Habits Die Hard

[Squee]

“Bloody lungworms. Backstabbing me. I’m pretty sure there was nothing wrong with that shuttle. Up and left me. What’d I do to them? Or, no wait… I threatened the perverted guy next to me, and then the pilot that if I wasn’t moved seats I would shoot him.” A hurried huff puffed out of her chest. “Great, Mel, just great.”

It was nights like these she really hated that anonymous person who up and stole her baby. Poor Eaglestrike. At the hands of someone unfamiliar after nearly twenty years of being in the Prance family. It was nights like these she really wanted her ship back. It was nights like these the urge to hunt down that thieving bastard were strongest. Put a blaster bolt through his brain and claim back what was rightfully hers. I mean, dammit, I can’t even smuggle to keep my contacts happy until I do. Sorry, Dad.

So, while she was ship-less, Melody relied on shuttles to get around the place. It wasn’t senseless travel. It was to try and find her ship and visit old contacts to see if there was any sign of them willing to aid her. Of course, more had said no than yes. And those who said yes merely said they would keep an eye out. Bah. She couldn’t tell if the gizka brains were telling the truth or not. Probably not. But, while she was out of solo work, she knew she had to find other work in the time being. Credits just didn’t keep coming. And though her father, and when she started smuggling by herself, had worked a nice pillow of credits, they would drain quick with all this hopping around.

But, blast it. Those people on the shuttle did not like her too much apparently. Being one of two humans aboard, she could guess why. Even the pilot had been alien. He had landed on Zeltros saying the ship was in need of a few minor repairs and refueling. He dismissed the passengers to lurk for a while. Melody decided that she would have a couple of drinks and return.

She returned to an empty landing pad.

Now, Melody Prance was pissed off. And didn’t exactly know what to do since it was night time on Zeltros. Crap. Worse time ever to be on this region of the planet. Being a blond-haired beauty herself, she had conjured quite a few stalkers making her way back to another cantina. And this is where you could find her now. Her back was against the counter and her fingers tampered with her shot glass filled of some kind of frothy, amber liquid. She was entertaining the boys local to her left and right, who were watching on to see if she would down the liquid or not (and listening to her small, under the breath ramblings). A sly smile on her lips, her hand came over, touching the glass to her lips, the chin went up to expose a neck some of them stared hungrily at, and down went the drink. Sliding the glass back on the counter, she didn’t so much as twitch at the strength of the liquid. Licking lips, she glanced at them and then tilted her head at the bartender.

“Oh, don’t tell me that’s the strongest, hun.”

An incredulous raise of the eyebrow appeared on the bartender’s face. “Of course not.”

“Good.” And she left it at that as she turned her head to meet the gaze of someone who had decided to get a good deal close in her space. Pheromones bombarded her senses, making her stomach drop and her heart rate quicken. They belonged to a rather devilishly handsome Zeltron man who slid coolly into the seat next to her. He was decently tall and fairly on the broad-shouldered side. An even five o’clock shadow smoothed over his jaw, his lips turned over in a flirty grin, and Melody even found her eyes straying to the openness of his tunic that exposed his chest.

“You’re not very happy, my dear,” he seemed to croon, fingers rising to stroke her cheek. “That’s an easy fix if joy is what you seek.”

She was not in the mood for this. Melody, who had sat herself on a stool by now, shifted so she faced the grinning Zeltron. She leaned forward some and his response was to do the same. Her hand snapped across her body to seize his wrist, straining it down against the counter’s edge. Her other hand had gripped a pistol and she had subtly managed to press it against his abdominals. The surprise was written across his face. A blaster jabbing into him instead of a make out session he had been expecting? What? Melody leaned further, breathing into his ear with an innocent purr.

“I advise you keep the hands off the assets. Refusal to do so and I’ll cut them off, stick them up your ass, douse you in fuel, and light you on your way to Coruscant. Do we have an understanding?” Bleakly, he nodded. And just as quickly, Melody released him and put the blaster away as she twisted around for her second shot. The Zeltron didn’t leave, but he had leaned a little away from her.

Good. Maybe she could get a little more drinking on.

[Dire Wolf]

Lanara waited for Xander for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only about 10 minutes or so. Either way, the woman got fed up with waiting and began to roam the city scape in search of a decent looking bar. Now, she wasn't stupid. Lanara didn't exactly like the prospect of carousing all by her lonesome. Especially since it was at night. In the middle of a city on Zeltros. And she was a good looking girl, at least that is what just about every other boy she met told her.

She ducked into a decent looking bar, it looked like a few of the bars she frequented back on Coruscant... Coruscant. Rage welled up inside her as she opened the door to the dive, the face of that crazy arrogant man flashed in her mind. That pirate screwed her out of twenty thousand credits. Lanara shook her head, she should have just turned him around and put him back in his cell when she heard the man haggle up. Who haggles up? Well... okay... the stupid, and the ones that intend to screw you out of 20,000 creds. It was a lot of money, and well, she got stupid. Everyone did. She just got stupid on a government contract... usually those that do that end up in the prison they were contracted to guard.

