Drinking With Style (Moonz,Dutch)

[Poludnica]

Theme

Snow began to fall softly on the Naboo plains; white flecks shot silently past the window's icy exterior, the silvery streaks evocative of the stretching of the stars across a ship's viewport in the first moments of an hyperspace jump. But as far-reaching as the steppes and forests of this part of the planet were, they were still very far from the infinite expanse of space. It was a strange experience to be on the bridge of a great starship one moment, only to sit in the cheap, warm interior of some gods forsaken cantina, thousand of kilometers from the nearest starship. It was hard to believe that these people here didn't see a space port. Humanity had reached up and stolen the stars from the sky, yet here the most rudimentary of machines and tools were still chugging about much as if modern technology didn't reach them. But then again, the planet's elemental fury had a way of keeping things simple, and if anyone needed proof, all they had to do was take a peek outside.

The snowstorm didn't want to die down for hours now and Danica didn't have anything to do but drink. The woman refused to use a speeder in such weather, didn't even trust her bodyguards to do it, deciding to just wait through the primal anger of this primitive planet. The business was concluded and new money made, her small business grew bigger with every passing week, even if only couple of days ago she had freed herself from her father's influence. For good. New credits meant enough liquid assets to buy some cozy place in Outer Rim.

After the storm.

The elegant woman, garbed in the finest female suit, stood out like a sore thumb from the crowd of Naboo commoners. The plebeians didn't pay much attention to her though, too busy with their own business. Rich off worlders with own guards were an odd sight but at the end of the day it was a glass of good beer and local gossips won over Danica's presence. Danica didn't mind. On the contrary to one's possible guess, the dark haired woman wasn't a stranger to such places. During her years under Cassius' boot cheap, sleazy bars had been a reprieve. A form of silent rebellion against Liviana's strict morale. Now...Now they were just boring. No one would judge her for spending time in there.

Danica had already stolen from her father, escaped with an alien criminal and came to live with him in Outer Rim. You didn't go lower than that in Cassius' eyes. Not even drunk and stripping in a bar like this would cut it now and all silly defiances had lost their meaning. The only thing left was to drunk her gorgeous self into a stupor in front of those strangers. A good plan, at least for now.

Acting according to the newly accepted strategy, Danica ordered couple of drinks, determined to try all of what the cantina had to offer. Human made or Gungan style.

[Moonfire]

A small noise, heard only under the breaths of the bar patrons could be heard, before it slowly began to increase in volume. It wasn't bothersome, no, not at first. Muffled by wind and cold and snow the commotion built until the bar was hushed, all the drunks and vagabond's suddenly quieted simply to listen.

"Gorramin' nerfherdin' spacer!"

A raging, unintelligble voice filled the cantina from the outside, even the easy going band stopping to see what all the ruckus was. With a single decisive bang the door flew up, revealing the owner of the angry curses.

A short woman, soaking wet with wild blonde hair and very seasonally-inappropriate clothing was the voice's owner, shouting more as she plodded inside, a trail of snow and mud in her wake.

"Gorramin' bastard tossed me outta his speeder!" Kailani raged between shivers as she entered the war bar with a sigh, shaking off the excess muck like a wild animal. "Sure, I was tryin' to steal his wallet, but thats not reason to throw a lady out of speeder into a blizzard!" She snarled again, striding to the bar with a few shouts and nods of agreement.

Sitting her sopping self down at the bar next to Danica, Kailani Quix smuggler and pirate for hire rummaged through the microscopic pockets of her shorts. With a tap of her finger against the counter of the bar a warm Naboo Ale came her way, her face briefly elated before falling again.

"Left my cigarettes! Seven Hells!" Her pretty face turned into a scowl as she bemoaned her misfortune. Turning to address the certainly overdressed woman to her side Kailani put on her nicest smile as asked.

"Hey toots, you gotta a cig? I'm havin' a helluva day."

[Poludnica]

Something drew her attention, a faint sound of angry whispers that quickly grew into a beastly racket. Danica lazily pried her eyes off the drink to look at the source of this troubling noise. As did all the other patrons, interested all suddenly in other people's business.

"Gorramin' nerfherdin' spacer!"

The dark haired woman blinked, seeing a poorly dressed but very attractive girl with fair hair. At least Danica suspected her to be attractive under all this mud and snow. A human woman in a distress would always pull a string in Dany's heart which remained mostly resentful and cold most of a time. In most cases others plight would elicit an indifferent sigh but hearing some terrible man had done it to that poor creature made the former CEO's features to soften. And in such clothes!

Something that Danica knew all to well how men treated women in this universe, no matter their breeding. And she was bored out of her mind of course, waiting for this blizzard to pass. Dany was going to offer a seat next to her when the victim of terrible, misogynistic crime thought about it first while proclaiming about ill fate that had met her.

