Looking for a Good Time (Complete)

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn O'Conner walked into the bar and grill, glancing around her at the unfamiliar faces. She made sure her cloak was fastened properly, then strode in and sat at the bar, ordering something she'd never had before.

Linn continued to look at the faces around her, hoping for a good time this visit.

[Shade Magus]

Shade had been sitting at the bar watching the news when he noticed a new person out of the corner of his eye. Always one to greet new people, Shade picked up his glass and walked over to her end of the bar.

"Hello. My name is Shade Magus. Mind if I join you?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn glanced over as the man introduced himself. The corner of her mouth twitched.

"I'm Linn O'Conner. I'd be very pleased if you'sd join me," she said, moving her chair over a little to make room for him.

[Shade Magus]

Shade sat down and smiled.

"Nice to meet you. Are you new here?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn shifted in her seat to face him.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'Ve only been in here once or twice before. So, what're you doing in here? You look a pretty distinguished guy."

Linn took a sip of her drink and looked at the man.

[Shade Magus]

"I just come in here from time to time to relax. I am a Jedi at the Temple so I guess you could say this is my hangout spot."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn heard the word 'Jedi' and red warning lights began to go off in her head. She'd always heard that Jedi were bad news. And with her questionable history concerning them, she was afraid he might stand any minute to recognize her.

But she calmed herself, hoping his force power hadn't noticed any change in her attitude.

She took another drink.

"Hang out spot, hm? Well, the couple times I've been in here before, I've met some interesting people. I've heard that the Temple is boring to be in. Tell me, is life at the Temple anything close to what I've heard?"

[Shade Magus]

"That all depends on what you heard, but to tell the truth it is different for everyone. For some it is what you would consider boring, and for others it is rather adventerous. I myself have to complaints about it. Since becoming a Jedi I have grown and changed in ways I never would have if I had chosen a different path."

[Linn O'Conner]

I never would have if I had chosen a different path.

Linn smiled a little at the words.

"I suppose I've just been told so much that it's awful that I believe it now. But, you are the first Jedi I've met under good circumstances. Most times they're looking for someone and haven't the time to chat."

Linn smiled wider.

"Are all Jedi as nice as you?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled back at the young lady.

"For the most part yes. There are one or two that just prefer to keep to themselves, but most of us enjoy the company of others."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sighed and turned about in her chair a little, taking another drink and trying to think of something else that would make an interesting conversation. She glanced around the place, hoping to see something that would catch her interest. She turned back to Shade.

"Where're you from?"

[Shade Magus]

"Pretty much all over. I spent the early years of my childhodd with my father, who was a Jedi. Then I went to a planet called Eden. There I grew up with my brother Yurza Magus and our freind Chaos Alexander. It was a planet of natural beauty. I wish I knew how to get back there, but unfortunately I cannot."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn rolled this over in her mind for a moment.

"You're lucky. I wish I was so sure of where I came from. But I'm not."

Lin sighed looking up at the ceiling and taking a drink.

[Shade Magus]

"Why not?"

[Linn O'Conner]

"My mother was a vagabond. My father left before I was born and my mother never told me where i was from. I was left on some planet when I was twelve. Simple as that. My parents didn't care much for me in the first place, wich was alright for me," Linn explained.

Linn ordered another drink.

[Shade Magus]

"I am sorry to hear that."

Shade took another sip of his drink and changed the subject.

"So what brings you to this part of the galaxy?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sighed, thanking the bartender as he appraoched, armed with her drink. She shrugged as she took a drink, wrinkled her nose, then put the glass down.

"Everything. I suppose you could say I'm looking for an old friend." She laughed. "A very old friend

[Shade Magus]

[i]"Sounds interesting. Care to tell me his name. I might know him, or of him.

[Shade Magus]

"Sounds interesting. Care to tell me his name. I might know him, or of him."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled. She pushed drink farther down the table, not really wanting anymore of it. She turned a circle in her chair, smiling widely at Shade when she came back around to face him.

"Name? His name is...different everyday. He likes to change it so I can't keep tabs on him."

[Shade Magus]

Shade, caught off gaurd by the smile, blushes. He isn't used to having people smile at him so for a woman to do so it was even rarer.

"Well then....I can only imagine."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn saw a pink tint come to the man's cheeks. She smiled even wider, thinking it funny that a Jedi should blush at a girl. She'd always thought they were stiff, with not many feelings.

Shade had proven her wrong.

She twirled around again, feeling full of energy for some reason.

