#ghitvekzek

Hera dropped her head against her shoulder, eyes following him. “You can do better than that seeing as we’re such good friends, right?”

The Zabrak bared his sharp teeth in a bit of a feigned smile and pulled a nearby chair over, taking a seat. "One step at a time, hon. Answer my question or I'll just drop let you out an airlock — maybe an escape pod if I'm in a good mood."

“Oh, sweetheart, down to business so soon after our little entanglement?” Hera smiled, looking at the top of her little cell.

"Mm-hmm. I've got work to do and I'm not known to have a lot of patience."

The Rattataki lifted her head back up again, grinning sharply. “Now that’s a bare-faced lie and we both know it.”

Eggs sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples briefly. "Look, hon, you've got until I dock my ship at the Sleeping Nexu Port at the edge of Hutt Space to decide, otherwise I'll throw ya in with the other slaves and you'll be back in the pits."

Hera shrugged slowly and then stretched, grimacing as she did so. “I always do good on Shaddaa. There. Decided. Now, are you gonna let me out so we can have some more fun? I promise I won’t stab you, you know I don’t have anything on me with that little strip search you did back at my temporary lodgings.”

"Mm, I'm not in the mood; besides, I know better than to let you loose on my ship."

“I’m flattered you think so much of me.”

"Not really. More of an aphrodisiac, I suppose."

Hera grinned slowly. “Scared I’ll distract you from flying?”

Eggs laughed. "Oh, no, no, I have an astromech assigned to piloting for now. Truth be told I'm worried I'll get addicted, and Maker knows you need me to be level-headed for you to survive."

The Rattataki leaned forward slowly, much closer to the shield, and to him. “I could survive better with a little more consistency, sweetpea. I’m on my own so, so much, don’t you want to help me settle?”

The Zabrak shook his head in amusement. "D'ya really think y'can play me like a fool? Honey, you'd stab me in the back the first chance you got, and then spend what few credits I got like that," he says and snapped his fingers. “You’re chaos incarnate; you can’t settle.”

Hera kept laying it on as thick as you like. “How do you know I can’t settle? You never gave me a chance.”

"And I never will, hon."

She traced a figure of an eight against the shield with one finger. “That’s why I like you. You aren’t a complete sap.”

"No, I know better than that," Eggs smirked. He then looked at the level above and shouted, "Entoo! Adjust our course to Nar Shaddaa!" He smiled back at Hera and leaned back against his chair. "Since we are just good friends, as ya put it, I'll give ya a couple hundred credits to give ya a runnin' start. How's that sound?"

“And…?”

"I have some extra clothes. It might fit ya."

Hera stared blankly. “Going to leave me on Nar Shaddaa defenseless, hmm? With all those thugs and killers…”

"Don't play innocent with me, hon," Eggs said with a raised brow.

“Weaponless. Alone. Only a few credits to my name…”

Eggs shrugs. "A few credits? I'll leave ya there with just a hundred."

Hera narrowed her eyes. “You said two fifty…”

"Oh, no, no, I said two hundred. With all your complainin', though, I think you'll appreciate just one hundred a lot more." The Zabrak paused for a moment. "Don't I recall ya havin' a few enemies on that moon?"

The Rattataki grinned once again. “Enemies? Me?”

"If I give ya one hundred, I won't tell anyone you're there. Two hundred? I might slip some information by..."

“Y’know, the two hundred credit package might be more fun…”

Eggs points at Hera. "This, right here, is why I'll never settle down with ya. I like a thrill now and again, but you're bad for my health. One hundred creds, some clothes, and some rations. That's all you're gettin'."

Hera shrugged, it didn’t seem like she cared. Probably because she didn’t. “Sure, whatever you want, babe.”

Eggs stood from his chair and stretched. "For the time bein', however, are ya hungry?"

“Goin’ to cook me dinner, babe?” Can’t say I liked the meals my last place gave me.”

"I may as well give ya some scraps if you're stuck here a couple days while we travel."

“Mm-hmm, what’re you serving? Steak?”

