Affluenza Epidemic

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai'faani Meorrrei had decided to come back to the Shatterstar Lounge to see what the fuss was about. Now that Jovan Station had recovered from the attack by the Fey'dann terrorists, life seemed to be on a normal trajectory. It was still a painfully bland backwater in some respects, but she had been in the neighborhood once again to spend a weekend with her sister.

On one condition.

They were coming to the Shatterstar Lounge.

It was a spectacle, one of the few spectacles that you simply did not see in the mother worlds. And Rai'faani Meorrrei delighted in the weird and the bizarre.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"Rai'fa!"

T'yeellaa could feel the heat surging into her ear tips and she wasn't sure if she should stare or look away. When she first walked into this place, she'd despaired that she was woefully under-dressed for the establishment. Nobody else in here was wearing jeans. Or sneakers. Or a shirt with a sports team on it. She'd felt merely self conscious one minute before. Now? She felt weird.

There were naked women everywhere, twirling on metal poles around large illuminated tables like they were some sort of living sculpture. Humans, Togruta, Twi'leks, Iridonians, and a few she didn't recognize. Each contorted and caroused, and moved on impossibly high stiletto heels to music with a bass line that she could feel in her stomach. She wasn't a prude or anything, but this? This was...

"Goddesss!" she blurted through a nervous laugh, watching a Togruta woman invert herself on the pole as she turned lazily toward the two, leaving nothing at all to the imagination. T'yeellaa's peripheral vision was barely working, but a quick scan of the patronage of the establishment told her that...

"...jI thjink we'rre the onljy women jin herre. The onljy oness not...jyou know."

What a scandal! It was like venturing to some undiscovered planet where everything was upside down.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"jI know."

Rai'faani grinned behind her large, lightly-tinted sunglasses as she adjusted the mink thrown over her shoulder. This was weird, and she had to see it. It wasn't even a matter of a turn-on, not directly. The role reversal was fun to watch in motion. Rai watched the boys as they watched the girls, a licentious smirk on her face as she took in the bizarre experience for exactly what it was.

"Let'ss get a table and ssome Chandrrjilan Fjizz, ne? Drrjinkss and a sshow!"

Tail buoyed high, Rai ventured closer to one of the dancing sculpture women, wearing a patina of glitter, knee-high boots, a thong, and nothing else. Sensing an audience, the Twi'lek eased her hands down to the floor as she kept her money maker high, giving Rai a good glimpse of both that, as well as the patina of credits attached to her panties that jingled like bangles when she bounced.

"How fun. Do jyou have a ssjingle, T'y?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

"No!"

T'yeellaa nearly yanked her sister back, but stopped short of putting her back into it.

"jI mean, jyess jI have monejy but what exactljy arre jyou bujyjing?"

And then she saw it out of the corner of her eye. One of the humans did precisely what Rai intended. Just like feeding one of those toy starfighter rides a du'arri back home. Only instead of a few minutes of a child rocking back and forth on a miniature ship, this caused the dancer on the pole to turn around and give the patron a very up close and personal treatment.

And T'yeellaa giggled like she was eleven years old, her mouth agape as she didn't even try and cover her surprise.

"Arre jyou sserrjiouss?! Thjiss jiss a thjing that'ss rreal?! Oh kosa, jI need that drrjink now. Thjiss jiss offjicjialljy the wejirrdesst thjing jI've sseen all jyearr."

[Narssiska Vraska]

"We have ssingle chitss available for exxchange." She appeared suddenly from one of the dark spaces between the stages. The black lace dress and hood hid her in the dark room, leaving only the iridescent green scales of her flesh to catch the light and reveal her place in the room. "It iss a pleassure to ssee you again, Rai'faani. Pleasse accept thiss as a gift." she hissed as a server appeared at her side with a bottle, which she took and set on the table. A turn of the bottle revealed it to be Chandrilan Fizz.

Narssiska kept a tight grip on how the club was running, and that included being informed if anyone of interest entered. She had wasted no time when it came down that Rai'faani was in the building she had immediately left her den in the office where she normally sat and watched the cameras. Someone was was intimately familiar with could expect her personal touch in their visit to the Shatterstar. Vraska seldom hid away the entire night, preferring to play hostess whenever possible. That was the personal touch that kept patrons coming back for more. That, and one of the greatest collections of different species strippers under a single rooftop. She would be lying if she said she didn't wander the floor just to watch the show herself. Although more often when the night presents a more male or varied cast.

"Iss there anything elsse I can get you two tonight?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Thank jyou, Rrou Vrrasska."

Ra'ifaani took the bubbly with a grin on her face. The last time she'd seen the reptilian club owner, things were absolutely less fun than they were now, and the younger Meorrrei distantly remembered the face she'd put on in this place was not the one she wanted to leave a lasting impression. To that end, she pressed a credit chit into a handshake with the proprietor for a thousand credits. That bought several things. One was an open access to alcohol for the forseeable future. Two was the best seats she could find in the house. And three was the implication that she'd have the discretion to continue to treat Rai'faani as she was: a powerful woman of respect and not a fidgeting, frightened girl who had melted down in the face of danger.

"Oh, we'rre not choossjy. Jusst keep uss enterrtajined forr the evenjing."

[Narssiska Vraska]

The chit disappeared seemingly into thin air as her hand withdrew from Rai's. "Everything you dessire and more." She replied, her usual slogan when speaking to patrons. She snapped a finger and another server appeared, this time with a pair of glasses to accompany the bottle. "Do not hesitate to ask for me personally if you need anything." And with that she was gone, scurrying off to the dressing room where the performers prepared. There were some last minute revisions to the schedule and placements. When the next song ended and the next started with a banging synth beat, the dancers rotated. The old ones got down from their tables and stages and fresh ones stepped up. Frequent patrons of the establishment would have noticed that the best girls were all positioned near the Meorrrei ladies. No seats in the house were better than the other, but she had the power to greatly improve the quality of the dancers around one.

"Get ssome of the maless out there too." She hissed as she moved between the glitter and sequined bodies. "Kannox. Zuko." She slipped in between the two men, one a lithe Falleen with a noble brow, and the other Zabrak mountain of muscle. "Go, entertain the floor."

[Jaden Luka]

His eyes must have been deceiving him. From a distance, he could have sworn the practically dressed Cizerack up ahead was K'ohta'rrou Meorrrei, but that couldn't possibly be true. He'd quickened his pace for an intercept based on that assumption - partly out of a desire to offer a friendly hello to one of the few people on this station he actually knew, partly out of a desire to draw out more valuable Captain Quez intel, and partly out of curiosity over T'yeellaa's hot young swanky dressed companion - but as soon as he'd clocked onto her destination, it had killed power to his thrusters.

