Private After Hours

[Raef Malstadt]

Enough death to make a man drink...
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Tags: Valery Noble

CORUSCANT UNDERWORLD

Dozens of voices all conversing at once, but not enough to snap Raef out of his detachment from everything. His face was shredded, scars now ran along his cheeks and head, his eye sockets blackened. A cheap, local swill rolled in his gloved fingers, passing over from hand to hand before raising to his lips.

An annoyed wince barely formed on his features, the booze stung his mouth where open cuts bled still. His armor was filthy, pocked by blaster bolts and slug rounds; where pristine colors were once painted, now tarnished and scuffed, dulled out. His eyes were empty, drifting around the room to see the bustle and social engagement, drinks being spilled and wasted, grotesque exchanges of services and party favors.

This wasn't his typical place of leisure, no, his time here was being spent pondering choices. Life decisions that could now unravel the small strand of stability that barely supported the weight of his actions - so close from free-falling into a spiral that would consume everything left of him.

Credits came and went, but the burden of pulling a trigger was priceless.

Nobody paid him much mind, dialects not understood joked and chuckled amongst each other. Even as a mercenary, learning wasn't a requirement for a job. It was a service done either messily or with some margin of finesse, nobody cared who you were so long as the contract is fulfilled.

Raef waved the bartender for another round, another bottle. His breath was hot and sour, the viscosity building in the back of his throat paired with the warmth of liquor. A service droid took care of the rest, hovering through a crowd before stopping at the table. A nod was given, the bartender nodded back likewise.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into..."

A sigh escaped Raef, another swig taken.

"Should've known better..."

He mumbled to himself, his eyes closing for a moment. Something was wrong.

Alone, silent, a mess. What a life.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

The cantina's atmosphere was thick — with smoke, sweat, and the kind of heat that made skin glisten under the flickering neon lights. The air buzzed with conversation, with deals whispered into half-empty glasses and promises made behind dead eyes. It was the sort of place where people didn't ask questions — and Valery Noble had every intention of using that to her advantage.

She stepped in slow, deliberate. A shadow wrapped in temptation.

Her leather-strap harness and snug brown trousers hugged her hips with just enough tension to draw eyes, while the half-laced shirt she wore offered a hint of softness beneath the edge. She didn't strut, didn't flaunt — but she moved like someone who knew exactly how to turn attention into armor. One hand rested casually on her holstered blaster, fingers gloved and relaxed.

And she was looking for someone.

It didn't take long to spot him.

Slumped over a table like a man made of regrets and old pain, Raef looked every bit the ghost she'd heard about. She took a moment to study him through the haze: the scars, the deadened stare, the armor worn past usefulness. He looked like hell.

She smiled anyway — slow and almost playful — and crossed the floor.

With practiced ease, she slid into the seat beside him at the bar without asking, her scent brushing past the brim of his glass like spice and danger. She didn't look at him right away. Instead, she flagged the bartender with two fingers and leaned onto the bar, elbow resting casually as her other hand tugged lightly at the laces of her shirt, loosening it just enough for comfort.

"Whatever he's drinking," she said with a smirk, her voice low, warm, and unmistakably confident. Finally, she turned to look at him — head tilted, eyes golden and unreadable in the dim light.

"You always drink alone, or is this just a special occasion?"

Raef Malstadt ​

 

[Raef Malstadt]

Seat is (not) taken...
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Tags: Valery Noble

A deep breath, eyes open. He cleared his throat and looked around, somewhat tipsy as he adjusted to more people making their entrance. Then he heard her voice; a woman he'd never seen before, a figure that certainly drew the attention of the patrons drinking their fill. Another stranger somewhere in the back of the room yelled the loudest - again a dialect Raef had a hard time understanding, but he knew enough to gather what he wanted.

"Huh?" Half paying attention, half swimming in his own thoughts.

She asked if he drank alone. Who was she? Out of anyone stumbling around or just making their way inside, she was the only person to truly take notice. Somehow it didn't sit well, but perhaps he was overthinking it. Maybe she liked scars and badly kept gear.

"Usually I share a bottle, but today's not that kind of day." He looked down at his glass, then to her with an unsure expression. His brow furrowed.

"See you're a fan of the cheap stuff. It's what I always get - does the job, not too heavy on the pockets."

His eyes averted, blinking as he tried not to stare too long. He sighed, filling his glass and then knocking back another shot. The bartender chuckled to himself, glancing to them both before being called away to serve an already clearly inebriated off-duty officer. Local task force, mostly for guard duty or minor conflicts. His garb was filthy, his helmet dented and damaged on the bar table next to him.

Raef acknowledged him for a moment before turning his head to face the woman.

"And you are?"

A direct, simple ask with a soft smirk.

He didn't know what was happening, but somehow he didn't mind it.

Coruscant was always an interesting place, to say the least.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery's smirk deepened as his words settled, the slow roll of his voice and the tug of curiosity behind that smirk catching her attention more than the actual question. She didn't answer right away — just let the moment stretch a beat longer, her fingers toying idly with the rim of her new glass as the bartender slid it between them.