She sat next to a defeated fairly gorgeous looking Zeltron man, who was busy with a conquest. She silently thanked the force before turning to the bar tender, a Zeltron.

"Imma start the night off with some shots."

That is when she heard the man's "conquest" say something about cutting off his fingers, shoving them up his rectal cavity, and then lighting him ablaze. She smiled as the bartender slid a trio of shot glasses filled with liquid courage to her spot. "A girl after my own heart." She couldn't help but think as the man leaned towards Lanara, apparently now she was the new conquest.

Pheromones instantly assaulted her, every inch of the woman begged her to sleep with something. Anything. She had felt this before, mostly around Xander when he was trying to get her into the smex closet. Lanara only rolled her eyes to see the perfect face of a man looking at her with that "you wanna?" look. She subconsciously leaned in close to the man, he did the same; even going so far as to pull a lock of her hair back behind her ears, revealing her deep blue eyes. He slowly let his trace over her form until he got to her wrist, it took all she could not to break his arm.

When the man began to pull, probably trying to get her back to his house, the local park, park bench, or wherever. Lanara simply grabbed his wrist, pulled out a combat knife, and drew close to his ear, another inch and her mouth would be on it.

"Not in the mood, buddy. Keep going and I start with your nuts."

She whispered before pulling back and feinting a swipe at his crotch. He ran out of the bar. Lanara only shrugged and turned her attention back to the shots that lay before her. She quickly brought each one to her eager lips and let the glass spill its contents into her mouth, but before she could taste anything the woman let it wash down her throat. She did the same to the other two shot glasses. I've had better Lanara thought as she turned to the bartender again.

"Strongest stuff you got. I got some stuff that needs forgetin'."

[kt]

Xander must have taken longer than he thought because when he finally arrived downstairs, Lanara was nowhere in sight. He simply shrugged and skipped to one of the closer cantinas in the area. As he approached the front door to the Cantina, a zeltron man came running out in a slight panic.

Xander just shrugged again as he walked inside and found Lanara already hitting the alcohol, along with another, very hot woman sitting next to her. He then casually walked over to the both of them and put an arm around each "Well hey there babe, it's not very nice to leave while someone's doing something. Oh well, let's drink." He then gave Lanara a kiss on the cheek before tapping the bar and picked up the newly appeared shot glass and downed the dark amber liquid.

It wasn't until he put the shot glass down that he set his eyes on the blond woman beside her. "So you got a name honey?" Xander then put a hand on her butt "The name's Xander, a pleasure to meet ya, now lets drink!" He exclaimed as he recieved four double shots of the strongest stuff the bar had and downed all of them.

"I'll bet you both 50 credits that i can drink you under the table." Xander said confidently as he downed yet another double shot "If i win, not only do you both give me 50 credits, i also get to take the two of you home tonight."

[Squee]

Now that Melody glanced over and saw what had acquired the Zeltron’s attention, she wasn’t surprised. Ack, well, so much for making amends and try to be a willing flirt. Casually she let a maroon liquid trickle down her throat, not putting on quite the show as she had before with tipping her whole head back. She would do it every so often just to keep interest piqued. She really did need to dust the growing cobwebs off her charming skills and polish them to a shine when she either bought another ship or found Eagle Strike.

Melody spun herself back around to face the counter. Like all cantinas, Melody found them always unbearably hot. Calling for another couple of shots, she slid her glass back over and then shrugged out of her trademark trench coat. This kept eyes burning into the exposure of flesh now allowed for them to see. Mel still always wore her tank tops, but she subconsciously thanked an unknown existence that had tugged her to wear trousers today.

Picking up on of her received shots, she glanced back to the Zeltron and this new woman. Something morbid twitched at her lips. The woman had a nasty looking knife twisted in the curls of her fingers. There was a threat issued, but much more demeaning to the Zeltron than Melody’s had been. When the woman made a feigning slash to his groin and the Zeltron man decided to run, Melody couldn’t help but bubble into a fit of laughter.

“At least there’s another female form who has better thoughts than getting sucked into this culture.” Melody grinned and tasted a shot of a different color than the last few. The smuggler woman liked variety. Drinking the same thing over and over got bland after a while. It was why she almost never remained with the same shot more than twice. And after the quick taste test, she heartily drank down.

And that was about the time some other Zeltron male sauntered his way into the cantina. He showed courage to the woman, who had just threatened another with any possible future children, by kissing her on the cheek. Melody had her spirits crushed of skipping the seat over to talk to the woman when he plopped down right between them. But not before he had thrown an arm about her. With a snort of disbelief and rolling her eyes, she turned back to her own shots.

“So you gotta name, honey?”

