Old Business, New Business

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Even through the distorted holographic image that hovered over the edge of her desk, Emelie could tell the kid looked rough. Probably hadn't slept in days. The haze that seemed to blur the side of the image had suspicions confirmed as she watched her little slicer take a long drag off of - stars above - Emelie hoped wasn't a damn death-stick. Seemed that without supervision the kid was getting in all sorts of trouble. For a moment or two she pondered saying something, either to Sadie or one of the others who would knock some sense into her, but when it came to handling stress on the job with less-than-ideal means, Emelie was the last damn person who should have been speaking up.

"Yeah, so bosslady, y' told me y' wanted t' know whenever any interestin' folks popped up. Know it ain't th' someone y' were hopin' for but figured this one was worth slidin' y're way."

The blue image shifted from the familiar face of Sadie K'Vesh to someone else entirely. A small holovid feed played below it, showing the bastard playing cards (https://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?57820-The-Rocky-Route-to-Bespin) in one of Cloud City's many casinos. Emelie's fingers wrapped around the cool glass filled with her own bad habits as she let out a heavy sigh. Why the frak was it that whenever something in her life went south, he always seemed to show up?

Oh, it wasn't that things were bad. Not real bad anyway. Truth was, things had just changed. For the better in some instances, as her now-retired bounty hunter would no doubt argue. But there were other things...

"Thanks, Sadie," She finally breathed, not entirely sure if it was genuine or not and was far too aware that her voice echoed that fact.

A longer drink than was appropriate was taken from the fine alcohol as her fingertips drummed the desk in front of her. The holo changed back to the slicer who let out her own deep breath; the audio didn't come through but there was no mistaking the way the kid's body let it happen.

"So,"

Great. Here it came. The thing Emelie dreaded each and every time she'd spoken with the slicer lately.

"Looks like this job is gonna take a bit. Not sure when 'm gonna be home again."

"Okay," The reply was almost almost scripted by now, same reply, same reaction. Same avoidance. It wasn't bad news, just Sadie being Sadie, probably in more trouble than she should have been but didn't want to worry anyone. "Just be careful out there. There's a whole heap of people that'd have my head if anything happened to you."

Same pause and lopsided smile that flashed across the kid's face. "Got it."

The projection blinked and was gone, leaving Emelie alone in the far too empty office. She glanced through the transparisteel walls to where her assistant had normally sat and to the protocol droid she still wasn't quite used to that now functioned in his place. A-3E wasn't a bad droid. He'd even been programmed to carry just that bit off too chipper attitude that mirrored who he was replacing. But still, Emelie awsn't gonna lie, she missed the guy. Missed the lot of them that'd chosen to head off on their own courses, really. A curse left her lips as Emelie got to her feet. Right, well, if she was going to have words with an old friend, it wasn't going to be in this tomb. The glass in her hand was emptied, downed as if there was no tomorrow before her fingertip pressed another small button on her desk.

"Kailstig, grab two of your boys. I'm sending you info on a target. Bring him to me at Elysium (https://theholo.net/wiki/index.php/Elysium)."

[Salvo Starborn]

He’d been taking a piss when they found him, caught literally with his pants down. The half-spent, hand-rolled cigarette that’d been hanging limply between his lips went tumbling to the floor as two pairs of hands yanked Salvo Starborn backwards, away from the Port Town alley wall he’d been urinating against.

“Frak sake, lads! I’m in the middle of-”

A fist smacked his gut, knocking the air out of him. Double-over, Sal groaned. Well, at least it wasn’t his balls.

“Right, right… point made,” he said, fastening his belt as one of the three friendly strangers gave him a shove forward. He chanced a glance out of the corner of his ever. No white bucket-head helmet, no goofy Bespin Wing Guard cap. Whoever was man-handling him, they weren't doing it in any official capacity. Wonderful. By the time they got to where they were apparently taking him, Sal understood why. It was a nightclub. Elysium. The door security gave him a look, the kind that said: if you weren’t being bodily dragged in here, I’d be bodily hauling you out.

The doors ahead of Sal parted and sensory overload slapped him in the face: the thump of music, the strobing flash of neon lights, the smells of smoke and booze and sweat underneath it all. If he could wriggle free, he could get himself lost in the press of bodies - but the hands pushing him through the nightclub weren’t about to let go. They marched him to the upper floors, where the scrum of people got thinner but the atmosphere got a lot thicker, dimly lit booths and alcoves concealing the kinds of illicit interactions that Port Town was infamous for.