Eggs shrugged. "Somethin' like that. It's not five-star dinin', but it's edible."

“Sure you don’t want some company at the dinner table?”

"I don't got a dinner table, hon."

Hera waved a hand. “Dinner crate, dinner lap…”

Eggs chuckled. "No, no, you're not leavin' that cell. And if you need to use the refresher, I'll give ya a bucket."

The Rattataki downright pouted. “You’re so mean to me. I didn’t even steal your ship.”

Eggs grinned. "Nope, and I'd like to keep it that way!"

“Must be hard.”

"I'm not," Eggs winked, and then stepped away from the cell so he could start on some dinner for them both.

"I don't know," the owner of the establishment hummed, stroking his own chin. "She still draws a fair crowd. More in hopes she'll finally fall but the credits don't worry about the reasons. You'd have to have something pretty good on offer."

The Zabrak nodded, and took out his holocom, and set it on the table between himself and the owner. It activated and projected a holo-portrait of a Shistavanen male. “He’s relatively intact,” Eggs continues, “missin’ an eye but his senses are sharp otherwise. Slightly above average in size and it took three of my men to take him down, and that was after I shot him with a tranquiliser.”

He sat back satisfied with his pitch and finally took his glass, knocking most of the contents back in one go. As he set the glass down he noticed it wasn’t entirely clean, but what did he expect? Either way, it was no worse than what he usually had.

"Hmm, very, very interesting proposition." The owner said, nodding to himself, "Of course, I'd need to have someone check out the goods for my own piece of mind. Sad state of affairs where we can't offer the same level of professional trust as we used to, but these are the times in which we live. A shame, crying shame." The owner sure did like to hear himself talk, but he allowed himself a breath or two and a sip of his drink before continuing.

"I have just one question rattling around in the back of my head, my friend." He tapped at the side of his own head then pointed at the Zabrak. Once again he paused, this time completely for effect. "Just to sate my boundless curiosity, why take on, in your own words, a 'worn out old Rattataki' in trade for fresh meat?" He leaned forward, resting his chin against the back of his hand. Something didn't seem to add up to him.

Eggs, the Zabrak, looks down at his glass for a moment and allows a grin to creep onto his face and a few sharp teeth gleam in the low light. “A favour for an old friend and,” he pauses for effect, “the Shistavanen isn’t really my type.”

"Aha," A seemingly knowing smile also spread across the owner's face. "Say no more." He snapped his fingers and whistled to someone nearby. "My associate will check your cargo, if you don't mind."

“Oh no, by all means, my friend. He’s the only one I currently have onboard, so he shouldn’t be hard to miss.”

The owner waved the employee off. "I suppose you'll want to see that the other one's still in decent shape, hm?"

“That would be great. I’ve been through and watched her fight a few times. No missing limbs yet, I take it? Other than the hand she lost prior to comin’ in, eh?”

"Surprisingly. Or perhaps not. Feral little thing. I've had more fighters with chunks taken out of them since she arrived than over the previous, hm, five years?" The owner stood and gestured for Eggs to walk in ahead of him. "I hope whoever your client is knows what they're doing."

“I’ll pass your concern along to ‘em.” Eggs smiled and pushed himself up from the table, walking ahead. “And if the Shistavanen proves to be less than desired in the fightin’ ring, do let me know. I’ll find you a new fighter, or I could find this ‘Taki again. Either way.”

"Now, then!" The owner said, with a surprisingly booming laugh as they kept a leisurely pace towards the building and inside. "I wonder what else you can say that I want to hear, ah? Going to pay my rent? Alimony fees perhaps? Hah!" The owner asked, slapping Egg's back, and none too lightly.

“Heh, not that much, but I wouldn’t mind doin’ business with ya again in the future.” Eggs smiled in a friendly manner. “I can find other supplies as well, not just the sentient sort.”

"Ah yes, I'm very sure you are very useful!" The owner said, as he led the Zabrak down into the depths that the general public never saw but must have known were there. Walking down the long corridor where the other fighters were housed, eventually stopping and knocking at the wall next to one of the doors.

