The Space Station

Chapter 1 - The Bar

The bar was warm inside, the sound of people talking amongst themselves and soft jazz mingled into what Marley liked to call "Bar Music." It was just the mix of sounds he needed to distract himself from his work.

He downed another shot of heavy liquor before looking at the clock. He had a few hours until his next mission so he decided to drink some more and called the bartender over.

The truth was, he didn't want to go to his next mission. He had dealt with some hostile aliens on his last one and if he knew anything, it was that an explorer without a fighter on a hostile planet was no fun. His whiskers twitched angrily the more he thought about it, but soon enough the bartender had returned. Although it was a different bartender this time.

"I'll be covering for Joseph the rest of the evening." He smiled. "What would you like?"

The bartender had dark skin and eyes the color of dark chocolate, and was quite taller and more muscular than Marley. His smile was as radiant as the sun, and Marley was genuinely taken aback.

"Three more shots if you wouldn't mind." He asked politely, slitted eyes focusing on the man in front of him.

The bartender looked at him worriedly and shook his head while cleaning a glass.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. You're an explorer, right?." He let his eyes drift to the empty shot glasses in front of Marley before meeting his eyes again. "A few shots was alright, but any more and you might not be okay to go."

"Oh what's the point?" Marley threw his gloved hands up in defeat. "I should probably pack up and leave. I haven't made an alliance in 5 months because I haven't had any fighters willing to partner up with me. I'm sick of hearing 'better luck next time' already. I just want to do something right."

The bartender waited a bit before speaking again.

"Listen," he read the name tag on Marley's uniform before speaking again. "Marley. I'm a fighter, and if you'd like, we can be partners. I haven't got one and I'm sick of being on break all the time. What do you say?"

Marley's ears twitched a bit and he blinked in surprise. This man was offering him something he had desired for so long, (at a bar of all the places, but that wasn't important) and it was finally real. He quickly nodded, and read the bartender's name tag.

"You've got yourself a deal, James" Marley smiled, fangs and all.

"Alright Cat-Man."

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See you in the next part! - bleupaladin