Maarani had slept through the entire second day, waking up to the waning hours of the evening phase. She couldn't recall much of what had happened right before she went back to sleep. Aside from getting upset at Dana for whatever reason she had at the time.

She found Izan out in the common room, apparently trying to play card games by himself. The opportunity to make jabs was too easy. "Got banned from the game parlours already or what?" When he tried to wave her away with an incomprehensible grumble, she waggled her fingers at the cards in front of him. To her very mild disappointment there was no magical movement.

"I started playing against this one guy, turns out he's a bit of a sore loser. Called me a schutta the first few times, then he started calling me 'tal'kan'..."

A loud giggle followed from Maarani.

"Oh no, that can't be good…"

After circling around the lounge, she lightly tapped her chin. "How do I put this. Uh, 'tal'kan' means…" After further thought, she pointed at him, then gradually lowered her finger down to just below his beltline. "How many times did he end up saying that?"

"Eight… Last one he shouted, and everyone stared at me until I left." Izan buried his face in his hands. Of all the Twi'lek he could have picked as a card opponent, it was the vulgar one. "You tailh-" His tongue nearly began bleeding from how harshly he bit down on it. "I'm really glad Cecile doesn't shout that all the time. It's bad enough being the only man in a crew of four."

"One in five. Our Mandalorian friend that's due to arrive soon is a woman too."

"Great, a femfest."

"Is that a problem…?"

Izan slowly looked up at her, lightly sliding his lower jaw around as he considered the question at length. "Well, we have a lesbian Twi'lek, a coldhearted Jedi, a crazy droid, and now an indeterminate Mandalorian. And the amazing thing is the lesbian is the one I have the most in common with." He awkwardly picked at his teeth, hoping her piercing gaze would stop soon.

It only grew even more intense as Maarani folded her arms. "I happen to like the Mandalorians. One of the earlier assignments I went on was the Sith front there. They're good people, so if you have a problem with them, spell it out already."

"I don't have a problem with them. Not as a whole. But a fair amount of the people who've roughed me up over the years have worn their helmets. It's nowhere near as bad as what a Wookiee would do I'll admit, but can you blame me?"

"Oh yes, I can blame you, pink-skin."

"How is it fair that you can refer to me by the colour of my skin, fabulously distracting as it is, but I can't refer to you by your cranial appendages?"

"Because I'm a woman."

The fabulously distracting pink hand made direct contact with his groaning pink face. "I am painfully aware of that fact."

Maarani stepped back over the small table to recline into the lounge opposite. Her teasing grin settled into a softer smile. "Honestly, Izan is a weird name. Otherwise Dana would've come up with some way to contract it down by now. 'Cecile' was her idea, and she caught onto 'Teegs' pretty quick." She looked to the nearby access hatch. For some reason, she suddenly expected Dana to pop out of it, though she had no idea why.

"Eye-zee is no good I assume? What about just Zan?"

"I still think Cecile was on the right track with pink-skin."

"Maarani."

"Tal'kan." She giggled again, almost hysterically as she watched his expression shift further and further towards exasperation. "I'm sorry, it's just too much. Picturing you in a game parlour while some drunken man keeps calling you that. Over and over until everyone notices. No wonder you're playing alone!"

"You done? You really done laughing at my expense?"

"Mmmyes?" Maarani shoved his boot off the small table with her bare foot. As much fun as it was to tease, she was in a surprisingly good mood. So much so that another plan for the night had been coming to her. "How long are you gonna be up? I don't want any awkwardness if I come back here with Zariba."

Izan shrugged while finally returning to the card game. "I'll find a nighttime card club, if you really don't want any male presence around."

"I don't mind that much, Zariba might though. She's pretty sensitive."

"Don't say another word. Please." He tried to focus on the game while she wandered back into her room. When she emerged yet again a few minutes later, he very briefly looked over his shoulder. Nothing remotely close to the nice dress from the night before.

Even more strange was the fact that on her way out, she was humming a rather upbeat tune to herself. His knowledge about her for all of two days was hardly extensive, but that still seemed odd of her.

It was better than being yelled at by Dana for getting her drunk.


"Hello! Is uh… Zariba in?"

