Session export: The RP to End All RPs

“Mmmwah-”

The Humans groggy voice was slightly echoed by one of the bottles resting on her shoulder. It rolled off as she shifted, a confused and pained whine following at the clinking.

Zuza blearily opened her eyes. This was a nice joint. Emphasis on was. What had- in touching her face, she found a more urgent query.

“Why is my head sticky?”

And then another even more urgent one as she looked at her bed mate for the night. Her eyes widened. “…Cassandra?!”

“Forty two?” Zuza offered with about as much sureness in it as one could expect from her.

Crown? Why was Cassandra wearing a bikini like that? She was hot but had she been wearing that before? She had too many questions, but did make a start on peeling away the crown.

After a bleary few moments Zuza jumped up to her feet, looking around an exlaiming with panic, “Where’s Janta?”

“The uh- principate person? Al.. E… Ambasssssador?” Zuza slurred, still looking around the room. “We were showing them around? I think. Peace stuff. Mirialan dude. Or… well he was green!”

She put a hand to her forehead and stuck what bits of the crown she’d pulled off of her head, straight back on. Zuza groaned, starting work again on removing the karking thing.

“Uhm, glued.. this to my head? Or someone did. I think that’s glue.”

Zuza shook her head once it was all off, grateful for the help. Some was in her hair and it made it karking painful to get when she couldn’t see how everything was getting pulled around.

“I don’t think you were wearing that when we left either?” She gestured to Cassandra’s clothing or.. lack thereof, “You look hot, don’t get me wrong, but uh, well. Y'know. Not really your norm.” Not that Zuza had met Cass too many times but this was quite a flip from what little she had seen of the Taldryan Consul.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL KARK WAS THAT!”

Zuza looked between the hurried gait of Cass and the door that she had just opened, approaching the door slowly with steps that ensured her centre of gravity remained low and herself was balanced. A growl emanted from the door at her approach and she backed up with raised hands, looking toward the now closed bathroom door with concern. “Cass. You get paid really well right?”

Evelyn grimaced in pain, her head was pounding and there was slight soreness in one spot on her head. She couldn’t pinpoint it yet. She rubbed her face into her pillows- how odd. They were softer and more firm than her pillows. Evelyn tried to push herself up but the blanket was wrapped weirdly around her in one spot. She tried to move around in the dark-

“Ahhh!” Evelyn yelled in surprised as both the pillows and blanket moved and the yell made the pain much more intense. She fought against the weird wrapped blanket and stumbled back, knocking Zuza’s and Cassandra’s closet door open and holding her head. She laid there, trying to remember where she was or what happened, with an oversized completely unbutton long-sleeve shirt, a black boy shorts and black lacy bra. Her hair was not in a braid for once, despite always having it in a braid in public.

“I think it was Janta because we had that diplomatic-”

Zuza cut off as a crashing sound came from the bedroom. She raised her hand to her forehead in a sudden movement, starting to yell something else but flinching from the impact of her hand.

“OW!”

She turned away, waving her hand while rubbing her face with the other. The Human at some point had acquired a Jawa’s cloak which was just long enough to brush to her knees.

The crash of the door coming open woke the Human from his slumber. His amber eyes blinked open as light spilled into the closet, his head spinning. As he gained more clarity, he tried shooting up from where he lay, but was caught in a stirring Diy.

Avery swiftly untangled himself from the Kiffar in a mild panic, feeling around his body, sighing in relief that he was still mostly clothed, but his maroon colored dress shirt was unbuttoned, and his golden colored tie missing. Thankfully his black slacks were still on but alas his belt, one sock and both shoes were missing.

He fumbled out of the closet, careful not to jump to his feet too quickly. His body would not forgive him. His eyes darted to the woman who had cried falling out of the closet. He saw what she wore and swore under his breath, quickly averting his gaze. “Kark. I…” He was at a loss for words. “Sorry, what’s your name again?”

That was a place to start. It was obvious she came from the same the closet he was in and he had no recollection of how or why they ended up there. Even if they had only gotten a little too handsy, that was a line crossed. But maybe they didn’t? The growl of the Nexu interrupted his thoughts of the consequences.

“Aw…” A faint smile tugged on his lips.

“Yeah yeah, right.” Zuza waved her hand, a glint of silver flashing from her finger as she crossed into the kitchen area.

She grabbed the handle of the fridge, pulling and then squealing-

“WHAT THE KARK-” Zuza stumbled back as a body tumbled out of the fridge, a Chiss- not just any Chiss. “Anders?!”

One minute it was dark, cold, frigid. The next? He was face down on a icey, tiled floor. Luckily, Csilla was far from a temperate paradise, so the cold never bothered Anders. It was simply a fact of life.

What he was not prepared for was the fall and sudden impact to his face. His head hurt like he’d been on an untold amount of alcoholic beverages for several hours the previous night, and the sudden bright light in the room clawed at his crimson iris’ like they’d been sprayed with vinegar.

He hissed, recoiling ever so slightly as he forced himself up onto his knees. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and forced himself up onto his knees, then his feet. He heard beeping from behind him in the fridge. BUDD-E had, miraculously, managed to press its body into one side of the fridge and its leg into the other, supporting itself.

“Do I look fine to you?” The Chiss queried the droid.

As his vision came into focus amidst the throbbing in his head, he saw two women he recognised gawking at him. It was at this moment Anders realised he was only wearing a undone button shirt and a pair of black boxer shorts. He was hardly leaving much to the imagination.

He groaned. “How utterly undignified…” He slapped a hand to his face.

Zuza was not sure exactly how to handle this, other than to slowly side step the chilly Chiss and grab an ice pack out of the freezer comparment. She closed it slowly, and pressed the ice pack to the thin welt red on her forehead.

“So uh, working out recently huh? Same.” She noted, grinning cheekily and taking another pre-emptive step back away from him. She was glad he’d stood, the cloak was the only thing she was wearing and being short only had so many advantages, ones that were quickly discarded when someone was on the floor.

“Do you need a blanket?”

“No, no, I am perfectly…”

Anders forced himself to open his eyes. The first thing he took notice of was, obviously, the cloak that barely fit Zuza and clung to her petite frame. He considered averting his gaze out of respect for a friend more than anything else, but then spotted something peculiar. A detail he hadn’t noticed before.

A wedding band on her ring finger. When did she get married? When? She was the Shadow Lady of Arcona now and Anders prided himself on staying up to date on all relevant information in the Brotherhood.

His eyes scanned his surroundings, old Inquisitor training coming into play as he began searching for clues.

That was when his eyes locked onto the very same ring upon Cassandra’s finger. The cogs began to turn, realisation smacking him in the face almost instantly.

“Well… It appears congratulations are in order. You clearly both have a type,” he said half-sarcastically, waiting for their reaction to the revelation.

BUDD-E,naturally, was recording the whole thing.

<@61385159655559168> <@432543120635461643>

A loud scream and splashing could be heard from the bathroom. The female Chiss had woke up in the bathtub filled with what felt like water but didn’t smell like it at all. She haphazardly climbed out the bath only to land face first into the sink as her feet slid away from underneath her.

With a loud groan she got onto her knees and held her head. If it didn’t hurt before she was sure as hell hurting now.

“What the kark happened last night… Urgh, I feel so bad,” she muttered.

She let one of her hands fall to her lap as her other kept touching the fresh cut she got. She did not touch her familiar beskar'gam or her flightsuit or anything. Her eyes went wide and another yelp escaped her as she hurried looked for something to cover herself more then the wet shirt she was wearing.

“What.” Zuza had answered to Anders, the Human not clicking at all what he was referring to and looking toward Cassandra as she realised the same thing Anders had.

What.

Wedding rings. It took her a moment to click what was going on in the video past Anders wearing the Jawa cloak she was now wearing but.

Marriage? Oh. OH no. “OH NO!” Zuza eventually verbalised, half with a laugh and half stressed. Then Cassandra pointed and- wait. Who did Anders get married to last night?! Was this Atryiu’s doing? But no he’d done her ceremony to Cassandra so. Wait. The cogs were whirring but sadly weren’t making much progress when another scream came from the bathroom now.

“Okay. Uh, another problem. More people. This is uh- What the karking suns, moons and void beyond…” Zuza took a few steps back, muttering and looking toward the bedroom where there had been a thud moments before the scream from the in the bathroom.

She decided to try and wake anyone else up who might be otherwise contained and asleep.

“HEY FRIENDS WAKEY TIME, KIST IS GETTING WEIRD AND WE SHOULD DO A HEAD COUNT!”

It had taken a few, precious moments for Anders to collect himself after watching the recording of his past self.

How humiliating.

This was why he didn’t drink excessively. He became a blithering, jovial imbecile, and yet he’d allowed himself to be talked into it at the behest of Cassandra attempting to patch their working relationship.

That would be the absolute last time he listened to her on the matter. He’d rather be her sworn enemy than be subjected to this level of scrutiny and embarrassment, especially as she seemed to delight in his increasing misfortune if her grin was anything to go by.

Wait.

It couldn’t be…

It wasn’t the same as Cassandra’s, nor Zuza’s, but there was no mistaking it. He had been wed, but to whom?

Fantastic. This just went from bad to worse. Who had the gall! Whoever was responsible for this was going to pay with their mental faculties when Anders got his hands on them!

BUDD-E had leapt onto his shoulder to hide from the big, scary, newly-married Epicanthix.

“Cassandra, I would appreciate it if you did not threaten my droid. It has done nothing wrong and I hardly think-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Zuza’s loud voice brought his migraine back in full swing.

Then he heard it, a beast, a nexu? Was it? There were more people here with them. There had to be.

“We are not alone,” Anders tapped into the Force. He saw the look of No, really? From Cassandra. “There are more people here with us! Maybe one of them is our perpetrator or simply another victim!”

<@61385159655559168> <@432543120635461643>

“Her name’s…Jes'ika…from accounting…” a groggy, sleepy voice answered Avery.

With a yawn, Diyrian Grivna stirred from the now empty cuddle pile in the closet. She sat up with bleary eyes and stretched, fists hitting a couple dry cleaned and pressed white robes. Her dark green curls were smushed on one side, likely an imprint from an arm. Her golden skin was donned in nothing but a lacey red bralette and a skimpy showgirl bikini with its blue silky fabric drapped over her legs. A ivory and crimson teeth and blood drops tattoo visible on her left thigh. The faux-Zelosian shifted and finally took in her her surroundings, blinking in surprise as she noticed the tan legs nearby.

“Evelyn? Capt?”

Seeing her former captain from the Siren Squad sprawled on the floor in a degree of dress she’d only noted in the locker rooms was…unexpected. Not that Diyrian wouldn’t be interested in the lady, but Eve didn’t seem to be inclined or even noticed when people flirted with her. Diy didn’t catch the half-grin that danced on her lips with a hum. But Wyvern wasn’t the only one present. Didn’t she wake to a male’s voice? Familiar one at that…Aquamarine eyes found black slacks a bit into the destroyed bedroom and followed them up, pausing at the curvature behind for a good second. Continuing past the maroon dress shirt and sculpted shoulders to a somewhat unkempt crop of brown hair…oh. Heh.

“Chief?”

Diy raked her brain on the night before, trying to find answers on how the three of them all got together – only to find waaaay to much. One memory would rise before another interrupted, each flitting away and converging all at once. It made her head hurt. She pressed a couple fingers to her temple, stealthily massaging it, and propped her elbow on her knee. Turning her attention to the room instead, she noticed the young Nexu on the bed, nearly half the size as Luka’s Bico.

“Look what the cat dragged in?”

Humor, excellent fall back.

<@216702440140046336>

There was a familiar feeling on her ring finger on her left hand. She doesn’t dare to look at her hand just to find it empty again. Her mind were playing tricks on her right now. And she cannot handle that emotional state right now.

“You are too loud…” Evelyn whispered to the chatty male, everything was ringing. She tried to look at the room with blurry eyes but with each sound, it was almost as if she could see the vibration of the soundwaves.

It wasn’t the only thunderous sound in this room. Her head snapped up and she fought through the pain from the sudden movement and froze at seeing the nexus cat. Followed by a booming noise at the room which, the male was closer to. She heard a familiar voice behind her that belonged to Diy. Her teammate that recently became Proconsul, much to her sorrow and happiness.

