Public Fear and Loathing in New Vertica

[Arris Windrun]

The splash of water was numb more than anything. No sense of hot or cold, Arris couldn't even experience the sensation of being wet, just that something liquid dripped down her face.

“Shut up,” she snapped.

Her robotic expression remained unchanged; frozen as Mauve broke down into a mess of tears and anguished tremors.

“Shut up,” she said again, words strangled by the tightness in her throat.

It was the second time that caused Arris to snap out of it, first with a few blinks. A metal hand reached up, thumb ready to wipe away the stream, only to hesitate then recoil. She withdrew another smoke from her pocket and placed it between Mauve's lips without letting go. In her other hand, she flicked a lighter.

 

[Mauve du Vain]

The smoke drooped low and wobbled, hanging from Mauve's lips unsteadily as they trembled.

Flick. Flick. Fwoosh.

Mauve drug in a lungful of tabac. Embers glowed to life. She let out a long exhale, smoke curling in wisps from her mouth. Another drag, then another exhale. Her nerves steadied. Her shoulders stopped shuddering. She didn't wipe away the tear tracks on her face, letting them stay with a defiance that kindled like the embers in the smoke.

Besides, she knew she was pretty when she cried.

"Thanks," Mauve rasped around the smoke, as if Arris' face wasn't still dripping wet.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris shoved a hand in each jacket pocket and stood there, with only smoke and tension to fill the space between them.

Thanks. Whatever outcome liquor thrown in her face may've intended, it was that reply which did more damage to the cyborg's fragile ego. She was half-tempted to scoff or even roll her eyes for dramatic effect. There was but a frayed thread of loyalty - and of knowing - which kept Arris from lashing right back at the melodramatic Vigo.

One might suspect self-preservation to be among those reasons, as Mauve of all people had an army of thugs and killers in her pocket, not to mention an all-powerful Sith princess. But no... Those reasons were not part of the Talusian's hesitation.

"So," she broke her silence, "what now?" Her voice was low, absent of any anger or ill intent.

She stepped a little closer, hands still in her pockets, though pressed down to the point that they began to wear away the fabric.

"Do you want to hit me? Shoot me?" Her tone hadn't changed one bit, suggesting she was no less than half-serious.

Another step, until there wasn't much more ground to seize. At the difference in their height, Arris was forced to glance down at the Zeltron's tear-stained face.

Loud music continued to boom, and goers danced as obliviously as before. Only their immediate surroundings were now devoid of all except those who didn't mind weird drama. Which, in this case, was a sleepy Trandoshan sloshed out of his mind. Not the bartender, who had slid as far away from them as possible. It was unlikely either would be offered another drink.

"What will make you feel better?"

Mauve du Vain

 

[Mauve du Vain]

Hit her? Shoot her?

Mauve shook her head at each question mutely, eyes almost blank as she stared into the middle distance of the room. The music thudded as the beat staggered up toward a drop, ratcheting higher and higher. The alcohol roared in her bloodstream. A mess of emotions ripped at the fabric of her mind and made chaos of her thoughts. She felt the warmth still on her cheeks of drying tears. Mauve's teeth massaged the end of the smoke. She didn't care. She didn't fucking care about any of it.

Arris' shadow passed over Mauve's face.

The Zeltron looked up, into the face of maybe the galaxy's most dangerous cyborg.

"I want to fu-" the bass dropped and the blare drowned her out.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris didn't miss a beat. This sort of request has been made enough times in her life that it might as well have been, "Hey, can I have a smoke?" for her.

She grabbed Mauve's hand and, without a word, marched towards a VIP room in the back. A particularly mean-looking bouncer guarded it, and he stood at attention as soon as the pair's approach became clear to him.

"Hey! This room is reserved, you better turn around and--"

The door had suddenly opened from behind, under the influence of the technopath's ability. Of course, he had no idea why and couldn't help but turn his attention to it. The room was supposed to be empty after all. Just as he was about to turn back towards them, his forehead met the back of Arris's metal hand, and it knocked him out cold.

The scoundrel led her boss into the room and sealed the door.

Mauve du Vain

 

[Mauve du Vain]

The door slid shut.

“Good,” Mauve said around the smoke between her lips, “Now I-…”

Now she what? Wanted to feel something other than an emptiness? Wanted to be held? Wanted to be… to be…

Mauve swayed unsteadily on her feet for a moment, her stomach lurching, then she stumbled to the corner of the room and fell to her knees, retching, sobbing.

Nobody knows you.

Nobody cares.

The smell of regurgitated alcohol and bile filled the room.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

The door closed, and now Arris wasn't sure what--

"Oh."

She watched Mauve unravel immediately, and not in the way she expected. Though that was on her, given the state of their night.

Arris moved to lean against the wall and just watched.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Mauve du Vain