Know when to hold, and when to fold.

[Dan the Man]

Dan was losing.

He'd already shelled 3,000 credits to the guy on the left, and twice that again to each of the guys on the right. He'd netted three out of the last thirty hands over the past two hours, and from the people milling about the table, the slaughter was attracting flies.

He took a shot of tequila, and set the empty glass aside, returning his attention to his cards.

"Well, I sincerely hope that you all buy yourself something nice with all these credits. I'd like to think all my missing money wasn't lost in vain."

This warranted a muted chuckle from the players around him, as the dealing began again.

[Live Wire]

Having reccently returned to TSO Mistress Live Wire had decided to see the upgrades LV had told her TSO had made on the Saiatah. It had been a grand venture when it was created and now it was the most spectacular gambling and recreation spot in the galaxy.

Her TSO pass allowed her access to all areas but having explored most of the vessel she made her way out to the main gambling area. Ignoring the lewd looks of some of the male patrons she noticed a crowd around one of the poker tables.

Her path took her by the bar where the bartender took a long look at her lowcut black dress before mixing her drink. When she used her TSO card to pay for the drink she was mildly amused at how pale his face went when he realized he had just been staring at the clevage of a sith master.

Taking a sip she glided her way over to the poker table. The crowd parted for her slightly allowing her to approach the table. The dealer acknowledged her presence with a nod. By the look of things the older gentleman across from her was not doing to well.

[Dan the Man]

Eight of diamonds.

Ace of hearts.

Six of clubs.

Nine of clubs.

Eight of spades.

Dan re-arranged the cards in his hand, and casually upped the ante in turn with the other players. He was carrying a pair of eights, which would barely buy him sympathy at the table, but wouldn't come close to taking the pot.

Arching an eyebrow, the old man was otherwise stone-faced as he lay two of his cards face-down, sliding them to the dealer. The dealer in turn dealt Dan two cards to replenish his hand, and did the same with the others. As Dan re-arranged his hand once more, his eyes moved above his cards to meet an approaching lady.

He nodded to her.

"Come to take your share on a sure bet?"

Pouring up another shot of tequila, he smiled wryly above his hand.

"Looks like the best odds in the house tonight."

[Live Wire]

Her black eyes sized up the stranger before she spoke and took a slow sip of her corellian brandy.

"Most people feel a little nervous about playing cards with someone who reads minds."

To reinforce her point she sent a gentle mind probe his way. Pair of eights....

"Besides I like a little more of a challenge."

She slowly moved around the table to stand to his left.

"Looks like lady luck just isn't smiling on you tonight."

[Dan the Man]

Dan shrugged. If he was suprised by Catherine's mind probe, it certainly didn't show.

"Win, lose, or draw...it isn't because I'm lucky. There's the surest bet you'll find here, I can guarantee that."

He matched the bet made to him, and doubled it.

[Live Wire]

Catherine raised her eyebrow. If nothing else he was intriguing to watch. She glanced around the table. The rest of the players were eyeing her nervously the idea of a mind reader in the game scared them. Not that Catherine would ever use any of her powers just to win at gambling. After all TSO owned this entire place.

The stress level of the guy on her left had gone up considerably since she moved over. He wasn't going to last long. It always amused her how her presense could so easilly unnerve non force users.

"Doesn't a sure bet take away some of the thrill?"

Catherine had always been a risk taker. There was something about blind chance that drew her.

[Dan the Man]

"I don't play cards for my thrills."

The man on Dan's right raised the ante, and as it came back to him, Dan doubled even that.

The guy on the left seemed to hesitate before meeting the rapidly increasing ante, and the pot was growing to nearly 2000 credits now.

Pausing to light a cigarette, he glanced to the Sith Mistress.

"Do you?"

[Live Wire]

"I manage to find my thrills in other areas."

She finished her drink and placed the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter.

"When I play cards I play to win, simple as that. Theres not enough risk to make it a thrill."

The waiter came back with another drink which she took and sipped as she watched the hand continue.

[Dan the Man]

"I see."

Dan seemed to contemplate her words, and then slid the remainder of his chips onto the pile.

"At any rate, I should probably call it after this hand, I suppose. Better to lose it all than to keep a little and a guilty concience on the side."

At going all in, the noise level around the table grew, as the players and rubber-neckers reacted with suprise. The tension grew around all the players. All except for Dan, who kept his eyes on Catherine as he tilted up his shot glass once more.

