Public Above the Clouds of Bespin [Public]

[Kiegan Lysle]

As much as he enjoyed this harassment, Kiegan's mind was more focused on the drinks that he had ordered. Unfortunately the Silver Jedi didn't give a great deal of credits to those under their oath, and these Romi and Coci's were awful pricy for the young Hapan. His emerald eyes swinging back to where he was stationed just in time to catch the pink skinned thief ([member="Kyra Perl"]) and the green man ([member="Acaadi"]) accompanying her.

It seemed unlikely for the Jedi to break out of the vice that this [member="Kingsley"] had him in, and Kiegan knew he wouldn't get those drinks back as he watched the pair take swigs from his drinks.

A deft whisping of his hand made sure that the elder Lysle got at least some enjoyment out of the refreshments that he had "generously" supplied the pair, reaching out with the force in order to knock the drinks onto them. The least he was allowed to do in return for those drinks was a chuckle and wave at the criminal pair as the drinks sloshed onto them.

"Chad, Kiegan, Not Jeff... really it can be anything as long as I get to keep my limbs, old boy."

Being manhandled by a giant bird was one of those sensations in life that Kiegan could never get used to, the giant creature swinging the Hapan by his collar once again into the seat next to [member="Amea Virou"]. The Crownsguard instinctively leaning over to the girl in hopes that she wore some kind of perfume to wear off the stink coming from this creature.

Perhaps it was the wrong idea when he called her "babe"...

"Please tell me you aren't.." A whisper to the girl not sat beside Kiegan with a look of worry and pity, before the giant creature wrapped itself around him once again. A flash of his wares straightening Kiegan's mood a lil, his eyes flashing back to Amea with a tinge more concern than before. "Force above, sorry I reckon I'm good man. Don't have the stomach for that stuff." The ORC was certainly... different from Hapes.

Then he saw the girl give him a quick grimace. And honestly?

Kiegan had no clue what the frown meant...

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula had been on Bespin for the past few weeks, electing to help her mother out with Heartbeat’s latest venture. Paperwork and contracting were boring and therefore not her strong suits, so Yula had aided in hiring personnel for the big night. There was some mention of her working security, but that idea was thoroughly scrapped once the music started and the clubwear came out.. Even though the night was young, she’d been hitting the dance floor and was already several drinks in.

As one electro-synth-house-pop-beat faded into another, Yula took a break and headed towards the bar to rehydrate. Spying a pretty thing a few seats away, she ordered two specials—free of course, because nepotism—and carried them over to [member="Amea Virou"] to make a proper introduction. Given the sea of people and dim lighting, she didn’t notice that the person she’d stumbled into on the way was, in fact, not a person. [member="Kingsley"] would find himself covered in two Romi & Coci specials, to go.

“Oh chit, I’m sor…” Her voice faded into the weird foreign techno music when she recognized the monstrosity of a birdman as Some Guy Who Shot Her. Still, that was not the primary thing on her mind. “Oh man, what are you wearing!”

[member="Kiegan Lysle"]

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Joza Perl"]

ahh ok so the age renewal does still work...I thought my husband was being nice was all

She laughed and patted her shoulder

who says I still don't run around the galaxy and get in trouble? You k ow me joza haha

Truely meeting a close old friend was something star needed these day. Looking over to the waitress star herself admiring the lady before her attention was back to joza with a smile

yeah, gotta say I love it so I'll take some more please! Eh...lotta stuff some I'm not proud of I hate to say.got toes up in mandalorian stuff...got a whole family now I got adopted by a clan


Soon she heard a man talking to her, her head tilted as she raised a brow

indeed, while I appreciate the comment I'm married so no thoughts

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra sputtered into her cup as it came up to splash in her face. “Wha!” She looked around wildly, the tug of the force that had occurred unmistakable.

