Private "Don't threaten me with a good time!"

[Jaina Rhys]

With: Willow Fletcher
__________________________________________________________________________

Spring season was supposed to bring out the better in both, worlds and people alike. And while Generis was a generally lovely sight to behold, with a steadily recovering ecosystem, wide, gorgeous patches of untouched natural beauty and an overall steady economy, the people-aspect for now would be subject to further assessment.
It had been no more but 7 Minutes after leaving the Kara’ad, and someone had already tried to steal from Jaina...
Not entirely unexpected, but… Out here, in plain daylight?!... In THIS economy?!

Yes, while Linnian-City’s space port was maybe a slightly less run down and dubious place than many of their otherwise usual little holes to do business, the people - travellers and locals alike -, as well as their bars and cantinas were still the exact same as one would find all over the galaxy.

Jaina Rhys had visited 137 Planets, 56 Moons, 21 Planetoids, 34 stations and one thing she was pretty certain to be a giant carcass floating in space…
And all of them had the one common denominator: Every race, and every culture (or at least those she mingled with) loved getting tipsy, entertained and distracted from the hardships of the daily grind.
So it was no surprise that one of the first places Jaina had consulted upon the Kara’ade’s arrival here had been the ‘Barfing Bantha Inn’.

Temporarily parting ways with her own band of mercs to lend a helping hand to a friend of her mother’s had not been on her bucket list, but she welcomed the opportunity to meet new people.
She had never (officially) worked with designated pirates, but she could see where a slicer and language expert could come in handy to them…

From what she had been told, their meeting would be the next day - that left her roughly 32 hours to ‘celebrate’.

With an assortment of colourful bottles of interstellar booze arranged on the table she was sitting at, as well as an exotic looking alien woman who’s species not even Jaina had ever seen before sitting on her lap, ‘celebration’ was indeed the appropriate term.
Both had been swapping travel stories with one another, stories that somehow had culminated in more and more flirtatious conversation about… Explosives…
Cackling, they both linked arms and chugged another sip from their bottles. It was more than visible that neither of them would be able to reliably hit a target - let alone walk steadily out of here - with how tipsy they already were, and as a particularly catchy song reached their ears from the centre of the cantina, they attempted to tune in; miserably failing their pitch and lyric recollection, and bursting into yet another drunken cackle.

Good thing no one of consequence was here to see her like this right now, or no one in their right mind would ever consider hiring her.
Good thing she had now 31~2-ish hours or something left to sober up.

She raised one finger towards the stranger on her lap, planning to offer to leave for a more private place as Jai all of a sudden felt another persons eye - singular - on her…

 

[Willow Fletcher]

Generis was exactly as Willow remembered it. It was lush and beautiful, but the gravity was a pain to acclimate to. She wasn’t even old and yet her bones and joints were aching as if she were in her twilight years. She was also overheated and annoyed, but that was to be expected on any planet with temperatures that regularly reached over 30C.

She had arrived here earlier than expected and her meeting with her contact was not for another 32 hours so she had time to spare which made her antsy. The Arkanian-Offshoot HATED being idle. A life spent on the move and watching her back made it very hard for her to relax when stationary but her crew had insisted that she try.
“A little shore-leave would be good for you!” More than one person had insisted, but she could read between the lines. They had been working non stop for some time and would appreciate a break themselves.

Sighing to herself as she tried to get her mood under control, Willow headed for the nearest establishment for entertainment, the Barfing Bantha Inn. She cringed as the loud music of the live band blasted over the elevated conversations of the intoxicated. It was not her idea of an ideal space to waste time but at least it seemed to be prime pickings when it came to finding suckers to hustle a few credits from.
Looking around for a target, her gaze settled on a familiar face. She was older than Willow remembered but was most certainly the person she had actually come here to see.

Jaina Rhys.

