Private One More For The Road

[Mallory Bash]

Location: Dunari’s Rest Space Station, Mayagil Sector, Outer Rim

She didn't want to go back. Not that she didn't want to see her mother, of coursed Mal missed her mom, and holo-called her from time to time, or sent gifts. It was the station itself. She had grown up on Dunari's Rest, which was touted as a resort station, but was in reality a series of seedy casinos and dive bars coexisting with a trading facility. It was no place for a child.

So, the young daughter of a popular dancer and her Nagai mercenary booty call learned more from running under the feet of spacers, sitting under sabbaac tables and lingering under the wings of her mother's stripper friends, than she ever did from the tutor droid assigned to her.

Maybe it was that she blamed her less-than-lustrous life on her upbringing. What else could she be? A dancer or waitress, or a spacer, or worse. But Mal did her best. She had learned the ropes, inherited a freighter from her deceased boss, and made a fairly lucrative living with Glara, that blue-skinned beauty.

Mal should have known, should have seen it coming. She grew up among cheats and smugglers. Yet she didn't see her own girlfriend betraying her. Mal was left with little more than her ship, her droid and debts to unfriendly people.

Mal tried causes, some vain effort to redeem her ways. The Resistance, The Verge Flotilla, none of them stuck. So, she went to the only place she knew, knew how things worked. Back to square one to start over.

Home.

The Stellar Kart was docked and scheduled for refit, S19 left aboard to do some minor tweaking of the systems. It was time to meet mom for a drink.

Whle there was certainly a resemblance in the attractive features of both women, they appeared very different. The older was clad in a red dress that emphasized her curves, long blonde hair, sky blue eyes and long, tanned legs. The younger one definitely took after her Nagai father, shorter, with alabaster skin and raven hair, steel gray eyes and clad in all black. Not to mention her knack for playing with knives.

"You look tired, baby." The older woman commented, sipping her cocktail. Tara Caledona was a woman in her mid-forties that held on well to her figure. She had danced for decades on the station. She was still pretty, the lines of her face unseen from stage, where she still MC'd and danced now and then, but kept her clothes on those days.

"Come by my quarters tomorrow, I have something your father left you a while ago." The woman insisted, standing gracefully from her stool and kissing her daughter on the head. "Goodnight, mom." Mal replied. She watched her mother strut out of the bar in her snug red dress, slit up the side ridiculously far. Many pairs of eyes followed the matron dancer as she departed, one Weequay even whistled from his table.

"Could a girl be more proud of her mother?" Mal murmured to herself, then laughed, shaking her had. She upended her bottle to drain the last drops of fermented beverage, then waved the bottle to the barkeep to summon another. Turning to lean against the bar, Mal stuffed her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and watched the crowd. As much as she hated it...they were her people.

Tag: Christine Dellard

 

[Christine Dellard]

The grand bar and club at Dunari's Rest was well visited, as always. Filled with the sort of people that appreciated a nice chilled cocktail and high-stakes gambling, loosing some credits to make some. Chris enjoyed both. She was not planning on any of it, but the night was yet to present itself - you never knew who or what you might bump into. Right now, she was perfectly satisfied sitting by the bar with a cup of hot caf in front of her. If she just could be left alone by a certain case of unwanted attention...

''Would you please stop doing that...? I'm not interested.'' she said plainly, acting very calm and not looking up from the datapad in front of her. She continued to scroll through the datapad, reading through some lyrics stored on it. All while the human hand, belonging to a man that had consumed one or two cocktails too much, persisted to stay on her shoulder. She hoped that the plain and simple request would be respected, but no, it didn't reach into the head of this guy. He stubbornly insisted on her close attention, and she gave it to him - with a swift and quick move, she grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled it down below the counter. Being careful so that no one would notice, she drew her vibroknife and ignited it under the counter, putting its blade dangerously close to the mans wrist.

''I think you'll need that for something else, hopefully and for her sake not involving a woman, don't you agree?'' Chris said callously. The nevous nod and defeated suddenly docile expression in the mans face told the blonde OPA Judge that she would not need to ask a third time. After a long piercing gaze into the mans eyes, she let go of the hand and calmly returned to her examination of the lyrics om the datapad. The man took off and disapeared into the crowd in front of the bar, finally seeming to have got the point. She adjusted the black swoop biker leather jacket on the backrestm before she took another sip of the hot caf and sunk back down into the music sheets. She wore a loose white short-sleeved top and grey slim denim trousers, together with a pair of dark brown boots. Her blonde hair rested freely on her shoulders. The attire was clean yet relaxed, not too prominent from the more formally dressed guests, but still with a touch hinting to her profession in the music business.

Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Location: Dunari’s Rest Space Station, Mayagil Sector, Outer Rim

Mallory took another swig of her drink, eyes scanning the bar. It was the premiere cantina on the station, so it hosted a slightly more sophisticated class of patron, or at least those who wanted to appear sophisticated. She couldn't help but study the crowd, a little game she played with herself as she tried to identify the personality or occupation of certain interesting people. Sometimes she would come up with some preposterous stories that made her grin at herself.

A woman at the bar snared her attention. Aside from the fact that she was rather attractive, the woman appeared uninterested in socializing, drinking or gambling, Mal surmised. The blonde was drinking caf and not a cocktail, like every other person in the bar. And she was not trolling the place with her eyes, looking for someone. The woman was content to scroll through her data pad, again, the only person in the place to do so. She could have been sitting in a caf shop and not look out of place.

The dolt next to her didn't catch the vibe, nor did the unheard words the woman spoke deter the offender. With an impressive boldness that made Mal grin, she saw the woman snatch away the man's wrist from her shoulder and pull it to the shadows under the bar. Mallory didn't know what happened there, but the man's demeanor changed suddenly and he sulked off with his tail between his legs. Now, that was a woman she could respect.

There was something familiar about the woman too, but Mal couldn't place it. Of all those in the club, the blonde kept drawing the raven-haired girl's attention. Mal slipped from her stool, her curiosity piqued, her boredom sidetracked as she took the seat so recently vacated by the oafish male patron. She waved her bottle again at the bartender, who nodded. Without looking at the woman, gray eyes fixed on a small holonet monitor over the rows of bottles behind the bar, Mallory spoke with non-nonchalance.

"I can appreciate how you deter unwanted attention." The pale-skinned spacer commented as the bartender set another bottle before her and took the empty away.

Tag: Christine Dellard

 

[Christine Dellard]

Chris continued to scroll and tap through the datapad, making marks and corrections here and there, all while the dark haired woman made herself comfortable by her side and ordered a new beer. She had seen the other woman approach from the corner of her eye, but had kept still and quiet concentrating on her own. It was certainly a better company, as long as it was not acquaintance or partner to the man that was close enough to loose his hand. The womans statement proved that she was not.

''Ugh, yeah...! The ability to understand simple basic is just too much to be expected from some...'' she said, like she had a foul taste in her mouth. Then, after a short moment finishing things up on the datapad, she looked up and greeted the woman with a mild but friendly smile. Otherwise, she put on a slightly tierd face from the mans behaviour. The woman probably knew how things could be, because she had her fair share of attractiveness. Around the same age. Not full-blooded human, maybe traces of nagai in her. She was naturally pretty.

''I can recommend it. Suddenly, everyone knows exactly what you want and are happy to oblige.''

Chris laid her hands around the cup of caf and pulled it closer to herself. The she did not just like it, the black hot brew was sort of like her fuel to inspiration. She cared less about the fact that she probably was the only current drinker of it in the club.

''Now, I can appreciate when people takes a seat and use their mouth instead of their hands to introduce themselves. So, who are you?''

She glanced at the woman while taking another sip of the caf, waiting for her response. From one moment to the other, maybe this night would turn out to be something different than what she had expected. Maybe she had to switch the caf for something stronger.

Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Location: Dunari’s Rest Space Station, Mayagil Sector, Outer Rim

Though obviously busy, the blonde woman offered a response as she scrolled through her datapad. More than a quipped affirmation, but a humorous comment, the caf-drinker's reply earned a small laugh from the dark-haired spacer. Mal maintained her unobtrusive state, eyes still fixed on the monitor, enjoying the small moment of like-mindedness with the stranger.

But a moment later Mal caught the movement of the woman turning from the corner of her eye. Mallory turned her head as well. Yes. the pretty blonde was definitely familiar. She was a musician, a guitarist. Mallory couldn't remember the name of the band, but she had seen the woman play in bars, more than once, on Nar Shaddaa. What were the chances?

Mal returned the musician's reserved smile with a small one of her own, widening a bit as she realized she was in the company of a celebrity of sorts. The woman's green eyes were clear and bright, unlike most of the glassy eyes around them.

The blonde broke the ice, nice and casual-like, which Mal found refreshing. "Mal. And you don't know how many hands I have threatened in here over the years." She replied, pausing to take a swig of her drink, a natural fluid motion she made with nearly unconscious practiced ease...and often. "And I know who you are, sort of. I've seen you play, on Nar Shaddaa, right?"

Tag: Christine Dellard

 

[Christine Dellard]

''Yeah? That's right!'' she said merrily, her smile growing bigger into a bright white one.

''Christine Dellard. You can just call me Chris.'' she said and offered the brunette a hand to shake.

