New Faces, Same Drinks

[Barrett Haskins]

Nar Shaddaa was a scary place for the twety-three year old smuggler who found himself sitting behind a drink he kept swirling around with his straw to mix the alcohol again. The bar had obviously watered down the alcohol to save money, not the worst Barrett had tasted but far from the top shelf whiskeys he sipped back on Corellia.

The smuggler sipped at his drink again, hoping the alcohol would dull his senses so he could escape the constant buzz that echoed through Nar Shaddaa, hopefully someone interesting would have the misfortune of being at the Vagrant Rancor sipping on the same watered down swill, telling the same tall tales. "Hrm." The audible sigh escaped his lips, returning back to his quest to get as drunk as possible.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Cantinas were her typical home. Not only business could be found here, but it was a way to forgo the ordinary rituals of the civilized for a more barbaric subculture. The buzzing atmosphere of the bar, and a drink or three, was just the thing she needed, and if a job should come along, so be it.

She sat by herself, towards the shadowed corners of the bar. She scoped out everyone and everything, estimating the amount of creds they could afford for a--ah, who was she kidding. She would take any job that came her way at this point. It wasn't that she needed the dough (even though she actually did), but she just wanted some adventure--some escape--from her life.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

The smuggler’s emerald irises danced ever so casually across the cantina, the crowd this night was especially diverse. There had been a few Rodian’s sitting in the corner across the bar the last few nights meaning the Hutts were likely in the area, meaning there was big business going down, perhaps there were credits there. At another table sat a rough looking gun for hire who had already hassled the waitress a few times tonight, though where mercenaries went, credits usually followed so perhaps he would be a potential lead. Then at the last table to catch Barrett’s eye he saw a face, not just any face, but a girl’s face, which was weird because girls never came here. Curious as to whom this avant-garde barfly was, the smuggler made his way over to her table, drink in hand.

“Sorry but I couldn’t help notice you from across the room, I know when I see trouble.” He said playfully, one hand was on his drink and the other was placed next to his blaster in case she decided to try anything funny, trouble was ambiguous and he wasn’t sure if she was the fun kind of trouble like a party on Zeltros or the not so fun kind of trouble like an agent from the Empire doing surveillance. The patrons wouldn’t mind a little blaster fire if she were the latter, it would probably lighten up the mood.

“Let me buy you a drink?”

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Trouble. Perhaps she was, but she knew that he was not all innocent himself. How he only kept one hand above the table was a sure sign that his other hand was readying itself. All she had to ask herself was was he trigger happy? Or just paranoid. Either way, she could deal with it.

"I can buy my own drinks," she said, though her tone was not one of annoyance. Just one that knew nothing in the cantina was free. And she would be in debt to no one.

"But let's say you stay. We can drink together...though even with your hand on your blaster, I'll bet I'll be the faster shot. So relax--or remain uptight--up to you," she smiled, almost sweetly though with a hint of bitterness at the male. "I'm Mid by the way."

 

[Barrett Haskins]

Barrett couldn’t help but smile when she refused his drink; it was something new for Barrett considering most of the time girls only talked to him when they wanted a something to drink. The smuggler hadn’t been on Nar Shaddaa too long yet though and the women here were obviously a bit different than across the galaxy, it was still consider uncouth however, for Haskins to not buy her a drink, he waved the waiter down and told him to get two of whatever she was drinking, perhaps the more drunk she got the more fun she would be. If she refused the drinks he’d go ahead and drink them for her.

The smuggler’s emerald eyes looked toward Midnight when she commented on his blaster, it had actually been a test to see if trouble recognized trouble, if she recognized that his hand was near his blaster she was keen enough for Haskin’s time. He had little intention of shooting the woman, finding their company is much more enjoyable alive than dead…and legal. A flash of mischief ran across his face as he brought the blaster pistol to the table, placing it in plain sight where she could see it. “Just wanted to make sure you were my type.” He said with a smirk, the drinks arriving at the table finally. “Names Barrett Haskins, tell me, Mid, what are we drinking?” He asked in reference to the cocktails placed before the two.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

"Fizzyglug...with a splash of something extra."

