Ask Right on Cue

[Roman Kallo]

COSMO LOUNGE, THE WHEEL
20:47 hours​

Roman sat back in the corner booth and put the cigarra to his lips, flicking his lighter in the dim light.

He had actually managed to light a cig with the Force several times, making a flame dance from his fingers. But that took more effort than he felt like after a few drinks and it would be foolish to use the Force here. His casual attire gave no hint he was an Imperial squire and as usual he planned to hang here completely unnoticed.

Not that the Wheel was a grey and sleepy place. The vast station was a hive of commerce and activity, with its recreational levels full of every pleasure and passion one could want. Roman had been here a few times when on leave. The Wheel had several good spots to chill and disappear among the crowd if you knew where to look, and he was street wise enough to keep away from anything too dangerous.

Right now, he fancied a game of pool, if he could find some willing opponents that were not too good.

He drew on his cig and stared into the rising smoke.

 

[Yoshiko "Sleek" Ryder]

Location: Cosmo Lounge, The Wheel — 20:52

___The Cosmo Lounge, a place Sleek had never been to. She had heard tales from the party-goers of Nar Shaddaa, speaking of the establishment as if it were the single best place in the galaxy. However, she had come here for business. Someone supposedly wanted to part ways with a few scuffed droids, and as she stepped inside and the music filled her ears, Sleek smiled and bobbed her head.

__"A'ight, maybe this place en't so bad," she mused aloud. Di-Gi, her personal BD unit, clung to her back and poked its head over her shoulder, chirring inquisitively. "Nothin' t'get all-fired antsy 'bout, bud. I en't imagine we're gonna run afoul in a place like this, but do me a solid and watch my back?" Sleek asked her companion, turning her gaze to look over at her droid. Di-Gi beeped its acknowledgement. "Thanks. Last thing we need is someone nickin' our credits. We're here t'do business and rabbit."

__Once she was finished speaking with her droid, Sleek meandered further into the lounge. The woman wore casual trousers and a t-shirt that rode up slightly, exposing her midriff. Over her shirt hung a black jacket and a harness strapped around her slender frame. Her usual pair of goggles clung to the top of her head. People were drinking and smoking around her while some gambled and others danced. A cursory glance to the side identified a billiards table, something she hadn't played in a long time. She hummed thoughtfully.

__"Watcha think, Di-Gi? Play a game fer ol' time's sake while we wait?" Sleek tittered. As Di-Gi expressed his fervent approval with another assortment of chitters, the Fiani woman approached the pool table and looked it over.

@Alhon

 

[Chef HoloFlex]

Among the normal-sized bar patrons was an outlier - a giant slab of green meat known as Flex. Or FLEXO, for some reason.

In his quest to become the number-one galactic retailer or Emryc Energy (which, for legal purposes, must be mentioned has nothing to do with Emryc Throne), he had taken to public showmanship as a means of pushing the energy drink. Selling individual cases of drinks was a good start - but the real hack would be to start a distribution down line. Get someone to starting buying Emryc Energy en masse from him. And then they get one person, and they get one person. It's a system of exponential growth!

But no one so far was taking the bait. As he wandered the streets of The Wheel, with nothing more than as many cases of 'Orgas-manic Orange' flavored energy the shirtless Orc could carry, the people rejected him. None dared laugh in his face, but seeing a giant, shirtless Orc working out and occasionally busking to sell some strange drink was a unique sight. Even in the Wheel.

Dejected, Flex slumped his shoulders and wandered into the nearest cantina he could find to drown his sorrows. He wouldn't drink alcohol today, as the carb and sugar load from alcohol definitely wasn't in his planned caloric schedule, so he would have to settle for simply smelling the booze. He ordered a glass of water with bubbles, and a few limes to suck on.

Then it caught his eye. A pool table. He could make up his losses. And there were already two people at it - maybe he could hop in a round.

