Christophsis Heist Act I: The Scout

Joy Carleec said:

"Flat building roof with a couple of air vents, big ones on the far side towards you. There's a raised access on the east side and a large walking area before getting to where the lift joins the building. I didn't see anything else." She relayed slowly and quietly.

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Lanya was having some difficulty reconstructing a mental image of her description, but ignored it for the moment. He was glad she wasn't seen, but this feeling was making him uncomfortable. "You should start making your way out.. as soon as you can. I have a- he stopped momentarily trying to phrase it in such a way not to worry her. "an idea of what we're up against. You've done enough. You can come to the apartment, or make your way off planet. I don't know if you have business with Reikan here." He was worried, not only was a young girl basically in harm's way, he began to consider what would happen if she was caught. She knew all about the operation. He looked down, in thought, his datapad catching his eye. There was a holo park, and concert hall nearby just across the street west of the hotel. If he left now he could meet her there and guide her back to safety.

He put his datapad into his vest pocket, and removed a very small earbud he could use with his comm. He put his mask back on, and readjusted his goggles over his eyes. He paged her hoping she was already on her way. "Exit the hotel on the west side, cross the street. I'll be waiting for you there. I'm wearing a brown cloak, with goggles and a breather mask. We can take things from there. He began to stand up, grabbing the Jawa Juice, unsure of where to put it, he took a few large gulps while putting his communicator into his left pants pocket. He almost put the bottle down, but then raised it again, gulping down even more. For my nerves he thought. He set the bottle down on the floor after re-corking it. He turned to Reikan who was casually on the couch enjoying a beer, unsure if he was paying attention.

"I'm going to rendzevous with the kid, make sure she gets wherever she's going OK? I don't know if you have business with her, but you're welcome to come. I'm leaving now though, and I've got the only security card for the door. Once you leave you'll need me to open it again.." he finished with a half smile as he picked up and put on his brown cloak, throwing the hood up and beginning to head towards the door.

She nodded to herself at Lanya's instructions - not that he would see or hear her do so (She kind of forgot she had to explain herself for a moment), before rolling away from the edge before she moved low towards the lift - which was still pried open (Thankfully) as she left it. After carefully pushing at the semi-closed doors open to step in and kick the blocker free so the doors close infront of her. Good. No keycard needed. She pressed the ground floor button and the ding softly pinged above her to send her back down to ground floor.

"On my way to the ground floor." She informed finally, after some time of silence. Likeiwse, she recieved instructions around this same time. As the doors opened, she found a face looking back to her, bending down to pick up the card he dropped. After a brief suprised exchange of stares, she smiled pleasantly. "Hey./" She walked out confidently, aiming to go around him. "Already checked out, nice place here." She waved, walking slowly but confidently.

The human watched her while clipping on his card. He cleared his throat, which echoed through the lobby. "Hey-" She turned slowly, gripping the weapon in her pocket uneasily. "Have a nice night and thanks for choosing us." He waved with a smile, causing her to sigh relief and smile back. "You too."

Finally, freedom as she walked out into the sidewalk and took in an inward breath to calm herself. "Brown cloak" She repeated to herself as she began to cross the street as instructed and looked for him. Brown Cloak, Mask. Goggles? She wandered in place for a little, waiting for the person who resembled him closely enough. "Yeah, I got to meet with Reikan again." She answered passively over the comm if she didn't meet Lanya quickly enough.

Joy Carleec said:

"Yeah, I got to meet with Reikan again." She answered passively over the comm if she didn't meet Lanya quickly enough.

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Lanya made his way out the door, only glancing back at Reikan to make sure he'd heard him. He raised an eyebrow as the door shut behind him. He mentally shrugged it off as he walked through the hallway towards the elevator. He had his head tilted slightly down the entire time, yet his eyes searched along the ceilings for any obvious security cameras. There seemed to be none, maybe he was paranoid? He remained vigilant nonetheless, tapping the button for the elevator with his hand still behind his cloak. He was glad there were so many types of species on this planet.. in the galaxy in general. He could wear this disguise and not be looked at twice. He waited seemingly patiently, though his thoughts were with Joy. At least this way I'll be able to look around from a different perspective.

The elevator had arrived behind the doors and he made an effort not to change his posture, though he tilted his head up a little. The door opened and an official looking man looked up from his datapad. He looked at Lanya, but was instead looking directly at his own eyes in the metallic reflective finish of Lanya's goggles. Such small things like this gave insight into a persons state of mind. This man was more worried about something from his own perspective.

