Private Dark Corners hide Bright Stars

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

The limelight of Denon was the myriad of things across the holonet circles to do in the dark beneath the veneer of civilized life. A mysterious planet to those foreign to the everyday events and riddled with beings from all walks of life.

The places that garnered the Zeltron's attentions however were a bit more lively than the dark alleys and garages that littered the developed centers.

Flashing the brilliant smile, and hiding among a flock of girls a little older than herself, got her safe passage inside the newest dance club that she had yet to enjoy. The last time she'd been out had been met with a certain Jedi Master barking at her for a lack of preparation for the worst.

This time she had come prepared however.

The jacket a brilliant white with studs along the collar and sleeves where able against the dark underclothes and heels that brought her closer to the sky than she'd ever been.

Well.

Other than when Briana and the others had thrown her from a starfighter onto a moving train. But that wasn't entirely the point as the lights flashed and the beat thrummed. The life that ebbed inside the force drawing her inward as she separated from the flock that gained her access.

Her senses lost in the cascade of feelings around her. Exhilarating and terrifying in the same breath as her own pheromones only added to the chaos around her.

Her twirling and swaying to the rhythm gaining her company quickly as everyone seemed drawn to her presence. She exuded a liveliness within the force, and pressed the feeling further without a care through her own natural abilities.

Her eyes shifting from the soft rose color to the intense crimson that signalled her shift in demeanor.

Her saber kept safely inside the heavy jacket beside her concealed sling bag of medical items. She'd already taken what she needed for the evening, and only had one final medication to take before hiking her way back home.

But she had time still, and the night was young as the lights and rhythm called her attention elsewhere.

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko strode through the dance floor, his steps completely out of synch with the thrumming beat and everyone around him. The bright neon swirls from the panels inside his collar lit up the sides of his face. Head down, his demeanour had people moving out of his way as he cut a straight line across the floor.

Almost straight. Without realising it he walked an arc, drawn into the gravity of the zeltron.

Makko returned to a booth against the wall. A group of men in their twenties sat around a forest of empty glasses. Individual grains of discarded powder were made visible by the UV lighting overhead.

Makko passed the man in the middle a pink slip of paper. In a digital world, it sometimes made sense to store analogue secrets.

"Makko, that coat is a flecking travesty," was his thanks.

"People were looking!" he muttered.

"They were thinking: I wonder what brain damage that poor kid suffered to wear that coat here?"

There was laughter and one of them slapped him around the back of the head. Makko almost preferred the work. Interviewing people and escorting them out the back to a waiting land speeder.

"Makko. Take a joke. Have a drink. Go for a dance. You're taking yourself too seriously again."

Makko looked down at the pale white scars between three of his fingers. He had climbed this far by taking himself seriously. Standing out was also dangerous.

He laughed.

Jarrick slid two pink pills across the table towards him. Makko put them both between his teeth and knocked them back with a swig of beer.

"Go on, leave the silly coat and enjoy yourself."

Makko nodded, but he stayed seated for a few seconds. His head rolled back and his pupils dilated wide. The colourful lights above flared out of focus.

He breathed out slowly. The world came back into focus. The delightful buzz settled at the nape of his neck.

Makko was rather dissapointed about leaving the coat. For the money he made, it had been quite a stretch of a purchase. Underneath was a rose pink tee with sleeves high enough to show his tattoos. He stood and walked through towards the vortex at the centre of the crowd.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

The undercurrents of business inside the myriad of bodies was lost on the young woman. The constant flow of different feelings in the current around Lossa kept the smaller threads of the danger that lurked inside the club from being noticed.

Whether innatention or poor training was neither here nor there as the dancers shifted and flowed around her. All seeking the source of that strange glee that had centered itself on the dance floor.

The rhythm and lights a constant flow as she let herself be tossed in the sea of emotions. Until another presence in the force drew close enough to blend in with the currents she was weaving.

Her eyes half lidded as she scanned softly for the source of the feeling.

Unmoving from her spot at the center of the floor, unintentionally reaching for that new presence in curiosity. A silent beckoning as those around her seemed to shift and flow to create a winding path for Makko to walk.

The flash of lights and other points of the display almost making her blend in with the swath of colors around her. A dancer's grace helped keep her movements from hitting anyone even while being recklessly exuberant.

A bead of sweat forming along her exposed collar as heat and proximity began to force stray hairs to cling to her brow.