She formulated a plan as the nexus was getting ready to pounce. It would likely go for Diy or her since they were the closest. Her dark green hues flickered to Avery for his attention. Her heart was pounding. She steadied her breathing and the blurriness was mostly gone.

“Grivna… Z-Swing.” She looked to Avery, “Run.”

“Now!” Evelyn barked as she bolted for the door and started to run in zig zag pattern…

<@315438760428961793> <@244244400488710155> <@61385159655559168>

Zuza looked at Anders, worry furrowing her brow but hearing someone yell to run from the bedroom. A familiar voice.

“Kark.”

Cassandra was already there but she ran toward the door to help whoever was in there get out.

Or to tackle a Nexu.

It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing from today.

Avery did not immediately heed the command from Eveyln. Instead, he let the two ladies get a head start on their moves, then paced behind them to ensure their safety first. If he had to be mealtime for the beast, oh well, at least his son and woman (permitting he still had one after tonight) were set up financially for life.

Thankfully one of the Nexu’s foot got caught up in the bedding, buying them some more time to escape the oversized room.

The door opened, seemingly on its own as the trio hurried their way to freedom from the ferocious creature.

Z-swing.

Abso-karking-lutely.

Diyrian rolled up onto her bare feet and sprinted for the door, blue ‘skirt’ billowing behind her. She and Evelyn hit the abruptly open door at near the same time, spilling out and – into an Epicanthix woman. Quickly, she went from running to spilling onto the floor.

“Quick! Shut the door!” she urged once recovered from impact.

Zuza made no hesistation in her bounding across the room to close the door with the full weight of her body and an ice pack.

“Karking STARS!”

Evelyn jumped over Diy to avoid piling on her. As the door closed thanks to Zuza, there was a loud angry yowl and a thump. Evelyn looked over to the male that landed down on the pile with furious eyes. His behavior and disobedience while their lives were on the line did not go missed. She grabbed him by the collar and ‘helped’ him up. She removed her hands to avoid escalating as they were in fists by her hips.

He was taller. Stronger. She wouldn’t be able to take him down. That did not stop the furious pilot. If it was possible, her fury alone would have caused the temperature to drop a few degrees in the penthouse from the aura she was emitting. It felt like the first sharp bite your lung would experience for a sudden cold morning.

“Our lives depended on you. You were the closest to the door. If one of us had tripped-” Evelyn gritted her teeth. That didn’t happen. No need to bring that up. But one thing was important.

She snarled, “Next time, shove down that savior complex and use your br-”

She abruptly stopped talking. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she took a step back. When she was married, she had a nervous tick which was her thumb rubbing the wedding band on her finger. For five years since the removal of her ring, her thumb would be met with her skin, not the solid cold metal.

Five years.

Her breath caught. Was she imagining things? She brought her hand up towards her eye level and her face had darkened at seeing the black wedding band around her finger. Her body seized up and a chill went down her spine.

Avery’s fall was almost tragic, but he landed in a push-up position, pushing up his body weight. In a moment there were a set of feminine hands helping him by his collar, and before he knew it he was a target of her frustration.

“Relax, sweetheart. I would have been meal time for fangs before any of you…” His voice trailed off as he detected a shift in her tone and body language. Minus the lack of scolding, she seemed to go still. His demeanor shifted from casual to concern.

“Are… you okay?”

With the door shut, Evelyn’s rolling past her, Avery’s athletic save…oh boi, Diyrian took a second to just breathe. How eventful the last couple minutes of waking had been. Usually it takes her an hour to wake up total, make some coffee, go back to bed, wake and savor some eggs and veggies…

The Kiffar shifted and pushed herself up on her knees and hands before blinking down at the lady beneath her. Her pearly smile tugged the golden inked line across her nose and cheeks. “Heya, promise I don’t usually fall for folks but…”

Diy winked and moved to get up off of Cassandra.

Zuza was already bending down as Diy shifted off of Cassandra, a laugh barely bit back as she did.

Getting Cass to her feet was interesting, considering the two foot height difference but once everyone had made it up the short Human looked over the group, one hand going to her hip.

“Everyone okay?”

Pain. All the Mirialan felt was pain. From the top of her head down to her toes, her body felt sore, and her brain felt as if it was being prodded by a thousand tiny ewoks. Her ears rang after the shrill call from Zuza, so instinctively, she raised her hands to her ears to cover them but quickly realized something was wrong when she felt something atop her graze along her arm. Matcha’s eyes opened to be met with darkness, only a small amount of light available from the small opening at the end of whatever confined her.

With a lazy groan, the pilot forced herself to sit up and push what she soon realized was a rug off of herself. Her platinum hair was matted to all hell with a ponytail tied directly at the crown of her head. She reached to her eyes and tried to brush the drowsiness away, succeeding in only aggravating her growing headache.

Matcha swiveled her head and took in her surroundings, completely lost and confused as to where she was. The only thing she recognized were her squadmates Diy and Evelyn. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came from her throat was a dry croak, forcing her to wince and massage her windpipe to try and ease both her suddenly sore and dry throat.

Realizing she wouldn’t be able to call out for an assist, the woman wobbly pushed herself to her feet, stumbling a bit thanks to the much too big shoes she was currently wearing. Matcha winced once again as she felt something riding up in all the wrong places, prompting her to look down at herself. She was treated to the sight of a very hastily put-together napkin halter top, a loose golden tie, and Diy’s shorts somehow squeezed around her thighs, missing the button and partially unzipped to accommodate her assets. “Kark…” she scratchily mumbled.

Ankira was crawling about the bathroom floor. Her sight had refused to return to her and each time she tried her headache only got worse. She felt multiple bottles on the floor, probably what was used to fill the bath with.

She shook her head slowly and instantly regretted it.

“What happened? And where are my clothes? My crystal?!”

A new panic ran through her, she needed that crystal. She crawled further and felt a door and heard voices on the otheraide.

Getting slowly up on her feet and trying to act as normal as she could, she slowly opened the door.

The High Inquisitor played back the events of the previous night in his mind, or at the very least, what he could remember of it.

It was all a haze, a collection of images, some connected and some not so coming together to tell an incoherent story. There were too many gaps, too much missing.

Perhaps BUDD-E had more? No. If ut did, it would have told him or shown him. At the very least, it would have told him.

Very well. It was time for Plan B.

“If we are quite finished finished creating a scene of ourselves,” Anders placed his hands behind his back. “I do believe it prevelant to uncover the events of last night as to discover the circumstances that led to our current predicament. Though, I do believe it is imperative we all be gathered together…”

Anders closed his eyes, focusing on his telepathic prowess…

Not quite what he was going for, but the nexu had taken his attention. It was hungry and chewing on a jeweled egg. It was certainly odd behaviour…

Evelyn’s jaw tightened at Avery’s passive attitude and she ignored his question. No. She was not okay. She’s married and no idea to who. Her eyes flickered to her tattooed arm and-

Wait- She grimaced when she realized her ‘outfit’. She felt exposed as her fingertips work fast to button the shirt she was wearing to at least have some decency. Despite not remembering last night or whoever she married to, she was certain they did not consummate. Once she finished buttoned her shirt, she crossed her arms. She started to take in the surroundings. A female Chiss stumbled out of the bathroom. The rug moved and Evelyn sighed with relief. Well. At least her consul, proconsul, and lieutenant was safe.

She remained quiet and battled the fog in her head while she tried to remember. Meanwhile, she looked around the room for any signs or hints what had occurred to all of them last night.

Getting to her feet, Diyrian caught the tail end of the exchange with Avery and Evelyn. She stepped over and joined them, touching his arm once and shaking her head. “Don’t call ‘er sweetheart…that said, Avery can handle himself, in conflict. We all got outta there fine, eh?”

Seeing, the other woman seemed deep in thought and searching the room, Diy shrugged and scanned it as well. There was quite a party gathering, half of which she hadn’t met, or remembered meeting, before. An easy grin danced on her lips as she spotted Matcha, but her concern went to the chiss woman coming out of the bathroom.

“Ay, ay, that looks nasty, gal. Here, let me get a med pack 'n’ stuff,” she uttered, helping direct Ankira to a chair before picking her way through the wreckage to the kitchen counters. “If someone can check the bathroom, be mighty appreciated!”

Doors opening and closing, she caught the chiss man urging they work out the details of last. Would love some answers about that too, buddy. She dumped a med pack and some clean cloths onto the counter in the little clean space she could find.

“I’m assumin’ ya’ll went a little hard on the drink last night? Might be able to help but need help narrowing down the memories,” the Kiffar tapped her noggin and waved.her fingers. “ I indulged last night. Experienced more nights than just mine then.”

“I was… bathing in it,” Ankira slowly answered.

She hated feeling like this, needing others to help her, but she couldn’t see anything at the moment. Sighing softly she wondered what the others thought of her now, as her secret of her white eyes was now out in the open.

“What happened?” she asked, “Things smell different here now as if something got burned.”

The urgency of Diy reminded the Human doctor there were more important things to be concerned about. Especially after receiving the silent treatment from Evelyn. Avery trailed behind the Kiffar, who helped the white eyed Chiss woman into a chair. Hopefully the previous night was not the result of her blindness.

“I’m on it,” Avery replied to Diy. He took mental note and hurried to the bathroom to search for a medpac. Despite the dull ache in his skull, it was time he made some rounds to make sure everyone was hydrated and okay.

The auburn haired man blinked when he saw the mess of the bathroom. It seemed no one had the answer to the most pertinent question. What happened?

He closed the door behind him and waded through the mess to empty his bladder. Once done, he rolled his sleeves to his elbow and began washing in a manner that a a surgeon would. He dried his hands and forearms on the nearby towel. He looked in the mirror and fixed his hair to the best of his ability and ensured his shirt was properly tucked and buttoned.

Remembering he was there to get the medpack, he began to search. Beneath the sink he grabbed a basic kit that should be enough to take care of small wounds and a pounding headache. He exited the bathroom, and approached Diy and the Chiss.

“If you need more, I’ll find it,” he said with determination. For now it seemed Diy had this situation under control.

Avery ventured to the cabinets and began grabbing glasses and filled them with water. He started with the two at the end of the counter and began making the rounds on every lucid person in the vicinity.

Loud crashing sounds drew her from her sleep. She felt cold. Amethyst eyes finally opening, the Sephi slowly sat up. She was laying on a hard surface and her body was shivering from the cool air.

Looking down, she was clad only in a bra and shorts. Her head was pounding, obviously not from a regular hangover. She never for those. Side effects from years of intense partying.

She couldn’t remember much from the night before. Whatever happened, it must’ve been a wild night. She checked herself over, but nothing seemed to show any debaucherous activity in her end, save for what was probably alot of drinking.

Her biggest question though… where was Avery. She knew she’d been with her lover the previous night, but where was he… and why was she sleeping outside on this balcony…alone.

Realizing she was getting colder and needing to get inside, she approached the glass door, covered by a set of blinds. She tried to open the door, but it was locked…. so now she woke up half naked and locked outside…alone.

Someone was gonna be getting an earful about this. She started knocking loudly on the door.

“Hey y'all, can someone open this door up please?”

Matcha watched as Diy told some mystery man off for calling Evelyn sweetheart, which didn’t surprise her in the slightest. The Mirialan would be upset if Diy didn’t come to the defense of her squadmate and friend. She reached for her head and massaged her temple again, cursing herself ever so slightly. She had promised herself that she had given up getting black-out drunk while partying the day she left Zeltros, but here she was, decked out in clothes that weren’t hers, a sore throat, a raging headache, and hopefully not another tattoo or two like her final escapade.

Though in none of her years of partying had someone ever walked out of the bathroom suddenly blind. No, that had to be a first for her. But there was always a first for everything and always a solution for any problem, so she let Diy handle it for now so she could focus on hopefully recovering herself. Lethargy gave Avery the advantage, allowing him to beat Matcha to the kitchen before she could grab a glass of water for herself.

The Mirialan took the glass from the taller man without hesitation and brought it to her lips, taking a few gulps before croaking out a “Thank you.” She took a moment to look him up and down. If it wasn’t for the headache and the fact he had just been told off by her friendos, she’d definitely ask for his name.

She nearly jumped out of Anders’ shoes when suddenly a pounding came from the balcony, accompanied by a cry for help. She looked at Avery. “Well, go on, I’m not awake yet,” she groaned.

