Ol Red's Itchin' To Have a Little Fun [Anaya]

[Nisha Decrilla]

[SIZE=medium]Zeltros [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Ol' Reds Big Booty Club[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]A ho me away from home away from home; that's what Zeltros was to Sergeant Major Potteiger. When he wasn't on Corellia, his leave always brought him to Zeltros. The atmosphere of unbridled exuberance wiped away the worst of his pain as surely as the dawn washed the nighttime dusk from the sky. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]But this time the trip wasn't quite the 'fun' he normally anticipated; gambling, drinking, sleep in until ungodly hours. He tended to avoid the women here, though, as he felt good enough already without them. Anaya was here though, he'd caught wind of that - there weren't too many ambitious Lethan Twi'leks in the galaxy, especially ones that weren't slaves to a crime lord.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Or that had the capital to open up a club.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]So here he was in, in a giant throng of undulating bodies that pulsated to a heavy bass rhythm violating the speakers that propelled the noise through his very core. He hated crowds. He hated loud music. He especially hated drunken idiots giving him angry glares for attracting the attention of sober women.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Then again, it wasn't every day a soldier of OmegaPyre walked through a club crowd on Zeltros wearing fatigue pants and a utility shirt. But Red was in town. Word on the street said so - and Sarge had backed that up with another of other sources. She'd be in the VIP, like every club owner was, surveying what amounted to her kingdom.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]A kingdom that now included the one man she couldn't sense.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Heading upstairs towards the balcony, he was stopped by the guards. "I'm here to see Red[/SIZE].", Sarge says with a massive, smug grin.
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]


[SIZE=medium]The guards exchanged amused looks. "Red?!" one of them repeated before guffawing like the fool he was. It was clear Anaya had hired him for his strength and not their intelligence. The other surveyed him with a curious look before elbowing his companion. "Shuddup, it ain't that funny."[/SIZE] he scalded him "Apoleia ain't taking no visitors, but if you got a name I can give her and maybe something to make it worth my while.." he rubbed his thumb and fingers together, but whatever smug grin was on his face vanished instantly when the door above them opened up.

[SIZE=medium]Anaya stood silhouetted at the top of the stairs her arms folded across her chest as eh leant against the door frame. Eyes bright and clear again "Sarge," she said softly "when I could hear tweedle dum and tweedle dee talking and couldn't feel who was there I had a sneaking suspicion..." [/SIZE]she cast a disgusted look over her guards "I do hope you weren't trying to bribe him, force alone knows how much it would cost me to repair the damage he would do to you. Let him through." She moved away from the door disappearing out of Sarges waving her other attendants away they slipped out of various doors leaving the balcony to her and Sarge.

[SIZE=medium]Snatching up a bottle of whiskey she poured two glasses out, handing one to Sarge as he joined her. "Welcome to my little kingdom." [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"Yeah, Red. It's a better nickname than 'Apoleia'[/SIZE].", he sneers, giving the two guards a glare that was more bored than anything. Sarge was about a half-second away from crushing their windpipes when ol' Red made her first appearance of the evening - at the top of the stairs.

[SIZE=medium]Giving her a highly amused grin, he held his arms out to his sides and shrugged. The guards looked back at the relatively unassuming soldier who gave them a wolves grin as he passed them, the light warping disgustingly as it hit the saber burn across his throat. "You two gentlemen play nice down here[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]And with that, he followed her up to take a seat, the noise decidedly less overpowering now that he wasn't standing a few feet from the speakers. Taking the whiskey, he gave a look at Red and then around the club. "So... 'Apoleia' what brings you to open a club on my home away from home[/SIZE]...", he says while lifting the glass to his lips.

[SIZE=medium]"Not every day that I see you this far away from your territory[/SIZE]."
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya smiled "This place? Been running for a while now. Call it a hobby of mine. A refusal to let go of days less marred by responsibility." She flopped into a chair and sighed taking a sip of the whiskey "I have nine more, scattered all over the place. not all of them are quite like this one, each fills their little niche."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She looked down at her whiskey for a moment. "I have no territory anymore. This is it." she looked back at him and raised her glass in mock salute before downing it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The man raised a slow brow, walking to the edge of the balcony and looking down at the mingling throngs of people down below. "So what purpose do they serve - smuggling fronts? Information hubs? Revenue to funnel into a spice habit you just picked up[/SIZE]?" Genuinely curious was putting it lightly, but he'd put his money on the first two.

