The Usual Mr. Rekali

[Asher]

He felt for her. The hunt had become a form obsession to this woman and she was no longer enjoying it. Something kept pulling her back despite the abuse, and that most of all was what Aton could feel sorry to hear about. He wasn’t one to have held a romantic relationship of his own, there hadn’t been a time or confidence for it. Moving out of a field and onto the open ranges to hunt animals had been the one thing that pushed him in the direction towards one, something that he had been able to feel proud of that wasn’t just his last name. Something he had made that was his own.

“I can imagine.” Aton smiled at the sentiment. To have someone to share your days with had always struck him as lovely. Literally. “But no, you’re not an idiot, man.”

“We all make mistakes, and people can be just as addictive as anything else in this galaxy. The right words, spoken at the right time by the wrong person can start wars. The wrong words at the right time from the wrong person just as much so.” Aton took a sip of his beer and continued to smile. “I’ve trusted more than one employer who wasn’t on the up and up, been deceived more than once because of my trusting nature.”

Aton shrugged. “I hunt to prove myself to myself, the money is just an added bonus.”

“Besides, who doesn’t love it when you get to wipe that stupid grin off their faces by throwing the nexu’s head at their feet with a grin of your own?”

 

[Fiore]

Groaning, Fiore knew the man was right. Mira had gone on and abandoned her some time ago. To know that she mentioned wanting to spend their lives together and then poof nothing more and off into the abyss. Closing her eyes, Fiore remembered their last conversation, how Mira liked to disappear and just envelope herself into the force. “Tch.” She shrugged and took another swig of her beer and shook her head.

“Whatever, I’m over it and I need to move on from whatever she and I were. She’s gone and she’s never coming back.” Pointing the end of the bottle towards Aton. “It’s not because her trail has gone cold it’s because I can’t bring myself to track her anymore. There’s just too much pain associated by it and I just can’t.” Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and began to prepare herself for the pain ahead. She needed to forget Mira and forever forget what they had. Another sip of her beer and she set it down.

“What about you? Anyone ever get away from you or hurt you? I’m not talking about dealers or people who give us the jobs. Like personal stuff you know?” [member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

She quite clearly wasn’t over it. The entire conversation up until now had no indication that she was, but that didn’t mean the statement of being as such would be any less of a good sign that this woman would hopefully head in the right direction. They both took their swigs of their drinks. Aton looked out across the crowd again to keep the situation under control before he responded to the question.

“No.” Aton answered with a frown. “But I do know what it’s like to hunt someone despite your mind having given up on it.”

“My brother, the one I told you about that always overshadowed me no matter where we went?” Aton chuckled and took a particularly big chug. “Turns out he’s upped and disappeared without having the good graces to tell me so, or he’s dead. At this point I am starting to think it’s the latter, but part of me is holding onto the hope that it’s the former, you know?”

“That maybe one day, I will be the one to find him. To have the last laugh, to prove him wrong and prove that I am just as capable as he is, and that my time spent reading my books, doing my meditation, my exercises despite being sent to the AgriCorps, made me his equal.” Aton let his hand run across his face and pull against his thick stubble. “That’s why I do this, really.”

“A pathetic will to just… Prove myself, and to know that one day Mira will look back and realize that all that time she spent thinking she was so much better than me, so much more clever, stronger, just because she had her ‘force affinity’ just like the rest of the family.” No, Aton did not realize. “Of course I love her, she’s family, but feth me if it doesn’t get old.”

“One moment she’s the nicest person I know, the next… She’s just this other, sarcastic…” He exhaled and shook is head in aggravation. “This isn’t the first time she disappeared either. She was taken by a vile creature during one of her stupid fething escapades.”

“Ever since the death of our mother I should have seen this was coming. Mira always did want to live up to our mother’s name like that. The big Aaralyn Rekali, the Sword of the Jedi!”

“She’s probably chasing that DNA trace we found of our mother in some cloning lab.” Aton chugged down the rest of the beer and slammed it down against the bar again. “I told her to stay away from it.”

“Stupid girl.”

