Obi-Wan followed the petite waitress and watched as she went behind the bar to empty the broken glass from her tray. "But, I must speak with you." He shouted over the loud music of the club.
Nahlia could hear him, barely, but chose to ignore him. 'Jedi,' she rolled her eyes. 'What kind of idiot does he take me for?' She looked up at him finally. "What?"
"I must speak with you." Obi-Wan repeated. "It is urgent Jedi business."
She quickly began to fill her tray with drinks that the bartender had set up on the bar for her. "Well, I have some urgent waitress business to attend so I'm afraid you're on your own with that. Sorry." She put on a fake smile, "Good luck with that 'urgent Jedi business' though."
"But I -" Obi-Wan started but she was already off again to serve another table. 'Why is she being so difficult?!' He wondered, flustered. He looked around at the crowded club. 'Qui-Gon said that the Senator's daughter had been known to sneak off and frequent clubs like this; perhaps one of these people have seen her.' He dug into a pouch on his belt and pulled out the small round holoprojector that contained the girl's image. 'I could ask around, and keep an eye on the waitress. Then when things slow down, perhaps she'll be more inclined to speak with me.'
He began to make his way around the club, stopping at tables and showing patrons a holographic image of the missing girl. No one seemed to recognize her causing Obi-Wan to grow more and more frustrated and impatient as the evening passed.
"A Jedi?" A Mon Calamari approached Obi-Wan eagerly. He smiled with his wide fish like mouth as he took note of the lightsaber hanging from Obi-Wan's belt. "You are a Jedi!" He quickly took Obi-Wan's hand in his and began shaking it.
"Hello," Obi-Wan smiled back and watched as his arm seemed to flap with the force of the creature's enthusiastic handshake. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"Maloi Nabbero. What a great pleasure it is to meet a Jedi."
"Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Maloi."
"Come." Maloi motioned to a nearby table. "Sit. Have a drink on me, Jedi."
"It's Obi-Wan. And I'm sorry. I can't I-"
"I insist!" Maloi grabbed Obi-Wan's arm firmly and directed him over to the table. "It is the least I can do for a Jedi. Do you know a Jedi once saved my entire family from a rabid Vizocian?"
"A Vizocian, really?" Obi-Wan had only seen pictures of the enourmous aquatic creatures in the Jedi Archives. With long sharp teeth and claws and a whiplike tail that could slice a man in half - it was hard to imagine even a Jedi surviving a confrontation with such a creature. "Who was it that saved your family?"
"Master Yoda." Maloi revealed. "A great, great Jedi he is. So you see, because of Master Yoda's service to my family, I simply must show every Jedi my gratitude and hospitality." Maloi began to pout. "Please? You must be thirsty. Surely there is no harm in a drink?"
Obi-Wan hesitated. He had better things to do, that was for sure, but he could see that the Mon Calamari would be hurt, if not offended by his refusal. Besides, he'd seen Qui-Gon drink at such places from time to time. He surmised that it couldn't be that bad. "I am a little thirsty."
"Marvelous!" Maloi wrapped an arm around Obi-Wan's shoulder and guided him the rest of the way to his booth. "Waitress," he called to a nearby blonde woman carrying a tray. "Two Red Vortexes over here!"
The waitress nodded and headed over to the bar. Nahlia was there collecting drinks on her own tray when the blonde waitress made her customer's request to the bartender.
"Red Vortexes?!" Nahlia asked surprised. "Aren't those supposed to be incredibly strong?"
"I just take the orders," the blonde told her. "What happens to the customer afterwards isn't my concern."
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Later that evening, the tall red Twi'lek DJ waved at Nahlia from behind her booth and the young waitress headed over. "How do you like the great new job?" She shouted over the music.
"I..." Nahlia could see how happy her friend was to be able to help and have her there. She couldn't bring herself to tell her the truth. "LOVE it, Trindi. Yup. It's a great job." She added half-heartedly.
"I knew you would!" Trindi grinned as she curled her finger around the end of one of the long tentacles on either side of her head. "I mean, sure your feet hurt after a while, and some of the customers can be just plain mean but there are some great tippers here. Plus you get to listen to music provided by the best DJ in the galaxy," she said proudly.
"That's definitely a bonus." Nahlia laughed. Normally she loved Trindi's psychedelic dance mixes but they did nothing to help her increasing headache.
Trindi smiled as she glanced over Nahlia's shoulder. "And you even have a cute guy checking you out."
"What?" Nahlia frowned and glanced over in the direction that Trindi was looking. There she saw the Mon Calamari and Obi-Wan drinking at a booth. Obi-Wan nursed a red drink and listened patiently as Maloi continued with an increasingly drunken ramble about the virtue and greatness of Master Yoda.
"Oh, him." Nahlia heaved.
"What do you mean, 'Oh, him?' He's cute!"
