Beating Hearts

[Warren Century]

Sirius Nova had not been able to ditch his bodyguard who had accompanied him. Well one of his many bodyguard whom he'd rather be without. But as he wanted to learn some dancing so that he could incorporate it into his fighting style, thus allowing him to do more than the traditional light-saber styles used by the Jedi and Sith. What he needed was his own style, not that of the warriors he didn't fully trust. Sure he'd allied the Narrikians with the Imperial Remnant lately as a protectorate, but that was because he knew it was inevitable that they'd need some fleet to protect them from invaders. Still if the Galactic Empire had any bio-weapons, he'd make sure they couldn't use them on the Narrikians because the Narrikians were going to have the vaccine.

Having arrived on the world of Lianna, Sirius began to look for Heart Beat House but he was hopelessly lost.

@Joza Pearl

 

[Joza Perl]

A pink skinned Twi’lek made her way down the streets of downtown Lianna, heading towards Heartbeat Boutique. The store was next to Heartbeat House, purchased as an extension to sell their lines of cosmetics, textiles and pheromone infused items. Business had been going well so far, well enough to the point where another location or two was in the works. Most of the sales were conducted over the holonet, though. Nona was a dancer under the employ of Joza Perl, occasionally working shifts as a clerk at the boutique.

A young man with fiery red hair stuck out from the crowd, but not necessarily for his looks—there were far more alien looking creatures out and about, and this one could pass for human or certainly near-human—but for the fact that he seemed lost and confused. It wasn’t difficult to consider, seeing as how the downtown area could get busy. To a tourist unfamiliar with the area, they could easily get turned around in all of the hustle and bustle.

“Excuse me,” Nona approached him from the front, leisurely so as to not startle him. “Do you need help finding something?”

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

[member="Joza Perl"]

On the one hand, Sirius didn't want to trust the kindness of strangers. But on the other? If Lost was a planet, he'd be the Emperor of it right now, with how confused he was about this world. Not knowing his way around, he'd gotten lost looking for Heart Beat House, a place he had intended on visiting. Learning some of the dances of alien species could perhaps lead to him better understanding the alien species. That, and the one called "ballet" seemed like a good style for him to learn so that he could incorporate it into his fighting style.

"Yes, I'm looking for Heart Beat House... but I'm hopelessly lost..." said Sirius Nova. "I don't suppose you know how to get there, as if you do that could help me a lot, Miss?"

His bodyguard, a man in his late twenties or so he'd appear to be to the Pink Skinned Twi'lek who had taken an interest in Sirius had a rifle belted across his back, and several thermal detonators but that had a different style aesthetically. These were more made so they could be concealed readily. The man also had a katana strapped across his back as well, a Vibro Katana.

"Do you intend any harm to my charge?" asked Mr. Shatter, the NFU who was assigned today as Sirius's bodyguard.

 

[Joza Perl]

Lianna was a relatively nice place. It wasn’t some gutter like Nar Shaddaa and the other Hutt worlds, but a proud, industrious world. Like all systems, they had their less well-to-do areas—Heartbeat was smack in the middle, not exactly ritzy but in a safe, decent place. Nona hadn’t noticed the bodyguard before, but she did now as the man stepped forward. He was armed a bit heavily from what she understood, especially for a commercial area.

Still, she was startled as he addressed her, and took a step back out of nerves, hands held out in defense. “What? No, no.” She glanced to the side, making sure that she had room to slip away if this meeting proved to be hostile. Unlikely with the crowd density of the streets, but not out of the realm of possibilities. “He looked lost.” She gestured towards [member="Sirius Nova"] with a tilt of her head. “If you’re looking for Heartbeat, I work there. I can show you where it is, but…” She paused, a thoughtful look edging on to her face. “Are you looking for someone there?” It was rare to get male clients at the dance studio, but it wasn’t rare for them to go there trying to ogle the female dancers. Outside of that, Joza tended to handle contracts at the boutique or off world.

