Ask The Path: One Night Stand

[Zay Kartan]

Sleep had to have been what he missed most after his grand escape from Lotho Minor. Zaylos strolled the avenue, smoking a cigarette, contemplating his place in the galaxy. A place that never seemed to remain the same for long. Even now he had an uneasy feeling that things were preparing to shift. He took a drag and tried to push the anxiety from his mind. A chill ran down his spine and he pulled his jacket around himself a little tighter.

The past three months had been insane. From indentured servitude to enslavement to... well, whatever this was. Zay knew he should be happy, he should feel relieved to be walking free without someone over his shoulder, but he was never able to shake that feeling. It always felt like someone was there. Like something was watching him. Kartan flicked his cigarette away and stopped in front of a building adorned with neon flickering lights.

Darry's Den had become his go-to when he couldn't sleep. The titular Darry was a gruff, but surprisingly kind, Toydarian who had a soft spot for Kartan, and while Zay always tried to pay, Darry, rarely allowed him to. Zay stepped up to the door, it opened with a familiar HISS and he stepped in. The smell of stale beer and wailing of the house band mingled together coalescing into a welcomed sight. Kartan felt the anxiety of the world sluff away as he took his seat at the bar. Before he could order, a pint slid his way, and Darry waved. Zay lifted the beer in gratitude and then drank deeply.

The bar was surprisingly busy. Darry flitted about pouring beers, while Servo, Darry's right-hand server droid, mixed cocktails with fervor. The duo was overrun, and since he owed Darry more than just about anyone in the galaxy, Kartan decided to get off his ass and help out.

"Where you need these to go, boss?"

The toydarian gave a toothy grin and said, "Take those to table three, the big one in the back right. Hurry back, I'll set the next order here when it's ready."

"You got it."

For the first time in months, Kartan wasn't worried about the shadow lurking over his shoulder, and for a split second, he allowed himself to just be normal.

@Sreeya

 

[Valeska]

Val didn’t get out much outside of her usual social bubble. Her sister had a huge public appearance tonight and the two of them made an agreement that Val would ditch it and sneak out. Despite being the queen of Naboo, Val’s sister had maintained a close relationship with her. The two sisters had been best friends growing up and no amount of politics and royal life could change that. The night out had been her sister’s idea and she wouldn’t let Val stay even if she wanted. She began to suspect that the queen lived vicariously through her.

And that was exactly how Val found herself with a small group of girls. Two of them were her handmaidens, the others their civilian friends. They had given the bodyguards the slip, having them convinced that they were all still back at the diplomatic event. Val had quickly changed into a more casual dress to look more like a regular civilian.

The group had gone out for dinner and someone afterwards mentioned a bar that sometimes had live music. Val was simply along for the ride, entirely out of her element as she tagged along. The other girls fit in easily, laughing and joking as they cheerily made their way into the bar.

Val sat with them at a table in the back. She had to pause to touch the surface of the table, grimacing at how sticky it was.

“Come on, what’re you drinking?” The girl next to her asked with a smile.

“Uhh what about a glass of campione de la-”

“No way, let’s do shots!” One of the handmaidens cut in, snapping her fingers to get the attention of one of the workers.

@Zay

 

[Zay Kartan]

Darry's Den was alive. Kartan took orders, wiped down tables, and collected empty glasses while the band played hit after hit. Zay wasn't familiar with the music, but even with all the chaos around him, he found himself humming along to the tune. Derry and Servo manned the bar and barked orders at him from time to time, but when he made it back behind the bar with his latest stack of pint glasses, Derry cut him loose.

"Kid, why don't you have some fun? No offense, but you've been kinda a downer the past few days," said Darry.

Kartan cocked an eyebrow at the hovering Toydarian and said, "Well, see if I help you again."

Zaylos agreed to enjoy himself once he got the pints cleaned and Darry conceited.

"Fine do what you want, but after that get yourself a drink and enjoy the music, eh?"