[Live Wire]

A smile slowly crept across Catherine's lips. She could sense the strained emotions of the other players as well as the interest and confusion of the onlookers. Yes, she thought as she mulled the move over in her mind, I should have expected that.

This man was a wild card but as cool as they came. She could feel his eyes on her as she watched the other players. He was intriguing she would allow him that much.

"Interesting philosophy."

[Dan the Man]

"I don't like asking myself 'What if?'"

With the crowd behind them goading the table into a dramatic finish, the players began to lay their hands down.

One man held three kings.

Another held a pair of sevens and tens.

The third carried a low flush.

"I guess this would be the part where you'd ask me if I felt lucky?"

Dan smiled weakly.

[Live Wire]

Catherine was impressed; he had nerves of steel.

"I thought luck had nothing to do with it."

Everyone was watching, waiting for him to lay down his cards. She could feel his eyes watching her as she watched the other players.

Something in his demeanor made her turn and look at him and suddenly she too had been drawn into the game.

[Dan the Man]

Eight of diamonds.

Eight of spades.

Ace of hearts.

Ace of spades.

Dan paused, one card still in his hand.

"Aces & eights. Dead man's hand."

A relieved sigh came from the man holding the flush. He moved for the pile at the table's center, but paused when he realized Dan hadn't laid his fifth card down.

With that, the old man tossed the Ace of clubs on the rest of his hand.

"And another ace for good measure."

It was a full house. Aces & eights.

And it cleaned out the table in an instant.

The people behind the table applauded, and the men who lost their earnings cursed. Dan nodded in thanks to the dealer, and raked his chips into a small bag, which he then closed, as he rose from the table.

"Good game, gentlemen. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead."

Snuffing out his cigarette, Dan made his way around the table, and mingled over to Catherine.

"It doesn't have anything to do with it. Like I said."

Reaching into his bag, Dan pulled out a 50-credit chip.

"Can I buy you a drink, Miss?"

[Live Wire]

Catherine did a double take as he flipped the last card onto the pile her eyes momentarily flashing yellow. That one she hadn't seen coming. He was definitely one heck of a poker player.

She frowned thoughtfully as he raked in his winnings. There had been no deception detectable in her mind probe but then she hadn't done anything invasive. As a rule she never probed into a non force users mind without consent or definite cause; it was just rude and poor form. Now, looking at him, she couldn't read him. Normally Catherine could read people simply by the look on their face. There was none of the elation she saw many times on the floor nor was there a sense of relief at pulling the last hand out of the hole, it was as if he just knew that he was going to win and she didn't know what to make of it.

"Intriguing indeed..." she mumbled to herself.

The man who had been holding the flush looked so dejected. Oh well when you gamble you know the risks. With a parting nod at the dealer she turned to the gentleman.

This was the first time in a long time someone actually offered to buy her a drink after knowing who and what she was.

She smiled cordially. "Technically I am one of the owners so you really don't need to buy me a drink. However, I would love it if you would accompany me for one."

[Dan the Man]

"It may be one of my many ideosynchrosies, but I'd rather buy you one all the same."

Dan led Catherine to a table some distance away, and pulled a seat out for her.

"What'll you have?"

[Live Wire]

Catherine smiled inwardly as she sat down. Curiouser and curiouser, she thought to herself. She couldn't remember the last time a man actually held out a chair for her.

Normally as a member of TSO she would hesitate before accepting a drink from a patron but in this case not accepting just seemed out of the question.

"A Corellian Sunset sounds nice."

[Dan the Man]

Dan nodded to the server, who filled the lady's order.

"I knew a lady on Ithor who always drank one of those when it rained."

Dan took his seat opposite Catherine, and poured himself a tequila.

"It rained every day for a year, and when it let up, I up and left."

Taking a shot, he met the Sith's eyes.

"I reckon you find something about me terribly interesting, seeing that you're sitting across from me. Can't for the life of me figure it. I'm not exactly the sort that a lady would associate with."

[Live Wire]

His straightforward manner impressed her. He spoke the way he played cards, with confidence. She took a sip of her dink; her eyes studied him as he studied her.

"Well, you're right there is something curious about you. Im normally very good at reading people with or with out mind tricks but you sir are a bit of a mystery and I am the kind of person who likes to solve mysteries."

She frowned slightly, "I must admit I am intrigued. And very few people manage to capture my attention."

[Dan the Man]

Dan hazarded a guess.

"You want to know where that full house came from, I take it?"

[Live Wire]

That indeed was part of it, but there was something else, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I have to admit I didn't see that one coming. You mask your thoughts incredibly well. Of course that would go a long way to explaining why you seem to be such a good gambler. But I am curious to know how you did it."

