Ask Raxus Its Not Over Yet

[Jonathen Baize]

The Rusty Rifle​

They climbed out of the taxi, Jon looking up the familiar neon sign "THE RUSTY RIF-E" the "L" either burned out or broken for so long that no one remembered what had actually happened to it. They had a score to settle, Jon was glad he hadn't actually drank that much at the party, and the night air had sobered him up a bit. He was in fighting shape.

Jon had enjoyed the Imperial gathering, glad he had gone. It generated stories that would last for years to come. After leaving, He checked his phone, but still no word from Kali. Convinced she had gotten called away, he tucked his phone back into a pocket.

They walked inside; the bar was mostly empty. The bar catered mostly to Imperials as it was close to the main Garrison, but most of the soldiers were at the other event. The dart boards were all open, so there were no worries there. "I am going to grab a beer; you want anything?" offering to Guin before heading to the bar.

Afterward, they would find one of the standing tables near one of the dart boards. "You ready?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

While Guinevere had thoroughly enjoyed the party and the shenanigans that had occurred there, sometimes a nice quiet little bar was the tonic to the gin. All the flashy neon signs brandishing their brands or advertisements always caught Guin's eye as their taxi rolled on up to the rifle, a now familiar haunt of theirs.

It didn't take them long to wander in and see that it had rather cleared itself out, with only the regulars and barman to keep them company for now. As for drinks, she couldn't settle on what to pick, opting for the cop out. "Oh um.. Surprise me?" the blonde giggled as she glanced over towards the empty dart boards.

Whisking herself over, she gathered the darts from one of the boards and plonked them down on a nearby table. Naturally, she couldn't help but get a cheeky practice throw in before Jon would return with their drinks, and so off she walked up to the line with the white dart she selected.

Taking a moment to line its point up with the board, some distance away, the agent flicked it down range and watched as it annoyingly went wide, striking the backboard. "Dammit, I can't let him win this too." She quietly said to herself. Scooting over to collect the dart and return to the table as he arrived, she tried to cover up the mishap with confidence and a smirk. "I'll let you go first, you know, perks of winning beer pong?"

Roll: 6/20

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He slid her drink towards her as the bartender brought out a bowl of small pretzels and set them down on the table. Jon thanked the woman as he took a couple of them and tossed them in his mouth before tilting the beer bottle to his lips.

"How very gracious of you.." he laughed as he looked down the color darts, thinking about which color she wanted. "Guess I'll be blue," he said, sliding the red darts to her.

Jon rolled his neck, loosening up. "Alright, you're going down, Delevigne!" he picked up his dart and stepped up to the line. "You got this Jon..." whispering to himself as he lifted the dart.

*thud*

The dart sounded as it sank into the wood beside the dark board. Jon cringed a little. "I'm just getting warmed up!" he said to Guin before she could interject.

Roll: 7

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

Guin nodded her thanks as she caught the drink, somehow much easier than her record of throwing darts. Taking a quick sip of the beer, to try it out, and quickly finding it to her liking. "Thanks." she replied with a smile.

Watching as Jon took the blue darts and pranced his way over to the line, she tried to study how he stood and moved for perhaps some insight into his methodology, just in case he was a prodigy in this too. Seeing the dart land near where hers did previously bring a chuckle in quick succession. "Oh, of course, Jon." winking as she went along with what he said.

Taking one of the red darts in hand, she slid over to the line and prepared herself for what would surely be a fantastic shot. Hard eye balling the tip of the dart towards the board, she leaned into a heavy throw, resulting in the dart sailing exceedingly fast toward the target. Unfortunately for Guin, it connected with some of the metal strip around the board, causing a ricochet to promptly return the article back her way.

The agent panicked, jumping backwards and into the table to avoid the pointy fury which landed at her feet. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed, as the dreadfully cold beverage she had just been savouring, had been bumped over and had now poured all down her back. The embarrassment was worse than the failed throw, and she had no plans to stick around. "Saaaaaaave my spot." Guin immediately raced off towards the girls' room to conduct some damage control and would hopefully be back for the next round.

Roll: 1/20

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Jon rolled his eyes as Guin sauntered past him to the board. He let out a sigh, taking another sip of beer as she prepared herself.

He watched as she through but instead of the normal sound of a dart hitting the board or even wood, there was a loud "ting" as the dart stuck metal and returned in their direction. "Oh shit!" he said in almost perfect unison with her as they both scrambled.

