Unlikely...

[Keilara]

The pale pink skinned woman stepped out onto the walk as she began the walk back to the star port.

The average onlooker would only see a confident, typically gorgeous Zeltron woman. Her coloring a bit on the unique side in it's paleness, but otherwise not particularly extraordinary. The average onlooker would miss the tremble in her step; they would avoid her, giving her a wide berth not knowing why even at that they felt large levels of anxiety. Oti hid the fear behind her facade of confidence as she struggled to keep her steps even and not break into a run away from the horrors she had just endured.

To be honest... she wasn't even sure her legs would support her if she tried.

A little further... a little further...

The mantra rang through her head encouraging her to keep moving; giving her the strength to steadily place one foot in front of the next. She turned a corner and rested against a wall in a dark alley. Her breathing was shallow, her eyes closed as her head lay back against the building she was leaning against.

Everything hurt.

Slowly, as she allowed herself to relax, her breathing returned to normal. He couldn't see her now, she was hidden down an alleyway. His secrets were safe, as were hers. Bringing her head forward, she glanced down the alley in the direction she assumed was headed towards the spaceport. Though a huge part of her wished to return to the "Wobbler", an even greater part wanted a proper bed and a good shower.

She stepped away from the wall and sighed, trying to straighten her body back into its proud bearing and wincing in pain. Oti pulled her shawl tighter and hurried down the alley, out into a side street. A quick glance showed her a hotel a little further down the street. She took a deep breath and moved as quickly as her now shaking legs could carry her... the lure of a warm shower and a good nights sleep called her to keep moving.

The clerk gave her even paler than usual face an odd look that Oti simply ignored as she passed the girl a few extra credits for a room on the top floor.

"Could you possibly go out and purchase me a robe and something to wash my hair in?"

The clerk nodded, a concerned frown appearing as Oti slumped against the counter shaking for a moment before standing again.

"Thank you... there should be enough on here" she passed the young woman another credit stick, "to cover the purchase of a high quality robe..."

Oti got a slightly dreamy look on her face. "See if you can find one made of Dramassian silk... I've always wanted one and never bothered to pay for it."

The young clerk nodded and Oti watched her disappear before heading to her room. Up the lift, staggering down the hallway, and finally opening the door and closing it with a muted slam as she collapsed against it. Her clothing was, as quickly as she could struggle out of it, abandoned to the floor and she made her way into the refresher, setting the water as hot as she could stand it.

The feeling of relief was so acute that within moments Oti was curled up on the floor, sobbing as the water cascaded onto her sore, aching body. Uncounted minutes passed, and soon the water turned cold. The Zeltron woman wearily raised an arm and turned off the water, dragging herself out and slowly drying herself. A knock on the door alerted her to the desk clerk and she opened the door just a hair, telling her to keep the credit stick with whatever was left on it. She almost cried again as the smooth silk of the robe brushed along her bruised skin.

Settling on the bed for a moment, she worked on drying her hair as her eyes fell on the balcony window. An interesting plume of smoke was rising from one of the buildings a few blocks from her. Somewhere, somehow, in the back of her mind a tiny prick of nosey interest woke up and inspired her to wander out onto the balcony. A soft breeze had picked up and Oti imagined she could hear screams on it... she assumed it was probably the effects of her exhausted mind and body. Her hair floated softly in the breeze as bits of it were dried by the gentle fingers of wind brushing through it. Her body emitted a curious combination of depression and happiness as she stood in semi-contented exhaustion.

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

Running. Lots of running. No returning to the hotel room they'd been in before the mission, now it was straight back to the ship. However a Nautolan isn't easily lost in a crowd of humans, and when a private militia spots you running away from a massacre they tend to not lose sight of you. Eurachis was different. He blended in with the clouds. Jaa had dispensed of his cloak in the building. Not particularly a wise choice now that he thought back to it. He'd deal with it though. Deal with it when he'd gotten rid of this damn airspeeder chasing after him at least. He hadn't counted the guards yet, not even bothered to turn. He could deflect some bolts, but he knew they had a gattling gun on board. He knew because they were firing it at him at the moment, and so far it had done enough damage to the stone rooftops he'd been passing through that it was difficult not to know. Rooftops were dangerous, but at the moment it was his option, or rather the option he had taken before realising he as being chased by an aerial bombardment squad.

