The Cloud Roost (Jekua Book 5), page 13
“It’s dumb, I know,” they said, shifting to look at the table.
“No, it’s not,” Alani assured them. “I love it. I really love it. It’s very sweet.” No one had ever done anything like this for her before.
That brought a smile to Aeiko’s face. They leaned forward and said, “There’s a little thing you can press on its back, look.”
Alani found the metallic nub and pressed down on it. As she did, the Voltmare Ranger’s leg pulled back, and when she let go, the appendage swung forward. She let out a gleeful giggle.
“It’s just like the one I had as a kid,” she said.
Aeiko grinned. “That’s what I was going for,” they said. “I read something about how the Voltmare Ranger had a famously powerful kick, so I thought I’d incorporate that into it.”
“Thank you so much,” Alani said. She placed the figure back in its box and stood, shuffling around the table. Aeiko stood too, and Alani wrapped them in a tight embrace. “It’s amazing,” she said.
“Oh, it was nothing,” said Aeiko.
But Alani shook her head, squeezing them tighter. “No,” she said. “Really, it’s amazing.”
There was a huff of amusement from Aeiko, then they said, “Well, I’m glad you like it.”
Alani never wanted to let them go.
13
Work Lunch
Buses shuttled between cities on all the islands, but until now the group had been unable to use them due to the Church’s bizarre “walking only” limitation on the pilgrimage. Niona was happy to be sitting on a bus, settled in to the mildly comfortable cushion with a jarring and ugly fabric pattern, falling asleep with her head leaning on the smudged window.
It had been a full week since they’d arrived in Sonosoik. A week full of Jekua training, day in and day out. Exhausting, no doubt, but the kind of exhausting that Niona also found exhilarating. When they weren’t training, they were downing Thunderjolts and alternating between the local cuisine (which was fine, but unremarkable) and some good, old-fashioned home-cooked meals from Mr. and Mrs. Jonwo. Mostly Mrs., admittedly, but the old man did hop into the kitchen on occasion. He’d grilled some killer steaks the other night that Niona fell asleep on the bus daydreaming about.
The more time passed, the more Balt had urged his cousin to conjure an excuse for their continued presence at the house. Niona agreed with him, and voiced her concurrence, but she wasn’t all that concerned about the issue. That was Wasaaru’s problem to deal with. Finally he concocted a lie, which was that they were planning to enter a special, secret, and—most importantly—small Jekua tournament taking place up high in the mountains. It was a stupid lie, but also sounded exactly like the kind of stupid thing some Jekua Summoners would come up with: epic battling high up in the mountaintops with the sunset at their backs.
Apparently, it was a believable enough lie for the Jonwos, because they happily accepted it. They told the group that they were welcome to stay as long as they needed to, no problem at all. Niona was floored by their generosity; it was a wonder how their grandson had grown up so spoiled and selfish in comparison. Although, as time went on, Niona was starting to suspect that maybe her picture of him had been skewed by Balt’s previous angst. All things considered, he wasn’t too bad. Annoying, yes, but probably not inherently evil and scheming at every turn like she had been led to believe.
Two days earlier, while doing some afternoon training with Balt and Wasaaru, the latter had commented on how skilled she was with her Featherweight, Boombox. The comment was typical coming from him, since he tended to shower her with praise and flirtatious looks on the daily. He’d even asked at one point if she wanted to go out for some drinks, just the two of them, which she politely declined. Even if she was interested in Wasaaru—which she was not at all, not even a little bit—she knew going on a date with him would crush Balt, and she didn’t want to do that.
While Wasaaru’s compliments on her summoning skills were nice, she hoped that Vanessa Ren and everyone else at Atoll Talent shared his enthusiasm. It was finally time to meet with them and sign the paperwork bringing her into the agency, and she was beyond thankful that they were so flexible with her schedule. It felt like forever since the last time she’d spoken to Vanessa in person, back on Na Tana after the madness that the Facet unleashed on the stadium. It would be good to get this all squared away, even if she couldn’t exactly dive into her summoning career just yet.