[Dan the Man]

"Well, I..."

"YOU CHEATING SON OF A BITCH!"

Dan turned calmly at the shouting man, who had now drawn a blaster at him.

[Live Wire]

LW set her drink down and saw out of the corner of her eye security moving towards them. She stood hoping maybe she could resolve this calmly without anyone getting shot at. She put her hand up to stop the angry man's advance.

"Excuse me." she said stepping inbetween them. "Perhaps I can be of service here."

The man interrupted her and shoved her out of the way. Looking at him in shock, even in anger shoving her was uncalled for, she felt her anger mount. As he started to yell again she used the force to wrench the blaster from his hand. Utter shock played over his face as he stared down the barrell of his own blaster.

"Like I said. What in the hell is going on"

She looked between the two men in suspicion. A sneaking suspicion started to grow in her mind that the man she was sharing a drink with was not a shrewd card player but a dishonest one. Disappointing to be sure but for some reason he still intrigued her and she didn't want to see this degenerate into violence.

With an angry glare at the second man she said, "I don't appreciate people putting their hands on me!" and turning back to the older gentleman (whose name she never did get) she continued, "and I don't like cheaters in our establishment."

[Dan the Man]

"I suppose his grievances are legitimate, as are yours."

Pulling his sleeve back, Dan removed a hidden card clip, and dropped it to the table.

"Like I said, I don't depend on luck to win."

He glanced back to the man.

"That being said, I'd appreciate it if you returned the man's pistol. Seems he's got some pressing issues with me."

[Live Wire]

LW nodded, not really in surprise, but with lack of it.

The security officers came and confiscated the card clip while LW took the energy cell out of the mans blaster and handed it back to him.

"Don't bring this back here again, and think twice before you shove someone. Normally I would have shot you and sorted it out later."

One of the managers came over ready to take them both into custody. The older gentleman for cheating and the younger one for bringing a charged weapon into the casino area. However, LW stopped them. For some reason she felt like she was in the middle of this.

Turning to the older gentleman she said in a firm voice, "Give him back his money."

[Dan the Man]

Dan glanced to LW, and arched an eyebrow.

"He's welcome to try and take it, as soon as you return his power pack."

At this point, the old man unbuttoned his overcoat, and gently pulled the sides apart, so that they tucked under a pair of ivory and silver gun handles.

"I can guarantee in this game, I ain't got nothing higher than a pair of sixes."

He taps the gun grips for emphasis.

[Live Wire]

As people began to notice what was going on they started to clear the floor in a panic. LW sighed in disappointment, it would be a shame to have to kill him, after all he was such an interesting character.

Security began to flood the floor as people ran towards the exits. The younger man looked at LW who was still holding the power pack. After a moment of silent tension she tossed the man his power pack with her left hand while with her right drew her saber from underneath the folds of her dress. With an exasperated look around her she sighed.

"That wouldn't be wise for either of you." She ignited her saber the yellow blade's humm filling the now almost empty room. "Normally I'd let you both shoot it out and then kill the winner myself but the rules are a little different here. We don't allow cheating and I personally would hate to see blood on the carpet."

She turned to the older gentleman again. "I'd really hate to see such a nice evening ruined. Please give him back his money."

[Dan the Man]

Dan slowly shook his head

"I don't reckon I will."

He didn't seem to be the least bit unfettered with the prospect of combat against a Sith, if that was the way the wind blew. That he didn't so much as hesitate in his answer in the face of LW's lightsaber was a testament to the man having snake venom for blood.

"I don't aim to cause a scene, but my friend and I have business, and I intend to finish it, here or at a place of your choosing."

[Live Wire]

The other man looked determined to have this settled between them. Reluctantly LW lowered her saber. There was a hall next door to the main casino floor. Quickly she sent instructions to the head of security to have it blocked off and as soon as they were gone to have the patrons returned to the casino. It wouldn't do to have this turn into a bigger thing than it already was. Plus it looked bad to have the casino shut down for a night.

"Settle it between yourselves if you must. But I'm warning you both to keep it only between yourselves."

She escorted the two angry men out of the casino and into a large meeting hall. There had been a banquet there the night before but it had already been cleaned up and now it stood empty.

"Are you sure there is no other way to settle this?"

[Dan the Man]

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

He smiled thinly at his host.

"If you recall, I said I didn't play cards for my thrills. I think it's safe to say that while money's fine and dandy, that playing for blood's upping the ante to my kind of game. Certainly not a game you play and expect to beat the house on luck."