Sliding as he approached the end of the roof, his body turned more horizontal until finally his feet diseappeared over the edge, and his hands grasped the ledge, forcing a crushing grip on the structure. His feet made contact with the wall and his head inclined a tiny bit to the right in time to see the airspeeder bear towards him. He jumped, pushing hard off the wall and delving several stories into the lower streets. The airspeeder followed him down the wide gaps in the building, more bolts firing down at him. No use at this point though, as he twisted and gracefully manipulated his way through the air. It was like swimming, only with an impending landing, which he delayed by swinging around a bar, bringing him back up to a nearby rooftop and disappearing briefly behind the corner from the airspeeder. Looking back, he noticed the bar he had just swung off was a metal power cable insulator which not had a slight bend in it, and the airspeeder passed under it. Exhaling, annoyed, he found it even less appealing to be running like this than usual.

Any other time he would have just killed them there, and sunk his lightsaber through each of their skulls, but that wasn't an option. He couldn't reach them half the time, and with the amount of fire coming off them it would be suicide to jump to them. He wasn't strong enough in the Force either, so that wouldn't help. At the moment he'd run and just wait for an opportunity, and if he could kill them then all the better. He ran more now, his legs not even close to tiring as the streaking lights of the city passed by. Below he could see the glimpses of vehicles passing through the streets. He was close to the edge, and each blaster bolt that came close to hitting him sent chunks of rubble tumbling down to hit the ground many hundreds of feet below. They were getting closer to hitting him, and it was only a matter of time before their frustration bore them luck. Ahead he could see another building, close but much taller than the one he was on. A plan quickly formulated in his head, and slowing down a little be began to weave around a little. forcing the driver of the airspeeder to swerve quite often in order to keep the guns bearing down on him.

It was working, or at least it seemed to be, and Jaa now leapt from the very edge of the building. Time slowed down. Wisps of dust and smoke trailed around him as he jumped, many of it coming from the streets below where a group of merchants set about selling wares and cooked food. Another blaster bolt when past him, and he felt its heat against his cheek. Close, but not close enough once again. His arms made their way out in front of him, bringing him into a spear shape as he twisted through the air, eyes focusing ahead to the destination, mind reaching out. The Force would blind the driver, confuse him, and with any luck he'd crash. It was easy enough to do, and when it was done he suddenly realised where he was heading with his jump. Ahead he could see a female figure standing on a balcony, looking out at him. It was... it was strange, but his body suddenly swerved slightly to the right, as though he wanted to avoid her. He didn't, as far as he knew. But...

Well, there was little time for him to consider anyway. He came in with a hard landing, breaking through one of the windows behind her and rolling a few times before stopping, pieces of glass sticking into his skin. Mainly his arm. Outside he could hear the ominous explosion as the airspeeder hit something, and the vibrations hinted it was the building. He stretched out his unbloodied arm and pulled with the Force, dragging the figure at the balcony to him. This wasn't Lia, so why hadn't he just went through her and kept running. Pink skin, very soft, as he felt it touch his hands, young eyes. He snarled, considering just breaking her neck and leaving, but something stayed his hand.
"WHO ARE YOU?" He bellowed, eyes raging as he looked down at her, muscles feeling tenser the more he stared.

[Keilara]

Gunshots... she could have sworn she heard gunsho-

Oti ducked as a human sized missile flew towards her and shattered the balcony window. Glass sprayed everywhere, small shards resting delicately on her skin, glinting with the rain. Larger shards flew by as a high-pitched humming sound caused her lift her head, a particularly jagged piece of glass cutting her cheek.

Her eyes weren't given a chance to focus on whatever it was that was making the humming noise. Her body was forcibly jerked across the room as though a leash were wrapped around her neck just as an explosion occurred. The woman flew through the air only to stop, her throat in an unknown males' hand. Her eyes frantically searched what she could see of his form as he held her a bit off the floor. Nautolan... she didn't know any Nautolans... and near as she knew there was no reason for one to come after her.

