New Faces, Same Drinks

[Barrett Haskins]

Waves of sound were washing over Barrett, taking his attention from one place to another lightning fast; it seemed to be a side effect of death sticks for him. He needed a cigarette so bad right now, but he knew it was rude to smoke in front of a girl, especially one with as pretty a smile as she; it was unlikely she partook in such deviant behavior, the cigarette would have to wait. He bit his lip in an attempt to hide his flustered smile, the drugs had strange effects for Haskins, and he found it very strange to exchange emotions with someone when your vision and brains were so screwed up. He second guessed everything they did, checking for hidden meanings and lies, it was a defense one picked up with as treacherous a job as a smuggler. Barrett prided himself in being able to ‘sense’ people’s auras, his first impressions were usually right, and he caught his fair share of people in lies. It seemed Midnight checked out…so far. There was far more than just bright smiles and bubbly drinks to her.

The speeder caught him off guard, he had been paying attention to everything but what was in front of him when it happened. Midnight’s voice was the last thing he heard before the zipping sound in front of him caught his attention and he saw what appeared to be a speeding mynock flying by. Midnight was quick on the draw, almost too quick, her reflexes were uncanny, even for having a blaster handy. The blaster bolts struck the monstrosity, spewing dark smoke and fire, the mynock had been taken down, and whatever dark forces had summoned it (aka one angry driver) would soon be approaching. Hopefully Midnight was right about his luck changing. They were very close to Frisk’s apartment, whatever foul energies were chasing them down would think twice before entering a drug lord’s flat, they were always very well armed and very eager to kill things that got in their way. Barrett was luckily in good with him and Frisk never opposed pretty women.

Frisk was a particularly nasty Rodian who loved alcohol and spice almost as much as he loved his money. He always had ‘investments’ on far away planets that need supplies or weapons, such ‘investments’ could range anywhere from tribal warfare over land to civil war to overthrow a dictatorship in hopes of establishing his crime bosses as ‘politicians’. They were hardly ever good intentions but he usually saved the real jobs and the real money for the more experienced workers and Barrett had only worked for him a handful of times since arriving on Nar Shaddaa. The two of them had finally reached the alley where his apartment was located, Barrett sighed in relief, he wanted nothing more to do with the demons that had been chasing them the last while. He didn’t even have to knock at the large durasteel door, the ever-paranoid Frisk’s security cameras picked the two of them running for his apartment blocks away and when they got there the door slid open.

One who walked into Frisk’s flat would be greeted with a medley of different smells, some good like perfumes and exotic flowers, others were bad, like the burning chemical smell of manufacturing drugs, the odors of the passed out junkies in the corners, half alive in a drugged up fever. There were gaudy decorations littering the open studio apartment, Frisk was located in the middle of the room on a satin couch, flanked by half naked girls, in front of him on the glass coffee table were scattered liquor bottles and bagged up drugs to distribute to local cartels and dealers. On either side of the couch were chairs for guests and business to sit. Behind the couch was the kitchen where he kept his stocked bar and a few more girls were treating themselves to some cocktails and some spice. The entire place seemed unnecessary and Barrett always felt cautious when he was in the presence of a man of such excess like Frisk. The place was evil enough without the added effects of the death sticks warping his vision and causing each of the girls to take on sinister features, their drugged out smiles turning into hungry snarls.

Frisk motioned for the two of them to sit down on the chairs on the side of his couch.

“Welcome, Barrett, I see you brought a pretty friend with you.” His accent was thick and his beady eyes seemed more sunken in than usual, he was clearly troubled about something.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

How the hell did Barrett think coming here was a good idea? Completely hallucinating, seeing buildings and cars as a menace...did he not consider that this would be even worse? She could of started randomly blasting at things and people, and then they woulda been in a bit more trouble than they had been outdoors.

