Five O'Clock Somewhere

[Christian Slade]

Christian retracted his hand and took his seat again, lifting his glass and taking a sip of the smooth whiskey. "Don't mention it.", he said, glancing across Verrin to the young woman and raising his glass as if to toast her. He made flipped his tongue against the roof of his mouth, letting pressure build until air filtered in finally, making a clicking noise through his clenched teeth which were displayed in a smile. He then glanced over to Verrin, reaching out with his free hand and patting him on the back.

"Relax, Kid.", he whispered through the force, a dark wisp caressing the man's ears in a way that would make him feel as though he was leaning over his shoulder and speaking to him low enough so that only he could hear. "I'm not interested. I already told you, there's another woman who's caught my eye, and she has my full attention..."

"So!", Christian finally said, bringing new life to the momentarily stale mood of conversation. "I know a little bit about your friend here.", Christian said, glancing over to Verrin and flicking his head in his direction ever so slightly. "What's your story? And while your at it, how'd you two meet?"

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

"It's alright. I wasn't awake for parts of it, plus it does make a good story," Verrin said trying to alleviate some of her guilt. It truly hadn't been her fault, at least, he felt it wasn't. It hadn't seemed like she knew why either of them were there and seemed to have taken to heart Graxin's talk of them being friends... Why she was flying around with an assassin was something he still wanted to know. Graxin was a man with a lot of problems, even in their short fight, it hadn't been very hard to see it. Was he different when he wasn't fighting?

He coughed in his glass when she elbowed him, "He isn't too bad," Verrin agreed as it was rather nice of him to allow them free drinks, but he was fairly sure there was a reason behind it. Maybe he was hoping that if they drank more they would be more open to talking? Or... something else? Still the offer mixed with their smiles were not doing anything to improve his sullen mood. The source of his sullen mood was still not something he was willing to think about.

"Mm? I am fine," Verrin said, "Just enjoying my drink," she was speaking softer then before. Was his mood change so easy to see? Just as Verrin raised his glass to his lips, he was patted on the back by Christian and had to fight the cough that wanted to erupt from his lungs. Verrin turned his head, unable to bite back on his raising temper when Christian's words crawled around in his mind. The same technique he had used when he had first come to the bar.

"That.. it really isn't like that," Verrin repeated sending the words through his mind. Telepathy really was such a useful technique, but he had to admit that he suddenly felt far less moody and sullen then he had before. The why was still something he was not sure he wanted to delve into.

Christian's newest question banished any remaining thoughts he had on the subject. He wanted to know more about her life as well, how did she come to meet Graxin, where did she grow up?

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

The flygirl sneaked a short sip of her alcohol before answering Christian. Where to start? "Well, I'm a Brentaal Four baby." She always claimed that she was. Technically, that was debatable, but it was certainly easier to explain it that way. "Lived all my life dusting hyper with my mom and dad. They ran a freighter and I just picked up on everything. Ship was my home." She paused to check if she was boring her company--and to take another swig of her Mantellian brandy. Wiping the moistness off her lips, she continued. "I left them a few years back. Jet with just about anyone who's level about paying."

She alternately pointed at herself and then Verrin as she proceeded to tell of her solo career. "Our buddy Grax-man arranged for me to work as a mechanic on his baby. Didn't even meet him until we had already padded Kashyyyk. Nice guy, said he'd come to bring his wayward friend around." She winked at the Jedi. "That's you, sport.

"Anyway... Looks like I've locked a job with him. I guess I'm sort of officially his first mate, depending on how things drift this afternoon." She suddenly realized that she had not shared her name with Mr. Slade. She moved to remedy this. "Oh... My name's Corvetta, by the way. Not bad for a flygirl, huh?" The girl allowed a goofy grin.

[member="Verrin Ris'to"] [member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"On the contrary.", Christian explained, flashing his perfect white smile at Corvetta before glancing from her over to Verrin and back to her. "You're exceptional and it's a pleasure to meet you.", he said, following up his response to the young woman and taking a sip of whiskey as he whispered through the force to Verrin.