 

[Warren Century]

Mr.Shatter nodded, examining her. When he saw that she was honest from her body language, he let himself relax for a moment, because there was no threat. Sirius nodded. "Sure, could you take me to meet Joza Pearl? I have an appointment scheduled, to learn some dances from her. Mainly ones that involve acrobatic maneuvers though. It's for a project of mine, that's all I can say." said Sirius. Mr.Shatter nodded at Nona. "We shall accompany you as that is what my charge wishes. But you shall lead, I shall bring up the rear and Sirius will travel between us." Mr.Shatter was the NFU bodyguard of Sirius, but he had a brutal tendency when he faced opponents who intended Sirius harm, he shattered the bones of any limbs they used to assault him. It was why he had earned the name "Mr.Shatter" from Sirius. Sirius then sighed, and said. "Forgive my bodyguard, he is a bit.... overszealous when it comes to protecting me from bodily harm, or mental harm. Fortunately I managed to convince him he didn't need a hundred and fifty others, to accompany him and protect me this time."

Mr.Shatter looked at her. "What is your name, Miss?" He asked, staring at her, one eye focused on her while one eye searched the area, and scanned the environment around them, for any hostiles.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

“I…um, okay.” The whole bodyguard thing seemed unnecessary, but Nona wasn’t entirely sure who this man was, so she didn’t press. Mr. Shatter was intimidating, and she wondered if Joza knew he’d be coming along. She doubted it, given that the Zeltron was stricter with men who hung around the studio given the number of oglers. “I’m Nona.” The Twi’lek did her best not to wither under Shatter’s intent gaze. The man seemed to take his job seriously, and she wondered if Sirius had anybody out to get him.

“It’s this way, just one block over.” She pointed in the right direction and began walking slowly so that the other two could fall in step without being left behind. She still seemed a little anxious of the situation. “Um, you do know that you’ll probably not be allowed to stick around during the lesson…?” She turned her head back towards Shatter as they walked, speaking carefully. “Joza’s pretty strict on who she allows to stay.”

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

When she said he wouldn't be allowed to stick around during the lesson, Mr.Shatter said. "Can she ensure that my charge is safe, while doing this lesson, or not?" asked Mr.Shatter. He was doing his best to look normal despite carrying more than what one person should carry weapon wise. Why wouldn't they allow him to stick around? Mr.Shatter didn't know, and was concerned about his charge. "It is nice to meet you Nona, My name is Sirius Nova. I'm the ruler of an alien species that doesn't often go out to meet others, in the Outer Rim. " Sirius reached out a hand to shake Nona's softly, worried about offending if he was too firm with his strength. "So how shall we placate my bodyguard so that I can finally be away from him from a bit? He's a bit...stuck to me if you know what i mean. He's the overprotective type, and takes it to extremes. I was fortunate he didn't insist I bring a small militia with me, though next time he probably will...."

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

“She should be.” Nona nodded back to Shatter. “She’s strong. She fought on Atrisia and Kaeshana.” The two were recent battles Joza had sided with the Galactic Alliance on—the former being against the Sith and the latter going against the First Order. Though the Alliance had ultimately lost Kaeshana, they’d put up a hell of a fight on the battlefield.

“You’re a…ruler?” Nona stopped, words leaving her lips in disbelief. She looked towards Sirius before shaking her head, wondering why he’d reached out to Joza, or if there was something more at work here. “Well…Heartbeat owns a boutique next door. Maybe he’d like to look at the pretty clothes?” There was a hint of humor in her voice.

A few more minutes of walking, and the trio would end up at Heartbeat House’s dance studio front, with the boutique next door. “Alright, this is the place.” Leading them into the lobby, she’d remove her shoes and place them to the side. “Shoes off before we go onto the studio dance floor.” Once that was done, she’d lead them onto a large open room with polished wood floors and a wall covered in mirrors. At the far corner was a redheaded Zeltron woman conversing with a dark haired human male. The woman had a cup of caf in her hand, sipping it every so often as she and the pilot talked business.

