Zeltros Nights

[Vanilla Toner]

"We shall see. Sometimes they throw in a few tourists and it goes downhill from there. Now. It's the best on the Blood Nights. Real tournaments where a few local fighters show up. I hear those are some of the best fights in the district."

She shrugged. She came here to gamble with Terry only once before. Made a few coins and then left to quickly spend them in another club. Such was Nightlife on Zeltros. You tend to leave with less money than you came with.

 

[Verz Horak]

He ordered another drink as a a waitress walked by their table. He turned back to his hostess.

"Interesting. Since we are waiting, may I ask why you are called "Peaches"?".

 

[Vanilla Toner]

She raised only one eyebrow to his inquiry but continued on otherwise unnoticed,

"It's a Callsign. I'm a pilot for a living. So, most of the boys I fly with thought it was funny because my breasts are so large."

She looked down and shuffle her flight suit.

"They're new. ...Hehe."

Cosmetic surgery. Kinda popular on Zeltros really. Vanilla was rather vain about her appearance and did her best to avoid the stereotypical grease monkey look. If you can call being smelly and dirty all day long; a look? Though, she had given up long ago on keeping her real nails. She used her hands too much to be a princess. Not mention the unusual condition that her skin never healed well. Without any cover-ups she was a rather well-decorated women in scars, cuts, and tiny burn marks. Truthfully. Over all, she was rather self-conscious of her body. A bad habit she had kept over from her teenage years.

"Oh. And no, I don't mind mentioning it. Hehe. Trust me. I've had lot's of new and handsome young suiters since I changed my look. So I guess the Callsign kinda stuck. ...Oh well. What can you do, right?"

She smirked and shrugged. The bell rang and the fight below started with gusto.

 

[Verz Horak]

"That must've been fun."

The bell for the fight's start had rung, and Verz had a smile on his face. The fight had started, and the fighters seemed to actually be trying to put on a show. He watched the fighters swing. Clumsy punches and kicks swung for minimal damage. Not on purpose either. Just general ignorance on the art of fighting. For that is what Verz considered fighting and war. A form of art. He frowned after a moment of watching the fighters have at it, then downed another shot of tihaar.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

"So? Let's see what you got. Name which fighter you think is going to win. If your right? I buy your next drink."

She smiled. It was time to see if Verz had the magic eye.

 

[Verz Horak]

He watched the two fighters. The one on the right had more power in his punches. The smaller one had more agility and more accurate strikes. Neither of them wore armor, just regular clothes.

"The smaller one. He's going to win."

 

[Vanilla Toner]

Skill vs strength. And sure enough, in less than three minutes the smaller man had won.

"I would say good guess. But you weren't guessing? ...Were you. Hehe."

She waved the waitress over and ordered Verz another drink. As well as some chicken wings too. The noodles would help but she wanted to be sure. Vanilla never drank on an empty stomach.

 

[Verz Horak]

"No guesses here."

Verz picked up a chicken wing and started eating.The noodles were better than field rations, but he was stil hungry. He chased the wing down with a glass of liquor.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

"I kinda figured that. You seem like a fighter yourself. Or do you prefer to let your gun do the talking?"

She smirked. There was a thousand ways to die in this universe. And she bet that Verz knew how to pull off half of them.

 

[Verz Horak]

​"I am a Mando'ad. I know how to fight with weapons and without. Put me in a ring or on a battlefield. I will still win."

He smiled as he finished off the chicken wing.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

"Ah! But can you take a punch, I wonder?"

She mused. There was money in the effort if Verz could 'carry' a fight.

"Can you 'carry' a man? You know. Take few hits to drive the stakes up higher. Make it look like you are losing. Then win big. ...If so, you stand a good chance of making your hundred credits back. And more."

Vanilla eyed the ring and pursed her lips. She heard destiny calling.

 

[Verz Horak]

"I can takea hit. But not many will believe that a Mando is losing to a scruffy house fighter."

He kept his expression calm, but he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

"Well. I suppose you are right. The drawbacks of having you walk in here with your full battle array. ...Ah well. Don't blame a girl for trying?"

She sighed and stirred her drink. The odds never favored her anyway. And she hadn't seen Terry yet either.

"So? What do you feel like trying next then? We could catch a cab to the Blue District and go Clubbing. I know we just ate, but it's a lengthly ride. ...Or do you prefer to stay here and watch the next guy get his face broken in? Haha."

 

[Verz Horak]

"Perhaps going to a club would be nice. I don't want to leave my armor anywhere out of my sight. And I won't mind a long ride."

Verz polished off another chicken wing and finished his drink.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

Right. The... Armor. Vanilla frowned at the notion. Most warriors knew when to take their armor, shower, gel, and get ready for the nightlife. But um... Mandalorians? Not so much.

"Right. Well, tell you what? You just pretend to be my bodyguard like I'm somebody important? And we should be able to get into most clubs just fine. I. ...I hope."

She looked down and touched her flight suit. Not very classy at all.

"Deal then. Finish up and I'll meet you out by the crub. I need to hail a taxi."

 

[Verz Horak]

"I'll meet you up front then."

Verz got up, grabbed the half full bottle of tihaar, and went to pay for the meal. He put down a tip, and headed to the curb to find his hostess.

 

[Vanilla Toner]

Vanilla had hailed a cab and was playing with her wrist com when Verz arrived,

"Hop in. I've already told him where we are going."

Their driver was a colorful and elaborately dressed monkey-creature. His yellow top-hat said his name was Ze'ed,

"Welcomes aboards. Blue District it is. If you need anything just tap on the glass. Okays. Bye bye now."

Ze'ed rolled up the interior window as they pulled away. It would take a little to get where they were going. Depending on midnight traffic conditions.

"...So tell me then Verz. Why Zeltros? Lots of space stations out there closer to home. What brought you to the best vacation resort in the galaxy?"

 

[Verz Horak]

As the city zipped by the hover cab, Verz started talking with Peaches once more. This time she asked him why he came to Zeltros. He collected his thoughts.

"My friends convinced me I should go at least once. I had never been out partying or clubbing, and they told me 'No better planet than Zeltros for parties, ner vod.' "

 

[Vanilla Toner]

"Right. Makes sense. ...So how do Mandalorians party? Do you decorate the battle circle for mud wrestling and roast a whole pig? Hehe. Sorry. ...But I find it humorous that you don't leave your armor even to have fun."

She shrugged. It was an entertaining thought at least. But surely Mandalorians must have festivals and such. Shouldn't they?

 

[Verz Horak]

"Mandalorians wear armor as if it was our own skin. It would pain us to part with it. And there are festivals, from time to time. We usually celebrate past victories in war, along with other, less important events from time to time. I just never had a chance to attend one since I was a boy."

Verz looked out of the window, watching the party city go by them, then back to Peaches.

"We sometimes celebrated with hunts, tournamemts, war games, that sort of thing. I remember my first time hunting with Mirdala,my strill."