"I'm not the one you have to convince."

"Well then, I must admit that you're a site for sore eyes, Corvetta. I've been wondering when Lanky here was going to mix up company and bring a new face around here, and thankfully he picked a pretty one.", he said, raising his glass and reaching over, clinking his against Verrin's, whether or not he resisted the gesture, and pulled his glass back to take a sip before before setting it back on top of the bar.

"So are you going to be a part of the crew, Lanky?", Christian asked, reaching up and propping both elbows up against the bar as he glanced sideways at the young man next to him.

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

Verrin could admit he was a little jealous of her life. Exploring the galaxy with her family? One job at a time? That sounded incredible. He really couldn't remember much about his own mother, and he doubted he ever really would, but to explore the galaxy with people who love you just sounded like a dream, one he tried to live if only in parts as he, himself, was fond of exploring new worlds and seeing new wonders in the galaxy. Verrin was a little curious about why she chose to leave her parents, but it wasn't really his place to ask.

He did pick up the fact that she hadn't really met Graxin until Kashyyyk which meant she may not know why he was there which seemed likely by how friendly she was to him, and her belief that he and Graxin were friends. He wasn't sure why, but he was... relieved to know she hadn't been apart of the assassination. Although, why did Graxin want him on his ship? That... sounded odd. Sure Verrin understood that as a Jedi, his skills were incredibly useful, but Graxin should know that he would never approve or allow assassinations and murders. Or was he trying to turn over a new leaf? Or was it a trap?

"Who knows what could happen over this afternoon," Verrin said not wanting to crush her goal or her spirits. There was little chance he would agree to be apart of Graxin's ship, not to mention, he would have to talk to the council on allowing him time to leave... but perhaps if he was around Graxin he could learn more about what was wrong with him? Learn how to help him? Then there was the issue of Corvetta. Graxin was... unstable, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about her. What if he started thinking it was an AI again? That she was part of some kind of.. simulation?

"Not bad at all," Verrin said agreeing with Christian.

As Christians words crawled around in his Skull, Verrin closed his eyes to fight back his urge to roll them. He wasn't getting away from that was he? There really wasn't anything going on, they barely knew each other... Slowly, he re-opened his eyes not sure if he should take bringing her here as a compliment or... Well, he would take it as a compliment, "I have good taste," he said flashing a small smile as he tinked his glass against the Sith's.

Was he going to join the crew? The crew made it sound far better then a delusional assassin's crew, "Maybe. I would need to talk to the Order about... circumstances, but I am considering it."

[member="Christian Slade"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta had always been registered as 'one of the boys'. Sure, she had received a few compliments in passing, but there was usually another female around who had nicer hair or bigger eyes or a low-cut neck who owned the men's attention. And at this moment, she was not entirely confident in how to take it. The default bodily reaction quickly came into effect, as evidenced by a brief change in complexion dominated by a red hue. "Aww, you guys..." She turned away and shook her glass in an elliptical motion for a second, before responding roundabout with a toothy smile. "You're not the worst chassis I've seen either."

The pilot chewed her tongue for a moment as she mulled over the possibility of Verrin tagging along. She had so far enjoyed his company. Of course, their first meeting had been a fleeting occurrence and not much to read a man by, but his personality seemed rather timid yet laid back. There were not many people who invited her to socialize, despite her amiable personality, and the fact that a Jedi had invited her to join him after only a couple minutes of acquaintance was not underappreciated.

"I'll see if I can click with Grax. Not sure what his plans are, but he's frakkin' rich." Corvetta halted, realizing that she actually had not seen any money yet. She swung her hair behind her shoulder to conceal her hesitation. "...I'm pretty sure, anyway. Be great to have a 'middie'.

"But Christian here might miss his favorite customer. So I don't know." The girl beamed at the bar owner and drained her second cup.

[member="Verrin Ris'To"] [member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian smiled at Corvetta as she mentioned stealing his favorite customer and shrugged in response. "I've got casinos to run and evil to make sure is afoot, sweetheart.", he explained to her as he raised his own glass and took a sip of his whiskey. He then reached out and returned the glass to the bar top with a "clink" and gulped down the whiskey with a satisfied sigh following the action.