His anger and confusion poured off him. For a second Oti thanked the Force that she was a Zeltron, her ability to pick up on his emotions would make this much easier to control. And then he snarled at her.

Bianca Exotica Peterson was not one to be snarled at.

He felt confusion, fine. She'd double it. Focusing her attention on the hand at her throat, she forced her mind to find something erotic about it... anything... Within seconds she could have sworn she felt the fingers gripping her neck begin to lightly stroke her skin and using that little bit of inspiration, Oti allowed herself to put out stronger levels of pheromones. Not the fearful ones she was sure he'd be expecting, but instead, as she did her best to lengthen her neck and hang proudly, those that would seduce his senses and confuse him.

"I am Bianca Exotica Peterson. You are an unknown individual of male gender that has rather rudely destroyed my hotel room. I would appreciate it," she swallowed painfully through his fingers. "if you would remove yourself so that I may assess the damage."

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

Jaa's fingers slid, twitching from side to side as he observed the scratches on her face. Blood trickled down out of one on her cheek and he looked with narrowing eyes. Stupid girl. He almost laughed as she stated her name. Actually he did a little.
"Bianca Exotica Peterson? You can't be serious?" She twisted herself a little in his hands, wafts of delicious smelling goodness flowing from her. Whether it was her or him, the situation, or just the residual exhilaration from having been chased for so long, all he knew was that she suddenly felt different. Softer, warmer, and she was wearing too much clothing, all wrapped in her bathrobe. His other hand grasped at the robe, a shiver creeping along his spine at the touch. Some sort of strange, divine material that was tenderly soft to the touch, almost painfully so. Drawing his hand away he could almost feel the pain of not having the fabric to hold. He grinned at her, ignoring her orders and inhaling once more. Yes, she definitely smelled nice.

"Any reason I shouldn't kill you right now then?" The malice in his voice was gone and was traded for something along the familiar line of teasing. Sina had done it a few times before and he remembered how that sounded, remembered how it had made him feel. He could almost see her in the girl standing before him. She wasn't as green, didn't have the eyes, the tentacles, not even... Well, he sniffed a little, returning his gaze to her face. Not like Sina really, but it was more the posture than the appearance. Sina often had that haughty look, the pronounced neck, the downcast gaze, the irrational pride. In some lights Jaa considered her to be as stupid as this girl, and yet there was something special about Sina. Something about this girl. His hand squeezed a little tighter, almost desiring to snap her neck for daring to provoke memories of Sina, but he lowered her the few feet to the ground, disengaging his throat lock.

[Keilara]

The bastard laughed at her name...

And what was this... her eyes widened a moment then narrowed and leveled a glare at him.

"Getting frisky are we?"

Instantly Oti cut off the release of pheromones. Obviously this one couldn't handle it if he was going to get all handsy on her. He set her down and she took a tiny step back and away from him. Her own hands stretched up and smoothed the front of the robe, tightening the sash as she analyzed the emotions rolling off him... teasing... wow... threats of death as a form of teasing...

Oti straightened herself and flashed him a dazzling smile, slamming a wave of pheromones towards him again before withdrawing them and speaking

"Maybe because you're an unrecognized male and if you leave now I wont' scream for the police?"

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

His eyes narrowed as she suggested that he was getting amorous. He prowled from side to side in front of her, observing her up and down as she talked cheek to him. He wasn't feeling mentally interested in her, just a strange feeling taking over him. His tentacles quivered a little and he noticed an absence of fresh scent in the air. He paused his pacing, glancing back at her, then clutching his head as a painful buzzing assaulted his senses. One hand grabbed around the back of his head, squeezing as though it would get the pain out. It was like watching a bright light without blinking, or listening to loud music right next to the source. He staggered a little, glaring as her mouth moved, and his hand suddenly moved around, his attempt at stopping the fire in his brain by slapping her backhandedly across the face. He growled heavily, wanting the smell out of his head immediately.
Kill her. No... she's like Sina, keep her. No... Wait, if I take her back to the ship I can decide there. It was probably the most idiotic idea he'd ever considered, but his arm wrapped around her wrist, and he dragged her small body up over his shoulder wordlessly, kicking down the door as he prepared to continue on his way.

