Posted March 20, 2023, 10:41 p.m. by Civilian Jezem (Upstanding Citizen) (Abigail G)
Posted by Lieutenant Tandra Mika (Counselor) in Frontier Town (Tag Thyr)
Posted by Civilian Jezem (Upstanding Citizen) in Frontier Town (Tag Thyr)
Posted by Civilian Thyr Th’arialat (Resident) in Frontier Town (Tag Thyr)
Posted by… suppressed (23) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“And this is the commercial district. Where everyone works hard, and don’t over-promise what they could deliver then turn around and make more promises they can’t keep just to meet the unrealistic expectations you set for your first clients.” Jezem bluntly stated to the andorian beside him. “Where people aren’t in massive debt and pay their dues to those who govern their lives and are happy and healthy. Just look at all the happy and healthy people.”Shivan hated this place, he hated all the stupid shops, with the stupid, happy people, who paid their stupid money to people who didn’t want to kill them painfully. He hated their perfect little (or not so little) houses too. He hated all of it. “At least in our line of work, you don’t have to put up with all that ridiculous pretense. People tell you how it is.”
“When they weren’t outright lying or betraying us for their own gain,” Jezem oh so helpfully reminded him.
The two walked at a sedate pace through the district, just an orion and an adorian dressed in loin cloths and chest wraps. The two stood out like sore thumbs but the gaze of everyone they passed skimmed across them before turning away with a blush, a frown, an excited look in their eyes. All without really seeing the people under the clothes. Just how Jezem liked it. He even hummed a merry tune, “Yup, you’d have to be a real moron to neglect your dues to the people that govern your life.”
Jezem
Shivan got a few more glances, being an Andorian dressed as scantily as an Orion. But they weren’t looking at his face, nor gathering any important details about him, so he supposed Jezem was right (AGAIN, infuriatingly). “It wasn’t a choice!” Shivan whisper hissed at Jezem angrily. “When are you going to let that go?”
~ Thyr
The cold look Jezem leveled at Shivan could have frozen hell over, “When you convince our former employers that you’re not worth permanently firing.” Not to mention getting him involved with his stupidly, and the most unforgivable part: risking Argam’s life. His husband had a terrible soft spot for the old crew of the Pavlajia. Not too mention was far too kind and obliging towards the andorian.
Shivan met his stare evenly. “This ends two ways: with me running away or me getting… fired permanently. I don’t think your little scheme is going to get anywhere.”
Jezem picked up his pace, putting himself ahead of Shivan. “I won’t tolerate a freeloader. You’ll find honest work and before you start complaining remember I’m the one who’s sacrificing my time to resolve all your debts.” And hasn’t that been a merry ball of quantum yarn. Two years ago he and Argam cut their criminal ties for a clean start in Federation space. Now, without those connections, it was like he was a fledgling criminal searching for his big break. Jezem hated it.
“You know, Hank said he’d love you take you on again. So long as you don’t attract another violent klingon to his establishment. Which, you owe him a thank you by the by. For cleaning up the mess you made.”
Jezem
“I can’t promise that,” Shivan replied, “Klingons aren’t the only angry, violent people that might show up.” He nodded. “I will thank him. But I don’t think I’d manage to keep that job without killing somebody within a week.”
~ Thyr
Jezem smirked, “But you were so great with the kids! You taught them fun new words and the proper ways to stab their enemies.” Which was amazingly funny to imagine: kids stabbing each other with their colored pencils and crayons. He dropped the thought and became serious, “This dump is a frontier town. A pit stop at the edge of space with a surprisingly active Starfleet presence. This works in your favor. The colony is of no interest to the Syndicate and the starship troopers scare away your common criminals. Those who do come by are either small timers who skirt by undetected or are white collar criminals interested in the most boring of illegal business.” Gods, kill him if he ever became involved in something as mundane and mindless as embezzlement or tax fraud.
