Kelevri and the Ocean of Idiocy

A short chronicle set in my sci-fi universe. A tiny tale of a young women who would rather knit or study chemistry than work at a busy bar. Problem is life doesn't always work that way.

Karbon Chronicles Origins:

Kelevri 

and

the

Ocean

of

Idiocy

By Owen Kato

There is an ocean of idiocy

Filled full of alcohol, an ocean

That waves, dances, splashes and roars

While a girl stands behind a bar

and watches it bored

Kelevri drummed her thin fingers on the bars top. She had slept in earlier, her shift started at nine at night but she had slept past ten. She awoke to realize this and ran all the way to work as the Skytrain was disabled for an unreported reason. She ran through the young night, past alleyways, past skyscrapers with green roofs, past what she swore was an owl perched atop a bright white street light. The owl asked her “whooo, whooo are you?” Kelevri didn’t care at the sound the owl had made out, she paid it in a paused stare then she kept on running.  She finally made it to her bar and found it to be dead, it was a Tuesday night after all, but there were generous drink specials and all the industry folk who had to work the weekend could go and enjoy themselves, but on this night they decided not to. Still the students on the university who had far too much money and time on their hands would swing by for a beverage or ten but none had shown up as of yet. So Kelevri drummed away at the counter while sipping on a warm glass of lime water.

The white faced clock on the wall ticked the night away as Kelevri watched it, then a disturbance came through the door. A large group of university students who looked already intoxicated. Upon her first glance Kelevri figured they were looking for only two things and those two things were drinks and girls. Kelevri had a supply of those, drinks in vast supply and her in limited supply. She took notice and brought out her pocket mirror. She looked in it and what she saw contented her. Golden brown sparkly eyes and burnt dark golden hair that was tied violently back into four pony tails. One starting at her bangs and the top of her head, then the next towards the back, then another down the back of her head, the last tied up the hair at the top of her neck. The sides of her hair was tied in braids her little sister had offered to do. The sides were dyed an oil black. She smiled at herself in the mirror and then looked back up the mini crowd.

Kelievri hadn’t been working at the bar too long but had memorized most of the drinks and new the level she’d have to sink to in order to get the best tips. One of the university students approached her with wavy short blonde hair and an athlete’s build. She knew the type, she knew all the types.

“Hey girl.” He simply said with his elbows on the counter while he leaned over it.

“Hey genius whatcha need?” asked Kelevri. The young man with the typical short haircut and an even more typical stare slammed a wad of Oceanis credits on the counter.

“Seven amethyst shots.” Then he looked Kelevri in her sparkly eyes. “Make that eight.”

Kelevri smiled her usual service smile. She knew as long as it was bright and innocent anyone would believe it. She quickly tended to young man’s order while he watched her. She had taken to the habit of relying on her peripheral vision to gage her customer’s desires. How they looked at her, or rather her body during the moments she was turned around spoke more than any words they ever said to her. The young man was fairly focused on her hips as it had a black leather belt tied around it where she kept her change. The man then shot down lower, Kelevri figured he’d dart his eyes there next for its easier to go down than up. She was wearing tight leather leggings, she did this for multiple reasons but if you asked her the real reason it was because they were comfortable. Kelevri cracked a private smile, turned back to the young man and passed over the drinks, all eight of them. The man slid one back across the bar towards her.

“That’s for you, you hard work here.” He said to Kelevri.

“Why thank you, but it’s okay.” as she slid him back his spare credits after he had handed over the wad.

“Don’t need the rest miss.” As the young man motioned away the credits Kelevri was handing him.

“Okay, thank you.” She said.

“Drink it, it’s yours.” The young man said as he motioned down to the eighth shot in between them.

“You sure sir?”

“I am certain.”

Kelevri paused just in case he changed his mind. She looked beyond the young man and the bar seemed to be filling up. Kelevri smiled at this then put her brown eyes back on the young man.

“To you.” She said as she raised the shot, the man raised one of his then they both sucked back the amethyst shot.

The young man smiled as him and his friend took up the remaining shots on the counter and before he left he said.

“I’ll find you later and we can get to know each other.”

“I’m Kelevri, I’ll be your bartender for the night and that’s all you need to know.” said Kelivri polite yet stern.

“My name is Tharian Voksata, if you haven’t heard of me, you will.” The young man said rather aggressively leaning in over the counter. Kelevri didn’t flitch at this.

