A Pirate's Bay

[William Kerkov Jr.]

Bill sat shirtless in the backroom of a second-rate sailor's bar on a trade moon whose name he couldn't remember. There was a bandage across his arm, his credits were missing, and his blaster was in parts across the floor. Fortunately, Bill could reassemble the blaster, but he would miss the credits. All he could do was clench his head in pain as the hangover from the night before clouded his mind. Slowly he stood up as he could better handle the mini-migraine going on in there. He looked at the cracked digital clock on the wall and his eyes widened in shock. The meeting! He remembered now, he had a meeting with this woman, [member="Zesiro"], for some thing. Oh what was it? he thought.

He pressed his finger to his temple, and squinted real hard, but for the life of him, he could not remember. Regardless, if he didn't get his ass moving now, he'd be late. Bill looked around for a shirt, or a jacket, but he couldn't find one. He opened the door from the little room and looked into whatever was out there for something, after picking up his pistol parts and shoving them into his pockets. A little dank hallway with barely anything but a hangar shelf on the wall. Unfortunately for Bill, all that hung was a disgusting jacket a few sizes too large for Bill, a shirt for a much smaller species with four skinny arms, and a wide-brimmed hat. He sighed and put on what he could. The shirt barely fit, and made his more than average body size look a little pudgy, and the arms practically ripped at the seams, and the jacket felt like a thirty pound weight in grease alone. Finally, the wide-brimmed hat was the only thing that looked right on Kerkov.

Now, Bill took off, being yelled at by the owner for stealing his clothes as Bill ran through the closed cantina. In his still clouded head, he tried to locate the address he had agreed to meet this Zesiro at, running at the fastest speed he could with the hangover and ill-fitting clothes. After a period of frantic searching he finally stopped, huffing and puffing due to his cigarra addiction, at the correct door. He pressed the door bell, and leaned against the door.

When Zesiro opened the door, Bill's shirt button, as he could only fasten one button, would pop open. He would raise a finger and say, "I can explain."

 

[Zesiro]

It had been a few years since Zesiro had any contact with any of the people she hung out with. At one time, she could have been the leader of a pirate gang, but then her life had started going downhill. An odd rescue had happened and it changed her. Now she wanted to delve back into the underworld of pirating and live an adventure again.

So she attempted to contact her former crew only to find out they had split up. A new contact was made though and now she waited in a little seedy and run down establishment in neutral territory. If her current people saw where she was now, they would probably laugh at her. She was an unconventional lady though and was almost proud of that fact.

High Lady of Kesh and she was dressed similarly to what she would have once worn. Form-fitting and rather tight black pants with an equally snug black shirt. On one of her arms was a large black bracelet looking device that she had once used when she was a police officer on Kesh.

Being familiar with the type of person she was going to meet, when he did show up, his appearance did surprise her. Peering at him with bright blue eyes, the blond opened the door to let him in.

"Please explain away. Do you want more to drink?"

[member="Bill Kerkov"]

 

[William Kerkov Jr.]

Bill smiled his pretty human teeth, a side-affect of his hybrid species. "Yes, I would love a drink, and-" He reached for a cigarra in his coat jacket, but was disappointed to find nothing, as this was not his jacket. "And do you have any cigarras as well?" Hell, he might've asked for a deathstick or some spice if this wasn't a business meeting, Bill liked to indulge in everything there was to indulge in. Bill shed the disgusting jacket and threw the shirt out onto the sidewalk before entering, "You don't mind if I stay like this? Those clothes weren't exactly, my style." It was more of a rhetorical question than a real one as Bill carried on without the answer.

Bill raised his hands as he began his explanation, "So it all began yesterday when my vessel the Akira's Star arrived here a day early, so with that extra time I decided to head down to one of the nearby cantinas. Well, I got into this card game with a Roydian and a Human, that was also a drinking game, and a bit of a snuff game. Well things got on the line, I got a bad hand, took a few extra swigs, more like bottles, and a hit of this Trandoshan Hot Spice, which I'm certain was laced with something much stronger, and woke up this morning with probably my fourth strongest hangover in the last six years, shirtless, creditless, and my personal blaster in pieces across the floor." Bill took a sip of the drink [member="Zesiro"] handed him, "I took the shirt, the jacket, and this nice hat from a hangar in the hallway of the bar, both of which were obviously designed for people much different from me."