Abruptly, the goons weren’t pushing him anymore, and Salvo stood before a rather expansive couch with a solitary being reclining on it. A woman. Not just any woman, the woman. Emelie Shadowstar.

He'd arrived less than a day ago, and already she'd found him. “Em,” he said, grinning, still a little breathless from having been hauled half way across Port Town.

"I…” he started, the lie falling to piece in his mouth before he’d even finished thinking it. His eyes shifted away from her for just a moment, long enough to see at least one discretely positioned but undoubtedly heavily armed guard loitering nearby, making no attempt to hide the fact that Salvo was being watched.

“You look…” he tried next, in spite of the look on Emelie’s face. “Like you need some company.”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"Funny you should say that."

It wasn't what she had wanted to say, instead there were all sorts of scathing remarks lined up in the recesses of her mind waiting to be unleashed upon the pitiful soul in front of her. But instead she'd done what always seemed to happen among those she was more familiar with; half truths and little insights blurted out in a way that was so typically her. It should have been reassuring, and in a way it was, but it also felt far too much like she was letting barriers be dropped that she simply couldn't afford to let slide. Not now. Not so soon after...

"I'd offer you something to drink, but I'm afraid you owe far too much for your credit to be any good here."

That was more akin to what she wanted. She wanted to be angry, wanted to throw her glass at him, wanted to press a few keys into the small hidden console in the table in front of her and watch the security systems activate to release a surge of electricity right where her men had dropped Salvo off. But no, Emelie was many many things, but overtly cruel when wounded wasn't one of them. At least, not in that way.

"So tell me, when you were planning on stopping by and saying hello? Or were you hoping to avoid my notice?"

Emelie leaned forward, both hands wrapping around the glass she'd only been holding in one as her gaze narrowed to focus sharply on the marginally disheveled man in front of her.

"Little secret," her voice lowered to be heard just over the loud din of the club. "That doesn't work here. Nothing escapes my notice. Not anymore."

She let one hand drop to the table, hidden keys pressed. Though rather than a surge of pain being sent through Salvo, a sudden quiet fell over the two of them, the sounds of the club below becoming as if distant and muted through thick walls. It was unnecessary, it wasn't like she was planning on having any sort of illicit conversation with her former cohort, but Emelie did love showmanship.

[Salvo Starborn]

Being enveloped in silence all of a sudden was about as jarring as walking into the wall of noise had been to begin with. Eyes widening and eyebrows lifting, Sal rocked back on his heels slightly.

“Frak, that’s unsettling,” he muttered, though in the bubble of privacy that now encircled them his voice felt all too loud.

When had he been planning on finding her? Never, probably was the smart answer, but then Sal had never been especially smart, had he. Today, tomorrow, soon, he thought. In about eight-thousand-five-hundred-credits worth of time, however long that was. Really, the question implied a plan, and that required an amount of forethought that Salvo Starborn had in short supply.

“At some point,” he admitted, eventually. “Obviously! I wanted it to be a surprise an’ all… wanted to get you something to say hello with.”

Luck hadn’t been with him at the Sabacc tables, but maybe now, he thought, as he ventured a lopsided smile then moved to step around the table that separate the two of them, intending to join her on the couch.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

She allowed herself that half-formed smile of satisfaction that had been missing far too often of late. Unsettling. Good, you ass. His excuses threatened to take the expression away, though. A small half hum that spoke of being thoroughly unimpressed passed her lips. Thank frak for the sound barrier or it would have been lost and right then, Emelie wanted Sal to be aware of every tiny little gesture or noise that left her.

"Is that so?" How in the verse Emelie managed to make herself sound annoyed and yet inviting she'd never really know, but she often thanked her lucky stars for it. Oh sure, some would say she was incorrigible or an ill-timed flirt, but it did have its uses.

Her eyes followed Salvo, another round of harsh words, this time about ruining upholstery and being forced to send him a bill floated through her mind; she choked it down with a drink from her glass. No no, better to keep the predator following a prey look at that moment. Such a pain to balance these sorts of things, but it was a game that Emelie badly needed right then.

"And what exactly were you planning on bringing me, hmm? Credits, spice? Information?" She sat back against the couch cushions and let her eyes finally leave him, a delicate huff of a laugh leaving her. "Yourself?"