[Keilara]

OOooohhhh... it seemed this one had a real high sensitivity to pheromones, Oti judged as she watched him press his head as though he suddenly had a blindingly painful headache.

Interesting...

A smirk lit on her face for only a second before her head snapped to the side. Her face burned, her neck hurt.

The bastard had hit her.

Before she could even respond or reach up a hand to wipe the automatic tears that had sprung into her eyes, she found herself flung over the horrible Nautolans' shoulder. Oti was stunned.

For about 30 seconds.

Then, as he left the room and headed for the lift she suddenly (figuratively) sprang to life.

"Put me DOWN!"

Her hands smacked him frantically in the back as she continued shouting. She squirmed. She wriggled. Her legs kicked wildly as she struggled to stun him enough to get put down and away.

"You horrible... awful... evil... PUT ME DOWN... ugly... obnoxious... WHERE DO YOU EVEN THINK YOU'RE TAKING ME?!"

Her hysterical voice she was sure could be heard for blocks, but unfortunately, she knew, with the explosion it was unlikely anyone would hear or even notice them. She was horrified to feel her throat tightening with the desire to cry. Oti did not cry. In frantic desperation, she grabbed one of the tentacles writhing by her head and pulled.

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

Punching a hole in the lift door, he pulled them open, deciding against waiting the 10 minutes for a lift to arrive for him. His hand shot out, tearing the door away and glancing down at the massive drop below him, then flicking his gaze upwards. The elevator was there, meaning he'd need to beat it down. The incessant beating on his back, however, was becoming a mild annoyance, and he laughed, a little creepily.
"Ugly? Obnoxious? Compliments aren't going to work." t was when she grabbed onto his tentacle that he was rather annoyed. Although it didn't hurt in particular, he did feel it tighten irritatingly, and he immediately brought a hand up to wind across her backside.
"Now STOP it, or I'll drop you and be done with it." His eyes flared and he dropped down into the elevator shaft, jumping from wall to wall on the way down, the wind whistling past his ears. He landed with a thud, blasting the doors next to him open with the Force.

Stepping into the lobby he barely registered the elevator coming in a second later. He shrugged and kept moving, ignoring the stares of fear, more directed at the elevator and the man rather than the body over his shoulder.
"Either start behaving or I'll kill you right now and be on my way. I have no idea why I'm letting you live, so be grateful." It was against his predatory instincts, and he felt as though he was being weak allowing her to live. Maybe if he broke her arm he'd get more compliance out of her? No... not unless she decided to push her luck. He began moving increasingly quicker now, locating his bearings and marching quickly down the street, taking some steps up to the rooftops once more. A leisurely pace would do at the moment, he reckoned he wouldn't be the last one there. Plenty of time to torture her with conversation.
"Steal the bathrobe?"

[Keilara]

A sharp cry sprang from her as he smacked her behind. It was far from a playful smack on the butt and her head burrowed into his shoulder as she let out a sob from the throbbing. She hardly recognized where they were till she felt her stomach drop as the wind rushed past her ears. A shrill scream was forced from her, ending only when his landing jarred her against his shoulder knocking the wind from her.

The loss of air so suddenly caused her to take in a huge breath of air, making her cough as, now recovering from the terror of dropping some 30 odd floors down an elevator shaft, she sobbed and weakly pounded her fists against his back.

"Why... Why can you not just put me dooown?" The Zeltron woman was pouring off pheromones of pure terror mixed with frustration at her lack of control In the situation. "I'm nothing special just please put me down you lousy son of a Hutt."

Some of her determination and will was returning and she was about to tug on another of the oh so convenient tentacles when he asked his question.

At first Oti was horrified. Then the rudeness of the suggestion in his question afronted her. About to make a searing retort, it suddenly struck Exotica as odd that he asked about her robe. Through the tears a calculating smirk appeared and she wriggler carefully out of one sleeve of her robe, brushing it lightly down the only bare and easily accesible skin... The closest tentacle.