Nahlia raised an eyebrow, "I thought you preferred your own species."
"I do normally but look at him." Trindi sighed. "Give him some blue skin and slap some tentacles on either side of his head... He'd be perfect." She gave Nahlia a wink.
"Well perfect he's not." Nahlia shook her head but with a smile. "He tried the old 'I'm a Jedi' line on me earlier."
"So? That means he's interested." The Twi'lek squinted a bit to get a better look at him.
"Well I'm not interested in some jerk that goes around telling girls that he's a Jedi in an attempt to get them in bed."
"Actually," Trindi continued to look over the young man as the blonde waitress served him and his friend yet another drink. "I think he is a Jedi. He's got one of those Padawan braids. It's pretty long. He must have been training for a long time."
"Oh, please he could have just put that on for the scam."
"I suppose..." Trindi noticed as Obi-Wan looked over at Nahlia again. "Whoever he is he's very interested in you. He keeps looking over here."
Nahlia furrowed her eyebrows a bit as she glanced back at the table. Cute or not, Jedi or lady killer, she wasn't sure if she was at all comfortable with his attention.
Obi-Wan could see Nahlia looking over at him and quickly shot his eyes elsewhere. Maloi had finally quieted down and gone into a drunken stupor. Obi-Wan was not much better off after his third Vortex. He attempted to put his elbow up on the table and lean his head onto his palm only to have his head bobble a bit before sliding off of his hand. He attempted to perch himself up on the seat better so he could watch the happenings on the dance floor and thereby appear not to be watching Nahlia. After a while, and a few more gulps of his Vortex, his mind had drifted far from his mission. 'Wasn't there a girl I was supposed to be looking for?' He leaned forward a bit and squinted at the dancers. 'Lots of girls there... lots of pretty girls...' Obi-Wan concentrated for a moment on a human couple on the dance floor. They danced slowly and very close even though the music was fast and thumping. The man and woman kissed and embraced as if there were no one else in the room. Obi-Wan knew that relationships outside the temple were much more complicated than the simple one of Padawan and Master but at the moment he was intrigued and charmed by the affection being shared between these two. 'I wonder what it's like to...'
"Obi-Wan, are you there?" Qui-Gon's voice came in over Obi-Wan's comlink.
"Huh?!" Maloi suddenly woke up from his haze. "What?"
"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon repeated.
"Goodness gracious!" said the Maloi. "I'm hearing voices!"
"Come in, Obi-Wan."
The Mon Calimari looked under the table. "Hello?"
Obi-Wan suddenly realized what was going on and fumbled for his comlink. "Yes, Master Gui-quon..." He slurred slightly.
"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon barely recognized this voice on the other end. "Is that you?"
Obi-Wan looked down as his lightsaber, robes, and even picked up his Padawan braid before answering. "Yes, I believe so."
"I've come upon some interesting information. Apparently there have been other abductions recently, mostly women. I think that there may be a connection with the disappearance of the Senator's daughter."
Obi-Wan drifted off slightly as he continued to watch the young couple kissing and touching each other on the dance floor. "Master?"
"Yes, Obi-Wan?"
The young Jedi noticed Nahlia taking a moment to tuck a bit of her short brown hair behind her ear. "Is it all right for a Jedi to kiss a girl?" He asked dreamily.
"Were you planning on kissing a girl, Obi-Wan?"
"Well, no..." He began to ramble. "I was just curious because there are people kissing and you never see anyone kissing at the temple and it's not like it says in the code "Thou shalt not kiss girls" or anything like that."
"Technically it is not forbidden. No," Qui-Gon admitted. "But it is very much frowned upon. Such acts can lead to attachment and possession... and these things are forbidden for a Jedi."
"Oh I see..." Obi-Wan grew quiet. He took another swig of his Red Vortex.
"A Jedi Knight can become distracted by such things as love and uh... kissing girls... and a distracted Jedi can often lead to disaster."
"Wh-what if the Jedi didn't get distracted?" Then Obi-Wan let out a loud hiccup.
"Obi-Wan, are you all right?"
"Oh... yes... yes...hic! I just have a case of the hic! I think if I hold my breath I can hic! get rid of them." Obi-Wan sucked in a large breath of air and held it - his cheeks now fully expanded.
"I think we are going to have a long conversation when we get back to the temple, Obi-Wan."
"Mmmhmmm..." Obi-Wan nodded at the comlink - still holding his breath.
"In the meantime, we have work to do."
"Mmmhmmm..." Obi-Wan nodded at the comlink again, his eyes crossed slightly as he found it hard to hold his breath for very long. He was feeling dizzier than he had been already and a little sick.
"Obi-Wan?"
He finally let the air in his cheeks and lungs go and took in more air with a loud gasp. "Yes, Master?"
"You're sure you're all right?"