“Joza, are you doing a lesson this afternoon?” Nona called out, approaching the pair. They both paused, turning their attention towards the Twi’lek and her companion.

“Hm? Ah, yes. A young man contacted me about private instruction.” Her gaze fell to Sirius. “You must be Sirius Nova, correct? Welcome to Heartbeat House.”

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

"I see you got my call over the Holonet...[member="Joza Perl"]." said Sirius, once they had gone through the procedures of taking off their shoes, or in the case of Mr.Shatter, taking off his steel reinforced boots that could be used to kick someone in the head, and had a hidden knife inside of them so as to prevent disturbances. Mr.Shatter was just standing there, watching them. His eyes were calculating potential areas that dangers could come from, as well as locations where snipers and others could set up shop. Once he was satisfied that the shop didn't have as many vulnerabilities, he said. "Miss Perl, I shall be waiting at your boutique. Until then I shall entrust the safety of master to you. Please don't allow him to come to harm. " Grabbing his shoes, Mr.Shatter made his exit from the area because he was going to let Sirius focus on the dancing.

Sirius nodded. "Indeed I contacted you. Also if you know anything about the Force, such as how the Jedi levitate objects or how the Sith do, that's something I'd like to learn as well....." Sirius paused, to allow her to process that information. "Sorry about my bodyguard, he's a bit overzealous when it comes to my personal protection."

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza’s gaze drifted from Sirius to Shatter, noting how the larger man seemed to be checking the place over for vulnerabilities. She exchanged a look with the Ivan, the dark haired man beside her. “Right,” Her attention turned back to her two guests. “No worries. He’ll be alright here.” She took a sip from her caf. “Unless there’s someone after him. Then I’d like to know.” There was a tickle of amusement in her voice, but for all she knew he could be a wanted man.

She watched Shatter leave for a few moments before tilting her head towards Ivan and speaking a few quick words in Huttese. The pilot grunted before walking off towards the back exit, out of sight. Nona had disappeared as well.

“Not a lot of people come to my dance studio with bodyguards.” She swirled the cup in her hands idly before placing it on the floor, in the corner where the wall met the mirror. At the mention of the Force, she laughed once, shortly. “This is no Jedi temple. Why do you want to learn telekinesis?” Her own ability was not something she kept hidden, or was it something she advertised. “Your bodyguard cares about his job. That’s what makes him a good bodyguard. However, he just left you alone with a strange woman.”

A tint of a smirk crept to her lips.

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

"As my species the Narrikians is unfamiliar with the galaxy at large, and has not had much experience encountering Force Users, our knowledge of the Force is shall we say...limited at best at present." Sirius paused for a moment. "As for leaving me alone with you, he will probably come back. No one's after me, but as Emperor of the Narrikians well it was either him, or about 30 soldiers. So I chose the one less likely to draw attention to myself, or my guards. In any case, why I wanted to learn telekinesis was to better understand it so I could better modify my knowledge of one method the Narrikians use to use the Force, Runes. Runes are a different process of using the Force, and well I'll tell you more about them later if you want to know. Anyway, what would it cost for you to teach me Telekinesis, and Ballet?" asked Sirius. Mr.Shatter who had been listening outside the door re-entered the room with a black box inlaid with golden trim, and runes that were made out of a blue dye on the box. The box was brought to Sirius, at which point Mr.Shatter knelt and offered the box's contents to Sirius. Inside was what appeared to be the hilt of a rapier, but a Lightsaber. It was an old blade and had many wielders.

Sirius reached in, took it and belted it onto his waist. After that, he watched as Mr.Shatter left the room.

"Now. How much would you charge for the lessons?"

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

“Runes as in Sith runes?” A brow arched. She hadn’t heard of these Narrikians before, but they seemed to be isolationist. Wasn’t a bad move, plenty of worlds were with the galaxy heating up like it was now.