There was no way, no way that T'yeellaa Meorrrei would voluntarily head into the Shatterstar Lounge. Jaden hadn't visited the Lounge, and had no particular plans to. He'd heard it described as a really classy strip club, and if that was your thing then great. In Jaden's experience though, every strip joint he'd ever been to was a factory of sadness: desperate women who needed the money, dancing for desperate sweaty men who needed female exposure badly enough to spend a few credits, but not quite badly enought to make it a few hundred for the full experience,. People had tried to convince him that in some places it was an art form, that the gymnastics involved made it one heck of a workout, and Jaden didn't doubt that on some level it was true. If that was your thing, then great. Jaden wasn't about to disapprove of or look down on someone's quest for naked ladies. Personally though, he'd rather spend his free time in a place where the music wasn't too loud to hold a conversation, and where the pretty girls weren't just for window shopping.

Curiosity overcame all that though. Keeping a cautious distance, he followed his potentially T'yeellaa quarry and her companion into tthe Lounge, stopping off at the bar to retrieve himself a beer. He waited for the right moment to advance, weaving his way towards where the Cizerack ladies had situated themselves with as much stealth as he could muster. Holding off until he was right behind T'yeellaa, well within range of her Cizerack hearing, Jaden cleared his throat.

"Boy, it'd be pretty embarrassing if someone recognised you in a place like this, wouldn't it?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The tuft of T'yeellaa's tail stood on end as if charged by electricity even as she whipped it from sight of a voice she knew.

"Commanderr - Jaden!" she stammered in flummox, resisting the desire to massage her ears that, by now, felt hot enough to cook eggs on.

As if this night couldn't get more awkward. She gawked. She tried not to. Deep breath. In. Out.

Alright, now to rewind a few seconds.

"Jaden Luka," T'yeellaa began again, taking another nervous breath as she smoothed the perspiration on her hands to the sides of her jeans. "jI djidn't know jyou werre back on sstatjion!"

Was it hot in here? It felt hot.

[Jaden Luka]

There was a momentary cringe.

"Yeah. Cap didn't want us making too much of a fuss."

That was about the most diplomatic way Jaden could think of phrasing it. He didn't really understand what the deal was with Captain Quez and his sister, and he absolutely did not want to find himself stuck in that sticky quagmire. If the Captain wanted to arrive quietly during the night so that T'yeellaa wouldn't feel obligated to... whatever, then that was the jump course they plotted. None of his business until someone made it so.

It was an angle for deflection though, and Jaden was liking this slightly flustered T'yeellaa too much to let her escape from it just yet.

"I didn't take you for an admirer of -"

Jaden had intended to just gesture towards the naked gymnastics. He made the mistake of looking where he was pointing, and catching a glimpse of a distractingly flexible Togruta as she performed the splits, upsidedown, suspended about four feet off the ground on her pole. Jaden blinked, his train of thought completely lost

" Huh."

It took a lot of effort to drag his focus back to the ladies in front of him, and by then the rest of that abandoned sentence was well and truly lost. He grasped for the most convenient alternative, and adjusted his face into a mildly disparaging look. "So, are you going to introduce me to your friend -"

His attention shifted, and his expression did too, morphing into a charming smile, a brief flicker of eyebrow thrown in for good measure.

"- or does something so beautiful not need a name?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Thjiss fjizz jissn't gojing to drrjink jitsself, T'y!"

Rai'faani wrenched the cork free with her teeth, angling one wine flute so the initial cascade of foam eased into the glass. As the heady fizz died down, she began to pour the rest of the bubbly into the flute. Only when the task was nearly done did Rai notice the handsome Alliance serviceman currently vying for T'yeellaa's attentions. Never far from her base drives, the younger Meorrrei's ears piqued at the sight of him.

"Well hello..." she muttered to herself with a smirk, drumming clawtips on the table for just a moment before she swiped up the wine flute as she stood once again to acquaint herself with her sister's friend.


"Ja irra" Rai purred, taking full initiative to handle her own introduction as she pressed the glass into Jaden's hand.

"Ssjissterr, jyou djdn't tell me jyou werre expectjing a frrjiend. Doess he have a name?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

And there was her out. Out from Rai'faani's Evening of the Strange. Out from Jaden Luka's awkward meandering conversations and the worry of what ships his loose lips might sink. The only thing she had to do now was defeat her conscience, which was telling her quite firmly that the only person who was going to win tonight was Rai'faani, because she had no shame, and because if history was any indicator she had full intention to ride Jaden Luka hard and hang him up wet.

Sorry consicence, you lose this day.

"He doess. Thjiss jiss Commanderr Jaden Luka of the A.N.S. Novgorrod."

T'yeellaa continued facilitating the introduction, placing a hand on Jaden's shoulder for emphasis.

"Jaden, thjiss jiss Rai'faani Netaalli Taurrifar Meorrrei - mjy ssjissterr."

[Jaden Luka]

Sister?

Ever since MARCUS had mentioned to Jaden just how many siblings the Captain had, an urge had been nesting in the back of Jaden's mind. It was the same urge that drove children to collect trading cards, or adults to spend ridiculous sums buying tiny replica ships for tabletop strategy games. Cirrsseeto Quez had numerous sisters, and Jaden planned on befriending them all.

"Well hello there," Jaden replied, not even trying to stop the grin that blossomed on his features. Effortlessly he slid himself into the seat beside her. His hand extended towards her, not to shake hers but to grasp it gently, bringing it to kis lips for a delicate kiss against the back of Rai's fingers, eye contact not broken even for a moment.

"It's truly a pleasure," he offered, striking a delicate balance between sleaze and charm. "I've heard a little about you from T'yeellaa and the Caotain, but no one thought to warn me you were so entrancing."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rrou-kosa he smells good, thought Rai as she leaned in for an air kiss to each side of his face. And the thing with the hands, because what was it with humans and their hand greetings? Start with his lips on her hands, and by tonight he'd work his way down if she had anything to say about it.

"Jaden Luka?" Rai tried the name on with a smirk. "Alderraanjian name?"

She could practically feel T'yeellaa's eyes rolling behind her as she turned Jaden about to lead him to her table.

[Jaden Luka]

Admittedly, it was a little disconcerting to find himself on this side of the equation, gently ushered across the lounge from the bar to a more private table; but only for a moment. After that, Jaden's preconceptions shrugged and surrendered, perfectly content to let Rai'faani be the one to take the lead in this particular dance.

He couldn't help the broadening tug of a grin as Rai uttered a textbook line that could easily have tumbled from his own lips. Deftly he turned it around, twisting it around to his own ends.

