Cheeseburger in Paradise

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian cruised down the Lianna streets. He was in a speeder, the type that you couldn’t just buy off the lot. The entire thing has been customized. The engine had been replaced and then modified, and he was more than willing to show it off. He revved a little as he drove down the streets. And then there was a straight away, and he took off.

Faster, faster, he had to go faster. He took a turn, too fast perhaps, his speeder tilting to one side barely missing grazing a nearby building. Damian was looking for the port, his hair swaying wildly with the wind. Then he caught something out of his eye. Smiling to himself he took the speeder around in a loop slowing down as he reached his target.

It wasn’t exactly a boat, but rather a starship that floated. Damian quirked an eyebrow as he looked. [member="Marek Starchaser"]’s newest toy courtesy of Sasha Santhe. He had been Lianna long enough to have holo of Sasha Santhe in his room aboard his ship. Not that his ship was here, but rather at a port on Dac. This liner was going there and he wanted to make sure he had a quick getaway ready.

He parked the speeder in an empty lot a few blocks down from the cruise liner and leaned over pulling the panel and reengaging the tracking device on the speeder. Damian wanted the owner to be able to find it, it didn’t feel right otherwise. “Hey,” he spun around to see a pretty blond girl around his apparent age, “Nice speeder.”

“Yeah,” Damian replied, “It’s alright. Got a nice engine, good color.”

“And tuck-and-roll upholstery,” the girl said leaning in over the door and looking into the speeder. “I love the feel of tuck-and-roll upholstery.”

“Yeah, well hop on in and I’ll let you touch it,” he stared level at her meeting her eyes. “You can touch I mean.”

“Yeah?” the girl said, “I think I know what you mean… but I got to go. I have a boat to catch.”

“The Princess of Lianna?” The boat was supposedly named by Marek after Sasha Santhe. Bastard had everything and what did Damian have? “I’m going too?”

“Are you?” the girl said starting to walk off.

Damian followed. “Yeah, my uncle bought me a ticket, decided to send me away.” In reality he’d robbed a few of Bright Stars less bright pit bosses picking their pockets and got his ticket that way. It didn’t matter.

“Well maybe I’ll see you onboard,” the girl said turning to wave at a group of people. Parents. Damian never had parents, not really. She turned and winked at him before huddling in with another girl, slightly younger. Giggling ensued.

“Yeah, maybe I will see you.” Rumor had it Marek himself would be on the trip. That was the same rumor about the latest Casino that opened up, and yet Starchaser was nowhere to be found. It was irritating really. He was either incompetent, or apathetic to his new business ventures. Then again when you had so much it was probably easy to neglect many ventures.

“Probably off with Sasha Santhe cruising the space ways and vacationing on a beach. Not a care in the world.” He cut Marek out of the Holographic images of him and Sasha taken on their vacation. Not a damned care in the world.

Walking down the street, alone, Damian came to the line of passengers boarding the ship. Many of them had a copious amount of luggage, some as many as twelve bags packed. He only had a simple duffel bag slung around his arm. He handed over his ticket after a short wait in line and refused the offer to have his luggage taken to his room. The entire ship was magnificent festooned with decorative plants and bright lights. It was as if someone made a garden in the Rio Vivo district of Lianna. Grudging he admitted to himself an understanding of why Marek seemed to love Lianna.

The room was the smallest available, the cheapest, but was still lavish. Wood, real exotic wood, made up the furniture and there was large windows giving him a good view. He immediately set checking out the various pieces of furniture and his immediate surroundings.

The desk made the perfect spot. He opened up a wooden drawer and noticed a slow in the side where he slowly dropped a small data storage device sticking it to the side of the drawer door with a simple adhesive. Damian opened and closed the drawer several times to make sure his data didn’t catch on the runners. It would have been hard to explain having the technical specs of the ship if he was searched. Not that he suspected anything, but there was always a chance someone might come nosing around. His mind wandered briefly to the girl he’d met before coming onboard.

“We are prepared for take off. All passengers please be prepared for take off.” Damian walked over to his chair and sat down unpacking his belongings into the various into the provided spaces. He was prepared for four days of luxury and fun on Dac, and at the end of those four days [member="Marek Starchaser"] would take notice of him. Damian would not be ignored, and Marek would know that there was another Starchaser….

