Log:Caterpillars and Frogdogs - 1
Caterpillars and Frogdogs - 1
Overview
After a generic newscast claiming that the next generation in speeder technology would be released within a few standard weeks but providing no additional details, Incom-FreiTek stock skyrockets. Since financial whales rarely part with their credits so easily on the word of a nameless corporate shill, Guri grows curious and dedicates a few resources to sussing out whether an opportunity is available to be exploited.
The group explores the information presented and decides on a plan for later.
Meta
Plot: Caterpillars and Frogdogs
Date: March 19, 2019
Participants
Groups
Log
Much like the rest of the Smuggler's Moon, this basement dwelling is dank and lit only by artificial means, flooding the room with a chill gloom that threatens to eek past the flesh and in to whatever shrivelled soul the occupant has locked away in the depths of their being. The walls and floor are damp, grit tread in and carried about by subtle air currents over decades until eventually the abandoned factory found itself the victim of entropy.
Fortunately, Guri lacks much of these human characteristics, and at the very least has had someone sweep the floors.
The droid that looks like a woman lingers at the head of a steel table, its matte-finish cold and unforgiving like the rest of the room. The chairs strewn about are likewise uncomfortable: those crappy folding chairs that clatter and make entirely too much noise when opened up. In the center of the table rests a holoprojector with a spike in it. Flanking the one open doorway is a couple Weequay guards and the doorway on the other side is unattended but appears to be sealed shut by a rusted, wheel-like hinge that seems to be a relic from some past, archaic construct.
Guri herself is garbed in ashen hues, Kuati-slanted gear with high collar and square lapels. With high, hip-length boots and a skirt that drapes with two slits for her legs to pass through, she waits patiently.
The usual smasher armor, modified for her smaller frame offers the young Hapan a modicum of coverage. A new combat knife fills the sheathe at her hip and as she enters the room takes a moment to give it a long look. Tension runs up and down her spine and gathers in her shoulders before she crosses over to a seat around the table. She glances to Guri only briefly before rich brown hues inspect the chair she chooses. Giving it a tug she lowers herself down into it and sits back, ankles crossing beneath the table.
A hand lifts to casually brush her hair from her face and back behind her right ear. She turns her had and watches each that enters.
"Love the outfit, Guri," Ryo remarks, taking a seat and looking the woman over. "Glad you took my advice," he says, unscrewing the top of his flask and taking a long sip from it. Ryo's dressed down in comparison to his usual over-the-top flair; a simple leather ensemble colored brown and red and looking all-around Naboo. He lifts one leg to drape it over the other and leans back, waiting to see what's what.
Oh sithspit, why was Zhu Yan the next person to walk through the door? The hippest, classiest, most dishonest individual in the galaxy including Ryo Odessa graced the room with his glorious five foot seven manbod, adorned in only the finest and for some reason CLEANEST bomber jacket (complete with furry collar because it's mandatory), his jaunty sorta-faded-violet lumberjack shirt and spacer gear, with brand new boots! They only cost something like thirty credits! Neat, huh?
He was half-way swaggering into the room looking like he owned the place with his hands in his pockets and a sithspit-eating grin on his face when he saw a certain distinctive redhead and his smile faltered. He stood there, pausing in the moment for dramatic effect and not daring to take a seat. In the cheeriest, most threatening tone he could manage, Zhu Yan said to Eriu Jynx, "You."
The pitter patter of four small feet accompanied by two chatty female voices start small and indistinct until the words become clear. "He's not meeting his sales quota and honestly, I think its because he's too soft," Usha enters the room first looking over her shoulder to talk to Myra. She's in a business black pantsuit, her collar high and stiff in almost vampiric fashion. A t'bac stick is between her fingers and it smokes as she walks over to a chair and noisily opens it.
"So do me a favor and just tell him he's out. We'll take his little brother, he already shows more promise than the elder. If he fights you on it, just make sure he 'gets the message'." Air quotes. And then, noticing her present company as if they had just appeared in the room, she offers a cheery, "Oh hello darlings."
