Passing the Time [zett, lmr]

[Mara]

(((Per this thread... )))



[...from Reflections on Retirement]

His bland brown eyes were narrowed in concentration, as he moved the stylus across the datapad. He tapped it across the screen a couple of times, destroying the last of the green aliens. A grin of satisfaction briefly brightened his features as the graphics for finishing the current level displayed. The fourth level, the farther he had ever gotten so far. With his other hand, he thumbed his mug of ale and took a sip before returning his gaze to the ‘pad. The fifth level came up, and he got back to work, stylus moving back and forth, dragging, tapping. But the aliens were moving much faster, and even with the stylus’s aid, his big hands couldn’t get to them quickly enough. And they crawled all over his spacecraft, destroying it. With a grunt, he let the datapad drop to the table.

Ean, Corellian bounty hunter on extended holiday, turned back to his drink for a while. Maybe he could play more Space Mutiny later. His gaze wandered over the inside of the cantina he was occupying. It was near the spacesport of Tyrena, and so the patrons were a pretty varied bunch. Perhaps not as much as Coronet City would have, but it was still a popular destination to stop over. Everyone was being pretty quiet, though, involved in their own conversations or intoxications, and Ean hadn’t anything to worry about. Though, even if something did disturb the peace, he wasn’t sure if he would get involved anyway.

Some peace and relaxation was all he really wanted now, after the whole Borgonia bounty situation. With his face plastered over the news networks and Holonet, he had decided to just return home, where Corellians had more important things to do than talk about current events. And especially in his hometown of Tyrena. It was as good a place as any for him to stay awhile, taking a well-needed break from the task of hunting bounties. Though he hadn’t lived there in years and both his parents now gone, it still felt like home. There was something nostalgic about the underbelly of the city.

Of course, he rarely wandered far from the spaceport since returning. Ean hadn’t yet taken a room anywhere, preferring to keep bunking on his ship. It wasn’t that he was planning on being able to leave at a moment’s notice. He just didn’t feel a need to set down roots, no matter how homey Tyrena was to him. Perhaps later he would—he had millions of credits to spare—but for now he was content in his cabin aboard the Heleen’s Hope, his one remaining connection to the memory of his mother. And to Sam. Abandoning his ship, even for a night, seemed traitorous.

Without any consistent work now, Ean had taken to passing the time in different ways. Sometimes he would tinker around his ship, learning more about it, with help from some spaceport mechanics willing for a handful of credits extra or sometimes Felze Zeng his sometime partner. Ean figured out what tools were used for what and had even spent a few credits fixing it up, inside and out. He had also drifted back into cooking more, something he hadn’t had time for in the last few months. If he had the choice of eating in a cantina or local diner and cooking his own meal, he would always choose the latter. Even if it was prepared in his ship’s galley, it was better than anything in town.

But even that would bore him sometimes, and he found himself wandering through the nearby streets. Sometimes he wiled away a few hours in the company of a woman and left a few hundred credits lighter. Mostly, though, he hung out in cantinas here and there, drinking in companionable silence, listening to snatches of conversation around him, fiddling with his datapad. He had taken to using it for more recreational uses. There was no need currently for him to research bounties and prey with it. During the long downtimes of hyperspace travel going after the Borgonia woman, Felze Zeng had shown him how to have more fun with the datapad, pointing out a few games he might enjoy. Ean did; most of them were simple enough that he didn’t get completely frustrated at them after only a nanosecond. They were actually pretty enjoyable.

Today that’s how he was passing the time, the current cantina being the Verulean Moon. An odd name for a cantina a few blocks from the Tyrena spaceport, but Ean found it relaxing. He had taken a table near a window, sitting alone with his games and his drink. Finishing his scan of the cantina’s patrons and his mug, he picked up the datapad again. Ean signaled a serving droid for a refill and then started scanning for something new to play.

After he had gotten the hang of it, with the aid of the stylus—his fingers being a bit too large to effectively use the buttons—he had been able to search for new things without the Zeltron’s help. With a glance around the room around him, he bent over the datapad a bit closer. It was a bit embarrassing that he was starting up a game like this. More a learning device than a game, it was filled with activities for the brain. Not the sharpest mind, Ean had found the program by accident and immediately downloaded it to his datapad, hoping it would help him out. He selected a math portion of the program and got to work, brows furrowed, not noticing the droid return with his full mug of ale.

[hiei]

Mal's ship landed, and he exited along with his squad. His cheek still burned from the wound the Sith had given him, but he had decided to keep the wound instead of using a bacta patch. This would remind him of his own stupidity, besides that he liked the look of the two crossed scars. After a quick stop off at his bunk, dropping his bag, he went to the COs office and checked in. He had been yelled at by his old CO, and his new one wasn't too pleased with his choices. Though his old one hadn't filed charges which made him extremely happy. Though he had been transfered far from any possible fighting. He liked that, but at the same time he wanted the chance to make up for letting the Sith go.