"If you're gonna bribe me I guess I don't have a choice," joked Kartan.

It only took a couple of minutes to finish the washing and just as he was about to pour his beer he saw the door open. A group of attractive socialites entered and took a table in the back. A fresh wave of patrons found their way to the bar and Zay figured kicking off one more table wouldn't be a big deal, before sitting back and getting hammered himself. So, he grabbed his tray and headed their way.

Halfway to the table one of the group turned around and started snapping. Confused, Kartan looked around before realizing she was snapping AT him. His eyebrows arched with surprise, but he quickly stuffed his annoyance and put on his best customer service face as he reached the table.

"Hi guys, sorry for the wait, I take it you're ready to order. What can I—"

In the dim lighting, a flash of red caught his attention and his eyes were drawn to a young woman with beautiful fiery red hair. Reflexively he cleared his throat and tried to recover from his outbreak of awkwardness, but it was too late...

"Uh, yeah, what are your drink specials tonight?" Said the snappy blonde in a voice with as much warning as one could muster with her question.

"5 credit beer and a shot, and Servo back there," Kartan jerked a thumb toward the serverdroid "Makes the strongest Reactor Core in the sector. Person—"

The blonde cut him off, "We'll take a round of shots, Tequilla, top shelf, silver, with lime and salt on the side, think you can manage that?"

Kartan forced a smile, "I think I can manage that. Anything else?"

@Sreeya

 

[Valeska]

Valeska scowled at the handmaiden that simply snapped her fingers to get attention. She was about to mention something when the waiter came over. Emerald eyes flicked over and met his when he abruptly paused. She had a bantha in the headlights sort of look, and thankfully he broke contact to keep talking. Val quickly looked away, trying not to make it obvious that she more or less checked out her waiter. Her face was quickly becoming the same shade as her hair.

The girls around her were far more familiar with social situations like these. The handmaiden finished ordering and grinned. When the waiter asked if they wanted anything else, one of the friend’s of the handmaidens grinned at him, “Yeah, why don’t you do a shot or two with us? We tip really well and our reviews will matter,” She winked at him. And the group of women certainly looked like they tipped well. Val shook her head, almost looking apologetically at the man before looking away.

It wasn’t till after he left to get the drinks that she elbowed the girl next to her, “What was that?”

“What! He’s cute!”

“That gives you no excuse to be so rude to him,” Val glared at the girl. The other women quickly shut up, staring with wide eyes. Val looked around before visibly relaxing, having forgotten that she was still the princess here and they all worked for her.

“Let’s just...be nice to him,” She muttered quietly as the girls continued to sit in awkward silence.

@Zay

 

[Zay Kartan]

Zay chuckled, “Don't tempt me with a good time,” he quipped at the invitation.

Before he made his way to the bar he stole one more glance at the young woman with red hair. She was stunning, like out of this world beautiful. Shockingly Kartan made it to the bar without making a fool of himself. He relayed the order to Servo and added a double shot of house whisky for himself, cause why not. Right?

While he waited his eyes drifted toward the holoscreen above the bar, a news broadcast displayed coverage of a huge summit happening uptown. The closed caption text scrawled across the screen, identifying the queen of Naboo as the summit's main speaker, elicited an insightful, “Huh, that’s cool,” from the complexity that was Zay’s mind.

The broadcast shifted to coverage of a story that'd been trending the past week involving the Jedi and whether they were a menace or not. Kartan felt any inkling of interest for the news dissipate. He was over the incessant declarations stampeding across the public forum. As far as he was concerned the Jedi were nothing but a group of terrorists. Servo set the requested shots on his tray and Zaylos made his way back to the table.

“Sorry for the wait, ladies,” he said as he began setting shots down. He made sure to set Red’s down last and pulled up a chair next to her.

“Cheers,” he said as he tapped the table and threw back his whiskey. He took a second to acclimate to his surroundings, feeling super awkward, and said, “I’m Zay by the way. What brings you guys to a dive like Darry’s?”

