Glitz & Glamour

[Rook Lokar]

​

NAR SHADDAA​

THE EXCHANGE TERRITORY​

​

Glitz and Glamour. Greed and Gluttony.

You saw all of it on Nar Shaddaa, that much you can tell by taking a stroll down the street. Yet, it always was better to make sure where you took that walk, otherwise discover a bladed weapon imbedded within your abdomen and lacking the funds you once had within a blink of an eye. A dangerous place, but when you wandered on the wrong side of the law it often was. A perpetual war taking place on the Smuggler's Moon- everyone wanted their slice of the pie, it was just unfortunate that some wanted more than they could chew.

But, at the end of the day it was the Glitz and Glamour, the Greed and Gluttony that attracted a morally flexible hopeful.

Rook and Vinon were similar in some regard or another and after that job involving death Lizards, the two ventured to Nar Shaddaa. Something about having a place to 'relax' for a while. Vinon seemed to throw so many words around Rook couldn't quite understand what was the truth, and what simply wasn't. Turns out this time, at the very least, was the former.

The younger man's eyes went wide with amazement upon entering the rather luxurious attachment to the Exchange's Casino. Who did Vinon cheat this from? The question crossed his mind as he hand caressed a smooth pillar that was no doubt more expensive than the bucket of bolts they rode in on.

"How'd someone like you score a place like this?" His gaze roaming free, barely even looking in his direction.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Once they entered the luxurious floor everything seemed to just... click.

The way Vin walked, the step springing just a bit more free and relaxed, becoming a stride with energy that simply buzzed. He didn't look over to Rook, but did chuckle and called out over his shoulder. "Someone like me, babe, whatever do ya mean?" In Vinon's eyes this was exactly the place that belonged to him. From the comfortable carpets to the marble pillars. The tech lining the walls- from screens to equipment pieces, in some ways it seemed more a museum with curiosa rather than a place to live.

But that was Vin for ya.

All aesthetic and comfort.

"Let me tell ya something, Rook." Fingers curled around glass, flasks, starting to mix them some drinks at the private bar in the corner. "In my experience money attracts money, ya dig? You make money, you spend money and money finds a way back to ya one way or another."

Hoard it?

Lose it. That was his motto. "So the Exchange set me up with this piece here. Lets me hang around, amuse myself. As long as I keep the money flowing? They don't care." So it wasn't really that Vin owned it. It was just that the Exchange considered him important enough for their business that they gave him the run of the place. This particular floor, at the very top, was his and his alone. That much had become clear when the elevator was private and needed his retina scan.

"Ya drink yours on the rocks or nah? Just sit wherever, by the way- s'all good."

 

[Rook Lokar]

"So..." Rook began, interrupted by the taxidermic figure of some feline predator's head that just so happened to be mounted on the wall. His head crooked to the side, assuming that the longer you looked at it and the more positions your skull was in, the easier it was to identify something you previously couldn't. Yet, he eventually turned away, hands on his hips. "You're a glorified house-sitter, right?" A wry grin tugging at the corner of his lips. Rook had a knack for pushing boundaries, even in pleasant company. Rest assured it was nothing more than playful teasing, mind you.

Run until your legs fall off, that was his motto. Even if it didn't really apply in the current scenario, or only ever in specific ones. Surely someone could twist it into having multiple meanings, but Rook knew what it meant to him. That's all that mattered.

Rook slid into one of the seats, uhming arghing over what he really wanted. He shrugged in the end, "Surprise me." Is what followed. Those eyes of his only continued to wander.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Now that got a laugh out of him.

He didn't immediately reply to it.

Mostly because Vinon took his mixing seriously and then some. He made them both a Twister- lime, white rum, the works. It didn't take long though- within a few minutes a glass was pushed into Rook's hands and Vin pointed at him. "That is exactly right. Someone's gotta keep the couches warm and the lights on for the electricity bill quota, eh?" A shrug as he flopped down on a seat next to Rook. "So I thought to myself... why not me?" His hand moved expressively as those words filled the room.

Rook already knew that Vin talked a lot.

Maybe didn't quite realize that he didn't just talk with his mouth though. "Either way- I know you just got out of that Geonosisian prison, ain't gonna ask ya what ya did to get forked by the Confederates, but you are quite the pilot."

Smirk.

"I could use you. Pay well, benefits speak for 'emselves, you'd get to do what you love and earn stacks of chits while ya at it. Dig?"

 

[Rook Lokar]

That glass slid across the table, or bench top and right into Rook's palm. He raised the glass to eye level, giving a nod in an almost 'cheers' fashion. In all honesty he was a bit skeptical about the drink, and so his expression appeared show something of curiosity in the moment he took a sip. Wasn't bad, though. Quite nice, for the most part.