Mal left the office and sighed, sending the next man in. He headed straight for the nearest speeder, not caring where he went. The speeder dropped him off at the space port, right across the street from a cantina. He looked down at his uniform, he hadn't thought about changing. Instead of returning to the base, he decided to ignore it. His CO wouldn't like it, but he didn't care. He wouldn't cause trouble, and he wasn't on duty so there were no rules against it. Besides, the last time he had been to Corellia his visit had only lasted a few hours before he was transfered again.

Mal entered the cantina and took a seat near a big man leaning over a datapad, he couldn't help but be amused by the big man. Though he chose not to comment about it, he wasn't sure how well the other man would take it. Mal motioned at the serving droid, and asked for ale. A few couple minutes later the droid came back with his drink. The soldier leaned back and examined the patrons of the cantina. He was slightly impressed with the diversity, he didn't see this much in most of his posts.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

(some time after Down Time with me and Mal)

Why is it that every time I'm around a cantina...........
trouble seems to find me?
Zett was being dragged out of the back of a Cantina on Corellia
he was not in his armor but he did have his gun's,but the were now being carried away with another guard who was behind Zett.
there was a small back ally that was coming up, he saw the man who had the twin 27 Westers was right behind him,
the ally got tight,Zett pulled with his right arm pulling the man that had held him down to the ground,
it was not hard to get the second arm free a quick punch in the mans gut gave him it back, he grabbed a pipe off the ground and plowed it into the man who had his guns head, swiping his guns back taking out the last of the guys in only a few seconds.
OK, Hebba is really ticking me off, now lets see how much my bounty is worth?...OH BLAST 25,000 Credits.
he grabbed his head in surprise.
it goes up every time i send them back both in and out of body bags.
he sighed as he walked back into the Cantina to see another face he knew, he walked over to the bar were he saw the man was sitting with another man a brute in all forms of the word.
Mal,it is a small Galaxy after all.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Ervisa Therani's first thought upon waking up was wondering why exactly her face was in a cloud. After all, it was a soft white thing, and clouds were soft white things. It made perfect sense after all. Especially since she was also lying on some sort of soft thing... naked. That was hardly a surprise after all. If you were on a cloud, why not be naked on one? It was far more comfortable that way.

The Mirialan ex-Jedi became mindful of a certain hard object resting up against her side, something that was definitely not a cloud. Well, if it was a cloud then clouds were quite disappointing things. Her hand grasped it and raised it up in front of her placid grey eyes flecked with a brilliant blue. They took a second to focus in on it, but when she did she placed it. A bottle of yellow wine, with about a quarter of a bottle left.

She shifted her left leg out from under her, and it bumped up against another hard object. Undoubtedly another bottle. At the same time, Ervisa lowered the bottle occupying her field of vision, and into focus came a man's face.

Of all the surprises that could have come, this was about the least surprising of them all. When there were empty and mostly empty bottles of alcohol lying in the bed, odds were there was a man in there too. And on Corellia that was a foregone conclusion. Ervisa Therani's weak spot was Corellian men. In particular Corellian men who smoked, drank, and gambled. The holy trinity as it were.

Ever since 'the Unfortunate Tease,' as the hot pink medium freighter Ervisa was now the pilot of was known, had docked on Corellia a week ago, she'd been in essentially non-stop party to say the least, and there'd been one man each night, and copious amounts of liquor. In other words, one hell of a good time for all parties involved.

The real surprise came when the Mirialan woman rolled over and found herself staring at the chest of a second man. Now that wasn't quite a first for her, but it was definitely far from normal. Generally she took her lovers one at a time. Apparently this time she'd had trouble choosing. Luckily she was a rather, well, 'giving' person, especially when completely hammered.

The only effect this had now was causing her to undulate her abdomen and legs in an almost serpentine fashion in order to slide off the cloud, er, bed that was on. That was a rather easy task, one she accomplished with the wine bottle still in her hand.

She stood there in the center of the room, completely naked, and looked around. It was rather nice really. A huge, and quite fluffy, bed was the center of the room, but it was adjoined by a bathroom and it also had a desk. Sitting on top of the desk was her trusty tan duffel bag. And scattered around the room were the bits of clothes from three people. Ervisa could spot her own garments pretty easily, especially the bra hanging from the ceiling fan. That one she pulled down to her using the telekinetic aspects of the Force. That was probably not the use of the power her Youngling instructors had in mind.