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

Senators. If there was one thing you could be certain of it was that they always found a way to weasel their way around the system to get what they want. Ever since New Holstice made it into the Republic’s ranks they’ve been using their hold as the only safe-way to Ossus as a way to steer Jedi assistance their way. Most of the time they were denied, but occasionally the jedi had to draw the short straw and send someone away against their better wishes.

This time it was Kana’s straw that had been the shortest.

Having been assigned as a personal overseer to the administrator of one of the wealthier hospitals on Holstice she was to tend to his perfectly normal health. In truth she, and everyone else, knew that her presence served less as an assistant and more as a sign of exactly how much pull said planet could have with the senate. She was a trophy and everyone knew it, even her. Her vagrant-like clothing articles had been swapped for a semi-luxurious white tunic and equally fancy pair of tan body-hugging pants.

The jedi healer had demanded a jacket as a way to conceal her lightsaber which was even more to the administrator’s inconvenience who had suggested a dress, but with the stressed nagging that she wouldn’t look good in one she finally got her way. The prosthetic leg on her lower left shin was, after all, a very horrible accessory to such dresses but the existence of artificial limbs was able to remain a well-kept secret.

Following the short-grown, ‘big-boned’ man was easy enough, it was the talking part that got to her. Rich people were not on her list of friends. They liked to talk and they liked to talk nonsense, or worse. ‘I spent money on this’ or ‘I spent money on that.’ Disgusting.

“Kana, my dear,” She rolled her eyes. “You are free to wander, don’t stray too far now, y’hear?”

Shaking her head she made way for the bar. Corellian whiskey and/or ale, possibly both, on Shorty McFatty-Hypocriticus’ tab. The price of the now-rarer beverage served him right. Her fingers drummed at the bardisk as she looked over at the others. There was distinct lack of non-rich people.

She had never felt more alone. What a horrible crowd.

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

Peyton Steele, she'd been around lately. Well, not really. After that whole SNAFU on Tatooine with missing memories and hunting down that company, the one she had started getting a lead on, she went dark. She was hunting, and that meant hiring out other mercenaries to cover her back and help her do what she couldn't. Sure, she knew how to track hackers but that was it. She wasn't a hacker herself, and thats what brought her over to the Tion Hegemony, by way of finding a hacker known as Iris, a red-headed agent of Tion. Or something. She had the right clearance and skill set to help Peyton find what she was looking for. And that got her pointed in a direction of nearly a dozen companies.

She was going to need capital. And then Iris did something that Peyt wasn't expecting. And offered a contact. That contact? None other than someone higher up in the chain of command of some company or another. A lot of wet-work jobs, which she didn't mind.

But there was something within Peyton that had been changing. She was starting to feel the deaths. It didn't slow her down, not exactly, but still, made her think twice. But the job had a bit of benefits. A penthouse suite in one of the taller buildings on the river front in Lianna City, a quiet neighborhood, not that Rio Vivo area, but there were sections of this city that needed to have pest control done. Rodians and other aliens fighting for control in some petty gang war that didn't seem to affect anything aside from who owned shops.

She would take care of that on her own, she figured. Or contact [member="Emerald Sage"]. Who she knew would love this job. Her handler, a human who went by the name 'Mack' had sent her a bit of data. Some fool was stealing from a client, a casino. And that was Bright Star Entertainment. She knew that the CEO was kind of absent, always in the tabloids running around with his equally rich girlfriend or whatever. But the image she got? Seemed... familiar to her. She knew she saw the face somewhere.

Listen, Peyton wasn't skilled in making age regressive or progressive images in her head. But she could've sworn... Nah, right?

Still, the job needed to be done. She was given a stateroom on the liner and the room was soundproofed. The only issue? She had to dress up. Yeah, black dress, heels, the whole nine. Odd, right? But she figured to blend in. She had a hip-satchet that carried her modified BlasTech pistol, and stun baton, simple work. But the thing was, she needed to stay quiet.

But this kid, yeah, the face was clearly a child, maybe if he was a few years older? Who knew? She may not have been into that sort of figure, but there were worse people to give her a release. Really, Peyton wasn't INTO anyone, and that was probably why she was better at these tasks than explosive happy Emerald. Or something.