"I can only imagine. He's taken up the business of stalking former girlfriends, me included. So, if I didn't need help paying off a debt, I'd try really hard not to keep tabs on him."

[Shade Magus]

Shade eyes grew wide for a moment.

"Stalking? Wow......I can really understand that. What kind of debt are you trying to pay off? I might be able to help.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn bit her lip, knowing she'd said too much. She smiled again, stretching, then brushing some of her hair from her face.

"Oh, you know. Just one of those old things you don't get around to until the last minute. Anyway, my friend did me some favor I can't even remember now, and he's whining that I pay him back for the money he spent on it."

[Shade Magus]

"Just a favor and he is stalking you? Sorry to say, but that sounds kind of extreme."

Shade took a sip of his drink and looked at Linn.

"Look I know that we just met, but if something is wrong you can just tell me. I mean it isn't like you killed someone, is it?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn froze. She stiffly took a drink then set it down.

"I guess n-not," she said forcefully. "But it was just a favor. You know, one of those things."

Linn fet beads of sweat forming on her back and head. She wasn't sure she liked where this was going.

[Shade Magus]

Shade could sense the woman's anxiety and decided to change the subject.

"So what do you like to do for fun?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sighed, glad that they weren't talking about her past anymore. She shrugged.

"Well, I like to..." she paused. "Drink with friends...cruise Coruscant...or whatever happens to be the fun thing at hand right then."

[Shade Magus]

"Sounds fun. In fact sounds a lot like my idea of fun."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled broadly. She took a sip of her drink and looked at Shade for a moment.

"Well, we have the same idea of fun. so," Linn said, twisting to get more comfortable in her seat. "What do you do when you aren't having fun and you aren't working?"

[Shade Magus]

"Either I am in my room sleeping, or I am here relaxing. Sometimes though I do have a tendency to just up and leave without notice and go for a little spin around the galaxy."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed heartily.

"Spinning about the galaxy! Something I enjoy immensely!" she said, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder. "Sounds like we have more than a few things in common, eh?"

[Shade Magus]

"Indeed. I am beginning to see sort of a pattern here."

Shade smiled as he took a sip of his drink, glad that the girl was beginning to relax again.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled softly, feeling comfortable with Shade. Comfort around new people was not coming easy these days, and to be at ease with this man was rare indeed.

Linn pulled up her sleeves, feeling a bit warm in the stuffy bar. She took a sip of her drink and smiled at Shade again.

"So." She began. "Do you fancy weaponry?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade did a short nod as he considered the question.

"Well, it really depends on what kind of weaponry you are talking about."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn thought a moment.

"Blasters," she said. "Any kind."

[Shade Magus]

Shade gave a slight frown.

"That just really ain't my scene. I prefer swords, knives, anything that would be used in melee combat."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked puzzled.

"Hmmmm..." she muttered. "The only types of 'swords' I use are knives. I've been told I'm addicted to knives."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled as his head drooped in a sort of a nod.

"Well, they are nice, just make sure you don't cut yourself. I don't really know why I don't like blasters though. I guess it just have to do with the fact that the Jedi use lihtsabers and I have grown accustommed to that type of weapon."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed heartily.

"Yes. Being nimble with them is a must. Though some of the scars on this body are due to fumbling around with them at the very beginning."

[Shade Magus]

"Yes...that is another good thing about a lightsaber. You can advance them to set them to stun so they don't leave scars, but they sure do keep you sore in the mornings."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled, brushing a piece of hair from her face. She looked at Shade, wondering if he was really thinking about lightsabers, or thinking about being bored to tears talking to a woman he just met. She smiled.

"Your turn to ask a question."

[Shade Magus]

"Well, you already know what I do for a living. What about you?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn jerked as she heard the question. Her hands began to sweat.

Shade was a Jedi. No matter how much she enjoyed his company, it didn't change what he was. She couldn't tell him what she did. If she did, she would one of the most moronic Bounty Hunters in the universe.

All of this flashed in her mind in the space of a second.

She turned her eyes away, knowing he would be able to read what she was thinking.

But she had to think fast.

[Shade Magus]

Shade could feel the woman's emotions through the Force. He could feel fear, but of what? Why was she afraid of that question?

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn could tell Shade was probing her feelings with the Force. She tried to block them out, tried to supress them, but the feeling of being backed into a corner spilled over, flushing her cheeks and widening her eyes.

How could she avoid the question? Would he let her?

[Shade Magus]

Shade noted the woman's distress, but decided not to push on it. There was no telling what it would do.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn let out a sigh. Then she looked at him.