Alex, as most know her, did infact take time to slip into her armor before joining on this merry jaunt. Nothing special really, just run of the mill armor. With her game face on she moves to one of the other empty chairs, opens it with a screech of metal in need of some lube and sits before patting her med kit and then her pistol. Satisfied that all is where it should be she scans the room, nodding to each in turn. "Well isn't this cozy," she says to the room in general.
Bouncing in past the guards with Usha comes a little woman in plain clothes, drab earth tones swaddling her nonexistent figure in their roomy folds. The platinum-blonde bob and beaming pearly whites are the only points of interest on Myra's otherwise-unremarkable appearance. "Oh, dearest, I know, really I do, I'll get on it right away," she coos to the other woman in her lilting Coruscanti accent, posh to a fault, while a pale hand tugs out a chair to plop down into with a clatter. "Dreadfully wonderful to see you all, really it is, you must believe that I'm absolutely tickled pink to see so many new faces around the table," she says, looking at each unfamiliar person in turn and leveling her bright, toothy smile on each of them. "And you as well, Mr. Magnanmuss, of course I could never forget such roguish charm, I daresay you had them eating out of your hand at our last meeting, if I do say so myself, and you will find that I do, as I just have."
Guri eyes the Hapan placidly, her baby-blues unassuming as if the Black Sun lieutenant were unaware of the sleight played against the spirit of her offer. The fact that she has not darted from her seat and thrust her outstretched, pointed fingers through the svelte redhead's ribcage is indicative that at least on some level Guri found the antics amusing. She tilts her head just so, her golden locks bobbing subtly with the motion in defiance of gravity.
"I have increased the balance of your debt to me by seven thousand, five-hundred credits, Operative Jynx," Guri purrs in her rich alto before a Nexu's smile creeps across her generous lips.
As for the charismatic, wannabe playboy, Guri flickers her attention over and blinks languidly. Those eyelashes lap against the air like the tide testing its reach on the sand of a beach. "Even I have to admit that, occassionally, you have acceptable opinions."
The rest are eyed in turn by the artificially celestial Guri, a wrinkle of the nose afforded for the sunset Zeltron and her squalid habit specifically outside of those mentioned already. Straight to business.
Guri rises to her feet and leans over the edge of the table before roughly plowing her fists into the steel surface. The thud is as a gong, reverberating for far longer in this enclosed space than it would in an open air establishment. The Weequay guards snap their weapons a little tighter. Then, as she twists her knuckles on the surface of the table, the holoprojector presents something that Mr. Odessa has already observed.
"Recently," Guri intones as the shape flickers to show a news cast echoing what she is saying. It's bland, boring, and otherwise of little consequence, but the rising stock overlay superimposed next to it is interesting. An otherwise stable fluxuation of stock value starts to rise as if it were hellbent on bursting out of the confines of the box on the screen. "Incom-FreiTek stock has spiked after their generic announcement involving some game changing speeder tech that is just over the horizon. Since most individuals with a great deal of credits are not total morons, there must be more to this than just the pandering of this empty shill on the screen here."
Straightening and wrapping her arms around herself so she hugs the underside of her breast, Guri sweeps her vision across those present. "You are going to find out what that is."
Guri's words to her have Jynx going still and there is a flicker of a smile that seems to say she finds the amount agreeable. A nod is given and she looks a bit smug - only a little. WORTH IT. The ankle crossing is turned up a notch as one leg goes over the other as Eriu lets her gaze slide from face to face and PAUSES on Ryo. She stares long and hard at him before moving on to...Zhu Yan. Honey eyes go wide and she smirks a bit, lips pulling into an amused grin that shows perfectly white teeth. "Yawn," is her Hapan accented reply to the Zhu. A wink is offered across that distance to him and then a trill of fingers through the air before she motions to a chair near her. "I should have guessed. This fits." Him being here.
Though her attention is torn away as the others all filter in and she sits up a bit straighter since she had previously been alerted to her debt increase. She does however listen in on what is going on, leaning forward into the table to get a clearer look at what is being displayed. She presses her hands to them table and absently draws a finger against it. "Would it serve well to speak with those that have ordered? I may have ways to do so."
