No Witness

[Leona Hart]

Terminus​

Edge of the Hong Lo District​

The Pawn Shop "Temperance"​

It wasn't the biggest pawn shop on Terminus. It wasn't the most visited, or the most well known. It sat on a corner, occupying the street level floor of a building that stretched up above and down below. Situated just on the edge between the wrong side of town and the wronger side of town, "Temperance" was known however as a neutral zone on the nexus of several different territories, making it somewhere people could come to buy and sell without concern for stepping on the wrong toes....

Or ending up with a knife in their back.

The shop's owner occupied the same level of local notoriety as her shop, and that was fine with her. She got her business by a combination of luck, word of mouth, and being circumspect when a situation called for it.

Officially, "Temperance" only dealt in legal goods, bought and paid for over the table. Nothing shady, nothing illegal, just goods traded for cashy money by the legal owners, please and thank you.

Fortunately, there wasn't much 'official' about anything happening on Terminus.

In truth, Leona Hart had a knack and knowledge for getting things from folks who wanted to sell to folks who wanted to buy, and she wasn't particularly fussed about where goods were coming from or where they were going.

The morning had been busy and Leona was in a good mood. She'd moved a shipment that had been languishing for far too long. Having hot goods for that length of time made the back of her neck itch, so beyond the fat paycheck, the relief from having that off her basement floor was palpable. Technically, the floor beneath Temperance was rented out to someone else- but the name on that lease was fake and it kept local law enforcement from being able to go poke around there with an warrant made out for the shop itself. Still, always to the good to keep things moving.

Leona sat perched on the counter, sorting through a box of sundry items that had never been properly organized, small piles spread out around her. Stick of tabacc between her lips, the smoke curled around her head as her hands deposited a ring into this pile, or a data cube into that pile.

The shop smelled of dust, old fabric, gun oil, and that smoke, and she liked it that way. Though windows lined two walls of the store front, they were covered over with translucent brown paper, letting in enough light to see by but impossible to see inside from the outside. Various items, from tools and musical instruments to electronics and small arms hung on the inside of the paper, backlit by small strings of lights that created silhouettes passerbys could easily see. The sign above the door proclaimed the shop's name- Temperance- in elaborate, curling letters, with the words Pawn Shop beneath it in smaller, neat typeset. A sign on the door indicated they were Open, while a smaller one beneath it stated clearly:

In Wapoe We Trust: All Others Pay Cash

[member="Seniya Nehir"]

 

[Seniya Nehir]

[Member="Leona Hart"]​

Situated on the crossroads of two major trade routes, Terminus was a world unlike any other. Alive with commerce from across the galactic plane, it was a veritable melting pot of shifting myriad of sights and scenes, attracting investment and people from all corners, creeds and cultures. Unsurprisingly, that led some folks to consider it the Coruscant of the Outer Rim. Personally, Seniya found that comparison not only a touch inaccurate, but wholly uncharitable. Coruscant's infamous 1313 was nicer than this.

Of course, it didn’t have to contend with the dregs of society that ended up in the lower districts. It seemed that all the criminals, exiles and ne’er-do-wells that couldn’t make it anywhere else in the galaxy ended up on Terminus sooner or later, and the worst of the bunch invariably gravitated towards Lower East Side. Quickly becoming embroiled in the never-ending gang wars and territorial disputes that saw lines shift, buckle or vanish altogether on a daily basis.

All except one, it seemed.

Temperance. Against all odds, a few years back someone had somehow managed to carve out their own personal little kingdom, gabbing a prime slice of territory out from the warring gangs to create this little desert oasis of….

Well, calling it peace was as accurate as that aforementioned Coruscant comparison, but it was as close as it got down here. Especially when you were in spitting distance of the Hong Lo district.

Though the gangs had changed several times since Seniya had last ventured into this section of the city, there were still a few names in the Hong Lo that she would otherwise prefer to avoid if at all possible. People down here had long memories in her experience, surpassed only by how long they could hold a grudge and how far they would go to see it settled. Neutral territory or not, it wouldn’t be good to be caught down here.

She tugged the collar of her long coat up a notch, bringing it up around her features as she wove her way through the crowded streets. It wouldn’t help to hide the distinctive qukuuf tattoos of Clan Nehir, but short of tipping her hand and using the force to mute her presence, something she was loathe to do unless strictly necessary, it was the best option she had at present. Which was just all kinds of damning in of itself.

Fortunately her destination wasn’t hard to find. Like a church of old, Temperance served as the central structure in this neighborhood. The proverbial eye of the storm. Even without relying on the force, it wasn’t hard to read the ebb and flow of the crowds. Letting them guide her feet towards the otherwise unremarkable looking pawn shop. Dated and drab, much like the district it all but presided over.

Wapoe?

Her passage slowed as she neared the shop, her features scrunching at the small sign prominently displayed above the entrance.. Her former master might have recognized the reference in a heartbeat, but obscure religions and historical figures had never been Seniya’s forte. And she was far more preoccupied with the living, breathing, gutter trash that populated the sprawling cesspool of the city that she called home to really brush up.

She snorted softly.

She knew enough to appreciate the second part of the sign, however. It played nicely with her own profession’s code of business. Take the case, take the clues, take the cash. Three guiding principles for every good private investigator to live by. Of course, it was never quite as easy as it sounded. It was never a straightforward matter of one, two, three, especially in this city. Whether it was obs, leads or money, it seemed there was always a piece missing. Something gumming up the works.

She wouldn't be here hunting information otherwise.

The door jangled gently as she pushed through, knuckles rapping gently on the wood to further announce her presence as she raised her voice. Anyone that could subjugate even a street single warranted a little bit of cautionary respect. "I'm looking for Hart."

 

[Leona Hart]

The sweet, brassy jangle of the bell announced along with the voice calling out.

Leona Hart looked up from where she perched on the counter. Dark eyes cast over the other woman, a smile curved on crimson lips as the smoke curled around her head. It was only a moment, but Seniya would feel like not a detail had been lost.

"Well, I don't usually deal in matters of the heart, poppet, but anything's possible for the right price."

The tease in her voice was clear.

With a casual lean, she kept sorting the items, more by touch than sight, her finger tips dancing over rings and pocket chronos.

The slice of Terminus that Leona had carved out was small, yes, but secure. For now. As secure as anything in this galaxy could be. She held no illusions. This was hardwon, no matter how easy it appeared on the outside. Tenuous. All it would take would be for someone who was less enamored to gain control of any of a half dozen gangs. To decide that Temperance was not a benefit to them, or not enough of one. Part of what kept her secure in this place, in this moment, was the fact that for now the set up was useful for everyone involved. If that ever changed?

Well, Leona knew that one day it would. But for now....

"What can I do for you, honey?"

[member="Seniya Nehir"]