Paying the rent (Moxi, open)

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu-Jan, the landlord of the rowhouses on mid-level Coruscant, stands outside his house in the morning sun, stretching and yawning. It's a quiet, out of the way place where his tenements are set up, and quite peaceful given Coruscant's bustling nature. Today is rent day. His ten boarders will be by to pay the two hundred credit rent eventually, and since its so nice, he'll just sit outside and wait. He studies his list of tenements, frowning as he comes to the latest addition...Moxi Saska. She owes two weeks worth of rent. Hopefully she'll have it today. He'd hate to have to throw her out.

[Moxi]

Moxi sits in the small room of her apartment, not wanting to go outside. He'll have to come and get her if he wants the money. Her boarding was small, hardly worth calling home, it had barely enough room to move around all that much. She sighed, oh how she hated rent day.

[Tzu-Jan]

The tenants make their way around...old Miss Fenkrer, out on her morning walk, followed up by the siamese twins Jekk and Hukk. Mr. Kekse drops his hurriedly on his way to work at the bakery, and then things die down. Lunch rolls around, and Tzu decides to make the rounds. No one's home, no one but...

"Moxi, open the door. Your rent is due."

[Moxi]

Moxi has already packed up her meager belongings and snuck out the narrow window and onto the roof. She avoided the rent so far this way and she has to do it again. Silent as a mouse, she jumps from roof to roof.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu throws the door open and steps inside, tapping his undersized feet and glancing to the open window.

"Again, Moxi?"

He's taken the liberty of hiding a chain-stick in the floorboards of her apartment. He takes it now and steps out after her. He's too small to do much, but the stick makes up for alot of it. He runs toward the edge, towards Moxi's receding form three roofs away, and launches himself like a pole vaulter after her.

[Moxi]

She hears something and drops down instead of leaping to the next roof. Moxi has a good enough lead, finding her way into the crowds. Reaching through her bag, she threw a cloak around herself and over her head to hide her bright red hair and disappeared into the bustling crowds of Coursant.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu's not so easily fooled. He gave her that cloak after her first "dodge the rent" stunt, as a gift of good will. There's a small mark on the back, a barely perceptible shift of color along the hood's seam. He follows along by way of the rooftops, looking for a break in the crowd.

[Moxi]

She glances up, damn not working, she moved to places were there was more people gathered. Luck was on her side though, sun's light was fading as it set, she would be able to hide better once the light dimmed.

[Tzu-Jan]

The sun's setting...Tzu can't dawdle any longer. He unshanks the chain and, spinning it around, launches it at her feet. He catches one, dragging her down, and begins to reel her in.

[Moxi]

She doesn't cry out but instead grabs the chain to give herself enough slack and gets loose. Bloody Landlord she thinks to herself before continue to try and get lost in the crowd.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu jumps down, using his light weight and small size to his advantage and using the sturdier shoulders in the crowd as stepping stones, making his way after her with relative ease. He can't get a clear shot at her though...but maybe he can draw the crowd to help him.

"STOP! THIEF!"

[Moxi]

Moxi isn't moving quickly enough for that though to be mistaken for one. She weaves her way in and out of the crowd, gets across a busy street and the light changes just as shorty reaches it.

[Tzu-Jan]

No big. He unleashes the chain at the opposite traffic light and swings across, reeling it up to swing over the cars and zipping up to the light, dropping on the sturdy shoulders of a Gamorrean guardsman. He apologizes to the thing's employer before jumping away after her.

[Moxi]

By now, Moxi has gained quite a lead, barely visable in the distance in the dim light left after the sun had set. She moved quickly but carefully, not wanting to attract any attention.

[Tzu-Jan]

He jumps down, finding a clear area, and runs at full tilt after her. She's moving more slowly, and he gains some ground.

"This isn't the way rent day works..." he mutters as he prepares another shot with the chain stick.

[Moxi]

She shifts quickly over to an alleyway and out onto another street, filled with just as many people, he wasn't going to catch her if she could help it.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu ducks after her. Overhead there are a few fire escapes; he uses them to his advantage to swing over the heads of the crowd. He's almost there...

"Moxi! Just pay your rent! It's low enough for a minimum wage job to pay no problem!"

[Moxi]

She doesn't have enough, if she pays him, she won't have any money. She had thought she would have found a job by now but times were tough. She can't let him catch her, she takes to running as fast as she can.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu throws out the chain again, wrapping high around her waist and digging his heels in to stop her.

"Moxi! Stop running! Running away won't change the rent you owe me!"

[Moxi]

She grabs the chain again but instead of breaking free, she flings the little bugger away from her, loosening the chain as she does. She runs in the opposite direction into a crowded bar, hiding amongst the many people filling its space.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu gets up, shaking the cobwebs from his head and reeling back the chain stick. He steps inside, looking to the bartender with a nod. He nods back, gesturing subtely towards the back. Tzu makes his way into the darker corners, where only the lights of the holovisions illuminate the room.

