Always My Sister
Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR.
"Run, Griff!" a small blue Twi'lek yelled.
The Twi'lek in question, Griff, dropped one of the bags he was carrying as he ran out of the apartment after the younger girl. The Republic officers who had responded to the call gave chase but they didn't know Taris the way Griff did. He and his companion darted in and out of building and soon not only eluded their pursuers, but were safely back home, as well.
Or, what had passed for a home, anyway.
As Griff plopped his remaining loot – just one bag – on the single table in his dingy lower city apartment, he groaned. All that work for a measly 200 credits.
"I need a drink," he sighed. "Mission, will you be okay for awhile if I head off to the cantina?"
"Can't I come with you?" Mission asked immediately.
"A cantina is no place for a kid, Mission," Griff told her in his best big brother voice.
Mission giggled at his attempt at a lecture, but still managed to look annoyed. "I'm not a kid anymore!"
"I know that, but a cantina is still very dangerous," Griff said sternly.
"No more dangerous than being here alone," Mission countered.
She had a point, seeing as how most of their neighbors were either hardened criminals with bounties on their heads or hardened criminals working with the Exchange or the Vulkars.
That was no place for a young girl and if anything went wrong than she'd be completely on her own. Most people stayed away from the lower city apartments if they could help it and even on the off chance someone did come by, on the alien-hating Taris, it was unlikely anyone would step in to save his sister.
Griff sighed. "All right. Let's go."
- -
"Griff! Why can't we do anything fun at the Cantina for once?" Mission whined.
Griff stopped gaping at the Twi'lek dancers long enough to comment, "I'm having plenty of fun."
"Griff, we NEVER see any other Twi'leks and when we do, they all either work for large crime syndicates, are gang members, or sluts who dance around half-naked!" Mission exclaimed. "You're not setting a very good example for me, big brother dearest."
Griff rolled his eyes. "Quite the opposite, Mission. I'm setting a very good example for you."
"How do you figure that?" Mission challenged.
"Well, what are the odds you'll grow up to be a cantina dancer or a thug?" he asked.
"About a billion-to-zero," was her prompt response.
"Bet they wished they had big brothers as smart as me!" Griff puffed his chest out proudly.
Mission laughed. "Whatever. If you need me, I'll be over there by the Pazaak players."
"Okay," Griff said absently as one of the dancers went home for the night and a new one took her place. "O-kay…"
- -
"So, uh, I saw you out there tonight," Griff began nervously.
"Really?" the new girl asked hopefully. "I'm kind of in-between boyfriends right now and I needed to get a job quickly so…I'm new at this, this is actually my first night and I was really nervous. Was I any good?"
"Good? Nah," Griff cringed as the dancer's face fell. "What I meant was, you're amazing!" he hastily corrected. "I've never seen Lekku that in tune with the music and I'd know if it happened often."
"So you're a regular?"
Griff blushed. "…Something like that. Not that I'm desperate!" he hurriedly added.
She laughed. "I'm Lena, by the way, and I'm glad to hear I have a fan."
"I'm Griff," he introduced, "and don't worry, I betcha by this time next month you'll have yourself a fan club!"
"Say, would you like to grab a bite to eat with me?" Lena asked. "My break's not over for another twenty minutes."
Griff froze. The hot new cantina dancer wanted a date with him? "Sure," he managed to say, grateful it was a one-syllable word so there was less of a chance for him to stutter.
As Lena led him over to a vacant table, Mission stopped him. "Hey, Griff, I- Griff? Griff!" But it was no use. Griff was too busy staring dreamily at Lena to notice his sister. Mission followed his gaze to see Lena, still in her cantina dancer outfit, leaning over the table to talk to Griff, exposing quite a bit of cleavage. "Hmph!" she turned her nose up and stormed off.
- -
"That…was…AMAZING!" Griff burst out the minute the Vao siblings were safely back in their apartment. "I mean, did you see her? She's just so – so – " he couldn't think of the word to describe her.
"Slutty?" Mission supplied.
"What?" Griff looked taken aback. "Not her, Mission."
"But earlier tonight you agreed with me when I called cantina dancers sluts who dance around half-naked," reminded Mission.
"I know what I said, Mission, but Lena…Lena's different."
"How?" demanded Mission.
"Because…she's a very nice girl," Griff said lamely. "Why are you getting so worked up about this?"
"You ignored me tonight," Mission replied.
"I did?" Griff thought back. "I don't recall…"
"See? You just met her tonight at already you're forgetting all about me," Mission complained.
"Mission…she's a girl, not a threat," Griff said patiently.
"I don't like her," Mission insisted. "She's not good for you."
"You don't even know her," Griff defended.
"I know she's a cantina dancer and that tells me plenty about how 'nice' she is," Mission muttered.
"She just broke up with her boyfriend," Griff explained. "She needed a job and since Taris is so wonderfully xenophobic and she's not exactly thug material, she really didn't have much of a choice."
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," Mission grumbled.
"I really like Lena, Mission," Griff said seriously. "But she's a girl. They come and go. You're my sister and you're always going to BE my sister, so you don't need to worry. I'm sorry I ignored you tonight and I won't let it happen again."
"You promise?" Mission asked seriously.
"I promise."
"Then I forgive you," Mission said, smiling up at him. "Hey, do you want to see what I learned at the Pazaak table tonight?"
"Show me."
Review Please!