"No, but it should be," he countered, with a flirtatious twitch of his eyebrow. "You won't find many other men like me left in the galaxy."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa could only shake her head out of sight as she trailed a moment on her way to the table. They'd started and finished the same pickup line from rote memory. It wasn't even a clever line. It was the sort of line that you used when you wanted to tell someone in no uncertain terms that you really only wanted one thing. And the way they'd both shoehorned in on the same bit of dialogue reminded the K'ohta'rrou so much of her experiences with Samus. That feeling when a Cizerack and a Human stopped being polite to each other and started being real about what they wanted. It all felt like a dance where both partners wanted to lead, and ended with a lot of stepped-on feet.

She had only spent a few hours around Jaden, but he'd talked a year off her lifespan. He seemed to be a limitless curator of personal experience, and maybe one of those experiences involved a one night stand. Her sister was no mystery at all. Rai'faani had no intentions of getting serious with any man now and perhaps ever. Everything was an adventure to her, and she was too busy trying to race ahead of the event horizon of jaded boredom. If that meant burning through hundreds of thousands of credits and dozens of nightly paramours, she'd likely keep the tab open. She was every bit as smart as their mother, maybe even moreso. She simply hadn't developed her hungry ambition to focus on anything larger than her own immediate satisfaction.

So T'yeellaa sat at the table just as a pair of new male dancers joined the two females on the poles in front of them. The elder Meorrrei helped herself to a glass of the bubbly, eyes fixed on four tight asses gyrating to the thumping music, and her ears working on snipping the conversation next to her out of the bass line.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

The dancers above began their routine, each one aloof in their own pole-ar orbit, with the occasional interruption of teasing fraternization. Curiously, that stayed strictly within the sexes. The females ground against each other. The males moved in close synchronization, skin-on-skin. Swinging cock passed her field of vision, and Rai broke her focus for a fleeting moment like someone passing a window display in a charcuterie shop. It was a cheap distraction, and she was back on target with a lascivious fanged grin, taking the bottle of wine by the neck for want of a third piece of stemware. She swigged from the bottle, setting it aside to size up her side piece of the evening.

"How forrtunate forr both of uss. jI'm a collectorr of rrarre pjiecess. What can jyou tell me about thjiss parrtjicularr one?"

[Jaden Luka]

Jaden knew this move. Get them talking about themselves. Let them show their hand. Get a feel for how they thought, what they liked, how you could appeal to them. It was a tactic that, when Jaden tried to use it himself, it took considerable effort, his natural inclination to share and be honest getting in the way. That same mindset was his thermal exhaust port here: the invitation to open up far too enticing for his default urges. He fought against it, barely, managing to hold his own to some degree.

"There's not much to tell," he answered with a shrug. He wasn't sure if the surprised twitch in T'yeellaa's ears as she tried not to listen was real, or a figment of his imagination. "Born on Ord Cestus; grew up on Nubia; picked up a juvie record; compulsory scout trooper service on Naboo... then a spacer, the Alliance, Rogue Squadron, and now I'm the XO on your brother's ship."

A swig of drink brought the whistle stop summary to a close, another shrug tossed to diminish the significance of anything. Anothrr curl of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, his next words laiden with hidden meaning and an unspoken query. "I guess I'm the sort of guy who doesn't like to do the same thing for too long. Always moving along to the next -"

His eyebrows both twitched as he brought the wine to his lips, in emphasis of the double meaning.

"- adventure."

He let his gaze linger on Rai's eyes, studying them for her reaction.

"And you?"

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

It didn't escape T'yeellaa's notice that Jaden had kept the Space Monkey nickname off his little resume. She honestly wasn't sure if he was trying to over or under-sell his stock. Maybe he was simply perpetually happy to be here. What a charmed, strange man.

One of the male dancers moved towards her, gyrating as he sank his hips lower and lower. He had T'yeellaa's full attention, and she leaned in a little closer with an interested purr and tail flip. A bit of looking didn't violate the exclusivity clause, did it?

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"jI'm on an extended ssabbatjical between jobss." Rai commented nonchalantly as she leaned back in her seat, keeping a grip on the wine bottle's neck as it rested on her knee. Her off hand began the calculated incursion into Jaden's personal space, settling at the back of his chair...for now.

"jI worrked at the Mjinjisstrrjy of jIndusstrrrjy and Trrade on Onderron forr two jyearrss, everrjy dajy of jit drreadfulljy dull. The onljy thjing jinterresstjing on Onderron jiss the wjildljife, and that'ss becausse jit'ss trrjyjing to kjill everrjyone."

Swigging from the bottle, Rai parted her lips from the glass to pass her tongue between them.

"jI have a job ljined up jin the famjiljy bussjinesss, but what'ss the rrussh when therre'ss sso much to ssee? Cljiff djivjing on Glee Ansselm, ssafarrji on Nax Kothaa, ssponssorrjing pod rracerrss on Boonta Eve on Tatoojine, and prrjize fjighterrs back home jin the clussterr."

The Meorrrei heiress raised her ears, glancing to the table as if noticing the goings-on for the first time.

"And well...a noveltjy ljike thjiss to passs the tjime when jI'm sstuck jin fljyoverr sspace."

Her blue eyes didn't stray long, returning to Luka.

"And anotherr sstjill. And jin unjiforrm too."

Rai's hand now took it's cue, fingers tracing the seat back down to Jaden's shoulder to feel the weight of the fabric and the promise of muscle beneath.

"jIf jI werre an jImperrjial commanderr, that'ss a ssjight that mjight causse me to ssurrrenderr. What's valorr jin the face of a good boarrdjing?"

[Jaden Luka]

An odd chuckle escaped from Jaden: a flicker of unexpected nervousness wrapped around a baseline of amusement in this strange reversal of roles from his usual interactions with women. It was the same feeling you got when you kicked the thrusters to full on an unfamiliar starfighter: that faint worry as things began to accelerate beyond the confines of your expectations, propelled along on the bow wave of anticipation and excitement at the speed and prospects at play.

"I've never boarded anything Cizerack before," he offered, embracing the metaphor that Rai had selected for them. He leaned a little closer, both encouragingly into Rai'faani's touch, and in closer range to drop his voice into a lower, more enticing tone. "I'd have to thoroughly reconnoiter the exterior and all the potential access points before starting an operation like that. And also -"

Twisted slightly in his seat towards her, the subtleties of brushing hands against shoulders were unavailable to him. Instead he embraced his A-Wing pilot training; too much thruster power to go anything slowly. His fingertips accidentally found themselves brushing against Rai's leg, his voice dropping even lower.