[Moxi]

She hides behind a large bulky couple of a race she couldn't name, they blot her out completely. She feels like crying now, how was she to get out of this?

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu nudges a cloaked being, finding a blaster aimed between his eyes. The little man guides it slowly to the side, apologizing for the intrusion with a look to the bartender. The bulky alien brings the disturbed patron a drink, free of charge, and Tzu goes on his way, looking carefully about.

[Moxi]

The couple she hides behind goes on with their conversation as though she wasn't there. They know she is but if she's running away, they felt she should be protected.

[Tzu-Jan]

He prods a few others, getting little to no reaction, then approaches the last table of the bar. Hm...no one.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a young girl come in here? About...this tall..."

He stands on his toes and holds the staff as high as he can.

"Reddish hair, big blue eyes...?"

[Moxi]

They shake their heads and speaking in their native tongue which only sounds like gibberish to others. Moxi is safe behind them, the pair doesn't want to see the girl come to any harm.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu lofts a brow.

"You're sure?"

They're acting awfully suspicious, he thinks.

"She owes me two weeks of rent."

[Moxi]

The male gestures to Moxi with his tail to the bathroom that is also right behind them. Another patron is entering so Moxi scoots her way past. The pair stalls a bit until the door shuts then moves a bit to show there's nothing behind them.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu sighs.

"Well...thanks anyway."

He moves back to the bar, settling himself on a stool to have a drink.

"What am I gonna do with her?"

[Moxi]

She leans against the wall of the stall in the bathroom, waiting. One thing that she can do well, she can wait forever, much longer than shorty ever would. Life had always be hard besides she could always fall asleep standing up if need be.

[Tzu-Jan]

Tzu puts back a few drinks, not enough to make him even a little bit tipsy, but after a few idle moments he paces quickly to the bathroom. There's a janitor's closet to the right of the men's restroom, which has the women's restroom to its left. The Janitor walks out of the men's restroom, and Tzu, thinking that to be the janitor's closet, goes for the one next to it. He raises a brow at the empty room full of stalls, picking one and throwing it open.

"MOXI!? Whaddaya think you're doing here? Where's the rent you owe me?"

[Moxi]

She jumps out of her skin and up as well, for the first time showing a bit of martial arts skill as she stand top the stall wall, balancing perfectly. She looks about a bit before jumping through the small window behind her. Moxi won't let herself be caught at any cost.

[Tzu-Jan]

Oh no. Not another chase. Tzu leaps out after her, tackling her about the ankle and moving up to seat himself quite comfortably on her chest. The tip of the chain-stick presses gently but firmly at her throat, a threat and a promise all in one neat two meter long package.

"Now. Let's talk about this rent. Which is what you should have done in the first place, Moxi Saska."

[Moxi]

Moxi says nothing, trying to figure a way out but she isn't sure how strong he is to do it.

[Tzu-Jan]

"Moxi, you owe me four hundred credits. Most of that isn't even the actual rent; it's for the damages you've made to my window breaking out when you didn't wanna pay it. I have to add it to your rent to see that it's paid. Now...what is it about paying weekly rent that's so hard for you?"

[Moxi]

"Cuz I don't have a job, if I pay you I'm penniless!"

She growled at him, she hated to admit how bad off she really was.

[Tzu-Jan]

"I've only got ten tenants out of twenty four houses. I have to keep the others clean in the event of someone moving in. The person who used to do this job was arrested for stealing from them, so the job is now open."

Tzu folds his arms smugly.

"Now. Imagine if you had simply come to me and explained your situation instead of running away. See how much easier this would have been?"

[Moxi]

She grimaced, how was she to know that?

"Thought I had no choice."

[Tzu-Jan]

"You should have at least tried. Think about it. The worst thing that could happen with asking me for a job would be for me to tell you I don't have one for you. The worst consequence for dodging your rent would be homelessness, not to mention a criminal record and a few years of jail."

Tzu stands up off of her. He'd offer her a hand getting up, but he's a bit small to be much help.

"Now come on. There's job training to be done."

[Moxi]

She stands up, tired from all her running about.

"Whatever you say, boss."

[Tzu-Jan]

"You can work a vacuum cleaner and a mop, right?" he asks, ignoring her tone. "You'll also have to do some dusting, as well as clean out the bathrooms. "

[Moxi]

"Any girl can clean boss..."

Well most, but she knows how so it's no problem.

[Tzu-Jan]

"Good. You'll do it twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. It pays six credits an hour. Tomorrow's your first day; I'll expect you up bright and early at eight. Understood?"

[Moxi]

"Yes."

She nodded and smiled, earliness was no big deal to her.

[Tzu-Jan]

"Well now that we've got that settled, let's head home. I'm exhausted."

Tzu stretches with a mighty yawn.

"Carry me?"

[Moxi]

"Not in the job description boss so no..."

She smirked, no way she was gonna carry him.

[Tzu-Jan]

"Aww..."

He takes a small detour up a stack of crates and leaps off onto her shoulders.

"Well too bad. I quite like it up here."