Private Pazaak and Credit Chits

[Sable Mur]

Feel​

The music bounced off of the fabric-lined walls of the club, the waves of neon light washing over the dancing bodies that crowded the floor between the extended bar and the pazaak tables that surrounded it. Dressed to her best, hair tied up for a long night out, Sable couldn't help but move to the beat that added to the pounding in her chest. Her cards were held tight to her chest in one hand, away from the prying eyes of the other players that sat or stood around the table with her, while her other held a short glass filled with alcohol of various colors and a large ball of ice, the sloshing of drowned out by the loud music. It was near the end of the third round of card drawing and she was feeling especially lucky - a couple of the others, a Twi'lek and a rather cranky Gand, had already busted. A quick look at her hand, nearly spilling her drink down her front in the process, and she smiled confidently.

"And that's game." Sable said before taking a quick sip of her drink while throwing her cards onto the tabletop in showy fashion. Twenty points was a winning hand, and with it being the third round that meant the whole thing was over - or, rather, it being the third round that she'd drawn the closest to twenty meant the whole thing was over. There were a few groans, and a wistful whistle from the Twi'lek as the credit chits were slid over to her, and with a swipe of the reader on the bracelet she was wearing withdrew the winnings from the physical coins that were pushed towards her, something frequent players and high rollers tended to invest in to avoid getting mugged and other unpleasantries. Just as she was about to stand up, though, a firm hand, a familiar roughness at that, rest itself on her bare shoulder.

She grumbled. "I'm not even drunk yet." Sable complained. "Can't we just enjoy one night?"

Model by trade, the swivel of her chair brought her to face the one and only Lok Xiangu - the man that had somehow managed to drag her into the criminal underworld after their rather eventful encounter during a routine spice deal.

Interrupting her like this was something he did for one of two reasons; either he needed something from her, maybe credits or some of her spice, or there was a job he wanted her in on.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Let it Loose

She grumbled. "I'm not even drunk yet." Sable complained. "Can't we just enjoy one night?"

“Didn’t we already enjoy at least one night,” voice full of confidence, and his lips in a smirk when he delivered those words. “Though I’m sure I’ve given ya plenty of pleasant nights,” insufferably prideful and confident he ever was, along with his other toxic traits in his person. Not too toxic for a charming woman like Sable to discontinue talking or seeing him; though, it was ultimately his decision to tone it down slightly on his attitude towards her. Their dynamic certainly evolved after their first, odd encounter.

Since then she fell into the profitable, yet dangerous industry of the criminal underworld. Sable still had her legitimate career as a model and given how flexible her schedule was she hustled out in the shady avenues of crime.

They were…partners, although he mostly called the shots and brought opportunities to the two of them. Equals, but someone had to be the big dog.

Sitting down on the tabletop in front of Sable, both of them looking at each other.

“I’ll cheer you up, I’ll get you another one of these whatever the hell they’re called. Get you a bit tipsy.”

“Hey! Rust bucket, another one of these for my gal,” he demanded to a droid that acted as a servant to the establishment’s patrons and clients. Following directions willingly just like they were programmed.

“Aight, so,” giving Sable his undivided attention, “a couple thing that came by me. Brand new spice on the market, and the distribution is pretty tight about it. Really anal about it, it’s called DEAF. I even got some ounces for us try out,” a mischievous grin showed, knowing the luscious model would want to take a hit of that.

“I think we should expand our portfolio, I’m thinking slave trading,” and said it unapologetically. “There’s always a huge demand for that, hell we could get some and have them as models. Better than dancing for a Hutt, yeah?” As if trying to find an excuse to justify that.

“I feel like we’ve been playing second fiddles for a while now, I’m thinking of why not being our own bosses and not having to cater pompous schuttas.”

“Thoughts?”