 

[Fiore]

[SIZE=10pt]Fiore listened to the young man tell about his own woes. She listened once again to the stresses of the younger brother forever in the shadow of the older more glorious one. She was happy she never knew if she had siblings or not, if she did at least she wasn’t in their shadow and they weren’t in hers. Though her shadow wasn’t that big. Fiore did her best to make sure she didn’t leave a big mark on the galaxy – shadows that’s where she belonged and where she would forever stay. Taking a couple of swigs of the beer, she continued to listen. His story shifted and now the brother was a sister. An eyebrow raised and then if life could kick her any harder – Mira was the subject of his woes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The beer bottle rested on the bar top as she stared at it. She was drunk, she couldn’t have heard Mira’s name in his story. She played it back in her mind and she exhaled deeply with a hint of defeat. Of course, the woman would be the one to haunt her for the rest of her days this was her punishment for even thinking she had a future with her, better yet that she had a future that allowed her to be happy. As she thought about it, a silence had fallen between them, until Fiore split at the seams in laughter. The laughter echoed and tears collected at her eyes. As they rolled down her cheeks she didn’t know if she was crying out of sorrow or crying out of the sheer entertainment that this had become. Mira, the man next to her was Mira’s Karking brother! She was more in the dark about the girl’s life than she even realized. Shaking her head, the laughter died down and she sighed. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Mira is a stupid girl. A selfish and stupid girl…broke my heart more than once. Just ripped it out after showing me what it felt like to think someone cared about you.” The bottle found her lips again as she sipped it. “Mira is the girl I’m talking about as well. She was my everything and reason to continue forward – forgetting my revenge and trying to live a proper life.” Another chuckle, “She even thought I could touch the Force again, endearing – but I was just a passing moment in her life. Something to play with, something to fix I guess.” The beer finished. “She threw me away like an old toy, it hurts, but the sad thing is – my heart still aches for her.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Fiore shrugged and waved a hand, the bartender wandered over and leaned on the bar top. “You alright?” Fiore nodded and pointed towards the bottle on the top shelf. “Gimme that whole thing, here.” A wad of credits appeared and the bartender nodded. “Two glasses Jim.” Two glasses appeared with the bottle of premium Corellian whiskey. “I said I would buy that bottle for a grand occasion. I think tonight is a grand occasion. I am sitting with my not so future brother in law, who knew nothing about it – didn’t even realize his sister was telling someone she loved them.” Fiore opened the bottle and poured Aton and herself a shot. She took it quickly and then poured her another. “It was a good feeling, I just want to feel that again. You’ll be fine brother of Mira – just keep doing what you’re doing…you’re a good person, I can tell. Let’s just for tonight not talk about her anymore…for both our sakes.” Raising the glass, she down the shot and prepared to pour them another. [/SIZE][member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

Absent eyes stared at Fiore in hidden surprise. This girl he had been telling her to leave was his own sister. Part of him felt guilty, another part felt little more than he already felt as it was. Mira had treated them both without respect and hurt them both without knowing. Aton frowned at what he was hearing. It was disheartening to think that Mira had broken this woman’s heart, and that she had even thought to bring her back into the force as if that would have mattered. Maybe she saw it as a kind act, but you couldn’t strip someone of something and then hand it back. It didn’t work like that. Not that Mira had been the one to do it, but this girl with the pointed ears had learned to survive without it for long enough that Aton could understand why it was an insult.

The shot went down without a word. A small grunt forced its way from his lip between gritted teeth, but beyond that he was fine. As fine as one could be after finding out that you had almost become a brother-in-law to someone without even knowing.

“Well,” He spoke rather absent. “I am perfectly fine not talking about her.”

He downed another shot and gave her a smile at the compliment he had received.

“You’re not too bad of a person either, Points.” He patted against his right ear with his index finger as if to sell the nickname. “We’re just two good people, wanting to do the right thing, make a living, and prove Mir- someone that we are juuuuust fine without them.”

He looked at his empty shot glass. “And that we can have even more fun without’er.”

“You don’t need the force to be kickass.” He smirked at Fiore. “Neither you or me need it, and we are better for it.”

