Jaesa and Pierce

Everything was quiet aboard the Fury. Lord Soarise Grae and Captain Malavai Quinn had wandered off to do something or another, Vette was out conning old artifacts to rich old men, and Broonmark had been struck with the sudden primal urge to go back to Hoth for some pilgrimage hunt. That left only Jaesa Willsaam and Lieutenant Pierce on board. The silence was awkward. Pierce had made a habit of avoiding Jaesa, as it seemed every time he was around her, she would stare through him with her eerie gold eyes while making snarky comments. Jaesa simply behaved as if she felt he was no more than an Imperial dog trained to do tricks and that he was nothing special. He had the view that she was a somewhat psychotic Sith wannabe. So, they avoided each other.

But still, the boredom was stifling. Pierce sat at the main table in the lounge, sabaac cards in hand as he shuffled them. He was trying to play some game the guys on his old team would; he couldn't quite remember the name of it, but the goal of the game was to bluff and act as though you had a better hand than you did. Of course, this was impossible to practice alone, so he was now just idly staring at the intricate illustrations on the cards.

An eerie feeling grew on the back of his neck, the hairs pricking. He was being watched. Slowly, Pierce turned around to see Jaesa standing in the doorway of her room. She usually spent her time meditating next to the kolto tank, something in the humming and bubbling made it easier to do so. Rarely did she come out of her little nook. But there she was, watching him with curiosity. Gruffly, he nodded at her. She dipped her head gracefully in return. Pierce looked back at his card, the krayt dragon on it snarling viciously.

Suddenly, Jaesa sat next to him, startling him. He glanced at her in surprise as she glided into the seat. She sat primly, folding her hands on the table. "What are you… playing?" she asked, slowly, as though she wasn't sure how to phrase the question. Or sure of how to talk to someone she wasn't about to kill. At least, Pierce hoped the latter was true.

"I'm not sure, in all honesty," he answered. Great, more reasons for her to believe he was dumb. She picked the first card off the top of the deck, a flock of mynocks, and studied it.

"These cards are lovely," she said to his surprise, "You can really see the beauty of these predators in them," Jaesa shuffled through the deck, taking a moment to study each one, "Oh, I like this one," She smiled holding the one in her hand- a nexu mother with its cubs as they pounced at an unseen victim, "Where did you get these?"

"Yeah?" Pierce replied, shocked by her interest, "Well, I got them from an old mate of mine after he got blown up on a mission,"

"A shame," he shrugged it off, "What is the goal of your game?"

He laughed, "I think you'll like it. You try to bluff that you have a better deck while raising the stakes in hopes of winning more credits. Meanwhile, you can call out the bluffs of other players to get their money too,"

"A game of deciphering deception?" She grinned more, something that really wasn't as scary as he'd always imagined it would be, "I am a master already and do not even know the name,"

"I'm thinking it's called prodder or something. They have huge competitions of it in the big casinos, monumental prizes,"

"Prodder? I've seen the nobles playing that back on Alderaan…" She mused over a distant bittersweet memory, "I was never allowed to play. My mother wouldn't let me for she feared I would become addicted to gambling even before my power manifested. The nobles knew I was good at seeing through ruses, so they never would have let me join anyways,"

"Well, your mother was right to fear. My uncle lost our family's entire homestead by gambling it away. We was homeless on Dromund Kaas for months 'fore he could buy it back,"

"How terrible," Jaesa touched his hand sympathetically, "But I have no fear of losing,"

They sat quietly for a minute, "Huh…" Pierce said, amused.

"What is it you find funny?" Jaesa asked him.

"It's silly, I s'pose," he shook his head, "But what if you entered into one of the competitions? Could win us quite the hefty cash prize, you know."

She laughed. Also not as scary as he would have thought, "Not a bad idea…But they would recognized me as Sith in a heartbeat,"

"Not if we dressed you up properly like a socialite. Fancy dress, gaudy jewelry, you'd fit in perfectly, I think. You go in, make them weep, take the money, and BAM we're rich!" He watched as she slouched back in her seat, lost in thought.

"Well, the idea of puling the wool over the scum's eyes as we knock them down a few notches is very alluring…" she said, thoughtfully, "And Nar Shaddaa is not that far from here, which I'm sure is where the main competitions would be,"

"Then it's settled!" Pierce announced, clapping his hands, "We'll go out for the night and be back richer before Lord Grae returns. Better than sitting 'round here slowly dying of boredom," he got up to get ready to leave.

"I hope our endeavor does not cause trouble…" She said slowly, but followed him.