"Cheap stuff's got character," she said finally, lifting it in a mock-toast. "Burns just enough to remind you you're still alive."

She took a slow sip — not a full shot, just a taste — and exhaled like she'd just indulged in something half-sinful. Then she angled her body slightly toward him on the barstool, one elbow braced against the counter, her fiery eyes glinting through the haze of neon and smoke.

"And I'm just a girl who hates drinking alone," she said smoothly, her tone light, teasing, without an ounce of apology. "But if you're the brooding type, I can find another booth to haunt."

A pause. Just long enough to let the suggestion settle, and then:

"Valery," she added, finally giving him her name with a tilt of her chin and a flicker of something playful behind her smile. She leaned in just a little — not close enough to crowd him, but enough to show she wasn't leaving anytime soon. "So... what's got you drinking like the galaxy already ended, and no one bothered to tell the rest of us?"

Raef Malstadt ​

 

[Raef Malstadt]

Bottle talk...
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Tags: Valery Noble

He half heartedly chuckled, his face dropping into a more grim state as he inhaled deeply, exhaling with a troubled sigh. Much had already ended for Raef, much of his life had been spent in squalor despite his consistent work ethic. He was a man of his word, but his word didn't guarantee stability or a cushioned future where he could sit comfortably and content. An unclean conscience unable to be quenched or drowned out by even the strongest drink.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He shook his head, crossing his arms upon the tabletop as his tongue swept over his teeth and lips briefly.

"There are certain things you don't just say to strangers. Unless you're paying me, I don't have much of an obligation."

A bit abrasive, but Raef didn't exactly care when it came to small talk. His face was that of a dead man - a walking corpse just waiting to fall into a coffin, his future was no future at all, but his heart kept pumping for the time being. There was a whole wide galaxy to burn through, more sights to see, more battles that weren't his to fight.

A deep sorrow flashed in his eyes, a slow blink and silence is all he could muster now.

An awkward cough, a light sweat creating a sheen upon his forehead.

"Don't take anything personally, yeah? You don't seem like bad company, I've had... quite a strange last few days. Something I can't make sense of no matter which way I look at it."

A sudden hard slap was felt on the backside of his cuirass - drunken shouting next to his ear.

"Heheheh... you guys uh... you want a drinking buddy? I'm..."

Raef decided it was best not to cause a scene. He simply turned to look at the man with an unflinching grimace.

"Hey... hey! Take it easy... forget I said anything."

He walked on, approaching a group of shady individuals some few feet away on the opposite side of the bar. Raef turned his attention back to Valery.

"I'm not much fun at parties, either."

A genuine laugh escaped the mercenary as he grabbed for his glass once more.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery didn't flinch at the edge in his voice. Didn't bristle at the walls he'd thrown up — she'd seen too many people try to build fortresses out of bitterness and silence to take it personally. If anything, it made her more curious. She swirled the drink slowly in her glass, eyes still on him, but without pressure. Just presence.

"Fair enough," she said after a beat, her tone easy — not warm, not cold. Just real. "I'm not in the business of dragging ghosts out of strangers. Unless they're trying to kill me." A half-smirk tugged at her mouth, and she took another slow sip. The burn hit different this time — less sharp, more grounding.

When the drunk had slapped Raef's back, Valery had tensed — just slightly. Her hand dropped instinctively near her belt, where a saber usually hung, and now a blaster. She didn't interfere. Didn't need to. The way Raef had handled it told her plenty.

"Strange few days," she echoed, glancing at him sidelong. The bar's lighting shifted, a pulse of low red washing across them both for a breath before fading back to soft amber. Valery leaned her elbow back onto the bar, facing him more fully now.

"You don't have to be fun," she said simply. "You just have to be real. There's enough karking masks out there already." A pause, then a wry grin. "But if you decide you do want to talk about whatever's been chewing at the edge of your mind..."

She lifted her glass in a lazy toast.

"I've got another round in me, and nowhere else to be." And just like that, she left the door open — no push, no ask. Just the kind of invitation you only gave when you meant it.

Raef Malstadt ​

 

[Raef Malstadt]

Liquid truth...
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Tags: Valery Noble

He didn't know how to answer her. His face began to fall into something more pitiful, a sadness filled his eyes as he looked at her without blinking. He knew all too well what it was like to never be himself, to always be behind the identity he'd created after everything fell through in his life. Failure begot failure, lies grew like a well maintained field of crops.

For every seed he'd sown, he was now reaping the fruits of his errors and faults. A man like him had nowhere to stand, reduced to the things that would only pull him further down, into a place that he wasn't sure he could ever get out of. The words swam through the booze, trying to find their exit through his lips as he struggled against conflicting thoughts.

Someone beautiful, someone who'd known more innocence than he ever did sat before him and seemed genuine. He couldn't remember the last time he met a genuine person. He couldn't remember the last time he was.

"I've hurt people. I can't take it back... but."

He rubbed the back of his neck, leaning against the bar, eyes downcast.

"I saw something out there. Something dark and deep, something alive and..."

He looked to Valery, on the edge of shedding a tear or two.

"I've done something real bad. That's all there is to it."

He was also terrible at keeping secrets.