Guin started to stumble backward, and Jon moved to try and catch her, but she hit the table first, pouring her beer down her back. Jon tripped on a chair as he moved, falling to the ground with a grunt.

He had hit hard enough to knock the wind out of him a bit, but before he could push himself to his feet, Guin was already sprinting to the back. "Uhhhh" was all Jon was able to sound as he kneeled in stunned silence as she ran away.

Jon finally got back to his feet, cleaning up the mess caused by the destruction. The bartender gave him a perturbed look. "Don't mess up my bar, Baize!" she finally said. He waved a hand to her. "Just a little accident. We will be more careful.." he gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. The grumpy bartender rolled her eyes and tossed him another towel. "Thanks.." he said, catching it.

He had twisted his ankle a bit in the fall, but not enough to cause any worry. Quickly cleaning up the mess, he found the chair that had tried to kill him and sat in it while he waited for Guin to reappear.

Roll: 3

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

She wasn't sure if it was the fact that she had bungled the dart throw so badly, or that she'd made such a mess of her pearly white dress shirt despite doing so well over the night to keep it clean. With a frustrated low groan, she slipped the shirt up over her arms and began dabbing the soaked sections with cold water, hoping to get as much of it out as possible.

In all the panic, she was late to realise that Jon himself had fallen also, and worse, she hadn't even stopped to check on him before racing off. With an embarrassed stare, the agent peeked, with just her face, around the door to see the poor Mr Baize had righted himself and was busy talking to the bartender. Relieved, she popped back to the sink and finished up what she was doing before carefully drying it.

Shortly afterwards, the blonde reappeared and wandered back over toward their table with a sheepish grin in tow. "Sorry about that, are you okay?" she inquired, with a smidgen of concern in her voice. Seeing that the mess had already been cleared, Guin looked for a dart. Not really knowing what else to say, she simply faintly offered a sincere "Thank you," before making her way up to the line.

To nobody's shock, the dart missed the board, but only by an ewok's hair. Sadly, it was the best throw of the night, but it was still early, and they had much to say and drink first, no doubt. So naturally, Guin ordered a pink cocktail for the pair of them.

Roll: 9/20

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He looked up when she finally emerged from the back. "Thought you may have slipped out the window back there.." he joked. She had run out of there incredibly fast, though.

"I'll live. Though life does seem a little bit more dangerous with you around.." he teased, lifting his beer to his mouth. Guin moved somewhat robotically, clearly unsure how to navigate the slightly awkward scenario from before.

"Good luck," he said, pretending to duck down behind the table before letting out a laugh. He watched as she just barely missed; it actually looked like a real shot. "Hey! We are improving!" he cheered.

Pushing himself out of his chair, he stepped up next. He carefully took aim and let fly. A second later, he let out a relieved breath as his dart stuck into the board. Sure, he had only scored one point, but it was something. "On the board! Only nine more points to go!" he said with another chuckle. This could turn into a long game if they kept this up, and the longer the game went, the more chance disaster had to strike.

Roll: 11 (Its about time...)

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The one thing that Guin always enjoyed about being around Jon was his sense of humour never seemed to wane, no matter the situation. Having rolled her eyes playfully at his comment and ducking, it was her turn to sit back and watch the master at work.

To some relief, his attempt went just a little better than hers as the dart struck the board, scoring their first point in the night. "Your foot was over the line! It didn't count!" she chirped in with a serious face for just a second before bursting into giggles. "I'm just kidding, nice throw!!"

If they were courting disaster, they didn't have to wait long as Guin stepped up with her dart ready to make her mark on the game with a cheerful grin. "I bet you'll never have seen anything like this." she hilariously predicted. Unfortunately, her inaccuracy proved most accurate, as the metal dart once more bounced off the board and was returned to sender.

This time, however, Guin was nowhere near quick enough to avoid it, watching helplessly as it sailed down and into her foot. With a painful shriek she attempted to step forward, a streak of pain shot up her leg, failing the entire muscle. In a catastrophic failure, the agent tumbled down and knocking her head on something solid before all the colours in her eyes seemed to fade....

Roll: 1/20 (second time cry)

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He shot her an icy look. She wouldn't take this victory from him. He burst out into a chuckle a second later. "Oh, now it makes sense why you can't hit the board. Clearly, you need glasses..." he joked back.

He watched on as she commented on her upcoming through. Whether through bad luck or a cursed sense of prophecy, she was correct; he had, indeed, never seen anything like her shot.