And then the Zeltron, who called himself Xander, slid his hand down her back to promptly rest on her backside. That’s when she let out an exasperated sigh and looked to the heavens. I’m going to have to run through the same threat over and over and over… Melody was reaching back behind her, arching her back as she did so, and peeled his hand from her rump. And over again…

“Now, I understand that the ass is a pretty little thing,” Melody said, her tone tinted with a small darkness but the rather pretty smile on her lips contrasted greatly with it. The sapphires she had for eyes didn’t quite match up either. “But I’m sure with great understanding…” she clasped his hand between her two, migrating it over to the counter. “I’m sure we can learn to keep it off, despite dirty, selfish, perverted thoughts that whisper to us not to. Am I right?” She placed his hand on the counter, palms down, and patted it once before removing her hand off his.

There were several snickers that started up as she spoke to this Xander person. It was a few moments and most of them had died away.

“And I’m certainly more in the mood to enjoy my drinks rather than spar them. Also, if I leave my future up to a silly little game, I can bet that there’ll be people who won’t be that happy.” The last bit was growled as she threw back her head with the shot glass. “Being a ragdoll for a night is not something I particularly do.”

[Dire Wolf]

Lanara snickered a little as the man ran out of the dive. She had never really had that effect on a guy yet... must have been something she said. She couldn't help but let a wry smile purse her lips at the thought, yep, it was something she said.

She looked around, in all honesty the bar didn't look much different than the dives she used to frequent back on Coruscant, not that it was a bad thing... quite the contrary, she felt more at home at a place like this than anywhere else in the 'verse. Which was sad. But that man's reaction to her feinting the swipe at his jumblies... by the Force that gave her a good chuckle.

She shot a glare at Xander, he knew that she hated it when he did his little flirty kisses… she rolled her eyes. That is probably why he kept doing it. Well, she mostly rolled her eyes at the small bet that he issued them. No one could out drink a Zeltron. No-one. She only smirked at him as he looked at her with his usual flirtatious gaze.

“I'll pass. I have gotten hammered with Zeltrons before. 'sides, its too early for beer games. And yeah, Sorry Xander... but I ain't got much interest in going back to your house. Those “employees” were a little much for me.”

Instantly two glasses slid infront of the woman. One was a pub glass while the other was a shot. A smile cracked across her face. A Sithbomb. It had been a long time since she had one of those. A long while. She dropped the shot of unusually powerful alcohol into the third-full glass of particularly effective energy drink. Without a moments hesitation she brought the glass up to lips.

She would probably order more than a few of these before the end of the night.

[kt]

"Well then, i suppose we should just take it easy huh?" Xander smiled his usual flirtatious smile and pulled out flask and filled one of his empty shot glasses with the bright blue liquid. "Want one you two?" He asked politely as he sloshed the contents of the flask. "This stuff is more powerful than anything you've ever had, even more potent than the stuff at my bar." He looked at Lanara "You know what i'm talking about, that was weak compared to this." He then downed the shot and puckered his face a bit. "WOOooo!, wakes ya right up!" He shouted enthusiastically.

Xander tapped the bar and pointed at Lanara and Mel after getting the bartender's attention. "Give these two as much as they want and keep em comin all night, it's gonna be on my tab." The bartender then nodded in agreement and tossed 5 shots to all three of them, all sith bombs and went about his business.

"Bottoms up ladies." Xander then slammed all five in a row and ordered a pyramid of sith bombs that was approximately 25 shots.

[Squee]

“Easy?” They didn’t know that the word was useless to Melody tonight. She had to consider where she was spending the night. She was merely human, after all, and needed a good night’s rest. And that wasn’t with a Zeltron. Particularly the rather insane one that was sitting next her drinking a liquid that almost seemed to glow.

“Do I want one?” she sputtered in surprise. She coughed in her disbelieving state. “No, no thank you. I may enjoy a great range of various drinks and flavors, but, I’ve never been for those that glowed. No matter the strength.”

Melody was half afraid she might drink such a potent liquid and turn out to be a lit torch herself. Who knew what kind of horrible things that blue might wreak upon her. Well, not the shots of alcohol were doing her much good either. She swirled another one down, but leaned in and ordered a fizzbrew. Alcoholic and fizzy, Melody just felt in the mood for one. She took the drink when it arrived, spun back around in her seat and stepped off the stool. The seat on the other side of the woman was open, surprisingly. And Melody had no desire sitting between this Xander boy and sharing her other side with who knew how many other Zeltrons or human men for that matter.

“So, coming from where? And where you headed? With you scaring off men as fast as that, I wouldn’t take you as someone who actually stayed on this party planet.” She sipped at the fizzbrew drink, savoring the tingling sensation as it tickled her tongue and feathered its way down her throat.

“And I take it you know the impulsive, cocky one?” Melody gestured with her chin toward Xander, a quirk in her brow. Even then, she watched as he downed the shots. “Two livers they may have, but, drinking like that, both of those livers are going to fail.”

