Familiar Taste of Poison - Respite

*takes place after FToP - Not My Type

Mos Espa

A speeder casually navigated an ornery dewback that swayed its neck side to side, trying to fling the bossy Jawa off its leash. Others jutted their small arms in the air nervously, shouting at the endangered Jawa and the dewback to knock it off - which neither complied.

"Watch him fly off," chuckled the speeder's driver as she steered the vehicle properly along the sandy ground.

Sure enough there was a loud high pitched screeched as the Jawa lost its grip and landed in a pile of Bantha poodoo that the city sweepers were shoveling into a cart.

Grace barked with laughter at the annoying pests misfortune. She always believed Jawas were unnecessarily rough and cruel to Droids and beasts of burden, only finding pleasure in successful monetary transactions and scavenging finds. They didn't look past their profits and addiction to technology, but they were useful in the same vain. If you knew how to properly haggle, some hard to find parts might be cheaper through them instead of the shops that were exhausting with constant bargaining.

So why was she and Lorna on a far reaching planet in the Outer Rim filled with scum, villainy, and beings that were wanting to take advantage of you?

Simple. They were here for food at one of the best little dives in the galaxy nestled around heat, humidity, poor farmers, pod racers, and rich gangsters. The last op was intense for various reasons and Grace had the sense that Lorna needed downtime. Going undercover was new for her and as she believed that the doctor was fine with separating their intimate counterparts that they played, the ensuing firefight and physical combat was outside Lorna's expertise. Though she wouldn't admit, Grace was positive that the doctor had a nightmare that night after the operation was complete. They had shared a room for obvious reasons and kept it for the night before shipping out the next day. She hadn't the heart to wake Lorna but all of the tossing and turning and soft whimpers was an old friend to the Director of Alliance Intelligence. Lorna needed some R & R.

She parked at a free spot that was a quick walk to The Blue Bantha. The building was your typical rectangular structure with a dome for a roof and strong, thick, weathered sides to withstand all the sandstorms that tore through here, with dug out steps that led inside. A metal sign hung over the door with barely a sway, depicting a bantha in mid-rise, one leg up in the air, and its jaw hanging low.

"Here we are." Grace hadn't told Lorna where they were going. Only that they were going to Tatooine for something to eat - which surprised Lorna, though she was happy to accept. What wasn't a surprise was her reaction because ... it was Tatooine.

"And trust me, this'll be worth it," she promised as she got out of the speeder.

She wore light colors like the natives to avoid excessive heat. The stone colored fabric was thin and breathable that covered the length of her arms, folding loosely at the wrists. Crisscrossed brown belts held up light grey pants and holstered a blaster, and for good measure there was a hold out blaster tucked safely in one of her brown boots. A thin sheen of perspiration coated exposed skin, especially along her neck since her hair was held up in a bun.

As they walked along the narrow footpath, Grace momentarily chewed on her lower lip before sighing. "Now ... I'll be honest."

She spared a glance at her companion. "Ubenkabo is either going to hug me or shoot me when we walk in so ... make sure to stand behind me."

The last thing Lorna had expected after returning to Jovan Station was Van-Derveld borrowing her for off-duty matters. Sure thing, the Director was damn good at keeping everyone on their toes, which was why they made such a damn good team when it came to missions requiring both their expertise. That was a whole other beast.

Truth be told - but only to herself - Lorna had welcomed some time away from the efficient brunette. That last night at the hotel after completing the assignment, she had had no nightmare but rather one of the most erotic dreams of her life, starring Grace Van-Derveld. She had played it cool the morning after; but as much as she had wanted to dismiss it as a by-product of her lack of experience with undercover mission involving pretending to be someone's girlfriend, the dream had come back to the surface of her thoughts several times since then, which tremendously annoyed her.

Sure thing, the Director was gorgeous by any hot-blooded person's standards who was into humans. But Lorna wasn't interested in getting into the Director's pants. She valued their partnership on a professional level and went as far as being willing to trust Van-Derveld with her life, after all the shit they had already survived with the couple missions they had worked together on. And for all she knew, there was no guarantee Van-Derveld was into women outside of undercover work. Anyway, Lorna had rarely had such solid professional partnership and she had no intention to mess it up for a simple fuck.

As per usual, she had been all about work on Jovan Station. It lacked the adrenaline rush of field missions; and even though she had wanted to get the dream out of her system with some one-night stand, no one had piqued her interest. Lorna didn't do the whole emotional relationship game; but a good old fuck could do wonders to her mood. It was part of a healthy diet in the doctor's view.

She got forced out of work with the Director's invitation for lunch. She didn't even say anything about how Van-Derveld had found the perfect time when she had nothing she couldn't postpone for a few days. The woman had enough power to look into many people's schedules, including the doctor's. It amused her though, and she was happy for the break.

It had been a few years since she had gone to Tatooine. And out of everywhere in the galaxy, it wasn't a place she would have chosen for a lunch; but she trusted the Director.

She was brought back to the present moment when Van-Derveld drew her attention to the stupid Jawa getting into trouble. She laughed out loud along the brunette's when as expected, the little creature went flying and landed in the worst place possible.

"Good thing that it was just him and not any of the wares he's carrying," she quipped with a smirk.

She raised a brow as Van-Derveld parked in front of The Blue Bantha.

"So they serve full size dishes and not just tiny samples on a so-called appetizer plate?"

She teased in reference to their mission at the club, where she had been genuinely hungry and stuffed her face before going to sweet talk their target.

She left the vehicle and gave a sincere smile to the other woman.

"I happen to trust you," she said in all sincerity.

The blonde wore her long hair braided, and had opted for a light beige duster coat over tan pants and tunic, with matching boots. A small utility belt completed the outfit for a couple of device and a tiny blaster. She liked to be prepared.