The dart struck the same metal hinge as before, but this time, she didn't move quick enough, and it plunged into her foot. It all happened so fast that he even didn't have time to fit in his "holy shit" from before. He watched in stunned silence as the dart hit some sort of nerve in her leg, sending her to the floor. Unfortunately, she also hit her head on a chair on the way down, sending her into unconsciousness.

"Guin!" he rushed over and knelt beside her as his brain finally kicked into gear. He scanned her, a dart sticking out of her foot and blood coming out of a wound on her head. Without another option, he peeled off his Officer's jacket and pressed it against her head, leaving him in his white undershirt. "Call an ambulance!" he barked at the bartender, his voice shifting into officer mode unconsciously.

"Hey, Guin, can you hear me?" he asked, pushing the hair out of her face. She was out cold. He didn't want to remove the dart for fear of causing any nerve damage. Instead, he took both heels off and tossed them to the side. He checked her pulse and monitored her vitals until help came shortly after.

Paramedics took over, and Jon hovered over them as they worked on her.

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

It all happened so fast and without the time to process all the emotional, physical and otherwise, the agent was out cold. The pitter-patter of raindrops falling onto the metallic roof above painted a calm and idyllic backdrop to the worried and frantic actions of those who quickly gathered around the agent. A mixture of gawking and service dwelled in their vicinity, with the aged barman jumping over to help Jon provide any first aid they could until the emergency services arrived.

The first thing that she felt was the cold, a horrible chill extending down her back as she lay in darkness. Her expression was a mixture of confusion and worry, the anxious wave of the unknown washing over her as the loud sounds around her body began being processed. For the briefest second, her eyes opened. "Jon?" she whispered in shock before the eyes closed again.

...

A knock came at the door before the doctor entered with a smile, nodding toward Jon and taking a look over Guin's paperwork. A question asked a thousand times, has a million answers, and yet the tall physician was ready for it regardless. "Everything is looking much better." She said in calming manner. "Her foot will need some therapy, but she should recover. The head injury looks to be a bad concussion, but we didn't find any other damage."

Glancing over Guin's vitals, and then the patient, the doctor seemed happy before looking to Jon. "Have you heard from her family yet?" That was a topic the pair hadn't really broached before, but like many in the galaxy, the answer was always complicated.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

It was late, Jon had sobered up, but a headache pressed in on his temples. He sat in the chair beside Guin's bed, flipping through sports news, not really paying attention to any of it.

His eyes glanced up as the Doctor came back into the room to check on her. Jon nodded with some relief when she said Guin was looking better. How had the night spiraled so fast?

"Uhh...No. I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone," he said somewhat awkwardly. To be honest, he didn't know anything about her family. They were friends, but the topic had never come up, and it wasn't like ISB agents were usually the sharing type. Kali would probably know, but she wasn't here, so Jon was kind of left on his own on this one. He was sure he could find something if he started digging around Imperial Databases, but that would raise a bunch of flags, and if she was going to be alright, it wasn't really necessary.

"Well, I'll come back and check on her later." the doctor said, jotting several notes down in her file. "Thanks, Doc," Jon replied before settling back in his seat.

The door clicked close a moment later, and Jon let out a sigh, his eyes growing heavy as he continued to flip through his phone.

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

After a suspiciously good nap, Guin's eyes squinted open into an unfamiliar room. In fact, she didn't have any recollection at all of how she managed to find herself in this strange bed before she glanced across and laid eyes on Jon.

Suddenly a flash of memory from the bar returned, "Jon." she murmured weakly. The medication she was on for the pain made it easier to manage, but there remained some residual pain on the surface that she'd valiantly deal with. "Next time I think I'll challenge you to something sitting down, I think. Might be safer." she said with a sheepish grin.

At least with beer pong it had been a competitive contest, with her own score almost taking it out. Darts, on the other hand, were clearly not her thing, and perhaps neither his for that matter. It took a little bit of effort, but the blonde managed to pull herself up into a more seated position.

There was a small over-bed cart with some regular hospital grade food and water atop it, which she pulled over and grimaced upon staring at its contents. "Hospital food is the worst. Can't a girl get a stack of pancakes??" she mused over the idea as it made her giggle, the fact that her sense of humour hadn't left was a good sign.

Looking back at Jon again, she could see the worry beneath his eyes, regardless of how his face might appear. "I'm okay, Jon, really." she attempted to reassure him. "A little bit of pain, but we've been through worse, right?" After all, droids often packed a mightier punch than a wooden object.

