Unorthodox Exchange

[Tuk Arghann]

The glass doors of Elysian Acquisitions headquarters parted to allow entrance to a human male that had never set foot on Cloud City since the days of Emperor Palpatine. Places like Elysian existed back then with different names and services they offered, but this company was new to him. Tuk bounced between paying jobs with different companies and freelancing. The most organized work he ever did was the six month stint with the Bounty Hunters guild a year back. He never renewed contract with Salaktori as the work didn't mesh with his lifestyle, preferring more independence but he gave it a solid go. He knew he was looking for something after all these years of wandering around the galaxy but he didn't know what.

Thus his return to proper employment. He figured he'd try this again and poured over all the legitimate ads on the holonet. Elysian caught his eye and after some digging, was delighted to learn that the company had its share of legal and illegal dealings. He always vetted a potential employer and he knew the right channels to see where a company like to dabble off the record if applicable. The skill set he built over the years was perfect for either avenue of job employment with Elysian. He just needed an in.

Tuk did a once over at the expansive and modestly decorated lobby. There were workers and visitors milling about, comfortable chairs, and quite the high tech security in place behind the visitor's desk. The protocol droid waiting for him was just an inch shorter than his just over 6 foot tall athletic frame. He wore casual clothing that could be bought by your average spacer, not making him distinguishable from any other human. He was well groomed - recently clean shaven and his light brown hair styled.

On approach, Tuk's smile was pleasantly disarming with his handsome features. "Hello there. I'm here to apply for a job."

His smile only grew wider as he reached over the desk and casually cued up the job in question for the droid, ignoring any warning to stop. Tuk happily carried on with his upside down typing. "Aha! Here it is. Repossessions."

He tapped at the screen and looked up at the protocol droid with a firm nod. "Granted ... I didn't quite take the time to actually apply on the 'net, but ... I figured I could just stop on by in person to do it. Oh!"

Tuk held up a finger and squinted as he went searching for something in his back pocket. "Almost forgot. Here."

He pulled out a datacard and slid it over. "Has my credentials. Everything that proves that I, Tuk Arghann, is the only guy you need for the job."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Her mind was already on Elysium, of the heady air, booming sound system, and the pulse of lights and bodies. The club wouldn't be open for hours yet and the weekday crowd was always lighter, but it still called to her, her refuge and sanctuary in plain sight. Days were dull, filled with business. Emelie scrolled slowly through the display in front of her, set into her ornate desk. A buyer was requesting retrieval of an artifact on Lothal, another wondering if they could get insider information on the Hapan stock exchange, a little deeper digging promised an untold wealth of credits from a rather undignified tabloid for any information on those who were behind the recent assassination attempt on the Empress. Emelie frowned at that last one before closing the display. Her eyes wandered to the half full tumbler at her side, considered the hour and the implications of drinking so early - And then deftly took a defiant sip against everything considered proper.

It was a small ping that brought her back from wherever her thoughts had wandered. It wasn't often that Elysian Acquisitions had physical visitors, and the small alert sounded before the man had even stepped inside the offices. The scans had begun shortly after. After the last incident that had haunted these halls, certain security measures had been made; one could never be too careful. The readouts confirmed the man was human, or at least appeared to be one. Another protocol courtesy of Abrax bit into the datapad he had on him before he ever showed it, downloading and analyzing the information, displaying it all before her.

It was curious. If everything he was offering on himself was truth - and her network was quickly confirming it was - it was rather intriguing for a man of his skill and experience to simply walk into her offices in response to a want ad that Emelie had assumed would only catch the eye of bored mercenaries. If the way Mr. Arghann had presented himself wasn't enough to peak her interest, the bigger picture certainly did. And to think, she thought today was going to be dull.

Emelie laid a finger against the bottom corner of the display, a communications line opened directly to the droid's audio receptors. "Bring him to my office. I want to have a chat with this one."

[Tuk Arghann]

It appeared that his charming antics had gained a green light in seeing the big boss lady. Though he was certain that Ms. Shadowstar was quite taken with his abilities too. There was a lot that Tuk could offer her.

"Means I probably got the job, huh?" he asked the droid and tucked the datacard into his back pocket again. "Who knew CEO's were big with the on the spot interviews for repossessions!"

With a dopey grin, he went around the front desk at behest of the droid and walked through the scanner. He wasn't foolish to bring weapons here and there was nothing hidden on him either. That wouldn't have made a proper impression on his employer if he happened to get his foot in the door with a legitimate job offer. He was glad that Shadowstar happened to be in and worked impressively fast at vetting him. Otherwise why offer him a private conversation?