A shot of death sticks were in each. She was used to its effects, but was curious if he should dare drink it. The cocktail was a double edged sword, taking away a piece of your future life with each swallow while brining out some twisted hallucinations...if he was a first time user it would definitely be an interesting night. And of course, the shortened lifespan did nothing to deter her--for the average life of a Jedi Smuggler was not very long to begin with.

"Course I understand if you can't handle it, no pressure," she said as she took a drink. Her blue eyes never left his, curious as to what he would choose.


ooc. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fizzyglug

 

[Barrett Haskins]

The first rule of being a scoundrel was to never lose face…ever, so Barrett met Midnight’s gaze with his own, viridian eyes shaded with mischief, he was interested in whatever it was she was offering the two of them drink. It sounded simple enough, ‘Fizzyglug’, sounded like a girl drink if Barrett had ever heard of one.

“Sounds delicious.” The smuggler deadpanned, picking up the drink before him. “Cheers!” He offered her glass to cheers before he took a sip. The toxic drink singed his taste buds, Barrett could taste the death stick poured in, however he was unable to place what it exactly was. “Are you trying to poison me already? Or do you really drink this shutta on a regular basis?” Before she could answer, he took another sip, even if she had poisoned him he had to keep face.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Poison?

Oh man, that meant he did not know she spoke of Death sticks when she mentioned the extra ingredient in the Fizzyglug. Everyone should know what she referred to when talking about Fizzies...and yet she had just the luck to get the one who didn't. Now she felt like she just slipped him a roofie, cause he sure didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Though her mind raced, her demeanor was calm. She took a sip of the drink, the deathstick had an obvious taste though she was always used to it straight or smoked.

"I'm the type of girl who'd shot you, but not poison. Too subtle," she said with a grin, half serious, half kidding. "Though, you do realize the point to that drink isn't the taste right?"

 

[Barrett Haskins]

It seemed she was the fun kind of trouble after all. Barrett took another drink, this time he was able to pick up the real taste after the initial shock, he was able to finally place what it was that made it taste so strange. “Death sticks!” He roared with laughter, his head suddenly getting much lighter, the effects had taken him by surprise. The smuggler usually was proud to say he could handle his drugs, especially death sticks considering the number of cigarettes he smoked and the spice he’s done through the years.

The smuggler’s vision started to get a little blurry, he had an amazing head rush when the effects kicked in, Haskins knew they wouldn’t last too long but until they stopped he would enjoy the ride. He took another drink from his cup, glad he stumbled onto the woman. He brought his attention back to Midnight, attempting to straighten out his vision because at the moment there appeared to be two of her. “So what brings you to a place like this, Mid?” Barrett’s eyesight was finally clearing out, his body realizing it was only a death stick.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

"Oh come on...you don't really want to stick to drab conversation now, do you?"

She stood, albeit shaky for the death sticks were taking ahold of her. The room spun, and though the cantina was dark, each light became amplified, almost as a rainbow that eclipsed the room.

"Let's go. Let's get lost in the city, and perhaps score some more goods!"

Since he was alright with death sticks, perhaps he wouldn't mind going into the under city and see what kind of trouble--and perhaps jobs--they could find.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

A smile enveloped Barrett’s face at her mention of the drab conversation, it was true, every girl he talked to it started the same way, who are you, where are you from, what are you doing, it all got very monotonous. His head had started spinning and his eyes were likely dilated because the neon lights in the cantina looked and felt more like lightsabers.

“I could use the fresh air anyways…” Though the Nar Shaddaa air was notoriously polluted, he just wanted to get out of the cantina. He stood up and waited for Midnight to follow suit.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

With the deathsticks flowing through her system...well even without it...Mid never really cared for the social rules of conduct. She never cared for society much, except for a few, but one thing she did love was adventure. So she grabbed this stranger's arm--and almost literally dragged him through the crowded room toward the exit.


The crowd melded together in frantic waves of people dancing, becoming one massive pulsing organism in her mind. Was he seeing this? Her blaster weighed heavily on her side, almost calling her to start shooting the blob, before it could bring it's tentacles to suck them both under...but luckily the exit--or was it a drooping mouth?--came before them and she ran outside, pulling and saving Barrett from the cantina beast.

Unholstering her blaster, she shot a few random blasts into the air to scare the beast from following them. Smile as big as ever on her face, for how can you not be happy with a blaster in your hand?