[SIZE=medium]More than likely the first, but the second was a good fit for her too considering their deal. "You finally done with the Sith[/SIZE]?", he asks, knowing no one was going to hear them. "Or are you just... taking a break?" Turning towards her, glass in hand, his brown gaze leveled sharply with hers.

[SIZE=medium]Lips setting into a thin line, he took a few slow steps towards her, then began circling. No noise but the sound of his voice. "Get your eyes fixed yet[/SIZE]?"
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya gave him a knowing smile at his first question. "Information hubs mostly. The best leads start with a good rumour. Smuggling? Not so much, only if the deal has something worthwhile in it for me. As for spice...I can't deny I like to dip my finger in the pot from time to time, but addicted is not the phrase I would use." She rose, refilling her glass as she moved to lean on the balcony next to him. "Yes I got my eyes fixed. Another story for another day."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She scanned the scene below, watching as a fight broke out beneath them and was rapidly dispersed. "Apparently, the sith don't take to kindly to information leaks. I think exiling me was their worst decision. Should have killed me. Now all they have done is allow me to become a thorn in their side should I so desire it."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"You literally bought a club... so you can listen to drunks[/SIZE]?" The man laughed a bit, head hanging forward as he shook it and continued to chuckle. On one level, it entirely made sense. On another, it didn't. The latter was what made it funnier, the former was what made it a good guess.

[SIZE=medium]People specifically came to places like this for the noise, to drown out what they were saying, but again... drunks. How much useless dribble did she hear on a regular basis? Wetting his lips and lifting his head, he raised a brow as he looked at her, hands clasping together.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"So not only are you gone from the Sith due to your own machinations... but you got new eyes to go with it? Get bored of not being able to see me in any sense of the word[/SIZE]?"
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya smiled at his laughter. "Mock me all you want, business is booming. People like to come here to speak without being heard, and the few informants that are actually in my employ prefer this sort of setting for an exchange of information. They spend less time looking over their shoulder and more time looking at me..." she tilted her head pursing her lips slightly "though perhaps that's more to do with the fact that I am the one they need to worry about."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Something akin to hunger flashed through her eyes as she recalled their last meeting. "Bored?" she smirked she turned her back on the dance floor below and moved back to her chair, settling in it she raised her booted feet to rest on the small table "Not at all. Circumstances required me to get them fixed. I will admit, being able to see your ugly mug has put a damper on my mood." [/SIZE]she mocked, sipping at her drink, watching him carefully. There was something exhilarating about mocking a man who had the ability to kill her. It was a game her apprentice, Samanthe, played with Anaya herself.

[SIZE=medium]"What's the new in the wonderful world of Sarge?"[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I think it's more due to the fact that, well, you are an attractive woman[/SIZE]." It wasn't even a compliment; it was a fact. The galaxy had a fetish for Twi'leks and that went double for the red skinned ones. Anaya pretty much had it made at that point; the gift of good, if rare, genetics.

[SIZE=medium]Plus, it helped that she was a bit of a frigid queen at times. Some guys found that trait almost irresistible: Sarge was among them, at times. It wasn't perfect, since there was a difference between keeping people at arm's length and actually being aloof. Raising a brow as he kept looking down at the crowds, he shrugged. "There is a reason I keep it hidden; looks like you're keen skills of observation found me out[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]Rolling his eyes, he clasped his hands together, taking a whiff of the alcohol and pheromone filled air. "Nothing that need concern you, Anaya[/SIZE].", he says quietly.
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya pouted at his response and set her drink on the table, swinging her feet off it and rising smoothly. In three quick steps she had closed the gap between them. She pressed herself against his back hands sliding around hi waist down his stomachh, her slender fingers slipping beneatb the the waist band of his trousers.

"Come on, Sarge." She purred, nibbling his ear. "We had a deal, remember? Tit for tat..."