Grinning at Myra, Ryo says, "Good to see you again, too, Twinks." He rubs idly at the place where that mean looking scar would've been, if not for Atrel's quick thinking and says, "Yeah...I guess I did all right. I don't...exactly remember much of that."
His attention returns to Guri and he rolls his eyes at the robo-wench before making a rude gesture in her direction. He does catch Eriu's stare, though, and flashes her a wink before turning his eyes back to the presentation that he's already seen.
A short, loud, "HA," punctuated the room from Zhu Yan, who had since finished his staggerswagger and was now sitting next to his latest frenemy. The laugh was very blatantly directed at her because he'd heard the story and honestly if there was a chance at comedy it was probably gonna come from the two of them, judging from their first meeting. Puke, injuries, broken glasses, and some rather daring lies were had. Fun for the whole family. He had, of course, jumped when Guri punched the table, being familiar with her dumpster-throwing ability.
Moving away from the complicated timeline of events he'd just undertaken, he cleared his throat with an, "Ahem." Because losing his composure around someone who could turn him into a pretzel was not the best idea he'd had today (it was close, though). He ran a hand through his frizzy unkempt mop of hair, the hand being dark grey and made of synthetic substances, but otherwise humanlike. "The question is, and I ask this knowing that the answer is going to be one of those 'oh we have to figure it out' things, who's buying up all the stock? The next question is," and he'd raised his finger because clearly he thought it was his turn to speak, "can we steal it and sell it ourselves?"
One of Usha's brows narrow slightly at the exchange between the life-like droid and her Hapan lieutenant. Talk of debt entices her curiosity but she's then distracted by the charts and graphs projected before the group. "Hmm...," the Zeltron runs her tongue over her teeth in thought and she then takes a drag of the t'bac. "Well first, you're suspicious so, I'm curious to know what your own thoughts might be on this matter," Usha asks of Guri and then asks, "Second, who are FreiTek's top investors?"
Watching the holo but ears tuned to the words from Guri, Alex gives a shrug. To each in turn she studies the new faces of each "I'm just the Doc here," comes her raspy voice "Not much of slinker abouts but I'll gladly go where needed." To Guri she looks "Tell me when and where." And leaves the matter much in the other's hands for now.
"Smashing," Myra enthuses at once in a word that matches Guri's movement, green eyes sparking with delight. Delicate feet toddle in the air under her chair, narrow fingers tapping a quick drumbeat on the table. "Frightfully smashing. Corporate espionage! Oh, it takes me right back, really it does. I've always loved a good con, don't you? Do we have a patsy already? That'd make this open and shut, pop right at it and get it done, as it were, but that's rarely the case when a gathering like this is called, at least I should hope so with someone as beautiful and wise as Madame Guri involved," she chatters, almost without breathing. "So I can only assume that there's no patsy and that we'll have to find one of our own, which shouldn't pose too much trouble, everyone has their price, as my mother used to say, and I personally have never seen it proven wrong, although to be sure there are occasions when the price in question is not monetary, and those can be dreadfully frustrating to deal with, I mean, the -stress- of identifying the right trigger point, honestly! It's enough to drive a person mad, really it is."
Blinking owlishly, she turns to Eriu. "Would you mind terribly if your contacts were physically harmed in any way, shape, or form? We could use a good patsy."
Guri's brow knits at Jynx's suggestion, her dulcet eyes taking on a hardened edge subtly tempered by confusion. "Speak with whom exactly? Purchases of shares of this magnitude are the work of corporations, not individuals. While I can appreciate that the small jackpot you were gifted in the genetic lottery on account of your species tends to encourage you to lean a certain direction, you will find that you will need to broaden your skillset sooner rather than later."
As for Ryo, "Mr. Odessa, you are trying my patience." Her hands curl as a hawk's claws about her upper forearms, the material whining for the strain for a heartbeat before she relaxes and returns to business.
"That is a possibility," Guri agrees with theft being a possible angle with a gentle nod for the average, burnish-haired man. The edges of her lips curl up subtly; no teeth shown at the moment.