Luckily though she did not see the vile scum, twisted into fanciful creatures and beasts. No, she instead saw rainbows, and a myriad of sparkly, colorful, angelic things. The Rodian was like a green spongy frog, croaking a lovely tune to his mermaid maidens. The walls and trash became vines and flowers, and the smell...well, that still smelled really bad.

Mid felt like she entered into paradise, and reached out once more unconsciously so, and crossed her current with Barrett.

The image--though still paradise--shifted. The mermaids' smiles were like static pictures: one moment beautiful, then for a split second vile smirks. Replaced again by beauty, but the true evil nature remained as if an echo one could not be rid of.

As the plucky frog spoke, Mid took a step closer to Barrett, till she was so close they were touching. She did not want to be alone in this fake paradise, a painting of beauty, though underneath was something unspoken and menacing. She did not know who to trust besides him.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

A forced smile was offered by Barrett in request to the Rodian’s request. He wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t cancel any ill intentions Frisk would hold for Midnight with a devilish look, the drugs flaring his pupils till he housed obsidian orbs in the place of eyes, making his gaze even more intense. Frisk stepped off politely, even he knew not to mess with a man and his woman (or so he hoped the Rodian would assume). “We need some help, Frisk…” He started, the girls next to him seemed to go from whatever they were doing to staring at Barrett, their eyes were piercing even as glazed over as they were. The drugs were amplifying their vicious glares, however when Midnight approached him it seemed to calm their angry faces if only momentarily in his eyes.
“You see, we got in bad with the barkeep at the Vagrant Rancor and I think he tried to poison us, we’re tripping hard from some death sticks and we need some help.” They were both very calm for the possibilities that could happen from an overdose of death sticks, they didn’t earn their name for nothing.

“Asss you knooow, Frisssk never doess anything for freeee.” The woman to his left hissed, tracing the Rodian’s rounded features with her dilapidated hand..

“I scratch your back, you do a job for me, Barrett…pretty lady too.”

 

[Midnight Rapture]

She hated to admit to needing help, hell if she would be like this the rest of her life. She could get used to it, tripping and illusions becoming a reality. Of course...that would probably mean ending up getting locked in a looney bin.

What was worst, being in debt or being a maniac...

Pulling Barrett's arm to get him to lean down a bit, she whispered in his ear. Of course the frog might hear her, but to her it was as if she and Barrett were in their own little world with the others simply being away from it. "Are you sure you want to be in debt to him? This deal sounds mighty one sided...maybe get some creds for our work too."

 

[Barrett Haskins]

Barrett drew in a deep breath as he contemplated the man's offer. If he accepted his help he would be in the debt of the man no matter what, and he had to balance out in his head if that was more promising than a life full of awkward colors and shape-shifting motorists. That added with the pressure of trying to keep Midnight safe (even if she didn't need him to) was an equation with only one outcome for Haksins.

That was changed when Midnight brought him back to earth with her advice, if you do something well why do it for free? Just because Frisk was helping them not go crazy didn't mean it wasn't a job for either of them. "Frisk, I've worked with you enough now I want an actual job this time, and a payment, but we'll do it, just please help us."

The protective part of Barrett came out again when Frisk seemingly lept from his place of sitting, his strangely shaped body standing ten feet from the two now. "You dare challenge Frisk?!" He roared, the girls on the couch seemed to sink as far back as possible, they knew it was dangerous to make Frisk mad. "I appreciate the balls these days, so many scared banthas amongst my clan of Tusken Raiders." The Tattooine reference wasn't lost to Barrett as he had traveled to the planet many times, but had Midnight? He had no idea anything about her yet and already they would never forget each other, unless the death sticks changed that.

"You two will take a special shipment for me, to one of my contacts on Bespin is in a fierce standoff with the Bespin government." He let the idea sink in, obviously it sounded dangerous. "It will come to battle between the two sides, but that is not what we need you for." He then clapped his hands and one of the girls who wasn't too screwed up to pay attention to the conversation ran off and got a folder from bedroom off to the back right and handed it to Frisk, he then opened it and handed it to Barrett for the two most sober people in the room, Barrett and Midnight, to look over.

