Chapter Text
Noses rubbing together, Rom reached up to stroke Prinadora’s lobe, careful to not tug her earring and eliciting a low hum of pleasure. He knew just how to please her, and she him, and together they formed a union as good as anyone could ask for on Ferenginar, which was a rare thing indeed. Often marriages were born out of profit, and not for love, but Rom had somehow hit the spouse lottery, or at least that is how he felt in this domestic moment as she rose, flashing a toothy smile before plodding down the hall into another part of the house, leaving him to read up on the daily news.
Prinadora was everything Rom could have hoped for in a wife, beautiful, kind, and from a good family. That ‘good family’ bit was a complication, seeing the dense, detailed, and expensive marriage contract it resulted in. However, Rom was confident he had read even the finest of print and signed happily, leading to many joyous years. Prinadora was a fair partner, attentive to Rom’s needs and she had graciously borne him a son, helping to raise him to be how a good Ferengi should. Already Nog was stealing sweets from the cupboard to hoard under his bed and committing other small acts of acquisition. Rom could not be more proud. Nog was set to begin his formal education at the local primary school soon, the same Hopawup Academy for Young Lobelings he and his brother Quark had attended over thirty years ago. He would surely bloom into a savvy businessman, should he take after his granmoogie’s side of the family.
For years, Rom had been secretly helping his mother Ishka run a small financial empire, under aliases and manufactured LLCs, and there had been a few close calls but things were going well, especially his cut off the top. Unfortunately, that meager cut was more profit than any other of Rom’s ventures, but it was easy enough to lie that it was a margin from his latest failing venture in asteroid mining, or anti-slip sidewalk coatings, or any other of a hundred small investments. It would seem he took more after his father Keldar, who was a gentle and sweet man, the best father anyone could ask for, but was about as good at acquiring as a tube grub. The failures were piling up, and without serious results, Prinadora’s father was breathing down Rom’s neck.
A ping on his padd stirred Rom from his thoughts, setting aside the details of yet another failure as laid out in much detail by a dour journalist to see a message from his brother. Ever since Quark had left Ferenginar, his apprenticeship lost due to breaking Rule 112 forcing him to take a job on a Ferengi freighter, Rom had hardly heard from him so this was a pleasant surprise. Quark swore up and down that transmissions were blocked while the ship was at warp, where the vessel spent most of its time as a cargo vessel, and Rom believed him, wondering if Quark would mention what far-off planet he was docked on in order to send this. Such a job must be so exciting, a new adventure every day, visiting exotic worlds and meeting interesting people! It was not for Rom, he much preferred the familiar wet soil of the homeworld, but he allowed his thoughts to wander to the stars. Rom daydreamed about it with glamour, a luxuriously appointed ship of which he was the captain, setting course to wherever latinum lay in waiting for him to pluck from generous fingers…
“Fafa! You’re falling asleep again!” A young voice called out into the thought, and Rom again shook himself free from his overactive imagination.
“Not sleeping, thinking.” Rom replied, cocking his head and hoisting his son up into his lap. “Your uncle Quark sent me a message, want to read it together?”
“Sure! Did he purchase another moon?” Nog asked excitedly.
Rom sighed, “No, Nog, that’s my cousin, Gaila. Your uncle Quark works on the Latium Queen , a freight ship.”
Nog shrugged, leaning his head back against his father’s chest. “Oh, nevermind.” Rom gave him a stern look over the wide bridge of his nose, and Nog changed his tune, “I guess so.”
Rom read aloud:
I’ve quit the Latinum Queen and am pursuing a new opportunity on Terok Nor, a Cardassian Ore Mining facility. Trust me Rom, this is going to be big! I’ve already worked out a lease contract with those in charge, I practically got a bar space for free! My own place, no rules or regulations, or bosses, just me and my business license ready to suck these reptilians dry.
By the way, the FCA might have been involved since I might have breached some miniscule clauses in my contract with the captain in freeing myself from that sweatbox of a ship. If any complications arise, pay them off for me so that we can put this behind us and let the acquiring begin!
Give Nog a slip of latinum for me, and I send my best wishes to Prinadora.
-Your loyal brother Quark, Son of Keldar
“So Uncle Quark doesn’t work on the Latinum Queen ?” Nog asked, already checking his father’s pockets for that slip he was promised.