She bit his neck playfully.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The man felt her move behind him, or at least imagined he did, but he didn't expect her to skip straight into playing the seduction card. "You asked[/SIZE]...", he says, leaving her to do as she saw fit. "..what was new in my life. That wasn't the deal." Smirking a bit, he stepped back from the edge of the balcony and turned to face her.

[SIZE=medium]"The deal wasn't for my personal information, we both know that. But if you must know - I've left OmegaPyre. But there's nothing to say, Anaya. The Confederacy swung by, but it didn't turn out so hot for them. We put Jak Sandrow in prison, disposed of Circe Savan's body, and have otherwise just gone about our business since[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]Hard, if tired, brown eyes locked on her as he raised a brow and shook his head in amusement. She was quite the woman, he'd give her that.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya's alluring smile spread as Sarge turned to face her. Her hands looped about his neck and she tilted her head, rolling her eyes slightly at his picking at the technicalities of her question. All in all, the information he gave was of no use to her. "Well, if you're not part of Omega anymore, then what use are you to me?" A darkness flashed through her eyes as she considered pushing her luck, toying with the idea of another fight with him, purely for the fun of it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Then reality smacked her in the face. She no longer had the support she had when they first met. There was no one to provide her with the best medial care money could buy. There was no one to heal her. All facade's dropped and she moved away from Sarge, her anger bubbling inside her as she turned her back on him, a hand flashed out and the table shattered, whiskey bottle and all. The noise drew her guards who flung open the door, blasters drawn and pointing at Sarge.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She gave them a dark look. "Get out, idiots. One of you get me another bottle." They left, blinking stupidly and Anaya dropped again into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You know, the saying is true...you never miss it until it's gone."[/SIZE] she snorted, hand dropping away and she looked at Sarge. "So, we're both freelancers, as it stands. Is it time to make a new deal? Or was this just a social visit?" The door opened as the bouncer returned, he had barely taken two steps into the room when Anaya used the force to pull the bottle from his hands into hers and shove him back out of it again.
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Sarge hadn't even budged when she'd decided to crap herself with rage and the guards did what guards do - show in, menace, then get told off. He'd been a guard long enough to know how that worked. "Pro tip, Anaya[/SIZE].", he begins with a roll of his eyes. "Don't lie. Just get angry from the start - don't act sweet. Cut to the chase; no one likes a coward.", he adds dryly.

[SIZE=medium]That was probably the closest to a barb he'd ever thrown at her, and he genuinely meant it. He much preferred a woman who'd just get angry when she was angry than one who acted sickly sweet until she realized the jig as up. "This was more a social visit, Red. A pain you may be... but that don't mean I don't enjoy your company. Something about your personality amuses me[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]Smirking, he shook his head and went back to monitoring the crowd. "Probably the fact I always know what I'm getting when I come here[/SIZE]."
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya fixed him with a hateful glare. "I wasn't lying. Nor am I angry with you. And make that the last time you call me a coward." It was not an insult she liked. She had never been a coward, she had never run from anything and Sarge knew that well enough. Removing the lid from the bottle she realised that her glass ha been on the table and sighed bringing the bottle to her lips instead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"I fethed up, Sarge." she said softly, staring past him at nothing, eyes glazed for a moment [/SIZE]"Let sentimentality get in the way of sensibility. It cost me dearly." Pushing her self pitying moment aside she got up, sitting still a seemingly impossible task for her. Leaning next to him again she offered him the bottle.

[SIZE=medium]A small smirk finding its way back to her face. "Always?" she repeated "Hmm, perhaps I should stop being so predictable...or just stop sleeping with you."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"It'll be the last time if it's the last time it's warranted[/SIZE].", he returns bluntly. Calling it how he saw it was why he had enemies, but it was always why he had friends. You could always expect Sarge to mean what he said and say what he meant. "We all kark up, Red. Some of us are just better at it than others."

[SIZE=medium]He snorts. "Some almost have it down to a skill[/SIZE]." RC was definitely one of them, Circe another. "Always.", he retorts as he holds up a hand to ward off the bottle.