One by one her pieces of clothing returned to her lithe frame, culminating in her gunbelt, a black leather set-up with a drop leg holster on the right hip. With that final touch, she shouldered her duffel and walked out the door into the hallway.

Her very next stop was the continental breakfast that seemed ubiquitous to every hotel of reasonable quality. While there she picked up four pastries, six links of sausage, two strips of bacon, and a fresh pear. With all of the food perched on a paper plate, she walked out the door of the hotel and into the bright sunlight of the day, ready to meander through the streets of Tyrena.

She did meander, for about three hours, drawing progressively closer to the spaceport and eliminating her stockpile of food. With her stomach properly sustained, her thoughts turned to nourishment of the liquid variety.

The Mirialan woman was in perfect luck, not a block later she came up onto 'the Verulean Moon.' Hardly the best name for a cantina, but not the worst either. Besides, she had the distinct impression 'Verulean' got more and more entertaining to say with the more drinks you slammed back. That was reason enough to choose it as her place of habitation for the remainder of the day.

Sooner or later Pala or Morwynn would come looking for her, and quite possibly end up carrying her back to the ship. But she'd burn that bridge when she came to it.

Ervisa walked in through the doors of the cantina, and immediately sauntered up to the bar. She ordered a gin and tonic as she stared out around the establishment. There was a tall man scrutinizing a datapad, a man with a fresh scar she was willing to bet came from a lightsaber, and a familiar figure chatting up the man with the scar. She recognized that one from Prazhi, the schmuck Pala had just about splattered with those slugthrowers she loved so dearly.

Her drink arrived as ordered, and she sipped at it, content to simply watch others for now in her brief sober period. Those were always the least fun periods.

[Mara]

(((If you didn’t notice, Ean’s at a table… So, Mal, how ‘near’ to him did he sit? Next table over?
And, Zett, Ean’s not at the bar, so Zett wouldn’t be sitting near him. Just clearing that up… )))


Working on only about 40% efficiency, according to the program, Ean wasn’t doing so well with his mathematics quiz. He grunted again, softly to himself, as he got another answer wrong. Having never finished high school, and not actually doing all that well while he was there, it didn’t come as a surprise to him. However, he had hoped he was improving, getting the hang of the calculations. And in a way, he was. 40% was better than he had done a couple weeks ago, but he still had quite a long way to go to get close to a vaguely passing score.

Receiving another wrong answer message, Ean stabbed at the datapad with his stylus, ending it. He had had enough of that brain exercise for a while. A throbbing behind his temple was perfect evidence of that. It wasn’t as if he really came into contact all that much with math in his life anyway, except for counting his credits, and that was easy enough. Laying the instrument down next to the device, he leaned back in his chair, crossing his boots under the table, stretching out his muscles from his previous hunched position. Ean picked up his ale, deciding to nurse it for a while in quiet contemplation until his head no longer hurt.

A few glances at his surroundings over the rim of his mug told him that they had changed. There were now a few less empty seats at the bar and throughout the cantina. The soldier was new; Ean was a little surprised to see a military man in this part of the city, especially still in his dress uniform. But if the man didn’t cause trouble, there wouldn’t be a problem. He seemed to be occupied with the man sitting next to him for the moment anyway, of whom Ean thought was also a newcomer. Maybe some kind of deal would be going down between the two; the Corellian decided to keep a curious eye on them.

Ean was finishing up his scan of the cantina when he noticed the woman at the bar. She was… green, at least from the angle he saw. A few minutes later and his memory came up with a possible species: Mirialan. The same as that Colonel Vinay who had given him the assignment of the runaway Major Borgonia all those months ago. But he couldn’t ever remember seeing a female before, which was odd considering how many places he’d visited over the years. Ean shrugged it off, though. It wasn’t really important right now.

Satisfied that his relaxation was still going undisturbed for the foreseeable future, he focused on his drink. Ean looked at the datapad and thought about opening up another program, perhaps something more light. Or maybe he could even just read over some news reports. But his head still ached a bit from the earlier program. He’d probably need some more ale before he could attempt anything. Especially since there was still a lot to sift through to read anything unrelated to himself, and even then, most involved the war, which didn’t concern him. No, best to just sit and lounge a bit longer.

Another sip of ale and he closed his eyes briefly, feeling the liquid sooth him. When he opened them again, he turned them towards the window off to his right, instead of back inside the room on the other side. He idly watched beings walking by, hover trucks transporting loads. Life went by uninterrupted. It was rather satisfying to know that no matter what was going on in the rest of the galaxy, beings still had things to get done. They couldn’t let a big story like Ean’s and the major’s bounty, the war, the Sith and Jedi, or anything else get in their way. He wondered to himself if he would ever be content with a life such as that. Ean was so used to action and the thrill of the hunt, it could be very well be boring.

