Log:Hutt Cartel: Take Me To Your Boss

Hutt Cartel: Take Me To Your Boss

OOC Date: May 21, 2018
Location: The Night Market - Ko Hentota District, Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Vili, Usha, and a special cameo of Grishk

Denizens of Nar Shaddaa have plenty of options for getting goods and services that would be considered illegal most other places in the galaxy. However, when they want something truly disgusting, or truly bizarre, there's only one place they can go without paying the Hutts a huge fee. Or being judged by their neighbors.

Whether you're craving Fried Gungan Legs, or you want to see Mon Mothma's sex vid, somebody at The Night Market can probably hook you up. And if you literally just want to hook up, it's also where Vili pretty much lives ever since the Ashkuris kicked him out of their grimy bathroom.

Speaking of our incredibly pink hero, he's in his usual spot beneath one of the ramshackle open tents that make up most of the retail space in the bazaar. Sitting on an overturned bucket with a couple of other sketchy-looking types, he rolls the dice in his cup and then slams the cup down on top of the landspeeder hood that they're using as a makeshift table.

"All right, gentlemen..." He practically purrs, as if he were some sort of high-priced courtesan rather than a grubby street hustler. "... you're all aware of the rules of the game. Take a peek at your dice without letting anyone else see, and then call out your score. Starting with... you. The Shistavanen. Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

The shadow of a figure appears. It stretches long and darkly over the dice game itself and a few of its players, stopping just short of Vili. Imagine how underwhelmed on is once they find the shadow is connected to the small magenta creature that is Usha. And really is there every a time where she's caught in an outfit that hasn't been given any thought? Short answer, no. Not yet at least.

Breezy black culottes are dotted with glitter like stars in the night sky. Her sleevless black top has a severely high collar. Over-sized sunglasses cover most her face except for the dimply smile she gives to Vili. "Hello," the greeting is kept simple, her hands tucked into her pockets. "May I play?" Something about that doesn't sound like a real question, but an insistence. Sorry nameless Shistavanen.

"Oh my..." Vili's voice drops almost an entire octave as he shamelessly looks over the newcomer. To a non-Zeltron, that might be either flattering or creepy. Those who were raised on the pleasure planet just think that's how everyone says hello.

"Look what we have here, gentlemen... it's a lady." His voice remains lowered slightly, and there's still just the slightest hint of a Zeltronian accent to his basic, despite being away from home for more than a decade.

The rest of the men look at the newcomer appreciatively, but none of them quite so daringly, or unctuously, as Vili. Handsome Zlorrb seems to mostly be interested in taking advantage of the distraction to try and see other people's dice. Shame on you, Handsome Zlorrb.

Six-Fingered Paul and Cantankerous Bill both have the cliched straight guy reaction though, if that's any consolation. Our Nameless Shistavanen friend seems largely indifferent. She's probably not hairy enough for his tastes.

"I already told you twice, my name is Rrrarrolffrarre---"

Vili holds up his non-cup-holding hand, cutting off our Still Nameless Shistavanen friend.

"You're welcome to join, of course. Provided you've got the five hundred credits for the pot." He gestures to an actual pot, ancient and rusty, but full of credit chips. "We seem to be short on buckets though. But I'm sure one of these gentlemen would be more than willing to lend you his lap. Anyone besides Handsome Zlorrb, obviously. He has no lap."

Indeed, the greeting is met in turn with Usha's own up and down of Vili, stopping very decidedly on that most enticing purple gemstone among his pearly whites. The rest unfortunately do not get the same attentiveness, as Handsome as Zlorrb is. It doesn't take her long to slide her hands out of her pocket, taking a 500 credit chit out with them. They get dropped into the pot with the rest of the money.

"I think I can stand." Because let's be real, her head probably floats at the same level as them while they sit. "Gentleman," she chooses a spot between Paul and Bill, slowly snaking a magenta arm around the latter to thank him for being so welcoming. Holding her hand out for a cup and some dice, Usha ask coyly of all of them and yet no one in particular, "Now, would someone be so kind enough to explain the rules of this game to me? I'm not a big gambler.”

"I'd be glad to!" Says Six-Fingered Paul.

"No, I can explain it much gooder!" Says Cantankerous Bill.