"Yes, Master."
"All right then, I'll see you back at the temple in a little while?"
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan repeated. He began to think of all the good times and amazing adventures they'd had in over 10 years together. He began to tear up..."I love you, Master."
"Yes. Well..." Qui-Gon responded - a little uncomfortably. "I care for your well being also, Obi-Wan."
"I mean," Obi-Wan rambled on. "If some fellow came along and killed you or something. I would totally cut him in half."
"That's good to know, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon had never heard his Padawan so emotional. He thought for a moment, 'It's almost as if he's drunk...' He shook his head. 'What am I saying, this is Obi-Wan after all.' He spoke one last time into the comlink. "We're definitely going to have a long talk later. See you back at the temple."
"Bye-bye, Master!" Obi-Wan placed the comlink back on his belt. When he looked up a shapely redhead with blue eyes was smiling at him. "Oh, hello."
"Hi," She slinked over to him in skintight silver pants and shimmering blue halter top. "You're a Jedi, aren't you?"
"Why yes I am." He said decisively.
"I like Jedi." She smiled, slipping into the booth next to him.
"Really?" Obi-Wan looked into her eyes for a moment. "You know, your eyes..."
"Yes?"
"They're the exact same color as my fightnabor..." He tried pronouncing it again. "sightlabor... no that's not it..."
She giggled in response. Nearby Nahlia scowled at the scene. 'How quickly they move on...'
"What's that thing... that thing that Jedi's have that's long and shiny and makes kind of a humming sound... like hmmmmmm... You know?"
"Well, I'm no expert." She flirted, "but I think that's a lightsaber."
"Yes! That's it exactly...exactly." He began to fumble at the things on his belt. "I think I have one here... somewhere." Obi-Wan found it right on the front of his belt where he'd left it. "Oh, here it is." He removed it to show her. "Do you want me to turn it on for you?"
"Um... tell you what. Why don't you and I find someplace private and you can demonstrate your lightsaber for me."
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"Nahlia!" Screamed the Nikto bartender. Although by now Nahlia was becoming accustomed to it, she still hurried over to the bar.
"Yes?"
"Almost closing time," He told her gruffly. "The other waitresses can handle it. I'm sending you home early."
"What? But, it's still busy. I could work till close."
"Yeah, so you can break a few more glasses? Drown a few more customers?"
"That only happened once." She said desperately. "Please? Can't I stay?"
"Mmm... let me think..." He paused about a half a second. "No. Go home." He turned away from her to attend to a customer at the other end of the bar.
"Great." Nahlia sighed then headed over to a door at the back of the club. She pressed a button on the side of the wall and the door quickly slid open. To her surprise, she found Obi-Wan and the redhead sitting very close on the couch.
The redhead seemed annoyed at the intrusion. "Oh, hello. We were just-"
"I think I know what you were just doing." Nahlia placed her hands on her hips and glared at the two of them. "You're not allowed to do that or anything else back here... employees only."
"Of course, sorry..." The redhead said then spitefully gave the much smaller Nahlia a bump on the way to the door. She turned back to Obi-Wan. "You coming, sweetie?"
"Umm... no. I've got to get back to..." his drunken mind wandered a bit, "somewhere... Oh, yes, the temple. I'm supposed to go back to the Jedi Temple."
The redhead rolled her eyes on her way out. Suddenly, Nahlia hit the button to close the sliding door and the woman had to bolt suddenly to avoid a severe pinch from it.
"She was nice." Obi-Wan told Nahlia.
"I'm sure she was." Nahlia took his arm and attempted to help him to stand. "Come on, you can't stay back here either."
"You're nice too." Obi-Wan touched her cheek as he stood with other arm wrapped around her shoulders for support.
Nahlia let out a little laugh. "You barely know me."
"I know a lot about you." Obi-Wan carefully tucked a bit of hair back behind her ear.
"Oh, really?" She asked, unexpectedly intrigued by his blue-green eyes and soft touch. "Like what?"
"Like you have the most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen..." Obi-Wan's hand gently returned to her upper cheek - growing more pink by the moment. "And your skin is so smooth..." He could feel the heat of the blood rushing there. "I like the way it feels on my fingers."
Nahlia couldn't stop looking into his eyes. They seemed to convey both a strength and vulnerability that she found fascinating. She took in a quick breath as she tried to get a hold of her emotions. "Are you trying to seduce me?"
"I wouldn't know how." Obi-Wan frowned slightly as he slowly moved his fingers from her cheek to the space just above her chin and below her lower lip. "I've never even kissed a girl."
Nahlia laughed again and started to pull back. "I find it hard to believe that girl didn't manage to-"
Before she could pull away, Obi-Wan moved his hand from her face to behind her neck. He pulled her in and tenderly pressed his lips down on hers.
TO BE CONTINUED...