Melody had to admit that Xander had a sort of… wild personality. He was probably a little too hyper for Melody’s pissed off attitude tonight. But, when she flicked her eyes toward where the music wafted from… eh, perhaps she could loosen up a little. Zeltros was known for always seeking a joy and nearly everyone who followed the almost instinctive laws of a Zeltron followed them religiously. Maybe after talking a bit and enjoying her fizzbrew she could give eager males a show. Perhaps she could convince a few to show her what they’ve got in the field of dance.

Melody smiled, turning back to the woman. “I’m Melody.”

[Dire Wolf]

Lanara looked up at the bright blue liquid and tilted her head. Usually when something is glowing that means that it is radioactive, even if it is ever so mild. She shook her head. Besides, she had learned not to trust drinks that had come out of a man's personal cache, especially if it was in a bar. On Zeltros.

"Xander, as much as the offer intrigues me, I am going to have to follow suit with this woman and deny your drink. "

She smiled a little when the woman changed seats, at least now she had someone that wasn't constantly trying to be her suitor sitting in the next seat. She smirked and looked down at the bar table before looking up at Melody and replying.

"Its a long story, Melody."

She sighed before rolling her head at the woman

"I am coming from Coruscant, headed nowhere in particular. But, I just signed on with a Merc crew, I have no clue where we are going or what contracts we got. Alls I know is that I have a ride off of this rock."

She drew a deep breath before continuing.

"And yes, I know him. He is on that merc crew."

She really hoped that the guy learned to cool down. Yeah, she admitted, he was funny, but sometimes he was a little much for her.

"I'm Lanara by the way, what brings you to a place like this?"

[kt]

Xander just furrowed his brow slightly at the two refusals but just shrugged as he continued to diminish the once frighteningly high pyramid of shots. "Hmmmmmm." He thought to himself as he eyed the jukebox. He then finished the pyramid and walked slowly over to the music box, swiping a card through a slot on the side and put on a very danceable latin song. Xander then proceeded to salsa his way over to melody and lanara "Either of you care to dance?" He asked as he winked at two admiring women, both of whom giggled like little school girls.

This wasn't his first dance, his mother always wanted him to excel at the finer arts and so dancing was a must. He had 6 years under his belt and he used it when the time was right. "Come on, surely one or both of you know how to dance even a little bit." He then gave a big smile.

[Squee]

((-facedesk-))

“I am looking for a way off this planet, first of all. The only reason I landed here was because a shuttle thought it would be funny to leave me behind. Then, after I’m away, it’s for work. I’m a smuggler out of business because of a… misfortune.” Her elbow was lent against the counter, carrying most of her weight. Her other arm wandered free, holding onto her drink that she sipped politely from time to time.

“Ah, Impulsive is in the same boat as you,” she went on, waving a hand toward the Zeltron having fun killing both his livers at the same time. Melody couldn’t help but grimace. If she had had that many drinks, the migraine in the morning would’ve killed her if the poison of intoxication hadn’t.

“That’s something else I call a misfortune. Make sure none of his glowing drink hits the deck or your entire group will be sucking vacuum.” And cue another good gulp of her fizzbrew. She looked back around the bar, finding the brilliant colors and the wild movements of the light night affairs catching her eye. She felt herself relax with a sigh.

Like Lanara was familiar with this place, Melody was just as well. They reminded her more of Nar Shadda and their dancing dens. And of course, with dancing appealing to Melody, she’s had her fair share of participating. Hardly, though, did chances of partnered dancing enter the cause. And even if a song was playing that one could possibly find a partner to, Melody usually found herself doing the movements by herself. It still amused her though, and turned the entertainers of many patrons into the entertained. Sometimes being the center of attention was fun, if one was willing. When the spotlight was turned onto one forcefully, however…

“What is he doing?” she asked aloud when Xander wandered off a little ways. Her eyebrow was arched in that puzzled expression once again. He sauntered to a music playing device and fiddled around for a moment. The next thing Melody understood, the punk tune of the cantina began to blast with percussion based music.

“Certainly is shameless, however,” she noted as he danced his way back over to them. An amused smirk began to cross her lips. Oh, yes, a few drinks, a little threat, good music playing, a few sentences later, and Melody was feeling much better already. Though, she was ready to decline Xander’s offer until she noted the admirers she herself had conjured.

"Come on, surely one or both of you know how to dance even a little bit."

Melody’s eyes, which had been studying her fizzbrew as she went to drink it, snapped up to meet the Zeltron’s. She drank a bit of the fizzbrew, then regarded Xander. “A little bit?” she echoed, “Just a little bit?” Mischief twinkled in the sapphire gaze. “Don’t insult me with those words.” She lifted her coat away in a clenched fist, holding the drink in the other hand to allow Xander to see a motion of her hips against the seat. Melody swallowed another gulp of fizzbrew and then set the glass on the counter. Again, she came off her seat, throwing her coat there.