“Well I guess I’ve just heard of you.” Said Kelevri as she turned and started to slice some limes. As she had her back to him she took up an empty beer bottle that she’d leave on the counter every night and spat the contents of her mouth into it. Immediately after she took up her lime water, took a big sip, sloshed it around in her mouth and then spat that into the beer bottle. The young man watched her do this but did not catch on, his smirk turned into a dark smile as he watched her slam the drinks or what he thought was her slamming the drinks.

“No I mean you will hear about me, not from me.” said the man with confidence as Kelevri turned back him.

“Okay, but I really must be getting back to work, enjoy your drinks.” As she motioned to the new line behind him.

“I’ll find you later.” He said darkly.

“You don’t need to find me, I’ll be here working at the bar till close.”

“Well I’ll be here drinking till close.”

“Well enjoy those drinks and have fun.” said a now dismissive Kelivri. The man finally took up his shots and went back to the table his group was now sitting at.

Kelevri served a good ten people. An older man in a suit, a girl with orange and green hair, another young man from the university and an old women who didn’t look like she belonged the others were also from the university, it was made clear as they proudly sported the universities sweater. After that Kelevri wiped the bar with lightning speed and started to slice more limes when a large man came up to her but this time behind the bar.

“Heard you were late.” Said the tower of a man. His name was Injago.

“Slept in.” said a preoccupied Kelevri.

“How did you sleep in for a nightshift?”

“Easy. I get off at 4AM, then I can’t sleep for a solid five or six hours.”

“So what do you do for that five or six hours?” asked Injago.

“I read, eat and don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been knitting things and I couldn’t even tell you why.”

“Do you have a rocking chair?”

“Working on it.”

“Have you been thinking about retirement?” joked the towering man.

“Shut up.” Joked Kelevri back.

“You don’t look like you knit and read, you look like you kick a*s and break guys hearts.”

Kelevri replied in a neutral look. The man adjusted his stance which told Kelevri he wanted to adjust the conversation topic and he did so.  

“The boss wants to talk to you after. How’s the saving coming along?” as he sipped from a bottle of beer. Kelevri noticed his K.B.S. tactical gloves over his large hands. Those were new but sometimes the bar patrons got a little too excited and needed to leave and this was the man that made them go.

“You know how it is on Oceanis. Credits come in, then rent, then food, then living any type of life. After all that there’s not much left.”

“hmmm How much do you need to start school?” asked Injago. 

“6000 at least for the first semester.”

“How much you got?”

“1400.”

“Tonight will help if that door keeps opening.” As he pointed to the bars large front door. Kelevri however didn’t smile, she just stood staring at all the people drinking, deciding what type of drunk they wanted to be on this young night. Kelevri referred to the group as one entity. She called the crowd “The Ocean of Idiocy.” “Don’t get discouraged you’ll get more shifts once Jexson leaves to go study Advanced Security Systems. What do you want to go to school for anyway?”

“Chemistry.” She said sharply.

“Take out a loan? I’m sure once you get a fancy job you’ll easily pay it off.”

“I don’t know.”

“Ah whatever. I bet you’ll make more credits here mixing drinks in your own style than mixing chemicals in some KBS lab gear.”

“At least a bunch of idiots won’t consume the chemicals and act like a buncha monkeys. No wait they even bring monkeys to shame. As Kelevri pointed out a guy taking a shot from a girl’s overly visible chest.

“Some idiots might.” As the towering man pointed to the same group who now had the shot between the male’s legs and the female bending down to grab it with her mouth.

“I don’t get it, they pay us to be there with these advanced idiots, but these idiots pay to come here. To run around like a bunch of jackals, dancing to music they don’t like to impress people that don’t care.” Said Kelevri as she took another sip of her lemon water while leaning against the bar.

“Oceanis is home to the world’s smartest people, but they get so dumb at night, well some of them anyway.” As the man shook his head at someone who had just spilt his drink all over the dance floor. “Hold on I’ll be back, I have to tell this punk he can’t have glasses on the dance floor.”

“Maybe you should apply for Advanced Security Systems at the university.” joked Kelevri to Injago as he winked and then walked off in mild frustration at the stupidity of the crowd.