She caught the intentional gaze of the blond from across the space and quickly connected the two. A slight, abashed hit filled her cheeks. She brushed it off with a laugh and a large smile, waving the cup back in an acknowledging gesture. The man’s attention was tugged back away. Kyra turned back to Acaadi, a glow of satisfaction about her.

“No reason. I just heard it was worth coming to.” Her eyes caught on the second floor, the cup lifted back to her lips.

“Alright!” She knocked back the rest of her drink, trying to get it out of the way. “You have your drink! A seat!” She slapped down the cup, eyes crinkling slightly at the bite of alcohol she was trying so hard to act like she was use to.

“Have fun.” She bounced back up, feeling the pull of the dance floor.

 

[Amea Virou]

[member="Yula Perl"] // [member="Kiegan Lysle"] // [member="Kingsley"]

This was turning into all kinds of crazy, and the fact that her downed drink was already getting there just made things all the more interesting. So the bird touched her hair which, up until this point and well past it would have been something she could live without. The lingering disgust as she imagined the places it had been and liquids it had seen, well… Some imagery was just better off left unthought of. At least she bought herself time by directing the bird towards Chad, or rather Kiegan as his name was.

Wait, what was it that he hoped she wasn’t? Her brow perked and her lips twisted into a confused grimace. And then, just to sort of throw that extra spice, not that kind, into the mix someone came in with a totally-in-no-way-deliberate spill all over the birdman. Amea struggled to keep up at that point. It all seemed so very…

Chaotic. Yeah, that was the best word for it.

Still, she didn’t say much on account of her staring. At first it had been at the entire situation unfolding before her very eyes, but with time it would all shift over towards the new person in the mix. They had unmistakable zeltron features and looks to match the reputation, dressed in something that was… Undeniably flattering.

“I…” Stacy stammered as she tried not to stare. “Think he’s wearing, like...” She paused for a second to catch her breath and keep the cover intact. “A drink... Dude.”

Amea cleared her throat and looked over at the others, scratched her head and neck before she broke off from staring and felt her nerves tangle up. It got undeniably warmer in here. The game plan changed, she had to just play it off cool and act as she would under normal circumstances and this time not just to keep her cover intact.

“Who are you?” Asked Amea, all very cool-like.

 

[Kingsley]

"Force above, sorry I reckon I'm good man. Don't have the stomach for that stuff."

Kingsley's ridiculous smile faltered into a spreading grimace. His hand, still gripping the shoulder of [member="Kiegan Lysle"], began to squeeze more tightly. After everything he had done for the kid and this was the thanks he got? He wasn't about to take no for an answer. Certainly not from some punk still wet behind the ears.

"You just gotta learn how to ride the snake," his tone was jovial, but the curl of his beak and fierce glint in his eyes betrayed the smuggler's menace, "Tell you what, first stick is on Kingsley! We'll fix you up righ-"

Splash!

“Oh chit, I’m sor…”

Kingsley stared down at his Romi soaked vest in shock and horror.

“Oh man, what are you wearing!”

"My...my...my druuuugs!" he wailed. Thousands of credits, ruined in a flash.

And all because of some foolish little...the smuggler looked up and realized his assailant was none other than [member="Yula Perl"].

“Who are you?” [member="Amea Virou"] asked.

"YOU," the bird echoed much louder, his un-augmented right eye bugging out. This was a whole new level of rage.

Kingsley let go of his grip on Kiegan so suddenly that he practically tossed the hapan out of his seat. Before she could react, he was grabbing for Yula's shoulders.

"I had to break out of prison because of you!" he snarled, "Now tell me. Where...is....JEFF?!"

Elsewhere at the bar, [member="Leona Hart"] felt a soft nudge in her side.

"M'um m'aloo!" the jawa greeted her, "Kuminee bok cuza Tatooine?"

His beady little eyes gazed up at Leona innocently.

 

[Kiegan Lysle]

As intimidating as this massive creature trying to force deathsticks onto the poor young chap was, he still couldn't help but chuckle when a Zeltron girl managed to spill her drinks on the massive fowl. Growing even further into a full rumbling laughter as the girl he thought was with this [member="Kingsley"] made her own remarks on the incident.

