Ask Playing Make-Believe

[Lore Togrud]

Lore entered the atmosphere of Sleheyron and was greeted with the flat brown lands. She steered her ship, getting clearance to land. She landed at a hangar and locked it up, before pulling the hood attached to her body suit up over her short, dark hair. She walked away from the hangar and towards the Wolves Den, a popular cantina on Sleheyron. She had come here on her break between missions. She usually didn't go looking for missions- letting the missions come to her. Those were more rewarding in the end.

Today, she was a mysterious assassin. Her body-tight black suit highlighted all her curves and she swung her hips, resting her hand on her holsters which hung low on her waist. Her sniper rifle was strapped to her black. She didn't try to conceal it- Sleheyron was full of criminals and other creatures of arguably bad morals that had their own weapons in open display. Others either avoided their gaze so as not to get her attention, but there were people who stared at her openly- a couple who even looked her up and down beyond what might have been appropriate. All of this, she was used to, their gazes flowing over her like water.

She reached the Wolves Den and walked inside. She walked up to the bar, sat down and ordered a drink. She raised the glass to her lips to drink, but paused when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She continued the motion of drinking so as not to alert her watcher that she knew they were watching. She forced herself to slowly finish her drink, before she got up and turned around, moving toward a booth. She got a glimpse of a tall, dark figure sitting in a corner booth. She couldn't see their face under the hood but she had a gut feeling that they were the one watching her.

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Soon enough, his Interceptor would be refueled, and ready for transport once more. He had been taking shelter in The Wolves Den since his arrival, and was thankful that the interactions he had been faced with so far were pleasant enough. He had found a new booth, after spending some time wandering the first floor, sweeping himself into a comfortable position within the shadows of his chosen corner, still draped in his simple black robes. He looked entirely unremarkable, if not a bit shady.

When someone new strolls through the doorway across the room, Krinn's dark eyes fall briefly upon her. He sizes up just about anyone who enters the cantina out of defensive habit alone. It's not someone he recognizes though, so the Nautolan is quick to relax as he observes her march to the bar, taking a drink for herself. The Sith has little else to do but to people watch, to listen to all the latest gossip that traveled through the interior. Eventually, his eyes are drawn back to the woman as she leaves the bar and begins making her way toward a booth. He's hardly a social creature, though. Krinn sits back in his own seat, content to keep to himself for now.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore changed directions last minute and paused in front of the figure's booth. "Watching me, are you?" she said, keeping her voice neutral. Her curiosity was piqued. There was something about the way the figure sat that entranced her. She kept everything about her neutral, except for letting her head tilt to the side slightly, and cocking her hip to the left a little. She wished she could see their face, to see how they reacted to her- that's how she lived in this universe- tailoring her actions to how people wanted to see her while being inwardly satisfied and playing them.

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Something unexpected? Delightful, and he didn't mean that in the good way. Beneath the shadow of his hood, the nautolan's dark eyes become cold, his expression entirely stoic, like stone. He cares little for the woman's words, or for her posture, which she seems all too eager to emphasize.

"Mhm." The nautolan's dry agreement drips with a chill into the heated cantina atmosphere. "You and everyone else." Krinn advises, his monotone vocals devoid of any enthusiasm for the conversation. She wasn't special, and if she thought she was, the Sith would be quick to inform her otherwise. He's the broody and antisocial sort, to be sure. If that wasn't clear enough yet, it soon would be.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. "I know everyone's watching me. That's what I want," she said, still standing. Despite the way she carried herself, she would not sit down unless asked to. Which, according to this creature's posture and voice, he was not planning on doing.

"I wonder," she said calmly, keeping her voice calm and slightly amused. "Why you are here. You have not ordered a drink, and you sit here gloomily, observing." she said. She crossed her arms in front of her.

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Well, she was certainly... prideful? He hadn't meant that everyone was watching her, he had been stating that he had been watching everyone, including her. She seemed to think she was important enough to be gawked at, but Krinn hadn't a clue of who she even was. In truth, he didn't really care. But she was still standing there, talking. Trying to make conversation with who was very likely to be the most antisocial man in the entire building.

"I already had a drink." Krinn responds simply, and it was true enough, not that she would know. She had only recently arrived to the Den, after all. In any case, the Nautolan isn't entirely sure why she thought it was her business. "And I've still got a few more hours before my ship is done refueling." It's an entirely dismissive response, and it was the truth. If she expected him to share his life story in all of it's intimate details, however, she would be sorely disappointed.

"And you? Why exactly are you here?" Krinn inquires flatly, because if she could stick her nose into his business, then she shouldn't be too surprised when he returned the favor.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore decided the arrogant, sexy play-act was not working, and immediately dropped it, becoming an entirely different person. "Hiding from my decisions," she replied vaguely. "I come here when I'm bored," she said. Now she sounded less proud and more bored. She uncrossed her arms and crossed them again.

"I'm sorry about how I was acting, its not me," she said. "Usually that gets people to open up like a dam, spilling all their secrets. You don't seem to be one of those people," she shut up, realizing she was probably talking too much. This is what she got for not having a real interaction with other people in probably a year.