Sable Mur ​

 

[Sable Mur]

She rolled her eyes - of course he would immediately think of something so crude so quickly. "What a gentleman." She said, dryly, with a smirk, as he ordered her another drink. Getting wasted and winning big or losing just as much was certainly some of the fun she was talking about, and what his mind had went to definitely factored into it, but the two of them knew she had meant a day without work. Of course she hadn't been serious, whining wasn't something she typically did unless she was either being playful or joking around, but it got her a second drink and that was good enough for her. "So what're we up to this time?" She asked. She put the glass in her hand back up to her lips, sipping the last of what was left while the droid went about making its replacement, while he explained what it was he had in mind.

Putting her glass down, a bit harder than she meant to, she paused for a moment or two as he brought up the notion of trafficking. That was a hard one to reconcile, she could live with getting people addicted to something, in all honesty she was fine with it, but it was an entirely different story altogether to ask her to get in on enslaving people. "Yes. Better." She agreed, though she didn't like it much more than that. She swallowed, mulling the things he said over while the drink-making-droid sat the new drink in front of her and took the old one away. She took a rather long sip of her new one, staring into its contents. "Alright. New spice, new.. management..." She said, her voice trailing off as she considered the sticking point for her.

"New trade."

She didn't like it, but then it was work - maybe she wasn't supposed to like it.

Lok Xiangu

 

[Lok Xiangu]

She wasn’t entirely opposed to his pitch, not the trafficking of narcotics and spice, but there was some hesitation in regards to trafficking people. He couldn’t blame her, she wasn’t desensitized to the wrongs of crime. One thing was laundering money and distributing spice, but another was making a profit on actual people. He supposed after murdering people, trafficking people wasn’t as cruel compared to taking a life.

“I get the sense that you’re not a fan of the new trade,” he said to her, still giving Sable his undivided attention. He understood if she wasn’t comfortable to the idea, but…well, she’d have to get comfortable with the idea of being and working with Lok.

“If I may…,” reaching for her new glass still having some volumes of alcohol. Raising it up to his lips and getting a taste of it, before returning it to the exotic model. “Sweet,” remarking it’s taste, “though there are better things than that,” and gave a mischievous look at Sable. Hoping his flirts would ease her into the idea of the “new trade”.

“Look, it makes a lot of money. Plenty of credits to make…which will let us enjoy more than one night.”

“And speaking of, ya want to try that new spice?” A way to give her time to think on the proposal, although he was sure she would be persuaded easily with DEAF. “I’ve got alcohol to go with it at my place.”

Sable Mur ​

 

[Sable Mur]

Not a fan was quite an understatement, though in a galaxy where the planet they were living on had been attacked by a world-ending death cult from the outer rim, she supposed she would need to embrace the shadier side of living if she wanted to secure a future where there might not be security in the Alliance or even just the local system. She took another sip from her glass before handing it over to Lok Xiangu when he reached for it, shrugging as she let her gaze wander idly. Part of her ignored the comment sent her way as she took her drink back while the other wondered if he realized that he didn't need to try nearly as hard to keep her around, or whatever it was that he thought he was accomplishing with his antics.

"Fine, fine." She grumbled, setting her drink down while she turned towards him in her seat. "I still think it's a bit crazy to do, though. I have some friends on Denon and I hear they have much less stuff to worry about when it comes to legal stuff than Coruscant, might be a good idea to think of moving there if we're trying to get into something as deep as.. that." Sable said. She'd go through with it, of course, and probably enjoy the credits they'd be making, but she certainly wasn't going to like it; spice, however, was an enterprise she was more than happy to jump into - addicted to it as she was. Just the idea of trying something new, spice-wise, was enough to entice her away from the drinking and gambling he had distracted her from.

"Mmm." She said, pretending to think over his question. "Sure."

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Anything to do with crime was crazy. Crazy that was measured in the bad deeds one committed. Sable knew that the moment she worked at his side. It only gets worse and worse with every ambition, every move. Like a drug addiction, consumed by the illicit industry at every rotation.

At least she stopped protesting or overthinking about the thought of trafficking individuals.