"I dig." The Smuggler mentioned, using Vinon's own vocabulary to appeal to him of course. His head crooked to the left, deciding on whether or not he really liked that drink to not. Demeaux was living the fancy life, seemed to reap all the benefits of every action he'd ever done. Hell, even the name 'Demeaux' sounded luxurious. Rook never spoke it out loud, but internally he always attached a Rylothian accent onto it, just as he had with 'Vinon'.

​"What've you got in mind, or are you just spit-balling right now?" Always was better to cut to the chase in regards to a job. "And, by the way, that whole prison thing was nothing but a batch of bad luck." Honestly, it was. There wasn't really much else to it.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

His hand waved the issue away.

"Babe, I smuggle and fence chit for the upper-rung of the Exchange, you think I care whether or not you deserved being locked up?" He didn't. In fact, it was one of the reasons why they were having this conversation in the first place. His short stint in the train convoy had marked Rook either way. He was a criminal now (no matter if he had been before) and that changed things slightly. One of theirs, one of the hidden people that slowly corrupted the edges of civilization in equal terms.

"Either way- bad luck? It brought ya here, drink in hand, me as your potential friend and the prospect of steady employment. I'd drink to ya good fortunes, my friend."

One leg crossed the other, leaning back as he took a sip and considered his question.

Then a shrug.

"Steady employment, not one job. Many jobs. I got goods incoming from Kashyyyk in a week's time, week after that? We breaching that fethin' blockade the Sith put around Commenor." Bad for business that one. Oh, Vin could sympathize somewhat with them. Well, not really- but given enough effort he could mimic the sympathy. "You run point on one of 'em, don't kark up and you will have your own crew to run with." Vinon wasn't much about the micro-managing.

His group was on the smaller side.

But specialized.

Where [member="The Prince"] ate a lot of pieces of the pie, Vin focused and got results. "Whatcha say?"

 

[Rook Lokar]

Rook slowly began to nod, seemingly lost in thought and indecision. The truth was he already made up his mind, even if it was the most ill-advised answer any sane individual could give. Breaking through a Sith blockade over Commenor? Bold, but stupid. He'd heard of what the Sith had done to those who opposed them, and you wouldn't wish it upon your worst enemy. Yet, even still, Rook wanted that fame, he wanted that fortune. It was his only desire, at least right now. And things were always in motion, always changing.

"What'd you say the pay was?" He questioned, almost as if Vinon had actually said what it was already. A crew? They could get things done, but it was the immediate benefits that Rook sought more than most.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Ah, a money man.

Man after his heart.

It was kinda amusing to Vin how Rook didn't ask what they would be transporting to Commenor.... or back from Commenor. Instead it was straight to the numbers and the money. It would be interesting to see if that stayed on or if there were other priorities somewhere behind that pretty face. "I didn't." Smirking over the rim of his drink and taking another good sip. "Region of two hundred, if you do it perfectly." That meant none of the packages karked with, the ship in order, nobody hurt.

Hazard pay was a twitch.

"You will use one of our ships for this one."

Part of it was to see how attached Rook was to his, but honestly that was just standard procedure. Their ships were screened, cleared, scrubbed. Once Rook had gone through the paces a few times they might trust him enough for more.

 

[Rook Lokar]

Money is what made the Galaxy go around, no?

It was hard to not be a 'money man' in a crooked world. Honest truth, that.

"I'll be more than perfect." A smile of his own, and a sip of that drink to go with it. Rook was nothing but confident, perhaps too confident. Might be his biggest issue, really. Being too confident for his own good, getting way in over his head but even then his confidence rung true. Sticking to your guns always was the best strategy, just as lying through your teeth got you all the way across the Galaxy and back.

​"What kind of ship we talkin'?" He asked in the end, not entirely fussed on not using his own ship. It only meant that if things got wrong it wasn't his own ship that got torn to shreds. The YT-1500 was too beautiful to destroy, or so Rook believed.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

"Confident, huh? I dig it."

He did.

People these days missed the swagger, the rhythm of the moment. They were too stiff and too worried about chit that just didn't matter as far as Vin was concerned. He pulled out a datapad and ticked a few buttons, until it started projecting a hologram between them.

Ships.

Flicked to the left, once, twice, every time a new ship showed up. They had small text next to them with technical specifications, modifications, even legal states in the various sectors. It became clear that with the backing of the Exchange... they had a lot to work with. "Take your pick, baby, we got everything you might want." Most of them were scrap heaps from the outside. That was by design as the tech specs would show. Few people would care to figure that there was a million credit haul on a ship that seemed to be wrecking at the seams.

"Core run- so you want something a bit more sleek tho. The scrap is nice in the Outer Rim, but the Core expects a bit more... more from us."

It was an expectations game.

 

[Rook Lokar]

That was the question, wasn't it?

Style or Function?

Rook figured, for the briefest of moments, that if he's after a ship for a temporary job, he may as well go the function, right? His own YT-1500 has the style to it, or so he believed. It was a nice ship, fast, durable, and sleek as ever. It was beautiful, and the only thing he ever had to worry about other than himself. As long as he had that baby it was nothing but himself and the stars that they rode in on.