Jaina Rhys very clearly sauced with someone equally as sauced on her lap. Very classy. Willow sighed to herself. This was who she was hiring? Of course, her performance on duty would be what really mattered, but why not have a little fun beforehand and mess around as a hard-ass of a boss.

“Well well well,” Willow chimed as she approached, arms folded over her chest and a serious expression painted on her face. “Jaina Rhys. What a fine mess you seem to be in right now. Have I caught you at a bad time? Who is your companion here? Forgive me for being rude and not introducing myself. I’m Willow Fletcher, Captain of the Valiant. Mind if I sit and join you both?”

 

[Jaina Rhys]

As Jaina finally recognised the old familiar voice speaking to her, she almost choked on her drink, bursting out into a coughing fit and trying her most desperate to keep the drink inside and not spit in her poor date’s face.

A painful swallow, a tortured wheezing sound of Jai trying to catch air again, and a confused date patting her on the back in the hope to help the mercenary to breathe again.
With a helplessly apologetic look Jaina tilted her head at her date, then looked at Willow, and one more time forth and back between both of them, until it was eventually the alien date, who took initiative and spoke - more or less - on Jaina’s behalf.

“...You didn’t tell me I was the side-chick!”
Solely turning around to Willow - with one of her arms still resting around Jaina’s neck - she gave the Captain a critical glance.
Tiny, lean; probably mean… Not bad at all…
“...You know we can have fun all three of us, right?” She began in a casual singsang while taking another sip from her bottle.
“Mallae.” She then added, pointing at herself with a sassy bow. “...And you are?...”

With an awkward clearing of her throat, followed by she herself now taking a swig too - for once to soothe her aching throat, but mostly to fill herself up with some social courage - Jai eventually leaned forward, giving Willow Fletcher a playful salute, before looking up to Mallae on her lap.
“That’s… My new Captain actually…”

Mallae squinted then leaned in closer to Jaina, whispering “...She still could be fun though, right?” Towards which Jai simply shook her head and whispered back. “Yeah, but I gotta work with her, that would be kriffin’ awkward…”

Another few seconds of uncomfortable silence seeped into the little table nook Mallae and Jai sat in, before the latter eventually did a hand gesture, inviting Willow to join them.

“Sooooooooooo…..
You’re early…
…Had a good flight?!”

 

[Willow Fletcher]

Amused by the antics going on before her, Willow simply observed the pair. Side chick? Her? A laughable conclusion. So, Jaina had grown up to be like her mother after all.
“I think I’ll pass on the threesome,” Willow deflected casually, her ever present shit-eating grin decorating her face. “Although I must say, Mallae, your name is familiar to me. I think a ‘Mallae’ once took a contract away from me because she was willing to settle for something ridiculous. The client saw that as a win I guess? I don’t know. I cut contact after that.”

Willow didn’t bother giving the stranger her name as Jaina took the opportunity to do it for her, and she had mentioned her name beforehand. She saluted her new hire back with a smirk. She could hear every word whispered between them but choose not to react, instead taking up the offer to sit down. Plus, watching Jaina squirm uncomfortably was mildly amusing.

“I am indeed early, but not by choice. The rest of the crew wanted a little extra shore-leave, so who am I to say no? I thought I’d check out the local establishments while I waited for our meeting. I honestly didn’t expect to run into you beforehand, although I can’t say I’m surprised given the type of establishment this is.” Willow took the opportunity to flag down a server and ordered herself a whiskey, taking a sampling sip before nodding in contentment.

“The flight here was decent. We took a small job beforehand so the crew had a few extra credits to spend as they wish.” Her eye turned towards Mallae before focusing again on Jaina. “So, how did you two meet?” Through her connection to the force, Willow could feel the intense energies radiating from the pair before her.
…..Pure chaos.
She was debating with herself just how long she should linger before excusing herself and letting them get on with their night. She had absolutely no interest in taking part in whatever they had planned afterwards. Looking around she could see several prime targets for scamming credits from and it would be a shame to miss out on such ample opportunities…