Episode 1 (Aurora Season 1)

A Dangerous Choice

MC: “If I have to pick someone, I want Aurora to watch over me.”

I glance over at Aurora, who gives me a little wink.

Aurora: “Of course.”

Aurora: “Us girls have to stick together, don’t we?”

(Besides Yoshimitsu, she seems to be the friendliest.)

Chance frowns, his lips thinning in displeasure.

Aurora: “Don’t pout, Chance.”

Aurora: “You’ll get wrinkles.”

Aurora gestures at Yoshimitsu, her fingers making a grabby motion.

Aurora: “And you need to put another dollar in the bet jar.”

Yoshimitsu scoffs, serving himself another drink from the bar.

Yoshimitsu: “This doesn’t count.”

Aurora: “You took her, didn’t you?”

Aurora: “And I’m taking her from you. So…”

Yoshimitsu: “Wow, if you reach any harder you might dislocate your arm.”

Aurora: “Did I or did I not steal your girl?”

MC: “H-hey, I’m not…”

Chance: “Enough joking around.”

Chance: “We brought her here for a reason.”

Though he doesn’t raise his voice at all, a clear note of command rings in Chance’s words.

He doesn’t expect a challenge, and he doesn’t receive one.

Casually, Aurora arches her hand behind her back and stretches out the kinks in her neck.

Aurora: “Of course, Chance.”

Aurora: “I’ll get to work right away.”

Aurora: “To do that, though, I’m going to need a little privacy.”

Aurora: “That goes for all you boys.”

Chance frowns, but leaves the room.

Irving and Ash follow their boss,

the latter leading Seymour out by his collar.

Yoshimitsu gives me one last look, eyes scanning me up and down.

Aurora: “Stop eyeing the merchandise.”

Aurora: “She picked me, remember?”

MC: “Don’t call me that.”

She rolls her eyes.

Yoshimitsu: “Hey, .”

Yoshimitsu: “If you get sick of Ladykiller over here, give me a call.”

Yoshimitsu mimics holding a phone to his ear,

shooting me a wink and leaving with a whole bottle of whiskey tucked into his arm.

I’m left alone in the private casino with Aurora.

(She might have that gun, but unlike the others, I haven’t seen her use it.)

(Maybe it was just a show of bravado around the guys?)

Aurora: “Finally. Some peace and quiet.”

Aurora does seem much more relaxed now.

Tossing her hair over one shoulder,

Aurora goes over to the bar and begins noisily rattling through its contents.

MC: “They seem to respect you.”

MC: “The gang, I mean.”

Aurora had bent down, disappearing underneath the countertop.

She pops back up with a can of whipped cream and a sunny smile.

Aurora: “Well of course they do!”

Aurora: “When it comes to business, anyway.”

A tight knot forms in my throat.

MC: “I know they seem to think my parents were involved with something.”

MC: “But I really don’t--"

Aurora: “Orgasm?”

My jaw clicks shut with shot, eyes widening at Aurora’s cheeky grin.

MC: “Wh… what?”

She wiggles the bottle of whipped cream in one hand,

lowering it to hold up a bottle of amaretto in the other.

Aurora: “Or blowjob?”

My face heats up, all the blood rushing straight to my head.

(I guess this is what Yoshimitsu meant by ladykiller.)

(She comes on strong!)

MC: “…That’s inappropriate.”

She throws her head back, laughing loudly.

Aurora: “Those are shots. Popular ones.”

Aurora: “Very sweet, very flirty.”

Aurora: “Girls love them.”

Quickly, she pours out several dark liquers into a hot glass and tops it with whipped cream.

Setting down the bottles, Aurora points at me.

Aurora: “You strike me as a girl who wants a sweet shot.”

Aurora: “Am I wrong?”

MC: “I don’t drink much, but…”

A. I like ordering sweet drinks.

B. I like ordering fancy drinks.

C. I like ordering strong drinks.

---

A. I like ordering sweet drinks.

MC: “I like sweet drinks, yeah.”

Aurora: “Of course you do.”

Aurora: “You’re a sweet girl.”

---

Aurora: “Do you want me to make you something?”

Aurora: “Just to calm your nerves a little?”

Aurora: “I can’t imagine you’ve had a very fun night.”

MC: “…I don’t take drinks from strangers.”

Aurora: “Hmm. Smart girl.”

Aurora doesn’t seem offended.

She knocks back the shot herself,

flicking her tongue to lick the residual sticky sweetness that clung to the rim.

Swallowing tightly, I avert my gaze, focusing on the rest of the room.

Aurora: “I used to moonlight as a bartender.”

Aurora: “It served as a good front, and a nice storage for the wares I used to trade.”

Aurora: “We’d host gambling competitions in the basement,”

Aurora: “betting everything that money could buy and then some.”

(Like some kind of black market?)

The rattle of glass makes me nervous, and I glance back to see Aurora making another drink.

Sweet red grenadine sinks to the bottom of a glass, looking grisly when splashed with clear liquor.

MC: “What’s that got to do with me?”

Aurora: “Have a seat and I’ll explain.”

(Might as well do as she asks.)

Sitting down on a stool by the bar, I’m just about to ask more questions,

when Aurora returns to me, drink in hand.

She settles across my lap, surprisingly light underneath the suit.

I have no idea where to put my hands,

stunned into silence as she takes my chin and gently angles my face up to hers.

Aurora: “Are you sure you don’t want that drink?”

Her breath is sweet with syrup, cold on my lips.

MC: “N-no. I definitely don’t.”

Aurora: “What a shame.”

She sets her glass down only so that she can stroke my hair out of my face.

Despite myself, I’m trembling again, but not from fear.

Aurora: “I like classifying people by their liquor.”

Aurora: “There was a lovely couple who came in all the time, long after I stopped bartending.”

Aurora: “I still remember their drinks, though.”

Aurora: “An Old Fashioned for the man, a martini for the woman.”

Aurora: “They were very smart criminals.”

Aurora: “You see, when you steal from a normal person, they can call the police to get justice.”

Aurora: “When you steal from another criminal, there’s only satisfaction in blood.”

Something about her tone of voice makes me sit up a little straighter.

She still has one hand on my chin, keeping me captive.

The other roams, stroking my head, toying with the shell of my ear.

MC: “You don’t mean-?”

That sweet ice in her voice hardens, piercing me with sudden viciousness.

Aurora: “Your parents stole my MONEY, .”

Her nails dig into my skin, just hard enough to make a point.

She speaks evenly, almost gentle now.

Aurora: “And you don’t… hustle… the hustler.”

Breathless with fear, I shrink back from her, heart pounding in my ears.

(Ohh… How did I get myself into this?!)