"- this isn't the kind of uniform I'd wear for a mission like that. I suppose it'd have to be removed, so we don't spoil the immersion."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

What a distraction.

T'yeellaa watched the dancer as he left nothing to her imagination. She sipped her sparkling wine, and in a bid that was half genuine curiosity and half a desire to not be a pathetic third wheel, she pulled a credit chit from her jeans pocket.

An unsure look read plain on her face. What does one credit buy?


What do twenty credits buy?

She played it safe. One credit. Authorized with a press of a thumb, T'yeellaa held it up, not sure how this was done. The male dancer, like some trained circus animal, slowed the swaying of his hips and sank them close, hooking a thumb along a belt that seemed to be there only for the collection of these little gratuities. Guided by his hand, she slipped a credit into a slot designed for it, and the dancer slowly descended from the table, never losing a step to the music. T'yeellaa couldn't wipe the grin off her face. She followed her first instinct, which was to reach out for a handful of buttocks. The man moved her hand away gently but insistently.

"Don't touch the merchandise, princess."

What?? Oh that was torture. The elder Meorrrei knit her greedy fingers together in her lap. Look, but don't touch. It was cruelty, and yet somehow the tactile deprivation was kinda hot. She could only sit as he danced around her...straddled her, and did everything she wanted except that. Like some kind of slutty prisoner's dilemma. T'yeellaa's purr rose heavy in her throat as she felt the heat in her ears and below.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"I've never boarded anything Cizerack before. I'd have to thoroughly reconnoiter the exterior and all the potential access points before starting an operation like that. And also -

- this isn't the kind of uniform I'd wear for a mission like that. I suppose it'd have to be removed, so we don't spoil the immersion."

Rai's tongue pressed into the slight cleft of her upper lip, retreating back after passing slowly over sharp teeth. The purr just above her belly was octaves deeper than her voice, a sound that one felt as much as heard.

"Well jI sshould warrn jyou not to expect a qujick vjictorrjy. jIt majy take all njight. Therre mjight even be..."

A hooked claw had found its way underneath the button at the top of Jaden's jacket. A moment more of searching, and it found the thread that bound the decorative fastener to the garment. Rai'faani curled her finger in gently increasing force until they both felt the thread snap.

"...cassualtjiess."

T'yeellaa had gone strangely silent behind her. She might as well be on Mustafar; her older sister had been quickly forgotten in the shuffle. Rai'faani retreated her hand from where it had damaged Jaden's uniform, framing the human's head on the far side so that she could gently guide his ear close to her mouth.

"jI'm gojing to go powderr mjy nosse. jI hope jyou'rre trrajined well enough to sstand at attentjion even when the offjicerr leavess the rroom."

She punctuated that entendre by passing the tip of her rough tongue over the edge of Jaden's ear as she stood up.

"jIf not, then conssjiderr thjiss asss jyourr drrjill jinsstrructorr." Rai authorized a fifty credit chit, slapping it against the ass cheek of the Togruta woman dancing within arm's reach.

"Nothjing too ssavourrrjy." she instructed the stripper with a wink, jerking her thumb toward the human as she left for the loo.

[Narssiska Vraska]

Vraska slipped up to the table, like a whisper in the shadows, and replaced the nearly empty bottle with a fresh one. She noticed the look on T'yeellaa's face and slipped in next to her, placing her mouth just at the edge of her ear and whispered; "For one hundred creditss you can recceive a private dancce from the performer of your choicce. During a private dancce the level of intimaccy iss up to the performer'ss dissccretion. Half off your firsst dancce." And with that said she left, disappearing back into the shadows between the flashing lights and brightly lit stages.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

T'yeellaa could feel the reptilian voice buzzing just past her right ear, offering temptation and delights. And on her left shoulder, she imagined a miniature Samus Dage standing there like one of Saanjarra's winged sun nymphs, scolding her. Don't you dare, kitten. Don't you dare.

And in the middle of both angels and devils, a nice firm body gyrating on her lap like he was paying rent there.

At least the club owner brought more wine, which the now-harried T'yeellaa really needed.

[Jaden Luka]

Jaden wasn't entirely sure what was happening until it already was. Confusion wrinkled his brow, realisation dawning as a stray glance settled upon T'yeellaa and her close quarters encounter, and then on the Togruta advancing her way towards him, crimson hips swaying hypnotically as she closed the gap between them. He tried to look for Rai'fani but she was gone; and then his eyes lost all ability to choose their point of focus, utterly transfixed by the dancer before him.

A whispering voice in the back of his mind reminded him how he felt about the concept of strip clubs and exotic dancers; how he felt about the kind of people who paid for this kind of experience rather than earning their close encounters with their wit and charm. That voice was found and summarily executed as a pair of perky and pristine vermillion breasts filled the entirety of his vision. An azure and blue lekku - were they still even called lekku when it was a Togruta? - was gracefully swept aside, improving Jaden's view, before being draped across Jaden's shoulder as the dancer circled around behind him. Her hands took gentle hold of his biceps, a fingertip tracing over the aurabesh embroidery on the familiar squadron patch on his sleeve. "A Rogue, huh?"

She leaned closer, her lips so close that Jaden could hear her sultry whispered breaths against his cheek. "Slip me a few more credits, flyboy, and we can make this a lot more intimate." Her fingers trailed down the side of his neck. "Never danced for a war hero before."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai'faani entered the loo, a casual glance at the rows of stalls indicated they were all vacant. After a brief trip to the toilet, she headed to the sink to wash her hands, and to prepare for the real reason she was here. The Meorrrei girl rifled through her purse, pulling out her makeup compact, a tube of lip gloss, and a microflimsi note slip. The compact was opened fully, so that the mirror side lay flush with the counter. Next, she carefully opened the lid of the lip gloss. Inside, the normal waxy core was missing, leaving a hollow space that had been filled with a fine white powder. Rai carefully leveraged the tube over the mirror of her compact. A few taps measured out a small mound of the pulverized jeeta sap, which was carefully arranged by the edge of the microflimsi until it formed a thin white line.

Careful with her movements, and mindful not to make an errant breath, Rai rolled the microflimsi into a tight tube shape. Ears rising, she glanced up again at the restroom door before squaring her shoulders over the compact mirror. Rai leaned over, pressing a finger to one nostril as she inserted the tube in the other. Novices would take only a small bump at a time, but that only made it harder to come back to the rest. With a sureness of movement, Rai took a single long, deep sniff as she passed the tube down the line, taking the full hit in a pass.

The euphoria was instant. A jolt of energy that hit straight at her heart, followed by the nearly-electric sensory bliss of the refined drug in her system. Rai's legs nearly buckled, but she bounded up in a burst, her tail high and taut as claw-tipped hands attempted to knead the marble counter top.