There was an underlying feeling to that presence that drew near. One that she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with. In her jovial state the reason for that strange familiarity was lost on her for the time being as she twisted and swayed with the mass around her.

 

[Makko Vyres]

A bird did not understand what made the wind. It didn't understand the mechanics of flight, nor how it navigated those currents. It was instinct.

Makko didn't know what field wove between the dancers. He didn't know how he perceived it. He didn't even know that it guided him through the path between bodies and drew him into the vortex.

His luck had often been terrible, but sometimes it seemed as if an unseen hand guided him out of the most fatal situations.

The world itself drew in and out of focus. That glow at the back of his brain seemed to drown out the detail of the world, replacing it with glorious, hazy colours. The music, however, cut through the high with crystal clarity.

Makko didn't move with a fraction of the grace of the centre of the vortex, but he moved.

He was glad they had sent him away. He brushed unruly black and blue hair back. He grinned. Someone bumped into him from behind and he didn't even draw his blade, didn't even throw a punch. He grinned and danced and let that invisible thread tug him along.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

A small group danced between Makko and Lossa, their figures weaving between and offering small glimpses of each other between the tangle of arms and bodies that rocked and bobbed. Lossa closed her eyes, letting herself free fall into the feelings around her.

The pheromones became stronger as she let loose the reins.

Her eyes opening again to with a playful glance around. Her body twisting before the group between them spilt apart and found the dark haired being that sent that strange feeling along the thread of her senses.

A head taller than her, wiry with a dark head of hair as the blue streaks revealed themselves while they gleamed against the strobe lights.

She swayed, finding that strange feeling in its form finally. Her hands beckoning him forward and twining upwards as she made the silent offer to dance. The night was alive, and the emotions around her had taken her under their current to live in the moment rather than worry about the little things like the dark mark of tattoos across his skin.

 

[Makko Vyres]

Finally, he consciously acknowledged that he was being drawn along. It felt more like falling that being pushed. Makko opened his eyes wider. It paid to be alert in his line of work.

When the crowd parted and he saw the zeltron dancing he stopped worrying. Makko couldn't even spell pheromones, but he had heard about them. Some stories were true, others quite ludicrous. It was enough to make him confident that the draw he felt was nothing malicious.

Her body might have drawn everyone to the floor, but she waved at him. A pulse of excitement matched the beat.

Too much thinking. He grinned, he gawped for another bar of sound. There was one tattoo on his body that could, had, worry a girl's mother. An outline of the district on the side of his neck, shattered like glass.

Makko strode purposefully though the last of the crowd. His lips moved as he approached, maybe offering his name but it was snatched away by the music. He fell into her wake, admiring her without reservation before closing his eyes and joining the dance.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

She watched him impatiently. Hands sliding across her arms and her attention squarely on him. That strange feeling of familiarity demanding recognition that she didn't care to give with the blend of other people's emotions clouding her thoughts.

The empathic abilities of her kind both boon and bane in particular moments.

Her eyes crimson against her bubblegum skin as both of her innate talents sowed themselves into her environment. His mouth moved, the sound drifting away with the music as she leaned into his presence.

An almost greedy smile appearing before he closed his eyes and she followed suit.

Time seemed to slip away as she danced, bumping or brushing against him both purposely and not, intending to keep that interesting thing close. The empathic ways of her people drawing the feelings of others in and pushing them back out with each breath she took.

Amplifying the effect as she danced, bodies around them touching and falling into the same snare that held Lossa now.

A part of her mind becoming aware of the impending danger she was feeding into as she began to blink and stutter in her steps.

 

[Makko Vyres]

He didn't slip from her orbit, didn't even try to pull away. Other members of the Fractal State teased him for being too serious for his age. They told him to enjoy the benefits of his work.

Makko often asked himself: what attitude did they expect of someone told to murder and hack and steal on their behalf? His path into the gang had been sown with blood. It was difficult to relax, to stop watching every corner for danger.

He relaxed now. He was the center of his own world. He deserved better than the poverty of his childhood, deserved nice things and good times and he would do anything to get them. Wealth, pleasure and power. All for him if he had the determination to take them.

Makko let the music flow through him, let the lights remain out of focus. Touch was far more interesting, fingertips brushing warm, bare skin briefly. Without knowing it, he let his presence stretch out through the Force.