My mu equita
my spanish harlem mona lisa[/i]
“Pardon me, Lanara. It appears your friend believes I dance only a, quote, ‘little bit’, unquote.”

For a moment, she stood fiddling with her belt to loosen it a tad more. Her shirt, already half untucked, was pulled from the waist line to loosen some clinginess as well. She stood there a moment, her fingers beginning to swirl in a figure eight as she went to find the exact rhythm. It took her a moment or two, but Melody found it, snapping her fingers as her hips and body began to twist in a circular motion and then the snapping fell silent.

You’re my reason for reason
The step in my groove[/i]

A foot fell back, her hips swaying in such a direction to swing her body sideways. Her hands continued to swirl patterns in the air. The circular motion stopped for a moment as Melody rolled her body forward, starting at the chin and following through to chest and deep midsection to bend a small arch in her back.

And everyone in the bar now knew Melody wasn’t a cheap dancer.

And if you say this life ain’t good enough
I would give my world to lift you up
I could change my life to better suit your mood
Cause you’re so smooth[/i]

By now arms and hands had migrated to be outstretched at head level, hips and shoulders continuing an endless sway. Arms that had been outstretched closed inward, allowing Melody to entangle her own fingers in her hair if but briefly, drawing a few whistles from the spectator crowd. Her head rolled for a moment, but came out to catch the Zeltron’s stare. The step toward him was a full body switch and a shuffle, including a pull of the hips. It was percussion after all, upbeat and playful, and therefore hips played an important part. One or two more steps consisted of her switching sides and that shuffle.

And just like the ocean under the moon
Well that’s the same emotion that I get from you[/i]

Quick steps and simple, sharp turns at the waist. Arms still moved fluidly as she came not but two or three feet from Xander. She bore that cruel, mischief gleaming grin. Weaving a movement of something of a teaser.

You got the kind of lovin’ that can be so smooth

Again, she stepped closer to Xander, spinning to put her back near if not brushing his chest. Her head tilted back, she reached up and stroked just under his jawline.

Gimme your heart make it real
Or else forget about it[/i]

And Melody twisted out of any kiss possibility, facing him chest to chest now, and one hand clamped firmly on his shoulder. There was a simple head toss that matched the sudden bursts of percussion, and Melody had a fistful of his collar as well.

“Don’t call out one unless you know what you’re getting into.”

[Dire Wolf]

(I am sorry, but I just am not feeling Lanara right now... y'all will find that my muse for her is fickle.)

Lanara was about to say "Nope, I don't dance too much. Actually, not at all," when she noticed Mel get up and begin to dance to the latin style music. The woman couldn't help but let her jaw slag a little bit as the woman began to quote unquote "Dance a little bit". She tried to bring the glass of alcoholic liquid to her lips, which she had recently been given, but her hands refused to listen.

"Heh, the more I see of this woman the more I like..." She thought aloud as Mel grabbed a hold of Xander's collar and gave the riposte to his little comment. Lanara only chuckled a little bit as she turned around as she was finally able to bring the drink to her lips.

"So, you can dance quote unquote "A little bit" after all then?"

She chuckled before taking another sip of her drink.

[kt]

Xander raised an impressed eyebrow as Mel gave him a sexy little dance. Xander then matched her movements with equalled enthusiasm and ended the song with his arm around her waist and his face close to hers. "So, you can dance, i'm impressed i'll admit it. We'll dance more after a few drinks."

Xander then walked over to the bar and ordered a few more drinks, a fizzbrew for mel and another few rounds of sith bombs for lanara, downing the remnants of his flask. "Lanara, i can't really recall if i've asked you this, but do you have anyone waiting for you somewhere?" The zeltron's eyes lighting up at the thought of her being single. This was quite strange for him to ask, usually it really didn't matter if the girl was taken or not, usually he'd just settle for a sinful one nighter but now was different.

[Squee]

By Xander’s expression of raised eyebrows, she could tell he was surprised to see that she could dance. Well. And near professional. With near choreographed movements and practiced shakes, turns, and spins. Not only was Xander surprised, but Melody caught the hints of other stares as she had probably purposely tried to draw her way with her little solo before meeting up next the Xander. There was going to be several watching eyes tonight. And with Melody drinking, she was soon to forget she cared about anything, including the stares. Melody lived for attention in cantinas and dens. If one wasn’t there to have fun, then he or she didn’t belong. It was much too much fun to drink alone in a mopey corner somewhere in the cantina when there was entertainment a few steps away. In this case, that was literal with the dancing happening. This night, as many others Melody had drank off too, was going to be interesting, artful, and great fun.

And as the music drew to a close, so did the dance. By the end, Xander had her tightly by the waist. One of Melody’s arms was wrapped just as but around his neck and the other hand played fickle touching with his cheek. With the dance being as seductive as it was, it called for a sexy end pose. To which to complete Melody’s twining around Xander, she was pressed up against him, and her leg was hooked up next to his thigh. Their faces were close together. Rowdy patrons called out their appreciation to the sight, between simple whistling and loud cat calls.