"You're flying iin my kolto so that when it comes to war, my guys win. The government there is taxing the people unfairly, and I offered to ease their issue." He wasted no time waiting before selling the idea further. This was no doubt a strange issue to get involved in, but the money was usually good. "Payment is the usual five thousand credits... each, half now, half when you get there, and if you make it back here there's an extra three each." Ahh, the magic words had been spoken, he finally trusted Haskins it seemed... although who knew crime bosses to be trusting?

 

[Midnight Rapture]

Honestly, she could not make out the frog's conversation. It was more like ribbit ribbit five thousand extra three ribbit.

Eight thousand each. Sounded good for the job, even though the job sounded like a frog croaking, but maybe too good a payment. But right now she had to trust that Barrett's 'friend' would not screw them. Of course, all of this, despite the evil paradise and concrete visages, she learned something. He was a smuggler like herself.

What could she make of that information? Two things, one--she would have to end his smuggling days. He was competition, and honestly she needed the creds real bad cause her ship seemed to always need maintenance. In was a big money pit, but she wouldn't trade it for the world. What was the other option besides killing him? Hmmm...she couldn't think of the second option right now other than she did not want to have to kill him. She really enjoyed his company after all.

There was one part she wasn't sure of, and that was how Frisky planned to cure them of their poisoning. And she was sure she wasn't going to enjoy it, whatever he had planned. Complete blood removal and cleanse? Given a vomit inducer?

She did not speak frog, so she turned to Barrett. How the hell he did not warp and change to some transcendental being was a mystery to her. Perhaps it was because of their shared kinship--both smugglers--both high on a deathstick DMT experience--both with only each other to get through this.

"Let's do it," Whatever it was. She looked at him, seeing if he changed yet, if he was still him. It was like a sense of euphoria hit her, the drugs were starting to spin her about and the only steadiness she could be found was bringing her hand to his, not in a sensual means, but wishing to find in him an affinity that would withstand the hell her mind was going through.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

Midnight's words washed over the nervous smuggler like a wave, crashing upon his insecurities and drawing them back where they came from, it was the breath of fresh air he needed to evaluate the situation properly. If she were going to volunteer for the job then so would Barrett. It wasn't his fault that he had always felt obligated to help a woman out in need, even when he knew she didn't need it, it was instilled in him as a kid by his father who exemplified it during the two failed marriages that eventually led to his early grave. "We'll do it, Frisk, now give us the cure." His voice got very direct at the crime boss, quickly retracting any hostilities with a simple smile, no promise of credits would be helpful in retaining their psyche if he envoked the Rodian's anger now.

That's when he was hit with the same zap from earlier on contact with Midnight's hand. It was a strange feeling, her hand grabbing his, it didn't feel like a normal person grabbing your hand out of fear, it felt like she was sharing her experience with him. His vision quickly changed to what she saw, if only for a brief moment, the Force had flowed through him as it did her, perhaps it was because he let his guard down, either way he had no idea what had actually happened, and assumed it was just static electricity and the drugs changing his vision on him. He grabbed her hand tightly to let her know he wasn't go let anything happen to her, it was nice to have someone trust him again.

The whole ordeal had taken his mind off of the pressing issue of their sanity, actually, he hadn't even noticed the walls turn into holographic images like on a kids trading cards, shining beautifully like the underside of a Krayt Dragon pearl. The couch harpies had accepted the two on the sign of their mastser's acceptance, their twisted faces had turned into pleasant reflections of them and what Barrett's mind must have imagined they looked like before they met Frisk. There was still a sinister undertone in the room however, and every so often he felt himself being watched, or he would see a shadow jump out of sight, whatever Frisk was planning to do to help them couldn't come soon enough.