"It is incredibly soft isn't it. Darmassian silk. Not rare but not cheap..." Her voice had regained some control and Oti decided to try and turn the tide in her favor. Seduction was something in which she'd had a lot of practice.

Turning her head and murmuring I to his ear as he leisurely moved down the street. "Not cheap but worth every penny spent. So soft and smooth..."

Slowly she released pheromones. Seduction was a game of skill, too much and she would push him away. Too little and a man could break free of even a carefully woven Zeltron web.

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

He felt her cry against him, her body clearly not used to such a hard hit, especially without the padding of any actual clothing besides the bathrobe she'd clung to tightly since he'd met her. He could also feel some sort of fear creeping around inside him, and he quickly checked around himself as he moved, feeling almost paranoid that there was someone or something following no matter what direction he took, nor how quickly he moved from rooftop to rooftop. Couldn't even sense anything on the air except the fear, much of it coming from the woman, and then suddenly he felt the fear disappear. The paranoia evaporate into the air, and he paused, looking around with his big black eyes onto the city horizon, ignoring the squirming of the hostage. It was then that he felt her brushing her coat against his skin, feeling the irritably soft fabric against him, and almost wanting to incline his head towards it. He began to walk slowly towards the next edge of the rooftop, deciding to finally answer her bluntly and not indicate how he felt the material felt.

"Soft, yes. Very, but expensive too I'd wager. Either you stole it and are avoiding the question, or you have a well paid job. In my opinion, thieves should lose their hands, but liars should die, so I suggest you answer carefully." He judged his jump to the next building, flinging himself strongly through the air and landing with a hard crunch on the next rooftop, small pebbles decorating the floor here. He moved slowly again, sensing another feeling overtake him and he thought the paranoia had returned at first. Then he realised it wasn't a fear, but an emotion he had tied in similar with it, an emotion he had sort of felt the first time he'd seen this woman. Slowing his pace, the robe felt even softer now, and he felt like he should do something to make her more comfortable, but dismissing it as the thought entered his head. She'd be fine, and the ship probably wasn't that far away anymore. He squeezed his arm a little, pressing against her waist with it. "So? Career?"

[Keilara]

Her.... job....

The thought suddenly filled Oti with hope. She was somewhat a valuable crew member and had been with the Wobbler crew for almost 15 years. Of course they would come looking for her when she went missing.

"I'm a mercenary. A gun for hire if you will." Or body for hire as the case may have it... "I am a crew member of the ship, "The Festering Gollywobbler". A critical part of negotiating our terms and conditions on a contract"

She wriggled a little again as his hand tightened around her waist, not bothering to control her pheromones. A little bit of eroticism couldn't hurt.

"You'd be better off letting me go you know. They'll be looking for me when I don't show up."

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

He was about to reply when he heard the ominous sounds of more airspeeders nearby. Or rather, his heightened senses let him pick them up. Normally they wouldn't have alerted him, but at the moment he had so much random adrenaline running in him it might as well have been right behind him when he heard them. He stopped moving, looking back the way he had just came from, the smoking ruins of the other airspeeder not out of his sight yet. The speeders seemed to be splitting up, and Jaa knew that he would be identifiable very easily as the one that had gotten away. They'd wonder why he had a woman with him, the answer to which he didn't know himself, and after that second's pause he'd be fired at once more. Wonderful. Dropping down between the next two buildings, he landed on a ledge about halfway down, forcing his way through the door with a weak Force push. It snapped off its handles, flying through the room amidst splinters and dust, and rested at the other side. Empty. A warehouse sort of place by the looks of it.

Depositing his baggage down on the floor, he peeked his head out very slightly, watching in silence for a few seconds as the speeder flew overhead, apparently weaving weakly to try and cover some distance. He'd take a while at this rate. He turned back to the woman, eyeing her as she lay on the floor in her bathrobe. Funnily enough he felt better at the doorway, but just looking at her made him feel uneasy and his blood rush a little. If he had pupils, they'd be dilating right now, but as it was his eyes stayed the same, unmoving from her. He needed to figure her out, and now that they were alone for the time being he had his chance.
"Mercenary hmm?" His mind fought back to what she had said, considering which routes he could take with the conversation. "Change of contract then, you're coming with me. If your crew has a problem with it, I'll quite happily enter negotiations with them." He thought of revealing his lightsaber, but at the moment he hadn't necessarily revealed that he had one, nor where. It was better that way.