"I mean, I'm just Kiegan."

Finally able to speak to [member="Amea Virou"] as the creature let go of him to shriek at the Zeltron who spilled the drinks.

"Honestly, I'm just trying to have a good time here. So I'm pretty confused, not gonna lie to you." Four fingers we're lifted to the bar tender and then proceeded to point at his drink. A simple way of ordering more of what he wanted. Hopefully it could calm this karking bird down. Who knows in the Outer Rim. "I hope that this ain't your guy." A smirk was all that he offered Stacy before trying to interrupt the conflict going on between the clumsy girl and the, presumably spiced out of his mind, bird.

"Hey look man, I'm sure it was an accident."

Kiegan wrapped his grip tightly around one of the birds wrist as he circled around the behemoth to try to get between it and the Zeltron, giving her a quick no of reassurance. The Hapan was here to relax, but yet again he found himself trying to help others. Hopefully it was more because of what [member="Yula Perl"] was wearing instead of the Jedi influencing the Crownsguard this much.

"So why don't you just calm down and have a little drink, eh?"

 

[Acaadi]

Of course they had stolen from a Jedi. Acaadi was once again reminded of how fate tied all things together. They had stolen drinks and the world had conspired to punish them for it.

It was very funny though. He laughed out loud as he wiped his chin with his sleeve. At least he had gone half the drink down.

And then Kyra was determined to leave again.

"Come on, don't I get even one dance?" he called out after her as he stood up, grinning at her.

Suddenly there was shouting from behind him. He turned to look over his shoulder to see the Jedi who had spilled their drinks trying to calm down a...Acaadi didn't know what species that was. Kyra was afforded a window large enough to slip away into the crowd.

 

[Jaya Tandris]

The reaction that Jaya's request caused was much to her amusement. She did have a bit of a tendency to catch people off-guard, she supposed, though she didn't see that as a bad thing. In this case she was able to make a stranger blush, and that was a win in her book. People remember those who left an impression and it seemed like that was exactly what the woman had managed to do. Even if it was the only interaction between the two tonight, barring alcohol-induced amnesia the moment would likely not be forgotten.

The non-verbal question of whether the stranger's choice was a good one was met with a smile and a hearty chuckle. "Great choice! Something told me I could count on you." Jaya paid for the drink as it was placed before her and admired it for a moment, then rose it up and turned towards the stranger. "Cheers," she exclaimed, putting the glass to her lips and tilting it backwards to let its contents slip down her throat. When she placed it back down onto the bar one could see Jaya had taken a healthy sip. She nodded her head slightly as it went down in contentment, the sensation being one she very much enjoyed. The woman clearly had experience with alcohol, she knew how to handle it. Her wrist moved in a circular motion, causing the liquid in the glass to stirr a little.

"Now that I owe you one, I might as well introduce myself." Another good sip of the vodka went down her throat. "Name's Jaya. Pleasure to meet'cha. You need anything, I got you. Especially when chit needs to get broken." Though the grin on her face added an air of humor around what she said, it wasn't just a joke and nothing else. Jaya had asked for help and the stranger had helped her out, it was no more than fair to return the favor if it came to that.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]​

 

[Yula Perl]

“It look ridiculous.” Yula’s hand at her lips didn’t do much to stifle her giggles and laughing snorts, but she sobered a little when [member="Amea Virou"] asked who she was. “Name’s Yula, Yula Perl.” She leaned against the bar, shifting her weight onto one leg. “I was going to bring you a drink, but if you want it…” She gestured to [member="Kingsley"], who was wearing not one but two drinks.

[member="Kiegan Lysle"] tried to defuse the situation, but Yula knew that there’d be no defusing Big Bird once things got rolling. Apparently, he’d been rolling for quite some time before she’d shown up.