"It's smecking Liar's Dice, for crubb's sake..." Says Handsome Zlorrb. "You roll, you slam down your cup, you peek at your dice, and then you bid based on the strength of your hand. The first player calls out how many fives he thinks there are, for example. The next player can either 'raise', or call the previous player a liar."

Handsome Zlorrb looks slightly put out for having to explain this to a newcomer. Not too badly though, since a newcomer is probably going to be an easy target for him to fleece.

"Very good, Handsome Zlorrb. And might I say that you're looking even more handsome than usual today. Your slime coating really has a beautiful sheen to it." Even when talking to a slime-covered slug like Handsome Zlorrb, Vili's tone remains fixedly flirtatious. It's kind of hard to tell how much of it he means, and how much of it is just his attempt at charm, but it seems to be working. Everyone is in a relatively good mood at the table, mirroring Vili's own playfulness.

Handing the newcomer a cup with five dice in it, Vili gives the girl a smile. A smile broad enough to warp the shaggy blue beard he's been growing since he got out of jail last time.

"I'm sure you'll pick it up after a round or two. Or you'll run out of credits, and end up working in one of Zlorrb's nightclubs."

Usha laughs as if genuinely amused by Bill and Paul's exuberance, this time giving Paul a little bit of love as she runs her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. He's missing a patch up top, so the back is one of her only options. "Thank you darling," she accepts the cup and dice from the fellow Zeltron, "Apoloies I never got your name from that evening." You know Vili. That beautiful evening where they shared eye dropper drugs at the Fighter's Palace. She never did find out what happened to that bottle.

Her arms shake up the cup, and she smiles warmly to the slimey creature, "Well now, I'm certain Zlorrb is a most kind employer. So I don't think I'm too worried." Two Zeltrons hitting on him at once? What a lucky alien! Usha slams the cup down on the speeder hood, she takes a slow peek at her rolls, and cover them again. "I wager that there are three threes," she impishly smirks. It certainly seems like she's in a good mood as well.

The player to her immediate left, the Unnamed Shistavanen who really 'should' have gone first in a fair galaxy, looks a bit peeved at the turn of events. But, much like everyone else at the table, he thinks that the little Zeltron girl is probably just going to fatten the pot for whoever ultimately wins. Certainly it won't be the newbie...

"I raise that there are four threes." The Shistavanen tosses his credits into the pot, forcing Vili either raise, or call.

Vili thinks for only a fraction of a second before his roguish smile returns. It'd be much more charming if his teeth weren't in the process of yellowing...

"I raise that there are four fives."

To his left, Handsome Zlorrb silently curses himself. Why did he have to give away how many fives he had when he was explaining the rules of the game to Usha? He's usually ice cold at the dice table, but a double helping of Zeltron pheremones seems to have done him in.

Without changing his expression, Handsome Zlorrb just mutters. "Raise. Five fives..." and throws more credits into the pot.

Six-fingered Paul purses his lips before throwing more into the pot. "Six fives."

And Bill, beautiful and not so cantankerous Bill. It must be the magenta arm draped around his neck that causes him to add a few more credits to the pot before confidently wagering, "Raise. I think there are seven fours."

Usha pauses on that as her fingers play around with a credit chit. There's something unsavory about that bet and she tuts and shakes her head. "Oh Darling, you /must/ be lying."

"The extremely tasty-looking young lady has called Cantankerous Bill a liar. Everyone show your dice!"

Vili clearly relishes this part, though he relishes just about everything all the time. It must be awesome inside his head.

Starting with Vili, everyone starts raising their cups, revealing their dice. And, sure enough, not only does Bill not have seven fours, but the entire number of fours among all six players is less than seven. Therefore...

"Looks like our newcomer wins this round. But that shouldn't surprise us, since she's clearly already winning at life. Be honest with me: You've been doing your squats, haven't you?"

Disgustedly, Bill throws his cup across the tent and gets up from his bucket, freeing himself of Usha's casual embrace as he does so. "What is this, Vili? You brought your sister in to help you cheat? I should have known never to trust a Zeltron!"

Usha lifts up her cup with the rest to prove her point, and a very pleasedand smug smile graces her face when she's declared the victor. "Darling, I never skip a leg day," she winks at Vili, another standard Zeltron expression. Her hands are quick to pocket the prize.