Lanya looked over his clothes for a second, he was probably thinking about Lanya's plain clothes, he returned his eyes to his datapad, taking much care to turn his body so he wouldn't come into contact with Lanya. He gathered a few possibilities, the most likely being that he was on his way somewhere, and not that he looked down on Lanya, but he didn't have time for him. Lanya was now outside the hotel walking crossing the street at the western corner going westward.

He didn't want to walk anywhere near the Plaza, or alleyway. He kept his eyes out for cameras along the way, droid patrols, and things of that nature. There was nothing, and it began to worry him. Maybe they were just lax though... It was chilly out, he wondered if this was normal for this planet. He could barely see his breath in front of him, probably because of his facemask.

He rounded the corner seeing the holopark in the distance, he crossed the street north, then west, and began north. Joy was apparently just arriving. He took a few seconds to search for her before replying. "I'm just arriving." He felt somewhat tired for some reason. He hadn't done much.. the Jawa Juice had basically no effect on him, at least he didn't think so, he'd only had one third of the bottle. The opera house was a magnificently ornate building. It was two stories with high ceilings, and large windows. Spotlights dotted the entrance and bold red decor painted the walls outside. Its massive silver roof rose basically another story high, likely shaped for optimal acoustic delivery. Though there was plenty of technology that could have served that specific purpose, it was considered a quaint luxury, and somewhat artistic aesthetically.

The holo-trees and holographic sculptures reminded him of Zeltros. He thought about his parents, he wondered if Joy and Reikan had parents, and what they were doing. "Meet me near the sidewalk, Joy. I'll be near the edge of the crowd. Let's take the long way around the hotel and see what that street behind the building looks like." We can check out that street on the east side as well, and see what that garage looks like. he thought. He yawned underneath his mask. He felt a little tired. Mental fatigue he guessed.

Joy was looking out towards the opera house, sitting down on a bench when he reported he was here somewhere. After taking in some of the details of the building from a distance, she decided to finally look again for the guy she was meeting casually. The fake trees seemed a bit much anyway. "Alright." She answered to his comms, before she stood up and walked about to find him. When she spotted some guy that... Resembled his description she spoke into her comm; standing directly behind him. "Look left." She informed, watching his movements. If he complied, she spoke again. "Turn right.." She smiled - playing with him slightly if he complied, immiediately following through with the next order. "Turn all the way around" Now she was just teasing.

If he complied with this, she finished walking up to him and threw one arm between his arm and body so they could walk together. "Just wanted to make sure it was you and not some random guy." She said sweetly. "Lead on; I'll follow." She shrugged, relieved that she could kind of turn off her mind for a few minutes as she let him guide her to the next part.

Joy Carleec said:

"Just wanted to make sure it was you and not some random guy." She said sweetly. "Lead on; I'll follow." She shrugged, relieved that she could kind of turn off her mind for a few minutes as she let him guide her to the next part.

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Lanya abided by the small voice's directions, smiling inwardly knowing she was enjoying herself. He guess he had been worrying for no reason, at least there was no apparent danger. He was searching the gaggle of people in their cloaks, and ornate dresses. This was a good area to blend in, everyone looked like something out of some sort of metropolitan... victorian steampunk scene. He admired some of the more fashionable masks, his Zeltron sensibilities had not left him, he suddenly felt someone grab his arm. He had looked directly over Joy's head, he had been to surprised to jump, instead remaining still. He hadn't been this close to anyone in years. He didn't have any siblings, but he wondered what they might be like if he did.

Once again, he smiled inwardly, looking down at her. She was a Twi'lek. Not exactly what he'd expected.. Regardless he retrained his focus, he'd have to keep an eye out for any useful landmarks, information, and security measures in the area. He wondered how long it would take their guards to respond to a break in. He nodded at Joy, and they turned around heading north, on the west side of the street. the buildings on the block of the opera house were all relatively short. He thought there might be a larger park behind them, providing the residents of the hotel with a beautiful view they could charge for. He should have paid more attention on his way to the hotel from the spaceport. Honestly, he had fallen asleep on his shuttle ride over. He hadn't been able in over 24 hours prior to his arrival on planet. He led Joy to the left hand side of the side walk as a group of opera goers. He wonder what she was thinking. He couldnt tell much of her body language with her cloak. Her grip on his arm was nothing unusual, though he couldn't tell why it was that way without seeing her face. He didn't bother looking down, it didn't matter, besides her hood was hiding her from plain view.