[Salvo Starborn]

Having successfully made it onto the couch, Salvo took the liberty of putting his feet up on the table too, the heel of one boot resting on the toe of the other. He made himself plenty comfortable, his arms stretched out over the back of the couch, and even managed to hold his cocksure smile, in spite of Emelie's laughter.

“Well, what else d’you get the woman who’s got everythin’, if not this?” he asked, with a faint gesture of both hands towards himself.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

She felt her expression soften, just for an instant with a breath of a laugh attached for good measure, and instantly hated herself for it. Emelie didn't have many weaknesses, at least not those she was aware of, nothing that she let try and get through the cracks and past whatever facade it was she still constructing around this whole Broker business. After all, the list included a large gold armored lightsabre wielding maniac, a few shape-shifting assassins, and one very angry cyborg zabrak with seven hells worth of a grudge - And that was only in the last year or two. If they hadn't managed to break her spirit, make her question everything she was and want to go back to her dive bar on Coruscant and a small arms running business, then what did?

Men. Men like Salvo who scratched some sort of damn itch in the back of her head that made her want to run off and join their carefree antics, spice fueled parties, and late night physical entertainment. But no, she had a business to run now. Two if you really wanted to get detailed about it. And while her crew did their parts more than sufficiently enough to ensure she could still enjoy the little pleasures of life, it was moments like this, with all it's absurdity, that made Emelie wonder if she wouldn't take it all back for a change to relive a few memories with the man sharing the couch with her.

Bastard.

"Oh, I wouldn't say I have everything. It's not like I run Cloud City itself. Not even it's entire underworld." She gave a small shrug of her shoulder and let a conspiratory smirk form. "Work in progress."

It wasn't exactly a mask that she put back in it's proper place, just a shift in attitude, another side of her that was just as true as any other. Maybe later, depending on if her annoyance at him faded completely, Salvo would see a side he was more familiar with.

"But enough about me..." Emelie pause and let herself lean back fully on the couch, turning her head towards Salvo only. "So, you've brought me you. That mean you'll be sticking around for a bit or should I expect you to vanish on the next liner headed out of here?"

[Salvo Starborn]

The truth of the matter was, vanishing wasn’t any option. Salvo had only barely made it to Bespin to begin with and even that hadn’t been paid for, scamming his way onto the ship of someone too starstruck by the idea of Cloud City to see they were being played. With almost nothing to his name, except for his name (which was often worth less than nothing) he was stranded. Stuck. Of course, Em didn’t need to know any of that, did she? No reason to look desperate. Not when he could see how much her situation had improved, as if the two of them were moving along the same path in two diametrically opposed directions. Her to the head of Cloud City’s underworld, and him to the arse end of it. He could make a living down there, thrive even with enough time, but there were easier ways. More enjoyable ways. Ways that involved Emelie Shadowstar.

When she looked at him, Sal tipped his head a fraction to the side, leveraging the lopsided smile for all he could get with it.

“Wouldn’t be much of a gift if I frakked off like that, would I?”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Stars, where had she heard that sort of thing before? Where to start? Ah yes, Vhiran whose life she'd basically saved, promised he's stay this damn time to make up for past skrag, and had gone and had skipped off without so much as a by your leave; the security boy Aiden who she was just starting to grow fond of, okay, fair that was a reassignment but still; D'Kor who vanished without a trace, no matter how many times she'd asked Sadie to find the arse; and oh yes, kriffing Salvo karking Starborn himself after she hauled his arse away from the Twi'leks.

"I'll believe that when I see it. Should have brought a bottle of Whyren's Reserve with you as backup. At least I'd know where that ends up."

It wasn't the cruelest thing she'd ever said, but bad timing meant Sal had caught her in a bit of a raw spot. It wasn't just the men in her life, either. Her entire crew was off world nowadays on their own little adventures. At least they checked in from time to time, though.

Black bones, that was it, wasn't it? For all the achievements that she could display so proudly, for all the steps she'd taken to get to where she was now, where she still needed to go, she wanted more. And more didn't come in the way of credits or reputation, but just in the form of some gods honest company. All she ever needed to do was look to Atton Kira's mopey self to see who it was she didn't want to become like.

But now was not the time to reflect on that sort of thing. Maybe later when she wasn't so kriffing frustrated.

The unpleasant and wayward thoughts were once more shoved aside with another drink from her glass, probably too much of one, but Sal wasn't exactly the type to judge her for that.

"In all honesty though, Sal. You do owe me and if you're going to be on Cloud City I'm more than happy to find ways to help you work that debt off."