 

[Damian Starchaser]

The ship was off, a day’s travel to the waters of Mon Calamari. It could, of course, get there quicker, but the patrons needed time to gamble away a portion of their life saving before other entertainments became available to them. People cruised the bars, ate at the restaurants, and kept the wheels of commerce well lubricated with currency. It was a machine, and Damian was going to break it.

The lad made the most of his time and wandered the ship checking out the human element to the security. He knew where the recording devices, locks, and detection sensors were located. It was the human element he couldn’t be sure of. There was of course those security guards in uniform, but there was others. It didn’t really take a lot to identify them. Most of them simply looked out of place and all of them wore the same black suit. Not that Damian had anything against black suits. He himself was wearing a suit he’d bought for the occasion, but still.

Cruising the bar he looked around and saw a security officer doing the rounds. He prepared for this and let the malfunctioning forged rank cylinder fall from his sleeve into his hand as he approached the man. The security chief would be a hard nut to crack. He couldn’t just run into him like he would someone on the street. Damian needed another angle. If it was a woman… well Damian wasn’t without charms.

He let out a little sigh.Walking to the bar he grabbed a half empty drink and dipped his fingers into it putting liquor on his neck and shirt and wafting the smell around before taking the drink into his mouth and swishing it around in his mouth before spitting it back out. Taking a deep breath to try and get the horrible taste from his mouth out he walked up to the security chief and ran into him. “Excuse you,” he said rudely pushing the man with his hand and grabbing the security cylinder.

“Pardon me, ya little brat….” Like typical security he puffed up.

“Paying customer you mean I think? Listen wage slave,” he’d heard the term before, “Do you know who I am? No? Well you better watch yourself. My father has mining interests on twelve systems.” Damian stepped forward getting into the mans face to hide dropping the fake security cylinder on the ground. He hoped the man would assume it fell and broke in the tussle.

The guard grabbed him by his suit messing up his jacket and shirt and lifting him up off the ground. Now Damian breathed heavily into the mans face. “Are you drunk?” he said smelling the liquor.

“Noooo,” Damian said in a hushed whisper. “Don’t call my father…” Suddenly he was a teenager not wanting to get caught. The Security chief thought about his options. Suddenly he had the power, and the situation was diffused. Fun was the purpose of this trip, and it wasn’t worth making a scene.

“I won’t this time.” Sternly he looked at the boy, “But don’t let me catch you again, and be careful alright kid?”

“Putz,” Damian said as he walked away, code cylinder pocketed safely. The man messed up his suit. Now he looked… scruffy. That wasn’t acceptable. He walked over to the bar and stared at himself in the back mirror rearranging his shirt and jacket. There was an attractive woman standing just down the line who asked for a drink. [member="Kana Truden"] was unaware of the looks being shared between the bartender and a customer on the other side of the room. Damian saw it through the mirror. Elixer of Infatuation, in a small vile being poured into her drink…

Taking a sigh Damian walked over to the other end of the bar. “You don’t want to drink this…” he said trying to muster that hidden power inside of him. Only once, when fleeing a Sith patrol, he had managed to use it. “You want to go to the pool and have some fun with me.” he waved his hand in front of the woman. Even if the feeble attempt at a mind trick had no effect she might find it cute….

For good measure he leaned over and let his elbow hit the drink spilling it onto the table… And then the woman turned and met him face to face....

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMH5508RwA

 

[Kana Truden]

That drink took forever to arrive. The bartender seemed preoccupied with the gentleman in the corner, then again it was not hard to argue. She still looked a lot like a nerf herder, but with more class. It didn’t feel too far from the truth that Kana’s appearance was the one thing speaking against her. It always had, attention was more in Corvus’ corner. She was after all the grandmaster, the one who was seen everywhere. Meanwhile Kana was that friend in the back, out of sight yet always there.

A kind of creepy description come to think of it.

The drink that took it’s sweet while to arrive finally came her way. She looked at the drink for a bit. Corellian whiskey, a most fitting drink with a price tag to kick the senator’s wallet in the crack. All in all a good choice. Her hands slowly reached out for the drink, it’s sweet burn only a few moments away. In her excitement a small tickle at the back of her head told her to not drink it but she took it as her mind not looking forward to being numbed down.

Then it happened. Some jerk came about and spilled it all over the table.