Seradan raised a quizzical eyebrow. Maarani had a big grin on her face, and unlike when she first arrived, it didn't looked forced at all. Every day she raised more questions for him to ponder on.

"Yes, she is. Where were you planning on taking her?"

Maarani put on her best cute posture, even adding a slight rocking motion with her feet. "Well, what would you recommend, as station commander? I'm sure you'd know the best places to visit." She glanced past him for a bit, hoping to catch sight of Zariba. When that failed, she looked back up to him. "I'll keep her safe. That's literally my job after all."

After further scrutiny, more for the sake of keeping Maarani honest, Seradan finally called out to his daughter. When she arrived at the door, he moved out of the way just enough to let her pass by. The gaze remained firm as ever.

"Zariba knows the places she would like to be taken to. Though, given last night, I would recommend…"

"Don't worry, I'm not drinking again while I'm here on the station. You've got my word on that."

Seradan frowned slightly, though it was quickly replaced with a very subtle smile. "I trust the word of a fellow Twi'lek over any other. Take good care of her."

Maarani gave another flashy grin as her arm slipped around Zariba. "You got it. I'll be sure to bring her back tonight."

Zariba elbowed her lightly.

"Ow. Uh… I'll get back to you?"

She was elbowed again.

"Ow! Zariba will come back when she's ready, and I'll get back to my actual job?"

She looked to her left in case she was to be elbowed yet again. In return, she got a sly smile and sideways glance from Zariba.


The club picked out had a very clean atmosphere to it. Immediately noticeable was the absence of smoking-based drugs. There were certainly patrons consuming the substances in other forms, but they were far less obnoxious.

For the most part.

"I suppose we can't expect there to be no dealers here. Want me to handle them Zari?"

Zariba shook her head, waving her hand in the typical way.

Maarani chuckled quietly while gently hugging her a little closer while they proceeded in. The soft green hue that permeated the sprawling room wasn't to her taste, but it was certainly better than sickly purples or painful reds and oranges that she often saw in other establishments.

It wasn't much longer before she began to notice the patrons themselves. A very surprising amount of non-Twi'lek populated it. Humans and Near-Humans mostly, with Ithorians from Telos making up most of the remainder. There were enough Twi'lek patrons to make her feel just comfortable enough with Zariba by her side.

What she noticed after was the lack of dancers, and provocative attire on the staff. Rather more like the officers clubs she had been to in past years. No shirtless men in close cut shorts or women in straps and string. The sort of place that wasn't meant to distract from present company or life's woes like so many others tried to do.

The only real point of novelty in the club was the extensive bar. Behind the multiple tenders, a dazzling array of clear piping twisted and swirled around from large tanks in the ceiling to dispensers lining the core. Every one of them had a differently coloured drink within, creating quite the eye-catching mess of colour.

After taking a seat, Maarani began gazing over the list of dispensers, lightly biting her lower lip as she considered what non-alcoholic drinks they had available.

To her quiet relief, rycrit was not on that list.

In her deep thought, she didn't even notice the bartender staring at her with a frown until Zariba nudged her arm.

"Maarani, you need help deciding?"

Maarani smirked at the nickname attempt. At the very least, it was closer to what she had chosen for herself. "Don't suppose you guys get chull-chull out here? Still got a taste for Mando drinks."

The bartender snorted in response and walked down to the far end of the row, where the tank of the thin blue liquid was dispensed from, pulling out the usual size glass for it.

It gave the pair a brief moment of privacy, just long enough for Maarani to start on her history with the Mandalorians. "I was in the squad for four years I think, when the Sith made a strong push right for the Inner Worlds. Some of the outlying Mandalorian colonies were in the way, and the higher-ups wanted to boost relations with them. So, for three weeks, we had to hold the line against a dreadnought and three destroyers. Nearly four hundred fighters."

She paused briefly as the bartender returned with her drink, watching her move up to the other end after Zariba nodded to her. Apparently she was a regular visitor.

"Go on, if you want."

Maarani took a quick sip to taste the drink. It wasn't nearly as nice as what the people themselves made, but it was definitely passable for her tastebuds. "Can't really describe the feeling we all had when the Mandalorians rushed in their stealth fleet and tore the dreadnought to shreds. They were terrified that the Imperials would detect them way too soon if the stealth tech wasn't finished, and we were running out of our own fighters to distract them with."

