Ask Plot Nar Shaddaa Intel-napper

[Kai]

THEME​

There were things to do but Kai had to admit he had a desire to be apathetic. It happened to everyone but maybe he was just having some wave of melancholy and it was making him want to be lazy. The lack of substances running through his veins also was a contributor. At least the diner coffee was good. The cup was mostly empty and had cooled off. The waitress droid came back and did not even ask, it just poured new bitter caffeine into the cup.

The place was a midway diner to the upper levels. It had been around awhile but tended to see its fair share of passers by. It was not too far from the space port and plenty of long haul pilots stopped in for a hardy meal. But today Kai had asked to meet Ilana here. It was business related despite their previous intimacy.

The Legionnaire thought about what he was doing all of these things for. Bit by bit he started thinking about the different possible directions things could go. Kai waited patiently for the Doctor to arrive as he slowly slipped further along an existential process and sipped the coffee that nearly burned his mouth.

Outside, airspeeders flew by. His eyes stared out the window of the diner, beyond the lanes. The eyes took in the towers and buildings with lights blinking, screens advertising. Kai pierced beyond, wondering where in the galaxy he was looking and what could be there. From his eyes it was just more sky. But Kai knew there was more and knew he did not know enough. That will change.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She had not expected to hear back from a former patient, but also one that was very unique. It was a feeling... but there was something different about this patient. Something that she often got glimpses from others, but at the moment this sensation didn't have a linking factor.

Nonetheless, he called her, and she agreed. Not much piqued her curiosity, and yet this did. Another injured gangster, perhaps? Though then again, he would have told her as much... despite her brief lapse in their past before, he was simply an acquaintance. Perhaps also someone to help get her what she wanted... but only time would tell.

It was harder and harder for her to control her feelings. It felt as though the galaxy were trying to ground her down, right to her very bones, and it weighed heavily on her mind. But she arrived at their rendezvous, dressed in something different from her norm. Leggings, a V-necked t-shirt and a synthleather jacket were her best points of disguise.

There was nothing she could do about the hair. Long, white, it fell to the curve of her waist, and in her grip was her black bag. She strode into the diner.. and spotted her companion rather quickly.

As she sat down, the server droid came over. Before it could speak, however, she spoke in her own raspy tones. "Caf too, thank you, nothing to eat for now." She then turned her amber gaze to Kai, and perked a white brow.

"It's a shock to see you unharmed. In a good way, of course." Her lips twitched, once, showing a wry strain of humor, before it was gone.

"What can I do for you?"

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

It was not until Ilana was a few meters away that Kai realized she had arrived. His body jerked itself out of the trance and he looked over at her with a greeting smile. "Hey."

"Good to see you too, Doc." A chuckle followed and he blew on his coffee a little. Then again being considered injury prone was not uncalled for. The Grysk tended to take risks. 'Grysk that takes the risk' I should make that into a verse or something. He thought to himself and tucked it away in the back of his mind.

"I've got work that you might be interested in." Kai said simply at first. He waited to see if she was curious. The Legionnaire had a feeling Ilana possessed a curious mind. While he could delve into her mind he could already sense it on the surface. Even without his abilities with the Force, Kai read people well enough to know she had a hunger of knowledge and experience.

Should she show interested Kai would continue. "There's an item I'm looking to acquire. Too get it I need some specific information and a certain someone has some of said information. It's could be dangerous and is not exactly...glamorous." He did not want to say illegal out loud.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

The brow raised an increment at his statement of it not being glamorous. She hardly doubted she was the epitome of glamour... but then it occurred to her. Oh.

"Well, good thing I'm not a model or uniform, then," she remarked dryly, the brow lowering. The droid returned with her caf, and she nodded once in appreciation, picking up the sugar dispenser and adding a generous amount before snagging a spoon to stir the mixture. Most didn't actually seem to look forward to meeting her, but then again, their initial meeting was hardly ordinary, even by her standards.

"Very specific of you," she replied wryly, taking a sip of the hot liquid. "But sure. I'll bite. So long as you don't mind covering my dry-cleaning expenses after this."

The headache she felt from before seemed to crest to the fore, and her hand briefly tightened on her caf, trying to will it away. The room almost seemed too... noisy. The smells, the many bodies of all species... the emotions that swarmed around her. She took another sip, then tilted her head to give him a level stare.