"Ffffffuuuuuuck...." her voice rattled, as her ecstasy compelled her to bite at her lip. She spent a few seconds with her head nearly hunched into the sink, panting and breathing heavily as her mouth began to salivate. Everything felt alive to the touch, and Rai wanted nothing more than to just rub her body against the wall. Rising with a sudden jolt, the Meorrrei girl continued to sigh and pant, unbuttoning another two buttons on her top as she played with her hair.

"Mjirrrorr mjirrrorr on the wall..." she moaned, punctuated with a laugh as she raked her tongue over her upper lip.

"...who'ss the baddesst bjitch of all?"

[Jaden Luka]

Starfighters.

Starfighters are great.

What starfighters have you flown?

A-Wing. X-Wing. T-Wing. Y-

Jaden fought the urge to flinch with every ounce of muscular self control he had.

Y. Why. Why was this happening? Why am I doing this? What am I supposed to do with my hands?

All efforts to focus rapidly dissolved into distracted futility, as more and more of the Togruta slid seductively across Jaden's body. He'd had a jacket when he'd come in here, that was definite, but right now it was somewhere decidedly other, exposing a lot more of him to the dancer's attention than he was entirely comfortable with. The bare arms weren't too much of a problem, but the fact that his shirt was half-way up his stomach, and the Togruta's abdomen kept accidentally brushing across it? That was problematic. Maybe it was a good kind of problematic, and maybe he should just suck it up and stop thought-complaining about how high up the inside of his leg her hands kept getting, but this was weird. Why was this happening? Was this some sort of prank, conceived by Captain Quez with his sisters in some sort of sordid family meeting?

And more importantly, why was Rai'faani paying for this? Was her ulterior motive the obvious one? Was this some Cizerack tradition, outsourcing the warm up stages so that things would be more expedient when later rolled around?

Either way, Rai needed to hurry her furry butt up and get back here, before Jaden's plans for the evening moved from a public performance sort of situation to a give me your credit chit and I'll find us somewhere private sort of situation.

[Narssiska Vraska]

A second pair of hands wrapped around Jaden's shoulders from behind, and the green scaly face of Narsisska eclipsed the edges of his vision. "Dikiri iss quite a danccer, iss sshe not? The offer sstill sstandss, for that private dancce. We have nicce, quiet boothss ssecluded from the vission of otherss where you might enjoy a more intimate experiencce." Her hands moved across his shoulders even as the Togruta rubbed her body against his, her hands traveling everywhere. No stone was left unturned. Vraska's own hand reached out and caressed the dancer's orange collar bone and then ran down; across her chest plate and finally wrapping around one of the ample breasts.

"Sshe hass much to offer, no? My danccers are allowed to perform ass they dessire. At their dissccretion. Dikiri hass few... resservationss. Jusst pay her and sshe will do the resssst..." She spoke directly into his ear, her mouth so close she could have easily licked it. She did not such thing, in the end, and retreated from the Rogue pilot and was gone; a tactical withdrawal before the Cizerack women could return.

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

The wine was not helping. It was cold, and took care of some of her thirst, but it was pulling apart T'yeellaa's inhibitions brick by brick. The dancer continued to shimmy on her lap, grinding right where she was most vulnerable. T'yeellaa's peels of nervous laughter had gone silent, and she just watched and felt as this man did everything she wanted except all the other things.

She was panting. The K'ohta'rrou tugged at an ear tip, and the dancer followed her lead in an uninvited and totally welcome way, running his fingers along the length of each ear like he was playing a musical instrument. Goddess, he was playing one alright. T'yeellaa blinked, realizing that if something didn't stop, she was about to get wetter than Kamino.

"Okajy!" She bolted up from her seat, prompting the dancer to take an athletic hop back to give her space.

"Ooooookajy..." T'yeellaa peeled a nervous laugh, wetting her lips.

"Look, jI love whateverr jyou'rre dojing, but..."

It was so hot in here. She fanned herself with a hand.

"jI thjink jI left a code cjylljinderr jin mjy offjice!"

[Jaden Luka]

"No."

No no no no!

Jaden had found himself in some dire situations before. He'd sailed through dogfights; faced off against Star Destroyers with nothing but a handful of squadmates; survived pirate raids in a battered Corellian freighter with only one gunner to operate the ship's two turrets; he'd even been in bar fights handicapped by Stormtrooper gear, and had proudly wrestled a Trandoshan the size of an Endorian redwood to the ground. None of that, none of those perils and challenges, had filled him sith the kind of abject fear he felt as his wingman tried to bug out without him.

Watching T'yeellaa stand, Jaden tried to follow suit, but found himself trapped. Suddenly he found himself understanding how Gold Leader must have felt, staring into the still active force shield surrounding the second Death Star. Jaden's obstacle was no Imperial battle station, but it was certainly no moon either; and as Jaden reflexively reached out to move it aside, his hands wisely veered off at the last moment, sparing him from an explosive and perhaps deadly impact.

Instead he reached out, hand grabbing T'yeellaa by the wrist. The panic in his eyes was real: that cresting discomfort that came from struggled self control and a lack of knowing what to do with one's hands.

"Don't leave me."

The Togruta turned, fingers sliding up the inside of Jaden's outstretched arm. Before he knew what was happening, a tractor beam had ensnared his fleeing hand, sending it on a Jek Porkins trajectory towards the firm and perky surface of her aft. Arms draped around Jaden's shoulders, copper skin and supple lips encroaching so close that they filled the entirety of Jaden's scopes. He managed to retreat a few microns, just enough to make sure that speaking wouldn't accidentally transform into a different use for his tongue; one last ditch effort to coax Rai'faani's sister - and more importantly, the only witness to his thus far gentlemanly conduct - into staying.

"Not like this."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Leavjing sso ssoon, ssjissterr?"

Teasing her hair up at the last second, Rai returned fro the refresher with more than a little more pep in her step. She opted out of her seat entirely, sitting on the stage beside T'yeellaa's dancer.

"Aww."

It was the most artificial expression of sadness possible. A slight pout of her lips and gone. Rai's tail played with the dancer as he pivoted to face her. She leaned back against his leg slightly.

"Well, jI guesss jyou'll be takjing all of jyourr frrusstrratjionss out on...what wass hjiss name agajin. Sssh, don't ansswerr."

Turning her changeable attention, Rai rolled on her side as she leered at the extra attention being plied onto Jaden by the Togrruta.

"jIss mjy pjilot rreadjy to take off?" The heiress pulled her sunglasses down on her nose, teasing the cleft of her upper lip with her tongue.

