Sanis Prent and the Urns of Korriban

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il had allowed Sanis to lead the way, and she'd only made it to the end of the ramp as Zem appeared. One foot on the tarmac, the Lupine turned just in time to reach a hand out, steadying Vymes as he seemed to precariously lumber his way after her.

There was a flash of mild confusion in her eye as she fell into step beside him, but that passed soon enough. As they followed Sanis, s'Il kept partial attention on the stranger while fussing with Vymes.

"You look like you got run over by a bantha."

Reaching up to straighten his hair as they walked, her tone took on a bit of reproach. "... and when was the last time you brushed this sarlacc nest??"

[Zem Vymes]

"Hell!" I snapped, a dour expression on my face.

I kept walking in silence for a few seconds, then produced a comb from my jacket pocket, and ran it through my hair for a few passes. The sounds of knitted and protesting hair could be heard snagging through the teeth.

"Got mighty useful not caring about things like this."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Well it's gonna get mighty useful to start caring about things like this."

Momentarily satisfied that he was tending to his hair, the Lupine busied herself with straightening the buttons on his jacket and making sure that they were, in fact, buttoned.

"It wouldn't kill you to look halfway decent once in a while."

They stopped at the speeder, and s'Il motioned for Vymes to get in first. As they settled into the seat cushions, she gestured to Sanis while going on.

"I mean, even Sanis knows how to make himself presentable." She turned down the collar of Vymes' shirt while dusting away unseen specks of dust from his shoulders and pulling out as many wrinkles as possible.

She paused then, leaning forward to sniff the fabric.

"When was the last time you washed this?"

[Zem Vymes]

I glanced at her, opened my mouth like I was going to say something, then thought the better of it, and turned to face forward.

[Sanis Prent]

"Does it matter?"

I looked at s'Il incredulously as the armored man began to drive.

"We're going to meet Dan. It ain't exactly a Corellian debutante ball."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"It matters to me," was her grumped answer as s'Il sat back in her seat.

And as an afterthought, she brushed a lock of hair over her shoulders.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

The speeder hummed and yawed through Cloud City's business district, dipping two skylanes down before coming to a row of squat buildings, where it settled parallel to a small one.

Anbira powered down the systems, and glanced about carefully, looking for any sign that this rendezvous was compromised.

"We're here."

He led the trio into what appeared to be a bakery.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Staying closely just behind Sanis, s'Il eyed her new surroundings before turning her eye back to the stranger.

She might not be able to sense any sort of danger from him, but the Lupine still put on an air of cautiousness.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira let them through the door, then held them up in the vestibule.

"I'll need your weapons, of course."

He knew well enough that the smuggler was armed, and he suspected the woman to be as well. The older gentleman could go either way.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

With a ticked brow, the Lupine unbuckled her gunbelt, handing it off.

Her sabre she left in its' concealed leather carry-pack strapped over her shoulders, and she made no move to remove it. Her slugthrower she could part with, but for who she was, she would not relinquish the weapon she'd come to rely on second only to her own senses.

[Sanis Prent]

"Like hell I will."

The words were barely out of my mouth before s'Il had her gunbelt in the man's hands.

"Dammit."

I did likewise, unlatching my shell gun's holster and bandolier belt and handing each to Anbira. It didn't hurt to forget to mention that I kept a pair of westar blasters, a holdout derringer, and a few other nasty suprises stashed about.

[Zem Vymes]

I looked to the armored man and shrugged.

"Don't lump me in with these brigands."

I spread my coat wide for emphasis, truly unarmed.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il took advantage of the moment, and with a deft move she began to swiftly tuck Zem's shirt into the front of his pants.

"At least us 'brigands' know how to dress ourselves."

[Zem Vymes]

"You and this again..."

I growled out the side of my mouth.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira knew there was some mistruth going on. Most of it seemed to come from the smuggler. He couldn't ascertain anything about his female companion. The older gentleman seemed to show no signs of deception at all.

"I'll need to search you."

He gestured to both Lok and Sanis.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Looking up from her task, s'Il waved the stranger off with an idle hand.

"Come off it," she said finally. It was the first time that the Lupine had spoken to the man.

Her voice took on a strange tone, as she tried her best to lace her words with what little Force persuasion she could muster. It wasn't much; in fact it was just about laughable.

"You have our guns, that should be it."

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira's hand dropped to his side, the cloth of his tunic covering it once again.

"It isn't."

He arched an eyebrow at the woman. He'd felt the force tugging at the seams of his thoughts. Was it her? Hadn't Dan mentioned that she had some degree of talent in the Jedi Arts?

He began to wonder if that scar over her eye was any accident.

[General Dan]

"Would you four cut the foreplay and come out of the vestibule?"

Dan emerged from the kitchen in the bakery, holding a tray of steaming bread.

"You look ridiculous. Nobody's killing anybody on an empty stomach so lets eat and gossip first."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Whatever retort she'd wanted to reply with was cut short with Dan's appearence.

Staring at him, s'Il furrowed her brows at the sight - Dan... baking? She knew he liked to cook, but for some reason the thought of him baking was something she hadn't considered.

As if realizing what she was doing, s'Il pulled her hands from Zem's pants and stood up straight.

[General Dan]

"Lok, my apologies. I don't usually like to send hard looking bastards to fetch my friends about town, but you'll have to deal with my recent panache for paranoia."

Dan carefully ran a knife on the center of the bread's crust, releasing a puff of steam.

"Fantastic."

Setting the knife aside, he gestured to Anbira.

"This is Anbira Hicchoru - Jedi Knight and agent of the Rebel Alliance."