The group on the dance floor were all dancing carelessly waving around their large beer mugs. Kelevri watched Injago talk to them mostly with his hands when a man came up. His dark hair was a windblown mess. Kelevri also noticed his shoes, they were gold and silver and black and ugly. 

“Can I get a clear gin and soda?” asked the man nervously touching his messy hair.

“Sure. Coming up.” Said Kelevri dressed with her bright smile.

“I don’t like this place, but I have to come here for a friend’s thing.” Said the man looking off at the crowd or what Kelevri called the Ocean of Idiocy.

“I don’t like it either, but they pay me to be here.”

“Well I hope they pay you good. Do you go to school or anything?” the young man asked. Kelevri used her peripheral vision as she always had but noticed the man more interested in how she was mixing his drink than looking at her physical features.

“Saving.” She said as she started to mix his drink slower. She wasn’t too used to talking to anyone who had shown an interest in what she was doing. They had taken an interest in things like her physical features or the flirty words that came from her glossy full lips but not many had asked her about herself. Most just talked about themselves or ordered her about.

“Saving up for what?” asked the man with messy hair.

“Oh sorry, ugh School.” said Kelevri with a hint of embarrassment. 

“What do you want to do in school?”

“Chemistry.” As she turned back towards the man and presented him his clear drink which had a cucumber in it.

“Well I’m sure you’ll be good at it.” said the young man pointing to his drink.

“What makes you say that?” asked Kelivri curiously.

“Well you’re involved in mixing drinks and you know enough about chemistry, you use it between your customers to get more of these.” Said the man as he scanned a normal amount of credits off his card into Kelevris tip keypad. It wasn’t gratuitous, but it wasn’t cheap, it was the median amount she’d usually get. This comforted her somehow.

“Nice tattoo too.” As he pointed to Kelevri’s right arm. Kelevri gave her tattoo a glance. She had regretted getting it. It was a broad sword that ran all the way down her arm. The tip of it came all the way to her knuckles.  

Kelevri couldn’t help but smile that he liked it. She smiled the real type of smile, the one that’s a bit goofy, a bit crooked but all real. The man smiled back. “Good luck with the idiots, have a nice night miss.” As he took up his drink.

“Thanks! Bye!” she said as if she wanted to keep talking but was so caught off guard at how pleasant the man had been. 

The ocean of idiots got vaster, and more violent. Every night Kelevri worked she would count how many idiots got kicked out of her bar. She counted six girls and three guys so far. By the end of the night the count was at eleven girls and six guys. The majority of the causes was fighting or unwanted touching. Kelevri loved the bar counter she had drummed her fingers on for that reason. It was her shield to any unwanted touching. It was her barrier, her dam from the ocean of idiocy. She still had incidents like the one where a guy leaned in to kiss her and she threw a lime at his face. It struck him in the eye and he yelled at her but the music was too loud for Kelevri to hear what he had said. She could only make out things like “I’m going to sue you if my eye is damaged, and I f*****g hate this place.” Then Kelivri saw him back at the place he “f*****g hated” less than a week later, repeating his idiotic behavior.

Kelevri worked fast and diligent with her two other mates, mixing drinks, snapping off beer caps and doing quick bottle juggling shows all this with her service smile on her face. Whenever Tharian came up she passed him off to her bar mates. They all had a system if anyone was too creepy they would switch up. Throughout the night Kelevri often looked for the man with the windblown hair but her brown eyes couldn’t find him. 

At the end of the night Kelevri wiped off the bar and whispered to it. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

The bar had mostly cleared out so she put her gun metal gray hoodie and shoved up the sleeves to her elbows. After she moped the back bar she looked at her navy blue faced watch and it was time for her to walk home. She went up to the owner counting credits. He was some young man with rich parents, he sat there counting the nights credit count in his black leather jacket.

“Heading home.” she said.

“Good work tonight, keep it up, but don’t be late again or we will have to talk.” said the man preoccupied with his money.

Kelevri slightly nodded and walked off. She wasn’t going to wait around for her tips she knew they’d be transferred to her employee account by the time she got in tomorrow. She grabbed her backpack and started out the back door of the bar after saying farewell to her barmates and Injago. Normally the workers would engage in partying and drinking after but not Kelevri, by 4am she was too tired and no longer wanted to be around people. Especially people who would do exactly what all her customers did all night which was drink. She put up her hood and started away from Oceanis’ bar distinct which was a large oval of lounges, clubs, bars and high end restaurants. The wind was forceful and howled between the buildings and in the back alleys she walked to avoid any stragglers noticing her from the bar. She usually walked home but stayed a little bit longer before she left, but on this night after the barrage of idiots saying dumb things about her or the bar or just being too drunk in general to properly order she decided to leave as soon as possible. She waked the alleys looking at things, the majority of Oceanis East was clean but every now and then she’d find a couch tossed to an alley or small animal’s scurrying about.

