Music to my fins. (pine)

[Space Core]

"Human, Wearing female under garb, hair slicked given me the eye twice, Gay with metal problems," the Herglic began to light his pipe again. It had extinguished itself, and he didn't like conversing without a good smoke.

"She isn't even a she..." Beluga chuckled at that. He'd noticed something was off about that particular individual, but he hadn't looked at her (or him) long enough to put his finger on it. He took a long pull of his pipe, flooding his mouth with smoke, exhaling it with a content sigh.

"He's a regular Patron, he is well known by the staff."

"His name is Gast Stasti," the Herglic supplemented. He and the Duros weren't well acquainted, but Beluga had been coming to this particular establishment on a semi-regular basis and he was aware of who the regulars were, at least by name.

"She is a gambler slash drunk, she's over confident in both her looks and her skills, Also she cheats, someone just hugged her and placed a stacked deck on her, that she's now using in the game," the cetacean biped said nothing, but simply looked disapprovingly as the bouncer removed the lady from the table.

"But I do believe you meant that they are all boreing," Beluga turned to face the human, a broad smile replacing the frown that had been there but a second ago.

"Well I wouldn't say they were boring," the Herglic protested. "Everyone's interesting to someone. For example that man who seems so desperate to take you back to his place, I'm sure whatever is ailing him would be fascinating to some. Just not to me," he explained evenly. "The woman who's not a woman, her or rather his reasons for presenting him or herself in this manner could be fascinating to some, but not to me," he continued. "The Duros is a bounty hunter of sorts. Not a very successful one and he mostly remains on Coruscant. He has a narrow mind, incapable of comprehending others, I like to believe it's what makes him such a poor bounty hunter. Those who appreciate unrefined company would certainly love him," Beluga added lightly. "As for the cheater," Beluga took a drag form his pipe, "good catch," was all he said with a short, humourless laugh. "So the short answer is, you were the individual that looked the most interesting to me."

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"Well I wouldn't say they were boring, Everyone's interesting to someone. For example that man who seems so desperate to take you back to his place, I'm sure whatever is ailing him would be fascinating to some. Just not to me,"

Aldric nodded in agreement, then let Beluga continue speaking.

"The woman who's not a woman, her or rather his reasons for presenting him or herself in this manner could be fascinating to some, but not to me,"

Aldric again nodded, looking around the room, and let Beluga continue more,

"The Duros is a bounty hunter of sorts. Not a very successful one and he mostly remains on Coruscant. He has a narrow mind, incapable of comprehending others, I like to believe it's what makes him such a poor bounty hunter. Those who appreciate unrefined company would certainly love him,"

A bounty hunter huh? i knew i should have given him a little more attention. Then Beluga continued more,

"As for the cheater, good catch,"

Aldric responded again, And i don't even try...
He smiled jokingly.

"So the short answer is, you were the individual that looked the most interesting to me." Beluga spoke.

Ya'know, I think that's the most you've said all night. Also I'm flattered that you think I'm so interesting. And I do believe it's your turn to ask the question.

Aldric said before taking another drink and finishing the Bantha Burger.

So what'll it be?

[Space Core]

"Ya'know, I think that's the most you've said all night. Also I'm flattered that you think I'm so interesting. And I do believe it's your turn to ask the question."

"Well I had no reason to make a long and convoluted worthy of a politician before," Beluga replied lightly. "And to be perfectly honest with the coat you're wearing I had assumed you were a smuggler of sorts. And smugglers are very interesting people," he continued jokingly. "Ah but now for a question," and the Herglic was silent for a little while. He was still taking drags from his pipe every now and then, the smoke periodically blowing out of his blowhole. The first few times the cavernous bellow occurred most patrons jumped out of their chairs, looking about wildly to find the source of the commotion, only to settle down when they saw there was no imminent danger. After a few minutes Beluga finally spoke again. "So, freelance detective. What's been your most challenging catch yet?"

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"Well I had no reason to make a long and convoluted worthy of a politician before,"

Politician...a word seldom used when not talking about Politics. Another thing is people rarely compared themselves to Politicians, it may be something the Herglic race did but still it was something of note.
Aldric thought while Beluga spoke, as he jogged down that as a note, so far what he had taken note of pointed to Beluga to being some sort of or former Politic, something not all impossible, the other it pointed to was someone hired to "watch" Aldric and try and see what points he picked out of random people.

Truthfully the first seamed more possible, after all Aldric knew that secret organizations existed, but he also knew he wasn't of concern to them.

"And to be perfectly honest with the coat you're wearing I had assumed you were a smuggler of sorts. And smugglers are very interesting people,"

Trench coats are cool. Aldric made a slight smile,

"Ah but now for a question,... So, freelance detective. What's been your most challenging catch yet?"

You'd be surprised how often a "Freelance" gets work.