"Ok, you have some fresh air? Cause I think those people didn't like the sound of my gun," she said, though was confused, cause how could someone not love that sound??? She smiled hugely, as she wondered if he remembered to grab his own blaster from the table. "So I think we might be seeing a shoot out soon, and I could use your backup. Should we run--or blast that monster?"

 

[Barrett Haskins]

Barrett didn't even have enough time to look back and see if Midnight was coming before she grabbed him and tore him through the cantina, he barely had enough time to grab his trusted blaster. The smuggler realized they were leaving without paying but by that point he saw the table get lost in a sea of people and drinks. This wouldn't be the first time he had left without paying his tab and it wasn't the first time he got dragged through the bar, however it was the first time it was done by a pretty woman, and it was the first time he hadn't been thrown out and kicked before being told never to come back.

The Nar Shaddaa air filled his nose when they walked out, the sour smell of exhaust and filth burned his nostrils. The death sticks either weren't working for Barrett yet or Midnight's had kicked in faster because she proceeded to take out her blaster and let off a few warning shots into the night, her eyes wild with ecstatic energy, a pearly smile to match. Haskins knew that their chaotic energies had met for a reason, their auras fed into each other too much for it to have been a coincidence, however he could tell there was as much a possibility of them fighting and yelling as there was for drinking and merriment, and it was how chaotic beings like them lived.

Barrett still had his blaster in his hand and was about to join Midnight in her display when she asked him a question, the question being as strange as it was drew Haskin's attention from the blaster and to the 'monster'. "What monst-" he turned around to look at the cantina just as someone had been walking out, then boom, the death stick hit him, his eyes got big and his heart skipped a beat, the Bith that left the cantina suddenly turned a whole mess of colors, his big black eyes looked more like endless voids trying to suck Barrett in. "AHH!!" He yelled, pointing and shooting his blaster randomly at the establishment, in his drugged haze missing the innocent Bith, "MONSTERS!" He yelled, looking to Midnight to see her reaction and see if she turned into a monster, too.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

The Bith, or as some would say a huge revolting tongue unraveling from the monsters mouth, came lurching forward. It was about to lick them, then drag them both inside to be digested! Luckily Barrett shot it but...

"Oh my gods! It's immune to blaster shots!"

It did not fall, as it seemed to avoid each well aimed shot matrix style.

"Follow me! Hurry!"

She looked to Barrett--luckily it was still Barrett though his skin glistened like pearl dust (perhaps it was salvia, did the tongue manage to lick him?)--and motioned him to follow before running away from the detached tongue. She headed towards the canal, knowing it would offer them both a quick retreat.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

The smuggler followed suit behind his new accomplice, whatever beast was housed within the cantina would soon be following them. The duo took off into the shadows, however with as big as Barrett’s eyes were he could still see quite well, the durasteel walls twisting and turning with each new step.

“Frag it! What did you give me to drink?!” His voice sounding like it came in waves, in synch with the tumbling waves his vision seemed to be going through. These death sticks were something fierce, he had never had such a potent dose in his life. “We need to get somewhere safe, whatever that was is after us…” His line of imaginary and real had been faded so much that he wasn’t sure if the patrons that would be exiting the bar in search of whoever had been shooting at it were really monsters or not, either way they were going to be angry.

“I might know a guy who lives here, he gives me jobs from time to time he can probably save us.” He then took midnights arm, running her off into a side alley then he would take her down a couple more until they were closer or so he hoped, he was very under the influence at the moment.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Gives me jobs.

Smuggler? Hunter? Salvia covered angel?

Whatever he was, he kept pulling her down one alley way and another. Dark walls shot upwards, as if pillar titans, kneeling in wait to crush the slugs that crawled beneath them. One building lifted it's stone foot away from the street, it's concrete leg getting ready to stomp them...

"I don't think this guy--whoever he is--is going to be strong enough to stop the stompings of titans." And though it was creepy, she enjoyed the heightened feel of fear course in her system, as the foot fell from above, nearly crushing the two. What it really was...? Who knows, for right here and now it was buildings come to life.

She grabbed Barrett, pulling him into a doorway in the alley, barely escaping the second falling foot. They would be safe--briefly, as wandering giants took to the streets.