"Thanks..." she muttered. This was at least twice he'd made her a nervous wreck, then side stepped the question to make her more comfortable.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm a little..." she paused. "Well, I don't really know, but I think I'm about half a step away from a nervous break down."

She chuckled, trying to lighten herself.

[Shade Magus]

"You need to relax. Nothing is worth that."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed again.

"Maybe I need someone to slap me and get it over with. That'd wake me up..."

She sighed, looking down at the floor.

[Shade Magus]

"Well, I am not going to slap you so you can cross that out, nd you're not sleeping but if you are then you got good taste in dreams."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn raised her eyebrow and smiled, looking gently at him.

[Shade Magus]

"Look I didn't mean to get you worked up, so if anything else comes up that you just don't want to tell me, then just say you don't feel comfortable answering the question. There are parts of us that we all want to kept private and you should be no different. But if you ever do feel like you nee someone to confide in then you can talk to me as a Jedi, or I can take my title off and you can talk to me Shade Magus, the guy with the goofy hair."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed, but looked away. She'd been so used to being pryed open and forced to tell what she'd felt, being in this business for her time, that she was expecting everyone to be looking at her under a microscope. She looked back up at the man with a small smile on her face.

"Well, you don't have such goofy hair, you know."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled.

"Says you! Tell everyone else my name and a lot will say oh yeah the Jedi with the bird nest on his head."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed out loud.

"I don't think anyone would say that! I like your hair personally!" she twisted a strand of her own hair aorund her finger. "At least yours isn't flimsy and ugly!"

[Shade Magus]

"There isn't anything wrong with your hair. Besides, I wished I could get mine to be flimsy."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled again.

"I don't think you want your hair flimsy. It means you can't do anything to it. You just look the same everyday. Which isn't good if you want to avoid someone." She shrugged. "But then again, maybe you want to look the same all the time."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled as he raised his finger slightly. Along with it a few strands of Linn's haird came up and begand twirling and braiding themselves. "There is always something you can do to it."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn watched as her hair twisted and braided until it was all braided. She gasped scooting back in her chair a little. Then she remembered what he could do with the Force and smiled.

"I think only Shade Magus would have been able to do that and convince me that it's true."

[Shade Magus]

"Everything is true to some degree. It only matters on your point of view."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Hm. I've never actually looked at it that way," Linn said, looking at a strand of her now delicately braided hair.

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled as he took a sip of his drink. "Well which way have you looked at it?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn was taken off guard. She'd never been asked a question like that before.

"W-well," she fumbled, looking for the right words. "I guess...things are either true or untrue. Not half-true, or sort of true. Just true or false. That's all I've gathered in my years."

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded his head thoughtfully. "Well you aren't the first one I have ever heard have that idea. And a time ago I would have agreed with you, but after being here and seeing and knowing things that some should never see or know I have come to the conclusion that things are always based on a point of view. Unfortunately the galaxy doesn't revolve around a constant of what is right or wrong. A man today could be called a murderer and in a century or two, he could be called a savior."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at him funny. She frowned a little, feeling somehow that he had been through much more in his life than she could dream of.

"I like that..." she said. "That way of thinking. I suppose though, it might touch a raw nerve with some people, because if it isn't quite right and it isn't quite wrong then what is there to live for? What's there to fight against?"

[Shade Magus]

Shade let his mind wonder for a moment, going over the events that passed as he came to be a Jedi. "Sometimes fighting isn't the only way. It is a hard truth and unfortunately some of us learn about it a little to late."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn didn't know if it was her, or if she saw pain behind his eyes.

"Yes. Some do. And some would die trying to find a way around it. Just so they'd have a reason to fight."

[Shade Magus]

"And that is the only constant in the galaxy. No matter what happens, people will be at war. Be it themselves or others, fighting is the only thing that quenches their thirst." Shde said these last words silently. They were the same words his brother had spoken to him the last time they had met. The first time that he had to admit that his brother was truel gone to the dark side.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn felt a pang in her senses of sadness almost radiating off Shade. She felt terrible for him, for whatever plagued him. But she didn't want to nag at him to know what was troubling him. So she looked away, taking a drink.

"Yes," she muttered. "Everyone fights and everyone dies. And sometimes, you feel like the root of everyone's problems."

[Shade Magus]

"Yes..." Shade suddenly snapped back to the world around him. Not again. I gotta stop letting my ming wonder like that. Shade gave Linn a smile as he sipped from his drink. "Anyways, how d you like your new hair style?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn was surprised at the sudden change in conversation.

