A Shrewd Display Of Affection

[Tidus Marzullo]

The underground of Coruscant had been turned into quite the lavish home. Much more so than Tidus had ever expected. Between shifts of guarding the Hutt, he'd spent a lot of time wandering aimlessly through the Marzullo grounds, lost in his own thoughts.

But today he paced across the marble floors with purpose. A summoning from Dante. The youth strode forward, avoiding eye contact with the slaves that had been pulled into service here. He'd been unable to keep his torturous nature at bay with so much temptation around.

Already he'd demanded the private company of two particularly attractive slave girls, only for them to find a world of pain within his quarters. Tidus' mind was twisted beyond the average darksider when it came to drawing pleasure out of the suffering of others. A small collection of both blunt and sharpened blades, some rusty, corkscrew type implements, and many others. Both slaves had cried out for death, and both girls were denied it by Tidus. The youth had banadaged them skill after the deed was done, and thrown them back out, babbling incoherent nonsense typical of a madman. No-one would believe their stories, and they would retreat at the sight of Tidus' hard, penetrating stare.

But they woud not see that stare today.

Tidus pushed open the doors of the main complex, moving through before stopped at Dante's quarters. Rapping his knuckles of the solid door, he waited for the leader of the revolution to answer.

[Dante Marzullo]

Dante's chained slaves waste no time to open the heavy stone doors, revealing Dante's lavish room. Twi'lek females sold by Muuta use giant feathers to blow some wind the boss' way, enjoying a long break after a two-year war had almost devastated his plans. Pillars with busts of himself adorn the walls. Lars had surely gone through some trouble for the narcisistic son of Itala.

In the middle of the room, about half a dozen nearly nude human females are sitting, giggling about as Tidus shows up. They know he can never hurt them, for they are Dante's toys. Seemingly bored and having gained a little weight, the Marzullo rebel gets on his feet and opens his arms in greeting, acting like some type of drunk.

"Tidus, you are here already! I need to ask a favor from you."

Dante waves his right hand like he is saying good bye, prompting his small harem to start giggling some more and run to the bed chamber, located just past the curtains that connect it to the throne room. The slaves with the giant feathers step aside to their dorm room, leaving the two alone.

"I want children, and I know I can have ten half-breds with my women, but I want a son with a force adept. This is where you come in."

Dante quickly turns his head, catching the last couple of sex slaves entering his sleeping chamber as he rubs his chin in delight.

"At least I want my first son to be full-blooded, screw Sol's old laws."

[Tidus Marzullo]

Tidus scanned the room briefly upon entering, paying no heed to the girls. Running his fingers through his hair, he listened to Dante; who was seemingly drunk.

"Any preferences? Blonde, brunette? Human I take it?" the youth asked, tilting his head slightly.

[Dante Marzullo]

"I could care less for hair color, Tidus."

It looks like Lars makes it just in time, tossing what looks like a pink pendant to Dante, who in turn hands it over to Tidus.

"I deviced a formula so potent that you only need to keep it near you for it to work, it will mess with your body enough to ignore the Force. It doesn't take it away per se, it simply makes your brain ignore it."

Dante is tossed one of his own, just in case, and stares at the neon pink coloring, clearly distraught by the curious cosmetic choice.

"Why pink?" asks Dante, sipping on a glass of ale.

"Uh, it's my favorite color." replies Lars, whose answer sounds more like an excuse than the truth.

"How come you don't wear pink clothes, then?" Dante taunts, raising an eyebrow out of sheer curiosity.

"What am I, a sissy?!" snaps Lars, bowing slightly before making his leave. Dante returns his focus to Tidus, wishing he could have spared the younger Marzullo from having to witness the odd exchange.

"Which brings me to my next request."

Dante edges closer to Tidus.