It was always fun occurences to meet with fans, listen to their neat stories how they had discovered her and the band, giving out autographs and the lot. Like some musicians, Chris had not became arrogant and haughty of the fame, but instead kept her feet on the ground and close to her fans. What purpose would it serve to act like that to the people that loved the stuff you made? No, she was not like that. Zak and Glade wasn't either. They were the De'rifts, and they loved their fans.

''What do you think of us, then?'' she continued and took another sip of the caf before it got too cold, leaving the grounds at the bottom - the only part about caf that no one liked. Chris looked at a bartender droid that was quick to notice her wish for service.

''I'll have what she's havin'. Thanks.''

The droid grabbed a bottle from the fridge underneath the bar and popped it open, before placing a napkin in front of her on which it placed the chilled bottle. It proceeded to go for a glass, after all this was a fancy place and the droid was properly programmed for exquisite service and manners, but Chris smiled and held up a hand. ''Bottle's fine. Thank you.''

If a droid could look perplexed, this one surely would as it froze for a moment before returning the glass and attended to another guest. She grabbed it and offered Mal a toast.

''Cheers!''

Mallory Bash

 

[Mallory Bash]

Location: Dunari’s Rest Space Station, Mayagil Sector, Outer Rim

To her delight, the musician reacted favorably to being recognized and introduced herself. Though Mal was unable to recall the blonde's name, hearing it nudged her recollection. After seeing the show on Nar Shaddaa, Mal had looked up the band and secured a number of their songs to her library, which still came up on her playlists regularly. This was quite a pleasant surprise, and definite a lifter to her less-than-stellar return to the station.

"Mallory Bash, I go by Mal." The spacer replied, taking Chris's offered hand for a firm shake. Chritine Dellard was pleasantly down to earth, which made continuing the conversation easier for Mal. Even when the next question was one she didn't expect.

Mal nodded and smiled. "Well, after I heard your show, I bought several of the songs you had out at the time, and still listen to them. I like a good solid guitar progression...and some good shredding." She answered, her smile widening as she offered the thinly veiled compliment to the band's female guitarist. "I'm not a musician, but I know what I like." Mal added before taking another sip from her bottle.

Mallory hoped Chris's change in drinks meant she was up for some hanging out. Mal didn't hope to find anyone of interest to drink with, let alone a gorgeous, talented celebrity. The half-Nagai gave the vexed barkeep droid a nod when it darted a glance at Mal, after Chris ordered the same ale the raven-haired girl was drinking, and without a glass. The droid, L-4, had worked the bar in that club since she was a child. The droid was never happy when the 'little white devil" would show up at the classy bar and run around under the feet of patrons. Schoolgirl Mallory would make L-4 chase her around the tables, until she would finally trip over someone and get the boot. L-4 quickly retrieved the drink and disappeared, shaking its metal head.

Then Chris offered a toast. Mal lifted her bottle and lightly tapped the neck to the neck of Chris's drink. "Cheers...to good music and my damn good luck." Mal replied with a small laugh.

After yet another good swig of the malty drink, Mal cleared her throat and turned more towards Chris, leaning against her bar. "So, I don't remember seeing the De'rifts slated at any of the venues on the station, you aren't here for R & R, are you?" Mal asked. The casinos and clubs filled with either the local wealthy traders and crime lords or the lesser of each in the shyttier establishments in the lower levels, both unlikely vacation destinations for the musician.
Tag: Christine Dellard

 

[Christine Dellard]

''Nice to meet you, Mal!'' she said casually with a happy smirk on her face, before taking a healthy good swig of the beer, much in the same fashion as Mal had done it in.

Other than meeting a fan of her music, and while Chris loved her work and hobby, it was great just to let go of the writing and share a beer with an equally down to earth woman that Mal seemed to be. She were easy to talk to. She liked a bottle of good beer. According to herself, she treated clumsy hands in the similar way as Chris. Some similarities could definately be noticed.

Flattered, Chris broke into another smile and glanced down once, in response to the compliment that just hit the right spot.

''And I'm glad to hear you like our music!'' she said and looked up at her newly found company for the evening.

She sat the bottle down on the counter after another swig, rolling it contemplatingly on its bottom while twisting some on the barstool.

''Yeah, well... actually... we're taking a temporary break... Zak and Glade had stuff to do, and I...'' Chris took another sip of the beer before continuing. ''I'm passing by the system on OPA business, well as a Judge. My other line of work since a while ago.'' she said plainly with a slight shrug to her shoulders.

''Right now though, I'm just pursuing another beer with you!'' she added before awaiting Mal's response, highlighting the fact that she was off duty for the night.

Mallory Bash