The orc did not so much walk over as he did appear at the table. He was surprisingly swift for a being his size. His voice was deep and booming as the thick, leather drums of Orsimer Prime. "Y'all fancy a game? I've got a mean game." Before waiting for a response, he grabbed a cue stick and began to apply chalk to the tip. In his massive arms, it looked tiny as a toothpick.

@Remileah @Alhon

 

[Z'Kair]

Flexo insisted on stopping here to sell his worthless merchandise. The amount of bullshit Kai put up with from the man because of his excellent cooking was insane. The fox intended to brood in his cabin during this pit stop, but he got word that a contact had a lot of spice they needed moved into Imperial space. Kai considered himself ‘graduated’ to piracy, but he couldn’t resist a smuggling job now and then. He arrived dressed appropriately for once.

The Fiani had zero interest in a dull game like pool, instead walking over to the dart board with a drink in hand. His contact was a corrupt Ranger that confiscated spice and had it moved to other corners of the galaxy for a profit. The man in question was a Pantoran male that arrived shortly after the pirates had, walking over to greet Kai.

Kai started playing darts with his scumbag associate and was absolutely killing it. He launched his third dart and it also found the center. A series of cheers erupted around him and he raised his drink before chugging it down.

He gave a sideways glance towards Flexo, watching as he eagerly approached his new set of victims- er, customers. Rolling his eye, Kai returned to his game for now.

Dart throwing: 15/20

@Alhon @Remileah @Fine Dining Set

 

[Roman Kallo]

Roman had drifted off into his thoughts when the foxy chick showed up. He stubbed his cig out hurriedly in the ash tray. He did hate rushing them, but he didn't want to lose the table to some girl and her friends.

He slipped out of his booth and stepped across to lean against side. "You're a lot of new" he said, eyes narrowing as he looked her up and down. The girl really was foxy, with pointy ears and big yellow eyes. Her kind was one thing he had never seen, on the Wheel or anywhere else. "You...looking to play?". She seemed to be on her own, except for the droid blinking on her shoulder. "No trajectory tips from the little guy though".

It was then Roman thought he spied a black tail swishing behind the chick, though any thought of it was blasted out his head by a great green oaf who shouldered between them, shouting about his mean game.

"I bet" Roman replied, hoping the music hid the disdain in his tone. He had not had the best experience with non-Humans in his life. The foxy girl he could handle, but this brute was the kind he was not fond of, even if the Wheel forced him to mix with all sorts.

He took a cue from the wall rack and after a moment's thought offered a second one to the chick. "Roman" he said, by way of introduction "fancy you and me against the big goblin here?". He glanced across at the brute, probably Orcoloan if he remembered right. "You got a doubles partner, or did you eat them?".

@Remileah @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Yoshiko "Sleek" Ryder]

___Sleek glanced over at Roman as he spoke to her. She watched the man as he leaned against the wall, her ears bobbing.

___"Might be that I am," she responded. "New and lookin' to play, that is. I en't played pool in a long time, so I figured a quick game wouldn't be a bad idea." She scoffed as Roman implied she would accept help from her BD unit, and her droid mimicked her sentiment with a chirr of disapproval. "Please, as if I'd rely on my buddy t'win a game of pool. Cheatin' might be what most locals do, but I'm a girl with integrity. I prefer my victories t'be honest," she finished as her droid hopped from her back onto the ground to let her remove her jacket.

___Roman did see a tail. Two, in fact, swaying and flitting from Sleek's backside. They were both long and particularly soft-looking. The woman removed her jacket to expose her bare arms, draped it over the back of a chair, and returned to the table just in time for the Orcoloan to approach and boom his challenge. She looked up at the man towering over her, a wide grin spreading across her features.

___"Woah, big guy. Ya sure ya en't gonna break the cue?" she laughed. "Call me Sleek, by the way. And he's Orcoloan, not a goblin," the woman said. Roman's implication that she would be on a team with him didn't escape Sleek's notice, but she remained silent about it. Removing a cue from the wall and picking up a block of chalk, the Fiani began polishing the tip of her instrument as she awaited the big man's answer.