What had begun as an angry staredown quickly turned into a dropped jaw in surprise. It was just a kid, a clumsy little kid. It was hard to be mad at that. A smile grew on her lips and a quick chuckle parted her lips.

Then things got kind of creepy as the kid returned the favor with a stare of his own. Her attention turned back towards the bar for a second to ask about the kid’s father but just like always the bartender was gone. A quick glance down in the corner made it evident that he was enjoying an argument with the man he had previously been talking to while pouring her drink.

“Okay, kid. You can stop the staring.” But it didn’t stop. “Eyes up here.” Still no response. “Hey!”

She snapped her fingers in the kid’s face. Perhaps not the nicest of moves, but neither was the kid’s staring. As far as she was concerned they were even. In the end she gently placed her hand on [member="Damian Starchaser"]’s shoulder and lead him away from the bar.

“What are you doing, kid? You can’t just walk around spilling people’s drinks like that. Some people really need it to dull out the voice of their incredibly annoying travel partners.” Eyes tried to set the senator on fire. She really wanted that drink.

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian blinked as the fingers snapped in his face. Suddenly he was being escorted away from the bar as the woman complained about her traveling companion. “You mean that good gentleman over there,” he rolled his eyes as he pointed with his head. He had the manifest before hand and recognized the man as a potential mark, but hadn’t recognized [member="Kana Truden"].

Turning Damian slipped from her simple pushing hold sliding his body across her hands until she stood with her hand on his chest. “As for spilling your drink, I’m sorry. You really didn’t want it though. You’d have a much better time if you just head to the pool with me, get a drink there.” He waved his hand again. He really didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

This woman must have been a plus one. “So who are you? You’re not a trophy wife. Escort? Doubt it. Men like that pay, and you’re clearly pretty enough, but if you were an escort you’d be better at pretending.” Chuckling he looked over to her date and tried to remember something about him. Most Rich knew each other by reputation if nothing else. “For someone who has campaigned their life against Republic Imperialism he sure has become the expanding Republic frontier hasn’t he?”

He glanced her over examining her features, her body, her clothing, and her body…. what a body. His gaze lingered for just a moment before he snapped himself out of it before giving her an opportunity to do it for him. “But you have much nicer borders,” he said smiling at her.

 

[Peyton Steele]

The nice thing about this gig was that her bar tab was covered. Crossing her legs as she sat at a table, watching her target, she was waiting for the time when she could catch this kid in the act of something. It'd make her life a bit more simple, instead of trying to provide evidence. It wasn't like security would be on her team if she was tackling a patron and trying to pull him away. That was called 'being publicly intoxicated' she'd tried it, kind of like swimming in a fountain. Wasn't the best choice she could make.

But then again, he was seeming to be out of his league. She didn't need to know what he was feeling to be able to understand where he was looking. That blonde was very attractive. Hell, if Peyton was into that sort of thing.

Y'know, any sort of thing.

She drummed her fingers on the table, the fingers of her right hand, which may not be completely hers. There was some heavy... cybernetics under her skin. Still, she grabbed her drink, a tequila, and sipped it. That went down like her throat was hers. Not some sort of droid food to energy converter. All flesh.

And now the boy was spilling drinks. Was he even old enough? She stopped guessing ages years ago. She looked down at her pad of flimsi and started doodling. Kid was digging himself a hole.

 

[Kana Truden]

“Mhm.” Kana hummed in a most bored manner. “That’s him alright.”

Her hand lingered on his chest for a bit before slumping down by her sides. What was with the insistence that Kana was supposed to be at the pool? The weird kid waved his hand in her face again in a movement she had seen before. Her eyebrow rose in sync with her growing smile. Mind tricking a woman to the pool, the one place that would require Kana to get into swimwear, shame on him.

Arms crossed as the young man continued his rant into the part where he tried to figure out who she was. Trophy wife? She was honored, but no. Escort?! Why the, oh, right, no she was not an escort either. The kid had saved himself the slap across his face this time. The continued staring and follow-up comment about nicer borders came close, but not close enough. After all, there was no need for a scene.

“Two things.” Kana grabbed her thumb. “One, I really don’t want to take a swim.”

“Two, that handwaving trick won’t work on those who know how to do it proper.”