It didn't escape her own memory that he'd also suffered a little that night, but knowing him, he'd probably hidden that from the doctors too. With a little tongue-in-cheek, she asked him. "How about yourself? Did you get yourself checked out, or were you too busy worrying about me?" Hopefully, she wouldn't have to stay long.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

At some point, his own eyes on grown heavy as he was lulled into unconsciousness by the droning of the monitors. Being a light sleeper, her quiet murmur was enough to cause him to open his eyes. "There she is.." he said with a chuckle. "I think you may be the first ever person to almost die from a game of darts.." he joked as he shook his head, relieved to see her awake.

"That might be for the best..." he said. "Maybe a nice reading challenge or something." he continued.

"Hey, they have been trying to get ahold of a family member of yours...I..." he said, stumbling somewhat awkwardly. "...I didn't really know, and going through an ISB agent's phone seemed like a good way to get myself off'd..." he said, joking, trying to defuse some of the awkwardness.

"You know, they said they gave the last of the pancakes to the room next door. Just isn't your lucky night, I guess..." he chuckled, glad to see her in good spirits, though.

He nodded as she said she was alright though he had been worried about her. "Wasn't worried for a second..." he lied. "...badass like you get taken out by some darts?! Pshhh.." he waved it off dismissively. "Wayy worse!" he agreed.

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. That isn't the first time I have been thrown on the floor of that bar, probably won't be the last time either." he said with a smile.

He leaned forward. "You need anything, though?" he asked, growing a bit more serious.

@Xorism

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The ambiance in the hospital, the bips and beeps and sporadic sounds of feet scurrying around from room to room, filled the background to their conversation.

His little humorous take made her giggle, answering in kind with a little pained wink. "That sounds fun, although I must warn you that is one of my special talents." Among the top of her class, Guin had managed to crack an 800-word-per-minute reading speed with reading comprehension to boot. It was one of the skills she relied upon heavily when engaging in slicing work, so perhaps he already sort of knew that.

The mention of her family made the agent's face turn away slightly, as if ashamed. "Oh, ...right." she mused quietly. It seemed almost silly in the grand scheme of things, but the last time that Guin had spoken to her parents it had been in a heated argument over the future plans of her younger sibling. "I'm not really on speaking terms with them right now. Mum, dad and little Rhia are on Lianna." She paused, staring off out through the window, reimagining that last night. "I said some things I shouldn't have, it's...complicated." It wouldn't be too hard to see the resemblance between the two sisters, but Guin was yet to learn what the little one had been doing recently with Kalique.

Guin had grown up with strong anti-force sensitive sensitivities which had only somewhat recently begun to unravel, in part due to the good personal bond that she had developed with their mutual friend. She'd only tried to keep her sister safe, and away from the Sith Order, but since their fall, her parents had insisted on pushing Rhia into proper training. Much to Guin's frustration.

The rest of the conversation was merrier, eliciting some smiles from her, although the familiar pain lingered a little longer. "Hmm?" she turned her head. "Oh. Well, can you find out how much longer I have to stay here? We can't save the empire from this little room now, can we?" Surely, she mused, a little bump wasn't requiring a full time stay in this fancy hotel.

With a curious smirk, the blonde glanced at Jon for a moment. "I suppose you should tell me about your family, in case a book hits you on the head or something during our next challenge and I have to inform them of your anti-climatic ....cliffhanger." Oh the force, now she was making bad puns again.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"Well, honestly, I am a little afraid to challenge you to anything you aren't good at anymore. For the safety of the Empire and all that.." he teased.

Jon didn't feel great as the mood in the room dimmed at the mention of her family. He hadn't known anything and wouldn't have brought it up if it hadn't been necessary. "I am sorry, I wouldn't have brought it up.." he said somewhat awkwardly.

The dim mood was short-lived as they steered towards lighter waters. "That. I can do." he said, pushing himself to his feet, stepping outside, and looking for a nurse. After a short exchange with a grouchy nurse, she said a doctor would come to check on her shortly, and if all were well, she would be discharged.

He returned to the room. "Doctor should be in shortly." he mentioned as he returned to his chair and sat back down. "Pretty boring stuff." he shrugged. "Only child. Both my parents are farmers on Spintir where I grew up." he said candidly. "If I ever get hurt, you can go through my phone, just don't mess with my fantasy sports teams..." he warned.

"Also...that pun..." he said with a tinge of playful disgust. "I guess that fall didn't scramble you too much.." he pointed to his head.

@Xorism