"What the kriff are you talking about Bill," Paul rolls his eyes at his fellow player, "That was the dumbest wager in the galaxy. If this little piece didn't call you out on it, Raffaloffagus here would've." Raffaloffagus, being the Shistavanen. The six-fingered creature doesn't seem to have remorse over his pronunciation.

Bill's tantrum however, fills the tent with some bad vibes that grate on Usha's head like an annoying migraine. A frown, and she slips a cigarette out and lights up to counteract it. "Gentlemen, this has been a fun game, but I'm actually here to discuss business with Vili," she admits casually, rubbing out the knot between her brows, "So I'd appreciate if you would all gather your drama and leave us." That's Usha's current version of asking nicely, which is not as saccharine sweet. Probably not the wisest move.

There are a couple of indignant looks, especially from the men in the room who aren't attracted to Usha. Cantankerous Bill was already teetering on the edge of violence, but now so is the normally-placid Six-Fingered Paul.

Fortunately, Vili is there to smooth things over. It seems that his entire purpose in life is to smooth things over. Or possibly just to be smooth.

Aside from his beard, that is.

"The lady is right: We could use a little break. What do you say we take ten, and come back when we've all had a drink?" From his own pocket, Vili pays out enough credits for all of the non-pink people at the table to get a couple of drinks, before leaning back on his bucket, his greasy smile somehow coming across as charming. Must be the pheremones.

"Unless she came here to do a Zeltron Business Meeting, in which case we'll need about six hours. And probably another partner or two."

And their company, for whatever hormonal reason, seems to buy it. Or more like Vili buys it for them. Begrudgingly they accept said credits and saunter off to whatever god-forsaken watering hole was the nearest. But of course, not without Cantankerous Bill grumbling, "Pshh, dumb harpy" at Usha before following the rest.

Usha herself seems to mind their moods rather than their insults, and when they leave she visibly relaxes a bit. "That was very generous of you, Vili," she says, offering the thief one of her cigarettes, and seating herself atop one of the vacant buckets. "You've been quite a busy boy lately, haven't you? Turning quite a profit by placing bets at the fights. Must have hardly dented you to pay those fellas a drink." She pauses to pull her sunglasses off her face, revealing some scratches and bruising that are in the midst of healing. "You /do/ know /where/ you've been doing this, right?"

Despite the Friday fight, Grishk strolls into The Night Market, looking normal, all healed up, no side effects. The Trandoshan healing apparantly having good effect. In lieu of his green boyshorts from the Pit he now wears Ubese Armor, though the helmet is removed and attached at the hip. The backpack of his lightning cannon is equipped and the attached rifle hangs from one of his arms as he casually strolls about the Lawless district. Given his armament, the beggars seem to give him his space and avoid swarming to ask for charity. His reptilian expression probably adding to that, or his reputation as a Pirate to those savvy to the knowledge.

Accepting the cigarette, Vili looks at it for a couple of seconds before looking back up to make eye contact with the newcomer. There's a certain amount of admiration mingled in with all of the lust, which is probably something that could be construed as some sort of compliment.

"I'm not sure that I know what you're talking about. Certainly can't remember going to any fights recently."

Placing the cigarette in his lips, Vili lets it casually dangle as he maintains eye contact. He certainly is sticking to his guns, despite the fact that they both know that she SAW him at the fight. And she definitely saw him gambling.

Leaning over the landspeeder hood, Vili supports his weight with one of his pink hands while using the other to lightly tilt the magenta girl's chin upwards. He presses cigarette against the ends of hers, and inhales slowly to light it. He doesn't close his eyes for any of this, like some kind of greasy, but inexplicably charming snake.

As he leans backward again, dropping his hand from her face, he slowly raises himself up from the overturned bucket he's using as a chair.

"Maybe you're thinkin' of one of my relatives, yes? After all, I'm not the only Zeltron here on the Smuggler's..."

Vili stops abruptly, right in the middle of his halfway convincing lie. There, out in the open air marketplace, is one of the several people who could easily confirm that he was in fact at the fight. Gambling. In Hutt Territory. Without a license.

He tries to turn his face away subtly, hoping against all odds that Grishk won't see him...