He could feel the difference in their heights as they walked the same speed in different strides. Everything about her made her seem like she needed to be protected. Except her attitude of course. He wondered how Reikan had gotten a hold of her. He almost asked her, but considered the small measure of comfort his presence may have provided her and thought better of it. It's been a hell of a day. For both of us. He imagine Reikan sitting on the couch with his beer. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at nothing as he thought He better not touch that Jawa Juice... I paid for that room and everything in it. He sighed into his breather, he didn't really care. They walked in silence for about half a block, the only thing on Lanya's mind being the occasional pulling on his arm as their strides conflicted in speed, direction, or height. They were almost to the West corner of the street that they would cross eastward to see the back of the Dark Core building.

Clarity. Reikan sat in Lanya's apartment staring at the street's security camera display that he had hacked into and sipping his beer. He was thinking about his home. Mandalore. His parents had been warriors, he'd had no siblings. But as he realised it had been three years since he had been locked out of his home by the sith and he was reaching a point of sad clarity. He didn't need people to protect him anymore. It wasn't that he liked his current situation, it was just becoming normal to him.

Suddenly, he saw something on one of the displays. The hotel next to the facility's exterior camera caught a slice of the back of the Dark Core facility. He saw some muzzle flashes from blasters and then a tall man run outside. He was shot down and something he'd been carrying fell out of his hand. A security guard came outside and picked up the object, but as he turned towards the camera, it was revealed that he was a security droid. Dammit. This is bad. He thought to himself. Droids would be harder to kill or knock out. Reikan spoke into his communicator, "Guys? We might have a promblem. Droids."

Joy had indeed enjoyed herself. The thrill of it, the cool new clothes, the new world. Everything about this 'mission' was amazing! And it helped if she pictured it like some kind of detective story as opposed to assisting in illegal activity (to which she later might feel guilty about assisting in). And now she had a chaperone a full head above her shorter form, which allowed her to hang slightly off him in what might feel or look slightly needy. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was definately using his presence as a safety blanket in this foreign place - having constantly been on high alert ever since she arrived. Finally, she just relaxed.

Her 'disguise' for looking more like some kind of mini-assassin as opposed to a Twi'lek in a hood more or less failed, though. If Lanya's observations were anything to go by. She didn't look like a chiss and the hood kind of swelled out where her lekku were piled up behind her head and neck. Though she could pass as a Chiss if the person was blind, maybe? No red eyes. So that was unlikely. The entire time her hood was up and resting just above her eyes, allowing her to take in some of the sights as they walked. This part of the city seemed like it was especially ornate compared to the busier places she had been only earlier today.

However, as they continued walking, occasionally she would have to jog to catch up to the gradually falling-behind pace he had set for the two of them, causing her weight to pull down on his arm before giving his shoulder a break once again, only to repeat this cycle occasionally. She was perhaps lucky that he was a patient man. The quiet was getting slightly uncomfortable, though...

As they neared the enterance of the hotel, she casually looked on across the far side, to the Black building while the garage side was in view, allowing her a glimpse of the sealed bulk-head wall that guarded it. Even a fighter could have difficulty blasting through that, if it was as thick as it looked. But, no doubt the mechanism for opening and closing it was slow as anything - which perhaps was an advantage for a ground escape. Unless they were inside the garage of course... In which case that would be a bad thing.

Finally, they got to the hotel exterior and the door opened with a soft hiss; prompting the Twi'lek to release her captive and stretch her arms as she seemed back in full-activity mode, jogging forward out of the darkness and into the narrow lobby with a sigh of relief - which followed his more thoughtful one. Hers was a little more physical, though and was quickly noted why when she dropped her hood and prodded and poked at the big meaty appendages behind her so they would fall into a more comfortable position of slowly falling down her back. Despite not knowing exactly where she was going - she took the lead and simply relied on Lanya to instruct her when he was making a turn or whatever.

Hopefully they'd be back to Reikan reasonably soon. She didn't even realize that Reikan had spoken - having zoned out throughout the walk back. Perhaps it was during a tense moment, when she was busy thinking of other things. Or when she was lost in thought elsewhere.

"How much longer do you think you guys will be?" Reikan inquired down the communicator. He had shut of the display that he had loaded on the datapad, sitting back and taking one final, long swig of his beer. He was feeling slightly dizzy after finishing his third pint. He'd had better stop now, he did have a heist to plan after all. He thought about the droids. In retrospect, they probably wouldn't be as tough as he thought they would be. He'd dealt with droids before, they were... different to normal people. Mechanical, calculating, always looking for a solution. He had wondered whether he had got in too deep, going from low risk criminal operations to whatever this was.

