Blue Ryll Blues

[Zem Vymes]

Monday morning rolled around, and I kicked myself out of bed, and out of the arms of whoever she was. I seem to recall her name being Charlene, but the whore said she was a virgin so I took it with a grain of salt.

She was cold. Ice cold.

Blue powder on the nose.

Same powder on mine. I stumbled into the hovel's washroom, spritzed my face clean, gave the rest of me a smuggler's bath, combed my hair and donned my suit.

All except for the shoes. I'd stolen those. Didn't feel like keeping them.

As I contemplated another day on bare feet, I couldn't help but look at her again. Couldn't be older than nineteen, and she'd taken my money, my time, and my drugs. Now she was dead. A ship passing in the night done run aground.

I wanted to feel sympathy or sadness, but only found anger. Anger that she'd found me, and I didn't even stop long enough for reverie to kick in.

I took the money I'd given her the night before, took her identification card from her purse, and headed out the door, kissing my bare feet on the cold Nar Shadaa asphalt.

I figured this dead whore'd be too much dead weight on my back. Time to find somebody who'd cry for her.

[Hate Orgus]

The Jedi weren't allowed to love, and it was something she had never understood.

Untill that day at the Jedi Temple. She hadn't been that old, only a youngling, but the old teachings still rang through her thoughts. Maybe that was why she'd become a whore. She didn't have to "love" any of the johns who frequented her, and she certainly didn't have to worry about anyone finding out what she was.

Her "friend" Char had some inkling, but she was often out of her mind on drugs. Char, the girl who had helped turn her onto this life, was nowhere to be found. She stopped in front of one of Chars' favorite haunts, pulling her jacket around her. She'd have to show up sooner or later.

[Zem Vymes]

"It's cold today."

I made small talk waiting at the corner for the light to change. I shifted weight on my bare feet, to keep the specter of frostbite away from them.

I still had half a smoke. A crushed, warped thing that I'd smoked half-down at some point last night more than likely. A quick search of the pockets could find no lighter.

"Damn."

[Hate Orgus]

"Here."

A lighter was tossed between them, Hate lighting up a stim and breathing the smoke out slowly. The lighter returned to his place in an inside pocket.

"What happened to your shoes?"

[Zem Vymes]

I nodded in thanks to the kindness, and answered her question honestly.

"Didn't much care for them. I'll find others later."

The light changed to cross, and I allowed a weathered smile as I stepped along.

[Hate Orgus]

She felt something, something faint, in the back of her mind. It made her uncomfortable, but she felt compelled to follow him.

Another deep drag from her stim and she was trying to catch up to him.
"Hey, wait, you can't go around without shoes. You'll get sick."

[Zem Vymes]

I stopped in my tracks, in the middle of traffic, and turned to face her.

"Miss, I'm already sick in my soul. A runny nose is just insult to injury."

The lady had the look of a pro to her. Her threads seemed all the part. I pursed my parched lips together slightly, and mulled the morning events over in my mind.

"You ate breakfast yet? I just so happen to have credits burning a hole in my pocket and no better idea how to fix the problem."

[Hate Orgus]

She stopped mid-step. She hadn't really eaten in a few days. The thought of a free meal from a stranger would normally throw up a few red flags - nothing was ever free. She wondered what he'd expect in return.

"Uh, no, I haven't. There's a dive a block down that's pretty good though."