Chapter 6: Business
In the morning, the android brothers headed to work. It was Nero’s first day, so they had to make sure to be just a bit earlier to try on the right size for the younger of the two. Luckily there were variants for avians in the closet. Maro helped his brother get dressed and made sure everything sat right. It was still a bit early afterwards, so both of them headed for the larger staff room where Claude, Zoe and Natalia were getting ready themselves. A greeting or two later, they all had a bit of casual banter. But then, the last of the bunch that had to be ready appeared through the door. Hammond.
The deer took a few steps, before realizing something was wrong. And another few looks around the room later, he spotted the familiar guy that was messing with him the day prior. This couldn’t be real! What was he doing here? The deer immediately started boiling inside, but tried not to let it show. But not only did Nero notice. He fed into it straight away! Taking a step or two closer: “Hammy! Won't you greet your new co-worker? Can't wait to work side by side with you~”
Everyone was just starring. Claude cocked a brow, not seeing what Nero saw in the guy, Zoe was oblivious, and Maro was uncomfortable that Nero talked that way to the guy he disliked the most. Natalia, though, was intrigued. As if she saw through the droid.
Hammond grumbled immediately, taking his steps away from Nero to keep a distance. “You cant be fucking serious…” he asked, not even readying himself and way too occupied with keeping his cool despite everything.
Nero didn’t let up tho, moving in just a bit closer: “Oh, this is very serious! We can all get along swimmingly, you know? My big bro here and you didn’t get off to a great start it sounds like. But all it takes is a hug or two and you two will do great! Come here, I'll show you~” The younger android spread his arms out, offering a hug. An attitude so welcoming and friendly, it would make almost anyone suspicious. Hammond tho? It only pissed him off more. He was fuming, even raising his fist in anger. Not as a threat, but unable to hold himself. But just as he was about to bark back at his co-worker, knowing he didn’t have to hold back like he had to last time, he realized Natalia was here. There was no downplaying it if he broke right now. But Nero didn’t show any signs of giving in. It was a simple choice. Erupt into anger to the point he could be heard in the dining hall and get kicked out, or just don’t stay here to begin with. Because playing along was the last the deer was willing to do! This was below him! And after repeated consideration, and Nero inching closer, almost forcing the hug onto his rude colleague they finally broke. Hammond pushed the droid back. Not enough to push him over, but a small stumble. And not pleasant either. “Get away from me, you freak! Fuck this shit, this is too much! I only tolerated this place because people shut the fuck up towards me! Natalia, I am out! Fucking tell the visor face I wont come back!”
The deer angrily grabbed his bag and turned to leave, where Kira was standing in the door. He heard that. No matter what Nero did, or how he was messing with the deer. What he said was not nice. And even if the Deer had enough negatives by now to get kicked out, luckily for the Protogen, he didn’t have to do that himself anymore!
Hammond and Inukira stared at one another for a moment. Inu sighed and made space for the deer moments later. Clear disappointment on his face: “Well, good thing you decided that yourself. I doubt we will miss you after all your … performances…”
The deer said nothing, walking past and leaving for good.
Everyone but Inu and Natalia were rather positive about this outcome however. Claude didn’t care for the guy, but knew he was trouble. Maro obviously was glad, and started to catch on to what his brother was doing now. The boss and his second in command however were having a brief chat, before Inu headed out without a word towards his office. Having to do some paper work. What did they talk about though?
Just a moment later, Natalia addressed everyone present: “Alright. We will just move on. Nothing of value was lost. However…” She then directly focused on the new worker: “I chose not to interfere because I actually prefer this outcome, but Nero? That was still not ok. You can't just force someone out here just because you don’t like him, you know? … Though again, I am glad he is gone…”
Nero could tell he wasn’t in actual trouble, smiling at her in a more genuine demeanor than with his ex-coworker: “I’m sorry, but I heard all about what he had done. To Arty, and of course Maro. It was hard not to have some disdain for someone who tried to bully my brother. You have to understand.”
