Song: Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater; Martin Solveig, Good Times Ahead - Intoxicated

It was only during the team competition that I realized how big this whole thing actually was. There were a ton of people around and the arena was huge this time. It was pretty insane, the sheer amount of people that were here.

I saw Jayna again who I hadn't met since we stepped off the shuttle. There were Anouk and Nadia and the two Maliwan guys. Of course Jael was around as well, scouting out the place. There were quite a few people that I vaguely remembered from Aquator, either as people who often went there for holidays or as people I used to go to school with or hang out with. It was insane how many familiar faces there were.

I think I started getting a bit of an idea of what it was like for Mordecai to come back home. He was out there stopping every few metres, shaking some hands and making some small talk, but honestly? A lot of people were just being arrogant and condescending. It felt a bit like a class reunion.

"Holy shit! Is that Nova? Nova Haile?" I heard someone say next to me. I turned to see a group of older men standing around, some of them getting their rifles ready, others just watching them and relaxing.

"That's me alright." I answered, trying to remember who that guy that just called me was. I had some vague memories of seeing him a lot for a while back on Aquator. Who the hell was he again...?

"Didn't think I'd see you here. What are you doing here of all places?" he asked me. I smiled sweetly, still trying to figure out why I knew him.

"I'm shooting. What are you doing here?" I replied. Okay, I think I remembered that I definitely knew him just before I left for Pandora. Means I probably met him either when I was about to leave home or when I was stripping to get the rest of my money for Pandora together. Fuck.

"Shooting? As in, the competition?" he wanted to know, looking pretty dumbfounded. I shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Well, damn. Didn't take you for a shooter. But then again I haven't seen you for... God... must be over 10 years now..."

"Well, 15 at least, because that's how long ago I left Aquator." I answered, grinning. I think I started remembering who that guy was. He used to come to the place I worked at A LOT and he gave really good tips. This guy probably paid most of my ticket to Pandora. And of course he wouldn't expect me to be a sharpshooter. Hell, all he knew me as was probably a stripper.

"Damn, that long ago? Time flies, doesn't it?" he said and his friends laughed. I smiled and gave Mordecai an apologetic look.

"I guess, it does. So what are you doing here? You never answered that." I asked and realised how easy it was to slip back into that old sweet stripper voice. Ugh. Why was I like this?

"Oh, I'm just here as a sponsor for this guy. He's studying at the university of Eden-4, but is originally from Themis, like me. He's teaming up with his older brother. Kid's got a bright future ahead of him." he answered.

"I see. Sounds cool." I replied, getting ready to leave and keep going. But apparently that wasn't his plan.

"Who are you teaming up with? Some of the other people from Aquator?"

"No, that would be me." Mordecai chimed in and nodded at the guy I was talking to. I gave him a small smile.

"Oh, right. You won a good few disciplines, didn't you? What was your name again?" the guy asked.

"Mordecai. We're here from Pandora." Mordecai replied. Ah shit. He had noticed the way my voice changed. I should have known, after all he was with Moxxi. I didn't even mean to put on the hooker voice again, it was just an old habit of sorts.

"Pandora? Shit, Nova, that's where you went? Should've been stripping for a little longer to afford going to a proper place."

"Pandora is fine. You get used to it. I actually really like it, so... Yeah. We better get going and get ready." I said, taking Mordecai's hand and slowly walking away with the best smile I could fake.

"Well, if you change your mind or want to make some extra cash... I'm staying at the Orchid." he shouted after me with a wink.

"No, thanks!" I replied, smiled at him and waved, before turning around. I looked at Mordecai, rolled my eyes and made a gagging sound. We laughed quietly as we made our way through the crowds.

"What the hell was that? Who was that guy?" Mordecai asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno. Some guy. Don't remember too much about him, just that he used to come and visit me a whole lot when I was stripping. Tipped really well. I dunno what his deal is now, though. I mean, I'm sure he's as much of an asshole as most of the other guys that I knew... you know... back then." I said.

"Yeah, I figured you knew him from then."

"Ah shit, what gave it away?"

"The voice."

"Fuck. Yeah, I don't even know, it was just a reflex that I put on the voice. Like something in my brain just clicked and I was in hooker mode." I answered and laughed to myself. It was wild that it still worked after such a long time.

"Well, Moxxi always said once you got it mastered, it stays for life." Mordecai replied and shook his head laughing.

"Yeah, she's a smart one." I replied.

"She is. You up for some adventuring tomorrow?" Mordecai wanted to know. I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Adventuring? Mordy, the squad competition is in a week and we have to train with Nadia and Anouk, so we all know what we're doing out there." I said.

"Isn't it good I found out what kind of terrain we'll be in and I know the perfect place to do some training then? We could all stay out there for half the week, then relax and train more back at our place. What do you think?"

It sounded like a really good idea. Especially since Mordecai knew exactly how much I wanted to see a little more of the planet. And if I knew him at all, he had already asked the girls and this thing was on anyway. Before I could answer someone else started shouting at us.

