Private Half-Past Ten

[Yula Perl]

//Denon
//The Foolish Rebel Pub​

Dagon Kaze was a bastard.

It was the only thought running through Yula’s head as she threw on her jacket and stalked through the undercity streets of Denon. After nearly catching him in the act, her head could only go one place. If the Jedi even tried to go home tonight, he’d find his key to the apartment door useless, the bedroom window nailed shut, and no one to open it for him.

Didn’t matter if she didn’t have the evidence. She’d heard enough.

The massive Beorni behind the counter appraised the seething Zeltron who’d just plunked herself down onto a barstool.

“What’ll it be?” He asked in a low rumble, voice deep as it was even.

“Alcohol.”

Silence, and a blank stare in return.

“Beer, I guess. Whatever.”

Normally she was in a chipper mood. Sociable, friendly. All the things a pink-skinned humanoid was known to be in a bar setting. Today, she was sulky, and rightfully no one wanted to engage.

Stupid cheating Dagon and his stupid chiseled cheating face. The couple had their problems, but fidelity had never been one. Never even an inkling. Dagon was a good guy, loyal, never gave her a reason to think that there was another woman.

The reality stood that there was not another woman. But that clarification wouldn't come until later.

Until then, Yula would drown herself in the Foolish Rebel.

Lyra Ozu

 

[Lyra Ozu]

After a couple of drinks, the lines of inhibitions were beginning to blur so she had little reason not to interact with the newcomer, even if social cues called for her not to given the rather dreary state of the Zeltron which suggested her advances may not be taken kindly.

"I'll buy her drink." She informed the bartender as he passed before dropping a few credits into his hand a moment later. Since it seemed they were both rather miserable, there was no reason she couldn't at least offer a small act of kindness.

The free-spirited Mirialan was equal part independent and sociable and so was perfectly content with her own company but tonight she was craving that social interaction more as loneliness began to seep in on account of the recent knowledge of the certain end of her relationship with Dagon.

"Bad day?" She casually asked before taking a swig of her own drink.

From another point of view, they were looking pretty pathetic in their current state but it was likely that neither cared enough to stop.

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

“mm-huh?” Came the dull reply, muffled due to Yula smushing herself face-first onto the counter. The bar top was not…the most sanitary feature of the establishment, and either she was so down that she couldn’t bring herself to care, or someone had been pre-gaming.

Lifting her dreary head, the Zeltron found an equally miserable-looking Mirialan woman in the seat next to her.

“-yea.” The grunted reply sounded rough. After a deep breath and dragging her hands down the sides of her face, Yula had righted herself enough to actually speak. She opened her mouth to thank the stranger, but what came out was far more personal and straight to the point.

“I think my boyfriend is cheating on me.”

The gloom seemed to drag the features of her face down. “I’m pretty sure he’s out there right now having "fun" with that hussy…man, when I get my hands on him…on both of em…” The grief in her voice shifted to something more ominous, which evaporated when her beer arrived.

“Hey, thanks, by the way. I’m parched.” Yula threw her head back, emptying a good third of the glass in one go. A satisfied gasp passed through her lips. “You’re good people.”

Adjusting to the interaction, she was reminded that they both looked sad as hell.

“What’s your story?”

Lyra Ozu

 

[Lyra Ozu]

Had the circumstances been different then she would've found amusement in the other with a face full of counter but truthfully she felt like doing the same and it wasn't quite as funny anymore.

She wasn't too surprised by the directness of the reply. After all, she had instigated it. She respected the Zeltron's openness though. Not all were so forthcoming.

As she continued to explain her situation, Lyra turned her body towards the newcomer while idly stirring her own drink. Her answer stirred up sympathy initially but then an anger which both seemingly shared.

"That's awful." She reaffirmed the woman's feelings. "I don't understand how people can do that. Don't they have any shame?" She shook her head in disbelief.

Men. Every fibre of her being wanted to roll her eyes.

The Mirialan offered a friendly smile for a moment before it dissipated again into an expression of sadness. "It's nothing. I figured you were having a day as bad as, if not worse than, mine."

Where to begin?

"My ex led me on and then left me. Now he's with some other woman. I hope for her sake he doesn't use her too."

More or less.


Yula Perl
Dagon Kaze (stimky)

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula cringed.

“Yikes. That’s some harsh stuff—I wouldn’t be as forgiving to the other woman.” Even if she didn’t know and wasn’t at fault, the splash zone of her anger was wide. “Yer kinder than me.”