She let the kid take the hint from there. “So why don’t you just tell me what this insistence on me following people to the pool is all about.”

 

[Damian Starchaser]

[member="Kana Truden"]’s hand lingered on Damians chest and his heart started to race in that moment. He’d had a few encounter with girls before but never a woman and even an innocent touch was enough to cause a slight blushing. He tried his best to recover, but despite his cool exterior he really had no clue what to do. Mostly he just imitated people he’d seen be successful with women. Still he was not put off at all. He listened as the woman spoke and as stared her right in the eyes. Pretty eyes, soft and kind. He wasn’t sure what to make of her exactly. And then she gave it away with a simple comment. One could have easily ignored it, but Damian was already in an analytical mindset studying her body language and mannerisms. “I can’t really tell you why here,” he said looking over to the two conspirators looking for a good time.

He tried to maintain eye contact while examining her through his peripherals, only slight motions of the iris giving him away. Who wore a coat on a cruise. And then he did it. He leaned into Kana and gave her a little kiss on the cheek sneaking a hand in to her side and feeling the metal cylinder hidden at her side. Confirmed. “If a jedi wants to stay undercover she should go to the pool where I can keep anything bad from happening to her.” And really who else would know he was doing a mind trick wrong except maybe a Sith, but he doubted someone this pretty was a sith. He’d seen Emperor Palpatine in the history holos.

Was she there for him? He hoped not. But still he needed to know, and the best way to do that would be to interrogate her. “I’m sure your date wouldn't mind in the least.”

 

[Kana Truden]

What was with Kana recently? She made everyone blush, first Hylo the plantboy and now this kid. This one seemed to favor staring over speaking or planting trees though. Eye contact was achieved, a peck on the cheek that had suddenly seemed to become the favorite cheek of boys everywhere. She’d better watch out unless she wanted a nasty reputation.

Except then it turned into something else. Her clues must have served their purpose and the boy figured out exactly who, or rather where, she was from. A slight nod and a sigh was all she would let the boy have before slowly making way towards the pool.

“Just for the record I am not even here undercover.” She added. “Right now that man is most likely boasting to his friends how he got himself a jedi healer to come help him out as a sign of how much influence he’s got in the senate.”

“The man isn’t even ill. Besides being overweight that is. It’s disgusting, really.”

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian shrugged and continued to stare [member="Kana Truden"] in the eyes. “You aren’t listed on the official manifest. That means you’re here undercover. If you aren’t undercover…” he looked down towards the lightsaber, “then you are illegally carrying a weapon on a civilian cruise liner. I can throw a stink either way.” He had tried to be good. Really he had. But every time he looked back over at the two scumbags he could see them tensing up for another run. And what was worse their eyes were on him the entire time. Damian couldn’t give up the game now, that could cause complications for him later if he got into a confrontation.

He looked at the woman, a twinge of concern showing through on his face. “If you want to talk,” he passed over a spare room key card. “You know where to find me. I suggest you find another place to hang out.” He shrugged to himself and shook his head, “I won’t be around to help five minutes from now.”

And then he walked away. Some people, women especially, were just hard headed. Couldn’t take the hint. He turned towards the door and got to the promenade when he felt a twinge of… what? Guilt? Concern? No it was something else. It had to be. It was like there was some sort of invisible force pulling him back into the room.

“Damn,” he said circling around so he could come back in from the other direction. He watched the bartender pour a drink again and then skipped to the other end of the bar. By the time he reached the entry way and walked in he saw [member="Kana Truden"] with the drink in her hand. His feet moved as if by themselves as the woman brought the drugged drink up to her lips. And then as she sipped the beverage he filled her field of vision…. “Come with me and everything will be alright,” he said getting as close to her as he could.

 

[Peyton Steele]

For Peyton, she wasn't here officially. Sure a Jane Doe was here, but what was that for a cover story? Pretty sure it was a lie. But no one really bothered her. She had her key before she even boarded. Perk of the job, working for the Hegemony. She noticed the looks between the blonde boy and the Force user, the lightsaber carrying girl. She wasn't worried about the saber chick, not her monkey, not her circus. She was here for the kid.

