[COMPLETED] Down On Your Luck

[The Sentinel]

He couldn't believe it, he sat at his table in a dark corner in Club Paradise. Glasses with the fizzy green remnants of booze in them were haphazardly strewn across the table. The music in the club wasn't helping Dirk's growing headache. Dirk could have sworn that the bass of the current music was directly tuned to his brain matter, and was trying to melt his head. The dark neon reds and greens, and yellows, flashed and moved to the music, it hurt his eyes. Scum mingled with drunks and dancers, drinks clinked and voices mingled, Dirk's ears were trying to put themselves out. He slipped his hand under his coat and made sure his blaster was secure before resting his head on the table. Seven days ago, he'd met with the man he feared most and got the rundown on galactic events. After that His nemesis and some hired thugs started shooting. Dirk had been like a womp rat in the wind and fled, but his quick flight strained the Axiom's hyperdrive past its limits and now he was stuck here, he had barely enough credits for a dock fee, repairs, and his last 50 creds went into the empty glasses on his table. The real joke was that two weeks ago he'd had the parts to rig the hyperdrive without a problem, but he'd sold them for fuel.

Dirk closed his eyes and rested for a minute, before a prickly feeling trickled across his neck and attempted morse-code with his currently fried brain cells. He decided to ignore it, since he was still a little shaken from his meeting with Daniel Hax. Life currently, thoroughly sucked. What he didn't know was his man Danny had a bounty on his head, and currently, a man across the way casually leaning on one of the many bars, dressed in a simple suit of light armor, had noticed him.

 

[Darkwasp]

The woman bounced around melodically to the throbbing bass in Club Paradise. Her eyes closed and her arms flailed about wildly, as she let the music take control of her. The petite Imperial had hustled her way to Daedalus, and then into the excessively loud and popular club. She had spent the last hour, or so, manipulating eager young men into buying her expensive drinks in exchange for a few moments on the dance floor. She was currently repaying her last benefactor. Every now and then her eyes would open, and casually glance toward a man who had wedged himself into dark corner of the club.

He was the real reason she was here. Why did they always stuff themselves into a dark corner? Didn’t they know that it was the first place a professional looked? Sure, they could see the whole room. But, if they were looking, the whole room could see them. The last time she had glanced over to the man, she noticed his eyes tracking to a bar on the other side of the room. She moved around her dance partner, still undulating to the continuous beat, in order to get a better view.

You Kriffen bastard! He’s mine. she thought, as she scanned the lightly armored man leaning against the bar. She began to dance her partner in the direction of the bounty hunter. She had spotted Dirk first. And, as usual, she was taking her time to feel out her quarry; get to know them real well before she pounced. This fraking Womprat was going to scare Dirk off… or get himself killed; either one. She maneuvered herself into position to get a jump on her unwanted colleague, just in case he decided to make his move here.

 

[The Sentinel]

The man, a white male probably of Corellian(?) decent, casually palmed his stunner and chucked away from the bar. His own eyes scanned the scene as he quietly, and politely moved through the vibrant throng of people. A particular woman stood out but was soon swallowed up by the crowd again, he continued his slow progression towards Dirk, he was relativly new to the game, but he understood the basics he thought. Get Target, get money. How complicated is it?

That oh so lovable prickly feeling intensified slightly and assaulted his brain, intensifying his headache. He grunted quietly and push himself up, Damn drinks, he thought, and got up wobbly. He made his way to the restrooms near the back, bumping into several patrons before continuing on without apologizing. He heard several rude comments toward his person but paid them no heed. Anyone looking might think he was as drunk as a Coruscant hobo, and they'd have been right, but as he hunched and wobbled, bumping into people, he was using the interactions to turn himself, keeping an eye on the 'middle' of the crowd, the mid-section of people and the space between distinguishable features and the farthest of them, all in all a space of 4 meters from his person and then 2 meters of people to watch. Two things stood out to his fuzzy brain. The first was a young womans rather attractive mid-riff, the second was the scuffed midsection of a suit of armor, and a hand on top of a stunner's pommel. The fuzz in his brain can almost warbled. Odd, he thought about the latter as he entered the empty restroom and stood over a sink, looking into a mirror.