Diy nodded to the offer and later thanked him for some water. She turned back to Ankira and started cleaning the small gash on her forehead, offering a smile and small talk as she did. “The names Diyrian, call me Diy. Some wild night, huh? Imagine the security folks, whenever we went, had quite a show.”

<@417336769181122562>

After delivering the water to the hungover Mirialan, Avery was also startled by the banging and familiar voice coming from the balcony. How could he forget that Eevie had joined him too? He offered the green woman a nod, tight lipped as he rushed to the balcony to assist. Why would anyone lock the balcony? He located the latch, and quickly opened the glass door for his lover. “Eevie!”

The one-socked man drew her into a firm hug, kissing the top of her head. “I’m so glad you’re okay. How do you feel? Do you need water?” As his hands traveled down the Sephi’s arms, he noticed she was cold. The Nar Shadaan air was a bit chilly and it didn’t help that she was in minimal clothing. How long was she out there? She could very well be hypothermic but she was cognizant and alert, so perhaps not. He closed the door to prevent more of the cool air from coming in, not intending to let her go far.

“My name is Ankira,” she said as she tried to hide the sting from cleaning the cut on her head.

“I have no idea what happened at all, nor how I got in a bath full of drinks… I don’t like baths.”

Evelyn finally took the time to look around and assess the room. It… was a mess. She could feel her skin crawl as she wanted to clean. Her OCD was kicking in and it doesn’t help that she’s trying to push down the fact there was a band around on her finger. She was hoping it was a joke.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and Evelyn turned to see what it was. From underneath the pile of trash, her BB unit rolled out and let out one monotone beep as it rolled to her side.

Oh. Her droid was here? She rose her eyebrow and squatted down by it, checking for any damages or tampering. Maybe her droid would had some clues to what occured last night?

Given everything he had already deduced, he supposed this was to be expected. The drunken tomfoolery, as well as the loss of one’s dignity and inhibitions that came with it.

What surprised him most was how at ease this nexu appeared to be with him. It at no point had seemed hostile, going so far as to let Anders ride on its back along with several others. It was a shame he hadn’t seen to whom he had been wed, but he supposed all would be revealed soon enough. No doubt they would be horrified.

He simply paced back to the fridge, BUDD-E shining a flashlight inside. The High Inquisitor retrieved what appeared to be a large, cooled steak off of the shelving. He walked back towards the room with the Nexu in it and carefully pried open the door, tossing in the steak.

He sent a simple message across the telepathic link;

‘Breakfast.’

Eevie walked into the room with Avery huddled behind her. She took in the view of everyone else and just shook her head.

“That was some party, ey?”

She them turned to Avery, still shivering.

“How in the hell was I locked outta this place for so long? Did you forget that I was here or something?”

Her arms were folded and she had a stare that told him 3 things.

1, she was pissed.

2, he was in trouble.

3, she was so incredibly attracted to him right now.

“Nice to meet ya, Ankira. That certainly doesn’t sound like an enjoyable bath even if ya did,” Diy sympathized.

She set the wet cloth down and grabbed a tube of bacta. As she started to apply it to the cerulean temple, the drama breaking out near the balcony drew her attention. Eevie. The shallow suck of air through her teeth was barely kept quiet. Not that she had anything against the Sephi, she actually loved hanging out with her and her company. Yet considering the situation and where some of them woke up…The faux-Zelosian dapped gently the healing gel onto the gash, her blue-green gaze flitting over the chiss’ shoulder here and there, listening.

“Right, that should do it. Need anythin’ else? Pain killers for a headache? More water? I’m sure I can get ya somethin’ dry and warmer to wear.”

“something dry to wear would be nice… I feel a bit naked this way,” she said as a light blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Oh, I guess you didn’t happen to see were my actual clothes went? I’m missing a crystal…”

“Hmm, you’ll have to describe your clothes, hun. I don’t recall them. But if I find them or any crystals, I’ll let you know,” Diy responded. She started glancing around the room for anything better than the sodden shirt the lady wore.

“Woah, woah,” the man said seeing her expression and body language, his hands splayed in front of his chest in a defensive manner. There were a few things running through his mind and now another woman, his woman, was mad at him. “We can talk about that later. Let’s get you warmed up first.”

It was in fact his priority. He looked around the premises to see if there was a blanket or something. In the mess of trash and empty bottles there wasn’t anything useful. Resting on the fact that it would take him longer to get her something more substantial he started to undo his shirt.

The now shirtless man draped the shirt over her shoulders with a gentle smile. She was so damn beautiful when she was angry. “Go have a seat. I’ll find you a blanket and get you a water.”

“it’s a black and white Mandalorian beskar'gam with red details on it.”

She tried to focus again on getting her sight back, only to be greeted with another headache. As she reaches for her head she knocks the glass next to her over.

“Gah! Why can’t I see… It only gives me more headaches.”

Anders carefully opened the door, the nexu eyeing him warily for all of a moment before realising his scent.

Long, sharp rows of dagger esque teeth smiled at him, it’s tail whipping back and forth in sheer joy as it continued to tuck into its meat.

The High Inquisitor took steps towards the beast. Every fibre of his being knew this was a terrible idea. Perhaps there was still some alcohol in his veins? Regardless, the creature had no intentions of harming him. He placed his hand upon the nexu’s head as the feline purred happily. BUDD-E whined lowly on Anders’ shoulder, fearing the worst.

At the very least, this would be an interesting story to tell Draca.

“There now…” Anders spoke softly.

While checking Thirteen, she overheard Eevie and the auburn male talk. Oh. So that was Avery. Eevie talked about him quite alot. She kept a mental note not to mention what had occurred in the closet. She was certain it was just a cuddle session for her… now for Diy and Avery? She cannot answer that for the pair. Thirteen and herself moved out of Ander’s way as he threw steak at the Nexus. If the Chiss wanted to befriend with it, he can go right ahead. Hopefully in the bedroom. With the door closed.

She paused checking her BB unit as she started to unbutton the oversized shirt, re-revealing the black lacy bra she had. She hated being exposed like this, but she wanted Ankira at least be comfortable. She couldn’t stand to look at either Chiss as she handed the shirt over to Diy and nodded her head once towards Ankira’s direction. When Diy took the shirt, her attention went back to the BB unit as she opened a compartment and check it’s wirings.

Evelyn sighed in frustration as it seemed Thirteen didn’t have any memory in it’s databanks for what occurred last night. Fine. They will just have to figure out things the difficult way.

Then a loud crash followed by screams. Thirteen went up against the wall and didn’t move an inch. Evelyn grabbed the nearest blanket by her and attempted to jump on the nexus and cover it’s face with the blanket.

Mando beskar'gam…that’s armor right? Well, sithspit.

“Ah, yeah we’ll def–” Diy scrambled to catch the cup just barely, setting it aside a bit. Her face scrunched with a bit of concern. She wasn’t no medic, far from it, but that sounds a lot like a concussion. “–finitely look for it. Ya must of hit your head pretty good.”

She turned her attention to the room, “If any of ya have healing capabilities with space magic, could use ya over here.”

Having spotted nothing useful in terms of clothes, the Kiffar grabbed the wide strip of fabric hanging from the showy bikini bottoms she wore and started tearing. A glimpse of her right thigh caused her to pause for a moment. There was a patch of red skin covered by a see-through gel filled film, and inked beneath it was what she could best describe as a Death Star model shaped like a heart. Diy blinked and sighed before finishing ripping the cloth off and catching the shirt thrown to her. “Thanks, Evelyn. Here, Ankira, got a shirt for you and, with a little trick I’ve learned, can make a skirt for ya. Ya need help back to the bathroom? Can give you a little screen here too if need. Gals helping gals, amirite?”

–crash, boom, smash, grrrrr!

The nexu tumbling out of the bedroom interrupted them.

“Karking Sithspit!” a stream of pidgin Zelosian and Kiffar escaped Diy, her hand flying to her hips and finding them empty. Right, no weapons. Grabbing a couple broken bottles, she shifted to guard the sight impaired chiss woman from too karking big feline.

<@417336769181122562>

Ankira had also gone for her weapons in reflex, but found nothing of course.

“What is happening? Is that a sad… Nexu?” She asked inquisitively.

“Its a Nexu at least. Ev’s got it quiet at the moment,” Diy relayed, not quite relaxing yet.

Matcha did her best to stretch her sore muscles as people moved and collected themselves around the room. The woman on the balcony had been saved and the gal in the bathroom was being tended to. Two other ladies were sitting down and a big blue Chiss was digging through the fridge, which she thought was a fantastic idea. After he left to go to some other room, she made her way to the fridge to get some food on her own. While she was digging around she heard a loud crash as a Nexu burst through from the bedroom into the main room.

Matcha instantly darted out of the fridge upon hearing the noise and the moment she spotted the Nexu she screeched. The hell was a Nexu doing in a penthouse hotel room/apartment/wherever the hell they were. Immediately she darted as far away from the animal as possible, ending up behind a potted plant to try and hide.

Zuza just sloooowly shook her head, about as confused as everyone else was

Evelyn completely froze when it stopped moving and just meowed. It sounded sad. What was she suppose to do? Stars, she never had pets! She wasn’t even sure this plan would work by herself, she thought she was going have to rope Matcha in to help her. Her eyes frantically looked around the room and landed on the Mirialan.

Hiding behind a potted plant. If the potted plant was any bigger, the green skin of the Mirialan might help her blend in.

Not today.

Evelyn did not have time for this. She had a wild animal underneath her right now. This would be the first time the members of the Siren Squadron would see their Captain completely unsure of her actions. War? No problem. Dangerous delivery? Okay. Protect the Mothership? Sure thing.

THIS?!

Evelyn kept a grip on one hand and slowly relaxed the other. She then very carefully and paid attention to the muscles of the nexus as she tried to find it’s ears and started to give gentle scratches.

“Hey there… Sweet one?” Stars, what do people call each other again out of devotion!? She never even gave Aketa pet names!

“Easy there… how about you settle down and we will get more meat out of the fridge for you?” She was talking to it. Evelyn tensed. She must look so dumb talking to a wild animal as if it could understand basic. She looked immediately annoyed at herself.

“Lieutenant, go to the fridge and get some meats. One of you please find a room we can lock this one in that is not the bedroom in case we need that room.”

Today’s events were just going from bad to worse. The events of the last couple of days had been nothing but an unmitigated catastrophe. To too it off, this nexu was likely trying to use him as a blue, squeaky chew toy.

Evelyn had, rather spectacularly, managed to calm the beast. He had to avert hid eyes so that he was not spotted eyeing certain… assets… of hers. To his astonishment, the nexu sat down next to him, flicking its tails. Big, stupid grin on its face. Oh, it wanted to play?

Perhaps it was friendly after all? Anders patted it on the head and was set on testing his theory when his gaze lingered onto Evelyn again.

No.

No.

NO!

He was not a pervert!

Anders was a respectable gentleman, thank you very much.

That one little look, however, had diverted the High Inquisitor’s attention to the ring on her finger.

It bore the same markings as his.

“Lady Evelyn, my dear… would you mind showing me that ring of yours?”

<@216702440140046336>

Well. The Nexu was happy. Now it was less murdery it was quite cute.

Zuza glanced across the gaggle of people gathered, the outfits and everything clicking into place and having to restrict a snicker.

Why was everyone so hot?

Brushing that off, Anders had a ring and was asking to see Evelyn’s. So that was probably a thing. There was a mirilian hiding behind a potted plant, Diy was suspicious of the Nexu.

Kark she wanted a drink.

Her hangover was not enough of a dissuasion from that idea as she started looking for fresh booze.

The Nexu underneath her started to make a weird noise and it concerned her. Stomach growling? No… Growling? No. It’s definitely not a snarl. What… wait. Was this.. purring? Is that what purring sound like? It moved close to Anders and sat by him as it’s tail flicked… She looked baffled before putting on a stoic expression.

Oh. It must wanted to play. Cats like to play right? Maybe they should find something for it to play with. She started to look around for a toy to keep it occupied. Evelyn turned to Anders. He was in a chase a moment ago- maybe it was playing- but should they take the risk!? Stars! It doesn’t help that she knows nothing about creatures and he’s wondering about her ring!? Why would-

Oh. It’s him?