"Half of me will not be sad to see this one go." The owner said, and flicked open a small panel in the door,  stepping back he gestured to Eggs to take a peek. "The other half of me likes what happened to my accounts."

“I’m sure the new fighter will bring in just as many profits, my friend.” Eggs smiled at the owner and then stepped up to the door to have a peek through the panel. “Not bad. How long’s she been here, again?”

The owner sucked some air through his teeth. "Has to be, hm, three months if it's been a day."

Eggs whistled. “Damn, really? Time flies!” He took a half-step back from the door and then banged on it once as hard as he could. “Honey, I’m home!”

A loud, long, and most importantly, angry growl emanated from behind the door. The owner took one step back, flicking his gaze between the door and Eggs. The sudden change in the Zabrak's behaviour didn't put him on edge but did make him just every so slightly wary. Unpredictable people we always just that, unpredictable. The door rattled as its occupant rammed her whole body-weight into it.

"See what I mean?" The owner said, in a half mumble.

“Not everyone can wake up in a cheery mood, my friend,” the Zabrak said with a friendly smile at the owner. He then turned back to the door but didn’t step up to it just yet, and said, “Now, now, is that any way to treat your ol’ friend Eggs? How about you show me around your current little house before we go, hmm?”

Silence for what felt like much too long, before a pair of pale ice-blue eyes squinted at him from the small slat in the door. The corners of her eyes slowly turned up as if the rest of her face was smiling. The owner kept back, curious but not enough to look closer.

“This might be an unusual inquiry…” Eggs began and turned back to the owner, his out of place smile dropping from his scarred face. “Might I go in for — oh, let’s say twenty minutes?”

The owner's brows shot up. Sighing and rubbing at his temples, he then both shrugged, shook his head and raised both hands in the air, before tossing something small over to him. "Here, it doesn't work as well as I'd like but it's better than nothing." He was already heading down the hall when he reached back and pressed a button on a small control pad. The door beeped and unlocked itself. The owner called back. "How about I give you thirty, just to be sure." The owner waved and locked the main corridor door behind him. At least this gave him a good time to check on his new fighter.

“Thank you, my new friend!” Eggs called down the hall, tossed the little controller up in the air and caught it again, smiling to himself. This would be an interesting half hour. The Zabrak opened the door and stepped inside, looking at Hera with both disdain and and impish excitement. How he managed both at once was a mystery.

“Well, you’ve certainly looked better,” he said to the Rattataki and shut the cell door behind him. “I came to rescue a princess, but the dragon will have to do.”

Hera licked her lips and stared at him. There was no denying that she didn't look exactly well looked after, still bruised and scratched up from a recent fight. She somehow managed to look wilder, too, like she'd been living feral and alone for the past three months. Her eyes flicked between him and the door and suddenly her entire posture shifted and softened as she slunk the barely two steps over to him, sliding one arm around his shoulders.

Tilting her head up to his ear, she whispered. "Mm, how about you and me swap and I come back for you in three months. See how you look." Hera smiled and ran her one real hand through Eggs' red hair. The hand tightened out of nowhere, and pulled his head down to meet her raising knee.

The pain was sudden but not surprising in the least. If Hera hadn’t attacked him, he’d have thought she was scheming. Not waiting a moment to recover, Eggs thrust his horns into the Rattataki’s abdomen, and only after did he raise a hand to his face to briefly assess the damage.

“Sorry, hon, but I’ve been busy. Lost track of time,” he just managed to growl before pressing the button on the remote in his hand. “You know how it goes.”

Hera barely had time to register what she'd seen in his hand before the shock collar activated. Her jaw clenched tightly, and every muscle in her body contracted until Eggs decided it had been enough. It wasn't the first time she'd had a nasty jolt, nor would it be anywhere near the last. She leaned forward, one arm cradling where the horns had hit, lifting her head enough to grin at him. "Foreplay already? You're spoiling me."

“What else did you think I came in here for?” Eggs raised a brow and nodded towards the closed and locked door. “We got half an hour, so take your pants off.”