Melody merely smiled at Xander’s praise. Her arms retracted and her leg slid down to support her own weight again. “Pleased to have impressed you. I aim to do that. And to be honest, it’s not every time I enter a cantina that someone else knows what they’re doing – somewhat- on the dance floor.”

Melody finally exhaled largely, running a hand through the wavy blond hair of hers. Nodding, she followed Xander back to the bar. A feline grin seemed to cross her face at Lanara this time.

“Oh, yeah, I know how to sway my hips a little and understand a few poses,” she replied with a shrug. Her grin remained. “My father’s best friend taught me to dance. I loved it enough that I’ve practiced for the last eight years whenever I’ve gotten the chance. So, to dance a ‘little bit’, I would say I know plenty to qualify.” She picked up the fizzbrew, sipping on it lightly. “It’s just, when you’ve got me started, I won’t really stop dancing until I’m kicked out of here or until I pass out.” Another sip. “I’ll probably end up passing out.” And this time a full swallow instead of sipping.

“You don’t dance at all, I take it? Then again, you seemed like one of those almost stone-cold women who did all those manly things.” Melody was not meaning this as an offense, oh no. Merely that she was stating an observation… slightly intoxicated. “You should try dancing tonight at least once though, Lanara. You might find you enjoy it.”

And she swallowed another mouth of fizzbrew. Melody had returned to perching on her stool. She sat on her trench coat this time. No use messing around with it if it was going to end up in the same place anyway. She pushed blond hair aside again, and shifted, settling more comfortably on her stool.

[Dire Wolf]

Did she have somebody waiting for her somewhere? Lanara blinked. The closest thing that she had to a boyfriend was Tyren... and he was on Coruscant. A red smear across the building anyways. He was on the ship that was shot down back at the prison. Heh. This man was hitting on her... this was the same man who for some odd reason... decided it was a good idea to almost constantly sexually harrass her. She blinked again.

"Ummm.... Xander?"

Was all that she could force out of her mouth at first. Lana was tempted to say: Yes. There is. And he is a Grey Jedi bodybuilder by the name of "Rex". Ohh yeah, and he owns a gang too." Then she would proceed to coo at the thought of this fabricated hunk. But then she noted his facial expression and sighed. She may have been a cruel woman... but she was not that cruel. Instead she would answer him simply; no lies, no looks, and most certainly no mention of this "Rex" character. She would also play dumb.

"No I don't. Why do you ask?"

Then Mel began to speak... and she quickly turned her attention from Xander to Mel. She couldn't help but tilt her head a little at the woman's statement and question. Stone cold woman? Heh... that might be true. She has been called worse. But she was not so much of a tom-boy that she was completely devoid of her feminine side. She took a drink of her beverage.

"I have danced once or twice here and there... I ain't the greatist... not by a long shot..."

That was the main reason why she didn't dance. Not that it wasn't fun... or that she didn't enjoy it. Simply because she tended to make a fool of herself every time she tried. She took another drink. Which was a little surprising... a woman who used to kill people for a living not doing something because she was afraid of looking bad. She smirked at how rediculous that was... of course the smirk could easily be taken the wrong way.

"... I suppose I could try dancin' again... but that will take a few more of these before I get the courage to do that."

She smirked and tapped her fizzbrew... Lana figured that she should tone down the proof a bit.

[kt]

"Um...no reason." Xander shrugged with a very subtle smile on his face, a rather large sense of relieved happiness now brewing inside of him. He of course didn't let a bit of this inner relief and joy leak out into the atmosphere. The zeltron then ordered a pyramid of mini fizzbrews and started downing them all.

"I bet you look pretty damn good dancing." He then gave Lanara a wink and finished the entire pyramid. "Drink up babe, the night's still young!" He then walked back out to the dance floor and resumed showing everyone else up, grabbing a nearby human girl by the waist and dancing with her very close.

At this point, Xander was just now barely beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, a big grin on his face as he held the now very seduced woman in his arms, not really thinking about her. Tonight was an oddity indeed.

[Squee]

Melody tilted her head to the side, wavy locks falling over and eyes as curious as a blue moon. It was a trick that Melody never seemed to have under her thumb. Despite her actions and the scenes she had scene, the smuggler woman could always come back around and appear as pure as a baby animal looking upon snow for the first time. She looked in no way a child though. Far from it. There was just a cute bleakness about her from time to time that people grinned and sometimes giggled at her for. Not that Melody was expecting Lanara to giggle. As before, Melody didn’t acknowledge how she appeared now.