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(NPC SECTION)
The command room was a dark, underground affair. A young man who was serving as the deputy head of engineering for the Dark Core facility was walking towards the generator room, eating some kind of dry sandwich as he went. Suddenly, he heard a blaster fire behind him and swerved around on his heels to see a man run past him carrying a case with CONFIDENTIAL written on it. Some of the security droids were running after him, maybe a malfunction. But as some of the non-droid security who made up the main bulk of the force joined the chase, he realized this was serious. The man ran to the back exit before he was stopped and thrown out, the droid's prying the case from his hands...

Joy Carleec said:

while the garage side was in view, allowing her a glimpse of the sealed bulk-head wall that guarded it. Even a fighter could have difficulty blasting through that, if it was as thick as it looked. But, no doubt the mechanism for opening and closing it was slow as anything - which perhaps was an advantage for a ground escape. Unless they were inside the garage of course... In which case that would be a bad thing.

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As they walked past the Dark Core facility's garage towards their hotel Lanya was feeling tense. When they had been walking past the north eastern corner near the 'back' of the Dark Core facility, he had barely heard the commotion, wondering what it was when Reikan had informed him it had something to do with 'droids.' Joy had seemed.. well Joyful. He could tell she loosened up a little, glancing at her every now and then seeing her hood turn subtly as she searched their environment with what he imagined to be big, curious eyes. He took a look over at the back of the Dark core building, it was surrounded by.. give or take.. 9 foot walls. It had a thin metal gate, he assumed by looking at it it could be ripped out of place with explosives.

An image popped into his mind of his imaginary team blowing a hole in a room on the fifth floor and taking the entire vault with them, dangling from the undercarriage of a ship by thick metal cords as they made their getaway, a cool looking assassin making a leap of faith, riding on the vault itself and firing blaster bolts at guards. His imagination could be wild, it was part of the reason he was so good at coming up with creative solutions. Back to his current situation, he noted the garage doors on the western side of the dark core building were made of a burly metal. They were now about one story underground, walking past it. The road took a large dip here in order to accomodate it. He wondered what kinds of vehicles it housed. Were they for the defense of the facility? Were they employees personal vehicles? Were they merchandise? Perhaps one of these could be used for a getaway. Or a diversion, while the team made a real getaway.. He could think about it later.

Joy Carleec said:

Finally, they got to the hotel exterior and the door opened with a soft hiss; prompting the Twi'lek to release her captive and stretch her arms as she seemed back in full-activity mode, jogging forward out of the darkness and into the narrow lobby with a sigh of relief - which followed his more thoughtful one. Hers was a little more physical, though and was quickly noted why when she dropped her hood and prodded and poked at the big meaty appendages behind her so they would fall into a more comfortable position of slowly falling down her back. Despite not knowing exactly where she was going - she took the lead and simply relied on Lanya to instruct her when he was making a turn or whatever.

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He walked through the entrance of the hotel's east side with Joy in tow. She quickly made herself comfortable, immediately removing her hood, revealing two massive lekku. He was vaguely repulsed at their size, though he had always found Twi'lek lekku strange. He wished she had kept her hood on, but said nothing. He still didn't want to worry her, he hadn't said a word since they'd met up. Seeing her, being around her innocence evoked many emotional and philosophical experiences from his past, bringing on a sort of nostalgia. He thought about himself as a child, wondering how old she was. She looked maybe... 13 years old? Around her age he had been running drugs back and forth in a busy club. Ah, memories.

Joy walked ahead confidently, her head turned a little to the right, where Lanya was a few feet behind her. He smiled inwardly again. She wasn't going to follow him, but she wanted him tell her where to go he guess, or she knew he would? Regardless, he told her to go straight, they headed towards the western entrance, at the north end of the hotel, and made a left. The hotel was strange, the first floor, having entrances on all sides had elevators all around a central rectangular hub. They got in the elevator closest to their room, the western one.

Headastator said:

"How much longer do you think you guys will be?" Reikan inquired down the communicator. He had shut of the display that he had loaded on the datapad, sitting back and taking one final, long swig of his beer. He was feeling slightly dizzy after finishing his third pint. He'd had better stop now, he did have a heist to plan after all. He thought about the droids. In retrospect, they probably wouldn't be as tough as he thought they would be. He'd dealt with droids before, they were... different to normal people. Mechanical, calculating, always looking for a solution. He had wondered whether he had got in too deep, going from low risk criminal operations to whatever this was.

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Lanya's head perked up as he heard Reikan over the communicator sounding very subtly antsy, or so he thought. He must have something on his mind, perhaps about the droids.. or maybe he wanted to cut Joy's payment short. Why did he even think of that? He guessed he was beginning to feel responsible for her. He didn't know Reikan, but he didn't seem like the 'type' to do that.