"Besides, you kids have trouble to get into and I've got a girl to impress, so I think I'll be okay.", he said, reaching over and thrusting his elbow into Verrin's shoulder as he laughed at him for a moment. "Just promise you'll try and bring this one to life while you're out there reeking havoc and make sure not to steal from any of my establishments. If you do that I'll have to kill ya.", he said, laughing again with a lighthearted manner in what he'd said, though and underlying uncertainty about the man might cause one's stomach to sink as the realization struck that he might not be joking about that last part.

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

Verrin lifted his drink to his lips and took a small sip as he wasn't really sure what to say about her compliment, so drinking would let him think it over and maybe let Christian take control of the conversation. He didn't normally get compliments, but being described as not having such a bad chassis was a new one. The blush on her face wasn't something he had really been expecting as he was sure she was used to being called pretty as either someone had to have terrible taste or be blind to not see it.

He raised an eyebrow at her talk of Graxin being rich. As a Jedi, credits didn't really... mean much to him. She could have his cut for all her really cared. Going from rich to pretty sure he was rich was a little... odd. On that, what in the force was a middie? Did she mean having three people with him being the third? Or did she think he would be higher on the chain then her and so be in the 'middle'? Corvetta was good at confusing him, that was sure. He only understood a tiny amount of her references, but Verrin was sure that was only because they had been exposed to different mannerisms as they grew up, "I don't really mind about the Credits one way or the other. Happy to, maybe, be your middie though... Whatever that is."

Verrin snorted at the idea of Christian missing his favorite customer. He didn't spend that much, and their 'relationship' was complicated at best. Then again, a lot of his relations with other people seemed complicated. He raised any eyebrow at Christians request that she bring him to life... he wasn't sure if he wanted to know that was a sexual innuendo or to get him to loosen up. Maybe both?

"Do I look like the stealing type?" Verrin asked raising a brow. He doubted Christian was joking as despite their talks; he didn't doubt that Christian would still kill him if he had to. He wasn't sure if that was the first thing he would reach for, but Verrin wasn't egotistical enough to think the option wasn't always on the table.

[member="Christian Slade"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Christian's humor struck Corvetta as odd; playfully vile. She did not mind it, simply laughing along in a friendly manner as she was certain there was nothing sincere about it. By first impression, he seemed to be quite nice and welcoming and nothing like the awkward introvert Graxin had been on introduction. "Just remember--a casino's nothing if you can't crank a ship," she advised with a cheeky grin.

She chuckled at Verrin's confusion with her pilot lingo, yet she had no idea why. It was perfectly understandable that a landhugger like him would be ignorant of spacer slang, but there was something strangely amusing about him to her. She was enjoying herself and decided against her better judgment to request another refill of her brandy. "Short for 'midshipman'," the flygirl explained, "It's like a snazzy word for 'crewman'. 'Cause, you know, us spacers have egos the size of Krayts." She winked and giggled.

"And don't worry about the bringing-to-life biz. If you do make the cut, I promise not to hurt ya, buddy." Corvetta capped off her vow with a slap to the Jedi's shoulder. "And I'll totally show you how I flush out the TC chambers. It's frakkin' spiff."

[member="Verrin Ris'To"] [member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he glanced over to Verrin, eyeing him after he'd asked if he looked the stealing type. The Sith was quick to come up with the perfect response as he raised his glass and smirked, "You didn't look the drinking type the first time we met.", which was absolutely true. Depending on what a Jedi was wearing and how they composed themselves in public, they made it all to easy to spot them, especially for a Sith that had, like Christian, been watching our for Jedi all the years he could remember.

"You've already proven me wrong once.", Christian said in sort of a half joke, half warning. He then put on a smirk again as he looked down into his glass, raised it up to his lips and took a long, deep sip, gulping it down as he turned in his seat and glanced across to Corvetta.

"So when are you two kids slated to leave?"

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]