บท 62: Day of Birth
*Bip-Bip-Bip*
*Bip-Bip-Bip*
Ori groans as he turns off the alarm, tiredly sitting up and glancing at the notification... "Oh... It's today huh...?"
Somehow he was surprised, despite how dumb that sounded... It was his birthday, and the alarm that'd just rung was one he'd set up in an attempt to get one over on his dad and sister. They liked to bumrush him before he was even awake, jump all over him before carrying him and tossing him into an ice-cold bathtub...
It wasn't like he didn't get them back though, last time he'd shaved his dad's beard completely off during his sleep. For his sister, he'd painted her face completely like a clown, which she only discovered halfway through the day... The beating and withheld food afterwards were well worth it.
...
Not like today would be like that, his family was still missing, and Bats barely remembered his birthday back in Casinha, let alone now... Hmm, he was sixteen now... Yet felt like the same kid as before.
"Close your eyes... Maybe you can sleep through today..." he mutters to himself, Six was apparently gonna be busy with a solo job today, and he wasn't sure what Rebecca was up to. He himself didn't have any gigs going, so maybe he could just take a break...
*Beep-Beep*
...
"Uuuuggghhhhhhh....." he groans as he looks at the notification but his body throws itself into an upright position when he sees who it is.
[Hey Ori, happy birthday, just wanted to let you know that I'm free today if u wanted to hangout... Or something...] - Christy
...
She remembered... He could've sworn she'd have forgotten, while they were technically friends, he'd always assumed he was the forgettable 'little brother' you only thought about when visiting Casinha.
He smiles to himself and texts back after many rewrites as he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say.
Sure! If you're available, I've got nothing else plan-...
No, that wouldn't work, made himself seem like a loner charity case... She'd already had to lend him money after all...
[Sure, what were you thinking of doing?] he simply replies, leaving it up to her to decide. Not a minute later he received a response.
[There's a nice little coffee shop that opened up Downtown, we can meet up there now if you like?] - Christy
[Send me the detes and I'll be there. Might take a bit though, traffic around this time is killer.] - Ori
[No probs, I'll see you then!] - Christy
...
Wait, did this count as a date...? Boy and girl head spend some time about the town alone... No, he couldn't psyche himself out before the da-meeting... Meeting...
With that said, he grabs his 'best' clothes, which essentially amounted to smart and slightly torn casualwear, and leaves a note for Bats who hadn't even awakened yet, saying that he'd be out doing some chores.
---------------------------
After struggling for thirty minutes to find a parking spot, Ori eventually makes it to the coffee shop. 'Bean's Hub', a stupid name if you asked him, but the place must've been doing something right with how busy it was.
He steps through the door and glances around, there were no free chairs or tables, each one filled with an assortment of people, varying from your typical pre-Corpo War hipsters, to suits looking for a quiet place to conduct a meeting, to regular families just visiting to check the place out.
His eyes do focus in on a table with one person on it... Familiar tanned skin and pink hair under a wide-rimmed synth leather hat. That was Christy alright, she was presumably using it to keep anyone from noticing her... After all, she and her bandmates were getting quite famous judging by the news stories he'd heard about them while flipping through T.V channels.
He makes his way over and sits opposite her, smiling slightly as she beams at him under her hat.
"Happy Birthday!" she quietly yet excitedly offers as she grabs his hand and eagerly shakes it.
"Thanks... How'd you know it was my birthday anyway?"
"I remembered, obviously." she answers as if his question was a stupid one.
He shrugs, "I mean, I'm only askin' since you probably have lots of friends, family, even business associates, don't take it the wrong way but someone like me doesn't really... Deserve... It?" Ori trails off and looks up at her, only now noticing the frown on her face.
"Ori, don't start talking about other people or 'deserving it', be it my attention or whatever else. For someone like me there isn't a lot of people I can actually call my friends, yes, I have got a calendar for the birthdays of my producer and others, but they only really receive a gift card or whatever." she shrugs, "I like to think we're friends... Doing something as small as this is easy, like I'd be forgetting your birthday either," she smiles mischievously, "Last year you kept asking me if I remembered it, I had no choice but to memorise it!"
He looks to the side awkwardly, that'd been when his crush first started... He was a pile of nerves around her, even more so than now, which he'd displayed by basically badgering her to remember him whenever they met... Such dark... Cringe times...
"D-did you get drinks yet? This is a coffee shop right?" he asks, changing the subject.
She taps on one part of the table causing an electronic menu to open up, "Pick what you like, I'll catch the bill." she offers after ordering a latte with an egregious amount of add-ons onto it. Chocolate, cinnamon, coconut shavings, double cream, and a bunch more ingredients that Ori hadn't ever encountered before now...
Not wanting to take advantage of her generosity, he picks a basic large coffee, one of the cheapest drinks this place had available, despite its still rather large pricing.
"So, how're things?" she asks as they wait for their orders to arrive.
