How Do I Feel?

[Delaney Wilder]

​

ZELTROS
[member="Joza Perl"]

It was strange to be on Zeltros.

The homeworld of his mother and for some reason Jack had been expecting... more. But from the moment he stepped out of his shuttle he was dozed in a pink haze of pheromones, drugs and other chemicals. Thick in the air, hanging low and heavy, but somehow not affecting him as much as the other newcomers.

Zeltron blood, savvy?

It would take more than the regular atmosphere to take him down. He was here on business, a new bounty- Tionese slaver this time around.

Funny how Singh almost always ended up chasing one criminal after another. Always ended up finding filth and skipping out on other possible business opportunities. The explanation was simple, of course. They paid well and few people took them up. Why chase a serial killer slicing their way through the Core Worlds, when you could bag some sixteen year old noble runaway trying to enjoy the spoils of the Outer Rim?

Yeah, that was a genuine bounty offer on the board once.

He stepped on through the door of the Nightclub. Lush, Pink, Sin, they all had the same names and Jack wasn't paying attention to it, he just knew this was the place.

Gun was given over to security.

That gun anyway. They didn't get the one hidden by a layer of anti-sensor webbing woven into the thick of his jacket. Now to get a drink and find his head.

 

[Joza Perl]

Zeltros
Blush

Heartbeat House had its name in a lot of places nowadays—couldn’t step into a night club or brothel on Zeltros without Heartbeat dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s. Most of the buyouts weren’t exactly publicly advertised and let whatever building they had purchased keep its name. Things behind the scenes changed and that was that.

Standing on the second floor, Perl leaned against the railing and soaked in the atmosphere. She owned a handful of luxury establishments—resorts, brothels, whatever. They were boring. There were plenty of people who were into silk sheets and perfectly manicured views. Blush wasn’t exactly scummy but it danced on the line, sort of on purpose. It was gritty, charming and attracted all types. Glitter, cheap perfume and loud women dominated the dance floor. Skin, tattoos and scars were equally welcome.

She liked it just fine here.

“C’mon love, aintcha got time for me no more?” The Tionese slaver sidled up to her and rested his back against the railing.

Adavey Farhel. Thirty-eight. An even 6’0” but likes to tell people he’s around 6’2” or so—thick soled shoes help. Tan complexion, dark hair and neatly cropped facial hair. Slaver that fronted as a businessman. Hires out young women from poor families to work as maids and caretakers in affluent households, worlds away from their home planets.

Oldest trick in the book. Also one of the grossest.

“Just stick around tonight.” Her voice was low, smooth. “Here. With me.”

She didn’t go in for the kill on their first meet. Almost, though—she was almost done with him. Maybe she’d be able to tiptoe around the landmines and get what she needed from him tonight, maybe the truth serum and the knife would have to come back into play for this one.

Perl wasn’t a bounty hunter. She didn’t shoot on the first date.

[member="Jackson Singh"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Joza Perl"]

It didn't take long for him to find the bastard.

There were subtle keys and tones on the atmosphere around the lad. You just needed to be familiar enough with that brand to pick it out, if there was one thing that Jack had grown used to over the years of serving as a Sith trooper... it was that mixed sense of disgust and fear. Most of the patrons gave way for the slaver.

They didn't want to be involved, didn't want to even look him in the eye.

All except this one lady.

Zeltron.

It was strange- her body language gave all the hints and signs of someone down. Even the subtle curl of the lip, upwards, interested, just enough eye contact to sell the deal, but not enough to seem overly eager. Someone who wanted a few drinks first, maybe. Still had the feeling that something wasn't entire on the level here.

Main reason why he hung back and ordered a drink. Jack didn't like it when things weren't as clear-cut and dry as they seemed at first glance.

There would be a moment. Not yet, but soon. He'd act then.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza always got too close to the fire. Hell, sometimes she was the fire. She’d get burned, retreat to lick her wounds and then come right back. Perl learned from her experiences, she’d gotten craftier and burned less over the years. The last one was a doozie but she came back from it with an even stronger resolve and more tricks up her sleeve.