“I guess not, now he’s a restauranteur! How exciting!” Rom considered the opulent establishment his brother would curate, already feeling pride bloom in his chest. Who cared about Gaila’s moons, Quark had a bar! And a Cardassian one at that, on Terok Nor, it all sounded so eloquent that they must be some wealthy species from a planet plated in gold!
Then, there was a brutish knock at the door, and Rom figured his troubles were about to multiply. Any mention of the Ferengi Commerce Association, or FCA, was bad news, and it seemed they were ready for their cut of Quark’s actions. Going after family was a trademark move of theirs, and Rom knew he was first on the list.
“Go stay with your mother.” Rom muttered, setting his son down before rising to his feet, pulling on his finest coat. He was sure Prinadora had heard everything, they’d not paid to have the house’s interior soundproofed, and hoped she believed in him to figure this disaster out. Rom hoped he could.
“What about my slip from uncle Quark?” The boy protested, he was nearly five and already so defiant. If it were any other time, Rom might have applauded him for his persistence, but now was not a teaching moment.
“I’ll give you two if you go, now.” Rom offered quietly.
“Five!” Nog countered.
“Three, and I’ll get fresh tube grubs for lunch.”
Nog nodded before dashing off into another room. Prinadora was probably working on a new piece of jewelry, her hobbies included crafting elaborate earrings, each pair more garish (and expensive) than the last. Another man might have denied her this indulgence, but Rom would do anything for her, and was always looking for sparkling pieces in the bazaar to buy for her. Nog liked helping her as well, something about holding a gemstone could render even the most hyperactive lobeling silent in its presence. Rom fondly remembered time spent with his own Moogie when Keldar was out working and Quark attending school. As the younger sibling he was left behind, and he hoped that Nog would have similar memories with Prinadora.
Another bang against metal, this one somehow even more angry sounding. Right, the door. Rom opened it, bracing for the worst, an army of Nausiccans or the Nagus himself pointing a phaser at him. But it was a single Ferengi, dressed in red and with a posture that stuck his knobby nose nearly higher than his lobes. The man barged in, shoving Rom aside with his shoulder.
“Brunt, FCA.”
“Rom, uh, son of Keldar?”
The FCA Liquidator shook his head. “I know who you are, and that’s why I’m here. Do you know what your brother has been up to?”
“Which one?” Rom asked, internally cringing. Playing dumb was how he weasled his way out of most bad situations, to varying results, but maybe this was a bit too far. Well, he already said it, so no going back now.
Brunt just narrowed his eyes, and Rom realized this was likely a very bad call on his part. “Quark. Now then, he has brokered a deal with the FCA to distribute the consequences of his breach of contract with his former employer, and in lieu of losing his business license, you will be billed this amount as compensation.” Brunt passed a padd to Rom, the number on it knocking the wind out of his chest. It was far more than the collective sum of all he had made since reaching the age of ascension, and even with Ishka’s assistance, it was hardly an amount he could reach without raising suspicion.
He knew this, and he knew Brunt knew it too, and not just from the way he sneered at Rom. “I… That’s…”
“Quite the sum, I know. The Latinum Queen was carrying precious cargo which was compromised due to a sudden and unaccounted for short-staffing.”
Rom folded his arms, so that’s what this captain was playing at, he was shocked the FCA was buying it, but then again, the bigger the fee, the larger their cut. “The loss of one crew member on a ship that big could not have resulted in this much of a loss.”
Brunt frowned, shaking his head in a farce of sympathy. “You don’t know, do you. Your brother practically mutinied against the captain, taking several of the crewmen with him to serve as waiters in his new establishment, whose opening, licensing, and inspection fees are visible on the next page. Quark has arranged a payment plan, but we will need an initial deposit.”
Rom flipped the screen despite how futile the situation was, and saw another astronomical sum. “What happens if we can’t, urm, won’t pay?”
Laughing with a full display of his sharpened teeth, Brunt clapped Rom on the shoulder. “The FCA will strip you both, and your family, of everything you have if we must in order to receive payment. I hear lobelings fetch a handsome sum these days, older couples wishing to adopt and such, create the safety net a son provides.”
“Right, right. I was just curious if the terms had changed.” The threat acknowledged, Rom took a step away from the liquidator, putting himself between Brunt and his son in the other room.
