Drawing an oversized blaster from his hip, he staggered unsteadily across the bar; creating a wave of ducking heads as his wildly swinging muzzle promised a threat to anyone in its path. He cursed roundly as a hand on his chest stopped him cold. Looking blurrily to his right, he saw the Lieutenant restraining him. Angry, he twisted free of the restraining hand and stepped a little closer to the Togorian, shakily aiming his blaster.
A deep stillness of movement fell across the entire bar. Large jade eyes regarded the blaster wielding Swooper with utter contempt, and Mrrowl’s sleek pelt again rippled with muscles reorienting themselves for fast action.
Hand blurring, the Lieutenant’s blaster appeared behind the Swooper, the sound of a shot punctuated the cymbals and bass beat of the synthrock, and the blaster disappeared back into its holster in one fluid motion. Mrrowl chortled and gave a small nod of respect, as the nearly headless smoking body of his erstwhile attacker dropped to its knees, then crashed to the dirty floor. The Lieutenant swept the room with a hard look, then sat down at his own table, signalling the bar for another round.
Sour faces watched the Bith bartender hustle over to take care of the new mess. With the latest body headed for the dumpster, conversation slowly resumed, with an occasional sidelong look at the back table.
----
“Once in a very long while, I actually get to do something I’m going to enjoy.”The thought drifted through the Twi’lek’s mind, leaving a little trail of warm sparks. Her days had been a haze of emptiness and misery since she had been sold to the markets at the age of 16. Now, the 18 year-old spent her time satisfying the whims of that bastard Sorzen and whomever else he drug in through the door.
Clutching absentmindedly at the collar around her throat, she shuddered, hearing her own screams as she was dragged out of her father’s arms, replaced with a credit stick that he pocketed as he turned away and left the room without even a backwards glance. The call of the auctioneer, leering men who ran their hands over her and checked her teeth as if she was an animal in the market, the filthy lizard-thing that loaded her into a cage on a ship and flew her away from the only home she ever knew...
“You’re Ree’Sara, you’re better than this....” she chastised herself. Releasing her nervous grip on the small eyebolt at the throat of her collar, she firmly placed her hands on the bar and regarded the Togorian at the back table. She’d been told, “Keep his glass full and make sure he finds his guest room down the street.” She’d been frightened when he’d entered, however, something in the way he tossed the nasty Weequay about, and that purr when she’d taken the drinks over, well, maybe there was something more than violence in the hulking creature. “Besides,” she thought, “the way his ear jumped when I touched it was kind of cute...”
----
Ree’s thoughts were interrupted in a fog of terrible breath, as a body reeking of sweat, fresh blood, and cleaning chemicals pressed against her from behind, trapping her against the edge of the bar.
A voice belonging to one of the Bith bartenders rasped in her ear, “You should get to it girl, or Sorzen will be most upset.”
A fresh gust of nastiness blew past her face as she struggled futilely against his weight for a moment. “Don’t you have something to clean Jinian?” she snapped.
Jinian’s fingers grabbed the end of one of her headtails, simultaneously twisting and pulling backwards. Hot tears sprang to Ree’s eyes and she cried out, her chin rising higher and higher in a futile attempt to lessen the searing pain.
“Sorzen should beat that insolent streak out of you whelp. You’re window dressing that should be seen and not heard. In fact, “ Jinian mused, a cruel edge appearing in his voice, “I should probably just save him the effort and take care of it my...”
Jinian’s voice ended in a cut off shriek as a large paw snaked around his neck. He froze as he felt the tips of barely extended razor sharp claws shallowly piercing his skin of his throat, very near an artery.
“Mrrowl new here, not know much. Know not treat female that way...” a very deep voice rumbled from a short distance behind him.
The Bith’s nerveless fingers released Ree’s headtail, and a sudden backwards pressure on his throat forced him to take a couple of quick steps back to avoid a lethal wounding. Relieved of the pressure, Ree bent forward over the bar, gently gathering up the organ and cradling it for a moment. Anger quickly replacing pain, she whirled, slamming her fist into the side of the Bith’s jaw. Mrrowl loosened his paw and let Jinian slump to the floor, making that odd, deep chortling sound again.
The bar erupted in laughter, accompanied by hungry looks at Ree. Other Weequay elbowed each other jovially, glad to see someone else getting the wrong end of the big cat.
Jinian sat up groggily. He swiped quickly at his neck with his hand, which came away slick with blood. His awareness expanded slightly to include two large, furry legs, and he cowered from the big Togorian, who was looming over him, a murderous glint in his eyes.
“Bighead ssssmart, bighead apologize to female. Mrrowl hear more bad thingsss ‘bout Bighead, beat Bighead with own armsss.” The big cat’s inch long claws sprung fully out, glinting wickedly in the neon lights of the bar.
Vision still swimming, hand tightly clasped to his injured neck, the Bith stammered out an apology.
Snatching one of the nicer bottles of Alderaanian Whiskey and an extra glass, Ree took Mrrowl’s arm and was surprised when, instead of leading, he meekly followed her back to his table. Oddly enough, no one dared to make a grab for Ree as she passed by.
Arriving at the table, Mrrowl reached out, his ears intently forward, and gently cupped the headtail that Jinian had a hold of. Leaning down, he looked closely for damage. “Head thing ok?” he rumbled quietly.
Ree reflexively shuddered in pleasure at his touch, then sighed in regret as Mrrowl, thinking he was causing her more pain, carefully let go. Her eyes widened in surprise as he bent over the table, and poured three fingers of whiskey into her glass, then six into his own. “Whissskey make head thing better.” he said, then showed his sharp teeth as he resumed his crouch near the wall.
“I, umm, think I’m supposed to do that for you.” Ree said softly, with a smile of her own. Looking around defensively for a moment to assure herself that no one was going to interfere, she finally sat down heavily in the chair that Sorzen had vacated.
“Female ssserve male?” Mrrowl replied in surprise, his ears canting in opposite directions for a moment before refocusing on the Twi’lek, “Mrrowl and female not mated, Mrrowl pour drink for pretty female.”
Carefully moving her injured headtail out of the way, Ree leaned back in her chair, incredibly puzzled. She’d seen a lot of creatures come through the bar over the prior two years, smugglers, swoopers, lowlifes, even the occasional well-dressed client to see Sorzen. Never had she seen a male of any species act this way. She even had a sneaking suspicion that the drink offering wasn’t designed to get her drunk and make her more pliable. Besides, she’d always wanted to try some of the “good stuff”, as Sorzen called it.
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