When the bus arrived at the station in Asanak, jolting her upright with its jerky stop, Niona awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed and ready for the day. She’d gotten out of bed early in the morning, before the sunrise, in order to catch the earliest bus and get there before lunchtime. Vanessa had told her about a restaurant called Sintanto that served the best naio paupa in the city. When Niona asked her what the name meant, Vanessa told her she had no clue, but that the restaurant also had delicious cocktails.
That was enough to get her on board. What was better than signing a life-changing contract over drinks and pork?
The bus she had to take to arrive before their scheduled meeting time got her to Asanak with two hours to kill, so Niona began wandering aimlessly. Walking around Asanak was not much different than any other major city Niona had visited, and that number was quite high. If anything, it was less interesting than others. It had no big-ass, weird crater at its center like Makanuele; nor did it have the pretty seaside views like her hometown of Himony, since it was slightly further inland. Mostly it was just paved sidewalks and towering skyscrapers, nothing out of the ordinary or special. Perhaps its true appeal lay in the cuisine, which she was looking forward to digging into.
Unfortunately for her, the first bus out of the city in the afternoon would probably require her to wander aimlessly for another hour or two after she left Vanessa, unless their meal somehow ran four hours long. Regardless, she should be back in Sonosoik with the others by dinnertime. Initially Balt had been disappointed she’d be missing an entire day of training, but she did not think it mattered.
Although, if she had nothing to do anyway, maybe she could get a bit of training in while she waited. Help build up her appetite, too. Not that she needed any assistance in that department. She’d brought her kayet along with her, in case Vanessa or someone else at Atoll wanted her to summon a Jekua for whatever reason. To be honest, she did not know why they would want that, but she decided to bring it just to be safe.
Niona opened the map app on her linkpad to search for any nearby gyms and discovered that there was one not too far from the restaurant. When she got there, it was populated with tons of Summoners, so much so that it was hard to find any open equipment. She paid for a day pass then sought out an open area or a fellow Summoner who was interested in sparring.
She trained on her own for a little while, trying to think of a way she might be able to use Boombox effectively against the Facet’s crystal Jekuas. In their discussions over the past week, they all agreed that even if they never encountered the Facet again (which seemed unlikely), there was a chance that Pakree might be full of similar creatures. Maybe that was a silly thing to be worried about, but they would be unwise to fully rule out the possibility before seeing the island for themselves.
Nothing she came up with seemed like it would be as effective as the mud-fire combo. Frustrated, she withdrew Boombox and found a Summoner to spar with, some young buck who was unbelievably even more enthusiastic than Balt was at his worst. The guy used only Tidal-Types, which threw her off her game at first, but eventually she was able to take them down with some powerful Electrical attacks from Pops. After three one-on-one battles with him, it was time for her to head over to Sintanto. She thanked him for the good matches, then headed down the block to the restaurant.
Sintanto’s exterior had a sleek, modern design, full of sharp angles and cool, dark colors. Its name was rendered in a slick, sans serif font that made Niona think the head chef probably had no sense of humor at all. Hopefully their food tasted good.
Vanessa Ren was standing outside waiting for her, wearing a rich purple lipstick and a slim-fitting blue suit. She waved amiably to Niona as she approached.
“Hey! How are you?” Vanessa asked with a warm smile.
“Not bad, not bad,” Niona replied. “Just got some sparring in at the gym down the block, keepin’ the rust off for y’all. How about you?”
Vanessa chuckled and said, “We appreciate that. I’m doing well, just keeping busy. Between work and family and everything else, it feels like it never stops. You know how it is.”
Niona did not, in fact, know how it was, but she agreed with the woman anyway.