The bounty hunter almost whirled in his tracks when Dirk looked right at him. But his target didn't seem to noticed and went into the restroom. He waited a minute before turning the corner, and drawing his Stunner, he thumbed it on. Hoping for a quick end to this business.

 

[Darkwasp]

The bounty hunter began making his move. He politely shouldered pass fervent dancers and tottering drunks. The Imperial woman moved through the crowd, skillfully directing her admirer without his awareness. Dirk Reiden rose from his seat and began stumbling through the club, as the armored man made his move.

Abruptly stopping her dance, she patted her handsome partner on the cheek. ”Why don’t you go wait by the bar?” she said, motioning her head to the far side of the room. ”I have to make a trip to the restroom.”

The young man reluctantly conceded, leaving her to follow the inexperienced bounty hunter. The woman’s smile faded and her eyes narrowed, as she skillfully tracked the overly focused man in the body armor. Her movements were quick and light; snaking between the other patrons as if they were paper streamers at a kids’ party. Dirk slumped his way into the men’s room, and his tail quickly followed him. A man looked at her questioningly as she moved to enter the room. However, he quickly rescinded his objection when she placed her index finger to her lips, before mouthing the words ‘Do not disturb’. The man smiled awkwardly and blushed; returning to his drink.

Just as the newb turned the corner, the Imperial stomped down hard on the back of the man’s knee. His right knee buckled and made a loud cracking sound as it slammed into the tiled floor. Though the Stunner remained in the grip of his hand, it rested on the hard floor, as his left hand clawed at his aching knee. He made pitiful grunting noises in an attempt to curb his screams of pain. Almost completely ignoring the man that she just assaulted, the woman stepped from around the corner with an arrogant grin plastered on her face.

”You know, for someone with a price on their head, you aren’t very good at keeping it out of sight.” she turned to look at the man, who was attempting to get up from the restroom floor. Putting a good distance between her and the man – just in case he felt the need to retaliate – she approached Dirk. ”The name’s Mai, and you, sir, need to drink a little less when you’re on the run. Heck! You probably won’t even remember this in the morning.”

 

[The Sentinel]

He was quick when he had gotten to the sink, drawing his pistol with a practiced left hand, he quickly held it across is stomach under his jacket, and hunched, looking ready to puke, waiting to see if he was followed. He couldn't have heard the sounds of ass kickery happening less than 2 meters from him sober thanks to the music and patrons, and his Drunk wobble got a little worse when an attractive young woman walked around the corner into the men's room.

Confusion scrunched his face has he turned his head and stepped back from the sink some, giving his hand clearance, but still looking ready to puke. She had slim pants, and high cut clupping shirt, er clubbing shirt Dirk mentally told himself. There was something about how she was walking that was familiar to Dirk. His head started clearing with a dawning realization. He was cornered, and drunk, and as he looked past the woman, there was an injured, armored, and armed man on the floor. And she was standing here blabbering about bounties to him. And that arrogant grin.

"Well shit," was all the snappy comeback he could work up, but he straightened and stepped back wobbly, putting distance between the woman, the man, and enviromental dangers. He drew his blaster, and thumbed the stun setting at the same time. The barrel's usual circling motion was a little wide, but he managed to keep it trained between the two of them. In fact he felt pretty damned lucky to be this drunk and still able to hold a gun. Sort of.

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai let out a short huff as her eyes casually darted to one side. Holding her hands up and wide, she did a slow 360 degree turn. Looking down at her low-rise pants and her crop top, she raised an eyebrow at the man holding a gun on her.

”Look. I’m unarmed.” she began. ”And I’m REALLY running out of real estate to hide anything.” Mai said, cautiously and slowly lowering her arms. ”Come on, Dirk. Put the gun down, and let’s get you some water and something to eat.” she held her hand out as if presenting the drunken man the way to the door.

 

[The Sentinel]

Dirk did the mental math. Attractive girl in a men's bathroom talking about bounties, check. Guy with busted knee laying blacked out on floor with a stun stick, check. Dirk drunk beyond a parsec and unsettled, check. The knot in his stomach was worsening. Something nagged him, but he just couldn't work through the haze, and all he had were his guards.