Natalia wasn’t taking the whole thing too serious of course, letting the droid hear an amused scoff: “Of course not. I don’t mind or judge at all. The guy was a fucking dumbass if you don’t mind me being crude for a second. Buuuut we have to keep up the face, alright? No more of that! If you guys end up bullying each-other out of the job, no one will be left!”
Nero just giggled a bit, Maro rubbing his shoulder with a few taps to say thanks, before then heading out to go to work. A few things had to be done. Meanwhile the younger brother followed Claude to the kitchen, getting to know some of the equipment. It would be a little while until he could get the baking set up and have Inu try out a few goods. So the quiet morning slowly turned into the average for Maro, and a somewhat new experience for Nero.
In the meantime, Inu was busy in his office. He had to do a few bits of paperwork. But that wasn’t the only thing that nagged at his mood. A few days ago he got a request from his cousin of all people. He wanted Inu to visit him in his office. No further details for why. Obviously, the protogen wanted to just ignore it. But at the same time, he knew that wouldn’t go too well. The guy didn’t like being ignored. After all, what else does he have a grand attitude for if not for the attention? So the protogen sighed and got up. He might be a day or two late, but it had to do. Briefly letting Natalia know on the way out before heading over to the business district.
He got in no problem. Not only since he got the necessary clearance from his cousin, but also because of his last name alone. Avalon was big, so the whole family had a lot of respect here. Even though this didn’t mean anything to Kira. He didn’t earn it after all.
He wandered through the streets of the district, not paying any attention to those that tried to suck up to him just for who or what he was, until he entered the large building. The secretary immediately recognized Inu and directed him towards the correct elevator. It was a short ride all things considered, but once at the very peak of the building that was sticking out of the station’s sector as a whole, right into space, he was immediately greeted by a familiar face upon exiting the Elevator. A gray protogen, dark blue colors for his visors expressions. Immediate no-nonsense attitude as he greeted his family member: “Good to see it only took you a few days to follow my summons this time, Cousin. It saves me a lot of valuable time and nerves. Follow me.”
The business-owner led the way towards his sizable office moments later. It was pompous and unnecessary, as one would expect from someone like that. From the window, one could see the entirety of the space-station stretching out beneath, as well as the planet they orbited. Inukira was uncomfortable being here, so he crossed his arms behind his head, playing it casually: “Yeah, yeah, Leifer. What do you want from me? I hardly got anything you could possibly be interested in, and you already consider my business sense to be weak.”
The business-proto sat down behind his desk, leaning back against his large chair. Arms crossed as he gestured towards the remaining seat, which Inu took moments later. “I’m not so sure that is true. One of my employees told me you have an intriguing specimen of an android working for you. Now, for an android to stand out, it has to be VERY special. Biotechnology special. And you know that is half of my business, Cousin.”
Inukira cocked a brow at the reveal of his reasons: “So wait, you are saying you spied on me? Leif, you can't be serious! Yes, Maro is an android and very unique. But almost no one knows about this! Only some of my coworkers, myself and his closest friends know. So how did you supposedly find out about this, hm?”
There was a genuine look of surprise on Leifer’s face: “Oh? Was it a secret? Well, it couldn’t have been much of one if someone leaked it. Don’t be mad at me. Now, I have enough respect for you, given I only have the life I got now thanks to your awful choice to decline this position. But I assure you, I will pay you. … Or your friend, if you prefer me treating him like a person. Be glad I am so generous.”
“Pff, sure! ‘Generous’ is a unique way to say condescending. But anyway, I have to decline. I don’t know how much value the tech Maro has in him could matter to you, but I wont sell out my employee. Bad for business relations, you understand?” Inu barked back, sounding almost insulted.
Now it was Leif who sounded amused. But he was also aware how pointless it was to argue: “Of course, Inukira. You are as hopeless as ever…”
The conversation went on for a little while longer. Leifer tried to make some offers, in typical business manners. But the back and forth didn't result in anything. Though notably frustrated, Leif didn't seem to have any intentions to force his cousin. So after a little while of this, Inu was free to head out. Down the hall back at the elevator, he was greeted by one of the workers, covered up entirely by stacks of boxes, sounding only a faint greeting before Inu himself headed down with the elevator. He could tell it was a fox. This was unusual, since vulpines aren't usually welcomed by his family.
