Very Important Person (Gomorrah)

"It's nice to meet you too, sweetheart! If you liked the show, can you go sweet talk your father into raising my pay?"

Janica looked at Mell flatly and Mell had to laugh. "What, it couldn't hurt!"

What was he up to, she asked. The better question would be what wasn't he up to. Mell could remember vividly the time S'ghibrin stapled the mayor's boxers onto the city hall front door when he threatened to shut down his illegal brothel.

"S'ghibrin," she said, nodding. "Oh, you know, the usual antics if you know him. Sex and drinking, stupid jokes that cross lines sometimes. We weren't human so he couldn't do his dumb demon shit on my planet, but he was still a pretty good fuck, all things considered."

She paused. "Er, sorry, that's probably not the sort of thing you want to hear about your dad."

Mell pointed to Chloe with her thumb, looking at Janica. "Look at this girl. She's as sweet as they go. You sure she's Gabriel's daughter?"

Janica laughed. "I'm pretty sure, Blue Fire."

Mell made a quiet 'huh' before listening to Chloe talk, leaning sideways on the couch and resting her cheek in her hand. She nodded at 'couple of months' and 'getting used to the idea', finger waving around as if she wanted to say something.

"Yeah, yeah! An unknown, illegitimate child. That sounds exactly like him. He's not really one for family planning and all that biz, and I can't imagine he'll ever be the cozy, brings you to ball games kind of dad either." She shrugged. "But it's great that he wants to take you in instead of, you know, swallowing you whole Greek mythology style... Heh. I've been reading up on Earth folklore. He's totally Zeus, right? Except he's somehow more of a dickbag, I guess."

...Demon questions now. Mell leaned in, not wanting anyone to hear. Most customers in the club didn't know Gabriel Baltimore was a demon, after all.

"Contracts," Mell said softly, only loud enough for Chloe to hear. "What else?"

"Yeah. He tells me these extravagant stories of people wishing for something and he makes it happen," Mell said softly. She snorted, leaning back against the couch and paying attention to the headless stripper that went on-stage, but she did take a moment to glance at Chloe. She looked kind of... uncomfortable? She didn't really understand why, but she wanted to present her case at least.

"Honey. I don't know if you've noticed, but what your father does is just business. People offer him something he wants and, in return, he gives them what they want. I'd say it's a wonderful option for you humans. You get to alter reality, make yourself stronger, faster and better than what you were originally capable of. If I was given an opportunity to alter my life for something that wouldn't even matter after death, I'd take it."

Besides, her friend Gabriel had done much more heinous things than grant wishes. But she wasn't going to bring that up.

Near her, she felt Janica stiffen up and look away. She stared at a passing waiter, hoping to distract herself from the conversation.

Mell was back to a subject she had more authority to talk about. She grinned mischievously and stood up, offering her hand to Chloe. "You could get one here but there are more private rooms in the back."

Mell looked at Janica for confirmation. The latter nodded. "Ms. Black can get free lap dances if she wishes."

"Ah..." Mell nodded back. Well, that was the policy. She knew Janica would be keeping mental tabs on everything Chloe did, so money was a nonissue.

"Do you want... me?" She swayed her hips enticingly, chuckling a bit. "Real talk, you should try the others, though. Everybody's been dying to get to know you and they'll explode if I keep you all to myself."

She waved at a topless fairy girl with luminescent pink skin and green hair like a beehive sitting at the bar. "Hey, Rose! This is the boss' girl!"

The fairy's walking turned into urgent jogging. When she got to Mell, Mell wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer. "This is Rose. She's my girl."

Rose grinned shyly at Chloe, raising a hand. "Hi. Great to meet you," she said, in an accent so thick it almost sounded like she was buzzing.

Mell pointed at the headless man. "Jackhammer. Great name, right? Wonder what he hammered to get that name... if you know what I mean."

There were other strippers sitting at the nearby couches — a green witch, a girl that looked like a human worm, and a man with a horse head, who was aptly referred to as 'Stallion.' There were humans too but it didn't seem like Chloe was into that.

"There are way more, but hey, pick your poison. We're here to serve."

Mell looked at Janica. Janica brushed Chloe's arm awkwardly.

"When Gomorrah was made and the employees handpicked from wherever we came from, Gabriel Baltimore listed down a set of rules for us to follow and one of those rules was to give you the best experience possible. He didn't want us to feel scared or awkward about serving you so he told me to keep tabs on everything so he himself could pay for them later."

Mell snorted. "And it's going to be thrice our usual fee! I'm not really pressing for cash right now, would be nice to get some extra to spend, but Rose here could really use it."

"Blue!!" Rose shook Mell's arm frantically. "D-don't tell his daughter that, geez." Mell rolled her eyes and said something about being 'proactive'. Rose smiled at Chloe sheepishly. "Pick whoever you want, honey."