[SIZE=medium]"I expected the sex to stop sooner or later, likely sooner if I'm honest. Hardly affects the fact I enjoy talking to you[/SIZE].", he says with a laugh. "So what's your plan now, Red, eh?"
[SIZE=medium]Anaya frowned when he warded off the bottle, clicking her tongue in distaste before taking another sip herself. Chuckling she shook her head at his expectations, it would stop perhaps when she got bored of it. But that wasn't a point she had reached yet.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium] -[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Plan?" she pursed her lips for a moment. [/SIZE]"There are a few options. The obvious one would be to enjoy my riches, and play informant of the galaxy but..." she shook her head "I am a swordswoman at heart, sitting here for the rest of my days making men weep as I pull their secrets from them, while fun, does not appeal to me as a life choice. Conquest? Bringing worlds to heel?" she smiled "Rumour has it a group has banded together to conquer the unknown regions. Call themselves Lords of the Fringe. Conquest and exploration, a chance to gain more knowledge..."

[SIZE=medium]She shrugged "I could be a thorn in the Empires side and spill more information to the Republic and to the Mandalorian's, but I have a feeling that they are close to pulling themselves apart. The Emperor is hiding in his shadows, the Head of the Dark Council has left...things don't look good for them." she chuckled "How I love karma. I don't know Sarge, the Fringes seem to be the most exciting option, but I'm still gathering information on them. What about you? Any life plans?"[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"You'd probably not get along with most of them.[/SIZE]", Sarge says with a snort. "Trust me, if ever there was a band of galactic rejects that's it. I won't say who's there, but you're a smart woman, I'm sure you can figure it out." There weren't too many people the galaxy didn't want, but those it didn't... well, they weren't exactly low-key individuals.

[SIZE=medium]"They're mostly just cleaning up the fringes for fun, though, I'm afraid. Eventually they won't have anything to do out there and the first group in their way...? The Protectorate. Now, I don't know about you, but if there's one thing I wouldn't want to ram my fringe group into, it's the most technologically advanced and disciplined fighting force in the galaxy[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]The man laughed. "There's plenty of examples in history of the smaller guy playing guerrilla fighter on the big guy and winning, but I'll tell you this... the Protectorate is more than prepared for that eventuality. Your best bet is probably to go bounty hunter[/SIZE]."
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya looked at Sarge as if he had sworn at her. "Bounty hunter?" she repeated and shook her head. "Not my kind of game Sarge. I put bounties up, I don't chase them. I've enough money flowing through this business to keep me living the life I like. I don't need to hunt people for a living."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She took another swig from the bottle. "If the Lords of the Fringe are a bunch of misfits then I'll fit in perfectly. I don't have to like them, I just have to be able to use them. Besides, conquering the fringes for fun sounds like a good game to me." She cast him a side wards glance a smirk playing on her lips. "If things get hairy, jumping ship is always an option. I'm hardly inexperienced when it comes to being a traitor." [/SIZE]She pointed at him with the bottle.

[SIZE=medium]"Why leave them, if they are so amazing anyway? Did you sleep with your boss and things get awkward?"[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"Now, now, don't get offended[/SIZE].", he chides with a wag of his finger. "Just trying to be helpful." Giving a smirk, he wrung his hands together and raised a brow at her. "When I say 'misfits', Anaya, I meant 'rejects'. As in, no one wants them. If it weren't for your problems with the Sith, you'd be welcome there. These are people that not only do the Sith not want, but Black Sun doesn't want, Confederacy doesn't want and so on. They're the sort of people that quite literally no one likes or everyone wants dead. Sometimes both."

[SIZE=medium]Snorting a bit, he laughs at her. "Say what you will about yourself, but you've got friends here and there. They don't even have that[/SIZE]." Shrugging, he looks to the bottle and shakes his head. "But that's up to you, my friend."

[SIZE=medium]Furrowing his brow a bit, his eyes glazed over as he thought back to his reasoning for leaving the Protectorate. "I wish I'd slept with her; I'd be the luckiest man alive at that point. But no, I didn't. In fact, I left because it wasn't the same anymore. Too much growth, too large an organization. I couldn't stand being an outcast just because I was Old Guard. No one understood me, why I did what I did. I was more a joke than anything, but no one dared joke to my face. Frankly, it just didn't feel like home anymore, and I'm not going to stay somewhere that doesn't feel like home[/SIZE]."

