Yo, last one for this week

	Greetings!! Welcome to yet another story of a hidden talent. This one was a
bit of a joy to write, although you might notice I spent more time writing
about the person who found the hidden talent rather then the person with
one. For anybody looking for a slight spoiler, I have three words for you.
Tom. Cruise. Cocktail.
As always c&c can go to raymond.haney@mohican.mwsu.edu  .Thanks for reading
this, without you I would be a schmuck with no audience!!



Disclaimer: Like I even think these people belong to me!!


Hidden Talents

	Part, the sixth


	* clikkaclikkaclatter.... *

	"Whoa, now here's a surprise." Nabiki Tendo's eyes widened slightly as she
reviewed her weekly cash reports.  As she inputted her monetary gains for
the week in her computer ledger, she double-checked her numbers to confirm
what she was seeing. Nabiki prided herself in every yen she managed to earn,
weather it be through the Nikki Stock Market or in small bets and loans in
the schoolyard. She also held percentages in several Tokyo businesses.
Normally, her two biggest moneymakers were her small shares in both the Cat
Café and in the Ucchan. But apparently, both those revenues had been dwarfed
by the profits she was making off of some shares out of a place called
"King's". She closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair and thought for a
moment. Ah, she remembered now. King's was a nightclub. Owned by a blonde
female martial artist, she had needed a small loan to help with startup
costs and Nabiki had promptly helped out for a single percentage profit. It
had normally been a small yielder but it was showing an almost three hundred
percent increase in revenue. She opened her eyes and murmured aloud,
"Something like this deserves some personal attention and exploration." 
	Several phone calls and an hour later, she had finished her financial
report and had gathered just enough information on the club to get her
curiosity piqued. Apparently, this club was out of her informant's normal
circles, but lately, word had been getting out on the place. It appeared as
if the place had picked up some kind of entertainment that people were going
to see. When Nabiki had inquired to details, her sources had all had to
apologize and report that they didn't know. None of them had seen it
personally and the rumors were to vague to really tell what was going on.
The nearest that they were able to report was that it may have had something
to do with the drinks. Nabiki shook her head in frustration. "When you want
something done, you have to do it yourself. Now, what to wear to this night
club?" 
	After finishing dinner, and silently thanking the fact that it was a
weekend, Nabiki left the dojo with a vague report to her father as to where
she was going. In a rather fetching black dress, she stepped out of a cab
thirty minutes later. Paying off the cabby and leaving a fairly nice tip,
she stood in front of a glowing neon sign that simply stated, King's. She
walked in the front door and was instantly it by the beat of the music, the
scene of the packed dance floor, and most importantly, the sight of the main
bar. And, oh, what a sight it was!!
	The bar stretched along the back end of the building, with the dance floor
off to one side and an array of tables on the other.
	
		

