Private Living After Midnight

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Mek-Sha
Slugfall Harbor
The Tipsy Trandoshan Bar
​

Come to think of it, being out in the open was not the safest thing to do on Mek-Sha, especially this late at night.

The Knight had landed here only about a half hour ago for a simple supply run. He had heard that Romi had finally finished up the library on Ossus, and it seemed like now was better than ever to go check it out. But getting out to Ossus was no short trip, for the pilot or the ship. It would take a while for the Blue Lightning to get fully fueled up, so he decided to go explore the city for a bit.

A couple of shady looks later the man ducked into a cornerstone bar. It was moderately packed, which was understandable. Walking inside he headed up to the main counter. After grabbing a stool he flagged down the bartender.

“I’ll take a Jet Juice when you got a second.”

Nodding his head, the bartender went off to make the drink. While this happened the Knight spun around to take in the crowd. Quite the mix here tonight. Maybe he’ll meet someone interesting.

Sylvia Virtos

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Okkeus Dainlei
​

Some trips were made for very simple reasons. A quiet destination with clear skies and a nice stretch of nature to let life's worries roll off your back. Sylvia would never set any destination with that in mind on her own, but she wasn't. Regardless of where Sylvia was, Elle Mors wasn't far away.

Mek-Sha was one of the two stops they would be making before reaching their destination. With the ship being refueled there was time to be spent and while her girlfriend was likely taking a nap back on the ship, Sylvia decided to take the opportunity to grab a quick drink and enjoy the bustling scene of a cantina before retreating into peace and quiet for a while. Surrounded by strangers, she subtly bopped her head to the music while occasionally sipping on her glass of Junipera.

"Still don't get why people would willingly drink that," Okkeus would suddenly hear two seats away from him. Were he to look over, he'd see a magenta-haired woman, similarly aged, with her arms leaning on the bar. The woman smirked- the jab clearly wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

​

Swiveling his chair to the left the man saw the bright-haired woman spoke. She leaned against the bar with a style like she owned the place. Who knows, maybe she did. Flashing a small smile of his own, he shot back to her.

“Well, some people need a little more help than others at getting by.”

Offering a light chuckle he grabbed the glass once more before taking a drink of the strong liquid. He didn’t drink that often, but when he did, it always seemed to taste better and better.

Turning back towards the woman he gestured his arm outwards, as if to pass back the conversation.

“So, what brings you out to this side of nothingness in space?”

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Okkeus Dainlei
​

The response elicited a chuckle and shrug from the woman. It was good to see the young man had a sense of humor. Sylvia was happy to see a break in the trend of conversation partners at bars being a bit too cynical. After a raised glass, she took another sip of her own drink. It was no Spice Runner, but Junipera was much more widely available and did have its own appeal.

"Passing through, on a trip with the lady," Sylvia explained. After a few well-paying commissions, she had enough credits to last the two of them a while. As much as she loved the city atmosphere, she understood why Elle was so fond of the quaint and nature-filled places the galaxy had to offer a little more with each trip.

"But, uh, you don't look like a local either." As the old song faded out and the next began playing, Sylvia's foot began tapping along. She liked this one. "Business, pleasure, or same?"

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

​

The nice chuckle from the woman let him know that she was at least the casual type. It was a nice to see others in the galaxy that just liked to sit back, drink a little, and laugh. He couldn’t recall the last time he got to sit down and just feel like a normal person.

Nodding his head along to the song the man listen to the woman talk. His guess was most people on Mel-Sha were just passing through. Whoever lived on this mess of a place definitely had lower standards than these two.

Another light laugh was given at mention of him looking like an outsider.

“Yeah..places like this aren’t really my speed for living at.”

Well, that was kind of a lie. In reality his speed was either being thrusted onto the front lines of another battle with the Maw, or traveling to the ends of space to explore new things. So what he was really trying to say was place like Mek-Sha were almost too slow for him.

“Just here for business mainly. Fueling up and heading a few parsecs East.

It’ll be nice to finally make it to Ossus. A few months has passed since his last visit, and he had heard that so much progress has been made.

“Also, by the way, my name is Okkeus.”

Sylvia Virtos

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Okkeus Dainlei
​

"I feel you there. Nothing wrong with some liveliness, but this rock's a little too rough for my tastes." Even Denon had its quiet places, but Mek-Sha had nothing of the sort. The recycled air and overall grimy populace did not help matters, either. This wasn't a particularly pleasant place to live in. Sylvia had only looked forward to the peacefulness of her destination more since landing here.

It seemed the man had similar reasons for being here. He introduced himself as Okkeus, which got him a confirming nod in return. "A pleasure. I'm Sylvia." Sylvia knocked back the remainder of her drink before setting the glass back down on the bar with a satisfying thud. In most cases, she would've ordered another, but she wasn't all too sure this time.

"Dilemmas..." she mused out loud. "Probably don't want to get too loopy 'round this block, but the temptation..."

Suddenly, she turned to Okkeus. "Actually, bud, which port are you parked at?"

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

​

Downing the rest of his drink with on swig, the man set his glass back onto the counter.

It seemed like the two of them were starting to wrap up here at the bar, which was honestly for the best. Drunk flying was not his strong suit, and he was bound for takeoff here in about an hour. Setting a few credits on the counter the man turned back to Sylvia.

“I’m just parked over at Bay 065. You close? I could hang with yah on the way back to our ships if you’d like.”

There was nothing left for him to do on Mek-Sha anyways. More than likely the Blue Lightning was fully fueled, and he made his shopping run before heading into the bar. Plus it wouldn’t kill him to talk with someone that wasn’t constantly on the frontlines of a drawn-out war.

Sylvia Virtos

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Okkeus Dainlei
​

"We were neighbours all along!" Sylvia responded with an overly dramatic sense of shock. She slapped the bar with an open palm, then grinned from ear to ear. "But seriously, that works out perfectly. I'd rather put my trust in you over, well..."

The woman took a look around the place.

"Anyone else here." Not that she couldn't handle herself, but it was never bad to have someone to watch your back. She could do the same in return. "And yeah, the lady would probably appreciate me being back in a timely manner."

With nothing left to do in this place, Sylvia hopped off her barstool and looked Okkeus' way. "I'm just about ready to leave, if you are."