A Legacy

[Revenchent]

It's all coming to a close.


There were no more wars to fight, Calico had fought enough. There were no more people to be killed, enough lives had been lost. There was no one to stay around for--everyone was gone. Brief contact with his brother had assured him of....something. The other clone was fighting for the Confederacy now, and it seemed that the Protectorate wasn't doing well when it came to relations there.


Kezzy was gone. Zius, gone. Everyone--except one woman whom he had met so very long ago. How long had it been now? A year? Two? Somewhere around that time. So much could happen in such little passing. It was terrifying to think about, yet living it was completely normal.

Thoughts such as these drifted through Calico's jaded mind as he awaited a certain someone in his apartment within Abregado. He needed someone familiar. Not to talk, nor to sort things out, just the company. Galaar had made him promise never to put a gun to his head again, and the Chieftain was making the effort.

But it was just so hard.

He settled down in on one of the couches, and stared out the window into the bustling city. Silence pervaded in the room, and as he pulled a sip from his glass of Balmoraan Bluesky, he sighed deeply. Coruscant was a long way to come from, anyway.

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra had been surprised by the invitation. Surprised, but not displeased. She spent most of her time at the casinos on Coruscant anyway. This was just down the road a ways, so it was hardly out of her way.
The Echani was dressed in her usual manner; torn up white stockings, metallic silver shorts, and a white top that was barely anything other than a bra. It was a comfortable look, easy to move in, and it made it hard for pickpockets.

She stopped in front of the door, waited a second to adjust herself, and then knocked three times, loud.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Ah, there it was. Calico set the glass gingerly down on the coffee table, and straightened out his black hooded jacket. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly was he collected himself. He had called her here, why shouldn't he be welcoming? Zandra certainly wouldn't want to hear about his issues anyway. Few people did.


Besides, they were only friends, nothing more.


Calico clicked the command key on the door's side panel, and it slowly hissed open. A smile so large that it was difficult to guess that it may be faked was worn on his face. The room behind him was rather dark, but not so much that sight was handicapped. His dark eyes drifted over her form and stopped at her face.

"Hey Zandra. I missed ya. Didn't have anyone around to make fun of my shebs and whatnot." He said through a smile; his arm waving out behind him as he took a step to the side to allow her entrance. The door would slide shut behind her.

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Ah! There he was. And a smile too! Must be hiding something. Zandra learned that when a man smiled wide, it meant something was up. But for Zandra, of all the things that she was, she was not a snoop. It was none of her business.

"Aw! Ya miss me that much? I'm touched."

She set her leather bag in the middle of the floor, gently kicked off her gray ankle boots, and crossed the room to make herself comfortable on the nearest couch.

"I walked here from the Casino. Ankles are killing me."

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Calico's gaze trailed after her as she made herself at home. He snickered to himself, and followed her lead. "Maybe. I'll let you figure that out for yourself." He shot at her.

The commando settled down on the couch across from her. His mood had lifted up for the moment. Maybe it was the simple act of being social. Maybe it was Zandra herself. He didn't know, and he didn't care to learn either.

"You win anything?" He asked, a brow raised. He settled himself against the arm of the couch, and allowed himself to relax. "If ya did then you're gonna have to do my gambling for me. I'm terrible."

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

"Did I win anything?"
Zandra looked almost offended at the notion. She made a face and rolled her eyes."
"Psh! It's like you don't even know me!"

She tossed her white hair over her shoulder and slouched like a child. Of course she won. She'd been kicked out of a good few casinos just for that reason. They all thought she was cheating. No. She was just really good at reading someone. She always knew when they were bluffing.

"You got anything to drink here?"

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"You never know." He chided, a finger waving at Zandra's face. He raised a brow at her and pushed up from his seat. He shouldered out of his jacket and left it in a heap on the floor as he crossed over to the kitchen.

She likes it hard, right?


He brought a hand up to rub at his temples, and let out a deep sigh. Drinks weren't exactly his thing, but he figured he could go for a little more for Zandra's sake. The sound of liquid pouring into glass could be heard, and Calico approached with two glasses filled with shining blue liquid.

He held it out to her, and have her a slip of a smile. "Balmoraan Bluesky. Got my best for ya."

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Oh good. Something to ease this awkward meeting. She took the glass with a grin and took a long sip of the blue liquid.

"Ah! Not bad, not bad," she complemented, "bein' honest, I'm used to cheap liquor."

It was true. Only time she had anything better than this was when someone bought her a drink. She wasn't going to waste credits on getting drunk if she could help it.

"So! You gunna tell me what's eatin' away atcha?"

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"Tell you what then. When we get the chance, we'll go back to that spaceport you rescued me in on Triple Zero and we'll drink whatever you want." He stated a bit loudly. He sipped at his own glass; the oddly flavored concoction demanding that one didn't suck it down. It burned too much if you did.


"Really that easy to tell?" He asked in mired disbelief. Zandra read him well, she always had, and it made him a bit uncomfortable. "My wife's KIA, brother is missing, and my adopted son is a Sith Lord. I'm a bit stressed, I suppose."

The soldier shrugged, and set his glass on the coffee table. He rested a hand on his knee, leaned forward, and tilted his head toward Zandra. "Nothing I need to be bothering you with. I like ya, but being my therapist ain't something you're inclined to do." He mumbled a bit apologetically. He knew he lived a much more...mature life? Perhaps. Zandra had a lot more fun than he did, he knew at least.