"I have had other operatives begin to provide you with a number of possible avenues. It is unlikely that chasing after those that have done the investment is a worthwhile activity. Much like our organization, there are far too many layers for it to be a practical avenue and we are time limited regardless of what paths are pursued."
With a wave of Guri's hand, the projector changes to display three separate things: a man, a building, and a woman that looks vaguely similar to the first person for those that are truly keen of eye. The two people are brought to the foreground and set next to each other.
The first is a middle-aged Corellian with aquiline features and a regal bearing marred by his mouseish choice of optical wear, unappealing clothing, and generic haircut. The other is a youthful, academy aged woman dressed in skin-tight leathers and sharing some of the features of the person on the left: the difference is that the woman's style is far more flamboyant and avant-garde with hair cut at hard angles and ther leathers colorful and eye-catching as a peacock. She is laughing in the arms of another man with a distinctive jacket, lingering near a speeder. The first picture appears to be from a company directory, the other is more candid.
"Kiaran Zendu is a midlevel manager with Incom-FreiTek's future division. Effectively research and development for their products," Guri explains. "The other is his daughter, Voda Zendu. While they are both possible sources of information, coincidentally the daughter has gone missing recently and Kiaran has quietly filed a missing person's report. The timing is suspicious."
"Another alternative is to approach the company directly." The image of the transparisteel building comes to the foreground as the others move to the back. "Incom-FreiTek has a division on Nar Shaddaa. Like most companies, they appreciate the lack of regulation and morality of the local government and, in turn, are provided quite the substantial mercenary force for their contribution to certain bank accounts. It's likely possible that those sufficiently skilled in clandestine activities may be able to determine what is going on and potentially steal whatever is of interest.
Guri ignores the tiny woman's pandering to her ego.
Zhu gets a smirk from Jynx as he seats himself beside her. Trouble has a new name and it my be the frenemance of the two. Things can and do go wrong around them both - well really just the ones time but luckily for everyone involved currently this is not a bar. Eriu however does frown a measure at Guri when her idea for seeking out the purchasers of the stocks. "Right.." She mutters out and slips a little lower into her seat as her dark hair bunches up around her shoulders. Eyes flit to the man beside her because honestly he's one of the few people he knows and then she leans over and pauses when the images come up. Targets.
The Hapan leads forwards again, pressing her arms into the table and bracing her torso against it's edge. She blinks a few times and actually narrows her gaze slowly as she considers. "I like the last option," she chimes in, tilting her head thoughtfully. "More likely to get what you are looking for possibly, considering that being mid-level this target may not have all the information needed. Just a thought." She says the last with a quick back and forth look to test her opinion in this matter.
"And no, if we were to use my contacts keeping them intact would be..preferred." She can barely make out the woman' face but she smiles all the same, toothy and pristinely white.
"Force forbid," Ryo says in response to Guri, his arms crossing over his chest. It like she's a completely different person these days. "It'll take some work, but we all know that it would be best to cover all of our bases," Ryo says, looking at the gathering of miscreants and vagabonds that have gathered. "We've got the numbers for it."
"We should abduct the father and the boyfriend," suggested Zhu Yan, gazing with a strange sort of professional focus that didn't suit his previous airy dumbass demeanour at all. Like the song said, it's business time. He had his hand on his chin, cupping his beard, tangling it up even further. "Mid-level management, forgive the assumption, is a penal job. He wouldn't be missed straight away. Forge a sick note. I know a guy," he continued suggesting, regardless of any additional input being provided to him. His inability to notice the world around him was hampered even further when he had tunnel vision. His perfectly ordinary and unremarkable brown eyes looked closely at the second holo.
"That speeder isn't old, and that jacket is definitely gang material." Source: Yan was wearing a jacket. He was silent for a sec. "Couldn't tell you what gang though. Maybe find that out, hit them up too." There was the sound of air slowly being sucked in through pursed lips. Yan's face was twisted into a mask of concentration. "I'm in line with Odessa. I think we have the resources to do all of it. I can get into the building, and if someone can get these two gents to me I can shoot enough kneecaps to get some intel."
