Szilb was preparing for a well-deserved recline in the sauna when he received the message that he was to receive visitors. Had it been anyone else, he'd have turned them away, but he could never deny the lovely Lyra.
She walked into his parlor, looking stunning in a gold gown. She must have just come from the casino. Szilb never found twi'lek as attractive as most other sentient species of the galaxy, but Lyra certainly appealed to his tastes. She had a human male with her, a twitchy little tramp by the look of him.
"My dear," Szilb said, holding his hand out to her. She approached him and took his hand, so dry and cool in his moist one, and he gave hers an affectionate squeeze. "You look as if you have come from your work."
"Yes, and so I cannot stay long," Lyra said. She released his hand, much so his chagrin, and turned to her companion. "This is DJ. He has requested an audience with you."
Szilb looked to the human again, recognizing the moniker. The man who was wanted on several planets for theft, property damage, illegal hacking, and possession of contraband. Just the sort of person Szilb enjoyed. DJ met his gaze and even tipped his hat to Szilb. Charming, too. Even still, Szilb recalled the sort of trouble he had brought to Lyra. It wasn't his grudge to hold, but he couldn't help be biased toward her.
"Don't Join," Szilb said, making DJ start for a moment then grin.
"So you've heard-d-d of me," he said.
"You've been spoken of in a not-so-fond way by members of the First Order," Szilb said.
"My b-b-biggest fan club," DJ said.
"And by my dear Lyra," Szilb mentioned coolly. He saw DJ glance to her. "What do you want of me?"
If DJ was made apprehensive, he didn't show it. "Ungu has sent me requesting munitions," DJ said. He pulled a data chip from one of his numerous coat pockets and approached Szilb to hand it to him. "That's a message he want-t-ted me to deliver."
"Ungu?" Szilb said as he gazed at the data chip in his hand, surprised at the name. "My nephew, requesting weapons?" DJ and Lyra both looked rather surprised at this revelation. He nodded to DJ. "Join me in the sauna in a few minutes after I've listened to this," he said.
"Th-th-the sauna?" DJ asked, certainly taken off-guard by Szilb's command.
"Help him prepare, Lyra, would you?" he asked her.
"No!" she blurted, but regained her composure quickly. "I must get back to work."
Szilb was already making his way out of the parlor. "I'll let Saracen know you won't be returning tonight," he said over his shoulder and slithered out of the room.
DJ met Lyra's bright blue eyes for only a moment before she sighed heavily and turned away from him. "Come on," she grumbled and led him out of the parlor and down a very wide hallway.
DJ had never been in a sauna with a hutt before. In fact, DJ had never been in a sauna. He wasn't sure if he should look forward to it or be horrified. This would certainly be one of the more memorable business meetings in his life.
Lyra led him to a very cozy bedroom sort of room. It was built for a hutt, of course, and it was furnished with the creature comforts befitting a giant slug: cool tiled floor, sloped stone furniture, moist, humid air. The room was lit dimly by glowing stones fixed in the walls, giving the room a rather romantic if sticky atmosphere.
"Strip," Lyra said, her back to DJ as she opened a cabinet installed on one wall.
"Not sure how c-c-comfortable it'll b-be in here," DJ responded playfully, taking his coat off and tossing it on the hutt bed.
Lyra sighed as she pulled a very large towel out of the cabinet. "Please don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be," she said.
She kept her gaze averted as DJ pulled his shirt off. He kicked off his boots, pulled off his very holey socks, then unbuckled his holster and belt. He caught her peeking then. Letting his trousers fall to the floor, he saw her look away quickly, her skin flushed blue all over. He didn't wear undergarments.
She pushed the towel into his hands while still looking away. "Wrap that around…you…and we'll get going," she said and rushed over to the door. DJ couldn't help but chuckle lightly as he figured out where the ends of the towel were.
The towel was meant for a hutt, and so it was about four times too big for DJ, but he wrapped it around his waist a few times and secured it with a loose knot. He joined Lyra by the door, getting close so that her bare shoulder met the skin of his chest, and she gasped and turned to him suddenly.
"Ready," he said with a grin. Lyra's blush was so deep she nearly looked indigo. "Let's g-g-get going, eh?" he said, which earned him a glare.
They left the bedroom, and Lyra led him down the wide hallway to the back of the house. He noticed the air got increasingly warmer and wetter as they approached the room at the end of the hallway. Steam rose out of the curtain which covered the wide doorway.
"Any et-t-t-tiquette I should know about?" he asked.
"Szilb isn't one to stand on ceremony," Lyra told him, "at least where non-hutts are concerned." She pulled the curtain back for him, and a plume of steam rose up. It smelled a little spicy. He smiled and briefly touched her shoulder before he walked into the steamy room.
It took DJ a moment to adjust to seeing in the steam and breathing in the hot air, but he saw Szilb reclining on a long stone slab. Szilb nodded to him and said, "Come in, relax. I've adjusted the temperature so you won't be harmed, if it is a bit chilly to me."
DJ was already sweating bullets, and he found a stone slab to sit down on. "Th-thanks," he said, sitting back a bit and swiping some sweat from his brow. "I hadn't realized-d-d Ungu was sending me t-t-to his uncle," he said. Truth be told, DJ would never have guessed it from appearance alone. Szilb was much smaller and leaner than Ungu, and where Ungu was pale with blue down his back, Szilb was bright red in color.
"Indeed," Szilb said, his speech a little slow. "I don't suppose you know why Ungu wants weaponry?"
"I ain't-t-t getting p-p-paid to ask questions," DJ said pointedly, and Szilb nodded slowly.
"He wants quite a lot of weapons," Szilb said, closing his eyes slowly. "Almost as if he wants to start a war or something."
"We all g-g-got our hobbies, eh?" DJ said, earning a light chuckle from the hutt.
"I have a man you can speak to," Szilb said. "You can work the finer details out with him. Just one thing, however…" Szilb opened his eyes and met DJ's gaze, those yellow eyes narrowed. "Once you've done all that Ungu has paid you for," the word slid out of his mouth like venom, "I want you to come work for me."
DJ raised his eyebrows at the offer. "And what exactly d-d-do you need me t-t-to do?" he asked. "Steal the weapons b-b-back?"
Szilb laughed again. "I mean on a more permanent basis."
DJ chuckled. "I'm not-t-t for hire on a p-p-permanent basis."
Szilb sat up. "I wasn't asking."
"That ain't ch-changing what I said-d-d," DJ responded, not breaking his gaze.
A moment passed and Szilb laid back down. "You'd be a fool to pass up the salary I would offer you."
"That m-m-may be true," DJ said. "But I—"
Szilb cut him off. "I know, Don't Join."