Jezem
Shivan managed to ignore the comment about his being ‘good’ with kids with little more than an irritable grunt. Apparently he had learned something since Pavlajia. “Then why was Shiyr here? Hmmm? Is this place so impervious to criminals, then?” Shivan questioned in a show of that temper of his. “Heck, you’re here. Yeah, you’re clean, but you’re still one of us. You don’t get away from it. Someone else I know could be here.” Shivan continued in a paranoid fashion.
~ Thyr
“I didn’t say that, no place is free from crime,” Jezem snapped, “And I’m here because Argam’s business brought him here. Our pasts had nothing to do with it. It’s luck and you have the lousiest luck in the galaxy.” Once is a fluke. If Shivan happened to run into dangerous people a second time then Jezem will have to reconsider his stance on crime in the colony. “This is Federation space, as far on the edge that it is, it’s not like orion or klingon controlled sectors.”
He waved his hand dismissively, “Quit looking over your shoulder. You’re only going to stand out more by acting paranoid and jumping at every shadow. Remember that other species are crap at picking out individuals from their non-native species. That klingon recognized you because you recently did business with her and she still could have just as easily confused another andorian for you. Simple changes to your hair, clothes and body language goes further than you think as a disguise.”
Jezem
“My clothes are very different,” said Shivan sarcastically, “And I don’t trust you near my head and neck with scissors or shavers.” He nodded, “I know, I know… I don’t want to look suspicious. But I also don’t want to get stabbed from behind. I can’t help it. I feel like someone’s… watching me.” He glanced behind them again and then let out a sigh. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
~ Thyr
Jezem came to a complete stop before the andorian and turned 180 degrees on his heel. He stared Shivan in the eyes, then leaned over to the side to peer around him. They weren’t being followed. No one was tracking them. Jezem straightened and leveled Shivan with a look, “You need to calm down. You are afraid and it is fear that will lead you to your death.”
Fear made one anxious. Made on rush and make foolish mistakes that tumbled into bigger errors. To surrender to fear is to lose before the fight even began. Jezem sighed, “No one is watching you. When we get home I will teach you how to tell when someone actually is watching you and when you are being followed. Until then, you must relax.” Jezem spun back around and continued on at an easy and carefree pace.
Shivan took a deep breath and shook his head. Jezem could say whatever he wanted, he’d been out of the game for a couple years now. How did Shivan know his senses were still on point? Still, he tried to look more relaxed and carefree.
“Maybe you should get a boring desk job at one of those fancy office buildings. Typing on a console and bringing drinks to your superiors is about all that you’re good for right now.”
Jezem
“Ugh,” Shivan groaned, “I’d lose it by the second day. Can you imagine me listening to some guy in a fancy suit? I’d probably start a fight the first time they said something in that awful condescending tone!” He was going to have to settle on something, he knew. But his temper made any legal job difficult.
~ Thyr
Jezem snorted, “You’d have to wear a suit too. All that stiff, ugly fabric. Rules for how long your pants have to be and corporate approved hairstyles.” He motioned towards a food stand, “There’s something for you. Food service. You could. . . what’s that one food humans love. . . that’s it, you could flip ‘burgers’ or make those. . . ‘hot dogs’ and smell like grease all day. Simple work for your simple brain.”
Jezem
Shivan made fake retching noises. “Human food is disgusting and flipping ‘burgers’ or whatever, is demeaning.” Notably, there were several human foods he was known to like, though burgers weren’t one of them. “And I don’t know why humans put so much grease in all their food. It’s like they like dying of clogged arteries.”
~ Thyr
“Them and klingons,” Jezem sneered. Klingon food was absolutely disgusting. “At least humans like their food killed and not still squirming.” They walked for a bit, Jezem idly pointing out points of interest. He had several gossipy things to say about the nightclubs they passed and despaired every clothing store for having very little in orion styles. Finally they reached a small park where they could rest.