Usha is unable to hide her grimace or her loud 'EW' when Kiaran Zendu appears on the projection, but its soon followed by an 'OOOOO' of admiration at his offspring. "Ryo, would you /look/ at that /atrocity/?" Full of judgement, her magenta hand points at the man and suggests, "Maybe his daughter ran away out of utter embarrassment. I mean, wouldn't you?" Usha asks this of Eriu Jynx, aka perhaps one of the only others present with true style other than herself and the gambler.
On a more serious note: "Anyhow, the timing is suspicious, can we go back to the chart a second please?" The Zeltron waits and when it appears again says, "Yes, that spike is far to dramatic. This happened years ago when a pharma corporation introduced some ground breaking new vaccine. It was a huge scandal - turns out some information was leaked. A mix of an employee with a fat trap and some tricky slicers getting past the security on their computers." Usha takes a deep drag of the t'bac, "That looks like it's what's happening here. Maybe the daughter is being used to leverag information ... where was she seen last?"
After the other's have spoken up, Alex just tosses out "Merc force? Any idea who they might be hiring?" Alex asks Guri before looking at the others "I've done some work with a number of them. I was thinking that if it be anyone I know we might find a way in if it's decided to go that route." She gives a simple shrug. "With the daughter taken then someone else is on this as well and time maybe short for us. I would think any way." A finger tap on chin as she thinks. "But that building...something about it. Familiar. I'm not the best talker," a glance at the others "if someone has the gift of gab we might go chat them up?"
"That would be me, dear," Myra volunteers instantly, with a bright simper at Alexis, honey dripping from her tone. "I can talk my way out of a paper sack, if I'm in the mood, although my mother liked to say that I could talk the ears off a bronzium merek." Adjusting her plain, ordinary top with prim fingers, she sits back to preen in the anticipated glow of everyone's approval, whether it comes or not. "And by the way, I would say that this disappearance is almost definitely tied to a rival organization. Maybe someone like Kanjiklub, I daresay they've been too quiet lately, really they have, and it'd be just like Kanjiklub to kidnap someone's daughter that we're interested in. It has all the classic markers of Kanjiklub activity," she explains as to a patient child, while citing none of said markers as proof.
Guri listens quietly, allowing the group to reach conclusions of its own accord without much in the way of handholding. Whatever conclusions she had reached from the presented data are her own and continue to be as she aquiesces to the chagrined Zeltron. The stock ticker zips back in to view for a few moments before returning to the daughter. Zhu's observation is worth a closer look it seems as the image focuses as much as it can manage on the jacket and the symbol embroidered on to its surface. Unfortunately, the result is grainy: this isn't a daytime law enforcement drama after all.
"Kiaran's wife committed suicide a number of years ago," Guri adds, offering a flicker of her fingers as if she found the detail to be mostly superfluous fluff like sugar dusting on a cake. "There was no mentioning of kidnapping in the report that he filed and given that she is his last living remnant of his bloodline he would likely be more motivated if he had reason to believe she was in some critical form of danger.
Pivoting, Guri turns to eye both the talkative young dancer and the medic in turn. "The problem with mecenaries is their loyalty often goes to the highest bidder. You may find some success there."
"Does anyone recognize the symbol on the jacket?"
The new Operative is Green and all the intel and knowledge being thrown about causes her head to spin. Jynx just sits there, staring at the projection as she listens but with nothing more to really offer in thought. /This/ folks, is a learning experience and though she looks a little out of her depth the Hapan is attempting to focus though when Usha seems to be talking to her, Eriu clears her throat, "I may have some understanding of why someone would just...flee their family for varying reasons, yes." A quirk of a smile tugs at her lips.
But when the jacket is offered up she again looks a little lost and clears her throat. Hands come from the table down to her lap where they clasp and she stays quiet.
"No she didn't," interjected Zhu Yan immediately after the declaration of suicide. He didn't know quite why he said it, he just had a funny feeling. He was silent for a minute as he actually thought about the words that just came from his mouth (mark this date on the calendar) and was more measured when he spoke again. "Or maybe she did, but look at the family dynamic. Stuffy dad, outgoing daughter, she'd have been the moderating influence. And he doesn't seem too cut-up about it, forgive the pun. Definitely doubling down on the 'kidnap this guy' angle here because he's too plain to be so plain." He spoke with certainty, having earlier flipped between moron and analyst at the drop of a hat.
