Looking For A Tea Shop

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Kay Larr"]

Altiria

Red looked at the planet through the view port of the ship. He had borrowed the ship from a friend, and he promised his would return it in one piece. He really needed his own ship. Still, it was good to be back in the Unknown Regions. He was close to the planet where he was created. He was essentially back home.

The reason why he was here was because he was searching for someone. Namely [member="Kay Larr"]. He was searching for this person for a doctor named [member="Jakob Benson"]. The doctor wanted him to bring this woman in for treatment for mental disorders. And Red was the one the doctor gave the mission too. A good choice, as Red was extremely skilled in tracking and hunting. Besides, this should be easy enough, as the doctor even knew which planet she was on and where to find her. Apparently, this Kay Larr owned a tea shop. Red thought that it should be easy enough to find.

He got permission to land, and he approached the planet's surface. He approached his landing site, and landed the ship. Now, the real hunt began. Red exited the ship and looked around. He had his armor and his helmet on, as this was a mission. He walked off into the city, in search of this Kay Larr and her tea shop.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay's shoppe was on the outskirts of the city. It was one of a few tea and caf shops in the district. By the time that [member="Subject 73 Red"] had arrived on Altiria, she wasn't inside. Instead she was out shopping in the market, preparing for a trip. [member="Romeo Sin"] was taking her away for a bit to explore the unknown. They were set to leave tomorrow. And while she was gone [member="Doyle"] was to look after orders and customers. Hopefully all would go smoothly.

She was looking forward to this. At a time when everything seemed to go wrong and she was punishing herself for bad things that happened in the past, this trip of exploring new worlds was a good thing. Maybe she'd find a new home? If she did she'd need to let her children know. And perhaps her ex-husband as well. And then of course there was her friends too. Although she wanted to live where no one knew of her at all, there had to be some people that knew.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Kay Larr"]

Red walked down the streets of the city. After asking around a bit, he had figured out the location of the tea shop. Some of the people had given him the answers willing, as they were slightly afraid of him. Others... Needed a bit of persuading, and by that, Red meant paying them, and threatening them. He still got the answers he wanted.

He approached the location of the tea shop on the outskirts of the city. He stood in front of it and looked at it.

Hmm, quaint. Red thought to himself.

He pressed his hand on the door, and used his psychometry ability to view the memories of the door. He saw multiple people, but then he saw the one that he was looking for. He recognized Kay Larr from her image in the dossier he was given in the memories. This was the right place.

Red opened the door and walked in. He looked around. He noticed [member="Doyle"] serving the patrons in the shop. Red started to look around the shop, investigating. The other patrons seemed to be getting nervous by him. Seeing as how Red was examining everything, even them. They tried to avoid his gaze, but they couldn't see his face beneath his helmet. It must have been pretty nerve-wracking, as a fully armored and heavily armed soldier was investigating the area.

 

[Doyle]

While his boss was away shopping, Doyle did what he normally did. He looked after the customers. Some were regulars by now and their banter tended to liven up the place. "We could really use some music in here..." That much was said mostly to himself as he wiped down the counter yet again.

A wave of a customer at one of the tables quickly garnered his attention. Doyle set the cloth aside and put on a cheerful face as he approached her. The woman was quite long in years and so he needed to get close to hear her order. But heard it he did. Within moments he was fulfilling it with a flirtatious wink. That always helped for tips.

But as he was looking after her, [member="Subject 73 Red"] walked in. At first Doyle ignored him. But when it seemed apparent that he hadn't mistaken the tea shop for a pub, he started to watch the armoured man. Doyle was the nervous sort and not without his own skeletons in the closet. Still, he was the only employee there at the moment. It was his job to look after everything here.

Clearing his throat, Doyle put on a well practiced welcoming smile as he approached Red. "Hello, I'm Doyle. What can I get you?"

 

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Doyle"] [member="Kay Larr"]

Red turned to the man who had spoken to him. It was the employee. He seemed nervous, and was unnerved by Red's investigation, In truth, Red only put on a big show of the investigation to catch the employees attention, and to let the employee know that he wasn't here to mess around, but he also did do a little bit of searching, checking for traps, escape routes, hiding spots, and other similar things. Red noticed the smile on the employee's face. It was obvious, to Red at least, that he was attempting to hide his nervousness of Red, behind a smile that seemed practiced, and well worn. Red's visor scanned the man's life signs, like heart rate, so that if the employee was lying, Red could tell through the heart rate, subtle things about the man, and by using the Force.

"Nothing. As you can already tell, I'm not here for tea or anything of the sort. I'm here to speak with the owner of this shop. She isn't here, is she? I can tell, because you're the only one here doing anything." Red surmised.

 

[Doyle]

Traps, there were none. Escape routes, hiding spots; Kay was sure that those were put into the design of the shop. It would be unwise not to.

Doyle wasn't too fond of people like [member="Subject 73 Red"] that hid their faces behind helmets. It was too intimidating and uncomfortable to not know who he was dealing with. Just as he was now.

"There isn't much of a need for a lot of employees when the place is hardly jumping. What do you need to speak with her about? I can pass along the message and she can get back to you when she returns." Depending on what it was that Red had to say, Doyle more or less spoke the truth. If his boss was in danger, he wasn't really about to just have her walk into it.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

[member="Doyle"]

Red continued to stare down the employee. He was trying to evade the subject. Red didn't like that. It meant that he had something to hide. "I need to speak with your boss." Red said again, this time with extra emphasis. His right hand sat on his right leg, right next to a blaster pistol hidden in a holster on his utility belt. If it came to it, he would fight his way out.