When the Director spoke next as they were almost at the eatery's door, Lorna couldn't repress a chuckle.

"You sure know how to keep things interesting," she replied with a grin.

"Good thing you brought a doctor with you, uh?"

As they reached the door, she opened it and gestured for Van-Derveld to step in first, before taking place a step behind her, heeding the brunette's recommendation.

During the course of the banter, Grace let Lorna's comment about trust roll off without acknowledgment. It wasn't unusual for her to hear that because over the course of her career hundreds had to trust that she would complete the mission, save their lives or what she decided was in the best interest of the mission. She had heard the same phrase spoken many different times under professional circumstances but this would be the third time personally.

Grace was uncertain how to feel about it.

She took a deep breath and flashed a mischievous smile. "Hm... well, to put it simply, this is the second location of The Blue Bantha."

Imperial entanglements had caught up with her and Dasquian and the firefight caused irreparable damage to the building's first structure.

"Then ... there was a recent altercation where I had to help fund a bar remodel."

A Nikto Bounty Hunter came after Grace but the irony of the situation was he mistook her for a smuggler that a Hutt was after. She tried to explain his error and then had to reinforce the truth by repeatedly banging his spiky head into the counters, bottles, and chairs.

When Lorna got the door for her, she shrugged. "I suppose so. Maybe keep the bacta patches at the ready, hm?"

She winked after the last remark and walked inside, scanning the room and noting the usual spacers and locals, none finding their presence curious. The main area's ceiling was another meter taller than the norm offering an airy feel and more ambient lighting since the windows were longer. Booths ran along both sides of the room with stone benches and tables, small electronics offering more lighting and holographic menu options. Tables filled in the rest of the space that had holomenus and cushion chairs, which was rather upscale in this area of Mos Espa. Grace nodded, impressed.

Her eyes then went to the bar and whistled appreciatively. The back wall depicted a hand painted blue bantha with shelves on either side of the mural filled with bottles. The bar counter was a stone semi circle trimmed in metal with cushion stools for patrons.

"Good to see my money went to good use ..." she murmured.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! NO!" A toydarian buzzed right into the director's path, arms crossing in front of him before quickly coming down at his sides angrily. "You're not coming in here and wrecking my place again!"

He was well dressed, wearing brown pants and a jacket that had the first two buttons done to leave the rest hanging down at this sides so his bulbous belly had room to breathe. One of his clawed fingers pointed accusingly at Grace "You're nothing but bad luck, Van-Derveld."

She looked aghast and placed a hand upon her chest. "Bad luck? Me?" She motioned around the room. "Seems like every time I come here, you get an upgrade."

He balled his fists in frustration. "You know what I mean!"

And then he burst into laughter. "But you're definitely right, Van-Derveld. New bar increased profits by 15%! You're lucky that it paid off your debt or I'd be shooting you right now."

He hovered to the right of her and thrust a thumb at Lorna. "Who's the friend? Surprised Belargic's not with you to grovel in forgiveness too."

"First of all, I never grovel." She huffed. "And he's on assignment."

"Ah ... huh? Not together?" He asked, clearly confused.

"No. Our career paths shifted," she said without a break in her tone despite the pain of that reality hurting her still.

"Oh!" His eyes widened with understanding. "So you got yourself a new partner, eh? Have to say, this one's an upgrade compared to him." He purposefully bumped into Grace's shoulder and flew right up to Lorna with a graceful bow. "I'm Ubenkabo, proprietor of The Blue Bantha and a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

He winked. "And you can do better than this one. Trade her in now before she gets you blown up."

As much as Lorna could enjoy time off, she was mostly used to do that on her own. Save for fleeting bed mates, she had been used to just hang out with her pets. Traveling across the galaxy and working her ass off at most times left few opportunities to forge personal connections, which was also why she had been so surprised when Van-Derveld had “kidnapped” her for a chill trip to Tatooine.

When the brunette mentioned that it was the second location of their destination, she mirrored the mischievous smile and quirked a brow. “Is it now? Well, well, well,” she teased.

Sure, there was still the inner weirdness of her hot and sexy dream haunting her; but it didn’t erase the ease of interaction that had developed in the recent weeks with all their team work.

“You’ll have to tell me the story over lunch.” For what she knew of the Director, this would be entertaining.

“I always keep some on me. I got you covered.”

She followed Grace inside the place and got to say she was fairly impressed with the décor. She hadn’t known what to expect; but it was cozier and cleaner than one would think when it came to Tatooine eateries. She let out a quiet but appreciative whistle.

And she got to say it was nice to just blend in. At least until an excited and grumpy Toydarian – true to his people – caught sight of them and zoomed in on the pair.

She stayed behind Grace, peeking easily over her shoulder as their host and watched the hilarious interaction between him and her partner in crime. She couldn’t help chuckling at some point.

The doctor was surprised when there was mention of Belargic, whose name she had heard a couple of times during her work with Grace, but she was not privy to the details of Van-Derveld’s relationship with him.

She did believe she noticed a very brief and subtle shift in how her companion replied and how a muscle in her neck tensed, when she mentioned their paths had shifted. Observant by nature, her Lorrdian body-reading gift was muted because of being a half-breed; but if she got to know someone well enough, including from a medical point of view, she could “read” them a bit better.

Her thoughts trailed back when she had pulled rank on the Director and she still felt unapologetic about it. It made her smile the moment before the Toydorian addressed her.

“Well met, Ubenkabo. I’m Lorna,” she offered with a polite nod.

She laughed at his remark about Grace. “Best I’ve done so far. And I’m a doctor so patching up is what I do best,” she retorted with a chuckle.

“She sang the praises of this place so I’m looking forward not to have to deal with food poisoning,” she quipped, grinning.