Reeling

[Tasha Blackwell]

She didn’t know when she had become a source of comfort for anyone, but that was exactly the case right now. One of the girls she had used as a cover to make a getaway from the attack right up front was clinging to her. At first, Tasha attempted to push her away, but she simply rolled her eyes and held her. The woman was young and completely shaken, shuddering with each breath as she confessed she had been dating one of the guards that had been gunned down. She was broken and thanked Tasha profusely for getting her out of there.

“H-How did you k-keep your cool out there?”

Tasha said nothing for a moment, reaching a hand to wipe the girl’s face off, “I had a rough past,” She muttered quietly. There was no fear in her voice, but her mind was in a million places at once. She could still hear the commotion up front, and her mind kept dipping to the amount of Sith that had appeared. The woman that was gunned down was Sith, and so were the two that bailed right before the Mandalorian showed. There was entirely too much Sith involvement, and she began to wonder how many different aspects of the Lusty Lekku and its operations she didn’t know about. There had been hints and clues about their being much more, an entire network she wasn’t included in. Whatever it was, it involved a ton of Sith.

Tasha barely listened to what the woman said, but she let her cry against her. Her yellow eyes gazed off into the distance, vacant and difficult to read as always. She was seldom one to lose her cool, and this incident hadn’t worried her beyond the realization that she needed to make some decisions of her own. The back room was filled with several panicky girls beyond the one that cried against her. Diamond, Emerald, Jade and Crystal were silently huddled in a corner. They had just come out from being captured, and they were already facing another attack. The trauma on them was beyond anything they could ever recover from. There were no tears left for them.

 

[Gillian Rel]

Today, like everything recently, had been a complete and utter shit show. He had finally removed his armor, returning to a more normal pair pants with a white shirt. Both of his blasters hung under his arms. He sat in a chair next to the back door where the dancers would normally come and go.

It had all been so kriffing senseless. He understood the gang violence, that had been his whole life but random people showing up and shooting up the place in the name of what....justice? Bullshit. He hadn't been in the room when it happened, but the woman the Mandalorian had killed had been Sith, or so he had been told.

He hated that Cait was involved with them. She had the potential to be so much more, rise above, and yet she had chosen to chain herself to some fanatic freak show. Maybe he was expecting her to be something she wasn't, maybe that wasn't fair of him. He didn't care. The Mandalorians didn't really seem to care about their criminal enterprises, they were left alone for the most part, but if this shit continued it would be disastrous for them.

The bodies had been cleaned up, the room set right again, and business had resumed for the most part. They had been able to get enough dancers and staff to ensure the filth of Nar Shaddaa got their release. Death was cheap on Nar Shaddaa, and everything stopped every time someone died, the city would never move.

He was vaguely aware of the girls crying in the dressing room inside the room he was sitting across from. He stood, sighing as he pushed the hair from his face and looked in to make sure everything was alright. Tasha's cold and heartless ways made her the perfect mother hen figure for the group of distraught dancers and they flocked around her. He had a feeling that would annoy her, and that gave him some satisfaction.

Not wanting to get caught up in whatever emotional session they had going on, he pushed off of the doorway and turned the back exit and made his way to ally beyond.

He needed a cigarette.

 

[Tasha Blackwell]

Tasha was vaguely aware of Gil also being there, mainly because he was silent. He had survived the night, which was a surprise to her. Normally he was the type to stupidly play the hero, and she was sure that he would blab about in defense of the Sith. Tasha knew the woman, of course, being a Sith herself. She kept the fact quiet to herself, letting others believe whatever they wished. Only she knew truly that the others had been Sith, also feeling them through the Force. The thought angered her, but there was little that could be done about it.

She stayed there for a while, withdrawn into her own thoughts. It was easy for her to drown out the crying – she was used to it for one reason or another. When you had an entire flock of dancers in one room, there was always some drama that resulted in yelling or crying. Tasha played her role, coming to her decisions before she finally nudged the girls away. It was getting late, and she had to return to her quarters for the night.

Tasha gathered up her things, changing into a regular dress instead of her dancer’s outfit. She grabbed her purse – that damn purse – thinking about how easily it could have been her saber to be discovered. She shook her head, making her way out of the room and towards the exit. Tasha stepped out and felt the cool, night air brush against her face. She paused there for a moment, gazing up at the skies as she was deep in thought.

She was distracted by a noise, looking over to find Gil smoking in the same alley. Tasha’s eyes pierced through the darkness, vivid against the darkness around her. She said nothing for a moment, no smile or frown on her face. There was no anger there, nor was there her usual sultry nature. Tasha looked away from him, gazing ahead of herself.

“I’m leaving,” She said quietly, “And I’m not coming back.”