He slid his hand in his pocket and tapped the talk button on his communicator, leaving the channel open. "Not long now, keep your blaster holstered." He was looking at the inside of the elevator, wondering if Joy had heard him, and what she might think. He thought about how others perceived him quite a bit. It had helped him before, but really was an obsession, and that was an issue. The door dinged open and they both walked out, Lanya stopped for a second as he told Joy "end of the hall." Had she pressed all the buttons in the elevator? Had they all been lit up or was that just his imagination. He shrugged it off and walked towards the end of the hall getting his key ready. He slid it through the scanner before walking in after Joy, he removed his mask, and set his goggles on his forehead. "Surpiiiissee" he said in a joking tone waving his hands around his face as they entered the room. The doors closed behind him, and he first looked to where his bottle of Jawa Juice had been. It was still there.

The back of Joy's head was all Lekku; so Lanya would have to enjoy his repulsion so long as he walked behind her. Likely right up until the elevator and then again, until they reached the door.

Though, when they were in the Elevator making their quiet ascent; Lanya said something that kind of woke her up from her the careless freethought she had been enjoying. Holster the Blaster? Was he gonna shoot at her if she didn't do a good job? The gripped not just the stun gun in her pocket, but the concealed holster with her other hand - if nothing else it gave her a confidence in her own security, even if she was unlikely to be successful against two trained shooters.

Joy cleared her throat, before speaking on Comm. "Did I find what you wanted, at least?" She wondered. As the doors opened and she stepped out ahead of him; she resisted the urge to close the doors on him or press more buttons. She wanted to be mature in front of the illegal guys, damnit. Not to mention if she suddenly had to start running - she wanted an escape route.

"Ah-" She paused at the door, turned and backpedalled to give him access to it. "Why don't you go first?" She offered with a smirk and a gesture of one hand, ungloved the entire time. Though she was suspicious, it was intended as a joke because she didn't have access.. Was she even at the right door? She lost focus on which side of the corridor was the windowed side towards the target.

She could always use him as a gun shield if Reikan had his gun pointed to the door, afterall. Presuming of course he complied and went in first, she leant out from the corridor to peer beyond his moving body to see what was inside before stepping inside and withdrawing her stun gun - with the intent of returning it but of course...

The whole... Hand waving thing with the tone of Lanya's voice kind of disarmed her concern, though. "We're home..." She quipped up from behind when she was a little more confident what Lanya had said was 'don't shoot us out of mistake, we're here'.

Presuming all things went well and she wasn't given reason to concern, the first thing she'd do is offer the stun weapon nose down to the floor to Reikan, hand still gripping it like she was ready to shoot. Seems she wasn't given many safety tips on passing a weapon over to someone else.

All the same and with that sorted, she wandered the room with a slow pace; finding if there were beds, oooh. A fridge. What do you do when you go into the kitchen for no reason? Look at the contents of the fridge, but of course. Really, she wanted the money and to see warm Tatooine again. It felt so much colder than what she was used to.

Phew...

"Ah! Wecome back." Reikan said as the two walked through the door, Joy more cautiously than Lanya. He wondered if Lanya's comments had confused her, but he wasn't too worried in his current state. Reikan got up to welcome Joy in, saying "Make yourself at home." As he motioned that she could do what she wanted for a while. He felt like he'd had one too many drinks. He needed a lie down. This is what happened when he was left to think in a room with drink.

"I'm going for a lie down, see you in a few hours." He went to his personally designated bedroom, a fairly large place with three of the walls made of glass. He lay down on the bed, falling slowly asleep...

(Ok, you guys do your posts of what you're going to be doing during the 6-ish hour timeskip, then I'll intro the planning phase on another thread.)

Headastator said:

"Ah! Wecome back." Reikan said as the two walked through the door, Joy more cautiously than Lanya. He wondered if Lanya's comments had confused her, but he wasn't too worried in his current state. Reikan got up to welcome Joy in, saying "Make yourself at home." As he motioned that she could do what she wanted for a while. He felt like he'd had one too many drinks. He needed a lie down. This is what happened when he was left to think in a room with drink.

"I'm going for a lie down, see you in a few hours." He went to his personally designated bedroom, a fairly large place with three of the walls made of glass. He lay down on the bed, falling slowly asleep...

(Ok, you guys do your posts of what you're going to be doing during the 6-ish hour timeskip, then I'll intro the planning phase on another thread.)

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Sleep? Lanya imagined a dirty Joy dressed in rags, on her knees at Reikan's feet. "B-but.. but my payment s-sir.." He blinked and shook his head, smiling to himself mentally. If she wants to leave I'm sure she can manage collecting on her own. Lanya was being something of a hoarder, not that Joy was a tool, just that she could be useful. He liked to have things 'just in case.' Maybe he didn't mind if he could keep an eye on her for another day, or two. (At this point he would lose track of Reikan and Joy.)