“I don’t do much ballet. Our main style here is Shaabi, but a lot of people know it as ‘belly dancing’. But if you want to learn the basics of grace and flexibility, I can help you with that.”

Her brows knit together when Shatter returned, this time with a regal looking box. When a saber hilt was drawn and clipped to Sirius’ belt, her gaze narrowed just a tic. Was this some sort of posturing?

“You won’t be needing a lightsaber here. Ignite it and I cannot promise that you will come to no harm.” Joza rarely carried her hilts while in the studio, given that there was no need and could inspire aggression. “As for payment, I take credits. I can teach you the bare bones of telekinesis once I’m sure that you won’t use that.” Her chin tilted as if to indicate the hilt at his waist.

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

"I don't know what Sith Runes are, but the Narrikians have developed their own runes that are probably different from the runes of the Sith, most likely. Grace and Flexibility is what I came here to learn from you, as well as the basics of telekinesis. You have my word I won't use the Lightsaber. It's just a compromise so Mr.Shatter doesn't stick around in the room during our lessons, really. "

Sirius smiled at [member="Joza Perl"]. His statement was truthful, he didn't want to have the Lightsaber on his person when they were going to begin his lessons.

"And alright, I can pay you in credits." He said, waiting.

Mr.Shatter backed up against the wall, and just watched for a moment shaking his head before he left the room. "I'll be waiting outside of Heartbeat House, until you are done with the lessons."

Mr.Shatter was waiting against the wall of the building.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza squinted slightly at Sirius, inhaling sharply through her nose as she took a few moments to herself, analyzing the young man before her. Empathy was a useful skill in that it allowed you to get a handle on someone’s feelings, and it would difficult for an untrained Force user to block her out when she focused.

After a few moments, she let the breath out slowly.

“Alright, let’s begin.” She tilted her head towards Shatter in a quick nod just before he departed. She couldn’t blame the man for being protective—it was his job, and his charge did seem rather young.

“Let’s start with stretching.” Shifting her hip to one side, she arched an arm over her head. “Maybe you can tell me about your home world?” There were many planets and likely even more species she’d have yet to hear of, mostly those out in wild space or situated further from where she frequented.

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Beginning to stretch his muscles, Sirius asked. "What do you want to know about my world? We've got my palace, which is about the size of a city, and was not built by me actually, we've got the Crystal Desert and many other places of interest, that you might like to visit." He said, as he did the stretches she was doing. "Trying to think of other structures to build on the planet, we've got several cities, I'll need to find some recreational structures to have build in such places maybe. I don't know. Anyway, the planet is temperate, and has various climate zones. Oh, and has been home to the Narrikians for as long as we can remember." said Sirius.

Sirius then asked Joza. "So tell me about your planet we're on. What makes it special to you?" He said, asking about that.

 

[Joza Perl]

“A palace the size of a city?” Her brow arched at that she continued stretching, switching arms. That seemed excessive to her, but to each their own. “What about the Crystal Desert? That sounds interesting.” Was it like the Crystal Caves of Ilum, she wondered?

She moved to stretch her legs, lifting one up behind her and grabbing the foot with her hand as she thought genuinely about his question. “Lianna is a fairly safe, modern world so it’s a good place to do business and raise a family. While I’ve put down some roots, I don’t really have any sentimental attachment to the place.” A pause as she thought about her home world. “I was raised on Zeltros, though. It’s the party capital of the galaxy—if you’ve never been, you should check it out on your way back.”

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

The galaxy held many wonderful places, if her description of both Zeltros and Lianna was anything to go by, he'd have to come to this world when he had more time, and also visit Zeltros. Of course he'd want someone who knew the world, and she seemed to know a lot about Zeltros. "Truly the Crystal Desert is beautiful, but I wouldn't enter it without protection for your feet. There's a lot of different crystals there, and I believe you would find it to be a wonderful place to visit, Joza Perl. I would be perfectly willing to show you the Crystal Desert, and the other attractions of Setus Prime. But in return, I'd like you to show me around Zeltros. I've never been there, and judging from your description of it, I must add it to my to visit list. I also have to add Lianna to my to visit list because I will need to come here when I have nothing else on the agenda." As Sirius said this he stretched his arms, and touched his toes, before bending both arms behind his back, even though it hurt a little. Sighing, he'd put them back into the position they had been in, and turn towards Joza.