"What do I gain in the bargain, apart from some new insight on the galaxy?" she finally replied. Best to cut to the chase, rather than bathe in social niceties. She could only stand being surrounded by other beings for so long, after all, and she was still resting up from her latest case.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

She could be a model though. Don't you think? Kai had not moved or changed his expression after hearing the words. His face the same as it had so far. But at the table behind the Arkanian was a familiar woman. Her back was turned and Kai could not see her face. But her voice that only he could hear was instantly recognized. She's pretty. He admitted both to himself and to the personal phantom.

"I like you enough to give you a larger overall picture." His skullish face grinned. It was a playful tone but held a deeper truth. Compartmentalizing information was important for militaries as well as criminals. There was a good reason to keep people in the dark. But some people also liked to lie to their own employees about details of the job. Kai did not intend on lying about the information but he also did not want to give her details that she might not want to hear.

You can't unlearn something. The faceless female figure was behind Kai. The Grysk had never seen her move and could not see her behind Ilana anymore. She brushed his ear, gently, and spoke in a voice that was a fraction above a whisper. When are you going to stop all this and join me? The invisible arms reached over his shoulders and crossed his chest. Kai knew that Ilana would not be able to see her. I'm trying.

Kai leaned forward on the table between himself and the Arkanian, forgetting the incorporeal thing that had casually embraced him. "Have you heard about the Tome of Nazakyr?" He assumed she had not and so would continue. "It is a book, a log of various stores and caches of information the Galactic Empire used to value. Various gangsters and businessmen have held it. I know where it is and plan on getting it but to get it as easiest as possible there's some risk of injury involved. You, as a medical expert will most likely be needed." The man also knew that she would have questions. So he left things open for her curiousity to inquire. However, the punk dark sider was not a stranger to business and so had considered this to be a professional interaction.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

"Good to know," she replied, lips twitching at his own apparent humor, leaning back to listen. But there was something... an emotion. It tremored through her with clarity, one she wasn't familiar with. And another feeling... foreboding. A slight chill down her spine, like a cold finger. She automatically suppressed it, willing it back into the dark hole where she supposed a heart was supposed to go.

She wasn't allowed to feel... but the first emotion wasn't hers.

At the name of the book, the feeling intensified, and once again was shut down, arms crossed as she hummed out a sighed breath. The rules of previous jobs were no different; gangsters and those that dealt in the dark underbelly of the galaxy were a suspicious lot, and for good reason. The less she knew, the better, it seemed.

"I see," she rasped, taking another mouthful of her caf and swallowing before continuing. "Just one question though, technically two..."

And here she leaned forward herself, chin propped by her curled fist. "Will my expertise go beyond simply healing? Or will other elements be in the mix?"

She would help... but there was also what benefitted her as well. This was strictly business, not pleasure nor the service of a friend. And she was already previously dragged in to other troublesome shenanigans. And their benefits were dubious at best.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

Kai sipped at his coffee and swallowed before replying to Ilana. She had questions but fewer than he expected. Also the questions themselves were not ones that he thought would be the only ones the Arkanian would ask. She's got a naughty side A girlish laugh drifted through the Grysk's mind like thinned vapor. But you know that don't you? "Likely more than what you'd expect." He replied to both the Doctor across from him and the girl now sitting on the diner counter with her legs swinging. She can hurt people too.

"First thing we'll need to do is get a ride." The legionnaire looked back outside but was not searching for a speeder by sight. Kai was just thinking where they might be able to nick a decent air speeder. What he had planned would mean they would not want to have a vehicle that could be traced back to them.

While he thought about where to go he sipped at his coffee again. The heat that had nearly scalded him at first was now just warm and soothing. It was satisfying with the Doc now along. "You're knowledgeable about an assortment of species right? Like zabraks with their two hearts and devaronians with their silver based blood?" It was fair to say she was educated considering she had taken care of him before. Majority of the galaxy was composed of humanoids so it made sense they had similar biology. ...at least I think he's human.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She nodded, then tilted her head, humming idly to herself. "If you want decent transport... you have to have good credits. A place like this... but then again, why am I lecturing you. You know, perhaps better than most the people I've met lately." She, too, glanced back at him, fist propped beneath her chin to give him a calm, smooth-faced stare.

She took another sip of her caf before answering, savoring the sweetness. "I have to be, or they'll give my job to a droid with a better database." Her lips quirked into a wry, bemused smile, but there was no warmth in it. This fact had been true for millennia; but sometimes, some craved the 'human' touch.

"And when in doubt..." she tapped a light nail on the table, as though a datapad were on the table. "A quick look in Updated Grey's never hurt anyone." But there was a spark of something... amusement... before it, too, vanished. Leaving not even a ripple of emotions in its' wake.