Challenging...
He stopped to think over his cases,
The one that took the longest would have been one I did right here on Coruscant, a man had used an illegal Drug called... He stopped himself wondering if he should tell Beluga what it was called, and thought better of it, maybe he could get a bit more of information from the reaction, that was probably the only reason he didn't say any thing, he was never good at keeping secrets unless they where his own,
Not sure if I should say that...any way what the drug did was simulate death, the man was given the sentence of lethal injecting, but he had payed the execute to swap the drugs. He got loose and I had to discover how he did it and bring him in, I brought down three accessories in that case...

He took a drink from his ale finishing the story,
You have to realize I'm not very good at telling stories. Actually! He turned his Journal over to the section that held that case.

Their names where...Jinto, the doctor who helped him was named Cardona, and then a Hutt named Hebba but they can't do anything about Hutt affairs in Hutt space, so we had to settle for ending the Hutt's crime ring here on Coruscant.

He may have had a Eidetic Memory, but for some reason he didn't understand he couldn't remember names all that well after a few weeks.

[Space Core]

During Aldric's retelling of the case Beluga had ordered a second glass, and it was now sitting in front of him, untouched. For now. At the mention of Hutts the Herglic grimaced and took a sip of his drink.

"I had to deal with Hutts a few years ago," he muttered. "Unpleasant business for certain. A shame they're capable of hiding in their own systems. But they're a necessary evil, or so I'm told," he added, his voice tinged with a bitter edge. "But I seem to notice you haven't asked your own question," Beluga noticed.

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"I had to deal with Hutts a few years ago, Unpleasant business for certain. A shame they're capable of hiding in their own systems. But they're a necessary evil, or so I'm told,"

Aldric nodded,
Quite unpleasant, though in my experience no evil is entirely "necessary"

"But I seem to notice you haven't asked your own question,"

Aldric nodded again Right you are...

He said as he thought out his next question,
Have you always been a trader, or did you have some other type of employment before that?

He asked and by this time the band hand reached the end of the song, he made a glance over to the stage as it cleared, the band was on break, what Aldric liked about this bar in the few times he had come before was that it was like his home world Alderaan, in the fact that next to anyone with a voice or a instrument could come up and play a song or two, right now a female Rodian singer had begun a faster paced song, Aldric preferred Classical music but this one wasn't one to frown at.

Aldric took another drink of his ale while waiting for the answer to his question. He was close to telling enough about Beluga to know if he was telling the complete truth about being only a trader or not. Something still bugged Aldric about that.

[Space Core]

Beluga stole a quick glance at the stage as the artists changed place, taking a couple drags of his pipe. Rodian. Female. Good voice. But her song was a sudden and mildly jarring departure from the previous style. In a way the unpredictability of the music in this particular establishment was a welcome one, even if you could move from one style to its complete antithesis a little too rapidly for his taste.

"I've had a variety of jobs before becoming a trader actually," he admitted. "When I was younger I didn't really feel like going off Giju. Part of it was wanting to help my people I suppose, and I thought the best way to do so would be on Giju. A foolish idea, but I was young. And a fool to boot," he chuckled at that. "I trained as a doctor originally. But the job wasn't satisfying. And don't let what they tell you about doctors and nurses 'getting it on' between operations. It ain't true," the Herglic said jokingly. "With that disappointment I decided to change carer, and I joined the local law enforcers. But I was a rather sorry excuse for a policeman, I couldn't really chase anyone, not with the state of my leg, and I was never very skilled with a gun. But officers soon found out I had a good eye for detail, and that I was useful when they had to dump paperwork on someone. I finally realised I wasn't doing any real good, and I went into trading because..." at that Beluga stopped for a while, podering what he would say next. "Well because why not," he finally said with a lopsided grin as he finished his second glass. "Now I do believe it's my turn to ask," he fell silent for a short while once more, taking a couple of short drags. "So how does one end up becoming a freelance detective? Do you sign up for a special card? Or does it work much like bounty hunting where you simply take on whatever job's up on offer and get yourself a bit of a reputation?"

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"I've had a variety of jobs before becoming a trader actually, When I was younger I didn't really feel like going off Giju. Part of it was wanting to help my people I suppose, and I thought the best way to do so would be on Giju. A foolish idea, but I was young. And a fool to boot, I trained as a doctor originally. But the job wasn't satisfying. And don't let what they tell you about doctors and nurses 'getting it on' between operations. It ain't true, With that disappointment I decided to change carer, and I joined the local law enforcers. But I was a rather sorry excuse for a policeman, I couldn't really chase anyone, not with the state of my leg, and I was never very skilled with a gun. But officers soon found out I had a good eye for detail, and that I was useful when they had to dump paperwork on someone. I finally realized I wasn't doing any real good, and I went into trading because...

Aldric noticed a pause longer then a normal "catch my breath'' pause. Aldric thought about his own pause when he was thinking about weather or not to tell of the drug, the reasons are normally in his case especially to hide some thing.

He made a mental note of that one.