He had his mug halfway to his lips when he felt something, a tingling of his senses honed over the years. Those Jedi could stuff their Force mumble-jumble; Ean did just fine without it, saw no use for its mystic properties. It wasn’t just a casual glance from another patron. He couldn’t really explain it, but there was just the sense of being watched, kind of a tickling, uneasy feeling on the back of his neck. No one else had entered recently, and earlier he had been undisturbed. By simple deduction, it had to be one of the three newcomers to the cantina.

With only a slight movement, he shifted in his seat and readjusted his gaze in the window, checking the reflection of the bar inside of it. Unfortunately, though, it hadn’t been cleaned in years, and his view was blurry. For the moment, it seemed to be only a stare, nothing malicious. He decided to keep an eye on it anyway, though; he’d be able to see if one of the beings moved towards him. Ean pulled the datapad towards him again, grabbing the stylus. Idly, he scanned through things, not really paying full attention, just putting up a front. Waiting to see what would happen next, if anything did.

[hiei]

Sorry, thought I was more specific than I actually was.))

Mal nodded to Zett, "Small Galaxy indeed. I didn't expect to see you again so soon. How's it going?" He clearly remembered the fight from the last time he had seen the man, and was eager not to get into another shoot out. "Been keeping your nose clean I hope."

Mal noted the Mirialan sitting at the bar, something seemed different about her than anyone else in the bar. She seemed to be peaceful, so he wasn't going to worry about it, though he might keep his eye on her just to be safe. He then noticed the big guy a couple tables down from him, he was done with the datapad and looking around. Probably seeing what changed from when he wasn't paying attention, after a little while he went back to his drink and datapad. What ever he was doing must have been fun.

He returned to his drink, and realized that it was nearing empty, and that the serving droid was currently busy. "Excuse me for a second Zett, time for another round. I'll bring you one back." Mal hated to seem rude, but he'd had a bad few days and needed the drink. Besides he had said that he'd bring the other man a drink, he hoped that would excuse his rudeness.

Mal stood and crossed to the bar, standing at the barstool to the right of the Mirialan, and signaling the bartender. "Two more please." As he waited for his order to be filled, he glanced at the Mirialan, wondering why she seemed different to him. "So what makes you different from everyone else in this room?" He was tired, and his mind was slightly slow. That might have been the alcohol though, but either way, he wasn't interested in subtlety.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"Been keeping your nose clean I hope." Mal asked.
Oh come on a handsome Bounty Hunter like me,
not to mention the price take your pick but life ain't been easy.
Zett let out a sigh, then noticed the woman Mal looked at only for a brief second but still long enough.
Zett looked back to Mal.
"Excuse me for a second Zett, time for another round. I'll bring you one back."
Oh thanks.Zett nodded as Mal went to the bar.
The Galaxy just got smaller...Ervisa Therani,what is she doing here.
He now noticed the he was being watched by the man behind him the big man he noticed upon coming in.
oh great not more bounty hunters. he said under his breath.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"So what makes you different from everyone else in this room?"

Ervisa raised an eyebrow. An unusual greeting. That suited her just fine, since she was a rather unusual kind of girl. And to be honest, a fully uniformed Republic soldier in a gin joint was a bit unusual too. He was about an inch shorter than she was, and they both had the same raven hair. In fact, they both shared grey eyes as well, though hers were flecked with blue. By far the most obvious difference between them, apart from gender, was skin color. Her skin was green, while his was the shade she'd come to associate with humans.

She liked humans, a lot in fact. They had a temperament that varied wildly, which netted a few more kindred spirits. She also liked that exotic skin color, which varied wildly across the species. And the diversity of hair color was quite interesting too. Humans were like the cats of the galaxy, coming in all sorts of different colors and patterns. And also like cats, she felt the desire from time to time to scratch them behind the ears.

As to his question, there were many likely answers. She was probably the prettiest girl in the room for one. Then there was the fact she had a lightsaber, or the fact she had the most tattoos of anyone in the room. She decided to answer in her customary fashion, namely quirky and amusing. She did that well. Extremely well in fact.

It was part of her charm, such as it was. She did have a certain tendency to be coquettish in the most bizarre ways, and her sense of humor was probably a legend now on several planets. Possibly even a ballad or two, a folk song perhaps. A little guitar, a camp fire. Some marshmallows...

"What makes me different... My sunny countenance? Or perhaps my winning personality? Or my exquisite body carved from the finest jade? Or maybe even my humble modesty." The Mirialan winked at the man before taking a sip of her gin and tonic.

She returned the glass to the counter before swiveling around to face him, crossing one leg over another and tapping the side of the bar itself with the toe of her boot. It was made out of glossy black leather, and cut to just below her knee.