“A few times? Here or there? Fool?” she punctuated each word with an obvious curious question. She tilted her head upright, drank off the rest of her fizzbrew, then leaned forward a little; one arm braced on the counter and the other hand right on her thigh, her elbow jutting out to the side making the position look more uncomfortable than it truly was. “That’s why, Lanara, you practice. Dancing doesn’t have to look like mine. I’ve learned different styles and techniques. What a lot of people call dancing is what’s happening with Xander and that human lady over there in the dance floor. It’s in the hips and the shoulders, for the most part. Just a few tips in case you wanna try in a little bit.”

And with that, Melody spun back around. People were starting to warm up to the fact there seemed to be a dance off stench resting in the air. The place had suddenly lit up with interest and tasteful entertainment, rather than folks sitting around, hitting on one another, listen to the tough beat, and sip their beverages.

Melody leaned back to Lanara after getting the attention of another male with the slow inching of her finger. A smug little smile had tracked its way somehow across that chaste expression, turning it into the queen of devel-ish smirks. And to complement, the ends of her eyebrows were pulling slightly upward. Something raunchy was possible to escape, or perhaps just another simple word.

“I guarantee, Lanara, when you start dancing after your rounds of alcohol, you won’t stop. Especially if you find a rather good looking male daring to test you on your dancing skills.” That last bit had been turned into a slightly charming purr as she turned sparkling sapphires onto the human male who had walked up beside her. So he didn’t feel awkward, Melody had stood. Passing by Lanara, she waved a little. “Because dancing with the opposite can be good fun sometimes.” With a wink, Melody was sucked back onto the growing dance floor.

One person after another. One species after another. One male after another. One solo after another. And yet, one brief dance competition after another. It seemed the more Melody drank, the sharper her dancing became, but her mind was starting to float with the beverages she drank. Her mind may have been deteriorating, but the stranded woman on Zeltros wasn’t exactly too stupid just yet. Habits were built into the woman. The dancing kept some of her brain functioning. And it was telling her it was getting increasingly late. Her energy had died down some, and Melody was beginning to take more and more frequent rests. And soon, she resulted to a water instead of alcohol. Experience was what was drilled into Melody. It kept her insane body in check. She didn’t know how at the moment, but if her mind wasn’t boggled and she never forgot, Melody could perhaps think through the reasons why it did.

And Melody was back to sitting on her high stool, cheek against the knuckles of her hand as she gently sipped on some water. She shooed away those looking for some kind of dancing thing, wishing to be left alone as spent energy and thinking were beginning to take its toll.

((I really didn’t know what to do guys. I can go back and edit if you weren’t satisfied with this post.))

[Dire Wolf]

When Xander winked at her Lanara couldn't help but let a girly giggle bubble out of her mouth. The alcohol was beginning to affect her a little bit... that was for certain. She smirked a little and spoke to the Zeltron before he left with the other girl.

"Heh... yeah... no.... I don't."

She swiveled the chair back around to the bar where she proceeded to down another gulp of her drink. The woman turned her glanced back at Mel and smirked a little when she spoke. Mel was probably right. Lana looked out at the mass of people dancing... there was one woman that was particularly horrible... Lana may just go out there, she did have to make someone look good after all.

"Yeah... practice... right."

Lanara mumbled before Mel proceeded to say something about how she couldn't stop once she started. She only shrugged and let Mel go off and have fun with her new dancing partner, she sighed and took another quick drink of her beverage before swiveling around to look for a potential dance partner, drinking buddy, or maybe just a decent looking guy to flirt with. Finding one, she downed the rest of her fizzbrew quickly and lightly motioned for the man to come over.

He was a Kiffar by the looks of him; the guy had a yellow stripe across his face, long black dreadlocks, and chiseled muscles that could be seen through his skin-tight muscle shirt. She smirked a bit before standing up and following him out on the dance floor.

She had to admit, it was fun, but to say that she was terrible would be an understatement. She quickly headed back to her previous seat and downed more then a few drinks. When Mel came back she tapped the woman on the shoulder.

"Are you looking for work?"

[kt]

When Xander's dance with the girl finished, he looked over to see a Kiffar man with Lanara in his arms, for some unknown reason, a little monster inside of the zeltron man started to growl. This strange emotion was never felt by Xander and he really didn't know how to respond to it. With a furrowing of his brow, the Zeltron walked back to his seat and practically chugged down an entire bottle of juma juice. "Let's dance." He said as he grabbed Lanara and Mel by the arms and got onto the dancefloor, another song full of latino flare in it about to start. ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmwzEhwScug )

With the start of the song, Xander pulled out all of the stops, dancing perfectly to the rhythm of the song. After the song ended, the Zeltron man was a bit short of breath but otherwise fine, he had Lanara and Mel in both of his arms, around their waists. He then gave Lanara a kiss, subconsciously letting off a very large dose of emotion projection, letting off tremendous amounts of lust, happiness, irritation, jealousy, and even the slight desire to one up one another. It was then that Xander pulled Lanara close and dipped her down, giving her a another kiss, this one ten times more passionate than the first.