The haughty air she'd been holding on to was released, just long enough for one of her signature flirtatious smirks to appear.

"And maybe find some other uses for you as well. You know, if you're even interested in that sort of thing anymore."

[Salvo Starborn]

There it was: the smirk. Salvo knew it well enough to know that, in spite all appearances and cutting comments to the contrary, Emelie still - against all the stacked odds in the Galaxy - hadn’t entirely written him off.

“You can put me t’whatever uses you want, darlin’,” he said, with a wink that was about as shameless as everything else he did.

The more he thought about it, the more Sal decided that Cloud City couldn’t be the worst place to work off the debt he’d been saddled with. Sure, he would have preferred Corellia or even Coruscant, places he knew and could turn a quick grift on, but there was something to be said for being an unknown quantity to everyone - or at least everyone but Emelie and Molly. It wasn’t exactly a clean slate, but Cloud City was far enough from everyone else he’d ever pissed off that Sal felt confident about his prospects.

“So, what d’you need doing?”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

A whole heap of ideas leapt to mind since things had shifted around her business. Her force using folks and smuggler had frakked off to go look for more hidden temples or whatever religious nonsense they saw important. Her bounty hunter had retired, sneaky infochant mentor sort as well but to places unknown - frak the bastard for being all mysterious about it. Slicer gone more or less solo again but with promises to return home when she could. And Vhiran... well, Force, Gods, and all sorts of other banthashit knew where the hell he'd gone this time. It was admirable in a way, enviable in all sorts of others in the freedom it gave all of them, but it left Emelie with the occasional holo message and not much else.

Well, except for the information part. That flowed like a fountain into her personal datapadd with anything dubbed useful or interesting. It wasn't a bad deal, really. Anytime she wanted more intel on something or someone it came to her and nothing that happened on Cloud City went without her notice so long as Emelie wanted to notice it. The over abundance of knowledge itself was intoxicating in a way. Should Emelie have chose, she could have tracked any individual from the moment they stepped on Cloud City to the very instant they left Bespin's orbit and even then beyond in some cases. She could tell you exactly what the Baroness had for breakfast, what brand clothing she'd chosen to wear that day, what time she visited the refresher, who she slept with if she chose to, what positions she preferred...

Needless to say, nothing went unnoticed if Emelie had a mind to know it. And when it came to Salvo Starborn? It was easy to predict she'd know every last little detail possible.

But as much as Sadie and Atton had granted her near omnipotence in most areas, there were still blind spots and those? Well, when you had access to practically everything, the things you didn't stuck out painfully and felt like an itch you just couldn't scratch.

And this was why Emelie settled on a particular thought, one of those places she needed a bit of help to reach. A resigned sigh left her as she leaned forward and tapped a few keys on the table in front of them. A small holoimage formed at Salvo's side of the display, nothing untoward, just him and a women conversing within the Pair O' Dice.
(https://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?57820-The-Rocky-Route-to-Bespin)
"What I need, Sal, is someone who can get where my current eyes and ears can't. Or, at least, aren't yet."

She left it there, open to questions if he had any but there was a heavy implication there. The Black Sun, or Nebula, or whatever it's particular faction was calling itself nowadays was one of those frustrating points unseen places. Not entirely, but enough that Emelie felt more than uncomfortable with sharing territory with them. Worse still was the fact she could be seen as the invading entity and that just wouldn't do. Sure, she could have probably gotten Sadie into their circle of trust and gone from there but that would have taken time. And well, with Salvo and this little opportunity presenting itself? The path of less resistance seemed prudent.

[Salvo Starborn]

Sal glanced at the holoimage. It was him and Molly in the Pair O’Dice, the two of them smiling and laughing, like they didn’t have a care in the world. For a couple of hours at least, it had felt that way, and in a couple of hours time Salvo felt certain it would feel that way again. Until he was confronted with his responsibilities, with his debts, Salvo Starborn could, often with the help of a substantial quantity of illegal substances, set aside his concerns with practised ease. The fact that that was part of the reason he kept on accumulating so many debts seemed to pass him by, but when the consequences of his actions were so far removed, it was hard to care.

He looked up at Em, an arched eyebrow arched. “Y’want me t’spy on someone?”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"How very astute of you," Emelie mocked.