Now what was happening? Where were they going? She sighed and decided to finish the drawing, ordering another drink. She had her datapad that was linked into the security cameras. For now she'd let them get a head start, then she could find them.”Frakking kids. Why do they gotta start garbage?” She shrugged to herself, speaking only to herself, barely over the music.

[member="Damian Starchaser"] [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

She wasn’t on the manifest? A second look shot for the fat senator with an infatuation for power. Nothing unique about it, senators had always been trying to find ways to stand out from the others, he was just lucky New Holstice was the key to Ossus. Even then it was a particularly frustrating blow as Kana didn’t even reside on Ossus anymore, she had transferred herself to Ruusan.

Eventually the kid and Kana split up, she pocketed the spare key and made way for the bar again. What would he even mean with ‘help’? Kana knew how to take care of herself. Right now that meant she knew how to take care of a drink as well. Same order, same bartender, same argument with the client in the corner. At least this time she was free to grab her drink and have it too. In the corner of her eye the kid seemed to be returning in a hurry.

The rolling of eyes ensued as her glass was promptly raised for her lips. Several sips later she opened her mouth to speak up, but there were no words. A sudden dizziness forced her eyes to close. Her hand reached up for her forehead, legs giving in she stumbled ever so ungracefully into [member="Damian Starchaser"] before she pushed herself off of his shoulder. Most of her drink had conveniently been dropped to the floor at this point. Eyes blinking they eventually set upon the kid.

“Hey, you.” Her voice was soft, caring. “It’s good to see you again.”

Eyes dilating, smile growing. This kid was pretty alright. “I agree, we should get out of here.”

[member="Peyton Steele"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

“Good to see me huh?” He said as the woman practically draped herself over him. He spared a quick glance to the conspirators and let out a sigh. They would be arguing for awhile. That was good enough for Damian. “It’s uh.. good to see you too.” His voice cracked as a hand caressed his shoulders. He was glued in the spot for a second. His heart was about to beat out of his chest, and his eyes were nearly as glazed as the womans who hung on him. Then she agreed to go somewhere else… “Yeah,” Damian said his cheek bright red, “Let… lets go…”

He led her out of the little cantina and into the hallway. Instinctively his eyes darted every which way. There was a few camera’s but the staff were paid not to pay attention to this sort of thing. Down the hall they went, Damians eyes using whatever reflective surface to check for a tail. Thats when he saw the blond, [member="Peyton Steele"]. She had been at the bar as well, watching. He formulated a plan and was prepared to act when another figure came into view. It was the sleaze from the bar.

He3 bit his lower lip. He couldn’t drop the woman off at her room, for fear that the man would try and take advantage of her. That left him one option. “Two doors up and on the right,” he said struggling with the womens hold. In order to get to his pocket between himself and this Jedi he had to wrap an arm around her and pull her to his side maneuvering her where he wanted so he could grip the key.

With some quick fumblings he found the card and injected it into the door. The door swung open and he went inside. It was a small room. Smallest on the ship. He deposited [member="Kana Truden"] on his bed and sat down next to her. Their eyes met. “I’m not going to take advantage of you….” he said with a hard gulp. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her though… “Do you… do you want something to eat? Maybe it will help.”

 

[Kana Truden]

And they walked, and walked. Oh boy, he was tense! His eyes darted around the walls like if he had spotted the red dot of a laser sight. Starboard, port, starboard, port. It kept going forever until finally they stopped outside a room. The hallways might have been fancy and all but these ships had that distinct lack of things to do or even look at in areas such as this. Just a whole lot of doors and the rugs to dampen the sound of footsteps, somewhat.

“Take advantage of what?” Kana let out another soft chuckle. “I mean, I-...”

She was cut short. Was she hungry? Suddenly she had no idea. There was a slight growl in her stomach, a giveaway of hunger for the uneducated.

“I could eat, sure. What do you want to eat? I could eat anything just about now.” But what? “Gut says... Steak. On the big guy's tab!”

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

That was just as well, outside of his own meals the rest wasn’t covered by his all inclusive ticket. This meant he’d have had to pay for hers, and he’s spent all of his money on this job. “Alright,” he said looking over the computer interface. He started to select various meal options until finally settling in on something. “So…” he said after all of that was done. Damian wasn’t really sure what to say now. “My name is,” he paused. He had almost said Damian, but that wasn’t his name. Not now. “Chuck Finley.”

