2019-10-11 - Looking for A Job

It is very early on a Friday morning. So early, most people would call it Thursday night. The Cabaret is still busy at 2 in the morning though patrons are starting to filter out...drunk, but usually satisfied. Park is on the 'hard drives of steel', playing the music from the DJ Booth, though the playlist has been programmed far enough into the future that she can take a break and head for the bar.

The Korean-American dressed in her uniform of tight Platinum Cabaret t-shirt and even tighter booty shorts. For some reason, a guy with a very obvious wig keeps ducking and putting his hands on his head whenever she goes near. She just waves happily in return.

Thaaaaaank goodness people are leaving, because Cameron is about dead on her heels. Uppers wear off, you see, even the really good ones. The dancer hangs out by DJ booth because the bar is where all the late-night customers like to congregate, and she really, really isn't in the mood to hunt for anymore lapdances tonight.

Her outfit, as expected of a dancer, is quite a bit more risque than Park's, and she walks around the side of the booth in her red vinyl miniskirt with the high-cut thong that shows above its waistline like she has any business being there. The strap of the red, shiny halter top keeps slipping off of one shoulder, and she tucks it back into place while wrapping her arms around the Korean DJ's waist and putting a chin on her shoulder.

"Meeeeee. I'm dead. I'm just dead now. I can't go on like this. If you have any cocaine, it's totally time to share."

The brunette glances down at the music and computers and techno-wizardry that makes up the booth before them. It's all wires and gizmos to her. She knows enough how to operate webcams and vlog the shit out of conspiracy theories. A disc-jockey she is not.

"What are you doing? What's this thingie here?" An arm leaves the young woman's waist to point at knobs and doo-hickeys. "How do you know what does where?"

Kass tucks her wallet into her hip pocket after flashing ID to show her age at the door. Dark eyes flit here and there, the loud music, lights, and people keeping her bringing and flinching away as she heads deeper into the club. Hands gripping tightly to the strap of her messenger bag, she whirls around as another patron brushes against her, only for that selfsame bag to bang into someone... Park or Cameron, perhaps! Kass whirls around again, wide-eyed and apologetic, "I'msosorry!" It comes out in a rush, an embarassed glance followed by a shout-muttered, "Sorry, I'm a little jumpy... uh... who do I talk to about a job?" Because this young woman looks like she should be here. Shifty-eyed, clutching the large bag tightly, skittering away from people at every turn. Yup. Totally Cabaret material, right? "I'm not usually this.. bad. Its been.. um, a long day. I was told you guys are hirign waitresses?"

"I don't do drugs. Sorry" Park apologises sincerely to Cameron; she gets wasted on half a bottle of light beer after all. A playful slap of Cameron's hand as it gets too close to buttons and knobs. "I just set up the playlist for the next two dancers and music between. If you touch that, I have to start over. And I may even have to do the transitions manually." The horror at such a thing! "Not that I can't." She points to another box. "And that is one I can play on. Add beats. Tunes. If I want to get creative."

An 'oof' as Kass's bag is slammed into her. Park does it all the time. "It's okay!" she assures Kass, worried that she has upset the redhead by being walked into. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I was totally not looking where I was going." She was standing still at the time. As Kass's reason for being here becomes clear, Park smiles with the sage wisdom she has to impart. "You need to talk to Mister Antonio. He's the boss and sooooo hard to find. It took me three visits before I finally met him, but, yeah, I think he's hiring waitresses. And he'll also ask if you want to dance. Especially with you being so pretty and all. And that hair is amazeballs. Am I right, Cam...um...Destiny. Oh, I'm Park. Or Mee if you prefer. Hi!"

"It's okay, Mee. I shouldn't do drugs, either. Bad for my skin. ...God, why are you so smart at this? That's sexy. Lyric promised to teach me how to work it sometime." A beat. "The DJ stuff, not the pole."

The sudden introduction of Kass into their lives has Cameron turning to regard the woman with the brightly-colored hair, eye own dark eyebrows raised up questioningly. "Uh?" Comes the rather intelligent-sounding syllable out of the stripper's mouth at the question/explanation that is thrown their way by the woman who is, apparently, lost. Or maybe not lost, but certainly searching.