[SIZE=medium]"So here I am, wandering[/SIZE]."
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya snorted at his mention of friends. In truth Anaya had none, except perhaps the man that was standing next to her, but even that was questionable. She had burnt too many bridges to call anyone a friend anymore. The worst bridge she had ever burnt had been that between her and Desmius... Ashin Varanin. Ever since Roche she had justified her part in The empress's fall by it being a necessary step to increase her own power, that Ashin was losing her focus and her drive was not in favour of the Empire. All lies she had told herself so she could sleep at night. The last time she had felt Ashin in the force she had been up against Moridin and she wasn't sure if either of them were alive.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She nodded slowly at Sarge's explanation for him leaving. "Well, while your wandering, if you pick up any interesting information let me know. I'll shout your way if I see a job worth your while." She fell silent for a minute, eyes looking down towards the crowd, glazed and unseeing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"I think you're the only person to ever call me a friend... There might have been another, but I burnt that bridge when I betrayed them and tried to kill their girlfriend." she turned her back on the club, leaning back against the railing she watched Sarge's face carefully [/SIZE]"You haven't seen Ashin have you?"
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]"I'll see what I can do, Anaya[/SIZE].", he says with a half-hearted smirk. "Betraying Ashin is hardly a good move." That was entirely true. There were plenty of people in the galaxy you could cross, but Ashin wasn't the best choice by far. Cira was another, and so was Ayden. Now, there wasn't much that would make Sarge lie, but giving his word was certainly one of them.

[SIZE=medium]He never went back on his word.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"Sadly, no. I haven't seen Ashin. I heard she hadn't been doing too well, but I didn't talk to her often... or, at all, really[/SIZE]."
[SIZE=medium]-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Anaya shrugged at his reply. "She'll show up. Woman couldn't keep her hands clean if it killed her." Anaya wasn't entirely sure what she would do if she did meet Ashin again. Apologise? Offer her services? Feth knows, that was a bridge to be crossed when she reached it. For all she knew, Ashin might just kill her on the spot. The door of the room opened again, Anaya looked round and sighed. "'Scuse me."[/SIZE] Moving from Sarge's side she moved to greet the woman that had entered, she was clad in a long dark coat that concealed everything beneath save her stocking clad legs and high heeled shoes.

[SIZE=medium]"You're late." Anaya told her curtly, holding her hand out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"So shoot me."[/SIZE] the woman replied handing her a datachip. "S'all there. Security codes, the lot. Cost me an arm and a leg to get it..."

[SIZE=medium]Anaya smirked, "No it didn't. Now go away."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"I want my money."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"I'll pay you when I've checked the information. Until then, Harry will see that you're looked after." The woman pouted, then spotted Sarge, a smile lighting up her face as she ran her eyes up and down his form. [/SIZE]"Can't this one look after me?" Anaya visibly twitched as she resisted the urge to slap the woman.

[SIZE=medium]"Get. Out." Catching the look in Anaya's eyes the woman fled. She didn't look at Sarge for a moment, as she pocketed the data chip before moving back next to him. [/SIZE]"Rejects will be better to work with than whores and addicts."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"The rejects are whores and addicts; one of which is the biggest whore in the universe." Giving her a wink, the man chuckles and shakes his head. Finally, he settled on her and cocked his head to the side. "Why so defensive of her attraction to me...?", he mocks lightly.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

"I wasn't" she replied indginantly, the ferocity of the denial only further proving the opposite. "I was..." she was what? She had nothing, no excuse no lie to cover it up that she would dare say to him.

"Kark." She breathed narrowing her eyes at the smirk on his face. "Go jump in front of a speeder."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Now why would I go jump in front of a speeder?" He says with a laugh. "So you don't have to worry about your feelings for me?" He knew the answer to that. But the next logical question for him was why. Why was she so afraid of emotion; of feeling.

"Why do you avoid your feelings, eh?"