What did it matter to him? She was just another product that could easily be replaced. Tasha didn't even know why she bothered telling him. However, upon seeing him, the words left before she could stop herself.

 

[Gillian Rel]

The wind blew just right through the alley. It seemed one of the few places that didn't smell like total shit. He let the cool breeze hit his face as he leaned back against the wall and let out a long breath.

The door opened and the tall, blue-skinned Pantoran dancer stepped out. He yellow piecing eyes glinted the nearby street lap by the end of the alley. Even though out of all the dancers, he had interacted with her the most, they clashed on nearly everything. She annoyed, no infuriated him, but he held a sort of respect for her that he didn't have for the others.

She was carrying her purse which actually made him chuckle as he exhaled smoke. He turned back, facing the wall across from them. She stood for a minute before saying she was leaving. He wasn't surprised. They would likely lose others before it was all over. The Lusty Lekku was becoming a target from seemingly all sides, not good for business.

He remained quiet for several seconds before offering her a cigarette. He would offer her a lighter if she accepted. "Is that so?" he said inhaling another breath of smoke. "And what's next for the Sensual Sapphire" he said using the name she had often been introduced as. It was cringey, that's why Gil had brought it up. If she was going to go, he would get one more jab in.

He didn't expect an answer. He wasn't sure why he had even asked it.

 

[Tasha Blackwell]

Tasha took the cigarette from him, holding it up for him to light a smoke. She had a smoking habit growing up, but it had been curbed over time. Doing it again was soothing, and she often resorted to it after stressful nights. Tasha leaned against the wall of the alley, blowing the smoke out through her nostrils as he referred to her by her stage name. She grinned at the question, continuing to look ahead of herself. Up ahead, she could see some prostitutes leaning over to talk to a customer in a speeder. It was a common sight here, and it was right out in the open everywhere.

“Something of my own,” She said quietly as she drew in the smoke and let it plume out slowly, “I will never grow here, and there’s too much I don’t know,” Tasha paused for a moment, thinking about the number of Sith that were crawling all over the place, and how they had extensive connections here. She didn’t know the point of telling Gil any of this. After all, he was just another fool on the dime of an operation he probably didn’t know about.

“I can’t trust something that has Sith working for it,” She said finally, watching the prostitute yell at the speeder after it drove away, “I can’t stay somewhere where I don’t know the inner workings,” Tasha blew out the smoke again, “I have enough connections to start my own business. Something that’s my very own and transparent,” She looked over at him, managing a grin, “So you’ll have to manage the poor girls.”

 

[Gillian Rel]

He barely even registered the prostitutes outside and the yelling, that was just another norm of the scum filled moon they had decided to call him. He was surprised when she took the cigarette, but he was even more surprised when she answered rather candidly.

He let out a laugh. "No room to grow?" he asked, blowing out another puff of smoke. "Come on now, you're a smart woman." he said as he held the cigarette back up to his mouth. "There's stuff happening, big stuff." he said looking over to her. "The Lusty Lekku was always meant to be the tip of a large iceberg. "You want to do something else, I got work for you." he said turning back towards the wall. "And I don't mean work to involves poles." he said nudging her slightly "Though I hear you are pretty decent at that, not that I would know or anything."

He listened quietly as she talked about the Sith. "The Sith had a foothold here for hundreds of years, those bonds are going to take longer than a few minutes to break." he said, hoping it was true himself. "There's no future that involves our organization with the Sith. The Exchange is supposed to be bigger than that, better than that." he said "But for that to happen, we could use someone with your potential."

He had seen her fight, and he had a pretty good feeling she was also hiding much more about her own talents that she was letting on. Even if she wasn't she had the raw talent to be a terror. He looked over as she joked.

"Not a chance in hell that happens." he said shaking his head.

 

[Tasha Blackwell]

Tasha said nothing as he spoke, and she had to keep the grin from forming on her face. He didn’t tell her anything she didn’t know already, though the offer of new work was surprising. She drew in the smoke and blew it out slowly, meeting his gaze as he spoke. He was animated as he did so, and it was almost adorable. As he explained how the Sith had their footholds, she had to bite back from letting him know she knew more on that front than he did.

As he began to delve into how the Exchange was going to be bigger and better, she moved closer to him and gently placed a finger over his lips to silence him. Tasha’s gaze lingered on his for a moment longer, and she slowly drew the finger back, grinning at him, “If I were going to be a part of this, I would have been pulled in a long time ago. I was one of the first employees, and it never happened. Who knows, perhaps it was because I was threatening,” She shrugged. It wasn’t the first time this would happen, but she knew Gil was wanting to make up for time past. Tasha knew her own talents, and based on how many people were willing to invest in her, she knew she could make a difference.

