It Began Here, Before You

[Yula Perl]

Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector
Igor’s Tapani Palace

Life on the go really opened you up to some exotic dining across the galaxy. Sometimes though, you couldn’t afford the prime cut bantha steak smothered in fancy sauce with fancy fixings. Usually those fancy fixings were something weird too, like burra fish eggs. Most smugglers didn’t make enough to eat like the rich folk, and though she technically was rich folk, Yula wanted to make her own way and not be financially hinged to her family her whole life.

Igor’s Tapani Palace was about as good as any restaurant in the Corellian Sector would get for its price point. Which was…low. Eating on a budget with her lifestyle typically meant eating greasy, calorie dense food that had questionable preparation. But damn, it tasted good.

“I’ll have uhh…” Yula’s head cocked back, finger raised as she read the menu posted above the counter. The man working the front made no attempt to hide his glare at her, clearly irritated at the young woman wasting his time.

“Hurry it up, schutta.” He growled from behind his cigarette.

Yula blinked, mildly taken aback by the expletive before reminding herself of where she was. Usually they weren’t that rude, but maybe he was having a particularly bad night. “Combo number six and a beer.” She decided, fishing the credits out of her pocket.

After placing her order, the Zeltron mix picked out a small table near the door, seating herself with her back to the wall. Joints like this usually didn’t see much in the way of heavy violence, but fights and robberies were not uncommon. Best to be closer to the exit in case that happened.

Really though, she was looking forward to the food. Two weeks aboard her ship eating nothing but nutrient dense bricks and instant meals had her looking forward to actual hot food. Sometime she regretted gutting the kitchen for more cargo space.

[member="Elian Keyes"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Yula Perl"]

He knew this place.

It was as familiar to him as the set of clothes brushing against his skin. But he had never been here before, had he? Why did Elian know, then, to lean a bit to the right as he came through the door to avoid getting bumped in the hip? Know to bow his head an inch, not to get hit in the face by the low-hanging light? The man stepped up towards Igor, not recognizing him.

But he knew the girl frequented this place sometime.

Elian didn't know she was already here.

"Haven't seen you in ages. She ain't here, or you actually spending money this time?"

Keyes blinked and looked up towards Igor. Maybe if he hadn't started talking, he might have realized Yula sitting with her back against the wall. It was only the fact his back was against her saving him.

For now.

"Dunno whatcha mean. Got noodles?"

 

[Yula Perl]

“Of course we got noodles.”

The brash, almost angry tone was lost in the background as Yula sat idly scrolling through the datapad in her palm. Once every so often she would glance up so as to take brief stock of her surroundings, or maybe to check and see if her food was on its way. Her rumbling stomach supported the second fact.

Even though her eyes must have brushed across the back of the man at the counter a few times, no strange feeling sparked in her chest. No stomachs dropped, no alarm bells rang. Nothing was out of the ordinary, until…

“Number 26.”

Her head snapped up to find one of the kitchen hands, a Quarren sans one eye and a face tentacle unceremoniously unloaded her order onto the small counter. He’d ducked back into the kitchen before Yula had even stood.

Locking her datapad and slipping it into her side pocket, Yula made her way to the counter.

“Scuse me,” She addressed the man in front of her who was still ordering, it seemed. He was blocking the counter and her next cheap meal.

[member="Elian Keyes"]

 

[Thaddeus Wyse]

[member="Yula Perl"]

That voice.

Blink blink.

Feth.

He hadn't been expecting her to show up here. Not while Yula seemed to be constantly on the move. Pilot? What to do now. What to do now. "Nah, leave it, might come back another time." Trying to modulate his voice a bit, harsher, lower, something that wasn't his. Then he turned, trying his best to avoid looking her in the eye or giving her a line of view to his face. Why that was important was beyond him. But something told him. At the back of his head.

That she shouldn't have a clear view of it.

"Yeah, all yours, lass."

Even as Elian pushed past her? She'd still have that flash of his face.

Older now. More lines, many more. But those eyes. They were still alive and seeing everything.

 

[Yula Perl]

For Yula’s part, there were no alarm bells ringing. Not yet anyway. People tended to act a little stranger in places like this—shadier, making excuses, running out in a hurry. As long as you minded your own business you were usually alright.

Thankfully this guy wasn’t the type to turn around, size her up and make either a lewd comment or a gritty threat. He simply moved out of her way.

It only took her another step to reach the counter, one hand latching onto the plastoid serving tray for him to pass her. That’s when something went off in her head—not an alarm bell per se, but something strong enough to override her instinctual self preservation.

“Hey, wait a minute—I know you from somewhere?” No threat carried in her voice, only curiosity as she strained to match the brief image of his face with a name or a place. Was it his face? Maybe his voice? There was something she recognized about this man.

Maybe he was one of those officers who’d detained her for transporting…yeah, no, probably not. Maybe not. She hoped not.

“You go to Garbo’s?” A cantina nearby, popular with traveling folk. Probably a front for some criminal money laundering scheme. The drinks, though they tasted like piss, were cheap.

Yeah. He looked like a Garbo guy.

[member="Elian Keyes"]