She took a longer drink, letting the sweet-salt taste settle her quivering nerves. Ironically it was probably the least bloody of her missions. "Had a pretty nice celebration party when it was over. No honorary patches or the like, but who needs 'em?"

The glass was brought up to her lips again when the bartender returned, this time with a shot glass of a thicker deep green liquid. Even before she put her glass down, she could smell a very bitter odour wafting out from it.

More shockingly, Zariba picked up the shot glass and threw the whole lot down her throat in a single motion. The way her body shook rather violently immediately after made her very concerned. "What was that stuff?"

Zariba didn't respond at first, waiting until another drink, this time a colourless one, was passed over. Apparently intended to wash away whatever had been contained in the shot glass.

"Skzanox. And water."

Maarani was silent for a few moments, stunned further by that. "Poison? You actually drink poison on a regular basis?"

"Papa says it's good for building immunity." Zariba took another long drink from the water glass, eventually finishing it off. Her shy demeanour was quickly wearing off.

Just as quick to notice it, Maarani considered how exactly to ask the question in a tactful way. After some thought, she couldn't settle on anything. "So, uh… You're actually comfortable being here? I'm just a little confused."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I got the impression you weren't the socially active type. I used to scowl at anyone who looked at me in places like this, not judging."

Zariba tilted her head to the right for a bit, not quite understanding the point. It eventually dawned on her as to what Maarani meant. "Oh. Well, normally I am…" She reached into one of her pockets and removed a small pen-injector, placing it down on the bar between them.

"It changes how my head works. Makes the nervousness go away, gives me better reflexes, awareness. And sometimes it even makes my powers stronger…"

Maarani took a long, deep swallow. She had anticipated a need to keep Zariba safe from the approach of drug dealers. It had never actually occurred to her that she was already hooked on stims. More worryingly was how completely insignificant it seemed to Zariba.

She finished off the rest of the chull-chull in an attempt to keep herself from getting upset over the discovery, with little success. "Zari, I'm not ever going to question the decisions of your father after how good he's been to us, but…" A shuddering breath followed as she looked at the injector. Two of the ingredients she recognized from her own injections as anti-depressants. "Drinking poison and flooding yourself with drugs?"

"Even with Papa to protect me, there are so many bad people out there, who want to hurt good people like us. He says I should be ready to protect myself, when people like you aren't around to help."

A dull ringing sound echoed at the back of Maarani's mind. It went away after a few seconds, but the cold feeling it left remained.

"Zari, just…" Her hand clenched in a trembling manner before she finally tore her eyes away from the injector. "Just don't overdose, please. Some of those are real nasty on their own already, in the doses I had to take." She twisted her head further around to glance at the other patrons. There was a new need for caution in her opinion.

"It's regulated by the family physician, Maarani. Don't worry so much." Zariba slipped the injector back into the hidden pocket while getting up again. When Maarani failed to follow, she lightly took hold of her arm. "Are you really upset at me over it?"

Maarani went through a drawn out sigh, and another look at Zariba before finally conceding. "Just a little too surprised. So long as you're going to be okay, I won't let it bother me. Deal?" The nod was all she needed to push her concerns aside for the night at least. She certainly didn't show any signs that it was affecting her negatively. Even her cute smile was as genuine as it had been the night before.

She paid little attention to the glances made in their direction while guiding Zariba over to the dance floor. The band was between sessions conveniently, leaving a lone Mirialan to maintain the ambient music by himself. A good opportunity to find a comfortable place to sit and wait for the next number to begin.

Zariba guided her towards the favoured table, a good distance from the others circling the room. It also had one of the better views of the band, while still providing a good look at the archway that led back to the bar.

A smile grew as Maarni slid herself a little closer to Zariba after they had both settled in. Only now was it truly dawning on her that she was free to be as open about herself as she liked. No-one was around to expect her to show full restraint or emotional control. And it wasn't going to end in another incident as it had with Sara Kirrin.

"So, Zari…"

"So, Maarani…"

She looked down with a small smirk after they stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. "You wanna go first? War stories of an ex-pilot aren't as fun as you'd think."