With that out of the way, he looked over at the grainy pixelated jacket and said, "Wouldn't have a clue." Which would have immediately given him away as not Corellian if anyone in the room still believed him in that regard. Corellian criminals would have spotted it. Probably. His work done, he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, weaving fingers between hair and each other. "Honestly we could be busting something wide open, something bigger than this. Something bigger than Ryo's fashion disasters, that's for sure!" His voice was breezy, and flippant. There was the switch back to Yan everyone knew.
"Oh yes Myra is a most excellent talker," Usha vouches with utmost confidence to Alexis, but she then purses her lips in thought as the looks the befreckled Hapan up and down. "Well you're quite adorable. Did you run away from an awfully dressed family as well?" The sentence is sarcastic and yet there's a knowing look in the Zeltron's face, as if to acknowledge that she knew exactly what Eriu actually meant.
Turning around to Zhu Yan, Usha's eyes smile in a predatory manner, first aimed at that beautiful, familiar jacket of his before meeting the man's face. "Well which one is it Hal," she calls him the wrong name, leaning on the back legs of her chair so that she could trace his collar, "Did she or did she not?"
And then when the logo comes into view, the Zeltron let's out a GASP. "Myra! It's those little shits. The ones on Tatooine. Ugh, what's their name?"
Alexis gives a wink to Myra and a nod "Works for me," she replies Before nodding to Jynx, knowingly. As Yan speaks she listens, then her eyes cross "Impressive analysis," she remarks. Then as he finishes, except for the fashion bit she points a finger at him "You might have something there. Something smells for sure."
Shaking her head at the jacket "Nope, got noth'n here." She says at last. A grin is given to Usha. But then sitting back as it seems she has hit on something.
Squinting her mousey green eyes at where the picture of the father last appeared, Myra leans forward in her seat, bracing her arms on the edge of the table. "Pish tosh. Stuffy is a relative term, my dear," she mutters tersely to Zhu Yan, letting her body heave backwards against the back of the metal chair with a metallic clunk. "The daughter's style could be a reaction to her mother's death, it's frightfully nearsighted to assume she's always behaved as she is behaving now. But the boyfriend, it is safe to say, would win the approval of neither the living nor sadly deceased parent, although I can say from experience that she's past caring about that just now. Perhaps, one day in the far future, or near future if her current tribulations are sufficiently harrowing, she'll come to-"
Blink. A glance at Usha. "Frogdogs, dearest. A red frogdog, really, we're the Hutt Cartel, how many frogdogs have we seen swallowed in a week? I shudder to think, really I do. If I had to guess, and I suppose that I am guessing, and I really do wish that I had better information, but in the moment I do not, so I am forced to guess," BREATH. "These frogdog fellows aren't doing anything all that illegal but it probably seems exciting, and he is handsome, if a bit young. Although so is she. However, it is also true that it's terribly common for larger gangs to sort of... parcel out smaller jobs to idio- ehm, impressionable youngsters such as these, and so forth. So who's to say they haven't gotten in too deep with a bigger beast, and whatnot, and bitten off frightfully more than they could chew, and ended up on the painfully short end of the stick? I think it bears looking into, don't you?"
It would take a supercomputer to cut through the morasse of incoming data and speculation spewing forth from the myriad sources about the table. Fortunately, Guri is well equipped and carves through everything with the figurative equivalent of a machete, gently nodding her assent for even the opposing views that are being shared amongst the agents and operatives of the organization.
"Opportunities abound," Guri agrees sweetly, allowing her melodic voice to cut back the din of the antequated air exchangers struggling to circulate the musty air in the bowels of the building. Reaching forward, she takes her spike in to hand and spirits it away with a flicker of motion that is nearly so fast as to leave an after-image in its wake.
"You will form in to teams of your choosing and approach each potential objective as you see fit." The assassin offers a languid shrug, dismissing her interest in the matter as nothing more than trivial curiousity with the delicate movement. "Or not. I have nothing further for you at the moment."