@Alhon @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Chef HoloFlex]

His eyes narrowed at the little man before him. "I only eat the ones that lose." A tusky grin crept to his face. Of course, he did have a doubles' partner: His partner-in-crime, Kodi. In the midst of his own con, no doubt. The pair were hustlers at heart, and he didn't want to interrupt.

"Sleek. Pretty name." For a pretty Fiani. Wait, wasn't that what Jodi was, too? They weren't exactly a common species - would it be offensive if he asked if they knew each other? "And Roman. The name's Flex."

"Let's say we make it interesting." He began to practice shooting, hinging on his hips to press his cue against . His career as a chef had blessed him with great hand-eye coordination, and his natural scumminess and willingness to lie and cheat made him an even better pool player. His strategy usually relied on grinding down his opponents with obscure rules, nudging his opponent's cue, hiding or covering the pockets just when people were about to shoot. Pool was a game of concentration and focus. And how could anyone focus with a giant orc hopped up on energy drinks leering at them?

"First round's on me. If I win, you two have to buy a drink of my choice. Easy enough, yeah?" He scribbled a note to the auto-bartender, and two cheap beers in disposable cups appeared. Pretty straightforward.

He put his fingers in his mouth to whistle, the sound reverberating out of his mighty lungs across the bar. Patrons looked up and stared in confusion and annoyance at Flex, but his eyes were locked in. "Yo, homie!" He waved to Kodi, deciding that another hand never hurts. "You wanna play a round? We're about to break."

"We're playing 8 Ball, yeah? Don't give me any shit if you don't know the rules."

@Sreeya @Remileah @Alhon

 

[Z'Kair]

Fortunately Kai was done scoring his smuggling job by the time Flexo called him over. He initially thought to refuse since he was already doing so well with darts, but why not? He walked over to join the group, noticing the other Fiani and some tattooed mook. Kai gave a jut of his chin as a greeting before he grabbed a cue.

“You wager the drinks?” He asked Flexo with a grin. His buddy was always on a mission with those stupid drinks and it almost never panned out, “I got us a job after this,” Kai shared, still thrilled about the potential payout for moving vast quantities of spice. If only he could find an Imperial to obtain some passage codes..

@Alhon @Remileah @Fine Dining Set

 

[Roman Kallo]

Flex? As in flex the muscles no doubt. Orcoloan or goblin, the big guy seemed pretty predictable to Roman so far.

Sleek, if that was really her name, seemed ok, though a little quick to correct him. It was only harmless fun. ”Fair enough” he agreed, meeting the Orcoloan’s eye. Drinks were about the only thing the young squire could afford to wager anyway.

Roman gritted his teeth when the big green guy whistled across the cantina like a drill sergeant. Heads turned and the music even stopped briefly. Despite his devil-may-care appearance, Roman actually hated disruption and disorder. A loudmouth like Flex had him on edge.

His apparent accomplice that came swaddling over seemed cut from the same cloth as Sleek, pointy ears and tail to boot. Roman half wondered if the galaxy was being invaded; two of these guys in one night?

“I was here first” Roman said sharply “I’ll break”. He leaned over the table and splayed his left hand to support the cue, aiming for a great opener and hitting the cue ball hard.

But he was still irritated by Flex and thrown by the fox types. His shot went wrong, sending the cue ball ricocheting off to the side and bouncing around the arranged balls. It grazed one of them ever so slightly before it stopped, but it was small consolation. He had totally screwed up.

4/20 shot success

@Remileah @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Yoshiko "Sleek" Ryder]

___Sleek chortled at Flex's statement about the people he ate. She set aside her chalk square as the Orcoloan laid out the game's wager. Her attention turned to the beers he ordered, her brow furrowing and nose scrunching at them. They were cheap, that much was for sure.

___"Thanks," the Fiani expressed her appreciation for his compliment about her name. "Wish I could take credit fer it. Got a good name, yerself. Flex," she repeated it to herself. Her focus switched to Z'Kair as Flex called him over. A kid like that in a place like this, in the company of an all-too-eager Orcoloan, who just said he found a job? Sleek had lived on Nar Shaddaa long enough to know what line of work these two were in, although she wasn't about to speak out loud about it right out the gate.