The Zeltron smoothed both hands over her head, pushing back dark waves from her face. Usually, she took greater care to hide her permanently closed left eye, sealed with a vertical scar from the offending lightsaber that had stolen half of her vision. Tonight, she had bigger problems.

A spark of invigoration hit her, and Yula downed the rest of her beer in one prolonged swig. After the glass plunked against the counter, she signaled for the bartender with a wave of her arm.

“Right here—another round for me an’ my new friend.” She turned to the Mirialan, finding a budding sense of kinship with her given that they were in roughly the same boat. “Names Yula. You?”

Lyra Ozu

 

[Lyra Ozu]

"I suppose I can't blame her too much. She might not know, after all." She idly stirred her drink with a defeated sigh. Whoever the other woman was, she must have been prettier, smarter or better than Lyra in some other way for Dagon to have chosen her. It was a painful thought to have.

Curiosity struck her as she saw the entirety of the other's appearance but she knew better than to stare or ask, though her gaze lingered momentarily upon seeing the other's scar. She must've been pretty badass.

"Thanks." She mustered a friendly smile to show gratitude and finished the remainder of her drink in preparation for another. "Lyra." She introduced herself.

At least something good might come from their shared despair.

"Why do people do this? Use us and play with our feelings like they're nothing." She frowned and shook her head as though shaking the thought away. "You're too good for him and whoever he cheated on you with well... screw her too." The Jedi weren't ones to preach about revenge but she sure hoped there was such a thing as karma.



Yula Perl
Dagon Kaze (stimky)

 

[Yula Perl]

Lyra’s question took some thought to answer. Approximately the same length of time it took Yula to drain half of her new drink, pacing be damned. From behind the counter, the bartender cringed, fearing that he’d have to mop glittery vomit from his floor sooner rather than later.

“Because he’s a nerf herder.” A quick, sharp intake of air helped her to suppress a blech, and Yula thumped on her chest. “Never expected it from someone like him. Goes to show that you can’t trust anybody.” A single eye slid over to Lyra, sympathy and rage roiling like a storm behind one green iris.

It was true what they said, misery did love company. Maybe it was time to start that party.

“You know what?? We’re not gonna let them get away with it!” Yula declared triumphantly, pouring the rest of the beer down her throat and thunking her glass on the counter so hard that it earned her a glade from the barkeep.

“You still got his number? I’m gonna give this bastard a piece of my mind!”

Lyra Ozu
Dagon Kaze

 

[Lyra Ozu]

"A nerf-herder." She laughed, accidentally snorting and then covering her mouth and laughing more upon doing so.

"I feel the same." Perhaps she had been foolish to think she had known him well enough to trust him. It was too late for regrets now anyway. Any of his redeeming qualities would live in her memory while she continued to demonise him in the present.

Lyra fell silent again as her mind returned to a time once passed but her pensive thoughts quickly turned to anger and before she knew it she had slammed another empty glass on the bar.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're right! We don't just have to sit by and take what we're given." She agreed enthusiastically as though they were about to embark on some revolutionary idea instead of drunk calling their exes.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled the number with slow fingers. "Ok but afterwards I can tell your guy where he can stick it." She offered her the phone once it was ringing.

Yula Perl
Dagon Kaze (stimky)

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula was all hyped up on emotions and alcohol. Which is to say, this was a typical night for the Zeltron.

She was all too eager to grab Lyra’s phone, grinning with unhinged ferocity. This jackass was going to get it, then they would steal Dagon’s speeder or something.

As soon as she heard the distinct click of the call being picked up, Yula unleashed.

“hey whAT THE FETH IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU, YOU NERF-HERDER!”

She stopped to belch, thumping her fist against her chest before continuing.

“Who leaves a perfectly hot babe like LYRA for some FLOOZIE?? You gotta PROBLEM??? I’m your problem now, BUDDY!”

If she thought about it, buddy didn’t really fit. But, thoughts were not a part of what was happening right now. Nor was comprehension.

“I bet you’re some- some LOSER IDIOT who wouldn’t know a GOOD WOMAN if she bit him on the ASS! And you suck in bed, idiot.”

Yeah, you tell ‘em.