"Um," she said, flipping a little hair over her shoulder so she could get a look at it. "I really like it, actually. I might have to call you in every day to do this."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled at her comment. "Well thank you. It's been awhile since I did that. I am glad I still can...and for that matter I am glad you like it. Last person I did it to didn't find it to funny, but then I guess I wouldn't find it funny if my hair got braided if i was sleeping. He never could take a joke."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's features lit up at the thought of Shade being a trouble maker.

She laughed.

"Who exactly was the recipient of this braiding technique?"

[Shade Magus]

"An old freind. Went by the name of Verse Dawnstrider. He was a Garou, or Lupine Jedi Master. The old man never did take much funny after he found his daughter here."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled.

"That's my kind of joke," she said smiling. "I would never have thought you had it in you!"

[Shade Magus]

"Please that would just be a warm up for me."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn raised her eyebrows.

"Oh really?" she said. "Tell me about your escapades."

[Shade Magus]

"Well which ones would you like to hear about? We got the good clean harmless pranks and then we got the pranks thataren't usually appropriate for dinner talk."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at the table.

"I don't see food, so it obviously isn't dinner. Enlighten me."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled. He then cockedhis head to the side thinking of which stroy to tell. "Well let's see there was this one time me and a few freinds decided that a freind of ouur's needed to be lightened up for her birthday, so we got her a huge cake and one of us hid in it naked, while the others presented it to her. We started singing happy birthday and out pops me, singing the last verse."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed so loud a few people stared. Once she stifled herself, she looked at Shade.

"You got into a cake, naked!" she said looking at him. "A Jedi got into a cake naked!"

[Shade Magus]

Shade gave a sly grin. "What? It really wasn't that uncommon back then. Now it is still kinda uncommon, but I like to shake things up every once in awhile."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled, chuckling behind her hand.

"Sounds good to me. I like things a little crazy once in awhile! Nothing really exciting has happened to me lately."

[Shade Magus]

"Well that'll just have to be something we remedy sometime now won't it."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"What did you have in mind?"

[Shade Magus]

"Depends on how much excitement you're looking for."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at him with a half smile.

"How much do you think I need?"

[Shade Magus]

"Couldn't tell you. I don't know what leel of craziness you're used to."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"Quite a bit, actually. Sometimes my life is too crazy!"

[Shade Magus]

"Hmm...well if that's the case, then I think I can come up with something pretty crazy."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Let's hear your idea."

[Shade Magus]

"I think I'd rather show it." Shade looked around the room. There weren't many in the bar, but enough to pull off what he was planning. It was also a plus that he didn't recognize anyone, so that woud make this as embarassing. It would be the first time he had done anything this big in a long time. "Ok could you stand up for a minute first though?"

[Linn O'Conner]

"S-stand up?" Linn said. She faultered, but stood, watching as two people in the corner looked over.

[Shade Magus]

"Don't worry. It'll all be over...in a...minute." As he said this last word, Shade reached out with the Force to all the people standing around. He gave a definite tug and dropped everyone's except his, pants to their ankles.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn was dumbfounded. But only for a moment.

She fumbled, gathering her clothes back around her, her cheeks going a flourescent pink. Then she noticed that everyone else was in a state of panic pulling thier pants up and yelling at the bartender who was just as distraught as they.

Linn noticed then that Shade was laughing uproariously, and realized that he had used the powers supposed for good to embarress everyone there.

"Shade!" was all she spluttered out before she put her hands to her mouth and backed away from him, laughing hard behind her hands.

[Shade Magus]

"Ah...what a sight we have here. Nice shade of pink you are wearing there." He gave the girl a wink.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn stared at him amid the chaos happening inside the bar and grill.

She was at a complete loss of words as he spoke and winked at her.

"Shade..." she said again, unable to find anything to fit the intensely embarressing, and hysterical moment occurring right then.

[Shade Magus]

"Well if that wasn't enough..." He let the words trail off.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn didn't know what was coming. She grabbed his hand, looking at him.

"Though immensely funny," she said looking around at everyone, still trying to figure out what had hapened. She looked back at him. "Very embarrassing. Something just as exciting but a little less..." she figured he got the point as she continued to laugh at three men blaming the moment on each other.

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded and looked around. He found what he was looking for and reached out with the Force pulling a sack of credits on the floor. A man who had dropped them was still trying to pull his pants up, but when he saw his credits moving away, he dropped his pants and made a dive for his money. Apparently credits where more important to some than dignity. He let the man catch up to the bag and then jerked it away a few more feet.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn watched as Shade played cat and mouse with a pantless man across the room.