The scanner gave the all clear and he strolled to the other side. "No stabby or blasty objects. Let's go!"

He was led down the main hallway, passing by various offices until the droid stopped before one of them. It didn't stand out like the rest but there was no mistaking the name on the display.

Tuk could appreciate modesty and looked to the droid. "I got this."

After knocking on the door with a little ditty, he hit the panel to let it slide open and once there was enough room for his head, Tuk poked it in and looked right at Emelie behind the desk. "Hello!"

The rest of his body slowly filtered in and carried himself with a relaxed stride on approach. He knew he was good, but there wasn't a need to be smug about it. He hated beings like that. "Really nice of you to take time for a face to face, Ms. Shadowstar."

He was well aware of a looker his more than likely new boss was, and the pictures he found of her while doing his research did not do her justice at all, but he was focused on a proper first impression.

"Tuk Arghann," he said and extended a hand with a twinkle in his eye. "Course, pretty sure you already knew that when I walked in."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

"Indeed I do, Mr. Arghann." It was a good thing that Emelie had been working for years on perfecting her sabacc face, it let her remain calm and poised behind her desk rather than do exactly what her mind was in finding herself somewhat baffled at how much her potential new employee reminded her of a former associate. She'd had to do a bit of a double take when examining the man's file that the Underworld was feeding her to validate his own provided resource, but she hadn't expected the man's appearance to be so... striking.

At least he's not wearing red, Emelie thought to herself, suppressing a small laugh by simply letting her lips form a smirk before she raised her short glass to her lips. The cocktail was set aside and she folded her hands on the seemingly transparent desktop in front of her.

For a moment or two, just edging on silence that could be considered awkward but not overstepping the bounds, Emelie simply regarded the man in front of her. She took another gracious drink from her glass before finally breaking the silence.

"I must say," Emelie began as her hand drifted to a hidden console set into the desk and brought up a copy of the data on Tuk's datapadd. "I am quite impressed by your background. Imperial intelligence, the Bounty Hunters guild..."

Her eyes shifted from the data back to the man who could claim ownership of all it professed. A fingertip ran along the edge of her glass and the soft smile that had held shifted into something a tad bit more mischievous.

"While I'd love to ask your reasons for leaving such prestigious organizations, I'm honestly more curious to find out how much you've learned about me with those skills of yours. After all, I doubt you've come here totally blind. I think we're alike in that aspect, yes?"

[Tuk Arghann]

The silence didn't bother him in the least as his unorthodox approach to finding work was puzzling and intriguing. So as Shadowstar enjoyed a few far more healthier than really was necessary at this time of day sips of her drink, which Tuk noted without judgement, he silently pointed with both index fingers to the available chair and took a seat with an impish smile.

Tuk got comfortable, slouching in the chair as he rest a boot atop the opposite knee and folded his hands together. His head bobbed in confirmation to his resume being listed off before shifting slightly to watch that finger play around the rim of the glass. "Oh definitely."

His attention returned to Shadowstar and smiled with confidence. "I did my homework. Though I'm honest enough to admit I'd of been happy with repossessions. But ..." with a playful shrug, he continued, "... I was hoping for more fun work. So ... I poked around Bespin to see what might work good for me and a future employer and liked what I saw here."

He really liked what he saw, but that was another matter entirely. This was business.

"But to be fair and answer your question? I know that your little baby here is all legit ..." he freed his hands to allow his arms to spread outwards, "... but the real fun work to be had is with all the under the table deals you got going on with a few of my favorite things - Smuggling, stealing and espionage."

Then he let his arms drop and lightly tapped the sides of the chair while talking. "You used to run operations over Silenus too. And considering my background, naughty helping the Rebels back then."

He winked and politely clapped. "Nice job with that. Seriously had no idea that was going on otherwise you and I might've met sooner."

It was the truth, but Tuk couldn't give two shits about it now. He had no loyalty to the Empire.

"Oh!" snapping his fingers, he pointed to Shadowstar because he didn't want to forget this tidbit. "And let's not forget the spice, guns and fun on Coruscant before that. You really got a thing for clubs and bars. Back then was the Bastel and now the Elysium right?"

