Black Glass: Opacity

            Connor shrugged his shoulders and nodded, squishing the cigarette underneath his new boots. "Sure," he said with yet another shrug, "I'm always game for a drink." He looked over at Ella and followed her swishing green hair as it disappeared through the doors of the bar.

            The bar was dark inside, as most good bars are, and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust from the bright light outside. Once he did he was pleasantly surprised. There were no surprises, no weird additions, just a traditional bar. A wooden bar and booths at tables, stools at the bar, a few TVs around, and some clusters here and there of people enjoying food, drinks, and whatever happened to be on the TV. It felt, finally, like he had found somewhere where he could be normal. He joined Ella at one of the barstools and surveyed the selection.

            "Well, whatever you want, but you're having a Goo shot first."

            "What in the hell is a Goo shot?" Connor snapped back immediately with a faint look of disgust on his face. "Sounds like some bodily fluid congealed."     

            "Almost," laughed the bartender as he came over, extending his hand towards Connor who shook it, noticing that he, too, had the metallic tattoos on his arms, but his were golden. "Aki, nice to meet you...?"

            "Connor."

            "Connor! A Goo shot is a combination of a jello shot and some other things to make a gloopy alcoholic mess." Aki laughed and shook his head, "one of the many horrible and awesome creations that have come out of this place." Aki laughed, Ella joined him, and Connor found himself smiling for the first time in a while.

            "You do smile!" Ella clapped her hands as Aki got to work. "We'll have you laughing, soon, good. I thought you were broken at first."

            "Not broken-"

            "Just new." Ella nodded her head knowingly and gave Connor a kind smile. "Everybody's new here sometime, you'll get used to it. Just have to stick around long enough to find that rhythm."

            "Stick around?" Connor took the so-called Goo shot and looked inside the glass to investigate its contents.

            "Before that, here's to you!" Aki raised his glass and Ella followed suit so Connor lifted his own and clinked them all together, following the lead of his new companions. Aki and Ella both immediately downed their shots so, without pausing to consider the contents, Connor did the same. The shot tasted like watermelon fresh from the patches, a pretty nice surprise.

            "So?"

            "Aki, I'll hand it to you. Looked like snot, but tasted great. Can I get a beer, though? No more surprises for me today." Aki chuckled and shook his head, though he did bring down a glass and head to the taps.           

            "So, who's your owner?" Ella asked as Aki set Connor's beer on the counter, leaning against the bar to listen to the story.

            "Uhh Sensir, Lord Sensir. Why?" Aki and Ella had taken on twin expressions of surprise at the mention of Sensir's name. Connor picked up his beer and sipped at it, preparing for his answer.

            "Sensir tends to go through them," Aki said, "slaves, I mean. Rumor has it that he gets bored of them. I have no idea what it is, but they just don't hang his attention. Weird, though, he's never had a guy for a slave. They've all been girls." Aki gave Connor what was supposed to be a friendly smile, but Connor's good humor from the moments before was gone.

            "Never had a guy? That makes sense, I guess most people get different sex people. But what was so boring about these chicks that he just got rid of them? He doesn't seem like an abandoner."

            "Connor," Aki said honestly, leaning forwards to talk more openly, "no matter what, you have to remember that you have to make yourself invaluable to your owner before they'll go to any lengths to keep you. Take Ella, she's been with her family twenty years. Me? They pay my bills and keep my shop for me even though I don't live with my family anymore and I was with them fifty years. But if I were to mess up royally the first few months I had been with them they would've just got rid of me."

            "So you're saying they made mistakes."

            "He's saying, " interrupted Ella, "that you have to work hard to make your owner realize that they need you around. Otherwise, if you don't give them a reason you should stay, they won't keep you."

            "So, what, you have to just kiss ass all around?"

            "That's not what we're saying," Ella paused to take a drink from Connor's beer, "what we're saying is that sometimes slaves think that just being bought is enough. It isn't. You have to find out why they bought you and make them realize that's reason enough. You know? Like if you got a toy and the toy broke almost immediately then would you fix it? Or just replace it? If it was your absolute favorite, or had sentimental value, you'd fix it."

            Connor didn't answer immediately. He looked at his beer and tapped his fingers against the surface of the bar, deep in thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be let go. He would've paid his dues, done his time, and would be able to go back to his old life.

            What life? he asked himself. He'd been arrested and thrown in jail, his record was marred, his grades were worse, and he hadn't accomplished anything that would move him up in life. On the other hand, staying would mean forever being under somebody's thumb, no matter how much the concept of freedom was thrown in his face.

            "I can't win," Connor said aloud, rubbing his face. Without thinking he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, despite having been told there was no smoking allowed in the bar. Surprisingly, Aki didn't make a move to stop him and neither did Ella.

            "Just do what you can," Ella offered helpfully. "Be nice, use your talents, find out why it is he bought you in the first place and use that." She leaned in close and put her hand on Connor's arm to make sure she had his attention. "Connor, I'll be straight, our lives here don't change that much if you're here or not. But your life will change, I guarantee it. I like you, I think we can be awesome friends, but you need to be here to do that."

            Connor exhaled a small stream of smoke and nodded his heads to acknowledge Ella's words. It was true, his disappearance wouldn't make the city stop spinning, but he could end up homeless on the streets or, even worse, dead, or dying of some disease or addiction. He dropped the butt of his cigarette into the remnants of the Goo shot and sighed. "Yeah, I know, you're right."

            "We see a lot of people who don't make it in here," Aki said, tossing the shot glass into the sink behind him. "We tell every single one that comes in here the same thing, us old-timers, and sometimes they stick and sometimes we never see them again."

            "What is it you're good at? Like, what makes you super special, Connor? We've all got something." Ella nodded seriously.

            Connor looked up and met the gazes of both Ella and Aki. Then, for the first time, a truly genuine smile spread across his lips. "I paint. I draw. I'm an artist."

            "Then paint your life, Connor," Aki said, "paint your life the way you want."