Lyra Ozu Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

He would've gone straight home after the dramatic 'reunion' with Lyra - sleep the day, head out at night. The usual vigilante business. Only Dagon didn't. Snuck into the precinct, follow up a lead on a case to busy his mind with work. The usual coping, you know. Fourty eight hours since he last took a wink and the Jedi was dragging himself up the stairs home. Should catch a few blinks and head out again two-three AM-ish.

The door said no. Didn't need to be a Darkwire cyberhead to realize Yula had changed the locks. Too tired to investigate why, concluded someone had tried to break in. It's not like they lived in the best hood in town. Hardly a safe hood on Denon anyway, high skyscraper rises excluded. Fifteen minutes in fiddling the lock, letting all Yula had taught him about breaking in places flow into his hands, and she rang.

"Hey--"

“hey whAT THE FETH IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU, YOU NERF-HERDER!”

She stopped to belch, thumping her fist against her chest before continuing.

“Who leaves a perfectly hot babe like LYRA for some FLOOZIE?? You gotta PROBLEM??? I’m your problem now, BUDDY!”

If she thought about it, buddy didn’t really fit. But, thoughts were not a part of what was happening right now. Nor was comprehension.

“I bet you’re some- some LOSER IDIOT who wouldn’t know a GOOD WOMAN if she bit him on the ASS! And you suck in bed, idiot.”

The seething tide blasted into his ears shot his eyes wide as if someone had just tossed a bucket of ice-cold water at his face. As refreshing as that was, the thick veil of fatigue refused to leave his head. His cognitive process drowned under a cacophony of exhaustion, struggling to make sense of everything she was saying. One thing stood out - either she had the wrong number or he sucked in bed, and both had awful implications.

It was a lose-lose situation.

Lyra's name never even made it past the veil.

"Uhh-- I do?"

This had to be a prank, right?

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

"Uhh-- I do?"

“Yes!” Her answer was instantaneous, equal parts vehement and thoughtless. Her goal was simple; cause as much damage to the jerk who hurt Lyra, and think about it later. Or never.

What she wasn’t expecting was for the voice on the other end to sound so familiar. Yula pulled her head away from the phone, staring at the device in bewilderment. “Dagon?” Though she wasn’t speaking directly into the receiver anymore, he’d be able to hear her just the same.

The process was a slow one. Now, she turned to Lyra. “I think your phones broke? It called my boyfriend.” Yula’s single brain cell was firing at max capacity, and no, it hadn’t made the connection yet. But it did stir the recollection that she was supposed to be mad at Dagon. What for, again? Did he arrest one of her friends, or…oh, no, right. The alleged affair.

“…my cheating bastard sunnuvabith EX-boyfriend!” Her tone picked up in anger as she went, like a snowball that was rolling into an avalanche. As Yula put the phone back to her ear, it was clear that the momentary confusion did not dull the sharp edge of her ire. “Yeah, I heard you! Going on about having some fun, don’t tell Yula. So who is she, huh?! The lady cop I see making eyes at you in the station? Don’t tell me the whole ‘solving cases’ thing was a fecking lie! I'm about to solve my fist into your face."

Yula huffed, sending her free hand over the crown of her head to push the dark waves back. The heat on her face was almost suffocating. She glared at Lyra, not because she’d made the connection a sober person would, but in a ‘can you believe this guy?’ sort of way.

“Don’t bother dragging your ass home, sleep on the streets instead. Or a gutter. Or maybe in the arms of your mistress, if she’s dumb enough to take you back!”

Dagon Kaze Lyra Ozu

 

[Lyra Ozu]

Sitting by idly as she allowed the Zeltron to take control, she sipped her drink while making eye-contact with a man who had joined the other end of the bar. She offered him a coy smile before her attention shot back to Yula, initially startled by the outburst but then stifled a laugh a moment later.

Maybe she had been going about making friends all wrong. Instant, unbreakable bonds with strangers over shared romantic woes was the way to go.

"You're.. you're the best, Yula." She told her newfound friend in-between laughs.

When she heard her say his name, it was slow to register but she slowly turned her head to the side with a quizzical expression. "Are you sure it's- Ohh." Were they talking about the same person? She could at least recognise that but hadn't yet connected all the dots that would paint the picture.

Not quite grasping the reality of the situation, she continued to laugh along with Yula's savage verbal attacks. What were the chances that they had been talking about the same person? Dagon sure made his rounds. He deserved everything that was coming for him.

After a few incredibly long moments, the smile on her face began to disappear. "Wait..."

Yula Perl
Dagon Kaze (stimky)