"Well because why not, Now I do believe it's my turn to ask,"

Aldric stopped hoping for a bit more information but he was close to the truth, even surprising himself that he was slowly learning to read a race he didn't know existed 15 minutes ago.

"So how does one end up becoming a freelance detective? Do you sign up for a special card? Or does it work much like bounty hunting where you simply take on whatever job's up on offer and get yourself a bit of a reputation?"

Aldric took yet another drink and then spoke,
Actually you're not far off, I knew I could be a detective from an early age, so that's what I put on the table nothing else. But after small cases i took that involved the force i decided not to have anything to do with them, from seeing a few things i disliked.

So i decided to take my own cases, most of the time from the police any way, Being a "freelancer" has it's ups and downs, ups i can do what i like on my free time and choose my cases.
Downs no insuance... He pondered that for a couple seconds realizing that it sounded a bit pathetic.

Any way it isn't a job you can find in your local want adds, it's just something you do, like yard sales. But it pays off. He shrugged, as he thought his next question out, one that he didn't want to ask, it would put Beluga on the spot and Aldric knew it,But he had noticed that Beluga was avoiding certain topics, topics that Aldric desperately needed to solve what he viewed as a puzzle.

I noticed you tread lightly on certain subjects, why?

Aldric noticed that sounded worse then the first time...and it sounded like he was interrogating Beluga...

[Space Core]

Beluga tilted his head to the side, a quizzical expression on his features. "Tread lightly on certain subjects you say? Could you be more specific?"

(OOC: Sorry for the extremely short post, but it was necessary)

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"Tread lightly on certain subjects you say? Could you be more specific?" With what looked to be a questioning look, Aldric made another note in his book, and then started to explain.

I could see how who might not know exactly what i mean. Let me point the times out shall i?
I finally realized I wasn't doing any real good, and I went into trading because... He said quoting Beluga,
When it comes to certain subjects normally concerning your career you seem to be hiding something,
I am wondering if are you some sort of royalty....but i was trying not to come out and directly say it. He smiled waiting to see if Beluga had a response that wasn't slapping Aldric around the entire bar, or whipping him upside the head with that Cain of his.

[Space Core]

Beluga looked at Aldric blankly for several minutes, pulling heavily on his pipe every couple of minutes. Most would be led to assume the Herglic was contemplating how best to deal with the human in front of him, but Beluga was trying to read the freelance detective. The Herglic prided himself in being an excellent judge of character, and he liked to think that he could tell how someone would react to certain pieces of information just by giving them a good look. But this Aldric was hard to read, and Beluga didn't feel like reeling off his entire life story, especially not to a stranger. The Herglic finally sighed and looked down at the bar.

"My past is my own," he replied softly, subconsciously rubbing the scarred side of his face. "I don't make it a habit to reveal it, but I don't make it a habit to renege on an agreement. Therefore I will tell you this much, certain things happened in my childhood that temporarily made me harbour a rather strong phobia of space as well as permanent dislike of gambling," around the same time the barman came around to Beluga, hoping to sell a third glass of the beverage he had opened especially for the Herglic, but Beluga shook his head. "That's enough alcohol for one day."

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"My past is my own, I don't make it a habit to reveal it, but I don't make it a habit to renege on an agreement. Therefore I will tell you this much, certain things happened in my childhood that temporarily made me harbour a rather strong phobia of space as well as permanent dislike of gambling, That's enough alcohol for one day."

Aldric had noticeably hit a nerve.

With Aldric though it was just a matter of time for him to rub someone the wrong way, if it wasn't because he would read your past off of you, it was because he put it together piece by piece.

Aldric waved the bartender away, wondering what Beluga would do next, move to a bench? leave all together? Aldric knew what he wanted to do, was to get up and play the next song.

He would respectfully wait for Beluga to either move along, or continue the conversation, but Aldric knew what usually came next.

[Space Core]

"And with that I believe I'll call it a night," the Herglic declared, his tone far jollier than it had been but a few instants ago. "It was a pleasure to meet you Aldric. If I ever need a private detective I'll be sure to remember you," he added with a genuine smile. In one fluid motion he extinguished his pipe and placed it back in its pouch. At the same time he grabbed his cane and coat and held out a hand to Aldric for him to shake. "And who knows maybe we'll meet again in a random bar one day."

[Adobi-Wan Kenobi]

"And with that I believe I'll call it a night, It was a pleasure to meet you Aldric. If I ever need a private detective I'll be sure to remember you, And who knows maybe we'll meet again in a random bar one day."

Aldric extended his arm and let the Herglic's big hand engulf his own.

Honor to meet you too. Aldric nodded, happy not to be slapped by that big hand.

Then Beluga left, leaving Aldric alone.

A night filled with events that Aldric hadn't predicted.

He looked over his note book satisfied with the information on the new race he had met, then he pulled his Alderaanian flute out of his bag stuffed the Journal into the bag and headed for the stage.

He played a quieting tune, a song he had learned on Alderaan, one that always seemed to calm people down.

((END))