Of course it would be, out of everyone here, she was not surprised at all. A certain memory flashed in her mind and she bit the insides of her cheek while her face and shoulders went hot. She slowly slid off Nexus back, her right hand gently up towards the cat as if showing that she comes in peace before she handed over her left hand, too distracted by the sudden arrival of a past memory to think logically of handing him the ring instead of her hand.

Matcha froze after hearing Evelyn’s orders. There’s no way her captain could expect her to try and lure it out to the balcony. She refused to believe that her leader would be that cruel, which is why she was more than relieved when the animal decided to calm down and settle next to Anders. Good. Crisis averted. At least the first one.

Her nerves finally got the better of her, mixed in with plenty of booze and whatever else she consumed the night before her body finally decided it had enough. Desperately, she grabbed the edges of the potted plant and, in a very not hot way, her stomach decided to empty itself into the plant.

Eevie accepted the shirt, not because she cared that her assets were almost out for the world to see, but because she was in fact cold. She gave Avery a smile and pulled the man into a hug.

“Good deflection, but we will be talking about this later.” She whispered into his ear before biting his earlobe a bit.

Eevie was a master of signaling the many various thoughts she had regarding her man. She loved to show him just how methodical she really was.

Sitting on the nearby couch, she looked over the rest of the group, including the other women in various stared of dress.

“I feel like I really missed out on a party somehow.”

Honey?

“Uh…. thank you?”

Zuza poured herself a drink slowly, struggling to find the correct words or… anything. Zig was going to kill her. Or laugh? Maybe she’d laugh. After a little bit anyway. How do you get divorced here?

This was probably real unlike the whole making a pinkie promise marries you kark Sofila relayed to her. She’d about had a heart attack on that day but thankfully it was just Atiryu shenangins.

“I think you did though I wouldn’t be able to tell you much about it.” Zuza responded to Eevie, rubbing her cheek and looking around the room again. “Anyone seen Janta? Y'know, the Principate representative? Taller than me. Not.. quite as tall as Cass.”

“Lady Zuza, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?”

Anders resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead inspecting the wedding rings possessed by both himself and Evelyn.

“A perfect match… I daresay that we appear to have been one of the many wed the previous night.”

<@216702440140046336>

Zuza stuck her tongue out at him.

“How very mature,” Anders deadpanned.

She knocked back another mouthful of straight alcohol, grinning for a moment at Anders.

“You love me really. Or- well. Should I say Evelyn.”

“Well,” Anders shrugged. “Lady Evelyn does appear to have a type. Who knew that it would be blue?”

He scratched the nexu under its chin, eliciting a pur, much to BUDD-E’s behest.

Evelyn pulled her hand back. They will just have to get a divorce when everything settles down here. She glanced over to Matcha with concern as she started puking. That woman can handle the stomach lurch that assault pilots go through but not this? She may have not got drunk that often.

Then she was annoyed with Zuza’s actions and words. Was she really drinking more alcohol? At a time like this? With a Principate representative missing?

“Consul Lottson-“

…who knew that it would be blue?’ she felt a flash of anger as she reacted without thinking, spun around on her heel and her hand raised to slap Anders across the face.

The last word had barely escaped his lips before he felt the unmistakable tug of the Force. He leaned back as Evelyn’s fingers connected with nothing but thin air.

He smiled at her. “Why, honey, whatever is the matter? Was it something I said?”

Zuza had pulled a face at him saying that.Yikes.

Oh kark-

“Anders ya got a death sentence or something mate?” She called across, putting the bottle down to start approaching. That was new for Evelyn and a worrisome new.

Evelyn missed.

She missed?! She could feel her rage building as her breathing increased. She watched him with narrowed eyes. He was so infuriating and he managed to get under her skin.

For only a second.

“Bircisb.” Her jaw hardened and she took a few steps back and looked to others, the anger still evident in her eyes but her voice was calm. She started to regulate her breathing.

“We should find out what happened last night, find the Principate representative, a crystal, and get a divorce.”

The smile had not vanished from Anders’ face. A seasoned soldier, an expert pilot, a brilliant tactician, and he’d managed to get under her skin.

Sometimes, it was just way too easy.

“Whatever you say. Happy wife, happy life and all that,” Anders placed his hands behind his back, the smile on his face dissapearing in an instant. The glare in his eyes was cold, piercing, like icicles in the snow. “On a more serious note, there are several mysteries at play here.”

He began listing them off by his fingers.

“Firstly; the nexu and how it got here. Secondly; that mysterious egg it was chewing on. Thirdly; the known whereabouts, or lack thereof, or our Principate representative. Fourthly; Getting divorces on a planet where they are absolute.”

Well we could. Zuza thought to herself. Having gotten a look at Arcona’s coffers wow.

Then Cassandra dropped that bomb.

“Sorry what?!”

“I’m- I have a girlfriend- oh fuck. Zig is gonna be so mad.” Zuza put her hands in her hair.

“The senate isn’t my girlfriend. Oh god ruka is gonna get more white hairs too. Karking stars.”

Evelyn stared at them.

“I will get dressed and ask around downstairs if anyone knows anything from last night. I will also see if I can find out whose room this belongs to.” She made her way to the bedroom to see if there was anymore clothes. There was no need to dwell on it but her heart hurts for Zuza.

“Of all the ridiculous things this backwater hellhole…”

There was a reason Anders hated Hutts. And Nar Shaddaa in particular.

“Do not start panicking just yet. Annulment is an option in several star systems. If worse comes to worse, all we have to do is find the right people and persuade them to reverse what happened last night. However, right now, considering the people in this room, I am more concerned on this Janta’s location.”

“Yrah. Yes. Janta. They were.. kark. We were with them for a while for sure. I just.. we need to find out everywhere we went and see when abouts we lost them. They’re a Pantoran, their tattoos are more like Cresent shaped freckles all over their cheeks. Really cute, shoulder length hair.”

Zuza tapped her foot, focusing on the problem she could solve.

Anders sighed and shook his head. “I had better go with her to ensure the proper queries are enquired. If you will excuse me, Lady Zuza, Cassandra.”

He left the room with BUDD-E in tow. The nexu attempted to follow, but Anders held out his hand to it.

“I will be back. Guard those two like a good little kitty. Can you do that?”

But first, he needed some decent clothes. Like hell he was going to be seen in public in nothing but a shirt and trousers.

“I found many clothes here that belongs to us!” Evelyn informed them from the bedroom as she started to put on her pilot outfit which was black and green. She listened to Zuza. Pantoran. Crescent like tattoos freckles on their cheeks and shoulder length hair.

She completely ignored Anders’s words as she stepped out of the room and didn’t acknowledge him when he entered for his clothes.

“Do you happen to remember their hair color?” Some people dye their hair and she wasn’t sure if they were one of them. She zipped up her suit on the side and started to comb her hair with her fingers and braided it.

“Uh..” zuza pressed her hand to her forehead as if it’d help.

“They.. it was dark. Either purple or red. They had it up in braids, but considering our state of dress I doubt they’d still have it up now.”

Ankira just stood there with a shirt in her hands feeling so much lost now. She slowly dressed herself in the dry shirt and sighed softly as it already made her feel better.

All she could do now was listen to what was being said and trying to remember where they left this Janta person.

When they were talking about the marriages she unconsciously checked her own fingers and found nothing. She sighed softly in relief.

Anders had found his crimson suit, decorated with black matte patterns to fit the more stylish upper-class gentleman.

Perfect.

His top hat was not too far away either, which made the subsequent proceedings much more stomachable.

He was just missing his shoes…

<@301514304845381632>

Matcha grumbled and barely resisted a glare focused on the rest of the occupants of the room. She understood that to most, she was a stranger, but at least someone could’ve asked if she was alright. She thought she was going to die for karks sake. She brought a hand to her throat and tried to massage the soreness away once again. After screaming and vomiting, it was just starting to feel worse and worse.

She decided the most pressing thing to do was focus on herself and get the taste of whatever had ended up inside of her the night before out of her mouth. So, she made her way to the bathroom, clomping forward in Anders’ size 900 dress shoes.

Anders caught a glimpse of the barely clothed, if at all Miralian skulking away in…

We’re those his shoes?

It only took a quick glance to see that out of everyone, she was very clearly feeling the worst effects of the previous night. The Chiss took a sharp intake of air through his nostrils to centre himself, connecting both his mind and hers through the Force. After all, the last thing she desired would likely be to have unnecessary attention drawn to her.

‘My dear, do not be alarmed, I am speaking with you telepathically. I could not help but notice that you are wearing my shoes. They are extra clothes here, likely yours too. I will turn my back so you may take a look.’

He did as promised, and turned his back away from her and the pile of clothes on the floor.

The moment she heard Anders’ voice in her head, she stopped dead in her tracks. She whipped her head in his direction and immediately glared, “Don’t do that without permission.” Matcha was very open about almost everything, but there were boundaries that even she had, and she expected them to be respected.

The Mirialan looked down at her feet and saw Anders’ shoes covering her feet. Her brow perked, and she looked back up to him. It seemed she really did have a little bit of everyone on. “Are you uncomfortable with what I’m wearing?” She asked, putting a hand on her hip. Her soft voice had a distinct scratchiness to it, but she did well to suppress it for the most part.

Here she was, going from glaring, setting boundaries to sarcasm? Flirting?

Anders scoffed at her behaviour. “I was attempting to show you some decency by not drawing any attention to you. I apologise for trying to help.”

He didn’t bother dignified her question with an answer.

“My shoes, if you will.”

“And what makes you think I’m trying to hide from everyone here?” She took a half step back away from him. He had gone and poked fun at her captain, it was her turn to push his buttons. “Am I not decent enough for your standards?”

Formalities disregarded, Anders spun to face her, his cold gaze lingering upon her. “The fact you were hiding and skulking into the bathroom suggested otherwise. Now, for the third time, my shoes, please.”

“I was hiding from that,” she pointed to the Nexu that she still was very very uneasy about. “And I was sulking because none of your business.” She very easily stepped out of his shoes but made no move to pick them up for him. Evelyn may not have had a petty side but Matcha was happy to pick up the slack

The Chiss woman turned towards the bickering going on between the two of them and just listened. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself by walking around and kicking everything that was threwn about on the floor and falling over. The Mandalorian felt useless now, that her sight was now completely gone unless either the headache was going to get lost soon or if she would find the crystal, as she hoped that would help her get her sight back.

“Skulking, not sulking. Do try and pay attention, my dear.”

Anders slipped his feet into his shoes. He spotted Ankira struggling out of the corner of his peripheral vision. A small part of him was tempted to leave her to her dilemmas. After all, she was none to fond of him and he half expected her to rebuff any attempt at assistance the Taldryan Proconsul was willing to offer. The white eyes were a curious anomaly. Though it certainly explained certain behaviours.

She was blind, or at least, mostly blind. It begged the question of how she moved about. Perhaps… the Force was at play?

“Ankira, do you require assistance?”

Nontheless, she had helped save him, so an attempt should at the very least be made.

<@417336769181122562>

Ankira focused on the voice of Anders and arched a brow, she hadn’t exactly expected him to try and help her.

“I’m not sure you can… Though if you could find a crystal that I lost, it might help me… see again,” she added hesitatingly.

A crystal? Not a Mortis crystal, Anders sincerely hoped. They’d had enough dealings with their kind already.

“Very well. What shape is the crystal? What is the size and colour of the object in question?”

“It’s about the size of your pinky. Aylin said it was pale blue with some green lines in it.” She hoped that Aylin was true about the colours as she had never seen it herself.

Evelyn was concerned for Matcha as Anders approached her but she was very capable to take care of herself. She finally opened the water bottle and started to drink.

“Matcha, drink water please.” The woman was puking earlier, she needed water more than the others at the moment, save for the Consul who decided it was good idea to drink alcohol.

She was going to suggest for others to help find the crystal but it seemed Anders wanted to instead. As Ankira started to describe it, Evelyn memorized what she said in case it would be found outside of this room.

She took this opportunity to slip out of the room without Anders and started to head down to the front desk followed by Thirteen.

