Calrissian Apartment, Kessel Station. 12 ABY
The décor was pleasing, she had to admit. Kessel Station had originally been an Imperial facility, but surprisingly, Lando had managed to disguise that fact rather well. The style of the apartment was flashy and ostentatious, not at all to her particular tastes. But certainly to Lando's. But using a fairly objective eye, Mara rather approved of Calrissian's accommodations.
"I still find it hard to believe you're actually living here" Mara called out to him.
A resonating chuckle came from the other room. "Well, my dear, someone has to keep an eye on our little investment" Lando said as he appeared in the doorway, two half-full glasses in his hand. "Your dedication to the Smuggler's Alliance is admirable, but I fear one of us has to be on the front lines". He handed her one of the beverages. Corellian whiskey, she deduced.
"Why do our meetings always start off with you attempting to liquor me up?" Mara eyed the amber liquid sceptically.
Lando cocked a dark eyebrow and took a seat on the chaise opposite her. "You would impugn my honour in such a way, Jade?"
"Yes".
He laughed heartily and leaned back into his seat. "That's what I like about you, Jade. Sharp as a bantha tusk".
Mara ignored the comment, and threw back her whiskey, enjoying the way it burned her throat. She'd been feeling so numb, lately.
Lando gave her an amused look and took a tentative sip of his own. "So, here for business, Jade?" He cocked a smile at her. "Or pleasure?"
Mara scowled at him. "The only pleasure I could have with you, Calrissian, involves a blaster, a dark alley and no witnesses".
An insufferable cackling was her only answer. Mara imagined Lando had started drinking before she arrived. She sighed, and pressed her shoulders back against her high-backed chair. It was going to be one of those nights.
"Come'on, Jade" Lando drawled, rasing his glass towards her. "I've been talking business all day".
"I'm not one for pleasantries, Calrissian, you know that" she said sharply.
"It was one of the first things I noticed about you, Mara" He sipped casually at his drink. "No preamble, just straight to the bare, naked truth" he tilted a suggestive eyebrow at her. "I like that in a woman".
Mara rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to get anything out of you tonight, am I?"
"Depends what you want".
Mara gave him a harsh look, and raised abruptly to her feet. There was a time when she would have left the apartment without a word. But as much as she riled against it, Mara found that she had grown used to Lando's innuendo and affection. She tolerated it, because she knew he would never take it further than words, not if she didn't encourage it.
Mara found herself heading towards Lando's kitchen, or more specifically, to the counter on which a mostly-full bottle of Corellian whiskey rested. She found herself pouring another healthy glass of the potent drink. After a moment's contemplation, she picked up the bottle itself, bringing it back into Lando's living room. Sexual overtures aside, she didn't intently dislike his company. And tonight, perhaps – she needed to be with someone who didn't expect anything from her.
As she re-entered the room, Mara almost smiled at the slightly shocked look to his face. But he quickly smothered it with a charming grin. She placed the whiskey on the glass table in front of him, but remained standing.
"Challenging me to a drinking competition, Jade?" Lando said teasingly.
"Hardly" she quipped. "As much as I'd like to see you cowering in defeat…" she added as an afterthought.
"My dear, a gentlemen never cowers" Lando puffed out his chest and raised his glass in a salute.
"So you wouldn't have a problem with it, then?" She smothered a smile and turned towards the room-length window behind her. It certainly was the crowing jewel of the apartment. It added such ambience, the stars glistening over the smoky, mine-marred planet.
"If I didn't know better, Mara" Lando continued, and Mara could hear the comfortable teasing in his voice. "I would say all of this blatant hostility was masking an undeniable attraction on your part".
Mara merely grunted, taking another sip of the strong alcohol.
"So how is Luke?"
Mara stiffened at the name. What had made him bring up Skywalker? Slowly, she turned back to face Lando. "What?" she asked, deliberately keeping her emotions in check.
