Kaper's Contract

Chapter 1

The hustle and bustle of passerby on the slick, city sidewalks were no obstacle for one city goer. The sound of a skateboard rolling across the concrete was barely audible over the cars driving across the asphalt streets, the occasional honk of a car horn blaring in the air and startling the passing citizens.

A platform boot hit the sidewalk, the other foot staying steadfast on a wooden top as it propelled the owner of the skateboard forward through the crowd of people that walked towards them.

Anyone that saw the figure would have been stopped in their tracks by such a bizarre appearance.

Skin pale as paper stood out from the contrasting environemt, a slim body clothed in black fashion from head to toe, looking more bizarre as you looked up to their face. Fishnets dressed up long legs to slip under black shorts, the waist of it ending just above the navel. The crop top they wore barely brushed their waist, covered by a long, open leather coat that stopped just at the top of their knees, adorned with a few pockets scattered about and colorful pins attached to them.

Though the most striking thing about their look had to be their makeup and hair. Their ink black hair was an unusual...mess to put it lightly.

Anyone looking at it wouldn't know where to begin. Framing their temples was something like two pigtails flowing down over their shoulders, held with two hairbands that grouped the hair in segments. Their bangs, or lack thereof, were cut close to their head, the hair around the top of their head flowing down into a short bob. The back of their head was a ponytail bush of black, the undercut they sported showing designs cut into the hair that drew the eye.

Makeup was a mess of purples and blues made to smear down their cheek, eyeshadow the same gradient of pretty purples as the palette below it. Black lipstick adorned full lips, a hint of violet on the lips shining in the dull city light of day. Their whole look seemed the very definition of industrial goth if anyone were to find a word for it.

In between their lips, held securely in the gap between their front teeth was a lollipop, held steadfast as they continued their journey down the street, dodging pedestrians and the occasional dog or child. Pale hands adorned with various black and gold rings grabbed the finished candy from their lips, throwing the stick into a passing trashcan as they entered the more treacherous back alleys of the city. A few more minutes later through winding paths into the slummier part of the city and they had successfully made it to their destination.

A seedy looking club, complete with a flickering neon open sign and shady figures out front even in broad daylight. The name of the club in red neon that would have surely stood out from the rest had it been darker reading: Garden of Eden.

Without any further hesitation the oddly dressed figure kicked up their skateboard, taking it with them as they went inside.

They were greeted by the various girls that worked at the club, a few of them even interrupting their time with customers to give them a passing greeting which they returned wholeheartedly.

As they made their way through the near empty club floor towards the bar a familiar voice greeted them this time. "Kaper! Sweetie hello! It's so good to see you! If you're looking for Salem he's on break right now."

The voice came from a woman, plus sized and as pretty as they come, dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes as warm as a cottage fire and just as alluring. She wore a cute sundress, decorated with various summer flowers and cute bugs among the petals. Her hair was braided to a point, the braids trailing up to a set poof that took up most of her head.

"Thanks Tapha, nice seeing you." Kaper said, walking over and leaning into a warm hug when the other lady had opened her arms to him. Kaper let a smile lay on his lips as she kissed the unmarked portion of his cheek in greeting, hands drawing down his arms so she could hold him close and see him for herself.

"How's work been sweetheart?"

Kaper's shoulders came up and down in a quick motion as they shrugged, "Slow so far, but I'm enjoying the break I guess."

"That's good at least, anyways I won't keep you, Salem's in the back room, he had a rude customer earlier amd hasn't been feeling good today so I don't think he'd mind your company."

"That's not what he'd say."

"Just go, even if you think he doesn't want you around that's a lie and I know it."

"If you say so Tapha."

With loud steps Kaper made his way back behind the bar and towards the back room, nodding to one of the bouncers that was walking past as he did. The back room wasn't too much to look at, lightly furnished with a leather couch and cozy atmosphere, same design as the rest of the club.
On that leather couch was Salem.
He was a tall man, or at least taller than Kaper by a whole inch. His brightly dyed red hair complemented his medium brown skin nicely, dark brown eyes warm and soulful. Or Kaper thought so at least.

Currently he was dressed in the bar's uniform, just a simple button up dress shirt, black slacks, and dark grey vest. He was sprawled out on the couch, shoes set to the side and head pillowed on his arm.

Kaper set down his skateboard quietly, being sure not to make any noise as he walked over to the sleeping man. He squatted down, just about eye level with the other before he poked at his soft cheek with a well manicured black fingernail.

It took a few more pokes before Salem stirred, dark brown eyes fluttering open and focusing on Kaper with a tired look.

“You shouldn’t wake someone when you’re in full makeup.”

“I don’t look that bad, do I?” Kaper asked him, worriedly touching the pad of his finger to his cheek where he could just feel the edge of his smeared eyeshadow on his cheek. He didn't think he looked too bad given the style, but he and Salem had been friends long enough that Salem would be able to tell his bad from and outsiders bad at least.

“You don’t but I’m warning you in case you wake someone else, you look like something straight out of a horror movie up close like that. Those jump scares they did like in Mellow Birch Haunting?” Salem explained, sitting up until he was seated up on the couch properly, moving to the side to give Kaper room to sit if he so chose. And like always the goth took full advantage of the space, pressing gently along the other’s side.

"Who else am I going to take precious time out of my day to wake up?"

Kaper said, head held high in a joking, snooty gesture. It got a small smile out of the other at least.

"True, why are you here anyways?"

He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he firefly looked towards Kaper, bags heavy under his eyes and leaning a bit more heavily than need be against him.

"Just came by to see you is all, might go over to Ma's and see if he's got a contract for me. Been a little slow lately and I could use the extra cash."
Salem hummed in acknowledgement, dark eyes squinting a bit as he ran his left hand through his hair, letting out a low, tired sigh from between his lips.

"You okay? You look like death." Kaper questioned, dark eyes regarding the other with a concern he rarely showed others.

"I'm fine, just a headache.

Everything's been a little...much today more than others." Salem admitted, letting his arm flop to his lap.

"Go home then, Tapha can get one of the newbies to cover."

"But-"

"Look, she likes you and loves me, she'll let you get the rest of the day off. Think about it at least, I'm hopping out." Kaper finished, hopping off the couch towards the door, Salem nearly toppling over to find his balance. He watched Kaper kick up his skateboard into his hand, the other not caring about noise too much now that Salem was awake but still being careful seeing as he had a headache.

"What do you want for dinner?"

Kaper asked him, looking over his shoulder towards the other man, waiting patiently for an answer despite it being the early morning. He never knew how long his jobs were going to take, if he got any today at least.

"Could go for a burger."

"Alright then, burgers it is." A smile on his lips as he went out the door, leaving Salem alone with his thoughts.

A day off sounded nice actually.