The Human doctor’s flitted over the controversy in the room. Then there was his own ever present drama lingering on the horizon which could be solved with a nice night out and the right words. He felt confident of that fact. Eevie was staying right by his side through thick and thin. Avery pushed the thought aside and went to gather his shoes which resided in the ravaged-by-Nexu bedroom. A truly unique aesthetic. He would dutifully offer to pay whatever the damages of this place cost. They could attempt cleaning but that didn’t change the damage done to the furniture.

Clad in both socks, his burgundy shoes, black slacks, he was at least half way decent now. His black blazer and the least ravaged blanket he could find was draped over his forearm as he exited the room again. Eevie was still shivering so he let her keep his shirt and caped her in the blanket he found. He put on his suit jacket accented by gold buttons, ornate cufflinks and a golden zeilla flower pinned to the right side lapel. Unbeknownst to him, there was a palm sized tattoo on his right shoulder blade in the shape of a heart shaped deathstar. There was some soreness but he chalked it up to whatever went down the night prior.

Remembering that the polite Mirialan, who did not seem to be doing so well, had on his golden ornate tie.

“Forgive me for bothering you a second time but you’re wearing my tie,” he with a charming smile to Matcha. “And I think I also missed your name. I’m Avery Watson.” <@206692046424113152> <@301514304845381632>

Matcha had to take a very careful breath. If Anders hadn’t gone off to actually make himself useful with the Chiss woman, she surely would’ve bit his head off for a comment like that.

She began her journey to the bathroom once again, but like before was interrupted by another man asking for her to take something off.

“Matcha,” she said plainly. “Judging by how Eevie over theres reacting you must be the Avery.” She made zero moves to take off the tie just yet

Eevie looked around at the others. She saw the always familiar Diy, as well as her Siren Squad Captain, Evelyn. Looking a little closer Eevie noticed a new tattoo on Diy’s thigh. The Sephi couldn’t help but giggle at the apparent half heart/space station tattoo she seemed to have gotten on this crazy night.

Turning her attention to Avery, her eyes analyzed her lovers amazing physique. She loved the carved muscles that framed his torso. His perfect arms that held her so warm and tightly at night. That perfect ass she loved to grab onto during their intimate evenings. She loved every scar…every freckle…every tattoo….. …

Wait….

Tattoo?

Before Avery a as able to put on his shirt, she saw the tattoo on his right shoulder blade froze in her brain…it was a half heart/space station. Nearly identical to the one Diy had, except it was the other half. Eevie’s eyes went wide.

Standing up, the Sephi slowly walked behind Every before wrapping her slender arms around his torso and pulling his body closer to hers. She was shorter than the man, but she spoke in a low voice, but loud enough for him to hear her.

“So…while I was locked out in the cold…you and Diy got matching heart tattoos? Anything else happen that I should know about?”

Her voice was quiet, but anger, sadness, and fear laced every word. She knew that something had happened to them all this night, but right now she was feeling betrayal. Especially painful after Avery’s recent accusations against her. She couldn’t help that the pit in her stomach grew.

The man was delighted to hear that he had a reputation that preceded him. “Matcha,” he repeated with a single nod. “Pleasure to officially meet you. And yes, I am the Avery.”

Seeing that the Mirialan didn’t budge to return his tie, he patiently asked again, “May I have my–” The embrace of his lover interrupted his question. There was a brief pause as he listened to her voice. He was bewildered by the mention of a tattoo, his brow knit together, a frown on his lips. Tattoos were a blemish on his skin as far as he was concerned and on top of that it matched Diy’s, who although he considered a close friend, would much rather get one to match with Eevie. They really must have lost all sense the night before because it was not merely a blur, but a blank space in his mind.

His chest heaved up as he inhaled slowly, realizing how she must have felt. Were the roles reversed, history showed that he would have overreacted and drawn theatrical conclusions. That was something he admired deeply about the woman. She had ample reasons to walk out on him but she stayed. Was he better than a man like Cin at that point?

Avery pushed the thoughts away and excused the two of them, slipping his hand into the Sephi’s hand and quietly leading her to the bedroom. He closed the door behind himself to give their relationship the respect it deserved.

“I know you have questions,” he said, his amber eyes met her amethyst gaze. “I do too. I’m going to be completely honest, I have no idea what happened last night. I’ll tell you what I do know.”

His gaze shifted to the disordered floor of the room. “I… woke up with Evelyn and Diy in that closet.” He gestured to the now hollow space. “As far as I know, nothing… promiscuous happened. You know Diy as well as I do– she would never cross that boundary. And Evelyn is a stranger to me. As for the tattoo…” He rolled his sore shoulder blade, understanding where it was now. “Consider it removed already.”

Eevies’s face gave away nothing. Her eyes were steady and her mouth never flinched as she listened to Avery’s description of the previous night. She hated the idea of looking the a crazy jealous woman, but when she thought of Avery, he was hers and hers alone.

She knew when the man was lying, he wasn’t great at hiding things from her. Plus she also knew how he was after a night of great promiscuity and that obviously hadn’t happened. It was more than obvious that something more had been given last night either in the air, the drink, or the food. The effects were now on full display.

But just because she knew and believed what he said, doesn’t mean she needed to let him off the hook just yet. She had promised him payback for his lapse in judgement, and payback was sweet.

“You say that nothing happened? I’m gonna need to…see some proof. There’s the tattoo, but I need to know what else might be hiding from sight. Soooo…strip.”

She remained silent after saying that. She gave him a slightly amused look that also signaled that she was completely serious. The door was closed, and no one else was gonna be coming in, she’d make sure of that.

Evelyn made her way down to the front desk with a sly smile. Anders thought the only reason why she would be with him simply cause he was a Chiss. It helped but it wasn’t the only reason. With the sad attempt of the slap, now everyone thinks that and wouldn’t pry into it further including her now ‘husband’. She sorely wished the slap made the contact though, someone needed to take that man down a peg. She kept an eye out on her surroundings for any signs of Janta, the crystal Ankira was missing, and anyone who was looking at her as they would see as a friend. Maybe there was some people that had remembered her group from last night.

“Excuse me, may I have a moment of your time?” Evelyn asked the front desk clerk, ignoring Thirteen bumping into her leg. Thirteen had never done that. She must’ve missed something when she checked the droid over. She can handle that at home.

<@837236610684813342>

Now that the air was clear, the man exhaled. He knew her antics and although it was tempting, he chuckled and said, “I usually ask for pay before that, Miss Navis’thae.”

He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head with a slight smirk as if to say, ‘Not right now’. “I think we would be more useful helping the others get to the bottom of what happened last night. Once we get out of here I’ll take you anywhere on Nar Shaddaa. Or that long overdue trip to Cloud City.”

Avery made the promise, his gaze fixed on hers. He supposed sometimes they needed a reminder of how much they meant to each other. “Now let’s be civil and join the others.”

As civil as they could be considering all of them had seen more than they ever wanted to see of each other.

Eevie couldn’t keep a straight face anymore. This man that she loved was so scatterbrained by the situation he misread her words. But, she also knew he was right.

“Ave’s, I’ll be holding you to that. When we’re done here, I’ll give you a night you won’t be able to forget. But first, we gotta figure out what happened here.”

She adjusted the blanket slightly, draping it over her shoulders and grabbing the corners with her hands.

“But first, while I have you here.”

She wrapped her arms, and the blanket, around his shoulders and pulled him into a deep, longing kiss. She felt like it had been too long and she needed to feel him in her arms. The heat and passion between was still as intense as always. She couldn’t help but be addicted to him.

“I love you, my Avery Watson.”

The Sephi pleasantly surprised him with a fiery kiss. His hands naturally found their place on her waist. Everything she did always made his heart beat a little faster.

“No one else’s,” he affirmed in a murmur with his nose lightly touching hers. “I love you too.”

Avery broke away from the embrace, reminded that their day was just getting started. He held out his hand for her to take, his torso partially turned towards the door. “Now let’s regroup with the others.”

The clerk looked up, meeting Evelyn’s eye and smiling.

“Of course ma'am. What may I help you with?”

Let’s see. There were an awful lot of clothes covering up the entire floor. There was a small possibility the Crystal could have fallen in the bathroom with Ankira, but she likely would have already found it if it was.

The most logical explanation was that it was buried in the assortment of garments within the room.

Very well.

He closed his eyes.

Darkness had no hold on him.

He controlled it, manifested it.

The clothes in the room began to float into the air. Anders remained silent motionless, listening to the lightest thud as it hit the carpet.

His eyes shot open. He summoned the fallen Crystal to his hand and allowed the clothes to topple back to the ground.

He approached Ankira, geny taking her hand without any sudden movements as not to alarm her and closed her fist around the Crystal.

“There. Can you see now?”

<@417336769181122562>

Ankira took the crystal in her hand and felt the familiar tingle coming from it. It ran through her body and a slight smile appeared onto her face, her sight was slowly returning to her.

“See is a big word… but I see outlines again,” she told him softly as she looked at the crystal in her hand. To her it was a bright shape in an otherwise blackish world with different hues of her surroundings.

“Thank you for helping me,” she added after a moment

“My friends and I got embarrassingly drunk last night and we have no memory of anything. With that said, we were wondering for the Penthouse Suite, whose name is on it?”

BUDD-E, the rambunctious lite scamp that it was, had taken the assignment of following Evelyn to heart. After all, the silver-haired woman was Anders’ wife, yes? So that, by proxy, made her an important asset to the droid too.

It hopped up without warning, landing on Evelyn’s shoulder and beeping noisily in her ear.

Anders gave her a small nod. That was all that was needed. No need to make a bigger scene than there already.

“You are welcome. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to locate my droid before he causes any mayhem… or at least more than we have already experienced.”

The High Inquisitor followed in the direction Evyn left, heading down to the lobby area.

While she waited for the clerk’s answer, she felt a sudden weight on her shoulder and loud beeping as she grimaced. Her head started to pound.

She only got a gist of what Budd-E said. New master, Anders and something about oil baths and attention. How does a High Inquisitor with a cold heart like Anders get a droid with such overwhelming personality?

“Be quiet,” Evelyn hissed under her breath as she grabbed Budd-E and gently placed it down by her leg. Thirteen then rolled to Budd-E and seemingly ‘pushed’ Budd-E away. It started to angrily beep at Budd-E. Evelyn exhaled as she rubbed her forehead and kept her eyes closed while the pounding was fading away.

“You too, Thirteen.” Thirteen stopped beeping but if anyone was watching, it was obvious that Thirteen was ‘glaring’ at Budd-E. <@432543120635461643>

The clerk had opened her mouth to answer when the droids appeared, chuckling in amusement for a moment before starting to speak.

“The Penthouse suite was booked by a Janta Grido for herself two additional guests.” If she seemed phased by the drunken comment, it wasn’t showing. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurence afterall.

Two extra guests? that was likely Cassandra and Zuza, though where was Janta now?

Anders appeared by Evyn’s side, BUDD-E dancing on the floor beside him, arms crossed behind his back as he listened intently.

Thirteen ‘stared’ at BUDD-E before it let out a small confused chirp and whirled it’s head in 360 degree in greeting. As Anders appeared, Thirteen beeped angrily at him a few times.

Evelyn ignored the droids as she nodded. “I would like to have Ms. Grido’s comm link, please. There had been some damages and I wish to speak to her about us paying for them since the room is under her name.”

<@837236610684813342>

“Are you Miss Lottson or Miss Oriana? I’d just need to see some ID.” She asked, looking to her screen to pull up the information.

The Chiss decided to ignore the ramblings of the little BB droid for the moment. Though, the thought did cross his mind to reveal their marriage to see how it reacted.

No. There were more pressing matters.

“You do not need to see her identification.”

His words, woven through the Force like threaded silk, entered the receptionist’s psyche.

<@432543120635461643> ^

Thirteen made sure to roll between Anders and Evelyn and left room for Jesus between them.

“I am under acting orders of Miss Lottson to take care of anything under her name. I am sure that is sufficient?” If she had to, she could get Consul Lottson but… that would be more trouble than it’s worth.

Evelyn hid her cringe and twist of her stomach for lying.

“Thank you so much Miss Lenor, have a wonderful day.” She turned to see Anders and wasn’t surprised to see him there. He did say he was going to follow. Instead of acknowledging his presence, she glanced down to Thirteen who was still making sure to stay between them.

“Thirteen, start recording my datapad.” She hoped that Janta was just drunk off of her ass and somewhere safe. Not kidnapped or worse, dead.