Linn began laughing harder. What made things even funnier was that Shade didn't even look like he was causing anything to happen. And no one had yet noticed that he had been the only one whose pants had remained secured.

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded his head and the bag lifted into the air dangling just out of the man's grasp. He jumped for it, but it was pulled even higher. He picked up his drink and took a sip. Only then did he notice that the bartender was looking at him funny. "Why did your pants stay on."

Shade faltered for a moment and the bag of credits dropped into the man's hands. "Well I was the only one sitting down." He turned back to Linn slowly, so the bartender wouldn't become more suspicious. "Well then...what a show eh?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at him, still smiling broadly, tying the last knots in her belt. She sighed shaking her head.

"Never would have thought you had it in you," she said, looking at the man and the credits. He was still standing there, pants down, looking strangly at the bag of credits, his pants, and Shade. "There are some perks to having that Force thing going on. But I never suspected anything like this."

[Shade Magus]

"Well I don't want my life to be boring, so I think it's times like these that make it worth it."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn stopped smiling long enough to think about what he'd just said. Then she smiled a little and looked up at him, realizing just how much taller than she he really was.

"I suppose they do, and this one...I'll remember it for a long time."

[Shade Magus]

"It's always nice to know I let someone enjoy themselves. And come to think of it, I don't think anyone will be forgetting this day anytime soon," Shade said with a smile.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed.

"Who could?" she said. "I'll be tying my belt tighter from now on."

[Shade Magus]

Shade put on a face that showed him hurt. "Ahhh...you don't trust me now?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn saw his faked hurt face, and put on a sympathetic look.

"Of course I trust you. Trust you to make my life a little more exciting."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled. "Well its good to know I'm needed somehow."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed.

"I'm people other than I need you."

[Shade Magus]

"True, but maybe not as beautiful."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn went beat red.

"I'm also sure you could find someone who needs you just as much who's ten times more beautiful," she said, looking down to hide her red face.

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled and reached out to lift Linn's face. "Doubtful."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn went even more pink. She kept her eyes from meeting his, her true shy nature finally coming out.

[Shade Magus]

Shade cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn swallowed.

"I'm shy...I guess..."

[Shade Magus]

"You? Shy? I never would have guessed."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed a litle, still unwilling to meet his cool gaze.

"Well, it's usually deep inside until for some reason I get shy..."

[Shade Magus]

"And why would you be shy now?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn went even more red.

"I d-don't know."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled and turned to his drink. "If it is becauseof me, then please don't be. Even though that is a pretty shade of red on you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn could not help but turn even more pink. She looked down at the ground and sat, her hot cheeks finally cooling.

"I'm never shy..." she muttered.

[Shade Magus]

Shade had a grin on his face as he nodded. "Sure you'renot, then what was that?"

[Linn O'Conner]

"I don't know..." she said, fiddling absentmindedly with her braided hair. She shook her head. "Anyway, it won't happen again." She looked at Shade and smiled.

[Shade Magus]

"Well I hate to say it, but I kinda hope it does later. After all that was a nice color on you. But anyways let's talk of something not so embarassing now."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Sounds good to me..."

[Shade Magus]

"Well then since you are calmed down. Maybe now I can ask you what you do for a living? And whatever it is I promise I won't tell anyone. Even if you're a clown." He smiled

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at him, suddenly more inclined to tell him.

"I'm not telling you if you are a jedi. But if you're just Shade, sure."

[Shade Magus]

"Fair enough," Shade said as he pulled of his Jedi robe and placed it on the counter. "Shade Magus please to meet you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled, continuing to play with her braided hair. Then she realized what information she was about to surrender to him. She looked up, blinking her dark eyes.

"I'm a Bounty Hunter."

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded, and took a sip of his drink, acting as if nothing was wrong. "That's nice. Do you go from employer to employer, or do you stay with one business?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn blinked, staring a moment.

"I-I go wherever there's a need for a bounty hunter..."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled when he eard this. "Ahh so you are one of those. To tell the truth I respect them more than bounty hunters that work for some organization. Atleast they are brave enough to look for their own means of work and therefore define their lives more clearly."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn sighed, looking away.

"Yeah, but compared to the angelics we all refer to as Jedi, we are nothing but cowards who hate humanity."

[Shade Magus]

"Says who?"

[Linn O'Conner]

She looked at him.

"Says every single employer I've ever had who wasn't happy with a woman's work."

