Margins, Quotas, and Sabaac (Madeleia)

[Grym Kandle]

Grym sighed, as he folded with mild exasperation. Losing was often just as important as winning when playing in a casino. He closed his eyes, the boredom almost lulling him to sleep for a moment before they opened wide and a slight shudder trickled down Grym's spine with another more stuttered sigh. The man across the table eyed Kandle suspiciously before Kandle stood slowly, bracing on the table. He moved like an old man with arthritis, his mask preventing anyone from truly being able to see the difference. He took his cane from beside the bench to help stabilize himself before nodding to the man.

Grym sighed, as he played the hand. It wasn't that good but he knew... just knew, as the green haze lifted, that his and wasn't that good, but was just good enough. The other man sneered, dropping his cards, his bluff called, and credits lost. The green haze pressed in as the disheveled man reached for his pistol...

Kandle, in a fine, long black coat with silver clasps, turned then stopped as he felt like he slowly blinked, unsure of how much time had just passed, he glanced back at the man cautiously, sifting reality from delusion. The sad card player remained, unarmed, staring at his cards at that moment, smugly having bluffed meager credits into his pocket. Have to start somewhere. Grym heard the buzzer of the pits before his head turned to what was really just a slot machine sounding off for a winner. His lips trembled into a smile beneath his mask as his matte black cane clicked against the tiles of the floor as he made his way off the floor and into a hallway. The orange light of the evening cascaded into the hallway through massive windows that seemed to run the entire length and across the ceiling, giving the viewer quite a scenic cloudscape. Does anyone else see that green lightning amidst the clouds?

He turned slowly away from it to sit in a lounge chair in a veranda halfway down the hallway. Kandle slowly lowered himself into the chair, feeling like he was made of pure crystal and his joints were close to snapping under the stress of being bent as much. One gloved hand slid into a neatly concealed pocket and withdrew what appeared to be a medical device, slightly larger than a commlink. Grym's shaking and arthritic movement seemed to fade with focus and he deftly checked the reading on the device before extending his other arm gently. The sleeve of the jacket slid back some to expose flesh that appeared an odd hue in the orange ambiance. Scars, streaks and circles mottled the flesh of his wrist and further beneath the sleeve, dark green scabs and debris all about them. Nothing new or worth worrying about to Grym, as he pressed the device against his wrist, no doubt adding to the marks and scars, as the reading began to change, and the device emptied its contents into his bloodstream. The Vigo of "Product" trafficking and overall liasion to the Hutts for the Black Sun tilted his head back against the head rest of the lounge chair as glitterstim raced up the veins of his arms as if he could see green lightning as it hit his heart and then his brain. The mask he wore, a pale white thing that betrayed only the slightest hint of emotion upon the face of it, muffled the gasp as the rush of the green lightning laced itself upon Grym's spine.

Time either spun up or slowed down, but I saw her before she appeared and she said her name before she spoke and numbers and other things danced around her head. The clouds moved behind her quickly and then they began to move backwards, and then she wasn't there.

The man moved with an alacrity that would have been unexpected only moments ago as he slid his cane beside him and snapped at a serving droid passing by.

"You, thing, come here. Go fetch Ms. Madeleia, she should be on her way into the casino. And bring us both drinks."

The droid nodded, accessing the Casino's vast database in order to meet his request. Without further delay, it hurried off.

[Madeleia]

Eyeing the summons, Madeleia finished changing now that their first smuggling mission was over with. Having an apartment on Cloud City now may only be a temporary thing, but it was nice to have a room with a view instead of a bulkhead. Leaving the refresher, she turned off the light and strolled from her bedroom and into the living room, gazing at her brother at the dining table and slowed. "You're seriously working on that module there?"

Glancing to her, the younger mechanic shrugged, obviously confused. "Yeah..."

Shaking her head, she chuckled in disbelief and continued on toward the shallow entryway. "Be back in a while. Any mess you make on that table, clean it up."

"Seriously? Why we working for that old, stim addict?"

