Chapter 21: A New Day

Morning came, the sun shone through the distorted windows of the Last Drop, casting a brilliant sheen across the surfaces. It was a typical morning for Vi and the gang.

Mylo, bored, swept the floor lazily, collecting dust and trash into a pile while keeping an eye out for any valuables that might've fallen from a drunken customer's person. To him, it also felt like the easiest job.

Claggor, in contrast, mopped diligently and without complaint, focused solely on getting the chore done.

Meanwhile, the ladies occupied themselves in their own ways. Vi sat perched on the counter, her legs dangling as she rested her chin in an open palm. She slouched forward, idly watching the boys work and occasionally glancing at Powder. Her off hand idly held a hard brush for scraping, tapping it lightly on her leg.

Powder, ever the curious tinkerer, had the menial job of wiping down surfaces and collecting stray bits of trash. Her tendency, however, was to get distracted. This led to her fixing tables with missing gears for height adjustment or tinkering with components knocked out of chemtech lights, causing them to flicker back to life. 

"Every morning we do this," Mylo began to complain. "I could be doing so much more!"

"You missed a spot," Vi commented dryly, pointing with her brush. He glared at her in return, before sulkily walking to the spot she pointed out, which was indeed missed.

"Like, I don't know, practicing with my kit! Learning the fine art of persuasion on the streets, or fixing things!"

Claggor chuckled up from his mopping, "You couldn't fix anything. Powder's the one that does that." Faint giggling echoed from around the corner of the counter, but Mylo just rolled his eyes and resumed sweeping, "Before or after she breaks it."

Claggor paused for a moment, then sighed in discontent as he resumed mopping. "She fixed your hearing gadget, didn't she?"

This left Mylo silent, muttering with reluctant acknowledgement, "Yeah..."

Just as quickly, Mylo became distracted again, raising his broom like a staff, "Who do you think would win with one of these?"

"With one of wh-" A wooden thud resounded as Claggor brought the mop handle up just in time. He frowned, then smirked as he held the mop up like a sword, leaving a trail of murky grey water on the floor. The two began circling each other. Even Vi and Powder couldn't help but watch the spectacle with growing amusement.

Thud.

The doors to the Last Drop swung wide open. Orion stood there in his usual jacketed outfit, looking equally amused as he took in the spectacle unfolding inside. With a mischievous grin, he added to the drama, "Two bronze on Claggor!" 

A resounding, "Hey!" came from Mylo, before being cut off as Claggor dove into the antics, attacking with the mop, flicking dirty water everywhere. Orion smirked, a hint of pride flickering across his face at the chaos he stirred up before stepping further inside. His gaze gradually shifted toward the other two.

Powder's blue hair disappeared in a blur as she raced downstairs. Vi's eyes lit up as she hopped off the counter.

"Took you long enough!" she called out with a wave, her face alight with excitement and relief. It looked like she wanted to ask about the job, but refrained as Powder came running past toward Orion.

Clunk clunk, clunk, clunk clunk clunk

The dramatic battle raged on in the background as Orion found himself face-to-face with a pile of Powder's sketches, "Look at these! Oh-oh! I also made this" Powder exclaimed, pulling out a small telescope.

Orion quickly tested it. The magnification was mild, everything appeared a few feet closer but slightly distorted. Regardless, Orion exclaimed with over-exaggerated enthusiasm, "Wow! This is amazing! I think it might put topsider inventions to shame!"

Powder giggled, bouncing in place as Orion continued to glance through her telescope and praise her sketches, a wide smile glued on her face.

"Do you- ENOUGH!" Vi shouted through the commotion, turning abruptly to the boys who froze with their makeshift weapons locked together. Fresh dust and murky grey water sprayed across the nearby surfaces they'd just cleaned, undoing all their earlier work.

Vi's teeth clenched, and her head snapped back to Orion as she closed the gap, poking him firmly in the chest. "You're helping clean this," she declared.

"B-" Orion started to protest but Vi cut him off sharply, her tone daring him to challenge her. "Grab a rag."

Again he heard Powder's giggle, sighing as he shuffled toward the counter to retrieve one. The two "warriors" exchanged guilty glances before meekly returning to clean the messes they'd recreated.

What would've been finished in no time took an extra hour, with Vi standing behind Orion, glaring at him the entire time. Even the other lads didn't dare say a word, silently focused on finishing their tasks. Once it was all done, everyone except Vi, who remained slightly irritated, let out a tired sigh.

"So where were you?" Mylo asked first, drawing the ire of Vi, who clearly wanted to ask first. Orion tensed the cloth between his hands repeatedly, speaking with a pondering tone, "Working, gardening. I have to make a living too."

"What? At the Cultivar?" Claggor asked, while Mylo tilted his head with a skeptical, "Really?" expression.

"Not the Cultivar, but yeah." Orion replied with a shrug. "Not very manly, but it pays for food."

Mylo wasn't quite convinced, slowly adding in with a suggestive, accusatory tone. "I heard there was trouble topside at a garden." His tone quickly shifted to a mocking chuckle, "No way that's you though- especially after letting Vi walk all over you like that."

A sharp glare from Vi and Claggor cut his chuckling short, but it didn't stop Orion from feeling deflated. "He's not wrong," he thought dejectedly.

After a long pause, Vi spoke up again, exchanging glances with the rest of the crew, "We're heading down to the Sump to check out the market. Do you wanna come?" 

Orion paused, briefly recalling Vander's request with an internal sigh. "They'll head down even if I say no..." he grimly thought. Even if he offered them to check out his place, it still wouldn't be as exciting as the Sump markets- and hopefully not the Black Lanes, which he had a bad feeling they were aiming for.

"Sure! I was thinking of heading down there myself." Orion said with a nod of his head. This earned him a questioning look from Vi, in contrast to Powder, who let out an excited, "Ooh-hooo! Let me get Fluffers!" before darting toward the back again.

Softly crossing his arms, Orion felt the outline of his loaded gun. His pocket also held a full silver coin, the other safely stashed back at the house. "Let's get through this without losing everything again." he thought with determination.