When she stepped off beat a few times he took the opportunity to speak. Words felt wrong in his mouth.

"You alright? Want a drink?"

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

He drew closer as she had wanted.

The fun atmosphere that had swirled around her was slowly shifting. The pleasant wash of joy turned into something sharp and alarming as the soft washed out presence of bodies around her became a clear, overly defined tangle of limbs and features.

The rational part of her mind grasping at the delicate threads of control over her abilities.

Which was becoming harder to maintain with the brush of his hand here and there. That sensation and the myriad of others around them enjoying the same want for touch into something difficult to ignore.

No.

She steadied herself, resolved to remain cool. That she was cool as a Hoth breeze, and didn't need to scare anyone else around her. Especially not the guy she'd been coaxing over. Now was not the time to appear uncool.

Especially when that feeling was-

She recognized it now. So commonplace around the temple she hadn't given it another thought when she felt the inkling of it here. Especially when she had her own abilities so freely floating about to distract her senses.

Her eyes opened, words understood but needing time to process a proper response.

Did she admit she needed to step off the dance floor and seem like a loser? Would probably be for the best. How long had they been dancing? It probably hadn't even been that long. Water sounded really good though. How did she say that without sounding weird? Or nervous. She wasn't nervous though. Was someone else nervous? Oh gosh how long had that been going on?

"A drink sounds good!" She was close enough to feel heat, to feel the force briefly as she let him lead the way.

Beginning to pull back that empathic telepathy and pheromones slowly and carefully. The furthest reaches of that circle felt the shift first as people began to step away from the dance floor.

 

[Makko Vyres]

When there was a pause, he thought the answer was going to be no. That would be fair. Zeltrons were known to quite enjoy a dance and for people to get the wrong idea about their intentions. Trying to play it cool, he managed to keep an inane grin to a thin smile when she agreed.

Makko wove a direct path towards the bar. The music was loud and conversation would be difficult, but he took her reply - incorrectly - to be entirely a sign that she wanted to talk.

He felt the shift in the atmosphere, but didn't understand its source. There was no conscious control of his abilities. A sense of danger and an affinity for breaking the rules of computer systems were not enough to make him think of a supernatural ability. A lack of education meant he had never even heard of the Force, let alone the Jedi.

They made it to the bar and he actually looked at her properly for a moment. Makko turned away before he appeared impolite. Were those contact lenses?

"Haven't seen you here before, what do you want to drink?"

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

They both played it cool, her bearings coming back slowly as the crowd seemed to part before them. A leftover from the reeling in her of abilities that formed a wedge for the both of them.

Reaching the bar, the sound wasn't much better for speaking but at least she could hazard a guess as to what was said by context.

She did catch his eyes wandering over her however, enjoying the attention even if it was brief. Her eyes looking him over proper without the haze of everyone's emotions guiding her.

He was decently dressed, seemed comfortable in with all of these people, while being confident enough to approach a stranger. Her better senses gave her the warning signs about this one and did with those warnings the most sensible thing.

Ignored them.

"Haven't been in here before. Club soda. I...shouldn't mix things." She sheepishly explained in as vague a way as possible.

"You seem at home here. What are you drinking?"

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Yeah here quite often," he said, holding up a finger for the barman. The loud music was a good excuse to lean closer.

Fractal State were on friendly terms with the owners and several people waiting at the bar would be skipped so they could be served.

It was a shame it wasn't one of the two bars they owned. Then his drink of choice would have been on the bar before they got there. Makko thought that had to look impressive, which made it a shame.

"A club soda and I'll have a firehawk," he said to the barman, who came quickly enough that he couldn't explain his choice to the zeltron first. A popular tall cocktail with red and gold layers.

"You've been dancing a lot too," he said of her choice. He looked back the way they had come. No more central mass of dancers.

"Think they're all dissapointed you left the floor," he added. With me, his smile said.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

She watched the subtle motion to the barman, that jumped the line to serve them as wonder settled into just how often he came around the bar for such service. When he was close enough, she made to speak before he did and had her sliding a glance to him.

An interesting choice in drinks at least.

He looked back, and she couldn't help but follow his gaze as she slid closer to avoid the person to her other side.

"They can be disappointed then." She angled, sensing a touch of pride about his reaction with how close she was.

"What got you into that drink? If you don't mind I might steal a sip." She smiled none to sneakily from under her lashes.