Dan walked toward one side of the hall, as his rival took the other side. For a moment, the men barely moved an inch. Their eyes locked across the distance. The rival's eyes were fierce and bellicose. Dan's eyes were squinted and sharp. Each man's dominant hand rested precariously over their pistols, which were pensively resting in their belt holsters.

Time and sound seemed to disappear from the universe.

[Live Wire]

LW pretty much already knew the outcome and chose to watch from back in the corner. Her hand was paused just over the hilt of her saber just in case. She wasn't afraid watching this blood fest and in a perverse way she was rather interested.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen anyone die before, and it wasn't like she hadn't killed before but this was different. While it was over money it was a big game. It was almost sporting.

While the older gentleman, was well, older, she would have bet on the fact that he was far more agile then his younger counterpart. LW doubted that he would lose a fight, in fact she doubted he ever lost very many fights at all.

She had seen many types of people in the universe but never any who gambled for blood. As sweat began to bead on the younger mans face she almost felt sorry for him. It was doubtful that he had gone into the game expecting to end up in a shooting match.

[Dan the Man]

The fight was over before it began. The gunfight, like the card game, was played with a stacked deck. The angry rival was simply ill suited to play both. And twice it would cost him.

After a minute, the man committed to the draw. Before his fingers could slide around his gun's grip, Dan was ahead of him. The old man anticipated the draw, and to further it, drew faster. His response and deftness of reflexes seemed to be merely an impressive show of skill, but LW instantly recognized it for what it was.

There was a cold, concentrated malice fueling his actions. It was quick, and fleeting, like the unhinging fangs of a snake's bite.

As soon as it was unleashed, it was stowed away again.

That, and Dan's opponent fell dead from a blaster shot between his eyes. His gun remained in its holster.

Not that that was any concern to LW. What she had seen just previously was far more intriguing to her.

The Dark Side was with this gunslinger.

[Live Wire]

LW kept her face neutral as the other man fell to the floor. She opened the door to let security in to dispose of the body. Now she had her answers but those just raised even more questions. This was why she had felt drawn to him. He too was of the dark side.

Her black eyes studied his calm cold face. No one would have been able to tell that he had just shot a man in cold blood. As he approached her an involuntary smile spread faintly across her lips. She liked what she saw the raw hartred she had sensed was almost intoxicating.

"What's your name?"

[Dan the Man]

With reverence and care, the old man slid the long barrel of one of his blasters back in its holster. Only after this did he address LW's question.

"The name's Dan."

[Live Wire]

She watched the grace in his movements with attentive eyes. Dan, such a simple name for such a complex person.

"Well Dan, I'm known as Live Wire but you can call me Catherine."

[Dan the Man]

"The pleasure's mine, Catherine."

He bowed ever-so slightly.

"I suppose you'll allow me to pay for the upholstery, even if it is blood money?"

[Live Wire]

"The man's dead as far as Im concerned it's your money now." She had a strict policy that if you killed it, it was yours. After all the dead had no use for such things.

After such a display the intrigue had been tempered by an uneasiness. There was so much anger, so much power in him, and yet his calm polite exterior masked all of it. Catherine had never masked what she was. It was only her looks led some men to disbelieve that she could be a cold blooded killer and they all quickly learned otherwise. But this man blended in and blended in well.

"I see that we have more in common than I previously thought." In the back of her mind she thought it was a pitty the other man hadn't been a challenge. She would have liked to see how Dan fought in a real fight.

"Are you sith as well?"

[Dan the Man]

"I am indeed."

Buttoning his jacket again. He cautioned a query.

"This...suprises you?"

[Live Wire]

"Not really. I knew there was something different about you when I saw you playing cards. I normally can spot cheaters a mile away with nothing more than a general sense of the area. But you mask your thoughts so well, so no, I am not really surprised. Watching you shoot however confirmed it."

Her lightsaber was back hidden underneath the folds of her dress and she stood with her arms clasped behind her back.

"However you are different from most of the sith I've ever met."

[Javus Parr]

Meanwhile, during the disturbance, high up on the bridge command deck of the Saiatah...


Javus Parr sat back in his command chair, finger tapping lightly against his clean shaven chin as he contimplatively watched the proceedings in the casino's ball room. In this case, it was the 'Dune Sea Casino' situated in the Tatooine section of the ship.