"I don't know who you are," his headache got momentarily worse, "Now, I know I've done work on Daedalus before, and I'm sure we've never met, and civilians don't know about bounties usually," Dirk put a hand on his temple, hoping he didn't sound as drunk as he felt, he quickly judged the distance to the door, he wasn't willing to continue this conversation very much, and he was not giving up the fact that he didn't know he had a bounty on him. He took a small still, tentative step forward. "I'd hate to shoot you, move."

He wasn't sure he could last long in a fight, but his head was clearing a little thanks to a sudden burst of adrenaline, and he wasn't getting that prickly feeling, it was replaced by something empty feeling.

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai’ giggle quickly turned into full blown laughter. She again held her arms out wide, to show the man that she was unarmed and was lacking any place to conceal any weaponry. Sure, she was quite dangerous even without a weapon, but Dirk didn’t know, or need to know that. What was wrong with her?! He was such easy money, but something inside her felt sorry for the drunk. Did she have some sort of honor code that she hadn’t discovered until now? All she could think about was sobering the man up, and preparing him for the onslaught of bounty hunters that would be chasing him for the next few years of his life.

”Dirk, your drunk. You probably can’t remember if you met me 40 minutes ago or just now. And by the aiming of that barrel, you’d probably miss me if the barrel was resting against my temple. Let’s just go back to the table and get something besides alcohol inside your system.” her arms flopped to her sides in frustration with the man’s hesitance. ”Look, you’re a smart man. Girl; dressed in a nice outfit in a club with no weapons. Man; in armor getting ready to do who-knows-what with that Stunner.” she looked tired and exasperated with the whole situation. Sure she was feigning that she knew and cared about him more than she did. But this man was going to get himself killed if she didn’t watch over him… at least until he became sober enough to make his own stupid decisions.

”Just come back to the table, Dirk,” she said, sounding the way she looked.

 

[The Sentinel]

Dirk didn't know what to think as the girl laughed at him, and he wobbled some. She showed him she was unarmed, and Dirk couldn't really argue with that assessment, and she seemed to be currently genuinely interested in his well being. That was unusual for people, maybe his brain was malfunctioning, or he was having a stroke, but the barrel of his blaster dropped a fraction of a millimeter.

As she spoke to him, it made sense, he was drunk and he probably had met her 40 minutes ago and completely forgotten, and she was right, he'd miss if he fired. Finally tho, the mention of food made it to his brain, and his stomach growled quietly. What the hell was wrong with him, pointing a gun at an unarmed woman. And maybe she wasn't a bounty hunter. Maybe she was just a regular crook? She mentioned the unconscious man near the entrance and Dirk frowned. A free meal wouldn't kill him, Hopefully.

Something ticked inside and he sighed, putting his blaster back under his coat, before moving to the man, He picked him up and dragged him into a stall, propped him up, took his fancy stun stick and a few credit chits, and closed the door. Even drunk he knew better than to leave someone K.O.ed cradling their knee. He stuck the stun stick in an inside pocket of his coat and balanced himself on the nearby sinks.

His eyes, they were cold and flat, but beneath them if one stared hard enough they could see what Dirk didn't want them to. A spark of compassion and empathy. He looked at her with his best not drunk face, and with as little slurring as he could manage, he asked evenly, "Why do you care?"

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai smiled and the tension released in her shoulders. She felt more comfortable now that she didn’t have a blaster pointed in her direction. She shifted out of the way, as Dirk moved to grab the injured bounty hunter and drag him into one of the stalls. The wobbly drunk propped himself up on one of the sinks, as he shoved the man’s Stunner into his coat pocket. It was rather impressive that even in his current state; he was making some pretty rationale decisions. Then a question came that she had not expected.

”You know, Dirk? After all this…” she said pointing to the gun in his coat, and then to the unconscious body in the stall. ”I don’t know why.” Mai responded with some truth, but mostly acting.

She wanted any suspicion of her skill and ‘occupation’ to be far from his mind. She wanted him to believe that she was just some girl who he had picked up in a club, and apparently had some sort of connection with. She wanted to make sure that if, at any point, she had a change of heart and wanted to collect on his bounty; he would never see it coming.

”Now come on. Splash some water on your face, and I’ll meet you back at the table. I have to get out of here before I get in trouble for being in the men’s bathroom.” Mai said coyly, spinning on her heels and exciting the restroom.