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra drained her glass with the efficiency of a trained alcoholic. As Calico was going on about his awful personal life and his family issues, she was already done and ready for more.

"Dead wife, missing brother, sith kid. It happens. Why do you think I avoid picking up strays? Nothing good ever comes of family, ya know? Ya either lose 'em, or they leave you."

To the outsider, Zandra was cool as Hoth, but inside, she was on fire. Just the mention of family always made her a little mad.

"Still, sorry 'bout your loss. But yeah. Married, eh? Never woulda pegged you a family man, Cal."

She raised her empty glass in a mock toast, smiling as if she had not a care in the world, while still casually inviting him to keep talking.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"Didn't so much lose 'em as put them in situations where they could get hurt. It's a bit my fault." He admitted sadly. He pushed up from his seat, and retrieved the bottle from its place on the counter.

"Though I s'pose you have a point. Then again, you're still around me, aren't you?" The old soldier teased as he leaned down to refill his glass, and fill up his own half-filled glass. "So I guess that sorta counts for something."

He set the bottle down on the coffee table and sucked down his own drink. It seemed that any caution or abandon he'd had earlier left him. "Or maybe its just cause I get you good drink and feed you when you visit."

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra grinned wide and picked up her now full-again glass.

"Maybe a little o' both," she admitted raising the glass to her lips, "Maybe you're the one stray I did bring home for a bit."

Without explaining further, she tilted her head back and enjoyed the burning sensation as the liquor drained down her throat.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"You figure?" Calico asked almost teasingly. He settled down into his initial seat and canted his head over toward her. Now what had she meant about that.

"Though technically, I took you home." He continued, his voice cutting to a low chuckle. The soldier exhaled deeply as the laughing died down, and filled his glass once more.


He was less of a drinker than Zandra, and Bluesky wasn't especially built for lightweights. The intoxicating sensation was slowly starting to creep over his mind and darken his reasoning, though it wasn't especially strong as of yet.

"Why did you keep me around then?" He mumbled quietly, a brow raised. "I'm curious."

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

And now the second glass was empty. Nothing yet. Zandra was sober. She hated sober. Sober was boring. Sober was calm. She didn't want to be calm.

"You know... I don't even know. I don't usually keep strange guys around. Not more than a day, really. It really is weird."

She gave him a quick look to try to judge how much he would care of she got completely smashed at his place, decided he probably wouldn;t care much, then reached across to refill her glass once again.

"Why'd you invite me? That's the better question."

Oh yes. He said she didn't have to, but Zandra was about to psychoanalyze him.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Strange? I'm not that strange am I?

Calico remained silent as she filled the glass. He seemed to muse over her question for a long moment, and tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. The faint sound of rain exploding against the window could be heard, and the already darkened sky grew more melancholy as a storm began to make itself known.

Calico paid it no heed, and pursed his lips before he spoke. "I suppose I was lonely. Haven't done anything but combat hours as of late. That and I haven't seen you in awhile."

He drained his glass for the third time, and winced. "Told you I missed you didn't I?" The woman's odd, dirty, messy charm had grown on him to a point. The fact that she was still around and no one else was....well, that spoke volumes about his choice in friends. "Even if you do shake your shebs at me when we're under fire. That air vent was fun."

@Zavena Fenni

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

That grin of hers only widened.

"Don't lie. You liked what you saw. I can tell."

Zandra winked and took another long slow sip. Try as he might to look cold military, Zandra knew better. This guy was a TeddyBantha under all that armor.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

Try as he might, Calico couldn't just disagree. He flashed her a small slip of a smirk, and set his empty glass on the table.

"Looking back on it, aye, maybe a little. Certainly didn't hurt my eyes." He commented; brown eyes drifting back down to the glass.

A roll of thunder shook the house and garnered absolutely no attention from Calico. His gaze had settled back on Zandra, and narrowed slightly.


"So, who hurt you that made you hate the idea of sticking around?" He asked suddenly, lips pursing. "Cause you don't just decide that."


[member="Zandra"] Fenii

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Didn't hurt his eyes. Zandra snorted and finished off her drink, going in again for a another. She was starting to lose track of what she'd had.

"Nah, ah, ah," she said, waving a finger at him, "I need a few more in me before I'm ready to spill my lifes story."

Zandra wasn't exactly one to talk. Not about where she came from, at least. Not unless she was really drunk, and that took a long time.

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]

 

[Revenchent]

"We'll aren't you dark and mysterious." Calico mused as he eyed her just over the rim of his glass. The bottle was half empty, and it continued to drain further as his glass was refilled once more. He'd lost count as to how much he had drank, but he could certainly feel it.

It was in the way he spoke, and that cracking of the theoretical straining pan between his mind and his mouth. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." He offered, the bottle held loosely in his hand offered to her.

"What do you have to lose anyway. Not like I'm some bar bum trying to get in your pants, Zandra."

[member="Zandra Fenni"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

"Ha! Aren'cha, though? Why else would ya ask me here?"

She was teasing. Obviously, but there was still a hint of skepticism. She eyes him as she took the bottle, and with a smirk, set her empty glass down, tipped the bottle up and started drinking it straight from there. When she had taken a short sip, she lowered it, and moved to hand it back.

"Fine. I guess it's not a big deal," she began with a shrug, "Do you know anything about Echani culture?"

[member="Calico Tal'Verda"]