"Don't have to like him, we just have to work for him," she countered, opening the door. "See ya."

"Yep."

Leaving the apartment behind, the gunmetal floors had seen better days though with the price they were paying for this apartment, she wasn't surprised that the state of disrepair on most of the lower levels of this floating city. She had lived in worse, that's for sure. Hazel eyes soon caught the turbolift as she approached, several leaving it which prompted her to hurry and dodge the closing doors as she entered. Pushing the button to head toward the entertainment level, she relaxed again. T.J. was right, their appointed vigo left a bit to be desired, from what she had heard and his unique appearance according to that source was also a bit odd. But, ranks in the Black Sun were chosen for a reason and the upper crust couldn't be challenged on that point.

Soon, the doors slid aside and allowed the young smuggler from Plagen to exit and continue on toward the appointed casino. Many enjoyed the various shops and businesses here, especially for what they provided in the back rooms. All she wanted to do was make money to keep her ship in the air and be able to eat. Nothing else mattered. Entering the lobby of the casino, lights and music filling her senses, she soon meandered through the crowds to the more private rooms and found the dark haired vigo in his chair as if asleep. Slowing her pace, she neared an empty chair to his right as a serving droid approached with two drinks and set them on the table between, then left. Quietly sitting down, she couldn't take her eyes off of the mask.

"Hey."

[Grym Kandle]

His mask didn't adjust position nor did Kandle move at all when he spoke. His head was tilted up just slightly where the pretty, young woman could just catch a glimpse of the black and green veins and scars that marred his neck. Reminded him some of Bambi from way back when. Not too long off, but still way back when.

"That should be your drink of choice... I think."

It is.

Grym sat up slowly, not in an awkward way as if he were hungover, but more like a serpent as it coils right before it strikes.

"Ms. Madeleia, Vigo Kandle. A pleasure to finally meet you."

Is it?

"Glad to see you back and safe. How did the first mission go? One would presume successful since you came back alive."

The mask killed most inflection. It was hard to tell if Grym was making small talk, genuinely interested, or even making a threat. The dead black eyes of the mask gave fewer answers and the slight twitch of a smile on it's face helped none. Vigo Kandle's body maintained its position as if he were on the edge of his seat with avid interest or possibly about to get up and leave in a hurry.

[Madeleia]

The unnerving feeling roiling through her softened somewhat as he spoke, though as she grabbed the drink and took a sip, the Corellian Whiskey burning as it usually did. Her eyes roved the exposed flesh, it's tortured landscape and obvious abuse giving her no reason to see him without the mask now. "Nice meeting you," she replied quietly, the distant music filtering from the casino's main floor along with the occasional alerts from the host of slot machines. "Went fine, kindof. Contacts decided they didn't want to pay, or at least part of his group. We had a gunfight with the ones that came to pick up the crates, but took care of that with the help of another of ours. I met him in the street of the station some time before."

Taking another sip, she set the glass down onto the table once more. "Hoping business for Black Sun isn't always like this. Going to have to start shopping for more potential customers."

[Grym Kandle]

Grym's head tilted to the side just barely.

"A lot of pronouns there."

We don't have to ask to spell it out. Green haze, green lightning. Which one of the hims and the his'?

One hand slid down the side of Grym's mask as if he were in some kind of thought for the briefest moment before he continued.

"Clarify this for me; you received payment and delivered the crates into the hands of the appropriate party, correct? Were other gangs or organizations involved or was your conflict individually sponsored?"

Jobs go sideways, and more so for some reason when they're young, but there was a point to be made here. There were smugglers and then there were smugglers. Just like there were crime syndicates and then there was the Black Sun.

[Madeleia]

"Yeah, we got paid. Money's been handed in," she nodded, then continued. "Apparently his guys picking up the crates at the hangar decided they wanted to keep both instead, plus had designs for my ship. But, my brother chimed in with the anti-personnel gun and finished off the last one. Barrin didn't charge for the body bags, so we left." Truth be told, had they not met Rath things may have been a bit more interesting. "Our contact on Axxila's still intact."

