You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three

[Malia Afredane]

Mal had a seat at the bar in Lucky's on Nar Shaddaa, an empty stool next to her and a bottle of some very fine, barrel aged whiskey with a pair of glasses in front of her. Sid never called unless it was important. Mal was poking at her datapad, a raise in her eyebrows as she thumbed through messages and jobs. She left Rusty on the Wicked Grace for the moment. If Sid was wanting to talk, the presence of a Shard usually did not usually make her loquacious.

Mal sipped the whiskey, and glanced towards the door.

[member='Sidara Vercopa-Vhett']

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Sid fumbled with the cigarette in her hand. She just wanted to light the stupid thing... because it really was a ridiculous habit that she couldn't seem to quit. She'd do it for a little bit and then Corr would do something stupid and she would be right back at it.

She finally got it lit and took a long drag. She hadn't seen Mal in a while. Mal was the kind of friend you could go extended periods of time and not talk and the when you finally saw her it was like no time had passed ever. Mal was the kind of friend when you needed to blow off steam, complain about life or just have a good old cry fest, she was there with a bottle of aged barrel whisky and two glasses.

Sid pushed open the door of the bar and a waft of stale smoke hit her. She could hear music lilting in the air and the hum of a crowd of drinkers before her She squinted to adjust her sight to the darkened room and saw Mal over in the corner. A smile spread across her face at the sight of her old friend. She pushed through the crowd and took her seat.

Sid took a drag from her cigarette and let it out as she pushed her glass toward Mal.

"Alright old friend, better start pouring, this is a doozy."

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal dropped the pad to the bartop, her fingers curling around the bottle and tipping it into the glass next to hers. She slid it over to Sid and took the cigarette out of her fingers and had a drag of it before she offered it back to the Mandalorian.

"I bet . You don't call unless it is. Considering you're traveling solo, I imagine Corr back on Concord?"

She exhaled a stream of blue gray smoke, her glass swirling on the bar, the legs of the alcohol dripping down the sides. She looked over at her auburn haired amazon.

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Sid took the cigarette back and took another drag. She exhaled through her nose and then took a long swallow of the whiskey. The burn felt good traveling down her throat.

"Well, funny story, that. One could assume Corr is back on Concord. One would also assume his wife would know where in the Force he is. You know what they say about assuming. It's been almost an entire month. I don't know if he's dead... or in hiding... for all I know he's taken up with a new woman. If that's the case, he'd better hope he's dead."

Sidara finished that glass in exactly one more swallow and poured another. She stood up and patted herself down finding her cigarettes, thankfully a early new pack. She slid one out and lit it up.

"I have no idea what's gotten into him. One day we are fine, the next he's gone out for some tihaar and that's the last I've seen of him. I don't even know what to do."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Karking hells, Sid."

Mal shook her head. She took another swallow of the amber liquid and stole one of the cigarettes from the pack. Mal had quit years ago, but every now and then she liked to sneak one. Rusty would give her hell for it if he knew but he wasn't here now. She glanced sidelong at the sabacc tables and banished the thought from her mind. She was here for Sid.

"Did you want me to see if we can track him down? Some body has to have seen him. Or...." She leaned over on her friend's shoulder looking up at her green eyes.

"Did you call me because if that idiot can slip off and go AWOL then you are too?"

Sid and Mal got to know each other on a larger smuggling outfit where Sid was working security. They had gotten themselves in and out of plenty of trouble in the mean time. Mal kinda missed having Sid around but she respected her friend's devotion to her culture, even if Mal didn't quite understand it.

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Sid drained that glass and filled it again. She stubbed out her cigarette and looked at Mal through squinted eyes.

"I do so love how you think, Mal. But I think we have to find him. Or at least try. I would feel pretty badly if something terrible happened to him and didn't do anything to find him. However...." she took another swig.... "I'm never opposed to raising some hell with my friend either. What's going on here... do you need some work done?"

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Well, I just got a new ship, I'm gonna need some crew to help me fly it. Lord knows how I let Rusty talk me into getting it but there you have it."

She pulled up a picture of the Grey Warden, a YZ-2500 that was completely refinished and looked like it just rolled off the assembly line, not a thousand years ago.

"You could come with me. Stay on for a bit while we track down Corr. I might be able to introduce you to Captain Rees."

There was something about the way Kairon's name rolled off her tongue, or perhaps it was the sharp dart of her eyebrows up. There was a playful tone to her voice as she poured another glass. She flipped a couple pictures past and showed Sidara what he looked like.

"The bad news is that he's a captain like me. Good news is that he's phenomenal in the sack and somehow thinks I'm not a complete waste of free time and fresh air. I have no idea how the hell I landed this one but I blame whiskey."

She clinked her glass off Sid's with a wink.

"Cheers."

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Sidara drained her glass again, noticing the warm feeling in her body and the quickly disappearing whiskey before them. She lit another cigarette and looked at the pictures that Mal was sharing.

"Damn girl. I'm impressed. I wouldn't throw him out of bed for eating Uj."

She took another swallow. "I can stay on. I've got nothing going on at home that I need to be there for, and quite frankly I need a break. I will take you up on that Mal. And then we can get to the bottom of where Corr is as well."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Have you tried those hinky phrases he was always joking about? Like did you look in the mirror at midnight and say Corr Vhett three times?"

Yeah, Mal might have been getting pretty buzzed by this point.

"Let's start with where the hell he last was. I saw y'all a month ago on Toydaria. What happened after that? Any movement on his accounts?"

Sid handled transactions for whenever Mal had goods to move and it was probably an obvious question, but she didn't know where Sid might have left off looking for the irrepressible Corr Vhett.

 

[Sidara Vercopa-Vhett]

Sid motioned for another bottle of whiskey to be brought them and threw some credits on the bar.

About four days after we saw you... he left to go pick up a shipment. That was the last time I saw him. Nothing on his accounts. Not one credit has changed since that day. I can only assume the one thing I don't want to. I keep hoping that it's all a bad dream, but I really don't think at this point I can assume anything else.

She could feel the buzz creep up her neck. She pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

So I guess... what's the next step here?

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Well, we sober the kark up. If he's not touching his money, he's someplace he doesn't need it or can't touch it. First is checking with the Techno Union to see if he got picked up. Then we check the bounty board. He might have had a disagreement with a cartel. I know there's a couple heavy hitting Hutts having a slap fight. If he was working for one or the other, he might have been detained. I don't think he's hurt. I think he ran his mouth to someone who's likely to make his cool his heels in a forgotten cell for a bit."

She draped an arm around Sid's back and hugged her close for a bit, placing a chaste peck on her check.

"Chin up, Sid. We'll find him. I recently was a guest of the Techno Union myself. They might be waiting for someone to pay his fines before they let him out."

She didn't mention that she had been psychologically tortured by the Techno Union. She was trying to make her feel better, not worse.