As he began to realize the seriousness of his feelings of 'responsibility' he mentally rolled his eyes as he walked over to his chair, and picked up the unmoved bottle. He felt a bit lonely inside, he knew he'd be left with his thoughts for the next few hours, as both of them would probably go to sleep. Lanya usually didn't sleep much unless something was wrong. The fact that he could be getting sentimental in a situation like this, surrounded by so much excitement, and so many things more deserving of his attention annoyed him.

The last 3/5s of this bottle should get him nice, and drunk. He would be awake, before they got up. He would pretend he had gotten up early, fall asleep early in the night the next day, and then actually wake up early. He hoped there was nothing important to do, even if there was, he didn't care. He kind of enjoyed having to deal with lack of sleep, and drunkenness. Impairing his ability to think normally always impaired his ability to stress. He would be fine planning, his mind always 'woke up' when he started doing things. If he kept busy he could sometimes stay awake almost 3 whole Zeltros days... almost.


He realized he had been staring at the now uncorked bottle, and tilted his head up looking at the profile of the dark core building there were small lights along the corners of the building all the way to the roof. He took a drink of his Jawa Juice as he thought to himself. So, unless those are decorations, they don't want aircraft crashing into their building. I guess that 'cargo lift' was an airpad. He nodded a bit, oblivious to his surroundings. So, someone working in this facility has to be flown in, and goes between the hotel and facility often enough to necessitate a landing pad that goes to both buildings.

Joy noticed the smell of unpleasant adult liquids in the air, it was fairly potent in some areas - but not horrible. Tolerable, she supposed. Though it had the side effect of reminding her of home and her Dad. Reikan's announcement that he was going to be boring and not pay double her on the spot and thank her for her important work, did get a small grumble from the girl (okay maybe she was exaggerating but he could've paid her). He better not be leading her on, her eyes rolled. And he didn't even take the Stun Blaster off her! Rude. The offering arm flopped back to her side like it wasn't even a weapon and she put it on the table beside the sofa - which rested on the opposite wall to the window overlooking the target building. After the weapon was 'secured' safely, one foot raised slightly from the ground and allowed her to do a kind of ballet-turn, before the other kicked up and threw herself onto the padded furniture with a bounce. This caused it to squeak repeatedly under her energetic falls, going quiet once she had ceased. A quiet glare fixed onto Lanya at his quip of her collecting... No, she wasn't impatient or desperate enough to steal what she'd earnt. Not to mention it might piss him off. Or she might see him in his underwear or something equally gross.

It was as she settled into a lazy sitting position, sinking slightly into the deep cushion foam material, that something annoying dug into her lower back. This would not do afterall and immediately resumed fidgetting for a bit before she finally sat forward to pull out a small plain box from the cushion corner that had been irritating her. As she held it between finger and thumb, she spoke up to Lanya who had positioned himself closer to the window to drink. "We should draw on his face while he sleeps." The girl passively plotted with subtle suggestion, before she decided it wasn't some kind of drug and opened the pack curiously. "Oh, Pazaak." The girl chimed pleasantly with suprise, though some of the cards fell into her lap in a scattered mess, prompting them to be picked up one by one. Once that job was complete, the deck was tipped into one palm and sorted between main deck and side deck in a more organised fashion suitable to begin play with It was just a standard premade deck, seemingly free with the room by the hotel. Reikan was asleep and Lanya was in his own little moody world right now, so it was up to her to entertain herself for the time being.

"Are you gonna get wasted before you even do your job?" She asked slightly cynical while noticing he seemed intent on drinking the whole thing at once, but perhaps concerned that they really were going to go and get yet more bottles - she'd lived with that for a while, so the idea that everyone who drinks was out of control was unnerving to her. In the meantime, she had repositioned her seating position to cross her legs with a pillow ontop - functioning as an ingenius table on her lap, so she had enough space to begin laying out cards she picked. Despite Lanya's assumptions, Joy didn't seem the sleepy or not-talkative type...

As anyone watching would notice; she was no pro at this game and even attempted to unfurl the games' paper-based instruction manual to try and remember the rules, but it was worn to the point where whatever was written on it was practically invisible - likely from its years of abuse and use.

