent to hide himself from ‘mortals’, but so he could compartmentalize, have a ‘normal’ human persona, that could block out all those overwhelming, sanity-shredding, cosmic truths, to let everyday life matter a bit. Keeping one's mind intact probably depended on it.

She spied her new acquaintance, Kaida, and ambled over to her table, plopping down with an audible thud. ”I'm so tired of freaks,“ she chuckled, and fought back the urge to start singing ‘Super-Freak’.

”You up for a game of darts, K?"

Commander Sara Letalon, Aordian Security and Intelligence Group let out a sigh of relief. As she suspected Searsha had a fresh pot of coffee brewing. That was one thing her world and this and so many others shared; coffee. That bean had followed humans across the stars. Sara finished her ginger ale and poured four cups.

She ambled out to the tables coffees balanced on a tray. Even with all her world's technology they never had ever finished replacing human wait staff or bartenders with automation. Cultural anthropologists said it was because society continued to valued a human touch to service. Sara had tended plenty of bar and waited plenty of tables in the Aordian military academy and undercover.

“Coffee; black, hot and we brew it strong around here,” Sara dropped one cup on the table with Kaida and Kimber Lee. That was no idle boast. Belle's Aunt Trish's love of strong black coffee verged on an obsession. They even had the pure fresh Turkish and Brazilian stuff hidden away. And then there was the espresso.

She dropped off a cup in front of Bonz. “No milk for you, Bonz. Plenty of sugar though. Time to get sober so you and I can shower later.”

Then back to the bar and put a cup in front of Samantha. “Coffee's on the house. Now pay for the rum or we'll have to make other arrangements.” She turned to the young lady in the shawl. “Refill miss? Scotch on the rocks, right? I can rouse Jorge if you want anything to eat. He grills a mean quesadilla.”

The last cup of coffee was for her. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night. Touch of milk and sugar and settled back behind the bar as the crowd on the TV football game cheered a goal. Unlike her ancestor she didn't mind tending bar, but then she was never a courtesan who served the nation's elites or any of that other tragic stuff Searsha the Claw had endured. Would make for a heck a of movie or mini-series. Come to think of it Belle did have it in development. Could even get the real Searsha to play herself, or at least act as a technical advisor–

Kaida sips the coffee. “Much obliged,” she tells Sara.

Then she turns to Kimber. “I was suddenly feeling a little off, you know? I need a few minutes to get my head together, but I will take you up on that offer. Practically read my mind.”

She pauses. “You don't, do you? Read minds?”

She takes another sip. “Sorry, I'm in a weird headspace right now. You'll laugh, but I thought for moment… You're talking to a very paranoid woman. I thought someone drugged me. I, uh, I dated someone who drugged me.” Shut up, Kaida, she tells herself. You can't be so candid. Kimber seems nice, but company spies are everywhere.

“I always enjoy games with targets. Darts, bowling, bocce ball. One-on-one stuff. On a good day, I'm Robin Hood with a dart. I fear this is not a good day, so let's not put any money on it.”

Kaida feels the ibuprofen and caffeine starting to take effect. Thank God. “I'm probably going to regret asking, but is there something going on with you and the bartender? Do you know each other? She has a way about her. I think maybe she used to be law enforcement or military. I could be way off base here.”

She finishes the coffee. Nice and strong. Not everyone's cup of tea, but the caffeine was needed.

Kimber Lee smiled deeply. “I think… some people can lie with their minds! So, wouldn't do me a whole hellagood if I could!”

As Kaida responded, Kimber Lee listened intently, taking extra notice of Kaida's fidgeting. God I know that feeling… She then held up her glass in a toast. “From one paranoid sister to another - but as they say, just because we're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get us!!”

She quaffed down the rest of her ‘Romulan Ale’, rising as she did. “And don't fear me in a dart game - I'm only good when playing against guys!”

(hehe so are we done? did we all go back to someone's apartment and finish the party…?)

“Last call!” Sara looked up on the TV. Now it was some South American football. “Closing in fifteen minutes. You want to continue drinking go next door to Nevada.”

Nevada the bars never closed. But it was 1:45 AM and she had to lock the doors at two or face a lot of questions. Sure the place had a good rep with law enforcement, but it had been a long night.