“Yeah well, I had to hang out with my ex because of you! And that’s way worse than prison, because the breakup was super complicated.” Yula was quick to assume a defensive stance, pointing accusatorily at Kingsley. The last time they’d met, he’d hit her with her own stun grenade and she’d ended up on a Humbarine transport with [member="Julius Rhein"]. Also she’d been knocked unconscious, but that was secondary with having to deal with old feelings.

The Zeltron gave a half-nod to the Jedi as he intervened, shimmying out of the way so that she was out of the Hittian’s reach for the moment. “Jeff? No, his name is JULIUS. And why would I bring him with me??” She could not picture the militant Humbariner in a night club.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha hip checked a few folks as she squeezed her body between the near capacity crowds. Holy Feth what are they offering for free in here? She had left the bar over on the mining platform in full swing with the miners. They had grown to be comfortable there not really wanting to be under glowing lights with lots of 'youngins' hanging about.

Course she questioned was she the youngin or the............god did she dare think it....the elder!!!

She wanted a drink she looked around for the familiar flash of pink skin that would be [member="Joza Perl"] or [member="Yula Perl"] she had not seen either in quite sometime. The invite had found her in time to make it. Well a bit she had business in hutt space first, which mean she could pass onto Joza the packet she picked up. She in turn could pass it up the line to do with what they wanted. She smiled trying to cross the floor.

Rekha stood still her face reflected discomfort, with hints of frustration. "PLEEZZZ move" She half smiled in her midn she added don't make me move you.

The group of girls smiled, "oh so sorry...we were talking about the club....what do you think?"

What did she think, Rekha looked up and around, "if it's like the other places it will do well. " She nodded and finally got through to the bar.

"Hey..." she leaned closer, "can I get a glass of brandy I don't care which planet its from." She found most had a warm body that tickled her tongue.

A quick nod and within minutes she had her drink. Oh thank the goddess I needed that. Rekha began scanning for folks she might know.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra bumbled into [member="Rekha Kaarde"] as she moved away from the bar. She flashed her a wide smile, the strobing lights creating a colorful kaleidoscope across pink skin. “Sorry!” She chirped, smelling heavily of spilt booze and looking none the less hampered for it. She dodged passed the woman without further interaction, nothing getting in the way of her and that dance floor.

Not even a nosy padawan with the tendency to cling. I mean, Acaadi was alright and all but tonight was so not the time.

She broke onto the floor, ready to burst from the thrill of the music reverberating in her chest. Meditation practice had always been so hard, but in that moment she finally understood what it meant to turn your mind off and just be.

Her eyes slid closed as she joined the bodies around her and let the music take its hold. Bodies moved against each other, hands groping, hips swaying, all to the beat that drove them forward at a steady pace. It was transcendic, a zeltron on the dance floor for the first time.

This was so worth breaking the rules for.

 

[Acaadi]

When Acaadi turned Kyra was long gone. In the neon lights that danced to thumping synth he would never find her again. In a surprising turn of maturity for someone his age he decided that he probably shouldn't follow anyway. He had tagged along for long enough and she clearly had plans for the evening. He didn't want to end up being creepy.

Suddenly he was rather self conscious about being dressed as a jedi student. Even without the robes the tunic was hardly fashionable for a club. A few drinks would help but he had no credit chits on him.

Despite his better judgement he headed through the crowd back towards the bar, where the altercation between [member="Kiegan Lysle"] [member="Yula Perl"] [member="Kingsley"] was still going on. Walking towards the person whose drink Kyra had swiped seemed a particularly bad idea but maybe they would see the funny side. Maybe.

 

[Decker Willo]

Decker waited it out for his drink. This place was packed right now. People talking, drinking the night away, some compliments thrown about. He chuckled lightly to himself, usually he would be the one throwing such compliments around. Instead, once his drink arrived, Decker took it up and sipped at it. A satisfied smile upon his face at this, he was glad to take this drink. It relieved pressure from his mind, his thoughts. He was very glad for it. Tapping fingers along the top of the bar's counter, he looked around to the others.