[Jaden Luka]

On the one hand, Rai'faani was here now. On the other, that didn't really seem to improve things.

Jaden wasn't entirely sure what he'd been expecting. What did he think Rai'faani was going to do, return and angrily send the lap dancer she'd paid for away? He'd been expecting her to be his rescuer, to bring this whole ordeal to a close; but he'd forgotten the fact that she'd been the instigator, the absentee torturer who had begun things in the first place.

It wasn't that the experience was terrible. All things being equal, sexy dancing and body rubs seemed like one hell of a way to start off an evening. But it was weird. Jaden Luka was a fighter pilot: if he wanted an exotic alien beauty draped all over him, there was no need to get credits involved. Sure, if it meant getting up close and personal with a handsome human like him, then maybe the money part was just a pleasant bonus; but he didn't want to be a business transaction; didn't want the state of his groin being the object of someone's future performance review.

Take off was probably a double entendre, but Jaden chose to take it as an offer for escape.

"Uh, yeah," he muttered, arms still moving awkwardly in avoidance of undue contact. He tried to stand, and things wound up bumping against places they probably shouldn't have been bumping. The dancer didn't seem to mind; didn't seem all that dissuaded, either. A confused look knitted at Jaden's brow. "Eject?" he asked, hoping that would do some good. "Please?"

It certainly worked, although if Jaden had hoped to escape free and clear, he hadn't succeeded. There was a roll of the Togruta's eyes as she dismounted from the Commander, and a disapproving glance thrown in Rai'faani's direction. With every ounce of swagger she could muster she strode away, hips swaying hypnotically. A glance over her shoulder turned into a wink and a blown kiss when she noticed Jaden was still watching.

"Uh - I'll call you!" Jaden lied in her wake. No he wouldn't. Why did he say that?

Now freed from touch-avoiding prison, Jaden's leg began to bounce as a full cell of nervous energy plugged itself into his power grid. Jaden's eyes shot to T'yeellaa, then to Rai'faani, and then back; idly, he wondered if this was what Murray felt like every time a felinoid glanced his way. Despite being acutely conscious of his exits, Jaden also knew that there was no trajectory that led out of here unscathed: if he cut and ran now, he'd become the officer who bailed on the Captain's sister; whatever lay ahead, Jaden wasn't quite ready to chance that fate just yet.

Struggling for something to say, Jaden waved a hand in the direction of the buffet of assorted nakedness. He remembered something his mother had always said in his youth - which felt decidedly like the sort of thing he shouldn't be thinking about right now - about sharing toys with the other kids.

"Did you... want a go... too?"

Smooth, Jaden. Real smooth.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Actualljy..." Rai said, after plugging from the champagne bottle again, "jI have ssomethjing morre fun jin mjind."

The heiress lazily cast her eyes to the male stripper who was suddenly free from T'yeellaa's attentions. She glanced back to Jaden, and smiled.

"Whjy don't the two of jyou dance togetherr?"

[Jaden Luka]

Momentary confusion washed over Jaden as he slowly put two and two together; comprehension followed like a wave as his gaze settled onto T'yeellaa's dancer. Like a prospective buyer of a new speeder, Jaden gave the dancer an appraising once-over. Sturdy frame. Aerodynamic curves. Plenty of thrust in the back. Decently sized undercarriage too, from the looks of things. Not bad, Jaden supposed, corners of his mouth downturning to emphasise his silent appreciative nod.

But while his eyes appraised, his mind worked, slowly. Rai'faani was a confusing woman, that was for damned sure. First she paid for a dance to goose his throttle that she wasn't witness to, and now she wanted to watch him in a holding pattern to sample what she missed out on. It was strange, not at all like what he would have expected, having met two of her siblings. Sure, he could see the controlling side being born from a mother as wealthy and powerful as Taataani Meorrrei, but it seemed to go beyond that. It was almost like she was one of those guys, who -

Jaden blinked. His eyes flitted from Rai to T'yeellaa and back. They were Cizerack. Rai'faani was one of those guys. Which made him the surrogate for the long-suffering waitress who was about one unsolicited butt grope away from murdering everyone in a five block radius. It took a moment to contemplate that notion, to try and imagine himself in that position without co-opting the suffering of generations of people suppressed by their gender in the face of an overbearing patriarchy or matriarchy. Jaden tried his best to be on the scrappy rebellion side of that dogfight, but he didn't always succeed. That was his failure, but it was an easy one: hard to avoid what life and society made it so easy to be oblivious to. A liberal dose of Imperial training and dogma at an impressionable age probably hadn't done him much favours either: the oppression and the racism was easy to rail against, but it was hard to even realise there was gender disparity going on when everyone was buried under the same generic white plastic.

What to do about Rai'faani, though? Part of him wanted to just roll with it, and let her get her rocks off spectating. The weird attitude wasn't enough to put Jaden off just yet; and whatever, man. He'd done far more compromising things with far less attractive guys in the past, and if that was what worked for her, great. That part of him was swiftly reminded however of the horrifying absence of dancing skills that he possessed. Whatever Rai'faani was after, whatever she was planning, odds were it would backfire horribly.

"Really?"

The word tumbled out of his mouth before he even realised that he was saying it. His expression adjusted to match, eyebrow raised in a look of mild disinterest. Unsure where his tongue was leading him, Jaden's mind leapt into dogfight mode, words evading and manoeuvring on instinct as his voice surged onwards into the fray.

"More waiting around and watching? That's a little disappointing."

Jaden's eyes flitted to T'yeellaa, recruiting her as an involuntary character witness. He sighed, the faintest, almost imperceptible shake of his head offered with a shrug, hands making themselves comfortable in his pants pockets.

"Thought you were supposed to be the fun Meorrrei. Guess that word means something different in the Cluster."

He took a few slow steps, not towards Rai'faani but in a tangent, a careful feint as if he was about to disengage and bug out of the system. He hesitated, focusing on the elder Meorrrei first. "Nice seeing you again, K'ohta'rrou," he offered with a nod, glad that all his time spent practising how to pronounce all the various Cizerack ranks hadn't gone to waste. His voice dropped lower, and he leaned in a little closer to Rai'faani, close enough for his cheek to pass tantalisingly close to her ear.

"When you're done with this recon flight of yours, come find me. I'll show you how a Rogue gets things done."

[T'yeellaa Meorrrei]

Amusement tickled T'yeellaa's expression as Jaden threw a little cold water on her sister. Not enough to blow up the whole encounter, but enough that in his mind at least, could potentially give him the initiative.

She raised her empty wine flute in salute, staying rooted in place out of morbid curiosity. Rai never took no for an answer, and she still gave the human less than a sajoi's chance, but he'd at least make her put forth a little effort.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai's ears lowered a measure as Jaden didn't exactly take to her rowdy suggestions. She glanced back to the male stripper, tossing him fifty credits.