She looks at Mee as the woman goes about her awkward apologies and introductions. She can't help but laugh. "Sweetie, you are the cutest thing on this Earth." It's said with a bright grin as she runs her fingernails lightly over the back of the Korean-American's shirt. Then she turns her attention back towards Kass.

"Yeah, I'm Cam-Destiny! And you're hair really is amazing. She's, um, right. Mister Williams can be hard to pin down. And about the dancing, too." The dancer leans back a little on her heels, gesturing down at herself with a roll of her eyes and a self-deprecating smirk. "I came here to be a waitress one day, too. And now I shake my ta-tas for money. And for Mee."

"But mostly for money."

Eyes darting back and forth between Park and Cameron, she seems like she might be getting dizzy at the back-and-forth, finally just putting both hands to her forehead and holding the halves together until the world stops spinning. To outsiders, it probably looks like she's clutching her head in pain. Strangely enough, however, in the next moment, Kass is putting on a smile (so fake) with something akin to fear in her eyes (so real). "I don't... dance. I have two left feet? I can, um... walk. Okay. But not dance." She swings another look over botht he girls and adds, "And I don't own anything like that except maybe a bathing suit? It might be too small, I haven't worn it in, uhhhhhhhhhh... ten?-ish? years?"

Kass clears her throat and glances aside again, "I, uh.. I can take drinks, though. Like walk. With a tray. I've been practicing. Dad says its probably the only thing I can do that isn't, uh... bad." She shrugs her shoulders and reaches up to clutch her hands around the strap of her messenger bag once more. The compliments to her hair gain a belated reaction, one hand lifting up hesitantly as if it might not actually be HER hair, though her fingers run through it easily enough. "Um, thanks. I just. Uh... washed it." Her eyes dart around as if she might spot the elusive Antonio before she looks back to the pair. "I just need to make enough to get out of my parents' house. They don't want me there."

"I don't have any ta-tas" Park points out with a tone of resigned acceptance. "If I shook them for money it would be a tax loss." A confused look at Cameron's proclamation she shakes for Park but she shrugs it away, especially when Kass looks in pain.

"Are you okay? Would you like some water? You should have some water." Park has decided this must be done immediately, grabbing one of her own bottles to offer Kass. "Hmm...I don't think you should wear the bathing suit from ten years ago. Totally out of style. Are you a hoarder? I don't think I have any clothes from ten years ago. I think I'm about a foot taller to start with" she giggles before adding, "Have the same boobs and butt though."

Park nods happily to Kass's list of skills. "That's perfect then...the walking and carrying a tray. And I don't believe that is the only thing you can do that is good. Your dad is terrible for saying things like that." It gets even worse at the revelation that Kass's parents want her out of the house. "Oh my gosh! Really? That's terrible! I am definitely going to make sure you get a job." Park hugs Kass tight. "You are a wonderful person. Always remember that."

"Um... are you okay?" Cameron looks like she might be about to reach over the booth and touch Kass, until the woman is all smiles suddenly. Even if it is fake. The brunette slowly lowers her hands a little uncertainly. She glances down at the woman's feet, and then back up, brown eyes roaming her body in a way that probably feels a little judgey and a little bit violate-y.

"Easy, easy, we're not the ones you have to interview with! You can relax." The brunette lifts a hand to forestall the qualifications that come forth, glancing at the DJ as she calms the woman probably much better than Cam herself could. Something about blunt-forced honesty and adorableness to the face has a way of calming people down.

"Parents fucking suck. You and me have that in common, um... what... was your name again, sweetie? Sorry, it's loud in here and I'm so shitty with names." Once Park is done hugging the newcomer, Cameron shoots her a smile that she hopes is reassuring. "The clothes you might have to work on, but if Mister Williams likes you, he'll front you some money for a few outfits. It's really not all that difficult. You just have to look hot, which... check, yep, you are. And you have to not call him something rude."

A shoulder lifts in half of a shrug. "That's about it." And then her hand is snaking out to the side, thumb and forefinger finding enough of Park's ass to give it a sharp little pinch. "And I think your butt is as adorable as the rest of you, hon. Don't sell yourself so short."

Heh. Because she's taller than the DJ. Get it?