"Ain't this a fun little get together, isn't it?" Decker asked aloud to anyone around. Glancing along, he spied a couple people. He heard a familiar voice call out, but when he looked over, whomever they were was lost in the crowd. Watching keenly around, nothing was seen. So he went back to those along the bar.

Decker gave a whistle to try and get the attention of a woman at the bar, who had boosted herself up on a seat next to her. "Busy night, don't you think?" He held up his glass, as if an attempt to toast.

[member="Leona Hart"] [member="Kat Decoria"] [member="Kyra Perl"] [member="Jeremiah Jade"] [member="Nej Tane"] [member="Acaadi"]

 

[Kat Decoria]

Looking around as the bartender poured her drink, she noticed that the event was definitely in full swing. She noticed that there were a number of guys, she was guessing that some of them were trying to flirt or catch the eye of a lady. It would be interesting to know how successful they were, however, she wasn't that interested to go and actually find out, also she didn't want to leave her drink unattended. Someone else might grab it, then she be pouring money down the drain.


Something that she was deeply against. That and wasting a drink on some stranger.


As she tried a sip of her drink, Kat heard a whistle then noticed some guy waving and talking to her. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at him. "Hi, yeah, so I'm not some bantha you can whistle at to get my attention. I can see and hear you fine enough." Downing her drink, she turned around and moved to the dancefloor.


Hopefully, she could just enough herself and let her hair down. Listening to the beat of the music, Kat danced along, her hips moving in time with the beat as she let out a sigh of a relief. This was definitely a nice change of pace.

[member="Decker Willo"]

 

[Amea Virou]

[member="Yula Perl"] // [member="Kiegan Lysle"] // [member="Kingsley"]

There was a brief moment where Amea genuinely considered sweeping a drink off of the floor to salvage something that was lost before it had even arrived. At the very least she looked at the puddle on the ground and then back at Yula who seemed to become the target of a rather big and angry bird person. Amea herself was taken aback just ever so slightly. There were fights, mention of exes, this being Bespin, and a great many different factors that simply made her want to stand still for a second.

“What? No, I just met him.” Amea said in response to Kiegan’s question if this was her ‘guy.’ “I- uh.”

A long exhale blew through her nose with the mounting frustration. It would seem that her plan for a simple joke on this birdman’s behalf turned into something far, far greater than she could have anticipated. And that was not to say ‘greater’ in any degree of ‘good’, the unfolding situation only got bigger. What with the ruined drugs, spilled drinks, the chance that Yula would have gotten here first but didn’t, the chivalrous blondie and the great many eyes that seemed to turn over and look in their direction.

“We are becoming a center of attention.” Amea said and tried to calm down. “Can we keep this down, please?”

Somehow it felt like too much to ask.

 

[Cyran Vaas]

Pretty quickly the zeltron's smile went from cocky to a little confused as he raised an eyebrow. Showing he most certainly didn't recognize the twi'lek at first. Not that he was racist or anything and even though they came in many colors, they all kind of looked the same to him. But eventually he processed the comment she made about not hitting women, which was something he would never do.

After realizing that she was the same person he was made to brawl with his smile quickly faded. He seriously contemplated and was tempted to just turn around and walk away from her and leave it at that. But then again he wasn't someone who would shy away from awkward situations. Which he more often then not put himself into.

"I uh... didn't really recognize you just then... I hope you're not like, upset or anything." He replied to her, certainly knowing that it wasn't his smoothest recovery. Feeling like he'd completely lost his game he would make an attempt at small talk. "So, how have you been since our... confrontation? I myself haven't been all that busy lately."

To say he felt a little awkward was an understatement. He figured that since the galaxy was such a big place that needing to interact with her would be a one and done. "You know if you're busy or with someone I can just go..." He said, hoping to spare himself and her of his own second hand embarrassment.