Pacing a little, he ran his fingers along the stone walls of the warehouse building. Moving backwards and forwards, he kept his gaze locked down on the girl, thinking of what to ask her next. He could tell she wasn't human, but his knowledge of the other races wasn't sufficient enough to tell him what she was. Whether it was some human subspecies or another race entirely, and it was unlikely she'd be the type to tell him just what her speciality was, if she had them. No obvious outside characteristics, no claws or extra limbs, so the skin may or may not be important. He sighed, deciding that killing the silence might be worth the droll questioning.
"Tell me about yourself. I don't want you coming any further with me until I'm informed." He didn't speak loudly. Partly because he could do without the external forces being alerted, and the woman quite clearly didn't react well to his more forceful approaches.

[Keilara]

Why does he insist on these death-defying leaps?

Terrified Oti clung tightly to her captor. He had paused for a moment, looking around before taking another terrifying leap and dropping onto a ledge. The ground rose up sharply and Oti let loose a scream of terror, her hands digging into whatever they could get a handle on.

The irony of her clinging so tightly to the one who had done this to her did not escape her, but she only had a moment to think about it before she was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor of what appeared to be a warehouse. And not gently. A tiny oomph and a wince of pain came from her as she reached a hand back to rub her now quite abused behind. She watched him pace, glancing at her occasionally and hid a small smirk. Evidently she was something of a curiosity to her captor. She tucked that little bit of information aside as he began to speak.

"Change... of contract... You can't DO that..." Her voice, tortured to her own ears, rang out across the hollow, empty room and she flinched, shooting a frightened glance at him. She was more than aware he wouldn't hesitate to hit her if she wasn't paying attention enough to duck.

He wanted to know about her, so he could take her with him and she scoffed. "You could just let me go..."

Oti watched him with resignation. He was as unmovable as a mountain and as stubborn as....well... Oti couldn't think of a proper analogy and sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Do you want my whole life story or just a portion of it?"

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

It was interesting that even in her current situation, this woman seemed to have the fighting spirit needed to want to argue with him, and the apparent common sense to withdraw into a pathetic whimpering pile when he brought his disapproving gaze down on her, flexing his arm a little, prepared to strike out at her. He brought his arm up and rubbed his fingers with the other hand, considering the options he had with her, before finally speaking once more to her, his tone still unchanging and dominating the room they were in, the reverberations of his voice bouncing off the walls around her.
"You're not going anywhere." He turned his head a little, listening for the sounds of any vehicles passing above. It was quiet, but he got the feeling that if he left soon they'd be found within a few minutes. He sighed, though not much, and quickly decided whether he wanted a long, emotional story much, and decided he couldn't be bothered and didn't really care. "Just the relevant stuff. I don't wanna hear about every time you wiped your nose."

He dropped instantly to the ground, not bothering to cushion himself, sending more dust up into the air with a creaking thud, the small particles dancing through the air and glinting in the sunlight. He laid back against the wall, listening and breathing and closing his eyes, relaxing into the comfort of the bare wall and the hard wood floor. He kicked his legs out and stretched them, picking at the fabric of the trousers and rubbing it between his fingers. Not as soft as the bathrobe the woman was wearing. Not by far. Resigning himself, he pulled his arms to his chest, his fingers touching the hilt of his saber on his belt for a brief second to just feel the presence of his weapon. He pulled the arms closer and felt himself getting a little lighter, an image flashing in front of his eyes very briefly. Sina? He opened his eyes to check. No, that was the pink girl. Not Sina. Not her...

[Keilara]

Oti grumbled and fell quiet, drawing random designs in the dust as she tried to pick out the important events of her life. With a sigh she realized it was best to probably start at the beginning and talk too much about her life at home, so that by the time she reached where she was now he would be more than ready for her to shut up and she could gloss over certain... less... palatable details.

