Singing for new patrons at the Eel

Gammon listened intently to the story of Val Etilen and his mother, the crease between his brows getting deeper and more visible as the young man talked. He was quiet for a long time after that, his attention solely on Etilen. Lorelei was, for the moment, forgotten. "I'm sorry I wasn't around to help out," he said finally, his voice low and gruff. He cleared his throat almost immediately and added, "Although I may have just gotten a similar reception. As you said, I did trade with both sides."

"We can't all be heroes," Val said, looking at the bar top. "I like to think my services sometimes helped blow off steam, you know? Helped make brutal men less cruel. Do you think that's vain?"

"No," Gammon answered without even having to think about it. "I think it's most likely true, even if only in small ways." He took a sip of his kanar and swished it around in his mouth a little, pensive as he did so. "People who've been ruled by a hated enemy for a long time...when the enemy is gone, they don't know who to hate. So they turn on each other. Because hate is all they remember." He gave a sharp shrug, clearing his throat again. "And it'll always be the people on the fringe who make the easy targets."

Val's dark mouth stretched into a smile.
"I've never denied beig easy."

Gammon grinned slowly at Val and squeezed his shoulder. "If we all played hard to get, nobody would ever have any fun." He gave a wink. "Somebody's gotta be the jumja stick."

Val giggled and laid his head on the bar for a moment.
"I have met some strange creatures here, that's for sure. Did you know you can get surgery to make you look like another species? I didn't."

Gammon's huge hand rustled Val's hair with brotherly affection before signaling to HJ that he wanted another drink. The hologram flickered, but went about doing just that.

"I did," he laughed. "I've had it done a time or two..." A beat. "Or a dozen. But who's counting?"

"Why??" Val seemed perplexed, then cocked his head. "I suppose I'd be curious to see what I'd look like as an Andorian."

"Some species are so xenophobic you can't trade with them unless you're one of them," Gammon explained, knocking back a good portion of his new kanar. "I've needed the surgery to escape some...sticky situations on occasion." He grinned, "Or to get into them. And when I left for the Gamma Quadrant, I spent almost a year pretending to be a Vulcan scientist. That was no joyride, I'll tell you that much."

Val laughed drunkenly.
"You're just about the worst Vulcan I can imagine. I bet you looked cute though."

"Oh, it was brutal!" Gammon laughed, his eyes sparkling with the adventure. "All these lovely creatures wanted to be with me," he held up his hand in a Vulcan salute to demonstrate, "and I couldn't deliver. It was agony. I had to tell them that I'd suffered a terrible injury in the war and was forced to degrade myself and have sex physically." He grinned broadly. "Luckily I'm very charming, so most of them didn't question it."

Val grinned and positioned his hand, sliding it up over Gammon's.

"Really? You didn't want to try this? I've always wanted to."

"I've done that! That's incredible." protested Gammon with another laugh, leaving his hand up as long as Val wanted it there. "I mean others wanted it from me, Lerius the Vulcan scientist. But I'm no telepath." He was an empath, but he left that part out.

Val stroked Gammon's hand, wondering what the sensation could possibly be like for a Vulcan.
"My mum taught me a little, but I've never had a Vulcan client. Not yet, anyway."

"It takes time with Vulcans," Gammon explained, sipping his kanar and watching Val's attentions thoughtfully. "Touch is mentally and emotionally invasive for them, so you really have to find the right balance of serenity and sensuality. In my experience, they tend to prefer people they know and trust. And most of them don't even like to admit they have baser instincts in the first place. But they're there. Buried deep." He waggled his eyebrows, "And when you get to them..." He set his drink down and made an exploding sound as his free hand accompanied it with a gesture that left his fingers splayed wide. "Like a supernova."

Val grinned. "There's something very rewarding about unlocking someone terribly uptight, isn't there? It's a lot of work, though." He came back to his kanar and finished his secon glass. "I think I need my next one to have some water."

"Whatever you do," Gammon replied with a grin, "don't think the word 'uptight' when you're touching a Vulcan. They don't like that." As for Val's drink, Gammon summoned HJ again. "He wants a water." HJ, of course, complied immediately.

"The thing I always try to remember when dealing with someone who's very closed off is that something or someone made them that way. Whether it was fear or humiliation or..." He gave a shrug, "Survival. Vulcans, for instance, derived their whole philosophy of meditation and control after nearly annihilating themselves because their emotions were so strong. So it's a fear of losing control. I like to know just enough about a culture to figure out why they are how they are today and so I can drop references that impress them." He gave another roguish grin. "Everybody loves it when they think you understand their heritage but aren't a part of it."

While Val and Gammon talked and caught up, Lorelei sang her heart out through the last few songs of her set. Whenever she glanced their way, she could see the two were quite enthrall end with each other. She wondered if perhaps Val was interested - if, indeed, there was some history between the two that they didn't mention when recounting their conversation. The Risan suddenly worried she had come on too strong.

She also noticed Val getting more adorable by the minute - meaning he was also getting drunker. When she finished her singing, she did not return to their table right away, making rounds with friends, fans and clients. The bar had thinned out by the time she swanned back over to Val and Gammon, a fresh glass of champagne in hand. She came over quietly so as not to interrupt their conversation, and to give them ample warning if they wished to join the topic.

Val grabbed another kanar and mixed the water into it so he could sip slowly.
"Oh- is that why you told my mum all about the importance of Bajoran folk music in preserving our language? My fiddle has not gotten any better, by the way."
He noticed Lorelei approach and waved her over.
"Come sit in my lap, Lorelei."

"So returns our Deep Space Siren," Gammon welcomed Lorelei warmly. He made no move to take her attentions away from Val.

The Bajoran, meanwhile, got a loosely pointed finger in his direction, "I'll have you know I firmly believed -- and still do believe -- that to be the Prophets' honest truth." He gave a grin and a shrug to follow it. "But, yes. I most definitely did have an agenda when I said it. What can I say? Your mother is a stunning woman. But we were never more than friends."

Gammon gave Lorelei a wink and added, "We were just talking about how to seduce a Vulcan."

Lorelei readily perched on Val's lap and draped her arm across his shoulders. "Do you ever talk about anything other than seduction?" She chuckled.

"I don't know about you, but it's one of my favorite subjects," Val said. "Don't we look pretty together, Gammon?" He asked, holding Lorelei's waist and setting his head on her shoulder.

Gammon grinned at Lorelei. "I am a man of many interests. But you can hardly blame me for having seduction on my mind with a woman like you around."

Val's question got a fond smile. "Absolutely picturesque."

Lorelei ran her fingers through Val's hair. "You're a flatterer, I can see that now. And yet you don't give Val enough credit. He looks very charming with his new scarf." She placed it over Val's face coquettishly.

Val puffed the scarf off his face.
"A lieutenant gave it to me," he boasted.