@Sreeya

 

[Valeska]

Val looked up at the Holo and saw her sister speaking. She had seen her there a million times, and each time she looked more and more tired of doing it. Only Val could tell the subtle shifts in her eyes or the way she smiled to know when she was faking it. She suddenly felt silly being here in a bar when her sister had to put on a mask at all times. The program then switched over to all the news about the Jedi and Sith protests. The group had to pass a few protesters along the way to get here. A pointy eared man with silver eyes was making a splash across the Holo speaking out against both Orders.

She was mercifully pulled from her thoughts when the waiter returned, and he took up a seat next to her. Val blinked curiously, thrown off guard as the other girls looked a bit disappointed he chose to sit there. She looked down at the shot glass with a grimace, not a fan of this strange practice.

Nevertheless, she timed it with the others and threw it back, scrunching up her face afterwards. Before Val could even answer the man’s question, one of the handmaidens cut in.

“I’m Emi!” She said excitedly, smiling brightly at him, “We’re out for a good time and heard you guys have some nice live music. And we wanted to get Miss Uptight over there out and about,” The girls all loosened up and looked over at Val when Emi said that.

Val rolled her eyes, glancing over to look at Zay, “I’m sorry my...friends..” She glared at the girls before looking back at him, “Are obnoxious. I’m....Val,” She had to remember not to rattle off her titles. She managed a smile, extending a hand to shake his rather formally. One of the handmaidens buried her face in her palm watching the Princess fail to shake off the overly formal gestures.

@Zay

 

[Zay Kartan]

Emi was the first to speak up her enthusiasm caught Zay a little off guard, but it was better than being snapped at.

"Nice to meet you, Emi. You guys found the right spot, Derry'll be introducing the main attraction soon."

As if on queue, the current band hit their last note with gusto and thanked the crowd. Kartan's eyes drifted from the emptying stage to "Miss Uptight" and he couldn't help but smile. Val introduced herself formally and Kartan replied in an equally formal manner.

"It's a pleasure, milady," he replied jokingly taking her hand in his and kissing it like in that posh holodrama, Downtown Courscant.

Zaylos let go of her hand, and his attention was pulled back to the stage. Derry tapped the mic a couple of times gathering as much attention as he could, and then introduced the main band. A trio of Bith flanked a mottled yellow and blue Pa'lowick who sang in a sultry alto. Kartan looked to Val.

"Well, Miss Val, you wanna prove your friends wrong and join me for a dance?"

He hoped he didn't look like an idiot standing from his seat and offering her his hand.

@Sreeya

 

[Valeska]

Val was mildly surprised and impressed by the gesture of kissing her hand. It was something she was used to, but often times the general public didn’t know it. The fact that he was doing an act went completely over her head, but the other girls giggled or rolled their eyes.

As ‘Derry’ tapped the mic on stage, Val’s attention was drawn over. She watched the band come on and the girls at her table started clapping and cheering. Val had seen many live performances, but she couldn’t recall ever seeing one in a bar. She eyed the band for a moment until Zay asked her to dance. For a moment, she simply stared at him wide eyed. The girls laughed and cheered, all of them egging her on.

“Uh sure,” She said as she took his hand. Val was only used to ballroom dances, and she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Naturally, she put one of her hands on his shoulder and grabbed the other, gazing into his eyes. Val wasn’t shy on the dance floor, but she was certainly formal about it. Her posture was stiff as any professional and she was prepared for him to lead her.

“This...is going to be waltz, right?” Val asked abruptly, suddenly wondering if she was confidently preparing for the right dance.

@Zay

 

[Zay Kartan]

The stretch of time between his request and her response felt like an eternity. Luckily, he'd been able to revel in her eyes as he waited. Confident she was going to politely turn him down, Kartan prepared a mollified joke appropriate for the situation, but as he began to shrug off her denial he realized she'd said yes.