"Or what? You'll shock me again?" Hera asked in a sing-songy tone. Not that she wasn't planning to do it, she just liked to push her luck.

“Nah, ya like that too much.” Eggs chuckled and pointed at the horns on his head. “I’ll give you some new piercings if you don’t do as I ask.”

"Boring." Hera said, but shrugged and did as she was asked. She got her answer and that was good enough for now. It would be the most fun she'd had in awhile anyway.

“Borin’, eh?” The Zabrak stepped back to the door and slid the slat closed. “You’re the one who’s borin’. I wasn’t expectin’ you’d just take it all off. Where’s the fun in that, huh?” He folded his arms and leaned back against the door, looking disapprovingly at Hera.

"I still got a shirt on, dickface, so it ain't all off." Hera said, throwing the pants at his face. "And no-one said I was gunna just lie down for you like some rebellious little noble trying so, so hard to get her daddy's attention." Hera cracked her knuckles and neck, licking her lips again. "You want it, you fight me for it."

Eggs pulled the pants from his face and threw them to the floor, sneering at Hera. “That’s better, hon. Ya had me thinkin’ you forgot how all this worked!” The Zabrak cracked his own neck and then lunged at the smaller Rattataki. Smaller probably only in height, however; she was likely hiding more muscle than himself, but he was still a fair fight for her species.

**********************

The owner slowly walked back down the corridor, this time with two of his biggest and burliest guards. This day had started out so nicely, and now he was thinking about the possibility of at least one dead body he'd have to deal with. The owner groaned under his breath and shooed the two guards over while he rubbed at his temples with one hand and opened the door with the other, from a distance of course.

The two guards stepped forward and pushed the door open, ready to fire should someone lunge at them. The sight that met them wasn't exactly as they'd thought it'd be. Yes, there was a lot of blood, but no-one was dead. They were, however, incredibly naked. The guards weren't terribly sure what to do with this, and just looked helplessly back to their boss.

“Oh, it’s been a half hour already?” The Zabrak asked. Bloodied and bruised, Eggs had been taking a few minutes to recuperate from his fight — if one could call it that — with Hera. He kept a grip on the shock collar’s remote and shoved the Rattataki off himself so he could get dressed, not doing much to hide his nude state nor keep his blood from dripping on everything, but really why bother? The bodyguards had already gotten more than an eyeful of the scene.

Hera just grunted at him and stretched, cracking her spine and yawning apparently without a care in the world. The owner blinked slowly, having stepped into view when the reaction was quiet confusion and not a fire fight.

"Please tell me you didn't come here just for that." The owner asked.

“Not initially,” Eggs said as he stepped into his trousers and pulled them up, and then searched around for his shirt. “I did come to trade her, I just also got somethin’ out of my system while I was here— Oh! Did’ya like the Shistavanen, by the way?” The Zabrak seemed to slip right back into his previous demeanour — cool, calm, and collected, and not the unpredictable alien he became in the ‘stables’.

The owner continued staring, the shift in tone catching him off guard. "Yes, yes. A fine example."

Hera leaned back against the wall, hissing then smiling as the cold irritated the fresh cuts on her back. She made no move to get dressed. Just because Eggs implied that she was going to be leaving with him didn't mean it was true, she'd made lies like that before herself many times. Of course she'd be there in the morning. Of course she'd help out. Of course she wouldn't leave you there with a dozen thugs.

“Excellent, my friend. So it’s a deal?” Eggs slipped his shirt on, and then his boots, all relatively quickly, and then straightened out his red hair between his horns and took his coat. “I prefer to have things in writin’, if it’s all the same to ya. Oh, and,” he glanced back to Hera in the room before stepping out, “can your boys here package her up for me, so to speak? I can’t have her loose on my ship.”

"Of course, of course." The owner just nodded slowly, it all made sense in some weird way, didn't it? Right? He waved at the two guards who cautiously made their way into the small room, Hera looked beat up, and was beat up, but that never stopped her from being somewhat of a danger. Hera spat some blood onto the floor, mixing in with all the rest. She looked up with a still-tinted red grin and blew the guards a kiss.