"Well. I suppose the place to start would be where I'm from. I'm a Zeltron; hence the pink skin and hair. My mother, a woman who fully embraces every part of Zeltron life, had me at a party. My father was a human which is why I'm so pale, but mother chased him off the planet with her constant partying. Much like she did me. She's always said I was too much like father. Too serious, not enough of a desire to participate in the ridiculous, nightly parties that take place on that disgusting planet."

Oti waved a hand mindlessly as she continued, "As I'm sure you noticed, Zeltrons' are quite good at pheromone control. Mother used it when I was younger to, well, she called it soothing. More often than not it gave me nightmares. I suppose the highlight of my time with mother was when she served my fish for dinner. I actually tried to kill her."

Oti paused a moment and slapped her hand sharply against the concrete.

"I worked for months at earning the money for those fish. They were mine. I had shown responsibility, something my mother knows nothing about, and just right in character with EVERYTHING she's EVER DONE, that b*tch served them for dinner to her fellow party-ers. She'd been too tired or some bullsh*t to take herself out to the store. It landed me in a recovery center for five glorious and peaceful years. She dragged me back when I was 13 and I spent from then till the end of highschool planning how to get off the planet. The Wobbler crew took me."

She blinked fiercely as tears filled her eyes at the thought of her crew member family.

"They accepted me. We all struggled to find something I would be good at. Anyway, it turned out that with the pheromone manipulation I am a great help at negotiations. And there are other... assets as well that I can use to my advantage. I had just left a meeting with a client of ours and stopped at the hotel for a nice rest in a proper bed when you dragged me off."

She swiped a hand across her eyes and took in a shakey breath. Thoughts of the people who had become her family could only make her weak. It was obvious that she needed to stay strong.

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

He wanted to laugh. So he did. Just a little. It wasn't something she was at all happy with, clearly, but it was indeed a funny thing to hear. Cooking her daughter's fish? How deliciously disgraceful. He could tell that it was something that irritated her though, as though the sad face and slapping her hands on the ground weren't enough. Either those were some really cool fish she had lost, or her mother was really irritating in her life, and he suspected the latter. He grinned, maliciously maybe, before asking in a low, unconcerned voice.
"So you don't like your mother I take it? I could kill her in an interesting way if you like." He wasn't going to go out of his way to murder her, obviously, but he wanted to see her reaction. Wanted time to think over what she had told him. Pheromone control. That was why he had been feeling so strange on the way here. The girl had been manipulating his sense of smell. Maybe if he cut her neck a little... no, not worth the effort.

He was also interested in this crew she was apparently part of. She had either implied or mentioned she was like a mercenary, though he couldn't remember exactly. If you're a mercenary though, you're good with something. A gun, a sword, a vehicle, something. Or you're thrown away and left to fend for yourself. Assets were good, but she hardly seemed the type. Not with all the trouble she had put him through. Not with all the fighting she'd attempted to try and get away from him since he'd grabbed her. Maybe he was wrong though, maybe his thought processes were impaired. He kept getting the feeling he was detecting the whiff of another scent arriving before realising it was just a breeze each time. Damn girl had him paranoid. He rolled his head to the side, tapping his fingers against his knee lightly.
"So what assets are we talking about, precisely?" He stressed the final word, finding himself not wanting to have to put much effort into this conversation. Just let her talk, let her wear herself out. Let her feel that you trust her and she'll be easier to manipulate.

[Keilara]

Oti flushed, her already pink skin darkening along her cheekbones.

"The kinds of assets that only a woman can offer to men. And it's when they take advantage of said assets that they find themselves on the dangerous end of a blaster and my crew find themselves a few hundred thousand credits richer than planned at the end of a mission." She answered him snappishly, irritated that he had needed to ask or was rude enough to ask.

"Men pay dearly for their wives not to learn of their infidelities through loss of flesh."

She was sorely tempted to take him up on his offer of removing her mother, but the end result wouldn't be worth it. "While I appreciate the offer of removing my mother from my misery, that would simply be another reason to party for everyone. It's better that she simply stay on Zeltros telling everyone what an awful, ungrateful child I am... And that I never go back to Zeltros for anything ever."