She was actually surprised to hear that Vanessa had a family waiting for her at home. She didn’t appear like she could be too much older than Niona, yet the concept of finding a partner and settling down at this stage in her life was completely foreign to her. She genuinely couldn’t even imagine what that might look like. The image that immediately popped into her head, solely due to recency bias, was of her and Wasaaru cuddling on a couch watching TV together. She had to stifle a laugh from the absurdity of it. Maybe she could stomach such a scenario—maybe—if it was with a man like Basker Owens. She wasn’t very interested in his music, but he was incredibly hot.
Vanessa put their names in with the hostess, requesting a patio table since the weather was so nice. The place was packed since it was peak lunch hours, so it took a good twenty or twenty-five minutes before they were seated. In between general chitchat, Vanessa continually reassured Niona that the naio paupa would be worth the wait.
She learned that Vanessa was married to a man named Daniel, who worked as a technical writer at some tech company she’d never heard of in Asanak. Together they had a son and a daughter, aged six and four respectively. Even more so than settling down, the idea of having a child right now was unfathomable to Niona. They also talked about movies, even though Niona had to confess she hadn’t seen any new releases in a long time. She rambled on about the Jules Jayne series for a few minutes before Vanessa got on the topic of a new thriller that just came out the previous week. She swore it was the wildest, twistiest drama she’d ever seen, and that Niona had to see it as soon as possible. Niona promised she would, since it did sound pretty interesting and she was a fan of the main actress. If only she could stop chasing down rogue organizations and trying to save devastated islands, she might have time to catch a movie.
It was nice getting to know Vanessa, even if she wasn’t the person Niona would be most closely working with at Atoll. The agency had a roster full of fantastic agents, several of whom had apparently already expressed interest in working with her, but the details would be worked out once the contract was officially signed. Still, Niona felt good about fostering a positive relationship within the company. Vanessa was extremely nice, and from their few short conversations, she seemed exceptionally sharp as well. Niona enjoyed talking to her.
Soon they were shown to their table. Sintanto’s patio wrapped around the entire back half of the building, with great big floor-to-ceiling windows allowing them to look in on the patrons dining indoors. The patio also overlooked a nicely-kept garden, which was much more visually appealing than people gorging themselves on fancy food. Strands of greenery with blooming flowers were wrapped around the railing, with colorful bugs fluttering around the biggest and most appetizing of the flowers.
They ordered drinks immediately, with Vanessa grabbing herself a specialty rum cocktail called the Princess’s Paradise. Niona ordered something called the Rindstone Cowboy, which was tequila-based with a lot of citrus elements. Normally she wasn’t big on tequila, but she thought it sounded kind of tasty today. She said to Vanessa, “Kinda cool that the boss lets you expense alcohol on a work lunch. Plus, mid-day drinking before you go back to the office? Hell yeah.”
Vanessa laughed. “To be fair, I can expense everything except the alcohol, but I wanted something anyway.”
“Damn. I wouldn’t have ordered one if I knew,” said Niona. “Sorry about that.” She offered to pay for her drink, but Vanessa shut down the suggestion instantly.
With drinks in hand and the food ordered, Vanessa started in on more details about the contract. First she had some questions about whether there was anything specific Niona was looking for in a manager, but she wasn’t, so that was easy. She also wasn’t planning on specializing in certain Types of Jekuas, so that would widen the net of potential managers for her, too. She described to Vanessa some of the tournaments she’d competed in previously, specifying which ones she enjoyed and which ones she didn’t. Her priority going forward was larger-scale tournaments, like the Makanuele Rumble. She was open to smaller, more local competitions on occasion to keep herself limber, but she really wanted to get her name out there on a national (and eventually global) level.
Vanessa grinned. “I admire your ambition,” she said. “Believe it or not, a lot of times Summoners come into these meetings without any real goals in mind. Humble to a fault.”
Niona smirked. “Some people would call it arrogance, not ambition.”
But Vanessa shook her head. “I like it,” she said. “That’s how you become one of the greats. Honestly. If you don’t think you’re one of the best, you never will be. We’re going to offer you a ton of support, obviously, but at the end of the day it’s all up to you. If you don’t back yourself, it’s hard to get others to do it.”