It wasn't that she was being cruel, at least not outright. Not entirely, anyway. With the evidence staring her associate in the face she figured he would have been able to put pieces together, but apparently it'd take a bit more prodding. Not that she thought Salvo was stupid, far from it. He was just stubborn, and considering the subject matter it was more than warranted. After all, it wasn't every day you asked someone to pick between the two loyalties they only barely had in a galaxy where their type clung to none.

"The Black Sun... Or Nebula or whatever nonsense they are calling themselves now." Her hand waved off the details and nomenclature while the other was prepping her glass for a return trip to her lips. "They think themselves oh so clever, comfortable that this is their playground."

She sighed, more dramatically than necessary but it felt right. "I don't want to change that, mind you. I just want more intel than I have. You understand, don't you? I can't have their little spies aware of what I'm up to while I can't have the same. It's just not fair, you get? They can have their little casinos and spice running and arms and whatever else it is they get up to... I just need to know what fingers they have in what pies here on Bespin so I can let them keep doing what they're doing with the most efficiency."

Finally the drink was allowed, a pause to reflect as the burn of alcohol passed from lips down her throat.

"I don't want to break the system, Sal. I don't want competitors. What I want... is to know what my people are doing. All my people. Whether they know they are mine or not. You see... this City among the clouds? It has a leader, an official placed by the Imperials for all the things they think are important. But what this city has been lacking? What it needs? Is someone who knows it's working how it should. Who makes sure the little evils and sins keep working how they need to; to keep checks and balances; to keep people happy."

Her eyes batted, shamelessly but she couldn't help it. She needed help, and that meant pulling out all the stops.

"All I want to do is help. And they won't let me, Sal. So I just need someone to help me... help them. That's all. Is that so wrong?"

[Salvo Starborn]

While Emelie laid it all out for him, Salvo nodded along. Nodded like he had the faintest idea of the complex sociopolitical ecosystem that he was about to be dragged into.

“Y’know, darlin’... subtle isn’t exactly my, uh, for-tay.”

Em’s eyes didn’t leave him, the edges of her lips curled up just a touch, expectant. Sal’s attention started to wander back over to the holo-image, to Molly. What could be worse than crossing the Black Sun and potentially frelling over his sister in the process?

Well, there was always the Hutts.

Salvo rolled his shoulders, settling back further into the couch, effectively pinned in place by Emelie’s gaze. Like a scalefish on a hook, one side of his mouth tugged up in a grin.

“But for you?”

He winked.

“I’ll lay on the charm and have ‘em purrin’ like a loth-cat in no time.”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

It wasn't that Emelie had been tense, not by any means, merely that there had been an air of anticipation, of expectancy, and with Salvo's declaration it dissolved and left only the illusion of a carefree nature in it's absence. Emelie was beyond capability to fully embrace such things, time and experience had been bitter if not effective teachers. At the forefront of her thoughts was the certainty, not in the foretelling but in the possibility her friend might make a similar bargain where she'd be the one purring as Sal had put it. Only an idiot ignored that reality; backstabbing was human nature, after all. She had ideas about how to lessen that possibility, but for now... Well, Sal put himself on the line, it was time to show him just how far down the ash-rabbit hole went. Words served a purpose, but Emelie believed in action just as much.

With a smile now gracing her features she let herself lean back in the seat before propelling herself to her feet, glass still balanced between her fingers.

"Sal, I ever tell you that you're the best?"

His wink was echoed with one of her own before she motioned him with a beckoning finger.

"Follow me. There's some things you should see."

She didn't wait for confirmation. If he was going to follow her direction, now was the time it needed to begin without doubting that he'd follow through.

[Salvo Starborn]

They stepped out of the sound-proofed bubble and Elysium engulfed Sal once again. The club’s strobing lights illuminated Emelie, at one moment outlining her in brilliant neon flashes and at the next, casting her as a smoky shadow. Salvo followed the sway of her hips, feeling his pulse beat almost in time with the bassline reverberating through the floor.

It looked as if Emelie was leading him to the bar and Salvo started to grin - but at the last moment she stepped aside, brushing the access controls to a discrete door marked ‘staff only’.

“What you got hidden away back ‘ere, sweet'eart?” Sal said, voice too loud as the door clicked shut behind him, muffling the sounds of the club.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The storage room seemed standard enough, though no sooner than had Emelie entered than a hidden panel was accessed and a door, just as unobtrusive slid open.

"All sorts of secrets," She replied, haughtiness and amusement playing across each word.