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

For a moment Anaya didn't answer, she stared unseeing at the mass of people in the club beneath, but seeing none of them. "Because," she said softly "attachment is a weakness." Her gaze lifted to meet his. "Accepting feelings leaves them out in the open for others to see. Attachments can and will be exploited. They leave you blind to the obvious and you make stupid fething decisions throughout. I can give you more reasons if you need them, I have a whole list somewhere that I've been preaching to my apprentice."

She paused, her eyes flashing dangerously "Don't think for one minute that I won't kill you if you tell anyone, Sarge."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The man let his gaze hang over her for a long, long time. In a way, he pitied her, because she was where he was so long ago. Finally, one corner of his lips lifted into a sad smile. "And that's where you're wrong.", he says quietly, turning, one hand still gripping the railing as he began to move away.

Slowly, the calloused hand slipped from the metal bar and he began to pace around behind her. "Attachment is emotion. It is passion. It is weakness. But it is also strength. Mothers have lifted speeders with their bare hands to save their children; women who couldn't even lift a twenty pound dumbbell if you asked them too."

He gave a faint laugh. "The trick, Anaya. The trick that I learned long ago....? Listen to your heart, but also listen to your gut. Don't be afraid to love; don't be afraid of yourself and your feelings. But... guard them. I'm not ashamed to admit I love people, but I'm a private individual. You won't see me making out in public and professing feelings of love to anyone. That asks for trouble."

He smirks. "But that doesn't mean you can't have someone to come home to at the end of the day. Someone who takes all your troubles away, makes you feel like the kind of person anyone would aspire to be... even if it isn't true. But I won't preach more. Your journey is your own."

Shoulders lift into a shrug. "I just like offering to light the way."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya said nothing for sometime as her mind filled with thoughts of Oman, of Kaine. "I have loved twice, in my life. The first was a fairytale. A man whisked me to freedom and opened my eyes to power. It was utterly unrequited, and when I realised I was so angry, so full of hate that I cut open his throat." She took a long drink from the bottle still clutched in her hand, unsure if it was the alcohol that made her tongue so loose, or that she was simply comfortable sharing her secrets with Sarge.

"The second," she snorted "was nothing but lust...to start with. It was good. And then Omni came and I found myself frozen in the middle of a war because someone I loved was turned against me and I was utterly helpless." Her eyes glinted with hate as she recalled the memory. "Tried to kill him too...in the end. Now we hate each other and the lines are no longer blurred." She smirked suddenly.

"I have every reason to fear my feelings. They generally don't end well."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"No, you fear failure.", he retorts simply, finding his way to a seat once again. "It's not your feelings, it's the fact you can't control them in others, nor exercise absolute control over your own. I have the same problem, typically." For the longest time, he'd been afraid to love, and then he let it happen, and he'd never been happier.

Sure, you had heartache, and it felt terrible, but the highs often cancelled out the lows and then some. "On some level, you fear letting yourself go. No in a physical sense, of course." He shrugs again.

"Honestly, all you have to ask yourself is what you have to lose? Give your hear to someone, feel euphoric for a bit, or never love and be bitter and angry at yourself every time you feel something you think might be close to love? Personally, I'd take the occasional heartbreak over the self-loathing, but that's just me."

Ouch.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Sarge's words cut deep, she stayed by the balcony as he took his seat, keeping her back to him. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and blinked against tears. Give her heart? To whom? Who would take the heart of a traitor? Oh she was terrified of giving it, of having no control, but there was more to it than that. She was terrified of having it broken. Hate and pain were what had defined Anaya for most of her life, it was only in recent years that she had experienced anything but, yet hate and pain always trumped. What would happen if she gave her heart again, and had it trampled once more?

She would watch the galaxy burn.

She turned away from the dance floor and slunk towards Sarge, dropping the bottle on a sidetable, she moved into his lap pressing her forehead against his, legs sliding either side to straddle the soldier. She kissed him fiercely, drawing back slightly "Getting into my head is becoming a dangerous habit of yours, Sarge." There is was, Anaya's wall. The conversation had taken a turn towards darker things that she didn't want to walk towards. So she played the card she played best.