On her way back to Dirk’s dark table in the corner, Mai made sure to palm some unsuspecting patron’s napkin and drink. She craftily placed the drink next to Dirk’s last empty glass, and skillfully slipped some of his other empty glasses to “her side” of the table. Keeping an eye on the door, to make sure the drunken thief didn’t slip out from the club, she waited for Dirk to return to the table.

 

[The Sentinel]

It wasn't the answer he was expecting, I don't know, was usually only in a crook's vocabulary when they got arrested, or caught stealing from their boss. He'd kept his ears opened to her tone, even though his brain tried to make him puke for it, She'd sounded honest enough. She left after suggesting he clean up and they go to his table. He looked at himself in the mirror, and couldn't recognize who he was looking at. Disheveled hair, days worth of beard on his face, tired eyes.

He sighed and ran the water, dipping his hands in it and running along his face, and pushed his fingers through his hair putting it back. It also helped to cut through the fog on his grey-matter, when he was finished he used his shirt to dry his face, and decided he was now publicly acceptable. He left the restroom and went back into the noisy din of the club, forcing his now mildly fuzzed brain to do some gymnastics. Who had put a bounty on him? How did that bounty hunter end up with a busted knee? Why did his tongue feel cottony? "Oh right, I've been drinking." He thought silently.

A minute later he'd made it through the crowd and approached his table. He still felt light headed, and airy bodied, but he noticed a new drink sat on the table, the same as the others. And the other empty glasses had been hustled to congregate around where Mai was sitting. He put on a wobble, and sat drunkenly in his chair. He didn't want her to think he was sobering up to fast. He sipped the drink letting most of it slip back into its darkly opaque glass. He put on bleary eyes, and studied her.

Corded, lean muscles, she walked like an Edan Tiger. Dirk leaned forward, matching the slurr he had in the bathroom and said, "I don't have a bounty. You're wrong."

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai watched as the man stumbled to his chair, and plopped down into it. Though he looked visible less disheveled, his action still portrayed that he was quite drunk. The Imperial woman sighed, as she studied the empty glasses on the table. The slight lack of attention was enough to let Dirk grab a glass and take a small sip. Mai frowned at the man, reaching out to take the glass from him.

”I think you’ve had quite enough alcohol.” she said, while attempting to flag down one of the roaming waitresses in the club.

When the waitress arrived, Mai ordered some bread for the table and some bar burgers. She took one more look at the wobbling man next to her, and ordered four glasses of water. The young Tw’lek woman strode away to fulfill their order. Mai turned to study the man who, in turn, appeared to be studying her. It took her a moment to decipher what Dirk had said. The loud music of Club Paradise made his slurred speech much harder to comprehend. Leaning in a little closer, so she didn’t have to yell as loud, she frowned at the man.

”You don’t?! So what was all that then; some act to impress me?” she responded, still playing the role that she had invented for herself. ”You don’t have to be some wanted criminal to pick girls up, Dirk. Unless that’s the kind of shallow bimbo you’re into. Well that’s not me.” she continued, turning away from him indignantly.

A slight smile crept across Mai’s face, as she was rather impressed with her acting. It was something that she ha to do many times as an Operative in the ISO, but she was giving a darn good performance today. To maintain her frustrated and dejected appearance, the petite Imperial shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her eyes moved to the corner of her head in order to try to get a peek at how Dirk had reacted to the situation.

 

[The Sentinel]

He gauged her reaction to his statement carefully. A low growling burp erupted from his throat, partially uninvited. But he worked with it. He prodded his brain with a sharp stick, what was her angle? He was sure she wasn't clean, but just where this all could go he couldn't guess. It had about a thousand and one outcomes, and Dirk was sure one wrong move might be bad. He looked for the waitress, and didn't see her. He guessed he had about 15 minutes to clean this mess up before she came back and distracted them both.

He sat for a few minutes, and thought about it as he watched the dancers on stage with a disinterested eye. This was a pretty seedy place, especially for Daedalus, but she seemed genuine and maybe she could have some useful information, he decided to take a gamble hoping it would pay off. He lost the act and look right at the side of her face and completely deadpan asked, "Who is it... Who's offering the Money?"