“Good riddance with bad mojo.” He raised his glass to clank it against Fiore’s “May it forever suck.”

 

[Fiore]

[SIZE=10pt]Fiore did her best to keep up with Aton and the shots. She would pour and they both would instantly take it. Her nose wrinkled every time the warm amber burned the back of her throat. Was this what people referred to as numbing the pain with booze or something like that? It felt nice for the most part. She didn’t have to think much and she could just let this drug of sorts make her forget everything. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It was funny however, that the man she was telling her woes to be Mira’s brother. It made her feel better in a sense that the man felt the same emotions (for the most part) about Mira that the Eldorai girl did. So, it wasn’t just her, she wasn’t just some random person she threw away, Mira did it to everyone. It was odd she felt jealous that she wasn’t that special to be Mira’s personal garbage. The look of disgust washed on her face and then she took another shot and a smile replaced it. The bartender looked at them and made mental notes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Yeah! We don’t need her. I don’t need her you don’t need her. We should hunt together, kill some stuff make some money.” Nodding, Fiore grabbed the bottle and then grabbed Aton’s arm. “Come on let’s go!” She stumbled about, but continued to attempt to drag him along. She didn’t want to be alone, so Aton would be her companion for the night and possibly more. “You took my kill! You owe me an enjoyable time!” [/SIZE]@Fiore de Noir

 

[Asher]

It went with saying that by the time the evening had turned into late night, the two of them were already fairly out of it. Two giggling idiots with a bottle of whiskey laughing at nothing and everything. It was a welcome break from the brooding presence that Aton would usually be to himself when no one was around for the silent breaks on his lonesome ship big enough for one. For each shot that had gone down his throat he’d grown more and more adept at holding the grimace down, or so it felt. In truth it probably only got worse but the carefree nature of the inebriated mind was often one that brought you beyond such things.

So when Fiore tried to drag Aton out of there he would gladly comply. Walking was hard, but he probably managed. He was the master of walking straight when hammered out of his mind. He was the most suave person in the world too.

“You are beautiful, and I know a beautiful vista a short flight away.” His tongue swept across the roof of his mouth like an uncontrollable snake. “I would love to show you it, but-”

His eyes widened and strained close as he tried to regain control of his senses. “Not sober. Droid fly, droid good at fly.”

He wrapped an arm around Fiore’s shoulder and swept for the starry sky above. “You, me, stars, shooting bad guys, make money. Fantastic business deal, please yes.”

In translation: I would love to travel the galaxy and shoot bad guys with you and make some money. Please say yes.

“Maybe friends, maybe not, make good money anyway. Make up for taking kill.”

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

 

[Fiore]

[SIZE=10pt]Aton complimented her, if she was sobered she would have stopped him while he was ahead. Yet, it was nice to hear someone consider her beautiful. She caught her breath and waved the bottle as they left the bar. He was warm as he held her near him. His hand waved showing her the stars. Maybe this was a good thing. She could have a partner while she hunted someone that fully understood here and that was something she had always wanted. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She thought Mira was going to be someone like that, but Mira had never been on the short end of the stick. Aton knew her and understood where she came from. He was in her line of work and could be a huge asset in it. Nodding, she grabbed him and planted a kiss on his lips. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest of things to do, but for some reason at this moment it felt right. Grinning, Fiore nodded as she took a swig of the whiskey. “Let’s go! The night is young and so are we. Show me this beautiful vista then we go make some money or something I don’t know. I don’t want to think anymore.” She shoved the bottle into his hand and pranced along the way towards the hangers. There was a spring to her step as she for once in her life felt happy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It was possibly the alcohol talking, but it was a wonderful feeling finding someone who understood you. [/SIZE][member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

She nodded! A drunk but excited exhale, a gasp, burst from Aton’s own mouth brought him down to level as the drunk kiss planted itself on his lips. It wasn’t what he had expected, that was to be sure, but it was what he had hoped for. She wanted him to show her the vista, and Aton shrugged with a carefree grimace on his face.