[Shade Magus]

Shade shook his head and chuckled.

[Linn O'Conner]

"What's so funny?"

[Shade Magus]

"I know more bounty hunters that are Jedi than I know regualr bounty hunters. Believe me, we all have some secret to hise."

[Linn O'Conner]

Secrets...

Linn looked at the floor, at her hands, around the bar then back to the floor.

"Secrets sometimes make up who someone is. And then without his secrets, he withers away, and no one misses him."

[Shade Magus]

"Well never heard it that way, but a person can live without secrets. Take me for example. I have none...even though there are things that I just hate telling people."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn looked at him.

"Everyone has secrets. You can't tell me you don't have any."

[Shade Magus]

Shade searches his memory. "Ummm.....nope can't think of any. There might be one or two small ones I can't remember though."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"Well, here's another mile stone: you are the first person I've ever met without any secrets to tell."

[Shade Magus]

"What can I say. I'm a unique person."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Unique?" Linn laughed. "You definately are unique."

[Shade Magus]

Shade nodded his thanks. "Well the same could be said about you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn scoffed.

"Unique is the last word I would use to describe myself."

[Shade Magus]

"Why would that be?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn raised an eyebrow.

"Besides this great new hair-do, I'm totally lack luster."

[Shade Magus]

"No you don't. Just me. You don't lack anything."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn ran a hand over her hair.

"I lack plenty of things," she looked around, remembering the fiasco that had just taken place. "For one, that sense of humor that comes so naturally for you."

[Shade Magus]

"Not at all. I am sure you have a fine sense of humor."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Have I said one thing funny this entire time?"

[Shade Magus]

"Yes or atleast you did something funny. " Shade said as he ran his memory over and over again.

[Linn O'Conner]

"Okay. Tell me what it was then."

[Shade Magus]

"You dropped your pants, and you blushed."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn began to go pink again at the mention of that moment.

"The pants thing was your fault. And the blushing...that was your fault too."

[Shade Magus]

[i]"First off, you have no proof that was my fault with the pants. And why was it my fault you blushed? Because I saw your underwear or because I said you were pretty?"[/]

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn tried to quelch her embarrassment.

"Both," she muttered.

[Shade Magus]

"There's nothing to be embarassed about that...well...I mean atleast not me saying you were pretty cause that true, even thought you underwear were kind cute...I mean....umm...care for another drink?" Though he haddn't shown it at the tme Shade had ben kinda flustered too on both occasions.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn caught his stifled complement on her underwear.

"No thanks," she said. She stopped trying to keep her face from going pinker and just continued to stare at the table.

[Shade Magus]

"Ok, but I think I do." Shade reached over to order another drink as his face started to turn red. Unfortunately so were his eyes, which were exposed to Linn.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn could see his face going red too. She smiled wide.

"Aha!" she exclaimed. "So you do get embarrassed!"

[Shade Magus]

"Umm...Ummm...I don't now what you're talking about," he said with his back still turned, determined not to let her see his beat red face.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn put her hands on his shoulders and looked around his arm at his face which was now as red as hers had been only moments before.

[Shade Magus]

No way am I going to be the only red one here, Shade thought. He turned his head slightly and kissed Linn on the cheek.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn felt the man kiss her on the cheek, but couldn't believe it. It took her a moment to register, before she sat up, her face going red.

She wouldn't let go of his shoulders...or rather, she couldn't. It was almost as if her hands were locked around the fabric of his clothing.

She stared at the back of his head, her cheeks pink, not able to say anything.

[Shade Magus]

Shade got even more red. He didn't know what had caused him to do that. "I...I'm sorry."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's cheeks went red.

"No," she muttered. "Don't be."

[Shade Magus]

"No I shouldn't have."

[Rhea Kaylen]

wrong account

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn turned to look at the bar, letting go of Shade's shoulders. She tried to hide her red face, attempting to let what had just happened process in her mind.

[Shade Magus]

Shade took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself before speaking again.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn turned so she could not see the man even out of the corner of her eye. She quietly ordered another drink and sipped it silently.

[Shade Magus]

Shade turned back around and placed a hand on Linn's shoulder. "I'm sorry. That was a rash gesture and I shouldn't have..."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn felt his hand on her shoulder and heard spoken words, but nothing was going through her mind. She was blank...and dizzy...very dizzy.

"I..." was all she could force out of her mouth.

[Shade Magus]

"Are you ok?"

[Linn O'Conner]

She continued to avoid looking at him. She took another drink and nodded slightly.