Meanwhile, back at the club:
The activity calmed down quite a bit. But soon, it was going to be the lunch-rush. So right now, the whole crew could enjoy the silence before the storm. Maro was currently standing behind the bar, leaning against the counter and casually bantering with Zoe, while occasionally checking for if anyone entered. He thought it was finally time to see if the avian was willing to tell more about herself: “By the way, Zoe. If I recall, your kind comes from a planet not too far away, right? How was it like back there? And how come your people are rarely seen up here if it is so close?”
The Avali was not very good with space stuff, so she struggled heavily to try and find words. But at least she could try to explain herself a little bit: “Oh, oh! People don’t like what don’t know! Us avali no different. Our society is almost like tribe. So when you space people showed up, everyone scared! We called you gods at first, but luckily, the people who made contact didn’t like. So they explained and tried to offer us to join. Though we all at piece, some still think it means death to join you all. And coming back is a huge drama! Imagine your friend back from heaven. What did he do? Did he mess up? Is he a messia? … Or whatever you call it. It’s very scary for many. … When I was asked, they almost were happy to send me off! I realised they just wanted to get rid of me later. But… I am here now! Better than ever before~”
Maro chuckled. It sounded pretty interesting, but also a bit amusing. Tragic, but she seemed to live with the negatives pretty well. “Sounds like you aren’t too mad they treated you as disposable. What did you do that they didn’t like you by the way?” The android wondered out loud. Not sure if he should even put out such a question. But the Avali didn’t hesitate to continue: “Hm … well, they wanted me to join them on hunts first because I is quick and good with my hands. But my … partners took a little while to recover from a spear wound… Instead, they gave me task to take care of the little ones! But for some reason everyone blamed me for them speaking funny… Gathering food instead, they were not happy with the food I found. Apparently those mushrooms were evil or something.”
There was a concerned look on Maro’s face: “So you are telling me all that and yet you are here, taking care of the bar and Inu doesn’t have concerns about that at all?”
The girl just smiled wide: “I am good at mixing drinks!”
The android just stared with a dumbfounded look on his face.
Just a moment later, Nero walked up to them. Leaning onto the bar and looking back and forth between the two. “Hello there, big bro! And Zoe was the name?” He inquired, after which Zoe just looked at the younger android all excitedly, “The other robo-friend! Hello~”
Nero snickered and threw her a smile: “Call me Nero. Nice to meet you. The two of you get along amazingly it looks like. You found out the funny way what we really are from what Maro told me.”
She bounced a little in place, super excited to be talking to both these ‘floofy boys’ as she likes to refer to them as: “Yes yes! I may have had an accident with him. And he let me look’t his butt after! I remmber well!”
Maro just squinted his eyes at the girl. The hell was she saying? It was not his preferred way to solve that situation! But of course, Nero enjoyed the conversation. He could really tell why his brother likes the avali so much.
“My, that so? You two make an adorable couple, I have to say! My brother is very lucky to have you~”
Maro immediately jumped in this time: “C-come on, Nero...” but Zoe giggled and shook her head before chiming in herself: “Naw, he isn’t into girls.”
The younger brother tilted his head, a bit confused. Sure, the subject didn’t actively come up very often, but he very much knew his brother on that front, just from context clues alone. “Uhm … what makes you think so?”
She tapped her chin, thinking for a moment, then remembered. “Right! I was changing clothes in front of him and he didn’t want see it. I dun take offnse, but it says all!” The avali elaborated, but Maro was so embarrassed about the whole thing, he had to correct the notion, “I just wanted to be polite!”
Nero, knowing better without having to hear most of this, raveled in the funny turn this conversation had taken. But he shook his head after: “You hear that, Maro? She pretty much says outright she is very much into you. After all, it sounds like she did like looking at your ass.”