"I dunno. Maybe you'd better tell me what makes me different."

Ervisa took another sip of her drink, rolling the alcohol around her mouth before she swallowed it. She was more than a little curious as to what he had to say. If he noticed enough to ask, he probably had his own suspicions or guesses. Plus, maybe it was an awkward pick-up line. She loved those. The cornier the better. Especially fluff about eyes like deep pools...

[Mara]

The stare was starting to get to Ean. He had come here to relax and pass the time, not for a confrontation, and if he handled this curious patron delicately enough, perhaps it wouldn’t come to that. Sitting there, staring at the dirty reflection and pretending to be occupied with his datapad could only last for so long. Eventually the other might come to him or disturb the peace in another way. At least, that was Ean’s experience with beings that started looking at him. Especially lately after his return to Tyrena. Crazy fans, admirers who wanted some advice after having heard about his last, very public job. But the Corellian wasn’t willing to talk about that. If this being, indeed, was one of those types, Ean would just have to resign himself to taking care of it quietly and efficiently so he could get back to what he was doing: nothing.

He sat back up, drawing his legs back under his chair. Ean tapped his datapad with the stylus thoughtfully, not really changing anything on the device. It was better than chewing on the end of stylus, which he had done in the past, and then later needed Felze to fix it for him. He needed to figure out how best to quell this apparent curiosity in himself. Ean knew he could just turn his head and look directly at the man, but perhaps he’d need to say something, too. It was much easier to convey his intentions with speech than just by hoping the other got the message with his body language, the look in his brown eyes. But what to say…

Still with the stylus in his hand, the datapad sitting in front of him on the table, he moved his gaze from the window and turned it, across the room. He noticed then it was the man who had been speaking to the soldier, who in turn, was now at the bar in conversation with the green woman. Well, there went his theory that the two men were somehow in cahoots with each other. The fellow in the uniform didn’t appear to be in a hurry to get back to his first companion. Perhaps they had been just exchanging cantina pleasantries, and nothing suspicious was going down. Ean couldn’t help that his mind had gone there, though; he had seen it plenty of times, been a part of one himself a few times.

Ean held the gaze of the other man for a few moments to see if the other would look away. No go. Inwardly, he grimaced. Maybe he was right, and this man was just some crazy interested in Ean and the Borgonia bounty. Well, the man would get a surprise. Time to break up the silence between them, though the cantina itself was humming with various conversations. Even though he was sitting at the window, he wasn’t that far from where the man was, near the bar. He called out, still looking at the man. “Can I help you with something?” Ean kept the question innocent, his face neutral.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

((OCC-if Ean was not looking at Zett it was just my mistake and please ask me to remove this post))

The man was now looking at Zett.
“Can I help you with something?”
he said first.
No no nothing at all you uh...just look like someone i may have met.
Guss not.
Just because this man did not look dangerous but that did not mean any thing.
this man could turn and shoot Zett or easy stun him and be out of here.
Zett should be careful not to let his guard down after all there were just a few guys who dragged him out only a few moments ago.
he took out one of his pistols and sat them on the table that may discourage him from attacking Zett if he is a baddie.

[hiei]

Mal smiled at the green skinned woman, he was going to like this conversation. Glancing at the bartender and finding him busy, he took a seat on the stool next to the woman. No sense in standing when he was in for a wait. Mal's silvery grey eyes took in the woman, though he was more seeing what she held, than checking her out. Not that he didn't find her attractive, quite the opposite he knew she was probably the most attractive woman in the room.

"Well, I wish I could tell you what makes you different. I just get this feeling from you, you're different." Mal chuckled softly, knowing exactly how this made him sound. He could have made comments on her looks, or the lightsaber at her side. He reasoned however that she probably got those kids of comments every day. "I suppose I could have said something about you're weapons, looks, or the fact that I'm talking to you. But to be honest, it's been a long week." Mal absentmindedly reached up and touched the lightsaber scar on his cheek.

Mal felt a faint tingle at the base of his skull, at the same time that he heard the big man speak. A few seconds later, Zett replied. He sighed and turned on his stool for a second, taking in the scene. He didn't feel any loyalty for the bounty hunter, but he didn't want to see the man hurt. He resigned to keep his eye on the two, before turning back to the green skinned woman and smiling. "Of course, where are my manners. I'm Sergeant Mal Denton."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Well, I wish I could tell you what makes you different. I just get this feeling from you, you're different."

Ervisa raised an eyebrow. "Either that's the worst prelude to a pick-up line I've ever heard, or you need a little help learning to express your feelings better sugar."

The Mirialan woman went as far as to pat the human's arm with her green, tattooed hand. It wasn't even serious flirtation, it was just her usual quirky and coquettish self providing a little physical contact subconsciously. Nothing personal really, just the way she was.