After he put her back on her feet, he gave Mel a kiss on the cheek and walked back over to his seat, but not before shooting the Kiffar man a rather cold look, a smile not evident anywhere on his face for once, his golden eyes burning into the other man's as he turned his head away and slammed a double sith bomb.

[Squee]

Melody tipped her head at Lanara when the woman asked her if she was looking for work. That was invading a little privacy. Melody had meant to come here and have a few drinks and then think of what to do next. What should she tell this woman? Yes, she was outta work? She’s a smuggler without a ship? How appealing was that? It made Melody scowl and her eyes, already unfocused from the consumed alcoholic beverages, seemed to cloud further as she thought over her options. Lie? Melody had told lies before, but none to ever cause her harm. Lying here could cause her harm, especially if this Lanara lady was implying she knew where work lay. Her great cushion of credits wouldn’t last her long without getting a new job of some kind. And then hopefully find her ship and blah, blah, blah. But the truth? The truth hit Melody’s pride, and knowledge of her father’s pride.

But then, she remembered she had already hinted the loss of her ship to Lanara. Curses. Alcohol. It did horrible things to you in the first few sips. Melody resigned to giving a sigh, some of her vision returning it half-coherent gaze on the other woman.

“Yeah. I’m looking for work.”

She had barely managed to get the words out before that Xander of a Zeltron pulled on her arm. She shifted, her body complying with the tugging direction unwillingly. She barely put her glass of water on the counter before skidding off behind Xander.

“I just sat down, numb nuts,” she snapped. Angry at first that the Zeltron was unyielding to his demand to dance, it took Melody longer than usual to find the rhythm to the easily danceable, trumpet blasting music. But Melody, an easy participant to rapture, found herself lost among moving bodies again. Being the way she was, she tended to move astray from Xander every so often to the man (of roughly any species, usually turning to be Zeltron as well) lingering off to his side. The song was a lot faster paced, and Melody, already gotten the physical exercise of it, was breathing heavily herself. But stubborn endurance kicked in and somehow Melody found the energy to spin tightly, move sensually against any man she found herself with, as well as a few other dancing methods. She found herself at the hand of someone who knew how to pull off a few very good moves while flashing Melody around as partnered dancing was. And others Melody chased away because she was far too quick and furious.

But as the song came to a close, Melody was back at Xander. She propped an arm on his shoulder, leaning there for a few brief seconds. “When I’m sitting down, next time,” she gasped, inhaling deeply to slow her heart rate, “Don’t drag me into a song as crazy as that, because I’ll stupidly fall for it.” And she leaned off him, accepting the help from one of her “dancing partners” back to her bar seat. Of course, the human man – black haired and oddly blue eyed, by the way, with a nicely honed body (hot)- didn’t leave Melody alone from there. Melody, for the minutes the man talked to her, found herself observing the man in a dreamy fashion. Excusing herself from the conversation (he was talking about wine and hotels or something), Melody turned back around. Her back was against the bar and she propped her elbows on the counter. A head toss threw aside hair, which was beginning to clump from the amount of perspiration Melody had been creating, and regarded Lanara.

“Work, as you were saying before? Xander, you're gonna keel with gut wrenching cramps if you don't slow down. Trust me. I've seen it happen on a Zeltron before and I don't think you wanna be him."

[Dire Wolf]

Lanara was about to say something about Ocelot's merc crew when suddenly she was swept up by Xander, who drug her out to the dance floor. The song was intense, and the woman tried to keep up with the beat, but failed miserably. It was almost funny, she new how to not only survive, but how to execute a five man assault on a Battle Cruiser... yet she couldn't dance to a song. To say that she was miffed would have been an understatement, that Zeltron knew that she couldn't dance, furthermore he knew that it made her uncomfortable and insecure. Then he kissed her. At first she went to slap him, but then his pheromones and emo-jection hit her, essentially making the woman putty in his hands.

She kissed back, especially when he swooned her over and dared that deep and passionate kiss. For a few seconds afterwards she caught herself thinking about Xander, whether it was the alcohol, the pheromones, the emo-jection, or a mixture of the three she couldn't be sure.

After a few seconds of not really being able to think about her actions, Lanara came out of her somewhat dreamy state and simply blinked for a few seconds. She wasn't entirely sure what happened... she turned to Mel.

“What happened?”

The last thing that she could remember was coiling her hand back to strike Xander across the cheek. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the red man drinking alcohol. He used his pheromones on her, she knew it. She shook her head, both in disgust and frustration, Lana had a feeling that this would not be the last time he would use his abilities to take advantage of her. If he did anything more than kiss, however, she would have his crushed testes in a jam jar.

“I'm sorry... yeah.... Would you be against working for a merc crew? There is a new one starting up and... well... yeah.”

She shrugged. The alcohol was loosening her lips a little bit, under no circumstances would she have mentioned it to the woman otherwise... Ocelot obviously wanted the news of his Merc crew to be on the down low.