Despite it feeling awkward given how… intimate… they had been early Damian extended his hand to shake. There was the pervasive feeling that he was doing something very wrong. Then again there was a very attractive woman sitting next to him on a bed in the cruise liner worlds version of a cheap motel. “I never really caught your name.”

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

“It’s nice to meet you, Chuck.” Kana grabbed Mister Finley’s hand and shook it. “I am Kana Truden, Jedi Master and Healer, take your pick.”

Why was it that she couldn’t remember what they had been doing before? The man felt familiar, but why did she not remember his name? She shook it off as the drink talking again, after all her recent history with drinking could certainly have been better. Somewhere along the many years spent without them she seemed to have turned into a lightweight.

For shame.

“I’m sorry for not remembering your name, friend. It must be the whiskey talking again.” No, she was not aware of the truth in that. “Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about? This room seems kind of small.”

“Small, but cozy. Kind of like my quarters on Ruusan.” Except more decorated and without the lingering smell of musk and dust.

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

“Yeah,” Damian said as [member="Kana Truden"] got comfortable on his bed. He knew there was Elixir spiked in her drink but wondered what else there could have been in there. “Ruusan is a dusty world, I don’t mind sand but I prefer it on a beach to a desert.” He reached out a hand and touched the woman's face. His hand gently caressed her cheek before he held her chin steady so he could stare her right in the eyes. Pupils dilated.

Damian wouldn’t take advantage of Kana in this state… and yet. “So you’re only here to watch this man?” He smiled at her and leaned in towards her face.. No. He pulled back “No other reasons? Not even taking a break from the temple?” It was better to not ask directly what the Jedi knew about him. There was a chance that if she didn’t know anything she might remember the conversation and get suspicious. “Do Jedi even take vacation?”

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana nodded. Ruusan was dirty, dusty and arid but it still had that one thing to it that stood out from most other enclaves: The Valley of the Jedi -- the resting place of jedi who had fallen ages ago. While certainly just a cave, or tomb or whatever the true reason she was so infatuated with the place was not for any significant reason. Well, it would depend on who you were, but with a love for stories of one Kyle Katarn she was very much spending most days in glee as the idea that she walked upon ground he too had walked upon made her extraordinarily happy.

She was well-aware that it was childish of her, silly and everything in between. The kid touched her face as if inspecting her. It all went right by her, he was probably just looking out for her, he seemed nice like that.

“Well yeah, you would be surprised at what some senators are able to pull, or add rather.” She sighed. “New Holstice. A hospital world. Funny how someone as unhealthy as that guy can end up in charge of such a thing.”

“Oh and, no, jedi do not take ‘vacations.’ When we’re not out in the wars and fending off the One Sith we’re mostly just sitting in silence ‘meditating’ on things. We’re not exactly what you’d call the hardest of workers.”

“Well, most of us anyway.”

[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

“Given all the stories, its hard to imagine a lazy Jedi,” Damian said as a knock came to his door. At first he was suspicious and approached cautiously, but it was only room service. “Dinner arrived in a timely manner,” he declared He placed the tray on the bed and pulled at the dresser drawer moving it to the edge of the bed. The chair to the desk fell over and Damian deposited himself back on the bed next to Kana. “[member="Kana Truden"]…” he said thinking back. Some Jedi like [member="Jorus Merrill"] were famous, but Kana didn’t come to mind. “What kind of name is that?” And then he realised he didn’t want to be rude, “I mean where are you from?”

Why? Why did he want to know more about this woman? He shut up and piled in some of the cheap noodles he’d ordered. Kana had an expensive steak, but she also had someone else picking up her tab. He cooked himself, had to learn to do it when he was fending for himself, but he rarely anything so lavish as the meal set before Kana. It didn’t feel right for Damian to cheat a senator and even if he did it could draw unwanted attention to him.

Pulse racing he spared a glance at Kana and then immediately turned away and focused on the meal to drive away any untoward thoughts. Just a dinner between friends, he said to himself swallowing hard on a noodle. He wouldn’t take advantage of a woman. “Hey, you don’t really like me do you?” he asked looking back down to his meal and poking at it with a fork. It was just a mickey finn afterall. That question wouldn't work though. No he needed a different aproach. "What did you think when we first met?"