[member="Tan'yill"]

 

[Kingsley]

"Of course! I should have guessed that this Jeff would be one of the many oafish fools you trick into mating," the smuggler considered his newest 'clue' briefly before lunging at [member="Yula Perl"], "Rrrrawk! I'll crush your-whoa. Hey, guy."

Kingsley stared down at [member="Kiegan Lysle"] like he had grown a second head. He examined the hand gripping tightly to his wrist.

"Look I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression or nothing," he glanced around suddenly, self conscious, "Not that I'm against that, its just...ugh, fine. One dance. But no hand stuff."

Sweeping his other talon in underneath the young Jedi's armpit, Kingsley hauled him away to the dance floor.

"This isn't over!" the vulture man shrieked back over his shoulder at Yula, "Don't leave before I get a chance to destroy you! And stay away from my girl!"

Sentients of all different species closed in around them, and the pair became harder to pick out of the crowd. A flash of the hapan's wide terrified eyes followed shortly by a glimpse of Kingsley shaking his posterior in rhythm to the beat. He hoped this bird watcher was getting a good show because the longer he was stuck out here grinding against Not Jeff the greater the chance that Yula would say something weird to his date [member="Amea Virou"] and scare her off. Couldn't the foolish zeltron tell that Stacy just didn't find her interesting?

"Rrrrawk!" he croaked in Kiegan's ear, "Guess who found a death stick in his pooocket."

 

[Kyra Perl]

One body began to emerge from the throng of limbs and began to keep beat with hers. Kyra let it, not caring Who or what it was as long as it didn’t stop the rhythmic trance she had descended into. Limbs tangled together, moving as one, and the moment struck her as so... right. In a way that worlds just couldn’t access. Her brush with death had changed something in her but even that she couldn’t put words to just yet. Regardless, all the tension she had been keeping in melted out of her.

Hands groped for her and she met them turn, the girl caught up in an embrace and the taste of sweat as a pill was passed between a set of lips that met hers. She let it, diving deeper into the kiss as the bitter tang of chemicals slid down her throat.

A new new appreciation for her life emerged as her heart picked up speed. Finally, the zeltron opened her eyes to find the club now vibrated around her. Lights screamed and swirled in erratic patterns. She gaped, her head tossed back to take it all in as lips dragged over her neck.

That tasted purple.

 

[Nej Tane]

"I never thought of what I would do without her after I met her. So yeah, I'm not thinking about anything else than the next place I'm gonna wash up at."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________​

At this point in the night, he was well and truly into the groove of things. The usual routine was now in full swing.

Wake up.

Shake off the apparition of happiness, that old ghosts of someone next to him fading away with the light of the morning.

Take more pills, drink something- probably water, to get some semblance of goodness into his body.

Do some menial job, collect his paycheck, pay what he needed.

Count how much he could spend in one place at any given time.

Spend it all one drugs and booze. Couldn't get dopamines any other way anymore. All his happiness lay with a Kiffar Jedi, somewhere out in the stars without him.

Ayessa was gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

And here he was, trying to forget her.

The drinks had gone through him like some sort of bad spook from an old holonet show, but instead of leaving the protagonist shaken, it filled his bloodstream with enough alcohol and enough to flood the parts of his brain that remembered things.

He was at the bar, then the dance floor, then the bar again. Hard-lined, red-eyed, and dead inside.

But at least he'd live like how he used to for a few hours, before he started the cycle again. Despite all the faces in the galaxy, despite all the beauty around him, the life- Nej might as well have been floating alone, each passing night trying to find something or someone that even replicated a fraction of what she brought him. She was clarity, she was the lifeboat to his sinking ship. The rain during the drought, the water during a thirst. Something incredible, something remarkable, something beautiful.

And she was gone. And he was left.

So there Nej was, back at the bar- lightly sweated, tired from dancing and another round of party drugs, nursing yet another mixed drink that he merely pointed at. Could've been engine cleaner for all he knew.

But it was working.

And boy-

did he start to look rough.

​