Private Sun And Spice And All Things Nice

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Oh, come on doll, you gotta know someone who can get me more..."​

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Arcturus, a little jumpier than usual, itched at his upper arm and stared at the Twi'lek woman who was doing her best to ignore him. She flitted from table to table, dropping off drinks and removing empty glasses, all with a dogged Lorrdian nipping at her heels. When next she turned, it was to reach around him to pluck something from the bar. Looked right on through him.​

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Had he somehow died?​

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Was he a ghost?​

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She brushed past him, denying his suspicions.​

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"This... This is your fault, you know?" he accused her, with a raised finger jabbing in her general direction. "Feeeeth, c'mon girl, can't you see I'm desperate? Gimme a name heck gimme just a speck'o the good stuff, and I'll let ya be." His tone had taken on something of a whine, a pitiful change from its usual. If Arcturus noticed, he didn't seem to care. Didn't seem to think very much about anything, except the Twi'lek and her wares.​

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It was the middle of the day on Wielu, most people were outside on the beaches, enjoying the rays of the planet's twin suns.​

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Most sane people, that was.​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

Jho'Henig landed on Wielu. His ship, "Sorjusian Hunter", was full of glitterstim spice. Jho'Henig came to the bar where Arcturus was. Jho, the first head, noticed Arcturus and he said: "So you are the guy who ordered spice? I came to give you glitterstim spice straight from Kessel." and Jho showed him 2 bags full of spice

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He'd ordered spice?​

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Arcturus looked to the Paaerduag with a mixture of grim fascination and intense need. The boy did not remember ordering spice. Much less straight from the source itself... But he must have, right? Because otherwise who else was this guy talking to? Thankfully the bar was more or less empty, even though the Twi'lek was doing her best to seem as busy as possible.​

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He whetted his lips. Looked at the spice, then at the 'duag. Figured he'd test his luck a little...​

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"I already paid, right?" he inquired, trying to force an air of confidence to his jittery tone. "'cause I mean, no one'd bring fresh spice right from the source without havin' been paid first. Right? Only a real idiot would go thru all that work..." Right?​

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Gaze shifted from 'duag to the bags of spice, then back again. Two heads to focus on, boy this was making Arcturus dizzy. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was having hallucinations again.​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

"Well, I guess you ordered, thanks for creds" Jho said and handed over the spice to Arcturus: "Here's your spice, enjoy. Can you tell a little bit more about you? After this talk, I'm going to enjoy sweet creds I earned."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He just... Handed over the spice.​

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Was this a joke? Was he being set up? Arcturus turned his head, looking for any sign of cameras, or undercover cops, or... well... something. Nothing, that was what he found. Nothing but the blasted Twi'lek, and the creepy alien.​

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Something deep inside twisted, he almost felt... bad? He was conning this guy out of a lot of creds, and he wasn't even really putting that much effort into the con either! Nah, couldn't do that. Something in Arc's nature wouldn't allow it.​

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So he reached into his pockets and pulled out some creds. Certainly not the amount the spice was worth, of course, Arcturus did not have that sort of money. Just... Something that might ease the poor 'duag's mind when he realized what had happened.​

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Then he opened one of the bags, watched the spice twinkle in the light. Smiled... What he didn't inhale he'd sell for creds to blow through elsewhere. Transportation wasn't cheap, after all, nor were the drinks.​

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And Arcturus much preferred the alcohol to the spice. Enjoyed the burn in his throat.​

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"Watcha wanna know, friend?" he inquired of the 'duag, like he hadn't just swiped a boatload of spice out from under him. "You want some'o this? It's good chit..."​

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He plopped himself down in a seat. Trying to rush out of there would only serve to make the guy suspicious. Play it cool, Arc.. Play it cool.​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

Jho'Henig got 50 credits for this deal and he was quite dissapointed: "ONLY 50 CREDITS?! Ehm, OK? Not much, I would rather sell it to some criminal organization for a bigger price. These bags take only 20% of my spice storage on my ship, so I will sell remnants to someone else. I will visit you anytime and force you to pay. Proper. PRICE!!!! THAT WILL BE MINIMUM 1000 CREDITS! Ehm, sorry, I would like to know about your origins."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Kark.​

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Maybe offering him a little somethin' somethin' had been a mistake. Blown the whole ruse into oblivion. Scrambling to regain some semblance of control over the situation, he shook his head and chuckled amicably.​

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"Nah mate, that's just a tip ain't it? I already told yer, I paid ya up front didn't I? You said I did!"​

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Smooth?​

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Eh... Not as smooth as it could have been. Turns out, Paaerduag weren't as dumb as they looked. The creature seemed genuinely frustrated at being duped out of his spice, and threatened to hunt him down to get the rest of what was due. In that moment, Arcturus didn't rightly care. The spice was in his hands now, after all, and he'd like to see the 'duag try and take it from him.​

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"C'mon, I'll buy yer a drink, we'll partake in some of this lovely spice, and tomorrow this'll all be water off a Pelikki's back!"​