He had been contacted shortly after the situation had been detected by security. It had been Mr. Rogers, cheif security officer for the Tatooine section., who had called in the disturbance. Minor disturbances weren't reported, but anything involving blasters were immediately categorized as serious, and thusly reported to the commanding officer of the ship... and that would be Javus.

And today it seemed as though Mr. Roger's 'neighborhood', as they fondly called it, named after a children's entertainment holo shown many many years ago, was having some serious disturbances.

The Sith woman Javus recognized immediately, and because of this had contacted Lady Vader back on Corellia. She had watched the whole scene unfold via holovid.

Argument at the casino's bar had escalated to duel; duel had escalated to death. The situation was over before it began, the older man dispatching the disgruntled one with no difficulty. And after the, the body was hauled off to the morgue, and the Sith woman continued to keep company with the older gentleman.

The whole thing had been watched via hidden video cameras by both Javus and Lady Vader.

As the remaining couple continued to chat in the ball room, Javus shifted his eyes to address LV (half his screen had been showing the situation, while the other held LV's visage).

"It would seem the situation has been defused."

LV nodded her head slowly on the tiny screen. "And much too quickly for my tastes."

It wasn't that she didn'ty believe the older man could move faster than the younger. As it was, the older man was far more collected and controled than the now dead gentleman. But something bothered her about him.

As they continued watching the last remnants, they overheard what was said. LV narrowed her eyes as Javus' eyebrows went up. They both looked at each other via the screens.

Javus spoke first. "One of yours?"

He could have sworn he had an up-to-date profile list on all TSO members. And he'd made a point to memorize it forwards and backwards. But this one, he did not recognize. Could he have forgotten?

LV's response reassured him he wasn't losing his memory. "No. I've never seen him before."

He was not part of TSO, therefore that left only a few more choices. He wasn't a member of any of their allied groups that she knew of, unless he was really really new, so that left him being either a rogue, or part of one of the groups she despised, GJO aside.

She was suddenly glad LW was there. But, still, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Put a man on him. Watch him. If he so much as sneezes, I want to know about it."

Javus raised an eyebrow. "You think he'll cause more disturbances?"

After all, the man HAD cheated at a card game. And now they found he was a Sith that they had no records on.

"Not so much a disturbance, not after this. He looks intelligent enough not to cause that twice in one night. Still..."

She fell silent, thinking, before finishing her thought. "Instinct tells me we should watch him. I'll get Intelligence on what we know about him."

Javus nodded. "As you wish, m'lady."

It was all that needed to be said, and then she terminated the communication link.

As for Javus, he sat there, watching the couple as they once again went back into the casino, possibly to head for the bar, or exit it. In either case, he was himself now curious about the man.

Reaching over, he hit a button on his chair arm.

"Parr to Andron."

The reply came almost immediately over the comm unit.

"Yes, sir?"

Javus answered with a smile.

"How would you like to tag tonight?..."

[Dan the Man]

"I doubt I'm after the same things most Sith are."

Pulling a cigarette from his silver case, Dan lit it with a match.

"Sith crave power. Power over money, over people, over worlds and galaxies. That's all well and good, I suppose, but I discovered one fundamental flaw to that philosophy."

[Live Wire]

Catherine couldn't deny that power was essential in a sith way of life. Power was intoxicating, gratifying, and even, frightening sometimes but that was what made it so alluring, so seductive. If power wasn't what drove him...then what.

"What flaw might that be?" she inquired. "And if the desire for power doesn't drive you, then what does?" She was seriously interested in what made him tick.

[Dan the Man]

"You can't take it with you. No matter how powerful you get, and no matter how much you can run your fingers through and call your own, in the end we all get put in the ground."

[Live Wire]

His reasoning was sound and there was no way that Catherine could deny what he was saying.

"Okay that makes sense. So then what does drive you?"

[Dan the Man]

"Puttin' people in the ground."

There was a discomforting chill in Dan's words. The light caught his eyes as he met Catherine's own.

"Dyin's one hell of a way to make a living. Everybody's story has an end. I'm the guy that pens the epilogue."

[Live Wire]

The look in his eyes and the cold factual way that he said those words sent chills down Catherine's spine. She had never encountered anyone so icy.

"Well thats certainly one hell of a life philosophy."

She paused as in the corner of her eye she saw a ripple in the wall.

"But there has to be more to your life then just killing. Isn't there anything else?"

[Dan the Man]

"Would you ask that to a painter?"

Dan scrutinized Catherine's face. She seemed a little put off by it all.