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

She shifts almost suddenly, and it's weird. Krinn was quite manipulative as well, but his changes were never usually so... abrupt. His dark eyes narrow a sliver, and he can't help but feel a bit suspicious. Hiding from my decisions. What did that even mean? Did he even really care? Probably not. Just as he was unwilling to share the intimate details of his own life, he's not entirely willing to listen to her sob story, either.

Leaning back in his booth, the Nautolan lets out a quiet sigh and tugs his hood from his head. Now, his maroon eyes were very clearly resting with a sharpness upon her.

"I don't really care for having secrets." Krinn replies dryly, and it was true enough, in most cases. Especially in a place such as this. Nobody is going to arrest him for admitting to his current occupation. He could place his lightsaber upon the table if he wanted, without any concern for being arrested. That was the joy of Syndicate space, particularly when you were trying to get friendly with said Syndicates. The Nautolan won't do that though, because why would he care to?

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore paused when he pulled back his hood, revealing him to be a nautolan. He looked to be close to her age, and his maroon eyes bored into her. Lore shifted. It felt as if he was looking right through her, as if he could see through all her masks.

"You're the smartest person I've met. If you don't have secrets, you have no reason to worry," she said, pretending she believed him. She knew he was hiding something, but she also knew he would never share it with her and she honestly wasn't worried about it- everyone here had a bad streak and he was the least of her worries.

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

One, hairless brow raises slightly, and the olive skinned man rests clawed hands upon the table he was pressed against, still peering with what was very likely annoyance at the woman that had dared disturb his solemn observations. Why was she still here? Did she want something?

"Flattery." Krinn drawls lowly, as if amused. His stony expression shows otherwise. "Just tell me what you want. Most women don't stroll up to shady looking men in back-water cantinas, so enough games. If you have purpose, speak it clearly." The Nautolan's vocals are dark with warning as fangs flash within the interior light.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

"Since you are a Nautolan, I figured you might be of some assistance to a mission I just received word of- I was charged with finding a Nautolan artifact," she said, transitioning smoothly to a business-oriented, selfish woman. "I believe you could be of benefit to me and if nothing else, you could get paid handsomely for helping me." she said.

She had gathered basic information about this man in front of her- he was cold, un-caring, and didn't do anything unless it benefitted him. She could work with that. "You don't know most women," she added as an afterthought, "so don't think you know me,"

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Ah, another sudden shift in personality. She seemed to have three faces so far, and Krinn wasn't entirely sure that he trusted that. He was paranoid enough of the average person stalking up to him, but when someone seemed to fly through personalities like they were some sort of badly programmed droid, he felt even less inclined to offer his trust. Nautolan artifacts, however, were an enticing prospect, and he wondered if it would be anything useful to him. He could agree to tag along... if only to take the item for himself. Unfortunate for the woman, perhaps. Not so much for the Sith.

"I don't know you." Krinn points out his agreement in a dry response to her words. "You never even told me your name." His fingers flex across the table as sharpened nails tap lightly upon the polished surface. "What else do you know of this so called artifact?" His question made it clear that he did have some interest in the offer, though unbeknownst to her, it was for entirely selfish reasons.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore smirked. "And I don't know yours," she replied, still not sharing her name. "All I know of this artifact is that it was made by a Nautolan Sith. An anonymous person is requesting I find it," she explained. She didn't tell him everything her source had told her- there was a peculiar piece of information given, and she was waiting to see if it was true.

"If you don't come, its of no consequence to me- I just earn more money and my life is unchanged." She was still in business-woman mode; and noticed Krinn looked wary and uncomfortable with her personality changes. Her smirk only grew. She had many more where those came from.

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

Seemed she was going to be vague about everything, so Krinn isn't entirely sure if he should even bother trusting her. She hadn't even offered her name at his prompting, which only serves to make him feel more suspicious that she might be lying. For all he knew, she was going to lure him out and try to rob him.

"Interesting. Well, you don't seem inclined to be anything other than vague, so I'm not entirely sure why I should bother helping you." Krinn responds evenly, because as much as the artifact interested him, he can't be entirely sure that it even exists, and he's not going to blindly follow a woman that was acting more two-faced than a treacherous pirate trying to score. "Good luck finding your Nautolan artifact. I hope you can swim." It was a cunning show of his hand, a clear indication that he was tired of this back and forth. She wouldn't likely find that artifact without a Nautolan's help, and he wasn't going to assist someone that refused to so much as tell him her name. Krinn was not someone that was easy to manipulate, and the sooner this woman learned that, the better.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Anger tickled Lore's gut. Everyone in this universe was usually so easy to figure out- why was she struggling with a simple grumpy nautolan man? She pulled out her datapad from her suit (it was a wonder her suit had any pockets with room for anything, it was so tight). The message she had gotten from the anonymous source was still open and she showed it to the man. It verified the details she had said, but thankfully omitted the fact that was more private. It also revealed her code name, what all the people who hired her knew her by. No one save for her parents knew her real name. Her code name was Black Moon, a name that she had been dubbed after her first couple of missions and was very proud of.