"Do not kidnap my future queen, I want to charm her myself. Just find her for me and give me every detail about her, even her gardener's name. "

Dante sits back, and knows that even while the imperials are hunting down force adepts throughout the galaxy, there are people who are not trained and go about their daily lives, but hints of the force are easy to detect by plain sight alone.

"Take as long as you must, and return quickly when you think you have found one."

[Tidus Marzullo]

Tidus fiddled with the necklace for a few moments, before shoving it in his pocket. He'd need it to avoid detection later on. He took mental note of Dante's requests, before giving a nod of the head and turning to leave. No kidnapping? That was indeed going to be a challenge for the young Marzullo.

Pushing through the doors, he headed back across the grounds to his own quarters. He needed to get changed. No doubt the Imperials had descriptions of most of the Marzullos, and going out in the same clothing he was wearing upon arrival wouldn't help his cause.

He changed into smarter attire. Coruscant was, after all, full of businessmen, and those hoping to become such. He wore black shoes, black trousers and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with a white tie and white braces. He ran a comb through his hair, before hanging the pendant around his neck and stuffing it out of view down the front of his shirt. Of course, he wouldn't be able to take his saber, which would be disconcerting. The youth more adept with Force abilities than his saber anyway. That at least would give him some comfort, if the need for violence even occurred. With Lars' pendant, detection of Tidus' Force potential would be difficult.

Placing a fair amount of credits in his pokcet, and pulling his tie tight, he left his quarters, heading straight for the lift. No-one else was going up. In fact, he wondered if anyone had been back to the surface at all in the past few weeks. Of course, supplied had to fetched for the construction, but other than that? Tidus wasn't sure if anyone dare take the risk. He wasn't even sure if he wanter to take the risk. Still, orders were orders. And it would be good to get some fresh air. Well, as fresh as it could be on a city planet.

Not too far off was a parking facility, which the youth had seen upon arrival. Slipping inside, it was almost deserted. Most of the vehicles had been taken home for the night, and those that was left were total heaps. Tidus spent 15 minutes or so browsing around the spaces, before spotting what he really wanted. A true beauty of a classic. Probably 50 years old or so, but still immaculate. Gorgeous silver curves called his name as he ran his fingers along the body, a boyish grin on his face. This would do nicely, very nicely.

With a quick check around to make sure no-one else was there, Tidus slid off his necklace, waving his hand over the locked door until he heard a click. Putting the pendant back on, he slipped inside, pulling close the door and looking over the dashboard. Ducking down, his hands moved around under and behind the steering wheel, fiddling. In a few seconds, the engine roared to life, and Tidus sat back with a satisfied look on his face. Not one to hang around, he put it into gear and left, heading out across the neon lit nightime towards one of the richer areas of town. With all those slave girls around, Tidus figured Dante would appreciate someone with a little class.

He came to a stop outside a bar called "The Cocktail". It looked classy, and everyone lingering outside was in evening wear or suits. Perfect. Slipping out of the speeder, he paced out towards the entrance, getting inside with no trouble. The youth had a confidence about him that wouldn't give away his age. Giving a brief look around, he headed straight for the bar, to take a seat and have a drink.

[Perry Sparkhill]

Being one of the highest-rated hot spots in all of the planet, The Cocktail always keeps busy, giving the young waitresses quite a difficult task throughout the day. Known for its great food, drinks and classy image, businessmen and youth attend alike. Rushing to deliver an expensive meal, Perry Sparkhill is given a hand gesture by her boss to slow down just a tad, better a meal a little bit colder than all over the paying customer.

Two old ladies gossip about as usual, admiring the young and successful lady. "She is smart, beautiful and successful. What a life!" they whisper, they are right after all. Only a week away from getting her law degree, Perry has everything to look forward to, including being the wife of a member of a distant royalty whom she met in the very same bar, a great career and an overall successful life.

She is quite proud of all of this, barely managing during her childhood, coming from a five-sibling family whose father had abandoned them, a truggling mother who had sacrificed everything to give her children a good life. Now she is but a week away from turning everything around, being a near graduate and fiance.