"I'm sure you can make them fun. I haven't ever left the station since we moved here. Not hard to impress."

"I doubt that." The grin widened further as Maarani nudged her shoulder warmly. While thinking on the story to regale her with, she brushed her right lekku out in front of her shoulder, something that made Zariba smile a little more.

"Uh, you got the basic idea about the Mandalorian front, not a whole lot else to say." Quite a few of the 'stories' she wanted to keep buried away. A club populated with a lot of unknown observers certainly wasn't the place to bring them back to the surface in. On the other hand, there was a very recent encounter that already sounded larger than life.

Before starting, she reached her hand out to take hold of Zariba's. "How about the time my fighter crashed and I ended up face to face with the White Terror?"

"Now you're teasing…"

"Seriously." She turned her head around and lifted her left lekku over, pointing a finger to the round scar on it. "A big wood splinter went right through there. Barely had time to get myself loose before she showed up."

While the claim was doubtful, Zariba grinned and decided to let her continue anyway. "So, was she hunting you or something?"

"Hunting one of my squadmates I guess. A lot of them are dead, good riddance too. Most of them bullied me from the day I was put in the squad."

"That's terrible!"

"Who cares? They're gone now." At that moment, Maarani found herself wanting another drink to remove the bad taste of spite. "Anyway, Kiarna, which is the White Terror's name I guess, was getting in my head and being all weird. I guess even Sith can't make sense of how messed up I am."

Zariba leaned over to kiss her cheek in a fleeting manner. "Maybe you were too strong for her."

"Well, no. I got one shot off, which she stopped, and next thing I know I'm being tossed around like how I played with my dolls as a kid." Her hands began to shake just a little. She really wanted a drink to hold.

To her relief, a Bith waiter finally made his way into the room. After calling him over, and ordering another two chull-chull glasses, she tightened her lip and continued on. "Needless to say I was terrified. Not my first encounter with a Sith in person, but there's a big difference between an acolyte and the second most powerful bitch in the galaxy."

For a moment, she wasn't sure if that description applied to Kiarna, or Masaka.

"I can imagine. Papa warned me that I have to go to the colony and hide if any Sith show up here. So far they haven't."

"Well anyway, she rambled on for a bit about random crap, then…" Even now, she still had no recollection of how she went from having a lightsaber in her face to bolting across the jungle at night. "I guess she wiped my memory after that and left. They found me several hours walk from where I crashed, splinter in my lekku gone. By then I was so fed up with the military that I decided to leave. Not hard since there wasn't a squad to go back to."

"So, it's possible she healed your lekku? Almost makes her sound less horrible." At that, Zariba carefully reached her hand across to touch the scar itself. Definitely fresh, and real. After withdrawing her hand, she giggled softly at the uncertain look Maarani had. "Or you healed it yourself, using nothing but your wits, part of your uniform, and the plants around you. Just like a good hero."

"Now who's the teasing one?"

A flicker of emotion that she hadn't experienced in a very long time sparked throughout her body. It drove her to cup a hand behind Zariba's head and pull her closer for a real kiss. Immediately she could tell there was no resistance from her. The meeting of their lips was tender, and just comfortably long enough for both to enjoy.

When they parted, Maarani saw bright shades of teal on Zariba's cheeks. Her own had probably turned the same shade of blue as her tattoos. They were already starting to become sore from her smile that she couldn't control.

Zariba leaned back into her seat, also smiling in her rather more subtle way. There was a lot more joy to it than just the bliss of an intimate moment however. "You've lost it, haven't you? That's why we're bonding so well. We have something special in common, even if you can't reach it yet." She leaned in closer again, cupping a hand up around Maarani's cheek to keep her lips hidden from view. Enough to let her whisper without others catching on.

It was yet another surprise that Maarani had to deal with. She had yet to hear anything about Force sensitives forming strong bonds in a short amount of time, but on the other hand she had never thought to ask Dana.

Her moment of conflict was brief. She had been counting on keeping the truth hidden, but if Zariba had worked it out from a kiss, she would also know when a lie was told. And she was even being given a chance to answer in secrecy.

Being honest had taken Izan from being an unknown threat to someone she felt comfortable fighting alongside.

"You can't tell your father, for his safety. I'm on the run from 'bad people'."