___As Roman spoke up to gain their attention and announce his intention to break, Sleek turned to watch. Roman struck the ball, and the abysmal miss caused her to chortle with amusement.

___"What happened t'ladies first?" she asked, grimacing at Roman's botched shot. "Aim like that, yer bathroom floor must smell like piss. Lemme have a crack," Sleek joked, waiting until Roman moved out of the way to lean over the table and set up her cue. The Fiani took a moment to aim before she jabbed her stick, sending it squarely into the cue ball. The ball shot forward and cracked into the others, sprawling them everywhere. In the process, the woman sunk the striped 14-ball into one of the corner pockets.

___"We're stripes. You boys are solids," Sleek said with a wink at Kai and Flex. "Tell me I need trajectory tips from my droid again," she teased Roman, casting a sidelong glance towards him. Her BD unit was nowhere near the table, dutifully standing guard with her jacket.

18/20 shot success
14/15 to decide ball type

@Alhon @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Chef HoloFlex]

Plop, plop, plop. Sleek shot excellently, after her teammate's embarrassing first attempt at a shot. "Not too bad," Flex noted breezily as the shot sank in. "But eight ball is my game."

Being a chef and a fitness ICON gave Flex a certain kind of nimbleness that was overshadowed by his hulking physique. Being a scumbag made him a great pool player. Flex took a second to do some quick stretches before lining up his shot - the red number three, by the far corner. "Three, corner pocket." Inhale. His mind drew an arrow, straight from stick to ball to pocket, as he pulled the cue stick back.

Exhale. He pushed his cue forward, and the cue ball cruised across the table to collide with the ball. It sunk perfectly into the pocket. A smile. "Let's keep it moving." From here, the cue ball was angled imperfectly. The closest balls were clumped closely around the center of the table. On a whim, Flex shot another shot into the pack. "Two, center pocket." The blue ball lazily rolled in. His follow up shot missed.

A good round. But not better than Sleek. If Kai shot even marginally better than Roman, their team would be drinking 20 pounds of Emryc Energy by the end of the night.

@Sreeya @Remileah @Alhon

 

[Z'Kair]

Kai popped a cigarra into his mouth, glancing over at the guy that looked perpetually moody (@Alhon), “Someone shit in your protein powder, Kyle?” He asked with a scoff. This was all right before he made an absolute fool of himself. The Fiani snickered at the result, but the tool’s partner made up for his failing. Kai watched Flexo succeedl as well and the pressure was on him.

The Fiani leaned forward, lining up his shot, his tail swishing from side to side. His hit struck true, but the ball came just short of dropping. However, it lined up nicely for the next shot.

Kai got himself a beer, cracking the can open to start chugging it.

“What brings you out to the Wheel, m'am?” He asked the other Fiani (@Remileah ) as he exhaled a cloud of smoke from taking a drag. He may have been a crook, but he was always polite to older ladies.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Roman Kallo]

"I guess it died out a while back" Roman said to Sleek coolly, in reference to ladies first. Funny how women campaigned for equality on so many worlds and yet still expected special treatment when it suited them. Unfortunately for Sleek, chivalry was not one of the knightly qualities he had much time for. "Not my day maybe" he mused, frowning at how much better she did with her first shot.

Flex actually had the gall to do some stretches before he took his shot, and call out his approach in advance. Roman was dubious anyone could be sure of the future, much less guys like these who were likely not even plugged in to the Force that made it tick. He stood wringing his cue with both hands as Flex nonetheless hit the pocket.

Roman had not missed the tone of weasel boy's quip, even if the words meant little. Protein powder? "And you are?" he asked snidely. The fox type should be careful, Flex might be too big to take on, but wringing out weasel boy was well within Roman's capabilities.

