Love Without Profit

Posted on Wed 3rd Mar, 2021 @ 6:26am by
Edited on on Sun 14th Mar, 2021 @ 11:22pm

867 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Business Not At All As Usual
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD 2, 2315

As Aradia walked past the doorman, she smiled and said, "Good evening, Mr. Velasquez," and kept walking toward the bar. On stage, Isadora Bee was singing a throaty up-beat version of Willow Weep for Me as Aradia took a seat at the mostly empty wooden bar.

The owner of Orchids & Jazz took a moment, while wiping down the wood, to look at the woman who had seated herself nearby. She threw the rag under the counter and stepped down in front of the blond woman. The stranger was dressed in a long, flowing white dress that felt vaguely antique, and her hair was partly braided. She smiled at the club owner, and greeted her before Jade could say anything. "Good evening, Miss Lantz. I've heard many interesting things about you."

Jade leaned against the counter in front of the many bottles of fine liquor, a half smile on her face. "Have you, now? And yet, I've heard nothing at all about you. I wonder why that is."

Aradia laughed, a low musical sound. "There must be something about this station that attracts independent witch women," she said, her amusement showing. "Allow me to introduce myself. Aradia, Queen of the Moon. I'm an associate of the Sisters of Sighs."

Although Lantz had heard of the Sisters, she couldn't immediately call to mind in what connection, so she simply said, "Pleased to meet you. It seems you already know who I am. What can I get for you to drink?"

"Do you have Ambrosia of the Gods?" asked Aradia.

"Not the one you probably mean, but I have something you might enjoy almost as much. Citrus or pineapple?" She turned to the bottles behind her and was very glad she kept them in alphabetical order. Pulling down one marked Nāmakan Swirl, she turned back for Aradia's answer.

"Whichever one is sweeter," the woman said, curious about the purple and blue substance that seemed to move of its own accord inside the clear cut glass bottle.

"We'll go with tangerine, then," Jade said, pulling out a glass and pouring it half full. Stoppering the bottle, she returned it to the shelf and then dropped one ice cube from the freezer below the bar into the glass and added a very lightly tinted orange liquid which she stirred once with a sizzle stick and set on the bar in front of the challenging, but intriguing, woman. "See what you think."

Aradia eyed the drink and then the woman. "I sense you actually do have a bit of witchery about you."

Lantz smiled non-noncommittally.

Picking up the drink, the woman took a small sip. It couldn't hurt her - she wasn't mortal - but it could still taste nasty. To her surprise, it was quite the opposite. Not quite what her aunts and uncles served on Olympus, but quite nice all the same. She took a longer draft and set the glass back on the counter.

"That's quite a good imitation," she said. "If I'd never had the real thing, I would be quite enchanted. As it is, I'm not at all averse to finishing it as we talk."

"Ah," Jade nodded, "now we get to the crux of things. You've come to pump me for information on someone. Who and why?"

As Isadora swung into an even more romantic song, You Stepped Out of a Dream, Aradia eyed Jade, wondering how much the woman could be persuaded to tell her, if she thought she were part of something ... an investigation, perhaps? Yes ... and that was even the truth.

"You have a reputation for being discreet, Miss Lantz. Can I count on that?" the Queen of the Moon asked.

Shrugging, Jade replied, "It depends on what you want from me and who you want me to betray."

Aradia's eyes narrowed slightly. That wasn't the answer she'd expected. Normally, flattery and pretending to be on the same side brought people around to her. "No betrayal is required. I just want an honest opinion of Dr. Chlamydia Addams."

"If you have something seriously wrong with you, go see her. She's an outstanding doctor," Jade answered immediately.

"I don't, and she couldn't help me if I did," the stranger answered. "What I'm looking for is ..."

"Dirt?" Jade asked with a glimmer of disgust. "No. Not from me. Not here, not at any time. The Addams family is unusual, but they are true to their solid center core, and I won't be the one who tells you anything bad about them. Besides," she smiled, "I don't know anything bad about 'em."

Sighing, Aradia finished her drink. "Thanks for this anyway. We're not looking to trash them. We want to understand them," she said, standing.

"Then I suggest you talk to them," Lantz said, no compromise in her voice. "You're welcome here anytime, if you want a drink or a meal. That's all I have to offer you."

After a last long look at the woman, and realizing there was something odd about her that she hadn't perceived at first, Aradia nodded and walked out of the jazz club, deep in thought, and not speaking to the doorman this time.

 

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