Chapter 3: Old Friends

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Korr murmured as he caught sight of Stardust across the barroom. “what in the brix is she doing here?”

“Wh-what? What’s that?” stammered his companion. He followed Korr’s gaze and nervously eyed the Twi’lek. “Her?”

“Nothing, sorry. I was just remembering something,” Korr evaded and turned his eyes back to his glass of colorless Tihaar. Maybe if he didn’t say anything his associate would follow suit and the woman would walk on by. He snorted at his own wishful thinking, not likely. 

*****

Trixy continued to look at the men, she was certain they’d seen her by now, yet neither of them had made any indication they wished her to join them. She shrugged to herself; if she waited for invitations, she’d never go anywhere. She ambled up to their table and spoke to Korr, “Guess you managed to get off Taris.” She was surprised to note that he didn’t appear to immediately recognize her, even at close range, given this was at least their third meeting. Maybe she needed to start paying more attention to her appearance if her effect on men was this lukewarm. She looked expectantly at the Jedi. As she did so, she watched the other man in her side vision, a nervous little Rodian with his face in a glass of…was that engine cleaner or the cocktail of the day? Trixy pulled up a chair without being invited and smiled broadly.

Korr paused a few beats, weighing the likelihood of convincing the Twi’lek that she was making a mistake, that he was not who she thought he was. He recognized the futility of that path and spoke.

“Captain,” he acknowledged with a tight smile, “it’s always a pleasure.” He emphasized the word always to underline the fact that it had not escaped his notice that she seemed be everywhere he was these days. “This is Piron,” he said, indicating his table mate.

Trixy reached out and shook the Rodian’s hand. She tried not to show any reaction to the slippery surface of his palm, but she clearly failed, she realized with regret. He became, remarkably, even more nervous. She smiled and tried to put him at ease. “Trixy,” she offered.

“How d-do you two know one another?” Piron asked, trying to appear conversational.

“Oh, the Captain and I are merely acquaintances,” the Jedi answered smoothly, closing that line of conversation adroitly.

Trixy acknowledged Korr’s remark with a nod and settled back in her chair. The men exchanged a glance and she wondered what was in that look. For a few minutes, the three engaged in pleasantries about the unseasonable weather, then they lapsed into an awkward lull. The Jedi drank steadily, his eyes dark, and the Rodian fairly twitched with anxiety. These two are quite a pair, Trixy thought, the brooder and the nerve burner. Though the brooder seemed a little looser every time Trixy crossed his path. Maybe he just had trust issues. Heh, don’t we all, she thought ruefully. After enough time had passed that either one of the men could have offered to get her a drink and neither had done so, Trixy hailed the waiter droid over and ordered herself the house claret, since she was buying her own. She only drank the good stuff when someone else was picking up the tab. The men had fallen into casual conversation and she let her mind drift to Brisso, wondering how his family situation was going. Maybe she should have offered to go with him. She quickly dismissed the thought; no sense giving him the wrong idea. It was the wrong idea, on so many levels. As she sipped at her–actually not half bad– claret, she returned her focus to the men before her. What had brought these two together in this dive? Korr emptied his glass and looked around for the waiter droid. Meanwhile Trixy had not seen Piron take as much as swallow of his drink; in fact, the Rodian literally did seem to be using it to clean engine parts. Why are they here? The Jedi was obviously a jet juicer and was clearly here to imbibe, but what of the nervous fellow? And why meet at this seedy out of the way cantina? Were they discussing business or pleasure? And if it was business, how could she get something out of it? Might as well earn some credits if I have to be on this Force-forsaken moon, she mused. Suddenly interested, Trixy reclined in her chair to read the Gs.