That all made sense to Niona. She asked, “Is there, like…I hate to keep saying this, but my schedule is kind of…weird right now.” She didn’t know how else to put it, since she was definitely not going to reveal everything about Pakree and the Facet to Vanessa, no matter how charmed she was by the woman. “Is there any specific timetable I’m on here?”
“No, of course not,” Vanessa said, shaking her head again. “Naturally, we want to start getting you out there as soon as possible, though. Neither you nor your manager can make any money if you’re not out there battling.”
“Right,” Niona said.
“Plus, it might take a couple matches before the sponsorship deals start coming in. We have some agreements with a few brands that we’ll hook you up with right away, but the big money doesn’t come until you’ve established yourself.”
More sense was being made. “Right,” Niona repeated. “I definitely wanna get my name out there as soon as possible, believe me,” she said, leaning forward. “There’s just some personal stuff that I need to take care of first before I dedicate everything to this.”
Vanessa frowned. “I hope everything’s okay,” she said.
“Oh, yeah, totally,” said Niona, without even realizing the actual magnitude of the lie. “Just stuff that I can’t put aside, is all. But once it’s done, I’m down to clown, for sure.”
Vanessa took her word for it and didn’t pry further. She went on. “Well, I think I know a couple people whose interests and connections align with what you want to do. What we’ll do is see who actually has some free space on their roster, then schedule meetings with each of them so you can get to know them a little bit, and you can decide who exactly you’d like to work with. Whenever you’re available to, of course.”
“And that’d be here in town, I assume?”
“Yes,” Vanessa nodded.
“Got it.” Getting back to Asanak wouldn’t be a problem, but she wanted to clarify.
It was then that the waiter arrived with their individual plates of naio paupa tacos. The corn tortillas were brimming with shredded pork that was slow-roasted underground, topped with sliced jalapeno, diced pineapple, and a crunchy cabbage slaw. There were two tiny cups of salsa on the side for her to choose from, one red and one green. She used both.
The naio paupa was just as delicious as she remembered. It wasn’t a dish that she got often, since it was best on Kou Tekkis (where it originated), but it was one of her favorites. Usually she got it mixed into a rice bowl, but she was in a taco mood today, which was rare for her. They felt more fun and celebratory, in a way.
She picked up one of the tacos, holding it tight yet losing a good fourth of the filling anyway. An unavoidable casualty of the small, overstuffed corn tortilla. There was a delightful crunch from the vegetables, and the sweet acidity of the pineapple paired perfectly with the savory juiciness of the pork. The jalapeno combined with the double salsas made the taco exceptionally spicy, but she liked that.
“Damn,” she said, taking care to swallow before speaking. She didn’t want to look slovenly in front of her new colleague. “This is amazing. I could eat ten of these.” In that moment, it did not even feel like an exaggeration.
Vanessa smiled, setting down her own taco. “Glad it lived up to the hype,” she said. “This is my go-to spot for a work lunch. I know you specifically wanted the pork, but honestly everything on the menu is delicious. I know it sounds kind of weird, but they have these cauliflower wings with a creamy sesame sauce that are to die for.” She paused briefly, then said, “You know what? Screw it. Let’s order some.”
“Now you’re talkin’,” Niona grinned.
They alternated between small talk and details about the contract she would be signing. It was a lot of dry talk, and Niona had to stave off the boredom by reminding herself that this was real, and that this was the type of shit that mattered if she was going to be a professional Summoner. She read through the stapled papers Vanessa had brought along, nearly staining them with green salsa multiple times. It would be fitting for her to be the first person at Atoll Talent to sign their contract with salsa.
By the time they finished eating, they both had asked and answered numerous questions. Niona was pleased with how Vanessa addressed her questions, and she could see a fruitful future with Atoll Talent. That was way easier to imagine than the “settling down with a family” scenario, in any case.
“So,” said Vanessa, sliding a dark blue pen across the table. “Ready to sign?” The side of the pen was marked with Atoll Talent’s bold logo.