She looked up to each luminescent street light as she passed them for a couple blocks then she turned a corner to an alley and saw a familiar face, although one she by no means wanted to see.

“I said I’d find you again.” said Tharian. He was alone.

“Go home, the nights old and almost over.”

“I’ll go home, if you come with me.”

“That isn’t an option. Go home.”

“You sound a little too sober for how many shots you’ve taken tonight.” said Tharian.

Kelevri stood there, she started to feel uncomfortable especially without her bar between them. She decided to be straight with the drunk young man.

“I don’t drink.”

“What? So you did spit it all back? I bought it for you!” said the man angered.

“I asked you not to.”

“You don’t drink and you work at a bar. What a concept.”

“I’m trying to save credits. It’s not my scene.”

“Oh you prefer quiet time at home?”

“Yeah sure, may I walk to my quiet home now?”

“You may walk to mine. It’s awfully quiet.” Said Tharian sternly.

“No.” said Kelevri as she started to walk past Tharian. Once she was almost passed him he ran over and held out his hand in front of her chest.

“You have everyone’s eye in the bar, but you go home alone, you can have any of us but you go home alone… Why don’t you just relax and have some fun.”

Kelevri was a little startled with his action. His words were nothing threatening to her, she was used to words like his but not when she was alone in a dark alley.

“I’m fine and I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?”

Kelevri gave off a slight grin, then adjusted her face back to serious. “I have my period, you don’t want to mess with that.” She then started to walk thinking that would be that, it always was.

The man held out his hand to her chest halting her escape.

“That’s fine, there is other things we can engage in.” he said sinisterly.

“I understand you are someone who always gets what you want, but you don’t want this.”

Tharian held out his hand and grabbed Kelevri’s. He ran his hand up her arm.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a tattoo, a regret.”

The man started to run his fingers up her arm sensually or what he believe was. All it did for Kelevri was make her feel awkward. 

“It’s a sword, a broad sword.”

“Yes.” Said Kelevri.

“That’s hot.” He said as he moved closer to try to kiss her. She pulled away but he grabbed her not letting her go.

“It is hot, isn’t it?” said Kelevri right after. As she clenched her fist of the arm with the sword tattoo on it as the man thrust her closer. She frantically looked around, for the man with the windblown hair, or Injago, or anyone. There was no one but her.

“I want to touch you, don’t you want to touch me?” asked Tharian with a madness in his eyes.

Kelevri froze for a second and then challenged her thoughts to race fast. She grinned and looked Tharian in his eyes but kept her face as far from his as she could. Then she pulled closer as he tried to lock lips but she moved her head sideways beside his head.

“Want me to touch down there?” whispered Kelevri in his ear.

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Kelevri then struck her clenched fist hard into Tharian's groin. He let out a yelp, one of a small dog and collapsed to the dark alleys hard asphalt. He then assumed the fetal position while groaning.

She looked down on him. All he kept looking at was her still clenched fist and the sword tattoo that ran up her arm.

“You’re an idiot. Learn from this and go home.” said Kelevri.

As Tharian started to slowly rise, Kelevri thought it best to run off and so she did. She ran through the alleyways draped in the shadows of the now old night. She ran with anger and pain. She ran with the thoughts of idiots like Tharian getting an education while she was stuck working in a bar, a bar. She stopped out of breathe and looked to the sword tattoo on her arm, then up to the young sun that had risen up. It made beams of light on the pavement between the skyscrapers of Oceanis.

“Whhoooooo, whooooo are you?” hooted an owl perched on top a street light that had just automatically shut off, Kelevri darted her eyes at the sound. She smiled up at it. 

“My name is Kelevri, I'll be your bartender for the night.”

The owl flew off into the beams of light. Kelevri smiled and kept walking home. When she got to her quiet small apartment she looked up programs at the university, after that she started to knit.

 

THE           END

Author's Note

Written in a day like usual.