”Let’s get a move on then,” standing up from the gambling table as he reached out for Sable’s glass once again, finishing whatever volume of alcohol was left in the glass. Walking out in front with the exotic model in two, leaving the establishment where his air speeder was parked nearby. Wouldn’t take too much time to get from here to his apartment.

“Ya know, with this whole war shit going on, we don’t have to worry about a whole lot of legal stuff on Coruscant,” the Alliance shifted most of its attention to the war, the Senate funding the war effort with little care to some domestic issues. It had way too much stuff to worry about than spice distributors hustling out in the streets. War was profit, and not just for those in the military industrial complex. The only competition they were more concerned about were criminals or other rivals. Lok didn’t exactly have a prestige record with some thugs and gangsters.

“These friends…they deal with spice as well or what?”

Sable Mur ​

 

[Sable Mur]

Sometimes it was difficult for her to remember just how completely separate their two worlds had been until very recently, and even then they were still so vastly different at times that when he did or said something so profoundly at odds with what she had been expecting her reaction wasn't to do much of anything but just sort of give him a look and tilt her head. Maybe blink a few times for good measure.

When he finished her drink for her, for example, she did exactly that. Well, exactly both of those things.

Stare, almost say something before deciding just to not, and then tilt her head to the side as her eyebrows inched their way up her forehead until they were obscured by the hair that hung down over them. And the nerve to just act like it was fine, too, just rubbed salt into the totally rational and not at all overblown wounded ego. That drink was hers. "I was going to finish that.." She mumbled, staring at her empty glass for a solid moment as he got up before following him out. Sometimes he was genuinely not a piece of chit - other times he acted like what was hers was his and what she felt didn't matter.

Most of the time he didn't realize it in either scenario, so she could at least just chalk this - and other times - up to him being little more than an idiot who still hasn't learned better.

'I'll just have to remind him later.' She thought as they got into the speeder, something she definitely wasn't repeating for the umpteenth time that week - something she totally wasn't going to forget to do "later".

"Maybe not now.. but the Maw also blew up Csilla and already attacked Coruscant once.. probably not a good bet to just sit around making petty credits selling spice when we could go somewhere without a target painted on it." She said, already having known exactly what he would have said to protest leaving their mutual home. Of course Coruscant wouldn't have either her or any of the other women she was friends with to keep him company if she decided to leave and he didn't so there was practically zero chances of him not going along with her suggestion if she pushed hard enough. It wasn't even five minutes later and he was probing about her friends on Denon, either.

"Well, yes and no - everyone sells spice on Denon, their government isn't exactly.. clean.. if what I've heard is true, but their unsavory dealings are more related to other stuff, mostly psychedelics and stuff."

She paused, realizing that was almost basically the same thing.

"I wasn't really bringing them up to try to talk about business with them, by the way, I just thought their perspective was.. a good one. I think we could get into a niche with tech and drugs, honestly, if we're talking money." She explained, making a few gestures with her hands while she spoke. "Maybe find a way to have one work with the other or something?"

Lok Xiangu

 

[Lok Xiangu]

There was merit in her argument; Csilla destroyed, and Coruscant sacked. While it gave opportunity to conduct illicit trade and activities with little interference from the law, there was no guarantee of having concrete protection from another onslaught. Ironic how they played cops and robbers, yet they depended on the same government institutes to protect them and give haven from disasters such as that. Then again, there was always going to be danger and risks in the Galaxy no matter where you went.

"Coruscant ain't exactly clean either, hot legs," commenting on her words comparing Coruscant and Denon. Coruscant was never clean, literally and metaphorically. It never was, and it never would be; the history of the Galaxy taught them better to have high hopes of Coruscant being a utopian paradise with opportunity and prosperity awaiting for those that came to her.