At this point, Adav was little more than a flicker. A few wisps of flame from a doused campfire. He didn’t know it but she had him cornered tonight after a few months of slow burning.

He slipped his arm around her waist and murmured something against her ear. Goosebumps rose on her skin from the prickle of his beard—a natural reaction—and she playfully hit him on the shoulder in response to whatever he had said. Inside she might have been rolling her eyes, but that wasn’t important right now.

If she noticed the bounty hunter hanging back and eyeing them she didn’t seem to be worried by it.

Another drink or so passed and she let him get a little handsier. For slaving scum he was a decent lay in the end.

“Do you want to head upstairs?” Her voice was low, husky even as her eyes shifted to the direction of the stairwell that would lead them to the VIP room.

He grinned, wider and a little less inhibited than usual. Drunk enough. “You read my mind, babe.” The grin got wider. “I gotta go freshen up, you head on upstairs and…” He trailed to whisper on her ear which caused her lips to twitch upwards in the faintest of smirks.

He pushed himself away from the railing and headed towards the men’s room.

[member="Jackson Singh"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Jack waited.

Finished his drink and then casually slipped off his stool after a minute or two. If anyone was actually paying attention, they might have noticed his previous attention and grown suspicious, but Singh was already strutting through the room and towards the bathroom. Clearly after that one drink Jack needed to eject some ballast, before he could refuel more and that was the only reason why he'd go to the bathroom right away.

He rounded the corner, walked through the corridor and then pushed himself into the bathroom.

From a casual look all the cabins were empty except the one far at the right. Sitting, so that was more than just a freshen up, but that was none of Jack's business. He loosened the clasp around his holster and found himself a nook to wait in.

Blind spot.

It would give him a good view of the slaver's exit and wouldn't immediately put him in his view.. or the view of anyone potentially walking into the bathroom themselves.

 

[Joza Perl]

Farhel took his sweet time in the refresher. After what would appear to be a few liberal applications of cologne and finishing whatever business he had come to do, he exited the stall.

Upstairs in the VIP room, Joza had grown concerned that Farhel hadn’t shown. Normally she wouldn’t be too worried, but this was as much of a missions as it was a good evening. She’d spent months carefully working him, all that time culminating to this point.

She wasn’t letting that go to waste simply because he got cold feet or was held up somehow.

Making her way downstairs, the Zeltron headed for the men’s room on the lower floor, completely unperturbed. She did own the building, after all.

[member="Jackson Singh"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Joza Perl"]

By the time that Perl was downstairs Farhel's head had been smashed against the sink.

Now unconscious the Bounty Hunter was busy putting a pair of shackles on him behind his back. The sudden opening of the doors did not disturb Jack, in fact, he didn't even look up from his work. "Bounty Hunter's Guild business, got official sanction from local johnny law, fret not." Jack murmured before starting to dig out the holo-pad that would give whoever walked in confirmation of that.

He hadn't killed Farhel.

Why?

Sure, lad was worse than trash, but Jackson wasn't an executioner. He wasn't the hangman. Just the guy bringing the trash to the hangman to sort it all out. That was the beginning and the end of his mandate.

Enough blood on his hands as is.

 

[Joza Perl]

There were a lot of things she’d come to expect and well…this had been one of them. Not the highest on her list, she’d imagined Adnan would either be planning to off her or had gotten cold feet.

Joza groaned and closed the door.

“I know what a bounty hunter is.” She cut him off, clearly irritated by the setback. “Your kind show up here like flies to honey.” The Zeltron didn’t really have anything against bounty hunters. They were just doing their job, and as long as they didn’t cause any lasting damage to any of her establishments to go after her, she didn’t care what they did.

Joza stared at Farhel’s unconscious form as the bounty hunter shackled him. Her lips twisted in thought.

“Do you have to take him…now?”

[member="Jackson Singh"]