Planatae

(Another) Assault

Ricardia bowed low to hide her smile as the Sandroom burst into a smatter of applause. She hated herself for it, more than she thought was possible, but there was an undeniable part of her that thrilled at the appreciation.

The thought horrified her - the things she had done to end up in Onyx were not to be ignored. But it was all too easy to push them away, and instead focus on her next dance, or spending an evening with Cassie and Sana.

She stepped off the stage, her head aching with conflicting, warring thoughts. An earlier version of herself would never have been so distracted at the club, but now she navigated the Sandroom with ease. A few weeks ago, she'd pushed Dani to improve club security with the rise in attentance, and the woman reluctanctly hired on a few extra bouncers. It was a testament to her success as an entertainmer that she'd agreed so little fuss.

Smiling at tourists, greeting the few regulars she found relatively appealing, Ricardia made her way to the back with no trouble at all. She planned to change, grab some food from the club's kitchen, then head back to Sana's apartment, where she and Cassie were waiting.

But she'd take her time - there was no need to flee the club anymore. The Sandroom had changed in the weeks she'd been working there. It had become comfortable, familiar. There were moments where she found herself gazing at the room, and found that she had grown to prefer the club's exaggerated architecture to traditional Caedish temple design. The thought made her smile, but then her expression was doused with a wave of despair. This contentment was an illusion, and any thoughts of home reminded her all too clearly of that.

"Heading home so soon?" Ricardia looked up from her vanity in the dressing room. Dani stood in the doorway, dressed in one of the dramatic, flowing dresses she wore wherever making a public appearance. Her hair, pinned tight against her head, was achingly similar to the way the priests back home would wear it.

"Hey, boss," Ricardia gathered her thoughts, unwilling to let the other woman see her distraught.

"Good work out there - as always," she said, motioning her over. "Get over here - lemme pay you for the week."

Ricardia nodded and got to her feet. She'd been expecting this. Moving closer, she locked eyes with Dani, and their feeds linked.

A few days into her new job, Sana had taken her to a local codesmith in the area, one that could provide her with higher digital security. At Sana's insistence, Ricardia spent a good chunk of her first paycheck on custom code to beef up her feed-contacts' firewalls. It was all relatively basic, but it was leagues better than the undefended state she had been in.

Now, Ricardia carefully lowered her security permissions, and soon enough a notification alerted her to a new influx of notes into her account. She ended the connection, raised her protections, and turned away, back towards the vanity.

"Hold on a second," Dani said. She paused, looked back at the woman. Was that an expression of... concern on her face?

"Look-" She stopped, seemed to be searching for the right words.

"What is it?" Ricardia was wary; seeing Dani hesitate was like watching lighting strike twice - it didn't happen.

"With the amount you've earned so far, you could catch a trip on some shitty junk back to Caedem, easy," she finally said. "You could be home by now, if you really wanted to."

"What's your point?" Ricardia snapped, suddenly angry. She didn't like being put on the spot like this.

"All I'm saying is if you have changed your mind, and you're gonna stick around - there's always a place for you here."