She found a quiet corner and made her way there as she started to call. <@837236610684813342>

Anders was about to join her, but decided one last follow up question deserved query from Lenor.

He resisted the urge to scoff at the name. It was almost too similar. Too many bad memories.

“I do not suppose you or any of your colleagues have seen Lady Grido at all either last night or this morning? We had a bit of a raucous night last night, as I am sure you understand.”

He flashed Lenor a charming sme whilst BUDD-E took the opportunity to leap back up onto Anders’ shoulder.

<@432543120635461643>

“I would have to ask the night crew and they’ll likely be all asleep still. If you’re willing to wait a few hours I can contact them.”

Anders did not miss the lack of confirmation as to whether she had seen something or not. He decided to prod a little further.

“Of course. You all work so hard. Myself and my companions here at this fine establishment are very grateful for your service. In fact…”

The Chiss reached into his pocket, placing a small fistful of credits on the counter.

“Please let me know when you have spoken to the night staff if you do not mind? Oh, and, forgive me for asking again, I think I must of missed it. Long night. I think I am still getting over all the fun,” he let out a small chuckle. “Have you yourself see Lady Grido at all since last night?”

The clerk raised an eyebrow, “…No. I got here an hour ago. Sir.”

Using a pen, she carefully pushed the credits back toward Anders.

The call didn’t connect for a long few seconds, almost timing out before- A lot of muffled noises followed the call being accepted, bleary sounding grumbles and shuffling.

“H-” The voice cracked and then was cleared, re-attempting, “Hello?”

Evelyn listened intently in the background.

“Lady Grido, this is a friend of Miss Lottson from last night. Are you okay? Where can we find you?”

Anders overheard the beginning of the conversation taking place between Evelyn and their Principate representative.

“Oh, no. Please, I do insist you keep the credits. Consider it a tip. Thank you and have a good day.”

The Taldryan Proconsul joined Evelyn and listened to the conversation unfold.

Lenor mumbled a thank you, going through her draws to find a sanitising spray. She wasn’t about to say no to free money, but embarrasinly drunk followed by attempted… blackmail or whatever that was? Best to not take chances.

“My head.” Was the first response from Janta, more shuffling sounds following before a frightened squeak. “Oh by Ashla and Bogan- where- I don’t know where I am, by the stars, oh dear-”

When Janta complained about her head, that was an understatement of the day. The frightened noise she made worried her. Was she in an unsafe location?

“Take a deep breath with me, Lady Grido. Right now, it is very good to hear your voice and being alert. Can you describe your surroundings? Miss Lottson’s and Miss Oriana’s friends are here and we will split up to find you. Evelyn’s voice remain gentle as she tries to help Janta to stay calm too.

The moment click was heard and background noise changed, she knew that it was the change of hands. Her eyes shot up to Anders then it narrowed at hearing… possibly Huttese? Her hand went over to the speaker tightly-

“K'ir vah rsah csei s bav'hz?” She quicky whispered to Anders for him to hear before she focused back onto the phone call, grateful that she had asked Thirteen to record all this. Hutts usually love attention. So she was going to try to charm them.

“I do apologize for our drunk antics last night. We would like to make it right. May I have the honor of knowing who I am speaking with?”

Anders was well explored enough to recognise the dialect and tone. It was, after all, one of the more common languages in the known galaxy. One that he had chosen not to learn due to its association with low-lives, scum, and especially, Hutts.

He almost shuddered at the thought of those vile creatures.

“I know what language it is, but I do not speak it myself. It is Huttese,” he whispered back to Evelyn in Cheungh.

<@216702440140046336>

Stars, Anders didn’t know what language it was either. But he seemed to recognize it as Huttese, so her suspicion was right. Evelyn glanced over to Thirteen after the line went dead. They wanted her? Good joke. She was just a Captain to bunch of assault pilots. Damn good ones too. They must had thought she was someone else. They should check out the egg.

“The others should know. Come along.” She said to her droid as she started to make her way back to the room. Thirteen beeped in respond and it kept it’s ‘eye’ on Anders to get between them whevere he walks.

The Chiss followed along like the good little husband he was. Evelyn was clearly the one currently wearing the trousers in their marriage, so it seemed.

He snorted at his own thoughts, though as amusing as they were, he had a question for the droid on his shoulder.

“Did you record that conversation?”

BUDD-E beeped a yes into his ear.

“Very good.”

Who knew if or when that would prove to be useful.

Evelyn entered into the room and glanced around. They seemed to be still stunned and recovering from last night events. At least, more of them are getting clothes on.

“I got the comm codes for Ms. Grido but I do have bad news. Thirteen, if you please.”

Thirteen beeps as it recorded the conversation. Once it stopped, she looks at the Consuls for the next step of what should they do.

<@432543120635461643> <@61385159655559168> <@837236610684813342> <@301514304845381632> <@417336769181122562> <@315438760428961793> <@206692046424113152>

“The language appears to be Huttese. I believe there are those among us who understand the language, yes?” Anders asked, arms folded behind his back.

With Avery and Eevie still in the other room and Ankira seemingly cured of blindness, Matcha had taken her trip to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth and fix up her hair, taking out the hairtie and then putting it back in when she realized how matted her heair really was. When Anders and Evelyn got back, she was back in the man living space of the penthouse suite, a cup of water in hand.

“Took you two that long for simple codes?” Matcha asked, a small grin forming. “Hope you two didn’t get too side tracked with each other.”

“What can I say? She clearly caught my attention in the most spectacular of ways.”

Anders rolled his eyes, voice laced with sarcasm so evident it was like the words rolled off of his tongue.

Evelyn doesn’t respond to either one of them. She doesn’t want to encourage Matcha by responding to her. But with the heavy sarcasm from Anders’s words, she would assume that he doesn’t find her attractive. Her expression remained stoic while she focused on the Consuls.

Matcha tapped her foot in thought and shrugged internally. She could sense the sarcasm, anyone could’ve, but she didn’t know if Anders meant it in a joking way or if he was calling Evelyn unattractive. Either way she knew her captain had a tendency to miss simple things like this so she let this one pass, for now.

She walked on over “So what did the two of you come up with?”

“It appears our Principate friend is currently a captive of the Hutts. For whatever reason, they desire the egg our little nexu friend was so eagerly chewing on earlier.”

Speaking of their big nexu friend, the moment the feline had heard Anders’ voice, it least into the room, pounced at him and began licking his face.

BUDD-E had, of course, been knocked from the Chiss’ shoulder and was beeping in both anger and jealousy.

The couple rejoined the of the penthouse denizens just in time to hear what Evelyn returned with. A Hutt? A Principate member?

Besides the utter bewildering state they woke up in it sounded like one of his bachelor nights out. He was no longer a bachelor which made nights like these uncomfortable.

He fought to remember anything from the night prior. Only snippets seemed to appear. If his eyes could have landed on the sign of a shop or datapad or something maybe just maybe the could formulate and piece together what happened.

“Forgive me for my ignorance,” Avery announced, his amber gaze scanning the room. “Would a Force user be able to clear up my memory? I have an eidetic memory when it comes to words, pictures, and diagrams. It only takes a moment for it to burn into my memory. This past night was unique for me to say the least.”

Otherwise the Doctor was fresh out of ideas.

Matcha went from laid back and ready to tease some more to rather serious upon hearing someone was being held captive over an ornate egg. If it was a Hutt that wanted it, it had to be something special. She took her gaze away from Anders as he was assaulted by the Nexu once again and looked to Cassandra “No, I don’t sadly. ” She knew herself well enough to not force herself to try and remember, she wasn’t in the mood to worsen her state. The memories would have to come naturally.

Evelyn kept her composure and fought against the pinching of the bridge of her nose when the Nexu had ran to Anders and BUDD-E beeping angrily as it landed on the floor with a soft thunk.

“BUDD-E, please. My head hurts.” Evelyn glanced down at the droid, as if a mother slightly scolding her child. Thirteen rolled over and playfully bumped BUDD-E then zoomed away, as if attempting to play tag. It beeped at BUDD-E. Come and get me!

Cassandra remembered a Hutt, slightly, along with flashing lights and alcohol.

That narrowed it down to nothing. Evelyn rose an eyebrow to Avery in slight surprise but then it was gone. She would never willingly let a Force User in her mind. If they wanted to know something, they can ask her directly. Her answering them was another matter. She was aware that none of her Siren Squadmates that are present with her are not Force Users. Avery must not be either because he was asking for help from another. Zuza, she last recalled or know of, wasn’t. That left the Taldryan members. Cassandra was a confirmed Force User, admitting that it wasn’t something she learned in the Jedi Arts. Her dark green hues flickered over to Anderson for a moment.

She knows. He’s a High Inquisitor and there’s rumors around him. Terror and fear surrounding of how he extracts information. If Anders offer to pry into an ally’s mind, that might be the one time she steps in. Avery willing or not.

“We can always split up and start searching at different bars. We may get lucky by having a same bartender working today that also worked last night. I say let us get some food in our stomachs and continue to drink water so we can do this with a clear head.” Evelyn suggested.

“Well we had two marriages, so you could narrow it down by places that.. can do that. We should look at the footage of that again cause we might be able to do an interior match or see a sign or something.” Zuza called as she crossed over toward the fridge, opening it and…

Well.

Things were squished but that didn’t make them inedible. Only half the eggs in there were broken. The Human started pulling out what was useable and placing it on the counter. Feeding a group this large, Zuza wasn’t worried about anything going to waste.

“We can always order something.” Avery said with a slight smile.

Evelyn glanced over to the Nexu.

“Well the Nexu had to come from somewhere. We can check for missing Nexu posters, the zoos, and black market. In addition, if any of us has any… connection to the black market and underground news, I am sure the news of an important egg would spread like wildfire and we could use it to trace back to find which Hutt it belonged to be able to find Ms. Grido.” Then she shifted uncomfortably at her next idea.

“Or we can find someone that would have connections with black market and have that person talk to us.”

“Oh that’d be easy.” Zuza said offhandledly. “I don’t have connections but it’s not exactly hard when you know what to look for. And my dad used to have connections all over the place so, if we can’t trace things through the more legal routes I can do that.”

“If we have anyone proficient in slicing, we can access the security feeds from the general area last night and follow our trail in reverse chronological order and try to spot any persons of interest,” Anders threw the suggestion out there.

It was, after all, something the Inquisitorius frequently did.

“I know someone who is… but we would never hear the end of it. Also, the egg must be important, might have been on display somewhere, or at least accessible if we got our hands on it while… under who knows what influence we were.” Ankira added

Anders took the hint, making his way over to the bedroom. He retrieved the egg and carefully inspected it.

“Did the droids make holo video’s that are usable? Not that I can see them… but it might help you guys.”

Evelyn glanced over to Zuza for a moment and then away. Who was she to judge? Before she joined Arcona, she had to get her hands dirty herself. At least this way, it can stay clean. She doesn’t want them to know. Anders went to investigate the egg. Avery was ordering food from the front desk. Thirteen beeped angrily and in jealously when Cassandra asked for BUDD-E to help them out.

“Thirteen.” Evelyn rubbed her forehead as Thirteen became quiet.

BUDD-E seemed to straighten with a droid-esque swagger. Anders returned to the rest of the group, egg in hand.

“Outside of a mis-alligned gemstone and mount-pin, I do not spot anything unusual. Though, it is vastly decorated and quite… dare I say… eggsquisite?”

He let the joke hang in the air for a moment, then fake coughed.

“Yes, well… Buddy, if you will please?”

Thirteen beeped in excitement.

Evelyn waited.

Thirteen then realized that it had been damaged somehow last night and everything was gone and erased as it beeped in apology to Cassandra and hid behind Evelyn’s leg.

Evelyn blankly stared at Anders for the ‘joke.’

Anders shrugged at her, a sly grin on his face.

Zuza snorted.

“Did you just make a pun Anders? Draca is rubbing off on you.”

“Please,” Anders then smiled at her. “Where do you think he got it from?”

The High Inquisitor raised a brow at her. So much for trying to help her. Next time, he might leave that crystal in a ditch somewhere.

He simply folded his arms, deciding to ignore that comment.

She glanced towards him and smiled as if saying that she was right.

“Perhaps there are clues on the clothes? Maybe we stuck something in our pockets?”