[Grym Kandle]

Grym nodded once. A bit more confident in her second response.

"Appropriate... Killing all of them. We... you, cannot afford to be seen as weak, smuggling for the Black Sun."

Grym put a hand to his left side and pulled a small commlink out of the pocket there. He gently set it on the tray between them that still had his untouched drink.

"I've a new contact for you. That commlink will chirp when one of our connections is ready to make the link up. You'll discuss further details from there."

This technically was something of a reward, or some might think that. The wary would know it for a test.

A Vigo of the Black Sun does not give out door prizes. She has more questions that deserve answers.

"What else? You make messes like that and your name will spread. Is that going to be an issue?"

[Madeleia]

His reply almost seeming like a threat, Madeleia knew how to respond with crimelords as she had grown up around them all her life back on Plagen. A life that never seemed to escape her, or her it. But, at least it was familiar, she mused as he moved for his comlink and then began filling in details on the next job. Listening with rapt attention, hazel brown eyes then rose back to the creepy mask, a sight that still unnerved her, though showing that discomfort wasn't how those that worked in this profession made a living.

Shaking her head, she had every confidence in her own ability as well as her brother's. "Nope." Taking the comlink from the tray and examining it, her mind began formulating various things that should be asked. "Payment from them or they transferring it another way," she inquired, knowing getting paid was paramount as the smuggling part of it was typically the easy part by comparison.

[Grym Kandle]

Kandle watched her as she listened. The green haze only settled over his vision for a moment and he heard her brother saying something, as if it were coming from the comm link.

Why are we working...?

Grym leaned back in the chair. His finger tips came together with slight pressure as his knuckles cracked with tension.

So sure of herself. How often are they not?

"Payment is transferred from them, half now and half upon delivery. Their initial offer for our services was too low in my opinion for the Black Sun. I would recommend you renegotiate upon delivery without provoking them into a massacre. Or accept their terms and continue on. Some are successful by not exceeding any expectations and settling. These folks think that by offering to pay half up front that it locks you into your terms regardless of the likely fluctuating risk."

Again, very much a test. Or part of one. A harrowing was required for the youthful in the Underworld. An event was not just one run either. Sometimes the harrowing was a person. Sometimes it was one's past. Either way, if the harrowing did not kill the young and the bold, then they would surely come out the other end all the better for it. Better at surviving the Underworld, not improving character virtues.

[Madeleia]

So, another test of her professionalism and secrecy. Things along these lines typically meant she was dealing with another criminal element or at least someone that felt they were better than she was. Perhaps a friend of a friend, but whatever the obstacles she had become fairly good at improvisation when the need called for it and it seemed the com had just gone off. "No problem," she straightened in the chair, ready to leave. Not needing to know what she was moving, there were plenty of hiding places on the Auburn Sunrise, Madeleia didn't need much more information pertinent to the task at hand.

"If that's all then, I'll get going and just wait for their call." Grinning, she moved to rise.

[Grym Kandle]

As she stood, Grym glanced up at her, his head tilting to the side. He reached out, as if he would have made to grab her hand and stop her from leaving if not for the rest of his body not leaving the lounge chair at all.

"Wait, wait. Why is there a bounty from Plagen on your head? If it was not me..."

Grym shrugged slightly as if trying to be modest.

"...some might think you'd make more money for the Black Sun in that way."

[Madeleia]

As if slapped across the face, she froze. Usually T.J. would mess with her like this, but Grym didn't know her that well. Not yet anyway. "What? I don't know of any bounty," Madeleia plopped back into the chair once more, her mind racing now. Their escape from Plagen the last time they were there left no one alive near Mouse's apartment, the bodies well disposed of.

"Where'd you hear that?"

[Grym Kandle]

Grym sat up slightly, intrigued at her response. Was this a bluff? Had he not asked her a direct question and she had knowingly tried to hide that there was a healthy bounty on her head? His lips nearly drew into a cracked smile as he felt sincerely more engaged than he had in nearly a week of moping around the City. He would slow play it, see if it drew anything else out. He could already feel the stiffness in his back anyways.