The door lead to a series of stairs that Emelie lead Salvo down, lights activating just before them, keeping the room dark save for their immediate progress. As her feet touched the actual floor the rest of the room lit up in sequence, revealing various plush but functional chairs that belonged more in a cockpit than a club, all arrayed before a long metallic desk spanning the length of the room that housed various console inputs. Finally - as Emelie timed it to utmost perfection with a slight wave of her drink glass and hand - above the desk and taking the same distance, the room was further lit as a length of holo displays (https://theholo.net/wiki/images/f/f6/The_Underworld.jpg)came to life. There were hundreds of them, with the promise of potential thousands and several had broken down into further instances. Each varied,ranging from the blues of a standard holo projection, to grainy security footage, to so lifelike you felt as if you could reach into the projection and pluck the miniature people and items from them.

The sight was overwhelming still, even to the proprietor. It also seemed, to Emelie at least, desperately lonely. Only a few months ago she would have been hard pressed to find The Underworld empty. They weren't truly alone though. Even if not physically present Emelie was ever aware that somewhere out the galaxy at that exact moment her slicer was more than aware that someone had stepped foot into her domain. Emelie almost waved but kept herself from it.

"This, Sal. Is what I've been up to."

She walked along the length of the displays slowly, the figures in each going about their normal routines, entirely unaware of those that saw them.

"Bespin, Corellia, Metellos, Ryloth, Nar Shaddaa, Zeltros, Coruscant..."

The list could have continued, but the point was clearly made.

"This is now what you're a part of. We watch, we analyze, we extract... and occasionally, we find buyers for whatever juicy little tidbits we have. There's more, of course. But this is the center of it all. The galaxy is a big place, Sal." Emelie turned away from the displays and looked back towards him, the same smirk still lingering on her expression, and the back-light from the displays thankfully keeping her eyes in shadow lest they betray the hint of mania there. "But it's all available to me now."

She let out a slight laugh and stepped towards him, the moment gone as soon as she had presented it. "Well, almost. I'm getting there slowly. And that's why I need your help."

[Salvo Starborn]

Sal trailed behind Emelie as she walked the length of holo displays, his attention never lingering on any one monitor for more than a few seconds, torn between watching them and watching Emelie herself. There were probably a hundred questions he should be asking at that moment. How had she managed to gain access to all of these feeds? Who else knew they were here? What did she hope to gain from having windows in the lives of so many people? Had she been spying on him? That last one almost made him panic, until his subconscious pivoted with inevitable arrogance to wondering what she might get up to while she was watching. That utterly ridiculous idea was still washing his brain with happy chemicals when she turned and, smirking, stepped towards him.

“Frakkin’ ‘ell... you must ‘ave dirt on half the frakkin’ galaxy.”

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"Probably," Emelie replied, a half bit of laughter trailing the word as if to dismiss it.

It really was quite remarkable when she stopped and really thought about what she and her cohorts had managed to create, of what Emelie was still helping to foster along. Saying all of this was hers wasn't exactly accurate, but it wasn't inaccurate either; it all came together in a strange meeting of minds, understanding, and mutually beneficial arrangements. It was something to be proud of, that was for certain. But it wasn't enough...

"Now I'm just working on securing the other half. Dirt does have it's uses."

[Salvo Starborn]

"Just like me. Useful."

Sal leaned a hip against the console in front of the display wall. He could still see the flickering image out of the corner of his eye, though his attention was squarely on Emelie.

"Think I could be twice as useful with something 'alf decent to wear an' somewhere... respectable to kick my 'eels when I'm not out digging for tha' dirt."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

She knew what he was getting at, and he wasn't wrong, but it all suddenly struck her as unsettling. Verse knew Emelie wanted to keep Salvo on as short of a leash as possible if he was actually going to be working for her. It wasn't even that she was surprised at the audacity he had to expect her to put him up somewhere - how had Sal put it - respectable, when the fraker still owed her to begin with. It was the ease of everything. How quick she'd shown her hand, whether meant as a threat or simply another sort of power play; how very quick Salvo agreed to it all even with his stipulations. It wasn't that she was desperate for help, a few holo calls could have gotten her men thousands of parsecs better at just about everything he was capable of. Still, she'd hunted him down when she should have just let him come and go from Bespin like the flitting space dust he was. But no. Now they were here and now there were plans.

So why the frak was she smiling so damned much?

"Always did like you in a suit."

Emelie closed the distance between them, stepping well into what she knew would make be considered Sal's personal space.

"I'll see what I can arrange." A shameless wink followed as she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "But it'll cost you."