Zoe didn’t waste any time to add to this, her voice almost sounding obsessed, even a little horny. Although some of it was on purpose to put emphasis on it: “Oh yeah, I fucking did…”
This took both of the siblings a little off guard and they just stared at her with raised brows. Maro was a bit awkward with all this. “Yeahhh… Well, I DO like girls! You are cute and all that, if that's what you wanted to hear. Though … Can we stop talking about my butt?” But after a moment longer of that, they had to shake it off. Nero had lost his train of thought anyway, so when the lunch-time wave of customers arrived, the both of them had to work hard!
Maro just did his thing no problem. However, Nero, who was helping out with the chaos and sheer number of it all, was surprisingly struggling a bit. Not with the general gist of it though. It appeared like some of the guests were a bit off-put by the formal and super-friendly attitude he put on. So much so Nero started to get a little nervous. He wasn’t trying overly hard like he did when he was teasing or messing with people. This was all just him! But clearly, people found it a bit uncanny. One even went as far as to ask for the other waiter! This was a bit much for Nero for a moment, so he took a short breather. Maro, obviously displeased by this, didn’t put on all that friendly of a face himself when serving the individual in question. Nero leaning onto the bar again, Zoe directed her attention to the stressed younger droid with a “You ok?” upon which Nero nodded, his smile returning. Although with a certain sense of nervousness written on it for once: “Yeah, I am ok. Just … am not used to doing this yet is all. So many people in a row, most of which seem to dislike the way I talk. Sure, I just have to adjust a bit, but it's still rough ya know?”
Zoe just nodded, returning a smile to him. It was all part of the learning process. Luckily, Maro never had that issue, with his experience as a cashier earlier in their life.
Everything went well in the end. Maro did most of the work, and Nero helped out soon enough. The older side of guests seemed to appreciate his exceedingly positive demeanor, but he also managed to turn it down a little over time.
Ultimately, the two androids got their own break and enjoyed it together in the staff room. Relaxing and having a quick snack. Shortly before the lunch-break was over, Inu had returned from his little visit. Very visibly displeased by the whole encounter it looked like. But he checked in specifically for the two androids, heading over to them real quick to give them a piece of advice: “You two. For your own safety, try not to talk about what you are too much, ok? We are all friends here, so that is fine, but don’t tell any strangers. Ok? If someone finds out, whatever. Just … be careful. That is all. I have paperwork to do now! Hope you are doing alright.”
The quick encounter happened so fast and aside from a nod, the sibling couldn’t even reply to their boss. Just staring at each other, confused. But when pressed later, it did not appear like the protogen wanted to talk about it at all. Whatever did he do while he was gone? No one at the club knew. It was something he was very unwilling to talk about.
The next month passed quietly. Maro and Nero enjoyed working for the club. Though thanks to Nero, the both of them occasionally worked in the adult section as well. It turns out there is a certain neon-colored arm-band that had to be worn by the staff over there. Red meant, not available for certain ‘services’, whereas green meant the opposite. And a yellow one was supposedly reserved for an uncertain or temporary break kind of availability. Maro and Nero both still had to deal with an occasional flirt here and there, but luckily the two hours every day they ended up spending there in the afternoon before their work-day ended didn’t leave them with much time to be uncomfortable for long. Well, at least Maro. Nero didn’t seem to mind half as much. But they both wore the red band regardless.
Around this time, Nero also had made enough money to start preparing and suggesting baked goods to sell! Though it was easy to convince Inu after just one or two tastes of everything the droid made, getting everything set up to make it in the kitchen more consistently would take more ingredients specifically for this. The boss worked on setting something up though, and it was just a matter of time until it would be realized.
One evening, Maro and Nero were positively surprised! They didn’t have to work in the adult section, because there was a reservation. And the guests in question were quite a nice treat for the androids. There were two guests. A wolf on the short side, and a somewhat bulky Hyena. Percy and Rorik!