Thirteen suddenly beeped loudly and proudly as it whirled to the center of the room, declaring to those that knew Binary that it had found something! Its lens glowed as it started to show the hologram.

The bar was adjourned with weird artifacts and pictures on the wall. In the middle, there was space for people to dance. Music was playing and everyone was having a good time. The video panned over to the group, chatting and laughing away. Anders was missing. How odd. Then the entire group cheered very loudly as Thirteen looked at the stage and zoomed up to Anders grabbing the microphone. Music played as Anders started to sing, “My Way” by Frank Sainatra. The group cheered loudly again before becoming quiet so they can listen. When he was done, they and several others stood and clapped wildly.

One by one, someone in the group would pair up and go on the dance floor. Evelyn, who oddly looked relaxed and was even smiling. It was as if all the ice in the world had melted away and there was warmth. Anders hopped down the stage and he was oozing with strong confidence. He leaned forward and whispered something in Evelyn’s ear as she busted out laughing, her dimples revealing. She stayed smiling as he held out his hand and asked her for a dance. At first, she shook her head until she was shoved by Matcha closer towards Anders. With a playful roll of her eyes, Evelyn agreed. Matcha then asked Ankira for a dance as well. The droid obviously attempted to follow the pair but was kicked around by the patrons of the area. The music changed.

Evelyn’s arms crossed across her chest. She felt exposed. Her team has seen her do small smiles or chuckle but nothing… joyous as that.

The droid finally caught up and people were clapping and cheering as Anders and Evelyn did the Tango. The video looked around, catching Cassandra with a mischievous smile as she leaned down to whisper in Zuza’s ear who then gasped with her hands over her lips and eagerly nodded. Screams echoed in the video as the Nexu appeared at the dance floor, egg in its mouth and it looked mighty proud as if it caught something spectacular. The wave of legs started to split to make way for droid legs, guarded legs, and …what looked like a hutt body had slithered in.

“Get them!”

“Roger. Roger.”

“We’ve got to go!” Someone in the group shouted as the crowd started to scream and scramble to get away from something. Thirteen was roughly shoved by a droid and the video fizzled out.

Thirteen beeped sadly as it seemingly cannot remember what happened after it as it whirled to behind Evelyn’s legs.

Anders watched the footage with an avid curiosity, then a flush of indignation and embarrassment. Then, funnily enough, pride. He hit the high notes beautifully, even in his drunken state, he was still a magnificent singer, a fact that appeared to please their entourage.

No doubt Cassandra was likely to bring this up again. Anders hated the idea of being requested to perform at Taldryan or Arcona venues like a rat in the circus because of his talents.

He did watch Evelyn, though. Arms folded, flat expression on her face. The Chiss was actually impressed, as was Evelyn as it seemed, that she did not miss a beat. Though, if anything, judging by the slight tint in her cheeks, she was embarrassed to be spotted behaving like this.

“By the sounds of it… a lot has happened last night,” Ankira said softly. She was still trying to remember if she heard any names of places they went too, but she came up blank.

If one were looking, they’d never tell Anders had begun silently communicating with Cassandra. It was a form of communication established by them both when they needed to talk in secrecy, or when Senate meetings droned on and on about some Force forsaken topic nobody with a sane mind cared about.

Seriously, who in their right mind cared whether one moon’s farmland was too samey compared to their neighbours moon? Was this not something governor’s could sort out for themselves?

‘Cassandra, do be a dear and suggest that we communicate telepathically. I would do it myself, but I do believe they would see reason with you as opposed to me.’

Matcha watched the projection with great scrutiny, looking for herself in the hologram to see what antics she might’ve been up to. She smirked softly when she appeared in frame and asked Ankira to dance. Her smirk grew ever wider when the woman accepted. She watched and waited for more to happen, but it seemed everyone had been interrupted by some form of commotion that most likely led to one hell of a chase. The Mirialan turned her head to the Chiss woman she had danced with the night before and gave her a wink before something suddenly came to mind.

“Does the name ‘Launch Pad’ sound familiar to anyone? I think it might’ve been a bar we ended up in.”

Anders raised a brow. Curious.

“No, I do not believe I do. Would you care to elaborate?” Anders said, since Cassandra clearly seemed to be ignoring his telepathic message.

Probably to spite him, knowing her.

“Not much to elaborate on, just a name I think I remember. Maybe it’s a place we can look for clues or something, but after food.”

“And getting more presentable,” Ankira added, “Though I kinda remember the name.”

“I think you look plenty presentable,” Matcha cooed and then shrugged “But to each their own.”

She arched a brow towards Matcha, “I still like to wear my Mandalorian outfit, thank you.”

Anders pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head at Matcha’s comment.

‘I am surrounded by lecherous idiots.’

“Then we should proceed post-haste. We will need the address of the location.”

Matcha was without any form of technology so she decided to leave it to an individual who was in possession of a datapad to look up the address. “So I’m looking for shoes for me and also your armor?” She asked Ankira

She nodded, “dark gray and white with red lines. Should quite stand out.”

Today was just one comical circumstance after another. Anders had to resist the urge to pinch his arm. He half-thought he was dreaming this entire sequence,though his dreams were rarely ever so pleasant. The dark side made sure of that.

“Hutty… Benedict…” He repeated with a heavy, morose sigh. “Well, at least the name is… unique.”

“If I had to guess, likely a wig, or perhaps a transplant.”

Anders’ mental answer crossed her psyche.

While the group worked to solve the mystery of the night before, Avery spent time ordering a large meal to their suite. He ordered little bit everything to accommodate the varying physiologies present but nothing too sophisticated so that even the most pickiest eater would be satisfied.

He fished out his wallet from his back pocket as was habit, relieved that the item was preserved in its spot. Although he was wise enough to have several accounts and credit chits, losing capital was never a good thing. Everything seemed good until the voice from the other end made his face turn pale.

“Sorry sir our system is rejecting your credit account.”

“Huh?” He reminded himself this was not her fault. “I-uh… There’s no need to apologize.”

He exhaled sharply, one hand on his hip, his lips twisted to one side as he thought. “Okay. Can you take an account number instead?”

“Yes sir, we can.”

Thanks to his memory, he was able to recite the account numbers like it was the back of his hand. The call ended and the food was on the way. He rubbed the back of his neck trying to remember where in the bloody galaxy had ten-thousand credits gone.

The doctor rejoined the group. About to announce the status of their long awaited meal, he stopped in his tracks his mouth slightly agape. He blinked slow at the image of the Hutt on the screen. “It is biologically impossible for Hutts to have hair…”

Evelyn almost shot Matcha a look for her to remember about boundaries but it seemed she shifted over and offered to help Ankira to find her armor. That was good.

Evelyn stared at Cassandra when she brought up the name of the Hutt. Then the picture. This was a joke. Had to be.

No one was laughing.

She absolutely cannot wait to go home and be locked in it for 48 hours after this.

“Homeless Relief Fundraiser.” Her voice was soft, almost inaudible. She was more speaking to herself as if reminding herself with something. Did they really mess with a Hutt who was helping Nar Shaddaa and it’s people or was it a cover? With Evelyn’s history before she joined the military, it wouldn’t surprise her if it was a cover. She ignored the fact that the Hutt had ‘hair’.

“Should we all go to The Launch Pad together or should we split up and cover more ground? Also, we should not leave until there is food in our stomachs.” Her tone changed at the last few words.

“We would be able to think more clearly and recover much better once we do. It may be bad to try to rescue Ms. Grido in our current state. We could always take the food to go when it arrives.”

“Food is covered and on the way,” Avery said, his brows lifting as if he just remembered. “ETA is less than twenty.”

With the help of Matcha they recovered her clothes and Ankira was soon fully dressed again. As soon as she was dressed she felt a lot better too. She safely stored her crystal away in one of her hidden pockets and checked weapons. They were still safely there and on safety lock, didn’t look like they were used either last night, so that was a good sign.

The only thing she was missing was her helmet. It wasn’t on the floor were they found the rest of her clothes, but instead it was hanging on the lamp at the ceiling.

“Uh… Can some one help get my helmet of the chandelier?”

Ankira arched a brow as she watched her helmet and picked it up from the air before placing it onto her head.

“Thank you.”

Zuza, now wearing pants beneath the Jawa cloak, looked over to the group.

“I’d say only split up if we have multiple ways of communicating. We don’t want one group to go dark and it not get noticed or somethin’. Better to stick together than to have to search for more people, yknow?”

“I can certainly help with that,” Anders held a smug, confident grin on his face.

“The mind whispers?” Ankira shook her head, almost a shiver. “How about we use our comms.”

“Because our comms can be sliced,” Anders answered bluntly.

“And you could be taken out and we are all without connection,” Ankira replied flatly

“Then how about a compromise?” Anders attempted negotiation before he decidedly became frustrated with this frivolous endeavour. “We keep our communicators with us in the event that telepathic communication ceases. Though, they must remain switched off until such an event occurs. Which it will not.”

He made sure to emphasise that last point.

“Fine,” Ankira answered. She hated the mind whispers, but if that was to keep him happy, so be it. Looking around the room, she hoped this would be solved quickly and that she could go back to her normal things.

Evelyn heard Anders quickly chimed in that he could help with that. It didn’t quite click what he meant until Ankira brought up Mind Whispers as she mentally grimaced. Her parents had made sure that she was trained to keep people out of her mind. They would hire Siths and-

She slightly paled. And now, she may have to. All because she was idiotic enough to drink so much last night.

Consequences for her actions. She slowly calmed herself when reminding that it’s just telepathy and nothing else extreme. Or so she hopes. Her dark emerald hues glanced over to the consuls as she waited to see if they agree with Anderson.

“Mind whispers?” Zuza asked, fairly sure what it was but she hadn’t exactly done it before. Telepathy wasn’t something she could do.

“How would that work exactly?”

“Wait wait wait. Are you really suggesting that it would be best to tie all of our minds together with the force than to simply use technology that was quite literally designed for the task?” Matcha seemed rather baffled by the idea

“Technology can be sliced. The Force cannot.”

“It will be temporary.” Evelyn said as she slightly gritted her teeth. Her actions would show, Matcha, her displeasure to the idea as well. She didn’t like it either.

“And Mr. Anders did bring up the possibility of our communications being sliced. After that call I had, it would not surprise me. Usually Hutts with credits are amazingly well-up-kept with their technology, unless we happened to get lucky and dealing with an idiotic one.”

Matcha took a breath and then sighed. She barely had the courage in her to argue with a sith, let alone keep up with his wife as well. Especially since that wife was her captain.

“Whatever you say, boss.” The mirialan said directly to Evelyn. She didn’t know too much about her captain but she knew she treasured her privacy. So if she was okay with it, somehow, then she would be too

Evelyn gave Matcha a quick apologetic look.

“Thank you.”

Her dark green hues glanced over to the Chiss, “You might regret this.”

Zuza looked between them all, rubbing the back of her neck.

Bit awkward.

Anders held up a finger. “I should preface this by saying at no point are your most private thoughts on display if you do not wish them to be. You must intend to communicate for everyone to hear. I will not be invading everyone’s privacy. I do believe we have done enough of that already.”

“And what if I wish them to be?” Matcha asked, sounding and looking a lil too devious

“Then we will hear you,” Anders gave her a stern look. “And will judge you accordingly.”

“If she wishes to share something she wants to share, let her. I trust Match to respect our boundaries if we ask her to stop. And Mr. Anders-”

She looked over to him, “Do not judge my crew.”

“Of course. Happy wife, happy life and all that,” Anders rolled his eyes and then closed them.

At first, it felt like… nothing was happening. It almost might have looked like the male Chiss in the room had fallen asleep.

Yet, when he opened his ears, he smirked.

‘There. You should all be able to hear me now, and consequently, each other.’

Ankira shivered, she did not like these Mind Whispers.

‘Yes, I hear you.’ she thought back

Thats karking weird

Zuza thought, then looked around. Kark was that audible? How do I-

“How do i know what you guys can or can’t hear?”

The Human looked rather disconcerted.

“Relax,” Anders spoke surprisingly gently, like a teacher attempting to reassure a student.

‘We will only hear whatever you want us to hear. Think with intention.’

Zuza was.. genuinely surprised at the gentleness. Anders had never been harsh to her, their interactions had been entirely positive but barring his obvious soft spot for Draca, he held himself a step away from people.