He knew he was right.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

It should have felt unnerving to have someone rattle off details of her life in such a casual way, especially with the care that she'd taken into having most of her personal information purged from the holonet. It was a work in progress, though, as Tuk's knowledge proved. There were far too many points and pieces still floating out there and that was something she would need to see to in rather short order. Not now, though. For now, those remnants had actually proven beneficial. Any concern was waved off like one would clear their immediate air of cigarra smoke and all that was left in it's wake was a feeling of self-satisfaction. She'd been right. For all the clues to his skills that Tuk's provided past had given her, it was nice to see his experience with Intel in action. Emelie had expected him to know some of what he'd reported, but there were a few gems that had surprised her. All the better that someone capable of finding those gems found their way under her roof rather than a potential enemy, after all.

"I'm impressed," Emelie replied. "Not that I see any reason I shouldn't be, but still."

She offered a slight smirk before taking another sip of her drink. Once the glass was set back down she folded her fingertips together and propped her elbows on her desk in order to lean forward just in the slightest.

"So if I did have a position for you within my organization, what is it you'd want in return? Credits, of course, and we can negotiate either salary or feed on a consultation basis if that makes you more comfortable. But what else do you want, Mr. Arghann? Knowing you're skills aren't just for show is certainly illuminating but tell me more about you. What are you hoping to get out of this?"

[Tuk Arghann]

Tuk gave a proud, toothless, smile as Shadowstar said she was impressed. He offhandedly nodded with her additional comment because his resume already explained all his qualifications, but there was something satisfying in providing an exemplary demonstration. It was note worthy that his more than likely future boss didn't bat an eye on the information he rattled off. Admittedly, she was hard to read which he liked. It was so hard finding a job where he couldn't anticipate his employers actions and that was just ... not fun and boring. Another reason he bounced from job to job a lot because he wanted something to switch his brain off and being able to calculate the boss' move within thirty seconds of meeting them was infuriating.

Here he had no idea! Was she secretly upset despite saying impressed? Oh, she was definitely delighted in Tuk's display of ability but was it bothering her that he was able to sew all those pieces together, especially the not so easy, but able to find, past history if one knew where to look. Which he did. Or was she even more excited about how brilliant he was? Or would she rather watch mouse droids race along through the promenade because Tuk was just a means to an end and she could care less.

Not knowing was fun!

He look pleasantly baffled at the if Shadowstar had a position for him. "But you do have a position," he gently reminded her. "In repossessions. There was an hourly rate and everything, so not sure why we need to negotiate terms and cred amounts with it all clearly listed in the ad."

Then with a hand atop his thigh, he leaned forward. "Even if we're talking about the not so talked about aspects to your business... I'm amicable. Truth is, Ms. Shadowstar ... I just want a job. With you. So ..." he leaned back with a shrug, "... yeah. That's really all I'm hoping for."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Emelie regarded the man across from her with a healthy dose of skepticism, but also a decent amount of respect. If he was hiding his real reasons for wanting the job, he was doing so rather well. Well enough that her console hadn't pinged her a half-million extraneous details like it usually did. She doubted that he was hiding anything he hadn't already relayed, the machine would have picked up on it by now... which made him something of an enigma. Truth hidden in plain sight, what a concept.

"Repossessions it is, then." She confirmed with a half-toast of her half-filled glass. "Welcome aboard Elysium Acquisitions, Mr. Arghann."

Naturally she'd have her slicer dig deeper into anything that could be dug up about the man, but she had the feeling that Abrax might not find a whole lot that didn't already show on the data she'd been willingly given. It was strange to have someone in her group who didn't have deep dark secrets that were potentially compromising. Strange and refreshing, in a way. If all the man honestly needed from her was a job, then so be it. Why should she be any different than any other potential employer willing to scoop up a gifted and credentialed employee?

However, it was the honesty that interested her. Best hope he didn't change her opinion on that matter.

[Tuk Arghann]

He made a fist and shot his elbow down in victory. "Yes!"

There was no mistaking the bright, wide, smile of gratitude that spread across his face. Even his eyes danced with sincerity. "You, M'lady, have made the right decision!"

Good old boring work had been granted with a healthy understanding that he can dabble in the seedy kind as necessary. He felt something inside him that wasn't felt in years.

Excitement!

Maybe he'll get a chance to smash someone's skull on the hood of a speeder if they bitch too much when he takes it away! The thought gave him goosebumps.

"So where do I sign?" he leaned forward, eager.

"Or do I need to wait for the official Tuk paperwork? Need blood?" he held out his muscular forearm, tugging the sleeve up and pointed out some very prominent veins. "These two are good ones. Oh!"

Bringing one hand forward, Tuk stuck out a his little finger. "We can always do a pinky swear!"