"You inquired about the Force Runes of the Narrikians earlier. I would be more than happy to have a copy of the "book of force runes" hand written for you by one of the Narrikian Scholars of the Force if you are interested, and can pay for such." said Sirius. Sirius smiled at [member="Joza Perl"] and asked her. "So Joza, what is our next stretch?"

 

[Joza Perl]

“I’ve never heard of crystals in a desert. Are they simply underground or can they be found in caves?” It was quite the opposite of the frigid Ilum, she imagined. It had been ages since she’d been there, surrounded by glittering crystals in the icy caves. “Zeltros has a lot of attractions. Resorts, clubs, casinos, theme parks, spas…a lot of its industry is based around entertainment. Some people call it the ultimate vacation destination.”

There was something to be said for her people’s ingenuity in pleasure and relaxation. Nevertheless, not everyone on Zeltros lived in a constant state of partying.

“Just so you’re not caught off guard, Zeltros practically sits in a cloud of pheromones. They tend to make people relaxed and loosened up.” She shrugged. “Force runes, huh? Thank you for the offer. I’ll think about it.” She gave Sirius an honest smile, though she wasn’t much of a scholar. “Lift your leg up like you’re kicking back, then grab your foot with your hand.” She switched sides, demonstrating. “This’ll help stretch the upper part of your leg.”

[member="Sirius Nova"]

 

[Warren Century]

Stretching his leg like Joza instructed, Sirius listened to her. So she thought Zeltros was the ideal party location? The pheromones of the place would likely make Mr.Shatter nervous, and that was why he couldn't go there. At least for now because he didn't have an environmental suit of any kind that he could put to use when on that world. Of course it was a leisure world, but as the Emperor of the Narrikians Sirius couldn't allow himself to lower his guard. Doing so made him weak, and pathetic in the eyes of some of his people like Mr.Shatter. Truly he feared what would happen if Mr.Shatter got a squad of soldiers to command. Mental images of soldiers accompanying him everywhere caused his body to tense u, but with a deep breath he forced himself to relax and do the stretches properly.

"Zeltros is quite the party planet. I'll have to be careful when I go there."

As she honestly smiled at him, Sirius blushed a little. She was the first to smile at him. He was used to frowns, scowls and glares from his various aides, and assistants as he tried his best to be the Emperor the Narrikians needed. But he wasn't sure he was doing a good job to be honest with himself, because of his lack of skill. What he needed was some help. The Colonies hadn't been much help, and so he was still looking for a faction for the Narrikians.

"Am I doing it right, [member="Joza Perl"]?"

 

[Joza Perl]

“You’re doing alright, but a little rigid.” Her eyes swept over his form, observing the way his body moved. “That’s perfectly normal though, considering that this is something new for you. The more you practice, the more fluid you’ll get.”

Over the next forty five minutes, Joza would help Sirius with basic dance movements that would help his flexibility and mobility in battle. Of course, they had to be repeated several times a week for them to be of any use. Professional dancers often moved a certain way because of this, given that the steps were ingrained in them so deeply. Dance was more than about footwork though—poise and posture had a lot to do with it, making the difference between a mediocre performer and a fantastic one.

“I think that’s enough dancing for today. How do you feel, Sirius?” They’d do some more light stretching to complete the lesson before moving onto the Force related things he’d asked about.

“Before we delve too deeply into the Force, tell me what you know about it.”

The Zeltron had never been much of a teacher, only one of her students ever reaching knighthood. The others seemed to drift away into the galaxy.

[member="Sirius Nova"]