Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

Bardock directed Lluvia and her group around the serving area. He, like his fellow warriors, never bothered to acknowledge the usually unobtrusive kitchen help, unless they inadvertently got in his way. In contrast, the entertainers gathered up their meals and gave many effusive thanks to the workers, something to which the help was very unaccustomed since their forced indentures on Vegeta-sei.

Lluvia's group sat together in a far corner of the room, their food spread out over the space of three large tables. Lluvia had just settled down next to Adarath and was all set to dive into a bowl containing some really savory-looking noodles, when she froze with chopsticks raised half-way to her open mouth.

At the other end of the room, Tristan had been making his way behind a very large Saiya-jin warrior whose balding head was encircled by a tufted fringe of black hair riding just above his ears. From where she was sitting she could not readily hear the exact words Tristan said, which under ordinary circumstances were probably innocuous, but the angry and immediate response by the warrior was unmistakable. Bardock was standing right behind her and, Saiya-jin hearing being what it is, did hear the remark and she could sense him stiffening in sympathetic annoyance as did the Saiya-jins closest to the twosome.

Bardock eyes had darted over to Totepo and Tristan, watching as the large warrior's arm struck out to enclose the smaller man's neck in his massive fist, his ominous intent crystal clear. When Bardock turned to say something to Lluvia, she was not longer in her seat but standing right next to Totepo, trying to divert the large warrior's attention from the struggling prize in his grip.

What the…how'd she get over there so quickly?

Panicked, Bardock almost flew over to drag her away from the scene, but something in her face told him to stay right where he was. Surprisingly enough, he acquiesced, in spite of his better judgment.

"You don't really want to hurt him, do you?" The gentle touch of Lluvia's hand on Totepo's large, muscled forearm made him whip his angry face around to glare down at this little alien female's intrusion. His answer into her face was an intimidating nose-to-nose snarl. Instead of flinching, she smiled even brighter at the huge warrior.

"If you'll let him go, I could do something for you, just for you. In fact, I'll sing you a song, any song you can think of. Right here, right now! Just…for…you!" She punctuated the last three words by walking her fingers up his massive arm to rest her hand on his shoulder, sidling up to him and batting her eyes at the same time. Totepo blinked and looked first at the annoying little insect dangling in his grasp then back to the beguiling face awaiting his response to her offer. This was quite a dilemma for him. He really wanted to teach this little weakling worm a sharp lesson, but if he did, the comely female would not make a special performance, well, just for him.

Bardock and his fellow Saiya-jins were amazed as they watched the fluctuating expressions cross repeatedly over Totepo's large face. They all thought that the musician was toast. The little shit sure deserved no less for his remark and quite a few of the Saiya-jins were calling out to Totepo with extremely graphic suggestions on how to best dispatch his captive. The usually taciturn giant's thought processes were lumbering at best and the entire room eventually went silent for a few seconds in anticipation of his decision. The entertainers, however, looked unaffected by this little altercation and continued to happily chow down, their appetites undisturbed by this impromptu melodrama unfolding right before them.

Bardock bent down to whisper into the lead male dancer's ear. "You don't seem at all worried!"

"Nope," said Adarath, chewing contentedly. "Yu-vee won't let anything happen to Tris. She's looked out for him since they were kids. You needn't worry, whenever she turns the charm on full bore, no one can resist her. I can vouch for that! The big guy just doesn't stand a chance!" He motioned with his chopsticks to return Bardock's attention to the action at hand. "Watch and learn, dude!"

"Tristan, you will offer this stalwart warrior a most heart-felt apology, won't you?" Lluvia flashed a no-nonsense look to her dangling friend.

Tristan nodded and squawked through the constricting grasp. "Hey, man! I meant no disrespect, honestly! I'm sorry if what I said got you upset!"

Totepo grunted in acknowledgement and released his grip around the musician's neck, abruptly dropping the smaller man flat onto his keister. Adarath and Connore put down their eating utensils and came over to assist a wheezing Tristan back onto his feet. As they walked back to rejoin the others, Connore gave a gentle open-handed thwack to the back of the synth-guitar player's head. "You may be an idiot savant when it comes to your musical talent, Tris, but there are times like this when you're just an idiot, pure and simple!"

"Thank you, Mr. Totepo! Now, what song may I sing especially for you today?" Totepo cocked his massive head thoughtfully. A sly grin emerged and he crooked a large index finger toward the female, indicating he wished to whisper his request. Lluvia bent her bright head forward as Totepo softly voiced his choice of song into her ear.

Nodding, she straightened and with her left index finger activated her MAARCU, saying, "Initiating musical archive. Search index for 'Salty Sam, the Sailor Man'."

The musical and text readouts on the purple-tinted display over her left eye scrolled through a selection of songs matching the request. The largest being a musical barroom epic about the sexual exploits, misadventures actually, of a spectacularly endowed sailor. Lluvia startled when she realized that this collection housed approximately three hundred improvised verses, all of them laced with some of the most colorfully profane colloquialisms she'd ever seen assembled in one song. Rather than perform all of the offered verses, a task which would surely compromise her voice for the next two evenings' contractual performances, she utilized the MAARCU to scan for the top twenty-five verses containing the most interspersed profanities. Once the cataloguing was completed, she transmitted the musical arrangements and lyrics to the musicians' MAARCU's for accompaniment.

Sufficiently recovered from his ordeal, Tristan picked up his synth-guitar and cued up the synthesized sounds of a concertina, while the other musicians followed suit with their own instruments. As the introductory notes of a lively sailor's hornpipe began to circulate around the room, Lluvia found her stage atop the nearest unused table and stood at attention, looking out over the expectant occupants of the mess hall. With all eyes upon her, her posture became rigid and serious, hands clasped in classic operatic style before her as she began to sing:

Harken to me ye lads and lassies,

And I'll tell you true the tale,

Of Salty Sam, the Sailor Man,

A swab with a pecker big as a whale…

The Saiya-jin warriors could not believe what they were hearing. The melody by itself was pleasing enough to their ears, but the words were some of the most amazingly ribald lyrics they'd ever heard in their lives. All the while, the figure standing at solemn attention on top of the table was warbling the tune with an expression of total dead-pan. The incongruity of the situation hit the Saiya-jins with such a wave of hilarity that by the time the third stanza was sung, they were either joining in singing the chorus or guffawing out loud. Quite a few were banging on the tables, doubled over in paroxysms of unrestrained laughter. Totepo was clapping in time to the spirited beat, looking extremely pleased with himself and his choice of song. Some of the warriors had involuntarily succumbed to blushing before chortling or making rowdy noises in order to cover up their collective embarrassment. Bardock just shook his spiky head.

Now,I've seen and heardeverything, he thought to himself.

The song finished with a flourish after a repeat of the final chorus for the benefit of the Saiya-jins who were still loudly singing away. Lluvia respectfully bowed toward her appreciative and laughing audience as their applause and whistles resounded off the walls. Requests for additional songs were waved off while the musicians fell into an improvised jam session. The distraction furnished their director a chance to recover from her performance. Totepo gallantly reached up with one hand to guide her down from the tabletop while giving her a thumbs-up sign with the other. She nodded gratefully to him and eventually made her way through the congratulatory crowd to stand next to Bardock and wiped her brow in mock relief.

"My poor ears are still ringing from that little performance, female. I have never heard anything so incredibly obscene in my entire life!"

Bardock chuckled as Lluvia grimaced in response. "Me either! Pretty ghastly, wasn't it? Yuck! I suddenly have this urge to wash out my own mouth with soap!"