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Arcturus tried to usher him into a seat, the Twi'lek now long gone from his mind. What could she give him that this 'duag had not? He waved a hand toward the barkeep, signaling for a couple of drinks to be procured, and once they sat upon the bartop he slid one of them to his new friend.​

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"What's yer name, mate?" he asked him, reaching into one of the pouches and taking just a touch of spice between his fingertips. Without asking the other, he sprinkled some over top of each of their drinks. It likely wouldn't actually do much, it was such a small quantity, but Arc at least wanted to give the illusion of sharing is caring. "My origins?" he inquired, raising that same hand and stroking at his chin thoughtfully. "Well I daresay I don't rightly know. Why not let's go with street rat, hm?"​

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Street rat fit the bill, even though it was entirely wrong of course.​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

"Name is Jho'Henig.", Jho said "I don't remember if you payed, since I'm pretty popular among spice addicts and I get many offers, so I guess you payed."

Jho'Henig happily accepted the drink and Jho said: "Yeah, I would like to get a drink. Get me some Corellian wine, I love it. Get me two: one for me, the first head and one for Henig, the second head."

Jho'Henig noticed the weird look on Arcturus's face, but he decided to pretend that he did not noticed it: "Street rat? Hmm, interesting, I would like to hear about your childhood and teenage years."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Chit outta luck, mate," he stated with a shrug, as the 'duag asked to hear about his upbringing, "I don't remember a single lick about my childhood. Corellian wine, though, that I can do."​

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He slid the second glass back toward himself, then requested two fresh glasses of wine for the other guy. Two drinks a piece, heh, why not. He was feeling pretty, pretty good about himself in that moment.​

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"So, Jho," he peered past the first head to the second, "And Henig," then looked back to Jho since they were the one doing all the talking, "What's it like to be two heads?"​

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Their wine arrived and was set in front of them. Arcturus once more dipped his hand into a bag of spice, and sprinkled some on top as garnish. Spice, spice, spice for all! He lifted his own glass then, and drank from it. Some sort of whiskey; whiskey had become rather standard these days.​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

"Having two heads is pretty useful.", Jho said, sipping Correlian wine, "Paaerduags are born as 2 separate creatures, but at some point in their life, they merge and become one creature. One part controlls the movement, meanwhile another communicates with non-paaerduags. Non-paaerduags cannot hear what Henig says. It's pretty useful, because one head does one job, meanwhile another does another. Henig files the ship and me, Jho, does communications. My species originated on planet Sorjus. It is located far off Perlemian trade route."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus considered it for a second, before nodding.​

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"Yeah, I can imagine you get a lot more done than most folks huh? Twice the brainpower, twice the arms, multitasking's a state of life for you huh? Must come as naturally as breathing I reckon."​

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Oh the things he could do, the many projects he could finish, if he were two entities instead of one. Alas, he was not. Nor would he ever be.​

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He knocked back his first drink, spice and all, and closed his eyes as his mind began to hum. Oof... Potent chit. Even with the alcohol he could feel it taking effect pretty damn fast. Maybe because of the alcohol? It was going straight into his bloodstream.​

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When he opened his eyes, he was seeing stars. ​

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"Sorjus you say?" Closed his eyes again. Maybe he'd keep them closed for a little while, everything might be a little less spinny that way, "Never 'eard of it... Maybe I'll visit one'o these days... What's it like ther?"​

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Why was his tongue suddenly heavy?​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

Jho talked about Sorjus: "Sorjus is a very forgotten world. As I said, it is located far off Perlemian trade route. The planet is forgotten by many. The climate there is pretty warm. You can try to visit it on your free time."

After that, he noticed that Arcturus was under spice he delivered to him: "Enjoying my spice, aren't you?" Jho'Henig does not care about products he smuggles and delivers, the one of the few things he cares in this galaxy are credits.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"You know what, I reckon I just might," he said with a nod of his head. Why not, see more of the Galaxy, live a little, what was holding him back?​

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Well, right now a decidedly heavy head. Very... Very heavy head. ​

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"mm.. very spice nice" he agreed, lifting more of the laced drink to his lips. Hey, more couldn't hurt right? Surely not. He felt like he was slipping out of his seat, but there was no way that was happening. No way at all.​

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Arcturus Thesh would never lower himself to such standards.​

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Right?​

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He fell with a thud to the floor beside the stool, and let out a slight laugh.​

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"alright, alright, where's that Twi'lek when you need 'er?" he hummed. "Get me to a bed, missy!"​

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One small hitch: this was a bar, not an inn. The bags of spice had also slumped down to the floor, forgotten by the redhead who began to slumber right there where he'd landed. Come morning, he wouldn't even remember he'd been given two bags of spice at all. What difference would it make if a certain Paaerdaug saw fit to take back his merchandise?​

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Jho'Henig ​

 

[Jho'Henig]

Jho'Henig noticed that Arcturus was on very heavy spice then he said "OK, I'm glad that you are enjoying spice I sold to you. I think I can go now, you can order some more." Then he ran to the bar door and he said: "Hope we meet again, bye!"

Arcturus Dinn