She thinks herself as some type of superwoman, working double shifts in the bar at times. It's slave work, but the tips are fantastic and greatly aid her entire family, the rich fiance can't do much for her until they marry and thus she must suck it up and continue to work hard.

She is quick to spot the latest customer coming in, looking much younger than the usual youth that venture in every day. She walks around the bar as she grabs her note pad and gives the young man a big smile, slightly bothersome but a requirement of the job.

"Welcome to The Cocktail, I'm Perry and I'll be taking your order, you have to try the latest drink, my boss calls it the Firestorm!"

Just one more week, she promises herself, and then she would thank the fat man and be on her way.

[Tidus Marzullo]

Tidus eyed the waitress for a few moments, running his fingers through his hair.

"Sure thing, I'll take one of those" he replied before the silence could get akward.

Taking a seat on the stool, he gave a brief look around, trying to spot any potential. With the necklace on, he wouldn't be able to trace any movement in the Force, however, it would prevent him being detected. His eyes would have to be sharper than usual tonight.

His gaze returned to the waitress as his drink was brought over. He handed over the price in credits, plus a little more, before picking up a menu and having a browse.

""Say, I'm pretty new to the area. Anything you'd recommend off of here?" he asked the woman, shaking the menu a little.

[Perry Sparkhill]

"Coming right up!" she cheerfully replies, enthusiasm being a must in her occupation. The bartender quickly receives the order and gets down to business as the beautiful and elegant waitress returns to her customer. Placing a finger between her lips, she thinks of what a young man could like the most from the recently-changed menu.

"Well, if you ask me I would go for the Blizzard Hunt which somehow makes cold meat taste amazing, of course thansk to the touch of alcohol. It's some type of secret recipe, but you'll love it!"

The restaurant had "cool" names in the entire menu, the simplest things having the most flamboyant of names.

"Oh! I think your drink is ready!" she says as she gives the customer a big smile, the bartender slips the drink from his end of the counter, missing its destination as the drink slips off to the floor behind the bar. Strangely, the glass stops in mid air as Perry catches it immediately, like some type of amazing reflex that she was gifted.

It's a dark secret to her, the one thing that could alienate her from everyone. She may have some type of clue as what it is, but doesn't dwell on it, and when little demonstrations as such occur, she forget about it immediately. She places the drink in front of her customer, praying too all the heathen gods that he did not see a thing.

[Tidus Marzullo]

But of course, the darksiders quick eyes had seen it. However, he was careful not to reveal so. True, he had potentially found what he was looking for, and so much quicker than he'd expected. But it would be better to hang back a little than charge in. Coming on too strong after an incident like that, well, that would certainly give away just what he was looking for. He looked away, acting as if nothing had happened.

Tidus lifted the drink to his lips, taking a long swig before replacing the glass on the bar and returning his gaze to the girl.

"The Blizzard Hunt it is then."

Folding up the meno and returning it to where he got it from, he took another sip of his drink, then handed over the price of the meal and started to think of how he should play this one.

[Perry Sparkhill]

"Great!" she says as she smiles, walking away to deliver the latest order to the kitchen. Apparently, the customer had not seen anything and she could get by another day without being discovered and subsequently accused of being a freak, even a criminal by the empire and its countless minions.

Now that business is slowing down, Perry grows curious about the stranger, perhaps being aided by her undeveloped sense of the force. She approaches him once again, leaning on the counter as she interrupts his latest sip.

"So, what brings you to this busy planet?"

[Tidus Marzullo]

Tidus swallowed his mouthful before turning his gaze to the waitress.

"Family. I have an uncle that's just moved in here. I was only here for a visit, but I'm starting to like the place. I might stay."

Clasping his fingers around the knot of his tie, he used his other hand to pull, tightening the knot where it had come slightly loose.

"And you? You been here all your life?"