Shivan gave an approving grunt. Klingon food was nasty. The idea of eating something still moving made Shivan physically ill. Maybe if he were starving.... Or maybe he’d rather just die. Shivan was glad for the rest in the park. He was still healing, all this walking was still a lot though he was trying to hide that.
Jezem hummed, “I’ve thought of the perfect job for you. I know a woman who needs someone to catalog her weapons collection and research their estimated sales price on the local market. She’s rich so she’ll pay well and it’ll just be use an a warehouse worth of pointy-zappy things.”
Jezem
“Cataloguing weapons?” Shivan asked, perking up. It sounded like his old job, except.... Legal. Hopefully this person didn’t own anything illegal. “Who is she? Think she’d hire me? Or who she thinks I am?” He said the last part more quietly.
~ Thyr
“Not at all,” Jezem deadpanned, “Because she doesn’t exist and neither does the job. Your standards are way too high for someone desperate for work.” Jezem was careful to remain out of arm’s reach, “Honestly, do you really expect the perfect job to fall into your lap? You have nothing to your name, no connections and no work history. You need to be willing to work the dumb jobs until you can either find work you do enjoy or find people that can connect you to the work you want.”
Shivan glared at Jezem and shook his head. “Don’t waste my time!” He growled, and then he tried to calm himself. He couldn’t afford to make a scene by getting into a brawl with the one person trying to help him. “I just want to work something that won’t get me in trouble.”
Argam had offered to find work for Shivan but Jezem told his dear husband to stay out of this. Partially because Shivan needed to clean up his own mess and secondly, the less Argam got involved the better off he’ll be if things do go sour. If there ever came a moment where Jezem had to choose between his husband and Shivan. . . Jezem cleared his head of those thoughts. Not that it was even a choice to begin with. “Honestly, you really have no shame do you? A beggar turning his nose up at every offering because it’s not ‘good enough’.”
Jezem
Shivan sighed a long, irate sigh. “Aren’t I supposed to be keeping my head down?! If I get angry at a customer do you think that’s going to help me keep out of the Federation’s line of sight? I’ve tried having a lame, boring, stupid, demeaning honest job before and guess what? It didn’t go well! I want to get myself out of this, but wouldn’t you say I should be realistic about what I can handle without getting myself in trouble?”
~ Thyr
Once a hothead always a hothead. Though, Shivan’s temper had improved over the years in-between now and when they worked together. “Okay, then tell me what kind of job you do want. Or at least what job you wouldn’t mind doing.” They’re going in circles at this point. Not that I have anything else to do, Jezem thought. Married life was stupidly easy and Jezem was always searching for new ways to fill his time.
Jezem
Shivan tensed, watching someone near them, but a moment later the person turned towards them and he relaxed. Whoever he thought it might be, it wasn’t them. “Anything where I don’t have to deal with idiot customers or snot nosed brats.” He replied with a shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve never really worked honestly.”
~ Solal
“Oh, is that all?” Jezem huffed. Shivan will not make this easy, will he? “It’s not that different from from any other work you’ve done, it’s just within the scope of whatever laws. And really what’s illegal somewhere is likely legal somewhere else. So by someone’s metric you have worked honestly.” They really should stop messing around and take this seriously. As fun as it was to tease Shivan and get a rise out of him they weren’t making any progress. “Most of your expertise lies in weapons, which should open up several lines of work for you. You could work security for a private company. Like the night shift when no one is around and you’ll be tucked away in a security office.”
“I could do that.” He’d be bored out of his mind but it was something. “But where do I go to find a job like that?” Then he glared at Jezem, “And seriously this time!”
He watched some snot nosed brats chase each other a little ways away while two moms gossiped on a bench. Not paying attention to their kids. Maybe his gaggle of rich socialite women need a night guard or something. “There are plenty of ferengi in the area and they aren’t too picky so long as you’re worth the money they’re paying you.”