“Amen to that.” He agreed with the notion of not thinking. He grabbed the bottle and followed her as best he could towards the hangars. He was unstable, he was positively drunk, but he was also undoubtedly happy. He grinned at the way the Eldorai woman skipped ahead of him, grinned at himself for how he must be looking in this very moment, and then grinned at the bottle in his hands.

By the time they reached his ship he felt at least a little bit better.

“Droid!” He shouted across the small ship. “Remember that place we went to a few days ago? Please go there, again.”

He threw Fiore a quick glance before finding something to hold onto in the cargo hold. The admittedly very small cargo hold, but he hardly needed something much bigger in his branch of the business.

“Find something to hold onto. It’s a short flight.” He smiled at her, waving the quarter-full bottle before him. “Then we finish this, then we make money.”

“Good deal, yes?”

 

[Fiore]

They moved towards the ship and Fiore could feel everything washing away. The weight that Mira left on her was slowly disappearing and she wondered if it was the company or the alcohol. She hoped it was of course the former. Aton was a fun guy for the most part they had some odd things in common and she wondered if this could be the start of something fun. She never hunted with a partner and a part of her wondered if it would make it more interesting or if it was going to make it complicated.

Now wasn’t the time to think about it, they boarded the ship and the droid fired it up. Aton told her to hold on to something and with the alcohol fogging and leading her decisions she wrapped her arms around him and grinned. “Hope you’re sturdy enough.” The game was fun, they were having an exhilarating journey ahead of them. Fiore held onto the man that was the brother, the twin brother of the woman she had fallen in love with and chased around the galaxy.

Looking at Aton she narrowed her eyes and shook her head with a chuckle. “Don’t make me chase you around the galaxy alright. At least be around and let us have some fun.” One more, she reached up and grabbed the man by his face and brought him into another kiss. It was short like before and when she pulled away she smiled happily. It was the first happy smile since she could ever remember. [member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

The ship shook and Aton’s leg swept back to stop himself from falling over as the woman wrapped his arms around him with a coy smile hoping he was ‘sturdy’ enough. The assumed euphemism didn’t pass him by, and Aton’s lips curved into a somewhat flustered grin. This work deal they had was already shaping up to be something just fine by him. Would there be an uncomfortable silence with his sister if he ever met her again? There probably would be, but did he care? Nah, not really. Not anymore at least. This woman was strong, fiercely independent when she let herself be, and undeniably someone that had been dealt a bad hand of cards in just about every aspect of her life.

Well, maybe if they worked together that could change. He always did want to help people, that was what drove him forward in the end, and right now he felt like he was a much needed — if a bit unorthodox — break from reality. His eyes wandered up and down her form for a quick unsubtle second. Besides, she was a ten-out-of-ten and he had no idea what business she had dealing with a small-time solid six-or-seven like himself.

Looking at her as she began to shake her head, he listened. He tried to speak but found himself interrupted. By a kiss nonetheless. Once more the ship shook from the landing, and the boy — in his drunken, distracted mind — lost his balance. His ribs cried out for mercy as his back met the ground. The eldorai rested above him, wrapped around his body hoping he would have retained the balance he had not kept. He looked up at her, blinded by the lights and thoughts rushing through his mind.

So, was this it then? The moment of truth?

A split second decision had to be made.

And the vista outside could wait.

“I would be too boring to hunt, remember?” He murmured and pulled her back in. His hand trailed at her shoulder to try and ease more than the mental weights off of them. They had time, a vista was a vista no matter what.

 

[Fiore]

They were drunk. There was no questioning that about the situation that was playing out. On one hand, Fiore should have walked out of that bar alone, went to her ship and passed out till she slept off the alcohol. Same thing should have happened for Aton. Yet, by the will of the fates the two scorned by one woman named Mira, they ended up leaving the bar together and ended up in a situation that both wanted, but didn’t know if they should proceed.

Fiore straddled his waist as they fell. He spoke about being boring to hunt and while she agreed with him on the matter, she wondered if she should proceed. They had just met and they were both heavily drinking telling their tales of frustration. Hesitation took over as she felt his hand trail at her shoulder along the buckles of her leather armor. He pulled her closer and she allowed it to happen, he was different. He touched her differently and she enjoyed it. Fiore was curious, beyond Mira there was no one else so Aton would be unfamiliar territory.

