Coming out of Vacation (Open)

[James Justice]

“James your a scoundrel and a flirt, but good to hear.”

The man winked, "Always. Ne'er been anything less."

He listened as she said she wasn't sorry. She had the best weekend of her life, and he had helped change her for the better. He wished he could believe that. He wished he could somehow believe that he had done something good for once, or that he had somehow made a difference. But even what he had done for the good to make someone amazing was marred in damaging others. It was all that he ever seemed to do. His hands were cursed to always destroy, to damage everything he touched.

He forced a smile, "I always be a rule breaker. E'ery bit. Break all the mandates, shatter the rules. Ne'er let them keep ye from yeself."

He felt the hyponeedle puncture his skin without warning. The man jolted and when she withdrew it, grabbed the insertion, looking at her with wide-eyed look of semi-betrayal. It had hurt, sure, but the man had been through so much worse. It was honestly nothing compared to real pain. But he was still going to be a total baby about it. "Ow! Ye wanna maybe show me a lil warnin' first afore ye go stickin' me with them needles?"

“James. I would have told you but.. I couldn't find you. Even still I couldnt tell Boris.”

"I be damn good at not getting found," the man said grimly. That was half his job. Dissappearing. Even now, as one of the shakers and movers of the galaxy, he still could vanish in a crowd. Sometimes it was a nice relief to quit being one of the kings of the galaxy and to just be a normal slovenly joe average. "Too much sometimes."

He absentmindedly reached into his coat pocket for the used and discarded flask of alcohol. He felt a pang of regret at its absence.

"Maybe," he said at Rashae's mention of his conglomerate, "Or maybe I just know the right holes to fill at the right time. Maybe I just be lucky," he gave a shrug with his facade of the know-nothing-savant. "I just guess that's half the galaxy right thar."

He rose to his feet, moving toward the door at [member="Rashae"]'s mention that her mother needed her rest, "Ye right. Consider the Shippin' done. Not a problem. I'll get my best men on it tomorrow with the paperwork."

The man pulled the sleeve of his leather jacket back and quickly tapped the info on his RC-2, just in case he got too plastered to remember the details. Which, was more of a probability than anything else.

 

[Rashae]

The doctor gave him a disparaging look when he whined about the hypo shot. “Thank you would have sufficed.” She said as she was not apologetic in how she did that. “Besides, you would have said no and you needed it.”

Rashae motioned for Justice to move on past the antisepsis field and to exit the private room. The doctor nodded to the social worker as she paused there a moment. Rashae would pass on instructions not just to the Social worker but to the nursing staff and assisting doctors.

“See if you can do something about her wanting mirror. She cant emotionally handle it. Not till after she had some reconstruction done. “ She asked the social worker politely. The lady acknowledged the request as she went in with gloved hands.

Beverly Lovous had more care than most see in a life time medical wise. Most people didn't have a doctor much less a Minister as their daughter. The classy woman motioned for Justice to follow her as they went up a couple of levels and entered a well appointed room that was her formal office. Furniture was elegant, simply stated but spoke of her position. Desk was greel wood and several crystal decanters was along one side while there was sculptures dotting the outer edge.

The elegant woman that was his daughter gracefully indicated one of the chairs that was in front of the desk before she went to pour drinks. “This will be better than what you usually drink. I hope that doesnt disturb your sensibilities. “ She said in a sardonic tone of voice. Her humor was sometimes dark and sarcastic.

Rashae brought the two half filled glasses and the whole decanter of well aged Corellian whiskey. This was one of her favorites. The back drop was her father's planet as she sat in her chair and took a drink of the dark amber liquid. “Thank you. I had researched several shipping companies but very damned few didnt have connections to corporate something or a corporation had a controlling interest in. They are trying to ignore that my small company is doing well. “

“In the not too distant future, Galactic Coop will be buried in their own design. Rather I own it or it self destructs, either way it will be gone. “ There was that edge of Justice ruthlessness only Rashae was very patient. The corporate game required patience. “The shipping will become very important. I should tell my boyfriend about your shipping company. General Ardgal Raxis, perhaps one day you will meet him.”

[member="James Justice"]

 

[James Justice]

. “Thank you would have sufficed. Besides, you would have said no and you needed it.”

"I'll thank ye when I wanna thank ye," the older man mouthed off. Was he over 40? Yes. Was this how men over 40 were supposed to act? No. But still, James did the universal sign of infantile disrespect--he stuck his tongue out at his own, grown daughter. Anyone who didn't know James would have blamed it on him being drunk. There hardly ever was a time when he wasn't.

James followed his successful daughter down several of the corridors. The man had spent more time in vessels than he had spent on solid land. He had a knack for knowing when a well-designed ship was at hand, and when it was just another knock off of that supposed famous Melinium Falcon. He had his doubts. There was no way that a ship that old could have been that good. And besides, with modern marvels, there were better than that old trashy legend. You could tell a ship by the small things. Things so small no one else really noticed. The way the seems met on the bulkhead. The direction of the rivets on the support struts. The mere shape of the ceiling. The exact way the siding on the walls reflected the light. James could take it all in with a passing glance, the same way a landlubber could take in a sunset with hardly a shrug. And in it, he knew what he was on was good stuff.

He looked her office over with the eye of a proud father. This was his kid? She had made all of this in her life? He was glad she had made something of herself, it showed on his face. But more than that, he was glad she hadn't taken the route he had--starting from zero and having to fight to the top.

"Ye done good," The man leaned in near one of the smaller, expensive statues lining the wall, examining it closely. He poked the statue's face curiously--and it shattered under his touch. "Ooops."

The man quickly stood up right and played it off, casually walking up to accept the drink, "Dun't worry, booze is booze. I drink it all," with a quick jerk of his head the man knocked the drink back--only to cough and sputter on it once he had swallowed, "Ye drink this stuff?" He snatched the bottle up and examined it, "This be baby's play. Where the sting? Where the burn? Where be the alcohol?"

He set the bottle down despondently, sighing heavily. He would have to teach his daughter how to party. "Well, the good thing bout being highly criminal, owning ye own army, and bein' really willin' to tear someone's head from their body fer messin' with ye wrong is people learn themselves to not tell ye what to do."

The man dejectedly grabbed the bottle, half listening to her as he examined it. This was the saddest alcohol he had seen in--well a while. It wasn't moon shine. It wasn't pickling his liver. Oh the horror. With a sigh he pulled it to his lips and started chugging--for a second till she mentioned her boyfriend. For the first time in his life, James felt that familiar, biological paternal instinct innate when she mentioned her boyfriend. He didn't know if he was more shocked that there was one there, or that he had an instinct to kill the man, even though he'd never met him.

James sprayed the mouthful of booze he had out, wide-eyed with bewilderment. "A what now?"

[member="Rashae"]