While he asked the question he prepared for trouble as best he could very slowly moving his feet to so he could pivot and roll in a hurry, because as he thought about, he wasn't the one who put the bounty hunter on the floor. He just hoped this did't turn into a brawl, "And don't give me some sniff about seeing it around," His back and leg muscles tensed very slightly

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai’s eyes narrowed, as Dirk asked his question. His tone was lucid and more purposeful and direct than his proposed state of drunkenness. An illusion. How long had he been as sober as he seemed to be right now? The hunter’s instinct had begun to reawaken within the ex-Operative. If he’d be “playing” her this entire time, she’d have no qualms about breaking his knee caps, taking his gun, and dragging his dead corpse back to Daniel; forsaking the credits for the bounty. She decided to play the game a little longer, to see when and where he would call her bluff. Snapping her head around, she looked angrily Dirk.

“How am I supposed to know? You pointed out the guy at the bar to me, and said he’d been eyeing you all night. You mumbled something that began with a ‘D’, but the music was too loud, and I didn’t really care. You rubbed your head a couple of times, like you had a headache, then you sent me to hunt down the waitress. When I got back you were stumbling off to the bathroom. Are you telling me you don’t remember any of our night together?” she questioned, with a hurt and exhausted look falling onto her face.

 

[The Sentinel]

Dirk studied her as she spoke to him, it was true that he didn't remember about 70% of what he did tonight. Pretty much all he had was the walk into the bar, ordering something called a Mando Punch, and then ordering three more. He looked at the glasses on the table counting eight in total. It all just didn't sit right, and Dirk frowned visibly.

As soon as she said something about a something starting with a 'D' Dirk's paranoid mind cut off everything, and he immediatly jumped to Daniel Hax. He didn't speak about him at all, ever. Had he gotten drunk and slipped up? Its possible. Its completely possible, he's screwed up plenty of times before. He swore silently, and his face probably visibly paled. He came back into focus and realized she had asked him a question and she looked hurt that he had asked, and exhausted with the situation. Gruffly, he stood up and pulled the credits he'd taken from his jacket and threw them onto the table, paying for the meal without thinking. He spun and bulled his way through patrons, heading for the door.

Meanwhile in the back of his mind, things were clicking together, and the fresh second burst of adrenaline coupled with his outright fear cleared the rest of buzz, he reached into his coat and cleared the clasp on his holster then felt for the stun stick. He finally made it past the last patron and doubled his walking speed, the door opened with a whoosh and the pumping music from the club spilled onto the street as his boots landed on the sidewalk. It was dark, and the lights cast ridiculous shadows. He kept his eyes open and on a swivel, as he turned left ad headed to find a shuttle to the the hangers.

 

[Darkwasp]

Mai held a confused look on her face, as Dirk scrambled to flee form the club. She raised the glass to her lips and took a gulp of the liquid that she had swiped earlier. Her face contorted into a frown, as she investigated the contents of the glass. She would have to make sure to steal a better tasting drink next time. A smile formed on her face, as she thought about Dirk. Always the runner, the prey; fleeing from the problems around him. His troubles would always chase him and find him until he turned to face them.

Once Dirk had cleared the door of the club, Mai rose from her seat. She decided to let the man go for now. She wasn’t ready to take him down quite yet. It was something that had made her successful in art and her previous occupations; patience. She had already put the plan in motion to keep him on Daedalus for a while; schmoozing the maintenance crews and port officials to make sure Axiom stayed for at least a week. She wanted to make sure that she had the time to get to know the man. That’s why she ha no weapons tonight and that’s why she had let slip to the naive bounty hunter who Dirk was. That is why she would slowly gain his trust. Sure she had had a moment of weakness, when she wanted no more than to help the man. But he had proven his capabilities, and now she would bide her time; visit the docks and its workers, whom he is sure to visit. Someone there would know of hear where Dirk would be spending his time on the station, and she would make sure to “accidentally” bump into him again.

Taking her time, Mai slowly sauntered form the loud club; making her way down the dark streets of Daedalus. Tonight it was time to get a good night’s rest. She would begin her hunt again in the morning.

 

[The Sentinel]

[Closed]