“You okay with this?” She had to ask, even if it ruined the moment. It would be unpleasant if they did this and she lost possibly a new companion. Aton and she were oddly enough cut from the same cloth, both had their struggles and lived in the shadow of someone. For some reason they understood each other and that drew her closer to the man. Her hands rested against his chest and she could feel the shape of his frame. He was very different compared to his sister and for the first time during their meeting she felt her heart pound heavy in her chest. The lower left of her lip sucked in and she bit it as her hands trailed down his chest to his stomach. She was good to not touch the ribs that were in pain, that vista could wait oh how the vista could wait.

Leaning forward she kissed along his jaw and nipped at his earlobe, if he had any questions about if she was okay with this, his answer was right there. Hesitation was gone and she craved his attention. [member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Fiore de Noir"]

There were moral considerations to be had at a later date. What he had now was too real to back down from, and the ramifications of it were distant enough for it to not matter. Much like the woman on top of him he wasn’t much in the seat to talk as much as act, and act was what he would do. The buckles on her armor would continue to slip out of their metallic safeguards. He sat up, got to work on the rest until the armor was done.

Really, he had not considered the time it would take just to get the armor off. A quick chuckle parted his lips into another grin and he continued between the kisses and touches that kept the mood from dying entirely. It was awkward, but it was great, it was a short summary of just about anything Aton believed of himself and what he could do.

Before long he would lead her somewhere a bit more comfortable, and there the night would be allowed to pass from action and into memory. Or some equally awkward -- but also great -- euphemism and/or metaphor.

 

[Fiore]

The armor slid off and Fiore felt more exposed than she ever could feel. Yet it was okay, Aton didn’t seem to be the type to flip on his words, which was a stretch and hard to believe that he was cut from the same cloth as Mira. She wanted to stop thinking about her and Aton was giving her an opportunity to forget her just for a moment. He was warm and kind, when he stood to lead her elsewhere she followed. Her armor remained where he had left it and she was just another girl and he was another boy.

The evening passed and Fiore slept soundly next to Aton, she clung to him tightly with her head resting on his chest. Elf ears pointed out through her light brown hair as she slept. It had been while since she had a good night’s sleep. Maybe it was because Aton and she shared the evening, or it was because she felt safe with him. She felt some sort safety with him, they were two hunters, they lived the same sort of life and he understood it. Adjusting herself, she kept her arms wrapped around him and her head tucked gently against his chest. Her ears, long as they brushed against his chin. Sleep was nice. [member="Aton Rekali"]

 

[Asher]

Morning came with a blur. Eyes that had been kept close in an easy slumber began to slowly pry themselves open against the tyranny of the light. A slight groan rumbled from Aton’s throat as he reached up to cover his eyes with his hand. He began to exhale in a long sigh of pain yet he stopped at the halfway mark at the realization that something was up. Something was clinging to him. No, not something — someone was clinging to him and he propped his head to look.

Well, that was certainly new. Not the part where he woke up with someone in bed after a night out, but rather the fact that she was… Well, she wasn’t brought over under the influence of something that would otherwise make her look good, and the fact that she was not just part of a dream made this all the better. He couldn’t help but lean right back into his pillow and stare at the ceiling for a second just to let that one in and try to remember exactly what had happened.

The lights dimmed again and he went right back to work. He knew that there had been a bar, and that there had shots: Aton’s one weakness. It wasn’t to say that his intake was lacking or that he was weak, but shots were always hard to portion correctly. Either you didn’t take enough, or you had way too many.

They had connected though. He remembered that, but what it was escaped him. He knew that he was meant to feel regret or even ashamed of himself, but there was none of it. They had someone in common, and Aton was not meant to have- Mira.

His lips burst in a slight chuckle that he immediately regretted as the pain in his head abruptly made itself felt again.

“Crap.” He groaned through the pain. “Head hurts.”

[member="Fiore de Noir"]