Allowing her arms to unfurl, Guri rounds the group and vanishes beyond the portal between the room and the rest of the abandoned factory. Her desert-dwelling guards fall in to her wake with wordless discipline.
Honey brown go wide again giving her an even more innocent 'who me' look which is quickly echoed in the way her fingers press to her upper chest as she focuses on Usha. Colorful. That is what she can see of the other woman currently. "Why thanks.." she answers at first, an easy charming smile spreading to her lips as she winks and then hmmms thoughtfully after. "I would say they were dressed spectacularly, actually. Ask me the story another time." She says and bites the inside of her cheek as the rest seem to be hammering out details. Oh look! Lint! She plucks a bit off her thigh and flicks it away with a manicured nail.
She clears her throat when they are told to make teams and the Hapa noble now turned operative shifts in her seat and glances from the clear vision of Zhu next to her to the undefined figures sitting further away. "I can..uhhh just tell me where you want me. I am good at talking people into giving me what I want..sometimes. I can sometimes go unseen." She screams greeeeeen.
"Now now my dear, I know you're trying to mess with me," quipped Zhu Yan towards Usha, his grin pleasant, and then his eyes went half-hooded and moderately-but-ineffectively seductive as he almost-purred out, "and it's worrrrkingggggg," and then he suddenly snapped back to normal mildly idiotic Yan, "but honestly I don't know if it's one or the other. Hence why I wanna get the guy and take out a kneecap or two. Get some truth, y'know?" Truth and Zhu Yan went together like duracrete and flaghnberries but it wasn't truth about him so it was probably more palatable.
Yan turned his eyes back to the holos and admitted, "you might be right about the style thing, Heavy Repeating Mouth," because honestly that's what the plain woman's speech patterns reminded him of, and he idly held on to his metal shoulder and winced ever so slightly as a memory struck him. But it passed, and he was back to normal. "Let's chase up these gangs, then, see if we can't beat some intel out of them."
And because Yan was such a nice guy (lol), he glanced over at the Hapan frenemy and said, "You look like you're going a bit green. Never roughed up someone before?" He said it bluntly with that sort of disbelieving tone of voice that was probably deliberately designed to be as irritating as possible. "Come on, you and me, a quiet evening of kidnapping a stuffy," he winked at Heavy Repeating Mouth obnoxiously, "dude and breaking his kneecaps. Bonding time between friends. Whaddya say."
"Wonderful, wonderful, the father it is," Myra chirps, clapping slight hands together. "Well, there we have it! Mystery solved, agenda sorted, meeting adjourned!" Popping up to her feet, she dusts her outfit down despite the fact that there is no dust on her outfit and it wouldn't show if there was, looking up then to smile at everyone yet another time. "I'll be in touch, my dears, I can promise you that, it's no trouble at all, really it isn't. Now. Off I go! Toodle-bop!" And then with a cheery wave, she spins and flounces out.
"I do love stories and a shall," Usha winks at the petite little Hapan. Although her eyes go wide and realization when Myra fills in her gap in memory. "That's right, the Crimson Frogdogs! This makes sense then - new speeder technology, daughter tied with some crappy little gang. It wouldn't shock me if they caught the hubris bug and tried to play with the big lads." An inhale of tabacc is taken and the Zeltron offers a goodbye to her pink-clad colleague, "So long darling, you and I should pay the Frogdogs a visit sometime. I haven't been to Tatooine in quite a while."
Usha's chair makes a bit of a screeeech noise when she scoots her metal chair to get closer to Yan's jacket. Leaning against the bag, she gives the smuggler a cute sort of look and says, "Hal, baby. Why don't you and I have a quiet night evening of Sabacc sometime?" A magenta hand reaches over to try and dust Zhu's shoulder off. "You any good?"
"What do you think? I mean I stabbed the piece of shavit named Rune for introducing your..our Boss." EJ makes a motion after Guri and she sniffs a moment at the air and rubs at her neck as the others start to rise and leave, shooting them each a look though her gaze is lingering on Usha with a faint quirk of her lips. The Zeltron manages to hold her attention and not consider what going in and shooting people up will be like in the company of her frenemy, Yawn.