The same was true of her verbal mannerisms. Sugar. Honey. Sweetheart. Dear. She rarely meant any of them seriously, they were just a part of the way she talked. Though she had to admit the soldier wasn't a bad looking fellow, if they were a bit similar in appearance, as she'd noticed before. Not that it was a bad thing though, just an unusual one.

"I suppose I could have said something about you're weapons, looks, or the fact that I'm talking to you. But to be honest, it's been a long week."

The movement of Mal's hand to his cheek wasn't lost on Ervisa, and the scar brought about a look of understanding. There was no mistaking the source of the new scarring, he'd had a lightsaber pulled across his face. Hardly a pleasant experience, and one she had no desire to experience. In all her time, she'd never been hit by a lightsaber, no small accomplishment for someone who'd crossed blades with the bad guys numerous times.

But that was a lifetime ago, an Ervisa Therani who was dead and gone. She'd been young and idealistic, full of a desire to do the right thing and win one for the good guys. Now she was tired of all that. She'd done her bit for the Order, and she'd lost out in the end. That life was over, and she had a new life. And this life had the things she'd been denied as a Jedi. Booze, sex, and the freedom to do whatever the hell she wanted. That was a nice change.

"Of course, where are my manners. I'm Sergeant Mal Denton."

"Twenty-Five Star General Ervisa Therani." Ervisa saluted comically and winked, driving home the joke before grabbing her glass again and slamming it back.

She tapped the counter loudly, summoning the bartender to fetch her a refill. As she did so, she spun back and forth on the barstool, looking to Mal and trying to get a feel for him. She was no expert, but he felt a little 'different' himself. She couldn't quite explain why, but she knew it wasn't some kind of electric attraction. For starters, he was clean shaven and not Corellian. Also, he wasn't holding sabacc cards or a cigar.

Maybe it was just the uniform. In the circles she ran with now they didn't turn up too often. Perhaps that was what made him different. As to what made her different, it could have been any one of a dozen things. And if he didn't know, she wasn't about to worry herself over it.

"Also honey, watch out for lightsabers next time, or at least ask them to add another scar on your other side, just to make it symmetrical, y'know?"

[Mara]

Ean nodded when the man at the bar stuttered out a reply explaining that he just looked like someone else. The Corellian wasn’t sure whether it was the truth or just something the man blurted out because he had been caught staring at him. And he really didn’t care right now. It was an answer he could live with for now. Maybe he did look like this man’s friend, or maybe the man just recognized his face from all the various newscasts on the Holonet over the past few weeks What really mattered was that so far there was no harm, no foul, and Ean had nothing to worry about.

He was turning back to his datapad when he noticed the man pulling out a blaster pistol and laying it on the table in front of him. Ean wanted to laugh but kept his thoughts to himself, merely raising his eyebrows and moving his eyes back to the man. Perhaps he had gotten this all wrong. If this man had been some crazy admirer hiding his recognition of the bounty hunter or just making a wrong identification, he would have had no reason to pull out a weapon. Ean could see the familiar stance of a hunted being. He had seen it too many times to count. Something about his own presence was making this other man skittish.

Having nothing else better to do, Ean decided to have a little fun with the man. Perhaps a little friendly scare. Until the man pulled out a weapon, he was going to just ignore their little interaction and go about his business. But now with so clearly a threat, feeble though it was, Ean thought of a better plan, something to divert him for the moment, break up the monotony. He slipped the datapad and stylus into his nerf leather jacket before pushing back his chair. The tall Corellian stood up to his full height, revealing the blaster he wore on his own hip.

Wiping any hint of what he was about to do from his face, he walked up to the other table where the man was sitting. His brown eyes looked over him for a moment before he spoke. “You know, if I wanted to, I could kill you before you had a chance to grab that little toy of yours.” He paused for a little effect, something he had practiced on dozens of real prey, before continuing on. “Good thing I’m on holiday.” Ean smiled at the man briefly, before striding past, heading for the refresher in the back of the cantina.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

Zett thought that if it was a bad guy he would not do any thing yet not the way Hebba's men did, ever.
“You know, if I wanted to, I could kill you before you had a chance to grab that little toy of yours.”
“Good thing I’m on holiday.”
Those words put Zett at ease, although that on the other hand was the way Hebba worked.
You know,
this pistol is deadly enough to take out a fully armored Mando in a few Seconds,
in other words they are not Prissie girl guns like what you got on your hip.
Zett thought would leave it alone unless any other things happened, he would not give any hint of the other one on his hip.