 

[Zesiro]

His movement wasn't missed, but from her years of hanging around with pirates and other unsavoury parts of society, she could tell this man wasn't going for a weapon of any kind. When he said he would love something more to drink, Zesiro opened up the small cube cooler in the room and brought out an ale for him. Tossing it to him, she assumed he would be able to get the bottle opened without any help.

A small motion with her hand gave him permission to dress...or not as he wished. Taking a seat at the small table in the room, there was another chair for him to sit in if he wished. Sitting not like they were at a business meeting or anything formal, she sat with the table at her side and her legs crossed in front of her. He could sit or stand as he wanted and she would move to face him. Just a simple design to make him more comfortable at this odd meeting.

"Well, the hat does look nice."

Chuckling slightly, she felt the blood stirring in her. A desire to live again and go on adventures. Perhaps this meeting would lead to that...time would certainly tell. Living the life of royalty certainly had benefits, but to be able to go about and mingle again with lowlifes was something that just didn't happen often anymore.

"So what can we do for each other?"

[member="Bill Kerkov"]

 

[William Kerkov Jr.]

Bill chuckled and tipped the hat to [member="Zesiro"], he was happy to be in the company of someone who could understand a Bill tale such as that one. He sat down in the chair opposite her and put his feet up, taking another swig of the bottle, recognizing a nice brand as he drank. He laughed again,

"You know, I'll be honest. I have no flipping recollection of what in the five hells I was suppose to be doing here. However, seeing as some rascal Rodian or sly human has stolen my good shirt and a lot of my credits, I'd be mighty inclined to go on a little scavenger hunt, if you'd care to join me?"

Bill smiled,

"Oh, and you do look dashing today, Miss?" He said, looking for a name and maybe a date.

 

[Zesiro]

"Well, I would be quite happy to join you on something. By the way, name's Ava."

It had been a name Zesiro had gone by back in the day and was easier to remember than her real name. So she would go by this name until such a time she felt comfortable enough to reveal her deception to Bill. A simple name though she didn't think was a big deal.

"Maybe I can help remind you why you're here? I sent a message to the old pirate crew I hung out with a few years ago. Did they send you?"

He wasn't a familiar face, but crews changed out on a regular basis as the people on them died, retired or found other opportunities.

"If you think this looks dashing, you should have seen me before."

There was a slight change in her demeanour and it looked almost like her body had grown different curves and proportions. Just a hint at the woman she had been when she was with her crew.

[member="Bill Kerkov"]

 

[William Kerkov Jr.]

Bill smiled, "Alright Ava, I'm Bill." Bill didn't hide behind aliases. Not out of any sort of pride, but he couldn't really keep track of any fake names he gave out, so it was always simpler to just tell the truth.

"Maybe, but I'd have to check the datapad I left in my jacket pocket, the one that was stolen along with my shirt and credits."

Bill chuckled and prepared to say something to reply to [member="Zesiro"]'s comment, but he was suddenly enticed to Zesiro's physical change. Twi'leks, even half Twi'leks like Bill, found size and curves very attractive, making the display all the more enticing. After a few too many seconds staring at her body, Bill snapped out of the gaze and said, "Follow me, I know where to start if we're going to track these bozos down."

He added one thing as they walked out the door, "Oh, and maybe we could have a spot of dinner later tonight, or maybe something a little more entertaining." Bill grinned, he definitely hoped to get somewhere with this Ava that day.

 

[Zesiro]

The name Ava had been given to her by a stranger when she was out on a mission. It wasn't often she got the opportunity to use it, but it was an easy name to remember. At least easier than Zesiro.

It was clear her movements were noticed. Bill stared at her and she included a bit of a smile in the mix. However, the change was fleeting and she returned to what she was normally. Though there were hints (now that he knew about them) that could be noticed in how she moved. A simple and natural beauty and grace.

Nodding when he said to follow him, she grabbed a well worn, but still very high-quality cloak.

"Dinner is a given, Bill. After we get your belongings back."

[member="Bill Kerkov"]