Jezem
Shivan had a really embarrassing question next: “How do I get a job like that? Am I supposed to, like, apply or something?” He watched the same snot nosed brats Jezem was looking at. What disgusting little creatures. Shivan hated children. It made him glad it was so difficult for Andorians to conceive. Out of all his problems, one of those things would never be one of them.
~ Thyr
Ugh. Now one child is rubbing its grubby little hands in the dirt. Gods, he’s glad he’ll never have kids. “Yes? I’ll hunt around and see who’s hiring and I’ll get your foot in the door but it’ll be up to you to make a good impression. Didn’t you apply to get into Starfleet and was accepted? It will be like that but easier because most people don’t have the stick up their ass that Starfleet does.”
Jezem
Shivan made an annoyed, growly sort of sound. He hated being reminded of his time in Starfleet. “Yes. I did. It wasn’t that hard, either, just had to tell them what they wanted to hear.” Then he slammed a fist down, “I’m lucky they didn’t charge me with assault! Those…” There was a string of curses next that the inattentive mothers would be glad their little brats were too far away to hear. He made a face when one of them started smearing its hands in the dirt. Ugh! He tried to calm himself down to little avail. “Fine.” He sneered through gritted teeth.
~ Thyr
Jezem twisted around to properly face Shivan, “Listen closely, Thyr.” Jezem’s cool gaze morphed into an icy glare, “You need to get your temper under control. That dumb thing with Starfleet? That was the past. It’s happened. It’s done. You need an outlet for your anger else it doesn’t matter what job you get. I don’t care if you make clay pots then smash them or what ever you do to keep your anger in check. Find something.” Gods, he’s doing enough for this man already.
Jezem
Jezem was giving him that old Captain’s look of his. It used to mean ‘Shut up and DO what I say or else’. And he did miss that. But in Shivan’s angry state it made him want to punch Jezem. Really bad. Shivan had never had the self control to manage not to do it either. He couldn’t do that, the little tiny piece of logic left in his dumb, angry brain said. If Jezem didn’t help him, he’d probably die on the streets of this stupid, stupid frontier world.
In the end, after staring at Jezem for several moments with an intense gaze, he punched the bench instead. So hard he made his knuckles bleed and cracked the wood. “It wasn’t fair! That little rat ruined my life!” He was fighting to keep his voice down, so he didn’t attract attention. “Nothing works as an outlet!” Starfleet’s counselors had told him he needed an outlet, and he’d never found one. Look how that turned out. He was sick of hearing it.
~ Thyr
Jezem followed the motion. Watched as the andorian’s fist connected with the wood and began to ooze blood. That sadistic part of him that reveled in the pain of others sparked to life. He suffered, so everyone else should suffer too. And that little flame threatened to ignite the intense and violent rage smothered deep within himself. Rage that anyone thought their struggles could ever compare to his own. Thinking back, perhaps Jezem and Shivan should have never worked together. The emotions that controlled them came together as a double-edged sword. The threat of violence and blood ever hanging over them.
He knew what Shivan needed. “I’m tired. Let’s go back to the house.” He said with a touch of petulance.
Jezem
Shivan nodded. “Let’s go back then.” His voice was still tight with barely controlled anger. Something Jezem would be familiar with. His anger burned deep, a casualty of Andorian emotion, but something more than that too. Yet he never ever compared his life to Jezem’s. Once, long ago, was enough. Never again. He stood to head back to the house with Jezem, fists still clenched.
~ Thyr
The walk home was in stark contrast to their lazy jaunt through the city. No teasing or jokes, or gossipy ramblings about one buisness or another. There was just. . . silence. Once back at the house, Jezem moved to the shrine tucked against the wall. Oh Hihnaas, goddess of rage. . . Bless me with your touch. Slowly, Jezem turned around and took one, then two steps towards Shivan, “You’re wrong. . . It was your own fault you were kicked out of Starfleet. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
Jezem
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