[hiei]

Mal chuckled and returned the comical salute, "Believe me, I didn't mean for it to happen the first time. Kinda didn't listen to the bad feeling I was getting from the woman, won't make that mistake again." He would make sure to not walk into a stupid trap the next time he got that feeling. No sense in dying for nothing when he could avoid it, that would put a damper on his life. Which he enjoyed most of the time.

Mal turned around on his stool again when he heard the interaction between the two men. Things still seemed to be calm, despite the mistake of Zett bringing out his weapon. Why would the man do this when it wasn't needed. Mal wouldn't help him this time if a fight erupted, he was digging himself down deeper. No lessons would be learned if he helped the bounty hunter with his fight.

Mal turned back to Ervisa. "So Twenty-Five Star General huh? I don't want to know what you had to do to get that rank." He joked, putting a few credits on the table when his drinks were finally delivered. His original plan had been to take one to Zett, but he frankly didn't want to get involved in the man's fight. So he instead passed the extra drink to Ervisa, "You're more fun than my other drinking partner."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Believe me, I didn't mean for it to happen the first time. Kinda didn't listen to the bad feeling I was getting from the woman, won't make that mistake again."

Ervisa nodded knowingly, straightening the long braid of hair she wore over her left shoulder. She had to admit, sometimes it made her think of her old Padawan braid. "I know what that's like. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy. Girl stabs boy in face..."

Well, she didn't really know, never being the stabber or the stabb-ee. But she could guess, and that was close enough. As close as she wanted to get at any rate. Getting blasted by a bunch of droids was painful enough; hardly something had a desire to repeat. More like avoid.

"So Twenty-Five Star General huh? I don't want to know what you had to do to get that rank."

"Slept my way to the top," the Mirialan pilot pronounced with a winning smile, showing off her white teeth as she reached for the drink Mal slid her way. Not exactly untrue. She did a lot of sleeping around, and it hadn't exactly refused to benefit her at times. Mostly though, she did it for the fun.

No sooner had she picked up the drink Mal had bought her, which was more than enough to land him firmly on her good side, and sipped it than she found herself smirking a little, amused at the pronouncement the human man made.

"You're more fun than my other drinking partner."

"Sweetheart, I have not yet begun to drink. It only gets better from here." Ervisa patted him gently on the arm to drive home that point. "Play your cards right and you might get me to sing showtunes shirtless on top of the bar."

[Mara]

He hadn’t made it more than a few more steps to his destination when the man spoke again, in defense of his own weapon against Ean’s own blaster pistol. Ean knew he should have left it go at that and kept on his way but decided that this young punk was in need of a bit of a lesson in shortsightedness. Cockiness only got someone so far in life, especially if it was covering for something that was the opposite of real confidence. Plus, he always found it hard to let another being get in the last word.

Turning around, Ean walked back to where the man was seated, stopping a few paces in front of the table. He folded his large arms across his chest. “That might be, though you look a bit too green to have seen any real Mandalorians.” The Corellian had had a limited experience himself with the warrior people, but he had seen enough of them, and heard even more, to know that they couldn’t be taken down all that easily, unless caught sleeping, and that was rare. This kid’s pistol might be powerful enough, but Ean doubted he’d get close enough to be able to use it and still be alive.

Gesturing to his hip, he added, “And this may be an old blaster, but it’s seen plenty of use and works just fine for me.” Ean leaned over a bit to look the young man in the eye and unfolded his arms, flexing a fist. “But I wasn’t talking about using my pistol to kill you. There’s more than one way to skin a Kowakian monkey lizard. Take that as a little free advice, kid. Might save your life.” He nodded at the man again and then turned, heading back for the refresher as he had originally planned. If the kid had tried to respond to him, he wouldn’t have heard it.

Inside the public ‘fresher station, which was a bit outdated by a few decades and probably hadn’t been fully sanitized in almost as long, Ean stopped and took a deep breath, smiling to himself. He felt good after having fun with that kid out in the cantina. Though he couldn’t truly care whether the boy took his advice after all, it would do him some good to keep in mind that the galaxy was full of more than just a couple thugs that could be taken out with a few well-timed blaster bolts. Sometimes one had to take the bantha by the horns, as it were, and fight in different ways. One wouldn’t always have a blaster or two by his side. A well-varied arsenal had always been Ean’s pride in the past decade or so of his life.

Finishing his business, he headed to wash up, catching a glimpse of himself in the grimy mirror as he did so. There was a bit of stubble there; he hadn’t felt like shaving that morning over on the Hope before he had left for the day. He rubbed his chin and cheekbones, feeling the roughness of it and wondering if he might just stop shaving altogether. It would certainly help him avoid any trouble from beings recognizing him, at least most of them. Going with a beard would feel odd to him, though. He had never let his facial hair grow more than a couple days in his entire life. Ean had felt, despite his chosen occupation, he should still be presentable. It was what his mother would have wanted. She had always encouraged her boys to put their best face forward and be polite to every being.