"Word is that you've seen him recently"
Mara folded her arms across her chest, gazing at him sceptically. "And whose word would that be?"
Lando said nothing, and smiled secretively into his drink.
"I see". She pursed her lips. "I suppose I can round down the list of suspects to that good-for-nothing Solo".
"I saw him on Coruscant last week, in fact". Lando swirled his drink nonchalantly.
"Then why didn't you ask him how Skywalker is?" Mara wasn't sure if she liked where this conversation seemed to be headed.
"I did". Lando smiled smugly. "Han said he'd only just left, with a certain ravishing beauty in tow".
"If you dare say 'the blonde with the legs'…" Mara growled.
"Not to worry my dear" he looked up at her sweetly. "You know I only have eyes for you".
"I'm sure".
Lando leaned forward casually to refill his glass. "Han did happen to mention Luke saying you'd payed him a visit on Yavin".
"Hardly a newsworthy event" Mara commented.
"Yes, but from what I hear, things were not exactly…harmonious…between the two of you".
"Is nothing is sacred over Sabacc?" Mara shook her head in frustration. "Smuggler's are the galaxy's worst gossip-mongers".
"Including yourself in that broad analysis, Jade?" Lando smirked at her.
Mara clenched her fists and turned away from him again. "What happens between me and Skywalker is none of your business" she said coolly.
"I think you're jealous".
Mara whirled around to face him again, emotions reeling from the accusation. "What?" A familiar anger started the bubble within her.
"Jealous, Jade" Lando sat passively, as if his words were not having the slightest effect on her.
"I've heard some ludicrous things come out of that mouth of yours, Calrissian" She kept her voice even. "But you've outdone yourself".
Lando kept grinning inanely at her. "Come'on, Mara. Everyone knows that you are partial to Luke's company".
"Perhaps everyone needs to pay a little bit more attention" Mara snapped. "And stop listening to holo-gossipers".
"I'm not saying you're in love with him, Jade" Lando shrugged his shoulders. "But I've seen the two of you together. In your own little world" He waved his hands for emphasis. "For years, now, Luke's been hanging off your every word, grateful for any scrap of attention you give him. I'm his friend too, Mara" he reminded her. "I know these things about him". He gave her a knowledgeable nod of his head.
"Then all of a sudden, Callista shows up…and he doesn't seem to have as much time for you anymore" Lando continued. "You feel slighted that he's not begging you to spend time with him. After Leia, you were the most important woman in his life, and now you've been replaced" He smirked. "And you're jealous".
Slowly, the irritation inside Mara had been building to anger at Lando's words. It flared white-hot and bubbled over. "I am not…jealous of that" she struggled to find the words "…ignorant, self-obsessed, Force-devoid…body snatcher!" She spat out the words like fire. They tasted acidic on her tongue.
But Lando simply leaned his head back, and a hearty laugh escaped his lips. Mara crossed her arms, embarrassment flooding her as Lando continued to chortle. "Body snatcher" he chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "You're one of a kind, Jade".
Mara sighed, allowing herself to sink into the couch, not quite beside, but near Lando. "I'm glad I've provided you with an evening's entertainment" she muttered, reaching forward to pour herself another drink. She threw it back quickly, and coughed at the sensation it caused in her throat.
"But am I right?" Lando eyed her eagerly.
Mara ignored him, staring at the way the light reflected off the crystal glass as she moved it between her hands. There had been an undercurrent of truth to Lando's words that Mara just couldn't admit to herself. She wasn't jealous – jealously was such a disfigured word, and not nearly enough to describe how she felt. In fact, if Mara was honest with herself, she wasn't sure if she even could describe how she felt.
"Come on, Jade. Truth time" He continued to goad her.
"I find it hard to believe you've come up with this by yourself, Calrissian" she eventually managed to say, her voice cold. "This theory of yours has the distinct impression of Solo on it"
Lando shrugged his shoulders and grinned wickedly. "I confess, Han did start me thinking about it. He's always had this insane hunch about the two of you".