"Really?! Uh, cool," Zay struggled to hide his excitement as he took her hand and led her to the dance floor. The other girls teased and jeered, but Kartan only had eyes for Val.

The band was mid jam and beings all around them danced to their heart's content. As Zay turned to face Val she took the initiative and grabbed his hand and placed her free hand on his shoulder. Confused, Zay cocked an eyebrow but decided to play along. He let himself get lost in her eyes and chuckled as she asked if they were going to be dancing the Waltz. Kartan glanced around at the other couples and groups moving to the music and shook his head.

"I don't think so," he smiled placing his free hand just above her hip. "You seem... tense, you sure you wanna dance?"

As he spoke he began to casually sway to the music.

"So, are you, like, a noble from Serenno?"

The music was vibrant and high energy. The crowd's energy was infectious as the masses subconsciously decided to let loose and be. In his time at Derry's Den, Kartan, had learned to love these small moments. These snapshots in time were what made life worth living. A room full of strangers each agreeing to let go of their burdens and revel in the jubilation of song alongside one another. There was nothing further from the real truth of the galaxy and no other place Kartan would rather be.

@Sreeya

 

[Valeska]

Val was surprised at his surprise at accepting the offer for a dance. However, she made no mention of it, deciding not to appear stupid and confused. That all came crashing down when he mumbled that this wasn’t a waltz. He was gazing into her eyes, and she didn’t shy away. She had danced many times before and knew the importance of eye contact. Her emeralds were firmly fixated on his eyes, though they began to betray that she was quickly getting out of her element.

“Of course I want to dance, I said yes,” She said matter of factly, watching him as he began to move. Val glanced around a few times as the music picked up. She learned rather quickly that this was not, in fact, a waltz of any kind. Her confidence melted faster than ice under the Tatooine suns and she had to improvise quickly.

Val began to mimic some of the other women, beginning to sway and loosening her posture. She still would let Zay lead, and she found a rhythm with the song. Her movements were still far more stiff than the other patrons. Val glanced up at him, trying to dance this new dance while looking at him. She stepped on his foot a few times, eyes widening in alarm.

She was looking down at their feet when he asked his question, the comment making her suddenly look up so her head collided against his chin, “Oh goodness,” Val blurted, eyes wide. However, her face broke into a grin and she couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m terrible at this, forgive me,” Her face began to flush. She wasn’t used to being so out of her element.

“I’m just a normal girl- Eh I mean, I’m a student at Theed University,” Val mumbled awkwardly, trying to keep some sort of cover. She wanted to ignore the question, but she knew it was impolite. Her arm was still on his shoulder, and she gave up and brought the other one around his other shoulder.

“You won’t be getting in trouble for dancing with me, are you?”

@Zay

 

[Zay Kartan]

"Just making sure you wanted to be here," he said.

Zay couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun. With every misstep and apology, he found himself further infatuated with Val.

"I'll do my best to forgive you," he joked readjusting his stance and falling back in rhythm with the music. He wanted her to feel comfortable and was keeping things simple. Val was naturally graceful and starting to loosen up.

"Just a college girl on the town, huh. Nice. Glad I could be here to help out."

As she brought her other arm up to his shoulder he stepped in and brought his hands together, clasping them at her lower back.

Zay laughed when she asked if he was going to get in trouble.

"Nah, I don't really work here. I was just helping out Derry. He's the closest thing to a friend I've got in this crazy universe," Kartan thought about that a moment, it was the first time he'd said it out loud, and saying it made him feel suddenly vulnerable.

"What about you? Are your friends gonna tease you for dancing with the help?"

Kartan didn't like that she was so beautiful. It was unfair. In a galaxy that had done it's damnedest to make him believe beauty was a lie, he struggled with the irrefutable truth of its existence swaying back and forth in his arms. Maybe that was the lesson. This moment would end, he might never see her again, but right now that didn't matter.

"You wanna see something cool?"

@Sreeya