Party for... What?

"What's with the party anyway, you don't do this after every gig do you?" Ori can't help but ask, spotting Pilar juggling some trays of drinks for some reason.

"It's Pilar, offers to pay for the first round and invite anyone he can... Likes being the center of attention." Kiwi remarks, flicking ash from her cig.

"Sounds to me like you don't even wanna be here..." Ori wonders aloud.

"I'm here aren't I? That's enough, socialising with these other drunk idiots doesn't do it for me."

"So what does then?"

"People watching?" she ganders unconvincingly.

"Right. And I'm the CEO of Arasaka." he drawls in response.

She stomps out her cig and shrugs, "I got my vices, you got yours. Go play around if you want, but I'm fine stayin' here."

Ori's retort is cut off by Rebecca, who walks over while dragging some kid with spikey hair and a yellow jacket. "Look what I found!"

"H-hey! L-let go!" the boy protests but wasn't willing to utilise any strength against the small girl.

"I seem to recall someone saying something about not picking up strays?" Ori sarcastically questions.

"Well he's Maine's stray, so there." she huffs.

Ori gives the kid an appraising look, "Him...? He's scrawnier than I was..." he can't help but comment on his stick-like figure.

"And who are you? Some gonk who didn't even make it into Maine's crew?" the boy sourly responds, pulling away from Rebecca.

"Oh, he's got teeth." She giggles, causing him to flush slightly.

"Maine's great and all but I've got my own crew." Ori offers.

"Ah... So like, rivals...?" he trails off, visibly uncomfortable.

Ori smirks, "We aren't Corpos, the only time we'd be rivals is if we accepted conflicting gigs, even then we wouldn't go as far as shootin' each other... I'm surprised he let you in though, out of all the other mercs he picks you... You sure he doesn't want you dead...?"

"Name's David," his form blurs momentarily then he's suddenly holding Ori's beer. "And yeah, I got what it takes."

Ori crooks a brow, "Sandevistan? Where'd you get one of those... And how are you not passed out on the ground."

"He's full of surprises actually, Maine said he can use it like nobodies biz." Rebecca adds, causing David to straighten his posture. He tries to sip the beer but chokes slightly, obviously unfamiliar with alcohol.

"Guess I'm just built different." David shrugs, looking away under Ori's analytical gaze.

Ori shakes his head, "Yeah, heard that one before... I'm Ori by the way, I assume you've met Rebecca?"

He nods, "Y-yeah... She introduced herself before she grabbed me..."

"Go on, I'm sure Pilar would love the company." Ori shoos him off, gesturing at Pilar who'd challenged Dorio to a chugging contest...

"Yeah... I'll do that." David awkwardly says, shuffling away.

--------------------

David walks away and spots Lucy with a free chair next to her. He plucks up his courage and tentatively sits, only then realising he still had Ori's beer... Clearing his throat, he leans onto the table and draws her attention, "What's that guy's problem? he asks, nodding over at Ori who seemed to be scolding Rebecca.

"Who, Ori?" Lucy wonders, "Nothing... Maybe a bit pissed he got set up without anyone tellin' him."

"Set up?"

"He ended up being the distraction we needed to grab the nav data. His output tricked him into it," she smiles into her drink.

"Output? Her?" David questions unsurely, she didn't exactly look in his age range.

"Ori's actually a year younger than you, youknow... Rebecca's the same age though."

"W-What!? How long's he been a punk then? Is he one of those guys who started off as kids?"

Lucy shrugs, "A year probably? I never asked."

...

David sighs, feeling jealousy creeping up, "Sounds like you guys know each other well..."

Lucy side-eyes him with a slight upturn of her lips, "We've done some gigs with him, that's all. Not much anymore though with how high-risk he's been getting."

"What do you mean?"

Lucy shrugs, "Ask him if you want." she lifts her drink but finds it empty, "Could you-"

"Got it!" he says, grabbing the glass and quickly making his way to a stall for a refill.

...

She sighs, watching the teen get overcharged by the street vendor. How long would it take until he got flatlined, she wondered to herself.

----------------------

[Receiving Call: Unidentified...]

...

Ori drops his feet from the couch and sits up, yawning as he turns off the TV, "Alright, ten bucks on another assassin." he mutters to himself as he picks up.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" a familiar voice Ori hadn't wanted to hear from speaks up in a low tone.

...

"Ori?" she asks again, louder this time.

"Christy." he grouses as the holoscreen opens up, revealing the BD star as she drives along some road he didn't recognise, "Lemme guess, you've reached the age where all of your fans drop you for another younger, more talented singer?" he drawls.

"What!? No! It hasn't been that long since we spoke, and my fans wouldn't do that either!" she abashedly retorts.

"Really? 'Cuz that's the only reason I can think for you calling me. Unless it's to finally confess? And no, I ain't got Eddies to send you. I ain't a charity." he states, taking a spiteful satisfaction in the potential reversal of their situations.

"Not any of that either, I told you I had nothing to do with it!" she angrily says before shaking her head, "Whatever, I know you'll never take my word so let me just get to the point... You're a merc, right?"

"How'd you guess? It's not like you tried to broadcast it to everyone you know." he rolls his eyes, "You're lucky people haven't looked into it properly, or I'd have come for payback already."

Christy visibly sighs over the call, "Listen, I wanna hire you-"

"Ha! No. Go FUCK yourself." Ori spits, hanging up the call.

"Wai-"

*Beep!*

"Dumb cunt. Who the fuck does she think she is?"