Brunt responded gravely, “The terms never change. I’ll be back tomorrow for the first installment, as detailed on the third page. Read it on your own time.” Without preamble or fanfare, Brunt exited just how he came, yet he left a wake of devastation behind him.
Slumping back down into his chair, Rom let out a breath he’d not realized he held. Massaging his temples, he muttered to himself, “What am I going to do?” And he considered the person he always went to when he had a question he could not answer.
“Do about what?” Nog asked, bursting back out into the main space of the house, Prinadora close behind him. She was visibly worried.
“He wanted to see what all the noise was about, but we waited until our guest left before coming out.” Prinadora explained, running a thin finger along her husband’s brow ridge before sitting beside him.
“I didn’t want to wait.” Nog huffed, squeezing in between his parents. Rom closed his eyes, savoring one last moment of togetherness before everything would fall apart.
Rising, he leaned over to kiss Prinadora on the top of her head. “I’m going to go visit Moogie.” When Nog began to protest, he added, “And I’ll bring home some food.”
“See you, Fafa!” The lobeling shouted a bit too loudly before standing on the couch, rubbing foreheads with Rom before he set out. He was glad the rains were light today, and hoped that he’d figure this out, somehow. He couldn’t lose his family, even if it meant becoming destitute.
Rom didn’t knock before entering Ishka’s house, the structure feeling a bit too large for one, but no one could bring themselves to sell the property since Keldar’s death, too many memories, and also her hidden Latinum stores beneath the underflooring. A smaller house wouldn’t be able to hold it all discreetly, so she and Rom went with the memories story with everyone, including Quark who was unaware of her little empire.
“MOOGIE!” He cried out, seeing her sitting at the dining table, core deep into a succulent pink fruit, the juices dripping down her face as she bit at the snack. Setting it down, she rose to embrace her son.
“Rom! What a pleasant surprise to see you, son.” As she held him, she could feel Rom shaking. “Is something the matter?”
Rom couldn’t hold it in any longer, sobbing as he explained everything, from Quark’s new investment to the FCA’s sum due the next day.
“Oh now that is a real pickle.” Ishka replied, accepting the padd from Rom to look over the details. Settling them both down on the couch, fruit abandoned both on the table and the shoulder of Rom’s jacket, Ishka went through every detail, and each possible way they could respond to it. “You are lucky they broke the payment into seven, the usual is five but I suppose this is a lot more than the usual, and they’d rather not go through the trouble of extracting and selling your internal organs.”
“They’re going to extract my organs? I need those!” Rom howled, and Ishka calmed him by pulling his head into her lap.
“Not if they are paid, Rom, and we’ll be able to pay them. Tomorrow, at least. After that, well…” Ishka vaguely gestured in front of her. “You will work something out.”
The first payment consisted of Rom’s shares in the Kupter mining consortium, his life savings, and one third of the living room floor. Brunt was appeased, for now, but the second payment would be due in less than a month’s time, and Ishka refused to give him much more for free. “Me?” Rom stammered.
“You’ll have to figure this out on your own, son, even my holdings cannot cover this debt. Make a plan.”
Rom squeezed his eyes shut, thinking hard but coming up empty handed. “I’ve tried everything I could think of already!”
“Keep your ears open…” Ishka mused, turning back to her novel. As she recited a rule, Rom got an idea, fueled by centuries of Ferengi knowledge, but one that would harm someone he cared about deeply… Never ask when you can take, and there was much to be taken right under his feet. With another month to work something out, find some deal or loophole…
Rom shifted uncomfortably, his Moogie was the last person in the galaxy he’d want to trick, yet every rule he’d forcibly engraved into his memory was screaming at him to take the easy road out. Family was only there to be exploited, after all.
“No!” Rom announced loudly, turning on his heels and storming towards the doors. Ishka just chuckled to herself, Rom had always been a strange little Ferengi and she could not be more proud.
If there was anyone in this family worth exploiting, it was Quark, and Rom knew just what his next move would be. Rushing back home, he nearly bulldozed over a cart selling kebabs, slipping a few ‘free samples’ in the chaos before stepping proudly into his own home. “I’ve got food!” Rom announced loudly, and another man, tall and older and stern as anything, nodded gruffly.