"I'm... mostly okay. Sometimes I'm not. But this isn't one of those times. But I like water," Kass offers 'helpfully', taking the water bottle that's offered with a quick smile and a glance towards her toes. By the way, perhaps the COOLEST thing about the girl are the gold leather Chuck Taylor hightops she's sporting. Laces undone and flopping about. Her brows knit together at the term Park flings out, "Hoarder? I don't.. think so? That's not a diagnosis I recognize anyways. No, uh... I just.. haven't gotten to go swimming in a really long time." SHe shrugs again, using the gesture and a hefty drink from the waterbottle to cover the embarassment. The sudden hug has her spitting that water right back out, standing frozen, like a deer in headlights. Unsure of what to do with the affection, Kass wipes her mouth on her sleeve and murmurs, "Sorry. Uh.. you startled me. I don't get.. hugs. Very often. Thank you?"

Looking back towards Cameron, she blinks, owl-eyed, "Um... Kass? Kassandra. Hughes." There's a brief cringe, as if expecting a sudden hurling of accusations or taunting to spew forth from the simple recitation of her name. "Do I.. do I have to wear the heels? I've never worn heels. I... how do you not fall over?" Her gaze having fallen on Cameron's shoes, eyeing them with clear distrust. Not the woman, just the shoes.

Poor Park. Water spat out at her and a pinch that produces a squeal from the girl. She's quite startled too, but nothing gets her down for long. "You totally need to get used to hugs" she grins at Kass, finding a tissue to dab at her t-shirt. "Cam's right..." She admitted her name is Cameron, right?" "You are totally hot. Though no need to rush into new things. Kass is a lovely name." No recognition from Park at least.

"No, you don't have to wear heels. I only wear them for special occasions. You know, like needing something off the top shelf" Park giggles. "You have awesome shoes as it is. Why change? Umm...would you like some more water? Not sure how much of it you managed to drink."

"Yeah, well... none of us are really okay. We've all got some kind of damage going on. That's why we take our clothes off for money!" Cameron gestures around at the club, at the slowly-vanishing customer base and the current dancer up on stage doing her thing. "People who are okay don't work here. But that's what makes us interesting."

There's a sympathetic look towards the redhead as she dribbles water out when she gets her first experience with an Authentic Park Hug. "Well, she's right, if you're gonna work here, Kassie, you're gonna have to learn how to get used to hugs. Mee is the most frequent offender, but we have huggers here. We hug. We are people of the Bad Touches sort. Most people like it when we touch them, though."

If the dancer has recognized the name, she doesn't seem to show it. She left town as a teenager and only came back this year. Must have missed all the good bits. But the glares at her shoes have her looking down, wondering if there's something wrong with them. "Oh. Heels? No, I guess you don't. Probably just wear some two-inch pumps and you'd be good to go."

"I mean, I wear the stilettos because they make my legs look amazing and I get better tips if I look better. So it wouldn't be a bad idea. Gotta balance tips with the pain and the possibility of having your ankles explode. They're the devils instrument of feminine torture, though, for sure." Beat. "Them and thongs. But again, better tips. I think it'll probably be up to you how much skin you wanna show, but, y'know."

A finger is lifted in the air, twirled around. "Strip club. The more the better. You got it. So own it."

"I guess.. I can, uh.. practice at that too then," Kass mutters, likely meaning the heels thing, though she still doesn't trust them. They look tricky. "Caterpillars.." its muttered briefly, could even be lost in the noise of the club. Blinking once, she looks back towards the pair and offers a (slightly) less fake smile and offers, "I don't.. mind. But... nobody has touched me without drugging me in... I don't know. Six years? I don't know how long its been. They learned fast to drug me before taking me anywhere.... I think..." Kass frowns, seeming to following lingering thread of memory, "Or maybe that was the dream... the dream is hard to tell from the nightmare and the nightmare is hard to tell from the real... its too complicated." She shakes her head and seems to banish whatever megrims were nibbling at the edges of her consciousness and looks back to the pair again. "So, um... I can wear whatever I like as long as its, uh... sexy?"

Park pouts at Cameron's assessment that they are all damaged goods. "Hey, we work here because we want to. And we're interesting because we're interesting." So there! You can't beat that logic. "I work here and I am okay" she adds though she doesn't sound convincing.