He lounged back in his seat, his eyes wandering over each vessel and skimming the specific details on the starships as they came by. He appeared confident, but that was his thing. Appearance meant a lot, and even if he didn't believe in himself he could just pretend that was the case.

With a grin creased across his a lips, a glass limp within his grip he asked, "What do you suggest, ship-wise?" Vin obviously knew more than he about their stock, and it may be laziness or something else. It hardly mattered.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Hm.

Vin glanced back at the ships and thought about it for a moment.

Then he started skimming past them, picking out a handful. They kept hovering in the air as he screened the next batch. Finally only three remained. They rotated slowly around their own axis and every once in a while they flickered a bit. Particles of dust and smoke causing their forms to disintegrate for a micro-second, before they restored themselves in the rightful position. "These three are whatcha want." He indicated each with an index and middle finger.

Might be the first time Rook notices all the rings and jewels on his fingers too.

"Heavy reinforced and slower- Speed and agility but virtually no defenses- average on all accounts, but has a slicing unit."

Three methods.

It all depended on what Rook's playstyle would be for the mission.

 

[Rook Lokar]

Rook grasped at his chin, allowing his elbow to lean upon the tabletop. This time he was actually lost in thought, but it dawned on him that he couldn't realistically select a ship for the job if he didn't have the details. As a result, of course, this prompted the following question of, "What're the details of the job?" His eyes fell on Vin, to his ringed hand, and back to the man once more. Sure was a lot of jewellery, maybe a hand worth more than his life itself. And by 'his' he meant his own, of course. Rook was nothing but a youngster looking to make his way, and Vinon had done something like that already.

One final swig and the drink was gone, almost slammed down on the table as a refreshing 'ah' was let loose. It burned the back of his throat, though. That 'ah' was exaggerated, too. He wasn't much of a drinker and so anything relatively strong wasn't enjoyed too much. However, Rook felt as if he needed to keep up appearances more than anything right now.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Vin noticed the edge of a grimace against the drink.

It was obfuscated by the ahh, but he saw it. Clearly Rook wasn't the drinker that he made himself out to be. But that was between himself, his liver and the glass in his hand as far as Vinon was concerned. He would have offered some orange juice instead- then again it wasn't worth making it a potential issue. Rook didn't seem like the type of person who got his pride bruised by something like that.

But you never know.

"You should know better than to discuss dets like that by word, Rook babe." His hand pulled a data crystal out, placing it neatly between the two of them. "If ya accept the job, take the crystal and it will give ya all you need."

Oh yeah, Vin was even cautious in his own domain.

 

[Rook Lokar]

Rook sunk further into his seat, his eyes squinting within their respective sockets in the moment the decision was truly thrust at him. His right elbow propped itself on the arm-rest, two fingers pressed against the side of his head to offer minimal support. The left simply grasped at the arm-rest, extending over the end as his palm encompassed it.

'Spose this was it now, wasn't it?

"Deal." The Smuggler finally remarked, leaving an awkward bit of silence between the two. Flexing a smirk across his lips.

His right arm, the one that supported his head (barely), reached out to place his hand over the crystal. Sliding it across the table and towards himself, turning his palm over to look directly at it. "Everything's on here?" Rook mentioned with doubt lingering in his tone of voice.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Rook Lokar"]

Vin couldn't keep his eyes off Rook as he internally was rationalizing the entire ordeal.

Trying to figure out the angels, the best approach, it was all there- expression, body language, the whole big bantha burger. Some people spoke of people watching, but they didn't have nothing on Vinon when he really got himself busy. Then the words came that he had been waiting for. It got a wide smile out of him, his hand reaching out for a shake. His handshake was firm, but the skin told a tale to Rook. Soft skin, fingers and nails neatly done an' then some.

These weren't the hands of someone used to doing hard work.

Maybe that would tell Rook a thing or two. "Deal." A few moments later Vin couldn't help but scoff. "Gon' assume ya ain't trying to insult me, friend, when I say it got everything... it got everything, dig?" He waved the issue away before Rook could reply.

"Fuggit about it. Let's have a few drinks to celebrate, eh?"

That would turn into many drinks if Vin had any control over the situation.

 

[Rook Lokar]

"Just making sure." Rook had clarified with a grin stretching across his lips. There was no ill-intent, of course, no. There had been more than a fair share of shady employers that didn't give their employees enough information, resulted in more undesirable situations than he cared to put his finger on. Something involving Imperials, Pirates and... worse.

A shrug had come his way in response to the latest claim Vinon had made, willing to let it all go in exchange for a few more drinks. Despite not being ah achy drinker that is. He wasn't the elegant social navigator that Vinon was, and so it was more than likely that older of the two was to have his way in the scenario they've been presented with.

Sitting there, waiting, drinking. Their business had been concluded.

[member="Vinon Demeaux"]