She knew the basics and she was only playing herself, so she started by picked a plus and minus of the following cards from the 10 available to her; 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. She figured they would be a pretty good selection for most situations and had to cut them down to just 4 anyway to play. Since at least for the first game she was playing on her own, Joy simply picked a +2, +3, -2 and -6 for her hand, placing the side deck to one side and then immediately turned over the first card from the main deck. A 4. It was pretty safe to do so when considering probability, so she played her +3 in a rushed attempt to get to 20 'quickly'. The next card, was a 7. So that was already a score of 14. She needed something reasonably low and now quickly regretted playing that +3. She played the next card with crossed fingers. a 10!? One hand flopped to the side with an exasperated sigh before she sat back up with an idea. Well. Was she allowed to still play a hand card when bust? Because she was at 24. -6 would put her to 18.. So she did that with no clue if it was permitted. But hey. She was playing herself and her opponent allowed it. Good Game.

"How long are we waiting?" She asked, as she began to reshuffle the deck arkwardly between her hands. "Want a game?" She offered him, which he would likely take in his somewhat-drunk reply. She knew he would play if she only asked. He seemed like the type that preffered someone else approach him. She might've been disappointed if he didn't play.

Patiently she waited for him to get comfortable and take his table of choice. Right. The game was on! Lanya selected his sidehand and Joy kept with her existing sidehand from the previous game. It seemed to work well with a 'bailout' option. The two of them took their cards from the main deck and revealed them to see who would go first. Joy a 10, while Lanya had a 9. She went first. Drat. Now she had to set the bar to beat, which was slightly annoying. But he was half drunk, so maybe she could trick him into thinking 21 is less than 20...

Anyway. Since she was going first, she turned over her first game card; a 9. She decides thats a pretty high number and she didn't want to get into the questionable rules again like her practice game, so she avoids playing anything from her hand lest she bust on a 10 or something equally wierd. Probability was in her favour! Two nines and a ten had been played already, so those big blue eyes watched as he drew his first card. Purposely turning it over slowly. A 9, too. Wow. Though he played down a +4. Hm. She hoped he busted and smirked at the thought of beating him. Maybe they should've gambled some money..?

"My go." She reached out confidently this time and quickly turned it over before slapping it on the cushion with a mouthed 'bam', like some kind of 'Childrens Cardgame' player involving suprising amounts of mental violence. Heart of the cards! Oh. Shit. She blinked with suprise. The third 9. In a row. The heck. Did she even shuffle it? From her hand, however. She played the +2. Making it 20 and practically winning on the spot. "Standing." She grinned in announcement, making it Lanya's turn until he tied or lost. She was pretty confident he wouldn't be able to do that well.

Though he took his time, making her anxious - she was feeling pretty lucky. Not to mention the probability of him getting-- The next card cut off her thought and she stared at it... A 5. With his 9 +4, so 18... Damnit. She sighed and just like that he played the +2, causing her arms to flop slightly and toss the hand she had to the Sofa cushion beside her in defeat.

A tie. Really? She rolled her head back with a tisk and passed the main deck to him and took her sidecards back. "Your shuffle.

Obviously shuffling wasn't her strong suit. Nor Probability...

Joy Carleec said:

"How long are we waiting?" She asked, as she began to reshuffle the deck arkwardly between her hands. "Want a game?" She offered him, which he would likely take in his somewhat-drunk reply. She knew he would play if she only asked. He seemed like the type that preferred someone else approach him. She might've been disappointed if he didn't play.

Click to expand...

Lanya turned his head a little to his right, looking as far to the right as possible to acknowledge the sassy little voice behind him. He looked straight ahead as he smiled, getting up. He took a swig of his Jawa Juice, nearly down to its last 1/4th. His lips made a smacking sound as they released the suction, and he cringed slightly at the noise. His smile disappeared, and he set the bottle down, recorking it in one movement. He sauntered over to the couch somewhat theatrically, and sat down directly opposite her, appropriating her genius level pillow-table technique. This was going to be fun.

Lanya chose a +2 +3 +4 and -4, it may seem cruel that he chose the four to play on his first turn regardless of the draw, in order to get her antsy. He wanted to get to know her a little better, see what she was like under pressure. She obviously had some slight resentment towards people getting excessively drunk. He wondered if she might play aggressively, or competitively. There was a marked difference, especially at her age. Hm? How old is she anyways..? He shrugged it off, his Zeltron physiology allowed him to consume far above the average amount of alcohol a baseline human could. His extra liver, combined with his super-fast metabolism dulled the edge fantastically.

Lanya watched the game unfold on her end, taking note of here eyes darting back and forth, they took on an obsessive quality for a fleeting moment as Lanya purposefully dragged out the tension. He was laughing inside, thoroughly enjoying himself. There were two games being played here. He wondered if she felt uncomfortable at all, in an apartment with two strange men.. although he was young, he was still certainly old enough to be a danger to her. This game seemed like her only concern in the world.. she seemed somewhat exasperated as he played down the +4 with attempted dramatic effect.