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บท 63: Stardom
"So, how're things?"
"They're going... I guess? Still not found a trace of Cat, but I've got people looking into it now. It's only a matter of time..." he says, feeling his mood drop from the mention of it.
She sighs, "That's a shame... I asked around but no one I know has any way of helping with this kinda thing. Sorry..."
He shakes his head, "Don't be, it ain't your fault, you tried as well, more than I can say for anyone else who survived Casinha..."
"What are you doing for work? It can't be easy given you lived most of your life underground..." she looks him over, "You don't seem to be doing too bad though."
He looks at the window and wets his lips, "I-er-uhh... I've become a kind of cleaner. I doubt you spend much time in Mega Buildings, but I'm sometimes around those places... Cleaning up..."
"Ah, like a janitor?" she questions to which he nods.
"Basically." he vaguely answers. "How about you? Got any new songs you wanna leak to me?... For publicity's sake I mean."
She giggles, "I would if I could, but if the suits got a peep of it they'd string me up with my contract." she jokes and sits back in her chair, "Seriously, while I'm the one who makes the music, they're the one playing us like instruments!"
"Really? I'd have thought someone as famous as you would have some leeway... They can't make you disappear as easily as the rest of us."
"You'd think that wouldn't you..."
"What about your bandmates? They having trouble too?"
Christy snorts but widens her eyes at her own reaction, holding a hand up in front of her mouth, "Excuse me... Ahem, my bandmates and I don't have the best relationship. We got back together for the Eddies, they're not very nice people if I'm honest..." she admits.
"Hmm." Ori hums, his eyes darting to the table as two segments come apart before rising up like a mini elevator. Their drinks rise into view and they both take them, allowing the table to reset.
He sips the coffee, which tastes slightly better than the average coffee you could get in Night City... With how much more it cost he didn't think it was worth it.
"Any good?" he asks her.
"Yep, shame I can't just bundle up whatever machine makes the drinks and drag it to the studio..." she looks like she wants to carry on but pauses as her face begins twitching... "H-hey, Ori... You'd tell me if you needed help, right?"
He tilts his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"I mean like, if you got in trouble-," she glances around the store conspiratorially, "With the law...?"
"Er-..." how was he even supposed to respond to that?
"Nevermind... Oh, why don't we take a picture, to celebrate your birthday." she offers, standing and sitting on his side of the table next to him. She holds up her holo-phone and takes a couple selfies, but frowns when she pulls them up.
Obviously, Ori's face was completely artifacted due to his software blocking it. If Maelstrom security cameras couldn't get past it, there was no way in hell her holo-phone was gonna do it.
"Huh... Must be something wrong with my phone...?"
Ori nods, "Y-yeah, turn it off and one, might work then." he states, quickly turning his software off to allow the selfie. She takes it and moves back to her side of the table with a big smile, sliding a rectangular box to him.
"What's this?"
"A present... You mole-people accept those, right?"
He chuckles, "Obviously, I still have that-..." he falters, "Ah... That autographed record you sent, it's probably a pile of ash in my old house." he mutters in realisation.
"Has anyone ever told you that you brood too much? Now come on, open it."
He does so, opening the box and finding two Shards... One containing another five thousand Eddies, same as what she gifted him last time, and the other... A complete list of all the songs she'd ever produced until now. Unfortunately missing her unreleased ones. "This-..."
"I know it's not much but I remembered you kept asking me to sing for you... There's more under that."
Raising a brow, he lifts the false bottom on which the Shards had been laying and spots a ticket of some sort. "Two VIP tickets to the UnSomberley concert in Heywood..."
"How about it?" she asks, grinning. "You can bring your Uncle with you too!"
"O-of course, I'd love to go. You sure it won't be a problem though? Can you really just go handing VIP tickets out like this?"
"Hehe, those are the only two I'm handing out, so count yourself lucky!"
He smiles at her, happier than he'd ever been since Casinha, "I am... Lucky to have a friend like you, Christy..."
*Beep-Beep*
Both of them pause at the sound of of an alarm, he looks at his Interface but finds nothing, meaning it'd come from her.
She looks at her holo-phone and frowns, "Ah, the studio wants me to redo a chorus... Even though it was already perfect!" she complains before quickly getting to her feet. "Again, Happy Birthday Ori, sorry if this seems abrupt but-"
"No, it's fine. I get it, go deal with work, maybe we can do this another time."
She nods at that and rushes off, leaving Ori sitting alone, still looking down at the tickets... Was this the greatest present he'd ever received? Yes, definitely. Nothing even compared to VIP tickets to see her sing.
He gives a small fist pump, drinks the rest of his coffee, activates his facial obfuscation software, and leaves. Before he gets home however he stops by a few shops, picking up some clothes while also taking the chance to check the Cyberware he might buy in future...
The day had only just started and it was looking up for him. Absolutely nothing could ruin this day!
...
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