"I'll think about it...moving to Denon, I'm sure it's the same rules and hustle in their underworld. Just different faces and shitheads running it," stationing the speeder as they arrived at the the apartment complexes which he was living in. Wasn't anything superb, but it wasn't mediocre. Well, too mediocre. Still some bums and scum lingering about the place. Drug trades being made, folks begging for a credit. Luckily, not much shootings but that was always certain to change. Just a matter of when it would.

"And who knows," one hand reached out and placed it on one of Sable's thighs, "maybe you can be Denon's new face of what women wanna look like." Some legal, moral cashflow to enjoy...so long as Sable had her curves and a pretty face to complement it. "C'mon, let's go up," getting out of the speeder, walking out to the complex. The inside was meek and dirty, dim lighting. Clearly in need of improvements; hell, the whole damn planet was in need of improvements. His own unit was somewhat more clean than the common area space of the complex, although disorganized. Clothes and small trash littered around; tables cluttered with spice, pistols, and credits; the air reeked of drugs and spice. Something that Sable got used to as her own living quarters was completely polar opposite to this.

"Well, here it is. DEAF, the hottest shit on the market," walking over to a table that had the spice and other items littered about. "I got it in different forms. Got it in pills, edibles, or as a blunt. Whatcha want?"

Hopefully she didn't want it as an edible or pill.

Sable Mur ​

 

[Sable Mur]

She liked that, if she was being honest with herself. The woman everyone else wants to be, or at least look like, she supposed. Vanity was half of who she was, the other half was her keeping up with the rapid pace that Lok Xiangu seemed intent on keeping them moving at. She didn't struggle much, not anymore, with money or things like that, and there was always that underlying desire to be, well, desired that came with being the sort of person that would dress up in whatever a photographer wanted and have their faces put up on billboards. Sure, she had fallen off recently, on account of refusing much new professional work in order to spend more time playing whatever game it was that Lok was dreaming up this week or that, but the dopamine hit she got from getting put on the center of a digital magazine was somewhat fulfilled by the constant attention she got from him.

Even if sometimes he was a bit of a jerk about it.

"Pills make me break out, and I'm not eating another 'edible drug' again." She said as they walked inside, her eyes widening and then rolling at the pigsty he insisted on living in. Something about it not being that bad, or better than the worst he had seen, or something like that. "Last time I was bent over the sink and you were laughing your ass off like it was funny." She explained, this time turning her attention towards him without even a hint of amusement. "So I guess blunt it is." Sable said after a momentary pause, anticipating the usual groan and complaint about her complaining. "Does it do anything special?" She asked, changing the subject back to what he'd been offering her. There were a few things she wasn't interested in trying, pretty much anything that would pump up her anxiety. In this case, though, it wasn't the effects it might have on her that she was interested in, it was what it would do if she made him smoke it with her that made her curious.

Anything to push him a little closer to getting him to go along with her in getting off of this proverbial dartboard.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

“Heh, you’re probably the first person I’ve met that can’t handle an edible,” teasing the exotic model as he began preparing two blunts. Obviously, for the two of them to enjoy it together. “Though they are hella nasty at times, it just depends,” that was the second time he agreed with her on something. Second time? He lost count, in all honesty. He was a jerk and an nerf herder, but at least he had the decency of not having his head far up his rear. Just enough to be overconfident, not enough to be ignorant and self righteous with being right at everything.

“Other than making you feel blissful?” rolling up one of the blunts, giving it its final touch. “Uhhh, guess it makes you feel…I don’t know, I guess sweaty and exhausted from what I remember,” though a lot more happened than that, just couldn’t remember. “Nothing to worry about,” while eyeing down at a magazine on the table he was at, one with models and other mesmerizing women; current page was on yours truly.

“And here we are,” with both joints and a lighter, walking right over to Sable and offered one of the two blunts to her. “I’ll be enjoying you for the next whatever hours, so long as they’re long,” again, giving his infamous smug that anyone would’ve wanted to wipe off from his face. Igniting his lighter to lit up his and Sable’s blunts, before consuming the drug and surrender himself to the rush.

Just had to wait for it to kick in.

Sable Mur ​