"Get losst."

Ambivalent at the dismissal, the man moved on to greener pastures, hoping that the high roller would have a change of interest in the near future.

Rai listened to Jaden's conspiratorial talk, taking another plug from the bottle. A smirk formed on her features, and as he withdrew, she gestured in a beckoning fashion for him to return back to earshot.

"Have jyou everr sseen the Kai'nau'aani Nebula?"

[Jaden Luka]

Jaden fought the urge to smile. He'd spent enough time around Cirrsseeto to know that the ear thing probably meant he was making some sort of headway in the right sort of direction.

"Kai Now Arnie?" he echoed, making a deliberate point of pronouncing the name in an awkwardly basic-speaker way. His confidence had buoyed a little: perhaps he'd not managed to give himself much manoeuvring room, but he was beginning to feel as if he'd gone from being a sitting duck in an ion-overloaded starfighter to being chased down a canyon; and for someone as deft and mentally agile as Jaden, that felt like just enough of a difference to feel a little more comfortable about things.

He folded his arms and frowned, dutifully returning a little closer to Rai'faani, as she invited.

"That depends. Does it have a different name in Basic? I've experienced a lot of vacuous hot air in my time."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Majybe jit doess." She replied flippantly, setting aside the champagne to toy with the collar of Jaden's shirt.

"But jI'm wjilljing to wagerr jyou've neverr sseen one ljike jI can sshow jyou."

Slowly, her hand began to glide down from his collar, keeping warm pressure as it slid down his chest.

"Carre to ssee?"

[Jaden Luka]

Jaden was capable of a lot of things. He could fly, and pretty darn well at that. He could turn TIE Fighters into vapour clouds with ease and style. He could pull out of a nose dive and into a high-G climb in an A-Wing at full throttle without blacking out. He was a decent shot with a blaster too, pretty handy in a fight and, modesty aside, charming as hell. He'd once won an arm wrestling contest with a Basilisk, seduced an alien priestess, and enticed two separate nuns into breaking their vows of celibacy - bringing an empleasured, moaning end to a vow of silence in one of those cases to boot. Frankly, Jaden was awesome enough to do just about anything he set his mind to; as far as he was conerned, at least.

One of the things Jaden was explicitly not capable of however was declining an invitation from an exotic alien beauty to take a peek at her nebula. Not only was an enticement like that pretty much impossible to resist, frankly it would have been rude as well, and, given the significance of this particular Cizerack, it might even have been damaging to the fragile union between the Carshoulis Cluster and the rest of the Alliance of Free Planets. It was practically his sworn duty as an Alliance Officer to bed and pleasure this woman, and that was an obligation that Commander Jaden Luka was to dedicated to ignore.

He shifted back slightly, allowing gravity to tug Rai's hand a little lower. Slowly he moved forward again, easing back into her touch under the pretence of whispering in her ear. A playful smile tugged at his lips, and soaked into his softly spoken words.

"You tell me: does it feel like I'm up for it?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

What a tease. So fitting for a place like this.

Rai looked up at Jaden with a sparkle in her eyes.

"jIt'ss good to fjind a man wjith jinjitjiative."




*** TWENTY MINUTES LATER ***


"Do jyou ljike Nubjian sshjipss?"

Rai asked casually, as if Jaden hadn't had his eyes drawn to the prettiest thing in the hangar bay. With bespoke lines and artisanal craftsmanship, it was difficult to not notice a Nubian starship when one crossed your path. For top credits, the Nubians designed their ships so that no two were exactly alike. Each was a feast for the eyes and had the performance to match the look. For Rai'faani's yacht, the ship looked like a great stylized bird with it's swept wings and lack of sharp lines. The livery was pearlescent white, catching just enough light to transform it into veins of passing color. The engine nacelles, cockpit, and other features sported a gleaming chrome, throwing yet more light for onlookers to feast upon.

A Cizerack woman with salt and pepper hair and a white jacket stood by the extended gangplank. With her hands tucked behind the small of her back, she sent a clear picture as being the yacht's chauffeur.

Rai ignored her for the moment, instead giving Jaden a moment to take in the eye candy.

[Jaden Luka]

It was a make or break moment, Jaden knew that. While he doubted that Rai'faani had the kind of pilot's attachment to her ship that Jaden would have had for one of his own, Rai Meorrrei was a wealthy heiress who was no doubt fond of all the things she considered to be hers. The way she dangled the question out there was like trying to draw a patrol off course with a sensor decoy; fishing for compliments, in other words. Jaden knew better than to say anything but positives at a moment like this: he'd learned that lesson the door-to-the-face hard way more than a few times.

Unfortunately, complimenting a Nubian ship was like volunteering to fly a B-Wing: it went against every fibre of his being, and he knew the regret would keep him awake at night for months after the fact. To his eyes, the ship was hideous. The iridescent livery was ostentatiously pretentious beyond words, and it's misguided attempts to provide an illusory resemblance of aerodynamics were so witheringly stupid given several millennia of physics-bypassing technology that Jaden was gripped by the overpowering urge to grab a marker and convert the nearest bulkhead into a makeshift lecture board to explain with squiggled diagrams just how gargantuanly pointless it all was. It was loud, brash, and garishly attention seeking - the perfect craft for a woman like Rai'faani, true enough, but also something Jaden had no desire to be caught sneaking out of half-dressed in a few hours time.

Therein lay the conundrum, one that Jaden was forced to wrestle with, in the space of a single blink of his eyes. He turned, an arm snaking it's way around Rai'faani's waist, lips pressing a teasing kiss against her shoulder before he moved onwards, cheek brushing against hers as he uttered a few quiet words directly into her ear.

"I hear they look much better on the inside."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

The Heiress's self-satisfied smirk diminished slightly as he teased. She wanted him eager, but there was such a thing as too eager. If she wanted just any slut, she wouldn't put forth the expense of champagne and starship fuel. He was a starship jock, wasn't he? Rai'faani wanted to spin his engines up in more ways than one. Wanted to see that look of confusion that lay between envy and lust.

"jI thjink jyou'rre bejing too hasstjy."

She walked ahead a few paces, approaching the nearest engine nacelle the way a racehorse breeder might approach a thoroughbred. She patted the sleek engine housing, running fingers lightly over the chrome intakes.

"L tjype engjiness, thrree-thjirrtjy-fjive sserrjiess corre, and a pajirr of Ss-ejight corress."

The bottom line was that she'd paid far too much money for a simple that's nice.

"Niaalettii."