"Apart from the mundane? I get up in the morning, put my pants on one leg at a time. I eat. I sleep. When it suits me, I find relaxation in the arms of a woman."

Canting his head slightly, he smiled wryly.

"But you're not asking about that. No."

He removed the cigarette from the corner of his mouth, to regard his host from beyond the curtain of wispy smoke.

"You want to know what drives me. There's that desire. To have that which eludes you. You see before you a killer, sure as murderous as they've come or long since gone.

Is it so hard to believe that the sum of my efforts in life amount to it's destruction? Perhaps I am sadistic, but there's a romanticism in my pursuit.

To be plain, you can never love somebody so intimately as you love the moments you share with the dying. With their lifeblood a leakin, they're as innocent as the day they were born, and you take it all in for what it is.

I destroy life, so that I may understand it, and in turn, death. That's my love story, Catherine."

[Live Wire]

It was all so complex but yet also so simple. She had heared before that she wasn't truly a sith, that she was too soft hearted and too compassionate. So to run into someone who was essentially cold blooded killer was a bit fightening. In a way it made her wonder what demons this man must carry with him to have lived this kind of life and yet it seemed he reveled in it. It was almost incomprehensible.

"I can't pretend to understand that way of life. Don't misunderstand me I am not in the least bit offended. I am more curious as I have never met someone like you before. Even among the sith I know intimately who revel in the destruction there is more than death. But you seem to see death as an answer more than anything else."

She paused as her eyes studied his face

"I have to admit again sir that I am intrigued."

[Dan the Man]

"I'm flattered."

A smile split the gunslinger's face.

"It appears then we both have many things to learn from each other."

[Live Wire]

The smile struck her as odd and she wasn't sure why. He had appeared so serious, dead serious to make a bad joke of it.

"Well then it appears that we do. I am curious that I have never heared of you or your affiliations. Are you a part of a group or do you consider yourself a rogue sith?"

[Dan the Man]

"I don't exactly like to advertise myself as a sith, but if you must know, I'm currently under the tutelage of Hera DrenKast."

[Live Wire]

Hera was a name she was quite familiar with. She didn't know her personally though, only by reputation.

"I am familiar with her reptuation."

It had been a long time since Catherine had worried about attracting attention as a sith. She rather liked her reptuation and the respect as well as fear it garnered.

"You seem to be a rather private person."

[Dan the Man]

"I wouldn't go that far."

Dan made a face.

"I'm as accessible as anyone. I simply choose to keep my association out of sight, until it's necessary. Like a snake's fangs, folded up in my mouth before the kill."

He looked at Catherine through his exhaled smoke.

"The word 'Sith' is still a word. I'm more the kind to be known by my deeds."

[Live Wire]

"I can understand that. It is my name that garners my reputation and sith just happens to be attatched to that."

All of this serious talk had made her thirsty and they never did get to finish that drink.

"You know, we didn't get to finish that drink."

Of course with everything that had gone down the main floor was out of the question.

"Perhaps the private lounge would be more appropriate."

She gestured down a hallway to their right.

[Dan the Man]

"I've yet to turn a drink with a lady down."

Dan followed Catherine to her suite. The throng of rubberneckers that had gathered near the scene gave the pair a wide berth.

[Live Wire]

Catherine led him past the onlookers who, while a bit shaken up, would return to their drinking and gambling and forget the incident ever happened in short order.

The doors to the private lounge opened with her thumb print and she escorted him inside. After pouring them both a drink she went and sat on a couch opposite him. As she sat the pleasant smile on her face vanished.

"Lets just cut to the chase. Why are you really here?"

[Dan the Man]

The question was at last out. Dan mulled it over as he stirred his drink absently. He cast a devilish look over the rim of his glass.

"Not to play cards."

Tilting the glass back, he took a drink, and let his loaded reply linger on her mind a moment longer, before continuing.

"I'm here because aside from being a killer, I'm not much on being a complacent man. I yearn to be even deadlier. To what end? No other end but my own."

[Live Wire]

Catherine had already seen how deadly this man was. The thought of him improving upon his skills made her uneasy. To say he was a wild card would have been a bad pun but the comparison was inescapable.

"So this is some kind of quest for self improvement? What does that have to do with being here?"

[Dan the Man]

"Well, there's only so much I can learn from books or anecdotal experience. That's really the rub when it comes to being a Sith, isn't it?"

He smiled, the crows feet at his eyes creasing

[Live Wire]

It was becoming clear that Dan said things according to his own time table.

"You don't want to become part of the order do you?"

[Lady Vader]

*BUMP*