“Then you have one thing.”
Rom’s mood dropped immediately, it was Prinadora’s father, who now accepted two of the three kebabs without asking. Rom handed the last one to his wife who’s expression was grave as she gnawed on the tough meat. As he tried to piece together a way to ask the man just what he was doing here, he spoke.
“The contract is up, Rom. And seeing your financial position with the FCA, I believe it is in my interest to remove my daughter from this hopeless situation.” He said flatly, straightening a jet-black coat adorned with silver beads.
“I’m not destitute.” Rom announced proudly.
“Rom…” Prinadora said softly, placing a gentle hand on his forearm. “You will be. And I can’t live like that.” The ‘neither can you’ was implied, but Rom heard it, and it still hurt.
Looking into steely grey eyes that he’d come to love dearly, Rom fought tears at this sudden turn, as if things couldn't get worse. With all the panic about the FCA, he’d forgotten that his 5-year marriage contract expired, and he’d never contacted her family to renew.
“And I won’t let her. I’ve brought you my only offer, and you will sign it if you wish to continue this marriage with my daughter.” The man continued, and Rom was so distraught that he could not even remember his name as he accepted the padd. The contract was even longer than the first, some text nearly too small to read, which was substantially tiny seeing how keen Rom’s eyesight was.
Yet, he barely read it, just scrolling along until he found one specific clause. There, in plain text, it said that he and Prinadora would remain married if he signed. That being the only thing that mattered to him, he signed with a sigh of relief. He’d already lost so much, he could not lose his wife too. Her soft touch, beautiful singing, the way she had helped raise Nog into such a fine young Ferengi, subtle sense of humor and brilliant skill with art. She was what made him whole, as he was someone who often misunderstood jokes, was clumsy in most tasks, unsure of how to set boundaries with Nog, and completely tone deaf. He loved to sing with her, be it a lullaby at bedtime or a triumphant victory jingle when a deal turned even a tiny margin.
No, he would not let her slip through his fingers. With a trembling inhale, Rom signed.
“Good.” His father-in-law said, picking up a large chest that Rom realized contained some items of value that were now missing from the decor. “The accounts will finish transferring in 24 hours, and I know how much is in them so don’t try emptying them and running. You’ve signed the contract, Rom.”
Instantly, he regretted letting his emotions get the better of him, but he still had Prinadora, they’d work something out. Ishka would help, Quark too, his brother always had a fondness for Nog; surely he’d not want to see the boy sold off!
“Come, Prinadora.” Shrouding her under his coat, the man began leaving, and Rom’s world shattered again.
“Where are you going? Prinadora?”
She never looked back, not even when Nog ran out from his room, “What’s happening? Moogie! Come back Moogie! Fafa, where is she going?”
Acute hearing be damned, there was nothing but a sniffle from her as she left, feet shuffling along the carpet, Rom searched the contract through tears. There it was, a relocation clause. “She’s going to live with her parents for a little while, Nog.”
“But she’ll be back, right?” Nog asked, a small hand touching the door after it closed. Rom stood beside him, shaking.
“Yeah.” Rom lied. Until he could pay his debts, not only to the FCA, but to Prinadora’s family for ‘tarnishment of our records’, she’d be out of reach.
“I miss Moogie…” Nog whimpered, sinking down to his knees.
“Me too, son.” Rom agreed, holding his son in his arms as if he could shelter him from everything, but he knew his body created an empty cave. There was no comfort in destitution, and that is what he was facing, if not financially, then destitution of his heart, nothing left to scatter but worthless dust.
With nothing left to lose, Rom’s mind was made up. “Would you like to go see your Uncle Quark?”
“No.” Nog whispered. “I want Moogie!”
“I’m so sorry…” Rom cried, holding Nog closer, both curled up on the floor and wishing things were not as they were, but one cannot change the past, only move forward.
A tiny finger wiped away a tear, Nog’s crooked, soft smile looking up at him. “Maybe… I do actually. Can we?”
Rom flashed his own lopsided grin. “Absolutely!” Gathering himself, he began gathering things he could sell to pay for passage to this Terok Nor, then he realized he was standing in his greatest asset- the house!
With nothing but two sacks full of clothes and personal items each, father and son boarded a large transit ship and began the first leg of a long voyage.