The pilot at the door had been watching the exchange, and she smartly anticipated her client's intentions.

"jYou want a demonsstrratjion, rrou'eita?"

Rai'faani exaggerated a slow nod, narrowing her eyes at Jaden as she smirked.

"We do."

[Jaden Luka]

"We don't," Jaden countered, gentle but firm.

He knew what was happening here. Rai'faani felt like she had him all figured out, and she was trying to use that to manipulate him, manoeuvre him onto the flight path that she'd charted for the evening. Maybe there was nothing wrong with that. Jaden would be lying if he claimed to have not done the same. If a girl talked about how much she loved the stars, you hopped in a speeder and drove out as far from the city as you could get, or you found the darkest room on the station to get the best viewport view. Sometimes it was nice to get to be the one who loved the stars instead of the one driving the speeder. There was no harm in surrendering control from time to time.

This was different, though. Sure, the ends might have been the same, but the means felt off. This wasn't a starlit picnic, this was showing off the view from their penthouse. This wasn't attention paid to his interests: this was a brag, and apparently one Rai'faani seemed to think he wasn't impressed enough by. This was, well, what did he really expect from a Senator's daughter? He supposed there was no one to blame but himself in all this: no use crying foul when you didn't pay enough attention to the pre-flight briefing.

Jaden winced a little, trying to figure out how to delicately extract himself from an indelicate situation. This wasn't just some girl he'd picked up in a bar. This was a Senator's daughter. His Captain's sister. Much as a simple thanks but no thanks and a suave exit without a glance back satisfied his evacuation impulses, Rai'faani deserved better. Or, maybe she didn't; but Jaden deserved to have been better, and deserved to have his excuses and alibis firmly in place before the Sith hit the fan.

"Listen, Rai -"

That was a bad start. The hand held out as if he was trying to soothe a dangerous animal or talk down a guy on a ledge wasn't a great choice either. He retracted it carefully, but it hung awkwardly at his side. He sighed and gave up, arms folding defensively across his chest. Still not great, but better than nothing.

"Tonight has been great, but I'm not what you're looking for. And this -"

He jerked his head towards Rai'faani's pride and joy.

"- this is not what I'm looking for. I'm a pilot, not a passenger, and the casual ride on your ship that I had in mind didn't require any sort of chauffeur."

His brow furrowed, thoughts spiraling back on themselves as a fresh perspective let him reevaluate the terrain he found himself in. What had he been thinking? Force sakes, this wasn't Rogue Squadron any more. He was an Executive Officer now. That was a relationship of trust, of honesty; and here he was, treating his Captain's sister like some target of opportunity. Sure, she'd been the one to secure the target lock first, but as soon as she got tone Jaden should have juked and evaded, not lowered his shields and prepared to be boarded. Was this really him? Was this his base default, the true Jaden under all the pretense that he'd reverted back to? Was this acting out, trying to bang his way out of the hot seat and back to obscurity, because the responsibility was too much for him?

He needed a drink. Not the Rai'faani kind of drink, either. He needed a drink to poor his thoughts into, and try to make sense of them as they drowned.

"I have, uh, a briefing tomorrow, with your brother," Jaden lied, the frown firmly locked in place. "Thanks for the evening, but, I should -"

He hadn't been making eye contact. That seemed wise, and he stuck with it.

"- go."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

The clear-eyed blink and change of expression on Rai's face betrayed her surprise. Niaalettii must have sensed it too, as she paused on the ramp to the yacht.

"Ah..."

A few thoughts went through her head in quick order, blocked before they could be acted on with a reply. A derisive thought that he must be gay, for one. It might be good for an insult, but she doubted it was true at all. Sure, some guys could be a little guy-curious, but most of those just liked to put on a show and a tease. Probably not Jaden Luka.

The second thought, probably closer to home, was that human men played inscrutable Byzantine games as a prelude to fucking. It wasn't that she didn't know it would be complicated. Complicated was fun, to a degree. Complicated was going to a strip club where women danced more than men. Complicated was this cheesy, sordid, and ridiculous repartee of entendre and double entendre. Add alcohol, a pinch of drugs, and complicated was novel. Even if it did eventually risk failure.

And in failure, came the tactical retreat. The excuse with her brother, that was convenient, and it played for a believable out. A way to save face. For him and for her.

Maybe it was the jeeta talking. Maybe it was the champagne. But Rai'faani was feeling magnanimous. She was feeling self-satisfied in that awareness. It was like fishing. You sometimes caught one that was a little too small, and you let it go. It would get bigger one day.

She made the slow walk back to Jaden, putting her hand at the small of his back in half embrace.

"jI'd hate forr jyou to make mjy brrotherr wajit."

A sweet smile, interrupted only slightly by the passing of the tip of her tongue between her lips.

[Jaden Luka]

That reaction was unexpected; disappointing, even. Maybe his extraction strategy had been more diplomatic than he'd expected, but she didn't even look disappointed. An evening spent trying to court him, and she just shrugged it off with a smile and a hug. Had he read her wrong? Was she not the entitled soul he'd taken her for? Should he be insulted, that he was such a minor curiosity that the prospect of missing out wasn't worth getting worked up about? Or was this just the corporate heiress shining through, carefully steering her course through their exit negotiation?

Whatever the reason, it left Jaden far more confused than before; but at least no one was shouting or slapping anyone, and he hadn't been stabbed this time, so he wasn't going to go looking a gift ronto in the mouth.

"Yeah, I should -"

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, already beginning a few slow strides backwards. Whether it was the alcohol, the distraction, or something else he didn't remember or hadn't been aware of consuming, something misaligned one of his boots, and his feet kicked each other, a brief stumble disrupting his exit. He winced, and turned. Smooth, Jaden, he derided, setting a renewed course for the exit.

He was tired, it was late, and he needed a drink - either something hot and caffeinated, or something strong enough to make him forget. Stepping out into the corridor, he glanced down at the chrono around his wrist, and wondered if it was too late and too weird to call and see if Silas or Citiri were awake.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

A wry little grin curled Rai's lip as she watched Jaden's exit from grace. She'd clearly gotten enough shots under the shields, and he was experiencing turbulence. Whenever, and wherever, he splashed down...

...she'd find him.

A thought tickled her fancy. What would her big brother think of his hotshot pilot after she'd had her fill of him? Would he still respect him as a professional peer like the rest of these humans and their pompous so-called evolved senses of status, or would he remember that all it took for a man to become a gai'chee was remembering how to shake off their trousers?

Either way seemed fun. Rai gave Jaden a mock salute with her ears perked, then let both her hand and ears fall as she turned her back. Out of earshot, she let loose an annoyed sigh.

All teased up for nothing. What bother.