Distraction.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Smiling to himself in triumph, he found the delectable red skinned alien resuming her habitual residence - just atop a man's lap. Never one to resist an eager woman, he kissed her back with every bit of hunger before he smirked. "Hardly dangerous; but I know I'm right when you decide it's time to get physical."

She'd reach her own peace, given time. There was nothing he could do to expedite that without living her life for her, and that? Well, that was something he was never going to do.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya drew back, content to just sit in his lap as she scowled at him. "Don't gloat, it doesn't suit you." she said softly "Even if you are right, who would trust the heart of a traitor hmmm?"

She shook her head. "I was raised to seduce and trained to kill, love doesn't sit well with either of those traits. Especially, when in reality all you want is to see the galaxy in chaos."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Only thing you're doing is selling yourself short, Anaya." The man laughed again, knowing all about being trained to kill. "Anaya, I've spent my entire adult life, from a teenager until now, being trained to kill and killing."

He wasn't going to tell her he'd been doing it for four centuries at the behest of Exarch Cater, nor that he had done it while apart of a criminal syndicate that made the Black Sun look disorganized by comparison.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

"Oh really?" Anaya retorted, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. "And how would you sell me, Sarge?"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"A good lay?", he asks, completely deadpan.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya punched his shoulder hard, a sulky expression coming across her face as she slid off him. That was not the reaction she had wanted, but then she should not have expected anything less from Sarge. She sunk into the chair next to him and snatched the bottle from the floor. "Kark you." she responded, lifting the bottle up she tilted her head noticing almost have had been consumed. They said the answer could not be found in the bottom of a bottle nor in a pack of glitterstim, but they helped take the edge off at least.

She pursed her lips, for a moment, lost in her own world of though before she took a sip and turned her eyes on Sarge. "You have an incredible ability to switch between being a jerk and being nice."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Well that's definitely what you were on your way to doing.", he says with a smirk. She was right, though. He had a switch, somewhere, that alternated between rude and nice at whenever time it found appropriate. A dull ache throbbed in his shoulder, but he paid it very little mind; a high pain tolerance made it easy to tuck things like that away.

"Would you rather I say you're an independent woman who isn't afraid to go after what she wants? That you're assertive? I mean, there's a myriad of 'good' things I could use to describe you, and I'm certain just as many bad. But what good will that do you? I'm just some guy that nearly killed you. The things you find out about yourself, naturally, without digging? Those are the things to cherish."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya nodded slowly at his words, fingers picking idly at the label on the bottle, before she shrugged. "Personally I just wanted you to tell me I was beautiful and drag me to the nearest hotel room, but you're clearly in the mood for giving life lessons so who am I to stop you?"

She recalled the mention of the leader of Omega Pyre, what was it they called her? The Lady Protector. Anaya snorted. Fascinating how a group of mercenaries had taken it upon themselves to protect the galaxy. It was something to redirect the publics attention from their ultimate desire for money. That was, after all, what all great factions wanted. To be powerful and rich. an idea formed in Anaya's mind and she smiled to herself.

"Do you love her?" she asked suddenly, giving Sarge a serious look "The Lady Protector."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Yes, yes I do.", he says with a bit of a shrug. "But if you'd rather I just drag you to a hotel room I'm hardly going to protest. You're a bit back and forth right now, and I can't put a finger on your mood." It was true, honestly. She was shifting to and fro, going from seduction to serious questions and back. She'd finally gotten the incredibly perceptive man to be a bit confused.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

"My mood?" she repeated "My mood is very simple. Its confused and torn between lust and the opportunity to get to know you better. After all each time we met you manage to get under my skin and I have barely scratched the surface. So bear with me while I make my mind up which one is more interesting."

She was also, slightly intoxicated which never helped matters. She tucked her feet up underneath her.

"Does she know?"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

A soft, almost musical laugh passed through his lips. That was the story of his life, really. Always, he managed to get into other people's minds, and eventually they realized that despite what he knew of them... they knew precious little about him. He was a private man on his best days, a ghost on his worst.

It was both a blessing and a curse, if only because it created a life of loneliness for him at times. "She does, yes, although I've not explicitly told her."