Lanya could not help but to close his eyes for a quick second trying not to laugh at her amazed look. It was likely that in her fumbled attempts at "shuffling" large parts of the deck had stuck together. He opened his eyes a split second before she looked directly at him with a triumphant gleam in her eye. Sure to look at the deck, then her, then put his hand on the deck, and look at her again. He drew the card and moved it over to the center of the table, then looked at her again before flipping and setting it. It wasn't a hundred percent chance that it would have happend this way, but he was glad it did.

With a tone of finality, he set the +2 giving her no time to breathe. He was smiling now as she tossed the deck to him. Why was this so funny? He was teasing a child.. His smile sagged and was replaced with a narrowed-eye glare as he shuffled through the deck. It was thoroughly shuffled. He felt a small surge of emotion he couldn't comprehend. It felt like reality had reset itself around him in a second. He looked up as casually as ever. How about this, you draw another card to decide if we'll play?

He didn't bother changing his hand, he waited for her response as he gathered up the cards, leaving her hand on her 'table.' Now he was the one feeling strange.. He handed her the deck after making sure to cut it in half and splice the cards together as finely as possible. She drew a 9. He looked at the card for a second longer than he normally would have and said "Let's play." he looked her in the eyes for a moment to discern any trickery taking note of her big mini-assassin sleeves. He doubted she would go through the effort to do so, but he was going to pay attention this time.

She drew a 4, and he watched her hands, as she played the +3 [4 +3 =7], to her it would likely seem he had deigned to kill time with the game, as his face was still passive. He got a 6, he impulsively decided to mimick her and laid down a +3. His total was now at 9. He checked her features for a reaction, she seemed focused more on her own success than his.. to a degree. It just looked like she wanted to win, she hadn't been eyeing him for a window to slip a card in from her sleeve or something.

Lanya began to feel a bit silly for considering she would've done something like that. Unless she was waiting for them to fall asleep to kill them, he didn't think it was even within her capacity. She drew her next card with a self assured sort of confidence. She seemed to be having fun, in a way. This kid could end up with a gambling addiction if she gets too into the 'lucky draw' way of thinking.. She didn't like people who drank overmuch, so he doubted she would let herself be addicted to gambling. It was an entertaining thought though.. she got a 6.. that brought her total up to 13, she didn't play a card. He drew.. a 1. He felt she had more self restraint than he did as he played his +4. Maybe the one point difference could help?

She drew a 10 on her next turn, and he thought he might be more surprised than she was. That brought her up to 23. She plays a -6 and her expression becomes more self assured than before. Lanya was beginning to loosen up.. he was going at this too intensely, he could wake up with a head ache if he continued at this rate. She was now at 17, and he at 14. She decided to stand at her next turn. What the hell. He had a -4 anyways, if he got a 10, he would win, and anything higher than where he was right now couldn't hurt. He picked up his next card. It was a 10.. he felt a sense of foreign apprehension that wasn't his own. This was an interesting game. He set down his -4 and looked up at her, smiling.

"Well, looks like I win. I'll take half of your payment when we get all this settled." He added, smirking with his eyes closed. He stretched back, opening one eye to see her reaction.

He wanted to stop on a tie. Seriously? She frowned gently and reached out to draw the card, showing it to him before turning it towards herself. A 9. Wow. Someone really wants them to play; she wondered if he had rigged the deck to do that. Hm. She smiled and nodded in return. Another game. Despite Lanya's suspicions of her sleeves (perhaps stemming from her trixxy race), she was remarkably well-behaved and focused largely on the game being played, rather than Lanya. She did of course take interest in his cards, when she felt she was 'winning'. She was indeed having fun.

That is, until he kicked her arse. Her smile faded when he played that -4. She wasn't going to say anything about it, until he mentioned taking some of her income. "No, we didn't bet anything yet! So you only get the satisfaction of winning." She answered with a higher tone than usual; offended, defensive. Preemptive. She practically threw the cards off the pillow at him in a demand that he reshuffle. She kept her side deck and hand of course. Mulling through it to rethink her strategy. "You only won once. Haven't even won a set yet." She educated in a disinterested tone, as the girl sat up and went through her cards.

This would likely be a long night of Pazaak.

(thread basically over!)

Joy Carleec said:

This would likely be a long night of Pazaak.

(thread basically over!)

Click to expand...

(Bows out to crowd, motioning towards Joy)