Zariba kissed her again to complete the distraction before sitting back again. A slow nod was all she needed to show as acknowledgement. "Just the two of us. Maybe Papa will let me travel with you, so we can be together. Whatever lies out there, I want to see it."

"Zari, I'm not sure if my employer would be okay with it…" It was a much harder decision on whether to reveal the rest of the truth to her. One that she soon decided would have to be made by Dana herself. "But I'll discuss it with her. If you're really certain about this. We only met last night y'know."

"I know. Which is why I'm sure it's the right thing." She very briefly darted her eyes around to the other patrons. Once certain they had stopped looking in their direction, she switched to using her lekku for communication.

I'm willing to discuss it properly in private, that was just banter. Shall we enjoy the rest of the night?

Maarani's smile softened down at last, just a hint of wry thought tugging at the corners of her lips.

I'm up for just about anything Zari.

"Vasnha, vishna, Twa'janii osima jehsa Mirial."

The exceedingly positive mood dropped rapidly for Maarani as she looked over at the assembling band. They were all Mirialan. Staying was suddenly something she didn't have the stomach for at all. Zariba on the other hand looked very intent on watching the performance.

"And for those visitors to our wonderful station, a truly special tour performance from Mirial's best generation of musicians to date."

A soft applause went around the room as the band began to play. Keeping with the tone of the club itself, the music was sweeping in nature, with notable highs and lows that never actually broke outside the range of normal listening.

Maarani eventually settled for keeping her gaze on Zariba the entire time. She could tell at least one of the musicians was glancing at her far too much to be a coincidence. Whether he recognized her directly, or just had suspicions was beyond her.

She wasn't going to let it get in the way of her date. Not after things had finally taken a good turn.


After quite a few more drinks, as well as a meal prepared to nearly the same standard as what Seradan had offered, the pair found themselves just outside the door to Maarani's shared quarters. It was only at the last minute that she remembered Izan was possibly still awake at that hour.

This time, she decided to opt for the excessively flamboyant entrance. With any luck, it would be far too awkward for Izan to the point of him retreating to his room before even making a comment. Which required physically carrying Zariba inside.

"Hey Izan! You missed all the…"

To her great disappointment, and further strain on her back, the main room was unlit and devoid of pink men to annoy.

She set Zariba down immediately after. Undoubtedly the stupid stunt would come back in a very painful way by morning. "Sorry, I really thought he'd still be up in a big sulk."

Zariba shrugged it off, giving her another soft nudge. "Worth being carried across the threshold. So sweet of you." Noting the concern Maarani had for her back, she reached in under the jacket to get a light feel of the muscles. "Doesn't feel like you strained anything, but I could take a closer look if you like."

"You're a masseuse too now?"

"The nice couple down in the promenade give yobana lessons. Would you rather wait for them instead?" Zariba made her way through to the bedroom ahead of Maarani to remove the outer coat she had been wearing. She tossed it onto a nearby chair while climbing onto the bed. "Just lie down and lift your shirt up."

Maarani had little trouble with tossing her jacket aside as well, and lying down on her stomach in front of her wasn't a problem either. Actually exposing so much of herself like that took actual determination. Outside of her family and a select few physicians, no-one had seen more than the skin on her head and arms.

"Wow…"

"What? Did Aiyek tattoo something down there without me realizing?"

Zariba traced her finger along the select scars that crossed over Maarani's back. Different lengths, depths and widths. "Are these shrapnel injuries? You've really been through some bad crashes." While some incoherent mumbling went on, she moved her attention towards the spine. The actual strain along it was minimal, but she kept that to herself for the moment.

"It's not too bad? Nothing you need to see a professional over." She pressed her thumbs rather firmly into the centre of the affected area. It brought out a loud yelp from Maarani. "See? You really are stronger than you think. That should have hurt a lot more."

"Or you're lighter than I thought. Mind not sitting on my butt?"

"It'll get worse if I sit on your legs. I think?" She slid her hands down to about as far down the spine as she felt comfortable with before beginning. The higher pitched yips that Maarani made while she worked on the muscles made her giggle almost uncontrollably. Definitely not the sort of sounds she ever expected a tough bodyguard to make.