"My code name is all you get, no one else knows my name and I don't know why you would be so special as to get to know it when no one but my own mother does," Lore said. She was beginning to grow frustrated with this hypocritical grumpy man. "And if you won't come with me, good riddance. I will swim there myself and even kidnap a nautolan if I have to,"

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

He peers at the datapad, and the light of it reflects within his maroon eyes. Black Moon. A strange alias, but he supposed he had seen weirder. Krinn is a bit more interested now, but unfortunately, the hostile tone of the woman is far from attractive. She sounded like she'd be more of a hassle to him than an asset, and the blatant disrespect when she had been the one to approach him, to try and manipulate him, while the Nautolan had merely been minding his own business in the cantina is certainly enough to sour any further opinion he might have had of her. Krinn's dark eyes narrow harshly in response to her brazen reply. Good riddance, indeed. If that was what she thought, then why even bother harassing him? Krinn leans forward against the table, and the air around him goes cold. The voice he responds with is patient, but there is a clear darkness to it, a venom that serves as a dangerous warning.

"You can call me Krinn. And the way I see it... I am far more likely to find this artifact before you ever do. So tell me, Black Moon, after your blatant show of disrespect, what's to stop me from finding this artifact on my own? From swiping it right out from under your little nose?" His vocals are entirely serious. They are the words of a snake who is more than capable of locating a Nautolan artifact without the help of someone who seemed more interested in insulting his presence than playing nice. "If you came here intending to make friends for your quest, then you've done a rather poor job of it, Black Moon." Krinn advises evenly. The code name was fine, he didn't care about that. But to insinuate that he was special for requesting introductions from someone that had started all this by harassing him at his booth? To say good riddance if he chose not to go after she had so far failed to prove that she was trustworthy? The woman was a fool.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore took a moment to breathe. She tried to remember the last time she had spoken to her parents, and imagined that's who she was talking to. "I'm sorry. Let me start over. My name is Lore. I am an assassin with multiple faces, and I am used to having to manipulate people to get what I want. I came over to you because I felt there was something different about you. To be honest, I need you more than you need me. There are so many chances for you to take advantage of me, taking this artifact and the word for yourself. I am obviously poor at making friends, but only because I have found it difficult to find loyal friends in this galaxy, and have quite given up on finding someone completely trustworthy. If you need assurance of my trustworthiness, I can only say again, you have power over me. I am throwing myself in your path. I am in your mercy,"

@Nevermourn

 

[Krinn Nelthar]

So what was this? Another personality change? Another name? She was claiming to be an assassin with multiple faces, and while the Nautolan can't be sure of one half of that, he can certainly agree with the rather wide variety of personalities she seemed to carry around. It was for that reason that he found her untrustworthy. After all, who was to say that this new shift was also not merely an act, like all the rest? He wants to snort at her, but he keeps that expression to himself. She at least had one thing right, she needed him far more than he needed her, and perhaps unbeknownst to her, he could kill her if he wanted. That wasn't to say an assassin couldn't be a threat, but he's already on edge with this one. The chance that she'd ever be able to catch him off guard is slimmer than ever before.

"Good to know that at least one of your personalities is tolerable." As long as she didn't mewl like some kitten at every opportunity. He simply didn't want to be disrespected. "Fine. Meet me on Glee Anselm in about two weeks time, the city of Pieralos. I have some other business to take care of, first." Namely, Rafe. And returning to Imperial Space to check on a few of his contacts. Of course, his Interceptor was built for one, so the two wouldn't have been able to travel together regardless. Krinn is certainly not about to board her ship, whatever it might be. As for Glee Anselm, if this artifact was really Nautolan in nature, Sith-made or not, their aquatic home-world would be the first place to check. Perhaps even better, he knew of a few Nautolan Sith that had still maintained estates beneath the waters of their home-world up until their deaths. But dead or not, those once luxurious homesteads would be worth checking out.

"And make sure you come prepared. You'll need a breathing device, unless you enjoy drowning." Krinn advises evenly, because if she was going to meet him there, she'd might as well make herself useful, and that wasn't happening if she didn't have a way to stay under the water. "You should also look for a protective diving suit of some kind. I don't think humans handle the pressure of the deep ocean very well. A propulsion device would be good, too, but they'll have some of those in the city for you to rent or purchase. And no, fins won't be enough to keep up with me." The Nautolan explains. And if he was going to sneak around these old estates, large submarines were not an option.

"Oh, and when you see me, I'll probably be wearing some sort of mask." It's an off handed comment, because Krinn had a warrant in Glee Anselm. There was a reason he avoided his home-world so much, despite his love for it.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore nodded. Why was it so difficult for her to make friends? She decided to continue to be nice to this man, even though he hadn't really be nice to her. She was honestly surprised he even accepted, considering the fact that he so obviously hated her. "Thank you," she said, meaning it. "I always come prepared to a mission; I'll be there." she said. She dipped her head in a farewell, and walked back to the bar. She needed a stiff drink.

/End Thread/
@Nevermourn