Hear No Evil

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Ord Mantell
"No Quarter" Cantina & Nightclub
1923 Hours, Galactic Standard
Herrith Hendarsin
THEME
@Alaska

Herrith ducked under a serving droid as it whisked by, narrowly dumping the contents of its platter all over her head. She scowled at it and spotted the lack of one of its two ocular devices, the reason at fault for its near disaster. She shook her head. The Guild may have owned Ord Mantell, but the quality of life hadn't really changed, except for maybe the occasional gang raid being less common than what was considered normal before. Droids were still cheap, as proven by Blind Bot who nearly took her bloody head off.

She sighed and continued walking, ignoring occasional whispers of people that recognized her. This was a Guild world now, after all, and the councilor of said organization was far, far easy to spot because of that. The Zeltron hated the attention. She preferred to lay low...not get spotted by half the planet. The thumping music of the club section briefly intensified and then vanished as Herrith passed, approaching the bar. All the woman needed was a drink. That was it. Of course, things never went to plan. Never.

 

[Maura Holst]

Maura was more than happy to blow off some steam in the form of alcohol. It wasn't too late by her standards, and she would have more than enough time to be ready for her transport the next morning. Tonight was just for fun, or it was supposed to be. Maura found herself the rather unwilling company of a man who didn't seem to understand just how badly the young woman sitting across from him wanted out of the conversation. The young extroverted girl answered his questions with single words and sometimes didn't even bother looking at his lips to see what he was saying. Finally, though, she'd had enough. Maura held up her hand to the man and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry gotta meet my friend..."

Maura stood abruptly, shaking the table in the process. She made a dash for the crowd, desperate to melt into it like ice on a hot day. If she could have heard the man's protests or calls for her to return, she would have ignored them. Her ears were deaf to the pulsing music but she could feel it in her chest like a fist. This was the only type of music she could enjoy. Maura shuffled through the crowd and found the bar where she hoped to find something better to do than watch a man talk about himself. The corner of her eye caught sight of the man who she now saw to be rather irritated, Maura turned her head quickly, scanning the area until her eyes landed on another young woman. Without preamble she slid into the stool beside the woman, an insistent smile plastered onto her face.
"Hey do me a huge favor and pretend like you know me," Maura said and gestured slightly with her chin to her previous conversation partner.

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith was knocked out of her thoughts and her drinking by a pressure on her arm, revealing a human desperately requesting her to pose as someone she knew. The man in the background was indicative enough of the woman's troubles, and Herrith was glad to help. An Alderaanian accent clung to her voice, similar to one of her friends. That'd have to wait, though. Time to act. The Zeltron smiled, putting a hand on the stranger's arm and leaning in slightly, chuckling. A hug followed soon after to further the look.

"So good to see you again! It's been so long since we've been able to do something like this. How's life been for you?"

Herrith had learned over the years that if someone needed help in the Rim, you answered their requests. Cause a lot of the time they were perfectly willing to offer a reward, or company and gratitude, in return.

 

[Maura Holst]

To Maura's relief the woman played along. Even sealed the deal with a hug which Maura gave gladly. Asking for help was tricky, she'd found. Often people wanted something in return. There was a code that existed, still, between all women when it came to creepy men. Maura was willing to bet just about everyone had been in a similar situation. After pulling back she smiled, more genuinely this time. Relief had softened her face.

"Glad to see you, how's you know... that guy?" Maura maybe wasn't the best at improvising. The man still watched, though she sensed even from her spot at the bar he'd all but given up. "Thank you." She signed and mouthed rather discretely. "Owe you one, really I do."

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith smiled and shook her head at the woman's question about "that guy". Oh, well, that was tricky. Quite coincidental that the mystery lady had chosen that of all things to bring up. She had stories, but nothing super long term. It was like choosing a card from a deluxe collector's bundle. She only thought for a split second, though, before replying and leaning back slightly in her chair, a knowing look in her eye while the woman gave her thanks. Yeah, she definitely did owe her. But she had yet to devise a proper reward for saving this lady from a hell of a creep.

"That guy? I dumped him a while back. Turned out he was a huge fan of spice. Explains the high endurance, though. I could kick it with him for a few hours before it all came crashing down. I'm glad it's over, though. Plenty of better people to look for in this huge galaxy."

Which was true. Though she wasn't really looking as it was the other way around. Things just kind of came to her in a sense. Lucky or unlucky? She'd have to think harder on that some other time.

 

[Maura Holst]

"Spice, yikes that's rough," Maura commented. "But glad you know that there are plenty of other folks out there who are... you know not addicts." Maura let her hands rest on her knees. They were probably safe now, Maura reasoned. Maybe once the two women were done drinking the man would get bored and leave. Maura stuck a hand out, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"Maura Holst, it's a pleasure." She shook the other woman's hand before returning her hand to her lap. Her eyes never leaving the other woman's face.

"What brings you Ord Mantell?" Maura seemed to second guess her pleasantries. "You don't have to say if you don't want to. If you're not on the clock maybe I can buy you a drink or something?"

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith nodded, taking note of the constant observation of her face even as the woman, Maura Hoist, brought her hand out to shake. The Zeltron returned the gesture as her new friend asked why she was on Ord Mantell out of curiosity, as well as rebutting the thought. She then offered a drink. And by that time, Herrith was all ears. Free drinks? Of course she was willing to talk. That was a deal maker. Ironically, she had blamed a fake relationship break-up on spice.

"Herrith. And I'll get a drink in, maybe answer some more questions. It's a pleasure to meet someone who is willing to buy my liquor as well."

She smiled, ignoring the fact that Maura hadn't removed her eyes from her face this whole time. Odd, but understandable. Some people were better at eye contact...but this was a bit overkill. It was probably best to leave it be,

 

[Maura Holst]

Maura grinned, glad to have the company. She looked past Herrith and waved at the bar tender. He lumbered over to the two women. He wore the customer service smile well, though Maura could see and sense the exhaustion behind those eyes. The smile she offered the man was genuine, though. She made it a habit to be as polite to staff as possible.
"Can you put whatever she orders on my bill? Thanks!" Maura asked, not thinking to raise her voice over the babble of the room. The man seemed to get it, though and quickly took Herrith's order.

With the man gone, Maura leaned back in her seat, gaze back on Herrith.
"So what is there to do around here aside from get hit on by creepy guys and get drunk?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

 

[Herrith Hendarsin]

Herrith watched as the bartender approached, and ordered a glass of whiskey, nodding to Maura as she offered to pay the bill. However, she was pretty quiet with the statement, and the bartender hardly heard her. Luckily enough, he was experienced enough to realize what had been meant, and returned with her drink a moment later. The Zeltron looked back toward her newfound friend, raising an eyebrow slightly before shrugging at the next comment. Really, that was about it around these parts. Of course, there was the occasional firefight, or gang raid, or stuff like that.

Though this person didn't seem like the type of character for that deal.
"That's about it, honestly. Unless you're into illegal stuff. Or get hit on by creepy girls, if that's your thing."

She took a sip of her whiskey, looking around for anyone slightly out of place, but found none. Looked like everything was smooth sailing for a little while then. That was a relief.

OOC - Herrith died in PvP, so I don't know how long we'll be able to thread here. We can always move to Diverse RP if you wanna keep going!

@Alaska