Sentimental Fools

[Delila Castillon]

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[member="Nej Tane"] | [member="Xin Boa"]​

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Darkness had fallen upon Corellia by the time herself and Xin had entered the Happy Welder bar. The planet was a frequently traveled one for the pair, often finding themselves back after a job through the spacelanes. Work was typically easy to find in Corellia - maybe it was because they knew where to look or maybe because there seemed to be a thriving market for it.

"Is it sad to say I'm ready to get back into the sky? This coming from a person who considers Corellia her second homeworld. Shouldn't take us too long to find work though. Never has before."

Taking a seat at the bar, Dells was patiently waiting for the barkeep to come around, the man busy with someone hunched over in the corner opposite of them. Common sight. Personally she wasn't a fan of drinking at these bars but it was part of the game. Spend a little in credits on alcohol and information tended to flow more freely.

 

[Nej Tane]

It was here that Nej decided to lay his weary soul. His head, his body- that was rested. He'd slept enough the past four days to warrant an excursion to the bar.

His depression had brought him here, but it was his here that brought him more than a helping of it as well.

He lost the light in his life, drifted away.

Ayessa was gone. And she wasn't coming back.

Fingers wrapped around another glass, another attempt. An attempt at making him forget. He would. For a while. The demon drink would possess him just long enough to remember, then forget. Life threw him a curveball and he'd yet to throw one back.

He ran his hands through his hair, looking over.

Familiar faces, ghosts, or hallucinations?

He couldn't tell.

But he knew that green skin and that red hair anywhere in the galaxy.

[member="Delila Castillon"] l [member="Xin Boa"]

 

[Xin Boa]

Xin slapped the table with the palm of his hand and pointed towards Nej. As he swallowed his drink he nudged Dells with his elbow.

"Hah! You're still alive!" he said in disbelief. Usually the empathic Nautolan would have been more aware of Nej's mood. Unfortunately there were too many people in the bar for him to pick out his melancholy from the distance between them.

[member="Nej Tane"]
[member="Delila Castillon"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"] | [member="Nej Tane"]


Delila had finally gotten the bartender to pay attention to them, drink in front of her. Glass was raised to her lips, about to down the contents when Xin elbowed her side, jostling her arm and spilling some of the alcohol. Glass was set back onto the bartop and she looked over the man in the corner again. It was Nej. More depressed looking than usual.

Typically Xin was good at picking up moods. Delila would have thought by now he was better at picking up human facial expressions and body language. Perhaps it was only her body language he was more in tune with.

"It doesn't look like he's too happy to still be alive."

 

[Nej Tane]

[member="Delila Castillon"] l [member="Xin Boa"]


Alive, sure.

Living, not really.

The melancholy mood was amplified by the fact that two people he genuinely liked were now aware of the state he was in. Burying his head into his hands for a moment, Nej finally turned and looked over at the two of them and gave a brief, fake smile.

"Hey guys."

His voice was even different, lower, sadder. A sign of a broken, sad man.

 

[Xin Boa]

Despite the expression Xin moved down the bar to occupy the seats closer to Nej. He felt distinctly embarrassed for his rather jovial greeting.

It was a long time since he had first met Nej, but that didn't mean that he knew him particularly well. Certainly not well enough to guess at what could be causing his sour mood. It seemed serious.

"I'm guessing the world hasn't been too kind?" Xin asked as he took the closer chair against the bar and sat the drink down. Nej could always slink away if he really didn't want the company. Xin figured that if Nej actually did want some company he might not have been in the right place to ask.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"] | [member="Nej Tane"]


Delila wondered if Xin was the best person to lead off this conversation but he seemed fairly embarrassed at his previous jovial outburst. She let the Nautolan move first as she finished her drink, placing the empty glass back down on the bartop. Delila didn't know Nej well, they had done a few jobs together on Vagrant Fleet. Either way, she felt a kinship due to their time together with the Fleet, a small circle of spacers now disbanded.

Soon enough she was on his other side, setting down on a stool as Xin asked his question. Delila didn't want to barrage the man with too many words - hell Xin's question might be rough enough. Instead her hand settled on his shoulder and gave a small squeeze.

 

[Nej Tane]

There it was, the bare truth. The minimal amount of things that he had to show on his face to tell them that everything went wrong. The one thing that he wanted to go right, as always, left him, and he was alone at the bar-

But not so alone as he thought.

And there, right then, surrounded by the only two people he could really call friends, Nej let it out. He buried his face into his hands, unable to stop the grief, the loss from spilling out. He was a broken man before, but when he met Ayessa- something to hold him together, he found himself at peace, hoping. But now- she was gone, gone and never coming back. What was once cracked was not shattered, and what was broken was now mangled. It wasn't his heart that was broken- no, it was his soul. It was everything that made Nej 'Nej' was affected.

He could only shake his head, and lean forward, feeling comforted by the hand on his shoulder, if only slightly. But he wasn't able to say anything yet- but with his outburst, that was enough said without saying anything.

[member="Delila Castillon"] l [member="Xin Boa"]