"Sure..." she said vacantly.

[Shade Magus]

"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Suddenly, everything snapped back into gear, and she nearly jumped out of her chair as his soft voice seemed to be magnified in her ear. She looked at him, her once pink face now pale.

"No," she said. "Not at all."

[Shade Magus]

Her sudden change of attitude startled him and he almost dropped his drink. "Ohh...well that's good."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn could tell her recovery had startled Shade, but the little headache at the back of her head was not getting better with the alcohol, so she pushed the glass away, and looked at her tattooed hands.

[Shade Magus]

"You're wanting me to go?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn's eyebrows shot up.

"No. Why do think that?"

[Shade Magus]

"You just seemed quieter all of a sudden I thought it really was what I said."

[Linn O'Conner]

"No," she said. Linn could feel an awkward silence beginning, and she fished about for something to prevent it.

[Shade Magus]

"Ohh...well in that case, I guess I'll stay...can I get you another drink?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn rubbed her forehead.

"No thanks. I it's half the reason I have a headache. Thanks, though."

[Shade Magus]

"Oh I am sorry. What's the other half, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"I don't know. I got a little dizzy a couple minutes ago. Maybe that's it."

[Shade Magus]

"Dizzy? Why dizzy? Have you hade one too many?"

[Linn O'Conner]

"One too many?" Linn chuckled. "Naw, don't think so. I think my fairly low excitement level got a beating is all. Not saying that's a bad thing."

[Shade Magus]

"So you're saying it was a good thing?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn nodded a little, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

[Shade Magus]

"That's good...umm...I think I mihgt be able to help with your dizziness if you'd like. It would require me to be a Jedi though."

[Linn O'Conner]

"Okay," she said shrugging. "Just whenever your a Jedi, forget I'm a Bounty Hunter."

[Shade Magus]

Shade smiled. "No problem." He reached out with the FOrce to touch the woman. He could feel the dizziness and vertigo in her head. He let the strength of the Force flow through him into her. He also squeeze her endorphine glands slightly, releasing a hormone that usually helped numb pain. Normally this would settle this down, but there was no telling on each individual. They all reacted differently and to different degrees.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn felt something inside of her, coursing through her veins, and the pain began to leave her, and she felt different from the way she'd felt the entire evening.

She closed her eyes, letting Shade do whatever it was he was doing. In only a few seconds the pain had left her completely, and she was only aware of the warmth that the power Shade used instilled in her.

[Shade Magus]

Shade opened his eyes and let out a breath he had been holding. "Better?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn opened her own and stared at him a minute.

"Yeah..."she muttered. "How did you do that?"

[Shade Magus]

"Through the Force."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"Are all Jedi so mysterious about the Force?"

[Shade Magus]

"There's nothing to be mysterious about. The Force is the Force. It...it's kinda hard to explain it to non Jedi because you can't really explain the Force. You can only feel it."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn considered this for a moment. She'd never really thought about the Force before. It had always been somthing she'd accepted as existing but never affecting her personally. She never thought of it as a thing.

[Shade Magus]

Shade could feel Linn's curiosity, but decided not to say anything, so she didn't think he was trying to protrude on her privacy.

[Linn O'Conner]

"Hm," she said, shifting her postion. "I never thought of it as something you could feel...like an emotion?" she asked.

[Shade Magus]

"Almost...its...its like a cool river flowing around you. You know you're surrounded by it and it will never leave you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"Sounds secure," she said. "Wish I had it..."

[Shade Magus]

"Everyone has it. It just takes some longer to find it."

[Linn O'Conner]

It just takes some longer to find it...

Linn nodded.

"Maybe," she said. "Then maybe some never do."

[Shade Magus]

"I've never met anyone who couldn't touch the Force. The only difference is wether or not that person chooses to study the ways of the Force or not. That determines how strong they become."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn batted a bit of braided hair back over her shoulder. Her ears were ringing and she didn't know why. All she knew was that she didn't really understand what the Force was or how one attained it.

"What if they have it, but never realize it?"

[Shade Magus]

"Sadly that is the case with most people. They have the potential, but it is never realized. Only those few that show certain traits are searched out by the Jedi. Everyone else has to make thier own decisions about it, but since they show no, what everyone calls characteristics, then they think they can't be a Jedi."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"I have a Jedi friend," she stopped. "Had a Jedi friend who I'd known for a very long time. As soon as he became a Jedi, he sought me out to kill me. Another reason I have a dismal outlook on Jedi."

Linn paused.