"Yeah, the bartender knows my system is too used to death sticks...so is sure to add an extra surprise to really get through me. Shoulda told you, but then would you be here with me now?" she said, knowing that even her whispers would be heard by him, for the doorway was small.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing.” He whispered playfully. He was curious as to why she had pulled him aside, talking of titans, however he hadn’t had time to look back yet. As soon as he did his eyes widened in horror, there was a titan standing not four meters from them. The monstrosity stood into infinity it looked to Barrett, little did he knew it was just a building It appeared as though the drugs were taking over more and more each second, it had to end sometime…although it wasn’t a totally bad feeling, his back was tingling like he just did a bump of spice.

“You were fun far before the death stick even touched my tongue. However, I would have liked to finish that drink I didn’t even have to pay for.” His vision was warped far more in the dark than in the light, it seemed like the dark corners were dancing beside Midnight’s head, angry tentacles licking at her hair and trying to take her to whatever hell they came from. “But this might not be the safest place to talk about it.” His whispered tone full of concern, the monsters had indeed found them and were about to eat Midnight. Barrett took her hand and ran from the cubby; the large titans were far easier to out maneuver than the tricky tentacles that were going to gobble them up. Frisk had to be here somewhere; he’d hopefully know his apartment when he saw it, somehow he knew he was close, although that could have been the eternal optimist in him mixed with drugs.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Not the safest place to talk about it..

Though she was surrounded by the mythical dimension, she still could think clearly. Looking at his eyes, seeing where he looked and his reactions--Was he seeing the titans as well? Though they stomped clear as day and were real to her, she also knew logically it was impossible for both of them to be immersed in the same hallucinogenic plateau. He was bound to take his separate journey, even though they walked side by side...


...Unless...

She had influenced him through the Force somehow. She had abstained from using it, desiring nothing to do with the whims of an unseen voodoo. But often it would sneak within her life, making her feel what she chose not too, driving her beyond self control. And now she felt it, coursing through her blood. She wished to shut it down, hold it back, but instead it lassoed through her, it's tendrils warm and gentle as it encircled her arms in a sweet caress...her fingertips...and reached to touch Barrett, if only briefly.

She pulled back, scared by his touch, even if it was solely meant to guide her through the titans.

Did he notice? She wished to deflect, and try to focus on unfinished drinks and concrete titans. She smiled and tried to laugh, despite everything else, "If we drank all, surely we would not have been able to walk out of there. I think the bartender was trying to kill me for stiffing him so many times before."

 

[Barrett Haskins]

She rejected his touch, however he felt it wasn’t for the same reasons most girls jerked away when he touched their hands, he felt a spark but it wasn’t electricity, it was like he felt a jolt of energy course through him the second he touched her hand, there was something different about this girl and it wasn’t just the death sticks this time.

“Better luck next time.” He hoped she’d take it as a joke, even with the gargantuan monsters and impending doom all around them. There were only a few more alley ways to go before they were safe…or at least Barrett hoped. “I’d grab your blaster just in case, Frisk sometimes had bad company over.” When entering a criminal’s apartment you had to be ready for whatever unsightly creatures lay beyond, illusions or not.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

"Trust me, I'll be ready," she said, taking her blaster and holding it at a ready. She had been a Jedi for a large chunk of her life, yet despite that she could never grow attached to her lightsaber. In fact, her own lightsaber she had left speared through another's gut...another Jedi's gut. After that, she had not even touched one. Honestly though, a good blaster was a hundred times better than a fancy glowing stick.

Plus, a blaster came with none of the rules or attachments as a saber had.

"And...I'm sure your luck will change," she winked, a smile so large upon her lips it was as if a metal dog of the Titans (otherwise know as a speeder) did not just almost ram into them while going lightning fast. Luckily with the blaster already pulled, she was able to get off a few blasts--though it seemed fire and smoke spewed rather than blood from that beast. "Let's get to your friends, these things are surely hell beasts...and there seems to be more and more spawning."

She motioned up towards the highway. Speeders, cars, and the like were being to form a huge traffic jam. Though of course to her--it was as if a cascade of beaming light eyes looked toward her and Barrett, ready to eat them for breakfast.
@[member="Barrett Haskins"]