Barrett had taken a second though on the help at one point, thinking would be fun to be under the influence of psychedelics for the rest of his life, likely becoming that old crazy smuggler at every cantina in the galaxy talking of the days of old when the plague kept them indoors and they had to find a way to make their own drugs and alcohol, thus creating a colorful older generation of criminals tired out from their youthful partying with house cleaners and moonshine...perhaps Barrett would end up that way even without the death stick psychosis.

Frisk had left the room without Barrett even noticing, coming back with two cups of dark liquid that the smuggler assumed to be tea. "Here's your cure." The Rodian placed the tea cups on the table in front of his couch. "Careful, it tastes a little funky at first, but it works." Barrett cautiously picked his glass up, taking in the organic scents mixed with the sweet honeys. "It's made from leaves on Endor, the sugars in the leaves break down the chemicals in the death sticks faster." The crime lord always had cures for his own poisons it seemed, the drug dealer had started with selling death sticks at night clubs on Nar Shaddaa.

Barrett drank his tea sip by sip at first, letting the flavor mellow out at first, then with each sip he became more and more fond of the tea. It tasted like the health smoothies he had to drink back when he lived with his parents and his dad made him work out every day, It didn't much taste like anything after awhile which allowed him to finish his tea very fast. He looked over at his partner in crime to see if she had enjoyed it.

 

[Midnight Rapture]

What the frak was he thinking?

Alright, if he wanted to be the test subject, that was fine by her, but she had too many people wanting to kill her to so calmly drink whatever was offered to her. If Barrett was a girl, surely he would not last long in bars trusting like that. Luckily however, she was a girl, one with major trust issues, and so opened her flask and poured the conocation in it.

If Barrett was okay given several hours, then she might drink it.

"Ok Guinea pig," she said to the too trustworthy smuggler. "You might trust the frog, but I'm going to wait and see how you handle the drink. Watch me in the meantime."

Meaning that should she go to hallucinatory overdrive, start shooting cops and thinking she could fly, he would perhaps reel her in a little. "Can we get outta here now?"

For this place was starting to give her the creeps big time.

 

[Barrett Haskins]

The smuggler wasn't sure if it was placebo or real, but it felt like his head had stopped burning, his brain having a chance to breathe. The moment lasted far too short before he was thrown back into the chaos that engulfed the two of them. He knew it was too fast to be cured and now it seemed Midnight had opted out of drinking the cure, risking a life of insanity and scary colors for fifteen seconds of chugging whatever it was the slimy crime lord gave them.

"If I die I'm going to haunt you." He chuckled a little bit, throwing her the charming Haskins smile. Kaleidoscope lights started bursting forth from Midnight's aura, he was tripping harder! The smuggler panicked for a moment, his jade eyes growing wild with fear, he had no control over what he felt for that split second. It left immediately and he felt just fine, or so he assumed. Unsure of what in the abyss was happening, he looked to Midnight then to Frisk to see if he'd admit he poisoned him.

The Rodian laughed at Barrett and explained how it was slowly breaking down the death sticks, which in turn for the first few moments increased the already very intense effects. The smuggler knew it was a gamble trusting a shady man like Frisk, but one of them had to get better soon, they couldn't run around the lower levels of this planet this messed up for too much longer before someone would pick them off.

The green criminal let out a timid, flirtatious smile at Midnight's request to leave, or at least as much of a smile as a Rodian can bare. The drugs and the atmosphere gave his halfway grin a forsaken monument to the Rodan God of death look, or at least that's how it appeared to the confused bystander that was Barrett Haskins currently. Grasping for his insanity he could do little more than hope at the moment.

He had no choice but to smile back, hoping he didn't upset him incase he accdentally let out a grossed out expression in response. A few moments of silence awkwardly slipped by the room, even the girls seemed to be somewhere else. Frisk then broke the silence, "You two can leave after you tell me which ship the shipment will be delivered to."

Barrett looked to Midnight, perhaps she had a better ship than his cheap piece of junk, something fast enough to escape whatever fine print the Rodian forgot to go over.