It wasn’t surprising he was capable of it, it wasn’t the first the first time she’d seen it in people like Anders, but it still caught Zuza off guard. In a good way, at least.

Then it hit her that, from the lack of people reacting, none of that had been communicated.

“Oh like..” - Like this? Wooo that’s weird but alright.

Evelyn remained quiet before, “May I talk to you? Alone.”

<@837236610684813342>

Anders was, admittedly, surprised. Even wanted to speak with him alone? It wasn’t that long ago she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Well, he might as well see this through, if only because his curiosity was piqued.

“Very well.”

He went into a seperate room with Evelyn in tow. He folded his arms behind his back and addressed her.

“If you are concerned about any ill intentions, rest assured. If I wanted to probe minds, I would have done so already. Anyone can hide their deepest thoughts should they wish too. I designed this link specifically for this purpose.”

Evelyn grimaced as they entered into the room. This room was in bad shape, just like the living room. Her skin started to crawl. She wanted to just find the janitor’s closet and-

She ignored it and turned to face the Chiss as he started to speak. She looked at him a bit shocked at his bluntness but then gave him a small smile. Was this that sometimes people complain of her? Of her truthfulness?

“No. It is not about that. Thank you for the honesty of your intentions and thank you for not probing us, that may have gotten bad, fast.” She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts especially with Anders throwing her off about him could’ve done it if he wanted to. It just brought back traumatizing memories to her for a moment.

“It is about your comment of ‘happy wife, happy life’. Mr. Anders, I do not know of your history with relationships and clearly, we both are very unhappy right now. What I am trying to say, if you disagree with something that I had said, we can discuss it. No need to live by that motto because of our current situation. And frankly, I hate that saying. It is one sided.” Her eyes flickered over to the closed door before going back to Anders.

“And I figured this was a conversation you do not want in front of them.”

Thirteen grumbling beeped as it rolls right into Zuza’s leg and let out a long beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep that sounded almost like a whine.

“Awwhh thirteen what’s up buddy?”

Zuza leaned up, attempting to scoop the Droid like she would Frond.

Well, that was certainly unexpected. Anders almost let that thought slip through the mental link he’d only just established. Thankfully, he was a master of restraint and corrected himself.

“My dear, if i may be so bold and ask…”

Not that he was going to give her a choice.

“Why do you care?” Anders folded his arms across his chest. “We will be getting a divorce at the first available opportunity and then you will be glad to see the back of me. Our marriage was accidental. It means nothing. You know this.”

“Because, in my opinion, no one should had to live with that mentality. As for our marriage, there are no disagreement on what you said except for the part about that I would be glad to see the back of you.” Evelyn shifted her weight.

“We barely know each other, I am not a woman to judge people so quickly. In that case, I would feel indifferent.” Evelyn despite quick judgements. She’s only human after all and sometimes does make a first impression judgement, but those were usually shoved aside and she rather use her observations and knowledge.

Matcha too the excuse of being hungover and unused to the mind link as an excuse to have a bit of a laugh. The only people she really knew from the night before had left so it was up to her to make new friends now.

“How many bets have we got on them making out in there?” The woman asked both verbally and mentally so Anders and Evelyn would hear

“Low. I’m fairly sure Evelyn doesn’t swing that way.” Zuza commented in response.

“If I have gauged Evelyn properly, I’d say she’s likely to grab him by the shirt first and–” Avery stopped and chuckled, shaking his head at the memory of the Echani grabbing his shirt. He also remembered the company he was in plus*Eevie and her supersonic hearing*.

He cleared his throat. “I also wouldn’t bet on it.”

“C'mon Zuza, there are always exceptions” Matcha smiled before shooting Ankira a wink and a smirk

“While it does look quite stylish on you, Miss Matcha, may I have my tie back?” Avery flashed the Mirialan a charming smile.

Zuza snickered, “Okay fair but I doubt it. Not that it wouldn’t be a hot image.”

Maybe it was the booze or the aching pains all over but in that moment, Matcha’s filter decided it would be a good idea to light itself on fire, Eevie be damned. She took the tie off, walked on over, took the tie off of herself, and took the liberty of sliding it over Avery’s head.

She leaned in close to his ear and whispered softly “Here you go, handsome.” She made sure to run her hand over his chest to straighten the tie for him before pulling away “I take it back. The tie definitely looks better on you~” she purred, her voice almost melodic.

Ankira rolled her eyes at her actions.

“How long before food gets here? Else I think Matcha can’t contain herself”

Not quick to judge him? Evelyn was full of surprises, wasn’t she?

Anders had, of course, heard Matchs loud and clear through the telepathic link. Of course, he had expected some sort of debauchery to occur through the link, but he had rather hoped it would be later, rather than minutes after he was out of earshot.

He sighed, ignoring Matcha for a moment.

“Most people cannot handle the truth, unfortunately. I do what I need to do for the greater good of the Galaxy and the people around me. A lot of the time. They just refuse to see it.”

An idea sparked in his brain, causing a slight grin to stretch across his face.

“I have an idea, if you are so inclined?”

<@216702440140046336>

Perhaps it was the hangover or just being starved for *real * food, but Avery was briefly hypnotized by the white-haired woman, stepping into the tie as she put it up over his head. The sensation of her hand over his chest lingered, the color draining from his face.

By some miracle, he resisted his primal urges and cleared his throat, both hands going into the pockets of his pants.

“Thank you, Matcha,” he said, taking on a more formal tone. Ankira’s comment broke the tension he felt in his soul.That was inappropriate, he reminded himself not daring to even look in the direction of Eevie.

“Ah yes! Food!” His comm beeped in a timely fashion. “It’s here. I’ll go take care of that.”

Matcha’s words were not amiss as she felt her face and shoulders went warm as she sighed. She always was unable to control her blush when it happens but she maintained the stoic expression. Her eye contact never wavered, she was trained to never look away from people when they are talking.

‘They just refuse to see it.’

Evelyn made sure to keep that in mind. Was it really or could it be a possibility that Anders was blind to what he does? The rumors on him were insane but-

Hmm. No. It was not her place to judge. She’ll have to see for herself especially as the day go on. Anders smiled which threw her off for a moment until he mentioned he had an idea.

“…What is it?”

At the announcement of the food had arrived, Evelyn stepped out, her pilot suit zipped down to her midriff and her white hair loose from the braid it was in earlier. She started to zip up her suit and glanced over to Anders’s unbuttoned shirt.

“Let me get that,” Evelyn said softly as she stood in front of him and started to buttoning up his shirt.

Matcha frowned as Avery respect fully denied her but mentally shrugged. It was for the best anyway, she was already gonna get an earful for that stunt of hers. She took a step back and her head turned to see Evelyn walking out looking mildly disheveled.

Matcha whistled and smiled “Way to go, Captain!” She cheered and teased, mildly sad she zipped the flight suit up. “I knew you had it in you.”

Zuza looked surprised, blinking a few times and looking over Anders and Evelyn for a long few moments before shrugging.

Well, that was odd. Huh. She laughed at Matcha’s cheer but was finally sipping on water so didn’t add her own comment.

Ankira arched a brow as she looked towards them and then shook her head slightly at the cheer from Matcha. She hoped Avery would return soon with the food so that the conversations would reach higher then gutter height.

She walked back towards the living room and sat down onto one of the chairs and waited.

“Why, thank you very much, my dear,” Anders smiled at her as she buttoned up his shirt, which was slightly amusing given the difference in height.

There was a small part of him that had considered returning the favour and doing up the strap of her bra, but he ft that crossed a boundary and as such, kept his hands to himself.

“Yes, I, for one, need extra sustenance after recent… activities. Though, we should consider our next course of action to finding our alienated Hutt friend.”

If she could just melt into a puddle and die right here and now, she would. And Anders bringing it up made her face go red.

As usual. Such a curse to blush so easily no matter what. A drill sergeant can call her out in middle of a crowd and she would turn red.

Aketa loved it. Evelyn? She despite it.

She kept a calm and steady appearance as she finishes up with Anders’s buttons and fixes herself up. She still needed to process everything that had occurred today, including the videos and phone call. While she tried to figure out if there was anything they were missing, she gently reached out and grabbed a bowl of grapes and started to eat.

The Human doctor hauled the food into the penthouse just in time to see Evelyn and Anders rejoin them in the main room. Part of him wished that he took Matcha up on that bet. They looked like their time in that room had gone quite well.

If looks could kill, Avery would have been a dead man. Eevie’s eyes had witnessed the exchange between Matcha and Avery, a cold smile on her lips. He sensed she wasn’t thrilled about the situation and he would be correct. The man had given her grief and accused her of stepping out on their relationship. And then there was her fellow pilot. The time she spent bragging about him openly and now that was disregarded. Scorn quietly thrummed in the Sephi’s heart.

In the meantime, Avery announced the food’s arrival. “Food for everyone!” He hauled the bags onto the counter—enough food for a feast. He unpacked the trays from the steaming meals, the smell of take-out filling the air. He peered around the room and beamed a smile.

“Well,” he said waving his hands over the food as if presenting a project. “Ladies first.”

He withdrew from the kitchen, drifting closer to his lover. She remained seated on the disheveled couch causing concern to knit into Avery’s features. He quietly took a seat next to her.

Eevie shifted away from the man, her smile weak. “I’m not going to beat you over the head, but I want you to know that hurt.”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He sighed. “I know, I’m sorry.” Even to him, it felt like an empty apology. “I’ll make it up to you. Somehow. For now, let’s get some food.”

“You go. I’m not hungry.”

The doctor in him would have insisted that she push past that feeling to get some kind of nutrition. It was plain to him she wasn’t hungry because she lost her appetite. She lost her appetite because of him. Unwilling to push with so many eyes and ears around he let out another sigh.

“Let me know if you change your mind.” He stubbornly leaned back into the couch, not planning to move until she did.

“Splitting up would be wise then. I doubt Mr. Anders would be okay just sitting here while we try to find Ms. Gordi. Mr. Anders, myself, and…” Evelyn trailed off, looking at the resting Nexu that was curled up in a ball and snoozing. It was… kind of cute when it was calm and sleeping. Then she heard a small snort from the Nexu.

“His new friend could visit the bar… ‘The Launch Pad’ I believe. If we were to visit just two places, than more help would be appreciated.” Her hues glanced over towards movement as she looked over at Avery, who looked like he received some firm scolding. She flickered over to Eevie. With a soft sigh, she got up and made a plate.

"Excuse me.”

Approached the pair, “Move over.” Evelyn said as she squeezed in between the arm of the couch and Eevie and handed Eevie the plate.

“I am certain you do remember my…. what was the word that the crew likes to use? ‘Boring, too long, dull, and sleep-inducing’ lecture about the effects of the brain and body with an empty stomach and how it affects our job.”

“Then Miss… or should I say, Mrs. Evelyn and I along with our friend may visit the bar area.”

Anders gave Evelyn a wink.

<@216702440140046336>

Evelyn heard her name so she glanced over and see Anders winking at her. She wanted to say something in Cheunh but it wouldn’t be private considering Ankira was a Chiss and most likely know it too. And who knows if Cassandra and Zuza does? As far as she was concerned, Matcha did not.

Instead, she just stared at Anders.

The moment the two left the room, Anders placed both hands behind his back and proceeded to walk towards the entrance to the hotel.

‘Ensure that we keep each other updated at all times. Information is critical in tasks such as these.’

He then stopped, remembering his manners. He might be a Sith, but he was not an uncivilised brute unlike some of his predecesors.

He offered an arm out to Evelyn for her to take, if she wanted too. If not? Then oh well. He at least made the attempt.

Evelyn did not respond to his message. Zuza was staying behind just in case for some reason their room get visited by someone.

Ankira and Matcha was going with them. That was good, Evelyn would want to keep an eye on her and make sure she was doing okay.

Anders stopped in the middle of his walk and she immediately checked their surroundings, did something catch his eye? Did he remember something? Instead, he offered his arm to her as she gave him a small smile.

She doesn’t mind being treated like a lady. She could feel her mother being proud if she was alive. Her arm hooked around his as she realized something and turned her head to look at him.

“You did not eat.” Then she looked over her shoulder to give Matcha a stern look before looking forward to not bump into anything.