The little guy missed his shot, which was the first thing to make Roman smile, even if the cigarra smoke was making him eager for another himself. He swallowed the craving and levelled his cue, channelling the little friction into focus and sinking a ball into the middle pocket hard. The cue ball didn't end up anywhere particularly useful, but it was an improvement.

He stood back in silence, taking the three of them in and wondering for the first time about their backgrounds. He'd had to rub along with all types in his youth, much to his chagrin, but these three were a particularly odd bunch.

13/20 for shot success

@Remileah @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Yoshiko "Sleek" Ryder]

___"Yep, sure did," Sleek responded to Roman, glancing at him again with another smile, "jus' like that poor Ewok on yer head. Y'might wanna bury that," she jested with a playful laugh. Her attention turned to Z'Kair as he approached the table and addressed her, a look of pleasant surprise flashing across her face.

___"What a breath-a fresh air. Maybe chivalry en't dead like y'thought, Roman," she stated with a cheerful lilt, her ears bobbing joyfully. "Oh, y'know, out here fer business, much like I heard the two-a you are. Name's Sleek," the woman answered, her gaze wandering to the pool table as the game progressed. She and Roman appeared to have the lead, at least for now. Sleek sashayed to the other side of the table, her two tails following the sway of her hips, to position herself in front of the cue ball. She lowered herself over the table to brace her hands and line up her cue stick.

___"Overheard y'got a job lined up," she mused before striking. The cue ball hit its target but veered slightly off to the side, resulting in a bare miss. Sleek clicked her tongue with disappointment and straightened herself, her ears folding back and tails flitting with mild annoyance. "What kinda work you boys do? Me, I got a... salvage operation based outta Nar Shaddaa," she said. "You two find somethin'-a interest, yer welcome t'bring it by."

@Alhon @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Chef HoloFlex]

"That's funny. We do a lot of work in salvage, too." Salvaging goods from their rightful owners. "But I'm a chef by trade. And a personal trainer. So, let me know if you're ever trying to get some reps in, bro." He didn't specify who 'bro,' was in this case - compared to him, everyone was tiny could stand to lift a little more. But, of course, training was ultimately personal. He would never stoop so low as to actually insult someone over their workout routine - that would undermine the entire platform of his training.

"But these days, we do a lot of direct-to-consumer logistics." Selling energy drinks on the street to get out of crippling debt. Speaking of, he was closing in on his first sale of the night. If he shot right, he could push the drinks that he had failed to sell in the streets itself.

He lined up the shot, and the ball moved with ease around the board. One, two, three...sink, sink, sink. He lined up the final shot - the 8 ball - and pushed it in. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

But he couldn't explode with joy right here - he had an ulterior motive to push. "Good game, you two. Tough opponents. You really put up a fight." He said, cheerily, as he went to retrieve his crates of Emryc Energy. "As far as drinks for us, I think we'd both like some Emryc Energy. Is that right, bro?" He nudged Kai as he withdrew his datapad. "Unfortunately, Emryc Energy doesn't do individual product sales. There's a monthly subscription program - I'll put in all the details, you just need to add in your credit chit, and we'll be good to go."

The pleasant smile on his face was complemented by his veiny muscles, flexing in anticipation. He was truly an orc of massive proportions - him standing next to them nearly cast a shadow. While he had intended to make an opening for Kai to separate the pair from their valuables, his victory at pool consumed his thoughts. "And once you do that, we can each enjoy a refreshing taste of Orgas-manic Orange. That's the flavor of the winning Huttball champion of the last three years, you know." It wasn't. He began to hand a case of drinks to Roman, slowly but surely pushing them into his hands to hold. "Your droid could probably hold a few, too, no?"

@Sreeya @Alhon @Remileah

20/20 pool roll
1/20 distraction roll

 

[Z'Kair]

Kai glanced up as Sleek walked over and asked about their work. Flexo started them off right and he nodded, “We also deal in import and export through the main hyperlane channels,” He said, putting a fresh spin on plain old smuggling. The Fiani gave Flexo a scowl as he was too caught up in his victory to do enough distracting. However, his winning shots had been genuinely impressive and it allowed them to offload some subscriptions.