"I am a Vigo of an inter-galactic crime syndicate. Things that mean money, like easy bounties that happen to be in my employ, are not hard to hear about it. All sorts of people would be willing to owe me a favor over you. But..."

He straightened in his seat, leaning forward slightly before drawing another small, white medical device out of another odd pocket.

"Excuse me for just a moment... I won't ignore your question..."

He extended the opposite wrist this time and pressed the device against the underside of it. A small beep signaled the successful injection of another round.

You already did. She'll grow impatient, she already is. So young, so fast. Never slowing down. Never stop running.

"Plagen. The bounty came from Plagen. You're from there, I think?"

Grym's hand snatched out faster than one might have thought possible and this time he held her wrist. He could feel her pulse beneath his gloved fingers. He turned her hand up and looked down at it as if he was reading her palm. Kandle sighed, his surprisingly steel-strong fingers releasing her wrist.

"Apologies. Truthfully ignorant. Quaint."

Quaint indeed.

"I don't know much more to be honest, but for now, I'll give you a grace period. You have my protection and that means something. Come back to me with more information regarding this bounty and we will see what can be done about it. Amenable?"

He was already back in his relaxed, lithe position in the chair, barely moving, with his monotonous voice blurring any sense of his curiosity.

[Madeleia]

If it had come across his desk, that meant the bounty was worth his time which meant a sizable amount. The few that she could imagine that would post something that large had to be Imperial officers or a Port Authority office, but then he mentioned her homeworld which narrowed the options considerably. Watching as he injected himself with an odd looking device, she saw the tortured skin seemed to be his whole body and not just his neck. Her face contorted at the thought, wondering how he had come to this point.

"My brother and I are both from Plagen, yeah," she replied and she tried her best to imagine what this could be about. Maybe Mouse wanted her to come back home and share another small tub of her ice cream. Watch the holovid all day while she dealt drugs from her apartment, but that wasn't Madeleia's life anymore. "Only one that I can imagine might post a bounty on me would be a crimelord, sleeze bag by the name of Mariano. But, I'll see what I can find out." His grip on her wrist then caused the smuggler to recoil from him, surprised at his sudden speed. Nodding at his direction, she now wanted nothing more than to be out of here. "Yeah."

[Grym Kandle]

Mariano. Plagen crimelord. Grym made the mental note as the green haze wove its thought-obliterating path through his mind. He caught a glimpse of a face in there somewhere but who knew if it was immediately relevant or not.

"Good. Go then."

He closed his eyes, everything still present behind his eyelids but like a green after image after staring into a sun for too long.

He never told her about the bounty. Instead he simply cashed her and her brother in to Mariano who couldn't be happier. The crimelord even attempted to contact Vigo Kandle to make his appreciation known. A Vigo of the Black Sun didn't have time for garbage holovids thanking them for nothing but Grym had watched it anyways. Same face. And Madeleia and her brother had just become another number and profit.

But that was not reality. Not what he had chosen. Just another bluff. If Madeleia was still there by then, his sigh, even with the mask's modulation, was weary and remorseful.

Remorseful of what?

[Madeleia]

Once free of his strong grasp, she rose and left the private room, massaging her wrist as she tried her best to figure out why Mariano wanted her. It didn't make sense, she had never owed him any money. Never taken anything that belonged to him, decked any of his thugs or stole any of the racing swoops that he owned. In fact, she hadn't had any business with him. Nearly running into another patron of the resort, she glanced up and side stepped, avoiding the accusatory glare as if he couldn't move aside himself.

Sighing, the only thing she did know was a job was on the books and she had to get it done, then fly home or call Mouse and find out what the hell was going on. Dropping her left arm, she turned her chocolate gaze to the hallway before her, taking her comlink out of her pocket and dialed her brother.

"Yeah."

"Go get the ship ready, we have a job."

"Okay, meet you there."