Nar Shaddaa

Hala took a break before her next shift out peace keeping. She hadn't been to Fancy's yet and her trip might not be complete if she didn't complete the casino circuit. At least the ones that were still open to her.

She might see a man she knew, sitting at a Sabbac table alone. There was no glass close to hand which was unusual, and no cigarette between his lips either. The cards were definitely not in his favor but he didn't really seem to care.

gambling tier 2 day 10 EA 300 credits Cheating: 3eP+1eA+2eD+1eC+1eS 1 failure, 1 advantage


-270 credits

Hala's uniform jacket hung open slightly so that the wide lapel on the far side did not fully cover the other, and her right arm hung very stiffly at her side.

"Heya stranger, bad run of luck?" she asked politely.

"The worst." Zane replied softly as he turned his gaze towards the Imperial officer. "That's okay though, some days Lady Luck needs to give you the cold shoulder."

He offered her a smile, though it was perhaps a bit more weary then usual. "How have you been Hala?"

"Lesser, and less," she answered coyly with a slight frown.

"This, all of this? It really is a game for the young, more than I sometimes recall. How are you? Did your evening with the couple go well?"

"Seems like their is a bit of story to that." Zane replied with a smirk, his eyes focusing on her right arm for a few moments. "You're right though, and before long I'll be joining the ranks of the older."

He waved her to take a seat, no point in the lady standing. "Oh that went well, the two of them really hit it off. thought I'd have to act like a chaperone if they didn't stop making out on the dance floor."

"As for me? I'm better then some. Still kicking at the very least."

"What I always seem to be on Smugglers Moon, two or three steps behind being able to keep the peace. This time 'she and a leg's wasn't just a euphemism for usury," she answered vaguely.

"Were they still at least dancing? They'd have a pretext then," she added with a bit of a smile.

He raised a eyebrow, his eyes drifting to her arm again. "Should I be calling you the steel fist of justice now or something?" He offered dryly, before looking towards her eyes, perhaps trying to read something from her expression.

"You could vaguely call it dancing... I thought it more like sex with their clothes on, though honestly that's perfectly acceptable on some dance floors."

"Let's not. I'm not one for titles and they've already given me another wounded survivor commendation in less than a standard day. I've had it up to here with special honors, and this isn't something that would get me dragged into general staff either, so everything done us just a bug fuss isn't it?"

"That's sounds like standard operating procedure for both politicians and the military. I was certain you would be used to that by now." His tone turned slightly teasing. "You have been dealing with it for quite a while after all."

"No, I'd gotten used to not getting blown up actually. Quite used to it. Not sure, if I had to choose, between that and this though. Rather neither, if I could," she said, getting playfully defensive in kind.

"Oh come now there are benefits to being blown up.... Probably." He paused a moment a slight smirk on his features before continuing. "I mean it can make you vulgarly disheveled, and then some handsome young men might just come around to nurse you back to health."

"Well so far, being blown up hasn't worked out for me. You were no where nearby last night to help 'nurse me back to health'. Much the pity. I wasn't vulgarly disheveled, but you missed a cute Navy surgeon helping me out of my uniform. Maybe good for you, the bedside manner wasn't full service," she joked, laughing slightly but breathing a bit more heavily than she had their previous conversations.

There was a mischievous light in Z's eyes as he looked her over. "That is something I just might have liked to see. As you said though I had business elsewhere, and unfortunately that allowed little time for rescuing damsel's in distress." There was a slight inflection in Z's tone but it was hard to tell what it was. "More's the pity I suppose."

"I would say you could come make up for it tonight.... but my room got blown up too. Now I'm bunking up elsewhere and... well... Navy and shared bunks, these are things you don't do - bringing someone back to your rack when you don't have privacy. At least, not unless you intend on sharing," she added with another mostly unforced wolfish smile before she exhaled heavily and leaned back against the railing encircling the casino floor.

"Not quite back to full strength, though."

"I can't say I've always objected to sharing." He replied teasingly with a sly smile on his face. He calmed things down a notch a moment later as she leaned against the wall. "It might be best if you get some rest though, a injury like that, even with out medical techniques isn't something you recover from in a short amount of time."

She nodded in agreement though she answered differently.

"I will, just need to make it through tomorrow then I can rest properly once the talks are done. I've worked hard to make sure this didn't fall apart, I want to make sure it still won't in the waning hours hm?"

"Understandable." He offered her a warm smile. "With talk like that though, I see there is little need to worry about you. You're more then strong enough to make it through the rest of these talks."

Or at least she appeared to be.

"Yesterday I was. Today I still believe myself to be, but I'm glad it's only one more day. Then I can put on more comfortable clothing and spend several days in a Navy medical ward getting chastised for my poor life choices," she nodded with a frail smile.

"What's next for you?"

"There are a few things on my plate, that I need to wrap up. Perhaps none If it is as important as the peace talks you're part of though "

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Soon enough though I'll be leaving. Need to get away from all this death and mayham for a while."

"Everything can be important. I had a doctor tell me that he wasn't as important as me because he wasn't making sweeping changes. I thought I should point out that him helping save my life and doing better than the doc I'd had before him was pretty sweeping for me," she said, sucking in a slow breath before exhaling.

"Where's next then for you?"

"You have a point there." Z replied with a light chuckle. "I'm no doctor though, the changes I make, who knows how many they really effect."

He glanced in her direction. "I haven't really decided, I have a few ideas, but could be I just wander for a while. I have my own boat after all, I can float wherever I like."

"Well, let me know where you wind up? If you're ever in the same system as me, I'd love to catch up," she offered.

"I might just do that. Though it will likely be far easier for me to find you. A colonel and a politician, your movements aren't the type to go unnoticed."

"'Politician' isn't a very nice thing to call someone," she said, feigning anger before smiling again.

"But it will probably be easier for you with your ship to find me than it would be for me with my desk to find you."