"Oh shit, man, look who it is!"

Mordecai and I turned around to see a mixed group this time. They all seemed to be around Mordecai's age and only one or two faces looked somewhat familiar to me. They must have meant Mordy and not me. Glancing over at him, I figured I was right, because he looked beyond annoyed.

"It's our little sewer rat!" another guy from the group exclaimed, as they approached us. The fuck were they on about?

"Long time no see, Mordo. We all thought you'd follow your old man into an early grave."

"And I thought you had grown up since the last time I've seen you." Mordecai replied. I wondered how they knew each other. I kinda doubted they were the best of friends back in the day. The second guy looked strangely familiar again. Probably was on holidays on Aquator with his rich parents or something.

"Didn't think you'd ever set foot on Artemis again. I mean, no one wants you and your kind here. And who's the slut with you?" the first guy asked.

"Yeah. Hey, listen, girl, how much did he pay you? 20? Doubt he'd have much more than that." the other one chimed in.

"Yeah, whatever. You, small guy, do I know you from somewhere. Your face looks familiar. Ever been to Aquator?" I asked. I couldn't be bothered with whatever personal shit they had going on, but it really annoyed me that I had all these vague memories without really knowing who all those people were.

"Uh... yeah... what's it matter to you?" he responded. And then it clicked and I burst into laughter. I remembered that guy. One evening he had bought me drinks all night, but I ended up going home with his dad, because his dad was where the cash was at. Back then I had felt a little sorry for him, but seems like he deserved it after all.

"She a nutcase or something?" the first guy asked, while I was still laughing at the memory. I felt bad back then, but now I was glad I was such a terribly selfish person.

"How about you say hi to your dad from me? Nova from Aquator, he'll know who I am." I said. The guy blushed. He definitely remembered.

"What... what would my father have to do with you?" he replied, but I knew he was just pretending now. This was pretty funny.

"Don't act like you don't know me. You spent your entire holiday funds on me. Drinks, fancy dinners, clothes and whatnot. Shit, and you never had a chance. I used to feel kinda bad about it, but hell, not anymore." I said.

"Oh damn, she's burning you." one of the girls standing around them said. The first guy raised his eyebrow at the whole situation and looked back at me.

"Hey, you sound pretty fun. Why don't you ditch the loser and hang with us, huh?" he asked me. I glanced over at Mordecai who looked pretty annoyed at this stage.

"Oh, sweetie, you still have a lot to learn. Firstly, Mordecai is way more fun than all of you together. Secondly, I'm not... in that line of work anymore. Sorry, sweetheart. And last, but not least, even if I was, there'd be no way you could afford me. See you in the arena." I replied and took Mordecai's arm, dragging him away from those shitheads, before his temper got the better of him.

"With how many of the people who are here today have you slept?" he wanted to know quietly, as we walked away. I shrugged.

"No idea. Probably a lot of them. I mean, you said it yourself. A lot of those people are gonna be rich assholes and pretty much every rich asshole in this world has been to Aquator at some stage. And if they were at any point 15 years ago or earlier, I probably met them. Or either of their parents." I said.

"Okay, I knew you had some wild teenage years, but... shit. That's a lot. The hell did you do with all that money?"

"Well... I bought drugs and fancy clothes and treated myself. And later on it went towards my moving out fund. I used to have a really... lavish lifestyle back home. Like rich people lavish. But I wasn't rich, I just slept with a lot of people."

"Holy shit."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just... trying to wrap my head around this."

"Well, you killed people for money and I slept with people for money. You're not really in a position to question my morals. Also, I was young and dumb and thought I knew it all."

"I know, I know, I'm not saying anything... Am I really more fun than all of them?" Mordecai asked, a small smug grin forming on his face.

"Of course you are! Look, all these guys were fun for between 2 minutes and an hour. There was no meaning, no feelings, no nothing. You... I mean, we've been together for about six years. You're not just a boyfriend or whatever. You're my best friend, Mordecai. I'd trust you with my fucking life. And all of that is much, much better than whatever I had with any of those guys 15 years ago."

"Awww. That's cute." Mordecai replied. I laughed and punched his upper arm.

"Yo, fuck you, I'm baring my heart to you here and all you say is that's cute?" I said jokingly and shook my head.

"Fine, fine, fine. Love you, too. Happy?"

"Very happy. Now, who were those guys anyway? What was your beef with them?" I wanted to know. Mordecai sighed.

"They used to go to school with me. You know how I'd regularly get beaten up? Yeah, that was them. But it doesn't matter anyways. Fuck them." he replied.

"Yeah, fuck them. They were being total douchebags out there."

"Yeah, that's just how they've always been. I wasn't too keen on seeing them again, but I hoped I might not meet them. So that didn't work out too well. But it doesn't matter. Let's focus on the competition."

"Yeah, let's show these assholes."