Oti gave the floor of look of disgust as she yawned exhaustedly. Her robe had ridden up her legs and arms a bit and the bruises from her earlier encounter were visible once more. Blacker now. Purple, green yellow and black. She sighed and ran her hand down one leg, wincing as it ran over one of the bruises.

"These will hurt tomorrow then..." She muttered to herself. "Should have had that clerk pick up some kolto for me while she was out."

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

He grinned, glad that she'd broken so easily. Glad that she was so vulnerable that he was able to use her like this. He was also interested in hearing about her apparent blaster proficiency. He hadn't seen one on her in all the time he'd had hold of her. In fact, he doubted she had one on her at all, which was a rather uninformed decision for someone of that supposed blaster notoriety. Assets, certainly, but he didn't believe a word more of it. Her mother even sounded too farfetched to be real, and he considered leaving her here to her self delusions if it were not for the fact that he felt drawn to her like a dumb animal to a trap. Obviously damaged or hiding something, and yet he stayed and pressed closer as though expecting something other than the impending sound of a snapping neck or a shot in the back. She had already mentioned being placed in a psychiatric ward of some sort and that didn't help ease his mind over the whole psychotic killer ready to cut his throat at first sign of opportunity.

He glanced up as he heard her talking, noticing the tone and words she used clearly did not imply she was talking about something in which he would have particular interest or knowledge. He focused on the words, spotting patches of colour running against her legs.
"Unhappy patron?" His arms tightened, head pressing a little further against the wall. He didn't want her to think he was interested. Didn't want to be interested himself as a matter of fact, but there was something about the bruises that made him want to go and check on her. He reminded himself, though, that he would be carrying her. She'd be fine, and after a bit of rest the legs would heal over and be good as new. No need for his interference, and no need for any damned influence from the pheromones that he suspected were lurking around not far from him at the moment.

[Keilara]

Unhappy patron?

The mocking tone and the words themselves caused Oti to flinch and jerk her head up to stare at him. For a moment the evenings earlier terrors flashed before her and she tensed visibly. For a moment she simply stared, breathing heavily and obviously terrified, but when no hit, no burn, no freezing, nothing hurt her, she relaxed and shook her head.

"No... no he was quite happy. When he's unhappy I leave with broken bones and spend a week in kolto." She winced as she stretched, whimpering a tiny bit. "This is what I come away with when he's happy with me. You should see my back. I'm sure the burns have started to heal over by now a bit, but they'll still be raised and red."

She sighed and moved to stand.

"And then there are the bruises you've given me."

[Val - Warning:Contains Sarcasm]

He made a motion to move as she prepared to stand, dropping a knee beneath himself and resting on that, ready to charge her should she decide to try and move. His tentacles quivered a little as she mentioned the bruises he had given her, his face contorting at the very suggestion that he would do such a thing. He would never deny it, of course, but that she would seek to complain or compare him with someone who gave such a beating for his own gratitude. He didn't need to attack a woman for his own emotional highs - fighting with surges of adrenaline were good enough for him. He drew a few small circles onto the floor, a small grin flexing onto his face.
"The bruises I gave were a necessary evil. Either you stopped moving or I killed you." He glanced up, locking eyes with her for a moment before dropping his gaze again. "Besides, I doubt you were entirely dissatisfied with my means of application." He let out a little bit of a dark laugh, not bothering to suppress it much, before falling silent, continuing with his circles.

He motioned with his hand slightly, sending a wave of the Force to push down on her a little, not even bothering to Force her fully. He still didn't want to risk going out just yet, and he really had no need to rush back to the ship. Eurachis would know that he'd make it back, know that the Nautolan was the member of the group that was built to last. He drew his attention away from the doorframe where he had absentmindedly been staring back inside to the girl.
"Stay put. No leaving any time soon. Not while they've still got those airspeeders moving around out there." He instead stood up, making a few steps around to look through the rest of the warehouse, calling out to her as he dropped from sight into an apparently empty room. "So, a ship huh? Anything exciting?" He pulled a few boxes around, looking through them but finding nothing of interest in the mainly empty crates, sighing, hoping for something exciting while they waited.