Standing atop the bar was a young man with a long black ponytail. He was
wearing a pair of black jeans and a white turtleneck and seemed very
familiar. Nabiki entered just in time to see him do a backflip, throw
something in the air, catch it while he landed and add a dash of something
from a bottle in his other hand. Very faintly she could hear him declare,
"One Purple Kami!"  as he handed the, she could now tell it was a glass, to
one of the bar patrons. The crowd dancing on the floor and crowded around
the bar erupted into cheers. Nabiki suddenly realized the guy was tending
bar. "Well, well,"  she murmured to herself, "very impressive, and judging
by this crowds reaction this is the entertainment. I can see why this place
is doing so good." 
	A tall woman with a short blonde hair cut noticed Nabiki and started
walking towards her. She waved one of her gloved hands and strode up to
Nabiki in a gray pinstriped suit. "Well hello Ms. Tendo, how can I be of
assistance?"
	 "King, very nice to see you." Nabiki nodded in greeting. "I just wanted to
come by and see how things were coming along. I see you've managed to pick
up a crowd stealer." She gestured toward the bar, where she could see drink
bottles being flipped and spun through the air. As she watched, she was able
to discern a second, more sedate bartender dealing with refills and such,
while the showman continued to strut and mix drinks with incredible style.
	King grinned. "He's incredible. I literally bumped into him about two weeks
ago. I had just put up my help wanted sign and I turned around and walked
right into him. After we got straightened out he took a look at my sign and
asked what kind of help I was looking for. I told him I wanted a bartender
and he just shrugged and asked if that was all. I said sure that's it, but
the pay won't be too good. Minimum to start with a share of all tips. He
jumped at it. And now, this!!" King gestured grandly with an outswept arm.
"At first we had the same crowd. But then, as more people heard about what
this guy could do we started getting more customers. This kid is amazing!!
Not only does he do all those tricks he knows just about every drink on the
planet. You should go talk to him."
	Nabiki nodded again, thinking, "You know, I think I will. Thanks King."
	"No problem," said King. She sauntered off to talk to and greet some more
bar patrons. Nabiki started toward the bar and as she neared it, she
couldn't shake the feeling that she recognized the guy. Just as she closed
in she heard him talking to a customer and the slightly accented voice
suddenly clicked. She leaned over as the bartender turned and started in
surprise at seeing her.
	"Well, hi Mousse! I almost didn't recognize you without our glasses!"
	Mousse took a half step back and managed a strangled, "Uh, hi Nabiki. What
brings you here?"
	Nabiki regarded him amusedly, "I own part of this place, Mousse. I think
the more important question is what are you doing here?"
	Mousse suddenly lunged forward and thrust his face in front of Nabiki's.
"Please, please, please don't tell anyone you saw me here!!!" he began to
stammer and beg, "If that old ghoul knew..... and if Shampoo saw King...
and... I... please.... Uhh......"
	"Please, get ahold of yourself Mousse!" Nabiki straightened her shoulders
and continued in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry Mousse, I won't tell anyone
your working here..."
	 Mousse released a relieved sigh .
	 "But..." she continued, grinning evilly.
	Mousse quailed.
	Nabiki almost laughed, "All you have to do is explain how you wound up here."
	Mousse slumped his head. "All right, you win." He straightened up and
looked at the other bartender who made an obscure hand signal. Mousse nodded
and began to talk to Nabiki in an even, conversational tone (even if it was
slightly loud to be heard over all the noise) while he began to grab glasses
and go back to mixing drinks. "I'd just about had it with working for the
old mummy. I'm getting less then minimum wage there and as much as I love
Shampoo and would like to stay around her, if I can't make enough to live
on, I have to go back to China. So, I found myself walking around and I
bumped into King. After I found out she had an opening for a bartender I
took it." He finished the drink he was working on and held it up. "One
Divine Wind!" A hand came up in the crowd and Mousse pushed the drink
towards them.
	"O.K.," Nabiki replied after the interruption, "Since when did you know
anything about tending bar?"
	"Well," Mousse admitted reluctantly, "That's what my father was. I sorta
learned about all the drinks from him. And when you add my martial arts
training... doing this," with that he flung a bottle of scotch in the air,
twirling it in a tight circle and then snatching it out of the air as his
other hand picked up a glass and flipped it over, "is easy," he finished as
he poured. "One scotch, on the rocks!"
	"So you learned this from your dad?" Nabiki asked incredulously.
	"Yeah, it was fairly easy. I have a photographic memory. I learned every
drink recipe my father knew in about a week back when I was six."
	"Oh," Nabiki replied, reassessing Mousse. "Photographic memory, huh, I
guess you are a man just full of hidden talents." She arched an eyebrow at him.
	Mousse grinned, "I know every drink in the world Nabiki, thats how I
managed to get a job in a bar, even though I'm underage. And that's how I
know I can keep a low profile, nobody I really know in this town can come in
here. Hey, how did you...?" Mousse trailed off at Nabiki's look of
exasperation and reminded himself that she was a part owner of the place. He
returned to his initial thought. "So Nabiki Tendo, care to try my knowledge
of drinks?"
	Nabiki smiled mischievously, she didn't really drink, but she had heard
about this from a friend. "Sure, Mousse-baby," she raised her voice to be
heard over the crowd. "Give me a Screaming Orgasm!" At that exact moment,
there was a major lull in the sound level of the bar, so Nabiki's raised
voice carried across the entire bar. As all the noise ground down to a halt
all eyes fixed on the two. Without batting an eye or a single flinch, Mousse
grabbed and started juggling four bottles. After mixing vodka, kahlua,
amaretto, and Irish cream, he returned the bottles to the rack, added a
touch of half and half and spritzed in a slight spray of club soda.
	"One Screaming Orgasm."
	The bar burst into applause. Nabiki grinned and leaned forward and accepted
her drink. As the patrons went back to what they were doing Nabiki regarded
Mousse with a raised eyebrow. 'Well', she thought to herself, 'I wonder how
inflappable he really is', "Thank you Mousse." She sipped her drink. "It's
really good." She leaned forward a little more and cattily whispered to him,
"You can give me the real one later."
	Mousse turned red as a beet and almost backed up, "Nabiki!"
	Nabiki laughed. "Calm down Mousse. I'm only playing." 'Still,' she thought
to herself. 'With his hair back and those glasses, he is rather fetching.'
"By the way, I like the contacts. How come you don't wear them everywhere?"
	"How'd you know they were contacts?"
	"Please Mousse, you've been twirling and spinning those drinks allnight and
you haven't dropped a single one or mistaken anyone for somebody else."
	"Well, they're part of my disguise, and if I wore them all the time, people
would recognize me. A lot of times, I just shuck the robes and glasses and I
go out and nobody knows me at all. I kind of like that privacy."
	The two talked and laughed and Nabiki applauded throughout the night as
Mousse continued to mix drinks. He threw bottles in the air, he twirled
them, he flipped them behind his back and over his shoulder. When the bar
finally closed and everyone staggered home Nabiki turned to Mousse.
	"Care to share a cab?"
	"Thanks Nabiki, but I've got my own way home." With that he grinned, bumped
a bottle of water over his head, quacked amusedly at her surprise and winged
away into the night.
	"Take care Mousse-chan. Hey King!! Wait up!! Give a friend a ride home?"



Fini


Post: I'm not real sure I like the ending, I'm thinking of improving it
somehow, it seems a bit to curt and abrupt, any suggestions out there? Well,
this was the most fun HT I've written yet. Although more looms ahead on the
horizon. Next, we'll see the star of Ranma and maybe pay a visit on the Blue
Thunder himself….