"I would play Sabacc," the Hapan offers as she rises to her feet now that she can actually make out Usha. A lopsided grin paints her lips as she steps aside hooks a foot into the chair leg and pushes it back without looking. Graceful as fuck but with little flare. She folds her arms beneath her chest and grins at Usha.
Zhu Yan, or Hal in this case because sometimes old aliases died hard, looked at Usha with a sly grin on his face. "Oh dear, dear, dear, you've been practising," he said. "I love it." He didn't even freak out when Usha touched his jacket. Not like when he saw that a small pink mark had been left on it after his escapade at Takodana. Oy, the screaming. That might be why the jacket was cleaner now. No NegaBee extract in the collar anymore. Sorry, Galaxy's Worst Zeltron.
"Oh I'd be more than down. Give me a good chance to fleece you. Bring along the newbie," he said, nodding his head in Jynx's direction. "She's trouble, and also doesn't check her pockets." Because revenge was a sweet, sweet thing indeed.
"Practicing? What are you talking about darling, I was always this good," Usha herself stands up, feigning ignorance. Yes, indeed. She was definitely always good at seduction. And her player most definitely did not completely forget to invest points in the seduce skill during chargen despite choosing to play a damn Zeltron. Good move, girl.
"I would delight in a third," the magenta alien welcomes Eriu, happy to have another to distract Yan. "Jynx is it? I'm Usha. Come to the Hutt district sometime and we'll play a game." Smoking the last of her t'bac stick, she too heads out from where she entered, throwing a casual wave over her should. "See you darlings later!"
The last comment brings her about as a slender manicured finger points down at Yan. "Speaking of which mister pickpocket we need to have a chat." Jynx gaze narrows upon him in verified suspicion now. "I did not want to point fingers because you know..I liked you but you were the only one close enough to lift my credit chits." She touches the bag at her hip and folds her arms. "Steeling from a drunk woman, I see where you rate...though it really should have not come as any surprise. Save you know..you tried to keep me from falling." Pause. "You also tried to poison me with piss poor alcohol. Maz' floor is still stained pink."
She smiles at Usha, giving the Zeltron a nod of her head. "Expect me there with bells on!" she calls after with a trill of her fingers through the air.
"Hey, you wanted me to pay," answered Yan with the smuggest grin imaginable as he leaned back in his chair (CREAK) and put his hands behind his head. "So I did. You never said with who's money." He smiled a smile so big he clearly thought that his logic completely absolved him. Omfg he was smug. "Now let's get on to this topic of you liking me." Oh now he was deliberately being obnoxious and or obtuse. His grin was wicked. NOT TO BE TRUSTED. "I am pretty likeable! Have you seen me? Have you seen this beautiful face?" He unfolded his arms from behind him and pointed to his decidedly plain visage. "Beautiful."
"Oh I have seen it, through layers and layers of alcohol driven decisions. Now in the light of day.....it makes me want a drink," Jynx counters and then puts the flat of her foot against the back foot of his chair and slides the toes up towards the front. The top of her boot hooks there and without any warning gives it a nudge up as her hand reaches out to touch his shoulder and press back. Casual and sly Zhu Yan, his weight and gravity..as well as his smug assurance remain his downfalls. Will he save himself? Maybe? She is already starting to walk for the door.
"Shi-!" Yan barked out, hopping up as his chair tumbled and clattered to the ground. He was standing, but shaken. You know that feeling when you're about to fall, when your heart is in your throat and your ears are spinning? Yeah the residual effects were smacking everybody's favourite (most loathed) smuggler in the face right about now. "Hey!" he called after the retreating redhead. "What's a harmless prank," that was not a harmless prank, that was two hundred and fifty credits, "between fr... en... whatever we are!"
"You figure that on out yourself," Jynx calls back over her shoulder, a brief glance given before she lifts her hand and fans her fingers to the air gracefully. There is a delighted sounding laugh as the Hapan slips out of the room to leave him with a fallen chair and adrenaline rushing through his veins. The sound of her amusement echoes along the hall.