"I don't bad touch people" she promises Kass. "And you would look amazing without heels too, Cam." A smile for Kass once more. "The people who work here are soooo gorgeous. You'll fit right in."

"You've been drugged for six years? Even when they took you out shopping? That is horrible." And Park looks suitably aghast, even a bit teary. Here comes another hug. "I am def giving you my phone number. And my address. Anytime you need to talk or need a place to stay, you come to me." She steps back and indicates her clothes. "There's a uniform but it's supplied. Free. We have to clean it though."

"Awww, yes you are, honey." Cameron replies soothingly to Park, leaning in to rub a hand up and down her spine comfortingly. "You're super okay. Okay? I just the crazy ones who take their clothes off." The brunette does her best to smile, to show Park that she is the 'okayest' of them all! But it's probably not comforting. It might even be kind of patronizing.

The dancer slides her hand up to the nape of Park's neck and gives her a little squeeze before retracting it. "Thanks, Mee. I do like to think I bring a little something to the table. For a skinny white bitch. I was pretty worried when I started that I wouldn't make any money, because come on. Who's gonna pay the lanky, small-tittied beanpole. Turns out guys will throw money at all types."

She tries to smile through Kass' continued explanation, but it's all quite a bit much to take in all at once. The brunette purses her lips, and though she doesn't hug the newcomer, she does take a step closer and puts a hand on her bicep, giving her a little squeeze, a bit of a rub.

"I know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, not exactly-exactly, but... Exactly. You'll be okay here. Just, maybe don't share that with the customers? I'd try opening with a few jokes."

Another song comes on over the speakers, and Cameron glances towards the stage, noticing who is on it. "Oh, I'm up next. See you girls on the other side! Kass, let me pre-emptively welcome you to the fam. Mee," She turns towards the DJ with a wink-and-smile combo for sauntering away. "Stay awesome, sexy!"

"Oh, uh... I don't think I went shopping. At least, I don't remember if I did? I don't know..." Kass frowns again, though the effort to remember results in nothing more than the start of a headache for the young woman. She winces slightly and presses her fingertips to her temple before sighing and lowering them again. "I was... at the, uh.. the old mental hospital? I don't really remember much, but I know they let me go. Said I was better." She lifts a small shrug and glances sidelong before looking back suddenly at Park's offer. She blinks, she looks to Cameron, she looks back to Park. "I... uh, oh. Okay, thanks.. Cam-Destiny. Good luck?" She turns to watch Cam off before looking back to Park. "Um... Thank you. That's what I meant to say. Thank you. You're being really nice to me. So thank you. I should.. probably go, though. Try again later to see if I can catch, um, Antonio. To get hired. So I can start working here." She offers a small smile towards Park at that. "Then I can get my own place. And then you can come over."

Park offers Cameron a wave and a smile as she heads off to dance. "She's sooo good" she grins at Kass. "And soooo pretty. Why wouldn't guys want to throw money at her? I totally would. She has, like, two girlfriends too. And she's Wiccan! See how interesting we are?"

She takes out her phone to swap numbers with Kass. "Oh, do you have a phone? I can still write stuff down too." She can use a pen! "The mental hospital? I'm glad you're better." No prejudice for ex, or current, mental patients here. "I would love to come over to your place" she grins. "And you should come to the Masquerade here soon. If you don't catch Mister Antonio before then, he will def be there. So wonderful to meet you, Kass. I look forward to working with you."

"Wow. That's... that's a lot. She sounds... super cool," Kass offers as she watches Cameron head towards the stage, perhaps a tinge of envy in her tone. She glances down briefly then looks back to Park with a smile, "You all sound sgreat. Really great. I just hope I can get hired, then I can be here too." She mimics Park when she pulls out her phone, though Kass' is likely a much older, offbrand model that's likely dirt cheap and about as reliable. But it DOES make calls! She swaps her phone with Park and carefully taps out her name and number to put in the phone before handing it back. "You'll be the first one I invite. When I get it." Her head tilts, "Masquerade? Um, okay, but I don't.. have a costume or anything... but I might know someone that can make one for me." She grins suddenly, "yeah! Okay. I'll be here. And thanks again, Mee. You're awesome." Then she's tucking her own phone away and turning to head out, walking almost normally, a far cry from the scurrying she did on entering.