The two guests took a seat and Maro and Nero immediately headed over. It's not that they were both needed, but the younger brother always wanted to meet the guys that helped Maro out. And the older brother didn’t hesitate to greet the two with a, for him, surprisingly positive attitude. “Percy! Rorik! Welcome to Varié. I am glad you two paid us a visit.” Nero just stood there, smiling for the moment. Percy remained as calm as ever in comparison. It was a strange sight to see those two in somewhat proper getup. Suits and all that. The otherwise rather not-brushed fur on the wolf was also unusually well combed this time. Unlike Rorik, who at least looked presentable most of the time. All the wolf said was “Hey” with the faintest of smiles that lasted for a second only, before Rorik properly greeted the droids: “Good evening you two! Good to see your brother is alright, Maro. We heard of it, but it's still better to be there in person!”
Nero was quite happy to see how friendly Rorik seemed to be. He had heard of the two enough to know their names already. “It is very nice to meet you two! I can't thank you enough for helping out my big bro~ Not for my sake, mind you. It sounded like he really needed people like you to be there for him, and glad you guys could jump in, in my stead.” Nero said, bowing a little in thanks.
Rorik scoffed and crossed his arms, a smug look on his face. “Oh? And what would YOU have done if you were there? I doubt anyone else COULD have done anything.” The hyena clearly just teasing. But Nero gave him a bit of a scary glare. Not mad, just … uncanny: “You won't believe the lengths I’d go…”
Percy was a bit surprised, leaning in closer to Maro: “You sure your brother is alright? Sounds a bit ominous.” Maro just waved it off nervously: “Eheh, you cant take everything he says literally. He is a bit complicated.”
“You think so, big bro?~” He asked, leaning against Maro somewhat affectionately, eyes fluttering, very exaggerated. Trying to really get under his skin. It worked to lighten the mood for Rorik for sure, after he was a bit taken aback there for a second. Maro blushed a little, nervous about his brother listening to what he said.
After a moment of amusement and laughter, they took the orders from the two before continuing the conversations. Nero being the first: “So, you two lovebirds came here for a date? Or just to celebrate something special? Maybe some special news?~” Nero teased the Hyena with the poke of his elbow. No care for how impossible the implications were. Though Percy heard that and looked visibly grumpy at the joke: “As if that was possible, weirdo.”
It was still getting a small laugh from Rorik and Maro though. The Hyena quickly fixes the situation: “Oh, we are just here on a date, yeah. You see, I love to mess with the little guy all too much, so I gotta prove how serious I am with my feelings here and there.” But Percy didn’t have it for a second. Still a little pouty: “Sure, I totally feel the affection in watching you stuff yourself with food, silly. You show me plenty at night. So let's just be honest with ourselves here.”
It went right back to Rorik, where the androids could just watch the back and forth: “Yeah? Well, I have you know I don’t enjoy food much when you aren’t around.” The taller of the two was clearly not the best with sweet talk, but what he had seemed to be good enough for Percy, who scoffed, shaking his head with a smile. “Derpy motherfucker. … Suppose you do make my day less bland too.”
Maro tried to make the conversation a little less awkward. Even grabbing a chair for himself and Nero along the way. But the two didn’t want to spend the whole evening bothering the guests. So after a few more minutes of chatter, the siblings went behind the bar. Remaining present if the two wanted to chat, needed something or they had to take the pay. It was a calm evening, and seeing friends was always nice for the siblings. Even though Maro was a bit more introverted than Nero.
Not much happened over the coming few weeks. The siblings got a notification from Sean somewhere along the way. Telling them about how they found a new place to do their research. This time with a bit more background checking to avoid any further problems. Maro did also use this moment to ask the scientist about if he had any idea if someone could have found out about who they are through some of the events that went down. Inukira’s concern was stuck with him a bit, and he had heard of them a few times. So the droid couldn’t help but double check. But though Sean thought it was possible, it also must be very unlikely. The only ones who should know, should be part of their group of acquaintances. Although there was a certain woman who made for an obvious subject of suspicion, given she got sent away. But for now, there was no reason to worry. It was just time for Maro and Nero to relax and worry about their job. Sooner or later, they would see if problems would arise or not.
End of Chapter 6