“Why don’t you try a sample, Kyle?” He said to the grumpy male, offering up a Hyperlane Drain flavor, “It should cheer you up,” He said.

“I’ll put the cues away,” Kai offered kindly, gathering up the cues as the rest of the group socialized and signed up for the subscription as part of the wager. Meanwhile, as Kai passed by Roman, he accidentally bumped into him while awkwardly maneuvering around a cue, “Sorry man!” He said apologetically, continuing to walk to put the stick away.

With Roman’s wallet now stashed in his pocket.

He looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Flexo. They had actually practiced this back on the ship. Now the trick was to keep Roman from finding any excuse to reach for his wallet.

@Remileah @Fine Dining Set @Alhon

 

[Roman Kallo]

"Yepp" Roman fumed "definitely not my day". Flex cleaned up the final balls in a quick succession of shots. Quicker and more accurate than any brute his size should be able to manage. Roman would likely spend several days wondering how it was even possible.

There was talk of salvage and work in imports and exports, but Roman was pretty sure the three others were not simple traders. Not all of them anyhow. He could be wrong, but they sailed too close to the kind of vague chat Roman used to employ in his Slick-dealing days on Vaynai. They were probably breaking some laws somewhere and the less he knew the better. He was not the law tonight, not here.

"That's taking the absolute piss" Roman scoffed at the suggestion of a monthly subscription. He'd agreed to a drink and expected Flex to pick out some god awful concoction from the bar. Instead he was flogging this shit. Roman was too busy grumbling and swiping his credit chit under protest to notice weasel boy maneuvering around him.

He did notice the cartoonish character on the can the fox thrust forward, now vaguely remembering the Emryc name. Even squires were given a basic political orientation. The knowledge he might just have signed up to fund a rival power hit him harder than the fee itself.

"As if I'm carrying this round all night" he sneered, jostling the crate shoved into his arms. Did they have any idea how long a walk it was back to docking port seven?

@Remileah @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya

 

[Yoshiko "Sleek" Ryder]

___"Darlin', on top-a workin' salvage, I'm a starship and droid mechanic fer a livin'. Every day's a workout fer me, but thanks fer yer offer," Sleek responded with a chuckle. "Y'work salvage yerselves, huh? Birds of a feather," she mused. The woman wasn't sure if Flex's answer was an acknowledgement of her hint or if it was simply an honest response, though her instincts nudged her towards believing it was a nod.

___Sleek's attention went back to the pool table, watching as one shot after the other made it in quick succession, swiftly ending their match. "Good game," the Fiani said, glancing back at Z'Kair as he mentioned imports and exports through the hyperlanes. She was almost positive the two were in on her implications, but the hesitation remained.

___"Y'know, en't a bad bait'n'switch, fellas," Sleek stated as the Orcoloan went off to fetch the crates and set up their subscriptions. "Credit where it's due on bein' just honest enough t'lure yer targets in, then circumvent what they thought y'meant," she laughed. She couldn't be upset. It was an effective con, innocuous enough that she believed it and fell for it. "Feel free t'sign me up fer exactly one month, as promised. Thankfully, good as yer racket was, if you'd said it was a subscription from the get-go, ya prob'ly could've managed t'foist a full year. Takin' yer mention-a monthly at face value, so that's what I'll expect."

___Sleek may have fallen for the con in the first place, but she often had enough street smarts to soften the blow when she did. She passed her cue to Kai as he collected them, squinting as he bumped into Roman. The Fiani hadn't seen enough to tell if his wallet had been swiped, but she suspected it. Thankfully, among the possessions on her person, her full wallet was not among them. That was safe with Di-Gi.

___"Droid weren't part-a the game or agreement, big guy," Sleek said with a wink as she pulled a credit chip from her pocket. "I was, so the droid en't count," she finished, handing it to Flex. She always came prepared with pre-loaded credit chips. The woman was never naive enough to bring her dedicated one.

@Alhon @Fine Dining Set @Sreeya