"How do you...realize you have the traits to become a Jedi?"

[Shade Magus]

"Well...the easiest way to recognize it and the most common showing is in a person's reflexes. Some people are almost able to see things before they happen, thus making them appear to have quick reflexes. other traits are sometimes being able to sense when you are being watched or what another person is feeling very accurately."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn cocked her head.

"I know several people with those traits. Does it mean they could be a Jedi?"

[Shade Magus]

"It could be."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn could probably point out at least some of those traits in almost everyone she knew, including herself. She highly doubted, however, that it meant anything.

[Shade Magus]

"Are you thinking of anyone in particular?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"I was thinking of a few people I know. But if I even mention the word Jedi to them they'd massacre me. They're pretty hard headed."

[Shade Magus]

"Sounds like a few freinds of mine, but if it is the will of the Force then they will come around."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn nodded.

"I'm sure they may," Linn looked at Shade. "But, why do you speak of the Force as if it were a person? Does it really will things?"

[Shade Magus]

"In a sense yes, but in another sense no. It may will us to do somethings, but it can also show us different outcomes of our decisions and let us choose which we would like come to pass."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn wrinkled her nose.

"That seems like a confusing existance. I don't think I'd eve survive."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn wrinkled her nose.

"That seems like a confusing existance. I don't think I'd ever survive."

[Shade Magus]

"To each there own."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linns eyebrows raised. It seemed like a very curt answer coming from Shade.

"I suppose so."

[Shade Magus]

"Every person has to choose their own destriny, but I've never met anyone who hasn't survived."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn nodded.

"I suppose. It just seems to me that living just to help people is a miserable existance. Maybe it's just becsue of my upbringing."

[Shade Magus]

"Maybe it is, but a life of helping can be very rewarding instead of just miserable."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn nodded again.

"It must be because I've grown up killing people all my life. Eventually, they all run together, thier pasts bleeding in with each other, and soon thier faces all look the same. Now, the conept 'help' is almost completely foreign."

[Shade Magus]

"Help is never lost on those that truely look for it or those that need it. A past that runs together is not uncommon to a lot of Jedi, but it isn't the same as you're talking about. For a Jedi a past that runs together is a past full of freinds that are close that sometimes it becomes almost impossible to tell who has done what. That is where we draw our strengths from."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn smiled.

"Me and the people like me, are at the end of the food chain. Everyone hates us. It's something we we've come to accept. At first it's hard to deal with, then it's just something we're used to."

[Shade Magus]

"No one is at the end of the food chain, and not everyone hates bounty hunters. If that were so I'm sure you wouldn't have the business you do. Besides I don't hate you."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn chuckled. She felt her cheeks go pink, and was surprised to find herself flattered by the comment that he didn't hate her.

"Thanks," she said, then looked back up at him. "But the business I get only because I kill the most. From what I've heard, that's completely opposite to what Jedi stand and fight for."

[Shade Magus]

"Actually you would be surprised. The reasons that you kill is actually the reasons that a Jedi fights for, usually, sometimes. Your methods however are not thepreferred methods of the Jedi."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn cocked her head.

"So, you're saying that Bounty Hunters are basically Jedi with more bloody killing methods?" Linn said jokingly.

[Shade Magus]

"Actually yes. I mean think about it, bounty hunters are hire to take care of people's problems, usually by killing another person, say a Senator prehaps. Jedi are asked to talk to others to try and get tem to cooperate or stop something illegal they are doing. We usually handle this by talking and negotiating, unless it comes to handling things with our lightsabers and even then we try to refrain frm killing. So you see, same priciple, different methods."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed.

"What a contrast. You never really think about how two very different things are so much alike until they start talking."

[Shade Magus]

"I guess not. I don't know, having a lot of time to think somehow these thoughts just kinda pop into my head."

[Linn O'Conner]

"You're mind sounds like mine. I would never have dove this deep if not provoked," she laughed.

[Shade Magus]

"You think this is somthing? You should hear my thoughts about how Jedi and Hutts are alike. Not much, but more than others would normally think."

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed out loud.

"I can't imagine you, Shade, being anything like the Hutts!"

[Shade Magus]

"Personally neither could I, but let me tell you, I wasn't always the smallest kid in town," he said with a chuckle.

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed.

"Continue, I'm intrigued."

[Shade Magus]

"About which part? The Hutts and Jedi or me as a fat kid?"

[Linn O'Conner]

Linn laughed harder.

"Both. I'm interested in the Jedi and Hutts thing, and how you could've ever been fat."