Ean shrugged and wiped off his hands on his trousers. He’d just take it one day at a time. Other things were changing in his life, what was one more? So if he ended up with a beard, then he did. If he didn’t, he didn’t. The decision wasn’t one that weighed heavily on him. There were more important things to deal with, like what to do with his time now and whether he would actually officially retire and if so, find a new job to do. With one last glance in the mirror, he palmed open the ‘fresher door and headed back into the main area of the cantina.

Seeing that his table by the window was now occupied by a couple Rodians, Ean passed it by and headed on to the bar, taking a stool a couple down from where the soldier and Mirialan were in conversation. Consequently, it also took him farther away from where the rash young man with the pistol was seated. But the Corellian hadn’t done it on purpose; he’d just looked for the first empty seat he could find at the bar that had some personal space around it. Sitting too close to the couple wasn’t exactly his favorite thing; he could tell there was some flirting going on, just by their facial expressions and stances. He grunted to himself and signaled the bartender for a new mug of ale, glad that he had never got attached to a female in that way.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

“That might be, though you look a bit too green to have seen any real Mandalorians.”

Zett just shook his head at the Comment.
“And this may be an old blaster, but it’s seen plenty of use and works just fine for me.”

The man Flexed his fist.

“But I wasn’t talking about using my pistol to kill you. There’s more than one way to skin a Kowakian monkey lizard. Take that as a little free advice, kid. Might save your life.”

After the man walked away Zett said to himself
He doesn't know me, obviously, I've seen more Mandos than he has, and again that's obvious.
Zett looked Back To Mal and Ervisa, Where and Where the other Man now was.
Zett Knew Ervisa now and had Been Studying her Records he could not find much but he knew Mal would get a fun night and that's it,
Zett Felt for the man but did not want to get in the way after all it was not Zett over there and Zett owed him for saving him back on Coruscant, so he was going to pay what he owed Mal by not Telling him what was going to happen.
but he also knew he was not getting a drink after all.
so he waved the Bar maid for his drink.

[hiei]

Mal smiled, "To be fair, it was more scraping than stabbing." The burn had hurt, but his pride was all that had truly been harmed. He could have slapped a kolto patch on his cheek to heal the wound without a scar, but had decided to keep the scar. It would be a good reminder of his stupidity. Besides, he was sure he could use it to help get a few women. Maybe not the one sitting next to him, but he wasn't very worried about that.

"Well at least you had fun getting there." Mal offered her a wink of his own. He'd flirted his way out of trouble on a couple of occasions. Though, he'd also flirted his way into trouble more than once.

Mal raised an eyebrow, that would definitely be a sight to see. One thing that he definitely would not forget anytime soon. "I've always been a fair hand at cards. We'll have to see how well I can do."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Ervisa finished the drink Mal had slid her just in time for the bartender to deliver her own requested refill. Her third drink of the day, in rapid succession too. Unlike most sentients in the galaxy, the Mirialan ex-Jedi was at her best with some alcohol in her system. It wasn't as if she had many inhibitions to begin with, but with her worries eased a little with liquid assistance, she had a sunnier outlook on life. Serious moments came when she was sober or mostly sober, and she preferred avoiding those serious moments. The were... too serious.

Sex, booze, craziness... It was all a distraction from her real problems. She could be an eccentric character full of wit, charm, and fun. That was second nature to her. No... It once was her second nature, but now it was her primary one. And she liked that change. She liked it a lot. It was more fun, and it was easier. She'd become bold, flirtatious, and vivacious. She was alive now, like sticking her face out the window of a moving train that was still, hot, and stuffy inside, and feeling the cool air.

"Yeah honey," Ervisa said to the soldier, "We'll see how the day goes. Now 'scuse me for a minute or two..."

Effortlessly, Ervisa slid off the bar stool, drink in hand, and walked the few feet down the bar to sit next to the unshaven man who'd had a few words with Zett. She estimated he was about her age, and very well built. She couldn't strictly say if he was her type or not, that would take further probing, but she could say physically there were no objections.

"Hey. Datapad guy," She said as she extended one hand in greeting. There were geometric tattoos visible on the back of her hand, then a long patch of emerald skin until further tattoos on the upper arm, again geometric and dark blue. She wasn't wearing the brown leather gloves she often sported, they were tucked into her duffel between her box of cigars and her leather jacket, the one she seldom had occasion to wear.

"Rockin' the apps? Setting up a new playlist? Writing loooooove notes to your sweetie?" She elbowed him amiably in the upper arm. "The name's Ervisa Therani. Have I seen your smiling face before?"