Usha sits perfectly still, as he raises her chin. Her eyes observe him down the length of her cigarette while he monkey fucks it. She almost doubts her accusation, but then takes second look at that undeniable yellow smile with just a glint of purple, the intensely present beard on his face, and the layer of musky filth that seems to envelop him. Nope. She's got the right mark.

Perhaps Vili is not understanding her though. So she switches to their native tongue, an elegant language from a more civilized planet. "Vili, we both know what everyone thinks of us. Vapid bimbos, always down for a fun time, and probably good for nothing but an easy fuck." That's not entirely wrong but... "You and I know that's a very small part of who we are. We know we're not dumb. I'm not going to treat you like an idiot, so please don't treat me like one. Or else my friends won't like it very much."

Usha stretches her head over to the side to move it out of the way so that Vili can see who her 'friends' are. And over her shoulder are not one but TWO Trandoshans. One of them is a simple green creature, carrying an impressive blaster and donning Cartel armor. The other is well ... its Grishk. She didn't intend for him to be the line of site, and he most certainly isn't with her. But Usha can't control what Vili does or doesn't interpret. "Really Vili, we're not here to harm you. I think we can instead work out a deal."

Vili and Usha are sitting around a speeder hood that was being used as a gambling table underneath a vendor tent. It seems tense. And sexy. Grishk is wandering about. He seems normal.

There's a lingering question about Our Pink Hero. It's one of the greatest paradoxes on the Smuggler's Moon, and a source of much discussion amongst scholars: If Vili doesn't sweat, then why does he always smell so sweaty?

The mystery apparently won't be solved today, because Vili smells as bad as he ever did, but he still seems to be completely cool. Even when faced with the prospect of the non-sexy kind of lizard on Zeltron violence, he still has the same greasy smile beneath his ever-lengthening blue beard.

"If you weren't trying to flirt with me, you shouldn't have brought the eye candy. Everyone knows how much I love loose, scaly skin and a tight cloaca."

Vili looks one of the Trandoshans up and down, winking playfully when the poor lizard man starts to look obviously uncomfortable. The Unnamed Trandoshan can't help but smile bashfully.

"In fact, I can't help but think that you're working this 'deal' all sidewise. If you'd started the negotiations with a few hours of plezzzure, maybe I wouldn't have noticed that you don't really have anything to offer me other than a taut stern section."

Vili shifts his shameless gaze from the Trandoshan, back to the other Zeltron. But his smile starts to slowly melt away. "Seems you've been away from Zeltros too long, little one, and I'm going to have to decline."

Usha kicks her legs up, truly humored at Vili's response. Has anyone ever seen a more fun negotiation? The battle of the pheremones is strong, and the female Zelt responds, "You're right. I have been away from Zeltros too long, which is why I'm going to give you the following options." So she cuts to the chase, "I'm offering you 50 percent of your earnings. The other half goes to Cartel. And you can continue running bets on our turf. That percentage can be lowered to 25 of course. If you'd like to enter in to a more formal relationship with us." Usha takes a look at her nails, swearing she saw a chip on them earlier. "If you decline both options Vili, it won't be good for you." Her tone is much less casual on this one.

There's something about the barely-veiled threat of violence that actually makes the cobwebs of lust clear out of Vili's brain. It's strange how that happens. At the very least, they clear out enough for him to register the actual danger that he's in, rather than simply fantasizing about finding himself in the middle of a Zeltron/Trandoshan four way.

Still, Usha's very presence is sufficient to keep his thoughts from getting TOO clear, especially now that she's begun to mirror his pheremone broadcasting. In a way, he really only has himself to blame for this.

Trying hard to think of a more advantageous set of terms, Vili just drags quietly on the cigarette that Usha provided him with, breathing out through his nose and sending the thick smoke cascading down his shirtless chest to get matted in all of the other gross stuff that's living in his chest hair right now.

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I really have only one option." Vili takes one last drag before he speaks, as if hoping that some other piece of inspiration will come to him. But it doesn't. He blames Usha, her phereones, her somewhat skimpy outfit, and her squats.

He holds out both of his hands, as if offering his wrists to be cuffed, a roguish, slightly sinister smile on his face.

"Take me to your boss..."