Dainty brow raised in question at the oddly worded request but without complain reached to her small purse, fishing a ludicrously expensive cigarette, pushing it toward the blonde haired pile of misery. ”Take it, I have plenty of them back home.” Danica said, feeling mildly better after such selfless act. Even if resulting only from her inherently capricious nature and slight drunkenness.

She took one of the newly given cigarettes and offered an oddly simplistic, cheaply looking lighter to the girl. ”What kind of bastard did it to you?” The heir asked, coaxing tranquilizing smoke into her lungs. Danica had started to smoke quite much after freeing herself from the gilded cage, a fact that did trouble her. They ruined all the looks!

[Moonfire]

Kailani sniffled, rubbing her button nose with a single gloved hand before pulling a cigarette from the fancy, but minimalistic packaging. "Thanks. Mighty civil of you."She said sincerely before withdrawing a lighter from her teensy tiny pocket.

With a groan she shook it hard, droplets of water splattering onto the counter before tossing it away over her shoulder with a groan before accepting the flame of Danica's own.

"Nerfherdin' Balosar. Slimeball." She grumbled angrily. "Shoulda known better." The woman shook her head with a bitter chuckle.

"Mother always said I had bad taste in men." She laughed, considering how true that statement was. Drake had gotten himself killed, the endless parade of losers and lowlifes that flitted in and out of her life without even a care. Though, to be fair she used them as much as they used her.

"I'mma need a drink." She said casually tapping the bar, ordering a pair of Corellian ales. "What're you doin' in a dive like this with a suit like that and cigarettes this fancy, hun?"

[Poludnica]

The dark haired woman shrugged indifferently, feeling strangely awkward about it. It had been a long time since someone so genuinely thanked her. ”It's nothing.” Danica said – she had nothing better to do anyway until the snow storm passed so could entertain one poor soul.

Absentmindedly the Coruscanti girl reached for her drink, frowning slightly at the fair haired woman's comment. ”A Balosar?” Ew. She asked with raised eyebrows. Granted, her own taste in men could be called questionable but still keeping to near-humans. Danica opened her mouth to speak, having properly judgmental comment about it but the expression of displeasure turned into genuine smile at the other girl's confession.

”I can relate.” The woman smirked, remembering well every fight with Cassius over her men. The recent one even escalated to an open war which she didn't really want to think about right now. Instead accepting an ale, matching it with ordering two shots of the most expensive brandy the bartender could find. She was happy about the company, much more pleasant than those of men. Danica didn't have many girlfriends but as long as they stayed away from her money or a man all was fine.

A small hand reached for a single cigaret and soon balming smoke filled Danica's lungs, bringing little amount of delight. ”I came here on business. “ She explained concisely, puffing out a cloud of aromatic vapor. ” Business is over but the snow storm isn't.” Dany finished, her eyes darting from brandy to ale while mind worked on terribly complex problem what to drink next.

[Moonfire]

"Naboo, man. Fickle weather. Sunny and bright one day, blizzard the next." Kailani commented taking another long drag from the cigarette as her hand wrapped about the mug of ale. With a flourish she gulped the frothy amber liquid.

Her fingers drummed happily across the surface of the bar as she began to feel warmth again. "B'yeah, men. They're terrible. Just a bunch of lyin', cheatin', don't know how to treat a lady anymore. Ridiculous." She shook her head, the irony of her words lost on her. She had been trying to steal his wallet, but that was no reason for him to toss her from a moving vehicle into the snow!

"I remember this one guy, kept trying to 'save' me. He was crazy. Blowin' shit up everywhere. Do I look like a broad that needs savin'? Frell no! And then I try to tell him I don't need his help and he starts actin' like I owe 'im something."

[Poludnica]

”It is a strange planet, indeed.” Danica smiled demurely, cherishing her own memories of Naboo. An interlude to the freedom she had finally won from Cassius. Finally ready to decided, Dany grabbed the cheaper drink for a change, not really eager to be worse than the other woman, even when it came to getting wasted. ”IIck!” The dark haired girl yelped, feeling burning liquid going down her throat.

She coughed. Then sneezed, before finally taking a deep breath. ”By the Maker.” Danica breathed, feeling purplish flush painting her cheeks. Slowly, with trembling fingers, the woman coaxed some smoke into her lungs, hoping it to dull unpleasant sensation eating at the back of her stomach.

”What is that?” Danica shook her head, returning her gaze to the fair haired victim of a heinous alien. ”Some of them can be decent....But those are boring.” She snickered, putting out the last of her cigarette in a battered ashtray. Manicured, acrylic nails left marks in the gathered ash. With a frown of disgust, Danica removed the nasty looking dust from her fingertips.

After a giving a curious glance to the woman, Dany puffed out her lips. ”You look like needing a drink.” She said with a devilish smile, feeling a small pang of jealousy. When was the last time a man got interested in her well-being like that? ”I think one tries to help me... I am still not sure if he does it for money or something else.” Instead of wallowing over this feeling of inadequacy, she decided to weed it out with a good drink.