“And it wouldn’t be anything of my own,” Tasha lowered her gaze slightly, “I’ve been working for someone else for as long as I could remember, and I know I can do better than that. Because I am a smart woman,” She looked at him again, looking as if she had more to add. Instead she simply blankly stared at him, shifting slightly where she stood.

The prostitutes were screaming at one another, one having thrown a shoe at the other. A dog was barking nonstop at all the commotion. Some teenager came outside to throw out the trash, spitting on the street as he did so. Everything carried on as normal, and Tasha was stuck there amidst it all, playing over the thought of never seeing Gil again. Why the hell did that thought bug her so much?

 

[Gillian Rel]

Maye Cait had missed something when hiring her, maybe she had been hired by another. Gil really had no idea what the circumstances were. He had seen potential in her fairly quickly, but he really only had a limited finger on the day to day operations. "It's actually you're warm, cheery personality." he said leaning closer "Its kriffing annoying." he said laughing, leaning back against the wall.

"I kind of thought the same thing when I first came to Nar Shaddaa." he said "Be my own man." he said gesturing like it was on a sign infront of him. "I quickly found out that idea was bullshit. There is power in numbers, in family" he said, speaking honestly with her. Maybe she was different, well she was certainly different than him. It was quite possible she had would it took, she sure as hell was stubborn enough.

"...But I understand..." he said, again truthfully. He grew thoughtful, looking away. He had fully believed in this thing. He saw what they were doing, it was working but it was only a matter of time before their ties to the Sith drew unwanted attention.

"...I really do.." he said snapping back into the present moment, blowing the smoke off to the side.

He just had a feeling that letting her go was a mistake. "Anything I can do to convince you to stay?" he asked. He didn't want her to leave, but someone whose heart wasn't in it was useless to him. He needed others that wanted to be there.

 

[Tasha Blackwell]

As he mocked her personality, Tasha simply grinned, blowing out the smoke to the side, “Anyone that matters appears to like my personality just fine,” She gave him a wink then. Tasha didn’t need to have a sweet and kind demeanor to get what she wanted, and she didn’t plan on changing how she was for anyone. She could tell Gil was disappointed by her answer, though she was surprised he followed up with his jaded perspective on making it on his own.

“It’s only bullshit if you’re blind to your capabilities,” Tasha gazed at him for a moment, “There’s no family here, it’s just a cutthroat model where everyone only looks out for themselves,” She had to laugh softly at his idealistic views, “I hope you get to stay blissfully oblivious instead of having a rude awakening one day,” Tasha knew they were getting more and more into bed with the Sith. She was a Sith herself, but she found herself disillusioned with them lately. Tasha knew she had to walk away from it all – wash her hands of the Sith and the Lusty Lekku and whatever larger scheme they had going.

As he asked if there was anything he could do to convince her, Tasha grinned again, “Absolutely nothing, monkey lizard,” She finished smoking by then, dropping the butt and stamping it out. The thin trail of smoke rose from the ground, the alley quieter now. Tasha looked at him again, “So I suppose this is goodbye,” She muttered quietly.

Tasha leaned in closer to him, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. Despite them having slept together, it was perhaps the only time she had displayed a more tender nature. She spoke softly while still close to his ear, “I’m Tasha, by the way,” She whispered before drawing back. With that, her face was back to being unreadable. She spun on her heel and walked away, both from the alley and the life of a dancer all at once.

 

[Gillian Rel]

"Is that so?" he said with a grin. It was hard to believe anyone could the woman's demeanor anything above slightly tolerable. She pulled it off though, it was apart of her charm.

She gave her whole cynical view of the Galaxy, today he had taken a step closer to her way of thinking, even if he didn't want to admit to himself and he sure as hell wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of admitting it to her. It was a losing battle convincing her to stay. He saw the potential, though as ignorant to just how much of it there actually was. He didn't have a comeback so he just remained silent, looking ahead until she moved on.

"Can't blame a man for a trying." he said with a shrug. It was more of an attempt he would have given any of the others. He took one last drag on his own cigarette before dropping it to the ground. "I suppose it is then." he said.

She leaned in, kissing him on the cheek, lingering smoke still on her breath. It was an uncharacteristically gentle gesture from the woman. His smile widened with the mention of her name.

She turned to walk away. "Tasha.." he said nodding his head "..I like that." he said to himself. It was a better name than Sapphire by a long shot. He pushed himself off the wall as she left. He turned to her as he reached the door to go back inside. "Let me know if I ever need to come pull your ass out of a dungeon again." he said with a laugh before he opened the door.

It bothered him far more than it should that she was gone, but that was just life here. People come and people go.

He needed a drink.