 

[Doyle]

Doyle held out his hands, spreading his arms out a little to show that they were empty while he shook his head. He eyed the holstered blaster that [member="Subject 73 Red"] had before turning his attention back to the visor of the helmet. "And I told you friend; she ain't here. Why don't you try tomorrow. Maybe she'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, if you'd let me in on who you are, then perhaps she'd get back to you all the quicker." That is unless Doyle managed to convince her to stay away. But that was probably highly unlikely.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle

"No, I need to speak with your boss today." Red told the employee. Red knew that the employee was trying to throw Red off. It meant that they had something to hide. But Red wasn't here for anything like that. He was here for a different reason. "Fine, I'll tell you who I am. The name's Red. Just Red. And I need to speak with your boss. Don't worry, you won't be out of a job." Red added, jokingly. At least, he tried to. He was still learning about that.

 

[Doyle]

Doyle sighed. The man was persistent. And what could he do but give him a bit of an olive branch. "Alright friend, but you're just going to have to wait. Could be hours, could be overnight. Who knows?"

The fact that Red only gave his name or what could be a nickname wasn't lost on him either. He wasn't born yesterday. "Can I get you something to drink while you wait? Or does your profession not allow it?"

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle

Red nodded. He could wait. He had time. "I'll wait for her." Red told the man.

"Depends, what do you have?" Red asked the man when he offered him a drink.

 

[Doyle]

Subject 73 Red

Doyle nodded as the man agreed to wait. There was that at least. Maybe later Red might get pushy, but for the moment Doyle could just continue on as normal.

"This is a tea shoppe, so as you can imagine, we sell tea. Given that you are on duty doing...whatever it is you're doing, I can offer you one of the more...legal varieties." He wasn't really allowed to touch the spice-laced teas anyways.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle

Red turned to look at the man from under his visor. From his last statement, that meant that they dealt in more illegal drinks. But Red wasn't here to investigate that. "I'll take water." Red said simply. Then he turned back away from the man.

 

[Doyle]

Subject 73 Red

"Just water? Sure thing, friend." If that wasn't a symbol of mistrust, Doyle didn't know what is. He turned from the table and headed over to the counter. No doubt he'd be watched, so he wasn't about to send out a message to his boss just yet. He poured the water into a tall glass and plastered on a smile before making his way past a few other customers to get to the man. Doyle set the glass down in front of him. "There you are. Can I get you anything else? Something to eat? We have a variety of baked goods." Delay, delay, delay. That was what he had to do.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle

Red looked at the employee as he set the water on the table. He was stalling. Red could tell, and that fake smile on his face showed it even more so. Great, Red hated it. This employee thought Red was here for something else. Perfect. He hated every second of it.

"Alright, look here. I know you're stalling. I'm not here for any reason that you think. I'll tell you something, I'm a friend of Loreena Arenais-Valhoun , and I need to speak to your boss." Red told the man, with a little more force and emphasis this time.

 

[Doyle]

Subject 73 Red

Although Doyle had never met Loreena, he certainly knew of her. A small wave of fear washed over him. "Is she okay? Did something happen? Did she do something?" From what he knew of his boss' daughter, she was prone to getting into trouble as well. But she tended to cause it too.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle

Red continued to stare at the man. He seemed worried, almost fearful. He seemed to care a lot about his boss' family. Interesting. Well, he was loyal, Red could give him that.

"I need to speak to your boss, and no one but her. These are private matters." Red told the man once again. Why was it that everyone with some sort of relation with this Kay-Larr so stubborn?

 

[Doyle]

Subject 73 Red

The worry didn't leave Doyle. But he put both his hands in the air in a wave of dismissive defeat. "Okay, okay, I get it." Lowering his hands, Doyle turned away from Red and plastered on that smile as he was waved over by a customer for a refill. Something in his gut told him that this meeting wasn't going to be a good one for his boss. But that wasn't saying much as Doyle tended to think that way about anything that was mysterious.

Still it nagged at him. After refilling a drink, Doyle made his way over to the hallway and up the stairs, trying to keep his footfalls as light as he could while he ran up the stairs to his room and closed the door, locking it behind him.

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Doyle Kay-Larr

Red looked around. The employee seemed to have disappeared off. Fine with him. Red would be able to tell if anything was wrong through the Force.

Red removed his helmet and set it down on the table. He picked up the water and sipped it a bit, and waited for Kay Larr to return. He could wait, he definitely had time.

 

[Doyle]

Subject 73 Red

Doyle's heart pounded in his chest. What was he going to do? Red was far too cryptic for his liking. No doubt whatever he wanted with Kay wasn't good. He had to warn her. That was his job, wasn't it?

He rushed to his bedside and brought out his commlink. Switching to Kay's channel, he reached out to her. "Ah Kay? Kay you there? We've got a bit of a problem."

~Doyle? What is it? I'm almost there. Transport was late again. Are we out of some of our stock?~

Almost there? Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. "That's a negative. Just...just don't come back here for a few days."

~A few days? Doyle what happened? Did you get into the spice?~

"What--no! No, I swear. There's just some...armoured fella looking for you."

~Did he say why? What kind of armour?~

Doyle ran his hands through his hair. "He won't say, only that he wants to talk. And I don't know what kind of armour it is! Not Imperial though. Just stay away."

There was a moment of silence over the commlink before he heard her respond. ~I'm just at the walkway. I'm going to sneak a peek through the window, see if I can recognize him. If I don't, well I'll grab some things from the warehouse and camp out for a few days. Okay?~

Doyle sighed. This wasn't going to end well. "Yeah...you're the boss....Just give me a minute and I'll head back downstairs. Maybe I could distract him for you."

~Thanks Doyle. Kay out.~

He dropped his commlink onto his bed and once more ran his hand through his hair before exiting his room and making his way downstairs. No doubt he wouldn't be able to hide his nervousness for long.