"So, when do we begin... Boss?" Her head cocked slightly, one white brow lifted ever so slightly. "Or do you mind if I finally finish something hot this week?"

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

Kai chuckled, causing the heat that floated from his cup of java to get blown away for a moment. "Well I don't have credits and I'm not about to win the lottery." He did not even gamble usually aside from maybe a round or two of Sabaac or pazaak with his homies.

Kai was not sure what this Updated Grey's was but it sounded like a doctor thing. But they came to the point of him feeling like the job pitch was coming to an end. Ilana was ready and willing so there was little else to do but start. "Right now preferably..." The gaunt expression glanced towards the diner counter and the menus displayed there. "...unless you wanted to get something to eat first." If she wanted to get some food then Kai would end up just getting a refill on coffee. Otherwise he was fine with paying for his beverage and her's before getting up to leave.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

"Good to know," she replied, gulping down the remainder of her coffee, heedless of the heat.

"Well then, no time like the present, and I've finished something hot. Let's go."

She didn't like wasting time; hers, nor anyone else's. And truth be told, she was mildly curious as to what the Grysk was up to. With that tome... it probably had something to do with her vein of most recent research. She could hardly wait to delve in.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

Leaving the diner the two would start heading back down to the lower levels. Kai hummed and smoked a cigara until they came closer to the redlight district. Occasionally he would look at the Doctor to see how she was fairing. The two of them made an odd pair. One a cleanly dressed and professional medical expert and the other a grungy morbid looking street punk. The way Kai walked and the directions he took were not precise nor did they seem to have been planned. "Hmm...this way." He said and turned down another block.

They went another hundred meters or so and then he stopped. "Alright, wait here." He said with a hand. "I'l be right back. You're strapped right?" He wanted to make sure she had the means to defend herself. Kai was only going to be gone for a minute or two but leaving the stunning woman alone in this part of the city meant she should have a blaster.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

For a moment, she had forgotten she was in her non-professional threads. As they descended lower and lower, she could feel eyes sliding on her... then moving away to other, fresher targets at the looks of her host. Interesting... was it, perhaps, his grungy appearance that helped her pass herself off as something other than just a nice mark to target? Perhaps a study could be conducted later...

As they passed through, she saw several examples of some slave-like businesses very much alive and well, and barely managed to withhold showing any sign of disgust. There were few things in the galaxy she held disdain for; trafficking and strip clubs was one of them. Most of the beings--primarily females-- were there against their wills, and the walls of their desperation, boredom, and other malaise continued to slam at her awareness and her own coolly constructed mental will, causing her to grit her teeth ever so slightly.

Sometimes, she really loathed this place.

"I'll be fine," she rasped, one hand resting on her hip. Cute that he had to worry... but she had been here enough times to know what types liked to loiter here. She came prepared. When in doubt, keep an ace in the sleeve and a blaster for good luck.

That policy certainly served her in most regards, and around here it was highly unlikely to fail her.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

Hearing Ilana's answer he had all the confirmation he needed. The Grysk dropped his hoverboard and began riding it the rest of the way. He rode lazily toward the building and curved the recreational repulsor device around to the back of a club.

He knew that the place had some strong drinks though hardly tasty. Malakai was not here to drink though. The parking garage with a series of air speeders were scattered around. People often got too drunk to drive home. Plenty still did regardless. But one person would come to find their parking spot vacant when they tried to retrieve their vehicle.

The Legionnaire did not have to dodge any security cameras. There were none. Not in this part of town at least. There were no pedestrians or people within sight anymore, including the Doctor. The covert Legionnaire got close to the poorly painted airspeeder and raised a hand. Shortly after a little click came and the door opened. The force had its uses and it just so happened to be stealing airspeeders.

Getting into the drivers seat he was able to get it started with some hotwiring. He zapped himself causing a wince and a curse. The airspeeder came to life. Closing the vehicles door he pulled out of the parking garage and circled back around to pick up the hybrid doctor. "Look what I got" A mischievous smile and hint of pride clear on his face.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

"Nice ride, there," she replied, sliding into the passenger seat with a faint grin curling on her lips. Truth be told, she was still nursing that headache, but now cocooned in their new ride, she could feel it abating even more. It was such a relief to be even more isolated from the crush of bodies, even if the isolation was a simple sheen of transparisteel.

"Inside looks pretty solid too," she hummed, adjusting the seat a little more. She had her own speeder, but this was a model she'd had her eye on before... perhaps if her salary increased, she could afford something like this with a better paint job. She didn't know where they were going...

But honestly, did it even really matter by this point?

/End Thread