It was taking a great deal of effort for Maarani to keep herself from fidgeting and yelping at every single push. She really wasn't used to that kind of contact. And to have it come from the delicately soft fingertips of a Twi'lek she was completely taken by only seemed to make it harder to remain perfectly still.

"So, now that we're alone at last, what's the real Tegama'Arani like? Aside from shy about her body. Speaking of which I'll probably be back to my quiet self by morning."

Another yelp kept Maarani from trying to dodge the question a little longer. She felt very vulnerable with Zariba sitting on her after all. "What else is there to say? You've got me figured out so far."

"Well, I've never met a woman who seemed so comfortable with herself from first impressions, but is afraid to take her shirt off for a massage. It's a little strange." By then she was back over the sore spot, taking the method a bit slower to ensure she didn't just make a mild strain much worse.

"You're looking at the answer right now. I don't want strangers commenting on all the scars." As always, there were a lot more reason as to why she behaved that way. The scars happened to be one of the easiest to leave out there.

By the time the massage had moved up closer to her shoulder blades, her apprehensions had subsided greatly. This was exactly what she craved most of the time after all. And while there had been some minor scares, Zariba really was showing a lot of consideration and patience with her very weird behaviour.

She barely even noticed when the rubbing stopped, only for the weight to spread out over her back. It was pressing her chest and stomach down enough to make breathing just a touch bothersome. "Why are you lying down on me Zari?"

"Comfy."

Maarani tensed up as she felt hands sliding down under her stomach, wrapping around into a tight embrace. That made breathing too much for her to tolerate. She began shifting her shoulders around in an attempt to push herself back off the bed. "Sorry, but I'm suffocating here."

With a very slight huff, Zariba slid herself off the 'suffocating' Twi'lek, but kept her arms securely wrapped above her waist. "Could always cuddle me instead if you want." When a disapproving grunt came in response, she slowly slid a hand up to the right lekku in front of her. "Guess we'll be like this the rest of the night then."

A quivering sigh fluttered from Maarani's lips as the gentle stroking of her lekku began. Such tender contact, and in just the right way to make it feel blissful.

She barely even noticed the lights fading out around them.


It was pathetically easy to dispatch the Mirialan woman attempting to break into Maarani's quarters. A small needle penetrating through the base of the skull into the brain brought about immediate death. By the time Aruga had removed it from her skull, and cleaned it, all signs of life were gone.

"Seradan, one of our guests just tried to break into the room. The same musician we observed displaying an affixiation on Tegama." He carefully felt around her person in search of a concealed weapon. A very slender blade was located inside the layers of her belt. The tip revealed a hollow tube running back through the blade, for containing poison. "Intent to kill. Do you still believe it is safe for your daughter to remain with her?"

"Zariba is more than capable of defending herself. I am more concerned with the question of why a Mirialan with no connection to our guest would want to kill her on sight."

Aruga gripped the dead woman's chin to twist her shocked expression around for him to see. Caught off guard far too easily for a would-be assassin of any calibre. "My guess would be a personal vendetta, whatever that may be. 'Diamond-cheeks' here certainly isn't going to be telling us about it." As some guards approached, he stepped back and motioned for them to pick up the body.

"No matter, we can make inquiries through our own channels. Dispose of the body in a suitable accent. Let the musicians report her disappearance, and remember to offer the usual compensation when her body is discovered."

"And Tegama'Arani?"

"Let them sleep together. It will be far better if no-one else decides to investigate this potential connection."

"Very well." Aruga nodded to the two guards once they were carrying the body between them. "Find an airlock near the Mirialans, preferably close to amenities. Short out the lighting in the area, and stage a faulty locking mechanism. The poor bitch just happened to choose the wrong doorway while trying to find the cafeteria in the dark."

"Yes sir."

Once they were away, he took a moment to remove any signs of tampering from the door mechanism. A simple task, seeing as she had taken several minutes to not get very far. Once done, he stood back up and wandered in the opposite direction of the guards. "The evidence is gone. Anything else that I should attend to?"

"Post an extra guard or two for each of the landing bays. I want that Mandalorian identified as soon as possible when she arrives. We cannot afford to upset the wrong clan right now."

"Understood. Next report when assignments are made."