Mara clenched her fists. So it had been Han that had given Callista the impression about her and Luke. Briefly, she imagined what would be the quickest and easiest way to dispatch him.
"But I did some fine tweaking myself" Lando continued proudly. "Based on observation of your fair person".
Mara felt horribly exposed. She crossed her arms over herself protectively. She didn't know how to convince everyone of the truth, partly because she didn't know what the truth was.
"You have to admire Luke's taste" Lando continued to speak heedlessly. "Although, from what I hear, Callista does seem a little…blank".
"I thought you would have liked the simpering, silent type of woman" Mara found her voice, her tone grating, stumbling over the spiteful words.
"I'm a gambler, Mara" he reminded her. "I love a challenge".
Mara found herself turning her gaze towards the man next to her. She studied him, perhaps for the first time since they'd known each other. There was no denying that he was a handsome man. His thick crop of dark hair framed a clean-cut, rounded face, and his sensuous eyes had the ability to captivate most women. A winning smile blazed beneath his stylishly cropped moustache, perfectly straight teeth gleaming. He had the outward confidence and striking looks of a holo-star. He was attractive, that fact Mara had always known. It was just that she had never admitted it to herself.
"Personally" Lando continued, unaware of her close examination. "I can't see how Luke could notice anyone but you. Cray was a looker, that's for sure, but my dear, you have something else". He patted her leg affectionately. Mara found that she had no desire to forcibly remove the appendage.
It would be so easy – just to press her lips to his, to forget about everything and everyone…especially Luke Skywalker. She'd done it more times than she could count in the past. When she'd been drifting from one job, one system to another in those unsure days before she's joined Karrde's organisation. Hopelessly empty from the loss of her Emperor, trying desperately to fill the void with anything she could. Men had bought her dinks willingly, and back then, she had let them. Consumed everything they had to offer – their companionship, mixed in with a haze of alcohol and spice.
It had never been enough to fill her, to heal the holes in her heart. But it had often been pleasant, even if it was only for a few brief. She'd been able to free herself of the past, of her memories, of the drudgery of her life. It wouldn't be any different, now.
The treacherous thoughts within Mara had propelled her forward, closer to Lando, and she rested her hand gently on his, still on her leg. He'd stopped speaking by that point, the last compliment caught in his throat.
She looked into his eyes, and noticed just how dark they were. So unlike –
She banished the thought from her mind. That was the whole purpose of the exercise.
"Mara…" he said softly, warily, perhaps, as he caught her intention. She leaned in closer, saying nothing. In the past, it had never been about words. It had been about instinct, about need.
But she caught the look in his eyes, as his hand came up to rest on her arm. His grip was firm. Halting. The suddenness of her regret flooded her, as she understood fully what she'd been about to do. Mara realised that she could never do that to herself, or to Lando. Despite appearances to the contrary, he was a good man. He had his honour, and his pride. He'd been a good friend to her, although she was loathe to admit it. She couldn't use him in this way, and he wasn't about to let her. Mara felt her insides curl around themselves and she withdrew, embarrassed.
When Lando finally spoke, his voice was soft, and more serious than she'd ever heard it. "Despite what you may think, Mara, not everything is sport to me". He didn't look at her, his face staring stoically at the starline through the window.
Turning away from him, Mara berated herself. She couldn't believe she had let herself slip like that. That person – she was in her past. Gone, or so Mara thought.
"Don't think that I don't want you Mara" His voice was steady as she coiled away from him. "You'll never know how much I…" Lando sighed softly. "But I can't be a substitute for anyone".
She blocked his voice out, not wanting to hear his words. That made them real. Mara reached a shaking hand forward, to find comfort and inhibition in the whiskey bottle, forgotten on the table. Her slim fingers clutched the crystal neck forcefully, to halt the trembling.
It was only then that she realised the bottle was empty.