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko looked off to one side as he tried to remember when he had first tried it.

"I think it was a bet," he said. "My friends think its very funny that I like cocktails more than home brew jet juice."

They made the hard liquor in the fuel tank of a swoop bike. He was amazed no one had been killed by it yet. They also thought it was very funny that he spent his money on nice clothes. They all needed something to poke fun at, but being one of the youngest properly inducted, a lot of it fell on him.

Makko felt compelled to share with a single bat of her eyelashes. He took a sip. A kick of spice came between the layers of fruit. Then he leaned forwards to offer the tall glass.

"Love the coat," he exclaimed, "must have been a bit warm on the dance floor?"

There was often a zelton in any given club. Admittedly, by this hour they seemed to find the idea of covering any skin at all to be an offence to their culture. Makko didn't want her to go back to the dance floor however. She had left it with him.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

Her brow rose at the explanation, pondering at first how to phrase her response before shaking her head and giggling.

"Sometimes the best things are found by accident. And probably better for our health. No shame in liking something with flavor." She added, leaning back to smirk before sipping on the bubbling water.

She had been dancing for a minute with how her body seemed to crave the drink.

The comment about her jacket made her look him over before smiling wide. It was a heavy thing, and if it didn't have the qualities it did she would have abandoned it at the door.

"I don't trust it. Might walk out without me in it. It would probably look good on you though." She teased, letting her hand slide over to his drink with a small, inquisitive nod.

 

[Makko Vyres]

His group had taken his favourite coat from him. That was a problem for tomorrow. He would get it back, but they would almost certainly find some way to have fun with it. Hide it somewhere on the roof of their hideout or sew a wasp inside the sleeve.

Makko was entirely addicted to that smile. He still had self awareness of the pill he had taken. Enough to try and keep himself from openly staring. It softened out the rough edges of his mind, wore down his inhibitions.

He made a show of sizing her up. Makko was still a little self conscious about his size. He hung around with six foot tall men who worked out heavily and weren't that fussy about what they ingested to pack on muscle.

"Why don't I try it on?" he suggested. "Besides, I wouldn't want to be walking out of here without you."

In his mind, remarkably smooth.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

The slow shift of crimson eyes to a soft rosy color was a process he would have noticed through the watching he was doing. At least up to the point of his jacket comment.

Which made her blink several times as she slid his drink over and sipped from it.

"That is a good drink." She commented, sliding his drink back before holding a sleeve out towards him. Her hand ready to slide through as she sassed him.

"Just make sure I get it back." She couldn't help the giddy feeling as she waited for him to pull the sleeve off.

The tube top beneath black as the darkest corners of the club against flush pink skin.

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Hey, I'm not going nowhere," Makko replied. He had mentally discarded a string of other options for being either too corny or too forward. He was having fun right now.

He was having fun, which was irritating in a way because they'd all told him to have fun.

She wanted him to take it off? An eyebrow arched, but he obliged. Makko gave a first tug with one hand. At no point was he particularly careful with how his gaze roamed.

There was a purposeful kind of smile on his face as he leaned forwards. With his other hand, it took the liberty of helping her to free her shoulder, palm of his hand smoothing over warm skin and down.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Nightclub, Denon
Equipment: Concealed Sling Bag,
Danger Jacket, Outfit, Heartbeat Heels, Concealed Device in left ear, Long Handled Double Lightsaber
Tags: Makko Vyres

She had to smile to keep from laughing when he didn't catch the hint. Her eyes fluttering instead of outright closing to keep from letting the smile devolve into a laugh as well.

"Not yet anyway." Came the coy retort.

She spun slowly to help him, the lively nature of those around them helping soothe the nerves she felt at being the center of someone's attention.

It was refreshing, and alarming in the same breath.

She let the final sleeve slide away free, not swatting at his hands that roamed and letting the smile remain as she leaned her arms against the bar now and watched him intently.

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko waisted no time in shrugging the jacket on. A little tight around the shoulders, but his frame wasn't too big for him. He laughed, not knowing if it suited him in the slightest.

"Oh I like this," he replied, holding up his arms. "Like it a lot. I think you'll have to leave with me if you want to make sure you get it back."

The line was delivered with all the panache the high teenager could manage. He leaned an elbow on the bar and picked up his colourful cocktail. Blue streaks of hair, red and orange striped drink and a white, metal-studded woman's jacket. Definitely a sight.